Interesting coincidence that newly minted Nobel prize winner Edmund Phelps has an Op-ed in the Wall Street Journal (thanks to Greg Mankiw), in which he contrasts the English speaking world's system of capitalism with its less dynamic cousin:
Wasn't the Continental system designed to stifle dynamism?
Not only in the midst of the Airbus fiasco, which demonstrates nicely Phelps' point:
Late on Monday Frenchman Christian Streiff was replaced as chief executive of Airbus by Gallois, who also retains his functions at EADS. This was seen as strengthening the influence of France over Airbus.
"We must stop everything becoming French" at Airbus, German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung told the weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel earlier this week.
Many analysts say that the complicated management and production structure, and political interference are the main causes of the crisis at EADS.
But also this from New Scientist that couldn't be better designed to stifle creative destruction:
...members of the European Parliament (MEPs) insisted that chemical manufacturers must be held legally responsible for the safety of their products, and must replace hazardous chemicals if there are safer alternatives.
.... Called REACH (registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals), the proposed EU law could affect thousands of chemical products. It will oblige companies to register all chemicals they use and provide information about them as well as any potential hazards.
....The new regulations will apply retroactively to many of those chemicals. The proposed assessment and licensing could have an enormous impact on the European chemicals sector....
As amended today, the proposed law requires industry to prove chemicals are safe.
Which is itself justaposed at New Scientist with this marvel from the United States:
Swab a clear liquid onto a gaping wound and watch the bleeding stop in seconds. An international team of researchers has accomplished just that in animals, using a solution of protein molecules that self-organise on the nanoscale into a biodegradable gel that stops bleeding.
.... In the course of [their] research they discovered one material's dramatic ability to stop bleeding in the brain and began testing it on a variety of other organs and tissues. When applied to a wound, the peptides form a gel that seals over the wound, without causing harm to any nearby cells.
.... Some surgeons are already excited about the material. "I see great potential in the eye field, the gastro-intestinal field, and in neurosurgery," says Dimitri Azar, head of ophthalmology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, US.
.... Ed Buchel, who teaches general and plastic surgery at the University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada, sees equal potential for treating trauma and burns. "If this works as well on humans as it does on rats, it's phenomenal," he says.
That is, a chemical that in Europe would be held to be guilty until proven innocent (i.e 'safe').
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Kill the Messenger?
The message will remain the same, it's bad news to mix politics and business:
PARIS, Oct 10, 2006 (AFP) - New Airbus chief Louis Gallois cleared his predecessor's rescue plan for take-off on Tuesday but warned that months would be needed to streamline "baroque" practices behind the crisis.
Gallois was to meet Airbus managers two days before a Franco-German summit at which President Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Angela Merkel are expected to confront problems at Airbus, which some say has fallen victim to political pressure.
Meanwhile Christian Streiff, replaced by Gallois late Monday after just 100 days into his rescue mission, told the French newspaper Le Figaro that Airbus was still a European patchwork that "must become a real European enterprise".
....Gallois acknowledged that the management of EADS, which has dual chairmen and chief executives representing France and Germany, and production at Airbus was somewhat "baroque" and "a little complicated".
....Morgan Stanley analyst Eric Chaney commented in a research note that the plan, on which the future of the company depended, "has a name...but it does not have much substance".
The crisis was largely the result of "excessive political interference" he told AFP Tuesday.
Although governments might now have a short-term role to play, "to secure the long-term sustainability of this company, governments will progressively have to move out".
Otherwise, "the very future of the company could be jeopardised", his note warned.
PARIS, Oct 10, 2006 (AFP) - New Airbus chief Louis Gallois cleared his predecessor's rescue plan for take-off on Tuesday but warned that months would be needed to streamline "baroque" practices behind the crisis.
Gallois was to meet Airbus managers two days before a Franco-German summit at which President Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Angela Merkel are expected to confront problems at Airbus, which some say has fallen victim to political pressure.
Meanwhile Christian Streiff, replaced by Gallois late Monday after just 100 days into his rescue mission, told the French newspaper Le Figaro that Airbus was still a European patchwork that "must become a real European enterprise".
....Gallois acknowledged that the management of EADS, which has dual chairmen and chief executives representing France and Germany, and production at Airbus was somewhat "baroque" and "a little complicated".
....Morgan Stanley analyst Eric Chaney commented in a research note that the plan, on which the future of the company depended, "has a name...but it does not have much substance".
The crisis was largely the result of "excessive political interference" he told AFP Tuesday.
Although governments might now have a short-term role to play, "to secure the long-term sustainability of this company, governments will progressively have to move out".
Otherwise, "the very future of the company could be jeopardised", his note warned.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Not Your Father's La Dolce Vita?
Italy's electorate finds out that H.L. Mencken was right to say that Democracy is the political theory that the people know what they want, and deserve to get it...Good and hard:
Bologna, October 9 - Premier Romano Prodi and Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa Schioppa defended their budget plans on Monday after a weekend of criticism from industrialists and even some centre-left mayors.
Speaking at a conference of entrepreneurs in Bologna, Prodi expressed determination to press ahead with the 34-bn-euro budget package he and Padoa Schioppa have devised to bring the budget deficit below 3% of GDP.
"The government's duty is not, at the moment, a duty to make people happy. It is a duty to give the country a direction," he said .
Bologna, October 9 - Premier Romano Prodi and Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa Schioppa defended their budget plans on Monday after a weekend of criticism from industrialists and even some centre-left mayors.
Speaking at a conference of entrepreneurs in Bologna, Prodi expressed determination to press ahead with the 34-bn-euro budget package he and Padoa Schioppa have devised to bring the budget deficit below 3% of GDP.
"The government's duty is not, at the moment, a duty to make people happy. It is a duty to give the country a direction," he said .
Baby, You Can Put Out My Fire
She just loves a man in uniform, we guess:
(ANSA) - Rome, October 9 - A Roman bride has made her fiance's dream of becoming a fireman come true as a gift for their wedding.
"I've always felt a special thrill watching fire engines speed by and I'm mad about films with firemen in them," said Pierluigi, 31, as he started his Fireman For A Day package, secretly arranged by bride Simona with Rome's fire service.
"I was so pysched," he said later in the day after helping the professionals put out a short circuit in a Rome apartment building.
"Simona, you've made me so happy," Pierluigi gushed after the Rome 'pompieri' gave him an honorary uniform.
....Pierlugi said he'd never forget his wedding present and would be putting the uniform next to his scale model of a New York fire truck .
(ANSA) - Rome, October 9 - A Roman bride has made her fiance's dream of becoming a fireman come true as a gift for their wedding.
"I've always felt a special thrill watching fire engines speed by and I'm mad about films with firemen in them," said Pierluigi, 31, as he started his Fireman For A Day package, secretly arranged by bride Simona with Rome's fire service.
"I was so pysched," he said later in the day after helping the professionals put out a short circuit in a Rome apartment building.
"Simona, you've made me so happy," Pierluigi gushed after the Rome 'pompieri' gave him an honorary uniform.
....Pierlugi said he'd never forget his wedding present and would be putting the uniform next to his scale model of a New York fire truck .
Give Peace a Chance
Or at least a few more bucks:
A major fight has broken out between the board of the private foundation that runs the Nobel Peace Center (Nobels Fredssenter) and Norway's government minister for cultural affairs, Trond Giske.
Geir Lundestad, who leads the Nobel Peace Center's board, admits that the funding the center received from private sponsors, and which was supposed to last until 2008, is nearly used up. The board had hoped to receive NOK 30 million (about USD 4.6 million) in state funding, but only NOK 17.3 million was earmarked in the government's budget proposal released on Friday.
Most of that amount, NOK 14 million, must be paid back in rent to the state real estate manager Statsbygg, which formally controls the former train station where the Nobel Peace Center is housed. That leaves just NOK 3.3 million for operations, meaning much of the center's staff will have to be let go.
A major fight has broken out between the board of the private foundation that runs the Nobel Peace Center (Nobels Fredssenter) and Norway's government minister for cultural affairs, Trond Giske.
Geir Lundestad, who leads the Nobel Peace Center's board, admits that the funding the center received from private sponsors, and which was supposed to last until 2008, is nearly used up. The board had hoped to receive NOK 30 million (about USD 4.6 million) in state funding, but only NOK 17.3 million was earmarked in the government's budget proposal released on Friday.
Most of that amount, NOK 14 million, must be paid back in rent to the state real estate manager Statsbygg, which formally controls the former train station where the Nobel Peace Center is housed. That leaves just NOK 3.3 million for operations, meaning much of the center's staff will have to be let go.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Beggars can be choosers...
...in France.
Though it does beggar the imagination:
CRETEIL, France, Oct 8, 2006 (AFP) - A dozen immigrants returned to a Paris-area gymnasium they have occupied for weeks after refusing to accept new housing located far from their places of work, their supporters said Saturday.
"The families refused to get off the bus after they realized that the housing center was located more than 50 km (30 miles) by highway from Cachan" where the families previously squatted, supporter Delphine Nakache told AFP.
"It's impossible for them to go to work."
....Issofou Somahoro, a representative of the squatters, said the families who boycotted their new shelters, located in the Paris suburb of Porcheville, would be relocated.
Though it does beggar the imagination:
CRETEIL, France, Oct 8, 2006 (AFP) - A dozen immigrants returned to a Paris-area gymnasium they have occupied for weeks after refusing to accept new housing located far from their places of work, their supporters said Saturday.
"The families refused to get off the bus after they realized that the housing center was located more than 50 km (30 miles) by highway from Cachan" where the families previously squatted, supporter Delphine Nakache told AFP.
"It's impossible for them to go to work."
....Issofou Somahoro, a representative of the squatters, said the families who boycotted their new shelters, located in the Paris suburb of Porcheville, would be relocated.
Going Negative
We can't wait to see the attack ads:
Paul Herold does not want to hold public office, but voters in the town of Blaine [Minn.] have catapulted him into the final stage of the municipal election.
Mr Herold originally signed up to run for City Council but landed a new job that he said would not allow him enough time to devote to his constituents.
The father-of-two is now campaigning for his opponent - and hoping to lose.
The ambivalent candidate was told by City Hall officials that he had missed the deadline to remove his name from the primary ballot list. They suggested that he simply not campaign for next month's poll.
Mr Herold did more than that - he phoned friends and neighbours asking them to vote for anyone but him.
He also took his plight to local media pleading for non-support.
"I tried my best not to get any votes," he told Associated Press news agency.
Unfortunately for Mr Herold, he still got enough votes to advance to the next stage against incumbent Katherine Kolb.
Paul Herold does not want to hold public office, but voters in the town of Blaine [Minn.] have catapulted him into the final stage of the municipal election.
Mr Herold originally signed up to run for City Council but landed a new job that he said would not allow him enough time to devote to his constituents.
The father-of-two is now campaigning for his opponent - and hoping to lose.
The ambivalent candidate was told by City Hall officials that he had missed the deadline to remove his name from the primary ballot list. They suggested that he simply not campaign for next month's poll.
Mr Herold did more than that - he phoned friends and neighbours asking them to vote for anyone but him.
He also took his plight to local media pleading for non-support.
"I tried my best not to get any votes," he told Associated Press news agency.
Unfortunately for Mr Herold, he still got enough votes to advance to the next stage against incumbent Katherine Kolb.
About that delay on the line...
India's Call Centre's are getting a reputation:
With employees who are young, usually single, and on starting salaries much higher than those of doctors or lawyers, India's booming call centre industry has been responsible for a social revolution.
"Women come to work with condoms in their handbags," said Alkesh Dua, a call centre worker in Noida, just outside New Delhi. "Everyone is doing it. You're together all night in this cool, hip atmosphere and you end up getting intimate."
Employers have tried to compensate for the monotonous nature of the work itself by creating an informal, American-style college campus atmosphere, where there is plenty of après-shift drinking and partying. Since many staff work night shifts, after which normal socialising is impossible, office friendships - with accompanying sexual liaisons - have blossomed.
In the southern city of Bangalore, a call centre hub, the rising number of abortions – up 50 per cent in two years – is blamed on the licentious lifestyles of the call centre workers. So entrenched is their reputation for dating, drinking and partying that many middle class parents are now reluctant to let their daughters take up such jobs.
With employees who are young, usually single, and on starting salaries much higher than those of doctors or lawyers, India's booming call centre industry has been responsible for a social revolution.
"Women come to work with condoms in their handbags," said Alkesh Dua, a call centre worker in Noida, just outside New Delhi. "Everyone is doing it. You're together all night in this cool, hip atmosphere and you end up getting intimate."
Employers have tried to compensate for the monotonous nature of the work itself by creating an informal, American-style college campus atmosphere, where there is plenty of après-shift drinking and partying. Since many staff work night shifts, after which normal socialising is impossible, office friendships - with accompanying sexual liaisons - have blossomed.
In the southern city of Bangalore, a call centre hub, the rising number of abortions – up 50 per cent in two years – is blamed on the licentious lifestyles of the call centre workers. So entrenched is their reputation for dating, drinking and partying that many middle class parents are now reluctant to let their daughters take up such jobs.
Friday, October 06, 2006
The Fairness Doctor Is In
Maybe we could practice on some Op-ed columnists:
Now, using a tool called the “ultimatum game”, researchers have identified the part of the brain responsible for punishing unfairness. Subjects were put into anonymous pairs, and one person in each pair was given $20 and asked to share it with the other. They could choose to offer any amount – if the second partner accepted it, they both got to keep their share.
....in cases where only a very small share was offered, the vast majority of "receivers" spitefully rejected the offer, ensuring that neither partner got paid.
Previous brain imaging studies have revealed that part of the frontal lobes known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, or DLPFC, becomes active when people face an unfair offer and have to decide what to do. Researchers had suggested this was because the region somehow suppresses our judgement of fairness.
But now, Ernst Fehr, an economist at the University of Zurich, and colleagues have come to the opposite conclusion – that the region suppresses our natural tendency to act in our own self interest.
They used a burst of magnetic pulses called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) – produced by coils held over the scalp – to temporarily shut off activity in the DLPFC. Now, when faced with the opportunity to spitefully reject a cheeky low cash offer, subjects were actually more likely to take the money.
.... Fehr says the research has interesting implications for how we treat young offenders. "This region of the brain matures last, so if it is truly overriding our own self interest then adolescents are less endowed to comply with social norms than adults," he suggests. The criminal justice system takes into account differences for under-16s or under-18s, but this area fully matures around the age of 20 or 22, he says.
Now, using a tool called the “ultimatum game”, researchers have identified the part of the brain responsible for punishing unfairness. Subjects were put into anonymous pairs, and one person in each pair was given $20 and asked to share it with the other. They could choose to offer any amount – if the second partner accepted it, they both got to keep their share.
....in cases where only a very small share was offered, the vast majority of "receivers" spitefully rejected the offer, ensuring that neither partner got paid.
Previous brain imaging studies have revealed that part of the frontal lobes known as the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, or DLPFC, becomes active when people face an unfair offer and have to decide what to do. Researchers had suggested this was because the region somehow suppresses our judgement of fairness.
But now, Ernst Fehr, an economist at the University of Zurich, and colleagues have come to the opposite conclusion – that the region suppresses our natural tendency to act in our own self interest.
They used a burst of magnetic pulses called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) – produced by coils held over the scalp – to temporarily shut off activity in the DLPFC. Now, when faced with the opportunity to spitefully reject a cheeky low cash offer, subjects were actually more likely to take the money.
.... Fehr says the research has interesting implications for how we treat young offenders. "This region of the brain matures last, so if it is truly overriding our own self interest then adolescents are less endowed to comply with social norms than adults," he suggests. The criminal justice system takes into account differences for under-16s or under-18s, but this area fully matures around the age of 20 or 22, he says.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Boeing Boeing
Not the Jerry Lewis movie, but the French are again scrambling their schedules:
PARIS, Oct 5, 2006 (AFP) - European plane-maker Airbus said Thursday it may need 15 years to catch up with and overtake US rival Boeing, while the co-chief executive at parent company EADS said plans for the new mid-size A350 jet might have to be scrapped.
"This is such a long-term business," Airbus chief executive Christian Streiff told the Financial Times after EADS announced further production delays to the development of the A380 superjumbo, a key component in the competition with Boeing, as well as the prospect of heavy losses.
.... The co-chief executive of EADS, Thomas Enders, meanwhile told the Financial Times Deutschland that the future of the planned A350 XWB extra-wide bodied passenger jet could be in question.
...."Even if we arrive with three or four years' delay with respect to Boeing's 787, this question (of the A350) is capital for the devlopment of Airbus," he told the French daily Le Monde.
"Being absent from a segment that represents 40 percent of the value of the market is difficult to imagine," he said.
....With the A380 program now nearly two years behind schedule, EADS on Tuesday issued a profit warning and forecast a cash shortfall of EUR 6.3 billion.
PARIS, Oct 5, 2006 (AFP) - European plane-maker Airbus said Thursday it may need 15 years to catch up with and overtake US rival Boeing, while the co-chief executive at parent company EADS said plans for the new mid-size A350 jet might have to be scrapped.
"This is such a long-term business," Airbus chief executive Christian Streiff told the Financial Times after EADS announced further production delays to the development of the A380 superjumbo, a key component in the competition with Boeing, as well as the prospect of heavy losses.
.... The co-chief executive of EADS, Thomas Enders, meanwhile told the Financial Times Deutschland that the future of the planned A350 XWB extra-wide bodied passenger jet could be in question.
...."Even if we arrive with three or four years' delay with respect to Boeing's 787, this question (of the A350) is capital for the devlopment of Airbus," he told the French daily Le Monde.
"Being absent from a segment that represents 40 percent of the value of the market is difficult to imagine," he said.
....With the A380 program now nearly two years behind schedule, EADS on Tuesday issued a profit warning and forecast a cash shortfall of EUR 6.3 billion.
Can't tell your homophobes without a program
Ann Coulter runs down the flexible rules for Democrats which seem to depend on whether the subject has diplomatic recognition from the usual suspects:
We need to get a rulebook from the Democrats:
— Boy Scouts: As gay as you want to be.
— Priests: No gays!
— Democratic politicians: Proud gay Americans.
— Republican politicians: Presumed guilty.
— White House press corps: No gays, unless they hate Bush.
— Active-duty U.S. military: As gay as possible.
— Men who date Liza Minelli: Do I have to draw you a picture, Miss Thing?
This is the very definition of political opportunism.
If Republicans had decided to spy on Foley for sending overly friendly e-mails to pages, Democrats would have been screaming about a Republican witch-hunt against gays. But if they don't, they're enabling a sexual predator.
We need to get a rulebook from the Democrats:
— Boy Scouts: As gay as you want to be.
— Priests: No gays!
— Democratic politicians: Proud gay Americans.
— Republican politicians: Presumed guilty.
— White House press corps: No gays, unless they hate Bush.
— Active-duty U.S. military: As gay as possible.
— Men who date Liza Minelli: Do I have to draw you a picture, Miss Thing?
This is the very definition of political opportunism.
If Republicans had decided to spy on Foley for sending overly friendly e-mails to pages, Democrats would have been screaming about a Republican witch-hunt against gays. But if they don't, they're enabling a sexual predator.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Just a guess...
...and anyway, halfway measures aren't cutting it anymore for the Catholic church:
THE Pope will cast aside centuries of Catholic belief this week by abolishing the concept of limbo, in a gesture to help win the souls of millions of babies in the developing world for Christ.
The evidence suggests Benedict XVI never believed in limbo anyway. But in the evangelisation zones of Africa and Asia, the Pope - an authority on all things Islamic - is aware Muslims believe the souls of stillborn babies go straight to heaven.
Looking to spread the faith in countries with high infant mortality, now is a good time to make it clear the stillborn babies of Christian mothers go to heaven, too.
Although it has never been part of the church's doctrine, the existence of limbo was taught to Catholics around the world. In Britain, it was in the Penny Catechism, approved by the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, that declared limbo "a place of rest where the souls of the just who died before Christ were detained".
But limbo failed to impress the Pope, who was recorded as saying before his election: "Personally, I would let it drop, since it has always been only a theological hypothesis."
Not that there's anything wrong with that?
THE Pope will cast aside centuries of Catholic belief this week by abolishing the concept of limbo, in a gesture to help win the souls of millions of babies in the developing world for Christ.
The evidence suggests Benedict XVI never believed in limbo anyway. But in the evangelisation zones of Africa and Asia, the Pope - an authority on all things Islamic - is aware Muslims believe the souls of stillborn babies go straight to heaven.
Looking to spread the faith in countries with high infant mortality, now is a good time to make it clear the stillborn babies of Christian mothers go to heaven, too.
Although it has never been part of the church's doctrine, the existence of limbo was taught to Catholics around the world. In Britain, it was in the Penny Catechism, approved by the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, that declared limbo "a place of rest where the souls of the just who died before Christ were detained".
But limbo failed to impress the Pope, who was recorded as saying before his election: "Personally, I would let it drop, since it has always been only a theological hypothesis."
Not that there's anything wrong with that?
Labor Party opposes labor
For teenagers competing for jobs in the Australian boom:
THE resources boom is sucking teenagers in the west away from education and into the workforce, prompting a push by Labor to make school attendance compulsory until Year 12.
In a speech to be delivered tonight, influential Labor backbencher Craig Emerson argues that teenagers who leave school early to take up jobs in the boom economy will be left behind when the economic tide turns.
His warning came as figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the skills shortage is having a profound effect on the choices of 15- to 19-year-olds in Western Australia, where the school participation rate has fallen from 75.5 per cent in 2000 to 69.7 per cent last year.
THE resources boom is sucking teenagers in the west away from education and into the workforce, prompting a push by Labor to make school attendance compulsory until Year 12.
In a speech to be delivered tonight, influential Labor backbencher Craig Emerson argues that teenagers who leave school early to take up jobs in the boom economy will be left behind when the economic tide turns.
His warning came as figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the skills shortage is having a profound effect on the choices of 15- to 19-year-olds in Western Australia, where the school participation rate has fallen from 75.5 per cent in 2000 to 69.7 per cent last year.
The Canterbury Tapes
One of the 20th century's marvels comes to the aid of one of the 12th's:
Canterbury Cathedral is falling apart at the seams, with chunks of masonry dropping off its walls and a fifth of its internal marble pillars held together by duct tape.
.... The cathedral, the mother church of worldwide Anglicanism which was founded in 597 by St Augustine, was the scene of the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 and has survived extensive bombing of the city during the Second World War.
.... Masons had to "sweep" the exterior walls to remove chunks of wall that were threatening to fall off, and pieces of stone had become dislodged from the towers and fallen on to the roof,...
Heather Newton, the head of stone conservation, said that 20 per cent of the hundreds of 12th century Purbeck marble pillars that line the interior walls of the cathedral were bound with tape to prevent them crumbling.
....The cathedral hopes that it can appeal to Anglicans and wealthy benefactors worldwide, and is to open offices in North America and Asia.
The dean, the Very Rev Robert Willis, said that all avenues of fundraising would be considered, though suggestions that the cathedral could sell the Archbishop of Canterbury's house or collaborate with wealthy Muslims might not best serve the local community.
Canterbury Cathedral is falling apart at the seams, with chunks of masonry dropping off its walls and a fifth of its internal marble pillars held together by duct tape.
.... The cathedral, the mother church of worldwide Anglicanism which was founded in 597 by St Augustine, was the scene of the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170 and has survived extensive bombing of the city during the Second World War.
.... Masons had to "sweep" the exterior walls to remove chunks of wall that were threatening to fall off, and pieces of stone had become dislodged from the towers and fallen on to the roof,...
Heather Newton, the head of stone conservation, said that 20 per cent of the hundreds of 12th century Purbeck marble pillars that line the interior walls of the cathedral were bound with tape to prevent them crumbling.
....The cathedral hopes that it can appeal to Anglicans and wealthy benefactors worldwide, and is to open offices in North America and Asia.
The dean, the Very Rev Robert Willis, said that all avenues of fundraising would be considered, though suggestions that the cathedral could sell the Archbishop of Canterbury's house or collaborate with wealthy Muslims might not best serve the local community.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
When teachers with guns are outlawed...
As they are in most schools, such as in Olympia, Washington:
A 33-year-old teacher at Nisqually Middle School is on administrative leave after school officials discovered she brought a .38 Special handgun - along with bullets - on school grounds Thursday, according to the Thurston County Sheriff's Office.
Teacher Mary Catherine Roe, who lives in Shelton, told deputies she was fearful of her husband and that he used a gun while assaulting her, according to a sheriff's report. Roe also has a domestic violence protection order against her husband, according to Mason County records.
....Roe is under investigation for the charge of unlawfully carrying a firearm, which was in her purse, on school grounds. The law says no one except law enforcement officers can bring a firearm onto school grounds.
....School officials learned about the gun after a co-worker asked Roe how she is protecting herself against her husband, the police report states, and she told him that she had a gun in her purse, according to the sheriff's department.
QUARRYVILLE, Pa. -- A man who laid siege to a one-room Amish schoolhouse told his wife he had molested young children decades ago and left a note saying he had "dreams of molesting again," state police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller said Tuesday.
....Earlier Tuesday, two more children died of wounds from the shootings, raising the death toll to five girls plus the gunman.
And a fews days earlier, in Colorado:
BAILEY, Colo. -- The gunman who killed a student and committed suicide during a high school standoff methodically selected six girls as hostages -- apparently favoring blondes -- and sexually assaulted at least some of them, authorities and witnesses said Thursday.
A 33-year-old teacher at Nisqually Middle School is on administrative leave after school officials discovered she brought a .38 Special handgun - along with bullets - on school grounds Thursday, according to the Thurston County Sheriff's Office.
Teacher Mary Catherine Roe, who lives in Shelton, told deputies she was fearful of her husband and that he used a gun while assaulting her, according to a sheriff's report. Roe also has a domestic violence protection order against her husband, according to Mason County records.
....Roe is under investigation for the charge of unlawfully carrying a firearm, which was in her purse, on school grounds. The law says no one except law enforcement officers can bring a firearm onto school grounds.
....School officials learned about the gun after a co-worker asked Roe how she is protecting herself against her husband, the police report states, and she told him that she had a gun in her purse, according to the sheriff's department.
.... Roe told deputies "that she was aware that she should not bring the gun to school. She thought that if she was discovered that she would simply be asked to put it in her vehicle. Ms. Roe said that she has a concealed weapons permit and is proficient at shooting because of her military training."
....Roe told deputies that her father had purchased the handgun for her after her husband had assaulted her Aug. 5, "and she has carried it with her ever since," the report states. Roe's husband, Shawn Roe, is awaiting trial on pending charges of unlawful imprisonment and malicious mischief, according to Mason County records.
Then only the outlaws will bring guns into schools...with predictable results:QUARRYVILLE, Pa. -- A man who laid siege to a one-room Amish schoolhouse told his wife he had molested young children decades ago and left a note saying he had "dreams of molesting again," state police Commissioner Jeffrey B. Miller said Tuesday.
....Earlier Tuesday, two more children died of wounds from the shootings, raising the death toll to five girls plus the gunman.
And a fews days earlier, in Colorado:
BAILEY, Colo. -- The gunman who killed a student and committed suicide during a high school standoff methodically selected six girls as hostages -- apparently favoring blondes -- and sexually assaulted at least some of them, authorities and witnesses said Thursday.
You say tomato
The FLUBA Committee on Minding Your Own Business says, open your own restaurants if you want higher prices:
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has become the latest religious group to call on McDonald's to push for its tomato suppliers to pay higher wages.
With most of McDonald's US tomatoes coming from Florida, the bishops want the firm to broker a deal between the state's growers and main pickers union.
....The Catholic move comes after similar action from the Prebyterian Church, United Church of Christ, and National Council of Churches.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, head of the Conference of Catholic Bishop's Domestic Policy Committee, has sent an open letter to McDonald's to put across its thoughts.
He told McDonald's that with "substantial purchasing power, you can insist that your produce suppliers meet high ethical standards in how they treat their workers".
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has become the latest religious group to call on McDonald's to push for its tomato suppliers to pay higher wages.
With most of McDonald's US tomatoes coming from Florida, the bishops want the firm to broker a deal between the state's growers and main pickers union.
....The Catholic move comes after similar action from the Prebyterian Church, United Church of Christ, and National Council of Churches.
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, head of the Conference of Catholic Bishop's Domestic Policy Committee, has sent an open letter to McDonald's to put across its thoughts.
He told McDonald's that with "substantial purchasing power, you can insist that your produce suppliers meet high ethical standards in how they treat their workers".
Money Out of Politics; Unintended Consequences Dept.
By putting his money where he wants his mouth to be, Washington State Libertarian Senatorial candidate Bruce Guthrie has apparently opened the door for insurance executive (and the wealthiest millionaire running for that office) Mike McGavick to expand his fund raising operations. Thanks to, it appears, McCain-Feingold:
Bruce Guthrie, the Libertarian candidate for the U.S. Senate, has bought himself a $1.2 million place at a debate podium with his better-known opponents, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican Mike McGavick.
Guthrie admitted Monday that he lent $1,181,700 to his ultra-underdog campaign Saturday mainly to appear credible enough for inclusion in the only televised Western Washington debate between the two major candidates. It will be at KING/5 studios in Seattle on Oct. 17.
....The surprise infusion of big money into the effort of an obscure, third-party candidate potentially could change the dynamics of the contest, especially if the hard-fought race between Cantwell and McGavick is tight.
Further, an analysis Monday by the National Republican Senatorial Committee suggested that Guthrie's self-financing would trigger the "Millionaire's Amendment" in the 2002 federal Campaign Finance Reform Act.
However, under the amendment's arcane financing formula, it apparently would let McGavick -- but not Cantwell -- ask supporters for triple the normal individual contribution limit of $2,100, up to a maximum of $840,448 more.
The formula is based largely on how much cash on hand each candidate had Dec. 31, and McGavick had much less than Cantwell -- although the Republican, a wealthy former insurance executive, has since lent his campaign $2 million.
McGavick reportedly having a larger fortune than the one gifted to Cantwell for her brief employment at Real Networks. However, for real financial savvy, it's hard to top the Libertarian:
Mike Cate, KING's special projects producer, said it appears Guthrie has met one of the station's guidelines for qualifying for the debate: raising at least 10 percent of the funds raised by the winner of the previous Senate election. The station used the 2004 third-quarter fundraising report filed by Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who had raised $12.1 million.
Added to the meager $31,062 in campaign contributions to Guthrie as of Aug. 31, his loan gives him 10.003 percent of what Murray raised.
"I cannot tell a lie. It's not a coincidence," Guthrie said. "One of the reasons for the exact amount is that KING/5 requirement. But another reason was that was all the money I could scrape together."
He admitted he might not spend much of it, saying: "This is a loan, and I do intend to get most of it back. If the fundraising doesn't go well, I might not spend most of it. If the fundraising does go well, I might spend most of it."
Bruce Guthrie, the Libertarian candidate for the U.S. Senate, has bought himself a $1.2 million place at a debate podium with his better-known opponents, Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell and Republican Mike McGavick.
Guthrie admitted Monday that he lent $1,181,700 to his ultra-underdog campaign Saturday mainly to appear credible enough for inclusion in the only televised Western Washington debate between the two major candidates. It will be at KING/5 studios in Seattle on Oct. 17.
....The surprise infusion of big money into the effort of an obscure, third-party candidate potentially could change the dynamics of the contest, especially if the hard-fought race between Cantwell and McGavick is tight.
Further, an analysis Monday by the National Republican Senatorial Committee suggested that Guthrie's self-financing would trigger the "Millionaire's Amendment" in the 2002 federal Campaign Finance Reform Act.
However, under the amendment's arcane financing formula, it apparently would let McGavick -- but not Cantwell -- ask supporters for triple the normal individual contribution limit of $2,100, up to a maximum of $840,448 more.
The formula is based largely on how much cash on hand each candidate had Dec. 31, and McGavick had much less than Cantwell -- although the Republican, a wealthy former insurance executive, has since lent his campaign $2 million.
McGavick reportedly having a larger fortune than the one gifted to Cantwell for her brief employment at Real Networks. However, for real financial savvy, it's hard to top the Libertarian:
Mike Cate, KING's special projects producer, said it appears Guthrie has met one of the station's guidelines for qualifying for the debate: raising at least 10 percent of the funds raised by the winner of the previous Senate election. The station used the 2004 third-quarter fundraising report filed by Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who had raised $12.1 million.
Added to the meager $31,062 in campaign contributions to Guthrie as of Aug. 31, his loan gives him 10.003 percent of what Murray raised.
"I cannot tell a lie. It's not a coincidence," Guthrie said. "One of the reasons for the exact amount is that KING/5 requirement. But another reason was that was all the money I could scrape together."
He admitted he might not spend much of it, saying: "This is a loan, and I do intend to get most of it back. If the fundraising doesn't go well, I might not spend most of it. If the fundraising does go well, I might spend most of it."
Monday, October 02, 2006
We're from the government...
...of Cuba, and we're here to cheat you:
More than half of all the state-run enterprises inspected in Cuba's capital Havana have cheated their customers, a Cuban communist newspaper has reported.
More than 11,500 businesses were selling their products at higher prices than advertised, or delivering lesser quantities, the Juventud Rebelde said.
....The two-page article in the communist youth newspaper reports what for most people living in Havana will be a familiar story.
Inspectors went to thousands of state-run enterprises and consistently found customers being short-changed
The offences included beer mugs being only partially filled, taxi rides being charged at almost five times the going rate, government price lists being hidden, even shoe repairers charging vastly inflated rates.
....Last November, President Fidel Castro - who is now recuperating from intestinal surgery - warned that corruption had the power to destroy the revolution itself.
He condemned the fact that in some areas half of all the fuel in state petrol stations was being stolen.
More than half of all the state-run enterprises inspected in Cuba's capital Havana have cheated their customers, a Cuban communist newspaper has reported.
More than 11,500 businesses were selling their products at higher prices than advertised, or delivering lesser quantities, the Juventud Rebelde said.
....The two-page article in the communist youth newspaper reports what for most people living in Havana will be a familiar story.
Inspectors went to thousands of state-run enterprises and consistently found customers being short-changed
The offences included beer mugs being only partially filled, taxi rides being charged at almost five times the going rate, government price lists being hidden, even shoe repairers charging vastly inflated rates.
....Last November, President Fidel Castro - who is now recuperating from intestinal surgery - warned that corruption had the power to destroy the revolution itself.
He condemned the fact that in some areas half of all the fuel in state petrol stations was being stolen.
Mon frere?
Tres bien, merci:
PARIS, Oct 1, 2006 (AFP) - French presidential hopeful Ségolène Royal said on Sunday she was "a bit surprised" at the fuss being made over her brother Gerard's involvement in the 1985 sinking of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior ship.
A Paris newspaper Friday had quoted Antoine Royal, another brother of the likely French centre-left presidential candidate, as saying Gérard himself had planted the limpet mines that sank the ship.
....On Sunday Royal told a meeting of Socialist party activists: "I am a bit surprised at all this controversy springing up just after I declared my candidature. I don't know if it's a coincidence."
PARIS, Oct 1, 2006 (AFP) - French presidential hopeful Ségolène Royal said on Sunday she was "a bit surprised" at the fuss being made over her brother Gerard's involvement in the 1985 sinking of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior ship.
A Paris newspaper Friday had quoted Antoine Royal, another brother of the likely French centre-left presidential candidate, as saying Gérard himself had planted the limpet mines that sank the ship.
....On Sunday Royal told a meeting of Socialist party activists: "I am a bit surprised at all this controversy springing up just after I declared my candidature. I don't know if it's a coincidence."
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Kinky enough for you?
Or, at least for you Texans:
Kinky Friedman, irreverant country singer, satirist and self-proclaimed "equal opportunities offender", was his usual ebullient self as he bounded on to the stage at the latest stop in his remarkable campaign to become governor of Texas.
....The latest opinion poll gave him his highest rating yet — 23 per cent, level with Democrat Chris Bell and making ground on Republican incumbent Rick Perry on 35 per cent.
Friedman, 61, is riding high on the mood of disillusionment with politicians across US and targeting the 71 per cent of Texans who stayed at home four years ago. If he can persuade another 10 per cent to vote on November 7, he believes he will win the office from which George W Bush launched his White House bid in 2000.
Last week, the former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura threw his considerable weight behind his fellow political outsider on a swing through campuses and bars in eastern Texas. A hulking figure with dreadlocks and braided beard, Ventura stunned the political establishment in 1998 when he won the Minnesota governor election vote as an independent.
Friedman has already signed up Ventura's campaign manager and advertising guru as he attempts to stage a similar shock. Indeed, at this stage in his campaign, Ventura was polling just 15 per cent, 30 points behind the frontrunner.
Kinky Friedman, irreverant country singer, satirist and self-proclaimed "equal opportunities offender", was his usual ebullient self as he bounded on to the stage at the latest stop in his remarkable campaign to become governor of Texas.
....The latest opinion poll gave him his highest rating yet — 23 per cent, level with Democrat Chris Bell and making ground on Republican incumbent Rick Perry on 35 per cent.
Friedman, 61, is riding high on the mood of disillusionment with politicians across US and targeting the 71 per cent of Texans who stayed at home four years ago. If he can persuade another 10 per cent to vote on November 7, he believes he will win the office from which George W Bush launched his White House bid in 2000.
Last week, the former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura threw his considerable weight behind his fellow political outsider on a swing through campuses and bars in eastern Texas. A hulking figure with dreadlocks and braided beard, Ventura stunned the political establishment in 1998 when he won the Minnesota governor election vote as an independent.
Friedman has already signed up Ventura's campaign manager and advertising guru as he attempts to stage a similar shock. Indeed, at this stage in his campaign, Ventura was polling just 15 per cent, 30 points behind the frontrunner.
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