Moving Big Rocks
Wally Wallington can move anything.
Wally Wallington has demonstrated that he can lift a Stonehenge-sized pillar weighing 22,000 lbs and moved a barn over 300 ft. What makes this so special is that he does it using only himself, gravity, and his incredible ingenuity:
http://j-walkblog.com/index.php?/weblog/posts/moving_big_rocks/
Bull Sharks Sink Boat Off Fla. Coast
2/6/2007
FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. -- A crew aboard a shrimping boat were rescued after a group of bull sharks rammed and bit the vessel until it eventually sank off the Florida coast, according to an Associated Press report.
Captain Roger Schmall said a group of sharks had been slamming into the Christy Nichole's hull for four days. But then a 14-foot bull shark broke the boat's tail shaft, leaving Schmall and his crew of two adrift about 100 miles off the coast.
Schmall radioed for help, and another vessel picked the crew up about two hours later...
http://www.local6.com/news/10942485/detail.html
and yet another shark attack...
Wild eagles attack paraglider
CANBERRA, Feb 2 - Britain's top female paraglider has cheated death after being attacked by a pair of "screeching" wild eagles while competition flying in Australia.
Nicky Moss, 38, watched terrified as two huge birds began tearing into her parachute canopy, one becoming tangled in her lines and clawing at her head 2,500 meters (8,200ft) in the air.
"I heard screeching behind me and a eagle flew down and attacked me, swooping down and bouncing into the side of my wing with its claws," Moss told Reuters on Friday.
"Then another one appeared and together they launched a sustained attack on my glider, tearing at the wing."
...Veteran Australian paraglider pilot Godfrey Wenness said eagle attacks were rare, but Moss had been flying in an area where the birds were not accustomed to human pilots.
"Eagles are the sharks of the air. But if you're a regular they just treat you pretty indifferently," he said...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070202/od_nm/australia_eagles_dc
So much for reducing her carbon footprint...
Speaker Nancy Pelosi Gets Big Jet
Feb. 6, 200
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will have access to an Air Force jet larger than the one used by her predecessor so she can fly nonstop between Washington and her San Francisco district...
...As NewsMax reported earlier, Pelosi’s office has been pressing for routine access to military aircraft not only for herself and her staff, but for relatives and other members of the California delegation as well.
As of Monday, the Air Force had not informed Pelosi’s camp as to who can travel with her, the Contra Costa Times in California reported...
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2007/2/6/95058.shtml?s=ic
Quit blaming America: We didn't earn Islamofascists' hatred
Chicago SunTimes ^ | February 5, 2007
February 5, 2007
...But what good are facts when emotions -- or politics -- are involved? Many Americans simply believe that the global war these Islamofascists are waging is all our fault...
...In the Quran, Islam's holy book, the Prophet Muhammad tells his followers to offer non-Muslims three things: Conversion, second-class citizenship, or war.
We Americans, our lifestyles, our support of Israel, our protection of Afghanistan, our actions in Iraq, didn't cause Islamofascists to hate us. They hate us because we are not Muslims. They hate us because they do not rule us. They hate us because we live with freedom and equality. They hate us because, to them, we are infidels, renegades from their true religion of Islam.
They're not offering us conversion. They are offering us war. They declared it loud, explosively and deadly in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. That's something to remember in your next discussion with friends, relatives, or co-workers.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/laney/242780,CST-EDT-LANEY05.article
Swapped Malay baby: I'm not Muslim
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) -- An ethnic Chinese Malaysian mistakenly given by doctors to a Malay Muslim couple at birth nearly three decades ago is bracing for a possible legal battle so he can renounce Islam, an action that can be considered a crime in parts of Malaysia.
Zulhaidi Omar, 29, who now goes by the name Eddie to his family and friends, said he discovered his true identity by chance and met his biological parents in 1998 after years of being teased about his Chinese features...
...Zulhaidi, a sales executive raised in an ethnic Malay Muslim family, said he was revealing his story only now because he wants to take a Chinese name and change his religion to Buddhism…
...The constitution does not allow Muslims to renounce their religion, and doing so is considered apostasy and punishable by jail in several states, though not in Johor.
...It is not clear how long a resolution might take and the case could eventually be handed to the Islamic Shariah court, which presides over religious issues involving Muslims, Tay said…
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/02/05/malaysia.babyswap.ap/index.html
Hawaii Cold Spell
Feb 6, 2007
HONOLULU (KHNL) - Spring is nearly upon us, but a chill is sweeping the state.
With temperatures dipping into the 50's in some neighborhoods people are talking about the cold spell...
...Joann Matsuo admits it was so cold this morning she stayed in bed until noon. "It's actually warmer in here than out there. I am freezing. I heard tomorrow is going to be the coldest day of the winter. And I have a heating blanket I bought so hopefully that will be sufficient."
http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=6035185
Ice packs (and polar bears) thwart Iceland fishing
06 February, 2007
FISH merchants on the Humber may be throwing up their hands in frustration at the worrying decline in fish supplies from Iceland since the beginning of the year. But the underlying cause is something they would never have guessed at - a massive deep freeze around the west coast of the country.
While the rest of the world shudders at the prospect of global warming and all that it threatens to bring in the form of floods and soaring temperatures, Iceland has been bucking the trend - and it is having a dramatic effect on fishing activity around the island.
Thick packs of ice, which have not been seen for almost 40 years, have been moving into the western fjords across some of the best fishing grounds, followed by bitter winds and plummeting temperatures. The ice has proved to be a serious handicap (not to mention a shipping hazard) for fishermen who supply the Humber and other important centres in Western Europe, simply because they have been unable to put to sea. This has led to a marked drop in catches, a fact that has been noticed on the markets of Grimsby and Hull since they re-opened after Christmas.
Communities living around the fjord of Dryafjordur, have noticed that their inlets have been filled with ice in recent weeks - ice drifting in from Greenland and carrying dozens of polar bears on their floes.
When chunks break off the bears become stranded, drifting helplessly on the floes. There have been a number of stories of bears making land around Iceland and having to be shot because they pose a danger to humans and livestock.
The return of pack ice to Iceland goes against all the forecasts of doom of global warming, although some forecasters think it may just be a climatic aberration.
http://www.fishupdate.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/6564/Ice_packs_(and_polar_bears)_thwart_Iceland_fishing.html
Inconvenient Kyoto Truths
"President Clinton and his earnest vice president knew better than to seek ratification of Kyoto by a Senate that had passed its resolution of disapproval 95-0. Fifty-six of those 95 senators are still serving. Two of them are John Kerry and Barbara Boxer. That is an inconvenient truth."
By George F. Will
Newsweek
Feb. 12, 2007 issue - Enough already. It is time to call some bluffs. John Kerry says that one reason America has become an "international pariah" is President Bush's decision to "walk away from global warming." ... Barack Obama says "the world" is watching to see "what action we take."
...In 1997 (Clinton was President), when the Kyoto Protocol's essential provisions were known, a "sense of the Senate" resolution declared opposition to any agreement that would do what the protocol aims to do. The Senate warned against any agreement that would require significant reductions of greenhouse-gas emissions in the United States and other developed nations without mandating "specific scheduled commitments" on the part of the 129 "developing" countries, which include China, India, Brazil and South Korea—the second, fourth, 10th and 11th largest economies. Nothing Americans can do to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions will make a significant impact on the global climate while every 10 days China fires up a coal-fueled generating plant big enough to power San Diego. China will construct 2,200 new coal plants by 2030.
The Senate's resolution expressed opposition to any agreement that "would result in serious harm to the economy of the United States," which the Senate correctly thought Kyoto would do. The Senate said any agreement should be accompanied by "a detailed explanation of any legislation or regulatory actions that may be required to implement" it, and an analysis of the agreement's "detailed financial costs and other impacts" on the U.S. economy...
...Our largest foreign source of oil is turbulent Canada. Our second largest is Mexico, which is experiencing turbulence because of the soaring cost of tortillas. They are made from corn, which is ... well, read on.)
Ethanol produces just slightly more energy than it takes to manufacture it. But now that the government is rigging energy markets with mandates, tariffs and subsidies, ethanol production might consume half of next year's corn crop. The price of corn already has doubled in a year. Hence the tortilla turbulence south of the border. Forests will be felled (will fewer trees mean more global warming?) to clear land for growing corn, which requires fertilizer, the manufacture of which requires energy. Oh, my.
President Clinton and his earnest vice president knew better than to seek ratification of Kyoto by a Senate that had passed its resolution of disapproval 95-0. Fifty-six of those 95 senators are still serving. Two of them are John Kerry and Barbara Boxer. That is an inconvenient truth.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16960409/site/newsweek
GLOBAL WARMING: A Boon to Humans and Other Animals
Thomas Gale Moore, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution
http://www.stanford.edu/~moore/Boon_To_Man.html
Oregon Gov Fires Global Warming Skeptic
February 7, 2007 In the face of evidence agreed upon by hundreds of climate scientists (and disagreed with by thousands), George Taylor holds firm. He does not believe human activities are the main cause of global climate change.
Taylor also holds a unique title: State Climatologist...
“Most of the climate changes we have seen up until now have been a result of natural variations,” Taylor asserts.
Taylor has held the title of "state climatologist" since 1991 when the legislature created a state climate office at OSU The university created the job title, not the state...
...In an exclusive interview with KGW-TV, Governor Ted Kulongoski confirmed he wants to take that title from Taylor. The governor said Taylor's contradictions interfere with the state's stated goals to reduce greenhouse gases...
“He is Oregon State University's climatologist. He is not the state of Oregon's climatologist,” Kulongoski said.
Taylor declined to comment on the proposal other than to say he was a "bit shocked" by the news. He recently engaged in a debate at O.M.S.I. and repeated his doubts about accepted science.
In an interview he told KGW, "There are a lot of people saying the bulk of the warming of the last 50 years is due to human activities and I don't believe that's true." He believes natural cycles explain most of the changes the earth has seen...
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_020607_news_taylor_title.59f5d04a.html
Texas could punish 'truant' parents
Feb 1, AUSTIN, Texas - Parents beware: Miss a meeting with your child's teacher and it could cost you a $500 fine and a criminal record.
A Republican state lawmaker from Baytown has filed a bill that would charge parents of public school students with a misdemeanor and fine them for playing hooky from a scheduled parent-teacher conference.
Rep. Wayne Smith said Wednesday he wants to get parents involved in their child's education...
...Under Smith's bill, schools would send parents a notice for a meeting with three proposed dates by certified mail. Parents who don't respond or who schedule a meeting and don't show up without notice could be punished.
Parents could avoid prosecution if they have a "reasonable excuse" for not showing up. State education officials or local school districts would probably be responsible for defining reasonable.
Fines collected would go to the district for teacher pay raises...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070201/ap_on_re_us/parents_fined
Who's Blocking Debate on Iraq War?
February 07, 2007 ...Senate Democrats are furious with Republicans for blocking a vote on a "no confidence" resolution criticizing President Bush's troop-surge strategy. (Republicans on Monday refused to let that resolution, cosponsored by Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia, proceed to a vote.)
Republicans insist they certainly do want a full debate on the issue -- but not just on the no-confidence resolution. Republicans complain that Democrats themselves are refusing to debate two other resolutions dealing with the Iraq war.
One of those nonbinding resolutions says the Senate will not cut off funding for the war. But Democrats apparently want to avoid taking a position on war funding.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky told the Senate on Tuesday that the U.S. mission in Iraq is the most important issue facing the country.
"And this means, of course, that the men and women of this body have no higher duty than to express ourselves openly and honestly on this issue -- to take a stand on where we stand."
McConnell said the best way to do that is for the senators to "express themselves on whether to fund or not fund the war in Iraq."
McConnell said by blocking a vote on the war funding resolution, Democrats are blocking a vote on the "essential question...Do we oppose this war to the point of action, or do we simply want to make a point?"
...Let's have a vote on more than just the president's plan, Republicans insist...
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200702/POL20070207c.html
David & Karen Bennett <><
http://www.freewill-predestination.com
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