Nuke’s News and Views

School violence hot line saves lives

April 1st, 2008 at 10:26 pm . by el nuko

A national hot line that urges students to call in tips about weapons and school violence has gotten 198 calls about possible dangers in North Jersey since starting five years ago.In January, a caller told the “Speak Up” hot line that a student had threatened to seek revenge on peers.Last November, a tipster claimed a first-grader had a gun in his backpack.

And last May, someone reported that a high schooler had sent a text message warning, “If you think Virginia Tech was bad, wait until senior prom.”

In each case, the hot line alerted police and schools about the anonymous tips.

Source: northjersey.com

Sometimes the simplest ideas are the most effective.

And, in a very interesting twist to this story……..the founder of the hotline, Matthew Gross, is trying to rebuild his life after a stranger’s gunshot left him with a serious brain injury.

You might well remember Gross, who was visiting the top deck of the Empire State Building on Feb. 23, 1997, when an armed Palestinian furious at America went on a rampage, wounding Gross and five other people and killing Gross’ friend, Chris. The shooter, Ali Abu Kamal, turned his gun on himself and died that night at the same hospital where Gross lingered in a coma for five days. Doctors were astonished Gross pulled through.

Stumbling blocks become stepping stones.

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Has Mookie al-Sadr assumed RT?

March 7th, 2008 at 9:34 pm . by el nuko

(*Room Temperature)

Muqtada Al-Sadr Announces He’s Retiring From Leadership Of Sadrist Movement, Sequestering Himself

The leader of the Shi’ite Sadrists in Iraq, Muqtada Al-Sadr, has announced in a letter to his followers that he is stepping down from his position, distancing himself from people, and focusing on his studies.

He explained that he was doing so because he had failed in carrying out his father’s will to liberate Iraq from the occupation and turning its people into believing Muslims.

He wrote that the continuation of the occupation, the many who were distancing themselves from the true path, and their turning to politics and affairs of this world had motivated him to sequester himself from human society, in order to carry out his obligation to Allah and not to add sin to the crime.

Al-Sadr called on his men to obey the committee for managing the affairs of the Sadrist movement and all Sadrist institutes, and its representatives that bear the name of the Office of Al-Sayed Al-Shahid – which is named after his father, Ayatollah Muhammad Sadeq Al-Sadr, murdered in 1999 by the regime of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.

Source: thememriblog.org

I can’t imagine this fellow just voluntarily stepping aside for the reasons stated. On March 3, Al-Siyassa (Kuwait) reported that al-Sadr had been “secretly transferred a few days ago from Iraq to Iran for hospitalization as he was comatose. It was reported that his illness resulted from food poisoning.”

Nature abhors a vacuum. I wonder who the next Shiite strongman will be?

H/T: Robo

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Stealth bomber crashes at Andersen AFB (Guam)

February 22nd, 2008 at 9:57 pm . by el nuko

a B-2 stealth bomber crashed at Andersen Air Force Base this morning. The incident happened at around 10:45am Saturday, as information we’ve gathered so far indicates that a lead B-2 aircraft took off and became safely airborne, but when minutes later a second bomber took off for reasons that are unknown at this point, that aircraft crashed.However, at least two pilots were ejected before the plane hit. Their conditions are unknown at this time. AAFB public affairs officials have not been able to be reached for comment on the matter.

Meanwhile, Yigo residents have reported that they’ve seen large plumes of black smoke coming from the nearby military base. Additionally, according to Guam Fire Department Angel Llagas, a large explosion was also reported to the island’s 911 service this morning, and two units responded to the area.

This is the second military aircraft that has crashed in the last 11 days. On February 12 a Navy Ea-6b Prowler attached to the U.S.S. Kittyhawk strike group went down about 20 miles to the north of AAFB. All four of the pilots in that incident were released from the hospital with minor injuries.

Source: kuam.com

Click here to watch eyewitness video from “Citizen Correspondence” of the downed bomber

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Some facts about the B-2 Spirit Bomber:

- Assigned to 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron
- Homebased out of Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri
- Deployed to Guam as part of continuous bomber presence in Asia-Pacific region
- Primary function: Multi-role heavy bomber
- Armament: Conventional/nuclear weapons
- Payload: 40,000 lbs.
- Crew: Two pilots
- Unit cost: Approximately $1.2 billion

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Romney “bundler” could face insider trading charges

February 4th, 2008 at 12:06 am . by el nuko

A billionaire fundraising “bundler” of presidential candidate Mitt Romney could face a criminal investigation into insider share dealing after selling over $200 million of shares just days before Societe Generale’s rogue-trader losses were reported.

Robert Day, a member of the French bank’s board, disposed of a million shares on January 9 and 10, plus a further 500,000 on January 18, according to official disclosures to Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF), France’s market regulator.

The $8 billion losses at the bank were not disclosed to the public or investors until January 24, despite reports that Societe Generale bosses were aware of the crisis several days earlier.

A file lodged with public prosecutor Francois Foulon also demands an inquiry into alleged insider trading and fraud.[…]

But a spokesman for Mr Day, a major cash backer of Mr Bush who is now helping Mitt Romney’s White House bid, said last night that it was coincidence that he unloaded the stock just before it plunged. “He received no inside information before the sales were made,” he added.

He said Mr Day had no idea the bank was in trouble until a board meeting on January 20, two days after the last of his share sales.

He added: “Mr Day still holds 1.9million shares in Societe Generale.” source

This marks the second fundraising kerfluffle for the Romney campaign. Last August, Romney’s national finance committee co-chairman, Alan B. Fabian was charged in a 23 count indictment. Money laundering, mail fraud, perjury and obstruction of justice were charged. According to reports, Fabian ran a scheme that netted him millions of dollars which were used to purchase beach front property and travel. Although similar to the Norman Hsu-Hillary Clinton scandal, Romney refused to return funds donated by others through Fabian, returning only Fabian’s $2,300 campaign donation.

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Mitt v Hillary: Take the Quiz

December 25th, 2007 at 2:13 pm . by el nuko

Listening to their current stump speeches, Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton seem like polar opposites. The Democratic lightening rod and the former New England governor appear to offer voters a contrasting vision of leadership: government activism versus free market solutions to the challenges of 21st century America.Their rhetoric, however, is a different story. In fact, many of their statements are downright interchangeable.

Criticisms of each candidate range from opportunism to pandering, hypocrisy to flip-flopping. Certainly, the two candidates offer starkly different leadership styles, policy differences, and philosophies of governance. But, just listening to their words, it’s sometimes difficult to tell who said what to whom.

We’ve pulled the following quotes from the excellent resource website, “On The Issues.” See if you can identify the speaker as Mitt Romney, or Hillary Clinton.

1) “I am adamantly against illegal immigrants. People have got to stop employing illegal immigrants. you see loads of people waiting to get picked up to go do yard work & construction work & domestic work.”

2) “We have to have our citizens insured, and we’re not going to do that by tax exemptions, because the people that don’t have insurance aren’t paying taxes.”

3) “I hate the idea of in any way making it more difficult for kids, even those who are illegal aliens, to afford college.”

4) “We need to stand firm on behalf of sensible gun control legislation.”

5) “I also support an assault weapon ban.”

6) “The American people are tired of liars and people who pretend to be something they’re not.”

7) “I have never met anyone who is pro-abortion. Being pro-choice is not being pro-abortion.”

8] “We ought to be providing domestic partnership benefits for people who are in homosexual and lesbian relationships.”

_________________________________________

The answers:

(1) Hillary, (2) Mitt, (3) Mitt, (4) Hillary, (5) Mitt, (6) Hillary, (7) Hillary, (8) Hillary

So, how did you do? If you got all 8 correctly, you win this pdf of Hillary Clinton’s 1969 Wellesley thesis, “There Is Only The Fight,” (suitable for downloading).

Enjoy!

P.S. — I started to say something about the commonality of Hillary seeing Dr. MLK in Chicago, 1962, and Mitt “seeing” his father march with Dr. MLK, but I decided that might be piling on a bit. Heh™.

Source: bloggers4huckabee.wordpress.com

original post by Nuke