Two Russian bombers land in Venezuela: reports

Two Russian bombers land in Venezuela: reports: "Two Tu-160 Russian strategic bombers landed Wednesday at an airbase in Venezuela to take part in military exercises, Russian news agencies reported, citing the Russian defence ministry."

Tupolev Tu-160
.	"Tupolev Tu-160 Counfty of origin. Russia Type. Strategic bomber Powerplants. Four 137.3kN (30,865lb) dry and 245.2kN (55,115lb) with afterburning Samara/Trud NK-231 turbofans. Performance: Max speed at 40,000ft Mach 2.05 or 2220km/h (1200kt), cruising speed at 45,000ft 960km/h (518kt). Max initial rate of climb 13,780ft/min. Service ceiling 49,200ft. Radius of action at Mach 1.3 2000km (1080nm). Max unrefuelled range 12,300km (6640nm). Weights: Empty 110,000kg (242,505lb), max takeoff 275,000kg (606,260lb). Dimensions. Wing span wings extended 55.70m (182ft 9in), wing span wings swept 35.60m (116ft 9in), length 54.10m (177ft 6in), height 13.1 0m (43ft 0in). Wing area wings extended 360.0m (3875sq ft). Accommodation. Grew of four, with two pilots side by side and with navigator/bombardier and electronic systems operator behind them. Armament Max weapon load 40,000kg (88,185lb), comprising freefall bombs or ASMs in two internal bomb bays. One rotary launcher can be carried in each bay to carry six Kh-55MS (AS-1 5 'Kent') ALCMs or 12 Kh-15P (AS-16 'Kickback') SRAMs. No defensive armament. Operators. Russia, Ukraine. History. The massive Tu-160 ('Blackjack' to NATO) is the heaviest and most powerful bomber ever built and was developed as a direct counter to the Rockwell B- 1A. Tupolev began design work under the leadership of V I Bliznuk of its all new 'Aircraft 70', a direct response to the B-1, in 1973. Although the B-1A was cancelled in 1977, design and development work on the new bomber continued, resulting in a first flight on December 19 1981, about a month after it was first spotted by a US spy satellite. Production of 100 Tu-160s was authorized in 1985 although only about 30 were built before the line closed in 1992. The Tu-160 is similar in overall configuration to the B-1, but is much larger overall and has a number of different features. The four NK-231 afterburning turbofans are the most powerful engines fitted to a combat aircraft and are mounted in pairs under the inner fixed wings. The variable geometry air inlets are designed for speed (Mach 1 at low level, over Mach 2 at altitude). The Tu-160 has a retractable in-flight refuelling probe although it is rarely used due to the aircraft's massive 130 tonne internal fuel capacity. The variable geometry wings have full span leading edge slats and double slotted trailing edge flaps, while the airframe is free of any protuberances (except for a small video camera window for the pilots). The nav/attack radar is believed to have a terrain following function, while the Tu-160 has a comprehensive ECM jamming system. The four crew sit on their own ejection seats and the pilots have fighter style sticks. The Tu-160 has a fly-by-wire flight control system. About a dozen Tu-160s are in Russia (some are not airworthy) and 19 in the Ukraine, with an initial 10 of these due to be transferred to Russian control. The Tu-160SK is a commercial variant being offered as a launch vehicle for the Burlak-Diana satellite launching rocket." (source: International Directory of Military Aircraft 1998-1999) Tu-160 Tech. Specs. Crew: 4 Length, m: 54,1 Height, m: 13,1 Wing span, m: 55,7 Wing area, mІ: 400 Weight empty, kg: 110000 Weight normal, kg: 267600 Weight max, kg: 275000 Max fuel, kg: 171000 Service ceiling, m: 15000 Take-off speed, km/h: 270 Landing speed, km/h: 270 Max mach at sea level: 1,0 Max mach at height: 2,05 G limit: 2,0 Max wing loading, kg/mІ: 687,5 Max power loading, kg/kN: 280,6 Max rate of climb at sea level, m/s: 70 Range with max internal fuel, km: 12300 Armament: internal stowage for up to 40000 kg AVIATSIONNY NAUCHNO-TEKHNISHESKY KOMPLEKS IMENI A N TUPOLEVA OAO (Aviation Scientific-Technical Complex named for A N Tupolev JSC) MANUFACTURER DETAILS Naberezhnaya Akademika Tupoleva 17, 111250 Moskva Tel: (+7 095) 267 25 33 Fax: (+7 095) 267 27 33 e-mail: centre@tupolev.ru General Director: Vasili Aleksandrov Chairman: Takevos Sourniov Chief Designers: Oleg Alasheev Vladimir Andreev Valentin Dmitriyev Valentin Bliznyuk Igor S Kalygine Lev A Lakhnovsky Chief Engineer: Anatoly V Sakharov Head Of Information Department: Helen E Koutcherenko Tupolev Bureau was founded in 1922 and concentrated primarily on large military and civil aircraft until the early 1990s; has designed 300 aircraft, of which 35 placed in production; current effort is 80 per cent civil programmes, although it was suggested in 1998 that Tupolev had begun preliminary design of a new bomber to replace the Tu-160 and, probably, Tu-95/142; this would enter service some time after 2010 and may be based on earlier studies, such as the Tu-202 bomber of the 1980s or the more recent Tu-404 700/850-seat airliner. The Bureau remains heavily committed to the development of a civil supersonic transport aircraft. ANTK Tupolev has a 5.4 per cent share in Tupolev AO production group. Tupolev's head office, main design bureau and experimental facility are in Moscow; Tomilino branch and flight research centre at Zhukovsky; and design offices at Samara, Kazan and Voronezh. KAPO - KAZANSKOYE AVIATSIONNOYE PROIZVODSTVENNOYE OBEDINENIE IMENI S P GORBUNOVA (Kazan Aircraft Production Association named for S P Gorbunov) MANUFACTURER DETAILS ulitsa Dementiev 1, 420036 Kazan, Respublika Tatarstan Tel: (+7 8432) 54 24 32 Fax: (+7 8432) 54 36 93 Telex: 224184 SOKOL Since 1927, KAPO (formerly GAZ 22) has built more than 18,000 aircraft of 34 types, including the Tu-4, Tu-16, Tu-22, Tu-104 and Il-62. It currently produces the Tupolev Tu-214 and will manufacture the Tu-330 freighter, if it is ordered, and Tu-324 regional airliner. In 2000, KAPO belatedly delivered one Tu-160 strategic bomber, completion of which had been delayed by collapse of the former USSR; a second incomplete airframe may follow, as could two Tu-22Ms, also in stock. Also in 1999, Kazan delivered one Ilyushin Il-62 airliner (see Jane's Aircraft Upgrades) from a stock of five complete and three incomplete airframes held since main production ended in 1993. (Il-62 production thus one static test airframe, four flying prototypes, 94 of first series, 190 complete Il-62Ms, of which three awaiting purchasers, and three partly completed.) TUPOLEV Tu-160 NATO reporting name: Blackjack Unofficial name: Belyi Lebed (White Swan) Type Strategic bomber. Programme Designed as Aircraft 70 under leadership of V I Bliznuk; programme began 1967, but relaunched following issue of more modest specification in 1970; derived from unbuilt Tu-135 bomber and Tu-144 derivatives; some features from rival Myasishchev M-18. First of two prototypes (70-01) observed by intelligence source at Zhukovsky flight test centre 25 November 1981 (photographed from landing airliner; see 1982-83 Jane's); first flew 18 or 19 December 1981; first exceeded M1.0 February 1985; second (production-standard) aircraft first flew 7 October 1984. Third prototype (70-03) set world records for altitude, speed in a closed circuit and weight-to-altitude on 31 October 1989, 20 of these remaining unbroken in 2001. Further nine closed-circuit records established 22 May 1990 by aircraft `70-304'. Second production aircraft lost pre-delivery, March 1987; US Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci invited to inspect 12th aircraft built, at Kubinka airbase, near Moscow, 2 August 1988; deliveries to 184th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment, Priluki airbase, Ukraine, began April 1987; equipment of 1096th HBAR at Engels from 16 February 1992, but only six received before production at Kazan airframe plant terminated 1992; of 100 aircraft due to be built, at least 32 (including prototypes) accounted for; unconfirmed reports suggest total of 40 flying, plus three uncompleted at Kazan. Current Versions Tu-160 (`Blackjack'): Strategic bomber. Tu-160SK: Commercialised, demilitarised version, as carrier component of Burlak aviation space launch system; Burlak-Diana two-stage rocket, carrying payload, under fuselage on centreline mount. Announced at Singapore Air Show '94; proposed by Russian partners MKB-Raduga, OKB MEI and Tupolev, with German company OHB-System. At the 1995 Paris Air Show, Tu-160 0401 was exhibited statically (the type's Western debut) with a model Burlak rocket below the fuselage. Development of the system continued even after the German government withdrew funding in 1998, and may form the basis of the Ukrainian/PIC HAAL-2000 programme. Further data in 2001-02 and previous Jane's. Tu-160M: Proposed stretched variant carrying two 2,700 n mile (5,000 km; 3,107 mile) range hypersonic Kh-90 missiles. Tu-160P: Proposed very long-range escort fighter. Tu-160PP: Proposed escort jammer. Tu-160R: Proposed strategic reconnaissance platform. Customers In January 2001, Russia had seven operational Tu-160s; a further eight undergoing refurbishment for delivery over following months; and one under construction. Of original deliveries, Ukraine government seized 19 at Priluki on achieving independence, pre-empting planned transfer to Engels; purchase of these by Russia was subject to protracted negotiations, and aircraft deteriorated in storage; March 1996 agreement on transfer of 10 best airframes was not implemented; attempts to purchase eight failed in March 1998 and Russia then supposedly abandoned hopes of expanding Tu-160 fleet. However, October 1999 announcement revealed eight to be returned to Russia for refurbishment (together with three Tu-95MSs, for a total of US$285 million) and these were delivered between 5 November 1999 and 21 February 2000. Six others scrapped with US assistance, last being destroyed on 4 February 2001. August 2000 report mentioned further three Tu-160s which Ukraine could return to Russia in part-payment for natural gas deliveries. One further Ukrainian Tu-160 was flown to Poltava Kondratyuk-Shagray aerospace museum on 5 April 2000. Russia maintained force of six (declared as ALCM carriers under START) at Engels (where 1096th HBAR was redesignated as part of the 121st Guards HBAR in 1994), plus flying testbed at Zhukovsky; at least four more were derelict at Zhukovsky by 1995. Despite this, 1998 US estimates of Russian combat forces reported total holding of nominally serviceable aircraft as 25, though this would not seem to be possible. Eight more to re-enter service in 2001 after purchase from Ukraine, while plan announced in June 1999 to complete one unfinished Tu-160 at Kazan. This aircraft (`07' Aleksandr Molodchyi) was delivered on 5 May 2000. Another, brand new Tu-160 (the first of three more incomplete, unfinished aircraft at Kazan) is now under construction for delivery by the end of 2001 and there are plans to refurbish some (perhaps four) of the grounded aircraft at Zhukhovsky. Tu-160 may re-enter limited production, to meet a stated requirement for 25 operational `Blackjacks' by 2003, allowing formation of a second regiment. Five of original six at Engels are also named: `01' Mikhail Gromok; `02' Vasily Retsetnikov; `04' Ivan Yargin; `05' Il'ya Muromets (1) and `06' Il'ya Muromets (2). On 3 March 1999, the Russian Commonwealth Aerospace Technology Consortium (RCATC) was authorised by the Ukrainian government to sell three demilitarised Ukrainian Air Force Tu-160s, plus spares, to Platforms International Corporation of the USA, with which it has finalised a strategic partnership. The US$20 million deal includes a 20 per cent interest in Orbital Network Services Corporation, which plans to use the aircraft as reusable communications satellite launchers in its HAAL-2000 High-Altitude Air Launch programme. The aircraft would probably be modified to Tu-160SK standards and continue to be based at Priluki, maintained and flown by Ukrainian crews, but flown to customer countries for individual space launch missions. Design Features Intended for high-altitude standoff role carrying ALCMs and for defence suppression, using short-range attack missiles similar to US Air Force SRAMs, along path of bomber making low-altitude penetration to attack primary targets with free-fall nuclear bombs or missiles; this implies capability of subsonic cruise/supersonic dash at almost M2 at 18,300 m (60,000 ft) and transonic flight at low altitude. About 20 per cent longer than USAF B-1B, with greater unrefuelled combat radius and much higher maximum speed; low-mounted variable geometry wings, with very long and sharply swept fixed root panel; small diameter circular fuselage; horizontal tail surfaces mounted high on fin, upper portion of which is pivoted one-piece all-moving surface; large dorsal fin; engines mounted as widely separated pairs in underwing ducts, each with central horizontal V wedge intakes and jetpipes extending well beyond wing centre-section trailing-edge; manually selected outer wing sweepback 20, 35 and 65є; when wings fully swept, inboard portion of each trailing-edge flap hinges upward and extends above wing as large fence; unswept tailfin; sweptback horizontal surfaces, with conical fairing for brake-chute aft of intersection. Flying Controls Quadruplex fly-by-wire with mechanical reversion. Full-span leading-edge flaps, long-span double-slotted trailing-edge flap and inset drooping aileron on each wing; five-section spoilers forward of flaps; all-moving vertical and horizontal one-piece tail surfaces. Structure Slim and shallow fuselage blended with wing-roots and shaped for maximum hostile radar signal deflection; 20 per cent titanium, including leading-edges and wing centre-section spar box. Landing Gear Twin nosewheels retract rearward; main gear comprises two bogies, each with three pairs of wheels; retraction very like that on Tu-154 airliner; as each leg pivots rearward, bogie rotates through 90є around axis of centre pair of wheels, to lie parallel with retracted leg; gear retracts into thickest part of wing, between fuselage and inboard engine on each side; so track relatively small. Nosewheel tyres size 1080Ч400; mainwheel tyres size 1260Ч425. Power Plant Four purpose-designed Samara NK-321 turbofans, each 137.3 kN (30,865 lb st) dry, 245 kN (55,115 lb st) with afterburning. In-flight refuelling probe retracts into top of nose. Fuel in centre-section spar box and in outer wings. Accommodation Four crew members in pairs, on individual Zvezda K-36LM zero/zero ejection seats, in pressurised compartment; one window each side of flight deck can be moved inward and rearward for ventilation on ground; flying controls use fighter-type sticks rather than yokes or wheels; crew enter via extending ladder in nosewheel bay. Cooking facilities and lavatory. Avionics Systems utilise around 100 digital processors and eight digital nav computers. Radar: Obzor (NATO `Clam Pipe') nav/attack radar in slightly upturned dielectric nosecone with separate Sopka radar providing terrain-following capability. Flight: K-042K astro-inertial nav with map display. Instrumentation: Analogue instruments. No HUD or CRTs. Mission: OPB-15 strike sight fairing with flat glazed front panel, under forward fuselage, for video camera to provide visual assistance for weapon aiming. Self-defence: Baikal self-protection system, with integrated RHAWS, chaff/flare dispensers in tailcone and active jamming. Armament No guns. Internal stowage for free-fall bombs, mines, short-range attack missiles or ALCMs; two tandem 12.80 m (42 ft) long weapon bays; MKU-6-5U rotary launcher for six (or up to 12) Kh-55MS (AS-15 `Kent') or RKV-500B (AS-15B `Kent-B') ALCMs or 12 to 24 Kh-15P (AS-16 `Kickback') SRAMs in each bay. Current plans envisage carriage of up to 12 non-nuclear Kh-101 ALCMs, when available. Dimensions, External Wing span: fully spread (20є) 55.70 m (182 ft 9 in) 35є sweep 50.70 m (166 ft 4 in) fully swept (65є) 35.60 m (116 ft 9Ѕ in) Wing aspect ratio: fully spread 8.6 Length overall 54.10 m (177 ft 6 in) Height overall 13.10 m (43 ft 0 in) Tailplane span 13.25 m (43 ft 5Ѕ in) Wheel track 5.40 m (17 ft 8Ѕ in) Wheelbase 17.88 m (58 ft 8 in) Dimensions, Internal Weapons bay (each): Volume 43.0 m3 (1,518 cu ft) Areas Wings, gross: fully swept 360.00 m2 (3,875.0 sq ft) fully spread approx 400.00 m2 (4,305.6 sq ft) moving areas, fully swept (total) approx 180.00 m2 (1,937.5 sq ft) Weights and Loadings Weight empty 110,000 kg (242,505 lb) Weight empty, equipped 117,000 kg (257,940 lb) Max fuel 171,000 kg (376,990 lb) Max weapon load 40,000 kg (88,185 lb) Normal T-O weight 267,600 kg (589,950 lb) Max T-O weight 275,000 kg (606,260 lb) Max landing weight 155,000 kg (341,710 lb) Max power loading 280 kg/kN (2.75 lb/lb st) Performance Max level speed at 12,200 m (40,000 ft) M2.05 (1,200 kt; 2,220 km/h; 1,380 mph) Cruising speed at 13,700 m (45,000 ft) M0.9 (518 kt; 960 km/h; 596 mph) Max rate of climb at S/L 4,200 m (13,780 ft)/min Service ceiling 15,000 m (49,200 ft) T-O run at max AUW 2,200 m (7,220 ft) Landing run at max landing weight 1,600 m (5,250 ft) Radius of action at M1.5 1,080 n miles (2,000 km; 1,240 miles) Max unrefuelled range 6,640 n miles (12,300 km; 7,640 miles) g limit +2 UPDATED Height (m): 13.10 Length (m): 54.10 Max Rate Climb (m/min): 4200 Max T-O Weight (kg): 275000 Service Ceiling (m): 15000 T-O Run (m): 2200 Landing Run (m): 1600 Wing Span (m): 55.70 (source: Jane's All the World's Aircraft 2002-2003) Tu-160 Tu-160 Tu-160 Tu-160 Tu-160 Tu-160 Tu-160 Ukrainian Tu-160 being transferred to Russia Tu-160 Ukrainian Tu-160 being transferred to Russia Tu-160 Tu-160 Tu-160SK Tu-160 Tu-160 Tu-160 Tu-160 Tu-160 Tu-160 Tu-160 Tupolev Tu-160 Links Copyright notice: Information on this non-profit web site has been collected from a variety of printed and online sources for educational purposes in accordance with the Fair Use clause of the U.S. copyright law. Some of the sources used include:	.

Camille Paglia on Sarah Palin's debut, John McCain's rebirth, and Barack Obama's tenuous position | Salon

Camille Paglia on Sarah Palin's debut, John McCain's rebirth, and Barack Obama's tenuous position | Salon: "I am still waiting for substantive evidence that Sarah Palin is a dangerous extremist. I am perfectly willing to be convinced, but right now, she seems to be merely an optimistic pragmatist like Ronald Reagan, someone who pays lip service to religious piety without being in the least wedded to it. I don't see her arrival as portending the end of civil liberties or life as we know it."

Sarah Palin, predator control, shooting wolves | Salon

Sarah Palin, predator control, shooting wolves | Salon: "Palin has argued that she is worried about Alaska's hunters, locked in perennial competition with the canine carnivores for the state's prodigious ungulate population. A hunter herself, Palin has battled critics of aerial wolf hunting with the support of the Alaska Outdoor Council, a powerhouse advocacy and lobbying organization for hunting, fishing and recreation groups. In addition to so-called urban hunters, who shoot moose mostly for fun, Alaska is home to a significant number of subsistence hunters, including some of the Native population. Subsistence hunters rely on an occasional moose to make ends meet. The wolves, Palin has said, are stealing food from their tables.

'Palin acts like she has never met an animal she didn't want shot,' says Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals, based in Connecticut."

Obama is the real backer of the surge.

Dave at Hominidviews posted a defence of the Obama/Biden stances on the surge vs that of McCain. The essence of his argument is correct. The Repricans are overselling the surge as some sort of victory and are trying to give John McC. the laurel wreath. Of course,l as Dave says, that is utter horse turd.

While it is true that McC suported the surge, so did Obama. His concern was not with the few bucks involved but that we not allow Bush to use this as the basis for yet more war years.

As dave says, the R. claim that Obama opposed the surge and said it would not work is simply not true. Obama supported the surge if and only if it was implimented in some way that we could measure the outcome. What he did nto support was one more blamk check.

A big part of the problem with anyone being able to understand Obama or McCain today is that both adopted pander bear positions during the campaign. One reason I chose to support Obama over the other Dems was that only he and Biden refused to join the "out now" crowd. Both of them talked about a political/strategic plan for getting out that did not please some on the left. Hillary, Edwards, and even Richardson talked as if we could either leave asap or at worst at whatever rate the military said was possible give our resources for transportation etc.

During that time, Admiral Zini gave a great speech, explaining why BOTH the left "out now" and right "till victory" memes were dangerous.

General Patraeus point in asking for the surge was in support of Admiral Zini. Petraeus never claimed that the surge was means toward either victory or withdrawal, rather that it was necessary to achieve either in what Obama calls a "smart out" strategy.

One very dangerous aspect of the McCain campaign has been to misrepresent the surge as a step toward victory. Indeed, Petraeus himself, during the famous "Betraeus" testimony made it clear that the surge was only likely to be successful in the long run if the US adoptd a do-able strategy to bring the Iraqui invasin to an end.

Petraeus' POV was very much in the tradition of Colin Powell, a tradition that says .. following our debacle in Vietnam and Russia's debacle in Afghanistan, that a great power should only intervene when it knows what it wants to achieve and then sends in the forces and other resources needed to get to that end. Bush's invasion of Iraq failed to meet the criteria of the Powell Doctrine. We went in with enough forces to topple Hussein, BUT we had no achievable goal other than the bizarre fantasies of the neo cons that somehow Iraquis would be utterly grateful to us and would give forth a new nation, conceived in Jeffersonian Democracy.

Remember that for most this war, Bush and Co. were down on Petraeus and on any other pragmatism. The surge only happened once Rummy was on his way out and someone, perhaps Scofield???< began making rational decisions for GW.

How does this effect our current choice? Frankly, the only substantive difference between McC's stated policy and Obama's is that McC want to be able to declare victory and Obama does not think such a transparent Orwellian terminology will mean much.

In the meantime, what does worry me about Mc vs Obama is the nature of their advisers, including St Sarah and Jo. Despite his military patina, I see NO evidence that the general staff is flocking to McCain. Why? I think they see him as driven by the neocons and by far right jingoism. NOTHING in his speeches suggests a realistic understanding of what we do and do not have resources for. Nothing suggests a plan for post US Iraq, nothing suggests a commitment to negotiate peace in Israel, security in the Indian Ocean, etc. This may be hard to play as a political card, but it is Obama who has thought about such issues, pulled together strong advisers (including Biden) and seems more likely to offer a real strategy for use of the US military.

Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide

Gizmodo, the Gadget Guide: "Nikon 41-Megapixel MX Format Sensor for Digital Rangefinder?
We've been following this for a little while to let some meat stick on the skeletal rumors, and it's finally feeling substantial enough—though definitely still a rumor—to throw your way. It looks like Nikon's got a 41-megapixel medium format (MX) sensor up its sleeve, which is most likely for a digital rangefinder. Nikon itself teases something BIG for the Wedding & Portrait Photographer International convention in Feb. in the pages of Rangefinder magazine. Finally, Nikon Watch has a tip (albeit unsubstantiated) that the MX format sensor is 48x48mm and in fact 48MP, and will go inside of a digital rangefinder that's 'not to [sic] dissimilar to the older film Mamiya 6 camera philosophy.' There's more. More »"

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

A DONATION TO THE REPRICAN PARTY!

Bill Morse, the Cartoonist drew, this and I modded it into a button.

Sarah Palin will be missing from action Sunday a.m. | Top of the Ticket | Los Angeles Times

Sarah Palin will be missing from action Sunday a.m.

As is The Ticket's custom, a post listing the entire roster of appearances on this Sunday's interview programs will pop up Saturday at noon PDT (3 p.m. EDT).

But here's an advance heads up, in part because of who WON'T be found on any of the chat shows.

Three of the four now-official candidates on the major-party presidential tickets are scheduled to sit down for questions: Democrat Barack Obama on ABC's "This Week," his running mate, Joe Biden, on NBC's "Meet the Press" and Republican John McCain on CBS' "Face the Nation."

Absent from this list, of course, is the GOP's star of the moment, the not-so-long-ago obscure governor of Alaska who is McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin.

Since she was thrust onto the national stage a week ago, her appearances on it have been tightly regulated by the McCain campaign: a few side-by-side campaign stops with him and, of course, her big speech to the GOP's convention Wednesday night.

London Sex Just £15

London Sex Just £15: "London Sex Just £15


A recent study of London brothels has found that some are offering sex for as little as £15 ($30) or £25 ($50) for unprotected sex.

Researchers found that 85% of brothels operated in residential areas. An average of 28 brothels for each of London's 33 boroughs, generating between £50m ($100m) and £130m ($260m) per year.

The report discovered 77 different ethnicities among the women, and an average age of 21. Several business offered 'very very young' girls, but would not confirm that they were underage. The average price for sex was £62 ($124)."

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Joe Biden says Barack Obama might pursue criminal charges against Bush administration if elected | World news | guardian.co.uk

Joe Biden says Barack Obama might pursue criminal charges against Bush administration if elected | World news | guardian.co.uk: "Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden said earlier this week that he and running mate Barack Obama could pursue criminal charges against the Bush administration if they are elected in November.

Biden's comments, first reported by ABC news, attracted little notice on a day dominated by the drama surrounding his Republican counterpart, Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

But his statements represent the Democrats' strongest vow so far this year to investigate alleged misdeeds committed during the Bush years.

When asked during a campaign event in Deerfield Beach, Florida, whether he would 'pursue the violations that have been made against our Constitution by the present administration', Biden answered in the affirmative.

'We will not be stopped from pursuing any criminal offence that's occurred,' he continued, going on to praise congressional committees for the deliberate pace of their inquiries into alleged Bush administration misdeeds.

Members of Congress are 'doing the right thing, they're not making false accusations about anything … they're collecting data, subpoenaing records, they're building a file', Biden said.

'If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation, they will be pursued �"

FiveThirtyEight.com: Electoral Projections Done Right

FiveThirtyEight.com: Electoral Projections Done Right: "Palin's Speech: Second Thoughts

The way to evaluate a speech like this is by what people are going to remember in the morning, and the only thing that people are going to remember about this speech in the morning is that she went after Obama -- a lot -- and that at times it it seemed fairly personal. It was almost kind of fun at first -- I don't think people saw it coming, and she got three or four really good lines in. But then it became too much -- sarcastic and mean-spirited. Everything else -- the outsider stuff, the family stuff, the media critique -- is going to be forgotten about. In fact, the Republicans will look like whiners if they go after the media after that speech.

I don't think the Republicans are doing as good a job as the Democrats were doing about pairing their speeches to the strengths of the speaker. It's as if they wrote seven or eight speeches, and drew lots to determine who would deliver which one. So you have Mitt Romney -- one of the wealthiest men ever to run for office -- critiquing east-coast elitism, and Mike Huckabee -- who is an economic populist in disguise -- critiquing big government, and Sarah Palin -- who voters don't know one iota about -- critiquing Barack Obama's biography."

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

IBDeditorials.com: Michael Ramirez Editorial and Political Cartoons

Cartoons By Michael Ramirez

Sally Quinn: Palin's Pregnancy Problem - On Faith at washingtonpost.com

Sally Quinn: Palin's Pregnancy Problem - On Faith at washingtonpost.com: "Southern Baptist leaders like Richard Land and Al Mohler have praised McCain's choice. But these are the same men who support this statement from the 2000 Baptist Faith & Message:

'A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ. She, being in the image of God as is her husband and thus equal to him, has the God-given responsibility to respect her husband and to serve as his helper in managing the household and nurturing the next generation.'"

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Sound Politics: Comment on Lights in the Darkness

Sound Politics: Comment on Lights in the Darkness

Correction the odds of Ms. Palin's have a Fown's baby were about 1/40.

So tell me Mike H and others here, would your compassion and support for this choice be the same if she were some HIV infected Mom? Or is that different?

BTW, having decded to make this babay (assuming Track is not a love child), are you aware that his parents do not intend to devote their own time to the special care he will need? Apparently the plan is for Palin's sistet to be the care giver.

Look, the issue here is not caring for a Down's child or Ms. Palin's belief in the moment of life. The issue is with her assumptionj that her pleasure in having a child (or in a having a moment of sex) outweighed the all to real risk she had assumed when she commited to a right to life.

FWIW, my wife and I gave a lot of thought to this before having our lids (i our thirties). Fortunately both are fine, but I honestly do not know what I would have wanted if, like Ms. Pain we learned that the bay was to be a Down's lid (odds were then 1/500).

At the time we had not arrived at a clear position on right to life. As a scientist I likes the argument that a conceptus is "life" since all the unique information for an individual comes into being when the to half genomes of the sperm and egg become one. Later, I cam to feel this was not life, in part because I am aware that the consequences of such a belief would require a lot of effort to block the huge (1/3) incidence of spontaneous abortions.

I also began to feel that parents who choose to have a seriously afflicted conceptus are also choosing not to give birth to some other individual, of equal merit by any standard, who might have been created if they tried again.

Frankly, I feel sorry for this kid and hope Track, now a human being like anyone else, will have the good luck of finding someone with the care and time t give him a chance at a good life.





Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Sciencedebate 2008

Sciencedebate 2008: "The Story



In November, 2007, a small group of six citizens - two screenwriters, a physicist, a marine biologist, a philosopher and a science journalist - began working to restore science and innovation to America’s political dialogue. They called themselves Science Debate 2008, and they called for a presidential debate on science. The call tapped a wellspring of concern over the state of American science.



Within weeks, more than 38,000 scientists, engineers, and other concerned Americans signed on, including nearly every major American science organization, dozens of Nobel laureates, elected officials and business leaders, and the presidents of over 100 major American universities. See who here. Among other things, these signers submitted over 3,400 questions they want the candidates for President to answer about science and the future of America."

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Focused--The Sequel - Swampland - TIME

Focused--The Sequel - Swampland - TIME: "Click here to find out more!
Swampland, TIME
August 31, 2008 7:39
Focused--The Sequel
Posted by Joe Klein | Comments (115) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This

Another week, another Frank Luntz/AARP focus group of undecided voters--this one in Minneapolis and with some bad news for John McCain: they don't like the choice of Sarah Palin for vice president. Only one person said Palin made him more likely to vote for McCain; about half the 25-member group raised their hands when asked if Palin made them less likely to vote for McCain. They had a negative impression of Palin by a 2-1 margin...a fact that was reinforced when they were given hand-dials and asked to react to Palin's speech at her first appearance with McCain on Friday---the dials remained totally neutral as Palin went through her heart-warming(?) biography, and only blipped upwards when she said she opposed the Bridge to Nowhere--which wasn't quite the truth, as we now know.

Then there was this, from a woman named Teresa, who went to the Democratic Convention as a Hillary delegate and is leaning toward voting for McCain--obviously the target audience for the Palin pick: 'His age didn't really bother me until he picked Palin. What if he dies in office and leaves us with her as President? Also she leans toward the rigid right, and I always t"

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Some Predictions

Predictions

McCain’s bizarre choice of Palin is going to tear apart his campaign because it estabishes an amazing level of irresponsibility. Appointing Palin is akin appoinitng Clarence Thomas, Alberto, etc.

So. Since SJ believes there are patriotic, good red wearing Republicans, I am watching for this:

1. Outrage over Palin from Hillary, NARAL, Sierra Club, etc. I know these foks were already supporting BHO, but McC just gave them red meat.

2. Criticism of Palin for her neglect of her own family, including her decision to have unprotected sex KNOWING she had a high probability of producing a Down’s child.

3. Further lack of support for JMcC from Wall street. Perhpas open support for Obama from Buffett, Pickens, et al.

4. Out and out endorsement of BHO by Hagel, Luger, and Powell.

ode to McCain

Herouard+postcard+series.jpg (image): "[Herouard+postcard+series.jpg]"

Faye Palin said the entire family was shocked by the news on Friday.

"I'm not sure what she brings to the ticket other than she's a woman and a conservative. Well, she's a better speaker than McCain," Faye Palin said with a laugh. "People will say she hasn't been on the national scene long enough. But I believe she's a quick study."

She said people doubted Sarah Palin when she ran for City Council, but that her daughter-in-law had a "singular focus."

"She was out there with [then-young son] Track, pulling him around from house to house in a wagon," she said.

Sarah Palin is well known as a former high school basketball star, cross-country runner, beauty queen, hockey mom, city council member and Wasilla's mayor from 1996 to 2007.

"I think it's great. She's a hometown girl from Smallville, USA," said Felix Bruno, 43, a masonry contractor who plowed her driveway. "She's not afraid to speak her mind. She really dropped the hammer on the politicians fleecing Alaska."

At the local Mat-Su Family Restaurant in downtown Wasilla, a Bible-study group that includes two ex-mayors from neighboring cities cheered her pick as McCain's running mate.

"She's an excellent social conservative, fiscal conservative and political conservative," said Tom Baird, 68, a Vietnam veteran who sat with his Gideon Bible opened to 1Corinthians. "If she can energize the conservative base, it won't matter if she gets the women's vote."

"This is a really nice person, and she's disarming in that way," said George Carte, 67, a retired geophysicist who was mayor of neighboring Palmer when Palin was mayor of Wasilla.

"I was very impressed with her as mayor," said Carte. "She did some housecleaning with her department heads. She had to learn about the sewers, the libraries, public safety."

But even with her impressive approval rating, Palin still has work to do even in her own hometown.

"I'm still leaning toward Obama. I think Sarah has been really good for our state, and it would be wonderful to see her in the White House, but she's on the ticket with McCain, and I can't vote for McCain," said Eileen Moe, 33, a second grade teacher at Iditarod Elementary, which Palin's kids attended.

"If it was her running for president, there'd be no question in my mind," Moe said. "The Republicans right now are about big business and big oil. I don't see Sarah as a staunch Republican in that way."

Not everyone is convinced her experience as mayor and governor are enough for a vice president who would be next in line to the presidency.

"I wouldn't say she's qualified," said Bill Gleason, 60, a contractor from nearby Big Lake. "I want someone with a little more experience. "

Puddy Bud CLAIMS he ain't voting!

@185 Puddybud

Out of my real respect for you I will ignore your public stance that you will not vote for a rational, seasoned team that includes not only Obama and Biden but folks like General Clark (among a couple of dozen other eecetn staff officers), an economic team ranging from O'Neil to Buffett, a commitment to use science, support from foreign plicy estabholishment including Snowcroft, Kissinger and Holbrook. etc vs. a shaky old man, with no major military adviser, no real support form ecomomists, who just chose as as his VEEP an Annie Oakley who wants to teach that the great pumpkin created humans 6000 years ago????

Why am I incredulous?

BTW .. the current issue of Foreign Affairs has a terrific set of articles on the challenges facing the next admin. Written by dems, repubs, and foreign commentators, the take home really does not sound like anything McCain is prepared to do.

Tell you want .. read an article or tow and I will buy you dinner so we can fight over it!

HorsesAss.Org The Plain Woman Runs for VEEP

@126 Richard Pope

trying spelling her name right. Even at 44 (and after having FIVE children to boot), she is still quite a hottie! Whatever you think of her politics or qualifications, Sarah is anything but Plain!

Sighhh ... you goyem really like the Queen Boudicca types! Maybe when you guys have had another millenium or so of civilization, you too will come to understand that heroism is not limited to Rambo and Ramboettes.

We Jews prefer our heroines to be poets (Hannah Sennesh), seductresses (Esther), judges (Devorah), great leaders (Havivah Reich, Diane Feinstein), scholars, (our rabbi), writers (Anne Frank), singers, artists, astronatauts and cookers of matzoh ball soup! ,,,,

To be fair, you folks have produced a few foxy bright woman who were not Annie Oakleys .. I kinda like Whitney Houston, Marilyn Monroe, Shirley Tilghman, Diana Ross, Hillary, and one must never forget Cleopatra! OTOH, I have notes that6 the best of your female intellectuals and politicians are often, well "handsome .. Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou and Angela Mirkel will never win the hottie title.

So, having a beautiful yiddishe wife, why would Seattle Jew look twice at this white meat chick from the frozen North? Compared to my wife, the VEEP-would be is just Sandy Plain!

BTW: I hear she swigs a mean beer too!

Palin Prattle

Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post: "PALIN'S POLITICS: Creationism In Public Schools... Time: Unclear What Her Foreign Policies Are... Says Global Warming Is NOT Man-Made... Said Hillary's 'Whining' Turned Her Off..."

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

HorsesAss.Org » Blog Archive » A dissenting opinion on Palin

HorsesAss.Org » Blog Archive » A dissenting opinion on Palin: "52. YLB spews:

What gets me about Palin is why didn’t McCain pick Huckabee as Veep?

Easy. Mike didn’t know when to shut up. He ran a disastrous campaign - after winning Iowa, he tanked New Hampshire something fiece. He looked a little too unPresidential with his bass guitar. Worst of all - he raised taxes as Governor and talked populist - always a threat to the corporate/Club for Growth crowd.

Funny Sarah has raised taxes too - doubling them on the oil and gas industry and now we learn boosting the sales tax. “Redistributing” oil/gas company profits to Alaskans in the form of $1200+ checks seems pretty populist to me.

Or should I say “socialist”?

At the end of the day Sarah is as fundy as you can get, has a vicious mean-streak and it appears she can play the game deferring to men, taking orders and coaching from those who really matter - Papa Rove and his corporate masters. She can shut up and wait for the ultimate prize - the Oval Office after hapless Johnny McSame kicks the bucket or becomes incapacitated and resigns.
08/30/2008 at 8:58 am"

What is White, Cute, and Republican?

Sarah Palin Vs. Polar Bears

Gallup Daily: Obama Stretches Lead to 8 Points

PRINCETON, NJ -- The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking finds Barack Obama moving to an eight percentage point lead over John McCain, 49% to 41%.

Obama's significant lead over McCain almost certainly reflects the effects of the Democratic National Convention. The two presidential candidates were tied at 45% in the last Gallup Poll Daily tracking results conducted entirely before the convention began. The latest results include interviews from Tuesday through Thursday night, though most of the interviewing was conducted before Obama's acceptance speech late Thursday.

John Edwards to emerge from seclusion for speech

John Edwards to emerge from seclusion for speech: "RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - John Edwards will emerge from seclusion and speak next month at Hofstra University in New York, taking the stage exactly one month after admitting to an extramarital affair.

But his wife Elizabeth has canceled what was to be a joint appearance.

Hofstra spokesman Stuart Vincent said Friday that a representative for the former Democratic presidential candidate has confirmed that Edwards will speak alone at the school on Sept. 8.

Edwards and his wife were originally billed as the first speakers in a university series on the 2008 election. But that was before Edwards admitted to cheating on Elizabeth with a filmmaker hired by his political action committee.

A spokeswoman for John and Elizabeth Edwards did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment."

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Usmagazine.com | News - EXCLUSIVE: Cindy McCain's Half Sister: "I'm Voting for Barack Obama"

Usmagazine.com | News - EXCLUSIVE: Cindy McCain's Half Sister: "I'm Voting for Barack Obama": "Cindy McCain's half sister is planning on voting for Barack Obama, she tells Usmagazine.com.

'I'm not voting for McCain,' Kathleen Hensley Portalski tells Us. 'I have a different political standpoint.

'I'm voting for Obama,' the Phoenix resident says. 'I think his proposals to improve the country are more positive and I'm not a big war believer.'

Portalski, 65, and the potential first lady, 54, have the same father: Jim Hensley, the founder of the beer distributor Hensley and Co. that Cindy McCain now chairs.

In an interview with NPR News' All Things Considered last week, Portalski said she felt 'like a non-person' after Cindy McCain described herself as an 'only child.'

Portalski's mother is Hensley's first wife; Cindy McCain's mother, Marguerite Hensley, also had another daughter from her first marriage.

'She's kinda cool, standoffish,' Portalski tells Us of her half sister.

Portalski also doesn't expect Cindy McCain to make an effort to reconcile their relationship.

'She never has, and I doubt that she ever will,' she tells Us."

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Gallery: Once Mighty Bell Labs Leaves Behind Transistor, Laser, 6 Nobels

Once Mighty Bell Labs Leaves Behind Transistor, Laser, 6 Nobels

By Priya Ganapati

See related story: Bell Labs Kills Fundamental Physics Research

08.28.08

Bell Labs' decision to abandon basic physics research marks the end of a brilliant chapter for the iconic institution. Many of the Labs' most famous discoveries, such as the transistor and the laser, originated in fundamental physics and have gone on to transform computing and technology.

They also brought Bell Labs international glory, including six Nobel Prizes in Physics, starting in 1937 when researcher Clinton Davisson shared the Nobel for demonstrating the wave nature of matter.

The lab will now focus on areas such as networking, high-speed electronics, wireless, nanotechnology and software -- fields that are likely to offer a more immediate payback for parent company Alcatel-Lucent.

Steve Jobs obituary published by Bloomberg - Telegraph

Steve Jobs obituary published by Bloomberg - Telegraph: "Steve Jobs obituary published by Bloomberg
An obituary of very-much-alive Apple founder Steve Jobs has been accidentally published by the respected Bloomberg business news wire."

McCain ad to rebut Obama's DNC speech - Mike Allen - Politico.com

McCain ad to rebut Obama's DNC speech - Mike Allen - Politico.com: "Friends say he has told his inner circle of his pick, but won't call the decision official until he has discussed it with his wife, Cindy, who has been in the country of Georgia."


I find this frightening. McC is sending a beer heiress with NO trasining or experience as his representative to Georgia??

Sound Politics: Comment on Cheats & Frauds Reminders

FYI ... Rossi has lost my vote.

While it may be hard for folks here to understand, SJ is NOT a Democrat. I have little respect fr either party. If I appear to some as a D, it is because the R party since Nixon seems to be perpetually mired in a sticky mud that has little to do with conservative economics or politics. I certainly will vote for the better candidate and hope that the R party can rebuild itself in the post Bush era.


I am an independent liberal.

I voted for Dino last time and am very unimpressed with Grgoire. In fact I voted against her last time for her dirty campaigning and lack of ideas. This time I am irate and, while Gregoire still disappoints, will vote with anger against Rossi.

Why? I put two "e" words at the top of my list of priorities . I will not vote for an irrational candidate or a racist or anyone who supports those folks. Rossi's support of Guzzo was initially amusing, now it is frightening. His tolerance of the Clark County racist was enough to drive me to Gregoire. His tolerance of the three dollar bill is the last straw.

"Earth calling the GOP" Racism is wrong. It must end and can not be tolerated in either party;. Dems have the problem too, but theirs is a residual racism left after the battle has largely been won. Bill Clinton may have an issue with do-gooder, condescending liberalism but that blindness doe snot compare with Rossi's toleration of racism in the R party.

Obama as a Muslim and Obama on the three $ bill are grim reminders of how bsd things were in my childhood.

Rossi and his party should be ashamed.

Cross posted at SeattleJew.blogspot.com

DRUDGE REPORT 2008®

DRUDGE REPORT 2008®: "U N I F I E D"

U N I F I E D

Note the name in red

Obama notifies candidates on shortlist - CNN.com: "Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader said Clinton is the smart choice because she is the only person who would help Obama get more votes.

'And if he's going to say, 'One people, one nation,' he can raise the banner of unity with her as his vice presidential running mate,' he said Thursday on 'American Morning.'
advertisement

Nader also told the Politico Web site that Obama wouldn't be 'that dumb' to pick Bayh or Biden to be vice president.

'WOULDN'T YOU LIKE TO KNOW?'

Other big names thought to be in the running include retired Gen. Wesley Clark, Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, former Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia, Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius."

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

SJ has predicted Clark for the last two weeks.

Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1966–2000
Rank	General
Commands held	Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, United States European Command, United States Southern Command
Battles/wars	Vietnam War Kosovo War
Awards	Combat Infantryman Badge Parachutist Badge Defense Distinguished Service Medal (5) Army Distinguished Service Medal (2) Silver Star Legion of Merit (4) Bronze Star (2) Purple Heart French Ordre national du Mérite German Merit Cross of the Federal Republic (Order of Merit)

Olympics in Pictures: Simon loves Yelena

Simon loves Yelena

My esteemed colleague Simon Barnes and I share a love for all things beautiful at the Olympics. In no particular order, the loveliness list goes something like this: Elena Isinbaeva, all (female) swimmers, all (female) divers, beach volleyballers (female), high jumpers (female) heptatheletes (female)...and Yelena Isinbayeva.
So for Simon, all my red-bloodied colleagues who are into their third week away from home and all the lads in my 5-a-side football team back home. These pictures are just for you guys.
Enjoy!

nly 14 - making her ineligible to compete in the Olympics - rather than 16

International Olympic Committee launches probe into He Kexin's age...

Repubican Conventional Humor

HorsesAss.Org » Blog Archive » Off to Denver

Humor for the Right to Read, If They Can

The reassuring thing abut your attempt at humor is that is is old and stale and .. well less.

Here is some tit for your tats:

MCain offers to pay USN for crashed planes. An examination of Sen. McCain's service record shows that he crashed six planes, one over Hanoi, AFTER his Dad intervened to not have him thrown out of pilot school. MCain denies that this si true but has offered to pay the costs of those planes at current value.

McCain has denied that he was GW Bush's flight instructor during the President's glory days in the National Guard. McCain said, "the only folks I trained were in Hanoi and I do not remember seeing that SOB in our camps!."

Desperate to find any respectable retired military willing to run as VEEP on his "keep the course" ticket, John McCain has turned to General Ludmilla van Borindi. The General was the first female of African decent to lead the special forces. Her most recent command was as training officer in S. Ossetia.

Obama has challenged McCain to take the SAT essay exam simultaneously with the former Editor of the Harvard Law Review. Bob Jones University has agreed to host the affair, some call a silent debate. McCain has agreed, provided he is allowed to wear long sleeve shirts with big cuffs.

VP Chaney will seek at 1:30 AM PCT on Tuesday Wednesday night if a secure location can be found for the broadcast. The gay and lesbian coalition, already planning toi meet in secret, have offered their venue.

HorsesAss.Org » Blog Archive » Off to Denver

David and Geov have announced they are going to the Denver convention and have asked what we kids would like to have them bring back?

Geov, David ..

Howsa about bringing to the next DL, you know the one where we watch McCain admit his is ChiComm plant, howsa bout bring some goodies to show and maybe leave on the wall ... such as :

Hillary O* she's my gal! pins, banners, etc
Kucinich 08 straw hats
Obama/Clinton 08 tea shirts (I take the 2X size)
McCccccc 1908

or ...

I one assumes there will be at least a few tasteless Obama gizmoes ...

Obama's smile on a cop, Change 08
Obama/Bayh M&Ms
Obama pasted onto the picture of Jomo Kenyatta, Zulu spear of state in hand, enswathed in a leopard skin.

or

autographed copies of her new calendar signed by Obamagirl

basketballs signed in the plate with a certificate of authenticity that they were obtained from hotels where Obama worked out.


bottles of the new "Michelle" fragrance from Halston

Obama hair clippings in a magnifying box, embedded in a silver cross

Teas shirts with Bill Clinton and John Edwards over the words, Hillary's Men

or (can it get worse?)

Oreo cookies, the new ones with the prize inside.
Tee shirt with the Obama kids hugging their new Dalmatian over .. "They Need a New Home!" ,,, signed by Evan Bayh

Faux replica of Rushmore with Barack added to the right (the left of the Presidents though).

The now famous (though a tad fascist?) Obama Change poster with the words: "Ich bin auch ein Berliner!"

+++++++++++++++++++++++

and of course a complete set of the wrong Veepsters ..

Obama/Clinton/Clinton .. Obama/Edwards
Obama/Gore..Obama/Biden ..Obama/Bayh
Obama/ Gregoire .. Obama/Richardson
Baarck/Chelsea.. Obama/Nunn Obama/Clark ..

Late breaking SJ News.

BTW .. the latter (Obama/Clinton) will be plentiful . An Orthodox Jewish friend in a print shop that still has union labor got the demo contract! Of course "David's Fast and Fine Printing" will be CLOSED Fri night through Saturday.

SO ... they are beginning the print run NOW of Obama/Clark posters!

Obama/Clark 08,12

Barack meets Wesley (profiles akimbo)

Obama and Clark, just their hands, held high over the word CHANGE.

Clark, in uniform, smartly saluting the flag, standing beside Obama.

Sic transit racism!

Cohen/Tinker election results

from SKEPTICAL BROTHA

Posted on August 7, 2008 by skepticalbrotha

WITH 72% OF PRECINCTS REPORTING, CONGRESSMAN STEVE COHEN CRUSHES AUNT NIKKI, THE CORPORATE MAMMY, WITH A LANDSLIDE 60% MARGIN!!!!!!!!

STEVE COHEN 44,995 79%

NIKKI TINKER 10,676 19%

JOE TOWNS 844 1%

Black voters, especially those of us in the South, have always been able to judge our politicians by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. We’re never given credit for having that ability when racially polarizing tactics are injected into a political race by one of us, but we’ve always had it and always will. Now Mr. Cohen can go back to the halls of power confident in the knowledge that he has unequivocally earned the trust of a majority of his black constituents. In order to keep it, he must continue to provide the same common sense, progressive leadership that has been known as his trademark.

Wink Wink

In the debate with Lkee Rosenberg, he is correct that I once misused the term "wink wink" to describe the way current law deals with the administration of life ending drugs to the terminal patient.

The poor chice of words reflects two views of physicians.

I think the docs now do a very good job prescribing drugs that will relieve pain and suffering . In a terminal patient, this often involves a trade off that involves a complex, personal moral judgement.

Lee's view, correct me if I am wrong, is that this practice needs to be regulated by a law because terminal patients who have decided to die can not get help from the doctors explicitly for the purpose of suicide rather than relief of suicide.

So, that is where my choice of words was unfortunate. "Wink wink" implies a casual attitude toward this decision. I know all to well that is not the case.

I believe physicians now handle terminal care decisions in a highly responsible way that would be harmed by the intervention of our legal system including the structures set up in I-1000. As I see it the price of I-1000 is to high in terms of undermining a basic tenet of medical ethics and INCREASING the risk of legal intervention where it is not now needed.

I would agree with you that the price of I-100 was worthwhile if I knew that the current law was being abused by physicians or making it hard for the patients covered by the law to get the relief they desire. For example:

1. has any physician been charged with murder or malpractice for providing this sort of relief as opposed to intentionally killing a patient?

2. Are there any cases in our state of terminally ill patients who want to die but are blocked from doing so?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Maybe it would help our interaction if I tried to argue your side? Here it is.

I CAN imagine the possibility that some people in the last six month of life, faced with a deteriorating life style, might want to go to their doctor and say "Please help me end life now."

I suspect that most of my colleagues would first respond by sympathy and addressing the likely issue of depression. (I think the idea that most psychologists are more able than docs to determine depression is a crock). This itself is a hard decision today since we have effective drugs to treat depression. The physician and the patient would likely to have to decide whether to change the patients' mood with drugs. How do you feel about this? Faced with a bad death, depressed over the prospect, should that depression be reviewed before allowing suicide?

Lets suppose that the patient, a near buddha, has no depression but a coldly objective determination not to go through the pain and suffering of death. Does it seem reasonable that a doctor should be able to help with the death?

To be honest I am not sure I know the answer to that one.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My response to this thread is that I am skeptical that this situation arises often enough to require legislation. If I am right, then the merit of I-100 needs to be counterbalanced by the damage done to the Hippocratic oath and by the vulnerability, under I-1000, of the poorest patients.

He not old enough?

State-media story fuels questions on gymnast's age - Yahoo! News: "By JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer Thu Aug 14, 8:54 AM ET

By JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer Thu Aug 14, 8:54 AM ET

BEIJING - Just nine months before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government's news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He Kexin was 13, which would have made her ineligible to be on the team that won a gold medal this week.

In its report Nov. 3, Xinhua identified He as one of "10 big new stars" who made a splash at China's Cities Games. It gave her age as 13 and reported that she beat Yang Yilin on the uneven bars at those games. In the final, "this little girl" pulled off a difficult release move on the bars known as the Li Na, named for another Chinese gymnast, Xinhua said in the report, which appeared on one of its Web sites, http://www.hb.xinhuanet.com

The Associated Press found the Xinhua report on the site Thursday morning and saved a copy of the page. Later that afternoon, the Web site was still working but the page was no longer accessible. Sports editors at the state-run news agency would not comment for publication.

If the age reported by Xinhua was correct, that would have meant He was too young to be on the Chinese team that beat the United States on Wednesday and clinched China's first women's team Olympic gold in gymnastics. He is also a favorite for gold in Monday's uneven bars final.

Yang was also on Wednesday's winning team. Questions have also been raised about her age and that of a third team member, Jiang Yuyuan.

Gymnasts have to be 16 during the Olympic year to be eligible for the games. He's birthday is listed as Jan. 1, 1992.

Chinese authorities insist that all three are old enough to compete. He herself told reporters after Wednesday's final that "my real age is 16. I don't pay any attention to what everyone says."

Zhang Hongliang, an official with China's gymnastics delegation at the games, said Thursday the differing ages which have appeared in Chinese media reports had not been checked in advance with the gymnastics federation.

"It's definitely a mistake," Zhang said of the Xinhua report, speaking in a telephone interview. "Never has any media outlet called me to check the athletes' ages."

Asked whether the federation had changed their ages to make them eligible, Zhang said: "We are a sports department. How would we have the ability to do that?"

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

Poll: Obama Leads Among Christians

Poll: Obama Leads Among Christians: "The Barna Group, a Christian research firm, shows Barack Obama leading John McCain by a substantial margin among Christian voters:

A new nationwide survey of people's candidate preference conducted by The Barna Group some movement over the past two months, with Sen. Obama maintaining a substantial 43% to 34% lead among those who are likely to vote in November, with 5% selecting minor party candidates. ...


For the most part, the various faith communities of the U.S. currently support Sen. Obama for the presidency. Among the 19 faith segments that The Barna Group tracks, evangelicals were the only segment to throw its support to Sen. McCain. Among the larger faith niches to support Sen. Obama are non-evangelical born again Christians (43% to 31%); notional Christians (44% to 28%); people aligned with faiths other than Christianity (56% to 24%); atheists and agnostics (55% to 17%); Catholics (39% vs. 29%); and Protestants (43% to 34%).

If the Barna Group's findings hold true, 'this would mark the first time in more than two decades that the born again vote has swung toward the Democratic candidate.'"

If they fought to get tickets why are there so many empty seats? | News

Lack of interest: half-empty stands at the Olympic Green Archery Field this week
Andrew Gilligan
12.08.08

Until now we've all been reporting that the Chinese are thrilled at their Olympics. From the snapshot conversations I've had with ordinary people, that's certainly been my view. But now, as better evidence starts to arrive, the doubts are creeping in. Where are all the spectators?

We were told by the Games organisers that apart from a few football matches outside Beijing, every one of the 6.8 million Olympic seats was sold, and had been for weeks. We saw pictures of people fighting for tickets. This would not, it seemed, be the normal Olympic story where the early rounds and the more obscure sports struggle to attract interest.

But this week, even in sports with a serious chance of glory for the nation, there have been hundreds, even thousands, of empty seats.

At the women's archery, China won silver - but the stands at the Olympic Green Archery Field were only just over half full.

Admitting today that he was "concerned about not filling the seats," Wang Wei, executive vice-president of the Beijing Games organising committee, confessed that Olympic volunteers had been pressed into service to fill up the empty spaces and "encourage atmosphere".

And he offered what you might call the British Rail excuse. "I think it is due to a number of factors, [such as] the weather conditions - hot, humid and then rain," said Mr Wang. "

The seats are sold out. Some people have tickets for the whole day but only attend the morning, afternoon or evening session." Sponsors and athletes' families, too, are blamed for not using their allocations.

Over the weekend the rain was indeed heavy but Beijingers must be acclimatised to heat and humidity. And as for the sponsors - mostly Western corporations - there cannot be that many sponsors' guests in a country so far away from where the main corporate headquarters are.

Mr Wang did not mention this, but it seems likely that the heavy hand of choreography and security that's settled on Beijing has done far more to put off would-be spectators than any thunderstorm.

And there's one other explanation that went unmentioned: that in Beijing, the age-old Olympic discipline of spin is alive and kicking.

It emerged yesterday that part of Friday's opening ceremony, the bit where 29 giant "footprints of fire" advanced towards the Bird's Nest, was faked. For that section of the programme, TV viewers, and those of us watching on big screens inside the stadium, saw pre-recorded, digitally created fireworks, not real ones.

That worldwide TV audience was said, on the night, to have numbered four billion. This actually turns out to have been the total possible reach of all the stations carrying the broadcast. The actual audience was a rather lower one billion, five million of whom were in Britain.

In a Games where, as we've been reporting, the entire host city has been turned into a kind of Potemkin Olympic village for the duration, with significant parts of its real personality suppressed, such untruths may not be surprising.

But the sad thing is that the real bits of the ceremony were great: one billion TV viewers is still an incredibly impressive number and few, if any, previous Olympics have been total sell-outs.

In its desperation to be seen as the most perfect Games in human history, Beijing 2008 may have held itself to a standard that it cannot truthfully fulfil and created conditions which work against a totally successful event. There really is such a thing as trying too hard.

Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post

WSJ Publishes Pro-Obama Editorial »

---

August 8, 2008 at 12:08 PM

Things really have deteriorated between John McCain and the press: even the Wall Street Journal editorial board is turning on him. The famously conservative group publishes a column praising the economic policy of none other than Barack Obama:

The underreported economic news of the week is that Barack Obama favors a stronger dollar. Even better, he thinks a stronger greenback would help to reduce oil prices.

That at least is what the Democratic Presidential candidate told a town hall forum...

No Comment Needed

Best Options for Carrying The Trinity?: Nikon SLR Lens Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

I plan on (eventually) owning the 14-24, 24-70, and 70-200 VR (hopefully a replacement).

What options are there for carrying these three rather large and heavy lenses around?

One lens would obviously be on the camera at all times, but I would like to have the other two on me as well. I'm not looking for a backpack, but something light and portable that I can keep on while shooting. Any suggestions?

I just don't want to look like this guy:

Image control: Zoom out | Zoom 100% | Zoom in | Expand / Contract | New window

Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post

PUTIN TO US: STAY OUT OF THIS CONFLICT

Official statement from the government of Cuba

CUBA defends peace as an indispensable prerequisite for the development of all the peoples of the world.

For more than 50 years, our people have been the victim of aggression on the part of U.S. governments, obliging them to invest countless resources and energy. They have been firm and tenacious in the defense of the country’s sovereignty and support the efforts of the UN and its struggle for peace.

One part of our territory has been occupied by force for more than 100 years and Cuba has never attempted or will attempt to use violence in order to recover it. Cuba’s foreign policy is known and acknowledged by the international community.

At this moment, a crisis is arising that is worrying the peoples, stemming from news of the fighting that has broken out in the Caucasus, on the border with southern Russia.

When the USSR disintegrated, South Ossetia, annexed by force by Georgia, with which it shared neither nationality nor culture, retained its status as an autonomous republic with its local authorities and its capital, Tskhinvali. At dawn on August 8, Georgia, in complicity with the U.S. government, launched its forces on South Ossetia in an attempt to occupy the capital, which it publicly announced on the same day that the Olympic Games were inaugurated in Beijing.

It is a false claim that Georgia is defending its national sovereignty.

The Russian troops were in South Ossetia legally, as a force for guaranteeing the peace, as is known by the international community; they have not committed any illegality.

The request for the invaders to withdraw is just, and our government supports it.

Cuba, threatened by U.S. forces, cannot, as a matter of principle, agree with a cease-fire without the withdrawal of the invaders. If Cuba were attacked by foreign forces, it would never accept such a cease-fire.

Raúl Castro Ruz

President of the Councils of State and Ministers

Havana, August 10, 2008

Clinton to forfeit $13 mil loan, unless… - Kenneth P. Vogel - Politico.com

Clinton to forfeit $13 mil loan, unless… - Kenneth P. Vogel - Politico.com: "Hillary Clinton may have to forfeit the $13 million she lent to her campaign, at least for now.
Photo: AP

Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, who once deducted $6 on their taxes for donating three pairs of his underwear, plan to take a $13-million hit to their personal bank account by forfeiting loans she made to her failed presidential campaign.

The campaign will allow to expire a mid-September deadline for paying them back, sources close to the campaign told Politico, at which point they will automatically be recategorized as contributions, confirming a decision by Clinton to forego repayment that many had expected her to make.

However, Clinton could get some post-deadline wiggle room to repay herself — and possibly with less of a public backlash — if Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) prevails in a little-noticed challenge to a rule requiring candidates to pay back loans of more than $250,000 within 20 days of the election.

For the Clinton campaign, the 20-day loan-repayment clock will start ticking when her vanquisher Barack Obama officially ends the Democratic primary by accepting the party’s presidential nomination Aug. 28 at Invesco Field in Denver.

Clinton’s campaign declined to comment for this story."

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.

The Middle Seat Terminal : Starting Today, No More Free Water on US Air

Starting Today, No More Free Water on US Air

Posted by Nikki Waller

Journal reporter Stephanie Chen on changes coming to US Air’s domestic flights today.

Charging for checked luggage and legroom isn’t enough for some carriers — starting today, coach passengers flying aboard US Airways Inc. must pay for a drink of water.

This morning, US Airways began charging fliers $2 for bottled water and sodas and $1 for teas and coffees. First class members, trans-Atlantic passengers and a select group of others are exempt from the extra fees.

“This is another clever way to masquerade airfare increases without increasing airfares,” says Randy Petersen, editor of Inside Flyer Magazine. “Everything has been passed along to the consumer.”

The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline is among many other carriers scrambling to cut costs and boost revenues amid skyrocketing fuel prices. For now, other major airlines including AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc., and Northwest Airlines Corp. say they won’t resort to the a la carte beverage system yet but will continue researching all possible ways to save money. Discount carriers AirTran Holdings Inc., JetBlue Airways Corp. and Southwest Airlines Co say they will also continue serving complimentary beverages.

Continental Airlines Inc. — one of the few airlines left that serves free meals on certain domestic flights — says it is unlikely to abandon its free beverage service. Continental says charging for a soda would detract from passenger comfort. “That’s always been our philosophy, and it’s one that works well with us,” says spokeswoman Julie King.

Several other low-cost carriers like Spirit Airlines Inc and Allegiant Air, LLC began charging for beverages a few years ago. These low-budget airlines say their business model offers “unbundled” deals, which strip away extra costs and charge only for the flight. Spirit and Allegiant officials say customers like this plan, which allows flyers to add on extra drinks and snacks only if they desire.

US Airways says it will provide water and drinks for passengers in cases of medical emergency and during extensive delays. If a desperately thirsty passenger does forget a few extra dollars, US Airways spokesman Morgan Durrant says flight attendants will likely “err on the side of the customer” and give him or her water. After all, the airline wouldn’t want its customers drinking tap water from the aircraft bathroom. That water is safe to drink, just not very palatable, according to Durrant.

“Frankly, that’s just not classy,” he says.