Archive for July 8th, 2008
CHAVEZ ROMANCING COLUMBIA AFTER MCCAIN VISIT
ANTI - US VENEZUELA PRESIDENT CHAVEZ FLIP FLOPS ON SUPPORT FOR TERRORIST FARC.
President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela is suddenly making nice with his Columbian counterpart saying he has stopped funding the radical terror group FARC that he did fund and has fought to topple Columbia’s government. Last week’s daring Colombian military operation that rescued 15 high-profile hostages from those rebels changed the dynamic focusing on FARC’S terrorist nature. The next step in this cross border “romance” will occur when Uribe and Chávez meet Friday in Caracas. Often tense over the years, their relationship broke badly after Uribe accused Chávez in March of aiding the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and Chaves questioned the legitimacy of Columbia’s government.
The U. S. has supported Columbia in its war against drug lords as well as FARC that has been making progress raising Chavez’s angst and anti-America ire. Chavez also funds communist regimes and operatives elsewhere in Central and South America. He recently said he would buy submarines from China to defend against a U. S. invasion.
Republican presidential nominee McCain was in Columbia last week and likely pledged continued U. S. support. But, Obama has made no such assurances. It is unlikely Columbia will fall for Chavez’s wine and roses until the outcome of the U. S. Presidential election is known.
Obama Fund Raising Scheme Called “Gambling”
OBAMA FUND RAISING SCHEME - TOO CUTE BY HALF.
An Obama fund raising pitch to enter contributors in a lottery to win an all expense trip to witness his Nuremberg-like acceptance speech rally at a Denver football stadium may be illegal “gambling”. Obama’s camp now says anyone who gives $5 by July 31st will now also write an essay and the ten best essays will be picked - so it is not gambling. That they say makes it skill not chance. But, many state laws say if you have to buy something or make a “voluntary” contribution to be entered is “gaming” or maybe gamey. Too cute by half.
Unlike the Maureen Dowd hoax about a mythical internet scheme to funnel foreign money to Obama this report is correct, and frankly foolish- especially trying to finnese state gambling laws.
Survey of NRA, Supreme Court, Offshore and ANWR Oil Drilling
Over half of Americans (56%) express a favorable view of the National Rifle Association,
although only 17% of voters say they are more likely to vote for John McCain if he is endorsed by the pro-gun lobbying group.
But, 21% of all voters say an NRA endorsement will make them more likely they’ll vote for a non-endorsee.
Six of ten says an NRA endorsements means nothing to their vote.
Sixty-five percents (65%) of men view the NRA favorably, only 47% of women agree, with nearly as many (42%) rating the group unfavorably. Proof men and women are different.
Seventy percent (80%) of Republicans give the group favorable marks as opposed to 39% of Democrats. Both the NRA’s favorable and unfavorably ratings are up since the Virginia Tech shootings.
In an elated matter following the Supreme Court decision decision which upholds the right of citizens to bear arms, 34% of voters say the Supreme Court is doing a good or an excellent job. That’s an eight-point improvement in just a few days.
Fifty-nine percent (59%) support offshore drilling, a figure that is unchanged from a previous Rasmussen survey. By a 60% to 31% margin, voters also support drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).
Republicans favor ANWR drilling by an 85% to 10% margin and Alaska’s Republican Governor Sarah Palin has written to the United States Senate demanding that such drilling be allowed.
Democrats are evenly divided on ANWR drilling-46% are opposed while 41% are in favor. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 61% favor drilling in the Wildlife Refuge while 29% are opposed.
California Burning Update -Tuesday
Foggy and cool with no overnight winds has slowed the Gap wildfire to a crawl, and may have bought time to defeat the 10,000 acre fire burning near the crest of the mountains behind Goleta 10-12 miles Northwest of Santa Barbara. Power outages have become a daily occurance as ash settles on transmission lines where the carbon archs and blows out circuits. The fire is a third contained.
The Big Sur wildfire appears to have been beat to a standstill.
Perhaps the greatest danger is the forecast for triple digit temperatures through midweek.
NASA NEWS
Since 1977 Voyager 1 and 1980 Voyager 2 the two U. S. spacecrafts have been rushing away from the sun at 35,000 and 39,000 MPH respectively and are about 8,000,000,000 miles distant approaching the heliosheath where the solar winds abruptly slow - it is the edge of our solar system. Voyager 1 and 2 on divergent courses seems to have found the solar system isn’t symetrically round but dented.
Leonard Burlaga, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “It’s literally like a hand pushing.” That push is from the magnetic field that lies between star systems in the Milky Way. The magnetic field hits the solar system at a different angle on the south than on the north, probably because of interstellar turbulence from star explosions, said Voyager project scientist Ed Stone. Both spacecraft still have several more years before they completely exit the solar system and continue deeper into the vast space between our Sun and the nearest stars, said Stone, former director of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab.
Voyager 1, in 40,000 years, will float by within 1.6 light years (9.3 trillion miles) of a star known as AC+79 3888 in the constellation Camelopardalis. Voyager 2, in 296,000 years, will sail within 4.3 light years (25 trillion miles) of Sirius, which today is the brightest star in Earth’s sky.
Both are destined to wander the universe for eternity or until they crash into something. Should they be discovered each carries a gold plated disk described where they came from and the sort of beings who sent them. They are already the most distant manmade objects ever to leave the Earth. Both have radioisotope electric generators making it possible for them to continue sending radio signals back to us. They are so far away it takes radio wave traveling at 186,000 MPH (the speed of light) almost half a day to arrive.
NASA has 10 missions remaining for the shuttle fleet, and has announced the final flight will be May 31, 2010. Once the shuttles retire, work will focus on the Ares rocket and Orion capsule that will be used to return astronauts to the moon. Enterprise, the first space shuttle, rolled out of Rockwell’s facility in the Mohave desert on Sept. 17, 1976 but was not space capable but only for research. Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour have been built for space flights. Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after launch in 1986, and Endeavour was built as a replacement. Columbia broke apart during re-entry in 2003.
China is planning a manned Moon landing in 2020, and NASA is planning its next visit in 2018. The INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION will be complete and interest will turn to a permanent international base on the moon.
T. Boone Pickens Has Energy Plan
“A fool with a plan is better than a genius with no plan, and we have no plan,”
said T. Boone Pickens Tuesday on ABC’s GMA speaking of his recommendation to produce a quarter of U. S. electricity with wind power and his proposal to build the biggest wind farm in American in Texas. He predicted $6-$8 a gallon for gasoline within a year. Pickens traced the current crisis back to President Nixon in the 1970s blaming every President since for the current crisis.
Critics have said wind energy is part of a solution but have environmental risks, and need to be part of a comprehensive solution. Others are suspicious that his proposal is profit motivated and too simplistic lacking comprehension.
Regardless of what you might think - Pickens has a plan.
Dizzy’s Ten Post Round-Up
I admit it. I was playing a bit of hooky, yesterday, and I was too busy (having fun) to put up a post. But, I kinda like you guys, so I decided that it would be kinda fun to put up today’s Ten Post Round-Up.
Gasp! Shocking news: The government and the media lie to the people…again!
1. Alternate Brain: Lies, kidnapping and a mysterious laptop
I don’t pretend to understand the dynamics of inter- and intra-national South American politics, but one thing I do understand is that our government, and in particular Republican administrations, will lie, cheat, and kill, whatever it takes to get oil and the profit therefrom.
Hey! If it walks like a duck, why bother looking to see if it’s actually a duck?
2. BlondeSense: The secret mission to Montreal does not vindicate the bushistas
You probably read in the last few days about the secret mission to deliver uranium from Iraq to Montreal being successful. The yellowcake uranium was not weapons grade, nor could it make a dirty bomb. It will be used to make electricity in Canada. The uranium was accounted for by the IAEA and the UN before we invaded Iraq and was legally controlled, therefore this material did not vindicate the bushistas for their lies.
Oh, my! Stimulate your brain while getting it bashed in. What’s not to love?
3. BuzzFeed: Chess Boxing
This is officially the most awesome sport ever: Five rounds of boxing are interspersed between 6 rounds of chess.