Mood:  spacey

Insulting Allah Now a Crime at SFSU

By Little Green Footballs.com

At San Francisco State University, you can do anything you want to a US flag or a Christian religious symbol: burn it, deface it, submerge it in bodily fluids. It’s all good.

But step on paper copies of Hamas and Hizballah flags, and you’re in a world of hurt. (Hat tip: zombie.)

Not because they’re flags, though. Because they contain the world “Allah.”

This story starts with an “anti-terrorism rally” held last October on campus by the College Republicans. To emphasize their point, students stomped on Hezbollah and Hamas flags. According to the college paper, the Golden Gate (X)Press, members of Students Against War and the International Socialist Organization showed up to call the Republicans “racists,” while the president of the General Union of Palestinian Students accused the Repubs of spreading false information about Muslims.

In November, the Associated Students board passed a unanimous resolution, which the (X)Press reported, denounced the California Republicans for “hateful religious intolerance” and criticized those who “pre-meditated the stomping of the flags knowing it would offend some people and possibly incite violence.”

Now you know that there are students who are opposed to desecrating flags on campus -- that is, if the flags represent terrorist organizations.

But wait -- there’s more. A student filed a complaint with the Office of Student Programs and Leadership Development. OSPLD Director Joey Greenwell wrote to the College Republicans informing them that his office had completed an investigation of the complaint and forwarded the report to the Student Organization Hearing Panel, which will adjudicate the charge. At issue is the charge that College Republicans had walked on “a banner with the world ‘Allah’ written in Arabic script” -- it turns out Allah’s name is incorporated into Hamas and Hezbollah flags -- and “allegations of attempts to incite violence and create a hostile environment,” as well as “actions of incivility.”

At an unnamed date, the student panel could decide to issue a warning to, suspend or expel the GOP club from campus. ...

The university’s response? Spokesperson Ellen Griffin told me, “The university stands behind this process.”

And: “I don’t believe the complaint is about the desecration of the flag. I believe that the complaint is the desecration of Allah.”

To visit Charles Johnson's weblog, click here.
Frontpage Mag.com ~ Little Green Footballs.com **
Insulting Allah Now a Crime at SFSU

Posted by yaahoo_ at 7:00 AM EST

Updated: Monday, 12 February 2007 7:22 AM EST

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Mood:  silly

I just had to post these pics of...

The Pink Baroness

Come fly with me! 

Posted by yaahoo_ at 6:37 AM EST

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Mood:  d'oh

Al-Qaeda 'in plot to attack France'

French intelligence has produced a dossier alleging that al-Qaeda plans an attack on the country during forthcoming presidential elections.

The Arabic-language al-Hayat daily newspaper has reported there were "several indications of a plot to copy the Spanish scenario in France", a reference to the explosions that rocked Madrid in March 2004.

The London-based daily quoted mainly "messages posted on internet sites close to al-Qaeda carrying threats against France, accompanied by pictures from the campaigns for the presidential elections", which are slated for April and May.

The newspaper said the eight-page intelligence report took three months to prepare and included contributions from different French intelligence services which identified "four sources of threat".

One came from "Iraqi networks", including returnee volunteers from European countries who had fought with the Iraqi branch of al-Qaeda.

"The north African networks linked to Algeria's Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat" (GSPC) are another source of threat, the report said.

Al-Hayat also published a letter attributed to al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden addressed to a GSPC leader referred to as Abu Qassem, in which he recommends targeting France "to hit where it hurts most".

Although France was not mentioned by name in the letter, the Saudi-born terror chief - who has a $US25 million ($32 million) US bounty on his head - made clear references to it.

"This infidel country has colonised Muslim countries for a long time. Today it uses all its power to support the infidel group which rules Algeria with an iron fist," bin Laden said in the letter published by the daily.

"It is a religious duty to fight [this enemy] even in the heart of its land, especially that it chases the mujahedeen [holy warriors] within its country and in neighbouring ones ... and that it is a firm US ally," the letter said.

Paris has come under fire from Islamic radicals over its 2004 ban on religious insignia including the Muslim headscarf in state schools, as well as over its support for the Algerian Government.

In January, the GSPC urged Algerians to attack French nationals.

Formed in 1998 by dissidents of the Islamic Armed Group, the GSPC is the sole remaining radical movement that continues to wage an insurgency against the secular Algerian state.

Last September the group officially placed itself under al-Qaeda orders.

Sydney Morning Herald ** Al-Qaeda 'in plot to attack France'

But, but, but....this can't happen because the French have capitulated to the jihadis, right? This just comes to show you that the islamo-fascists dont give a damn whether you appease them to not! When will Europe ever figure this out? It's funny, our image is tarnished worldwide just because we're taking the fight to these bastards and not sitting around waiting for them to strike us again. God bless the USA!

Wow Chirac, all that ass-kissing for nothing. I'm headed to France to start a new business. Gonna sell "White Flags", I'll sell millions of them.

No Blood For Croissants!

An appeaser is one who feeds the crocodile -- hoping it will eat him last.
From Sir Winston Churchill, published in Readers Digest in 1954.

Posted by yaahoo_ at 12:44 AM EST

Updated: Monday, 12 February 2007 6:04 AM EST

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Mood:  chatty

WARNING: THIS HAS BEEN TRANSLATED FROM NORWEGIAN TO ENGLISH:

Bush sticker had consequences (Norway)

Vandalism, attempted break-in and in the end the theft of the car itself. All this after Lars Olsson put a Bush-sticker on the car.

Wednesday last week Lars Olsson putt his sticker in support of Bush on his Chrysler Voyager: "George W. Bush. Saving your butt whether you like it or not."

Vandalism
-Already the same day I started to notice the reactions. There was some honking and stuff, Lars says to Dagbladet.no

-Then, Thursday morning I discovered that someone had broken off the window wipers at the rear of the car. I had to fix them, the 33 year old Bush-supporter says. The car was parked over the night in Villaveien in Asker, where he lives. The next morning he was met with new destrictions.

-Someone had tried to enter the vehicle. The handle on the sliding-door on the side was torn off, Lars explains.

Car-theft
Lars fastened the handle with a waier, and the car, with some loose parts but with the Bush-sticker well attached, was as good as new.

-Then, on Friday or Saturday morning someone took off with the car. -Because of the sticker? -Yes, at least that is my theory. I think it would be odd if all these things happen to occur right after I put on the sticker, Lars says.

Bush-admirerer
Lars is self-employed. He runs two web-sites and is a columnist and an innovator, according to himself.

-Why do you admire Bush? He has a strength of character. He does things that are unpopular if he thinks it is right, although it doesn’t pay off politically on the short term, Lars says. -You don’t look especially sad over loosing the car? -No, I understand that this may be a funny story to some. It is impractical to loose the car, but I don’t mind it that much. -If it can lead to more sympathy for Bush in Norway it would be worth it, Lars says.

Asker og Bærum police confirms that the car has been reported stolen. They have no theory about the motive behind the car-theft.

Dagbladet.no ~ Tora Morset ** Bush-klistremerke fikk følger

...freedom of speech in Norway is like freedom of speech in San Francisco.

Posted by yaahoo_ at 12:01 AM EST

Updated: Sunday, 11 February 2007 11:28 PM EST

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Mood:  d'oh

Report: Princeton to close ESP lab

PRINCETON, N.J. -- The extrasensory perception lab at Princeton University will be shuttered at the end of the month. Maybe you already knew that.

The Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research laboratory will close after 28 years of studying ESP and telekinesis, research that embarrassed university officials and outraged the scientific community.

PEAR's founder, Robert G. Jahn, said the lab, with its aging equipment and dwindling finances, has done what it needed to do.

"If people don't believe us after all the results we've produced, then they never will," Jahn, 76, former dean of Princeton's engineering school and an emeritus professor, told The New York Times for Saturday editions.

Princeton made no official comment on the lab's closure.

One of the world's top experts on jet propulsion, Jahn was able to buck a research system based on university and government money that uses strenuous peer review. Instead, Jahn estimates he was able to raise more than $10 million in private donations over the years.

A standard experiment at PEAR would have a participant sitting in front of an electric box flashing numbers just above or below 100. Staff would tell the person to either "think high" or "think low" as they watched the display.

PEAR researchers concluded that people could alter the results in such machines about two or three times out of 100,000. Jahn claimed if the human mind could slightly alter a machine, it might be able to be used in other areas of human life, such as healing disease.

USA Today ~ Associated Press ** Report: Princeton to close ESP lab

LOL, Princeton to close ESP lab -- Yet, I bet nobody saw it coming. And just exactly how much money was wasted on this wild goose chase? If only that evil Bush wouldn't have cut off funding, then we could have saved Christopher Reeve!

Related: Psychic museum closes unexpectedly, due to unforeseen circumstances

Posted by yaahoo_ at 11:49 PM EST

Updated: Monday, 12 February 2007 12:54 AM EST

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Mood:  d'oh

New wage boost puts squeeze on teenage workers across Arizona

Employers are cutting back hours, laying off young staffers

Oh, for the days when Arizona's high school students could roll pizza dough, sweep up sticky floors in theaters or scoop ice cream without worrying about ballot initiatives affecting their earning power.

That's certainly not the case under the state's new minimum-wage law that went into effect last month.

Some Valley employers, especially those in the food industry, say payroll budgets have risen so much that they're cutting hours, instituting hiring freezes and laying off employees.

And teens are among the first workers to go.

Companies maintain the new wage was raised to $6.75 per hour from $5.15 per hour to help the breadwinners in working-poor families. Teens typically have other means of support.

Mark Messner, owner of Pepi's Pizza in south Phoenix, estimates he has employed more than 2,000 high school students since 1990. But he plans to lay off three teenage workers and decrease hours worked by others. Of his 25-person workforce, roughly 75 percent are in high school.

"I've had to go to some of my kids and say, 'Look, my payroll just increased 13 percent,' " he said. " 'Sorry, I don't have any hours for you.' "

Messner's monthly cost to train an employee has jumped from $440 to $580 as the turnover rate remains high.

"We go to great lengths to hang on to our high school workers, but there are a lot of kids who come in and get one check in their pocket and feel like they're living large and out the door they go," he said. "We never get our return on investment when that happens."

For years, economists have debated how minimum-wage increases impact the teenage workforce.

The Employment Policies Institute in Washington, which opposed the recent increases, cited 2003 data by Federal Reserve economists showing a 10 percent increase caused a 2 percent to 3 percent decrease in employment.

It also cited comments by notedeconomist Milton Friedman, who maintained that high teen unemployment rates were largely the result of minimum-wage laws.

"After a wage hike, employers seek to take fewer chances on individuals with little education or experience," one institute researcher told lawmakers in 2004.

Tom Kelly, owner of Mary Coyle Ol' Fashion Ice Cream Parlor in Phoenix, voted for the minimum-wage increase. But he said, "The new law has impacted us quite a bit."

It added about $2,000 per month in expenses. The store, which employs mostly teen workers, has cut back on hours and has not replaced a couple of workers who quit.

Kelly raised the wages of workers who already made above minimum wage to ensure pay scales stayed even. As a result, "we have to be a lot more efficient" and must increase menu prices, he said.

While most of the state's 124,067 workers between the ages of 16 and 19 made well above $5.15 per hour before the change, the new law has created real-life economic opportunities.

Liliana Hernandez brings home noticeably more under the new law. The 18-year-old, who attends Metro Tech High School in Phoenix and works part time at Central High School, is saving the extra money, maybe to put towards buying a used car.

Hernandez said she deserves the raise just like any other Arizona worker even if she still lives with her parents.

"I'm doing the best I can and working hard like everyone else," she said.

In the months leading up to last November's vote, advocates of the new law maintained that it would help Arizona create a "living wage" for some of the poorest workers.

The Economic Policy Institute estimated that 145,000 Arizonans would receive a pay raise. That was how many made $5.15 to $6.74 per hour.

At one press conference, a mother described how she was unable to afford basic school supplies for her son.

Opponents, however, said there was little talk about teenage workers. "Everyone wanted to focus on the other aspects of the minimum-wage campaign," said Michelle Bolton, Arizona state director of the National Federation of Independent Business.

An Employment Policies Institute study determined that 30.1 percent of affected workers in Arizona fell between the ages of 16 and 19.

"Workers affected by the minimum-wage increase are less likely to be supporting a family than the typical Arizona worker," it stated. "For example, 30.4 percent of the workers are living with their parent or parents, while only 7.6 percent of all Arizona workers are in this category."

John Weischedel, a senior at the East Valley Institute of Technology in Mesa, knows he is lucky to be making $8 per hour at an auto dealership and learning technical skills. So are most of his friends who make $9 or more per hour while still attending high school.

After the minimum-wage law went into effect, "a couple of my friends got laid off - they worked in fast food," he said. "They're going to wait until they're out of high school to find other jobs."

Matt Dempsey contributed to this article.
Arizona Republic ~ Chad Graham ** New wage boost puts squeeze on teenage workers across Arizona

Posted by yaahoo_ at 6:40 PM EST

Updated: Sunday, 11 February 2007 7:29 PM EST

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Mood:  silly

Interesting publicity stunt...

Royal Canadian Mint Photo: The Royal Canadian Mint will soon unveil a gold coin worth one million Canadian dollars (850,000 US dollars), an official told AFP. (Royal Canadian Mint)

Canadian mint to unveil coin worth one million dollars

OTTAWA -- The Royal Canadian Mint will soon unveil a gold coin worth one million Canadian dollars (850,000 US dollars), an official told AFP.

But the valuable loonie, a sobriquet given to Canadian one-dollar coins, will not go into circulation, said mint spokeswoman Pam Aung Thin.

"It's a new denomination for us," she said. "However, I doubt you'll find it in someone's change purse or ever used in a parking meter."

Rather, the "very large coin" will be sold to collectors and niche investors, she said.

The mint plans to introduce the coin in April. "Not a lot" will be minted, Aung Thin said.

Like all Canadian coins, it will feature on one side a likeness of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, also Canada's head of state, she said, refusing to reveal any other design details.

The editor of Canadian Coin News, Bret Evans, told public broadcaster CBC it would be the first of its kind in the world, breaking a record for value.

"The coin becomes an event," Evans said. "It's purely being done to get attention, to throw something on the market, to make a statement, which is: 'Here we are.'"

However, the last time such a special coin was minted, in Austria, all 15 -- worth 100,000 euro (130,000 US) each -- sold out in less than a month, he added.

Yahoo News ~ Agence France Presse ** Canadian mint to unveil coin worth one million dollars

Are they gonna make a $999,999 coin for change when ya buy a candy bar in a vending machine?

Posted by yaahoo_ at 1:21 AM EST

Updated: Sunday, 11 February 2007 1:28 AM EST

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Mood:  vegas lucky

It's Cristine, right out of the crypt...

Will it run? Tulsa to dig up car buried for 50 years

TULSA, Oklahoma -- Organizers of a coming-out party for a buried 1957 Plymouth Belvedere could use some help.

The car, which was buried in brand-new condition under the lawn of the Tulsa County Courthouse in 1957, is scheduled to be unearthed June 15 as part of the Oklahoma Centennial.

Promoters are looking for people who helped lower the car into its crypt in 1957 to perhaps shed some light on what to expect when the car is unearthed.

There's speculation the car may have turned into a pile of rust. Or that it's in pristine condition and worth thousands of dollars.

Sharon King Davis, who has chaired Tulsa's centennial efforts, looked at photos of the people responsible for burying the car in 1957 and found her grandfather.

"I wish grandpa had left me some instructions," she told the Tulsa World.

The car had been largely forgotten until Davis and her group started work on the centennial. Files on the car have vanished, so it's not clear what to expect when the lid is lifted.

What's known is that the car is on a steel pallet with jacks under the axles. Efforts were made to preserve it, but it's unclear if moisture has gotten to the metal and caused rust.

"There's a kind of Rip Van Winkle reaction," Davis says. "Most people had long ago forgotten the buried car, but as the time to dig it up nears, they are waking up and wondering about life in 1957."

Another unknown is who will be able to claim the car.

When the car was buried, a contest was announced to award the car and a $100 savings account to the person who came closest to guessing Tulsa's population in 2007.

Organizers concede that finding that person or his or her heirs may not be easy.

At the time, the guesses were recorded on microfilm and sealed in a steel container buried with the car.

Buried car Web site
CNN.com ~ Associated Press ~ Will it run? Tulsa to dig up car buried for 50 years

Posted by yaahoo_ at 2:11 AM EST

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Move to Dump Electoral College Defeated in Montana, North Dakota

A movement to essentially dump the Electoral College and give the presidency to the winner of the nationwide popular vote has been defeated in North Dakota and Montana, after opponents said it would eliminate any influence states may have in presidential contests.

Thursday's votes represented the first legislative setbacks this year for the National Popular Vote plan, said spokeswoman Breeanna Mierop. It is a proposed agreement among states to cast their electoral votes for the presidential candidate who wins the popular vote.

"If you look at the population trends ... if this were to become the law, our presidential elections would be controlled by the vote in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston," said North Dakota state Rep. Lawrence Klemin, a Bismarck Republican. "They would decide who the president was, not the rest of us."

North Dakota's House voted 60-31 Thursday to defeat the plan. In the Montana Senate, it lost 30-20.

National Popular Vote supporters say they have legislative sponsors in 46 states, and have introduced legislation in 22. The Colorado Senate approved the measure last month. The California legislature endorsed the agreement last year, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it.

The initiative asks state legislatures to adopt a contract ordering their presidential electors to cast their votes for the winner of the national popular vote for president, regardless of the candidate's results in that state.

It is being promoted as a way of guarding against a repeat of the 2000 election, in which Republican George W. Bush won the Electoral College vote for president despite losing the popular vote to Democrat Al Gore.

Under the present system, voters decide to support slates of "electors," who then meet to choose the president. The Electoral College has 538 members, with a candidate needing a majority of 270 votes to be elected.

News Max.com ~ Associated Press ** Move to Dump Electoral College Defeated in Montana, North Dakota

Posted by yaahoo_ at 5:35 PM EST

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Soviet monument to make way for Reagan: report

Opponents of Poland's former communist regime reportedly want to pay a posthumous homage to US President Ronald Reagan by erecting his statue in the place of a Soviet-era monument.

In an open letter to the mayor of the southwestern city of Katowice, the former anti-regime activists said that the staunchly anti-communist Reagan had been a "symbol of liberty," the Polish news agency PAP reported.

As a result, they said, he deserved to become the centrepiece of the city's Freedom Square, replacing a monument to the Soviet troops who drove out the occupying Nazis in 1945.

They also said that they wanted the site to be rebaptised "Ronald Reagan Freedom Square."

City hall spokesman Waldemar Bojarun said that Katowice's councillors would consider the issue.

Bojarun said that he had "enormous respect" for Reagan.

However, he said, the proposal could cost an estimated 500,000 zlotys (128,000 euros, 168,000 dollars) and the city had "other pressing needs."

There are already separate plans to erect a statue in memory of Reagan in the centre of the Polish capital, Warsaw, which would be paid-for from private funds.

Reagan, who dubbed the Soviet Union an "evil empire," is widely credited by Poles with having driven communism to the wall.

The conservative Republican made fighting communism the cornerstone of his 1980-1988 presidency, and backed Poland's Solidarity trade union after it went underground when the regime declared martial law in 1981.

Reagan died in June 2004 at the age of 93.

Breitbart.com ~ Agence France-Presse ** Soviet monument to make way for Reagan: report

Posted by yaahoo_ at 4:40 PM EST

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