December 02, 2008
— Gabriel Malor To get you started this morning, the indictments cooked up by the outgoing, deranged Willacy County DA, Juan Angel Guerra, have been dismissed. VP Cheney, former AG Gonzales, two district judges, two special prosecutors, and the district clerk are off the hook.
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December 01, 2008
— Open Blog Subtitled: Report Recommends Obama Administration Prepare for Germ Warfare.
Just fuckinÂ’ great. Terrorist cooties. According to The Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism (which by the way lacks a cool acronym), from AP via MSNBC:
”The United States can expect a terrorist attack using nuclear or more likely biological weapons before 2013, reports a bipartisan commission in a study being briefed Tuesday to Vice President-elect Joe Biden. It suggests the Obama administration bolster efforts to counter and prepare for germ warfare by terrorists.”“The report of the Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism, led by former Sens. Bob Graham of Florida and Jim Talent of Missouri, acknowledges that terrorist groups still lack the needed scientific and technical ability to make weapons out of pathogens or nuclear bombs. But it warns that gap can be easily overcome, if terrorists find scientists willing to share or sell their know-how.”
Well, at least VP-elect Hair Plugs is on it. Not sure about former Sen. Talent, but isn’t Bob Graham the one who spends every second of his life documenting every second of his life in an obsessive journal? Let’s hope he was paying attention at the briefings instead of writing things like “over the past minute, I took approximately 30 breaths as well as a sip from the water bottle in front of me.”
Former Sen. Graham does leave us with some chilling words, though:
”The report says the potential nexus of terrorism, nuclear and biological weapons is especially acute in Pakistan.“"Were one to map terrorism and weapons of mass destruction today, all roads would intersect in Pakistan," the report states.”
“"We think time is not our ally. The (United States) needs to move with a sense of urgency," Graham said.”
YaÂ’ Think? Well, if these fuckers think they can wipe us out Andromeda Strain style, IÂ’ve got news for them:
(Also, overnight thread since no one else cares about you pathetic insomniacs)
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— Ace Nice Deb notices the update at Minnesota's secretary of state site has this unwelcome surprise.
I think that might just be a glitch, though, as most people seem to think Franken's behind and staying there.
I'm hoping "Typo." If you imagine the "5" in Franken's tally moving from the thousands place to the hundreds place, the numbers seem more in line with previous reports.
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07:08 PM
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— Gabriel Malor I fully support, nay encourage this exercise of free speech:
An atheistic sign is included in the state Capitol's holiday display that includes a holiday tree and a Christian nativity scene.The sign, a new addition this year, is sponsored by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. The sign reads, "Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds."
Annie Laurie Gaylor, foundation co-president, said in a prepared statement that the sign is a reminder of the "real reason for the season, the winter solstice." The solstice, on Dec. 21 this year, is the shortest day of the year.
I can think of few ways the group could have found to participate that would hurt their cause more than that particular sign. "Christianists are teh stupid" was probably too overtly offensive, so they settled for this. Talk about classless. Two dignified displays, a "holiday tree" and a nativity, and then a braying attack on them. Well done, Freedom from Religion Foundation.
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— Ace In related news, my dick is as determined to break free of my pants as B.A. Barackus imprisoned in a warehouse full of farm combines, arc-welders, and WWII-era sea-mines.*
Zapper-boffins at Boeing will now carry out further ground blasts, gradually extending the amount of time the beam is kept on. Provided that there's no bother with these, flight tests will be the next step - culminating with a shootdown of an actual intercontinental missile.The ABL uses a large, chemically-fuelled laser in the rear half of its 747-400F freighter airframe. The beam generated here passes through management machinery in the forward half of the plane, and then through a swivelling turret in the nose which aims it at its target.
The laser plane is intended by the Missile Defence Agency to play its ray on the fuel-packed rocket stacks of enemy ICBMs as they boost upwards from enemy launch sites. Advocates of the programme suggest that this is a particularly good time to blast WMD-tipped missiles, as any tricky multiple warheads, decoys etc have had no time to come into play.
Critics, however, point out that a large fleet of extremely expensive jumbo-blasters would be required to maintain patrols within striking range of likely launch sites. Furthermore, any silo or pad located deep within a national interior would require the ABLs to intrude on hostile airspace, possibly precipitating the very attack they are designed to prevent.
On top of all that, the chemical fuelling requirements of the laser fleet would be a severe logistic problem, as the necessary stuff is highly corrosive and toxic - as are the waste products produced during firing.
Ah. Well we wouldn't want to produce corrosive and toxic waste products shooting down an ICBM.
Most of those have been certified as Green through the purchase of carbon offsets, you know.
* The A-Team faced villains dumber than Bond every week. Every week, they'd lock them in a storeroom and say to themselves, "There's nothing in there but a heavy bus, conveniently thick metal plates easily improvised into armor, welding torches, half-full propane tanks, flamethrowers in a state of low to mild disrepair, and the battering ram from a medieval siege engine. What trouble could they possibly make?"
Might have well just locked them up in the weapons locker.
Thanks to Arthur.
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— Ace He doesn't want sorrow.
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— DrewM Tomorrow is the runoff for the Georgia Senate seat. While lots of Republican names have shown up, Palin is still the favorite of the base, she drew about 2,000 people to one of her rallies.
Several Republicans have campaigned for Chambliss, including one-time presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. McCain campaigned in the state last month, but only Palin was tapped for election eve and four Georgia stops, reflecting her star status. Tommy Byler, 22, of Savannah marveled at the size of the crowd Palin drew compared to other top-tier Republicans who have campaigned for Chambliss."I went to see Mitt Romney a week ago, and I think there were only about 100 people there," said Byler, who wore a T-shirt emblazoned with Palin's face and the words "Sarah Palin Is My Homegirl."
All the polls have Chambliss up over his Democratic challenger. A Republican victory tomorrow will end any hopes the Democrats may have of getting 60 Senate seats.
After tomorrow the only Senate race outstanding will be the Coleman/Franken race in Minnesota, which is apparently looking good for Coleman at this point. Of course that's only as far as actual votes go. Franken may take the race to court where anything can happen.
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— Purple Avenger Motorized ice cream cones.
Load the removable dish with ice cream, push the button and the ice cream turns while you enjoy one of the world's most popular treats. No more licking around the edges of a drippy cone. Fun for all ages. Removable dish is dishwasher safe. Requires two double AA batteries (not included).Sorry no sale. I'm not letting anything turning 18,000 RPM's anywhere near my tongue.New 18,000 RPM motor!
Also a fine gift idea -- ELECTRIC FORKS. more...
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— Ace Stephie:
President-elect Obama also said this week in a series of press conferences that he held Monday through Wednesday on the economy and laying out his economic team. You got to give him credit for one thing at least: ever since the leak of Tim Geithner as Treasury Secretary at 3:00 last Friday, the Dow has gone up 17%, the S&P has gone up 19%. So at least there's been a vote of confidence in the markets for president-elect ObamaÂ…And Black Friday, thatÂ’s exactly right, sales up three percent surprisingly on Black Friday. So, is this about the Obama economic team?
President-elect Barack Obama hasn't even moved into the White House yet. But Wall Street is already showering him with praise for injecting confidence into the battered psyche of investors and working quickly to hatch a plan meant to jolt the economy out of its worst funk in decades.A market that two weeks ago was desperate for political leadership and a clear strategy to repair the economy appears to have found it in Obama, who is fast emerging as a decisive economic commander in chief.
Stocks soared last week after Obama moved aggressively to fill the power vacuum until he's sworn in and demonstrated his commitment to dig the USA out of its economic rut.
Newsbusters comments:
How did USA Today determine that Wall Street is "showering" Obama with praise? Easy. They found two people who have good things to say about him. Harris Private Bank's chief investment officer opines that Obama has been "a solid force behind the recent moves in the stock market." And a hedge fund manager believes "the market is thinking that Obama will put a fix to (the economy)."
The Lightworker is truly a remarkable fellow. As that second Newsbusters link notes, the markets have experienced the greatest post-election sell-off in history, and a loss in the DOW of 1,100 points since his election.
But he's not responsible for any of that of course -- only the upticks get credited to him. Even when the genera trajectory is down.
Down 450 points? That's the Bush recession. Up 200 points? That's the Obama effect. Down again 600 points? Bush. Up 150? Lightworker.
Of course the main reason the markets perked at all was the Citigroup bailout. The market always goes up on news of a bailout (and then down in the next several days). The effect is not a persistent one. But there is an effect... and as far as I know it's still the Bush Administration making calls on bailouts.
The Dow just dropped another 680 points, the 4th biggest drop on record.
Hmmmm.... Bush recession or Obama Effect? So hard to tell, huh?
In related news, the sun will disappear from the skies tonight, smothering the world with darkness and cold. Bush's fault.
Have no fear, however: At approximately 6:42 ET (check your local weather stations), Obama shall make it rise once more. He says he'll make it rise in the east, as a special bonus to those Northeastern states that voted for him so solidly.
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— DrewM As things get untangled after the attacks, I'm sure we'll start to hear stories of courage and bravery amidst the evil. However it's hard to imagine any will be more moving than the story of Sandra Samuel. She was the nanny of 2-year-old Moshe'le Holtzberg, the child of two of the Israeli victims at Chabad House.
The Holtzbergs were blessed with such a selfless, brave and heroic caretaker. There is no question that if it were not for the actions of Sandra Samuel, Moshe's nanny, he would not have survived the ordeal. Sandra was on the bottom floor of the Chabad House when the terrorists stormed in. She barricaded herself while she cowered from the shootings and bombings happening above her head. She did not dare leave her hiding spot until the next day, when the attacks seemed to have stopped. It was only then that she heard little Moshe crying.She easily could have ran out, saving herself. It would have been understandable. After all, the terrorists didn't know that anyone was left inside alive. If they heard the crying, they would come back in to finish the job. It would have made most sense for her to get out of there as quickly as possible. But she didn't. She couldn't. Little Moshe was calling her name.
Sandra left her barricaded room and went upstairs for Moshe. She found him, next to his parents and soaked in their blood. She grabbed him and ran.
The baby is with his grandparents in Israel and they are apparently trying to get Sandra a visa to join him there. I'm guessing she'll be something of a national hero in Israel when she gets there and deservedly so.
(h/t: A friend who has no idea I post at this blog)
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