|
|
Post by Kobolos on Jan 1, 2004 8:50:56 GMT -5
Hi Kids, welcome to Uncle Kobolos' news and views that will scare the pee out of you. A digest of your world gone to hell in a handbasket, let me start you off right with Dubya's roadmap for killin. Hawks tell Bush how to win war on terror By David Rennie in Washington www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/12/31/wcons31.xml&sSheet=/portal/2003/12/31/ixportaltop.htmlPresident George W Bush was sent a public manifesto yesterday by Washington's hawks, demanding regime change in Syria and Iran and a Cuba-style military blockade of North Korea backed by planning for a pre-emptive strike on its nuclear sites. The manifesto, presented as a "manual for victory" in the war on terror, also calls for Saudi Arabia and France to be treated not as allies but as rivals and possibly enemies. Kobo's view: Didn't the Unabomber have a manifesto too? Things Kobo likes right now: The Senate, despite Bush's warnings not to do so, voted to consider half of the money going to Iraq as loans The press is finally picking up the Wilson/Plame story (do a google search, it's well worth your time.) The mainstream media (not just us internet wackos) are now smelling something rotten in the computer-voting system being set up for 2004 Things I don't like...at allSecurity alert halts mall walkers ad.doubleclick.net/adi/N2335.NJ.com/B1270402.3;sz=190x60;ord=[timestamp]?On a typical day, Frank J. Corcoran would arrive at The Mall at Short Hills at 7:30 a.m. and spend the next hour walking. As a mall walker -- one of about 1,000 registered at the ritzy Millburn mall -- it was a habit he picked up shortly after retiring in February 1988 -- 15 years back. But starting today, the mall has suspended the pre-opening walks by VIP, or Very Important Pacers, amid heightened security over the Department of Homeland Security's orange alert. "We have people in the group who are 88. As far as security, a lot of us are veterans. We do not carry packages or anything like that," said Corcoran, a World War II veteran who lives in nearby Springfield and took to walking after four bypass operations. Kobo: When I lived in FLorida, Mall Walkers was a way of life, I'd come intot he mall at 10 and see these little old ladies leaving after a brisk walk about the stores, hardly the mean terrorists we think them to be. It's across the pond, but, London has had to cope with terroist activity of some sort, including mainland activites of the IRA . Bomb scares were just a fact of life - ditto being paranoid about every bit of abandoned luggage (could be a bomb) , and litter bins near stations were got rid of - an IRA bomb was hidden in one and it went off at morning rush hour. Considering the frequency of bomb scares & alerts, it was amazing how many people didn't get at least injured every day.
These are *registered* mall walkers, people that come in daily, with each passing day we get more and more paranoid over this post-911 hysteria, and as a people we are turning over our freedoms.
And Finally:
Kobo's New Years Resolutions:
I'm going vegatarian. Yup, it's finally gonna happen.
except for Sushi.
The US Government's:
www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/64389/1/.html
And something light, Bigfoot is real!:
Top stories of 2003
National Geographic:
news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/12/1215_031215_toptenstories2003.html
Hope your 2004 is happy!
|
|
|
|
Post by jayK on Jan 1, 2004 10:57:14 GMT -5
Your news
Does not amuse
|
|
|
|
Post by ponygirl's vapor on Jan 1, 2004 13:05:38 GMT -5
I was wondering about the voting thing too..
|
|
|
|
Post by jayK on Jan 1, 2004 13:14:10 GMT -5
It is a bit odd, I mean did you just make this all up yourself?
|
|
|
|
Post by Amphagorey on Jan 1, 2004 14:57:44 GMT -5
Oh thanks you uncle Kobo! I've always wanted to see how depressing our world is all at once! Ha. Well, none the less, very informative. I'm going to go hide in a corner now, and pray 2004 is full of bunnies and flowers and all that happy stuff........I want to be happy, but I won't be happy, til I make you happy too
|
|
|
|
Post by Kobolos on Jan 1, 2004 15:23:42 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by jayK on Jan 1, 2004 16:57:56 GMT -5
I haven't seen either, But i can say Grima slit saruman's throat
|
|
|
|
Post by Indistinguishable Blob on Jan 1, 2004 22:38:47 GMT -5
GAH. The whole Mall-walkers thing, first off, is just so moronic. Have we really gotten this paranoid? Freaking 88 year old mall-walkers: the next terrorists! God. Bigfoot is real, you say? I'll have to check out that link... And good luck with the vegetarian thing! I've always wanted to go veggie, but alas, I've no stamina.  Thanks for the news, Uncle Kobolos : ) |
|
|
|
Post by Amphagorey on Jan 1, 2004 23:23:49 GMT -5
Yeah for you Kobo. I don't eat red meat, and I'm trying to get off the chicken, but it's a hard battle. Fight on brave Veggie man!
|
|
|
|
Post by Kobolos on Jan 2, 2004 9:58:31 GMT -5
Good Day and welcome to January 2, 2004. More News from around the Happy Scrappy world: Yahoo and Google have released their top searches of 2003 list, the trends are interesting: search.yahoo.com/top2003Google www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html The nice thing about doing this is that right now you get alot of "best of" "worst of" and the likes, here is another: In its annual compilation of language irritants, Lake Superior State University singled out 17 words and phrases — trendy, trite, euphemistic or just plain inaccurate. The 2004 losers were chosen by a university committee from more than 5,000 nominations from around the world. www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20031231.wbanword1231/BNStory/International/ The Big article Why Bush Must Be Captured And Tried With Saddam www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0401/S00002.htm Now I know this is going to seem like I'm bashing Bush, and I do think maybe the title is a bit misleading, but it's a fascinating article for several reasons and worth your time: Is Bush using the recent capture of Saddam Hussein for propaganda purposes for the election and to justify its war against Iraq? Some newspapers have gone so far to question the practicality of the “Bush doctrine” without pointing out its illegal and criminal nature. Any law scholar will tell you that pre-emptive self-defense is unlawful under international law – from Article VI of the Nuremberg Charter to the UN Charter. In fact, the United States was the guiding force behind both the Nuremberg trials and the establishment of the United Nations. At the end of the second world war, with the Nazis defeated and discredited, the United Nations Charter, a treaty binding on the U.S., prohibited nations using preventive force in Article II, Section 4. Only the Security Council has the authority to take measures against “threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of aggression.” The only exception to this is the right of individual and collective self-defense that the U.S. and Britain invoked under Article 51. The key, of course, is that you has to be attacked or that an enemy must be in the process of attacking you. Under the UN Charter, you cannot simply say here’s a list of “rogue nations” who may at some undefined time in the near future pose a threat to you because they may harbor weapons of mass destruction, which we have in abundance, and they are not allowed to have. Nor is there anything under international law that says simply developing a weapons program amounts to an armed threat or attack. If this were true, every country on Earth would be justified in attacking the U.S., the country with the greatest number of WMD’s, at any time. Are some journalists trying to silence debate on the Bush doctrine? It was ABC debate moderator Ted Koppel who suggested that peace candidates Dennis Kucinich, Ambassador Carol Mosley-Braun and Rev. Al Sharpton should drop out of the debate. When Kucinich directly challenged Koppel suggesting that it wasn’t the media’s role to define who should be in or out of a presidential race prior to the people casting votes, ABC retaliated by pulling the fulltime reporter covering the Kucinich campaign. _____________________________________ Was looking for stuff today, came across this: To build its case for war with Iraq, the Bush administration argued that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, but some officials now privately acknowledge the White House had another reason for war — a global show of American power and democracy. ad.doubleclick.net/adi/N1851.ABCNews.com/B1263586.4;sz=728x90;ord=2004.01.02.06.08.27?Remember the Mall Walkers? We're sure showing them our power and democracy. Question from yesterday: KOBO! Did you make this all up? Nope, but here are some fibs for you: 1. Iraq had something to do with 9/11 and/or Al Qaeda. 2. Iraq illegally possessed chemical and biological weapons which were a threat to the United States and/or its allies. 3. Iraq was fast pursuing and might even already possess the means to build and deliver a nuclear bomb. 4. Occupying Iraq would not only be a “cakewalk,” but we would also find in the aftermath a nation full of people who would welcome us and cooperate fully in the rebuilding of their country. 5. Iraq was a nation which, with U.S. aid and guidance, could within a short time become a democratic model for the rest of the region. Remember those? Daniel Silverberg makes the case for US peacekeeping forces to use non-lethal weapons (NLWs) in Iraq: www.tnr.com/dhtml/dhtml-menu-all.mhtml And Finally Fraternity members catch, kill, consume raccoon www.onlineathens.com/stories/122503/uga_20031225030.shtml A member of a University of Georgia fraternity killed a possibly rabid raccoon found outside his frat house, another member skinned it, while a third cooked and ate it. The Dec. 12 incident at the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house on South Milledge Avenue was investigated by Athens-Clarke County Animal Control, acting on an animal cruelty complaint. Animal control officials were concerned that the raccoon might have rabies because it had been acting ''erratically'' before fraternity members killed it by beating it and shooting it with a pellet gun. ''All of the men that had contact with the raccoon were advised to see a doctor or the Health Department concerning potential rabies exposure,'' animal control said in a news release. Link of the day Best news photos of 2003 home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20030127_best_news_photos_of_2003.htmEnjoy your day! |
|
|
|
Post by Kobolos on Jan 3, 2004 9:37:15 GMT -5
Just some quick stuff today, no less frightening: Pat Robertson: God Says Bush Will Win in 2004 www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,107258,00.html NORFOLK, Va. — Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson (search) said Friday he believes God has told him President Bush will be re-elected in a "blowout" in November. "I think George Bush is going to win in a walk," Robertson said on his "700 Club" program on the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network (search), which he founded. "I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way." Robertson told viewers he spent several days in prayer at the end of 2003. "The Lord has just blessed him," Robertson said of Bush. "I mean, he could make terrible mistakes and comes out of it. It doesn't make any difference what he does, good or bad, God picks him up because he's a man of prayer and God's blessing him." The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, a frequent Robertson critic and executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State (search), said he had a prediction of his own: "Pat Robertson in 2004 will continue to use his multimillion broadcasting empire to promote George Bush and other Republican candidates." In a reference to Bush's political adviser, Lynn said, "Maybe Pat got a message from Karl Rove (search) and thought it was from God." I was talking to Ares the other day and he personally likes Wesley Clark, being an Army man and all...I thought Yahweh would be for Rev. Sharpton...how must Al feel?Will the French Indict Cheney? www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040112&s=irelandYet another sordid chapter in the murky annals of Halliburton might well lead to the indictment of Dick Cheney by a French court on charges of bribery, money-laundering and misuse of corporate assets. At the heart of the matter is a $6 billion gas liquification factory built in Nigeria on behalf of oil mammoth Shell by Halliburton--the company Cheney headed before becoming Vice President--in partnership with a large French petroengineering company, Technip. Nigeria has been rated by the anticorruption watchdog Transparency International as the second-most corrupt country in the world, surpassed only by Bangladesh. One of France's best-known investigating magistrates, Judge Renaud van Ruymbeke--who came to fame by unearthing major French campaign finance scandals in the 1990s that led to a raft of indictments--has been conducting a probe of the Nigeria deal since October. And, three days before Christmas, the Paris daily Le Figaro front-paged the news that Judge van Ruymbeke had notified the Justice Ministry that Cheney might be among those eventually indicted as a result of his investigation. I got nothing to say here kids, let's move along to....*drum roll* Things that scare the crap out of Kobolos SONIC DOOM! www.forteantimes.com/articles/153_sonicweapons.shtml(the article is fascinating, and well worth your time, here are the finer points) The human ear can only hear a limited part of the sound spectrum. Above that range is ultrasound and below it is infrasound; although largely unheard, vibrations in these ranges can still affect the human body in ways that are quite different from the informational aspect of simply listening. These higher and lower registers of sound frequencies are, today, the stuff of imaginative speculation. The use of disconcerting noise to unsettle the enemy is hardwired into most higher animals, from the warnings and battle roars of confrontational beasts to the trumpets, drums, bugles, bagpipes, devilish war cries, taunts and piercing shrieks used by humans in their conflicts. Yet in these cases, for all the psychological terror the noise was intended to create, it was a crude application of volume and culturally jarring music rather than the directed application of a sound frequency as a weapon. Sound is a waveform, with low infrasonic frequencies having a long wave length (measured in tens of metres), and with high ultrasonic frequencies having a short wave length (measured in millimetres). The frequencies associated with ultrasound are most familiar from their utilisation by the medical profession, chiefly for diagnostic imaging. While the ears are designed to detect a limited range of frequencies – different frequencies can affect the whole body and, at volume, can be felt in almost any part of the body. Even with industrial ear protectors, sound waves are able to enter the head via the nose and mouth which are, in turn, linked to the ears by the structure of the skull. The natural world is awash with infrasound created by thunder, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, shifting tectonic plates and even winds. The ability of animals, such as bats and dogs, to hear ultrasound is well documented. Scientists have developed ways of measuring infrasound associated with these phenomena to aid their research. The military use of infrasound dates back to the First World War, when the detection of such frequencies helped pinpoint the enemy’s heavy artillery. The idea that infrasound could actually be used as a weapon tends to be attributed to Axis scientists 3, but of course much of the weapons research by the Axis powers was also of interest to Allied military scientists According to the Working Paper on Infrasound Weapons produced by Hungary for the United Nations in 1978 4, the frequency that is thought to be most dangerous to humans is between 7 and 8Hz. This is the resonant frequency of flesh and, theoretically, it can rupture internal organs if loud enough. Seven hertz is also the average frequency of the brain’s alpha rhythms; thus this frequency has been described as dangerous but also relaxing. Whether exposure to such infrasound can trigger epileptic seizures, as some fear, remains unclear; experimental data on exposure to such frequencies gives a variety of results. It should be noted, however, that the strobe light effect associated with triggering epileptic seizures flashes at an equivalent rhythm. Frequencies below 50Hz commonly lose their coherence and are perceived to pulse or fluctuate, which is analogous to the strobing beat of a modulated light. The effects of specific frequencies were confirmed, independently, by the work of engineer Vic Tandy while attempting to demystify a ‘haunting’ in his Coventry laboratory. This ‘spook’ was characterised by a feeling of unease and vague glimpses of a grey apparition. A spot of detective work implicated a newly installed extractor fan that, Tandy found, was generating infrasound of 18.9Hz. Tandy believes that ‘ghost hunters’ could benefit from investigating the infrasound frequencies at other ‘haunted’ locales. Not only does the 19Hz frequency create visual disturbances by vibrating the eyeball – hence the shimmering appearance of apparitions – but the frequency could also stimulate a psychological sense of disquiet (hairs on the back of the neck rising and so forth). Even the ‘drop in temperature’ associated with spectral manifestations could be an effect of infrasound: “It does not cause a measurable drop in temperature of the air,” says Tandy, but “the effect is caused by a reaction in the body.” The link between periods of insanity and exposure to specific infrasound frequencies forms the basis for the ‘Feraliminal Lycanthropizer’, a device claimed to stimulate atavistic animality, sexual excitement, and a loss of inhibitions in its target. As described in an essay published in Dainty Viscera magazine, the Feraliminal Lycanthropizer creates two infrasound frequencies – which, combined, generate a lower, third frequency. The machine also uses a combination of four subliminal, looped, audio tape recordings – playing both forwards and backwards – outside the normal audible pitch. A search of the available literature and the Internet reveals that many conspiracy theorists, paranoiacs, and some political activists, sincerely believe that the military has developed infrasound weapons… but precisely what these weapons are, how they function, and how they would be deployed remains vague. We might not notice it, but infrasound permeates our daily environment; the machines around us, the buildings, and the weather all generate infrasound frequencies. The effects may be as unsettling as a ghostly vision, as tiring as the pressure created before a storm, or as invigorating as a good night’s sleep. Disabling forms of infrasound may be used in future wars or to quell civil riots and demonstrations. With important consequences like these, it is unsettling to realise that we actually know far too little about the audio frequencies that surround us. I'm off to work, Enjoy your weekend! |
|
|
|
Post by Kobolos on Jan 4, 2004 9:41:58 GMT -5
The weekend is a great time for me to catch up on news you may have missed: TSA Chief At Dulles Is Charged With DWI Agency Says Official Had Code Orange Duty www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48173-2004Jan1.htmlThe chief of the Transportation Security Administration at Dulles International Airport was placed on administrative leave yesterday after being charged with drunken driving while he was on duty for a New Year's Eve Code Orange alert, officials said. Acting federal security director Charles Brady was pulled over about 1 a.m. by a Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority police officer who saw him driving erratically on Route 28 near Dulles, airport spokeswoman Tara Hamilton said. Brady, 49, was taken to the Fairfax County jail, where he was booked at 3 a.m. He was released at 1 p.m. yesterday after being charged with driving while intoxicated, said spokesman Lt. Tyler Corey, who described Brady as "extremely cooperative" during his stay. On a night considered at particular risk of terrorism, with extraordinary security actions in place across the country, Brady was supposed to be at his airport post until 2 a.m. TSA spokeswoman Jennifer Marty said that Brady should have been participating in a security exercise to ensure the safety of air travelers at that hour. Pope calls for a new world order www.guardian.co.uk/pope/story/0,12272,1114946,00.html Pope John Paul II launched one of the most important diplomatic initiatives of his long papacy yesterday when he called for a new international order to replace the one that emerged from the second world war. Though he did not offer a detailed plan, his words appeared to show he wanted the UN replaced in light of its failure to block the use of force by America in Iraq. The Pope called last month for the reform of world institutions and deplored any failure to respect international law. But in a sermon during a mass at St Peter's in Rome yesterday, he went much further, referring to the UN as if it were already a part of the past. "More than ever, we need a new international order that draws on the experience and results achieved in these years by the United Nations," he declared during a service to mark the Roman Catholic Church's World Day of Peace, celebrated on January 1. Cleaners are called in to clear court of 'voodoo dust' www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/04/wvood04.xml&sSheet=/portal/2004/01/04/ixportal.htmlAn American lawyer has been convicted of money laundering after a trial disrupted by allegations that voodoo magic was being used to influence the outcome. Judge Patricia Seitz was forced to order extraordinary security measures at a Florida court building during the trial of Juan Carlos Elso after the veteran prosecution lawyer, Richard Gregorie, complained that his clothes were being ruined by voodoo powder. The debonair Mr Gregorie complained to the judge that his dry-cleaning bills had become worryingly onerous as the trial progressed, apparently because someone was scattering a good luck charm on his chair and in his files of evidence. Famed for his eloquence, Mr Gregorie pleaded for judicial intercession. "It's the Santeria dust, Your Honour," he said, referring to the animist religion popular in Cuba. His prosecuting colleague showed Judge Seitz a large quantity of the grey dust collected from evidence boxes. Judge Seitz ordered that the court be vacuumed to clean up the powder and also locked during each recess Outside the court, followers of Santeria played down the ominous overtones of the incident, pointing out that white powder can only be used to bring good luck and speculated that it was being spread around the court to sway the jury and the judge in favour of the accused. If that was the case, it was singularly unsuccessful: the jury found Elso guilty on three counts of laundering hundreds of dollars for cocaine-running clients. An Finally... Kobo's story of the week. Fans sink teeth into Steve Irwin www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,8321805%255E663,00.html WORLD fury has erupted over Steve Irwin's crocodile feeding stunt with his baby boy. Irwin fled his Sunshine Coast zoo yesterday as the fallout threatened to unravel the Crocodile Hunter's lucrative empire, which rakes in more than $16 million a year. Many fans are calling for Irwin's top-rating show, which plays to a global audience of 500 million in 130 countries, to be dropped. Condemnation was greatest in the US, where Irwin has been a favourite with TV audiences. The disturbing spectacle of Irwin holding his one-month-old son Bob while dropping chicken meat into the open jaws of a 4m reptile made the front pages of weekend newspapers and led TV news reports across the US, Canada and Europe. The New York Daily News yesterday led the attack. "Steve Irwin – Australian for stupid," its front page said. Inside, the barrage continued: "Dad of Year? What a croc". The New York Post billed the stunt a "Crocodile Shock" and asked whether Irwin was off his croc-er. "Crikey! Just like Mikey!" screamed the front page of Toronto's Sun, comparing Irwin with disgraced pop star Michael Jackson, who a year ago dangled his own baby son over a hotel balcony. And London's The Times reported that Irwin had gone from Crocodile Dundee to crocodile dunce. The website of US cable channel Animal Planet was inundated with messages split between defending Irwin and his wife Terri and attacking them. Many called for the couple's children to be removed from their care. One mother was among dozens calling for Irwin's popular cable show to be scrapped from the Animal Planet network. "I can't allow my children to watch this man any more. The whole world is horrified," she wrote. And another: "If this happened in the United States, Steve would have been arrested for child endangerment." The Animal Planet network earlier released a statement deploring the incident but supporting its star. "Based on the footage we have seen, we believe a mistake was made. That said, we know from the many years we have worked with Steve, that his family is the most important thing in his life and he takes his role as a father very seriously," it said. As hundreds of media outlets from around the world contacted the Sunshine Coast zoo yesterday, Irwin went on holiday. A spokesman from the The Best Picture Company, in charge of Irwin's publicity, said he had taken a break. "With all the media attention as well he's stuffed, buggered, so he's packed the family up and headed off." Brisbane mum Ada Darlington, a visitor to Irwin's Australia Zoo yesterday, said she would never let her one-year-old daughter Chloe into a crocodile enclosure. Irwin has denied placing his son in danger. But federal Opposition families spokesman Wayne Swan yesterday said Irwin had gone from dumb to dumber by not properly apologising. "The smart thing for Steve Irwin to have done would have been simply to say `That was a stupid thing to do' and move on," he said. And how was your week? |
|
|
|
Post by Tay Sachs on Jan 5, 2004 1:11:01 GMT -5
I think it was a dumb move but not enough to take his kids away (if that's their plan)
And OT, Kobolos, I adore your "jesus saves" banner.
*falls over laughing*
God forgive me.
Banning mall walkers??
This is getting ludicrous.
|
|
|
|
Post by Kobolos on Jan 5, 2004 9:29:40 GMT -5
Kobo's thoughts on stories we've covered so far. Swans- Like I told Pinstripe, when I post in Disturbing Discussions, I drop the goblin card and go to "Matt mode" so Yeah, I am a father seriously, Connor 6, Morgan 5, and Erik 3. When I was three I had a motorcycle. It was an idiotic thing for my father to do. But he wanted me to have one, since I loved riding with him on his Harley...in other words, a Parents love overtaking their good sense. Steve Irwen fits into this catagory. He had a father who threw him into the water with crocs, he thinks it's okay. (for the record, I'm super protective. even to he point where I went into full Christmas Story mode when my 6 year old got a BB gun for Christmas...."You'll shoot your eye out kid!" I've been following the cameras in the theatre thing for a while...used to be, the people were more interested in finding out wether you were press or wrote reviews online at premieres and such, but now witht hese phones, they are really really scared since it's so hard to catch you using it. This is an easy one though....you know you shouldn't be using a phone while the movie is going anyways, so leave it at home or in the car. Easy solution. This is one of the few things I agree with the theatre owners on. (but then again, I just wait for most stuff on DVD, I hate going to the theatre.) Onto the show! Congress helps itself to another pay raise www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2004/01/04/congress_helps_itself_to_another_pay_raise/A HAPPY NEW YEAR? For US senators and representatives, it certainly is: As of Jan. 1, their salary is $158,100 -- an increase of $3,400 over the amount they collected last year. Congress is notorious for procrastination, and the tally of unfinished business on Capitol Hill is a long one. But no one can accuse the legislative branch of dragging its heels when it comes to congressional pay. Appropriations bills may gather dust, judicial nominations may languish, but members of Congress are Johnny (swans' man)-on-the-spot when it comes to their own salaries. The most recent raise is only the latest in an ongoing series: On Jan. 1, 2003, they took a raise of $4,700. On Jan. 1, 2002, they took a raise of $4,900. On Jan. 1, 2001, they took a raise of $3,800. On Jan. 1, 2000, they took a raise of $4,600. On Jan. 1, 1998, they took a raise of $3,100. That comes to six raises totaling $24,500 since January 1998. And why does Congress feel it deserves them? That's hard to answer. Congress isn't talking. Few Americans have the power to award themselves a bigger paycheck at will; fewer still can do so and charge it to the public treasury. The Constitution grants members of Congress the privilege of paying themselves with taxpayers' money, but with that privilege comes a moral obligation to operate in the sunshine. Or so it used to be understood. Once upon a time, senators and representatives knew that before they could raise their salary, they had to hold hearings and take a vote. Those votes could be politically uncomfortable, and the public's reaction had to be taken into account. Not surprisingly, Congress tended to go long stretches between pay raises, and lawmakers knew better than to hike their pay during a recession. (On a few occasions, they even reduced their pay.) But Congress has changed the rules. Under the system now in place, House and Senate members automatically get a pay raise every year. The only way not to get the raise is to pass an amendment blocking it, and parliamentary hurdles make that difficult to accomplish. Upshot? A congressional paycheck that grows by thousands of dollars a year -- with no hearings, no debate, no media coverage, no public explanations. Above all, no embarrassing votes -- not unless some spoilsport with more integrity than avarice insists on offering a blocking amendment. This is scarier than the theatres....Quarantining dissent How the Secret Service protects Bush from free speech www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/04/INGPQ40MB81.DTLWhen President Bush travels around the United States, the Secret Service visits the location ahead of time and orders local police to set up "free speech zones" or "protest zones," where people opposed to Bush policies (and sometimes sign-carrying supporters) are quarantined. These zones routinely succeed in keeping protesters out of presidential sight and outside the view of media covering the event. When Bush went to the Pittsburgh area on Labor Day 2002, 65-year-old retired steel worker Bill Neel was there to greet him with a sign proclaiming, "The Bush family must surely love the poor, they made so many of us." The local police, at the Secret Service's behest, set up a "designated free-speech zone" on a baseball field surrounded by a chain-link fence a third of a mile from the location of Bush's speech. The police cleared the path of the motorcade of all critical signs, but folks with pro-Bush signs were permitted to line the president's path. Neel refused to go to the designated area and was arrested for disorderly conduct; the police also confiscated his sign. Neel later commented, "As far as I'm concerned, the whole country is a free-speech zone. If the Bush administration has its way, anyone who criticizes them will be out of sight and out of mind." At Neel's trial, police Detective John Ianachione testified that the Secret Service told local police to confine "people that were there making a statement pretty much against the president and his views" in a so-called free- speech area. Paul Wolf, one of the top officials in the Allegheny County Police Department, told Salon that the Secret Service "come in and do a site survey, and say, 'Here's a place where the people can be, and we'd like to have any protesters put in a place that is able to be secured.' " Pennsylvania District Judge Shirley Rowe Trkula threw out the disorderly conduct charge against Neel, declaring, "I believe this is America. Whatever happened to 'I don't agree with you, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it'?" And FinallyAs of Monday, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King has now entered the top 20 movies of all time with $291,987,000 (It's #18), passing The Empire Strikes Back, Home ALone, Matrix Reloaded, and Shrek. Next up is Sixth Sense, Pirates of the Carabbean and Independance Day to crack the top 15. Flash Movie: Lord of the Right Wing (Bush as Gollum!) flash.bushrecall.org/I'm still investigating this one, but the long and short of it is: Poppy Z. Brite was just banned from posting in a community that . . . wait for it . . . is named after Poppy Z. Brite.' www.livejournal.com/community/pbz_bangers/EDIT:Okay, here is what I found....that's....messed up. Let's suppose Poppy Z. Brite discovered this community. Do you think she would... A) Let her ego puff her up like a big, cuddly balloon B) Sue us C) Assume that, for better or for worse, we all want to have sex with her D) Be puzzled as to why our community name is spelled properly, but our URL seems to stand for "Peanut butter zots". E) Want me to give her hat back It's true- go to her page and look at the banners at the bottom, I have her hat, only in black. (Deleted post) kwobtchan 2004-01-02 15:18 (link) Oh, actually I founded this community shortly after I read Lost Souls. The idea was that people partial to inter-boy romances needed something to "bang" a al "bible bangers", and your name came up ^_^. -Kwobt marmaladesky 2004-01-03 00:04 (link) What about option F? F) She asks a mature question about the need to connect her name with hostility towards children, at which point she is banned. Nah, that would never happen. Link: www.livejournal.com/community/pbz_bangers/613.htmlWelcome to Monday! (and Poppy is more then welcome to Koboland!)
|
|
|
|
Post by Kobolos on Jan 6, 2004 10:07:21 GMT -5
Reasons I think the UK is better than the US: Tom Jones sells 1.5 million copies of his Reload album, it's not released in the US. We get Reloaded which is pretty cool in it's own right, but we still got jipped. Correction from yesterday ROTK only went to #19 as of Sunday, it fell short $66,000 from passing Empire Strikes Back....the force is strong with that one. On with the show Labor Dept. Offers Employers Tips to Avoid Overtime Pay ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGADQBX43PD.htmlThe Labor Department is giving employers tips on how to avoid paying overtime to some of the 1.3 million low-income workers who would become eligible under new rules expected to be finalized early this year. The department's advice comes even as it touts the $895 million in increased wages that it says those workers would be guaranteed from the reforms. Among the options for employers: cut workers' hourly wages and add the overtime to equal the original salary, or raise salaries to the new $22,100 annual threshold, making them ineligible. The department says it is merely listing well-known choices available to employers, even under current law. It's last rites for Braveheart... at last www.scotlandonsunday.com/scotland.cfm?id=9122004HE RESTS in the hearts and minds of Scots as an icon of the nation’s fighting spirit yet Braveheart legend William Wallace has never been granted a burial place fit for a national hero. But now, on the 700th anniversary of his gruesome death, Wallace is to finally get a permanent resting place at the Lanarkshire church where he is believed to have married his sweetheart. However, first there will be an extraordinary re-enactment of the last days of Wallace’s life which led up to his horrific death. Wallace author David Ross, will embark on a 450-mile pilgrimage to London to bring the spirit of the freedom fighter home. Boy rescued from stuffed-animal game www.wisinfo.com/sheboyganpress/news/archive/local_14002478.shtmlThere were some tense moments Saturday afternoon at the Washington Square Piggly Wiggly when a 7-year-old boy climbed inside a stuffed-animal grabber machine and remained there for an hour. The aim of game is to maneuver a grabber-claw to snag a stuffed animal. When a stuffed animal is obtained, the claw releases the toy into a chute. Zittel said the boy’s father was on a nearby pay phone when the boy quickly scurried into the toy machine through the chute where the toys come out. The boy tried to get out but couldn’t, because the flap on the chute only moves in one direction. Instead of breaking into the machine, the fire department called a locksmith. While waiting for the locksmith, the fire department moved the machine to the back of the store away from the view of customers. The boy was unharmed, but desperately had to go to the bathroom, Zittel said. The Claw has chosen! Enjoy your day! |
|
