10 September 2004

What was I thinking?

Jeebus! Tropical storm Ivan has turned in to a cat 5 storm and as a result is devastating Grenada and Jamaica. I just realized that I had cat 5 cable put in my own house! Do I have time to evacuate the wife and kids or should I just run for it on my own?

Posted by orbital at 9:11 PM | View 1 Comments | View 0 TrackBacks | Trackback URL

International forum shopping

[source, source]

The families of the three IDF soldiers who were kidnapped by Hezbollah have announced their intention to file a suit against the United Nations and the Hezbollah organization. Iran, Syria and Lebanon will also be sued in view of their support of the Lebanese terror group.

The suit will be filed in a US court by relatives of Beni Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omar Sawaed, eight months after their bodies were returned to Israel for burial as part of the prisoner swap deal with Hezbollah.

While I sympathize with the action, I can’t see how a US court has any jurisdiction under which to bring this action. Certainly I’ve complained about this with regard to Belgium and it doesn’t look any better because the USA is involved.

Posted by orbital at 1:57 PM | View 0 TrackBacks | Trackback URL

Reuters: we control the quote

[source]

Reuters quote:

Amy Sisley, an emergency room doctor at the University of Maryland Medical Center, speaking on behalf of Physicians for Social Responsibility […] said 90 percent of spinal cord injuries in the United States are caused by gunshot wounds

The actual quote

Amy Sisley, an emergency room doctor at the University of Maryland Medical Center, speaking on behalf of Physicians for Social Responsibility . . . said 90 percent of spinal cord injuries caused by violence in the United States are caused by gunshot wounds

Is Maureen Dowd writing wire stories for Reuters now?

Posted by orbital at 1:40 PM | View 0 TrackBacks | Trackback URL

Speaking truth to former powers

[source, source]

Many House Democrats are expected to vote for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill today to secure the earmarks they were denied last year as punishment for voting “no.”

They say they are only voting for the bill because of a “whispering campaign” of intimidation that special projects for their districts — for schools, sewers and the like — would be stripped from the bill in conference if they vote against it.

Republicans scoff at the idea that it’s a whispering campaign, saying it’s an explicit threat and a political reality.

Can the Democratic Party simply not project their own style on their opponents? Regardless, this has to be one of the best quotes of the year.

Posted by orbital at 12:40 PM | View 0 TrackBacks | Trackback URL