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 Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 2:31 am
Post what's going on and discuss.
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 2:44 am
Washington Post: U.S. Calls Entry Point in San Diego a Possible Security RiskEnviromentalists are opposing efforts by the federal goverment to improve border security. Quote: With recent revelations by the Department of Homeland Security that al Qaeda operatives are looking to the Mexican border as a way to infiltrate the United States, federal officials have hastened efforts to close off the final stretch between Otay Mesa and the Pacific Ocean, in a canyon known as "Smuggler's Gulch." They contend that the area is a national security risk. But environmentalists say completing the project, which they have battled for years, will devastate the protected marshland and delicate habitats of the Tijuana Estuary and endanger rare plants and animals. The House recently approved immigration legislation, introduced by Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.), that includes provisions to complete the fencing -- and gives Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff almost total authority to sidestep environmental and labor laws in the process. Quote: "The benefit to national security is so minimal when you compare it to the cost of destroying habitat and opening up the area to further erosion and flooding," said Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), whose district includes the affected land. "Nobody asked me what to do, and this is my area." In February 2004, the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to oppose the project as planned, ruling that it was overly damaging to the environment. Commission officials urged the government to replace the primary fence with a larger, stronger one that would run from the canyons west to the beach and add a secondary fence only in places where illegal immigrants tend to cross, a plan they say would accomplish the security goal while mitigating environmental impacts. They seem to think that infiltrators are going to cross where people "tend to cross". I don't think that they are going to take the most obvious and most heavily defended places to cross. They are going to look for the gaps. I'm sure that many Gaians here from the border states know the problems with our porous borders. It's too bad that the enviromentalists, and the politicians listening to them, can't get their priorities straight.
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Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2005 4:14 pm
It's because most of the voters in California (read: urban liberals, who make up a large portion of the voters) are completely out of touch with reality. Another large chunk are hispanics who don't give a rat's arse about security. There goes the chance of anyone who cares about security getting their concerns addressed.
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 2:53 pm
german_bar_wench, all I can say is change your residency and start making babies ... Here's another: Quote: Iran has rejected a new US policy offering economic incentives to the Islamic state to give up its nuclear enrichment programme. "No pressure, bribe or threat can make Iran give up its legitimate right" to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, said an Iranian spokesman. President George W Bush announced the major change in US policy on Friday. He said the US would back European talks to resolve the stand-off over Iran's nuclear issue. His Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, announced the lifting of a decade-long block on Iran's membership of the World Trade Organization, and objections to Tehran obtaining parts for commercial planes. Washington accuses Iran of using its nuclear enrichment programme as a cover for developing nuclear weapons. Here's hoping he knew this would happen and it's just part of the president's master plan ... And lest we forget about another problem, this one in the Pacific, James F. Dunnigan warns us of China's cyberwarfare efforts: Quote: China is putting more effort into its cyberwar capabilities. Many of the Chinese spies detected in the United States have been seeking information that would assist a cyberwar attack via the Internet. An increasing number of prominent Chinese hackers (or "honkers" as they call themselves) are disappearing into government and military organizations known to be fronts for cyberwar research. Individuals and organizations thought to be representing China have been showing on the Internet underground, offering good prices for exploits (flaws in Internet software that can allow hackers to secretly enter, or even take over, PCs connected to the Internet.) China also buys exploit information from legitimate computer security firms, but does it through front corporations. These exploits are the raw material cyberwarriors use to built cyberwar weapons. Most exploits have a short shelf life, for once the software manufacturer knows of the problem, they fix it. But in the weeks or months it takes for the flaw to be fixed, computers using the affected software are vulnerable. Even after software patches have been issued, it takes months before the majority of users fix their software, and some users never get around to fixing the problems until they upgrade to a new version of the software, or otherwise stop using it. China is also making itself less vulnerable to these weapons by switching from the use of Microsoft software (which has the most exploits available) for Linux (which has much less vulnerability.) Microsoft is the most vulnerable because, world wide, it is used on 90 percent of PCs. Linux does not have as much specialized software available for it, but this is not a problem for most government and commercial users in China. This shift from Microsoft to Linux has been going on for nearly five years, and most new software written in China is for Linux, not Microsoft, systems.
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Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2005 10:18 pm
Edward Yee german_bar_wench, all I can say is change your residency and start making babies ... I changed my residency away from CA to TX, and I'm working on the babies thing now.
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Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 9:58 pm
I found this following article to be interesting yet depressing.
A Wisconsin proposal to declare wild or feral cats an unprotected species -- allowing them to be shot on sight -- has sparked, well, a cat fight.
Cat lovers around the nation howled in outrage, the man who made the proposal received death threats, and some Minnesota letter writers asked how Wisconsin could be so cruel to even consider such a thing.
They might be surprised to learn wild cats are fair game in Minnesota, and have been for years.
"A wild or feral cat is an unprotected species in Minnesota," said Mark Holsten, Department of Natural Resources deputy commissioner. They can be shot or trapped or otherwise killed as a nuisance animal, like gophers, skunks or weasels, Holsten said.
"If you have feral cats on your property, you can shoot them. They're [like] a gopher or a woodchuck," Holsten said.
A feral cat in the crosshairs.Star Tribune photo illustrationThat's not news to some rural Minnesota residents.
"We have been killing stray-wild cats for years, but apparently are not doing our job well enough," Charles Wolf of Long Prairie wrote recently to the Star Tribune. "There are still way too many of them."
Said Roger Strand of New London: "We live in the woods and have feral cats that ambush songbirds at my feeders. I shoot them when I can."
But that doesn't mean it's open season on all cats. We're talking wild or feral cats -- cats that essentially live on their own with little or no human contact.
"If you know that's your neighbor's cat, it's a different story," Holsten said. "I would hope the neighbor would be smart enough to put a collar on it so it could be identified."
Cats -- whether wild or not -- can't be shot in suburbs, cities or towns because of local shooting ordinances. And state law prohibits shooting within 500 feet of a residence or livestock.
There are other restrictions to killing unprotected animals like feral cats. A person can't use artificial lights, run them over with vehicles or generally use poison to kill them.
The reason feral cats are scorned by some wildlife officials, hunters, bird watchers and others is because they prey on wildlife, including songbirds and game birds such as pheasants and ducks.
And the toll appears high. Wisconsin researcher Stanley Temple, using radio-collared cats, estimates free-ranging cats in Wisconsin might kill between 8 million and 217 million songbirds yearly and 140,000 game birds. A "reasonable estimate" would be 39 million birds, he has said.
"Multiply even the bottom estimate by 50 states and that's about a million birds a day killed by house cats," said Bob Zink, ornithologist at the University of Minnesota. "It's a major source of mortality."
Said Zink: "I'm a hunter and a cat lover. But my cat never went outside to kill birds, and I had her 18 years. People shouldn't let their cats outside."
That's why Mark Smith of La Crosse, Wis., proposed that free-roaming feral cats be considered an unprotected species, as they are in Minnesota. He saw the cat tracks in the snow beneath his bird feeder. He has said he's not a cat hater but believes they don't belong in the environment.
"I look at them as an invasive species, plain and simple," he told the Associated Press.
Zink, who also is curator of birds at the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History, agrees.
"Our birds didn't evolve in an ecosystem with a feline predator of that size and ability," he said. "It's an exotic species we've introduced, like zebra mussels. They do environmental damage to the native ecosystem."
Minnesota officials don't know how many wild cats are on the landscape, or their impact here on songbirds or game birds. But drive almost any rural Minnesota highway and you'll see feral cats.
"It's pretty common to see free-roaming cats in road ditches hunting," said Ken Varland, DNR regional wildlife manager in southern Minnesota. "There's an awful lot of them out there."
Said Pam Perry, a DNR nongame specialist in Brainerd: "This is really a serious problem. I don't think people realize how serious it is. Cats are such efficient predators. This is a house pet that, if it gets loose, can establish its own wild populations."
A colony of about 60 feral cats was found last year on a former dairy farm near Oronoco, Minn., and similar colonies have been reported elsewhere, including the Twin Cities.
There is a simple, non-lethal option. Perry and the DNR endorses the American Bird Conservancy's national "keep your cat indoors" program.
"Just keep them indoors," she suggested.
The Oronoco cats were trapped, sterilized, vaccinated and released -- as an alternative to killing them. A group called Camp Companion did the work. It sterilized and released 230 feral cats last year.
The same method has been used elsewhere around the country. The theory is that, once the cats are sterilized, the colonies eventually will die off because they can't reproduce.
Zink doesn't think much of the idea.
"It's unconscionable that people are doing this. They think they are doing the cats a big favor, but they're not doing the environment a favor." The wild cats will continue to prey on wildlife, he said.
Meanwhile, the Wisconsin proposal will be considered at Wisconsin Conservation Congress spring meetings around the state at 7 p.m. April 11. And the idea continues to generate hisses.
The Humane Society of the United States last week called the proposal "archaic and unwarranted."
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Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2005 9:22 am
Yet another international organization screwing the United States: The International Committee of the Red Cross. Double Red Crossed in the Spring 2005 issue of The National Interest.
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Posted: Wed Apr 20, 2005 3:44 pm
The latest sleazy left-wing smear: New York Sun: New Bolton Accuser Is a Liberal From 'Mothers Opposing Bush'Quote: WASHINGTON - The latest accusations of abuse aimed at the president's nominee to be America's ambassador to the United Nations come from a self-described "liberal Democrat" who in 2004 helped organize the Dallas chapter of "Mothers Opposing Bush." The woman, Melody Townsel, alleged that John Bolton chased her through the halls of a Moscow hotel throwing objects and screaming threats at her in August 1994, according to a letter circulated Saturday by the spokesman for the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Biden of Delaware. So now we have a liberal activist coming out of the woodwork with an allegation over 10 years old. Quote: She also said there were no other eyewitnesses to what in the letter she said was a pattern of abusive behavior, but that others working on the project were familiar with her account. Without witnesses no less. Something definatly reeks fishy here about her story and her timing. What a pathetic 11th hour smear tactic. stare
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Posted: Mon Apr 25, 2005 9:27 pm
Kazuma The latest sleazy left-wing smear: New York Sun: New Bolton Accuser Is a Liberal From 'Mothers Opposing Bush'Quote: WASHINGTON - The latest accusations of abuse aimed at the president's nominee to be America's ambassador to the United Nations come from a self-described "liberal Democrat" who in 2004 helped organize the Dallas chapter of "Mothers Opposing Bush." The woman, Melody Townsel, alleged that John Bolton chased her through the halls of a Moscow hotel throwing objects and screaming threats at her in August 1994, according to a letter circulated Saturday by the spokesman for the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Biden of Delaware. So now we have a liberal activist coming out of the woodwork with an allegation over 10 years old. Quote: She also said there were no other eyewitnesses to what in the letter she said was a pattern of abusive behavior, but that others working on the project were familiar with her account. Without witnesses no less. Something definatly reeks fishy here about her story and her timing. What a pathetic 11th hour smear tactic. stare It definitely does sound suspicious...
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 9:09 am
Y'know, there really should be a limit to just how far back they can dig for this kind of crap! I also definitely believe that there far more to her story that she is not telling, and that she is exaggerating his actions as well.
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Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 12:59 pm
Creating stale lies is their standard playbook. Fresh lies don't work. Too easy to debunk.
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Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 2:09 am
here's something fun: http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/local/11527526.htmThe little buggers are lucky they didn't try that at my school. I might only have 45 rds of 9mm sitting in my car, but UTD's campus PD wouldn't hesitate to A: loan me more ammo or B: Just waste the buggers themselve. Quote: Protesters control university president's office for second dayAssociated Press HONOLULU - A group of about 50 people protesting a proposed Navy research center at the University of Hawaii were in control of the university president's office for a second day Friday. Interim President David McClain refused to sign a letter canceling plans to establish the research center. The group of students, faculty and community members oppose the university's plans to enter a multimillion dollar deal with the Navy to establish a research center on the Manoa campus. Four University Affiliated Research Centers currently exist in schools across the nation. Protesters, many of them students whose final exams start in 10 days, said they wouldn't leave until the letter is signed. "We are going to stay as long as we can stay," said Cody Brown, 22, a senior majoring in clothing design and merchandising at the university's Manoa campus. "We'll stay through finals." McClain said he planned to meet individually with protesters starting Saturday morning. "At this juncture I'm unable to say that I would sign that letter," said McClain, who said he would work from home Friday. "I do need to carefully review the facts." University administrators on Thursday allowed protesters to sleep inside Bachman Hall, where McClain's office is located, after they had spent the day sitting peacefully inside the spacious office. McClain warned the group that they were trespassing when he met with them Friday morning. "I have to advise you that you are trespassing," McClain told the dozens of protesters and reporters crammed inside his office. "If you do not leave ... then you could be subject to arrest." No arrests had been made as of Friday afternoon, although organizers said some protesters had volunteered to be arrested. Capt. Donald Dawson, the chief of security on the Manoa campus, said Honolulu police were ready to clear McClain's office at the university's request. It is not clear whether protesters would be allowed to stay in the president's office over the weekend. Hawaii administrators have been pushing for the contract that is estimated to bring in $50 million in federal funding over five years to conduct military research. Officials have characterized the research center as a different way of bringing in money and said faculty would have the option of whether to participate or not. Officials estimate that about 15 percent of the work at the research center would be classified. But the contract has come under fierce opposition, especially from Native Hawaiians who say the center would further militarize the state. Hawaii is already home to a number of military bases, including the Navy's base at Pearl Harbor several miles from campus. Some faculty have said they are concerned their research could be subject to new publication restrictions under the research center. Sean Kelii Collier, a Hawaiian Studies student and a co-organizer of the sit-in, said he opposes the UARC because it would boost the amount of classified military research at the university. The center would stand against the university's strategic plan, which he said calls for "a Hawaiian place of learning," he said. "Why aren't we studying renewable energy? Why aren't we studying international diplomacy?" he said. "We are staying until he decides to sign the letter to stop the UARC." Protesters also set up eight tents in front of Bachman Hall, where they have been using an office in the building as a study room and another for meetings. They also brought in coolers, food and blankets. Contract negotiations with the Navy are expected to begin in as early as a few weeks. If the plan is approved by school administrators, it will go before the Board of Regents, which gave preliminary approval in November. The four Navy-backed research centers in the United States are located at Pennsylvania State University, University of Texas at Austin, University of Washington and Johns Hopkins University. The University of Hawaii was recommended as the fifth center in July 2004
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Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 10:53 am
News flash - Missing Bride FoundI'm sure you guys all heard this story. People's stupidity just enrages me. Wouldn't she have turned up right away when she heard that people were worried about her disappearance (you know, in case she was actually murdered). Cold feet is common, it doesnt mean you have to randomly run away to New Mexico. Any opinions?
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Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2005 12:22 pm
JunjunTB News flash - Missing Bride FoundI'm sure you guys all heard this story. People's stupidity just enrages me. Wouldn't she have turned up right away when she heard that people were worried about her disappearance (you know, in case she was actually murdered). Cold feet is common, it doesnt mean you have to randomly run away to New Mexico. Any opinions? Actually I heard that she went to Vegas at first, I can't fault anyone for not knowing what's on the news when they're in that city xd
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Posted: Tue May 31, 2005 2:52 am
Chicken soup for the Euroskeptic's soul. France Rejects European ConstitutionQuote: PARIS, May 29 -- Unhappy French voters on Sunday derailed plans to further erase political and economic barriers in Europe, decisively rejecting the proposed European constitution and thumbing their noses at the country's governing elite, which had pleaded for approval of the measure. The margin of defeat was wide, with about 56 percent voting against the constitution, and voter turnout was high. Opposition leaders harnessed widespread disenchantment over a variety of issues, including the unpopularity of President Jacques Chirac, the weakness of the French economy and fears that the country would lose its clout to a strengthened European central government. Sounds like it is alot of mumbling and grumbling among the French for a system that has been labled by many on the left as overtaking the United States. The French have quite loudly said no, the Dutch and the British are both also likely to vote against it (although at this point it is rather moot: It just takes one country to say no to send it back to the drawing board). This is not the sound of an economic or social model that has much confidence in its resilience, and this is one of the main reasons why the EU Constitution failed in France: the French are afraid of Anglo-style economic liberalization. This morose response of the left-wing in Europe isn't limited to France. Germany too is going through much of the same problems of France economically (although Germans didn't put it to a vote before the public at large). In April, the head of Germany's Social Democratic Party, Franz Munterfering, scapegoated Germany's problems on "international capital" and likening them to locusts rather then take responsibilty for much of the problems caused by the European model.
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