way to go judge.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Boyfriend of Woman Stuck to Toilet Accused of Exposing Self http://tinyurl.com/3d54hl
lol this story gets better and better.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
CHP and the Marines
This is too funny…..
Two California Highway Patrol Officers were conducting speeding enforcement on I-15, just north of the Marine Corps Air Station at Miramar . One of the officers was using a hand-held radar device to check speeding vehicles approaching the crest of a hill.
The officers were suddenly surprised when the radar gun began reading 300 miles per hour. The officer attempted to reset the radar gun, but it would not reset and then turned off.
Just then a deafening roar over the treetops revealed that the radar had in fact locked on to a USMC F/A-18 Hornet which was engaged in a low-flying exercise near the location.
Back at the CHP Headquarters the Patrol Captain fired off a complaint to the USMC Base Commander The reply came back in true USMC style:
Thank you for your letter. We can now complete the file on this incident. You may be interested to know that the tactical computer in the Hornet had detected the presence of, and subsequently locked on to, your hostile radar equipment and automatically sent a jamming signal back to it, which is why it shut down.
Furthermore, an Air-to-Ground missile aboard the fully-armed aircraft had also automatically locked on to your equipment location. Fortunately, the Marine Pilot flying the Hornet recognized the situation for what it was, quickly responded to the missile system alert status and was able to override the automated defense system before the missile was launched to destroy the hostile radar position.
The pilot also suggests you cover your mouths when cussing at them, since the video systems on these jets are very high-tech. Sergeant Johnson, the officer holding the radar gun, should get his dentist to check his left rear molar. It appears the filling is loose. Also, the snap is broken on his holster.
Thank you for your concern. Semper Fi.
Two California Highway Patrol Officers were conducting speeding enforcement on I-15, just north of the Marine Corps Air Station at Miramar . One of the officers was using a hand-held radar device to check speeding vehicles approaching the crest of a hill.
The officers were suddenly surprised when the radar gun began reading 300 miles per hour. The officer attempted to reset the radar gun, but it would not reset and then turned off.
Just then a deafening roar over the treetops revealed that the radar had in fact locked on to a USMC F/A-18 Hornet which was engaged in a low-flying exercise near the location.
Back at the CHP Headquarters the Patrol Captain fired off a complaint to the USMC Base Commander The reply came back in true USMC style:
Thank you for your letter. We can now complete the file on this incident. You may be interested to know that the tactical computer in the Hornet had detected the presence of, and subsequently locked on to, your hostile radar equipment and automatically sent a jamming signal back to it, which is why it shut down.
Furthermore, an Air-to-Ground missile aboard the fully-armed aircraft had also automatically locked on to your equipment location. Fortunately, the Marine Pilot flying the Hornet recognized the situation for what it was, quickly responded to the missile system alert status and was able to override the automated defense system before the missile was launched to destroy the hostile radar position.
The pilot also suggests you cover your mouths when cussing at them, since the video systems on these jets are very high-tech. Sergeant Johnson, the officer holding the radar gun, should get his dentist to check his left rear molar. It appears the filling is loose. Also, the snap is broken on his holster.
Thank you for your concern. Semper Fi.
Controversy Addressed During Easter Services at Obama's Chicago Church: The new pastor of Trinity Unit.. http://tinyurl.com/yqo7e7
Sunday, March 23, 2008
One should not talk Senator UBL when ones friends comitt the crime
The State Department investigation into how and why the passport files of three presidential candidates were breached is scrutinizing an employee at a Virginia-based company, which is headed by an adviser to Barack Obama’s campaign.
The Washington Times, which broke the news Thursday that Obama’s files were improperly accessed, reported Saturday that the State Department inspector general’s internal probe will include polygraph tests of supervisors to determine whether there was a political motive behind the breaches.
The article said a focal point of the probe will be an employee who works for The Analysis Corporation and is still with the company. The firm is headed by John O. Brennan, an Obama adviser, FOX News confirms. The Times reported he advises the Democratic presidential candidate on intelligence and foreign policy matters.
The Times reported that the employee at TAC is the only individual who accessed both Obama’s and John McCain’s passport information. TAC decided to honor a State Department request to delay firing the consultant to give investigators time to conduct their investigation, the company said.
Two other contract workers were fired from Stanley Inc. after it was discovered they accessed Obama’s files. It could be challenging for the State Department to force them to answer questions, however. Unless they volunteer to cooperate, they would have to be served with a subpoena compelling them to testify before a grand jury.
Obama’s campaign at first questioned whether the senator was targeted for political reasons, but on Friday the State Department revealed Sens. Hillary Clinton and McCain also had their files improperly accessed. The State Department believes the cases could be just a matter of “imprudent curiosity,” but the internal investigation and a separate congressional probe are expected to delve into whether it was anything more.
“There are still many unanswered questions, including why these passport files were accessed and for what purpose,” Obama’s office said in a statement late Friday. “Sen. Obama believes a thorough investigation of these privacy breaches is necessary and expects one that is prompt and thorough.”
A fourth worker tapped into Clinton’s records as part of a training session last summer, the State Department said, and that violation was immediately recognized and the person admonished.
The Justice Department is monitoring the effort.
“None of us wants to have a circumstance in which any American’s passport file is looked at in an unauthorized way,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said as she offered apologies to the candidates.
The unauthorized digging into electronic government files on politicians recalled a 1992 case in which a Republican political appointee at the State Department was demoted for searching Bill Clinton’s passport records when Clinton was running against President George H.W. Bush.
Obama’s files were compromised on three occasions — Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14. The department’s internal computer system “flags” certain records, including those of high-profile people, to tip off supervisors when someone tries to view the records without an appropriate reason.
It was not clear whether the employees saw anything other than the basic personal data such as name, citizenship, age, Social Security number and place of birth, which is required when someone fills out a passport application.
The files also include date and place of birth and address at time of application. Agency officials said the files generally would not list countries the person has traveled to.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey said the case has not yet been referred to the Justice Department for investigation, but he did not rule out the possibility of the Justice Department taking an independent look.
Click here to read the article in The Washington Times.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Washington Times, which broke the news Thursday that Obama’s files were improperly accessed, reported Saturday that the State Department inspector general’s internal probe will include polygraph tests of supervisors to determine whether there was a political motive behind the breaches.
The article said a focal point of the probe will be an employee who works for The Analysis Corporation and is still with the company. The firm is headed by John O. Brennan, an Obama adviser, FOX News confirms. The Times reported he advises the Democratic presidential candidate on intelligence and foreign policy matters.
The Times reported that the employee at TAC is the only individual who accessed both Obama’s and John McCain’s passport information. TAC decided to honor a State Department request to delay firing the consultant to give investigators time to conduct their investigation, the company said.
Two other contract workers were fired from Stanley Inc. after it was discovered they accessed Obama’s files. It could be challenging for the State Department to force them to answer questions, however. Unless they volunteer to cooperate, they would have to be served with a subpoena compelling them to testify before a grand jury.
Obama’s campaign at first questioned whether the senator was targeted for political reasons, but on Friday the State Department revealed Sens. Hillary Clinton and McCain also had their files improperly accessed. The State Department believes the cases could be just a matter of “imprudent curiosity,” but the internal investigation and a separate congressional probe are expected to delve into whether it was anything more.
“There are still many unanswered questions, including why these passport files were accessed and for what purpose,” Obama’s office said in a statement late Friday. “Sen. Obama believes a thorough investigation of these privacy breaches is necessary and expects one that is prompt and thorough.”
A fourth worker tapped into Clinton’s records as part of a training session last summer, the State Department said, and that violation was immediately recognized and the person admonished.
The Justice Department is monitoring the effort.
“None of us wants to have a circumstance in which any American’s passport file is looked at in an unauthorized way,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said as she offered apologies to the candidates.
The unauthorized digging into electronic government files on politicians recalled a 1992 case in which a Republican political appointee at the State Department was demoted for searching Bill Clinton’s passport records when Clinton was running against President George H.W. Bush.
Obama’s files were compromised on three occasions — Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14. The department’s internal computer system “flags” certain records, including those of high-profile people, to tip off supervisors when someone tries to view the records without an appropriate reason.
It was not clear whether the employees saw anything other than the basic personal data such as name, citizenship, age, Social Security number and place of birth, which is required when someone fills out a passport application.
The files also include date and place of birth and address at time of application. Agency officials said the files generally would not list countries the person has traveled to.
Attorney General Michael Mukasey said the case has not yet been referred to the Justice Department for investigation, but he did not rule out the possibility of the Justice Department taking an independent look.
Click here to read the article in The Washington Times.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Memo to Al Gore and Friends
CATASTROPHIC predictions of global warming usually conjure with the notion of a tipping point, a point of no return.
Last Monday - on ABC Radio National, of all places - there was a tipping point of a different kind in the debate on climate change. It was a remarkable interview involving the co-host of Counterpoint, Michael Duffy and Jennifer Marohasy, a biologist and senior fellow of Melbourne-based think tank the Institute of Public Affairs. Anyone in public life who takes a position on the greenhouse gas hypothesis will ignore it at their peril.
Duffy asked Marohasy: "Is the Earth stillwarming?"
She replied: "No, actually, there has been cooling, if you take 1998 as your point of reference. If you take 2002 as your point of reference, then temperatures have plateaued. This is certainly not what you'd expect if carbon dioxide is driving temperature because carbon dioxide levels have been increasing but temperatures have actually been coming down over the last 10 years."
Duffy: "Is this a matter of any controversy?"
Marohasy: "Actually, no. The head of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has actually acknowledged it. He talks about the apparent plateau in temperatures so far this century. So he recognises that in this century, over the past eight years, temperatures have plateaued ... This is not what you'd expect, as I said, because if carbon dioxide is driving temperature then you'd expect that, given carbon dioxide levels have been continuing to increase, temperatures should be going up ... So (it's) very unexpected, not something that's being discussed. It should be being discussed, though, because it's very significant."
Duffy: "It's not only that it's not discussed. We never hear it, do we? Whenever there's any sort of weather event that can be linked into the global warming orthodoxy, it's put on the front page. But a fact like that, which is that global warming stopped a decade ago, is virtually never reported, which is extraordinary."
Duffy then turned to the question of how the proponents of the greenhouse gas hypothesis deal with data that doesn't support their case. "People like Kevin Rudd and Ross Garnaut are speaking as though the Earth is still warming at an alarming rate, but what is the argument from the other side? What would people associated with the IPCC say to explain the (temperature) dip?"
Marohasy: "Well, the head of the IPCC has suggested natural factors are compensating for the increasing carbon dioxide levels and I guess, to some extent, that's what sceptics have been saying for some time: that, yes, carbon dioxide will give you some warming but there are a whole lot of other factors that may compensate or that may augment the warming from elevated levels of carbon dioxide.
"There's been a lot of talk about the impact of the sun and that maybe we're going to go through or are entering a period of less intense solar activity and this could be contributing to the current cooling."
Duffy: "Can you tell us about NASA's Aqua satellite, because I understand some of the data we're now getting is quite important in our understanding of how climate works?"
Marohasy: "That's right. The satellite was only launched in 2002 and it enabled the collection of data, not just on temperature but also on cloud formation and water vapour. What all the climate models suggest is that, when you've got warming from additional carbon dioxide, this will result in increased water vapour, so you're going to get a positive feedback. That's what the models have been indicating. What this great data from the NASA Aqua satellite ... (is) actually showing is just the opposite, that with a little bit of warming, weather processes are compensating, so they're actually limiting the greenhouse effect and you're getting a negative rather than a positive feedback."
Duffy: "The climate is actually, in one way anyway, more robust than was assumed in the climate models?"
Marohasy: "That's right ... These findings actually aren't being disputed by the meteorological community. They're having trouble digesting the findings, they're acknowledging the findings, they're acknowledging that the data from NASA's Aqua satellite is not how the models predict, and I think they're about to recognise that the models really do need to be overhauled and that when they are overhauled they will probably show greatly reduced future warming projected as a consequence of carbon dioxide."
Duffy: "From what you're saying, it sounds like the implications of this could beconsiderable ..."
Marohasy: "That's right, very much so. The policy implications are enormous. The meteorological community at the moment is really just coming to terms with the output from this NASA Aqua satellite and (climate scientist) Roy Spencer's interpretation of them. His work is published, his work is accepted, but I think people are still in shock at this point."
If Marohasy is anywhere near right about the impending collapse of the global warming paradigm, life will suddenly become a whole lot more interesting.
A great many founts of authority, from the Royal Society to the UN, most heads of government along with countless captains of industry, learned professors, commentators and journalists will be profoundly embarrassed. Let us hope it is a prolonged and chastening experience.
With catastrophe off the agenda, for most people the fog of millennial gloom will lift, at least until attention turns to the prospect of the next ice age. Among the better educated, the sceptical cast of mind that is the basis of empiricism will once again be back in fashion. The delusion that by recycling and catching public transport we can help save the planet will quickly come to be seen for the childish nonsense it was all along.
The poorest Indians and Chinese will be left in peace to work their way towards prosperity, without being badgered about the size of their carbon footprint, a concept that for most of us will soon be one with Nineveh and Tyre, clean forgotten in six months.
The scores of town planners in Australia building empires out of regulating what can and can't be built on low-lying shorelines will have to come to terms with the fact inundation no longer impends and find something more plausible to do. The same is true of the bureaucrats planning to accommodate "climate refugees".
Penny Wong's climate mega-portfolio will suddenly be as ephemeral as the ministries for the year 2000 that state governments used to entrust to junior ministers. Malcolm Turnbull will have to reinvent himself at vast speed as a climate change sceptic and the Prime Minister will have to kiss goodbye what he likes to call the great moral issue and policy challenge of our times.
It will all be vastly entertaining to watch.
THE Age published an essay with an environmental theme by Ian McEwan on March 8 and its stablemate, The Sydney Morning Herald, also carried a slightly longer version of the same piece.
The Australian's Cut & Paste column two days later reproduced a telling paragraph from the Herald's version, which suggested that McEwan was a climate change sceptic and which The Age had excised. He was expanding on the proposition that "we need not only reliable data but their expression in the rigorous use of statistics".
What The Age decided to spare its readers was the following: "Well-meaning intellectual movements, from communism to post-structuralism, have a poor history of absorbing inconvenient fact or challenges to fundamental precepts. We should not ignore or suppress good indicators on the environment, though they have become extremely rare now. It is tempting to the layman to embrace with enthusiasm the latest bleak scenario because it fits the darkness of our soul, the prevailing cultural pessimism. The imagination, as Wallace Stevens once said, is always at the end of an era. But we should be asking, or expecting others to ask, for the provenance of the data, the assumptions fed into the computer model, the response of the peer review community, and so on. Pessimism is intellectually delicious, even thrilling, but the matter before us is too serious for mere self-pleasuring. It would be self-defeating if the environmental movement degenerated into a religion of gloomy faith. (Faith, ungrounded certainty, is no virtue.)"
The missing sentences do not appear anywhere else in The Age's version of the essay. The attribution reads: "Copyright Ian McEwan 2008" and there is no acknowledgment of editing by The Age.
Why did the paper decide to offer its readers McEwan lite? Was he, I wonder, consulted on the matter? And isn't there a nice irony that The Age chose to delete the line about ideologues not being very good at "absorbing inconvenient fact"?
Last Monday - on ABC Radio National, of all places - there was a tipping point of a different kind in the debate on climate change. It was a remarkable interview involving the co-host of Counterpoint, Michael Duffy and Jennifer Marohasy, a biologist and senior fellow of Melbourne-based think tank the Institute of Public Affairs. Anyone in public life who takes a position on the greenhouse gas hypothesis will ignore it at their peril.
Duffy asked Marohasy: "Is the Earth stillwarming?"
She replied: "No, actually, there has been cooling, if you take 1998 as your point of reference. If you take 2002 as your point of reference, then temperatures have plateaued. This is certainly not what you'd expect if carbon dioxide is driving temperature because carbon dioxide levels have been increasing but temperatures have actually been coming down over the last 10 years."
Duffy: "Is this a matter of any controversy?"
Marohasy: "Actually, no. The head of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has actually acknowledged it. He talks about the apparent plateau in temperatures so far this century. So he recognises that in this century, over the past eight years, temperatures have plateaued ... This is not what you'd expect, as I said, because if carbon dioxide is driving temperature then you'd expect that, given carbon dioxide levels have been continuing to increase, temperatures should be going up ... So (it's) very unexpected, not something that's being discussed. It should be being discussed, though, because it's very significant."
Duffy: "It's not only that it's not discussed. We never hear it, do we? Whenever there's any sort of weather event that can be linked into the global warming orthodoxy, it's put on the front page. But a fact like that, which is that global warming stopped a decade ago, is virtually never reported, which is extraordinary."
Duffy then turned to the question of how the proponents of the greenhouse gas hypothesis deal with data that doesn't support their case. "People like Kevin Rudd and Ross Garnaut are speaking as though the Earth is still warming at an alarming rate, but what is the argument from the other side? What would people associated with the IPCC say to explain the (temperature) dip?"
Marohasy: "Well, the head of the IPCC has suggested natural factors are compensating for the increasing carbon dioxide levels and I guess, to some extent, that's what sceptics have been saying for some time: that, yes, carbon dioxide will give you some warming but there are a whole lot of other factors that may compensate or that may augment the warming from elevated levels of carbon dioxide.
"There's been a lot of talk about the impact of the sun and that maybe we're going to go through or are entering a period of less intense solar activity and this could be contributing to the current cooling."
Duffy: "Can you tell us about NASA's Aqua satellite, because I understand some of the data we're now getting is quite important in our understanding of how climate works?"
Marohasy: "That's right. The satellite was only launched in 2002 and it enabled the collection of data, not just on temperature but also on cloud formation and water vapour. What all the climate models suggest is that, when you've got warming from additional carbon dioxide, this will result in increased water vapour, so you're going to get a positive feedback. That's what the models have been indicating. What this great data from the NASA Aqua satellite ... (is) actually showing is just the opposite, that with a little bit of warming, weather processes are compensating, so they're actually limiting the greenhouse effect and you're getting a negative rather than a positive feedback."
Duffy: "The climate is actually, in one way anyway, more robust than was assumed in the climate models?"
Marohasy: "That's right ... These findings actually aren't being disputed by the meteorological community. They're having trouble digesting the findings, they're acknowledging the findings, they're acknowledging that the data from NASA's Aqua satellite is not how the models predict, and I think they're about to recognise that the models really do need to be overhauled and that when they are overhauled they will probably show greatly reduced future warming projected as a consequence of carbon dioxide."
Duffy: "From what you're saying, it sounds like the implications of this could beconsiderable ..."
Marohasy: "That's right, very much so. The policy implications are enormous. The meteorological community at the moment is really just coming to terms with the output from this NASA Aqua satellite and (climate scientist) Roy Spencer's interpretation of them. His work is published, his work is accepted, but I think people are still in shock at this point."
If Marohasy is anywhere near right about the impending collapse of the global warming paradigm, life will suddenly become a whole lot more interesting.
A great many founts of authority, from the Royal Society to the UN, most heads of government along with countless captains of industry, learned professors, commentators and journalists will be profoundly embarrassed. Let us hope it is a prolonged and chastening experience.
With catastrophe off the agenda, for most people the fog of millennial gloom will lift, at least until attention turns to the prospect of the next ice age. Among the better educated, the sceptical cast of mind that is the basis of empiricism will once again be back in fashion. The delusion that by recycling and catching public transport we can help save the planet will quickly come to be seen for the childish nonsense it was all along.
The poorest Indians and Chinese will be left in peace to work their way towards prosperity, without being badgered about the size of their carbon footprint, a concept that for most of us will soon be one with Nineveh and Tyre, clean forgotten in six months.
The scores of town planners in Australia building empires out of regulating what can and can't be built on low-lying shorelines will have to come to terms with the fact inundation no longer impends and find something more plausible to do. The same is true of the bureaucrats planning to accommodate "climate refugees".
Penny Wong's climate mega-portfolio will suddenly be as ephemeral as the ministries for the year 2000 that state governments used to entrust to junior ministers. Malcolm Turnbull will have to reinvent himself at vast speed as a climate change sceptic and the Prime Minister will have to kiss goodbye what he likes to call the great moral issue and policy challenge of our times.
It will all be vastly entertaining to watch.
THE Age published an essay with an environmental theme by Ian McEwan on March 8 and its stablemate, The Sydney Morning Herald, also carried a slightly longer version of the same piece.
The Australian's Cut & Paste column two days later reproduced a telling paragraph from the Herald's version, which suggested that McEwan was a climate change sceptic and which The Age had excised. He was expanding on the proposition that "we need not only reliable data but their expression in the rigorous use of statistics".
What The Age decided to spare its readers was the following: "Well-meaning intellectual movements, from communism to post-structuralism, have a poor history of absorbing inconvenient fact or challenges to fundamental precepts. We should not ignore or suppress good indicators on the environment, though they have become extremely rare now. It is tempting to the layman to embrace with enthusiasm the latest bleak scenario because it fits the darkness of our soul, the prevailing cultural pessimism. The imagination, as Wallace Stevens once said, is always at the end of an era. But we should be asking, or expecting others to ask, for the provenance of the data, the assumptions fed into the computer model, the response of the peer review community, and so on. Pessimism is intellectually delicious, even thrilling, but the matter before us is too serious for mere self-pleasuring. It would be self-defeating if the environmental movement degenerated into a religion of gloomy faith. (Faith, ungrounded certainty, is no virtue.)"
The missing sentences do not appear anywhere else in The Age's version of the essay. The attribution reads: "Copyright Ian McEwan 2008" and there is no acknowledgment of editing by The Age.
Why did the paper decide to offer its readers McEwan lite? Was he, I wonder, consulted on the matter? And isn't there a nice irony that The Age chose to delete the line about ideologues not being very good at "absorbing inconvenient fact"?
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Lock and Load
I was thinking about sending all these anti-war anti-america nutjobs and send them to China Iran or The People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and let them protest the respected governments.
Vegas has odds that they would not survive 10 hours.
Vegas has odds that they would not survive 10 hours.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Senator UBL
After listening to Senator Obama's speech and
telling me that he listened to his pastor speak yet didn't disagree
with him at the time and offer change within his own congregation
how can he expect to change and govern over 300 million people in
the greatest country on earth??
telling me that he listened to his pastor speak yet didn't disagree
with him at the time and offer change within his own congregation
how can he expect to change and govern over 300 million people in
the greatest country on earth??
Men of New York
Report: Hours After Swearing in, New N.Y. Governor Paterson Admits to Affair
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
New York Gov. David Paterson
ALBANY, N.Y. — Just hours after he received a standing ovation from lawmakers chanting his name, New York's newly sworn governor was answering questions about straying from his own marriage.
David Paterson became the state's first black chief executive and the nation's second legally blind governor almost exactly a week after allegations first surfaced that now-former Gov. Eliot Spitzer was "Client 9" of a high-priced call girl service.
Paterson told the Daily News of New York City that he maintained a relationship with another woman from 1999 until 2001 during a rough patch in his marriage. He and his wife eventually sought counseling and repaired their relationship.
The couple agreed to speak publicly about their marriage in response to rumors about Paterson's personal life that have been swirling in Albany since Spitzer resigned, the Daily News reported Monday on its Web site.
Paterson and his wife, Michelle, acknowledged to the newspaper that they each had affairs but did not go into details.
"This was a marriage that appeared to be going sour at one point," Paterson told the Daily News. "But I went to counseling and we decided we wanted to make it work. Michelle is well aware of what went on."
A spokesman for the governor, Errol Cockfield, did not immediately reply late Monday to an e-mail or telephone calls seeking comment about Paterson's interview with the News.
Hours before the interview, Paterson outlined a message of unity in a state eager to move past his predecessor's sordid and speedy political collapse.
"We move forward. Today is Monday. There is work to be done," Paterson said. "There was an oath to be taken. There's trust that needs to be restored. There are issues that need to be addressed."
Spitzer, according to ex-aides, was at his Columbia County farmhouse 48 miles south at the time of Paterson's swearing-in.
Where Spitzer's 14-month tenure was marked by partisan sniping, Paterson, a fellow Democrat, reached across the aisle in his remarks from the ornate Assembly chamber. The crowd gave the new governor a two-minute standing ovation and chanted "David! David! David!"
"What we are going to do from now on is what we always should have done all along," the former state senator said. "We're going to work together."
Legislators gave Paterson hearty applause when he called for cooperation, and laughs when he made playful jabs at Republican leaders.
He said Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno, probably Spitzer's most bitter rival, had invited him to dinner at his ranch: "I'll go. I'm going to take my taster with me."
He teased Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, whom Spitzer famously and profanely said he would steamroll, that he would teach him how to play basketball. Tedisco, an upstate Republican, was a basketball star at Union College.
Paterson, 53, rose from the lieutenant governor's office after Spitzer resigned last week amid allegations that he hired a call girl from a high-priced escort service. It was a dramatic fall for Spitzer, who was elected with an overwhelming share of the vote and who had vowed to root out corruption at the Capitol.
"This transition today is a historic message to the world: That we live by the same values that we profess, and we are a government of laws, not individuals," Paterson said.
Paterson took the oath of office from Chief Judge Judith Kaye, who ascended to the pinnacle of the state's highest court in 1993 after former Chief Judge Sol Wachtler was caught threatening and harassing an ex-lover.
Paterson, who becomes New York's 55th governor, has said he will get right to work. The Legislature faces an April 1 deadline to pass an estimated $124 billion budget, and Paterson also said that health care, education, jobs and problems facing "the single mother with two jobs" need immediate attention.
Paterson spoke for 26 minutes — about half of it engaged in the banter and humor that helped define him as a lawmaker and lieutenant governor — without notes or teleprompter.
He joked about his limited vision; he can see things close to him out of one eye.
At Spitzer's last State of the State address, he said, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver stopped him from accidentally breaking a glass with his gavel, then told him, "I will not allow you to turn the State of the State into a Jewish wedding."
Before reluctantly accepting Spitzer's offer to run with him as lieutenant governor, Paterson was a Democratic state senator for more than two decades, representing parts of Harlem and Manhattan's Upper West Side.
His wife had tears in her eyes for most of the ceremony.
"Every time I hear David speak, I want to cry," she said afterward. "I'm just very happy I was able to live to see this day."
Politicians past and present, including presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and governors from three neighboring states, attended the ceremony.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said New Yorkers are ready to put the scandal behind them.
"I think most of us are optimistic that this could be a really terrific time for New York state and Albany with Gov. Paterson," said Schumer, a Democrat.
Federal prosecutors must still decide whether to pursue charges against Spitzer. The married father of three teenage girls was accused of spending tens of thousands of dollars on prostitutes — including a call girl "Kristen" in Washington the night before Valentine's Day.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
New York Gov. David Paterson
ALBANY, N.Y. — Just hours after he received a standing ovation from lawmakers chanting his name, New York's newly sworn governor was answering questions about straying from his own marriage.
David Paterson became the state's first black chief executive and the nation's second legally blind governor almost exactly a week after allegations first surfaced that now-former Gov. Eliot Spitzer was "Client 9" of a high-priced call girl service.
Paterson told the Daily News of New York City that he maintained a relationship with another woman from 1999 until 2001 during a rough patch in his marriage. He and his wife eventually sought counseling and repaired their relationship.
The couple agreed to speak publicly about their marriage in response to rumors about Paterson's personal life that have been swirling in Albany since Spitzer resigned, the Daily News reported Monday on its Web site.
Paterson and his wife, Michelle, acknowledged to the newspaper that they each had affairs but did not go into details.
"This was a marriage that appeared to be going sour at one point," Paterson told the Daily News. "But I went to counseling and we decided we wanted to make it work. Michelle is well aware of what went on."
A spokesman for the governor, Errol Cockfield, did not immediately reply late Monday to an e-mail or telephone calls seeking comment about Paterson's interview with the News.
Hours before the interview, Paterson outlined a message of unity in a state eager to move past his predecessor's sordid and speedy political collapse.
"We move forward. Today is Monday. There is work to be done," Paterson said. "There was an oath to be taken. There's trust that needs to be restored. There are issues that need to be addressed."
Spitzer, according to ex-aides, was at his Columbia County farmhouse 48 miles south at the time of Paterson's swearing-in.
Where Spitzer's 14-month tenure was marked by partisan sniping, Paterson, a fellow Democrat, reached across the aisle in his remarks from the ornate Assembly chamber. The crowd gave the new governor a two-minute standing ovation and chanted "David! David! David!"
"What we are going to do from now on is what we always should have done all along," the former state senator said. "We're going to work together."
Legislators gave Paterson hearty applause when he called for cooperation, and laughs when he made playful jabs at Republican leaders.
He said Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno, probably Spitzer's most bitter rival, had invited him to dinner at his ranch: "I'll go. I'm going to take my taster with me."
He teased Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, whom Spitzer famously and profanely said he would steamroll, that he would teach him how to play basketball. Tedisco, an upstate Republican, was a basketball star at Union College.
Paterson, 53, rose from the lieutenant governor's office after Spitzer resigned last week amid allegations that he hired a call girl from a high-priced escort service. It was a dramatic fall for Spitzer, who was elected with an overwhelming share of the vote and who had vowed to root out corruption at the Capitol.
"This transition today is a historic message to the world: That we live by the same values that we profess, and we are a government of laws, not individuals," Paterson said.
Paterson took the oath of office from Chief Judge Judith Kaye, who ascended to the pinnacle of the state's highest court in 1993 after former Chief Judge Sol Wachtler was caught threatening and harassing an ex-lover.
Paterson, who becomes New York's 55th governor, has said he will get right to work. The Legislature faces an April 1 deadline to pass an estimated $124 billion budget, and Paterson also said that health care, education, jobs and problems facing "the single mother with two jobs" need immediate attention.
Paterson spoke for 26 minutes — about half of it engaged in the banter and humor that helped define him as a lawmaker and lieutenant governor — without notes or teleprompter.
He joked about his limited vision; he can see things close to him out of one eye.
At Spitzer's last State of the State address, he said, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver stopped him from accidentally breaking a glass with his gavel, then told him, "I will not allow you to turn the State of the State into a Jewish wedding."
Before reluctantly accepting Spitzer's offer to run with him as lieutenant governor, Paterson was a Democratic state senator for more than two decades, representing parts of Harlem and Manhattan's Upper West Side.
His wife had tears in her eyes for most of the ceremony.
"Every time I hear David speak, I want to cry," she said afterward. "I'm just very happy I was able to live to see this day."
Politicians past and present, including presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and governors from three neighboring states, attended the ceremony.
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said New Yorkers are ready to put the scandal behind them.
"I think most of us are optimistic that this could be a really terrific time for New York state and Albany with Gov. Paterson," said Schumer, a Democrat.
Federal prosecutors must still decide whether to pursue charges against Spitzer. The married father of three teenage girls was accused of spending tens of thousands of dollars on prostitutes — including a call girl "Kristen" in Washington the night before Valentine's Day.
Sen. Barack Obama, D-IL AKA Senator UBL The terrorist Muslim senator
(2008-03-18) — Sen. Barack Obama, D-IL, in what was billed by his campaign as a “major speech on race” in Philadelphia today shocked the Democrat party by announcing he has abandoned his bid to become the nation’s first black president.
“After a lot of prayer and conversations with my wife and Pastor Jeremiah Wright,” said Sen. Obama, “I have decided that the United States is not ready for a black chief executive. So today, I’m launching a campaign to simply become President of the United States, without regard to race.”
The son of a black, African father and a white, Kansan mother, Sen. Obama said he will formally suspend his attempt to achieve “a Civil Rights milestone”, and will put all his efforts into “making sure Democrats have a nominee who can challenge John McCain man-to-man.”
A spokesman for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign said she would petition the Democrat National Committee to “nullify all of the primary votes cast for Sen. Obama because voters thought they were doing something historic, rather than simply choosing the most qualified candidate.”
“Think about it,” the unnamed Clinton staffer said, “if Geraldine Ferraro had suddenly announced in 1984 she was running for vice president as a man, the Mondale-Ferraro ticket would have lost in a landslide.”
“After a lot of prayer and conversations with my wife and Pastor Jeremiah Wright,” said Sen. Obama, “I have decided that the United States is not ready for a black chief executive. So today, I’m launching a campaign to simply become President of the United States, without regard to race.”
The son of a black, African father and a white, Kansan mother, Sen. Obama said he will formally suspend his attempt to achieve “a Civil Rights milestone”, and will put all his efforts into “making sure Democrats have a nominee who can challenge John McCain man-to-man.”
A spokesman for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign said she would petition the Democrat National Committee to “nullify all of the primary votes cast for Sen. Obama because voters thought they were doing something historic, rather than simply choosing the most qualified candidate.”
“Think about it,” the unnamed Clinton staffer said, “if Geraldine Ferraro had suddenly announced in 1984 she was running for vice president as a man, the Mondale-Ferraro ticket would have lost in a landslide.”
Monday, March 17, 2008
Hillary Hillary
A Japanese doctor says, "Medicine in my country
Is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one
Man, put it into another, and have him out looking
For work in six weeks."
A German doctor says, "That is nothing. We can
Take a lung out of one person, put it into another,
And have him out looking for work in four weeks."
A British doctor says, "In my country, medicine
Is so advanced that we can take half a heart out
Of one person, put it in another, and have both of
Them out looking for work in two weeks."
The American doctor, not to be outdone, interjected,
"You guys are way behind. We are about to take a
Woman with no brains, and no heart, put her in the
White House, and very soon half the country will be
Out looking for work
Amen
Is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one
Man, put it into another, and have him out looking
For work in six weeks."
A German doctor says, "That is nothing. We can
Take a lung out of one person, put it into another,
And have him out looking for work in four weeks."
A British doctor says, "In my country, medicine
Is so advanced that we can take half a heart out
Of one person, put it in another, and have both of
Them out looking for work in two weeks."
The American doctor, not to be outdone, interjected,
"You guys are way behind. We are about to take a
Woman with no brains, and no heart, put her in the
White House, and very soon half the country will be
Out looking for work
Amen
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Obama requested $1 million earmark for wife's hospital: http://tinyurl.com/yrud88 In addition, he's yet to disclose IL senate earmarks...
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Worth a read
Dr. Emanual Tanay is a well known and respected psychiatrist.
A German's point of view on Islam
A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War ll owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.
"Very few people were true Nazis," he said, "but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and
the end of the world had come. My family lost everything, I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."
We are told again and again by "experts" and "talking heads" that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.
It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor killing.& nbsp; It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful majority," the "silent majority," is cowed and extraneous.
Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China 's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managaed to kill a staggering 70 million people. The average Japanese individual prior to World War II
was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.
And, who can forget Rwanda , which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwanda ns were "peace loving"?
History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our
powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:
Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.
Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghanis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.
As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.
Lastly, at the risk of offending, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand.
So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this - think about it - and send it on.
Emanuel Tanay, M.D.
A German's point of view on Islam
A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War ll owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.
"Very few people were true Nazis," he said, "but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and
the end of the world had come. My family lost everything, I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories."
We are told again and again by "experts" and "talking heads" that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.
It is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor killing.& nbsp; It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals. The hard quantifiable fact is that the "peaceful majority," the "silent majority," is cowed and extraneous.
Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant. China 's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managaed to kill a staggering 70 million people. The average Japanese individual prior to World War II
was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.
And, who can forget Rwanda , which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwanda ns were "peace loving"?
History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our
powers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:
Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.
Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghanis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late.
As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts; the fanatics who threaten our way of life.
Lastly, at the risk of offending, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand.
So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this - think about it - and send it on.
Emanuel Tanay, M.D.
Monday, March 10, 2008
HNS standing as of 3/10/2008
RANK +/- DRIVER POINTS BEHIND STARTS POLES WINS TOP 5 TOP 10 WINNINGS
1 -- Kyle Busch 665 Leader 4 1 1 3 3 1,123,940
2 +3 Greg Biffle 592 -73 4 0 0 2 3 764,188
3 +1 Kevin Harvick 574 -91 4 0 0 1 3 795,707
4 -2 Ryan Newman 571 -94 4 0 1 1 2 1,946,140
5 +1 Jeff Burton 555 -110 4 0 0 1 2 767,795
6 +4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 531 -134 4 0 0 2 3 1,029,250
7 -4 Kasey Kahne 528 -137 4 0 0 0 3 832,577
8 +3 Tony Stewart 525 -140 4 0 0 2 3 1,435,830
9 +4 Brian Vickers 491 -174 4 0 0 0 1 553,095
10 +2 Kurt Busch 478 -187 4 0 0 1 1 1,352,620
11 -3 Martin Truex Jr. 471 -194 4 0 0 0 1 717,545
12 +4 Matt Kenseth 470 -195 4 0 0 1 2 743,477
13 +1 Jimmie Johnson 467 -198 4 1 0 1 1 911,214
14 +1 Bobby Labonte 462 -203 4 0 0 0 0 703,739
15 +8 Jeff Gordon 444 -221 4 1 0 2 2 856,757
16 +8 Clint Bowyer 436 -229 4 0 0 0 1 626,395
17 -10 Carl Edwards 433 -232 4 0 2 2 2 1,246,090
18 -1 Mark Martin 421 -244 4 0 0 0 1 726,595
19 +1 Denny Hamlin 413 -252 4 0 0 0 1 759,839
20 -11 Elliott Sadler 402 -263 4 0 0 0 1 768,473
21 -2 David Ragan 398 -267 4 0 0 0 1 581,013
22 -4 Reed Sorenson 391 -274 4 0 0 1 1 930,001
23 +2 Juan Montoya 391 -274 4 0 0 0 0 639,502
24 -3 Robby Gordon 384 -281 4 0 0 0 1 653,517
25 +1 Paul Menard 382 -283 4 0 0 0 0 557,095
26 +3 Scott Riggs 369 -296 4 0 0 0 0 567,694
27 +4 David Reutimann 358 -307 4 0 0 0 0 566,812
28 -6 David Gilliland 352 -313 4 0 0 0 0 614,959
29 -1 Travis Kvapil 346 -319 4 0 0 0 1 639,544
30 +5 Casey Mears 331 -334 4 0 0 0 0 639,880
31 -4 Jamie McMurray 318 -347 4 0 0 0 0 580,716
32 +1 Dale Jarrett 315 -350 4 0 0 0 0 555,163
33 +1 Michael Waltrip 303 -362 4 0 0 0 0 585,723
34 -4 Jeremy Mayfield 301 -364 4 0 0 0 0 519,725
35 -3 J.J. Yeley 298 -367 4 0 0 0 0 577,365
36 +2 Sam Hornish Jr.* 280 -385 4 0 0 0 0 688,584
37 -1 Dave Blaney 273 -392 4 0 0 0 0 563,346
38 -1 Dario Franchitti* 264 -401 4 0 0 0 0 533,263
39 -- Regan Smith* 232 -433 4 0 0 0 0 525,130
40 -- Kyle Petty 217 -448 4 0 0 0 0 501,207
41 +1 Joe Nemechek 156 -509 3 0 0 0 0 408,875
42 +3 Mike Skinner 155 -510 2 0 0 0 0 152,675
43 -2 John Andretti 106 -559 2 0 0 0 0 339,838
44 +2 Patrick Carpentier* 101 -564 2 0 0 0 0 172,278
45 -2 Ken Schrader 100 -565 1 0 0 0 0 170,071
46 -2 Bill Elliott 85 -580 1 0 0 0 0 159,433
47 -- Kenny Wallace 34 -631 1 0 0 0 0 256,735
48 -- A.J. Allmendinger 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,345
49 -- Johnny Benson 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 0
50 +1 Burney Lamar 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 0
51 -2 Boris Said 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,170
52 -2 Johnny Sauter 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 0
53 -1 Eric McClure 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,988
54 -1 Sterling Marlin 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,095
55 -1 Jacques Villeneuve* 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,863
56 -1 Stanton Barrett 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,813
57 -1 Carl Long 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 21,920
1 -- Kyle Busch 665 Leader 4 1 1 3 3 1,123,940
2 +3 Greg Biffle 592 -73 4 0 0 2 3 764,188
3 +1 Kevin Harvick 574 -91 4 0 0 1 3 795,707
4 -2 Ryan Newman 571 -94 4 0 1 1 2 1,946,140
5 +1 Jeff Burton 555 -110 4 0 0 1 2 767,795
6 +4 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 531 -134 4 0 0 2 3 1,029,250
7 -4 Kasey Kahne 528 -137 4 0 0 0 3 832,577
8 +3 Tony Stewart 525 -140 4 0 0 2 3 1,435,830
9 +4 Brian Vickers 491 -174 4 0 0 0 1 553,095
10 +2 Kurt Busch 478 -187 4 0 0 1 1 1,352,620
11 -3 Martin Truex Jr. 471 -194 4 0 0 0 1 717,545
12 +4 Matt Kenseth 470 -195 4 0 0 1 2 743,477
13 +1 Jimmie Johnson 467 -198 4 1 0 1 1 911,214
14 +1 Bobby Labonte 462 -203 4 0 0 0 0 703,739
15 +8 Jeff Gordon 444 -221 4 1 0 2 2 856,757
16 +8 Clint Bowyer 436 -229 4 0 0 0 1 626,395
17 -10 Carl Edwards 433 -232 4 0 2 2 2 1,246,090
18 -1 Mark Martin 421 -244 4 0 0 0 1 726,595
19 +1 Denny Hamlin 413 -252 4 0 0 0 1 759,839
20 -11 Elliott Sadler 402 -263 4 0 0 0 1 768,473
21 -2 David Ragan 398 -267 4 0 0 0 1 581,013
22 -4 Reed Sorenson 391 -274 4 0 0 1 1 930,001
23 +2 Juan Montoya 391 -274 4 0 0 0 0 639,502
24 -3 Robby Gordon 384 -281 4 0 0 0 1 653,517
25 +1 Paul Menard 382 -283 4 0 0 0 0 557,095
26 +3 Scott Riggs 369 -296 4 0 0 0 0 567,694
27 +4 David Reutimann 358 -307 4 0 0 0 0 566,812
28 -6 David Gilliland 352 -313 4 0 0 0 0 614,959
29 -1 Travis Kvapil 346 -319 4 0 0 0 1 639,544
30 +5 Casey Mears 331 -334 4 0 0 0 0 639,880
31 -4 Jamie McMurray 318 -347 4 0 0 0 0 580,716
32 +1 Dale Jarrett 315 -350 4 0 0 0 0 555,163
33 +1 Michael Waltrip 303 -362 4 0 0 0 0 585,723
34 -4 Jeremy Mayfield 301 -364 4 0 0 0 0 519,725
35 -3 J.J. Yeley 298 -367 4 0 0 0 0 577,365
36 +2 Sam Hornish Jr.* 280 -385 4 0 0 0 0 688,584
37 -1 Dave Blaney 273 -392 4 0 0 0 0 563,346
38 -1 Dario Franchitti* 264 -401 4 0 0 0 0 533,263
39 -- Regan Smith* 232 -433 4 0 0 0 0 525,130
40 -- Kyle Petty 217 -448 4 0 0 0 0 501,207
41 +1 Joe Nemechek 156 -509 3 0 0 0 0 408,875
42 +3 Mike Skinner 155 -510 2 0 0 0 0 152,675
43 -2 John Andretti 106 -559 2 0 0 0 0 339,838
44 +2 Patrick Carpentier* 101 -564 2 0 0 0 0 172,278
45 -2 Ken Schrader 100 -565 1 0 0 0 0 170,071
46 -2 Bill Elliott 85 -580 1 0 0 0 0 159,433
47 -- Kenny Wallace 34 -631 1 0 0 0 0 256,735
48 -- A.J. Allmendinger 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,345
49 -- Johnny Benson 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 0
50 +1 Burney Lamar 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 0
51 -2 Boris Said 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,170
52 -2 Johnny Sauter 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 0
53 -1 Eric McClure 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,988
54 -1 Sterling Marlin 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,095
55 -1 Jacques Villeneuve* 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,863
56 -1 Stanton Barrett 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 22,813
57 -1 Carl Long 0 -665 0 0 0 0 0 21,920
Ducks Stars and Sharks
Stars, Sharks and Ducks - oh my! - make for tight Pacific Division race Associated Press Mar 10, 2008, 5:33 AM EDT
Robidas
Turco
The Dallas Stars changed places twice in the Pacific Division standings, and ended up right where they started: in first place.
A few hours after they were leapfrogged by San Jose, the Stars ended a three-game losing streak with a 3-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night. The Stars have 89 points, one more than the Sharks.
"Obviously, the standings are tight," Dallas' Stephane Robidas said. "We're trying not to look at them and focus on ourselves. But the last three games, we haven't played the kind of hockey we're used to, so tonight was important."
Marty Turco made 19 saves for his 33rd career shutout and Brad Richards scored his first goal in a Dallas uniform as the Stars halted the Avalanche's season-best six-game winning streak. Robidas and Stu Barnes also scored for Dallas, and Mike Modano added two assists.
"The way we played was relentless," Turco said. "We're going to need more of the same."
That's for sure, especially with San Jose on a franchise-record nine-game winning streak after edging Minnesota 3-2 in a shootout and briefly assuming first place in the division. Anaheim is also only four points behind Dallas after a 3-1 victory over Montreal.
"There's 12 games left, and they're all important," San Jose's Pierre-Marc Bouchard said.
In other NHL games, it was: the New York Rangers 1, Boston 0 in a shootout; Edmonton 6, Chicago 5 in overtime; Pittsburgh 4, Washington 2; Detroit 4, Nashville 3; and Columbus 5, Tampa Bay 3.
At Dallas, Turco improved to 30-16-4 this season, giving him five straight seasons of 30 or more victories.
Richards had five assists in his first game with the Stars after being acquired from Tampa Bay in a five-player trade Feb. 26. But Richards had been without a point in his next two games until a goal and an assist Sunday after coach Dave Tippett moved him from center to right wing on a line centered by Modano.
"It's an adjustment, but it's easier playing with a guy who thinks the game like (Modano)," Richards said.
Peter Forsberg was out for the Avs with a groin injury sustained in Saturday's 3-1 win over Dallas.
At St. Paul, Minn., Patrick Marleau saved the game in overtime and scored the winner in the shootout for San Jose.
Marleau knocked Marian Gaborik's last-minute shot out of the air and out of danger to preserve the tie and set up the shootout. Joe Pavelski scored first for the Sharks and Marleau wrapped it up for San Jose after a nifty 360-degree spin move by Pierre-Marc Bouchard gave the Wild a chance.
"Obviously, we're playing well, but it's such a competitive league that you can't get too comfortable," Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov said. "If you're going to take time off, you're going to find yourself losing two in a row and fighting for that eighth playoff spot."
The Sharks were behind all afternoon until Brian Rolston's 26th goal in the final minute of regulation tied it at 2.
"A little bit of confidence, it goes a long way," San Jose coach Ron Wilson said. "We're at a point right now where a little bump isn't going to hurt us."
Nabokov played in his league-leading 66th game and made 21 saves.
Chris Kunitz scored the go-ahead goal with 7:24 remaining and the Anaheim Ducks tied a franchise record by extending their home winning streak to seven games.
Samuel Pahlsson added a short-handed goal 33 seconds after Kunitz's goal for the Ducks, who were coming off consecutive shutout losses. Todd Marchant also scored and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 20 saves.
Alex Kovalev scored his 30th goal for the Canadiens.
At New York, Nigel Dawes' shootout goal settled a brilliant goaltending duel between Henrik Lundqvist and Boston's Alex Auld.
Dawes scored in the shootout for the third time in four games and pushed the Rangers ahead of Boston by one point for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have 13 games remaining.
Through regulation, Auld made 34 saves, while Lundqvist stopped 27 shots.
At Chicago, rookie Andrew Cogliano redirected Robert Nilsson's cross-ice feed past Patrick Lalime at 3:01 of overtime for his second goal of the game to lift Edmonton.
Chicago's Dustin Byfuglien scored during a goalmouth scramble with 4:35 left in the third period to tie it and set up overtime.
Dustin Penner, Curtis Glencross, Nilsson and Marty Reasoner also scored in regulation for Edmonton, 6-1-0 in its last seven.
At Washington, Sidney Crosby scored two goals - one a fluke goal with 28 seconds to play - and Pittsburgh tallied twice in the final 30 seconds to move within one point of first-place New Jersey in the Atlantic Division.
In a crowd in front of the crease and the score tied at 2, Washington's Nicklas Backstrom backhanded a loose puck into his own net. The puck appeared to hit Crosby's skate along the way, giving the reigning league MVP his second goal of the game and 22nd of the season.
At Detroit, Johan Franzen scored two power-play goals for the NHL-leading Red Wings.
The Red Wings welcomed back captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who missed six games because of a knee injury. The star defenseman had two assists.
Jason Chimera scored a power-play goal with 3:44 remaining, and the Blue Jackets ended a seven-game home winless streak.
Jeff Halpern had a goal and assist for Tampa Bay, losers of five in a row and 10 of 11.
Robidas
Turco
The Dallas Stars changed places twice in the Pacific Division standings, and ended up right where they started: in first place.
A few hours after they were leapfrogged by San Jose, the Stars ended a three-game losing streak with a 3-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday night. The Stars have 89 points, one more than the Sharks.
"Obviously, the standings are tight," Dallas' Stephane Robidas said. "We're trying not to look at them and focus on ourselves. But the last three games, we haven't played the kind of hockey we're used to, so tonight was important."
Marty Turco made 19 saves for his 33rd career shutout and Brad Richards scored his first goal in a Dallas uniform as the Stars halted the Avalanche's season-best six-game winning streak. Robidas and Stu Barnes also scored for Dallas, and Mike Modano added two assists.
"The way we played was relentless," Turco said. "We're going to need more of the same."
That's for sure, especially with San Jose on a franchise-record nine-game winning streak after edging Minnesota 3-2 in a shootout and briefly assuming first place in the division. Anaheim is also only four points behind Dallas after a 3-1 victory over Montreal.
"There's 12 games left, and they're all important," San Jose's Pierre-Marc Bouchard said.
In other NHL games, it was: the New York Rangers 1, Boston 0 in a shootout; Edmonton 6, Chicago 5 in overtime; Pittsburgh 4, Washington 2; Detroit 4, Nashville 3; and Columbus 5, Tampa Bay 3.
At Dallas, Turco improved to 30-16-4 this season, giving him five straight seasons of 30 or more victories.
Richards had five assists in his first game with the Stars after being acquired from Tampa Bay in a five-player trade Feb. 26. But Richards had been without a point in his next two games until a goal and an assist Sunday after coach Dave Tippett moved him from center to right wing on a line centered by Modano.
"It's an adjustment, but it's easier playing with a guy who thinks the game like (Modano)," Richards said.
Peter Forsberg was out for the Avs with a groin injury sustained in Saturday's 3-1 win over Dallas.
At St. Paul, Minn., Patrick Marleau saved the game in overtime and scored the winner in the shootout for San Jose.
Marleau knocked Marian Gaborik's last-minute shot out of the air and out of danger to preserve the tie and set up the shootout. Joe Pavelski scored first for the Sharks and Marleau wrapped it up for San Jose after a nifty 360-degree spin move by Pierre-Marc Bouchard gave the Wild a chance.
"Obviously, we're playing well, but it's such a competitive league that you can't get too comfortable," Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov said. "If you're going to take time off, you're going to find yourself losing two in a row and fighting for that eighth playoff spot."
The Sharks were behind all afternoon until Brian Rolston's 26th goal in the final minute of regulation tied it at 2.
"A little bit of confidence, it goes a long way," San Jose coach Ron Wilson said. "We're at a point right now where a little bump isn't going to hurt us."
Nabokov played in his league-leading 66th game and made 21 saves.
Chris Kunitz scored the go-ahead goal with 7:24 remaining and the Anaheim Ducks tied a franchise record by extending their home winning streak to seven games.
Samuel Pahlsson added a short-handed goal 33 seconds after Kunitz's goal for the Ducks, who were coming off consecutive shutout losses. Todd Marchant also scored and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 20 saves.
Alex Kovalev scored his 30th goal for the Canadiens.
At New York, Nigel Dawes' shootout goal settled a brilliant goaltending duel between Henrik Lundqvist and Boston's Alex Auld.
Dawes scored in the shootout for the third time in four games and pushed the Rangers ahead of Boston by one point for sixth place in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have 13 games remaining.
Through regulation, Auld made 34 saves, while Lundqvist stopped 27 shots.
At Chicago, rookie Andrew Cogliano redirected Robert Nilsson's cross-ice feed past Patrick Lalime at 3:01 of overtime for his second goal of the game to lift Edmonton.
Chicago's Dustin Byfuglien scored during a goalmouth scramble with 4:35 left in the third period to tie it and set up overtime.
Dustin Penner, Curtis Glencross, Nilsson and Marty Reasoner also scored in regulation for Edmonton, 6-1-0 in its last seven.
At Washington, Sidney Crosby scored two goals - one a fluke goal with 28 seconds to play - and Pittsburgh tallied twice in the final 30 seconds to move within one point of first-place New Jersey in the Atlantic Division.
In a crowd in front of the crease and the score tied at 2, Washington's Nicklas Backstrom backhanded a loose puck into his own net. The puck appeared to hit Crosby's skate along the way, giving the reigning league MVP his second goal of the game and 22nd of the season.
At Detroit, Johan Franzen scored two power-play goals for the NHL-leading Red Wings.
The Red Wings welcomed back captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who missed six games because of a knee injury. The star defenseman had two assists.
Jason Chimera scored a power-play goal with 3:44 remaining, and the Blue Jackets ended a seven-game home winless streak.
Jeff Halpern had a goal and assist for Tampa Bay, losers of five in a row and 10 of 11.
Advance copy of Presidental Speech 7/4/2008
"My Fellow Americans: As you all know, the defeat of the Iraq regime has been completed.
Since congress does not want to spend any m ore money on this war, our mission in Iraq is complete.
This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq This action will be complete within 30 days. It is now time to begin the reckoning.
Before me, I have two lists. One list contains the names of countries which have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict. This list is short. The United Kingdom, Spain , Bulgaria , Australia , and Poland are some of the countries listed there.
The other list contains every one not on the first list. Most of the world's nations are on that list. My press secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later this evening.
Let me start by saying that effective immediately, foreign aid to those nations on List 2 ceases immediately and indefinitely. The money saved during the first year alone will pretty much pay for the costs of the Iraqi war. THEN EVERY YEAR THERE AFTER IT'll GO TO OUR SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM SO IT WONT GO BROKE IN 20 YEARS.
The American people are no longer going to pour money into third world Hellholes and watch those government leaders grow fat on corruption.
Need help with a famine? Wrestling with an epidemic? Call France
In the future, together with Congress, I will work to redirect this money toward solving the vexing social problems we still have at home. On that note, a word to terrorist organizations. Screw with us and we will hunt you down and eliminate you and all your friends from the face of the earth.
Thirsting for a gutsy country to terrorize? Try France or maybe China .
I am ordering the immediate severing of diplomatic relations with France , Germany , and Russia . Thanks for all your help, comrades. We are retiring from NATO as well. Bonne chance, mez amies.
I have instructed the Mayor of New York City to beg in towing the many UN diplomatic vehicles located in Manhattan with more than two unpaid parking tickets to sites where those vehicles will be stripped, shredded and crushed. I don't care about whatever treaty pertains to this. You creeps have tens of thousands of unpaid tickets. Pay those tickets tomorrow or watch your precious Benzes, Beamers and limos be turned over to some of the finest chop shops in the world. I love New York !
A special note to our neighbors. Canada is on List 2. Since we are likely to be seeing a lot more of each other, you folks might want to try not pissing us off for a change.
Mexico is also on List 2. Its president and his entire corrupt government really need an attitude adjustment. I will have a couple extra thousand tanks and infantry divisions sitting around. Guess where I am going to put 'em? Yep, border security.
Oh, by the way, the United States is abrogating the NAFTA treaty - starting now.
We are tired of the one-way highway. Immediately, we'll be drilling for oil in Alaska - which will take care of this country's oil needs for decades to come. If you're an environmentalist who opposes this decision, I refer you to List 2 above: pick a country and move there.
It is time for America to focus on its own welfare and its own citizens. Some will accuse us of isolationism. I answer them by saying, "darn tootin"
Nearly a century of trying to help folks live a decent life around the world has only earned us the undying enmity of just about everyone on the planet. It is time to eliminate hunger in America It is time to eliminate homelessness in America . To the nations on List 1, a final thought. Thank you guys. We owe you and we won't forget.
To the nations on List 2, a final thought: You might want to learn to speak Arabic.
God bless America . Thank you and good night. "
Since congress does not want to spend any m ore money on this war, our mission in Iraq is complete.
This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq This action will be complete within 30 days. It is now time to begin the reckoning.
Before me, I have two lists. One list contains the names of countries which have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict. This list is short. The United Kingdom, Spain , Bulgaria , Australia , and Poland are some of the countries listed there.
The other list contains every one not on the first list. Most of the world's nations are on that list. My press secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later this evening.
Let me start by saying that effective immediately, foreign aid to those nations on List 2 ceases immediately and indefinitely. The money saved during the first year alone will pretty much pay for the costs of the Iraqi war. THEN EVERY YEAR THERE AFTER IT'll GO TO OUR SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM SO IT WONT GO BROKE IN 20 YEARS.
The American people are no longer going to pour money into third world Hellholes and watch those government leaders grow fat on corruption.
Need help with a famine? Wrestling with an epidemic? Call France
In the future, together with Congress, I will work to redirect this money toward solving the vexing social problems we still have at home. On that note, a word to terrorist organizations. Screw with us and we will hunt you down and eliminate you and all your friends from the face of the earth.
Thirsting for a gutsy country to terrorize? Try France or maybe China .
I am ordering the immediate severing of diplomatic relations with France , Germany , and Russia . Thanks for all your help, comrades. We are retiring from NATO as well. Bonne chance, mez amies.
I have instructed the Mayor of New York City to beg in towing the many UN diplomatic vehicles located in Manhattan with more than two unpaid parking tickets to sites where those vehicles will be stripped, shredded and crushed. I don't care about whatever treaty pertains to this. You creeps have tens of thousands of unpaid tickets. Pay those tickets tomorrow or watch your precious Benzes, Beamers and limos be turned over to some of the finest chop shops in the world. I love New York !
A special note to our neighbors. Canada is on List 2. Since we are likely to be seeing a lot more of each other, you folks might want to try not pissing us off for a change.
Mexico is also on List 2. Its president and his entire corrupt government really need an attitude adjustment. I will have a couple extra thousand tanks and infantry divisions sitting around. Guess where I am going to put 'em? Yep, border security.
Oh, by the way, the United States is abrogating the NAFTA treaty - starting now.
We are tired of the one-way highway. Immediately, we'll be drilling for oil in Alaska - which will take care of this country's oil needs for decades to come. If you're an environmentalist who opposes this decision, I refer you to List 2 above: pick a country and move there.
It is time for America to focus on its own welfare and its own citizens. Some will accuse us of isolationism. I answer them by saying, "darn tootin"
Nearly a century of trying to help folks live a decent life around the world has only earned us the undying enmity of just about everyone on the planet. It is time to eliminate hunger in America It is time to eliminate homelessness in America . To the nations on List 1, a final thought. Thank you guys. We owe you and we won't forget.
To the nations on List 2, a final thought: You might want to learn to speak Arabic.
God bless America . Thank you and good night. "
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Thursday, March 6, 2008
A friend of Senator UBL AKA Senator Obama
Jury convicts former Navy sailor of leaking details about his own ship
The American-born Muslim convert formerly known as Paul R. Hall faces up to 25 years in federal prison when he is sentenced in May. His attorney, Dan LaBelle, said an appeal was likely.
Imagine what a President who claims not to be muslim could give the terrorist
The Associated PressPublished: March 5, 2008
NEW HAVEN, Conn.: A former Navy sailor was convicted Wednesday of leaking details about ship movements to suspected terrorism supporters, an act that could have endangered his own crewmates.
Jurors convicted Hassan Abu-Jihaad, 32, of Phoenix of providing material support to terrorists and disclosing classified national defense information on the second day of deliberations.
The American-born Muslim convert formerly known as Paul R. Hall faces up to 25 years in federal prison when he is sentenced in May. His attorney, Dan LaBelle, said an appeal was likely.
"We're disappointed with the verdict, but we respect the process. It was a close case," LaBelle said.
Reached by telephone Wednesday afternoon, a juror called the case "difficult" and said there was plenty of debate in two days of deliberations.
Today in Americas
Torrent in Colorado river is unleashed to aid fishCalifornia university student arrested after explosive devices found Police investigate small explosion in Times Square"It was a very, very difficult decision to make," said the juror, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the nature of the case. "It was not something that was clear cut. When we concluded, there was not a doubt in our mind."
Abu-Jihaad's relatives declined to comment as they left the courthouse.
The leak came amid increased wariness on the part of Navy commanders whose ships headed to the Persian Gulf in the months after a terrorist ambush in 2000 killed 17 sailors aboard the USS Cole.
"Fortunately there wasn't an attack based on the information Abu-Jihaad passed," said FBI agent Kimberly K. Mertz.
Abu-Jihaad, who was a signalman aboard the USS Benfold, was accused of passing along details that included the makeup of his Navy battle group, its planned movements and a drawing of the group's formation when it was to pass through the dangerous Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf on April 29, 2001.
Abu-Jihaad's attorney said a four-year investigation that spanned two continents failed to turn up proof that Abu-Jihaad leaked details of ship movements and their vulnerability to attack.
Federal prosecutors said he sympathized with the enemy and admitted disclosing military intelligence. But they acknowledged they did not have direct proof that he leaked the ship details.
Authorities said the details of ship movements had to have been leaked by an insider, saying they were not publicly known and contained military jargon. The leaked documents closely matched what Abu-Jihaad would have had access to as a signalman, authorities said.
Prosecutors also said Abu-Jihaad was the only member of the military who was communicating with the suspected terrorists. They cited one e-mail in which he called the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 a "martyrdom operation" and praised "the men who have brong (sic) honor ... in the lands of jihad Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, etc."
Prosecutors cited secretly recorded phone calls played during the trial in which Abu-Jihaad spoke of "fresh meals" and "cold meals" that an FBI informant said were references to intelligence related to military bases. A "fresh meal" referred to useful information, while "cold meal" was code for outdated intelligence, prosecutors said.
"In the post 9/11 world, our challenge is to identify, investigate and apprehend those who would compromise our national security in the name of violent jihadism," said Kenneth L. Wainstein, assistant attorney general for national security. "Today's verdict demonstrates that our agents and prosecutors met that challenge with dedication and professionalism. We are all very proud of their efforts."
Dan LaBelle, Abu-Jihaad's attorney, tried to show that many details of ship movements he was accused of leaking to suspected terrorism supporters were publicly available through news reports, press releases and Web sites. He also noted that Navy officials testified that the details were full of errors.
Prosecutors say investigators discovered files on a computer disk recovered from a suspected terrorism supporter's home in London that included the ship movements, as well as the number and type of personnel on each ship and the ships' capabilities. The file ended with instructions to destroy the message, according to testimony.
"Mr. Abu-Jihaad jeopardized the lives of countless American servicemen and women and, as a member of the U.S. Navy, his conduct was shameful and deceitful," said Kathryn A. Feeney, an agent with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
Abu-Jihaad was charged in the same case that led to the 2004 arrest of Babar Ahmad, a British computer specialist accused of running Web sites to raise money, appeal for fighters and provide equipment such as gas masks and night vision goggles for terrorists. Ahmad, who lived with his parents where the computer file was allegedly found, is to be extradited to the U.S.
Abu-Jihaad, who was honorably discharged in 2002, was prosecuted in New Haven because the investigation first focused on a Connecticut-based Internet service provider.
The American-born Muslim convert formerly known as Paul R. Hall faces up to 25 years in federal prison when he is sentenced in May. His attorney, Dan LaBelle, said an appeal was likely.
Imagine what a President who claims not to be muslim could give the terrorist
The Associated PressPublished: March 5, 2008
NEW HAVEN, Conn.: A former Navy sailor was convicted Wednesday of leaking details about ship movements to suspected terrorism supporters, an act that could have endangered his own crewmates.
Jurors convicted Hassan Abu-Jihaad, 32, of Phoenix of providing material support to terrorists and disclosing classified national defense information on the second day of deliberations.
The American-born Muslim convert formerly known as Paul R. Hall faces up to 25 years in federal prison when he is sentenced in May. His attorney, Dan LaBelle, said an appeal was likely.
"We're disappointed with the verdict, but we respect the process. It was a close case," LaBelle said.
Reached by telephone Wednesday afternoon, a juror called the case "difficult" and said there was plenty of debate in two days of deliberations.
Today in Americas
Torrent in Colorado river is unleashed to aid fishCalifornia university student arrested after explosive devices found Police investigate small explosion in Times Square"It was a very, very difficult decision to make," said the juror, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the nature of the case. "It was not something that was clear cut. When we concluded, there was not a doubt in our mind."
Abu-Jihaad's relatives declined to comment as they left the courthouse.
The leak came amid increased wariness on the part of Navy commanders whose ships headed to the Persian Gulf in the months after a terrorist ambush in 2000 killed 17 sailors aboard the USS Cole.
"Fortunately there wasn't an attack based on the information Abu-Jihaad passed," said FBI agent Kimberly K. Mertz.
Abu-Jihaad, who was a signalman aboard the USS Benfold, was accused of passing along details that included the makeup of his Navy battle group, its planned movements and a drawing of the group's formation when it was to pass through the dangerous Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf on April 29, 2001.
Abu-Jihaad's attorney said a four-year investigation that spanned two continents failed to turn up proof that Abu-Jihaad leaked details of ship movements and their vulnerability to attack.
Federal prosecutors said he sympathized with the enemy and admitted disclosing military intelligence. But they acknowledged they did not have direct proof that he leaked the ship details.
Authorities said the details of ship movements had to have been leaked by an insider, saying they were not publicly known and contained military jargon. The leaked documents closely matched what Abu-Jihaad would have had access to as a signalman, authorities said.
Prosecutors also said Abu-Jihaad was the only member of the military who was communicating with the suspected terrorists. They cited one e-mail in which he called the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 a "martyrdom operation" and praised "the men who have brong (sic) honor ... in the lands of jihad Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, etc."
Prosecutors cited secretly recorded phone calls played during the trial in which Abu-Jihaad spoke of "fresh meals" and "cold meals" that an FBI informant said were references to intelligence related to military bases. A "fresh meal" referred to useful information, while "cold meal" was code for outdated intelligence, prosecutors said.
"In the post 9/11 world, our challenge is to identify, investigate and apprehend those who would compromise our national security in the name of violent jihadism," said Kenneth L. Wainstein, assistant attorney general for national security. "Today's verdict demonstrates that our agents and prosecutors met that challenge with dedication and professionalism. We are all very proud of their efforts."
Dan LaBelle, Abu-Jihaad's attorney, tried to show that many details of ship movements he was accused of leaking to suspected terrorism supporters were publicly available through news reports, press releases and Web sites. He also noted that Navy officials testified that the details were full of errors.
Prosecutors say investigators discovered files on a computer disk recovered from a suspected terrorism supporter's home in London that included the ship movements, as well as the number and type of personnel on each ship and the ships' capabilities. The file ended with instructions to destroy the message, according to testimony.
"Mr. Abu-Jihaad jeopardized the lives of countless American servicemen and women and, as a member of the U.S. Navy, his conduct was shameful and deceitful," said Kathryn A. Feeney, an agent with the Defense Criminal Investigative Service.
Abu-Jihaad was charged in the same case that led to the 2004 arrest of Babar Ahmad, a British computer specialist accused of running Web sites to raise money, appeal for fighters and provide equipment such as gas masks and night vision goggles for terrorists. Ahmad, who lived with his parents where the computer file was allegedly found, is to be extradited to the U.S.
Abu-Jihaad, who was honorably discharged in 2002, was prosecuted in New Haven because the investigation first focused on a Connecticut-based Internet service provider.
Yo Liberals Come get me
*For those who are unaware, the National Anthem
is played before every movie
in *
*military theatres in the U.S. and abroad. *
*From a Chaplain in Iraq: *
**
*I recently attended a showing of "Superman 3,"
here at LSA Anaconda. *
**
*We have a large auditorium we use for movies, as
well as memorial services
and *
*other large gatherings. *
**
*As is the custom back in the States, we stood
and snapped to attention when
the *
*National Anthem began before the main feature. *
**
*All was going as planned until about
three-quarters of the way through The
*
*National Anthem the music stopped. *
**
*Now, what would happen if this occurred with
1,000 18-22 year-olds back in
the *
*States? *
**
*I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls,
laughter, a few rude comments;
and *
*everyone would sit down and call for a movie.?Of
course, that is, if they
had *
*stood for the National Anthem in the first
place. *
**
*Here, the 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at
attention, eyes fixed
forward. *
**
*The music began again. The Soldiers continued to
quietly stand at
attention. And *
*again, at the same point, the music stopped. *
**
*What would you expect to happen? *
**
*Even here I would imagine laughter, as everyone
finally sat down and
expected *
*the movie to start. *
**
*But here, you could have heard a pin drop. Every
Soldier continued to stand
at *
*attention. Suddenly there was a lone voice, then
a dozen, and quickly the
room *
*was filled with the voices of a thousand
soldiers, finishing where the
recording *
*left off: *
**
*"And the rockets red glare, *
*The bombs bursting in air, *
*Gave proof through the night *
*Th at our flag was still there. *
*Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
*
*O'er the land of the free *
*And the home of the brave?" *
*
*
*It was the most inspiring moment I have had here
in Iraq. *
**
*I wanted you to know what kind of soldiers are
serving you here. *
**
*Remember them as they fight for you! *
**
*Pass this along as a reminder to others to be
ever in prayer for all our *
*soldiers serving us here at home and abroad. For
many have already paid the
*
*ultimate price.... *
**
*Written by Chaplain Jim Higgins on 5/14/07 *
*LSA Anaconda is at the Balad Airport in Iraq,
north of Baghdad. *
*
God Bless America
In God We Trust
Commander & Americanism Chairman
is played before every movie
in *
*military theatres in the U.S. and abroad. *
*From a Chaplain in Iraq: *
**
*I recently attended a showing of "Superman 3,"
here at LSA Anaconda. *
**
*We have a large auditorium we use for movies, as
well as memorial services
and *
*other large gatherings. *
**
*As is the custom back in the States, we stood
and snapped to attention when
the *
*National Anthem began before the main feature. *
**
*All was going as planned until about
three-quarters of the way through The
*
*National Anthem the music stopped. *
**
*Now, what would happen if this occurred with
1,000 18-22 year-olds back in
the *
*States? *
**
*I imagine there would be hoots, catcalls,
laughter, a few rude comments;
and *
*everyone would sit down and call for a movie.?Of
course, that is, if they
had *
*stood for the National Anthem in the first
place. *
**
*Here, the 1,000 Soldiers continued to stand at
attention, eyes fixed
forward. *
**
*The music began again. The Soldiers continued to
quietly stand at
attention. And *
*again, at the same point, the music stopped. *
**
*What would you expect to happen? *
**
*Even here I would imagine laughter, as everyone
finally sat down and
expected *
*the movie to start. *
**
*But here, you could have heard a pin drop. Every
Soldier continued to stand
at *
*attention. Suddenly there was a lone voice, then
a dozen, and quickly the
room *
*was filled with the voices of a thousand
soldiers, finishing where the
recording *
*left off: *
**
*"And the rockets red glare, *
*The bombs bursting in air, *
*Gave proof through the night *
*Th at our flag was still there. *
*Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
*
*O'er the land of the free *
*And the home of the brave?" *
*
*
*It was the most inspiring moment I have had here
in Iraq. *
**
*I wanted you to know what kind of soldiers are
serving you here. *
**
*Remember them as they fight for you! *
**
*Pass this along as a reminder to others to be
ever in prayer for all our *
*soldiers serving us here at home and abroad. For
many have already paid the
*
*ultimate price.... *
**
*Written by Chaplain Jim Higgins on 5/14/07 *
*LSA Anaconda is at the Balad Airport in Iraq,
north of Baghdad. *
*
God Bless America
In God We Trust
Commander & Americanism Chairman
This anti Vietnam. but the liberals aka terrorist actions make it feel that way
NYC Police Probe Times Square Explosion
Mar 6, 7:16 AM (ET)
By DEREK ROSE
(AP) New York police officers with the bomb squad unit inspect the damage done by an explosive device to...
NEW YORK (AP) - An explosive device caused minor damage to an empty military recruiting station in Times Square early Thursday, shaking guests in hotel rooms high above "the crossroads of the world."
Police blocked off the area to investigate the explosion, which occurred at about 3:45 a.m., shattering the station's glass entryway. No one was injured.
"If it is something that's directed toward American troops than it's something that's taken very seriously and is pretty unfortunate," said Army Capt. Charlie Jaquillard, who is the commander of Army recruiting in Manhattan.
He said no one was inside the station, where the Marines, Air Force and Navy also recruit.
(AP) New York's Times Square is closed Thursday morning March 6, 2008, after an explosive device caused...
Full Image
Witnesses staying at a Marriott hotel four blocks away said they could feel the building shake with the blast.
"I was up on the 44th floor and I could feel it. It was a big bang," said Darla Peck, 25, of Portland, Oregon.
"It shook the building. I thought it could have been thunder, but I looked down and there was a massive plume of smoke so I knew it was an explosion," said Terry Leighton, 48, of London, who was staying on the 21st floor of the Marriott.
Members of the police department's bomb squad and fire officials gathered outside the station in the early morning darkness, and police cars and yellow tape blocked drivers - most of them behind the wheels of taxicabs - from entering one of the world's busiest crossroads. Police began allowing some traffic through around the start of rush hour.
Though subway cars passed through the Times Square station without stopping in the early hours of the investigation, normal service was soon restored, with some delays.
The recruiting station, located on a traffic island surrounded by Broadway theaters and chain restaurants, has occasionally been the site of anti-war demonstrations, ranging from silent vigils to loud rallies.
In October 2005, a group of activists who call themselves the Granny Peace Brigade rallied there against the Iraq war. Eighteen activists, most of them grandmothers with several in their 80s and 90s, were later acquitted of disorderly conduct.
The recruiting station was renovated in 1999 to better fit into the flashy ambiance of Times Square, using neon tubing to give the glass and steel office a patriotic American flag motif. For a half century, the station was the armed forces' busiest recruiting center. It has set national records for enlistment, averaging about 10,000 volunteers a year.
Police said it was too early to say if the blast may have been related to two other minor explosions in the city.
In October, two small explosive devices were tossed over a fence at the Mexican consulate, shattering three windows but causing no injuries. No threats had been made against the consulate, and no one took responsibility for the explosion, police said.
At the time, police said they were investigating whether it was connected to a similar incident at the British consulate on May 5, 2005.
In that incident, the explosions took place in the early morning hours, when Britons were going to the polls in an election that returned Prime Minister Tony Blair to power.
In both cases, the instruments were fake grenades sometimes sold as novelty items. They were packed with black power and detonated with fuses, but incapable of causing serious harm, police said.
Mar 6, 7:16 AM (ET)
By DEREK ROSE
(AP) New York police officers with the bomb squad unit inspect the damage done by an explosive device to...
NEW YORK (AP) - An explosive device caused minor damage to an empty military recruiting station in Times Square early Thursday, shaking guests in hotel rooms high above "the crossroads of the world."
Police blocked off the area to investigate the explosion, which occurred at about 3:45 a.m., shattering the station's glass entryway. No one was injured.
"If it is something that's directed toward American troops than it's something that's taken very seriously and is pretty unfortunate," said Army Capt. Charlie Jaquillard, who is the commander of Army recruiting in Manhattan.
He said no one was inside the station, where the Marines, Air Force and Navy also recruit.
(AP) New York's Times Square is closed Thursday morning March 6, 2008, after an explosive device caused...
Full Image
Witnesses staying at a Marriott hotel four blocks away said they could feel the building shake with the blast.
"I was up on the 44th floor and I could feel it. It was a big bang," said Darla Peck, 25, of Portland, Oregon.
"It shook the building. I thought it could have been thunder, but I looked down and there was a massive plume of smoke so I knew it was an explosion," said Terry Leighton, 48, of London, who was staying on the 21st floor of the Marriott.
Members of the police department's bomb squad and fire officials gathered outside the station in the early morning darkness, and police cars and yellow tape blocked drivers - most of them behind the wheels of taxicabs - from entering one of the world's busiest crossroads. Police began allowing some traffic through around the start of rush hour.
Though subway cars passed through the Times Square station without stopping in the early hours of the investigation, normal service was soon restored, with some delays.
The recruiting station, located on a traffic island surrounded by Broadway theaters and chain restaurants, has occasionally been the site of anti-war demonstrations, ranging from silent vigils to loud rallies.
In October 2005, a group of activists who call themselves the Granny Peace Brigade rallied there against the Iraq war. Eighteen activists, most of them grandmothers with several in their 80s and 90s, were later acquitted of disorderly conduct.
The recruiting station was renovated in 1999 to better fit into the flashy ambiance of Times Square, using neon tubing to give the glass and steel office a patriotic American flag motif. For a half century, the station was the armed forces' busiest recruiting center. It has set national records for enlistment, averaging about 10,000 volunteers a year.
Police said it was too early to say if the blast may have been related to two other minor explosions in the city.
In October, two small explosive devices were tossed over a fence at the Mexican consulate, shattering three windows but causing no injuries. No threats had been made against the consulate, and no one took responsibility for the explosion, police said.
At the time, police said they were investigating whether it was connected to a similar incident at the British consulate on May 5, 2005.
In that incident, the explosions took place in the early morning hours, when Britons were going to the polls in an election that returned Prime Minister Tony Blair to power.
In both cases, the instruments were fake grenades sometimes sold as novelty items. They were packed with black power and detonated with fuses, but incapable of causing serious harm, police said.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Lokki Lokki Obama is UBL
(2008-03-05) — While the delegate count remains close in the Democrat presidential race after Sen. Hillary Clinton’s victories in Ohio and Texas yesterday, experts said the Super Delegates should all go to Sen. Barack Obama under a Democrat party formula designed to compensate for historic racial prejudice.
The Affirmative Action formula will hand Sen. Obama the nomination, even if, as the Clinton campaign contends, he gets only half of the Super Delegates — an amount proportionate to his genetic racial mix.
Meanwhile, Sen. Clinton’s lawyers will press their case that the former First Lady should get a Super Delegate “bonus” of 23 percent, in addition to those already committed to her, because women in general earn only 77 cents for every dollar men earn, according to labor union figures.
Democrat National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said the closeness of the race only serves to highlight the value of the Super Delegates.
“If we didn’t have these professional politicians to ultimately pick the nominee,” said Mr. Dean, “the future of our party would be left in the hands of common, ordinary people.”
The Affirmative Action formula will hand Sen. Obama the nomination, even if, as the Clinton campaign contends, he gets only half of the Super Delegates — an amount proportionate to his genetic racial mix.
Meanwhile, Sen. Clinton’s lawyers will press their case that the former First Lady should get a Super Delegate “bonus” of 23 percent, in addition to those already committed to her, because women in general earn only 77 cents for every dollar men earn, according to labor union figures.
Democrat National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said the closeness of the race only serves to highlight the value of the Super Delegates.
“If we didn’t have these professional politicians to ultimately pick the nominee,” said Mr. Dean, “the future of our party would be left in the hands of common, ordinary people.”
This is the stuff that keeps you up at night
FOXNEWS.COM HOME > WORLD
Conflict Grows Between Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, speaks during his weekly broadcast "Alo Presidente" in Caracas on March 2.
CUCUTA, Colombia — Venezuela and Ecuador took their growing conflict with Colombia to the diplomatic front, seeking international condemnation of Colombia's deadly assault on a rebel base in Ecuador.
The two countries tightened their borders and were deploying thousands of troops, while Colombia on Tuesday pointed to documents found in a slain rebel leader's laptop that it called proof of stunning links between the leftist guerrillas and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
Ecuador rejected a Colombian apology for the cross-border strike as insufficient, and sought to rally opposition during an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States, convened in Washington to help defuse one of South America's most volatile crises in years. Venezuela's justice minister declared that war "has already begun."
At Venezuela's border with Colombia, National Guard troops turned back Colombian cargo trucks under orders from Caracas.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa began a six-nation tour in Peru and Brazil, calling Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a liar who "wanted war." Correa warned that if the attack goes unpunished, "the region will be in danger, because the next victim could be Peru, it could be Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, any one of our countries."
RelatedStories
Colombian Rebel Files Show Ties to Chavez, Secret U.S. Talks, Expectations for Obama Venezuelan Troops Move to Colombian Border As Tensions Between Two Countries Mount At the moment, it's mostly a war of words, and other nations have tried to keep it that way, although many said Colombia was wrong to send troops into Ecuador. The military assault on Saturday killed 24 guerrillas, including Colombian rebel spokesman Raul Reyes, who was engaged in hostage talks with Venezuela, France and other countries.
President Bush backed Colombia and accused Chavez of "provocative maneuvers."
Uribe said Chavez should be prosecuted before the International Criminal Court for allegedly financing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Uribe said documents found in a laptop seized in Reyes' camp showed Venezuela recently made a US$300 million payment to the rebels.
Venezuela dismissed the allegations as lies and Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the idea of prosecuting Chavez was "laughable." Justice Minister Ramon Rodiguez Chacin said the hand of Washington was behind Colombia's actions, declaring: "Our enemy is the empire."
Colombia also accused the rebels of trying to make a radioactive dirty bomb, although the documents it shared with reporters don't support that allegation, indicating instead that the rebels discussed the possibility of buying uranium to resell at a profit.
In Brazil, Correa suggested late Tuesday that the Colombian raid was carried out to prevent the liberation of rebel-held hostages.
He offered no proof, but said he agreed with speculation that Colombia targeted Reyes "to prevent a deal for the liberation of the hostages from going forward."
The FARC freed four hostages last week, and Chavez had pledged to try to win freedom for others including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
The rebels said Tuesday that Reyes died "completing a mission to arrange, through President Chavez, a meeting with (French) President (Nicolas) Sarkozy" aimed at securing Betancourt's release.
In Washington, Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador said Colombia's apology wasn't enough, demanding that the OAS condemn the incursion, appoint a commission to investigate it and call an urgent meeting of the region's foreign ministers in the next week.
Colombia's attack on the camp 1.8 kilometers (just over a mile) inside Ecuador reflected its frustration over the ability of rebels to take refuge across poorly patrolled borders.
Uribe said he would not allow his nation to be drawn into war.
Venezuela was sending about 9,000 soldiers — 10 battalions — to the border region as a "preventive" measure, retired Gen. Alberto Muller Rojas, a former top Chavez aide, told The Associated Press. Ecuador said it sent 3,200 troops to the border on Monday.
Venezuela's agriculture minister, Elias Jaua, said Venezuela had closed the border — which sees annual trade worth roughly US$5 billion — to imports and exports.
Leonardo Mendez, a spokesman for a Colombian cargo transport association, said some 300 vehicles, including trucks carrying food, shoes, ceramics and other products, were stuck at one major border crossing.
Despite the shrill rhetoric from the Andean governments, in several border towns there was little sign of tension apart from the turning away of trucks by Venezuelan border guards.
Contenting themselves by calling Chavez "crazy", Colombian truckers lounged in the shade drinking beer and saying they hope the crisis won't persist long.
When the border is open, each day some 8,500 metric tons (9,400 tons) of merchandise cross between Colombia and Venezuela in both directions, said Jaime Sorzano, head of the cargo transport association. "In the past, we've had episodes, problems, but like this crisis no. It's unprecedented," he said.
Conflict Grows Between Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, speaks during his weekly broadcast "Alo Presidente" in Caracas on March 2.
CUCUTA, Colombia — Venezuela and Ecuador took their growing conflict with Colombia to the diplomatic front, seeking international condemnation of Colombia's deadly assault on a rebel base in Ecuador.
The two countries tightened their borders and were deploying thousands of troops, while Colombia on Tuesday pointed to documents found in a slain rebel leader's laptop that it called proof of stunning links between the leftist guerrillas and Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez.
Ecuador rejected a Colombian apology for the cross-border strike as insufficient, and sought to rally opposition during an emergency meeting of the Organization of American States, convened in Washington to help defuse one of South America's most volatile crises in years. Venezuela's justice minister declared that war "has already begun."
At Venezuela's border with Colombia, National Guard troops turned back Colombian cargo trucks under orders from Caracas.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa began a six-nation tour in Peru and Brazil, calling Colombian President Alvaro Uribe a liar who "wanted war." Correa warned that if the attack goes unpunished, "the region will be in danger, because the next victim could be Peru, it could be Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, any one of our countries."
RelatedStories
Colombian Rebel Files Show Ties to Chavez, Secret U.S. Talks, Expectations for Obama Venezuelan Troops Move to Colombian Border As Tensions Between Two Countries Mount At the moment, it's mostly a war of words, and other nations have tried to keep it that way, although many said Colombia was wrong to send troops into Ecuador. The military assault on Saturday killed 24 guerrillas, including Colombian rebel spokesman Raul Reyes, who was engaged in hostage talks with Venezuela, France and other countries.
President Bush backed Colombia and accused Chavez of "provocative maneuvers."
Uribe said Chavez should be prosecuted before the International Criminal Court for allegedly financing the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. Uribe said documents found in a laptop seized in Reyes' camp showed Venezuela recently made a US$300 million payment to the rebels.
Venezuela dismissed the allegations as lies and Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the idea of prosecuting Chavez was "laughable." Justice Minister Ramon Rodiguez Chacin said the hand of Washington was behind Colombia's actions, declaring: "Our enemy is the empire."
Colombia also accused the rebels of trying to make a radioactive dirty bomb, although the documents it shared with reporters don't support that allegation, indicating instead that the rebels discussed the possibility of buying uranium to resell at a profit.
In Brazil, Correa suggested late Tuesday that the Colombian raid was carried out to prevent the liberation of rebel-held hostages.
He offered no proof, but said he agreed with speculation that Colombia targeted Reyes "to prevent a deal for the liberation of the hostages from going forward."
The FARC freed four hostages last week, and Chavez had pledged to try to win freedom for others including French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt.
The rebels said Tuesday that Reyes died "completing a mission to arrange, through President Chavez, a meeting with (French) President (Nicolas) Sarkozy" aimed at securing Betancourt's release.
In Washington, Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Maria Isabel Salvador said Colombia's apology wasn't enough, demanding that the OAS condemn the incursion, appoint a commission to investigate it and call an urgent meeting of the region's foreign ministers in the next week.
Colombia's attack on the camp 1.8 kilometers (just over a mile) inside Ecuador reflected its frustration over the ability of rebels to take refuge across poorly patrolled borders.
Uribe said he would not allow his nation to be drawn into war.
Venezuela was sending about 9,000 soldiers — 10 battalions — to the border region as a "preventive" measure, retired Gen. Alberto Muller Rojas, a former top Chavez aide, told The Associated Press. Ecuador said it sent 3,200 troops to the border on Monday.
Venezuela's agriculture minister, Elias Jaua, said Venezuela had closed the border — which sees annual trade worth roughly US$5 billion — to imports and exports.
Leonardo Mendez, a spokesman for a Colombian cargo transport association, said some 300 vehicles, including trucks carrying food, shoes, ceramics and other products, were stuck at one major border crossing.
Despite the shrill rhetoric from the Andean governments, in several border towns there was little sign of tension apart from the turning away of trucks by Venezuelan border guards.
Contenting themselves by calling Chavez "crazy", Colombian truckers lounged in the shade drinking beer and saying they hope the crisis won't persist long.
When the border is open, each day some 8,500 metric tons (9,400 tons) of merchandise cross between Colombia and Venezuela in both directions, said Jaime Sorzano, head of the cargo transport association. "In the past, we've had episodes, problems, but like this crisis no. It's unprecedented," he said.
McCain Heads to White House to Get Push From Bush http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/03/05/mccain-heads-to-white-house-to-get- ...
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Now FAG is going to strike I hop SWG does not support them.
Hollywood braces for threat of actors strike
Learn to Trade with a FREE Guide.
By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The final epilogue to the tumultuous writers strike has been written, but Hollywood is bracing for a possible a sequel to the costly walkout -- this one starring film and television actors.
While the TV industry has rushed to bring derailed shows back on the air since screenwriters returned to work three weeks ago, the threat of renewed labor unrest by actors in the months ahead has put movie studios in a tenuous situation.
Filmmakers are reluctant to launch any production that cannot be completed before the expiration of the Screen Actors Guild's major film and TV contract on June 30 -- a date being treated as the union's de facto strike deadline.
Assuming a typical 60-day movie shoot, plus extra time for days off, possible overruns and re-shoots that might be necessary, that means few if any big-studio movies will start filming after the end of this month, industry experts say.
"The studios for the most part are not greenlighting any movies that would have to be in production after that (June 30) deadline," said an insider at one leading talent agency who was not authorized to speak publicly about client issues.
Labor jitters have even prompted Hollywood's leading insurance carrier, Fireman's Fund Insurance Co, to offer a first-of-its-kind "strike expense" policy for studios.
The policy covers the costs of a strike-related production shutdown in the event that an actor's illness, equipment damage or other unexpected loss pushes the shooting schedule of a movie past SAG's June 30 contract deadline.
STRIKE FATIGUE
Nerves are still raw from a 14-week strike by 10,500 writers that shut down much of the television industry and derailed numerous film projects, idling thousands of production workers and costing the local economy some $3 billion.
The walkout ended February 12 after the two sides reached agreement on a deal giving writers more money for work distributed over the Internet. The contract was formally ratified by the Writers Guild of America membership last week.
The Screen Actors Guild shares many of the same contract demands. But SAG also faces issues unique to its 120,000 members, such as forced commercial endorsements through product placement in TV shows and movies.
Many in Hollywood believe strike fatigue is running too high for another work stoppage to materialize. But with tens of millions of dollars at stake when a film production is disrupted, movie studios are playing it safe.
Steven Spielberg has called off the April start to a DreamWorks film about the trial of the 1968 anti-war activists, the Chicago Seven, according to Daily Variety newspaper
Michael Bay, director of the 2007 summer action blockbuster "Transformers," is keeping his fingers crossed as he sticks to an early June start date for a sequel to the movie.
Given the wide concern, SAG leaders have been pressured to open contract talks with the major studios as soon as possible, leading to tensions between the guild and its sister union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).
SAG President Alan Rosenberg has insisted the guild will not be ready to begin official talks before early April.
Some leaders of AFTRA and SAG's New York wing have agitated for talks to begin sooner, as have several high-profile actors, including George Clooney and Tom Hanks who took out full-page ads in Hollywood trade papers urging immediate negotiations.
Rosenberg and SAG executive director Doug Allen recently suggested that informal talks like those that led to contracts with the WGA and the Directors Guild of America, were already under way. "We will certainly continue to meet with the CEOs of the major networks and studios as we prepare for formal negotiations," they wrote in a February 28 memo to members.
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Eric Walsh)
Learn to Trade with a FREE Guide.
By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The final epilogue to the tumultuous writers strike has been written, but Hollywood is bracing for a possible a sequel to the costly walkout -- this one starring film and television actors.
While the TV industry has rushed to bring derailed shows back on the air since screenwriters returned to work three weeks ago, the threat of renewed labor unrest by actors in the months ahead has put movie studios in a tenuous situation.
Filmmakers are reluctant to launch any production that cannot be completed before the expiration of the Screen Actors Guild's major film and TV contract on June 30 -- a date being treated as the union's de facto strike deadline.
Assuming a typical 60-day movie shoot, plus extra time for days off, possible overruns and re-shoots that might be necessary, that means few if any big-studio movies will start filming after the end of this month, industry experts say.
"The studios for the most part are not greenlighting any movies that would have to be in production after that (June 30) deadline," said an insider at one leading talent agency who was not authorized to speak publicly about client issues.
Labor jitters have even prompted Hollywood's leading insurance carrier, Fireman's Fund Insurance Co, to offer a first-of-its-kind "strike expense" policy for studios.
The policy covers the costs of a strike-related production shutdown in the event that an actor's illness, equipment damage or other unexpected loss pushes the shooting schedule of a movie past SAG's June 30 contract deadline.
STRIKE FATIGUE
Nerves are still raw from a 14-week strike by 10,500 writers that shut down much of the television industry and derailed numerous film projects, idling thousands of production workers and costing the local economy some $3 billion.
The walkout ended February 12 after the two sides reached agreement on a deal giving writers more money for work distributed over the Internet. The contract was formally ratified by the Writers Guild of America membership last week.
The Screen Actors Guild shares many of the same contract demands. But SAG also faces issues unique to its 120,000 members, such as forced commercial endorsements through product placement in TV shows and movies.
Many in Hollywood believe strike fatigue is running too high for another work stoppage to materialize. But with tens of millions of dollars at stake when a film production is disrupted, movie studios are playing it safe.
Steven Spielberg has called off the April start to a DreamWorks film about the trial of the 1968 anti-war activists, the Chicago Seven, according to Daily Variety newspaper
Michael Bay, director of the 2007 summer action blockbuster "Transformers," is keeping his fingers crossed as he sticks to an early June start date for a sequel to the movie.
Given the wide concern, SAG leaders have been pressured to open contract talks with the major studios as soon as possible, leading to tensions between the guild and its sister union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA).
SAG President Alan Rosenberg has insisted the guild will not be ready to begin official talks before early April.
Some leaders of AFTRA and SAG's New York wing have agitated for talks to begin sooner, as have several high-profile actors, including George Clooney and Tom Hanks who took out full-page ads in Hollywood trade papers urging immediate negotiations.
Rosenberg and SAG executive director Doug Allen recently suggested that informal talks like those that led to contracts with the WGA and the Directors Guild of America, were already under way. "We will certainly continue to meet with the CEOs of the major networks and studios as we prepare for formal negotiations," they wrote in a February 28 memo to members.
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Eric Walsh)
Monday, March 3, 2008
This is Bull S******
Notre Dame honors activist-actor Sheen 1 hour, 4 minutes ago
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Activist-actor Martin Sheen will be honored by the University of Notre Dame with its Laetare Medal for his humanitarian work, the school announced Sunday.
Sheen, who starred as a U.S. president who was a Notre Dame graduate in NBC's "The West Wing," is to receive the medal at the school's May 18 commencement.
Since 1883, the Laetare Medal has been awarded annually to a Catholic "whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the church and enriched the heritage of humanity."
Let me get this straight you flunk out of the city of cleveland community colleges. Never completing a degree and then you go on to act and do a losy jobv at that. Playing an anti American President on tv for 6 years bashing the real President any time you can. Your show finally goes off the air and you contintue to Bash the real President and you get an award for that. Hollywood life is grand aint it
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Activist-actor Martin Sheen will be honored by the University of Notre Dame with its Laetare Medal for his humanitarian work, the school announced Sunday.
Sheen, who starred as a U.S. president who was a Notre Dame graduate in NBC's "The West Wing," is to receive the medal at the school's May 18 commencement.
Since 1883, the Laetare Medal has been awarded annually to a Catholic "whose genius has ennobled the arts and sciences, illustrated the ideals of the church and enriched the heritage of humanity."
Let me get this straight you flunk out of the city of cleveland community colleges. Never completing a degree and then you go on to act and do a losy jobv at that. Playing an anti American President on tv for 6 years bashing the real President any time you can. Your show finally goes off the air and you contintue to Bash the real President and you get an award for that. Hollywood life is grand aint it
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Christening Set for USS New York, Made With WTC Steel: A new U.S. Navy sh.. http://tinyurl.com/2s2c9z
Combination of fast track, new car too much for some: Juan Montoya's car sat in .. http://tinyurl.com/2h94at
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