59 Replies to “Reader Tips”

  3. Michael Moore and CNN in a “pissing match” should come out equal, they deserve each other. They can both piss off.

  4. Peter Worthington comments on behaviour of Jack Layton:
    “But when our troops are killed, as six were by an explosive device recently, it behooves the country to curb political differences and to show support….(t)his doesn’t mean automatically agreeing with the mission, but it does suggest putting a cork into one’s cake-hole and not braying like a jackass, as Layton and others did when they heard the news.”
    http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Worthington_Peter/2007/07/16/4343321-sun.html
    Funny how Jack will scream insensitivity at criticism of their pet causes, but don’t see the same in their meanderings.
    Hello Jack, and my MP, there are “moderate” Taliban, they are in the Afghan parliament, not planning suicide and IED attacks.
    Worthington further argues in 1942, Jack would have charged with treason. Not true – no way he would have opened his pie hole. He does it because he gets away with it – note Barb Yaffe call his nonsensical position common sense.
    That’s what Jack and his cadre of useful idiots totally lack – common sense. Sorry, making common cause with our enemies is not sensible, it is dangerous. The electorate needs to be apprised of these, and others’, shenanigans, once they actually are ready to listen, in an election campaign.
    If only the election could be sooner rather than later.

  5. The picture as it is with 20 Hydrogen busses coming to Whistler. [CBC news this am]. Gordon Campbell, our modern thinking premier seems intent upon making BC a leader in clean Hydrogen transport.
    Total price for the 20 new busses is 89- million$. Funds are both Federal and Provincial. Gotta hand it to Gordie for daring to spend our money for a good cause. I sure hope the whole 20 bus project comes off well. They are already very happy with the three electric hybrid buses in service.
    The picture according to my speculation; Campbell has been known to dabble in the stock market. If Gordie in invested in Ballard Power or those firms in hydrogen bus manufacture and the 20 bus project comes off in flying colours, it seems as though there will be a number of happy investors, including Campbell.
    = TG

  6. Netherlands: A Judeo-Christian-Muslim state
    The “Judeo-Christian” principles upon which Europe was built are not directly related to the Jews. They are related to the fact that the Christians see the Old Testament as an integral part of their religion and moral code. I suppose Minister Vogelaar is not demanding the same of Muslims.
    —
    According to Minister Ella Vogellaar, in an interview with Trouw, Muslim culture is so deeply entrenching itself in Dutch society that in the long run one would speak of a land that is based on a “Judeo-Christian-Muslim” tradition.
    The minister for Housing and Integration hopes to end the ‘negativity en the fear of Islam’. “I want to help Muslim feel at home here. Islam and Muslims must take root here, precisely because Muslims are also citizens of this land.”
    Vogelaar doesn’t have problem if the (local) government supports to religious institutions of New Dutch, even financially. “So long as you subsidize social goals and not religious activities. Otherwise you cross a border.”
    Vogelaar is now speaking differently than various politicians in the past years. Started from the first Balkenende government in 2002, the policy stressed adaptation to Dutch norms and values.
    Although the minister doesn’t want to stop the obligation to naturalization and learning Dutch, she now speaks of a “mutual process”, in which cultures influence and stimulate each other. “It is important that such a big group takes root in our society, and becomes an inseparable part of it,” according to Vogelaar.
    The minister compares it to the contribution of the Jewish community to Dutch culture. “Centuries ago the Jewish community came to the Netherlands and now we say: the Netherlands is a land formed by the Judeo-Christian traditions. I can imagine that we would get a similar process with Islam.”
    ——————
    Once again, the war against stupidity.
    “Netherlands is a land formed by the Judeo-Christian traditions. I can imagine that we would get a similar process with Islam.”
    Duh. Could it be because Christianity is enjoined to Judaism and Islam as an alien ideology, has nothing to do with either, in content or the development of Europe, other than being an historical enemy?
    Idiot.

  7. This year’s hot spot for travel:
    Come to beautiful Saudi Arabia where you too have a chance of being beheaded. Plus having your severed head displayed for vacation pictures. Bring the whole family.
    RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) – Rizana Nafeek, a 19-year housemaid from Sri Lanka, is on death row because the baby in her care died while she was bottle-feeding him. If her appeal is turned down, she will be taken to a public square to be publicly beheaded.
    The Sri Lankan government says it is working for a reprieve, and has until Monday to file the plea. A last-minute pardon by the infant’s parents could also spare her. But if her execution goes ahead, it will be the latest in a surge of beheadings that could surpass the kingdom’s record of 191 in 2005.
    After dropping to 38 last year, the figure for 2007 is already at least 102, including three women, according to Amnesty International.
    Beheading has always been the punishment meted out to murderers, rapists, drug traffickers and armed robbers in Saudi Arabia. Whether what Nafeek did amounts to murder has never been spelled out by courts or other officials, but Saudi authorities, facing sustained criticism from foreign human rights groups, insist they are simply enforcing God’s law.
    In February, four Sri Lankan workers were executed for armed robbery and their headless bodies left on public display in Riyadh, triggering harsh criticism from international rights groups.
    Amnesty International says some defendants are convicted solely on the basis of confessions obtained under duress, torture or deception.

  8. Hmm, when I was recently in Cuba a doctor earns the equivalent of $50 per month and yearns for a tourist interface position at a rsort. Also, the shelves are bare in Cuba’s pharmacies which makes their doctor population under utilized plumbers or else (finally) something that can be exported.
    Even Fidel imported physicians from Spain to diagnose his most recent ailments.
    Incidentally, for those travellers that like to visit Cuba ….don’t croak in Cuba …there’s a compulsory $5K USD ‘autopsy fee’ on deceased tourists before they’ll release the body.

  9. Well, I don’t know what the big hullabaloo is about. First two sentences and I knew exactly what McCoy’s job was: to dis and try to impede the duly elected government from carrying out their governance of Canada. In other words, she is a Lieberal.
    On a positive note, at least one person in Sleepy Hollow is awake.

  10. Why Muslims are doomed to fail
    by the Anti-Jihadist
    14 Jul, 2007
    An essential question that everyone, Muslims included, should ask is this—why are Muslims among the worst performing groups (nations, societies, etc) anywhere on the planet? Name any area of achievement, any field of human endeavour—patents filed, literacy, quality of life, degree of civil or political freedoms, transparency, world-class universities, and so on. In every case, the nations of Islam are at or near the bottom in every category, and only barely beat sub-Saharan Africa in overall performance. How has this dreadful state of affairs come to pass?
    The answer is simple—Muslims are intellectually paralyzed by their own philosophy.
    In matters of the intellect, Muslims are a miserable failure. It isn’t because their genes are so different from everybody else’s. It’s because their philosophy (a.k.a. Islam) has sucked their minds dry from infancy onwards. In this respect, it is the best in human history, as no other philosophy has been so successful at institutionalizing failure among its followers. This onerous process begins at birth, when it is the tradition in many Islamic countries for the father to recite the Shahada (the Muslim declaration of belief) in the newborn’s ear. It’s all downhill from there.
    To analyse philosophical differences effectively, one must first know the difference between the different branches of philosophy. Philosophy has five major branches, listed and generally defined as follows:
    Epistemology—the methods that knowledge is found or made valid
    Ethics—the cultural standards of good or ‘right’ behaviour
    Politics—the application of ethics to social behaviour
    Metaphysics—concerned with explaining the ultimate nature of reality, and lastly,
    Aesthetics (to be explained below)
    In a nutshell, here are the differences between Islamic philosophy and the Judeo-Christian (a.k.a. Western) one:
    Western epistemology = reason and the scientific method
    Islamic epistemology = “revelation”, or whatever Allah sees fit to reveal
    Western ethics = the sanctity of human life
    Islamic ethics = the spread of Islam by any means whatsoever
    Western politics = recognition of individual rights
    Islamic politics = submission and totalitarianism
    Western metaphysics = the universe, and all of existence, follows natural law
    Islamic metaphysics = every event at every moment is controlled by Allah’s whim
    A good read, especially for the dhimmi-drones, at: islam-watch.org/Others/Why-Muslims-doomed-to-fail.htm

  11. It’s approaching two weeks since an Air Force Airman was shot by an anti-war protestor in Willingboro, New Jersey.
    Yet, apart from an Associated Press article which conveniently ignored the apparent motives of the assailant, a New York Post op-ed by Michelle Malkin, and a mention by Glenn Beck on CNN’s Headline News, not one major mainstream media outlet has reported the horrific event in print or on the air.
    http://newsbusters.org/node/14130

  17. Gleetings flom Mao Stlong: Sclew Al Gole’s intelnet. The Eest is Led.
    …-
    Web censorship is failing, says Chinese official
    The internet and mobile phones have undermined attempts by China’s secretive rulers to control the news, a senior Communist party official admitted today.
    He accused local governments of being “too naive” by continuing to suppress damaging information about corruption or about disasters, and urged party members to be more open with members of the public.
    Wang Guoqing, a vice minister with the cabinet’s information office said: “It has been repeatedly proved that information blocking is like walking into a dead end.”…-
    (via jack’s newswatch)

  19. Canadian professionals say they constantly face harassment at border crossings while trying to enter the U.S. on business, despite mutual recognition agreements, reports a study commissioned by the federal government.
    http://www.ottawasun.com/News/National/2007/07/16/4342936-sun.html
    Canada’s famous Tim Hortons coffee and donut chain has been recruiting Filipino workers, Labor Secretary Brion said Wednesday.
    “They came to me last month and they are recruiting Filipinos. I think they have talked to local placement agencies already,” Brion said. “In the days ahead, we more Filipino workers will be leaving for Canada.”
    …
    According to Wikipedia, Tim Hortons is often perceived to be part of the culture and national identity of Canadians.
    http://www.gmanews.tv/story/33384/Canadas-famous-donut-chain-hiring-Pinoy-workers-says-Brion
    In an ambitious bid to bolster New Orleans’ Jewish population following Hurricane Katrina, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans has announced a program of financial incentives to families who make their home in the city.
    The incentives are modeled on the Nefesh B’Nefesh immigration to Israel scheme, which enables Jewish families to settle across Israel.
    “Young people who are looking for new opportunities but do not want to relocate as far as Israel would do well to look southwards to the Jewish community of New Orleans,” a press release by the city’s Jewish federation said.
    http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3425692,00.html
    Rush has penned eight songs for its next studio album, which should be out in early 2007, according to drummer Neil Peart. The artist tells Billboard.com his lyrics for the as-yet-untitled set were greatly influenced by his motorcycle journeys throughout the United States, chronicled in the new book “Roadshow: Landscape With Drums.”
    Peart says he was struck by the ubiquity of religious billboards that have sprung up on America’s highways, which got him thinking about some weighty topics. “Just seeing the power of evangelical Christianity and contrasting that with the power of fundamentalist religion all over the world in its different forms had a big effect on me,” he says.
    http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003120134

  22. Actually, irwin daisy, your descriptions of ‘western’ philosophy etc are valid only after the Reformation and in the Greek/Roman era. Not in the period from about 350 to 1200 or so.
    Andrew, for heaven’s sake, there’s life outside of wikipedia. And by the way, Tim Hortons is no longer a Canadian company; bought out some years ago, I think, by an American company.
    maz2 – I think the era of making fun of Chinese pronunciation is long over. After all, there are many sounds that anglophones and francophones can’t pronounce – in Dutch, in Russian etc.

  23. Hybrid Toyota Supra HV-R wins Tokachi 24 hr Enduro
    Toyota can now lay claim to having fielded the first hybrid vehicle to win an endurance race.
    AutoblogGreen.com
    Check the comments for the challenge to suggest the most viable EV available.
    Looks like the Phoenix EV SUT, so far. = TG

  25. Israel elects, swears in terrorist President:
    en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page
    Shimon Peres was born in Wiśniewo, Poland (now Višnieva, Belarus), to Yitzchak (1896-1962) and Sarah (b. 1905 nee Meltzer) Persky.
    …
    In 1947, he joined the Haganah.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimon_Peres
    After the war, the Haganah carried out anti-British operations in Palestine, such as the liberation of interned immigrants from the Atlit camp, the bombing of the country’s railroad network, sabotage raids on radar installations and bases of the British Palestine police. It also continued to organize illegal immigration.
    On May 28, 1948, less than two weeks after the creation of the state of Israel on May 15, the provisional government created the Israeli Defense Forces which would succeed the Haganah. It also outlawed maintenance of any other armed force.
    Famous members of the Haganah included: Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon, Rehavam Zeevi, Dov Hoz, Moshe Dayan, Yigal Allon and Dr. Ruth Westheimer.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haganah
    Westheimer was born in Frankfurt, Germany, to a Jewish family. In January 1939[1], when she was ten years old, she was sent without her parents to Switzerland. In 1945, she learned that her parents had perished in the Holocaust, most likely at the Auschwitz concentration camp. She decided to immigrate to the British Mandate of Palestine where she joined the Haganah in Jerusalem. Despite her diminutive height of 4 feet 7 inches, she was trained as a sniper. [2] Westheimer was seriously wounded in action by an exploding shell during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and it was several months before she was able to walk again.
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Westheimer

  26. According to Wikipedia Andrew, gun control is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on what day you visit. Changes hourly sometimes.
    What’s the matter, you have a problem with Phillipinos?

  27. If anyone’s interested, the CBC National’s mission statement can be found at:
    http://www.cbc.ca/national/about/index.html#mission
    Wrt the hide-the-salami Reuters story, Mark Egan broke the first and most important rule of respectable journalism: When fabricating quotes from non-existent individuals, never, ever give a name. Giving a name or a description of the source’s title, location or appearance just makes it easy for others to question not only the veracity of the quote but also the very existence of the source.
    Egan could take a lesson from Canada’s most venerated newspaper, the Globe & Mail. Last year, as our national election day approached, the Globe’s reporters frequently spiced up news stories with spicy, highly-implausible quotes from “high-ranking Conservative insiders” and “highly-placed Conservatives” who, in the midst of spending their essential life-force, and all their time, in a veritable Tong war against the Liberals also made time for regular off-the-record chats with the Globe’s lib-proxy reporters in which they slandered the character of their own leader and fell just barely short of admitting that yes, the Liberals really are best suited for running the country.
    The point here is, because the quotes were so implausible, at no time did any of the Globe’s reporters do anything as bush-league as trying to attach a name or a specific title to them. In the Reuters case, Egan should simply have quoted, say, “a stereotypical New Jersey ba-da-boom kinda’ guy with wide lapels and olive oil oozing out of his pores who never stopped chewing gum and staring at women’s hoo-hahs.”
    Reporters should always remember that if it’s impossible for anyone to disprove the information in your news report, either because they can’t locate the source of the information you present, or because your news report is entirely your partisan opinion, then what you’ve written is the gospel truth.
    And journalism is all about truth, so for god’s sake, do not name your sources. Ever.

  30. Someone asked me if I noticed the casual reference last week about the Canadian switch to training Afghans and suggested it sounds like a no combat plan for Francophones is in the works. Nice that the Canadian government was able to get rid of the Bombardier assembled Iltis death trap and get some tanks over there before they committed the girlie-men.
    Probably guard duty of some sort, maybe french language instruction but you know our role is going to change.

  31. Andrew, do more research on the Haganah, rather than the Arab perspective, for God’s sake. Such intellectual laziness!

  32. maz2 – I think the era of making fun of Chinese pronunciation is long over. …-
    Mao Stlong sends gleetings flom China: You wan one censol? Two censols?
    The intelnet is not flee speech.
    …-

  33. Be nice folks. Don’t be asking Andrew questions about what he copies and pastes. Wiki scholars are utterly incapable of answer questions.

  34. Reality Refuseniks Reject Wikipedia
    In a stunning case of cognitive dissonance on a mssive scale, a new cadre of retards has emerged in cyberspace which are hostile to reality, particularly the open source encyclopedia Wikipedia.
    “These asstards know bloody well the stuff I post is true,” harumphed noted blog commenter Andrew, “so they use the lamest of FUD techniques (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) to try to counter it. What’s the deal with the over 40 crowd hating facts and statistics, anyway? Buncha careerist goofs.”
    Experts note that the Reality Refusenik movement is characterized by extreme political correctness and comically inept attempts to deflect attention from the decline of western civilization via poor quality anti-Muslim propaganda.
    “Fight the decline of western civilization?” asked one refusenik interviewed for this story. “Screw that noise. My portfolio is up 21% so far this year and I make more money from my house than I do at my job. Soon my pension plan is going to toll every freaking road in this country. Cha-ching!”
    http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/archives/006660.html#comments

  35. andrew, people aren’t rejecting wikipedia; thy are rejecting your use of it as Complete and Final Truth.
    How about doing some thinking rather than cut and pasting like a grade school kid?
    Look up the terms ‘facts’ and ‘statistics’. OK?
    You’ll see that the facts can be skewed, can be incomplete. So, simply copying what you find in a text means that your opinions are skewed and incomplete, ie, wrong.
    Then, look up ‘reliability’ and you’ll see that facts can be unreliable because they are statistically incomplete, skewed, or just plain false.
    So, your gathering of ‘data, data, data’ is completely irrelevant. It doesn’t prove a thing. That’s because you don’t first, verify those facts, and second, you don’t analyze them in a logical framework.
    Oh- and what’s the point about your portfolio? Are you trying to tell us that you, despite your cut-and-paste addiction, are a Wise Man?
    maz2 – the internet is free – so what? Grow up; what purpose does making fun of chinese or other language’s pronunciation have? Well?

  36. ET,
    They weren’t my references.
    I think it’s time to ask Kate if she might give some consideration to tossing the little Muslim/apologist troll named Andrew.
    It’s a lot of bandwidth for so little intelligence.

  37. “When I was a child…” (like Andrew) “…I spake as a child and understood as a child…” (like Andrew). “…But when I became a man…” (unlike Andrew) “…I put away childish things” (unlike Andrew).
    Wisdom (often, but not always) comes with age, Andrew. Live a little longer and maybe you’ll learn a thing or two.
    “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”

  38. Western Canadian……. to my mind you are worse than René Leveque ever hoped to be for this country.
    The VanDoos will stand tall and do us proud. Just like they have for over 90 years. The three Victoria Crosses on their Roll, the FORTY ONE Battle Honours and the Royal desgination they earned attest to that.
    They joined the Canadian Forces, just like their brothers and sisters did in all the Anglo units that have deployed. Their only difference is their native tounge. I guess that is enough for small minded little trolls such as yourself.
    Go crawl back into your little hole.

  39. Kate Penland boarded an Oklahoma-bound plane in Houston with her 19 month old toddler. As the plane taxied for take-off, her son began cooing, in a sing-song voice, “bye-bye plane…bye-bye-plane…bye-bye plane….”
    A flight attendent approached Penland. She said “You need to shut your baby up” and, proffering a wee bottle, requested that the child be medicated, saying “It’s called Baby Benadryl.”
    An incredulous Penland said “I’m not going to drug my child so you can have a pleasant flight,” at which point the flight attendant pivoted and went directly to the cabin.
    Moments later, the plane was turned around and returned to the boarding gate.
    Penland and her toddler were escorted off, and “did not complete the trip to Oklahoma,” according to Kristy — that’s Kristy with a K — Nicholas, spokeswoman for Express Jet Airlines…
    (Multiple source; google “bye bye plane”)

  40. 16 year old girl dies in a festival ride mishap. Sad, right?
    Not if it happens to a Christian child at a Christian festival, then it’s funny! At least according to Rabble.ca:
    *************************
    Sven
    rabble-rouser
    Babbler # 9972
    Death at Christian festival.
    Why would this put a damper on the music festival? Why woudn’t there be raucus dancing and celebrating cuz she’s now with Mr. Jesus in Hebbin?
    **********************
    Michelle
    Moderator
    Babbler # 560
    I have no problem with contempt for people’s religious beliefs.
    ***********************
    http://www.rabble.ca/babble/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=009468
    Links to article:
    Christian music festival marred by death on ride
    Police and federal investigators tried Sunday to determine why a teen fell from a festival ride and died.
    Elizabeth K. Mohl, 16, of Neenah, was killed Saturday after falling 40 to 50 feet from a ride called Air Glory.
    http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/07/15/bungee.death.ap/index.html

  41. The New New Atheism
    “There is nothing new under the sun,” proclaims the Book of Ecclesiastes. The rise of the new new atheism confirms this ancient biblical wisdom.
    Of course the famous words of Ecclesiastes should not be taken in a slavishly literal sense, a technique that is all-too-common among those who think they can refute belief in God by showing that the Bible abounds in demonstrably false and self-contradictory statements.
    But one stunning new development under the sun is that promulgating atheism has become a lucrative business. According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, in less than 12 months atheism’s newest champions have sold close to a million books. Some 500,000 hardcover copies are in print of Richard Dawkins’s “The God Delusion” (2006); 296,000 copies of Christopher Hitchens’s “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything” (2007); 185,000 copies of Sam Harris’s “Letter to a Christian Nation” (2006); 64,100 copies of Daniel C. Dennett’s “Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon”; and 60,000 copies of Victor J. Stenger’s “God: The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows that God Does not Exist” (2007).
    Profitability is not the only feature distinguishing today’s fashionable disbelief from the varieties of atheism that have arisen over the millennia. Unlike the classical atheism of Epicurus and Lucretius, which rejected belief in the gods in the name of pleasure and tranquility, the new new atheism rejects God in the name of natural science, individual freedom and human equality. Unlike the Enlightenment atheism of the 18th century, which arose in a still predominantly religious society and which frequently went to some effort to disguise or mute its disbelief, the new new atheism proclaims its hatred of God and organized religion loudly and proudly from the rooftops….-
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1866905/posts

  42. Andrew, you’re completely mental. Stop reading Rabble and it will probably get better. Maybe.
    While you’re waiting for your neuron to grow back, please shut up. There’s a good boy.

  43. The shape of citizen journalism
    Dan Gilmore looks at one of the leading exponents of citizen journalism in the world — OhmyNews International in Korea. Citizen journalism has the potential to revolutionize journalism. And citizen journalism is nothing but open source intelligence gathering. Gilmore’s observation that the enabling tools are arriving like a tidal wave are of particular interest.
    There’s never been such an amazing time to be trying out new things. We’re almost buried in an avalanche of tools and ideas that have enormous potential to make journalism more diverse — and better.
    The ideas and tools are everywhere. Consider just a few examples among thousands I could list:
    […]
    Even the Washington Post is getting into the act and is experimenting with hyperlocal journalism. We’re not in Kansas any more….-
    http://fallbackbelmont.blogspot.com/2007/07/shape-of-citizen-journalism.html

  44. Well guess who’s singing the praises of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, Bobby Kennedy, etc. and their progeny, via National Newswatch via The Cincinatti Post?
    NICK CLOONEY, moonbat George Clooney’s dad.
    ‘Figures, and it’s not hard to see where George gets his loony ideas from…
    Listen to the drivel Clooney Sr. writes about “Gen II Peace Team” (no kidding; that’s what they’re calling themselves):
    “…these are not the sons and daughters of just any world leaders. They are sons and daughters of men who risked everything, including their lives, for the cause of non-violence in the world.”
    PET risked everything, including his life, to promote world peace? That’s news to me.

  45. Western Canadian and Jim:
    French Canadians tend to jump in with both feet, when they find something they like. Whole hog…
    These modern soldiers have been trained to fight, meaning attack and kill. It will ALL be on the line.
    AND the VanDoo’s have a long proud history.
    A groups history is part of what holds them together: …”forward unit..put your life in another mans hands…ask a man to put his life in yours”.
    The TEAM is everything.
    My money is on the probability that they will get a bit antsy if they DON’T get in on the hard killing action. They simply will NOT be happy training security guards, or picking up garbage.
    Their leadership will have to let them get, and shed some blood, or there will be major bitching, the girly media back home notwithstanding.
    Think Airborne (though I don’t agree at all with the pussy decision to disband them). This army is not the Salvation Army

  46. Although Bush administration officials have frequently lashed out at Syria and Iran for helping the insurgents and militias attacking U.S. troops and civilians in Iraq, the largest number of foreign fighters and suicide bombers in Iraq come from a third next-door neighbor, Saudi Arabia, according to a senior U.S. military officer and Iraqi lawmakers.
    The U.S. military believes 45 percent of all foreign militants are Saudi, 15 percent are from Syria and Lebanon, and 10 percent from North Africa, according to official U.S. military figures released to the Los Angeles Times by the officer. Nearly half of the 135 foreigners held in U.S. detention facilities in Iraq are Saudi.
    Saudi fighters are thought to have carried out more suicide bombings than any other nationality, said the senior American military officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the subject’s sensitivity for the U.S. government. It is apparently the first time a U.S. official has given such a breakdown on the pivotal role played by Saudi nationals in Iraq’s Sunni Arab insurgency.
    He added that 50 percent of all Saudi fighters in Iraq are suicide bombers. In the last six months, such bombings have killed or injured 4,000 Iraqis. The situation has left the American military in the awkward position of facing an enemy whose top source of fighters is a key regional ally that at best has not been able to prevent its citizens from undertaking bloody attacks in Iraq, and at worst shares complicity in sending jihadists to commit attacks against U.S. forces, civilians and Iraq’s Shiite Muslim-led government.
    http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070716/REPOSITORY/707160351/1013/NEWS03

  48. Mo from Mao Stlong in the Heavenly Kingdom: Goody toothpaste; blush often.
    …-
    Congress Hasn’t Learned Its Lesson From China’s Tainted Toothpaste
    Counterfeit Colgate toothpaste containing diethylene glycol, a poisonous chemical used in antifreeze, recently turned up in discount grocery stores all over the East Coast. This dangerous chemical has long been used by chemical companies in China as a substitute for more expensive glycerin, an ingredient necessary for toothpaste, soap and other cosmetics and drugs. In 1997, for example, fever syrup laced with diethylene glycol traced to China killed dozens of Haitian children. After many assurances that the Chinese government had cracked down on the practice, the same fate later befell 100 young Panamanians. Mass poisonings from diethlyene glycol have also…-
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1866956/posts

  49. There was an attempt several years ago to run a hybrid in Formula 1 racing, but it proved to be too good, making the other automakers look bad, so they rewrote the rules to ban it.
    On a typical racetrack, the drivers often must brake just before the corners, then hit the throttle entering the straightaway. This allows a hybrid to strut it’s stuff, with regen braking and high torque electric assisted acceleration. Also, better fuel economy means fewer pitstops/more laps.
    Of course, if sufficiently compact powerful batteries come along, EV racers would then hold the edge.
    Posted at 11:21PM on Jul 16th 2007 by Chris M
    ========== AutoBlogGreen.com
    Cool brake condition and super tourque. They hold the edge now, light or heavy battery.= TG

  50. US $93,000/year for a university professor? Profs work on auto assembly lines? They have tenure?
    Tell Dean Buzz CAW to smarten up.
    …-
    If Liberals Are So Smart, Why Are They So Dumb?
    Could it be that the problem with Cambridge is that liberals are just too darn smart?
    I know liberals are smart because they constantly tell me so. Unlike, say, conservative Christians – described by the Washington Post as “poor, uneducated and easy to command” – Massachusetts liberals are brilliant, intellectual and competent.
    Don’t believe it? Just ask them.
    When a 2005 study found that 72 percent of professors at U.S. universities consider themselves “liberals,” some suggested an anti-conservative bias on campus.
    Nonsense, replied liberals like Harvard professor Julie Reuben.
    She told the Harvard Crimson that it was simply natural for the well-educated to lean to the left.
    Harvard: Too Smart For Diversity!
    But if you liberals are so smart, why do you do so many things that are so, well, dumb?
    I’m not just talking about the big, embarrassing stuff like supporting the Soviet Union and getting modern economic policy entirely wrong. I mean the basics, like “Don’t pay the electrician $100,000 to change the light bulbs.”
    As the Boston Herald reported yesterday, the city of Cambridge (“Gateway to Stalingrad”) has more than 180 government employees taking home $100,000 or more in tax dollars each year – including the $104,000 municipal electrician.
    Overseeing this gaggle of overpaid government sycophants is a deputy city manager ($201,000 per year), a city manager ($245,000) and the highest-paid part-time mayor in America, Ken Reeves, at $92,000 plus a $40,000 annual travel budget.
    Cambridge city government is just one set of $6,000 shower curtains away from the Tyco scandal, and they aren’t even embarrassed by it….-
    http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1867087/posts

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