“It’s part of the usual blackmail of the United States that Pakistan does to take more interest in India-Pakistan issues,” said B. Raman, a former head of Indian intelligence agency RAW.
“They think this kind of argument will make the United States sit up and take notice of their sensitivities and do something about it.”
We call him that -- he calls himself that -- because we use dated language and logic. After more than 300 years and much difficult history, we hew to the old racist rule: Part-black is all black. Fifty percent equals a hundred. There's no in-between.
That was my reaction when I read these words on the front page of this newspaper the day after the election: "Obama Makes History: U.S. Decisively Elects First Black President."
The phrase was repeated in much the same form by one media organization after another. It's as if we have one foot in the future and another still mired in the Old South. We are racially sophisticated enough to elect a non-white president, and we are so racially backward that we insist on calling him black. Progress has outpaced vocabulary.
To me, as to increasing numbers of mixed-race people, Barack Obama is not our first black president. He is our first biracial, bicultural president. He is more than the personification of African American achievement. He is a bridge between races, a living symbol of tolerance, a signal that strict racial categories must go.
Of course there is much to celebrate in seeing Obama's victory as a victory for African Americans. The long, arduous battles that were fought and won in the name of civil rights redeemed our Constitution and brought a new sense of possibility to all minorities in this country. We Hispanic Americans, very likely the most mixed-race people in the world, credit our gains to the great African American pioneers of yesterday: Rosa Parks, W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr.
For some people the choice of Barack and other bi-racial folks is perplexing in this day and age. Why be black if you don't have to be? Oh sure maybe a generation ago you didn't have a choice, but now you do so why not? Why not complete the transition to being post-racial (not black)? Why marry black and more black babies? This woman feels like Barack made himself "blacker" voluntarily and she doesn't understand why on earth he would do such a thing. Maybe someone should tell her it's actually kind of great.
[P]erhaps the nomination which best demonstrated just how inept this administration would prove to be was John Ashcroft. You will recall that Ashcroft got the job of running the Justice Department because he lost his Senate seat in the 2000 election. To a dead man. The reward for failing to beat the deceased Mel Carnahan was the job of Attorney General. It was the first example of what became all too common: for Bush, our MBA president, no failure is so great that it doesn't deserve a promotion . . . .This is true, but it's important not to forget that Ashcroft lost in no small part because he stood up on the Senate floor in October 1999 and denounced Ronnie White, a judicial moderate who had been nominated for a federal district court position. In his bizarre and ultimately successful campaign against White's nomination, Ashcroft distorted the Missouri Supreme Court Justice's record and engaged in just enough race-baiting to bring the state's black voters out in what Eric Boehlert later described (in a fine piece about the whole affair) as "one of the clearest cases of retaliation voting" in recent political history. Ashcroft simply made shit up about White's views on crime and the death penalty and then -- even though he could have crushed the nomination before it reached the Senate floor -- allowed White to be humiliated, as he became the first District Court nominee in fifty years to be defeated in a full Senate vote. Then he lost to a dead guy.
Ashcroft's nomination told us all we needed to know about the coming administration - its contempt for brains, for integrity, for competence, its true-believing zealotry.
Scientists in Brazil have observed an unusual act of selflessness. When Forelius ants retire for the night, one or more workers remain outside the colony, kicking sand to seal the entrance. If that protects those within from predators or rain, it also dooms the outside ants to die overnight of exposure. It's the first known case of "pre-emptive self-sacrifice" among insects.
Harriet Harman has said she is "very concerned" by the arrest of Conservative immigration spokesman Damian Green.A sign of the way the wind is blowing?
Ms Harman also said she understood MPs' anger at the way police officers had raided Mr Green's Parliamentary and constituency bases.
And she said protection of MPs' offices from police raids must be reviewed.
"[CB12] also supported the Department of Housing’s request to rehabilitate a threestory building at 567 W. 183rd St. into nine transitional housing units for newly released, male and female homeless exconvicts who are diagnosed with AIDS."
“We should be informing our union members and mobilizing them to get out on the streets and make sure that transit knows in no uncertain terms that we’re not going to tolerate layoffs,” he said.
“I see that our senior issues are going up,” he said. In the rankings, tallied and
released after the board’s Nov. 18 general meeting, it seems the community board agreed with him. The 47-member body ranked “increase funding for quality home care services for the elderly” as the number one expense item and “funds to expand and improve the physical structure of senior centers” as the number one capital expenditure. The second most important issue involved the police. Increasing the number of police officers at the 33rd and 34th Police Precincts, was the number two expense item, while providing them with cars and bicycles and vans was the
number two capital expenditure requested by the board."
“They knew what they were doing, and they did not go through the front. All of our arrangements are in the front,’ he said. “They planned everything. I believe the first thing they did, they shot a sniffer dog and his handler. They went through the kitchen.”
“This is a new, horrific milestone in the global jihad,” said Bruce Riedel, a former South Asia analyst for the CIA and National Security Council and author of the book “The Search for Al Qaeda.” “No indigenous Indian group has this level of capability. The goal is to damage the symbol of India’s economic renaissance, undermine investor confidence and provoke an India-Pakistani crisis.”
”What is striking about this is a fair amount of planning had to go into this type of attack,” said Roger W. Cressey, a former White House counterterrorism official in the Clinton and Bush administrations. “This is not a seat-of-the-pants operation. This group had to receive some training or support from professionals in the terrorism business.”
Andreas Baader: We are forming a group. We will change political affairs.Ulrike Meinhof: How is that supposed to work out.Andreas Baader: What kind of f**king bourgeois question is that? We will do that if it kills us.
“[The Baader Meinhof group] mainly lost their realistic view of reality. Suddenly, when they went underground, they thought and felt that they lived in a police state, a fascist police state. And when you are living in a fascist police state you are allowed to do anything. They had to change reality and their view on reality first in order to be able to do all these terrible things . . .“They forgot that they weren't putting bombs in "dead places" ... but on living human beings [and] became very cruel in their attempt to fight the cruelty of the world”.“. . . Terrorism is terror, and people sometimes forget that.”
Drumming propelled their worship of the much-loved Ejengi, the most powerful of the forest spirits—good and evil—known as mokoondi. One day Wasse told me that the great spirit wanted to meet me, and so I joined more than a hundred Mossapola Pygmies as they gathered soon after dusk, beating drums and chanting. Suddenly there was a hush, and all eyes turned to the jungle. Emerging from the shadows were half a dozen Pygmy men accompanying a creature swathed from top to bottom in strips of russet-hued raffia. It had no features, no limbs, no face. "It's Ejengi," said Wasse, his voice trembling.
At first I was sure it was a Pygmy camouflaged in foliage, but as Ejengi glided across the darkened clearing, the drums beat louder and faster, and as the Pygmies' chanting grew more frenzied, I began to doubt my own eyes. As the spirit began to dance, its dense cloak rippled like water over rocks. The spirit was speechless, but its wishes were communicated by attendants. "Ejengi wants to know why you've come here," shouted a squat man well short of five feet. With Bienvenu translating, I answered that I had come to meet the great spirit.
"May it please your Majesty, I have neither eyes to see nor tongue to speak in this place but as this House is pleased to direct me, whose servant I am here; and humbly beg your Majesty's pardon that I cannot give any other answer than this to what your Majesty is pleased to demand of me".Speaker Martin, 2008
"Help yourself, his office is down the corridor."People used to behave that, true to his earlier working life, Michael Martin used to behave more like a shop steward for MPs than a Speaker. They won't be saying that any more.
What I can say is that having read the document I am even more of the opinion that it would be in the public interest for it to be published - obviously with some parts anonymized and with a tiny - very tiny - bit of editing of any personal information around the family.The second point is that the sentencing of the three people convicted over the child's death has been postponed for at least three months. But we are not told why beyond the usual formulation of "legal reasons".
Otherwise - how will all those who have an interest or experience or knowledge or expertise be able to judge Ed Balls action when the investigative report comes in on Monday? That report he has said he will publish - but surely the wider audience can only benefit from understanding how resonant the original document is and was.
That was one of the most Orwellian editorials written in the last decade. The Times -- in the very first line -- mimicked the claim of the Bush administration that Chavez "resigned," even though, several paragraphs later, they expressly acknowledged that Chavez "was compelled to resign by military commanders" (the definition of a "coup"). Further mimicking the administration, the Times perversely celebrated the coup as safeguarding "Venezuelan democracy" ("Venezuelan democracy is no longer threatened by a would-be dictator"), even though the coup deposed someone whom the Times Editorial itself said "was elected president in 1998" and -- again using the Times' own language -- "handed power to" an unelected, pro-American "respected business leader, Pedro Carmona," who quickly proceeded to dissolve the democratically elected National Assembly, the Supreme Court and other key institutions.
Worse still, the Times Editorial mindlessly spouted the administration's claim that "Washington never publicly demonized Mr. Chávez" and "his removal was a purely Venezuelan affair." Yet less than a week later, the Times itself was compelled to report that the Bush administration "acknowledged today that a senior administration official [Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich] was in contact with Mr. Chávez's successor on the very day he took over"' -- a disclosure which, as the Times put it with great understatement, "raised questions as to whether Reich or other officials were stage-managing the takeover by Mr. Carmona."
He said that the oft-used slogan of ‘Ketuanan Melayu', or Malay supremacy, that indicated a master and servant relationship was unacceptable.But 2 days later, the MCA president himself, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, the newly elected "maverick" seems to have surprisingly decided to put in all sorts of disclaimers to Chua's statement.
"We accept Malay leadership, but not Malay supremacy... When we say we reject 'Ketuanan Melayu', we are not challenging the Malay special rights. It is enshrined in our constitution and nobody can take that away at the present moment."
Well, without taking into consideration who made the statement, the content of it sounds like a good statement to me, something that I would say too.
MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek's remark that the concept of Malay supremacy was no longer relevant, is not the party's stand, party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said today.I actually raised my eyebrows when I read the above report, both in Utusan Online, Sinchew Online and in The Malaysian Insider. Now has it got anything to do with dotted lines connecting Datuk Seri Ong's statement to the following statement by UMNO leaders?
"It is his personal view. The MCA's stand will be based on a resolution made by its president or state chairmen," Ong told reporters after chairing the Johor MCA liaison committee meeting here today.
...described those questioning the Malay supremacy concept as insincere and only pursuing their personal political interest.From former Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad who asked MCA
...not raise issues which could hurt the feelings of other races but instead focus on efforts to rebuild the party."Umno could also bring up many issues, but what is the point? What is important is that we clean up our own houses.Or from UMNO Secretary-General, Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor who said
...there is no point of ketuanan (supremacy) if Malays are not the masters... He should look at the incidents in Mumbai and Bangkok and not be emotional when making a statement.Go figure.
And so the Black Friday lines begin. The streets of Boulder are fairly tame and the majority of store-fronts are dark on Thanksgiving evening. However, at this point in time, about 30 people have set up camp in front of Boulder's new Best Buy.They're here for the Black Friday deals. Best Buy won't open until 5 a.m., but these folks are braving the cold, and eventually sleep deprivation, to not miss out on the early bird specials. (Best Buy and other retailers will have a limited amount of "door-busting" items such as the new Guitar Hero for $80, a desktop computer for $300 and a laptop for $379.
Waiting in line or camping overnight is a tradition for some of these people in line. They put aside money all year, plan out their purchases weeks in advance by perusing the advertisement fliers leaked to Web sites like bfads.net, and then brave the cold and eventual sleep-deprivation.
I'd like to feel superior to these people (well OK I do), but then I remember I've done things like spend $700 to go to a Michigan-Ohio State game in which Michigan got 91 yards of total offense while the game was held in a freezing drizzle that was two degrees too warm to turn into snow, and I stayed for the whole thing. While wearing running shoes. (My toes were nearly amputated).
BTW when did Black Friday become an evergreen news story/free advertisement for rampant consumerism? Ten years ago? Longer? I don't remember it being talked about much before then. Especially since the whole thing is crap even on the empirical level of it being the busiest shopping day of the year (there are always a couple of days before Christmas that are busier. Lots of men in this world after all).
Now Gordon Brown has caught the bug. The PM has been bombarding contestants on The X Factor with missives urging them to rebel against Simon Cowell’s strictures.
It is understood that the inquiry is focusing on four Home Office documents allegedly obtained by the Conservatives. Last November, documents from the private office of Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, were leaked to the opposition.Moreover, by acting in this way the government will only strengthen the public perception that it has something to hide on immigration. You would have to be quite extraordinarily stupid to think anthing else. In fact, it hard to think of anyone who who could be so mind-numbingly stupid as to approve this action.
They showed that ministers had known for four months that thousands of illegal immigrants had been cleared to work as security guards but had not told Parliament.
Other documents included information about an illegal immigrant working at House of Commons and a list of Labour MPs preparing to vote against the Government's anti-terrorism measures.
I would kill myself, but I can see the headlines now: "Boss of Cheeky Girl's ex-fiancé dies alone and friendless."But it has a happy ending of sorts.
My typical day started by taking my older daughter to her elementary school, dropping my infant daughter off at her daycare, and then driving to work on a corporate campus in Research Triangle Park. In none of these locations is concealed carry permitted; if I’d been armed, I would have managed a trifecta of felonies before my first cup of coffee. The 637CT, which I’d planned to carry in the pocket holster with the intimidating Winchester Supreme SXT hollowpoints, stayed at home. Some experiment this was turning out to be!
It was a couple of days later that I finally had a chance to legally carry, when my wife dispatched me to the local pet store chain to pick up various kinds of critter food for the Owens family menagerie. As it turns out, a J-frame revolver with a full grip like that of the 637CT doesn’t fit real well in anything but the large side pockets of the cargo-style shorts I was wearing, so with every step, the 637CT slapped against my thigh. It was annoying, to put it mildly.
Dumbing down
Janet Fluellen, our Director of Curriculum Development, has enthusiastically welcomed the news that a cross-party panel of MPs has asked academics to submit evidence of dumbing down in universities.
"We are so committed to this exercise," she told The Poppletonian, "that we have constituted a high-powered dumbing-down committee (myself and the vice-chancellor). Any Poppleton academic with evidence of slipping or falling standards should submit their claim to this committee together with their name, age, departmental affiliation, number of years in service, a recent passport-size photograph, a P45 and a small DNA sample."
If you’re buying a home, refinancing a mortgage or seeking an auto or student loan, the new government plans to make borrowing cheaper and easier sound like a gift.Ron Lieber and Tara Stegel Bernard, "U.S. Consumer Loan Aid Will Trickle Only So Far," New York Times, November 27, 2008.
One problem, however, is that whole categories of people may be ineligible. If you are refinancing, you could be out of luck if your mortgage balance is more than your house is worth. And for all kinds of new loans, lenders have raised their standards even as their customers’ credit records are deteriorating because of late payments and other problems.
And then there is the fact that the government’s efforts may take a while to start working — if they do at all. Once again, the government hopes that the benefits to consumers will trickle down. It is not simply lending to them directly. . . .
The federal government made two big moves on Tuesday [November 25]. The first, already known as TALF, for Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, is a $200 billion program that will lend money to private investors who buy securities backed by student and auto loans, credit card debt and small-business loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. . . .
In the second part of the program, the Fed has agreed to purchase $500 billion of mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. . . .
But that does not necessarily mean banks will be any more likely to oblige. Another complication is that the value of many homes — even those owned by people with stellar credit — have declined, making refinancing difficult.
“At the end of the day, it still comes down not to just a rate discussion, but a discussion about qualifications as well,” said Cameron Findlay, chief economist at LendingTree. “There are fundamental elements of qualifications for loans that will inhibit the ability of this program to have any meaningful, significant impact.”
Lower mortgage rates do little when unemployment rises and wages stagnate, he added.
To qualify for the best rates, borrowers will need to have a credit score of at least 720 and a down payment of at least 10 percent and probably closer to 20 percent. Borrowers seeking to refinance will need to have the same amounts in home equity. . . .
The efforts to loosen the purse strings in other areas of consumer lending may take longer, however, if they work at all. Most of the big credit card companies are parts of banks with billions on deposit. They can already use those deposits as a ready source for new credit card loans.
“Banks may want to fund fewer of these loans out of their deposits,” said Odysseas Papadimitriou, who worked in the card industry at Capital One . . .. It is possible, he said, that they will . . . not increase the total amount of loans that they are willing to make. . . .
But none of the government’s moves alters some unfortunate facts. Lenders want better credit scores from consumers in every category. At the same time, millions of people are much less creditworthy than they used to be, because of the damage they have done to their credit scores through late or missed payments.
Lenders themselves have contributed to the downturn in creditworthiness by lowering the credit limits on huge numbers of customers’ credit cards. This has the effect of raising the percentage of available credit that a consumer is using, which usually causes their credit scores to fall.
Clearly, the banks do not have the confidence in how consumers will handle credit that they might have had six months ago. It is not clear whether a new source of funds will cure this skittishness.
Nor is it certain how much untapped desire to borrow exists. The fact that consumer spending fell an entire percentage point last month, as the Commerce Department reported Wednesday, may reflect something other than a lack of capital.
“If consumers are afraid to make purchases, it doesn’t really matter how much available credit you have,” said Mr. Papadimitriou of Evolution Finance.
