A hard-line Pakistani parliamentarian and head of a religious political party on Wednesday demanded a “sir” title for Osama bin Laden, the lead of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, in retaliation for Britain knighting author Salman Rushdie. “Muslims should confer the ‘sir’ title and all other awards on bin Laden and Mullah Omar in reply to Britain’s shameful decision to knight Rushdie,” Sami ul Haq, leader of the pro-Taliban Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, said in a statement, referring also to the leader of the Taliban.
Such a move would not only go against the political grain of Britain, who joined in the international effort to drive the Taliban from power and al-Qaeda from their Afghan safe haven in 2001, but it would also break knighthood rules, under which foreigners may not be addressed as sir.
SondraK, Lympian Slayer 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA IN TEXAS!!!!!!!!!
if you are a JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I’ll cut off your head
Inmates at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, used pebbles to scratch messages into the foam cups they got with their meals. When the guards weren’t looking, they passed the cups from cell to cell. It was a crude but effective way of communicating.
The Journal’s Yochi Dreazen speaks with defense attorney Marc Falkoff about poetry written by Guantanamo Bay inmates, which has been restricted by guards concerned about its potential to transmit illicit messages.The prisoners weren’t passing along escape plans or information about future terrorist attacks. They were sending one another poems.
The Ugly American I picked the two good ones:
John Edwards has no idea what the underside of a toilet seat looks like.
*
John Edwards is the only person who actually looks MORE macho while riding a Segway.
Let’s show ‘em who’s boss......
DougM
Fremont leaders have asked Graham to re-create Juntuntre in lightweight concrete so he can become a traveling neighborhood ambassador. They are raising $6,000 to make that happen.
~SNIP~ The paper, toilet tissue and wallpaper paste that covered the wood, cardboard and tin-foil base was all found discarded in Seattle trash bins, Graham said.
because we all need another excuse to get naked
Revellers will be able to streak with impunity in a Latvian town this weekend, as the community holds a naked run to mark the midsummer festival, organisers said on Wednesday.
“The nude run is for everybody, no matter their gender, age or race,” Ilze Dambite-Damberga, of the city council in the western town of Kuldiga, said. “One can wear shoes or sneakers, as long as they don’t go up to the armpits,” she said.
The June 23 run across the town’s 150m 19th century brick bridge marks “Jani”, the most popular holiday in Latvia.
Taking one’s clothes off, however, is not a typical feature of Jani celebrations - the most common traditions are gatherings with family and friends in the countryside, singing, drinking beer and eating cheese, as well as leaping across bonfires.
Last night, I stayed up late to watch Deep Valley on TCM. It’s one of Lupino’s lesser-known films, but from the moment she appears on screen, her character manages to immediately draw you in. Now, I’ll admit the storyline is a little on the weak side, but the cast portrayals are top-notch in my book.
Another little-known fact about Lupino is that she was only the second woman to be admitted into the Director’s Guild, following in the footsteps of Dorothy Arzner.
To be perfectly honest, I’d never really taken notice of Lupino before, but I can tell you that any future viewings of High Sierra will now be done with an entirely different set of eyes.
getcher pencil
Morales was a passenger in a car that may have hit a small child in the parking lot of 900 Thompson Street. Immediately after the accident, somebody assaulted the driver of the car that struck the child.
Witnesses said several black males assaulted Morales when he stepped out of the vehicle to try and stop the crowd from assaulting the driver of the car he was in. Police believe there were 2,000 to 3,000 people in the area when the driver and Morales were attacked.
...David Rivas Morales, 40, ... was transported to a hospital and pronounced dead.
... The child was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
[Bloomberg’s] idea is to offer payments to encourage behaviors that have been shown to reduce poverty. A library card for an elementary or middle school student will bring his parents $50; a preventive dental visit brings $100 for each family member; and a steady full-time job pays $150 extra a month.
Claire, Ideologically Stubborn Heatist Ruralite 06/20 at 02:41 PM •
(22) Extra Credit • (0) pings • Pass it on...
You ain’g givin’ me what I neeeeeeed!
“The toilet overflows, and who’s the one who’s got to rearrange her schedule to be there for the plumber? It’s us!”
Wait. I thought you could bring home the bacon and fry it up in the pan?
*checks watch for year decade century*
“And to top it off, we have the added social pressure of being attractive, pleasant, caring, in shape.
I’m tired just thinking about it.”
Yeah. I’m gettin’ a little tired here, too, Babe. Come ta think, I been tired of that whine since about 1975.
“We are all at some level neglecting our physical, emotional and our spiritual well-being because in the end society isn’t giving us what we need to be, not just surviving, but thriving as women and families.”
“Society?” “Society” gonna provide someone to come by and wait for the plumber? “Society” gonna pay him, too? “Society” gonna go to the gym for me, finish the shopping and make dinner, too? While *I* work on my “physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.”
Boy am I dumb—here all along I thought it was accomplishing all those things—while being middling caring, pleasant and loving—most of the time— is how I earned my physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.
Color me ‘tard.
“We need a man—a person who happens to be a man—who can connect with these issues and is ready to turn the page."…
Dang near choked on that one, didncha?
*snerk*
Claire, Ideologically Stubborn Heatist Ruralite 06/20 at 02:39 PM •
(16) Extra Credit • (0) pings • Pass it on...
This is why I do what I do, and.. Why We Fight
--- Colonel Fred
Just in time for the summer ice cream season...
Sticker shock at the gas pump is almost routine. But at the dairy case?
Get ready. Milk prices are nearing record highs set in June 2004, and there’s no sign yet of leveling off.
The bastards! I demand an inquiry! Big dairy has deep pockets and untold connections to the BushCo and Cheney’s Halliburton!
Food prices are rising across the board, spurred by higher demand for corn, used to produce ethanol as well as livestock feed and many processed foods.
Milk costs are increasing even faster, for reasons that include a drought in Australia, tighter supplies from the European Union and higher demand for milk products, such as whey for food processing. Americans are drinking more milk, too, with the first consecutive years of increases since 1990.
What? Simple microeconomics spurred by the rush to produce dubious bio-fuel?
But wait…
The federally set minimum price that processors must pay to U.S. farmers has increased 66 percent in the past year, according to the International Dairy Foods Association, a trade group for dairy processors.
The gubmint has a hand in this?
[emphasis mine]
After 25 years of persistent work, Marin County rancher Albert Straus has figured out a way to run his dairy farm, organic creamery and electric car from the manure generated by his herd of 270 cows.
Cheered on by a small gathering of engineers, environmentalists and fellow farmers, Straus stepped into a utility shed Thursday, switched on a 75- kilowatt generator, then stepped outside to snip the ribbon spanning a spanking-new electrical panel.
On the panel, an electricity meter began running backward, indicating that power originating from a nearby poop-filled lagoon near the town of Marshall was feeding into PG&E’s electric power grid.
“Well,” said Straus, with an understated shrug, “that was exciting.”
