Missing Rush Limbaugh

Goooooooood morning, LGF!

Morning all - love the smell of fresh thread in the morning.

My first First! Had to get up at 4:20 am but my first First!

/420

Morning Lizards!

A guy was driving down a deserted road when he accidentally hit a pig. Nobody saw him do it so he kept on driving. A little ways on a policeman stopped the car. "I'm arresting you for leaving the scene of an accident". "How did you know?" the man asked. "The pig squealed."

wee, wee, wee, all the way home

re: #4 Rancher

My first First! Had to get up at 4:20 am but my first First!

/420

And if you comment on it, it will be your last you know :)

re: #4 Rancher

Watch out for that timing thing. People may get the wrong impression. ;)

/had "friends" explain the whole 420 mystique to me once.
//not to long ago either

re: #4 Rancher

^{_{Mazel tov! ;-)}}

Good Morning, everyone. In light of Carter's Ass Kiss in Demascus:
Diealogue with The Enemy, Pigman-Style

here's an email that I got from the parents of one of my son's soccer team members. He was diagnosed with Cancer last year and has been fighting the good fight. I removed his name, and his parent's names for obvious reasons. Just a reminder to keep things in perspective.

[redacted],

[redacted] returned to school on Monday and Cub Scouts on Tuesday. He came up to
us on Sunday and said "this is one of the worst days of my life." We
thought he was anxious about returning to school, but no, he said it was bad
"like the day before vacation." Monday was declared Hat Day for the school
by the principal. [redacted]'s desk was exactly like he left it, down to the
empty water bottles. Three new kids have been assigned to that classroom
since he left, but that teacher never touched his desk. He is tired by
bedtime, but gets stronger, literally, every day, but soccer is still a ways
off. Academically, he is making it his own business to catch up the few
lessons he is behind. He was doing long division at the dining room table
this morning.

To top it all off, his CT scan from Monday was negative, so his lung
infection has cleared up. That was our last lingering concern. Labs Monday
were great.

[redacted] started Maintenance Therapy Monday before last, and it is indeed a
tremendous improvement over what he has endured thus far. He will receive
oral chemo daily, IV chemo monthly, and chemo into his spine quarterly.
These are all medicines and procedures he tolerates well. [redacted] will attend
physical therapy for a short while as he builds his strength back up. He
will complete his cancer treatment on Thanksgiving Day, 2010. We are filled
with hope that [redacted] has put the worst of this behind him now.

(As an aside, [redacted] started Maintenance with a spinal tap. When the doctors
arrived to perform the procedure, they had in tow a young, third year med
student who they asked be allowed to observe. The hematology doctors and
nurses, all happened to be petite women. The third year med student was
about 6' 4" and 240 pounds. The procedure went fine and [redacted] tolerated it
well. Towards the end of the procedure, Mr. Medical Student told [redacted] he
was the bravest person he had ever seen. I glanced over at him and he was a
pale shade of green. As we understand it, he left the room and passed out.)
[redacted] is able to go where he wants and do what he wants, with a few
exceptions. We need to keep him away from obviously contagious people, be
careful of his time in the sun, and for now keep him out of lakes, rivers
and the ocean. Other than that, he is good to go.

We have been humbled by the prayers and love shown our entire family during
this time. It has helped more than we could ever express. We have been
awakened by the things we have seen at Duke, and pledge to never forget that
there are some terribly sick kids, and some desperately needy parents.

We expect that things will be smoother now, and that you will be able now to
make your own judgments about how [redacted] is doing. So if you don't hear from
us by email, please know that all is well.

Life is good.

[redacted] and [redacted]

He was asked about William Ayers? Sweet.

re: #11 BulgarWheat

I don't have any problems.

God bless your friend and his family.

a merger between Kadima and Labor

Oh for Petes sake...just give up! [Link: www.jpost.com...]

re: #11 BulgarWheat
Too true goddessoftheclassroom, God bless those in real need.

re: #12 rancher

He was asked about William Ayers? Sweet.

yup and his answer was really a dodge, " I wqs 8 years old when these things happened."
Yo Barry, that wasn't the question. You hang with Ayers who is not a bit sorry. You had a strategy session at his house.
You can argue that you are victim of 'guilt through assosciation.", but anothr adage is "you judge a man by the company he keeps"

re: #14 storagemanager

Oh for Petes sake...just give up! [Link:

The Democrats' "Fake-Out America" adviser, Berkeley linguistics professor George Lakoff, must be beside himself. Despite Lakoff's years spent training Democrats to "frame" their language to stop scaring Americans, B. Hussein Obama was caught on tape speaking candidly to other liberals in San Francisco last week.

One minute Obama was bowling in Pennsylvania with nice, ordinary people wearing "Beer Hunter" T-shirts, and the next thing you know, he was issuing a report on the psychological traits of normal Americans to rich liberals in San Francisco.

Obama informed the San Francisco plutocrats that these crazy working-class people are so bitter, they actually believe in God! And not just the 12-step meeting, higher power, "as you conceive him or her to be" kind of God. The regular, old-fashioned, almighty sort of "God."

As Obama put it: "(T)hey get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

[Link: frontpagemag.com...]

If you all haven't read that link about Obama's foodstamp claim, go do. Lying through his teeth. (And likely so was mama.)

re: #16 opnion

yup and his answer was really a dodge, " I wqs 8 years old when these things happened."
Yo Barry, that wasn't the question. You hang with Ayers who is not a bit sorry. You had a strategy session at his house.
You can argue that you are victim of 'guilt through assosciation.", but anothr adage is "you judge a man by the company he keeps"

Being eight years old when Charles Manson instigated a string of murders does not excuse developing a friendship with him 30 years later. Just exactly how stupid and foolish does he think the American people are? Supercilious ass!

Well, I wish I could stay and chat, but I must be going. Have a great day!

re: #20 galloping granny

Being eight years old when Charles Manson instigated a string of murders does not excuse developing a friendship with him 30 years later. Just exactly how stupid and foolish does he think the American people are? Supercilious ass!

Well said and yes the Obamas do think that we are stupid.

(IsraelNN.com) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday "satanic" foreign forces had failed in their bid to dominate the Middle East's energy resources and that they did not dare to threaten Iran, Reuters reported.

Addressing a military parade, Ahmadinejad said that the region could handle its own security without the U.S. and other foreign forces, although he did not actually name the United States.

"We saw that oppressive, arrogant ... and satanic powers planned, using a suspicious excuse to gain dominance over the world's energy reserves ..., brought their troops to our region," Ahmadinejad said at the annual ceremony. "Today they have failed," he said in the televised address. "The Iranian nation has reached a level that none of the world powers dare to threaten (it)," he added

[Link: www.israelnationalnews.com...]

{DRUDGE POLL}WHO WON THE DEM DEBATE IN PA?...

HILLARY CLINTON

39% 28,193
BARACK OBAMA

61% 44,972

Total Votes: 73,165

re: #22 opnion

The more I see of Obama the more shallow I think he is.

He apparently thinks religion is only necessary when things go wrong,

what a misunderstanding of human nature

he is to be pitied

I was at Osama’s house once. Our kids play together. He wasn’t abit sorry for 9/11, actually said he hadn’t done enough. I was eight when 9/11 happened so I didn’t really cair. “Going to the board meeting tonight?”, I asked. “Allah willing,” Osama said, “‘nother beer?”

Good morning lizards! Top of the morning to you all.

re: #24 storagemanager

{DRUDGE POLL}WHO WON THE DEM DEBATE IN PA?...

HILLARY CLINTON

39% 28,193
BARACK OBAMA

61% 44,972

Total Votes: 73,165

Hmm, do you think that if Barry does an axe murder on live TV that it could hurt his numbers?

re: #18 storagemanager

anti-trade sentiment

That’s what I found funny. He’s against NAFTA while he’s for it.

re: #24 storagemanager

{DRUDGE POLL}WHO WON THE DEM DEBATE IN PA?...

HILLARY CLINTON

39% 28,193
BARACK OBAMA

61% 44,972

Total Votes: 73,165

Drudge polls have less than no statistical significance. Remember the polls Charles used to run where all the RonPaul supporters would come rig the thing? Internet polls are self selecting. They mean absolutely nothing.

re: #19 galloping granny

If you all haven't read that link about Obama's foodstamp claim, go do. Lying through his teeth. (And likely so was mama.)

?

This is nothing to laugh at...he is killing our troops and getting away with it....

"Iranians are the most powerful nation of the world," said the president stressing that the power of the Iranian nation served peace and humanity.

He referred to Iranians as a "peace-loving and civilized people who would firmly support their armed forces to defend the country with all they have in reach.

The chief executive stressed that Iran's armed forces would forcefully respond to the slightest aggression against the Iranian nation.

"I am proud to announce today that the Iranian nation's power is of an extent that no major power can dare jeopardize the security and interests of the Iranian nation,"
President Ahmadinejad added that the faith, solidarity, strength and courage of the Iranian nation as well as their intelligent presence at the international scenes were indicatives of their power.

Stressing the significant role played by Iranians in international arena, the president said, "The expansionist powers made various plans and organized a military expedition into the region to dominate the world's energy resources and stop the spread of cultural and humanitarian values of the Islamic Revolution."
However, added President Ahmadinejad that the expansionist powers "are currently at the end of their way as the region and the world are ready for a big development."
He called on regional governments and nations to look at the existing circumstances more carefully and support independent nations.

The president promised that Tehran would help regional states in their efforts to promote security and peace in the region without the presence of foreigners and occupiers

[Link: www2.irna.com...]

Another wonderful story from Iraq especially for dog lovers. God bless our soldiers.

"Bitter," says Sen. Barack Obama, the man of hope and change, about those who live Pennsylvania, small towns and the Midwest.

"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania," Barack Obama said two Sundays ago to the brie-and-chardonnay crowd at a fundraiser in San Francisco, "and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years, and nothing's replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate, and they have not. And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

I spent nearly 20 years living in the Midwest. I attended law school in Michigan, and moved to and lived in Ohio for another 15 years. I married a woman from Menominee, a small town in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Her strong, values-oriented, working-class parents produced a doctor and two computer engineers.

Yet people living on the East Coast and West Coast, and those with "superior education and breeding," often dismiss those living in the Midwestern and other states, especially small towns, as existing in "flyover country."

[Link: www.worldnetdaily.com...]

US Rep. Joe Knollenberg of Michigan and his proposed CARTER Act H.R. 5816. CARTER stands for “Coordinated American Response to Extreme Radicals Act”. H.R. 5816 seeks to end all federal support for the Carter Center which has totaled $19 million since 2001. Let Carter draw on the mega-resources of his Arab and Islamist friends in the Middle East, who have already given him and the Center tens of millions of support.

As Kessler notes in this post, you should send a note to Congressman Knollenberg commending him for his actions and you might ask your Congressional representatives to sign on as a co-sponsor of the proposed legislation.

[Link: blog.americancongressfortruth.com...]

re: #32 guzziguy

?

In order to collect foodstamps you must have either a dependent child who lives with you or meet certain other conditions such as disability. Just going to college to get a PhD is not grounds for public financial support.

During the only time period in which there even was a Food Stamp program for Obama's mama to collect food stamps from, he was a teenager living with his grandparents - who worked. They could not have collected foodstamps for Obama and their income would have been counted towards food stamp eligibility if mama had said she was living with them.

Mama was a welfare cheat.

Winner of Democratic Debate?
John McCain.

At about 3:50 these Democrat focus groupers are asked how many would vote for John McCain if their candidate loses the Democratic nomination. D'oh!

[Link: mypetjawa.mu.nu...]

re: #33 storagemanager

Not laughing.

The president promised that Tehran would help regional states in their efforts to promote security and peace in the region...

Fortunately that scares the hell out of the regional states, so much so that when Israel hit that nuke sight in Syria we got nary a peep of protest from the Arab world. Not like the comics certainly.

re: #38 storagemanager

[Link: mypetjawa.mu.nu...]

Unfortunately the video I got stops at about 1:20

re: #37 galloping granny

I read the post and the comments. I think that Barack Hussein is talking through his hat.

/like he hasn't done that before.

re: #1 RancherThat's a nightmare!
Morning all.
Todays pearls before swine.

re: #41 BlueCanuck

I read the post and the comments. I think that Barack Hussein is talking through his hat.

/like he hasn't done that before.

I used to run a food pantry for the feds some years back. I could quote the food stamp regulations. This time, he is not just talking through his hat. He is lying, pure and simple. And if Mama collected food stamps claiming him as a dependent child, she was lying too. That'll get you 5 to 10 years in jail if your kid isn't running for President.

re: #11 BulgarWheat
Indeed, life is good. Thanks for that.

re: #40 galloping granny

Unfortunately the video I got stops at about 1:20

[Link: www.stoptheaclu.com...]

I wonder who twisted his arm off -

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas confirmed that plans to present two female Palestinian terrorists with a medal of honor have been withdrawn.

[Link: www.jpost.com...]

JEDDAH, 17 April 2008 — Officials at the Jeddah General Court confirmed yesterday that they are dealing with the case of a Turkish barber who is allegedly facing the death penalty after being tried for swearing at God.

The officials said they were unable to provide specific details of the case yesterday and advised Arab News to contact President of the Jeddah General Court Sheikh Rashid Al-Hazza’a, who is on leave, on Saturday.

Hani Al-Hajri, head of press relations at the court, also said he would only be able to provide details on Saturday.

According to the Turkish press, the barber, Sabri Bogday, had an argument with a neighbor, an Egyptian tailor, and was arrested by police after the tailor filed a complaint that he had sworn at God. Bogday has reportedly been in prison for 13 months, while his accuser has disappeared.

Whack his head off anyway. [Link: www.arabnews.com...]

Newsmax/Zogby Poll: They're Deadlocked in Pennsylvania
A new Newsmax/Zogby tracking poll of Pennsylvania's Democratic voters shows that presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are in a dead heat. Sen. Clinton once held a sizeable lead in the Keystone State.

[Link: www.newsmax.com...]

Witnesses told a Senate committee on Tuesday that the risk of a nuclear attack on U.S. cities has grown in the past five years due to the spread of nuclear technology and the growth of a global terrorist movement.

The Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs looked at the horrific consequences of a nuclear strike by terrorists, and experts said more could be done to save lives, the Washington Post reported.

"I definitely conclude the threat is greater and is increasing every year with the march of technology," said Cham E. Dallas, director of the Institute for Health Management and Mass Destruction Defense at the University of Georgia.

Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, the panel’s chairman, said: "The scenarios we discuss today are so hard for us to contemplate and so emotionally traumatic that it is tempting to push them aside. However, now is the time to have this difficult conversation, to ask the tough questions, then to get answers."

[Link: www.newsmax.com...]

re: #46 galloping granny

I went to a Sbarros here last weekend and they had a picture of the founding couple on the walls. Even though I've never actually seen her face, the first thing that came into mind when I saw Mrs. Sbarro was... BabbaZee!?

re: #37 galloping granny

I thought you could just be poor or pretend to be.

re: #37 galloping granny

In order to collect foodstamps you must have either a dependent child who lives with you or meet certain other conditions such as disability. Just going to college to get a PhD is not grounds for public financial support.

During the only time period in which there even was a Food Stamp program for Obama's mama to collect food stamps from, he was a teenager living with his grandparents - who worked. They could not have collected foodstamps for Obama and their income would have been counted towards food stamp eligibility if mama had said she was living with them.

Mama was a welfare cheat.

I don't know about Obama's and Obama's Mama's timeline, but foodstamps were indeed available to college students in the mid-late 1970s. I know; I lived on them for almost 2 years. I did not conceal either my occupation (student) or my income (minuscule, none of it from Mom & Dad), and there was nobody in the office that issued them who had any reason to grant me anything like a special favor. They asked questions; I answered them; they found me eligible; I ate.

It is my understanding that the eligibility requirements were significantly altered by the early 1980s, but at the time I received them, as a student, I did so legitimately.

Food stamps, it should be remembered, are only secondarily a welfare program for poor people. They were instituted originally as a price support for farmers; the recipients that got them were supposed to serve as a means for consuming some of the vast amount of food this country produces, and thus helping to shore up farm prices. That is why they could only be used for food, and not be used for such things as paper towels or toilet paper. That this farm subsidy actually fed people was almost incidental.

re: #42 Jim in Virginia

Somehow it is blocked on my computer.

re: #26 Ojoe

The more I see of Obama the more shallow I think he is.

He apparently thinks religion is only necessary when things go wrong,

what a misunderstanding of human nature

he is to be pitied

First he is to be defeated, THEN he can be pitied.

re: #52 buzzsawmonkey

I guess that Obama'a Mama was the welfare queen that Ronald Reagan was talking about.

Once again, Ronaldus Magnus was correct.

gotta go, have to deal with a moronic minion. Have yourselves all a great spring day.

re: #51 madisonsfriend

I thought you could just be poor or pretend to be.

Oh no. Over the last ten years or so some states have loosened their eligibility requirements somewhat, but the basic guidelines are federal and at the time they were uniform. Just being poor even today is not enough. You must have dependent children, or a disability that leaves you with insufficient income. Some states (too many) also provide food stamps to ex-cons and drug addicts.

re: #32 guzziguy

?

Wait wait! Ok the claim may literally be wrong, but they are suffering now (He & Michelle)
Because of the cost of fuel, the cost of goods has increased significantly. Do you have any idea what the Obama's are now paying for brie & chablais? They feel their pain.

Here is the latest frightening development...
A Chinese ship carrying arms for the Mugabe regime docked in South Africa this week.
The Times reported:

An uncleared ship - suspected of carrying arms rumoured to be delivered to Zimbabwe - has docked at the Durban harbour, the National Ports authority said today.

Spokesman Ricky Bhikraj said the Chinese vessel had entered the port without clearance and had currently docked at the outer anchorage.

The ship -- called ’An Yue Jiang’ is suspected of carrying a consignment of arms allegedly headed for Zimbabwe.
Andrew from Zimbabwe adds this:

And at the Holiday Inn in Harare, 20 Zim army officers checked in...along with several Chinese soldiers in full ChiArmy dress with revolvers. I told you the Chinese are the new colonialists.

And President Busk had thi to say?...what?...nothing.... [Link: gatewaypundit.blogspot.com...]

re: #52 buzzsawmonkey

I don't know about Obama's and Obama's Mama's timeline, but foodstamps were indeed available to college students in the mid-late 1970s. I know; I lived on them for almost 2 years. I did not conceal either my occupation (student) or my income (minuscule, none of it from Mom & Dad), and there was nobody in the office that issued them who had any reason to grant me anything like a special favor. They asked questions; I answered them; they found me eligible; I ate.

It is my understanding that the eligibility requirements were significantly altered by the early 1980s, but at the time I received them, as a student, I did so legitimately.

Food stamps, it should be remembered, are only secondarily a welfare program for poor people. They were instituted originally as a price support for farmers; the recipients that got them were supposed to serve as a means for consuming some of the vast amount of food this country produces, and thus helping to shore up farm prices. That is why they could only be used for food, and not be used for such things as paper towels or toilet paper. That this farm subsidy actually fed people was almost incidental.

You might just have gotten lucky Buzz. There has been more than one person working in some welfare office somewhere that just gave lots of people a pass. You might also have collected in a state that allowed students to collect.

Even if Hawai'i was one of those few states at the time, the fact remains that at least one of two things is true:

1. Obama is lying when he states that his mother collected foodstamps for him

2. Mama lied to Welfare. He was living with his grandparents and their income would have counted towards household eligibility.

re: #29 opnion

Hmm, do you think that if Barry does an axe murder on live TV that it could hurt his numbers?

Only if it is puppies or kittens. Or puppies AND kittens.

Well, you won't have my fat arse to kick around all day. I have to go worky! Love what I do though. Don't pity me...trying to make Hill/Obam's hit list for next year.

re: #57 galloping granny

Oh no. Over the last ten years or so some states have loosened their eligibility requirements somewhat, but the basic guidelines are federal and at the time they were uniform. Just being poor even today is not enough. You must have dependent children, or a disability that leaves you with insufficient income. Some states (too many) also provide food stamps to ex-cons and drug addicts.

While we have a good income now, we had our income cut in half some years back. We ate inexpensively and probably more healthily than we do now. I have to be honest and say that I think because of my education and upbringing, I knew how to cook healthy meals inexpensively and buy cheaper but healthy products- dry beans, products in bulk, avoided processed, expensive junk, baked snacks/sweets, and we limited our "eating out" to occasional carry out like a $5 pizza that could feed the whole family. I know people say food stamps aren't much(of course, they are supposed to be an addition to other limited funds for food) but it seems a lot of the problem is how people use them- they won't go far if you are buying boxes of General Mill cereal and processed products.

re: #60 galloping granny

When Obama worked in Chicago, wasn't his main job helping folks to find the nearest government teat to suckle up to?

Good morning again Lizards!

Does this really surprise anyone?

re: #58 opnion

They will be tithing less than 10% again this year.

"For millions of Americans, charitable giving and tithing is an essential part of their lives," Obama said. "And in a country where 37 million citizens live in poverty, we should be encouraging charitable giving, not limiting it."

What is surprising, given the recent controversy over Obama's membership in the Trinity United Church of Christ, is how little the Obamas apparently gave to charity -- well short of the biblical 10% tithe for all seven years. In two of the years, the Obamas gave far less than 1% of their income to charity; in three of the years, they gave around 1% of their income to charity. Only in the last two years have they given substantially more as their income skyrocketed -- 4.7% in 2005 and 6.1% in 2006.

re: #63 madisonsfriend

While we have a good income now, we had our income cut in half some years back. We ate inexpensively and probably more healthily than we do now. I have to be honest and say that I think because of my education and upbringing, I knew how to cook healthy meals inexpensively and buy cheaper but healthy products- dry beans, products in bulk, avoided processed, expensive junk, baked snacks/sweets, and we limited our "eating out" to occasional carry out like a $5 pizza that could feed the whole family. I know people say food stamps aren't much(of course, they are supposed to be an addition to other limited funds for food) but it seems a lot of the problem is how people use them- they won't go far if you are buying boxes of General Mill cereal and processed products.

Without a doubt. Wether food stamps or cash, your grocery bill always stretches much further if you know how to cook from scratch & shop for bargains.

re: #65 rightside

Good morning again Lizards!

Does this really surprise anyone?

No, of course that is not a surprise. Meanwhile, parents themselves cannot enter their child's school in some places.

re: #65 rightside

Visiting a child-care facility and finding a stuffed toy that looks like this is reason enough to think twice.

re: #37 galloping granny

In order to collect foodstamps you must have either a dependent child who lives with you or meet certain other conditions such as disability. Just going to college to get a PhD is not grounds for public financial support.

During the only time period in which there even was a Food Stamp program for Obama's mama to collect food stamps from, he was a teenager living with his grandparents - who worked. They could not have collected foodstamps for Obama and their income would have been counted towards food stamp eligibility if mama had said she was living with them.

Mama was a welfare cheat.

Don't doubt it. Thanks for th clarification

re: #64 Fat Bastard Vegetarian

When Obama worked in Chicago, wasn't his main job helping folks to find the nearest government teat to suckle up to?

I have understood his main job to be "community organizer" - which to me means rabble rouser, organizing political demonstrations and stuff like that. At least that is what the East Coast community groups that "organize" do.

re: #60 galloping granny

I may, as you say, have gotten lucky--either as regards the overall regulations in effect at the time, the state regulations at the time, or even a sympathetic worker in the office, though my recollection of the office (thankfully, dim now) does not suggest that the latter was the case.

I suspect that the eligibility requirements are very different from what they were 30+ years ago. Certainly when a friend of mine a few years ago was going through a very rough patch and decided to see if she could qualify for food stamps she was given so many hoops to jump through she decided the hell with it.

Looking back on my own experience with the public dole, I have to say that I am on the one hand grateful that the program was available during that utterly miserable time in my life, yet on the other hand suspect that had it not been there I might have come up with a more creative solution to the difficulties I was undergoing. Even if it had meant that I had to interrupt my course of study it might well have been better in the long run.

People should not be allowed to starve. But institutionalizing poverty maintenance creates a floor which kills initiative.

re: #59 storagemanager

South AfricaZim weapons ship waits for OK 2008-4-17 08:24Durban - South Africa approved a transit permit this week for the shipment of tons of weapons and ammunition destined for Zimbabwe.
A Chinese ship with almost three million rounds of ammunitions for small arms and AK-47s, about 3 500 mortars and mortar launchers, as well as 1 500 rockets for rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) arrived in Durban Harbour on Monday shortly before the permit was issued.

According to a copy that Beeld has of the ship's cargo documentation, it was finalised on April 1, three days after Zimbabwe's election.

It was not known when the order for the weapons had been placed.

An inspection by the South African customs authority deemed this consignment "risky" and further shipment was halted for the moment.

According to the South African Revenue Service (SARS), who are responsible for customs control, the six containers in which the weapons had been packed would be inspected by SARS and police officials on Thursday to determine whether they were, indeed, suspect.

'A question of morality'

Part of the shipment apparently also was destined for "clients" in South Africa.

Arms-control experts said on Wednesday that there was technically probably nothing wrong with the weapons transaction between China and Zimbabwe, nor with the issuing of the transport permit.

Guy Lamb of the Institute for Security Studies said: "It's not a question of illegality, but rather of morality, in light of the tense situation in Zimbabwe, especially if it was to contribute to the situation exploding."

The weapons were supposed to be transported by road from Durban to Harare.

msBesides the transport permit issued by the National Conventional Ar Control Committee (NCACC), a clearance permit from the explosives department of the police is still needed before the shipment can be released.

Minister of Justice Mosiuoa Lekota and Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sydney Mufamadi, who is also the chairperson of the NCACC, or their directors-general usually issue these kinds of permits in consultation with the National Intelligence Service, the Secret Service and the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Mufamadi is also part of President Thabo Mbeki's mediation team handling the election crisis in Zimbabwe.

Noseweek's Martin Welz brought the shipment's arrival to the media's attention on Wednesday.

The Transnet port authority confirmed that the Chinese ship, the An Yue Jiang, anchored in Durban harbour on Tuesday after they had allowed it access in terms of certain protocols.

Not in actual harbour yet

However, when customs personnel examined the ship's manifesto and the documentation specifying the cargo they found, in collaboration with the police, that the cargo was a "potential risk" because there was something wrong with the documents.

According to SARS, the ship was not in the harbour, but within the boundaries of the harbour.

The ship was due to enter the harbour on Thursday after which the containers would be opened and all the contents would be inspected.

If the SARS officials saw anything suspicious in the consignment it would be referred to the Foreign Affairs Department.

The law consequently would determine if the ship or the cargo should be seized.

Lamb said it was strange for a shipment of weapons for Zimbabwe to be sent via Durban because the Mozambican harbour town, Beira, had always been used for the shipment of Zimbabwe's military equipment which was then sent by train to Harare.

This route was the shortest, fastest route from a port to Harare.

SA playing neutral role

Abuse at an Islamic jail..Muslims abusing Muslims...impossible ..lies!

Physical abuse of prisoners by their wardens at a Jordan jail was the cause of riots this week that led to the deaths of three inmates, a human rights group said on Wednesday.

"Mistreatment and beatings of inmates by some policemen at the Muaqqar prison led to the rioting" on Monday, the National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR) said in a strongly worded report after visiting the facility on Tuesday.

[Link: www.alarabiya.net...]

re: #73 Erik The Red

SA playing neutral role

Lamb said the shipment's timing was reason for great concern and one which the South African authorities needed to consider.

He thought that the debacle potentially could badly undermine the mediation process in Zimbabwe, in which South Africa was supposed to play a cardinal, neutral role.

The ministries of defence and foreign affairs referred all enquiries to Mufamadi's office, but no comment was available at the time of going to press.

re: #73 Erik The Red

...SARS?

A suicide bomber struck a funeral in northern Iraq on Thursday, killing 49 mourners in the latest attack in a region where al Qaeda militants have regrouped, police said.

The attack was one of the deadliest in Iraq for months and underscored the ability of militants to wreak havoc despite overall falls in violence.

Police said more than 50 people had been wounded when the bomber detonated a suicide vest in a Sunni Arab village near the town of Adhaim in Diyala province during the funeral of two members of a U.S.-backed neighborhood security unit.

[Link: www.alarabiya.net...]

re: #76 laZardo

South African Revenue Service

Jews and other in the pro-Israel community who have serious misgivings about Senator Obama's stand on Israel's security aren't crazy. Obama supporters minimize the concerns about the candidates choice of Israel- bashing advisors, unscripted statements calling for more painful concessions by Israel (while it is undergoing the pain of daily attacks on its civilains), and affinity for Israel haters. They claim that some neurotically paranoid, war-mongering, and biased Jews are reacting only to his name-Hussein.

Now we know that we are not the only ones who interpret Obama's record and rhetoric as anti-Israel. Hamas, the terrorist organization whose charter commits it to the violent destruction of all Jews and Islamic dominion over every inch of the Middle East, agrees that Obama is their man.

[Link: www.americanthinker.com...]

So, more rain,

So, snow storm in the rocky mountains

So, why the f do we have to be Al Bored, shit.

[Link: www.arapahoebasin.com...]

re: #33 storagemanager

"The expansionist powers made various plans and organized a military expedition into the region to dominate the world's energy resources and stop the spread of cultural and humanitarian values of the Islamic Revolution."

You got that part right, ShortShit.

re: #33 storagemanager

"I am proud to announce today that the Iranian nation's power is of an extent that no major power can dare jeopardize the security and interests of the Iranian nation,"

I'm glad that Baghdad Bob the Saddam era Iraqi _(mis)Information Minister has been able to find work.

re: #81 MandyManners

Humanitarian values of the Islamic Revolution?

/can't find a bigger oxymoron than that...

re: #72 buzzsawmonkey

I may, as you say, have gotten lucky--either as regards the overall regulations in effect at the time, the state regulations at the time, or even a sympathetic worker in the office, though my recollection of the office (thankfully, dim now) does not suggest that the latter was the case.

I suspect that the eligibility requirements are very different from what they were 30+ years ago. Certainly when a friend of mine a few years ago was going through a very rough patch and decided to see if she could qualify for food stamps she was given so many hoops to jump through she decided the hell with it.

Looking back on my own experience with the public dole, I have to say that I am on the one hand grateful that the program was available during that utterly miserable time in my life, yet on the other hand suspect that had it not been there I might have come up with a more creative solution to the difficulties I was undergoing. Even if it had meant that I had to interrupt my course of study it might well have been better in the long run.

People should not be allowed to starve. But institutionalizing poverty maintenance creates a floor which kills initiative.

Buzz, the eligibility requirements really have not changed much over time. Neither, BTW, has the dollar amount a recipient receives. The big do-over you referred to earlier changed the program from the one that you probably remember where once a month you took your money down and bought food stamps worth far more money to the outright grant of food stamps that we have today. Other than that, there have been various rulings that have actually loosened the requirements - allowing the homeless to collect food stamps is one of those. At one time you had to have a permanent address that was not a postal box in order to collect.

The hoops you have to jump through are notorious. I have never quite decided if they are deliberately onerous to discourage people (if you do all this stuff then you must really need the help) or if they are a deliberate attempt to demean & demoralize people. And of course they are sometimes pretty arbitrary and unfair. Many a person has jumped through all those hoops to find that they make just a single $1 too much a month to receive any help.

One interesting thing about the Food Stamp program is that in the early 60's when it was first proposed the then-Surgeon General of the United States testified to Congress that the diet the program was based on was one that should be used by adults only in an emergency and then only for a few months and should never be used by a child. That was ignored and Food Stamps today are based on that same diet. As I recall, it is the Dachau diet plus some minimal amount. You can read all about it in Hunger in New England, published by Harvard School of Public Health in the 70's. (VERY hard to lay hands on a copy.)

Mind Crime! In France it's illegal to point out the obvious.

go Bardot!

Mornin' kids! How about that debate last night, huh?

Good morning Lizards...........

re: #82 guzziguy

I'm glad that Baghdad Bob the Saddam era Iraqi _(mis)Information Minister has been able to find work.

Do you see anyone stopping it?...Please name the country..I may have missed it.

re: #85 FrogMarch

OPERATION: Mind Crime!

re: #63 madisonsfriend

We've been in a financial slump for years -- our combined income has been dropping for four years straight as the cost of living in our area has soared (currently at about 140% of national average -- so much for the south being affordable). We've learned to be very frugal -- being vegetarians helps, though even there, I'm always amazed at the way that vegetarian foods tend to get gold-plated. Lifestyles of the rich and meatless, I guess. That said, if you cook and don't rely on convenience food, you can eat healthier for much less.

OTOH, don't get me started on milk prices. I'm thinking I need to get a cow.

re: #50 laZardo

I went to a Sbarros here last weekend and they had a picture of the founding couple on the walls. Even though I've never actually seen her face, the first thing that came into mind when I saw Mrs. Sbarro was... BabbaZee!?

Post a pic of her and I'll tell you if there's any resemblance

lol

Via American Thinker, via S&L, re: Barry's mom getting Food Stamps.

[Barack Obama] was born in 1961 but his mother could not get food stamps then because a) she was married and b) they were not available then.

Then [Barack Senior] moved to a foreign country. I don't think that we were sending food stamps to foreign nations.

When she moved back in 1965, food stamps were not available in Hawaii in 1965.

In 1967, she married the second time and moved to Jakarta. Nope, no food stamps then.

By the time she moved back once again, he was living with his grandparents who had jobs and food stamps were not being handed out like Halloween candy in those years.

re: #89 BabbaZee

OPERATION: Mind Crime!

Heh heh heh what a way to start the morning... ((BabbaZee))

Good thing American troops died to free Afghanistan of the Taliban

---- KABUL (AFP) — An Afghan legislative committee has drafted a bill seeking to introduce Taliban-style Islamic morality codes banning women from wearing make-up in public and forbidding young boys from wearing female fashions.

The draft, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, needs approval by both chambers of the Islamist-dominated parliament and President Hamid Karzai signature to become a law.

"Women and girls are obliged to not wear make-up, wear suitable dresses and observe hijab (veil) while at work or classrooms," said one article of the draft.

It also aims to ban women dancers performing during concerts and other public events as well as on television.

Men and young boys must avoid wearing bracelets, necklaces, "feminist dresses," and hair-bands, the draft reads.

The proposals also demand an end to dog and bird-fighting, pigeon-flying, billiards and video games, all past times favoured by many Afghans.

[Link: www.weaselzippers.net...]

re: