Archive for May 2009
First monsoon of the season
First monsoon of the season coming in over the Caja del Rio. Moisture from Mexico and from California.
As always, we can use it.
Parents in a hole after 3-year-old buys backhoe online
Three-year-old Pipi Quinlan bought a $20,000 Kobelco digger on Trade Me, prompting immediate damage control by her mum when her purchase was revealed…
Parents Sarah and Reid Quinlan, of Stanmore Bay, were astonished to wake one morning to find Pipi had bought the huge excavating digger in a Trade Me auction.
The technically savvy kid had woken early and, with the rest of her family sound asleep, decided to play with the computer.
With a few clicks of the mouse she entered Internet Explorer and the Trade Me site her mother had already logged on to.
After a few more timely clicks, she had won the most recent auction listed on the site’s homepage.
It was for a Kobelco digger, and she had it for $20,000 – money she didn’t have in her piggy bank.
“The first I knew about it was when I came down and opened up the computer,” says mum Sarah.
“I saw an email from Trade Me saying I had won an auction and another email from the seller saying something like ‘I think you’ll love this digger’…”
“It wasn’t until I went back and re-read the emails that I saw $20,000, and got the shock of my life,” says Sarah.
The auction site reversed the sale after Mrs. Quinlan called and explained what had happened.
And the computer is, uh, now kept out of Pipi’s reach.
Exposing crooks in Parliament might provoke suicide. Your point is?
Embarrassing disclosures about the vast expenses claims of British members of parliament amount to a “McCarthy-style witch-hunt” that risks driving politicians to suicide, a lawmaker warned on Friday.
Nadine Dorries, a member of the opposition Conservative party, wrote on her blog that the two-week scandal, in which the Daily Telegraph newspaper has drip-fed details of how members of parliament have abused their generous expense allowances, was forcing politicians to the brink…
European and local elections to be held on June 4 are expected to reflect the level of popular disgust, with lower voter turnout and a move toward fringe parties predicted.
“The atmosphere in Westminster is unbearable,” Dorries wrote on the blog (blog.dorries.org). “People are constantly checking to see if others are OK. Everyone fears a suicide. If someone isn’t seen, offices are called and checked.”
Asked about her comments on BBC radio on Friday, she sought to back away from the suicide suggestion, but said the disclosures, including that politicians charged for duck ponds, horse manure, bath plugs and pornographic films, were forcing members of parliament to breaking point…
“I have to say the last day in parliament this week was completely unbearable. I have never, ever been in an atmosphere or an environment like it, where everyone walks around with terror in their eyes. People are genuinely concerned.”
Dorries, whose own use of expenses to buy household goods was exposed by the Telegraph, joins a number of politicians who have attacked the disclosures rather than apologizing.
Is this a threat of suicide – or a promise?
Losing corrupt politicians by whatever means is a praiseworthy goal. If they enhance and accelerate the process – by their own hand – that’s just the icing on the cake.
Pakistan Muslim League backs anti-Taliban assault
Refugees from Mingora
UPI Photo/Sajjad Ali Qureshi
The Pakistan Muslim League and its leader, Mian Nawaz Sharif, signaled support for Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his ongoing security operations against the Taliban in the Malakand region Tuesday during the All Parties Conference in Islamabad, Pakistan’s English-language newspaper Dawn reported.
Sharif’s closest lieutenant, Raja Zafarul Haq, declared that the party fully backs the anti-Taliban assault, telling the newspaper that the PML-N also wouldn’t hesitate to support a similar operation in Waziristan, part of the country’s ungoverned tribal areas and home to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
The All Parties Conference was called by Gilani to forge a political consensus among Pakistan’s parliamentary groups around the military campaign to fight Taliban militants in Swat and surrounding areas of the Malakand region. Dawn said that despite reservations expressed by relatively small parties, the conference produced a declaration of support for the government’s actions.
None of this is easy. Never ever easy.
Distanced by miles and time, I have wondered as many have if President Zardari and his political associates have the experience and strength of position to bring together a consensus – against the Taliban threat. Confronting the Islamist minority who would distort history and religion and even the just anti-imperialist sentiments of the region to goals of their sectarian agenda.
It appears they are capable and the people of Pakistan are willing. Pretty good combination.
‘i-House’ takes you from trailer park to the 21st Century
From its bamboo floors to its rooftop deck, Clayton Homes’ new industrial-chic “i-house” is about as far removed from a mobile home as an iPod from a record player…
With a nod to the iPod and iPhone, Clayton said, “We love what it represents. We are fans of Apple and all that they have done. But the ‘I’ stands for innovation, inspiration, intelligence and integration.”
Clayton’s “i-house” was conceived as a moderately priced “plug and play” dwelling for environmentally conscious homebuyers. It went on sale nationwide Saturday with its presentation at the annual shareholders’ meeting of investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire-Hathaway Inc. in Omaha, Neb.
“This innovative ‘green’ home, featuring solar panels and numerous other energy-saving products, is truly a home of the future,” Buffett wrote his shareholders. “Estimated costs for electricity and heating total only about $1 per day when the home is sited in an area like Omaha…”
A 1,000-square-foot prototype unveiled at a Clayton show in Knoxville a few months ago was priced at around $140,000. It came furnished, with a master bedroom, full bath, open kitchen and living room with Ikea cabinetry, two ground-level deck areas and a separate “flex room” with a second full bath and a second-story deck covered by a sail-like canopy…
The “i-house’s” metal v-shaped roof — inspired by a gas-station awning — combines design with function. The roof provides a rain water catchment system for recycling, supports flush-mounted solar panels and vaults interior ceilings at each end to 10 1/2 feet for an added feeling of openness.
The Energy Star-rated design features heavy insulation, six-inch thick exterior walls, cement board and corrugated metal siding, energy efficient appliances, a tankless water heater, dual-flush toilets and lots of “low-e” glazed windows.
This has to be great for folks who live somewhere with affordable land – just starting out as homeowners. If you’re not a mad owner-builder [common to my extended family] you can come up with an energy-star-rated home that makes all kinds of environmental sense.
FCC’s warrantless searches contradict any right to privacy
You may not know it, but if you have a wireless router, a cordless phone, remote car-door opener, baby monitor or cellphone in your house, the FCC claims the right to enter your home without a warrant at any time of the day or night in order to inspect it.
That’s the upshot of the rules the agency has followed for years to monitor licensed television and radio stations, and to crack down on pirate radio broadcasters. And the commission maintains the same policy applies to any licensed or unlicensed radio-frequency device.
“Anything using RF energy — we have the right to inspect it to make sure it is not causing interference,” says FCC spokesman David Fiske. That includes devices like Wi-Fi routers that use unlicensed spectrum, Fiske says.
The FCC claims it derives its warrantless search power from the Communications Act of 1934, though the constitutionality of the claim has gone untested in the courts. That’s largely because the FCC had little to do with average citizens for most of the last 75 years, when home transmitters were largely reserved to ham-radio operators and CB-radio aficionados. But in 2009, nearly every household in the United States has multiple devices that use radio waves and fall under the FCC’s purview, making the commission’s claimed authority ripe for a court challenge…
The rules came to attention this month when an FCC agent investigating a pirate radio station in Boulder, Colorado, left a copy of a 2005 FCC inspection policy on the door of a residence hosting the unlicensed 100-watt transmitter. “Whether you operate an amateur station or any other radio device, your authorization from the Commission comes with the obligation to allow inspection,” the statement says…
But if inspectors should notice evidence of unrelated criminal behavior — say, a marijuana plant or stolen property — a Supreme Court decision suggests the search can be used against the resident.
Of course. We all trust our government to be evenhanded and fair.
Dylan “poem” on sale was actually Hank Snow song
I still can’t listen to this without crying…
A “poem” purportedly written by a teenage Bob Dylan and up for auction at Christie’s is actually a song written by the late Canadian country singer Hank Snow, the auction house said on Wednesday.
Christie’s announced on Tuesday the sale of the hand-written poem believed to have been written in 1957 when Dylan was 16 and away at Jewish camp.
But Christie’s failed to detect that the words, with a few minor variations, matched those of a song previously recorded by Snow, who died in 1999 at age 85…
“Additional information has come to our attention about the handwritten poem submitted by Bob Dylan to his camp newspaper, written when he was 16, entitled ‘Little Buddy.’ The words are in fact a revised version of lyrics of a Hank Snow song,” Christie’s said in a statement…
Christie’s said Dylan, still using his given name Robert Zimmerman, signed the piece Bobby Zimmerman and submitted it to the Herzl Camp newspaper. The editor of the paper kept it for more than 50 years and recently donated it to Herzl Camp, a Jewish camp in Wisconsin, Christie’s said.
“Little Buddy” was a track on a Hank Snow LP I owned back in the 1960′s – When Tragedy Struck. Lots of talented music on that recording. In fact, I remember suggesting “Little Box of Pine” from the same pressing – to Randy Travis. Wonder if he ever recorded it?
Anyway – I consider Dylan one of the most talented songwriters – and opportunist copouts – in our nation’s musical history. No need to explain that to anyone. He hasn’t done much of anything demanding political backbone in decades.
New Zealand bank, coppers, hunting for overdraft millionaires
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission
Police in New Zealand are searching for a couple who disappeared after a banking blunder deposited $6 million in their account.
The couple had applied for a NZ$10,000 overdraft but received NZ$10m in their business account instead, part of which they withdrew, local media report…
Police believe the couple have left the country and Interpol has been alerted for assistance.
NSS
Westpac media relations manager Craig Dowling said the bank was “pursuing vigorous criminal and civil action to recover a sum of money stolen“.
Adding that the incident had prompted a review of how it had occurred, he said he would not comment on the specifics of the case due to the police investigation and court actions requiring confidentiality.
They don’t dare let out a peep. It’s already embarrassing enough.
My father worked with a guy back in the day who had this happen with $100K. He took all the money – flew to Las Vegas – and returned after a couple of day telling the coppers he’d gambled it all away.
He did some short time – blah, blah – got out of the slammer and disappeared. I’m certain he ended up fine and mellow somewhere. 
Mexican cartels open new front in drug war
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission
Drug gangs have forced open a bloody new front in Mexico’s drugs war, extending their battles over smuggling routes into a formerly quiet northwestern state and further stretching the army.
A fight for control of the mountainous state of Durango has killed some 235 people this year, a jump in violence that poses a new challenge to troops already struggling to contain bloodshed along the U.S. border. With only a few hundred soldiers in Durango, drug hitmen from eastern Mexico are taking over towns, kidnapping police, shooting up local government offices and slaughtering rivals.
It poses a fresh threat to President Felipe Calderon, who has staked his reputation on pushing back the cartels, and could fuel U.S. concerns that violence is overwhelming its southern neighbor…
The outbreak of violence in Durango also marks a new challenge to top drug fugitive Joaquin “Shorty” Guzman on a formerly quiet patch of his home turf in northwestern Mexico.
Officials and analysts say Guzman, who has long been battling rivals in other parts of the country, is being attacked in Durango by the Gulf cartel and its brutal “Zetas” armed wing as they fan out from their base in northeastern Mexico, near Texas…
But the killings in Durango may be a sign of how hard it is to crush drug gangs as military pressure in one region drives organized crime into less guarded areas. Durango’s Oliveria Reza calls it “the cockroach effect.”
Before retiring I occasionally worked with a few terrific young guys, brothers, from Durango. Hard-working, honest, you could count on them for any job. Every holiday they would car pool with friends and head back to Durango for a short stay – because, after all, that was home. They loved Durango.
Last time we bumped into each other the oldest brother asked if he could use me as a reference in his application for citizenship in the United States. Even though he loved Durango, he decided it’s time to get his extended family away from there – to someplace safe.
I’m not certain a reference from someone who’s spent so much of his life opposing reactionary U.S. politics is useful – but, of course, I agreed. He would be a positive addition to any country.
From the Front Lines in the Swat Valley…
‘They used to attack early in the morning or after dark. They would always go for an ambush,’ said Lieutenant Zaigham, wounded in battle with the Taliban and lying in a hospital.
Zaigham – who did not give his full name – sustained shrapnel wounds from fierce street fighting in the Swat valley and is a patient at the Combined Military Hospital in Rawalpindi, away from the combat in the northwest.
Lying in bed with bandaged wounds, he and fellow soldiers spoke of intense battles against heavily-armed insurgents, who put up stiff resistance and are often able to outflank Pakistan’s well-equipped and motivated soldiers…
From May 4 to May 17, when Zaigham was wounded, his unit advanced slowly from Khwazakhela in northern Swat to the nearby town of Matta, which has long been under Taliban control.
‘There were strong resistance during the entire journey but we managed to clear the area. They buried mines and planted IEDs (improvised explosive devices) every 50 metres,’ he said…
‘They positioned snipers in holes made out of the walls of houses. They used civilians as human shields. They used to attack from houses and roofs.’
‘They are well equipped, they have mortars. They have rockets, sniper rifles and every type of sophisticated weapons,’ said Zaigham.
‘I am certain that foreign elements are behind these militants. Can I ask something very simple – who are their sponsors? What their sources of funding? Who runs their logistics?’ he said.
Only a few of the questions raised by this report from the front lines.
A useful and informative report. Classic journalism helping the people of a nation and citizens of the whole world to understand the course of Pakistan’s battle against insurgent Islamist brutality.
