Nuclear Beef

Nuclear discovery temporarily shuts down neighborhood

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Here's one way to put a scare into your holiday weekend barbecue.

A Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, man was about to throw lobster and steak on the grill for a wedding anniversary cookout Saturday when he stopped by his bushes to pull some weeds.

Along with the weeds he found a yellow-and-black box about the size of a car battery with the word "nuclear" on the side.
...
Police determined the box was a nuclear compaction device used in construction. A neighbor had reported the box stolen from his truck.

The fire chief says the thief probably threw the box into the bushes. He says it had the same level of radiation as two household smoke detectors.

'Nuclear' and a barbeque? Close enough!

Smoke detectors are radioactive?

Posted by darwin at 07:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So I think I may have decided who I'm voting for this year. It may surprise you, but he's a very religious person. No, not George Bush.. Ted Jesus Christ God.

Why? Well, I'll let the candidate's Summary of Ted Jesus Christ GOD for President of the United States of America to THE KING of the USA to THE KING of World Earth to the New Earth speak for itself.

1 This is 04-15-04 and if Ted Something Something who has also chosen the name of Ted Jesus Christ GOD cannot get into the Whitehouse being THE KING then HE will TRY to get in their getting voted in by the American people and the President of the United States of America and therefore Ted Something Something that also has chosen and regularly uses the name of Ted Jesus Christ GOD is OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCING HIS intentions and CANDIDACY and that HE is running for the Presidency of the United States of America and to be voted in by the American people

At least Ted knows how to accept a nomination! How about ethics? Can we trust Ted?

3 Ted is THE MOST HONEST US Citizen running for the President of the United States of America and can and will ACCEPT CAMPAIGN DONATIONS if these have NO STRINGS ATTACHED and HE will do NO Deals in the slightest and make NO Promises in the slightest relating to these funds.

Wow, obviously the most honest US citizen should be the President. How's Ted on Homeland Security?

5 Ted does want for the US to build Deep Underground Eco Enclosed Cities and this for US Federal and State and Local Governments and Top US Citizens.

Damn. Deep Underground Eco Enclosed Cities. I wonder if I qualify as a Top US Citizen? But how's he going to pay for these DUEECs?

6 Ted does want to pay off all US Deficit and make Deficit Spending COMPLETELY ILLEGAL. Ted does want to raise the US Taxes a Trillion Dollars a year and this to pay off the deficit and NEVER again practice deficit spending and to build many Ted Jesus Christ GOD Deep Underground Eco Enclosed Cities.

Well.. he's for a balanced budget. That's good! But.. raising taxes a Trillion Dollars a year? I'm not sure I can get behind that. Maybe his views on the war on terror will persuade me.

9 Ted does want to CONQUER ALL of World Earth and this using diplomacy and the fact that HE is Christ and God and the Creator and also Nuclear Missiles and NOT do this primarily deploying troupes all over World Earth. This is NECESSARY to fight TERRORIST and TERRORISM and is ESSENTIAL to WINNING the WAR on TERRORISM!

Now he does say he wants to use diplomacy, which I think is noble. I think he's really planning to rely on the fact that HE is Christ and God and The Creator. Oh. And the Nuclear Missiles.

Strong on defense? Check.

But how can he compete with the big money candidates?

24 Ted does UNDERSTAND that the front runners for President of the United States of America have MONEY and Kerry has a wife that is worth almost half a Billion Dollars and is RICH and Bush has money and is getting HUGE Campaign Donations and how can Ted who is POOR compete with that? Is becoming President of the United States now only for the RICH to SUPER RICH or RICH and FAMOUS? Ted this is how this is working currently and this is TRUE. Ted we are working on some things and do not worry or get too upset or lament. Then Ted is NOT Weather Vaning in the slightest and WANTS to DO what is RIGHT for the current and future situation of America and therefore is NOT going to get any Money attached to Deals and is only taking money with NO STRINGS ATTACHED and is making some enemies with them like Tobacco and Alcohol and Pharmaceutical Companies and More and what about that? Ted you can soften up your position and then later MANEUVER and this is what some Politicians DO to get in and then later MANEUVER HARD!

Ted sounds like a political survivor. A deft strategist. Exactly the kind of man I want at the helm of our fine nation. How about long term plans.. you know, the 'vision' thing?

13 If the USA gets into a HUGE Nuclear WAR then these would NEED to Carpet Bomb their own soil and this would be a MERCY KILLING of ALL of their US Citizens on the surface that were not in Ted Jesus Christ GOD Deep Underground Eco Enclosed Cities. Actually for the United States of America it is that these will if getting into a HUGE Nuclear War these will have to Carpet Bomb ALL of World Earth with Nuclear Weapons to prevent invasion from many different Countries and Nations that are enemies and some that are friends. If Carpet Bombing ALL of World Earth and the United States of America has the only Ted Jesus Christ GOD Deep Underground Eco Enclosed Cities then these have WON and will be able to repopulate ALL of World Earth are their leisure. If the USA does not DO this now then these will have to live with Terrorist and War and Threats and future War with Nuclear Weapons and Weapons of Mass Destruction far into the future.

Wait a minute.. did he just say.. we could.. repopulate ALL of World Earth at our leisure? Dude. Whatever else he was saying there sounds cool too. I like nukes. So does Ted have any hidden secrets or weaknesses?

20 Ted is hearing that some are saying that Ted is Jewish and therefore will NOT win based on that fact alone and Jesus was Jewish and Ted is Jewish and Ted is Jesus and Ted is saying that HE is JUDGING that for any that understand enough of Teds Race and or Politics and or Religion and do NOT vote for HIM then Ted is JUDGING that these are LOST and will be getting ETERNAL DEATH and that minimum unless HE make an exception. Why? Because if you cannot accept the Race and or Politics and or Religion of Ted then you will NOT be happy in Ancient Heaven in the slightest because this is FAR MORE TO THE RIGHT and is MUCH MORE IN LINE with Teds Race and Politics and Religion. Ted is now hearing that there are many Jewish in Ancient Heaven.

Uh oh. I guess I'll be voting for a loser again this year. If only he were Catholic. Doesn't being Jesus Christ count for anything with these so-called Christians?

Don't blame me, I voted for Fred Ted Christ!

Posted by darwin at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

France and Germany Move to Resume Arms Sales to China

On January 27, French President Jacques Chirac held a joint conference with Chinese President Hu Jintao to celebrate the "Year of China" in Paris. Chirac used the occasion to publicly call for the lifting of the European Union arms embargo on China. France and Germany have succeeded in pushing the E.U. to review the embargo and have urged the E.U. to take action before the March entrance of ten new members. On February 4, Javier Solana, the E.U. foreign policy chief, was quoted in the Geneva newspaper Le Temps as saying, "It seems to me, after discussions we had a few days ago ? [that] the E.U. is ready to do it."

While the United States is opposed to lifting the bans, it is a 1998 E.U. law that may ultimately render any change to the embargo insignificant; the E.U. arms business remains tightly controlled by a 1998 code of conduct barring the sale of equipment that could be used in regional conflicts or domestic repression, which would still be enforceable on sales to China.

After the military repression of pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989, the U.S. and the member states of the E.U. placed embargos on sales of arms to China. U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, "We believe that the U.S. and European prohibitions on arms sales are complementary, were imposed for the same reasons, specifically serious human-rights abuses, and that those reasons remain valid today." Despite Boucher's statement, the French have begun to see the issue differently. Dominique de Villepin< the French foreign minister, recently argued, "Our feeling is that the embargo is out of date as relations between Europe and China improve. ? [Beijing is] a privileged partner and a responsible one."

Europe is a beacon of human rights and righteousness. America is a cesspool of immoral husbandry to tyranny. Something something.

Posted by darwin at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

First off, I have to tip my hat to Moe Rex who has inspired me to start MP3 Blogging. You see, I have an awful lot of weird music hanging around here. My aim is to inflict share the high weirdness on with whomever might be interested. I plan to focus on good, but unpopular music, because there's plenty of words spilt on even popular indie stuff. So, without further delay...

Something kinda crummy recently happened in my life. When something crummy happens, what can you do? I had to laugh like hell.

The Hall of Fame of Things I Despise by The Russian Futurists (from Lets Get Ready to Crumble and the Method of Modern Love double album)

I don't know what's up with these guys, and I'm not sure that I want to know. Much like Blonde Redhead, I feel like the mental image I have of them is better than anything they might really be. They have an entire album full of weird, bouncy, confusing stuff like this. Also, excessively verbose song titles.

Untitled by MF Doom feat. MC Paul Barman from the forthcoming album MM Food.

MF Doom is unstoppable lately. Here, he teams up with nerd-rapper MC Paul Barman for some back-and-forth hilarity over a flipped version of a CCR classic. Money Quote : "So let's get this rap cash / cause art right now is on some slap-dash, clap-trap, crap-trash!" Ain't that the troof. Also, "MM Food" is the easiest anagram ever. The album is coming out some time later this year.

You Ought To Hear Me Cry by Willie Nelson from The Best Of : Funny How Time Slips Away

If you think that I laugh louder than anyone here /
If you think that my volume's too high /
If you think I laugh loud, you ain't heard nothing yet /
You ought to hear me cry

Nuff said.

Posted by darwin at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It seems as if the San Francisco Chronicle REALLY wants us to know that the "US kill[ed] 40 civilians in village attack." I noticed this earler in the day and then saw it mentioned over at O,TLM.

Apparently through some technical glitch, three different stories have had the phrase "US kills 40 civilians in village attack" prepended to their titles.

This is what google news currently shows : US Kills 40 [1]

Here are the three stories (screenshots in brackets) :

PRISON SCANDAL: Soldier says he's sorry, gets a year in jail for actions at Abu Ghraib [2]

BLUNT ASSESSMENT: S.F.'s Pelosi calls Bush 'incompetent' and lacking in judgment [3]

DESERT ASSAULT: Infiltrators were target, but witnesses say a wedding party was hit (the original?) [4]

The one about Abu Ghraib is the perfect synthesis of two news stories that would make any sensationalist, anti-Bush journactivist salivate.

That said, I don't think this was a conscious attempt at subliminal messaged like Max-Headroom. I'm sure it's just a silly technical glitch.

Even computers can hate freedom!

Posted by darwin at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Journalist strike closes down major newspapers

The Norwegian Union of Journalists and the National Association of Mediacompanies failed to come to an agreement, despite arbritation several hours on overtime.

A dispute over pensions and a special increment for the lowest salaried employees were the main reasons for the strike.

Major national and regional newspaper like Aftenposten, VG, Dagbladet, Adresseavisen, Bergens Tidende, Sunnmoersposten and Nordlys will not be published from Thursday on. The National News Agency (NTB) is also closed down, as are a couple of commercial TV stations.

This is the flip-side of the impact that commercial media consolidation has had on the journalistic profession. How can these journalists claim to represent the public interest when they are willing to strike over pensions? They don't even want to spend the time being incompetent reporters if they aren't properly compensated! Gooooo Union!

Thanks to J. on the hookup.

Posted by darwin at 02:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Michele over at A Small Victory

I want to make mention of the fact that Nick Berg was a Jew, just like Danny Pearl was a Jew. Which leads me to make the assumption that Berg was handpicked to be slaughtered, just like Danny Pearl. Which means that his beheading -as we all know anyhow - has nothing to do with Abu Ghraib.

I've seen this meme making the rounds, but I'm not sure it's substantiated that Jewishness significantly affects your chances of kidnapped and murdered by these scumbags. Guillermo Sabero was beheaded in symbolic fashion by Abu Sayef in 2001, and I don't believe he was Jewish. Fabrizio Quattrocchi was Italian (afaik, not Jewish) and was kidnapped and executed on camera as well.

It is notable that both Pearl and Berg were Jewish, but apparently being an American (non-Muslim? Western?) is good enough for these animals.

Posted by darwin at 02:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Interesting post from Iraqi dentist Zeyad at Healing Iraq.

Some angry readers have interpreted the above last statement as an attack against fellow Muslims. That was not what I had intended. I usually do my best to avoid theological debates on Islam for safety considerations but I'll indulge them just this once. My purpose was to point out that Islam indeed excuses such barbaric acts. This is not the same as saying that all Muslims believe in such acts or commit them, moderate Muslims exist, but Islam is not moderate. Islamic fundamentalists and terrorists have not deviated from Islam, in fact all their practices are derived from the Quran and Hadith.

So yes, Islam is the problem here. Poverty, economic conditions, abuse by so called colonialism, and political frustration are not. Similar conditions elsewhere in the world have not prompted non-Muslims to commit suicide bombings or fly planes into towers. Islam, along with favourable cultural, tribal, and social values existing in the Arab world has prompted that drive. Islam and the Quran alone are not the root cause.

The solution is not however to alienate all Muslims, or to expel them, or annihilate them. It is up to 'moderate' Muslims and their clerics to carefully examine their scriptures and to reform, the same way Jews and Christians did. The Quran is a book, and its tenants were appropriate for a certain era in history. Most of it does not apply today, so it is not 'untouchable'.

You either believe in the whole book, together with its violent verses, or you should stop claiming to be a consistent believer. You cannot select verses which appeal to your argument and ignore the rest.

He gives examples from the Koran. His position is alltogether too reasonable. Can't be a real Iraqi, must be a CIA Halliburton COINTELPRO DoD Rumsfeld Ashcroft, Rand Corporation plant.

Seriously though, obviously not all Muslims or Arabs are insane medieval fundamentalist murderers, but some of them are. It's not hateful to point out that aspects of a faith and a culture have bad results. There are downsides to any culture, but Arab Muslims in particular have a cultural AND religious problem in the modern world.

Pretending that it's ok for them to have beliefs which offend our modern sensibilities for good reason is shirking moral responsibility to witness the suffering of others with courage.

Posted by darwin at 01:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is an transcription (by me) of part of an entry in the NPR Radio Diary of Lori Mildice Hill. She is the wife of a gunnery sergeant serving in Fallujah, Iraq with the 1st Marine Division. Any mistakes in transcription are mine. The excerpt begins at 1:55 into the file.

Diary of a Marine Wife

On Saturday, the 24th [of April, 2004], I went to the commisary to do my grocery shopping and after I had done my shopping and was coming off, I went off through the main gate and there were protesters outside the gate. And these people had signs saying "Bring Home Our Troops," which to me is just a masked protest. And things like "the only people who are suffering are innocent children and they're being killed" or something like that. And to say that I was hurt by that... is an understatement.

I understand that we have a free country and I understand that they have the right to protest. But don't protest in my front yard where I have no control over what my husband is doing, and nor does he.

The best thing that I saw was a naval officer who was standing out there, handing out flags. And I thought to myself "thank God that there was someone strong enough to stand out there, in uniform, and support us. Because I didn't have the strength to do that.

You know, it's obviously a very difficult time for everyone, but protesting outside a base isn't going to change anything.

Protest politics is founded on shocking people. In many cases, this protest is not directed properly and ends up hurting the feelings of people who haven't done anything wrong. These people, being offended or insulted, are far less likely to consider the worth of an opinion. They can see through the "mask," as Lori Mildice Hill so lucidly describes it.

Protestors would do well to protest appropriately and with a modicum of civility. The radical fringe of the protest movement has usurped a forum in which those who sincerely want to bring out troops home for legitimate pacifist or other moral/ethical reasons could express their message. The tactics of ANSWER et al (including protests at businesses, military bases, etc.) are both divisive and ineffective.

Posted by darwin at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

China 'fake milk' scandal deepens

State television says infants who were fed fake formula have been treated for malnutrition in a second province.
...
Around 200 babies in Anhui alone were fed formula milk of little nutritional value, media reports said.

An initial inquiry has shown that 45 types of substandard powder were on sale in Fuyang City, Anhui, produced by 141 factories across China, Xinhua said.
...
They said some of the babies developed what doctors called "big head disease", where infants' heads appear abnormally large in comparison to their bodies.

It was not clear if the counterfeit powder included any toxic ingredients, but some children were reported to have died within three days of being fed the fake milk.

This story is actually pretty sad. I remember when, years ago, I heard a story about the way that consumers of the third world "stretch" baby formula because they basically don't know any better. It made an impact on me at the time, and actually kinda made me hate Nestle for marketing formula in places with no clean water. This story is about 30x worse than that.

Speaking of Nestle..

Nestle Urged to 'Tell Truth' About GMOs

Chinese lawyers and experts yesterday urged Nestle to reveal whether the Swiss firm's Nestle Nesquik contains genetically modified organisms (GMO), as widely suspected.

Zhu Yanling, the plaintiff, bought Nestle Nesquik at a Carrefour outlet in March last year.

"Soon, I learned from a report by Greenpeace the product contained genetically modified elements,'' she said. "As a consumer, my right to know the truth was tampered with.''

The 33-year-old woman asked for a refund, plus compensation of 6.8 yuan (80 US cents), which is as much as the price of one bag of the drink.

Now ok, that's a pretty weird story. She sued Nestle for 80 cents, for GMO food? Greenpeace put her up to it?

But that's not the weirdest thing :

The case became more complicated when a second test on the product at the end of last month showed no genetically modified ingredient was found, contradicting the findings of an earlier examination in August.

"No matter what the result is, there is no denying consumers find it difficult to know the truth about such a product,'' Wu said.

On the two different results, Wu Zhangzhu from GeneScan, a leader in the field of molecular biological testing of genetically modified organisms in food, feeds and agricultural raw materials, said that a test may not be that exact.

There's a leader in the field of testing food for Genetic Modification.. and it's Chinese? What the hell? What in the world is this Genescan up to?

GeneScan's U.S. laboratory is located in suburban New Orleans, LA. It is a subsidiary of GeneScan Europe, AG, a publicly traded biotech company located in Freiburg, Germany, in the heart of Europe's biotech corridor. GeneScan USA started in 1998 under the name Central Hanse Analytical Laboratory, LLC, (CHAL).

Figures, they're Cajuns. Uh.. Germans.

A. on the hook for the Malk.

Posted by darwin at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Richard Armitage: They Ought To Hang (via FoS)

April 30, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - The State Department's No. 2 official said yesterday that those guilty of corruption in the U.N. oil-for-food program "ought to hang."

The blunt remarks by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage to a House subcommittee were the strongest comments the Bush administration has made since accusations surfaced in January that Saddam Hussein ripped off $10 billion from the program.
...
He noted that the department has taken what he called the "extraordinary" step of turning over sensitive documents to investigators on the matter, "because we want to get to the bottom of it as much as you do."

"And if someone is found guilty they ought to hang," Armitage said.

Can anyone explain to me how in the hell Richard Armitage became a DIPLOMAT?

I mean, we here at The Beef love the crazy bastard but I can't imagine how he can be a successful diplomat while being so.. colorful.

One thing that is clear from this Google image search is that there are two faces of Richard Armitage.

Happy-Go Lucky Glad-Hand Armitage
and his evil twin,
Upset Uncle Fester Armitage

* (because the resolutions that they constantly pass.. say nothing to dictators about their lives..)

Posted by darwin at 04:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)