Skip to Page Content
Posted by paul1e999, at 07:58PM 08/20/08 and by 1 others:
Britain Threatens to Take Fattest Children Away from Parents
Note: Dangerously overweight children will have to be taken from their parents and put into care because of Britains worsening obesity epidemic, council leaders have warned. One million children will be clinically obese within four years on current trends, storing up future problems from heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Posted by lesleee_999, at 07:12PM 08/20/08 and by 1 others:
Golden Girls! A Big Day For U.S. Women
Note: Shawn Johnson won the balance-beam gold Tuesday night in the final event of womens gymnastics at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Nastia Liukin took silver.This was a coronation.For American gymnastics royalty has a new power pair.Two good friends, one from Parker, Texas, near Dallas, the other from West Des Moines.
Posted by hebron_1929, at 05:01PM 08/20/08 :
(Re: Arabist Jimmy Carter,) Sudan and Israel's suffering of Arab Racism
Note: (Re: Jimmy Carter,) Sudan and Israel's suffering of Arab Racism
Posted by walkertr, at 01:53PM 08/20/08 :
Video Game Industry Pursues Pirates In UK
Note: Five of the world’s top video game developers have demanded payment from thousands of households in the UK that have obtained the latest titles over the Web without paying. The companies involved – Atari, Topware Interactive, Reality Pump, Techland and Codemasters – have served notice on 25,000 people, requiring each to pay £300 immediately to settle out of court.
Posted by bob_sacamano, at 10:52AM 08/20/08 :
Lower the drinking age? Some colleges say maybe
Note: Avila University President Ron Slepitza was a graduate student working in residence halls at the University of Maryland when states started raising the drinking age in the early 1980s.
Posted by driftabit, at 01:44AM 08/20/08 :
U.S. tracking citizens' border crossings: report
Note: The U.S. government has been using its border checkpoints to collect information on citizens that will be stored for 15 years, raising concern among privacy advocates, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
Posted by BAHRAMERAD, at 07:15PM 08/19/08 :
IBIZA ' SAD PIANO ' 2008
Note: Something I pulled out of the hat last night ----Eivisso -The Red Earth Island - IBIZA 'SAD PIANO ' 2008 : By Bahramerad - Music : 'Intro' & 'Outro' : Ben Watt , ' The Sad Piano ': Charles Webster Remix
Posted by diane_court, at 04:49PM 08/19/08 :
Foreign Policy: Canceling Iraq’s Blank Check
Note: Whether the next president is named McCain or Obama, he must make clear to Iraqi leaders that the era of unconditional support is over—or risk seeing the recent security gains evaporate faster than a snowflake in a Baghdad summer. PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images Maliki’s turn: General Petraeus has done his job. Now it’s time for Iraqi leaders to step up. Traveling across Iraq as the surge ended, it was impossible to ignore the dramatic improvements in security. In 10 days on the ground in and around Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul, we did not hear a shot fired in anger. Remember the “triangle of death” just south of Baghdad? Soldiers now jokingly call it the “triangle of love.” Jokes aside, Iraq remains a dangerous place—and a number of significant attacks did take place out of earshot during our trip. But overall violence against Iraqi civilians and U.S. and Iraqi forces has fallen to levels not seen since early 2004. And as U.S. forces have stepped down from the surge, Iraqi security forces have started to find their feet. In recent months, the Iraqi Army has conducted successful operations in Amara, Basra, Mosul, and Sadr City (and they are currently engaged in operations in Diyala province). Iraqi security forces now control most of the country. In Basra, a southern metropolis infested with Shiite militias a few short months ago, we were able to tour the entire city in an Iraqi Army convoy accompanied by only a handful of coalition advisors. Up north, al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) is still deadly. Half of all attacks now occur in and around Mosul, where AQI remnants continue to find sanctuary. U.S. military commanders and intelligence analysts, however, now believe the group has been strategically defeated. AQI remains capable of intimidation, assassination, and periodic spectacular bombings, but it no longer poses a threat to the viability of the Iraqi state. The same goes for Iranian-backed “special groups,” which have been substantially degraded by recent offensives. Despite the improved security environment, no one in Baghdad, including Gen. David Petraeus, is doing a victory dance (even as a rising number of commentators in Washington do just that). Those on the ground know that because none of the fundamental political grievances underlying Iraq’s ethnosectarian conflict have been resolved, the security gains remain fragile and reversible. Genuine reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites remains elusive. The “Sunni Awakening”—the Sunnis’ decision to cooperate with U.S. forces against AQI—ranks among the biggest reasons for the decline in violence in Iraq. But don’t be fooled: The awakening represents an accommodation with the United States, not the Shiites who dominate Iraq’s government. These security gains could dissolve if the Sunni “Sons of Iraq”—many of them former insurgents—are not integrated into official forces or gainfully employed, and if emerging tribal leaders don’t get an opportunity to share power at the local and national levels through elections. Yet Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government, to the great frustration of many Sunnis and U.S. military commanders, has been slow-rolling integration of the Sons of Iraq. Nor is the Iraqi prime minister likely to incorporate the most important elements due to their former allegiances to the Baath Party, Saddam’s army, or the insurgency. Smoldering grievances among even a small percentage of the 100,000 armed Sons of Iraq could reignite a rebellion. Much has been made about the supposed goodwill Maliki accrued among Sunnis by taking on Moqtada al-Sadr’s Jaish al-Mahdi militia in Basra and Sadr City. But we did not detect this goodwill on the street. Many Sunnis remain deeply distrustful of the central government. Although Maliki has brought a few members of the Sunni-dominated Iraqi Accordance Front (known as “Tawafuq”) back into the government, he is reconciling with the wrong Sunnis. These “Green Zone” Sunnis have little grass-roots support and are rivals to the Sunni Awakening groups. Indeed, analysts worry that Maliki and Tawafuq are now collaborating to undermine the growing political power of the Awakening in the lead-up to elections—a move with deeply destabilizing possibilities. Tensions among Shiites pose another threat. This spring, violence in Iraq largely occurred within the Shiite community as Iraqi security forces clashed with Sadr’s militia and Iranian-backed special groups throughout much of central and southern Iraq. Since then, the Jaish al-Mahdi has been significantly weakened, special groups leaders have fled to Iran, and Sadr is in the midst of remaking his militia into a social protest movement. Nevertheless, Sadr’s movement is hardly defeated, and there are extremist elements calling for a return to violence. Pulling the Sadrists fully into the political process and away from these extremist voices will require fair provincial and national elections. Yet we heard great concerns that the ulterior motive of recent offensives in southern Iraq was to weaken the Sadrists politically, and that Maliki’s Dawa Party and its chief ally, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, will attempt to use their current monopoly on power and control of the Iraqi security forces to tilt the elections in their favor.
Posted by 747btrfly, at 03:59PM 08/19/08 :
Amid V.P. buzz, Biden opines on Georgia, Pakistan - 2008 Presidential Campaign Blog - Political Intelligence - Boston.com
Note: FTP: (Per Senator Biden)"The claims of Georgian atrocities that provided the pretext for Russia’s invasion are rapidly being disproved by international observers, and the continuing presence of Russian forces in the country has severe implications for the broader region.~~~~~~~~~ So much for the "Georgia shot first" crap.
Posted by 747btrfly, at 03:11PM 08/19/08 :
Political Punch
Note: FTP: ""Finally, we must help Georgia rebuild that which has been destroyed," Obama said. "That is why I’m proud to join my friend, Senator Joe Biden, in calling for an additional $1 billion in reconstruction assistance for the people of Georgia." ~~~~~~~~~~Read my comment on this blog - posted by Beverly
Posted by diane_court, at 02:25PM 08/19/08 :
College Leaders Gathering to Discuss Lowering the Drinking Age
Note: is your school on this list?
Posted by 747btrfly, at 12:01PM 08/19/08 :
The REAL John McCain: Less Jobs, More Wars.
Note: "The REAL McCain is a multimillionaire who owns ten luxurious homes. The REAL McCain backs President Bush's tax cuts for big corporations. The REAL McCain empathizes only with the interests of our nation's wealthy minority, not its money-strapped majority. But far too many are buying into McCain's deceit because the corporate press won't present the whole picture, so we created this video to educate the public about the REAL McCain.
Posted by Kimberley McKee, at 11:12AM 08/19/08 :
7 "Eccentric" Geniuses Who Were Clearly Just Insane | Cracked.com
Note: Is it possible to be too smart? Maybe. History is full of insane geniuses, humans who mentally put the pedal to the metal--and sometimes through the floor.
Posted by 747btrfly, at 09:51AM 08/19/08 :
The Real Elitist: Video of McCain's Collection of Mansions Reveal He's Not Your Average Joe | Election 2008 | AlterNet
Note: FTP: " Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films teams up with the AFL-CIO and SEIU to make "McCain's Mansions: the Real Elitist." "
Posted by 747btrfly, at 09:39AM 08/19/08 :
YouTube - Coal River Mountain, WV: Coal River Wind Project
Note: FTP: One community is attempting to prove that clean energy can beat dirty power -- even in the heart of coal country.
Top Groups:
Politics
U.S. Politics
Video Clips
Technology
International News
Entertainment
U.S. News
US Presidential Elec...
(more »)
apes_pigs
add to friendsapes_pigs's groups' Posts (8375)
Posted by paul1e999, at 07:58PM 08/20/08 and by 1 others:Britain Threatens to Take Fattest Children Away from Parents
Note: Dangerously overweight children will have to be taken from their parents and put into care because of Britains worsening obesity epidemic, council leaders have warned. One million children will be clinically obese within four years on current trends, storing up future problems from heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Posted by lesleee_999, at 07:12PM 08/20/08 and by 1 others:Golden Girls! A Big Day For U.S. Women
Note: Shawn Johnson won the balance-beam gold Tuesday night in the final event of womens gymnastics at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Nastia Liukin took silver.This was a coronation.For American gymnastics royalty has a new power pair.Two good friends, one from Parker, Texas, near Dallas, the other from West Des Moines.
Posted by hebron_1929, at 05:01PM 08/20/08 :(Re: Arabist Jimmy Carter,) Sudan and Israel's suffering of Arab Racism
Note: (Re: Jimmy Carter,) Sudan and Israel's suffering of Arab Racism
Posted by walkertr, at 01:53PM 08/20/08 :Video Game Industry Pursues Pirates In UK
Note: Five of the world’s top video game developers have demanded payment from thousands of households in the UK that have obtained the latest titles over the Web without paying. The companies involved – Atari, Topware Interactive, Reality Pump, Techland and Codemasters – have served notice on 25,000 people, requiring each to pay £300 immediately to settle out of court.
Posted by bob_sacamano, at 10:52AM 08/20/08 :Lower the drinking age? Some colleges say maybe
Note: Avila University President Ron Slepitza was a graduate student working in residence halls at the University of Maryland when states started raising the drinking age in the early 1980s.
Posted by driftabit, at 01:44AM 08/20/08 :U.S. tracking citizens' border crossings: report
Note: The U.S. government has been using its border checkpoints to collect information on citizens that will be stored for 15 years, raising concern among privacy advocates, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
Posted by BAHRAMERAD, at 07:15PM 08/19/08 :IBIZA ' SAD PIANO ' 2008
Note: Something I pulled out of the hat last night ----Eivisso -The Red Earth Island - IBIZA 'SAD PIANO ' 2008 : By Bahramerad - Music : 'Intro' & 'Outro' : Ben Watt , ' The Sad Piano ': Charles Webster Remix
Posted by diane_court, at 04:49PM 08/19/08 :Foreign Policy: Canceling Iraq’s Blank Check
Note: Whether the next president is named McCain or Obama, he must make clear to Iraqi leaders that the era of unconditional support is over—or risk seeing the recent security gains evaporate faster than a snowflake in a Baghdad summer. PATRICK BAZ/AFP/Getty Images Maliki’s turn: General Petraeus has done his job. Now it’s time for Iraqi leaders to step up. Traveling across Iraq as the surge ended, it was impossible to ignore the dramatic improvements in security. In 10 days on the ground in and around Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul, we did not hear a shot fired in anger. Remember the “triangle of death” just south of Baghdad? Soldiers now jokingly call it the “triangle of love.” Jokes aside, Iraq remains a dangerous place—and a number of significant attacks did take place out of earshot during our trip. But overall violence against Iraqi civilians and U.S. and Iraqi forces has fallen to levels not seen since early 2004. And as U.S. forces have stepped down from the surge, Iraqi security forces have started to find their feet. In recent months, the Iraqi Army has conducted successful operations in Amara, Basra, Mosul, and Sadr City (and they are currently engaged in operations in Diyala province). Iraqi security forces now control most of the country. In Basra, a southern metropolis infested with Shiite militias a few short months ago, we were able to tour the entire city in an Iraqi Army convoy accompanied by only a handful of coalition advisors. Up north, al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) is still deadly. Half of all attacks now occur in and around Mosul, where AQI remnants continue to find sanctuary. U.S. military commanders and intelligence analysts, however, now believe the group has been strategically defeated. AQI remains capable of intimidation, assassination, and periodic spectacular bombings, but it no longer poses a threat to the viability of the Iraqi state. The same goes for Iranian-backed “special groups,” which have been substantially degraded by recent offensives. Despite the improved security environment, no one in Baghdad, including Gen. David Petraeus, is doing a victory dance (even as a rising number of commentators in Washington do just that). Those on the ground know that because none of the fundamental political grievances underlying Iraq’s ethnosectarian conflict have been resolved, the security gains remain fragile and reversible. Genuine reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites remains elusive. The “Sunni Awakening”—the Sunnis’ decision to cooperate with U.S. forces against AQI—ranks among the biggest reasons for the decline in violence in Iraq. But don’t be fooled: The awakening represents an accommodation with the United States, not the Shiites who dominate Iraq’s government. These security gains could dissolve if the Sunni “Sons of Iraq”—many of them former insurgents—are not integrated into official forces or gainfully employed, and if emerging tribal leaders don’t get an opportunity to share power at the local and national levels through elections. Yet Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s government, to the great frustration of many Sunnis and U.S. military commanders, has been slow-rolling integration of the Sons of Iraq. Nor is the Iraqi prime minister likely to incorporate the most important elements due to their former allegiances to the Baath Party, Saddam’s army, or the insurgency. Smoldering grievances among even a small percentage of the 100,000 armed Sons of Iraq could reignite a rebellion. Much has been made about the supposed goodwill Maliki accrued among Sunnis by taking on Moqtada al-Sadr’s Jaish al-Mahdi militia in Basra and Sadr City. But we did not detect this goodwill on the street. Many Sunnis remain deeply distrustful of the central government. Although Maliki has brought a few members of the Sunni-dominated Iraqi Accordance Front (known as “Tawafuq”) back into the government, he is reconciling with the wrong Sunnis. These “Green Zone” Sunnis have little grass-roots support and are rivals to the Sunni Awakening groups. Indeed, analysts worry that Maliki and Tawafuq are now collaborating to undermine the growing political power of the Awakening in the lead-up to elections—a move with deeply destabilizing possibilities. Tensions among Shiites pose another threat. This spring, violence in Iraq largely occurred within the Shiite community as Iraqi security forces clashed with Sadr’s militia and Iranian-backed special groups throughout much of central and southern Iraq. Since then, the Jaish al-Mahdi has been significantly weakened, special groups leaders have fled to Iran, and Sadr is in the midst of remaking his militia into a social protest movement. Nevertheless, Sadr’s movement is hardly defeated, and there are extremist elements calling for a return to violence. Pulling the Sadrists fully into the political process and away from these extremist voices will require fair provincial and national elections. Yet we heard great concerns that the ulterior motive of recent offensives in southern Iraq was to weaken the Sadrists politically, and that Maliki’s Dawa Party and its chief ally, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, will attempt to use their current monopoly on power and control of the Iraqi security forces to tilt the elections in their favor.
Posted by 747btrfly, at 03:59PM 08/19/08 :Amid V.P. buzz, Biden opines on Georgia, Pakistan - 2008 Presidential Campaign Blog - Political Intelligence - Boston.com
Note: FTP: (Per Senator Biden)"The claims of Georgian atrocities that provided the pretext for Russia’s invasion are rapidly being disproved by international observers, and the continuing presence of Russian forces in the country has severe implications for the broader region.~~~~~~~~~ So much for the "Georgia shot first" crap.
Posted by 747btrfly, at 03:11PM 08/19/08 :Political Punch
Note: FTP: ""Finally, we must help Georgia rebuild that which has been destroyed," Obama said. "That is why I’m proud to join my friend, Senator Joe Biden, in calling for an additional $1 billion in reconstruction assistance for the people of Georgia." ~~~~~~~~~~Read my comment on this blog - posted by Beverly
Posted by diane_court, at 02:25PM 08/19/08 :College Leaders Gathering to Discuss Lowering the Drinking Age
Note: is your school on this list?
Posted by 747btrfly, at 12:01PM 08/19/08 :The REAL John McCain: Less Jobs, More Wars.
Note: "The REAL McCain is a multimillionaire who owns ten luxurious homes. The REAL McCain backs President Bush's tax cuts for big corporations. The REAL McCain empathizes only with the interests of our nation's wealthy minority, not its money-strapped majority. But far too many are buying into McCain's deceit because the corporate press won't present the whole picture, so we created this video to educate the public about the REAL McCain.
Posted by Kimberley McKee, at 11:12AM 08/19/08 :7 "Eccentric" Geniuses Who Were Clearly Just Insane | Cracked.com
Note: Is it possible to be too smart? Maybe. History is full of insane geniuses, humans who mentally put the pedal to the metal--and sometimes through the floor.
Posted by 747btrfly, at 09:51AM 08/19/08 :The Real Elitist: Video of McCain's Collection of Mansions Reveal He's Not Your Average Joe | Election 2008 | AlterNet
Note: FTP: " Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films teams up with the AFL-CIO and SEIU to make "McCain's Mansions: the Real Elitist." "
Posted by 747btrfly, at 09:39AM 08/19/08 :YouTube - Coal River Mountain, WV: Coal River Wind Project
Note: FTP: One community is attempting to prove that clean energy can beat dirty power -- even in the heart of coal country.
apes_pigs's recent shouts
apes_pigs doesn't have any shouts yet!
