Monday Open Thread

by In Wales
Mon May 12th, 2008 at 11:41:36 AM EST

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Hello, me duck!


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Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 11:46:57 AM EST
A different kind of water birds. :-)

Summerlike holiday fun.

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:07:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Hi Fran. Did you take that today from your balcony?

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:12:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Hi LEP, yes thats from my balcony.

How is your sciatica going?

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:15:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Off and on- thanks for asking. I've got an appointment with my wife for an acupuncture session on Wednesday. I've been in Paris since Saturday night but I'll be returning home tomorrow. She works tomorrow so I'll have to wait till Wednesday.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:26:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It seems you are at least well enough to move between Paris and home. Acupuncture can be very helpful with sciatica - hope you are full recovered soon. :-)
by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:34:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
got another not-so-subtle hint from my mother that I should get a job while I'm not working.

I wouldn't mind a part-time job but they don't pay any money so there's no point. There's little point going for a permanent job cos I could be off anytime to BG. So this could be a summer of earache.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:00:07 PM EST
If there is no volunteer work worth getting out of the house, try ear plugs.  Only I, can manage to insert a drinking straw between my ears, for more direct communication....

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.
by metavision on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:12:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
that we need to get the ET thinktank started!

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:32:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]
With that ´hello, me duck!´, I started to look for Sven and afew between the grasses.  Hello, Pavlov, conditioning completed.  (;

P.S.  I may be up to April 26 diaries already, so check new comments.  I have not even reached mine yet.

</boo>

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.

by metavision on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:04:31 PM EST
ET is hard work, isn't it? :-D
by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:07:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Suddenly these little clown cars have been turning up all over my neighborhood.  They seem to come in a wide variety of bright colors.  

I believe I want one...

"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.

by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:09:35 PM EST
They are everywhere around here too. Bit too expensive for what they are though. I just have a little clio which is fine for the city but also gives me enough space to fit all my shopping and stuff in too.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:15:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't have a car, and I don't need one.  If I found I needed a car for shopping, I have access to car-sharing sites galore.  I only ever feel I'd really like to have a car when I need to transport large items, which could not fit inside one of these smart cars, unless they truly are clown cars with magically accommodatingly huge interiors.  There is no way I could justify owning this car.

That fact does not prevent me from wanting one, however.     :)

"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.

by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:24:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't think car sharing has caught on round here.

I think Smart cars are quite cool but not worth the price!

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:33:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It's been here for a while - called Mobility

They even have Smart cars, which are actually fun to drive.

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:45:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Just finished reading the link above. Actually the - car-sharing started in Switzerland in 1987 - I wasn't aware of that and pleasantly surprised.
by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:56:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm really very happily surprised how well-received car sharing programs like iGo and Zip-Car have been here.  I think I first learned of them about 3 or 4 years ago, and now there are sites on almost every other block in my neighborhood, and that is not an exaggeration.  There have also been some sincere attempts to ramp up our public transportation system.  Which is at least of the top 3 in the country (not saying much - but you can get anywhere in the city w/o a car).  And our mayor is enamoured with the Velib thingy.  There is also some discussion of enacting one of those London-type tolls to drive into the city.  

Very slowly, and mostly as a result of rising gas prices - not a feeling of responsibility toward the environment, things are changing around here.  In another 50 years we may even catch up with Europe. ;)


"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.

by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:47:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]
In another 50 years we may even catch up with Europe. ;)

Rate we're going, you'll overtake UK in 50 months.


keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:08:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yeah, I was surprised by the large, and seemingly growing, number of SUVs over there.  That's worrying.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:22:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
(mutters darkly) I had my car scraped a couple of weeks ago, and I'm fairly sure the culprit was a HUGE Chrysler that took up so much space I had to slide out the passenger door.

I mean, seriously, when are stupidly big cars going to be prevented from using public spaces?

by Sassafras on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:08:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Very smart woman!

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.
by metavision on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:15:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
A Parisian could park a normal sized car in the space where that Smart is.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:31:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Because it is a normal sized parking space.  It's the car that's small.

"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:48:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
You haven't seen Parisian parking, have you?

"What is zees space of parking you speak of?"

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:51:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I suppose I have, but haven't paid any attention to it.  I suspect that in all large cities there is probably a "where there is a will there is a way" mentality with parking spots, which are generally in very short supply.

"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:54:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It is a crime to park your car in the middle of a big space. You park on one side, so that another car can squeeze in.

The penalty for not doing this is that your car will be pushed until another car can squeeze in (bumpers are very useful in Paris).

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:14:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yeah, they're starting to pop up here, too.  And they're not expensive.  About $11k, I believe, which is just above Hyundai/Kia territory.  If that new battery technology they developed at Stanford gets ramped up, I think these could turn into the first truly mainstream electric cars for city-dwellers.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:51:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Oh, and they're very safe, too, from what I've read.  I think Mercedes engineers them.  Pretty impressive.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:52:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
they are Made in France. Really.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:10:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
But invented in Switzerland - really! :-)
by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:11:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Europe in action.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:15:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
...we're.so.doomed...

Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
by Bernard on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 04:02:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Ultimately either they'll need to be made here, as we're seeing with Priuses (Prii?), or the import quotas will need to be dropped if the hope is to make it a mainstream car, as I think it might very well become (again, with city-dwellers who aren't lugging kids and groceries around).  In any case, I hope Smart will roll out a lot of them.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:18:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
You might be surprised how much stow-away space there is in Smart. There is definitely enough space for groceries, though not for kids. However, they are now also building bigger models, for 4 people.
by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:25:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
There is a 4-door Smart with a back seat.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:31:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
There ya go.  They don't show one on the Smart website, or at least they didn't back when I looked at it.  A four-door with something approaching similar mileage would be a huge hit.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:40:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The Smart ForFour (geddit) was right at the top of my list when I had to replace my car last summer.  But the emissions aren't impressive compared to the two-seater-or to other cars in its class.

According to this, the emissions for the 1.3 litre petrol version are 138g CO2/km.  That wouldn't even qualify for the
UK tax break for low-emission cars, which kicks in at under 120g/km.

The 1.3 litre Yaris diesel I bought instead emits 117g/km. As much as 60mpg on a carefully driven long run. It isn't, of course, fair to make a direct comparison between petrol and diesel.  But I had a wide choice of small cars under the 120g/km threshold.

by Sassafras on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:20:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I've had a Yaris diesel for 2 1/2 years, Great car.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:50:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Best of the near-dozen I drove :)
by Sassafras on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:11:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I learnt to drive in a Yaris and really loved it. I'd love to have one but it wasn't in my price range, so it's hello Clio for me.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:28:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Mine isn't new...  :)
by Sassafras on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:31:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I couldn't find any second hand! Didn't have long to look though.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 04:01:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
...the Toyota Yaris is also manufactured in France, near Lille. Darn, we're.so.doomed...

Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way. Americans think a hundred years is a long time.
by Bernard on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 04:05:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Fortunately, my old car had the grace to give up in the school holidays.  I tracked the Yaris down on the internet, but it took some time.  There was just one for sale, the age I could afford and the engine I wanted, within a 100 mile radius.

Fortunately, it was "only" about 30 miles away...

by Sassafras on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 04:16:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I am happy with my SEAT Arosa, which I now had for 5 years.
by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:26:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The Arosa, along with the Twingo and the Cinquecento are the three cars that keep catching my eye, even though I'm not in the market for one.  And maybe the Suzuki Alto.

Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom. -Charu Saxena.
by metavision on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 06:09:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
They should get better mileage though.

Lot of them out here in the bay area too.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:09:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
What's the mileage -- about 60?

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:20:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
combined its published at only 50.4, that's pitiful for its size and weight

thats 10 mpg less than my 4 year old polo, and 20 less than a new one.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:59:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The Polo is a diesel car, though, isn't it?  I think there are pretty big differences between diesel and regular gasoline on mpg.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:03:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I wanted a Smart but couldn't justify one when I checked the mpgs.

I bought a slightly bigger car with a slightly smaller engine, which seems to work better overall. It doesn't look as trim but you can still pack it full of things - and it will even drive up a hill, if you're not in a hurry.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:07:34 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Sounds like mine in re: hills.  Zero to 60 in ten minutes!

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:10:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]
well on petrol it's worse than the smart, but why buy the petrol?


If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:16:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, it might make sense to use diesel there, but our cars generally run on petrol.  I think it's only a few from VW that run diesel.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:24:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yeah, it's worse than the old 1990 Geo Metro, and worse than compact diesels. It's down to manufacturers not wanting to give up the horsepower.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:05:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I've been overtaken by Smart cars on the autobahn near Koeln. They can get to quite a speed if you wind them up enough.
by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:23:26 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The Aptera diesel/electric looks pretty hi-techy/cool:

gets about 200 miles (IIRC) on electric.


No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:27:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I'm looking to buy a monitor to plug my laptop into cos this screen isn't good enough for processing photos... but I'm lost.  I want flat screen, easy enough, around 19/20" is fine but what is all this TFT, DGM, DVI, OEM LCD?  What do I need?

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:19:46 PM EST
What's your budget?
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:39:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]
No more than 150 quid really.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:50:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, the 20" Apple Cinema display, which is meant to be ok, is £399. Even allowing for a pretty big Apple tax I'm not sure you're going to get anything great for less than half that. This might be of use for finding out what you're looking out for, but I haven't shopped for a monitor in a long time and can't recommend anything.
by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:02:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]
urgh, don't like the sound of that!
Hmm. I can be persuaded to spend more so long as it comes well recommended.  Wondering how much use that a cheaper screen is if I buy a colour calibrator too. I've not noticed any photo mags talk about monitors actually.

Should have thought of this on friday for the ask the experts thread. Thanks for the link.

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:11:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Geezer just bought a new monitor which he loves. I think it was quite expensive.

Hey, Grandma Moses started late!
by LEP (rafifoon@yahoo.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:19:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]
by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:14:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Of course there are lots of options to explore out there, but the point of that link is that it gives you a sense of the price range.
by Metatone (metatone [a|t] gmail (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:18:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Thanks :)

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:34:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Don't expect a calibrator to fix bad colour, because it won't. The limit is set by the overall colour range, and if that's too narrow you'll get a washed out look with some colours missing at the edges.

Also, the really cheap calibrators are a total waste of space.

And if you need one, I can always lend you mine for a day or three.

There's no easy answer with monitors. You really need to spend around £300 to start getting reasonable-but-not-great colour at a good resolution.

For comparison, the ones used by colour professionals cost £1500 and upwards for a 19". £3000 for a 21" wouldn't be unusual.

Yikes.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:13:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
* cries *

300 I can just about stretch to but I can't justify super pro status ones.  I need to get a new external hard drive too so I thought about pushing for a monitor as well. I've got to spend the money at some point on this, and my expenses have just come through so there's a bit of slack in my finances this month.

Once my thesis amendments are sorted I'm setting up my light table so I want a decent screen to work with, especially on macro stuff.

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:39:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Only the super pros can justify the super pro status ones. I certainly can't.

Dells have a surprisingly good reputation. The 2208WFP is £258 inc VAT, and is 22" at 1680 x 1050.

There's a cheaper 22" but the colours on that will be mediocre.

The HP w2408h has good colour at 24" for £300 or so.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:50:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Thanks, I'll take a peek at those.

Ad astra per aspera
by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:03:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]
try one of these they're a good make and should be reasonable for what you want

you'll probably need a vga connector to fit the socket on your laptop.

the important letters are TFT or LCD those say its a flatscreen, the DVI says what type of connector it has, you probably need one that has VGA or DVI/VGA there

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:06:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Revealed: torture centre linked to MI5
By Ian Cobain, The Guardian

A secret interrogation centre in Pakistan where British terrorism suspects are alleged to have been tortured after UK authorities had them arrested has been found by the Guardian.

The centre, run by the country's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), is in the Saddar district of Rawalpindi. It is surrounded by high walls and watchtowers, and bristling with surveillance cameras.

So notorious is the ISI that local photographers are reluctant to take pictures of the centre, although satellite images are readily available...


by Magnifico on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 12:41:09 PM EST
Only one ? I'm sure we've got more than that. Certainly if Jack Straw/David Blunkett had their way.

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:06:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
they'd be privatised and on every street corner?

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:17:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]
You weren't thinking the plans for the Tesco-isation of health were really about health care, were you?
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 05:31:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
if they were running the torture centres then we really all should be worried

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Tue May 13th, 2008 at 03:09:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Both Obama and Clinton are now pulling away from McCain in the Gallup Daily Tracking Poll.  That jibes with the trends we've seen out of the polls from Bloomberg/LAT (Obama 46-40 McCain), CBS/NYT (Obama 51-40 McCain), and Zogby (Obama 50-38 McCain).  Call it 48-40 for now.  If St John starts dipping below 40% consistently, watch out.  He's about to get some bad press, too, amazingly.

North Carolina and Virginia are now virtually tied between Obama and McCain (demonstrating again why people should listen to me), despite the peak of Pastorgate.  Throw a popular Virginian on the ticket (cough not Jim Webb cough), and it probably goes Blue.  So score one for Governor Timmeh's Veep hopes.  Peyote Bill easily gets you New Mexico and (probably) Colorado, I think, so score two for him, undoubtedly to AT's liking.  I'll be interested to see how Missouri and Kansas poll once the nomination is done, as they relate to Kathy Sebelius.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:39:15 PM EST
He's about to get some bad press, too, amazingly

what ? From a significant national like WaPo or NYT ? On page one and not in sction D-29 column 4 paragraph z.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:42:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Nobody reads the NYT anymore.

And the WaPo isn't even a national paper.  It's a local paper that gets some attention from the national press purely because of its location and its history with Watergate.

The only truly national papers in the states are the NYT and the WSJ.  USAToday, too, I guess, but only because they give it away in every hotel in the country.  It's a liteweight.

The important traditional press movers are the network news broadcasts that run at 6.30PM every evening on NBC, CBS and ABC.  (Fox, thankfully, doesn't have one on its main station.)  McCain's people resigning over their Burma connections is getting a good bit of play, and Howard Dean's "100 Years" ad has been getting a lot of attention from the press.  And McCain has been taking a hit over his gas-tax pander, as well as for trying to call Obama the candidate of Hamas.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:51:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
People still read the NYT.  

Does seem like I see more FT's than WSJ's on the train these days, though.

 

"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.

by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:58:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
People still read it, but it's fading pretty fast.  All newspapers are fading, but I believe the NYT is fading faster than most.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:00:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The rise of the FT in Chicago isn't terribly shocking.  The WSJ is being turned into a tabloid by Murdoch and his minions.  I expect we're going to see a few of the good business journalists bailing from it.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:02:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Rumor hath it Bill has a problem keeping his hands to himself.  Not a great rep to bring to the Veep what with the demise of Clinton.  

He'd be better as SecState.

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:22:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I've heard that, too.  I have no idea if it's true or not.  We need some potential choices from the West, though.  I'd say Napolitano, but she's in Arizona, and we're not going to win there.  Brian Schweitzer is a possibility from Montana, and he has stupid-high approval ratings (70% last I looked).  I'm not sure what his politics are, though.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:29:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I've heard Schweitzer is more interested in building the Democratic Party in Montana than a run for the VP.  Perhaps he's looking to run for the Senate - a great gig - the next time 'round (2010?)

No one could have predicted
by ATinNM on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:34:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Could be.  He's apparently done a hell of a job there reviving the Dems, and I certainly wouldn't mind picking off another Senate seat next go-'round.  If we can sink McCain this fall, we could come pretty damned close to a filibuster-proof majority, and maybe even get it, looking at some of the unexpectedly competitive seats.

Knocking off Liddy Dole and swinging North Carolina would be a major accomplishment.  I don't know how close we are on Olympia Snowe in Maine, but that'd be a huge pick-up.  I think we get the Virginia seat easily with Warner.  Idaho might not be a half-bad bet with Craig bailing.  Alaska has potential in the race against Stevens.

I think BooMan did a run-down on all the Senate seats a while back, and it looked to me like we had the potential to grab 12-14 if things went well.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:40:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I appreciate you're a local an' all, but I actually investigated those rumours a year back on behalf of somebody in the UK Dems.

There had been a pretty incendiary thread on dKos where a lot of this stuff got aired and I was able to do a lot of tracking back to real sources from it.

It turns out that the women allegedly mishandled weren't aware of it, the most you could say is that Bill's "charm" can be misread but, judging by what I remember of it, he did not do anything inappropriate.

Also it was obvious that the people (some miffed local dems) who were churning this rumour had personal grudges against him.

The rumours were/are common knowledge around NM and nobody will touch them. Not even the Repugs. If Drudge or Fox thought they could stand it up, they'd have tried before now.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:37:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Nobody I have talked to here in NM believes them.  My guess is it got started as one of the typical GOP smear jobs that didn't make it to the big leagues.  

I think the whole thing started due to the normal conversation distance of Hispanos is closer than Anglos feel comfortable with.  

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:53:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Way I read it, I don't think the GOP had anything to do with it. Looked like a hatchet job from within.

keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:03:38 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yeah.  I concur the rumors Could have started from the people around wossname the Mayor of Albuquerque.  A Major Slimeball.  I don't hang in those circles so I don't get their back-biting Information (sic).

Anyway, the rumors don't have to be True to be politically effective.  

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:13:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Have you seen Andy Tanenbaum's summary of polls by state?

On electoral votes, he gives Obama 237     McCain 290     Ties 11 and Clinton 280     McCain 241     Ties 17.

Comments?

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:47:17 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't believe it.

Clinton's Hard Negatives (percentage of people who say they would never vote for her) started in the 40%'s.  Several weeks ago, on - take it for what it is worth - Kos someone posted those had risen into the 50 percentile range.  I accept that because I think she has alienated the AA population with her and hubbies racist remarks about Obama.  YMMV.

I'll let Drew monster-mash through the statistics.

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:01:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]
have done so below.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:13:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It comes down to Florida and Ohio. Again. And the most recent polls for both of those were tied within MOR as of the end of the April.

This is before any active campaigning from Obama.

I'd like to be more optimistic, because these polls won't include new voter registrations, which should be giving the Dems some extra tail wind.

Also, I think McCain is more likely to implode than Obama is. He's such a pile of useless flesh that it's only going to take one slip to kill his campaign.

The chances of him getting to the end of the campaign without saying something cravenly stupid or spectacularly dishonest are not good.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:02:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Florida's a lost cause for Obama, and Clinton's numbers there are much higher than they'd wind up being.  Florida always does this.  Kerry, at this point in 2004, was up ten points in Florida, but he wound up losing by four.  The state is much more conservative than people realize, and there are many other opportunities that don't necessitate the massive spending needed to play there.  The mission in Florida is going to be Organize, Organize, Organize, and hope for the best.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:15:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yes, I've seen it.  It wasn't a very good tool in 2004, because he updates it with every new poll that comes out, so a lousy pollster can replace a good pollster's results with garbage (say, ARG replacing SUSA one day), and so on.  This is to say nothing of the fact that we're still only in May, so those numbers will shift quite a bit.  If you're only down three points in North Carolina after a bitter primary fight, before the base has been consolidated, it bodes pretty well for the future.

Also, state-by-state polling data tends to lag the national polls, if I'm not mistaken.  You'll see a candidate start to tick up in national polls, because his/her support is growing and hardening in base states while undecideds are growing in swing states before shifting to that candidate.

Obama's big pick-ups, based on my read of things, are the following: Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado, and Virginia.  Those are the first-tier opportunities, and I think the chances are going to be better than 50/50, and probably a good bit better than that.  Next would be Nevada, Montana, North Carolina, and Missouri.  I think we could divide those states evenly if the campaign is managed properly.

The third tier would include Texas (much closer than expected and a majority-minority state), the Dakotas, and maybe Georgia.

Ohio will be close, but I wouldn't bet on it because of the Appalachia factor.  It could flip, but you'd need huge turnout from black folks and white suburbanites in Cleveland, Cinci and Columbus.  Possible.  Very doable.  It's close there now, but Ohio is closer to static than other states, in my opinion, so it'd be an uphill battle.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:12:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Also, a very interesting set of variables are about to be introduced into the equation.  Because of the Obama-Clinton psychodrama, the press hasn't talked about this (yet): McCain is only carrying about 75% of the Republicans in these remaining primaries.  Bob Barr, a former Republican congressman from Georgia (and a very popular guy with the lunatics), is going to be running for president as a Libertarian.

I think most Ron Paul supporters (5-10% of the GOP) are going to go for Obama because of the war, and because Paul has already begun making noises that are, I think, intended to push his supporters that way.  So what I'm saying is that I believe you're going to see some anti-war defections from the GOP to Obama, as well as some defections by the Huckabee crowd to Bob Barr.  It hasn't gotten ramped up yet, but keep an eye on it.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:33:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
This is some interesting number crunching over at the Big Orange.
by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 05:44:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Yeah, I saw that.  Poblano's been pretty damned good this year.  Better than the pollsters in Indiana, actually.

He's on the right track, but I believe he's underestimating Obama's potential with the white vote, and is therefore writing off states without great reason.  What he's really picking up on is that the demographics of the country are simply moving in a way that favors Dems over time.

He's writing some states off that I don't think the polling data supports writing off.  Montana, Alaska, Virginia, the Dakotas, Missouri, Texas, and the Carolinas jump out to me immediately.  As I said, Obama and McCain are tied in NC and VA, for all practical purposes, and the same goes for Montana, Alaska and Texas.  We haven't had a poll out of SC since late-February (McCain only +3 at the time), so I can't judge that one.

When I choose my pick for The Big Possible SurpriseTM for the '08 election, there's a chance it might be Texas if this sort of thing keeps up.  Again, it's a majority-minority state.  Now, granted, whites in Texas are really white and a special kind of crazy, but you have a similar effect there to what you've got in places like Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina: At least one massive, diverse city that offers Dems an opening.  In the case of Texas, there are actually four such cities: Houston, Dallas-Ft Worth, Austin, and San Antonio.  If you can deliver massive turnout among Latinos and blacks, and then pick off those white suburbs around the big cities (one group to which Obama tends to sell very well), you've got a good shot.  Maybe no better than even, but good.

Peyote Bill, especially, could offer some serious help.  Sebelius, too.  Less so Kaine, whose appeal is really just a one-state thing, along with a little help given his roots in Missouri and Kansas.

And, anyway, Obama's kind of a cocky little shit, so Texas would make sense.

The real point -- and Poblano's made this before -- is that, properly executed (and, to their credit, the Obama team seems to do that pretty consistently), I think we can bust up a lot of states and end this duopoly that Florida and Ohio have over the country.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 06:07:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Texas would be a surprise - and it would really hurt the Rs, because of (cough...) the narrative of it being a kind of homebase for that special kind of crazy the Rs do so well.

But it's going to depend on how much crap the Rs can find to throw at Obama. I get the impression the Rs don't really have a strategy. They'll be doing tooting on the dog whistle, but that's not going to do anything for the 60-70% of the population who aren't racist little thugs.

McCain has no chance with the AA vote, and that leaves his constituency looking bare. Evangelicals won't be inspired, the Money will vote dutifully but not very significantly in terms of numbers, so overall McCain is going to be lucky to get >45% of the total vote.

Obama's campaign so far has responded to attacks blindingly quickly, and I don't think McCain has either the smarts of the stamina to put up a convincing fight.

It's not too much of an exaggeration to suggest that all Obama has to do is be polite and reasonable and wait for McCain to lose his temper on TV.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 07:00:19 PM EST
[ Parent ]
There are actually some signs of Evangelicals -- especially (who else?) younger ones -- moving in Obama's direction and focusing more on economic justice and the environment rather than the traditional Evangelical issues.  They're pro-life and generally against same-sex marriage, but those aren't their issues.  A hopeful sign.  I'm betting Catholics start moving in that direction again, too.  Abortion and gay marriage seem to be melting away from the national dialogue, for some reason, and being left as smaller issues for Republicans to tear each other apart over.

McCain's real problem is that any bit of ammo he's got to go after Obama is matched by much heavier artillery that Obama can use on McCain.  So Obama can say to him, "Alright, asshole, wanna run Wright commercials?  Great, let's introduce Catholics to Hagee and the country in general to Parsley."  McCain will be reduced to a stuttering idiot.

"My friends, I don't think Catholics are whores or that my wife is a trollop or a cunt."

"Elitism"?  McCain's got his own private jet.  End of story.

Even on the silly identity games, McCain is a lot more vulnerable.

It'd be great.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.

by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 07:27:12 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I do think, by the way, he's probably right to think about black voters turning out in much heavier numbers than in 2004.  It will be A CauseTM in the black community.  Ditto Latinos, if Obama's got the money to pour into voter registration on them.  Richardson would help there, as would Kaine, who speaks fluent Spanish and is very popular with Latinos.  And I doubt very much that, with Obama planning to cap his maximum donations if McCain agrees (as he might be forced to by the press in order to avoid getting slammed with hypocrisy on the topic), money will be a terribly big issue.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 06:18:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]
This was in the Guardian this morning, and suggested that the NYT story that has been completely buried in the US as far as I could tell, has been convulsing everybody. Is that true ?

Guardian - Jackie Ashley - Beware cosy deals between politicians and their pundits

Nobody interested in how people in power manipulate public opinion can afford to miss the exposé of the Bush administration's use of "experts" to sell the Iraq war and defend itself over Guantánamo. This is an old-fashioned investigative scoop by a New York Times reporter, David Barstow, that is convulsing the US media with accusation and counter-accusation - a huge story there that has made surprisingly few ripples here. It should.


keep to the Fen Causeway
by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:48:54 PM EST
The dynamic is common knowledge, even among those buying what they're selling. When a report confirms a person's views they don't care how it was generated.

What is less known is the extent to which news is direct advertising, from corporations or the government - with newsroom budgets on the decline for many years now, especially local offices, it fits their business model to have other people do their work for them.

you are the media you consume.

by MillMan (millguy at gmail) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:16:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Looks like the Earthquake in China is more severe than thought at first.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Thousands dead in Chinese quake

A powerful earthquake has killed at least 8,500 people in China's south-western Sichuan province, up to 5,000 of them in just one county.

Many more are feared killed and injured in other parts of the country after the 7.8-magnitude quake struck at 1428 local time (0628 GMT).

At least 50 bodies have been recovered from the rubble of a school where an estimated 900 students were buried.

President Hu Jintao has urged "all-out" efforts to rescue victims.

The epicentre of the earthquake was about 92km (57 miles) from Chengdu, Sichuan's provincial capital.

by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:52:02 PM EST
from TV news, it's Chinas most heavily populated province. and they're also saying that the three gorges dam is undamaged by the earthquake

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:19:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
also just been told that the Panda rescue area is in the zone, and has been lost contact with

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:38:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It's so awful.  And this on top of the situation in Burma/Myanmar...  I wish I had enough perspective to know if this is a sign the earth is freaking out on us, or just routine weather disasters.  A slew of tornadoes came across the US this weekend (hitting a superfund site, among other things), but I seem to always remember there being tornadoes in the Midwest US...  


"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:26:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
They're not terribly uncommon in the Midwest, although it's nothing like Tornado Alley.  We have more than I would've guessed in the South, too, as Mother Nature reminded us with her recent actions in ATL.

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:34:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I'd say the weather events are the climate freaking out on us. The scary thing is that I believe that the La Nina event in the Pacific is actually having a calming effect on world climate, god help us when that ends.

But earthquakes are just gonna happen.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:42:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
poemless:
I wish I had enough perspective to know if this is a sign the earth is freaking out on us, or just routine weather disasters.

Heh. Did you miss this morning chatter?

by Nomad on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:54:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
But, Nomad, facts about seismology are not enough: you need to come up with a mythology.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:56:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
?

"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:59:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I strike you as someone who needs a "mythology"?  

Perspective is what I was lamenting.  Not the absence of a retributive sky god...

"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.

by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:01:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Read kcurie's diary.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:30:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I did...  

"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:33:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
What do you mean by "perspective"?

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:40:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well I was told this morning in all seriousness, that "all the extra earhquakes we're getting are because of all trhe oil we've stolen that was lubricating the geological plates"

Do you ever have days when, even as an atheist, Praying for the human race might actually seem to be a good idea?

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:18:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
"all the extra earhquakes we're getting are because of all trhe oil we've stolen that was lubricating the geological plates"

Actually, that is funny.  lol...

"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.

by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:30:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I think we're beyond prayer and moving switfly into *EPIC FAIL* territory.

Maybe mammals are a bad idea in general?

Sponges seem quite tame. You can't do a lot of damage as a sponge. And if you get to be a really really big sponge, you might even get around to discovering relativity - just because it's more interesting than being stuck to the bottom of the ocean all day without your mouth open.

But stop me if I'm being too optimistic here.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 05:35:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]
i dont know, if sponges do become the dominant lifeform, they might soak up all of the available oceans.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 06:08:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]
by Sassafras on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 06:14:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]
  1.  Yes.
  2.  And now that I've read it - I have to say - I'm feeling no more informed on the matter.


"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:58:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Are you content with your current level of confusion or should we all pile in and increase it?

:-)

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:08:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I suspect there is a 3rd option, but that I'm not going to find it with the help of anyone here.

"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.
by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:11:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]
2. To answer your original question: no, the earth cannot "freak out" on us or anything else.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:37:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It's a figure of speech, and I believe you knew that.  

Carry on among yourselves.

I'm quitting my end of this conversation. right. here.  


"Pretending that you already know the answer when you don't is not actually very helpful." ~Migeru.

by poemless on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:48:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
This is becasue of lack of training.. I will explain it with a couple of sentences:

They are retribution for homosexual sins... or commie chinese.

A pleasure

I therefore claim to show, not how men think in myths, but how myths operate in men's minds without their being aware of the fact. Levi-Strauss, Claude

by kcurie on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 04:11:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Taking a break just in time to PN the OT.

That's not a duck.  That is a drake.

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 01:58:10 PM EST
How's the house coming?

Be nice to America. Or we'll bring democracy to your country.
by Drew J Jones (myfriends@thisispancakes.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:01:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Coming along.  

I'm taking a break from remodeling to do some contract work.  (Money makes the world go around, the world go around)

No one could have predicted

by ATinNM on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:14:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It's getting draconian quickly now.

More arrests in Zim as Tsvangirai prepares return : Mail & Guardian Online

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's government intensified a crackdown against its political opponents on Monday, as the leader of the opposition prepared to return home to contest a run-off election.

Journalists, union leaders and hundreds of political activists have been arrested since general elections in March that were lost by the ruling party, but Monday brought news of the first lawmaker to be taken into police custody.

Heya Shoko, a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) parliamentarian who won a seat in the Masvingo province formerly held by Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, was arrested in connection with post-election violence in his constituency, a colleague said.

"I was with him in town when three detectives ... took him away saying it was in connection with some incidents in his constituency," fellow MDC lawmaker Ernest Mudavanhu said by phone from Masvingo, south-east Zimbabwe.

News of the arrest came as the president and secretary general of the country's main labour organisation, the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), were denied bail as they made a first court appearance on charges of incitement to rebellion in connection with speeches delivered at a May Day rally.

Also, I've on and off reported about my contact who went back into Zim a few weeks ago for the purpose of arranging the paperwork for him and his two children and to get them into SA legally ASAP. He was supposed to travel to Joburg past week - but was refused to exit Zimbabwe at the (Zimbabwean) border. He was told his children could go on alone. They returned, he re-applied today and was officially denied border movement now. He now is going to take the dangerous route and will have to attempt bribery - he does not want to be locked in Zimbabwe. It suggests that a (targeted?) border lock-down may be in place.

Furthermore, there are rumours that Mugabe has called to kick out the illegal Zimbabweans out of South Africa and back to Zim. Whether true or not, these rumours have resulted in riots in Alexandra township - where I do my volunteering work on Saturday. Two people are reportedly killed. The Children of Fire NGO has been asked (by the governmental department!!!) to supply aid and food for the immigrants who have been kicked on the street. The volunteers couldn't go in tonight - it was to dangerous without a police escort, and they didn't get one.

It's getting scary.

by Nomad on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:17:08 PM EST
I'm going in to do the food drop with the volunteers of CoF tomorrow morning at six. Will report back.
by Nomad on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:28:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Watch your back!

No one could have predicted
by ATinNM on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:30:27 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Be careful and good luck!
by Fran (fran at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 02:33:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
be very careful and make sure everyone with you has their shit together.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:20:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
did anyone see this yesterday?

TWENTY British Euro MPs are milking taxpayers' cash to bankroll wives and family | News | News of the World

OFFICIAL documents obtained by the News of the World reveal TWENTY British Euro MPs are milking taxpayers' cash to bankroll wives and family as highly-paid "assistants".

Tory toff North West MEP Sir Robert Atkins, pictured above, has admitted paying his pensioner wife Lady Dulcie Mary Atkins, also pictured above, over £30,000 a year as his secretary.

She squeezes this role in alongside her work as a busy member of Wyre Borough Council, and Garstang Town Council, as well as holding down a string of community and charitable commitments.

[Murdoch Alert]

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 03:53:09 PM EST
They're mostly Tories, aren't they?

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 04:00:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Actually, the second story is about Tom Wise, who is UKIP, making it all a bit more complicated. I could understand any attempt to discredit Conservative MEPs, but to do UKIP as well, that's intriguing.

IMO Watching the UKIP vote at the next General Election will be interesting.

Member of the Anti-Fabulousness League since 1987.

by Ephemera on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 04:06:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
If all of these sleazy MEPs are eurosceptics that could be the basis of a great campaign drive by the Lib Dems.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 04:24:15 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I think it would be hard for a Europositive party such as the LibDems to mount a campaign against MEPs supposedly 'fiddling' their expenses at the European Parliament, especially if they've technicaly done little or nothing wrong. They would have to resort to calling the institution itself, which would only backfire. Anyways, I doubt they would want to get into bed with a Murdoch newspaper, though with Clegg in the driving seat, I suppose anything could happen...

The reason why the UKIP guy surprised me is that I thought it was part of a campaign to discredit not only the European Parliment and EU as a whole, but also the Conservative politicians in Europe. It would raise the issue of Europe back into the Conservative agenda, either forcing some kind of proper position from Cameron, or at least damaging them yet again so that UKIP will continue to benefit in elections until the Conservative party moves to a more Eurosceptic position.

That's partly why I think UKIP will be an interesting party to watch come the next election. For a small party, they take a respectable number of votes, averaging at about 1,000 per consituency. But in reality they can top 3,000 in some places, which could prove a spoiler for a Conservative candidate. I want to see if its supporters go back to the Conservative party now that it looks like it may win, or whether they continue to support UKIP. The party has recently changed its name, and developed policies for all the major areas, so now it looks like a proper party in itself, instead of a pressure campaign against the Conservatives. If it doesn't get killed off at the next election, it could hang around for a good while longer.

At least, that's my analysis.

Member of the Anti-Fabulousness League since 1987.

by Ephemera on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 06:20:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Well, some of the Lib Dem MEPs are already making noises in that direction.

Bill Newton Dunn MEP: MEPs' assistants (March 13, 2008)

There has, rightly, been an outcry against the confidential auditors' report about dubious assistants employed by some MEPs.

Being a member of the parliament's Budgetary Control committee, I read the full report - in a sealed room and had to sign that I would not reveal its contents nor take any notes. The report by a team of auditors said that they had looked at a sample of the contracts between some MEPs and the assistants whom they employed. No names, no political parties, no nationalities were identified. It was clear to me that some - but not all - un-named MEPs have stretched the rules beyond breaking-point.  The problem, in my opinion, is that the parliament's staff is grossly overstretched : they have to try to verify contracts in any of three alphabets (ours, Greek, or Bulgarian cyrillic) and in any of the 23 official EU languages, and there are not enough of them to do the job effectively.

When the full committee met, the Liberal MEPs moved that the report be made public. The committee chairman, an Austrian socialist, insisted that a vote was not on the agenda so it would have to be part of Any Other Business just before the meeting's end on the following afternoon. When we reached that moment, a lawyer was given the floor and he argued why a vote was not possible (not least because the report did not belong to the committee and was therefore not ours to publish). The clock ticked rapidly towards 18.30 when the language interpreters are entitled to go home. As the wrangling continued, suddenly the committee room filled with arriving Christian-Democrat and Socialist MEPs to fill the empty places. At 18.29 the vote was called - and we Liberals lost it.

I love the work of the parliament, but at that moment I felt ashamed at the blatant cover-up by the Conservatives' allies and by Labour's allies.

Maybe I'm just being idealistic, but I fail to see how it can be a problem for the Liberals to spin this in their favour. It's not about what was done being "legal" or "illegal" but when you have an UKIP MEP saying "I don't even know why I'm in the EP" you can tell the voters not to throw away their vote electing people who don't want to be there.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 07:07:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]
It's not a problem if the Lib Dems can spin it in their favour, but the popular view is that the EU is a 'gravy train' for MEPs. To successfully make something out of MEPs expenses without damaging the image of the EU would be hard. And as the party most associated with the EU, the Lib Dems would find that association a liability. For the sake of 'getting' a few MEPs (who nobody really knows or cares much about anyway), is it worth it?

Member of the Anti-Fabulousness League since 1987.
by Ephemera on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 07:33:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
How many times is the same pseudo scandal going to be used to claim that the EU wastes money?

For political reasons in some countries, MEP salaries are not as high as they should be; instead, they get generous expense accounts and secretarial budgets that they can use freely, including to hire family members (as if that did not happen in national parliaments, and as if that were a bad thing per se).

There is no scandal.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 04:13:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]
it's entirely Murdoch generated in this case and linked to a similar scandal that has just occurred at Westminster. It is interesting that all the targets are on the right and anti side of the chamber though.

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
by ceebs (ceebs (at) eurotrib (dot) com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 04:37:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Must be the Coarse Exchange season...

Privex

I did think of tipping off the FSA, but they can look after themselves, whereas anyone who operates out of that well known financial hub


Unit 13, Shakespeare Ind Est
Watford
WD24 5RR
United Kingdom

needs all the help they can get...

Good luck, guys....

Modern conservatives engage in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy: the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.Galbraith

by ChrisCook (cojockathotmaildotcom) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 04:20:31 PM EST

Wild Polar Bear vs Dogs

The Polar Bear returned every night that week to play with the dogs.



"Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do." Jim Hightower
by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 09:32:06 PM EST
Joe Bageant: Immersion in the shit storm of talk radio

As to our children and their inheritance of the world, they will have to deal with it on the terms its presents itself to them in their own times. At some level, I am happy that the shallow materialism that kept us so numb is ending. Yet, quite naturally, at this point they are succumbing to it as we did. But it's unsustainable, regardless of what the powerful and rich of the earth may think. Hubris is the most common element of power. When the game is up, the game is up.

Meanwhile, we stand here at the edge of a new age, aware of what comes next. An undetermined period of horror. Still, there is a certain liberation in that if we apply ourselves we can understand what those before us could never have hoped to realize -- Liberation not as a species or a select group, but as individuals who pass through this veil as anonymously as did billions before us.

Truth be known, I'd rather be here at the crest of the tectonic shift in humanity than in the numb age in which I was led to such illusion as has plagued Americans and the Western World for the past hundred years or so.

And the despots and the liars? I suspect we will have to suffer them for some time to come, but collapse has no favorites. It falls upon us all equally as a species. Somehow, in that there is sort of a cosmic justice. You may not like such a term as cosmic, I dunno. But it's the only term I can think of that alludes to the scale of change we are about to encounter as an insignificant smear of biology hurtling through the interstellar void.

Disillusionment is not everything, and it is the rightful inheritance of the privileged. And in looking at the Third World half the year as I do (and by no means the worst conditions of the Third World) I hopefully grasp that we are far, far beyond privileged. We are princes of the earth and rightfully have fallen, or soon will have. To have seen a specter is not everything (to quote Neal Cassady). And yes, there are skulls piled clear to heaven. But the purpose at hand, in as much as there ever was any purpose for you and me, is to savor realization, not mourn it.

yeah joe!

"Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do." Jim Hightower

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Mon May 12th, 2008 at 09:35:50 PM EST


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