February 13, 2006
What's worse than Friday the 13th?
How about Monday the 13th?
David
Hunting For A Good Lawyer
I don't know why all the fuss about VP Cheney shooting a lawyer while quail hunting in Texas Sunday. It's not like there is a shortage of lawyers. Besides I didn't know you needed a permit to shoot lawyers, I thought varmints were pretty much fair game all the time.
Actually there is a precedent for VP's hunting lawyers. Vice-president Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton July 11, 1804 in a duel. Hamilton died the next day. Burr was never prosecuted, I assume because Hamilton was a lawyer and they were plentiful back then too.
It's still safer to go hunting with Dick Cheney than it is to go for a Sunday drive in the country with Ted Kennedy.
David
Shoes galore for Dutch beachcombers
Feb 11 -Thousands of shoes have washed up on the beaches of the Dutch island of Terschelling, to the delight of local residents who are scrambling over each other to find matching pairs, security forces said. The shoes ...fell into the sea when a container ship shed part of its load in a storm on Thursday night...Press reports said the ship had lost as many as 55 containers...
http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/060211222535.vdc6458h.html
Men/woman height and weight with age.
http://www.halls.md/chart/men-height-w.htm
EPA invents battery-less hybrid system
December 22, 2005- Hybrid drivetrain uses compressed fluid instead of electricity. To be tested on UPS trucks. See article at:
http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/21/Autos/hydraulic_hybrids/index.htm
Bugs Could Be Key to Kicking Oil Addiction
The key to kicking what President Bush calls the nation's oil addiction could very well lie in termite guts, canvas-eating jungle bugs and other microbes genetically engineered to spew enzymes that turn waste into fuel.
It may seem hard to believe that microscopic bugs usually viewed as destructive pests can be so productive. But scientists and several companies are working with the creatures to convert wood, corn stalks and other plant waste into sugars that are easily brewed into ethanol — essentially 199-proof moonshine that can be used to power automobiles.
Thanks to biotechnology breakthroughs, supporters of alternative energy sources say that after decades of unfulfilled promise and billions in government corn subsidies, energy companies may be able to produce ethanol easily and inexpensively.
...Using microbes may even solve a growing dilemma over the current ethanol manufacturing process, which relies almost exclusively on corn kernels and yielded only 4 billion gallons of ethanol last year (compared to the 140 billion gallons of gasoline used in the U.S.). There's growing concern throughout the Midwestern corn belt that the 95 U.S. ethanol plants are increasingly poaching corn meant for the dinner table or livestock feed.
The idea mentioned by Bush during his State of the Union speech — called "cellulosic ethanol" — skirts that problem because it makes fuel from farm waste such as straw, corn stalks and other inedible agricultural leftovers. Cellulose is the woody stuff found in branches and stems that makes plants hard...
...Those microbes or their genetic material can be used to produce ethanol-making enzymes..."We have this idea that microbes are pests," said Leadbetter, who has been studying termite guts for 15 years. "But most microbes are beneficial." (Just wait until PETA decides these little microbes need to be protected and not harmed in any way...)http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060212/ap_on_bi_ge/bug_juice
Ever heard of throwing gasoline on a fire? Sounds like treason to me...
While Saudi Arabia Gore Laments U.S. 'Abuses' Against Arabs
Feb 12- JIDDAH, Saudi ArabiaFormer Vice President Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment. Gore said Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions. The former vice president said the Bush administration was playing into al-Qaida's hands by routinely blocking Saudi visa applications.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/12/D8FNUKEO0.html
Carter allowed surveillance in 1977
February 11, 2006- Former President Jimmy Carter, who publicly rebuked President Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program this week during the funeral of Coretta Scott King and at a campaign event, used similar surveillance against suspected spies. ...in 1977, Mr. Carter and his attorney general, Griffin B. Bell, authorized warrantless electronic surveillance used in the conviction of two men for spying on behalf of Vietnam.
The men, Truong Dinh Hung and Ronald Louis Humphrey, challenged their espionage convictions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which unanimously ruled that the warrantless searches did not violate the men's rights.
In its opinion, the court said the executive branch has the "inherent authority" to wiretap enemies such as terror plotters and is excused from obtaining warrants when surveillance is "conducted 'primarily' for foreign intelligence reasons."
That description, some Republicans say, perfectly fits the Bush administration's program to monitor calls from terror-linked people to the U.S.
...When Mr. Bell testified in favor of FISA, he told Congress that while the measure doesn't explicitly acknowledge the "inherent power of the president to conduct electronic surveillance," it "does not take away the power of the president under the Constitution."
...Jamie S. Gorelick, deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration, agreed. In 1994 testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Miss Gorelick said case law supports the presidential authority to conduct warrantless searches and electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes...
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060210-110722-2189r.htm
Woman Carrying Human Head Arrested in Fla.
Feb 10 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Airport baggage screeners found a human head with teeth, hair and skin in the luggage of a woman who said she intended to ward off evil spirits with it, authorities said Friday… "It still had teeth, hair and bits of skin and lots of dirt," Gonzalez said. Severe told authorities she had obtained the package in Haiti for "use as a part of her voodoo beliefs," ICE Special Agent Erick Hernandez wrote in an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint. "Severe also stated that the purpose of the package was to ward off evil spirits," Hernandez wrote…
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/10/D8FMKTQOA.html
Ind. House Wrongly Valued at $400 Million
Feb 10 VALPARAISO, Ind.- A house erroneously valued at $400 million is being blamed for budget shortfalls and possible layoffs in municipalities and school districts in northwest Indiana. An outside user of Porter County's computer system may have triggered the mess by accidentally changing the value of the Valparaiso house, said Sharon Lippens, director of the county's information technologies and service department. The house had been valued at $121,900 before the glitch. County Treasurer Jim Murphy said the home usually carried about $1,500 in property taxes; this year, it was billed $8 million. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/10/D8FMLVLO0.html
New low-income family homes go begging for sale
OAKLAND — ...Oakland Community Housing Inc. has partnered with North Oakland Missionary Baptist Church to build eight large, family townhomes on Linden Street in West Oakland. Four are being offered for sale to people of any income, and four are set aside for low- and moderate-income buyers, with substantial down payment assistance thrown in to boot.
Although the neighborhood has its share of crime and blight, finding conventional buyers has been no problem, with three of the four units already under contract to singles or couples with no kids. But finding first-time home buyers who do not exceed affordable income limits and who meet other qualifications has not been as easy.
"This is supposed to be providing housing to families, and the buyers are all childless or single," said Sara Garabedian of Red Oak Realty, "The whole providing housing for families is just not happening."
...The three-bedroom, three-bathroom townhomes...prices range from $456,000 to $494,950, which represents a reduction from earlier listings.
Low-income buyers — those who cannot earn more than 80 percent of the area median income ($53,000 for a two-person household, $66,250 for a four-person household) — can qualify for $100,000 in down payment help if they have decent credit scores and 3 percent cash down. That comes to $13,680 for the lower-priced units.
The $100,000 down payment loan does not have to be repaid until the home is resold, whenever that may be.
Moderate-income buyers, limited to an income of $79,490 for a two and $98,650 for a family of four, also qualify for $60,000 in down payment assistance if they have good credit and can put 3 percent cash down — about $14,848.
But even with assistance, monthly payments will range from about $2,200 to $2,800, Garabedian said...
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_3501626
Pa. man accused in terror sting
Feb. 11, 2006- ...The FBI believes that the unemployed Wilkes-Barre man tried to conspire with al-Qaeda to wreck the American economy. Agents say Reynolds plotted to blow up the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, a Pennsylvania pipeline, and a New Jersey refinery.
The sensational allegations, disclosed in a federal transcript obtained by The Inquirer on Friday, reveal a convoluted plot that includes cyberspace intrigue, an elaborate FBI sting, and a clandestine money-drop on a deserted Idaho road.
The case also involves a municipal judge from Montana who has devoted the last four years to snaring would-be terrorists online...
"Before 9/11, flying airplanes into a building might have seemed like something out of a Tom Clancy novel, but now you have to take these kinds of threats seriously," said Joseph Poluka, who is now a lawyer at the firm Blank Rome. "You can't treat these things as fiction unless something sounds plainly unbelievable."
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13849323.htm
How about Monday the 13th?
David
Hunting For A Good Lawyer
I don't know why all the fuss about VP Cheney shooting a lawyer while quail hunting in Texas Sunday. It's not like there is a shortage of lawyers. Besides I didn't know you needed a permit to shoot lawyers, I thought varmints were pretty much fair game all the time.
Actually there is a precedent for VP's hunting lawyers. Vice-president Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton July 11, 1804 in a duel. Hamilton died the next day. Burr was never prosecuted, I assume because Hamilton was a lawyer and they were plentiful back then too.
It's still safer to go hunting with Dick Cheney than it is to go for a Sunday drive in the country with Ted Kennedy.
David
Shoes galore for Dutch beachcombers
Feb 11 -Thousands of shoes have washed up on the beaches of the Dutch island of Terschelling, to the delight of local residents who are scrambling over each other to find matching pairs, security forces said. The shoes ...fell into the sea when a container ship shed part of its load in a storm on Thursday night...Press reports said the ship had lost as many as 55 containers...
http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/060211222535.vdc6458h.html
Men/woman height and weight with age.
http://www.halls.md/chart/men-height-w.htm
EPA invents battery-less hybrid system
December 22, 2005- Hybrid drivetrain uses compressed fluid instead of electricity. To be tested on UPS trucks. See article at:
http://money.cnn.com/2005/12/21/Autos/hydraulic_hybrids/index.htm
Bugs Could Be Key to Kicking Oil Addiction
The key to kicking what President Bush calls the nation's oil addiction could very well lie in termite guts, canvas-eating jungle bugs and other microbes genetically engineered to spew enzymes that turn waste into fuel.
It may seem hard to believe that microscopic bugs usually viewed as destructive pests can be so productive. But scientists and several companies are working with the creatures to convert wood, corn stalks and other plant waste into sugars that are easily brewed into ethanol — essentially 199-proof moonshine that can be used to power automobiles.
Thanks to biotechnology breakthroughs, supporters of alternative energy sources say that after decades of unfulfilled promise and billions in government corn subsidies, energy companies may be able to produce ethanol easily and inexpensively.
...Using microbes may even solve a growing dilemma over the current ethanol manufacturing process, which relies almost exclusively on corn kernels and yielded only 4 billion gallons of ethanol last year (compared to the 140 billion gallons of gasoline used in the U.S.). There's growing concern throughout the Midwestern corn belt that the 95 U.S. ethanol plants are increasingly poaching corn meant for the dinner table or livestock feed.
The idea mentioned by Bush during his State of the Union speech — called "cellulosic ethanol" — skirts that problem because it makes fuel from farm waste such as straw, corn stalks and other inedible agricultural leftovers. Cellulose is the woody stuff found in branches and stems that makes plants hard...
...Those microbes or their genetic material can be used to produce ethanol-making enzymes..."We have this idea that microbes are pests," said Leadbetter, who has been studying termite guts for 15 years. "But most microbes are beneficial." (Just wait until PETA decides these little microbes need to be protected and not harmed in any way...)http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060212/ap_on_bi_ge/bug_juice
Ever heard of throwing gasoline on a fire? Sounds like treason to me...
While Saudi Arabia Gore Laments U.S. 'Abuses' Against Arabs
Feb 12- JIDDAH, Saudi ArabiaFormer Vice President Al Gore told a mainly Saudi audience on Sunday that the U.S. government committed "terrible abuses" against Arabs after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and that most Americans did not support such treatment. Gore said Arabs had been "indiscriminately rounded up" and held in "unforgivable" conditions. The former vice president said the Bush administration was playing into al-Qaida's hands by routinely blocking Saudi visa applications.
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/12/D8FNUKEO0.html
Carter allowed surveillance in 1977
February 11, 2006- Former President Jimmy Carter, who publicly rebuked President Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program this week during the funeral of Coretta Scott King and at a campaign event, used similar surveillance against suspected spies. ...in 1977, Mr. Carter and his attorney general, Griffin B. Bell, authorized warrantless electronic surveillance used in the conviction of two men for spying on behalf of Vietnam.
The men, Truong Dinh Hung and Ronald Louis Humphrey, challenged their espionage convictions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, which unanimously ruled that the warrantless searches did not violate the men's rights.
In its opinion, the court said the executive branch has the "inherent authority" to wiretap enemies such as terror plotters and is excused from obtaining warrants when surveillance is "conducted 'primarily' for foreign intelligence reasons."
That description, some Republicans say, perfectly fits the Bush administration's program to monitor calls from terror-linked people to the U.S.
...When Mr. Bell testified in favor of FISA, he told Congress that while the measure doesn't explicitly acknowledge the "inherent power of the president to conduct electronic surveillance," it "does not take away the power of the president under the Constitution."
...Jamie S. Gorelick, deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration, agreed. In 1994 testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Miss Gorelick said case law supports the presidential authority to conduct warrantless searches and electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes...
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20060210-110722-2189r.htm
Woman Carrying Human Head Arrested in Fla.
Feb 10 FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Airport baggage screeners found a human head with teeth, hair and skin in the luggage of a woman who said she intended to ward off evil spirits with it, authorities said Friday… "It still had teeth, hair and bits of skin and lots of dirt," Gonzalez said. Severe told authorities she had obtained the package in Haiti for "use as a part of her voodoo beliefs," ICE Special Agent Erick Hernandez wrote in an affidavit in support of a criminal complaint. "Severe also stated that the purpose of the package was to ward off evil spirits," Hernandez wrote…
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/10/D8FMKTQOA.html
Ind. House Wrongly Valued at $400 Million
Feb 10 VALPARAISO, Ind.- A house erroneously valued at $400 million is being blamed for budget shortfalls and possible layoffs in municipalities and school districts in northwest Indiana. An outside user of Porter County's computer system may have triggered the mess by accidentally changing the value of the Valparaiso house, said Sharon Lippens, director of the county's information technologies and service department. The house had been valued at $121,900 before the glitch. County Treasurer Jim Murphy said the home usually carried about $1,500 in property taxes; this year, it was billed $8 million. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/02/10/D8FMLVLO0.html
New low-income family homes go begging for sale
OAKLAND — ...Oakland Community Housing Inc. has partnered with North Oakland Missionary Baptist Church to build eight large, family townhomes on Linden Street in West Oakland. Four are being offered for sale to people of any income, and four are set aside for low- and moderate-income buyers, with substantial down payment assistance thrown in to boot.
Although the neighborhood has its share of crime and blight, finding conventional buyers has been no problem, with three of the four units already under contract to singles or couples with no kids. But finding first-time home buyers who do not exceed affordable income limits and who meet other qualifications has not been as easy.
"This is supposed to be providing housing to families, and the buyers are all childless or single," said Sara Garabedian of Red Oak Realty, "The whole providing housing for families is just not happening."
...The three-bedroom, three-bathroom townhomes...prices range from $456,000 to $494,950, which represents a reduction from earlier listings.
Low-income buyers — those who cannot earn more than 80 percent of the area median income ($53,000 for a two-person household, $66,250 for a four-person household) — can qualify for $100,000 in down payment help if they have decent credit scores and 3 percent cash down. That comes to $13,680 for the lower-priced units.
The $100,000 down payment loan does not have to be repaid until the home is resold, whenever that may be.
Moderate-income buyers, limited to an income of $79,490 for a two and $98,650 for a family of four, also qualify for $60,000 in down payment assistance if they have good credit and can put 3 percent cash down — about $14,848.
But even with assistance, monthly payments will range from about $2,200 to $2,800, Garabedian said...
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_3501626
Pa. man accused in terror sting
Feb. 11, 2006- ...The FBI believes that the unemployed Wilkes-Barre man tried to conspire with al-Qaeda to wreck the American economy. Agents say Reynolds plotted to blow up the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, a Pennsylvania pipeline, and a New Jersey refinery.
The sensational allegations, disclosed in a federal transcript obtained by The Inquirer on Friday, reveal a convoluted plot that includes cyberspace intrigue, an elaborate FBI sting, and a clandestine money-drop on a deserted Idaho road.
The case also involves a municipal judge from Montana who has devoted the last four years to snaring would-be terrorists online...
"Before 9/11, flying airplanes into a building might have seemed like something out of a Tom Clancy novel, but now you have to take these kinds of threats seriously," said Joseph Poluka, who is now a lawyer at the firm Blank Rome. "You can't treat these things as fiction unless something sounds plainly unbelievable."
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/13849323.htm
posted by David Bennett | 3:22 PM
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