Tuesday News Bucket

Posted by CabinGirl | Sep 18, 2007 | 18 |

The dead might as well try to speak to the living as the old to the young.
– Willa Cather

Obviously, Willa knew a few teenagers…

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CabinGirl

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CabinGirl on September 18, 2007 at 8:02 am

had more viewers than Bush’s address last week.

And have you noticed they’re no longer polling Bush’s approval numbers? I don’t think we’ve seen any since mid August at the latest.
CabinGirl on September 18, 2007 at 8:10 am

continues to suck. From their latest press release:

Southwest Airlines today faces the bare facts and reveals the naked truth by issuing an apology to its Customers who have commented about its handling of a few who were dressed in revealing clothing. Poking fun at itself, Southwest has lowered its already skimpy fares to “mini-skirt” size of $49 to $109 one-way. To book these low fares, available only at southwest.com, visit: http://www.southwest.com/?src=PR_FS_091407

“Some have said we’ve gone from loving hot pants to having hot flashes but nothing could be farther from the truth, “said Southwest’s CEO Gary Kelly. “The publicity caught us with our pants down, quite frankly. The story has such great legs, but we have an even better sense of humor, so we’re going to jump out there and lower our fares to match the mini skirts we’ve all been hearing so much about.”

Wow, way to further insult women, Gary. I just can’t wait to never fly on your airline.
CabinGirl on September 18, 2007 at 8:12 am

had an emergency appendectomy: TVWeek

had an emergency appendectomy: [TVWeek MSNBC’s rising prime-time star Keith Olbermann was still hospitalized Monday after undergoing an emergency appendectomy Friday.

Mr. Olbermann’s appendix apparently ruptured Wednesday, but he wrote it off as a stomach ailment and soldiered on. Though still feeling ill, he nonetheless reported for work Thursday night, when he anchored MSNBC’s analysis of President Bush’s prime-time address on the war in Iraq.

It wasn’t until Friday afternoon that he decided it was time to seek medical attention, according to an MSNBC spokeswoman.
ask on September 18, 2007 at 8:39 am

Drift into war with Iran out of control, says UN

· Officials back nuclear inspector’s warning
· Tehran denounces French extremism in growing row

The UN’s chief nuclear weapons inspector yesterday warned against the use of force against Iran, in what UN officials said was an attempt to halt an “out of control” drift to war.

His outspoken remarks, which drew a parallel between Iran and Iraq, appeared to take aim at the US and Britain. They followed comments on Sunday night by the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, who said: “We have to prepare for the worst,” adding “the worst is war”.

[…]

UN officials said Mr ElBaradei, an Egyptian diplomat who was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2005, was attempting to slow down what seemed to be an accelerating march to war.

“There’s a strategic reason for doing these things,” one official said. “He really is alarmed. He sees this thing going out of control. The feeling around here is that this looks like the run-up to the Iraq war.”
- CabinGirl on September 18, 2007 at 11:51 am
  
  Scary that everyone sees it coming, but no one seems to be able to stop it or slow it down.
- dada on September 18, 2007 at 1:27 pm
  
  Russia and China warn against Iran attack
  
  Both countries have come out with relatively harsh condemnation of French Foreign Ministers’ and US position regarding Iran, ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Friday that may seek to impose new sanctions against Tehran for its controversial uranium enrichment activity:
  
  In an interview published just ahead of the Kouchner-Lavrov meeting, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov warned that a “bombing of Iran would be a bad move that would end with catastrophic consequences…We are convinced that there is no military solution to the Iranian problem … besides, it is quite clear that there is no military solution to the Iraqi problem either,” he said.
  
  ref: here and here
  
  China also condemned the French Ministers’ remarks:
  
  “We believe the best option is to peacefully resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic negotiations, which is in the common interests of the international community,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a briefing.
  
  We do not approve of easily resorting to threatening use of force in international affairs,” Jiang said.
  
  link
  
  lt appears that they have made it abundantly clear that they are not likely to stand idly by and allow their significant investments there to be wiped out without consequences.
  
  and FYI: oil’s trading higher again today. Crude futures for October delivery are now up $0.97 at $81.55 per barrel.
  
  Happy motoring.
  
  lTMF’sA
ask on September 18, 2007 at 9:26 am

Neighbours lose battle over US Embassy site

Residents of the area selected as the site for a new US Embassy lost their latest attempt to block construction of what they claim is a terrorist goal that will ruin the neighbourhood.

“We are deeply disappointed, and surprised,” Margrethe Geelmuyden, who led the battle against the American embassy’s proposed relocation to Oslo’s Huseby district, told newspaper Aften.

[…]

Complaints over the embassy’s present location downtown, where it’s considered a security threat and a traffic hindrance, led to the effort to find a new site for it. The city and state presented a long list of alternatives, but US officials rejected nearly all of them.

The embassy and US State Department officials finally settled on the Huseby site between the busy Smestad and Røa intersections. They rejected state offers to take over an abandoned military complex nearby, claiming security concerns, but agreed to build a new embassy complex on land that’s now among the last remaining open space in the area.

That set off the protests from local residents, who wanted to preserve their open space and aren’t keen on having the US Embassy as their neighbour.

Geelmuyden said her group will now evaluate whether to appeal the city court’s decision.

The decision is highly unpopular back home in Oslo. BTW, one of my sisters lives less than 0.5 mile away from the site.
meagert on September 18, 2007 at 11:34 am

There will be a Live Hearing on CSPAN3 having to do with “Hearing on Warrantless Surveillance and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: The Role of Checks and Balances in Protecting Americans’ Privacy Rights (Part II)”.

It has been postponed until Noontimeish. Check CSPAN3

Should be interesting.
- CabinGirl on September 18, 2007 at 11:52 am
  
  Thanks for the heads up. I’ll try to tune in.
on September 18, 2007 at 2:40 pm

New York Times to stop charging for online access

Ha! I thought that wouldn’t last.

The New York Times announced Monday it would stop charging for access to certain articles and archives on its web site, reversing a marketing plan implemented two years ago.

The widely read newspaper, also known as the “Old Gray Lady,” said it was canceling the pay-for-access system to some columnists’ work and back articles because of the greater potential for revenue from online advertising.

I don’t mind the advertising, since I don’t see it, thanks to Privoxy.
Connecticut Man1 on September 18, 2007 at 4:55 pm

This video introduces a series of “21st century disaster tips you WON’T hear from officials,” by homeland security and disaster management strategist W. David Stephenson. The tips tell you how to use personal communication devices and apps you use every day — and will use in a disaster whether or not officials want you to — to communicate with family and friends, and perhaps even to relay critical information to officials, without making a bad situation worse by, for example, making voice calls to let your family know you’re ok
Man Eegee on September 18, 2007 at 5:15 pm

Pima County Board of Supervisors voted unaninmously Tuesday to oppose the U.S. Border Patrol’s plan to set up a permanent round-the-clock checkpoint on Interstate 19 south of Green Valley.

Critics of the plan told supervisors such a checkpoint would be worse than ineffectual in stopping illegal immigration, and likely will create safety and crime problems for the nearby communities of Green Valley, Sahuarita, Arivaca Junction and Tubac. – linkage

They’re still going to build it despite local opposition…
Man Eegee on September 18, 2007 at 6:01 pm

When every known speaker of the language Amurdag gets together, there’s still no one to talk to. Native Australian Charlie Mangulda is the only person alive known to speak that language, one of thousands around the world on the brink of extinction. From rural Australia to Siberia to Oklahoma, languages that embody the history and traditions of people are dying, researchers said Tuesday.

While there are an estimated 7,000 languages spoken around the world today, one of them dies out about every two weeks, according to linguistic experts struggling to save at least some of them. – linkage
- ask on September 18, 2007 at 6:17 pm
  
  Thanks, Manny!
  Highly recommended link. Read the whole thing.
  - Man Eegee on September 18, 2007 at 6:30 pm
    
    no prob, it was an interesting article – sad development, but perhaps it will renew interest in keeping indigenous tongues alive
Man Eegee on September 18, 2007 at 6:47 pm

A fireball fell from the sky and slammed into southern Peru over the weekend, creating a huge crater that emitted a sickeningly smelly gas, local authorities said. More than 600 villagers fell ill, the Peruvian radio network RPP reported Tuesday.

Video reports from the scene, in a remote Andean village near Peru’s border with Bolivia, showed what appeared to be a 100-foot-wide (30-meter-wide), 20-foot-deep (6-meter-deep) impact crater with a bubbling pool of water at the bottom. – linkage

!
Man Eegee on September 18, 2007 at 6:50 pm

Hmmmm, something stinks here

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, House Republican Whip Roy Blunt and 11 other members of Congress have been subpoenaed to testify in the trial of a defense contractor charged with bribing jailed former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham.

All of the lawmakers said they do not intend to comply with the subpoenas. – linkage
- dada on September 18, 2007 at 6:55 pm
  
  DC used to be a swamp…now it’s a cesspool. might have something to do with this…just sayin’.
  
  lTMF’sA

Tuesday News Bucket

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CabinGirl

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