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zippo
Supporter
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Posted: Thu Dec 15th, 2005 09:42 pm |
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This is kinda long, so you can delete it if you wish. I just thought you all might enjoy this fellows attitude - he could ride with me anyday!
Mightier Than the Pen
By MATT POTTINGER
December 15, 2005; Page A18
When people ask why I recently left The Wall Street Journal to join the Marines, I usually have a short answer. It felt like the time had come to stop reporting events and get more directly involved. But that's not the whole answer, and how I got to this point wasn't a straight line.
It's a cliché that you appreciate your own country more when you live abroad, but it happens to be true. Living in China for the last seven years, I've seen that country take a giant leap from a struggling Third World country into a true world power. For many people it still comes as a surprise to learn that China is chasing Japan as the second-largest economy on the globe and could soon own a trillion dollars of American debt.
But living in China also shows you what a nondemocratic country can do to its citizens. I've seen protesters tackled and beaten by plainclothes police in Tiananmen Square, and I've been videotaped by government agents while I was talking to a source. I've been arrested and forced to flush my notes down a toilet to keep the police from getting them, and I've been punched in the face in a Beijing Starbucks by a government goon who was trying to keep me from investigating a Chinese company's sale of nuclear fuel to other countries.
When you live abroad long enough, you come to understand that governments that behave this way are not the exception, but the rule. They feel alien to us, but from the viewpoint of the world's population, we are the aliens, not them. That makes you think about protecting your country no matter who you are or what you're doing. What impresses you most, when you don't have them day to day, are the institutions that distinguish the U.S.: the separation of powers, a free press, the right to vote, and a culture that values civic duty and service, to name but a few.
I'm not an uncritical, rah-rah American. Living abroad has sharpened my view of what's wrong with my country, too. It's obvious that we need to reinvent ourselves in various ways, but we should also be allowed to do it from within, not according to someone else's dictates.
But why the Marines?
A year ago, I was at my sister's house using her husband's laptop when I came across a video of an American in Iraq being beheaded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The details are beyond description here; let's just say it was obscene. At first I admit I felt a touch of the terror they wanted me to feel, but then I felt the anger they didn't. We often talk about how our policies are radicalizing young men in the Middle East to become our enemies, but rarely do we talk about how their actions are radicalizing us. In a brief moment of revulsion, sitting there in that living room, I became their blowback.
Of course, a single emotional moment does not justify a career change, and that's not what happened to me. The next day I went to lunch at the Council on Foreign Relations where I happened to meet a Marine Corps colonel who'd just come back from Iraq. He gave me a no-nonsense assessment of what was happening there, but what got to me most was his description of how the Marines behaved and how they looked after each other in a hostile world. That struck me as a metaphor for how America should be in the world at large, and it also appealed to me on a personal level. At one point I said half-jokingly that, being 31 years old, it was a shame I was too old to serve. He sat back for a second and said, "I think I've still gotcha."
The next morning I found myself roaming around the belly of the USS Intrepid, a World War II aircraft carrier museum moored a few blocks from Times Square, looking for a Marine recruiting station and thinking I'd probably lost my marbles. The officer-selection officer wasn't impressed with my age, my Chinese language abilities or the fact that I worked for one of the great newspapers of the world. His only question was, "How's your endurance?"
Well, I can sit at my desk for 12 hours straight. Fourteen if I have a bag of Reese's.
He said if I wanted a shot at this I'd have to ace the physical fitness test, where a perfect score consisted of 20 pull-ups, 100 crunches in two minutes, and a three-mile run in 18 minutes. Essentially he was telling me to pack it in and go home. After assuring him I didn't have a criminal record or any tattoos, either of which would have required yet another waiver (my age already required the first), I took an application and went back to China.
Then came the Asian tsunami last December.
I was scrambled to Thailand, where thousands of people had died in the wave. After days in the midst of the devastation, I pulled back to Thailand's Utapao Air Force Base, at one time a U.S. staging area for bombing runs over Hanoi, to write a story on the U.S.-led relief efforts. The abandoned base was now bustling with air traffic and military personnel, and the man in charge was a Marine.
Warfare and relief efforts, as it turns out, involve many skills in common. In both cases, it's 80% preparation and logistics and only a small percent of actual battle. What these guys were doing was the same thing they did in a war zone, except now the tip of the spear wasn't weapons, but food, water and medicine. It was a major operation to save people's lives, and it was clear that no other country in the world could do what they were doing. Once again, I was bumping into the U.S. Marines, and once again I was impressed.
The day before I left Thailand I decided to do my first physical training and see what happened. I started running and was winded in five minutes. The air quality in downtown Bangkok didn't help, but the biggest problem was me. I ducked into Lumpini Park in the heart of the city where I was chased around by a three-foot monitor lizard that ran faster than I did. At one point I found a playground jungle gym and managed to do half a pull-up. That's all.
I got back to Beijing and started running several days a week. Along the way I met a Marine who was studying in Beijing on a fellowship and started training with him. Pretty soon I filled out the application I'd taken from New York, got letters of recommendation from old professors and mentors, and received a letter from a senior Marine officer who took a leap of faith on my behalf.
I made a quick trip back to New York in April to take a preliminary physical fitness test with the recruitment officer at the USS Intrepid. By then I could do 13 pull-ups, all my crunches, and a three-mile run along the West Side Highway in a little under 21 minutes, all in all a mediocre performance that was barely passable. When I was done, the officer told me to wipe the foam off my mouth, but I did him one better and puked all over the tarmac. He liked that a lot. That's when we both knew I was going for it.
Friends ask if I worry about going from a life of independent thought and action to a life of hierarchy and teamwork. At the moment, I find that appealing because it means being part of something bigger than I am. As for how different it's going to be, that, too, has its appeal because it's the opposite of what I've been doing up to now. Why should I do something that's a "natural fit" with what I already do? Why shouldn't I try to expand myself?
In a way, I see the Marines as a microcosm of America at its best. Their focus isn't on weapons and tactics, but on leadership. That's the whole point of the Marines. They care about each other in good times and bad, they've always had to fight for their existence -- even Harry Truman saw them as nothing more than the "Navy's police force" -- and they have the strength of their traditions. Their future, like the country's, is worth fighting for. I hope to be part of the effort.
Mr. Pottinger, until recently a Journal correspondent in China, is scheduled to be commissioned a second lieutenant tomorrow. He spent the last three months at Officer Candidates School in Quantico, Va. As of early December, his three-mile run was down to 18 minutes and 15 seconds.
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zippo
Supporter
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Posted: Thu Dec 15th, 2005 08:30 pm |
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Good God, the Wall Street Journal had a feature story on this hymenoplasty, on how popular it is becoming. The cost is between $2500 and $5000. One woman got one saying it was for the man who had everything! Hell of a lot of money (not to mention suffering) for one nights experience. We are a society with way too much money!
Now the vaginal rejuvenation surgery (or getting it rebushed as we used to say)............
Hymen Repair Surgery, Hymenoplasty, Hymenorraphy, Restoration
We perform expert hymen repair surgery (hymenoplasty, hymenorrhaphy) or restoration of the hymenal ring in our clean, comfortable, ultra-modern private OB/GYN office.
The hymenal ring normally gets disrupted after a woman has had sexual intercourse or even after strenuous physical activity or tampon use. Sometimes, for cultural or other personal reasons (for example, an upcoming marriage), a woman would like to restore a more intact, tighter hymenal ring. Using a special surgical technique, we can repair and tighten the hymen to a more intact, virgin-like state in most patients. Because of a wide variation among hymenal and vaginal states, we customize the surgery to the individual needs and expectations of the patient, as are discussed during the required pre-surgical consultation and thorough gynecological examination. In most cases, the surgery is virtually undetectable after complete healing, and patients are very pleased with our final results.
Please note that this surgery is done solely for the personal benefit of the individual patient. We absolutely do not provide or condone any form of female circumcision or genital mutilation, regardless of one's cultural beliefs.
We maintain the utmost in patient confidentiality.
Patients must have a pre-surgical consultation and thorough gynecological examination prior to the surgery. Individual needs and expectations are discussed at this time. Patients are individually counseled and educated on what to expect, including possible risks, benefits, and options.
The surgery is usually performed under local anesthesia (awake). Patients may choose conscious sedation to help them feel more relaxed and comfortable. General anesthesia is an option for some patients.
Our physicians are New York State licensed and board certified OB/GYN physicians. They maintain hospital privileges at local hospitals including New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens, Flushing Hospital Medical Center, and New York Methodist Hospital.
After the surgery, it is recommended to avoid sex, tampons, and douching for six weeks.
Patients should return to the office two weeks and six weeks after the surgery for follow-up exams to monitor proper healing.
Last edited on Thu Dec 15th, 2005 08:32 pm by zippo |
Babe
Supporter
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Posted: Thu Dec 15th, 2005 06:58 pm |
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Uh huh.....um...well sure... that definately makes me realize what Christmas is all about......uh huh.
*rolls eyes*
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Thu Dec 15th, 2005 05:59 pm |
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Macabre Christmas Display Makes Statement
By DAVID B. CARUSO, Associated Press Writer
It's usually easy to tell where a person stands in the culture wars, but whose side is someone on when his Christmas decor is a blood-spattered Santa Claus holding a severed head?
Joel Krupnik and Mildred Castellanos decked the front of their Manhattan mansion this year with a scene that includes a knife-wielding 5-foot-tall St. Nick and a tree full of decapitated Barbie dolls. Hidden partly behind a tree, the merry old elf grasps a disembodied doll's head with fake blood streaming from its eye sockets.
In a telephone interview Wednesday, Krupnik explained that his family thought it would be a fun way to make a comment about the commercialization and secularization of Christmas.
"It is a religious holiday, but they have turned it into a business. And it shouldn't be," he said. "We didn't put it up to offend anybody. It was just something that came out of our imagination."
More than a few people passing by the brownstone were a little puzzled about the message behind the massacre. There were a few signs the macabre theme is a year-round thing — the facade of the building was covered with leering gargoyles. A statue of Death, hooded and grim-looking, stood outside.
Peter Nardoza, 81, of Manhattan, shook his head and chuckled.
"Sick, sick, sick," he said. "What kind of a world is this that we live in?"
Ronnie Santiago, a deliveryman on his route, speculated that something bad must have happened once to the homeowner at Christmas. A few spectators wondered whether the campy gore would bother children.
The family is far from the only one making an editorial comment this year on how Americans celebrate Christmas, although it may be the only one doing it by depicting Santa Claus as a killer.
Pope Benedict XVI complained this week that Christmas festivities have been "subjected to a sort of commercial pollution." Christian conservatives have launched campaigns to reintroduce a religious component to Christmastime decor in schools and public squares, chiding even President Bush this year for sending out cards wishing supporters a happy "holiday season."
But despite the home's gruesome exterior, some visitors appreciated it.
Bucky Turco, 31, of Manhattan, said the display captured how he felt when watching someone costumed as SpongeBob SquarePants promote products at Rockefeller Center.
"This is brilliant," said Turco.
Walter Garofalo, a musician from Brooklyn who wandered by wearing a black bandanna covered in skulls, was awe-struck.
"I wonder if these people would let me use this as our next album cover," he said. "It's perfect!"
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Thu Dec 15th, 2005 05:46 pm |
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| I like the idea too.....
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zippo
Supporter
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Posted: Thu Dec 15th, 2005 05:04 pm |
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As much as this seems like Big Bro, I like the idea -so many idiots making left turns after the turn signal turns red causing many accidents. Its especially scaring when you are on your scoot. I always tried to get in with cages to go thru the big intersections.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
class=storyheadChávez Says City Will Add 13 Red-Light Cameras at Intersections in Next Year
By T.J. Wilham
class=storycreditJournal Staff Writer
class=storybody Within a year, it's going to be hard to travel from one end of the city to the other, run a red light and not get caught.
Standing in front of an intersection where police say three people were killed by a drunken driver who ran a red light on Thanksgiving Day, Mayor Martin Chávez announced Wednesday that 13 more intersections will get red-light cameras within the next year.
The next intersections to get them will be Paseo del Norte and Coors— within the next four weeks— and Juan Tabo and Lomas NE, where the people were killed Thanksgiving day, within the next two months.
Eleven more intersections will be covered within a year.
"Running a red light means that some people are not going to have a holiday," Chávez said. "We will never know exactly how many lives have been saved by the cameras, but we do know that collisions are down at the intersections that have cameras."
Since the city started its red-light camera program in October 2004, the cameras have caught more than 9,000 violations. About 5,700 people have been issued civil citations, including the state's lieutenant governor, since the city started issuing them in May, city officials said. The cameras have also caught at least two off-duty police officers.
People who are caught on camera are issued a $100 citation for the first offense, $250 for the second and $300 for the third and subsequent offenses.
Officials said all directions of the intersections will be covered by the cameras.
The intersections were chosen based on how many crashes occurred at their locations between 2001 and 2003. The intersection that has the most crashes is Montgomery and Wyoming NE.
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zippo
Supporter
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Posted: Thu Dec 15th, 2005 04:58 pm |
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Exciting for NM
Thursday, December 15, 2005
class=storyheadCountdown to N.M. Spaceport Begins
By Andrew Webb
class=storycreditJournal Staff Writer
class=storybody In the 1990 television movie "Sparks: The Price of Passion," actress Victoria Principal played the mayor of Albuquerque, caught up in an imbroglio over a high-profile economic development project.
In 2009 or so, Principal hopes to play the role of one of the country's first paying astronauts, possibly from one of the largest economic development projects in the state's history— a planned $225 million spaceport in southern New Mexico that officials hope will be the hub of a new industry.
By plunking down the full $200,000 cost earlier this year, she became one of 100 "founders" of space tourism company Virgin Galactic, which has announced plans to eventually take 10,000 passengers per year into space from its proposed headquarters south of Truth or Consequences.
"For me, this is a dream come true, to go into space and look back and see the earth, my home," Principal said during a Hollywood-style news conference at a Santa Fe hotel Wednesday.
Gov. Bill Richardson and British airline and entertainment tycoon Richard Branson detailed plans for the elaborate underground spaceport during the conference, which attracted national media such as The Washington Post.
"This sends a message that will be heard around the world— that New Mexico is a state that embraces entrepreneurs, adventurers and pioneers," Richardson said.
Richardson said he intends to ask the state Legislature for $100 million in capital outlay and other public funds to begin construction over the next three years. The rest of the money would come from federal sources, such as runway improvement funds, as well as a proposed gross receipts tax that will be put to voters in southern New Mexico next year.
The state will build the spaceport at a 27-square-mile site near Upham, at the western edge of White Sands Missile Range.
Virgin has agreed to lease space there for 20 years. Annual rent will begin at $1 million, and as the company begins making money it will increase its payments to help cover the cost of the Southwest Regional Spaceport's construction, state officials said Wednesday.
Two other companies, Starchaser and UP Aerospace, have made plans to begin commercial space services, such as lifting experiments into space, from the spaceport beginning next year.
Branson said the project would "brand" the state around the world as the launchpad of the nascent commercial space industry. He said it will create jobs and draw tourists to this part of the state, which today is little more than rangeland.
"This may even allow those aliens that landed in Roswell 50 years ago a chance to go home," he said.
Studies completed by New Mexico State University and a private aerospace consulting company predict 2,500 to 3,500 new jobs in the area as the commercial space industry ramps up.
Virgin plans an elaborate underground building, its circular top exposed and patterned like Virgin Galactic's logo. Its underground construction will help the company save energy that would have been used for air conditioning, said Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn. Several stories underground will contain offices, training areas and bays for Virgin Galactic's space vehicles.
Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo craft will launch from the belly of an aircraft at 55,000 feet. Once it drops away from the aircraft, it will rocket to 3,000 mph, fly outside the atmosphere in an arc, and then glide back to Earth by itself.
Passengers will be carried to a point about 70 miles above the Earth's surface, where they will be allowed to float around the glassed-in cabin for about six minutes and view the planet below.
The entire ride will take about 21/2 hours. A trip also includes about 31/2 days of training. The price tag is expected to decrease as the flights— up to three per day— become more routine.
"We're going where no one has gone before," Branson said.
So far, 38,600 customers have either paid the full $200,000 or substantial deposits.
Virgin Galactic expects to begin flights in 2008 or early 2009.
Branson said he expects to be one of the first passengers. Richardson said he'll fly once the company starts launching from New Mexico.
Silver City Democrat Ben Altamirano, the Senate President Pro-Tempore, and Santa Fe Democrat Ben Lujan, the Speaker of the House, said they expect lawmakers to support Richardson's request for the $100 million. If approved, it would be doled out over three years, pending the attainment of certain milestones.
Attachment: 1virginsm12-15-05.jpg (Downloaded 109 times)
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Thu Dec 15th, 2005 03:36 pm |
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Dave wrote: Supposed to be about 70 today here...
Snow, ice storms aim for Northeast
New York City likely to get hit Friday, when transit workers might strike
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 8:36 a.m. ET Dec. 15, 2005
NEW YORK - Midwest snow and icy conditions moving in from the southeast were expected to converge over the Northeast by late Thursday — creating a double whammy that could come with with an additional twist for New York City, where transit workers are threatening to go on strike Friday.
Well it was 7 above when I left the house at 6:00 this morning and the weather looks grim....
That strike by the MTA will really screw the city....Talks are not going well...MTA needs a reality check up from the neck up...They want 8% raises for the next 3 years...On top of that they still want free medical and other free benefits...These guys need to join the real world...I have never had free medical or a guaranteed raise and do not know anyone who does except for a teacher who has free medical...I pay about $125 per month just for me and have a $300 deductible and $20 co-pay for each visit..If I go out of network I get reimbursed at the rate of 80%...Jacque's medical plan is roughly the same...These guys have no incentive for cost containment...Golly, I have a head ache so I will get a CAT Scan....And then there is the MTA Pension Plan which is a joke...Argh...Think I will shut up....
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Thu Dec 15th, 2005 03:08 pm |
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Supposed to be about 70 today here...
Snow, ice storms aim for Northeast
New York City likely to get hit Friday, when transit workers might strike
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 8:36 a.m. ET Dec. 15, 2005
NEW YORK - Midwest snow and icy conditions moving in from the southeast were expected to converge over the Northeast by late Thursday — creating a double whammy that could come with with an additional twist for New York City, where transit workers are threatening to go on strike Friday.
Areas between northeast Georgia and Washington, D.C., were under ice storm warnings Thursday as that system moved up along the coast.
In Georgia, a combination of freezing rain and ice has already downed tree limbs, closed schools and knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses.
Counties in western Maryland are expecting significant ice accumulations this afternoon and two-to-five inches of snow before the storm ends.
Authorities caution conditions in many areas are going to be miserable and dangerous.
“An icy mix could bring a coating to 1 inch of ice in areas from central Virginia, northeast into lower New England,” the private forecaster AccuWeather said in its report for Thursday. “One other aspect of this winter storm will be gusty winds along the coast. Winds could gust in excess of 35 mph from the Delmarva Peninsula to the Tidewater of Virginia Thursday and along the coast from New Jersey to Cape Cod Thursday night into Friday.”
Forecasters described the system as a major winter storm that could also bring heavy rain, sleet and snow up the coast through Friday.
The low-pressure system was moving out of the Mississippi Delta early Thursday and heading northeast. Areas close to the coast were expected to see mostly rain, but it was expected to turn to mixed precipitation and freezing rain away from the coast.
The western portions of Virginia and North Carolina were expected to receive the worst of the freezing rain. Heavy snowfall was predicted for northern New York and Vermont.
The storm could also produce severe weather across Florida. Thunderstorms were predicted for the northern part of the state, while forecasters said gusty winds, hail and even an isolated tornado was possible.
A separate system was expected to drop snow over the southern mid-Atlantic states and Ohio Thursday, spreading into southwestern New York and eastern Pennsylvania by late afternoon.
For New York City, the possibility of an ice storm comes as subway and bus workers threaten to strike for the first time in 25 years. Their contract expires at midnight Thursday and the workers vowed to walk out unless pay demands are met.
The bad weather follows bitterly cold temperatures Wednesday across the Northeast.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
© 2005 MSNBC.com
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10463299/?from=RSS
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Wed Dec 14th, 2005 03:12 pm |
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Animal DNA helps hunt criminals
By Richard Willing, USA TODAY
Jeff Burkett does not hunt, something of a rarity in woody Brookville, Pa., about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. But as Jefferson County's district attorney, Burkett has experience using DNA evidence to win convictions.
So when two deer ranchers began feuding over whether one had stolen a prized buck from the other, Burkett turned to a different type of DNA analysis: the growing field of wildlife genetics. DNA tests ordered by Burkett showed that the buck's genetic profile was a likely match for DNA taken from antlers that the missing deer had shed before he was stolen. Burkett eventually won a larceny conviction against the rancher who had wound up with the buck.
The case illustrated how prosecutors and game wardens across the USA increasingly are turning to DNA analysis to catch poachers of deer, elk, bear and even exotic sea turtles. Advances in research have made DNA - which holds an individual's unique genetic code and is present in blood and other biological material - one of history's most significant advances in solving crimes among humans. Now, research into the genetic makeup of wild and exotic animals by conservation scientists, disease researchers and specialty labs is creating a new front for DNA's crime-solving potential.
Testing expands
During the past year, authorities from Pennsylvania to California have extracted DNA profiles from antlers, animals' remains, blood spots on hunters' pants and even homemade hot dogs to track poachers and sellers of illegal animal products. Animal DNA also is being used to solve crimes among humans: In Pennsylvania this month, Lawrence Cseripko, a hunter from North Union Township, was convicted for the 1997 murder of another hunter after DNA found in deer steaks in Cseripko's freezer matched deer DNA found at the crime scene.
Much of the research into animal DNA has focused on the search for genes in animals that seem to promote or stymie disease, in the hope of finding cures for humans. Other research has been aimed at safeguarding endangered species and verifying the bloodlines of race horses, show dogs, and deer and other game that are bred especially for hunting.
Such research has been used recently to help trap violators of hunting laws:
• In August, a Lewisburg, Ohio, man was fined $695, was ordered to forfeit his shotgun and had to pay a $450 DNA-testing fee after he was convicted of hunting out of season. The man claimed that a deer found on his property had been shot legally in Indiana. Tests on blood and deer hair found in a spot on the Ohio side of the border matched that of the poached deer.
• In July, two brothers in Duchesne, Utah, were convicted of illegally shooting two elk after DNA from the animals' remains matched antlers that the pair had taken as trophies. Another poaching case in Duchesne, in which the evidence includes a DNA profile from elk hair on a defendant's pickup, is awaiting trial.
Wildlife DNA also has been useful in smuggling cases. In Miami three years ago, tests done by University of Florida researcher Ginger Clark determined that rare sea turtle eggs being sold by restaurants and grocery stores in South Florida as aphrodisiacs had originated in Nicaragua. Selling the eggs from the endangered species is a federal crime. Tracking them to Nicaragua enabled authorities to tack on federal smuggling charges.
Animal DNA testing "is a huge area for us, and it's only likely to get bigger," says Mary Curtis, DNA lab analyst at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's forensic laboratory in Ashland, Ore. "Every day we're learning more, which is a good thing, because we're being asked to do more and more testing on a variety" of animals.
The deer-theft case in Pennsylvania illustrates how useful animal DNA can be in prosecuting wildlife offenses.
In October 1999, a 2-year-old buck known to its owners as Goliath was stolen from his pen at a breeding ranch in Clarion County, Pa. Goliath's owners later testified that they had planned to sell his semen to breeders. They estimated his worth at more than $100,000.
Goliath or Hercules?
In 2003, visitors to Jeff Spence's deer farm in neighboring Jefferson County came across a buck that Spence had named Hercules. They thought the buck looked like Goliath, based on pictures that had been circulated after Goliath was stolen. Their suspicions led Burkett to order the DNA tests that showed that Hercules was indeed the missing Goliath.
A second DNA test suggested that a deer sold by Spence likely was Goliath's offspring. Spence was convicted of stealing the deer after a weeklong trial in October. Pennsylvania guidelines call for him to receive a prison term of up to 16 months when he is sentenced Jan. 3, Burkett says.
Some wildlife research done for scientific purposes has been adapted to crime fighting.
In Frederick, Md., Stephen O'Brien, head of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the National Cancer Institute, has analyzed the genome of cheetahs, tigers and other wild cats looking for clues to cancer. He also has compiled a database of the genetic characteristics of domestic cats. The Justice Department, which commissioned the project, believes DNA from cat hair found at crime scenes and on victims' and suspects' clothing can be used to solve crimes.
Some defense lawyers say that because cases involving wildlife DNA often end in guilty pleas, important questions about the accuracy and reliability of such evidence have not been resolved.
"It should be forced to go through all the challenges that human DNA went through ... to gain acceptance in the courtroom," says Donald Day, a lawyer in Naples, Fla. In 2003, deer poaching charges against two of his clients were dropped after Florida officials failed to turn over documents confirming the accuracy of a DNA match.
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Wed Dec 14th, 2005 01:24 pm |
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Dave wrote: House Poised to Approve Tough Border Security Measure
By RACHEL L. SWARNS
Published: December 13, 2005
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 -- House Republicans are poised this week to pass one of the toughest border security proposals in more than a decade, cracking down on illegal immigrants and their employers and rejecting President Bush's call for a comprehensive bill that would let millions of undocumented immigrants work legally in the United States.
Well....It is about time...Lets see what happens...
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Randy in Pensacola
Supporter
| Joined: | Wed Nov 3rd, 2004 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 935 |
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Posted: Wed Dec 14th, 2005 03:17 am |
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Dave wrote:
Teen Sues After Being Suspended For Speaking Spanish
I cant wait for ACLU to get ahold of this one..........
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Wed Dec 14th, 2005 12:57 am |
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House Poised to Approve Tough Border Security Measure
By RACHEL L. SWARNS
Published: December 13, 2005
WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 -- House Republicans are poised this week to pass one of the toughest border security proposals in more than a decade, cracking down on illegal immigrants and their employers and rejecting President Bush's call for a comprehensive bill that would let millions of undocumented immigrants work legally in the United States.
The measure would, for the first time, make it a federal crime to live in the United States illegally, transforming millions of immigrants in this country into felons ineligible for converting to any legal status in the United States. Currently, living in this country without a visa, work permit, green card or other appropriate document is a violation of civil immigration law, not criminal law.
The bill also broadens the statute designed to combat immigrant smuggling to include people who shield, harbor or offer support to illegal immigrants, like employees of social service agencies and church groups, as well as those who house or transport illegal immigrants. Violators could face up to five years in prison.
The legislation would require the mandatory detention of immigrants other than Mexicans who are entering the United States illegally, increase funds for local sheriffs in border states to allow them to detain illegal immigrants and toughen penalties for employers who hire them.
The proposal, which would require the Department of Homeland Security to greatly expand a fledgling system intended to verify the immigration status of all the nation's employees, has been hailed by many conservatives in Congress as vital to combat illegal immigration and tighten the nation's border with Mexico. It is expected to go up for a vote on Thursday.
F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., Republican of Wisconsin, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, said the legislation would "help restore the integrity of our nation's borders and reestablish respect for our laws by holding violators accountable, including human traffickers, employers who hire illegal aliens and alien gang members who terrorize communities."
But the bill has also touched off a furor among some business leaders and moderate Republicans who support Mr. Bush's plan to grant temporary legal status to the 11 million immigrants believed to be living in this country illegally. In recent weeks, a leader of the Chamber of Commerce and 15 Republicans have signed letters to senior Republicans in the House, reiterating the need for a guest worker plan.
With most analysts predicting that the measure will pass in the House on Thursday, many of the bill's critics are pinning their hope on the Senate, which is expected to take up a comprehensive immigration bill next year. Representative Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, who sponsored a bipartisan bill that includes a guest worker provision, said he felt deeply frustrated by the House border security bill, even though he favors strong enforcement of existing immigration laws.
"We have a massive workforce out there that is undocumented and we've got to deal with them," Mr. Flake said. "No one is suggesting that we deport everyone who is here illegally. So that leaves us in a quandary: Do we pretend they don't exist? Or do we bring them out of the shadows?"
"Hopefully, the Senate will act responsibly and pass a guest worker plan," Mr. Flake said. "I wish we were doing it here."
In a swing through border states last month, Mr. Bush said that any legislation should include his guest worker program, which would allow immigrants currently in the United States illegally to work here for a certain number of years, but then require them to return home at some point. He dismissed concerns raised by some Republicans who say his plan amounts to amnesty for lawbreakers.
"Amnesty would say to other illegal aliens, 'Come, and you can come into America and get citizenship automatically,' " Mr. Bush said. "No, I'm for a bill that strengthens our border by providing people with a tamper-proof identity card to let them work in America for jobs Americans won't do, on a temporary basis, and then go back to their country."
Many conservatives still view the plan with suspicion, however. And with midterm Congressional elections looming next year, some Republicans are reluctant to support a proposal that they say remains unpopular with voters. Many Democrats, including Representative Howard L. Berman of California, say conservatives are supporting the bill solely to gain political points, not out of any belief that it will become law.
"There's a lot of anger out there," Mr. Berman said, "so rather than solving the problem they're playing to the cheap seats."
Representative John A. Culberson, Republican of Texas, who supports the border security bill, said that anger among voters was real. And he said conservatives in Congress seemed to be more in touch with it than politicians in the White House. "Our constituents are berserk with fury over the unprotected borders," he said. "The borders have been entirely unprotected for far too long."
"We've got a tiny little handful that want to pass a guest worker legislation," Mr. Culberson said of his fellow Republicans. "But until we get the borders under control, we'll never win the war on terror and it's pointless to discuss the guest worker program."
A spokeswoman for the White House, Erin Healy, said that the House bill contained security measures that were "a vital component to immigration reform." But she said the Bush administration would still push for broader immigration legislation.
"The Senate has already indicated that they plan to take action in the beginning of next year on immigration legislation as well," Ms. Healy said. "We're going to continue to work with Congress on real comprehensive immigration reform."
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Dave
Supporter
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Posted: Tue Dec 13th, 2005 11:06 pm |
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Check this out...
Yes, she should be fired.
No, she should be punished, but not fired.
No, she was right to suspend the boy for speaking Spanish.
Teen Sues After Being Suspended For Speaking Spanish
KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- A Kansas high school student is suing his school because he was suspended for speaking Spanish in the hallway.
The attorney for 16-year-old Zach Rubio filed the lawsuit over the weekend. The suit details how the phrase "no problema" got Rubio suspended.
"You can't do that, this is America. You can't tell somebody not to speak Spanish just because it's your building," Rubio said.
Rubio is a junior at the Endeavor Alternative School. He has been taking classes to catch up on what he missed while caring for his family in Mexico.
The lawsuit alleged that Principal Jennifer Watts suspended Rubio after a teacher heard him say "no problema" in a school hallway.
"I said, 'What am I going home for?' She said, 'For speaking Spanish and we told you not to.' I asked, 'Why can't I?' She said, 'This is not Mexico, this not Germany,'" Rubio said. "My dad wasn't happy about it when he got home."
Rubio said his father complained to the principal and to Superintendent Bobby Allen.
"'You're not suspending my kid for fighting, for being disruptive for being disrespectful -- just speaking Spanish?'" said Rubio, detailing what his father asked the school.
Rubio said school officials told his father, "'Yes, that's correct, just speaking Spanish, and I don't want it here.'"
The suspension was later reversed, and Allen apologized to Rubio.
The lawsuit was filed against the school district and several teachers.
Rubio said he filed a lawsuit now because it seems to him that nothing happened to the people he believes wronged him.
"The same principal that suspended me, she's still there, the same teacher who sent me to the office, she's still there -- like nothing happened. I don't feel that there was justice and that's what I want," Rubio said.
The school district released a statement, saying it acted quickly in the matter and has apologized to Rubio and his parents.
The school has no policy prohibiting Spanish. Meanwhile, Rubio is back in school.
Results posted online...
32% - Yes, she should be fired.
53% - No, she should be punished, but not fired.
15% - No, she was right to suspend the boy for speaking Spanish.
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Randy in Pensacola
Supporter
| Joined: | Wed Nov 3rd, 2004 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 935 |
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Posted: Tue Dec 13th, 2005 09:10 pm |
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weasle wrote: these guys from that church must be real assholes, blaming dead soldiers for the fags that are in the world ??? wtf kinda reasoning is that ??? Sounds like the results of a couple of generations of inbreeding if you ask me....Last edited on Tue Dec 13th, 2005 09:51 pm by Randy in Pensacola |
weasle
Supporter
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Posted: Tue Dec 13th, 2005 08:38 pm |
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| these guys from that church must be real assholes, blaming dead soldiers for the fags that are in the world ??? wtf kinda reasoning is that ???
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Tue Dec 13th, 2005 06:50 pm |
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| Blows my mind that someone can get that many DWI's and still be on the road....Should be 3 strikes and yer out....There was an interesting article in the New York Times last Sunday on DWI in various states.....N.M. has a real bad problem as Zippo has mentioned many times.... They are also the only state with a full time DWI Czar working on the problem...What I found real interesting though is that N.H. has the highest liquor consumption per person in the USA (2 times that of N.M.) and about half the DWI's as N.M....Guess they pass out before they are able to drive or maybe just don't drive....Anyway the problem isn't getting any better....I read in the paper every week/day about some DWI accident and yes many of them are repeat offenders...Big problem... Last edited on Tue Dec 13th, 2005 06:51 pm by marc |
zippo
Supporter
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Posted: Tue Dec 13th, 2005 06:12 pm |
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This is NOT unusual here - Sadly
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
class=storyheadDriver Picks Up His 15th DWI Arrest; Suspect Had Last Infraction in 1991
class=storybody Gerald Garcia found himself in what was once a familiar situation for him over the weekend— getting arrested for drunken driving.
Before his arrest Sunday evening, Garcia had been charged at least 14 times for DWI in New Mexico. But then he went nearly 15 years without being arrested for DWI in the state.
The last time the 41-year-old Garcia was caught driving drunk was when he was 26 years old.
It appeared that he was either rehabilitated, moved out of state or was never caught, said Linda Atkinson, director of the DWI Resource Center.
"This is not a real typical gap we see with (repeat) drunken drivers," Atkinson said.
According to court records and the DWI Resource Center, by the time Garcia turned 21 he had been arrested for DWI three times. When he was 21, he was arrested four more times.
Of his 14 prior arrests, only one was dismissed in court.
After his 10th conviction, Garcia was ordered to go through counseling. He completed it, received a sentence reduction and was arrested three more times for DWI within a year.
His last conviction came in December 1991. After that conviction he was sentenced to at least 1,400 days in jail over the course of seven years.
In the most recent arrest, on Sunday, Bernalillo County Sheriff's deputies spotted Garcia driving a Dodge pickup without its lights in the 2500 block of Bridge SW.
After a deputy turned on her lights and siren, Garcia continued to drive, hitting a median twice, according to court records.
When he did pull over, deputies said they noticed he had bloodshot eyes and showed signs that he was intoxicated. Court records also say police found cocaine on him.
While deputies were trying to get a blood sample from Garcia at the police station, he became combative and started to fight with deputies. They were not able to get a blood sample, according to the complaint.
Garcia was injured during the struggle with the deputies. He was taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where he was treated for injuries to his face.
The deputies were exposed to Garcia's blood, the complaint said, and after the struggle Garcia told them he had hepatitis A, B and C.
Sheriff Darren White said Monday that "it's not unusual for some of these offenders to go for years without being stopped.
"That by no means should be confused with them not drinking and driving," White said. "The only way you will stop someone with a record like Garcia's is if he is put behind bars."
Late Monday, Garcia was in custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center on the DWI and drug charges. His bail had been set at $50,000.
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Mikey
Supporter
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Posted: Tue Dec 13th, 2005 06:02 pm |
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Counterprotest far outnumbers 8 anti-gay pickets at memorial
VIRDEN — Family and friends of Army Staff Sgt. Gary Harper in his Illinois home town - and even some people who didn't know him - were puzzled why anyone would picket the memorial service for Harper, Green Beret medic and father of three killed in Iraq this fall.
They were disgusted at the thought of a maverick church demonstrating at the service Saturday in this town of 3,500 in Macoupin County, about 80 miles northeast of St. Louis. It was in Virden that Harper, a Boy Scout and athlete, graduated from high school and immediately entered the military, as he had always planned to do.
But it happened. A handful of people from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., showed up to publicize its vitriolic anti-gay message.
"It's a tremendous disruption from what should be a nice ceremony," said Virden Police Chief Steve Huggins, as he and a line of officers stood between eight picketing Westboro Baptist Church members and more than 150 counterprotesters. "It really has the town upset."
The real point of the day was the memorial inside the high school gymnasium, where roughly 200 people attended a service to remember Harper, who earned the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart as a Special Forces combat medic.
Mayor Donnie Neighbors recited the Boy Scout oath - "On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country..."
"This oath described Gary to a T," Neighbors said.
Harper was killed Oct. 9 when his unit came under fire while on a reconnaissance mission. He was 29. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, but family members and friends wanted to organize a local memorial service.
At Saturday's service, a slide show of photos showed the father of three as he grew up - a smiling boy hamming for the camera in a cowboy hat, a proud football player and track runner, a doting parent at the beach, a professional soldier in dress uniform. In the background, the "Ballad of the Green Berets" played softly.
"Gary Harper was the man who made the beret, the best of the best," said Maj. Gen. Randal E. Thomas, the adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard.
Before and after the service, two different honor guards fired rifle volley salutes. Linda Morrison, Harper's mother, and other family members were presented with two folded American flags.
Word had spread last week that the Westboro Baptist Church member would be coming to town. Their arrival angered many and threatened to turn the service into a media circus.
In recent months, the church has picketed nearly 70 military funerals, proclaiming the deaths of soldiers as America's punishment from God for protecting homosexuals. And they admit the fiery rhetoric - slogans such as "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" - is, in part, a bid for publicity.
The tiny church is headed by the Rev. Fred Phelps Sr., who has said that three-fourths of its 100 or so members are his relatives. Phelps himself was not picketing in Virden. His church had planned similar demonstrations the same day at military funerals in Papillion, Neb., and the Chicago suburb of Beach Park.
The church's demonstration brought a crowd of counterprotesters -veterans, National Guard soldiers, high school students from Alton and a large contingent of black leather-clad members of motorcycle clubs.
Westboro Baptist Church members cited Bible verses and held neon-colored signs with their slogans. The counterprotesters turned their backs, waved American flags and recited the pledge of allegiance.
A truck stereo blared a bagpipe rendition of "Amazing Grace."
The protests by the Westboro Baptist Church members have also drawn the ire of some officials in Illinois and Missouri who in recent weeks have called for legislation to ban such demonstrations from funerals.
At the memorial Saturday, many acknowledged the Westboro Baptist Church members' right to free speech, but called them offensive and cruel.
"What you've seen here today is not a true taste of Christianity," said Kevin Coleman, a Virden member of the Christian Motorcyclists Association. "Thank God for the soldiers like Sgt. Harper who gave their lives for the rights of us and them (the Westboro Baptist Church members) to be here today."
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marc
Supporter
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Posted: Tue Dec 13th, 2005 05:32 pm |
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| He got what he deserved....Death....Unfortunately they shoulda killed em 20 years ago.....Look at all the $$ they wasted keeping that bastard alive....
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