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Support for repealing DADT grows among the ranks In 2004, 65% of the active duty military personnel opposed allowing gay men and women to serve openly. Less than six years later, that number is down precipitously, to 51%. The results of the poll conducted for the Military Times newspapers were published after Admiral Mike Mullen told a congressional panel last week that he favored repealing the Clinton-era law.
Orange gives way to Blue in the Ukraine as Yanukovich, the man ousted by the orange revolution five years ago, returns to power. By the way, aside from being somewhat bemused by the fact that peaceful, democratic elections that change the parties in power are now reported as 'revolutionary,' we want to weigh in on the recent trend of assigning colors to these 'revolutions.' We approve, with a caveat: Yes, we appreciate that it helps keep the players straight for Americans, who proved yesterday that they can too pay attention for three whole hours, and more than once a year if the color commentary is good the rest of the time. Now the caveat: When we get to colors like chartreusse, magenta and vermillion, we draw the line and you have to get a new way to identify the players.
A good start Last year 2.6 million previously uninsured children gained healthcare coverage through Medicaid and SCHIP. Some of the gains were due to economic factors and increased need, others were added when states stepped up recruitment efforts.
Apparent stowaway perishes in wheelwell of Delta flight A man described only as having dark skin and being clad in a plaid shirt and jeans was found in the landing gear of a flight from New York when it landed at Tokyo's Narita International Airport on Sunday night by a mechanic who was doing routine maintenance to the Boeing 777. Temperatures in the wheelwells fall to - 58F (- 50C) during flight, are unpressurized and there is no O2 supply. It is theoretically possible to live through such an attempt, but it is not likely.
An alternative to TASERs and lethal force Too often, this sort of thing ends in tragedy, but Saturday it did not. Kansas City police answering a disturbance call confronted a suicidal, knife-wielding, mentally-ill woman in the middle of the street, threatening to charge them and make them shoot her. An officer who has training and expertise with a special shotgun that fires beanbags was summoned and he disarmed her with the first shot and knocked her to the ground with the second. She was arrested and taken to a hospital.
Meghan McCain doesn't think much of the Teabaggers In an appearance on The View today, the daughter of the former republican nominee blasted the populist, right-wing movement as innately racist, and tore into Sarah Palin for excorriating Rahm Emanuel for using the word 'retard' in private then making excuses for Rush Limbaugh who went on a tear and used it 40 times in one broadcast. And then she fired broadside and blew a huge fucking hole in the side of the USS Teabag, finishing with "I'm sorry, but revolutions start with young people, not 65 year old people talking about literacy tests and people who can't say the word 'vote' in English."
Get ready for the next celebrity trial...this one is bound to be a lurid freakshow Conrad Murray, the personal physician to Michael Jackson who has admitted to administering a strong sedative to the pop star shortly before he died, appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to a single count of manslaughter today, just hours after prosecutors filed the charge. The five-page criminal complaint alleges that Murray "did unlawfully, and without malice, kill Michael Joseph Jackson" by acting "without due caution and circumspection," but offers none of the details that have been leaked to the press.
Human beings are amazing creatures An emaciated and dehydrated man pulled from the rubble of the marketplace where he sold rice and beans may have been trapped for the entire four weeks since the quake rocked Haiti on January 12. He said someone had been bringing him water while he was trapped, but doctors say he is confused and seems to think he is still trapped in the rubble and can't answer any questions about how he managed to survive all this time. The government officially ceased rescue missions and turned to a recovery footing on January 23, but two teenaged girls were rescued from the rubble of their school on January 27th.
Haley Barbour tests the presidential waters That is what it means when prominent members of the political party not currently in the White House start popping up in Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina. Barbour, who as Mississippi's Governor chairs the RGA and and formerly chaired the RNC, has already been to the first two and is headed to the third one next month to keynote the Spartanburg County GOP's annual President's Day dinner.
Yes, this guy's sick and would have abused her somehow, but did Smirky/Darth have to give him the idea? "A US soldier has been charged with assault after allegedly waterboarding his four-year-old daughter, police in Washington state have said. Sgt Joshua Tabor is alleged to have dunked the girl's head in a sink full of water for not reciting the alphabet, police in the town of Yelm said. Waterboarding is an interrogation technique that simulates drowning and has been banned as torture by the US. Sgt Tabor is a helicopter repairer who served in Iraq from 2007-08. Yelm police chief Todd Stancil said Sgt Tabor was arrested on 31 January. Officers were called after Sgt Tabor was seen walking around his neighbourhood holding a Kevlar helmet and threatening to break windows, the police chief added."
When the election loser gets arrested for challenging the results, it's not a real democracy. "The defeated candidate in Sri Lanka's presidential election, General Sarath Fonseka, has been arrested at his office in Colombo. Gen Fonseka was defeated by incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa last month by six million votes to four million. Gen Fonseka rejected the results and vowed to challenge them in court. The initial allegations brought by the government against Gen Fonseka, 59, were put simply as "committing military offences". The government had earlier been seeking legal advice on bringing a court martial on charges of plotting to overthrow the administration."
Biology Geek Moment of the Week - with cool video! "Extraordinary footage of a rarely seen giant deep sea fish has been captured by scientists. Using a remotely operated vehicle, they caught a rare glimpse of the huge oarfish, perhaps the first sighting of the fish in its natural setting. The oarfish, which can reach 17m long, has previously only been seen on a few occasions dying at the sea surface, or dead washed ashore. The scientists also filmed for the first time the behaviour of a manefish."
Not a good start. "The first Darfur war crimes suspect to face international judges has had the charges against him dropped. Rebel leader Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, who gave himself up last year, had been accused of planning the killing of 12 African Union peacekeepers in 2007. But International Criminal Court (ICC) judges ruled that there was not enough evidence to support a trial. Last week, the ICC said charges of genocide against Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir could be resubmitted. Mr Bashir is already wanted for war crimes."
Snow keeps the federal government shut for a second day on Tuesday All government operations in D.C. were cancelled today and will be suspended again tomorrow as the capitol struggles to dig out from under nearly three feet of snow that fell over the weekend - and braces for up to a foot-and-a-half more.
And finally...
We are at a loss as to who is stupider...the dumbass from Platte County, Missouri (the northern suburbs of KC) who subscribed to kiddie porn sites with his credit card, or the Kansas City Star for publishing the names of the sites. |
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Best New SoapBlox - 2008
