French TV claims photos from 2005 showed damage from Israel's Gaza operation - Haaretz - Israel News: "French public television network France 2 on Tuesday revealed they had aired photographs that allegedly showed destruction caused by the Israel Air Force during Operation Cast Lead, which were in fact taken during a different incident in 2005, one in which Gaza civilians were killed by an explosion caused by militants in the Strip."
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Other than being 4 years out of date and showing the other side's handiwork, I'm sure it made for great journalism.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Real-Estate Executive Found Dead in Apparent Suicide - WSJ.com
Real-Estate Executive Found Dead in Apparent Suicide - WSJ.com: "CHICAGO -- Real-estate executive Steven L. Good was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound Monday in his Jaguar in a forest preserve outside Chicago, said the Kane County Sheriff's Department."
FT.com / Companies / Pharmaceuticals - Billionaire Merckle commits suicide
FT.com / Companies / Pharmaceuticals - Billionaire Merckle commits suicide: "Adolf Merckle, one of Germany’s wealthiest men, committed suicide after weeks of talks with creditors designed to save his businesses from being consumed by disastrous investments and the global financial crisis.
The billionaire, 74, was said by his family to have been “broken” by the sight of his business empire, which ranged from pharmaceuticals to cement, crumbling. He died on Monday evening, apparently hit by a train a few hundred metres from his home in southern Germany."
The billionaire, 74, was said by his family to have been “broken” by the sight of his business empire, which ranged from pharmaceuticals to cement, crumbling. He died on Monday evening, apparently hit by a train a few hundred metres from his home in southern Germany."
Porn Bailout: Larry Flynt, Joe Francis Seeking Government Money
Porn Bailout: Larry Flynt, Joe Francis Seeking Government Money: "An article in next month's Atlantic asks, 'Is porn recession proof?' According to porn magnate Larry Flynt and 'Girls Gone Wild' king Joe Francis, the answer is no.
TMZ reports that the pornographer pair is heading to Washington to ask for a $5 billion porn bailout:
'With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind,' Flynt says. 'It's time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America.'"
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This gives the term "economic stimulus package" new meaning.
TMZ reports that the pornographer pair is heading to Washington to ask for a $5 billion porn bailout:
'With all this economic misery and people losing all that money, sex is the farthest thing from their mind,' Flynt says. 'It's time for Congress to rejuvenate the sexual appetite of America.'"
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This gives the term "economic stimulus package" new meaning.
Obama refuses to take stand on seating Burris
See? Nobody will ever pin The One down on anything that smells bad. Not ever.
See? Nobody will ever pin The One down on anything that smells bad. Not ever.
Senate Democrats Plan To Accept Burris For Obama's Vacant Seat - cbs2chicago.com
Senate Democrats Plan To Accept Burris For Obama's Vacant Seat - cbs2chicago.com
What did I tell you last week?
I was listening to Dick Durbin as he followed the pathetic Harry Reid, who made an ass of himself at the mike and then shambled off as he turned it over to the former ambulance chaser. Durbin then began to lay a vast slime trail as he attempted to rewrite history and provide some sort of cover for the Democrat's disgraceful and illegal behavior, culminating in their sudden reversal of position and full-blown capitulation.
Now they claim they are waiting for Jesse White, the Democrat Illinois Secretary of State, to be ordered to do his job by the Illinois Supreme Court. I once had great respect for White, but his role in this travesty is so inexcusable, so blatantly illegal, that if there were any semblance of justice in this thoroughly corrupt state, White would be impeached even before Blagojevich.
Make no mistake--these morons have lost to Blagojevich, just as I predicted last week. Chump that he is, Blago nonetheless made complete fools of all of them.
Senate Majority Leader? Assistant Majority Leader? These are two of the most powerful legislators in the greatest nation on earth, buffaloed and embarrassed by the likes of Blagojevich. And of course The One, as usual, is nowhere to be found. Get used to that, because he is a genius at avoiding responsibility, having practiced the art for his entire adult life.
This country is badly led at a time when it is in desperate need of wise and responsible guidance.
What did I tell you last week?
I was listening to Dick Durbin as he followed the pathetic Harry Reid, who made an ass of himself at the mike and then shambled off as he turned it over to the former ambulance chaser. Durbin then began to lay a vast slime trail as he attempted to rewrite history and provide some sort of cover for the Democrat's disgraceful and illegal behavior, culminating in their sudden reversal of position and full-blown capitulation.
Now they claim they are waiting for Jesse White, the Democrat Illinois Secretary of State, to be ordered to do his job by the Illinois Supreme Court. I once had great respect for White, but his role in this travesty is so inexcusable, so blatantly illegal, that if there were any semblance of justice in this thoroughly corrupt state, White would be impeached even before Blagojevich.
Make no mistake--these morons have lost to Blagojevich, just as I predicted last week. Chump that he is, Blago nonetheless made complete fools of all of them.
Senate Majority Leader? Assistant Majority Leader? These are two of the most powerful legislators in the greatest nation on earth, buffaloed and embarrassed by the likes of Blagojevich. And of course The One, as usual, is nowhere to be found. Get used to that, because he is a genius at avoiding responsibility, having practiced the art for his entire adult life.
This country is badly led at a time when it is in desperate need of wise and responsible guidance.
California may delay tax refunds amid budget impasse - Los Angeles Times
California in deep, deep trouble : "Reporting from Sacramento -- State officials on Tuesday braced for the possibility of delaying tax refunds to millions of Californians, along with student grants and payments to vendors, as the latest round of budget negotiations between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic legislators collapsed.
With little more than a month's worth of cash left in the state treasury, the governor and lawmakers have been unable to agree on how to erase a budget gap projected to reach $41.6 billion by the middle of next year. Democrats announced Tuesday that two weeks of discussions had ended in an impasse and sent Schwarzenegger the $18-billion fiscal package they passed last month. The governor vetoed it, as he had promised to do."
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Fred Pilot sent this along. At $42 billion, California is deeper in the hole than any other state, but this isn't just an economic problem. I think the state may well go bankrupt because they are unable to manage their own economic affairs. Underlying the deficit is a breakdown of the political system, and underlying that are some demographic issues that may make it impossible to solve either the political or economic problems.
The middle class has been fleeing the state for some time now, headed for parts east where they get a better deal on taxes, schools, public safety, traffic, home prices, and the other things that matter to them. And the state is the preferred destination for poor people from other nations, for whom it remains a great place to live when compared with where they came from.
The demographic shifts in the state have pushed politics to the far left, except The Governator. But he won't be there forever. LA has a socialist mayor who will likely become the socialist governor pretty soon. And look at the policies that emanate from the People's Republic of San Francisco these days, where there are a million dogs but no children, unless I take mine to visit my sister.
The farmers can't leave because the land is still in that state, but if I were a landowner in the Inland Empire I'd be pushing to cut the state up into three parts and try to salvage one third. That would leave an economy that leads the world in producing movies, music, and litigation, and not much else.
With little more than a month's worth of cash left in the state treasury, the governor and lawmakers have been unable to agree on how to erase a budget gap projected to reach $41.6 billion by the middle of next year. Democrats announced Tuesday that two weeks of discussions had ended in an impasse and sent Schwarzenegger the $18-billion fiscal package they passed last month. The governor vetoed it, as he had promised to do."
----------------
Fred Pilot sent this along. At $42 billion, California is deeper in the hole than any other state, but this isn't just an economic problem. I think the state may well go bankrupt because they are unable to manage their own economic affairs. Underlying the deficit is a breakdown of the political system, and underlying that are some demographic issues that may make it impossible to solve either the political or economic problems.
The middle class has been fleeing the state for some time now, headed for parts east where they get a better deal on taxes, schools, public safety, traffic, home prices, and the other things that matter to them. And the state is the preferred destination for poor people from other nations, for whom it remains a great place to live when compared with where they came from.
The demographic shifts in the state have pushed politics to the far left, except The Governator. But he won't be there forever. LA has a socialist mayor who will likely become the socialist governor pretty soon. And look at the policies that emanate from the People's Republic of San Francisco these days, where there are a million dogs but no children, unless I take mine to visit my sister.
The farmers can't leave because the land is still in that state, but if I were a landowner in the Inland Empire I'd be pushing to cut the state up into three parts and try to salvage one third. That would leave an economy that leads the world in producing movies, music, and litigation, and not much else.
Carnegie Corporation - News
Leading Public Educators Issue Open Letter to President-Elect Obama Urging Investment in Public Higher Education to Rebuild America's Economy: "The higher education leaders who signed the open letter applauded President-elect Obama's commitment to make college more affordable and accessible and to sustain equal opportunity for students to obtain a college education by increasing Pell grants, increasing access to student loans, and extending the grace period for their repayment. In addition, they urged the next administration to make a direct investment in the range of $40 to $50 billion that would support both higher education teaching and research facilities, in partnership with the states."
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Public universities hop into the bailout line.
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Public universities hop into the bailout line.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
L.A. water cops get muscle to fight drought - Weather- msnbc.com
L.A. water cops get muscle to fight drought - Weather- msnbc.com: "The green thumbs who keep lawns lush and flora flourishing in the city have found a new foe among the aphids, white flies and other yard pests — the water police.
Just as some scofflaws keep an eye out for black-and-white patrol cars, gardeners have learned to spot the white Toyota Priuses driven by Los Angeles water cops out to fight waste as California struggles with an extended drought."
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Here's a plot for a movie. The LA Water Police go to war with the HOA boards that are fining people for not watering their lawns. SWAT teams, shootouts, drownings...kind of a Chinatown meets Snowcrash. What do you think?
Just as some scofflaws keep an eye out for black-and-white patrol cars, gardeners have learned to spot the white Toyota Priuses driven by Los Angeles water cops out to fight waste as California struggles with an extended drought."
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Here's a plot for a movie. The LA Water Police go to war with the HOA boards that are fining people for not watering their lawns. SWAT teams, shootouts, drownings...kind of a Chinatown meets Snowcrash. What do you think?
Empty homes create new challenges: "A number of challenges face neighborhoods with the higher concentrations of foreclosures. Homeowner associations could find themselves having to raise fees as they struggle to stay on top of maintenance of common areas. Traditional neighborhoods face similar problems as they struggle to stay attractive to potential buyers without a mechanism in place to keep properties well maintained."
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The Arizona Republic study cited in the article says the "traditional neighborhoods" were hit harder by foreclosures in Chandler than the newer ones, where the CIDs were. But I would point out that "traditional neighborhoods" are full of individual property owners who don't get hit with a a special assessment followed by a lien. In other words, they are not chained to each other like galley slaves who have to go down with the ship. Remember that scene from Ben Hur?
Brookside Square now has both neighborhood and homeowners' associations - Columbia Missourian
Brookside Square now has both neighborhood and homeowners' associations - Columbia Missourian: "Cantin said that for the past few months, the council has been looking at its policy on neighborhood associations to update it from the 1977 version. The council will decide whether neighborhood associations will have more of a role in city government and will receive funding from the city.
The council is also considering how homeowners’ associations fit into city government. Currently, only neighborhood associations are recognized, meaning the council and staff contact these entities with questions and city planning issues. The situation with the Brookside Square Neighborhood Association has caused the council to start looking at whether homeowners' associations should receive more recognition from the city and whether neighborhood associations are needed in areas where homeowners’ associations are already in place, Cantin said."
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So they have a mandatory membership HOA and a voluntary neighborhood association, and the city is trying to figure out how to relate to either/both of them.
The council is also considering how homeowners’ associations fit into city government. Currently, only neighborhood associations are recognized, meaning the council and staff contact these entities with questions and city planning issues. The situation with the Brookside Square Neighborhood Association has caused the council to start looking at whether homeowners' associations should receive more recognition from the city and whether neighborhood associations are needed in areas where homeowners’ associations are already in place, Cantin said."
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So they have a mandatory membership HOA and a voluntary neighborhood association, and the city is trying to figure out how to relate to either/both of them.
Canyon Courier News, Sports, Entertainment and information for Evergreen, Colorado: "A homeowner and experienced hunter on Bergen View Trail woke up New Year’s Eve morning about 7 a.m. and spotted three, never-before-tagged young mountain lions on his property.
One was trapped in the chicken coop behind his house, and another one was stalking around the front of the house. A third lion was keeping track of the one in the cage."
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We are on yur lonn, eatin yur chikenz.
Fayette schools to teachers: Please donate your raises | ajc.com
Fayette schools to teachers: Please donate your raises | ajc.com: "School board members say if the county’s teachers would return their 2.5 percent raises, it could keep the 24,000-student system afloat. Should they all return the raises, it would add roughly $4 million to the system’s coffers.
In Monday night’s meeting, board members decided they had nothing to lose by writing a letter to Fayette’s roughly 1,800 contracted teachers asking them to voluntarily “make a donation” to the system’s financial well-being."
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Prediction: this tree will fail to bear much fruit.
In Monday night’s meeting, board members decided they had nothing to lose by writing a letter to Fayette’s roughly 1,800 contracted teachers asking them to voluntarily “make a donation” to the system’s financial well-being."
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Prediction: this tree will fail to bear much fruit.
Residents plan to create gated community in Chester village - Chester Chronicle
Residents plan to create gated community in Chester village - Chester Chronicle: "THE prospect of a gated community has led to objections from parish councillors.
Their opposition involves a planning application made by Beth Dudley at 2 Wilbraham Close off the A56 Warrington Road in Mickle Trafford.
Mrs Dudley has told planning officers at Chester City Council she is seeking permission to install automatic 2m high gates at the entrance to the cul de sac of five modern detached homes.
They would be set back over 7m from the road.
Mickle Trafford and District Parish Council insists the entrance would result in a gated community."
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I love these English town names. Mickle Trafford.
Their opposition involves a planning application made by Beth Dudley at 2 Wilbraham Close off the A56 Warrington Road in Mickle Trafford.
Mrs Dudley has told planning officers at Chester City Council she is seeking permission to install automatic 2m high gates at the entrance to the cul de sac of five modern detached homes.
They would be set back over 7m from the road.
Mickle Trafford and District Parish Council insists the entrance would result in a gated community."
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I love these English town names. Mickle Trafford.
Monday, January 05, 2009
New Vision Online : Akright ventures into condominium flats
Uganda : Akright ventures into condominium flats: "Kamugisha, who doubles as the chairman of the Uganda Property Developers Association, said setting up of condominiums was the way to go because land was becoming scarce, mainly in urban areas."
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I have been saying for about 25 years that rising land costs led developers to build CIDs so they could cram more people on less land. Nice to see one developer, even in Uganda, who admits it instead of spouting some drivel about New England town meetings.
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I have been saying for about 25 years that rising land costs led developers to build CIDs so they could cram more people on less land. Nice to see one developer, even in Uganda, who admits it instead of spouting some drivel about New England town meetings.
Dr Rupert Till: Stonehenge a venue for partying | The Sun |News: "STONEHENGE was built as a dance arena for prehistoric raves, a university professor believes.
Dr Rupert Till, who is also a part-time DJ, carried out experiments that he says showed the 5,000-year-old stone circle is ideal for listening to “trance” music.
Archaeologists have argued for decades over the Wiltshire Neolithic monument’s purpose.
But Dr Till, an expert in sound technology at Huddersfield University, West Yorks, believes the stones have perfect acoustics for repetitive rhythms like those used in some dance music."
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I guess that settles it. DJ Stonehenge has spoken.
DailyTech - Sea Ice Ends Year at Same Level as 1979
DailyTech - Sea Ice Ends Year at Same Level as 1979: "Thanks to a rapid rebound in recent months, global sea ice levels now equal those seen 29 years ago, when the year 1979 also drew to a close."
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Remember all the environmentalists saying the ice was melting and the polar bears were drowning? Well, this comes from the University of Illinois, not a right wing think tank. I wonder what Al Gore has to say about this.
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Remember all the environmentalists saying the ice was melting and the polar bears were drowning? Well, this comes from the University of Illinois, not a right wing think tank. I wonder what Al Gore has to say about this.
Senate Dems in tough spot on Burris - Jonathan Martin and Martin Kady II - Politico.com
Senate Dems in tough spot on Burris - Jonathan Martin and Martin Kady II - Politico.com: "Reid’s office isn’t backing down on its plan to not seat Burris — and top advisers to Burris are suggesting that Reid doesn’t want an African-American to succeed Obama.
“It’s interesting that all those who are viable are white women and the ones who are unacceptable are black men,” Prince Riley, a senior consultant to Burris, told Politico.
Riley was alluding to a Chicago Sun-Times story Saturday indicating that Reid called Blagojevich on Dec. 3, shortly before the governor was arrested on corruption charges, including the allegation that he'd tried to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder.
In the call — which was presumably taped by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who'd tapped the governor's phones in the course of the investigation — Reid reportedly argued against appointing Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Rep. Danny Davis or state Senate President Emil Jones, all of whom are black, in favor of either state Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, who is Thai-American, or Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who is white."
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It is bad enough that Reid won't seat the only black Senator. Now it turns out that he also decided all three of the black candidates Blagojevich was considering were unacceptable to him, too. But the two white women? Perfectly OK. Even Tammy Duckworth, who is so unqualified for this job that it isn't even funny.
This story is hiding on blogs. If a Rebublican did what Reid has done, it would have been front page news and he would have been forced to resign. Remember Trent Lott?
“It’s interesting that all those who are viable are white women and the ones who are unacceptable are black men,” Prince Riley, a senior consultant to Burris, told Politico.
Riley was alluding to a Chicago Sun-Times story Saturday indicating that Reid called Blagojevich on Dec. 3, shortly before the governor was arrested on corruption charges, including the allegation that he'd tried to sell Obama's Senate seat to the highest bidder.
In the call — which was presumably taped by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who'd tapped the governor's phones in the course of the investigation — Reid reportedly argued against appointing Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., Rep. Danny Davis or state Senate President Emil Jones, all of whom are black, in favor of either state Veterans Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, who is Thai-American, or Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who is white."
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It is bad enough that Reid won't seat the only black Senator. Now it turns out that he also decided all three of the black candidates Blagojevich was considering were unacceptable to him, too. But the two white women? Perfectly OK. Even Tammy Duckworth, who is so unqualified for this job that it isn't even funny.
This story is hiding on blogs. If a Rebublican did what Reid has done, it would have been front page news and he would have been forced to resign. Remember Trent Lott?
Sunday, January 04, 2009
89-year-old arrested for keeping ball sues family: "BLUE ASH, Ohio (AP) - An 89-year-old Cincinnati-area woman arrested for confiscating the neighbor kid's football is now suing the boy's parents."
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Kids play in yard. Balls keep going in neighbor lady's yard. Lady keeps ball in retaliation. Parents call cops. Cops arrest lady and charge her with petty theft. Prosecutor dismisses case. Lady sues parents.
This would be a perfect situation for an HOA to resolve. Just fine both parties, put liens on their homes, and foreclose. But I am wondering how when I was a kid, back in prehistorical times, my friends and I were able to land approximately 1,000,000 baseballs, footballs, basketballs, and soccer balls in the neighbors' yards and retrieved all of them without a single arrest.
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