River Tam | 88% | ||
Simon Tam | 81% | ||
The Operative | 75% | ||
Hoban 'Wash' Washburne | 75% | ||
Shepherd Derrial Book | 69% | ||
Zoe Alleyne Washburne | 63% | ||
Inara Serra | 63% | ||
Kaylee Frye | 63% | ||
Jayne Cobb | 56% | ||
Capt. Mal Reynolds | 50% |
The funding plan for the ICC, which the Maryland General Assembly endorsed during its 2005 session, includes a combination of creative funding sources
tollhouse cookie [[made with a recipe used at the Toll House in Whitman, Mass., near Brockton]] a kind of chocolate chip cookie
| HK-91 You scored 82 Predictability, 69 Tolerance, 85 Reliability, and 37 Complication! |
Of German Design, Heckler and Koch puts out some of the worlds best weapons ever made. You have been battle tested and proven many times over by several european nations. Your also very complicated to fully disassemble and are very finicky about what type of ammo you will use. using the wrong ammo can make you a very dangerous person, so make sure you get your facts right before launching an attack. |
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My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
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| Link: The What Kind of Weapon are You Test written by thirteenthcor on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
Prince Charles to plead Islam's cause to Bush
By Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter
(Filed: 29/10/2005)
The Prince of Wales will try to persuade George W Bush and Americans of the merits of Islam this week because he thinks the United States has been too intolerant of the religion since September 11.
The Prince, who leaves on Tuesday for an eight-day tour of the US, has voiced private concerns over America's "confrontational" approach to Muslim countries and its failure to appreciate Islam's strengths.
Mr Mahmood and other Muslims present stressed that Prince Charles did not go so far as to criticise the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001. More recently, he has been careful not to express his views on Iraq.
Quote:
Prince Charles made a speech, acclaimed throughout the Arab world, on relations between Islam and the West. He urged the West to overcome its "unthinkable prejudices" about Islam and its customs and laws.
He spoke warmly of the West's debt to the culture of Islam and distanced moderate Muslims from misguided militants. "Extremism is no more the monopoly of Islam than it is the monopoly of other religions, including Christianity," he said.
Um, excuse me your highness, but doesn't the West allow Muslims to vote in free elections - something Muslim leaders didn't even do (before we liberated Afghanistan and Iraq). Why can an Arab have citizenship in Israel, but the same Jew not be able to be a citizen in an Arab country.
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Bush on Tuesday is visiting the National Institutes of Health to announce his administration's strategy on how to prepare for the next flu pandemic, whether it's caused by the bird flu in Asia or some other super strain of influenza. Federal health officials have spent the last year updating a national plan on how to do that.
Stockpiling drugs and vaccines is just one component.
Already the government is buying $162.5 million worth of vaccine against that bird flu strain, called H5N1, from two companies _ Sanofi-Aventis and Chiron Corp. _ in case that happens. It also is ordering millions of doses of Tamiflu and Relenza, two antiflu drugs believed to offer some protection against the bird flu, stockpiles that the pandemic plan is expected to order be augmented.
But amid growing public fear about the bird flu, federal health officials are beginning to wonder about a backlash if the worrisome strain in fact fizzles out _ or is contained in birds, as specialists are struggling to do _ and never threatens Americans' health.
Geldof says, "Bono called me while I was in Africa and said 'he's (Eminem) not calling me back. I've got these pictures of kids wearing Eminem and D-12 t-shirts and we got them sent off to Eminem's office but did we hear anything? It's sad.'
He added, "If people don't want to do anything, then it's cool, I'm ok with that, but I wouldn't mind if they got back to us."
Geldof's daughters FIFI TRIXIBELLE, TIGER LILY, PIXIE and PEACHES are relieved at their dad's decision, because an old man hosting such an event would be "embarrassing".
posted by Ron Bonjean @ 3:40pm (10/28/05) | Section: Articles
While the mainstream press is focused on DC political news, we thought you should see how well America’s economy is performing despite the devastating hurricanes.
Economic Activity Jumps 3.8 Percent in Third Quarter
But last year teens accounted for just 24 percent of unwed births, down from 50 percent in 1970, she commented.
The increases in unmarried births have been among women in their 20s, she said, particularly those 25 to 29.
Many of the women in that age group are living with partners but still count as unmarried mothers if they haven't formally married, Ventura noted.
The 20s are the prime childbearing years, regardless of whether the mother is married or not, she said. ...
There were 1,470,152 babies born to single women in 2004, 35.7 percent of all births in the country, NCHS said. That was up from 1,415,995 a year earlier.
"I guess they have a problem with black people expressing themselves in print," Gilliard said. "At no point did they bother to ask me what I thought or why I did it."
Stone admitted that "the movie was too long, didn't tell the story of Alexander the Great very well and was too focused on outing the ancient Greek hero."
POLICE are being advised to treat Muslim domestic violence cases differently out of respect for Islamic traditions and habits.
Islamic Women's Welfare Council head Joumanah El Matrah called the guidelines appalling and dangerous.
"The implication is one needs to be more tolerant of violence against Muslim women but they should be entitled to the same protection," Ms El Matrah said.
"Police should not be advising other officers to follow those sorts of protocols.
"It can only lead to harm."
The hajj has demonstrated since ancient times that neither Africans nor Arabs considered physical barriers or long distances as insurmountable obstacles. Large numbers of African pilgrims never returned to their native lands as far away as Senegal.
Instead, they settled throughout the Middle East, including present-day Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine/Israel, Iran, Lebanon, Yemen, the Persian Gulf countries and Turkey.
Prominent Arabs of African descent include Kuwaiti Crown Prince Saad and Saudi Arabia's longtime ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan. Also included are many popular musicians, such as Mohamed Abdu of Saudi Arabia, members of the Miami Kuwaiti Group and Nabil Shuail of Kuwait, and Yemeni musician Abu Rab Idriss.
Joel Packer, spokesman for the National Education Association, said the controversy is part of a contentious nationwide trend in which schools are trying to shorten or cancel holiday celebrations, either for religious reasons or to put more time into classroom work. Halloween is one of the few holidays that can fall when children are in school, he said, which puts school districts more on the spot.
The charges allege that Libby lied to FBI agents who interviewed him on October 14 and
November 26, 2003; committed perjury while testifying under oath before the grand jury on March 5
and March 24, 2004; and engaged in obstruction of justice by impeding the grand jury’s investigation
2
into the unauthorized disclosure – or “leaking” – of Valerie Wilson’s affiliation with the CIA to various
reporters in the spring of 2003.
Prior to that date, her
affiliation with the CIA was not common knowledge outside the intelligence community.
Libby was obligated by federal criminal
statute, regulations, executive orders, and a written non-disclosure agreement not to disclose classified
information to unauthorized persons, and to properly safeguard classified information against
unauthorized disclosure.
on or about June 23, 2003, Libby met with Judith Miller of The New York Times.
Libby was critical of the CIA and disparaged what he termed “selective leaking”
by the CIA concerning intelligence matters. In discussing the CIA’s handling of
Wilson’s trip to Niger, Libby informed Miller Wilson’s wife might work at a
bureau of the CIA.
on or about the morning of July 8, 2003, Libby met with Miller of The New York
Times. When the conversation turned to the subject of Joseph Wilson, Libby
asked that the information he provided on the topic of Wilson be attributed to a
“former Hill staffer” rather than to a “senior administration official,” as had been
the understanding regarding other information that Libby provided to Miller
during this meeting. Libby then discussed with Miller Wilson’s trip and
criticized the CIA reporting concerning Wilson’s trip. During this discussion,
Libby advised Miller of his belief that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA;
on or about July 10 or July 11, 2003, Libby spoke to a senior White House
official (“Official A”) ( Karl Rove who advised Libby of a conversation Official A (Karl Rove)had earlier
that week with columnist Robert Novak in which Wilson’s wife was discussed
as a CIA employee involved in Wilson’s trip. Libby was advised by Official A
that Novak would be writing a story about Wilson’s wife;
on or about July 12, 2003, in the afternoon, Libby spoke by telephone to Cooper,
who asked whether Libby had heard that Wilson’s wife was involved in sending
Wilson on the trip to Niger. Libby confirmed to Cooper, without elaboration or
qualification, that he had heard this information too; and
on or about July 12, 2003, in the late afternoon, Libby spoke by telephone with
Miller and discussed Wilson’s wife, and that she worked at the CIA.
In fact, Libby well knew that he did not advise Cooper or other reporters
that he had heard other reporters were saying that Wilson’s wife worked for the CIA, nor did Libby
advise Cooper or other reporters that he did not know whether this assertion was true.
Libby indicted on obstruction of justice, false statment and perjury charges...
50 Cent's latest CD, "Massacre," has sold 4.7 million copies in the U.S. since its chart-topping release in March and ranks as the biggest-selling album so far this year, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Antonovich said the billboard outside the school for sixth through 12th graders was particularly egregious because the community had recently mounted an anti-gang campaign.
Activists in the south-central L.A. neighborhood of Hyde Park, another community plagued by gang violence, staged a rally on Tuesday calling on Paramount to remove a billboard next to a preschool. The sign was taken down the next day.
People working minimum-wage jobs don’t have the flexibility to take off work, especially when it just seems to be a little sore that doesn’t hurt, Mason said.
Many people don’t know they’re infected. The CDC refers to syphilis as “the great imitator” because its symptoms resemble many other diseases.
Some of these men are involved in relationships with women who are unaware of their partner’s bisexuality, Mason said.
This behavior causes an increase in infections among men and puts women at greater risk for contracting the disease, he said.
Mason described the case of a man who lives in Hampton.
Officials conducted a confidential interview with him to discover where his syphilis infection originated and whether other sexual partners were at risk.
The patient was a single man in his 30s who went to clubs in Washington, D.C., where holes in walls allowed men to have anonymous intercourse.
Drugs and alcohol impair judgment.
Some of these men are involved in relationships with women who are unaware of their partner’s bisexuality, Mason said.
Gerhard Schröder used his last international appearance as the German chancellor to launch one of his strongest attacks yet on Anglo-Saxon capitalism, saying the European Union faced a straightforward choice between never-ending liberalisation or the re-tention of basic European values. (...)
He told his fellow heads of state and government: "We are confronted with a fundamental conflict. Should we elevate the market and never-ending liberalisation at the heart of our political action, or do we Europeans stick to our basic beliefs?" (...)
In Mr. Libby's case, Mr. Fitzgerald has focused on his statements about how he first learned of Ms. Wilson's identity. Early in the investigation, Mr. Libby turned over notes of a meeting with Mr. Cheney in June 2003 that indicated the vice president had told him about Ms. Wilson, the lawyers said.
But Mr. Libby told the grand jury that he learned of Ms. Wilson from reporters, lawyers involved in the case said. Reporters who are known to have talked to Mr. Libby have said that they did not provide him the name, could not recall what had been said or had discussed unrelated subjects.
So the Iraqis have approved their constitution and are moving toward elections at the end of the year, and Kerry wants an international group to intervene and start hammering out some other arrangement? Isn't the constitution the political solution? I genuinely can't understand what he's talking about.
Paris Hilton had sex with her new boyfriend in a portable toilet, it has been claimed. The hotel heiress is alleged to have got hot and steamy with new lover Greek shipping tycoon Stavros Niarchos in the unlikely love den at an exclusive Hollywood party.
The largest representation of your personality type can be found in the these U.S. cities: Washington D.C., St. Louis, Albuquerque/Santa Fe, Salt Lake City, W. Palm Beach, Tampa/St. Petersburg, Raleigh/Durham, Denver, Seattle/Tacoma, Minneapolis and these international countries/regions Slovenia, Israel, Czech Republic, Russia, Netherlands, Denmark, Argentina, Argentina, Ukraine, Romania, Norway, Croatia, Hungary, Turkey, Sweden
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton accused the Bush administration of squandering the balanced budgets and fiscal responsibility that she said her husband created as president.
"We need a much stronger commitment to the underlying values of America," Clinton said, adding that the U.S. needs to follow the rule of law in setting its foreign policy.
her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was able to balance the budget while at the same time creating 22 million jobs. Butshe said that fiscal responsibilityhas been lost of late.
"Please tell us one thing you disagree with the president on," Clinton said to loud applause from the crowd.
Schroeder's insistence that he still represents Germany - the E.U.'s biggest member - means already low expectations for the meeting can be scaled back further.
Gearing up for the meeting, Schroeder fired a broadside at what he warned was the growing influence of both the European Commission - the bloc's executive - and the European Court.
"Nothing enrages citizens more than the suspicion of a creeping loss of sovereignty," said Schroeder in an essay published in the newspaper Die Zeit.
| Ulysses S. Grant You scored 75 Wisdom, 50 Tactics, 63 Guts, and 43 Ruthlessness! |
Like you, Grant went about the distasteful business of war realistically and grimly. His courage as a commander of forces and his powers of organization and administration made him the outstanding Northern general. Grant, though, had no problem throwing away lives on huge seiges of heavily defended positions. At times, Union casualties under Grant were over double that of the Confederacy. However, Grant was notably wise in supporting good commanders, especially Sheridan , William T. Sherman , and George H. Thomas. Made a full general in 1866, he was the first U.S. citizen to hold that rank. |
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My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
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| Link: The Which Historic General Are You Test written by dasnyds on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
Prominent Arab commentators have ridiculed the Syrian media campaign that has tried to discredit the report, written by chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis, as politicized, unfair and unprofessional.
Others have told Syria it will end up like Libya or Iraq -- countries that have been hurt by international sanctions -- if it doesn't cooperate with the international community.
"Clever politics are not run by editorials in the (Syrian) newspapers Tishrin and Al-Baath, but should be managed by minds that understand the world and realize that the world around Syria has changed a lot," said Ahmed al-Rubei, a former Kuwaiti legislator, in a column in the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
China, Russia and Algeria are balking at the U.S. plan for a tough, immediate response, he said.
Cheney's proposal is drafted in such a way that the exemption from the rule barring ill treatment could require a presidential finding that "such operations are vital to the protection of the United States or its citizens from terrorist attack." But the precise applicability of this section is not clear, and none of those involved in last week's discussions would discuss it openly yesterday.
Stop being such a p#$$^, John.
Do you really want to tie Jack Bauer’s hands?
Question: Well into his second term, mired in scandal and obvious unending lies and deepening crisis, did any senior Democrat turn on Bill Clinton? One year into his second term, and days after a huge and historically significant election in Iraq and a month after yet another unfair savaging at the hands of the MSM over Katrina, George Bush surveys his allegedly supportive pundits and the GOP Senate majority that he made, and he finds what?"
Jim responded this morning:
Is the Democratic Party's steadfast refusal to hold Clinton accountable for anything really the role model that the GOP wants to emulate?...
Democrats stood shoulder-to-shoulder to defend perjury, suborning perjury, and reckless, obsessive behavior that should have made Al Gore president in 1998. (To think, he probably would have won in 2000 had he run as a sitting president out from Clinton's shadow, instead of as a vice president trying to prove his alpha-maleness and leadership.)
We're not those guys. And I don't think we ought to be swayed by arguments calling for us to be more like them.
I did not call for the GOP to steadfastly defend the president and his nominee against obviously meritous charges of perjury, etc. I argued that the Democratic Party's example of absurd and wrong headed loyalty of a scandal-plagued Clinton contrasted sharply with many among the GOP's immediate turn on Bush/Miers even before the hearings, Thewhen Bush deserves political support from the very people he has aided, at a minimum until the hearings begin. GOP and allied pundits cold move a long way towards party loyalty and the sort of political maturity that enduring majority coalitions need without ever coming close to the line the Democrats crossed with Clinton, and that move would serve the party and their goals in the long run.
"Essentially what they did find was a child's toy and some organic material in a bag that turned out to be a cookie," Peppin said. "Those two items combined on-screen, they very much appeared to be an IED, and it turned out not to be."
| Your Brain's Pattern |
 Your brain is always looking for the connections in life. You always amaze your friends by figuring out things first. You're also good at connecting people - and often play match maker. You see the world in fluid, flexible terms. Nothing is black or white. |
"The next thing we will be banning Christmas trees and cribs and the logical result of that process is a bland uniformity," the Dean of Blackburn, Reverend Christopher Armstrong, said.
"We should learn to celebrate our difference, not be fearful of them."
Khalid Mahmoud, the Labour MP for a Birmingham seat and one of four Muslim MPs in Britain, also criticised the piggy-bank ban.
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"We live in a multicultural society and the traditions and symbols of one community should not be obliterated just to accommodate another," Mr Mahmoud said.
Fred Phelps, who set up the controversial Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, told an undercover reporter about the attacks, which killed 52 people:
"Oh I am so thankful that happened. My only regret is that they didn't kill about million of them. England deserves that kind of punishment, as does this country (America)".
Phelps made news just last month when the Daily Telegraph reported that the Swedish royal family were consulting lawyers after discovering that Phelps had made outrageous claims about their sexuality on the internet.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cindy Sheehan, the military mother who made her son's death in Iraq a rallying point for the anti-war movement, plans to tie herself to the White House fence to protest the milestone of 2,000 U.S. military deaths in Iraq.
"I'm going to go to Washington, D.C. and I'm going to give a speech at the White House, and after I do, I'm going to tie myself to the fence and refuse to leave until they agree to bring our troops home," Sheehan said in a telephone interview last week as the milestone approached.
| Generally Righteous You are 77% truly moral. Really. |
Well, you seem like a fairly decent person. Good for you. You get a cookie. I really can't suggest you raise your standards, because all in all you're better than average, and if we take into account the consequences, you'll most likely choose good over bad. Kudos. |
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My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The True Morality Test written by UmbralTiger on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
The three-member committee that determined the price included Peggy Lundy, a friend of Miers, and property-rights activist Cathie Adams, Knight Ridder reported. They were appointed to the panel by state District Judge David Evans, who had received at least $5,000 in campaign contributions from Miers' law firm.
According to Knight Ridder, the land _ which was part of a large Superfund pollution cleanup site _ was valued at less than 30 cents a square foot. But the panel recommended paying nearly $5 a square foot for it.
The price was later reduced from $106,915 to $80,915, but Miers has yet to return the $26,000 difference to the state, said the story by Jack Douglas Jr. and Stephen Henderson
Miers' writings, ... reflected concern for the welfare of the community, the plight of the disadvantaged and the importance of professionalism. ...
Families, education, crime. Miers wrote of concerns that issues such as "hostilities among the races, abuse of alcohol and drugs, disintegration of families and neighborhoods, failing educational systems and rampant crime challenge our communities." ...
Now word is coming out of the White House that it might not be opposed to Specter being allowed to offer his stem cell legislation as an amendment to the Labor-Health approps bill. And what does the White House get out of it? Specter's backing off from vocal criticism of SCOTUS nominee Harriet Miers.
Specter is not only angry about the questionaire that Miers and her handlers submitted. He is angry at the reports he is getting back from his fellow Senators coming out of their private meetings with Miers. "They are universally negative," says Republican staffer for a Senator who has met with the nominee. The bad reports are making Specter feel put upon.
Campaign records show Bush's Texas gubernatorial campaigns paid Miers a total of $163,000 in legal fees, most of it for work done during the future president's 1998 re-election bid.
"I'm baffled," said Randall B. Wood, a partner in the Austin firm of Ray, Wood and Bonilla, and former director of Common Cause of Texas. "I've never seen that kind of money spent on a campaign lawyer. It's unprecedented."
Former Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, a Democrat who was defeated handily by Bush in the 1998 campaign, said both the amount and the timing of the payments are curious. In late September, when Miers' firm received the first of two $70,000 payments, Mauro said he trailed Bush in the polls by 35 points.
In a 130-second address, Clinton mentioned Ferrer's name only once - which might have been a problem if the crowd on Charlotte St. could hear him.
In his speech, Clinton said "significant housing challenges" persist in the city and "there are still people who have been left behind."
McCain said he doesn't like to make those kinds of accusations, before adding, "We'll let other people draw those conclusions."
WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declined on Wednesday to rule out American forces still being needed in Iraq a decade from now. Senators warned that the Bush administration must play it straight with the public or risk losing public support for the war.
A White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said that since Miers was nominated, she has told Specter she had "years of files to go through and she would work to finish the questionnaire as soon as possible, but she would likely have to send follow-ups to provide additional information."
| Head of the Class Congratulations! You scored 10! |
| You spend so much time in class that you don't realize its not 1066. Kodus! |
My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Do You Know Your History Test written by nerdgirlkim on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
The University of California at Berkeley is being sued for running a website for school teachers called Understanding Evolution.
Anti-evolutionists claim that the site breaches the American constitution on the separation of church and state because it links to religious organisations which believe faith can be reconciled with Darwin's theory of evolution, reported the website Inside Higher Ed today.
Roy L. Caldwell, (no relation) a professor of integrative biology and director of the Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley, said the website was designed to help teachers - especially those who may feel pressure because of the current attacks on evolution - to explain the science behind evolution. The information about religious groups was strictly factual, he said.
Michael R. Smith, the assistant chancellor for legal affairs at Berkeley, said that the university would defend the lawsuit "with vigor and enthusiasm" and pointed out that the first amendment also enshrines the right to free speech.
| Love Machine Yippe-kay-yay! You scored 91%! |
Good news, everyone! You have completed the test! You are a hot stud, whether you're infested with parasites or not. Your mighty knowledge and button-clicking precision will lead you to saving the world someday, and hopefully not on a Scooty-Puff, Jr. Congrats. Watching every single episode in order has paid off, and you can rest assured that your holophoner skills won't quit when it counts. |
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My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:
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| Link: The Futurama Trivia Test written by ms_zoidberg on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
Posted 10/18/05
By Paul Bedard
Sparked by today's Washington Post story that suggests Vice President Cheney's office is involved in the Plame-CIA spy link investigation, government officials and advisers passed around rumors that the vice president might step aside and that President Bush would elevate Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
While most of the document covers her legal background, there are a few interesting tidbits, including Miers's revelation that her license to practice law in the District of Columbia had been suspended earlier this year after she failed to pay dues. "I immediately sent the dues in to remedy the delinquency. The non-payment was not intentioned, and I corrected the situation upon receiving the letter," she reported. Miers also noted that when Sandra Day O'Connor announced in July her intention to retire, "I was asked whether my name should be considered. I indicated at that time that I did not want to be considered."
As a result of the lawsuit settlement, O'Reilly must have a third person present whenever he conducts an interview or speaks to someone on the phone.
"Anyone can accuse me of anything and it's on a Web site," he said in the interview.
Gay writes: "So little wonder that when Bill O'Reilly is asked about his future after his current contract ends a little more than two years from now, he blurts out one word even as the question is asked: ‘Retirement.'"
But then O'Reilly backpedaled somewhat: "I might. I might. There's only so much aggression you can absorb."
Sara You scored 80 Friendliness, 100 Conservativism, 80 Intelligence, and 20 Impurity! |
You are Sara. You are a good guy. You use your incredible intelligence to read people's minds. You're nice, but people want a partner with a little more fire and passion in them than you. We know Gary sure does! |
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My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Team America Personality Test written by wpivincenzo on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
Dean, the
Democratic National Committee chairman, claimed
President Bush "turned his back on Mexico" after it refused to support the
Iraq war.
The former Vermont governor told The Associated Press in an interview that "a strong Mexico and a strong Mexican economy fixes a lot of the problems between the two countries, particularly immigration and narcotics."
Dean said finding ways to reduce demand for illicit drugs in the United States would go along way toward reducing violence along the border.
“Life expectancy is over 25 years longer in countries with the most economic freedom than it is those with the least.” Those who argue they support socialism or the “social market economy” because it is more humane ignore the fact that people in most free market economies live longer and healthier lives than those in most of the very regulated economic systems.
“Countries with more economic freedom have lower levels of unemployment.” As an example, we find the least economically free European countries, such as France and Germany, have much higher unemployment rates than those that are freer, such as Britain, Switzerland and Ireland.
“The amount of income going to the poorest 10 percent of the population is much greater in nations with the most economic freedom than it is in those with the least.” The socialists argue it is necessary to give up economic freedom to protect the poor, but the empirical evidence shows though redistribution can make the rich poor it cannot make the poor rich because it kills the incentives to create wealth.
But the State Department has not made public the details of the "action plan," which, according to the TIP office, is contained within a recently signed U.S.-Sudanese "bilateral" agreement.
Total Imports of Petroleum
Top 15 Countries
(Thousand Barrels per Day)
Country.........YTD 2005
CANADA..........2,116
MEXICO..........1,657
SAUDI ARABIA *..1,594
VENEZUELA.......1,575
NIGERIA.........1,127
IRAQ *............534
ALGERIA *.........484
ANGOLA............432
RUSSIA............422
UNITED KINGDOM....384
VIRGIN ISLANDS....322
ECUADOR...........288
KUWAIT *..........208
COLOMBIA..........191
BRAZIL............140
Total imports: 11,474
Total Arab (Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Iraq, and Kuwait): 2,820
Percent of Arab oil: 24.6%
Percent non-Arab: 75.4%
| 74 % Heroic |
Hey, if you got 80% or above, congratulations! You've got what it takes to be a hero. If you got above 50%, you're more heroic than the average bear. If you got below 40%, you are either too afraid to act when the moment comes, or care about yourself more than others. If you got a negative score, it's only because you skipped questions, and I warned you about that. If you like taking my test please give it a good rating! |
 |
My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The How Heroic Are You? Test written by maat13 on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
| I, nA, nL, I You scored 54 Introversion, 41 Attachment, 29 Logic, and 62 Intellect! |
| You are: Introverted. NOT attached. NOT logical. Intellectual. You are the sort of person who fascinates me. You're quiet and solitary, possible due to shyness and you don't let society get too into you. You are your own person, and you love to learn and understand the world around you. Chances are though, you aren't too into maths and science. You probably are more artistic, intuitive and emotional. People like you can understand true beauty. You are likely to be misunderstood, but you are a rare sort. A gift to any society. |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Who Are You? Test written by Schizothyme on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
Rice said she has worked closely with Miers, the current White House counsel and a former deputy chief of staff on international legal issues, on matters such as a President's wartime powers.
Asked whether she urged Bush to select Miers, Rice said, "I'm not in the habit of recommending Supreme Court justice nominees to the president."
"I'm a little surprised that they came out of the box so cynically," White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. said in a C-SPAN interview made public yesterday. Card, who was central to the Miers selection, said he accepted responsibility for any mishandling. "I am glad to carry the blame," he said.
COMING TOMORROW
No religious test
Exclusive: Alan Keyes says Bush's use of Miers' faith skirts Constitution
--WND
Bush's statement leaves the definite impression that Harriet Miers' religion was one of the reasons he selected her. Now, as president he is sworn to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution. The Constitution (Article VI) states that "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."
Clearly, this means that no one can be barred from office because of their religious affiliation (a point I and other conservatives have argued strenuously in the face of liberal persecution of openly religious judicial nominees). Yet if religious affiliation is cited as a basis for preference in the nominating process, doesn't this preference constitute a barrier to those without the affiliation? If so, it would be improper for this or any other president to make religious affiliation a key element in his judgment about an individual's qualifications for office. If President Bush has done so in Miers' case, her nomination is tainted by this constitutional impropriety and should be withdrawn.
For example, given the teachings of Buddha, an individual ought to show consideration for the life and worth of every individual. If she has done so, the president may properly consider her actions as an indication that she would show due respect for the rights and dignity of each person when adjudicating cases that arise under the Constitution. Her actions, not the religious beliefs that motivate them, are the proper constitutional basis for his deliberation.
National Urban League, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton,
Farrakhan suggested that black Americans should not donate hurricane relief money to the American Red Cross because the organization was "too white."
"No, no one has, [expressed unease]" Farrakhan responded. "And there is a reason that they have not," he added, explaining that the liberal groups agree with him about the need to monitor relief organizations in New Orleans, whose workers lack sensitivity toward minorities, according to Farrakhan.
"The NAACP, the [National] Urban League, and a host of black leaders, met in Washington D.C. at Howard University, called by Mr. Bruce Gordon of the NAACP [and] Mr. Marc Morial of the [National] Urban League," Farrakhan continued.
"And they want FEMA to be monitored. They want the Red Cross, the United Way, all of these that have received so much from the compassion of the American people. Where will that money go?" Farrakhan asked.
The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Friday urged his Capitol Hill colleagues to extend and strengthen the Voting Rights Act in order to "level the playing field" because, U.S. Rep. Melvin Watt said, "white people ... will not consider voting for an African American candidate."
DAMASCUS, Syria, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Sharaa erred twice in his eulogy of Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan calling the suicide an "assassination," said an-Nahar.
The public attorney who superintended an autopsy made the same mistake during a televised news conference.
Researchers at Mexico's National Population Council and the University of California
that only 9.8 percent of Mexican adult migrants living in the United States 10 years or less visited an emergency room in the past year.
Among Mexican immigrants living in the United States more than 10 years, 13.7 percent visited an emergency room in the previous year
The study draws on data from the U.S. Census, U.S. National Health Survey and Mexican government to compare health care access in the United States between new arrivals from Mexico, long-staying Mexican immigrants and native born.
The report found migrants arrive in relatively good health. Only 6.8 percent considered themselves in fair or poor health, much lower than other groups. Only 2.6 percent were diagnosed with diabetes, also much lower than other groups.
The Minister of Interior (who is so busy waging a war on the opposition in the streets of Egypt) must protect Sinai from illegal trespassers. And the Minister of Defense, who is busy conducting war games in the northern coast, needs to have his border guards to aggressively and immediately defend the border.
"I'VE been worrying about God a little bit lately. It seems as if he's been lashing out, you know, destroying cities, annihilating places. It seems like he's been in a bad mood. And I think it has to do with the quality of lovers he's been getting. If you look at the people who love God now, you know, if I was God, I'd need to destroy something" — Salman Rushdie
The CPI increase primarily reflected soaring energy costs, which rose 12 percent last month, the largest monthly increase since the department started collecting data in 1957. Energy costs rose 35 percent in the 12 months that ended in September.
After excluding food and energy prices, so-called core prices rose 0.1 percent for the month and 2 percent over the past year.
D.C. government employees reward themselves
By Jim McElhatton
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
October 13, 2005
The D.C. government employees tasked with providing care to the city's poor have taken home nearly half of the more than $1 million in bonus money awarded by the District during the first half of fiscal 2005.
Nearly 400 employees in the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) received approximately $479,000 in extra money in their paychecks from Oct. 1, 2004, to March 31, 2005, according to D.C. Office of Personnel records.
Citywide, the D.C. government awarded 565 bonus payments for $1.06 million.
D.C. City Council member Adrian M. Fenty, chairman of the council's Committee on Human Services, which oversees the Department of Human Services, yesterday said he's going to conduct an inquiry of the department's bonuses.
"The Department of Human Services is not one of our better-running agencies right now," said Mr. Fenty, Ward 4 Democrat and mayoral candidate. "We're going to do a full scrubbing of this."
Officials from the department yesterday said they were unable to respond to inquiries seeking comment for this story by deadline.
During the past year, however, department officials have noted several improvements, including a reduction in teen-pregnancy rates and a recent award from the federal government for management of the city's food-stamp program.
But the department also has been criticized for the closure last year of a homeless shelter in Southwest. And a D.C. Auditor report in September 2004 sharply criticized the department's management of subsidized child-care programs.
The report said a lack of oversight "fostered wasteful use of District and federal funds."
Bonuses for 389 Human Services workers averaged about $1,200 each. By contrast, other agencies spent far less within their departments, yet often gave more generous individual bonuses to a handful of government executives.
The Office of the Chief Technology Officer, for example, distributed $71,757.70 to nine employees. Six received more than $8,000 each, including Robert Legrande, deputy chief technology officer. His $12,000 bonus ranked second-highest among all incentive awards.
Each of the top bonus recipients earned a salary of more than $120,000 per year.
The top bonus in the city went to an employee who no longer works for the District. Eric Price, former deputy for Planning and Economic Development, received a $13,239 bonus before his resignation in January 2005.
Only one other employee received a bonus topping $10,000. Stephen Green, director of development for the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, who helped broker the District's baseball stadium deal, received a bonus of $10,332.
The Human Services employees receiving bonuses were largely mid- or lower-level employees, including social-service representatives, program analysts and clerical assistants.
Randi Blank, spokeswoman for the Office of Personnel, said it's up to each agency when to propose incentive awards for their employees. She said that decision depends on budget availability.
"Some agencies wait until the fourth quarter, and others do it earlier," Miss Blank said. "DHS is one of our larger agencies, with more than 1,500 employees."
Miss Blank also said city officials "make sure that the recommendation forms submitted are complete and the award is properly justified."
Since 2001, the District has given more than $5 million in bonuses.
City employees can receive incentive awards for "a suggestion, an invention, a superior accomplishment, length of service or other meritorious effort," according to the personnel manual.
According to city rules, incentive awards cannot exceed $5,000 or 10 percent of an employee's annual salary. Any government employee can receive cash rewards -- except the mayor, council members, members of certain boards and commissions, and courts and school employees.
Two other employees in the Office of the Chief Technology Officer have ranked among the top bonus recipients in the District so far in 2005.
Veronica Lipscombe, director of technical services for the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, received $9,449. And Christina Fleps, attorney for the agency, received $9,712.
A top bonus recipient in another department was Robin Yeldell, director of operations for the Office of Cable Television and Telecommunications, $8,697.
"To tell you the truth, I really don't know how I got this," Miers told
reporters in the White House. "I mean, out of all the lawyers in the
country, what makes me qualified to make constitutional decisions?"
When pressed to explain what she meant by the comments, a reluctant,
confused Miers continued, "Look, okay, I've been a lawyer for thirty years.
I was really popular in Dallas, and I did some work on the Texas Lottery.
But how many cases of constitutionality have I judged? Zero."
"Would you pick me to be a Supreme Court justice?" she added.
The Fourth Amendment, Johnston said, protects against unreasonable searches. Yet when he went to the stadium, a security guard patted him down -- without cause, in Johnston's view.
Johnston, with help from the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking an injunction to end pat-downs at Raymond James Stadium.
"We understand that the Fourth Amendment protects individuals against unreasonable search and seizure," said Milt Ahlerich, the NFL's vice president of security. "This is not unreasonable."
He said the searches are to protect against one thing: suicide bombers wearing vest-type devices. He said pat-downs would catch bombers and deter would-be bombers.
Johnston, an ordained Baptist minister who teaches government and history at Tampa Bay Tech, said he arrived at the first home game knowing the searches had been approved.
He said he lifted his shirt so the security guard could see that he was unarmed. The guard told him to put down his shirt. Johnston said he told the guard he did not consent to the pat-down, but the guard patted him anyway.
The Miami Herald
October 12, 2005 Wednesday FL EDITION
SECTION: A; Pg. 1
Report: AIDS funds wrongly diverted;
Florida social service administrators took $200,000 from an AIDS program to pay the bills of a Broward child with autism, a state report said. Favoritism may have been a factor.; HERALD WATCHDOG
BY CAROL MARBIN MILLER; cmarbin@herald.com
Faced with a long waiting list and short on dollars to meet the needs of disabled Floridians, state administrators ''went shopping'' for the money elsewhere, an inspector general's report says.
Apparently, those with AIDS paid the price.
In 1999, the politically connected parent of a disabled Broward County youngster threatened to sue state social service officials who refused to pay for the youngster's care. The report, by the Agency for Health Care Administration's inspector general, says that state authorities diverted about $200,000 in federal AIDS dollars to pay for the child's care.
The report raises several concerns. Among them: whether state social service administrators routinely pilfer money from one pot to cover shortfalls in another, and whether they play favorites when deciding whom to serve among a 15,000-name waiting list of disabled Floridians in need of care.
To Florida AIDS advocates, the conclusions of the 200-page report confirm their long-standing fears that people with AIDS suffer particular neglect in a state known for its meager spending on social services.
''It is completely immoral and unethical to take money away from people with AIDS,'' said Sheri Kaplan, executive director of the Center for Positive Connections, an HIV and AIDS resource and support center in North Miami.
So who approved the diversion of funds?
According to the report, at least two high-ranking state administrators told investigators that former AHCA Medicaid Bureau Chief Shelly Brantley -- and perhaps others in the agency -- approved the funding. One of the administrators told investigators that when he questioned Brantley about the propriety of the diversion, she responded: ''Find a way to pay it. Do what you're told to do.''
Brantley, now director of Florida's Agency for Persons with Disabilities, declined to comment for this story.
Lindsay Hodges, a spokeswoman for Brantley in Tallahassee, declined to discuss the report in detail, saying Brantley had not read the report, and was not interviewed as a part of the investigation. Hodges said, in an e-mail, the Broward family's settlement with the state ''was resolved prior to [Brantley's] employment with AHCA.''
Yet two high-ranking administrators told inspector general investigators that Brantley was involved in the decision to divert the money. It was not clear from the report what role Brantley had at the agency at the time, and her spokeswoman could not furnish a copy of Brantley's resume to The Herald on Tuesday.
At the center of the April inspector general's report is a Broward County couple described by agency administrators as politically connected. When the couple threatened to sue the state over the costs of their child's care, officials diverted about $40,000 per year -- or more than $200,000 since 1999 -- from a program for people with AIDS to pay for expensive therapies for the child, who suffers from autism.
The investigation began in August 2004, when an AHCA program analyst, Colm McAindriu, filed a formal complaint with the agency's inspector general a few weeks after he retired. In his complaint, McAindriu alleged several ''violations of state and federal laws'' by his former bosses, including the misspending of hundreds of thousands of AIDS dollars.
'ALTERNATIVE FUNDING'
The inspector general's report confirmed McAindriu's claim that high-ranking administrators of the healthcare agency approved the use of AIDS money to pay for the Broward youngster's behavioral care. The report recommended the agency ''consider an alternative funding source'' for the child's therapies.
Jonathan Burns, a spokesman for AHCA, which regulates healthcare providers in Florida, declined to specify whether the child's therapies still are being financed by the AIDS program, citing federal privacy laws.
The state rules that govern the Project AIDS Care program say only those diagnosed with AIDS are eligible for services.
UPSET OVER DIVERSION
McAindriu, a seven-year employee of the healthcare agency, told investigators the diversion of funds bothered him because he has a 30-year-old cousin with AIDS.
''I don't know if I'm ever going to see her before she dies,'' he said. ''To my knowledge there is no cure for this thing. . . . There are a lot of people like my cousin who need as much help as they can get.''
McAindriu told investigators he asked other AHCA administrators, including the supervisor of the AIDS program, whom he did not name, whether officials commonly robbed Peter to pay Paul. 'And [the] frequent comment was, 'We do lots of things like that,' '' he said, according to the report.
The mother of the Broward child, who is not being named to protect the family's privacy, declined to discuss the report.
SOME LEFT AGENCY
Brandi Brown, an AHCA spokeswoman, said in an e-mail that few, if any, of the employees involved in the case were still working with the healthcare agency, and so ''disciplinary actions have not been taken.''
Burns said the agency would not reimburse the Project AIDS Care program for the money removed to pay for the child's treatments since 1999.
Like Floridians with AIDS, the families of disabled people also have struggled to obtain state aid. Martha Creel, who worked in AHCA's Medicaid office in the early 2000s, told investigators her agency succumbed to ''political pressure'' in the Broward family's case.
''Usually, people are told, 'I'm sorry, we can't help you. Get on the waiting list with everybody else,'' Creel, who is now director of a community program for disabled people at the state Department of Elder Affairs, told investigators.
EARLIER REPORT
It's not the first time the issue has been raised. A 2004 report by the Department of Children & Families' inspector general concluded that the family of a disabled Tampa Bay child ''received special consideration'' from the state following phone calls from the aide of a powerful lawmaker.
The 2004 report quoted a doctor who worked for DCF's developmental disabilities office as stating ''that politics play a part in the daily operations'' of the program.
UNEVEN FIELD?
State Rep. Susan K. Goldstein, a Sunrise Republican who has championed the cause of disabled children, said parents have expressed concerns that the playing field is not even.
''People really, truly believe it's who you know,'' Goldstein said.
Officials interviewed by the inspector general said one of the Broward child's parents was friendly with a Broward County commissioner, who was not named, and a former state Cabinet official.
Karen Alday-Henderson, a program analyst with AHCA, told inspector general investigators: ''I believe that [the parent's] political clout has something to do with how this happened.''
AN ADOPTED CHILD
The Broward couple, now divorced, adopted the youngster in the 1990s from the Department of Children & Families' foster care program.
In the spring of 1999, DCF's adoption program announced it would refuse to continue paying for the child's care, including costly ''intensive behavioral treatments,'' beginning that June. The therapy was intended to combat the effects of autism, an often debilitating neurological disorder that can leave children extremely difficult to manage.
Desperate for help, the family appealed DCF's rejections and threatened to sue the state. The family also threatened to give the child back to the state, Creel told the inspector general investigators.
1999 AGREEMENT
What resulted was a settlement agreement in 1999 between the family and AHCA, which agreed to pay about $40,000 per year for the child's care.
But DCF, which administered Florida's disabilities program until lawmakers created a separate state disabilities program, called the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, last year, insisted it did not have the money to pay for the treatments.
Alday-Henderson, the AHCA program analyst, testified she thought the decision to pay for the youngster's treatments with AIDS dollars originated with Brantley and Nicola ''Nicky'' Moulton, who was a Medicaid program administrator until she left the agency in late 2000, the inspector general's report said.
NOT ENOUGH FUNDS
Alday-Henderson said the state's developmental disabilities program lacked ''adequate funds'' to pay for the child's treatment, so officials ''went shopping'' among other state programs to come up with the money.
McAindriu told investigators that in about 2002 or 2003 he asked Brantley -- AHCA's second-highest ranking Medicaid official as bureau chief -- whether it was right for the state to use AIDS money to pay for the child's therapies.
''Find a way to pay it. Do what you're told to do,'' he quoted Brantley as replying, according to the report.
Creel described to investigators a similar conversation with Brantley: ''I was told that this had been set up to happen; it was set up above her and that I would just let it go.''
In affected vehicles, dashboard warning lights may come on and the gasoline engine shuts down. The vehicle's electric motor will continue operating in a limited capacity, so drivers can steer to the side of the road. The gasoline engine may start working again if the driver restarts the vehicle.
On Ash Wednesday of 2004, a few days before Casey left for Iraq, his dad and I went to see The Passion of the Christ. That was our Ash Wednesday penance that year. Casey's dad fell asleep during the scourging scene while I sat in my seat and quietly sobbed. I was especially touched by the character that played Jesus' mom who followed her son along while he was being violently tortured and killed by devious men with an evil agenda. Of course, since I became a mom over 26 years ago, I have identified with Mary as she sobbed at the foot of her sons cross and cradled his lifeless body in her arms.
"There's an understanding between President Mubarak and President Abbas to jointly operate the international airport," PA Information Minister Nabil Shaath said.
Cairo has also sent government personnel to man critical facilities in the Gaza Strip. Egyptian officers have been directing PA security operations.
"Abbas cannot use the security forces against Hamas or Jihad without Egyptian permission," another source said. "He could threaten, but everybody knows that the authority remains with Egypt."
The sources said Egypt has used a carrot-and-stick approach to maintain the submission of Palestinian insurgency groups. They said the regime of President Hosni Mubarak has allowed Hamas and Jihad leaders to travel freely to Cairo. Hamas was also permitted to establish an unofficial presence in the Egyptian capital.
Suddenly at the forefront of taking sex aids mainstream, conservative marketer Johnson & Johnson almost overnight has doubled sales of its once-sleepy K-Y brand for the second time in four years thanks to the blockbuster summer rollout of a new line of massage oils. And nowhere has that success been greater than at Wal-Mart, where K-Y Touch Massage oils have hit the list of top 10 new health and beauty products of 2005, according to J&J VP-Personal Care Marketing Jim Peterson.
Another issue will involve Ms. Miers's tenure as head of the Texas Lottery Commission, where lottery director Nora Linares was fired in a scandal involving influence-peddling and lottery contracts. In a curious move, the White House announced this week that regarding the Linares matter, "Harriet Miers has never commented and will not now on what was a personnel matter." That is unlikely to remain a tenable position.
The Miers pick had its origin in the selection of John Roberts last July. Ms. Miers was praised for her role in selecting him and the wildly positive reaction. At that point, a senior White House official told the Washington Post that William K. Kelley, the deputy White House counsel who had been appointed to his post only the month before, stepped in. The Post reported that Mr. Kelley "suggested to [White House Chief of Staff] Andy Card that Miers ought to be considered for the next seat that opened."
A Syrian official who declined to speak on the record told the Associated Press that Gen. Kenaan shot himself in the mouth with a silencer-equipped gun. A colleague found him slumped at his desk and a pool of blood on the ground, the official said.
But Oklahoma University Middle East scholar Joshua Landis, now in Damascus, noted that Gen. Kenaan was known to be close to Mr. Hariri and had opposed efforts by others in Syria to support his rival, former Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.
"If Washington were to turn to anyone to carry out a coup against Bashar, it would have to place Ghazi Kenaan at the top of the list," Mr. Landis wrote in an analysis yesterday.
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