Iran curses Ahmadinejad over petrol rationing

The protests, the most open sign of discontent with Mr Ahmadinejad's rule since he took office in 2005, were accompanied by a stream of text-messaged jokes, which often serve as a vent for Iranians' suppressed frustrations. "On the orders of President Ahmadinejad," read one, "those who are short of petrol can have a ride on the 17 million donkeys who voted for him."

For a man whose key election promise was to "put the oil income on people's tables", there could scarcely be a more symbolic failure than the imposition of fuel rationing. Heavily state-subsidised, petrol normally costs less than bottled drinking water at about 1,000 rials (5p) a litre, and most Iranians regard it with a sense of entitlement.

This is what is wrong withthe world today

California Mom Charged in Gang Shooting

Babies not as innocent as they pretend

Behavioural experts have found that infants begin to lie from as young as six months. Simple fibs help to train them for more complex deceptions in later life.

Russia lays claim to the North Pole - and all its gas, oil, and diamonds

The six-week mission on a nuclear ice-breaker claimed that the underwater Lomonsov ridge is geologically linked to the Siberian continental platform - and similar in structure.

The detailed findings are likely to be put to the United Nations in a bid to bring it under the Kremlin noose, and provide the bonanza of an estimated 10 billion tonnes of gas and oil deposits as well as significant sources of diamonds, gold, tin, manganese, nickel, lead and platinum.

Under current international law, the countries ringing the Arctic - Russia, Canada, the US, Norway, Denmark (Greenland) - are limited to a 200 mile economic zone around their coastlines.

Currently, a UN convention stipulates that none of these countries can claim jurisdiction of the Arctic seabed because the geological structure does not match that of the surrounding continental shelves

Suburbs need not fear school vouchers

When parents spend a king's ransom to buy a house, they understandably want to protect what is undoubtedly for most the biggest investment of their lives. Unfettered school choice poses a direct threat by allowing children from urban schools to enroll in suburban schools at the expense of local taxpayers. Too many of these outsiders bring huge deficits in socialization, motivation, and intellectual development through no fault of their own, which lower test scores and, in turn, house prices. Faced with that possibility, suburbanites have fought back, with remarkable success.

Maybe we need to punish those who abuse the people's trust more severely.

Whether it be a politician, bureaucrat, or a social program abuser.? Instead we want to stop paying taxes or cut programs. why must we throw out the baby with the bath water?

Climate change behind Darfur killing?

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that the slaughter in Darfur was triggered by global climate change and that more such conflicts may be on the horizon

If memory serves: the pentagon made this same assertion like 2 years ago.

Don't let it happen to you.

know your rights

You be the judge. Is this hype or genuine concern

A Drought for the Ages Spreads Across U.S.

Putin Issues Threat Over Missiles Shield Plan

Russian President Vladimir Putin , with words reminiscent of the Cold War, warned Sunday that his military would respond to a planned American missile defense system near its borders by aiming its missiles at U.S. military bases in Europe.

They want Vermont to secede from the United States -- peacefully, of course.

Disillusioned by what they call an empire about to fall, a small cadre of writers and academics is plotting political strategy and planting the seeds of separatism.

Immigrant Rental Rule in Texas Blocked

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas (AP) - A federal judge Monday blocked enforcement of a voter-endorsed ordinance preventing apartment rentals to most illegal immigrants in this Dallas suburb, opponents of the ban said.
The ordinance was to take effect Tuesday, more than a week after voters approved it. Opponents had filed three requests in federal court for an injunction to stop its enforcement.

The ordinance requires managers to verify that renters are U.S. citizens or legal immigrants before leasing to them, with some exceptions. Violators face fines of up to $500, and each day would be considered a separate violation.

Only the federal government can determine whether a person is in the United States legally, wrote U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay.

This is clearly an enviroMENTAList wacko

Man Accused of Setting Bike Path Traps in Texas

Naked man superglued to exercise bike

Is this a hate crime?A gang stripped a South African man before supergluing him to an exercise bicycle while they ransacked his house, according to a report Thursday.
The man was rescued about three hours later when his partner arrived home, SAPA said

dance the revolution

get up and dance

Climate change hits Mars

Scientists from Nasa say that Mars has warmed by about 0.5C since the 1970s. This is similar to the warming experienced on Earth over approximately the same period.

Since there is no known life on Mars it suggests rapid changes in planetary climates could be natural phenomena.

For your consideration

Sobriety checkpoint yields 13 DUI arrests

622 vehicles were checked between 11 p.m. Friday and 4 a.m. today at the intersection of 34th Street and Broadway. In addition to the arrests for driving while intoxicated, officers also issued tickets for two hazardous moving violations, three other traffic charges and made two arrests for possession of marijuana.

Police also announced their next sobriety checkpoint will be conducted on May 5.

House approves more severe penalty for selling drugs in parks

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.

The House voted 124-26 for legislation making it a Class A felony to sell heroin, cocaine, LSD, amphetamine or methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of city, county, state or private park.

Rep. Leonard Hughes said the measure targets specific people using specific drugs in certain parts of the state, and it would make drug offenses in urban areas a more serious offense than those committed in suburban and rural parts of the state.

"This is another attempt to fill more prisons with more youths of color," said Hughes, D-Kansas City.

But Republicans said opponents' arguments that the bill unfairly targets minorities and city-dwellers does not make sense because there are parks throughout the state.

"It's complete stupidity. If you violate this law, it applies statewide, it applies to everyone in the state," said Rep. Gary Dusenberg, R-Blue Springs.

State law already allows for up to life sentences for manufacturing and selling drugs within 2,000 feet of schools, colleges and school buses.

Rep. Darrell Pollock said his bill targets only those who are breaking the law.

"We need to send the message that we are tough on crime. We need to send the message that we are tough on drugs," said Pollock, R-Lebanon.

Let Sibel Edmonds Speak

It has been almost five years now since former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds first contacted the Senate Judiciary Committee to reveal the shocking tale of Turkish bribery of high-level U.S. officials. In that time span, Edmonds has been misled by members of Congress on several occasions: Numerous promises have been made to the whistleblower by the Senate Judiciary Committee that her allegations would be exposed in public hearings. Those promises have rung hollow.

Now, with the Democratic victory in Congressional elections, coupled with revelations that many of the tapes she translated were probably obtained illegally through FISA warrants , the Turkish translator's case has gained new relevance. Edmonds recently presented to Congress her petition of 15,000 individual signatures and the support of 30 organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), OMB Watch, Project on Government Oversight (POGO), Government Accountability Project (GAP), People for the American Way, and the Liberty Coalition, who have sponsored this petition and joined her campaign. Furthermore, Edmonds has received assurances that the House Government Reform Committee will hold hearings. And one would hope that with a very good public servant, Henry Waxman, chairing the Government Reform Committee, a full public airing of Ms. Edmonds' allegations would be a foregone conclusion.

Unfortunately, time and time again the Congress has proven that, absent public pressure, a case like that of Turkey's corruption of U.S. government officials will not automatically receive its due attention. And although the Democrats' recent rise to power brings new hope, it won't automatically guarantee justice. Unlike the numerous Iraq War investigations that Waxman and other Democrats in Congress are planning, the issues brought up by Sibel Edmonds may tarnish the images not just of the Bush Administration, but also of certain elements of the Clinton Administration. Further complicating matters is that members of both political parties in Congress were also allegedly the recipient of Turkish gratuities: When a country like Turkey decides to engage in illegal espionage and lobbying, it spreads its funds generously. And though Edmonds' case involves the nuclear black market, not even the potential of a nuke reaching American soil is guaranteed to motivate our public servants, especially when they fear some of the muck might splatter on their own Party.

Virginia 'sorry' for slavery role

Virginia's General Assembly has adopted a resolution, expressing "profound regret" for the role the US state played in slavery.

Somehow, I can hear a bunch of "patriots" going crazy because an American state has "given in" to "special interest" groups and are just "blaming America." But honestly, is it so terrible to acknowledge the wrongs of this nation's past? We wave flags and shout "we're number one" on a daily basis.