Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Bailout
"The proposed bailout of the financial system is a misguided scheme that will hurt the U.S. economy in the short run and long run," Daniel Mitchell asserts.
Mitchell is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
Mitchell is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute.
Elephant Feet
A herd of five elephants trampled a 52-year-old man to death in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Slow Rise
"Dinosaurs survived two mass extinctions and 50 million years before taking over the world and dominating ecosystems, according to new research published this week," the University of Bristol says.
Pirate News
Jeffrey Gettleman of the New York Times:
Voice of America:
RIA Novosti:
The Somali pirates who hijacked a Ukrainian freighter loaded with tanks, artillery, grenade launchers and ammunition said in an interview Tuesday that they had no idea that the ship was carrying arms when they seized it on the high seas.
"We just saw a big ship,” the pirates’ spokesman, Sugule Ali, told the New York Times. “So we stopped it.”
Voice of America:
Officials in east Africa say three pirates have been killed aboard a hijacked Ukrainian vessel off the coast of Somalia, after gunfire broke out among the pirates who seized the ship.
A spokesman for an African maritime organization, Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance Program, says Tuesday two rival groups of pirates exchanged gunshots after arguing over whether to surrender the vessel.
The pirates, reached by satellite phone, have denied this account.
RIA Novosti:
Somali pirates have released Bunga Melati 2, a Malaysian oil tanker hijacked in August, the Asian country's Bernama news agency said on Tuesday, citing defense ministry sources.
The vessel and its crew of 29 Malaysian and 10 Philippine nationals, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden on August 19.
Another vessel, Bunga Melati 5, seized 10 days later in the same area, was released on Saturday.
Bare Knuckles
In South Africa an 84-year-old man fought with his fists to save a friend from a leopard.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Illegal Loggers
BBC News: "Brazil's government has been named as the worst illegal logger of Amazon forests by one of its own departments."
Dino
"The remains of a new 10-meter-long predatory dinosaur discovered along the banks of Argentina's Rio Colorado is helping to unravel how birds evolved their unusual breathing system," the University of Chicago reports.
Crocodile
A crocodile killed a 7-year-old girl at a river in India's state of Uttar Pradesh.
"Three adults tried to save the child," a traveler said. "The crocodile attacked and injured the would-be rescuers."
"Three adults tried to save the child," a traveler said. "The crocodile attacked and injured the would-be rescuers."
Wagon Master
Recently Nicholas D. Kristof of the New York Times wrote:
Poppycock.
The missile crisis had its roots in the incompetence and inexperience of John F. Kennedy. The crisis never would have occurred under a competent President.
McCain is an old wagon master. He knows the trail through no–man's–land. He knows how to prevent ambushes. And he knows how to deal with the other threats.
Suppose John McCain had been in the White House in October 1962, facing one of the great tests of the modern presidency. If so, we might remember that period not as “the Cuban missile crisis” but as “World War III.”
Poppycock.
The missile crisis had its roots in the incompetence and inexperience of John F. Kennedy. The crisis never would have occurred under a competent President.
McCain is an old wagon master. He knows the trail through no–man's–land. He knows how to prevent ambushes. And he knows how to deal with the other threats.
Somali Pirates
BBC: "Somali pirates aboard a ship carrying tanks and weapons that they have seized say they are surrounded by at least three foreign warships."
Related story at the Times of India: Pirates released a Malaysian tanker.
Related story at the Times of India: Pirates released a Malaysian tanker.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
U.S. Army
From Geoff Ziezulewicz at Stars and Stripes: "The patch of one of the Army’s most storied divisions is coming to Sears — and not everyone is pleased about it."
Sri Lanka
An angry elephant took the life of a 49-year-old mahout in Sri Lanka. For several hours the pachyderm chased people away from the body.
Warship
An American Navy destroyer made visual contact with the hijacked Ukrainian arms ship off the coast of Somalia.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Sleeping Child
On Thursday night a leopard killed a 9-year-old girl in India's state of Uttar Pradesh.
"The leopard attacked the sleeping child in a hut," a traveler said in an email. "Villagers found the girl's mutilated body the next day."
"The leopard attacked the sleeping child in a hut," a traveler said in an email. "Villagers found the girl's mutilated body the next day."
Friday, September 26, 2008
G-Men
FBI: "It was 75 years ago today — September 26, 1933 — that wanted gangster George 'Machine Gun' Kelly and three others were captured by Bureau agents and local police."
Lost Bomber
ABC Online, Australia: "An Australian Air Force team will travel to Papua New Guinea next week to search for the remains of four RAAF airmen whose Hudson bomber was lost during WWII."
Venezuela
BBC News: "In Venezuela, a mysterious disease has killed nearly 40 people from indigenous river communities."
Tanks
BBC News: "Pirates off the coast of Somalia have seized a Ukrainian ship carrying T-72 tanks, an official has said."
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Mickey Mouse
Edward Yeranian at Voice of America:
If he could Mickey Mouse might breath a sigh of relief, after a number of Islamic clerics came out against a fatwah calling for the Disney cartoon character to be "put to death."
Syrian-born Saudi Sheikh Mohammed Salah al Munjid, speaking recently on Saudi religious TV Al Majd al Islamiya, called Mickey Mouse a "soldier of Satan," and urged that he be killed.
"[This mouse] is a detestable character. He is completely rotten. Satan hides behind his image," he says. "The mouse is obviously a soldier of Satan."
Sheikh Munjid, who once worked as a Saudi diplomat in Washington, claims that children in the Arab world now "worship mice as exalted beings," when, in fact, Islam teaches that they are "unclean."
Meanwhile, an Egyptian woman cleric, also a well-known TV figure, Suad Saleh, defended Mickey Mouse, saying that Sheikh Munjid's fatwah makes Islam look "ridiculous."
She argues that "real mice should be killed, according to the precepts of Islam, but that [Mickey] is a cartoon character ... so, killing him makes no sense."
On Al Arabiya TV, another Islamic scholar, Sheikh Mohammed Duheim, condemned Sheikh Munjid's ruling, insisting that he has "no right to speak for Islam."
"We must come out clearly on this issue," he says, "we are a diverse group of people, from many different cultures, and not everyone who claims to speak in the name of Islam speaks for all Muslims."
The fatwah against Mickey Mouse also sparked ridicule in the West, causing TV commentators from Fox News, Saturday Night Live, and even late-night talk show host Jay Leno to poke fun at the ruling.
Finally, adding to the tempest, Sheikh Munjid is now denying that he issued a fatwah to kill Mickey Mouse.
"I was merely expressing a personal opinion," he says.
Yemen
"In the West, clothes may make the man," Ivan Watson writes. "But in Yemen, the ultimate status symbol is a good knife."
The Juggler
Alastair Lawson of BBC News:
Continue reading "Anglo-Indian tale of forbidden love."
"Ours is a classic story of forbidden love, elopement, family estrangement and reconciliation. People say it's so romantic," says Englishman Tim Wallace from the veranda of his home in the town of Tura in northeast India.
"The last decade has certainly been an adventure," he says while drinking tea served by his wife Minna.
Continue reading "Anglo-Indian tale of forbidden love."
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Right and Wrong
A quote from an article in the New York Times (emphasis added):
There are times to rise above politics and do what's right?
You should do the right thing all of the time, Senator Obama.
A short time later, Senator Barack Obama appeared at a hastily called news conference in Clearwater, Fla., and said he agreed “there are times for politics and there are times to rise above politics and do what’s right.”
There are times to rise above politics and do what's right?
You should do the right thing all of the time, Senator Obama.
Love Story
RIA Novosti reports from Riyadh:
A Saudi woman has got married to a childhood suitor after surprising him by accepting his marriage proposal from 25 years earlier, local media reported Wednesday.
Al-Medina newspaper said the 40-year-old groom received the news of his engagement when his new bride's representative called him on the telephone.
The representative said the selective woman had considered a lot of proposals during the past quarter of a century, but rejected all of them and finally realized that the one made when she was a girl was the best.
The newspaper, which did not identify the couple, said the man has children with another woman but did not hesitate to marry a second wife, which is legal under Muslim law.
Somali Beach
News24: "A Danish navy vessel freed 10 suspected pirates on a beach in Somalia rather than hand them over to the authorities there, the navy and Denmark's defence minister said on Wednesday."
Jarawa Tribe
Survival International:
Frustrated by the invasion of their land by outsiders, members of the Jarawa tribe of the Andaman Islands, India, have apprehended two groups of poachers in their reserve. The Jarawa tied the poachers to trees and then informed the local authorities.
News Media
Tony Blankley, Washington Times:
Here is my opinion:
Blankley shot an arrow to the bull's-eye of his target.
In 1923 American humorist Will Rogers said, "Well, all I know is what I read in the papers." Anyone who says that today doesn't know much.
The mainstream media have gone over the line and are now straight-out propagandists for the Obama campaign.
While they have been liberal and blinkered in their worldview for decades, in 2007-08, for the first time, the major media consciously are covering for one candidate for president and consciously are knifing the other.
Here is my opinion:
Blankley shot an arrow to the bull's-eye of his target.
In 1923 American humorist Will Rogers said, "Well, all I know is what I read in the papers." Anyone who says that today doesn't know much.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Wildlife Poachers
Wildlife rangers stormed the hideout of twenty poachers at Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda. The rangers captured three outlaws.
Leopardess
On Monday morning a female leopard killed a 50-year-old woman near a village in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
Shipping Industry
Vice Admiral Bill Gortney, U.S. Navy: Shipping companies must take measures to protect vessels from Somali pirates.
Customer Complaint
News item at Independent Online: "A chef in a Hong Kong noodle bar was under arrest on Tuesday for allegedly attacking a woman with a meat cleaver when she complained about the quality of his food."
Neanderthal Food
BBC News: "It seems Neanderthals enjoyed a wide range of foods — a much broader menu than had previously been supposed."
Small Dinosaur
University of Calgary:
An unusual breed of dinosaur that was the size of a chicken, ran on two legs and scoured the ancient forest floor for termites is the smallest dinosaur species found in North America, according to a University of Calgary researcher who analyzed bones found during the excavation of an ancient bone bed near Red Deer, Alberta.
"These are bizarre animals. They have long and slender legs, stumpy arms with huge claws and tweezer-like jaws. They look like an animal created by Dr. Seuss," said Nick Longrich, a paleontology research associate in the Department of Biological Sciences.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Europeans
Voice of America:
Previous: French Commandos
Somali pirates, who have been relentlessly attacking ships this year off the coast of Somalia, say they will kill any European they capture if France fails to release six pirates seized by French commandos earlier this month.
Previous: French Commandos
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Ancient Reef
"A group of Australian scientists say they have discovered an ancient underwater reef in South Australia's Flinders Ranges," ABC Online in Australia reports.
Wild Times in Rio
New York Daily News headline: "Brazilian beauty recalls hot Rio affair with young John McCain."
Presidential Horse Race
Gallup's daily tracking poll: Barack Obama leads John McCain by four points.
Business Heritage
"To affirm that the airplane is going to revolutionize the future is to be guilty of the wildest exaggeration," Scientific American magazine declared in 1910.
History: Boeing
History: Boeing
Lesotho
Via IOL: "Miners in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho have found one of the world's largest diamonds, a near-flawless white gem weighing nearly 500 carats, mining group Gem Diamonds said on Sunday."
Web site: Gem Diamonds Ltd.
Web site: Gem Diamonds Ltd.
Car Tune
BBC News: "It might sound like an idea from a 1960s hippy gathering, but there really is such a thing as a musical highway."
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Air Combat
Stephen Harding, Air & Space magazine:
Continue reading "The Last to Die."
Just after 2 p.m. on August 18, 1945, U.S. Army Sergeant Anthony J. Marchione bled to death in the clear, bright sky above Tokyo. A month shy of his 20th birthday, Marchione died like so many before him had in the Second World War — quietly, cradled in the arms of a buddy. What sets his death apart from that of other Allied airmen is that the young man from Pottstown, Pennsylvania, died after the Japanese had accepted the Allied terms of surrender. He was the last American killed in air combat in World War II.
Continue reading "The Last to Die."
Leopard
A leopard took the life of a 5-year-old girl in India's state of Jammu and Kashmir.
"The attack occurred outside the child's home this morning," a trader told me.
"The attack occurred outside the child's home this morning," a trader told me.
Jharkhand
On Friday a herd of elephants killed two people and injured a third at a village in the Indian state of Jharkhand. The pachyderms damaged four houses.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Presidential Horse Race
Gallup's daily tracking poll: Barack Obama leads John McCain by five points.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Smoker
The BBC: "Ugandan officials have expressed shock after a mob killed a man who refused to stop smoking in a public bar."
Fiji
Brachylophus bulabula (female)Scientists discovered a previously unknown species of lizard.
(Photo credit: © Paddy Ryan, Ryan Photographic)
Diamonds
Duncan Bartlett of BBC News: "There used to be tens of thousands of diamond cutters in the Belgian port of Antwerp. Now there are only a few hundred."
Sarah Palin's Glasses
Eliose Parker and Nicole Lyn Pesce of the New York Daily News:
Seven thousand dollars. That's how much reports claim Sarah Palin spent on her look for the Republican National Convention. She may have hired a team of stylists and splurged on a $2,500 Valentino jacket, but no one was looking at her body. They were looking at her eyes. More specifically, her distinctive rimless Kazuo Kawasaki glasses that have become the hottest ticket in town thanks to what optometrists are already calling "the Palin effect."
Sacked
Via IOL: "A small hotel on Turkey's Mediterranean coast has fired all its male employees for repeatedly having affairs with female guests."
Corn
RIA Novosti: "A donkey from the northeast Egyptian city of Tanta has been sentenced to 24 hours in jail for stealing corn from a field owned by a local agricultural research center, the Al-Ahram weekly said on Thursday."
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Afghan Trade
Michael Gisick: "With Afghanistan’s largely agrarian economy lacking even basic infrastructure, Afghan farmers in the east remain at the mercy of Pakistani merchants for everything from cold storage to canning, and often end up buying back what they sell at considerable markup, officials say."
Women in Rwanda
News from the BBC: "Rwanda will be the first country where women will outnumber men in parliament, preliminary election results show."
Obama
"Why don't you like Barack Obama?" someone asked me last night.
"Obama believes in big government," I said. "Over the years every one of my major problems had its genesis in a government decision."
"Obama believes in big government," I said. "Over the years every one of my major problems had its genesis in a government decision."
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Telescope
From the BBC: "New evidence suggests the telescope may have been invented in Spain, not the Netherlands or Italy as has previously been assumed."
Economic Freedom
Cato Institute:
Economic freedom around the world remains on the rise but it has declined notably in the U.S. since the year 2000, according to an authoritative study released today by the Cato Institute and Canada's Fraser Institute.
In 2000 the U.S. was the second-freest economy listed in Economic Freedom of the World, an annual report written by James Gwartney from Florida State University and Robert Lawson from Auburn University. This year the U.S. has fallen to 8th place, behind Hong Kong (ranked in first place), Singapore, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Chile, and Canada.
State Polls
Subj: McCain and Obama
Michael Barone looks at state polls: "They tend to suggest that the battlefield is shifting, with more states within McCain's reach and fewer within Obama's."
Michael Barone looks at state polls: "They tend to suggest that the battlefield is shifting, with more states within McCain's reach and fewer within Obama's."
French Commandos
BBC News reports: "French commandos have freed two sailors seized by pirates off the Somali coast, the French presidency has said."
Monday, September 15, 2008
Amazonian Ant
University of Texas at Austin:
A new species of blind, subterranean, predatory ant discovered in the Amazon rainforest by University of Texas at Austin evolutionary biologist Christian Rabeling is likely a descendant of the very first ants to evolve.
The new ant is named Martialis heureka, which translates roughly to "ant from Mars," because the ant has a combination of characteristics never before recorded.
Egypt
From ABC Online, Australia: "An Egyptian archaeological team has unearthed a temple and parts of a statue belonging to one of Egypt's most famous pharaohs, in a rare find inside the capital, the official MENA agency has reported."
Presidential Horse Race
Gallup's daily tracking poll: McCain still edges out Obama, 47 percent to 45 percent.
Kayaker
Via IOL: "An Australian kayaker gritted his teeth and snapped his own leg to avoid drowning when his upturned craft became lodged under a tree, news reports said on Monday."
Double Trouble
"Conservationists in Nepal say efforts to save the nation's dwindling tiger populations are facing a twin attack," Navin Singh Khadka of the BBC reports.
Hitler Returns
From Spiegel Online: "Madame Tussauds has repaired its wax figure of Adolf Hitler and put him back on display in Berlin nine weeks after a visitor tore the dictator's head off."
Previous: Adolf
Previous: Adolf
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Presidential Horse Race
According to Gallup's daily tracking poll, the McCain-Obama contest remains tight.
John le Carré
Via ABC Online, Australia: "British espionage writer John le Carré has told Britain's Sunday Times newspaper that he was tempted to defect to the Soviet Union during the Cold War."
Leopard in Maharashtra
In the Indian state of Maharashtra, a leopard injured two people at a village. Local residents trapped the feline in a house. Forest rangers transported the cat to a nearby jungle.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Dogfighter
Michael Barone:
Previous: John McCain
John McCain was trained as a fighter pilot. In his selection of Sarah Palin, and in his convention and campaigning since, he has shown that he learned an important lesson from his fighter pilot days: He has gotten inside Barack Obama's OODA loop.
Previous: John McCain
Friday, September 12, 2008
Town and Country
Barack Obama's most vocal urban supporters know something about publicity, but they don't seem to know much else about effective PR. Many of the city slickers mock Sarah Palin and country folks in subtle and obvious ways.
My mother stepped out of The Great Gatsby, and my father stepped out of a Jack London novel. I am comfortable in any environment.
You need to enjoy the company of all kinds of people to succeed in today's world.
My mother stepped out of The Great Gatsby, and my father stepped out of a Jack London novel. I am comfortable in any environment.
You need to enjoy the company of all kinds of people to succeed in today's world.
Cuban Spy
From the files of the FBI: "In the aftermath 9/11, the arrest of Ana Montes went largely unnoticed by the public, although her actions threatened national security."
Burundi
IOL in South Africa: "Four people were murdered in eastern Burundi in a revenge raid for the death of a villager allegedly caused by an act of witchcraft, police said."
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Gaffes
John M. Broder of the New York Times: "Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democrats’ vice presidential candidate, is an experienced, serious and smart man. But, boy, does he say some curious things."
Angry Bees
Via IOL: "Three people were stung to death after a truck carrying dozens of beehives overturned in northeast China and three more were killed on the road as they tried to steer clear of the swarm, newspapers said on Thursday."
Vegetarian
From Spiegel Online: "The sight of a truckload of pigs headed for the sausage factory proved too much to bear for a German vegetarian woman who lost control of her vehicle as a result. Unfortunately, she crashed into another truck carrying pigs."
Tavern
Journalist Kuben Chetty in South Africa: "Three people were shot dead and two others are fighting for their lives after a remark about a patron's penis size escalated into a bloodbath at a tavern in Umbilo, Durban, on Wednesday night."
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
River of No Return
In Kenya two women died when they tried to fetch water from a river.
"Crocodiles killed them," a trader said.
"Crocodiles killed them," a trader said.
Four Raiders
Four pirates stole items from an anchored cargo ship off the Nigerian coast. A watchman suffered minor head injuries during the raid.
Elixir
"When a Tuscan pharmacist found a centuries-old recipe for a potion to live forever he decided to recreate it," Spiegel Online says. "Now the Chianti-based elixir will be produced on a commercial scale."
Floods
Via ABC Online, Australia: "An elderly Papua New Guinean woman was attacked by local villagers after they accused her of using witchcraft to cause deadly floods, a report said."
White Priestess
Andrew Walker of the BBC:
Read more about the white priestess of black magic.
Bent double by age, the high priestess of Nigeria's Yoruba spirit world shuffles forward from under the trees, reaching out a white, blotchy hand in welcome.
Half a lifetime ago, Susanne Wenger dedicated herself to reviving the traditions of the pre-Christian Yoruba gods, "the orishas," and left Austria to make Nigeria her home.
Read more about the white priestess of black magic.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Kenya
Kenyan man with a jam pot hanging from his ear, circa 1895(Photo credit: U.S. Library of Congress)
Business Heritage
Everlast Worldwide:
The name Everlast is synonymous with boxing, although the company started out as a swimwear manufacturer in the Bronx in 1910. Seventeen-year-old Jacob Golomb, the son of a tailor and an avid swimmer, was dissatisfied with swimsuits of the time that barely lasted a season, and began making suits that he guaranteed would last for a full year. He proudly gave them the name EVERLAST, and although the swimsuits did not last throughout history, the name did. Over the subsequent years, Golomb transformed his company into a small retail store that carried a full line of sports equipment. In 1917, a young fighter named Jack Dempsey introduced boxing to Golomb and Everlast. Dempsey asked Golomb to construct protective headgear that would last more that 15 rounds of intensive boxing training. Golomb special designed the training gear for Dempsey. In 1919, Dempsey won the world’s heavyweight championship wearing boxing gloves made for him by Golomb; Everlast became the headquarters for boxing equipment throughout the world.
Quest for the Dead
Angelika Franz of Der Spiegel penned a piece about the U.S. military's search for fallen American warriors in Germany.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Presidential Horse Race
Gallup:
Yesterday: McCain Moves Ahead
John McCain’s support among registered voters increased six percentage points from immediately before the GOP convention to immediately after. That convention bounce leaves him with a five-point lead over Barack Obama in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update, 49% to 44%.
Yesterday: McCain Moves Ahead
Tropical Waters
"Australian scientists are warning of an environmental disaster in Micronesia as World War II wrecks start to leak fuel into the region's pristine lagoons," reports Phil Mercer of BBC News.
Sleeping Buddha
Archaeologists discovered a giant statue of Buddha near the ruins of the world-famous Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.
Rebel Guides
Chad Bouchard in Indonesia:
Voice of America has the full story.
The last time Yuni hacked his way through this jungle mountain trail, he was under fire and on the run from his own government.
Three years after the end of that bloody conflict, he finds himself pausing on the steep mountain slope, waiting for a handful of winded tourists to catch up.
Yuni was a foot soldier in a guerrilla independence movement called GAM. He describes a fierce battle to the curious group of foreigners.
Yuni says in this spot he was pinned down for hours, and it was the longest combat with the enemy he ever experienced. He says the fire fight started before dawn and lasted until the afternoon.
Yuni and his brother Don are part of the last generation to fight a brutal civil war spanning three decades, as Acehnese fought for independence from the rest of the country.
The mountaineering and survival skills that once helped them outmaneuver the Indonesian army now come in handy as they march tourists into the same jungle.
Voice of America has the full story.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
McCain Moves Ahead
Gallup:
John McCain has moved ahead of Barack Obama in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking, 48% to 45%, following last week’s Republican convention.
Stolen Coffins
Niyanta Singh in South Africa:
You can read the full story at IOL.
A family in Pietermaritzburg buried a 7-year-old boy this week thinking he would rest in peace. But now police are searching for them to tell them his grave has been dug up and his coffin stolen for resale.
The body-parts snatchers who used to raid mortuaries are now digging up coffins, according to police.
You can read the full story at IOL.
Bellwether
Monica Davey, New York Times, February 1, 2008:
RealClearPolitics tracks state polls and averages the figures. The latest numbers for Missouri: McCain, 49.7; Obama, 42.7.
For a century, voters in Missouri have proven to be a nearly perfect gauge of the nation’s thinking on Presidential candidates, swaying from Democrats to Republicans and back again, but always (besides a certain election in 1956) voting in general elections for the candidate who ultimately wins the nation.
RealClearPolitics tracks state polls and averages the figures. The latest numbers for Missouri: McCain, 49.7; Obama, 42.7.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Obama and Friends
Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric: "Barack Obama with Pelosi and Reid — that's nothing but disaster."
Watch the Video.
In 1999 Fortune magazine named Welch "Manager of the Century."
Watch the Video.
In 1999 Fortune magazine named Welch "Manager of the Century."
Brother
Via ABC Online, Australia:
The Dalai Lama's brother, a Buddhist monk turned CIA translator who helped train Tibetan resistance fighters in a guerrilla war against Chinese rule, has died at his U.S. home.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Tobacco Warning
Michael Gisick of Stars and Stripes:
Concern that two U.S. soldiers in Eastern Afghanistan may have been poisoned by locally bought tobacco has prompted at least one U.S. brigade to bar troops from buying cigarettes or dip on the Afghan economy.
Crocodiles in Kenya
Crocodiles killed a 10-year-old boy and a 12-year-old boy in Kenya's North Eastern Province.
"The boys were watering their parent's goats at Daua River when the crocodiles attacked them," state media said.
"The boys were watering their parent's goats at Daua River when the crocodiles attacked them," state media said.
Living Like a King
Barry Bearak of the New York Times:
Read more.
Previous: Royal Wives
Once upon a time, a young and handsome king ruled over a land of mountainous splendor near the southern tip of Africa. He liked to get married, and as the years passed he took 13 wives, each of them a great beauty.
Read more.
Previous: Royal Wives
Bagpipers
Official Russian news agency RIA Novosti: "The British Foreign Office has decided not to send 40 bagpipers to a military music festival in Moscow in protest over Russia's actions in Georgia, a foreign office spokesperson said."
Russian journalists posted the news in the "Strange but True" section of RIA Novosti's Web site.
Russian journalists posted the news in the "Strange but True" section of RIA Novosti's Web site.
Business Heritage
Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast:
It was wonderful to walk down the long flights of stairs knowing that I'd had good luck working. I always worked until I had something done and I always stopped when I knew what was going to happen next. That way I could be sure of going on the next day. But sometimes when I was started on a new story and I could not get going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges into the edge of the flame and watch the sputter of blue that they made. I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, "Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence you know." So finally I would write one true sentence, and then go on from there. It was easy then because there was always one true sentence that I knew or had seen or had heard someone say. If I started to write elaborately, or like someone introducing or presenting something, I found that I could cut the scrollwork or ornament out and throw it away and start with the first true simple declarative sentence I had written.
Mavericks
Jules Crittenden:
I agree.
Update:
I forgot to tell you this. A former Democratic politician watched John McCain's speech with me last night. He said, "John McCain will win."
Barring unforeseen circumstances, unknown shoes that might drop, or the unlikely event of Democratic strategic brilliance, it is now the Republican Party’s election to lose, and we have just witnessed what might be one of the neatest, most explosive, most dastardly genuine political manuevers of presidential politics in our time.
I agree.
Update:
I forgot to tell you this. A former Democratic politician watched John McCain's speech with me last night. He said, "John McCain will win."
Royal Malaysian Navy
From BBC News: "Malaysia is sending three navy ships to the coast of Somalia to protect merchant vessels from piracy."
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Male Witch
Five people murdered a suspected warlock at a small village in India's state of Maharashtra.
Tusker
An elephant killed a 52-year-old villager in the Indian state of West Bengal. The Times of India has the details.
North American Roots
Jane Christmas at McMaster University: "In a surprising reversal of conventional wisdom, a DNA-based study has revealed that the last of the woolly mammoths — which lived between 40,000 and 4,000 years ago — had roots that were exclusively North American."
Dead Turtles
"Foreign poaching of Philippines marine life has flared up as an issue again following the discovery of more than 100 dead Hawksbill turtles aboard a Vietnamese fishing vessel apprehended near Malampaya," WWF says in a news release.
Related: Narwhal massacre
Related: Narwhal massacre
Plane
IOL: "Crew on an Air India passenger jet discovered a snake coiled up under a seat and were unable to catch it as it slithered around the plane, the airline said on Thursday."
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Hail
BBC News:
Residents of a village in central Kenya were shocked to see a blanket of hail resembling snow covering their land.
"I have not seen such a thing ever since I was born," said one resident of Nyahururu.
Ancient Walls
BBC News: "Archaeologists in Jerusalem have given a first glimpse of newly exposed 2,100-year-old walls to the south of the city's ancient heart."
Sarah America
Larry Kudlow writes about the most important economic issue in the United States:
Of course, with all the political hoopla from the Denver Democrats, it’s easy to forget the populist revolt against high gas prices at the pump. Sen. Obama never mentioned skyrocketing pump prices or their devastating economic impact on ordinary working-class folks. But this is the energy election. It will determine our future peace and prosperity. And Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has the energy answer: Our abundant country can produce more energy at lower cost if government gets out of the way.
Barney
Subj: Republican Governor Sarah Palin
Hillary Chabot of the Boston Herald reports:
Barney Frank is a Democrat from Massachusetts.
Background:
Richard L. Berke, New York Times, July 27, 1990:
(Hat tip: Jules Crittenden for the Boston Herald link)
Hillary Chabot of the Boston Herald reports:
While Sen. Barack Obama forcefully condemned any criticism of Palin’s daughter, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank was one of the first to say the teen’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy is fair game.
Barney Frank is a Democrat from Massachusetts.
Background:
Richard L. Berke, New York Times, July 27, 1990:
After an emotional and often rancorous debate, the House of Representatives voted today to reprimand Representative Barney Frank for ethical breaches involving his relationship with a male prostitute.
(Hat tip: Jules Crittenden for the Boston Herald link)
Tourists
From BBC News: "A vessel carrying an unspecified number of French tourists has been hijacked off the Somali coast, officials say."
U.S. Presidential Election
This morning I convinced two Obama supporters to vote for McCain. How did you do?
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Gone Fishing
BBC News: "Wolves in western Canada prefer to fish for salmon when it is in season rather than hunt deer or other wild game, researchers have found."
Left in the Gutter
Angry about the smear campaign against Sarah Palin, liberal blogger Bob Keller writes:
Read the whole thing.
(Hat tip: Bloodthirsty Liberal )
The 2008 Election ended this morning as a vast cadre of liberals, progressives, Democrats and like-minded journalists lifted the white flag and surrendered.
We surrendered something a whole lot more valuable than our vote. We surrendered our principles. We surrendered our core values.
Read the whole thing.
(Hat tip: Bloodthirsty Liberal )
Frontier Woman
David Harsanyi, RealClearPolitics: Sarah Palin is the one who "exudes the economic and cultural sensibilities of a geniune Western-style libertarian."
Updates:
Fred Thompson Rips NYT on Palin Coverage — Bob Cusack, The Hill
The Case Against the Case Against Palin — Christopher Orr, The New Republic (generally a center-left magazine politically)
Republicans Rally Around Palin as McCain's Running Mate — Voice of America report by Jim Malone
(Hat tip: RealClearPolitics)
Updates:
Fred Thompson Rips NYT on Palin Coverage — Bob Cusack, The Hill
The Case Against the Case Against Palin — Christopher Orr, The New Republic (generally a center-left magazine politically)
Republicans Rally Around Palin as McCain's Running Mate — Voice of America report by Jim Malone
(Hat tip: RealClearPolitics)
Hiding
Annalisa Piras of the BBC:
Read it all.
"My life is not a life. Today and every day I live in a wooden coat, a coffin. That's the Camorra term for dead man walking."
Journalist and author Roberto Saviano spectacularly blew the lid on the Naples Camorra in his acclaimed book Gomorrah.
Revealing 20 years of a seemingly unstoppable rise in the criminal activities of the Campania region mafia, the book has sold over two million copies worldwide.
As a consequence, Roberto Saviano is a wanted man, and is now living in hiding, under constant threat of execution.
Read it all.
Tycoon
BBC News:
Previous: Making a Killing
Egyptian tycoon Hisham Talaat Moustafa has been arrested and charged over the brutal murder of Lebanese pop star Suzanne Tamim, legal officials say.
Previous: Making a Killing
Monday, September 1, 2008
Five Women Buried Alive
From BBC News: "Pakistan's Senate has called for action to be taken against men alleged to have buried alive five women in the western province of Balochistan in July."
Phika
Monkagedi Gaotlhobogwe at Mmegi Online, Botswana:
Read more.
Have you ever ever doubted tales about Phika, the devilish serpent? Well, maybe some of the tales were too exaggerated but snake experts have confirmed that the legendary "phika" does exist.
Read more.
Highway
Late last night a truck ran over a leopard on a highway in the Indian state of Haryana. The vehicle split open the cat's head.
Desert Elephants
"An animal conservation group warns that Namibia's desert elephants face a severe blow because the government has issued permits to kill some breeding bulls," Joe DeCapua reports. "Permits to kill six of the bulls have been awarded for trophy hunting."
Teenage Daughter
"GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin has announced that her 17-year-old daughter Bristol is five months pregnant and will marry the baby's father," NPR says.
Update:
In Wasilla, Pregnancy Was No Secret — Nathan Thornburgh, Time
Update:
In Wasilla, Pregnancy Was No Secret — Nathan Thornburgh, Time
Flyboy
William Kristol, New York Times:
Read the whole thing.
McCain has gambled boldly on Palin. If she flops, McCain could lose by a landslide.
On the other hand, if Palin exceeds expectations, and her selection ends up looking both bold and wise, McCain could win.
The Palin pick already, as Noemie Emery wrote, “Wipes out the image of McCain as the crotchety elder and brings back that of the flyboy and gambler, which is much more appealing, and the genuine person.”
Read the whole thing.
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