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References -
I think I'm gonna win that part of the bet pretty easily.
Note that total employment fell, but unemployment remained constant. That means that even more people gave up and left the job market. Yippee.
--It's impossible to debate if people simply hold beliefs that have no grounding in reality.
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)the story here is not that the campaign will be new and improved, but that it is now in the hands of the Bush/Rove team. That's a long way to fall for Senator McCain. And it guarantees a new tone and tenor to the campaign generally. In other words, it's going to get dirty in a hurry. Just watch.
--"How is the world ruled, and how do wars start? Diplomats tell lies to journalists and then believe what they read." -- Karl Kraus, 1909
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)I put up yesterday. No one here seems to have noticed it except MSE, but Google sure has. %^>
Keep that hit meter spinning!
--Rust never sleeps.
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). . . and it looks as though they’ll punish the monkey and let the organ grinder go . . .
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)Via Carpetbagger Report (from June 11th):
. . . and it looks as though they’ll punish the monkey and let the organ grinder go . . .
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| parent )So much for that "national consensus," Justice Kennedy.
It's *so* much easier to gush over foreign law than to dirty your hands with those dusty federal statutes.
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)as establishing some form of precedent for the criminal law regarding crimes deserving of capital punishment? silly me I'd always thought if anything it would be the other way around.
--GW Bush, leading contender for worst President ever.
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| parent )*spelling it out slowly*
I'm saying that a law passed by Congress in *2006* that explicitly authorizes the death penalty for a service member convicted of raping a child is not consistent with Anthony "Loves Me That Foreign Law" Kennedy's assertion that societal standards are moving away from the imposition of the death penalty on rapists of children. If it weren't for the fact that counsel for both sides didn't notice it either (meaning they look rather incompetent--while not dishonest--as well), I suspect a motion to rehear the case would be forthcoming rather quickly. It may still be forthcoming.
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| parent )I'm quite sure that this is likely be a case of no one voting for the Republican Congress enacted National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2006 new about the provision dealing with punishment for child rape except, the one's responsible for inserting it.
Has child rape historically been seen as a significant problem in institutions outside the catholic church?
--GW Bush, leading contender for worst President ever.
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| parent )"I just got slapped real hard by the truth there--better retreat behind a cloud of unprovable claims and religious bigotry."
To paraphrase a recent comment here: "Gee--I wonder why Catholics vote Republican so often these days."
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| parent )Wanna' get to OT level 12 and beyond? Or better yet, become superhuman?! Well, here's your chance! Wikileaks is now offering L Ron Hubbard's OT pdf! But act now! Scientology's lawyers aren't far behind! Remember, this is a $360,000 value and will not be sold in stores!
--I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine
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)This will get shut down fairly soon. Scientology has been very successful in removing docs from the internet.
I'm recalling the slashdot incident and the lawsuit against a private individual for posting OT III docs on alt.religion.
If you're thinking of downloading these yourself and making sure they stay in the public domain, consider that scientologists compelled AT&T to reveal the identity of an anonymous poster and then successfully sued him for 75k for revealing OT III.
And this is OT 12?? Awesome.
... you know I would participate in some retaliatory cyber measures against scientology's headquarters. They've done same in the past when things haven't gone their way legally, not to mention continually manipulating wiki's entries on them...
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| parent )I'm wrong. It's OT VIII level 12...or something like that. Here's a little more history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_versus_the_Internet
--I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine
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| parent )Just when you think you're finally through the looking glass ...
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| parent ). . .in various legal forums should be used as a blueprint for crafting new legislation imposing draconian federal penalties on lawyers who pull--or help others to pull--this kind of crap. I was never formally trained in intellectual property law, but it seems to me that Scientology should not be able to simultaneously assert that these writings are a reflection of actual historical events and that they are protected copyrighted material. At the very least, outsiders should be able to publish a generalized description of the events and ideas presented in the Scientology documents without fearing a lawsuit--and if current statutory intellectual property law and precedent do not support that conclusion, the law should be re-written so that it does so, and quickly.
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| parent )These San Francisco officials, that is. It should go without saying that illegal immigrant drug dealers should be locked up and turned over to the INS--not shielded and allowed to escape by city officials with confused loyalties.
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)Anything that keeps any person away from the draconian stupidity of the INS is probably a good thing.
Oh, did you find any examples of folks from 1st world countries being locked up for a week without counsel prior to 2000?
--It's impossible to debate if people simply hold beliefs that have no grounding in reality.
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| parent )if anyone's still interested. Link.
--Rust never sleeps.
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)too funny
Since corrected - screen grab:
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/2008/06/the_dangers_of_1.html
google reveals all:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Olympic+%2B+homosexual&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&...
--GW Bush, leading contender for worst President ever.
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)Ultimate lady's man Marvin is spinning in his grave.
--Rust never sleeps.
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| parent )I don't remember whether I roasted Ratatouille here or not, but I pretty much hated that movie. The animation was gorgeous; the story was dumb as a bag of hammers.
Wall-E is...another story. No spoilers or discussion here, just two big thumbs up. If you have kids, nieces, nephews or whatnot, bring them to see it. Bring yourself to see it anyway. Go more than once. The movie takes big risks and pulls them off awesomely -- Pixar should be rewarded with monstrous first week box office. And then hopefully there'll be fewer "me too" animations coming out of the other studios. Please. I just can't take another animal buddy picture. Please. I'm begging you.
This kind of thing has got to stop:
http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/beverlyhillschihuahua/
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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)Why is it so hard for you to accept that they can do no wrong, that they've never made a bad movie and indeed, that they are incapable of making a bad movie?
Still, if even you like Wall-E, I can't wait to see it.
--More Wagster!
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| parent )1 stinker out of 9 masterpieces, plus a dozen brilliant shorts; the worst you can say is I'm focusing on the negative. Finding Nemo was a pretty conventional story, but a very good film nonetheless...far as I'm concerned the entire rest of their output is sheer genius. :)
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )I was more than prepared to despise 'Ratatouille' too--instead, after my wife insisted on watching it, I was totally charmed. Considering that it was aimed at 12-year-olds, I couldn't find much fault with it. It was also pretty amazing to see parts of Paris recognizably digitally recreated.
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| parent )...and I look forward to Wall-E, but I thought this was pretty funny:
"...WALL-E...was like a 90-minute lecture on the dangers of over consumption, big corporations, and the destruction of the environment. All this from mega-company Disney, who wants us to buy WALL-E kitsch for our kids that are manufactured in China at environment-destroying factories and packed in plastic that will take hundreds of year to biodegrade in our landfills.
"...I will do my part to avoid future environmental armageddon by boycotting any and all WALL-E merchandise and I hope others join my crusade."
--Live not by lies.
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| parent )taken by itself. It's kind of a dum dum head Disney-type fantasy story where an animal befriends a loser and inevitable hijinks ensue. Do we care why Alfredo becomes a marionette when people pull his hair? No, now shut up and enjoy the picture. Finding Nemo is much better, but still a very conventional Disney story (animal odyssey) we've all seen a dozen times.
But the movies Pixar is famous for -- Toy Story and its sequel; Monsters, Inc.; A Bug's Life; The Incredibles -- are a thousand times cleverer and more entertaining. I could tell you A Bug's Life is an ingenious mashup of an inverted "The Grasshopper and the Ants" with "The Magnificent Seven", and that nearly every scene is packed with some ingenious flight of fancy drawn from the premise, but you'll still just have to see it.
Long story short, it's their own damn fault for setting the standard so high. :)
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )My flat is about 5 km from the main Vienna Soccer stadium.
Just now, the final game of the 2008 European soccer championships is played there.
Interesting weeks here ...
--Dein Grundsatz war, z'erst überleg'n, / a Meinung hab'n, dahinterstehn / Niemals Gewalt, alles bereden / Aber auch ka Angst vor irgendwem -- STS
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)It's the end of a 24-year drought, and a great game by a great team. What I wouldn't give to be in Madrid tonight. :)
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )(As plenty of others have pointed out.) I was disappointed, though, that it ended up as a Germany v. Spain match-up; any of the three other possible final matchups from the semis would've offered a host of dodgy military-historical analogies. But no;--we get stuck with Spain & Germany. What have they ever done to each other?
--Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.
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| parent )The knock on Spain for the past few decades has been their style of play, which has always been aggressively dirty and detracted from their efforts to win a major championship even in years when they fielded great teams. Yesterday, though, they were clearly the cleaner team--as well as the more stylish and daring one, even while missing their leading scorer, David Villa. Torres took up the slack and really came into his own, I thought. Germany was let down by its slow back line and uninspired midfield, but they'll certainly be back for the World Cup in two years. In the end though, it was the solid Spanish defense that preserved the victory, Ramos looking particularly impressive. Brava Espana!
A few thoughts: FIFA really needs to ban Latin officials from finals--the Italian referee came close to losing control of the second half with a flurry of bad calls (and worse non-calls). And Austria should never be awarded another major sports event after the debacle of the quarter-final lightning outage--even though the game was played in Basel, Switzerland, the Austrians insisted on routing all international feeds through one feeder station in Vienna; consequently, Germany could only listen to parts of the win over Turkey while their TV screens remained dark.
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| parent )I don't know where you got your information, but let me tell you:
I've been involved into the IT security arrangements regarding the Euro 2008 here in Austria and the outage was UEFA's own doing.
Just as FIFA two years ago in Germany, UEFA brings its own people to run most of the infrastructure for the event. They are complete control freaks, they run their own show.
In order to maintain full control on what the world sees, UEFA insisted to run all TV feeds through a center *they* built and ran in Vienna. (only the swiss and Al Jazeera had their own feeds, and when ZDF switched to the swiss feed during the outage, interesting things were seen.)
So the only thing UEFA got from local utilities regarding the TV distribution were Telekom Austria lines and the power feed.
The Telekom lines were fine. I talked to their security chief last Friday. TA had their UPS installed in the UEFA complex. Their equipment had no issues. At all.
Regarding the electricity grid: I saw no power outage during the games in Vienna. The public viewings had no trouble (other than the storm), and even my sister (who lives even closer to the stadium) so no outage. There was a *serious* thunderstorm going on here in Vienna. Heavy lightning, winds and torrential rain. Overall, the grid held.
Nevertheless, there probably were some slight spikes or lost phases in the power feed to the UEFA system. They fell over and died.
Have a look at the UEFA press release.
Don't blame Austria. Blame these guys.
Sheesh. Get your facts before you spout nonsense.
--Dein Grundsatz war, z'erst überleg'n, / a Meinung hab'n, dahinterstehn / Niemals Gewalt, alles bereden / Aber auch ka Angst vor irgendwem -- STS
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| parent )"interesting things were seen?"
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| parent )I was basing my information on ESPN and Yahoo Sports, both of whom blamed Austria. However, I confess I only mentioned it to rile you up ;)
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| parent )-
--Dein Grundsatz war, z'erst überleg'n, / a Meinung hab'n, dahinterstehn / Niemals Gewalt, alles bereden / Aber auch ka Angst vor irgendwem -- STS
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| parent )Not only today but throughout the tournament.
Not so sure I'd wanna be in Madrid though. Too crazy.
Well, we will see how long the euphoria lasts before the regionalism moves back to the forefront. ;)
When I lived in Barcelona, it was during euro96 and some Catalans actually said that they don't cheer for Spain because it's not their country. Oh brother....
Well, they are at least three Catalans that I'm aware of on the team so they have to be somewhat happy.
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| parent )Go Spain!!
--I had discovered a great secret. That everyone loves themselves more than they love anybody else. And if I wanted them to love me, I better be like THEM!... Ken Nordine
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| parent )The game was a bit chippy and Germany didn't look very inspired. Not a classic by any stretch but Spain was solid enough.
--Come, my friends. 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world -- Tennyson
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| parent )That was a deserved win.
(and we Austrians prefer Germany to lose anyway.)
--Dein Grundsatz war, z'erst überleg'n, / a Meinung hab'n, dahinterstehn / Niemals Gewalt, alles bereden / Aber auch ka Angst vor irgendwem -- STS
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| parent )It lost a little fun when my beloved Italy were knocked on PK's vs. Spain in the QF but I can't help but watch every game. I'm a big fan of the game.
I'm with Spain as well. Gotta root for my "cousins". hehehe
Also, I'll feel a little better knowing Italy went out to the eventual champion without really "losing". In fact, it's the only game Spain hasn't outright won so far.
Good game...
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| parent )Soccer is an amazing game, flaws and all. 90 minutes of nonstop do or die, edge of the seat action. It'll never take off on network TV though (not enough commercial segments).
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )I have FSC, GolTV, Fox Espanol, ESPN Deportes. I don't have RAI however....but my parents do.
I mainly watch the EPL and Serie A but Liga is good too.
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| parent )back during the World Cup? It seems to be "over" now, though of course the funny business continues. Ah, Italy. :)
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )with an "I". Yeah, Same ol' nonsense. Italian Football is too lazy to truly clean up the problems. It's part of the culture I suppose.
Yes. "Ah, Italy". For better and for worse.
Funny, one of my cousins over there once said she wishes Italy could be boiled down to two simplistic parties like us. It made things more simple. I suppose she has a point in one sense. While I think two parties is too few, I know I would never want the myriad of factions they have to deal with.
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| parent )much like our parties, conservative-liberal (though leaning more leftward on average except for Lega Nord and groups to the right of them, basically neofascist separatists). What happens though is that proportional voting means the different parties (which are the same as different subgroups within the GOP or Democrats) can afford to be independent of the ruling coalition. Coalitions crumble, then the government has to rebuild itself.
Italy's real problem is that the political culture is still city-state centered, and the good of the nation as a whole has little import to most politicians. They all negotiate to try to rip off the others. Plus, graft and the tendency to ignore laws & tax obligations means the whole thing stays pretty rickety.
Ah, Italy. :)
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )you nailed it. Not much to add.
Personally, being liberale, I find Italian politics even more depressing than Amercian politics.
Their Right is more like a caricature of a Huckabee/Bush blend while their Left is a caricature of Ralf Nader/McKinney.
Not pretty.
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| parent )It's 1-0 Spain. My wife's rooting for Spain since Italy lost in PKs a week ago -- she says they have cuter players. She must mean that Torres guy who looks like Phoebus. Grumble Grumble. :)
--Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes. -JH
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| parent )In the mid-1960's, the Dodgers were a weak-hitting team playing in a pitcher's park, and even the best pitchers on a staff led by Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale could find themselves often on the wrong side of a 1-0 or a 2-1 score. Legend has it that Drysdale--having just suffered one of those tough losses--was away from the team for peronal business when a sports reporter came up to him and breathlessly informed him that Sandy Koufax had just thrown a no-hitter. Drysdale looked at the reporter warily and asked, "Did he win?"
The real-life answer to that question for Jered Weaver and the Angels last night was "no"--as the Dodgers beat them 1-0 without registering a single base hit. As the Angels' two pitchers did not have to go out for the ninth inning for the game at Dodger Stadium, the moronic rules changes made in 1991 mean that the game wasn't *officially* a no-hitter, but it really was.
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)Or maybe not--Michael Phelps might be going for *nine* gold medals in Beijing: he was only going for eight in Athens. If he somehow succeeds, it'll go onto a short list of the greatest athletic accomplishments of all time. Mark Spitz--whose record of seven golds in one Olympics Phelps was chasing in Athens, said record which is in the 23 year old's sights again this year--is keeping it all in perspective:
Spitz recently was asked what it would mean for Phelps to win seven gold medals.
"Second man on the moon," he said.
What if he wins eight?
"First man on Mars."
Nine golds would be like being the first man to reach Alpha Centauri--without bothering with the spaceship.
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)"...first man to reach Alpha Centauri--without bothering with the spaceship."
Bill White's heavy breathing aside, there really wasn't all that much to see.
--It's not only redundant, it's also repetitive
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| parent )nt
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| parent )Spitz's "second man on the moon/first man on Mars" comparison, or my line about Alpha Centauri?* Or both?
*--which was mainly an homage to the Civilization games, of course.
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| parent )but I was thinking of Spitz. It's not just the words, it's the source.
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| parent )Any theories on why the American men suck so especially badly this year?
--Brevis esse laboro, obscurus fio.
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| parent )I'm also down in the mouth about Sharapova and Ivanovic having washed out early--NBC must be distraught about it, given the ratings boost they probably got for the "all-hottie" women's final in the Australian Open this year when those two faced off. Hopefully, Federer and Nadal will both reach the men's final and keep the whole fortnight from being a disaster with a memorable match.
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| parent )