House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Syria last month, and the related question of whether or not the U.S. should formally re-engage this Baathist republic, remains as controversial a topic on the streets of Damascus as it was in the days afterwards among Beltway bloggers. And, perverse as it may seem to some American liberals, it is the Syrians who are most sympathetic to their progressive values who have been most critical of Ms. Pelosi’s attempts to begin a dialogue with Syria’s government.............
SondraK, Lympian Slayer “America desperately needs to reclaim our moral position in the world, which has been so devastated,” he [John Edwards] said. “America has to be a force for good. ... The world thinks we’re a bully and we’re selfish.”
Bully? Like putting hospitals and doctors out of business in order to make a buck?
Selfish? Like charging $55,000 to talk at college students about poverty?
Ah, I see…
Scorp
Over 1,000 pregnant women in South Africa set a new world record Saturday for the largest gathering of women due to give birth—and there were no early arrivals.
All Guiness had to do was show up at a Wal Mart on a Saturday afternoon and they would have realized this feat happens on a regular basis with the hordes of perpetually pregnant Mexican brood mares.
A pair of gay flamingos have adopted an abandoned chick, becoming parents after being together for six years, a British conservation organisation said Monday.
Carlos and Fernando had been desperate to start a family, even chasing other flamingos from their nests to take over their eggs at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) in Slimbridge near Bristol.
So Carlos and Fernando have taken it upon themselves to hijack the nests and eggs of “breeder” flamingos?
The couple, together for six years, can feed chicks by producing milk in their throats.
“Fernando and Carlos are a same sex couple who have been known to steal other flamingos’ eggs by chasing them off their nest because they wanted to rear them themselves,” said WWT spokeswoman Jane Waghorn.
Rosie would be so proud.
One in four younger U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings to defend their religion are acceptable at least in some circumstances, though most Muslim Americans overwhelmingly reject the tactic and are critical of Islamic extremism and al-Qaida, a poll says.
While nearly 80 percent of U.S. Muslims say suicide bombings of civilians to defend Islam can not be justified, 13 percent say they can be, at least rarely.
That sentiment is strongest among those younger than 30. Two percent of them say it can often be justified, 13 percent say sometimes and 11 percent say rarely.
“It is a hair-raising number,” said Radwan Masmoudi, president of the Washington-based Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy, which promotes the compatibility of Islam with democracy.
[emphasis mine]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20070521-01
May 21, 2007Soldiers kill insurgent and seize deadly weapon
2nd BCT, 10th Mtn. Div. (LI) Public Affairs Multi-National Division – Center PAOAL TARAQ, Iraq – Coalition Forces took an insurgent and his weapon off the
streets of Al Taraq, Iraq during a combat operation May 19.Soldiers from Fort Drum, N.Y.’s, 1st Platoon, Company A, 4th Battalion,
31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
(Light Infantry) thwarted a possible sniper attack while looking for evidence of
three missing U.S. Soldiers who were abducted by insurgents May 12.“While searching the area, we were notified that there were two insurgents
with weapons who were near our location,” said Staff Sgt. Jon Eyton, a 4-31 fire
support NCO. “One of them positioned himself on a berm, waiting for us to walk
by. “After the insurgents were positively identified, they were shot by an AH-64
Apache helicopter gunship.“As soon as the Apache fired, we searched the area to see if the enemy
fighters were killed and to look for any weapons in the area,” Eyton said.
During the search, a semi-automatic sniper rifle and a magazine full of
7.62mm ammunition was found by one of the Company A Soldiers. The unit also
confirmed one of the insurgents was killed.“It is good to get the sniper rifle off the streets and away from the
terrorists,” said Spc. Doug Coleman, a team leader with the company, and the
Soldier who found the weapon. “I am sure that same rifle would have been used
on one of us during the mission.”Getting the rifle off the streets will help to make the battalion area of
operations safer.“Sniper fire has been one of the problems in the surrounding area,” Eyton
said. “Hopefully this will help keep the guys in the surrounding areas safe.”
“These guys did an excellent job – they were very professional and
worked hard,” Eyton said of his Soldiers.“This massive search for our Soldiers is having some positive second- and
third-order effects,” said Maj. Web Wright, spokesman for the BCT. “We are
finding weapons and many of the suspects wanted for terrorist and criminal acts
not necessarily related to the abduction.”The weapon will be analyzed to see if it had been linked to previous
incidents within the area of operations
“Could the selection of this film… not be counted as a political or even anti-cultural act on the festival’s part?”
And this guy wants to be a nuclear power. Pfffffffft.
~LMAO~
The Ugly American 
Edwards charges $55,000 to speak to UC Davis students about poverty
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, who as a Democratic presidential candidate recently proposed an educational policy that urged “every financial barrier” be removed for American kids who want to go to college, has been going to college himself—as a high paid speaker, his financial records show.
The candidate charged a whopping $55,000 to speak at to a crowd of 1,787 the taxpayer-funded University of California at Davis on Jan. 9, 2006 last year, Joe Martin, the public relations officer for the campus’ Mondavi Center confirmed Monday.
That amount—which comes to about $31 a person in the audience—included Edwards’ travel and airfare, and was the highest speaking fee in the nine appearances he made before colleges and universities last year, according to his financial records.
The earnings—though made before Edwards was a declared Democratic presidential candidate—could hand ammunition to his competition for the Democratic presidential nomination. The candidate—who was then the head of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina—chose to speak on “Poverty, the great moral issue facing America,” as his $55,000 topic at UC Davis.
and fleas
A Denver Zoo monkey has died of bubonic plague, apparently after eating a squirrel stricken with the disease, Colorado health and zoo officials said on Monday.
Five squirrels and a rabbit found dead on zoo grounds tested positive for the flea-borne disease in recent weeks, Denver Zoo spokeswoman Ana Bowie said.
Zookeepers on May 15 noticed the 8-year-old hooded capuchin monkey was lethargic, and the next day it was found dead in its enclosure. Zoo veterinarians sent tissue samples to a state laboratory where it was determined the animal died of the plague. The death was announced on Monday.
Zoo veterinarian Dave Kenny said that the risk of plague spreading to humans was extremely low [ ?????????????? ] but that visitors were being urged to avoid squirrels and rabbits.
and zoos
(*)
