And now the National Enquirer is up for a Pulitzer. How do you feel about that?
To me it shows, as a society, how cut off from the truth we are, that a magazine that pays their sources and every once in a while gets something factually correct is now eligible for a Pulitzer. Wow, we're all going to hell.

Read more...

Well, you want to know know something?

So are we!

"Beware of the man who does not talk, and the dog that does not bark." Cheyenne

Backlash mounts over Georgia TV 'invasion' hoax
by Michael Mainville, Agence France-Presse | 03/15/2010 9:23 PM

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15.3.2010, TBILISI, Georgia - Washington and Moscow joined a chorus of criticism on Monday of a Georgian television channel which bewildered and panicked viewers by airing a faked newscast announcing that Russia had invaded.

Arch-foe Russia predictably slammed the broadcast as evidence of President Mikheil Saakashvili's "paranoia" but its chief ally the United States also expressed sharp disapproval over the bizarre incident.

Adding to the controversy, the head of the television channel defended the false newscast while Saakashvili made little attempt to distance himself from the furore, saying Georgia remained threatened by a Russian invasion.
...
AFP

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/world/03/15/10/backlash-mounts-over-georgia-tv-invasion-hoax

My cat Truffles loves Chomsky.  He's very pro-kitten, or so she tells me from texting with him.

P.S. Anybody who thinks that ANY Health Care Bill will do ANYTHING but further screw over the American public is DREEEEEEAAAAAMMMMMING!!

I love the smell of roast chicken in the morning!

Palin, the former half-term Governor, current-nothing and future-even-less, charmed the all-Republican audience with her folksy folksiness and her homespun homespunnery. Atypically, Palin was wearing clothes that she had paid for herself. At the end of the event, she shared her recipe for mooseface pie.

In response to Palin's attack on Rep Grayson, Grayson actually complimented Palin. Grayson praised Palin for having a hand large enough to fit Grayson's entire name on it. He thanked Palin for alleviating the growing shortage of platitudes in Central Florida. Grayson added that Palin deserved credit for getting through the entire hour-long program without quitting. Grayson also said that Palin really had mastered Palin's imitation of Tina Fey imitating Palin. Grayson observed that Palin is the most-intelligent leader that the Republican Party has produced since George W. Bush.

hee. All good knock-about stuff.

keep to the Fen Causeway

BBC, Monday, 15 March 2010

A slap for the president. A warning note delivered to the Elysee Palace. That is how the results in France's regional elections are being interpreted. President Nicolas Sarkozy's party has fallen behind the Socialists. Some of his supporters sat on their hands. The turnout may well have been the lowest in French history. The second round will be held next weekend.

Even before the votes were cast, Mr Sarkozy had dismissed the results. "The vote... is a regional one, its ramifications are therefore regional," he said. On reflection, Mr Sarkozy said he would be "attentive" to the result.

The Socialists, of course, see it differently. The result, in their view, has changed the political landscape. It was the last poll before the presidential election in 2012 and the momentum is with them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/gavinhewitt/2010/03/the_sarkozy_enigma.html

Mon Mar 15,

PARIS - American movie director Tim Burton has been inducted into France's cultural honor roll in a Paris ceremony.

Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand made the director of such films as "Alice in Wonderland" and "Edward Scissorhands" an officer in France's National Order of Arts and Letters.

Burton, wearing a dark suit and his trademark fuzzy hairdo, says he has always loved France and felt a special connection with the French public.

Burton says "I feel much more at home here than I do in my own country and I thank you very much."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100315/ap_en_ce/eu_france_tim_burton

IJ Awards: Renewables Deal of the Year

The Bligh Bank Offshore Wind Farm off the coast of Belgium - more commonly known as Belwind - last night won the coveted title of IJ's Renewables Deal of the Year for 2009.

At €613.9 million (US$987m), Belwind is by the largest offshore wind farm to benefit from project finance.

Critically, it is a Greenfield financing, for first 165MW phase of a 330MW offshore wind farm located 46km off the coast of Zeebrugge [Projects Database]. This is the farthest distance from the coast a wind farm has been sited at.

Being Greenfield, the judges felt Belwind could truly lay claim to establishing a routemap for larger offshore projects to follow as they are increasingly rolled out around the world.

The project was also the first offshore wind deal to benefit from EIB support, and was also impressive for managing to reach financial close despite a last minute change in ownership.

Three commercial banks - Dexia, Rabobank and ASN Bank - came forward as lenders on the transaction together with the EIB as lender and guarantor and Danish ECA EKF as a risk-bearing party.

IJ Awards: Value Add

This was the first year that Infrastructure Journal offered the IJ Value Add Award, a category that was designed to recognise the organisations that "brought value" to transactions in a troubled market.

As such, IJ is delighted to announce the winner of the IJ Value Add Award is Dexia

(...)

Dexia won the award for the role it played on getting a challenging deal - Belwind [IJ Renewables Deal of the Year 2009] - over the line in spite of the bank's capacities being hit by financial crisis and subsequent bailout.

On this deal, the Belwind sponsor went bankrupt during the negotiations of the financing, with the project being taken over by an administrator and sold to new investors before financial close could take place.

Dexia - in its role as financial adviser to the sponsor and MLA - pulled together the €500 million financing for the project in an environment where syndication was not an option.

In addition to sponsor and financing challenges [all deals had to overcome the latter] it was the first deal of its kind - limited-recourse offshore wind - for the EIB, thus requiring extra due diligence and validation at every step.

Each of the parties effectively held veto rights on every aspect of the transaction, which is all the more impressive when you look at the parties involved:

EIB
PMV - a semi-public body
EKF - the Danish ECA
five sponsors - Colruyt, SHV, Merwind, PMV, Rabo equity
three commercial banks
two contractors
the bankruptcy administrator
five law firms
Infrastructure Journal editor Angus Leslie Melville said: "Belwind is a deal that we have already singled out as an exceptional transaction for 2009. Dexia's role in getting this challenging deal to financial close was pivotal and this award recognises the role it played.

"In addition to a challenging financing climate, Dexia had to deal with a bankruptcy, introducing EIB to a completely new style of project and herding all parties through a maelstrom of ill fortune in a fledgling infrastructure sector - offshore wind."