News Update
Apr. 29th, 2005 03:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lapsedmodernistOh, I'm just doing my moderating thing over at DU, so I thought I'd share, for those of you who were (understandably) repelled from your news sources by the press conference
1. Incoming cloud forces Bush into safe bunker
President George Bush was bundled into an underground bunker, Dick Cheney was evacuated to an "undisclosed location" and heavily armed secret servicemen took up defensive positions when a fast-moving cloud scudded towards the White House, it was reported yesterday.
The cloud that materialised 30 miles south of Washington on Wednesday morning was so dense it triggered radar monitors on the Domestic Events Network, intended to prevent a repeat of the September 11 attacks.
I have long suspected that this administration had watched Air Force One one time too many. I didn't realize the same went for Independence Day, although perhaps there had been recent screenings, now that Bill Pullman is in Revelations.
Wait, no, sorry, wrong image.
I meant this:
Oh crap, okay, let's try again
This administration will go down in history as the administration that scrambled air defense against a cloud, yet failed to deploy appropriate crafts from NORAD on the day that NORAD happened to be in super-duper tip-top shape:
As the sun rose on September 11, 2001, NORAD was already taking part in the Vigilant Guardian war game, which had begun a few days before. [Newhouse News, 1/25/02, Ottawa Citizen, 9/11/02, Code One Magazine, 1/02] As a result, NORAD was in peak form. It was fully staffed and alert, and senior officers were manning stations throughout the US when the first hijacking was reported. [Aviation Week and Space Technology, 6/3/02] Because of the war game, NORAD “had extra fighter planes on alert.” [ABC News, 9/14/02] Colonel Robert Marr, in charge of NORAD's Northeastern US sector, said, “We had the fighters with a little more gas on board. A few more weapons on board.” [ABC News, 9/11/02]
Also does anyone thing it's weird [and by "weird" I mean confirming all of our suspicions] that when during moments of danger, whether from hijackers or meteorological phenomena, the Secret Service keeps whisking Dick Cheney outta there (I mean, the White House), and not Bush? I wonder if they grabbed him under his arms this time.
2. Zell Miller rushed to an abortion clinic!
I shit you not!
GAINESVILLE, Ga. - Former Sen. Zell Miller fell ill while giving a speech in Gainesville Thursday night and was taken to a hospital emergency room. His wife said he had flu-like symptoms.
Miller, 73, excused himself from the stage at a banquet for the Gainesville Care Center at the Georgia Mountains Center and was transported to
Northeast Georgia Medical Center: Difficult Decisions...Caring Solutions
434 Green Street Place
Gainesville, GA 30503-0052
" . . . Pregnancy Resource Since 1987"
Gainesville Care Center is dedicated to inform, educate and provide an outstretched hand to women faced with an untimely pregnancy. Since opening in 1987, Gainesville Care Center has assisted thousands of women in making informed decisions. Staff and volunteers offer confidential, one-on-one support as well as services and referrals at no charge to the client. After exploring the alternatives, each woman is free to make an educated decision concerning her pregnancy.
3. And, finally:
Rumsfeld to Free Saddam If He Stops Insurgence
You know, four years ago, I'd be, like, they crazy, but really, now? I mean, why not? Let's just say I am more agnostic on the subject than I should be in a country characterized by baseline sanity and consistency.
P.S. Also, in light of yesterday's story about the 13 year old girl in FL blocked from having an abortion, if the press conference didn't make you want to howl, this will
SAMPLE PRO-LIFE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR OF PRIESTS FOR LIFE
Letter 125
Recently, an upset teenager fussed to the media because she sought an abortion but was delayed by parental notification laws and ended up having the baby.
I don't understand her complaint. Since this girl had the baby and was still able to complain about it, she obviously did not need an abortion. This is a point that gets glossed over. Abortion advocates scream that "women don't have abortions they want, they have abortions they need." Then they turn around and complain that as a result of waiting, the woman survived just fine without the abortion. They can't have it both ways.
Letter 370
An abortion clinic director was quoted voicing opposition to the new ban on federal funds for aborting incest pregnancies. She claimed, "It is the height of cruelty to force these young women to bear the children of their abusers."
I agree--the perverts who get these girls pregnant are cruel. But it is even more cruel to step in when the girl is pregnant and suggest a quick, free abortion. All this does is return the victim to her abuser.
Abortion protects the perpetrator of incest, not his victim. When the law allows his victim to get a secret abortion, it is simply making it easier for him to continue doing what he's doing. That's not what the law is meant to do. The solution to incest pregnancies is to end the abuse, not protect the abuser.
Letter 416
Your coverage of the recent pro-abortion march featured a photo of a woman holding a sign reading, "Women are not incubators."
No, they are not, although that seems to be the pro-choice view of them.
To a pro-choicer, once a woman becomes pregnant, she is no longer fully human. They never come right out and say this, but they make it very clear. What else can they mean by all their claims that women need abortion to fit into society? What else can explain their obsession with making sure that abortions take place the moment the idea crosses the woman's mind?
When women die during abortions, are pro-choicers upset? I've never seen them express any distress. But when two non-pregnant women were killed by John Salvi in Massachusetts, the pro-choicers were outraged.
How can we account for this except to say that they consider pregnant women to be subhuman creatures that need surgery (abortion) to be made fully human again.
In my opinion, women are people, whether they're pregnant or not.
I want this Unborn Baby Ornament: US Troop Model for my birthday (thanks for the heads-up, Jacob)
Protect our troops - from the womb to the war. What if the fetus you were going to abort would grow up to be a soldier bringing democracy to a godless dictatorship?
Although I always thought the fundies were just worried someone will abort Jesus.
1. Incoming cloud forces Bush into safe bunker
President George Bush was bundled into an underground bunker, Dick Cheney was evacuated to an "undisclosed location" and heavily armed secret servicemen took up defensive positions when a fast-moving cloud scudded towards the White House, it was reported yesterday.
The cloud that materialised 30 miles south of Washington on Wednesday morning was so dense it triggered radar monitors on the Domestic Events Network, intended to prevent a repeat of the September 11 attacks.
I have long suspected that this administration had watched Air Force One one time too many. I didn't realize the same went for Independence Day, although perhaps there had been recent screenings, now that Bill Pullman is in Revelations.
Wait, no, sorry, wrong image.
I meant this:
Oh crap, okay, let's try again
This administration will go down in history as the administration that scrambled air defense against a cloud, yet failed to deploy appropriate crafts from NORAD on the day that NORAD happened to be in super-duper tip-top shape:
As the sun rose on September 11, 2001, NORAD was already taking part in the Vigilant Guardian war game, which had begun a few days before. [Newhouse News, 1/25/02, Ottawa Citizen, 9/11/02, Code One Magazine, 1/02] As a result, NORAD was in peak form. It was fully staffed and alert, and senior officers were manning stations throughout the US when the first hijacking was reported. [Aviation Week and Space Technology, 6/3/02] Because of the war game, NORAD “had extra fighter planes on alert.” [ABC News, 9/14/02] Colonel Robert Marr, in charge of NORAD's Northeastern US sector, said, “We had the fighters with a little more gas on board. A few more weapons on board.” [ABC News, 9/11/02]
Also does anyone thing it's weird [and by "weird" I mean confirming all of our suspicions] that when during moments of danger, whether from hijackers or meteorological phenomena, the Secret Service keeps whisking Dick Cheney outta there (I mean, the White House), and not Bush? I wonder if they grabbed him under his arms this time.
2. Zell Miller rushed to an abortion clinic!
I shit you not!
GAINESVILLE, Ga. - Former Sen. Zell Miller fell ill while giving a speech in Gainesville Thursday night and was taken to a hospital emergency room. His wife said he had flu-like symptoms.
Miller, 73, excused himself from the stage at a banquet for the Gainesville Care Center at the Georgia Mountains Center and was transported to
Northeast Georgia Medical Center: Difficult Decisions...Caring Solutions
434 Green Street Place
Gainesville, GA 30503-0052
" . . . Pregnancy Resource Since 1987"
Gainesville Care Center is dedicated to inform, educate and provide an outstretched hand to women faced with an untimely pregnancy. Since opening in 1987, Gainesville Care Center has assisted thousands of women in making informed decisions. Staff and volunteers offer confidential, one-on-one support as well as services and referrals at no charge to the client. After exploring the alternatives, each woman is free to make an educated decision concerning her pregnancy.
3. And, finally:
Rumsfeld to Free Saddam If He Stops Insurgence
You know, four years ago, I'd be, like, they crazy, but really, now? I mean, why not? Let's just say I am more agnostic on the subject than I should be in a country characterized by baseline sanity and consistency.
P.S. Also, in light of yesterday's story about the 13 year old girl in FL blocked from having an abortion, if the press conference didn't make you want to howl, this will
SAMPLE PRO-LIFE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR OF PRIESTS FOR LIFE
Letter 125
Recently, an upset teenager fussed to the media because she sought an abortion but was delayed by parental notification laws and ended up having the baby.
I don't understand her complaint. Since this girl had the baby and was still able to complain about it, she obviously did not need an abortion. This is a point that gets glossed over. Abortion advocates scream that "women don't have abortions they want, they have abortions they need." Then they turn around and complain that as a result of waiting, the woman survived just fine without the abortion. They can't have it both ways.
Letter 370
An abortion clinic director was quoted voicing opposition to the new ban on federal funds for aborting incest pregnancies. She claimed, "It is the height of cruelty to force these young women to bear the children of their abusers."
I agree--the perverts who get these girls pregnant are cruel. But it is even more cruel to step in when the girl is pregnant and suggest a quick, free abortion. All this does is return the victim to her abuser.
Abortion protects the perpetrator of incest, not his victim. When the law allows his victim to get a secret abortion, it is simply making it easier for him to continue doing what he's doing. That's not what the law is meant to do. The solution to incest pregnancies is to end the abuse, not protect the abuser.
Letter 416
Your coverage of the recent pro-abortion march featured a photo of a woman holding a sign reading, "Women are not incubators."
No, they are not, although that seems to be the pro-choice view of them.
To a pro-choicer, once a woman becomes pregnant, she is no longer fully human. They never come right out and say this, but they make it very clear. What else can they mean by all their claims that women need abortion to fit into society? What else can explain their obsession with making sure that abortions take place the moment the idea crosses the woman's mind?
When women die during abortions, are pro-choicers upset? I've never seen them express any distress. But when two non-pregnant women were killed by John Salvi in Massachusetts, the pro-choicers were outraged.
How can we account for this except to say that they consider pregnant women to be subhuman creatures that need surgery (abortion) to be made fully human again.
In my opinion, women are people, whether they're pregnant or not.
I want this Unborn Baby Ornament: US Troop Model for my birthday (thanks for the heads-up, Jacob)
Protect our troops - from the womb to the war. What if the fetus you were going to abort would grow up to be a soldier bringing democracy to a godless dictatorship?
Although I always thought the fundies were just worried someone will abort Jesus.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 11:15 am (UTC)Since I've been in Japan I've stayed away from reading the news for the most part... I read The Economist every week but since the net is pretty non-existent for me right now I've been blissfully ignorant. THANKS FOR RUINING THAT. Kidding... just frightening to know how absolutely insane things still are.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 02:01 pm (UTC)http://www.steakandcheese.com/content/detail.asp?id=18144&Type=1&Page=1
I like this part of the Guardian article:
"By federal law since the September 11 attack, air passengers have to remain strapped in their seats within half an hour's flight time of Washington."
plane: "please don't unbuckle your seatbealt"
terrorist: "crap, foiled again."
What the what?
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 02:30 pm (UTC)if unbuckling one's seatbelt = breach of security
and apple juice = "troubled"
does unbuckling one's seatbelt WHILE consuming apple juice = "DANGEROUSLY CRIMINALLY INSANE"?
Dude, you better stay buckled in while you sip on your misguided beverage choice next time, or you will end up in a straightjacket instead of a wheelchair upon landing.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 02:27 pm (UTC)I forget, is it all free access online now, or did you have a subscritpion, or does your dad?
I will have to renew my subscriptions...Economist, Nation, Entertainment Weekly...all the important stuff :D
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 06:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 11:29 pm (UTC)I have a subscription... I'm looking for more magazines that offer their full content online as well as in paper form, since getting things mailed to Japan usually doubles the subscription price. Any suggestions?
no subject
Date: 2005-04-30 04:37 am (UTC)apropos the economist: in case you missed it, this link from the livejournal peak oil community:
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=3884623
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 03:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 06:05 pm (UTC)What the hell did you do?
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 06:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 06:47 pm (UTC)And I don't think just scarred girls cry after sex, although I suppose if it happens every time and is augmented by punching, there is some pathological level there.
And I am not going to argue ev. psych. with you! The way these memes work, is I ask and you answer, and I liked reading your answers, but the process is not a platform from which to launch an argument. Otherwise these interview memes would be too draining, esp. with the exponential "pass it forward" element. I feel that they work primarily for the responder to have an opportunity to reflect on and write about things they might otherwise not consider, or at least not in such detail, and they should be contained to that.
And sorry, I don't know any girls like that :(
Esp. not in Montreal.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 06:59 pm (UTC)Esp. not in Montreal."
How 'bout in NYC? How about anyhwere? I could make an effort to be 'more romantic', as you say, if required.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 07:01 pm (UTC)Also, I thought, according to your subject heading for the interview questions, you were smitten with me.
Of course, a true romantic's heart can belong to no one...
elgay, as you say...
Date: 2005-04-29 07:10 pm (UTC)"a true romantic's heart can belong to no one..."
This made me think of situation where one would be qualified in saying "She only wants me for my heart," which, for some reason i find totally funny.
Re: elgay, as you say...
Date: 2005-04-29 07:15 pm (UTC)Re: elgay, as you say...
Date: 2005-04-29 07:47 pm (UTC)Re: elgay, as you say...
Date: 2005-04-29 07:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 08:04 pm (UTC)"And I am not going to argue ev. psych. with you!"
i think you misunderstand. i'm not looking to point out where you may be wrong in your formulations and how they relate to ev. psche. I don't think i'm informed enough yet, either way. If anything, i want to know your opinions so i can better form my own. Sometimes i think my hesitation to stand firmly on either side (nature/nurture) reduces my point to mere tautalogy. you're in no way obligated of course, and it would be a lot easier if we were having a real discussion, in person, instead of sending messages back and forth. let's just say that's a discussion i'd like to have with you.
Probably more than you needed to know
Date: 2005-04-29 11:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 06:44 pm (UTC)YES!!!!
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 07:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 07:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 07:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 07:50 pm (UTC)but no, i am pretty hetero. i was just overwhelmed with glee that you actually said what you said there, and feeling slight tinges of guilt for having unleashed such scarring upon men-kind in the past... so selfish!
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 07:52 pm (UTC)ah, but were they kind men?
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 08:13 pm (UTC)i have not had the misfortune of crossing paths with the meanies of the world, at least not since college. no idea how i manage to avoid these time bombs. reflecting upon the crazy situations my fellow girlfriends (who are by and large quite smart, emotionally mature, beautiful, and all that) find themselves in, i just marvel at how fucked up human relations can get... with men who seem completely normal and sane in social situations. the mind bogles.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 07:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 07:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 08:08 pm (UTC)dislodge as in loosen something emotional by way of physical sensation.
Rumsfeld's New Fighting Technique is Unstoppable
Date: 2005-04-29 04:50 pm (UTC)But, in further proof that this Administration is not to be deterred by mere "reality-based" considerations, Rumsfeld has decided to strike back with a new cartoon hero fighting force for Iraq.
Re: Rumsfeld's New Fighting Technique is Unstoppable
Date: 2005-04-29 06:06 pm (UTC)Re: Rumsfeld's New Fighting Technique is Unstoppable
Date: 2005-04-29 06:17 pm (UTC)All (http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/read.php?story_id_key=7250) too (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7676925/) real (http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=28748).
no subject
Date: 2005-04-29 04:50 pm (UTC)Can this possibly be real?
http://www.illmitch.com/index.htm
download his song here:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/4/illmitchmusic.htm
I also adore this, for some reason
Date: 2005-04-29 08:17 pm (UTC)Re: I also adore this, for some reason
Date: 2005-04-29 08:20 pm (UTC)That's awesome.
You know, actually for this post I kept trying to find this photoshopped picture of Bush in the Omen III: Final Conflict poster, where his eyes are glowing red and he is positioned against the seal of the United States, but couldn't...did I ever email it to you by any chance?
Re: I also adore this, for some reason
Date: 2005-04-29 08:51 pm (UTC)