A young lady confidently walked around the room while leading and explaining stress management to an audience; with a raised glass of water, and everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, 'half empty or half full?'..... she fooled them all... "How heavy is this glass of water?", she inquired with a smile.
Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.
She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." She continued, "and that's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."
"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden - holding stress longer and better each time practiced. So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don't carry them through the evening and into the night... pick them up tomorrow.
Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment. Relax, pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it and the now 'supposed' stress that you've conquered!"
1 * Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue!
2 * Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
3 * Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
4 * Drive carefully... It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker..
5 * If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague
6 * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it..
7 * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.
8 * Never buy a car you can't push.
9 * Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
10 * Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
11 * Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
12 * The second mouse gets the cheese.
13 * When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
14 * Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
15 * You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
16 * Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
17 * We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
18 * A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.
19 * Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today.
20 * It was I, your friend!
*Save the earth..... It's the only planet with chocolate!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
A GREAT COUNTRY OR WHAT!! Thanks you druggies out there!!
28 Dead, 700 Flee as Gang Battles Hit West Mexico
MORELIA, Mexico (AP) — Fierce fighting among apparent rival drug gangs in western Mexico bloodied one highway with 28 dead, while in a nearby state more than 700 people huddled in shelters after fleeing villages that had become battlegrounds.
The violence, which appeared to be unrelated, escalated Wednesday in the western states of Nayarit and Michoacan, where drug cartels have been warring for territory.
Police in Nayarit initially responded to a citizen complaint of a kidnapping by a group of armed men, who fled on a federal highway near the town of Ruiz in the central part of the state, according the state prosecutors office.
As the officers headed toward the scene, they heard a second report of a shootout involving the same men, according to the statement, which did not identify the gangs or the victims.
Police found 28 men lying dead and four others wounded on the road littered with bullet casings from high-powered weapons and 10 abandoned vehicles.
The statement released late Wednesday by the attorney general's office gave no further details.
Earlier in the day, an official in the nearby western state of Michoacan said drug cartel violence had prompted frightened villagers there to flee hamlets and take refuge at five shelters set up at a church, event hall, recreation center and schools.
It is at least the second time a large number of rural residents have been displaced by drug violence in Mexico. In November, about 400 people in the northern border town of Ciudad Mier took refuge in the neighboring city of Ciudad Aleman following cartel gunbattles. That shelter has since been closed and most have returned to their homes.
Michoacan state Civil Defense Director Carlos Mandujano said about 700 people spent Tuesday night at a primitive water park in the town of Buenavista Tomatlan, with most sleeping under open thatched-roof structures.
Mandujano said state authorities were providing sleeping mats, blankets and food for those in the shelter.
Residents told local authorities that gunbattles between rival drug cartel factions had made it too dangerous for them to stay in outlying hamlets. The latest reports said arsonists were burning avocado farms in the nearby town of Acahuato.
"We woke up with fear (on Monday), but things appeared to have quieted down. It wasn't until later that morning that we saw SUVs with armed men driving by very fast and shooting at each other," said a woman who did not want to be named for security reasons.
Several displaced people said they would stay at the shelters all week before considering going back to their villages.
"I am not scared, but my children are," said a mother, who asked not to be quoted by name because of fear of retaliation.
The fighting in Michoacan is believed to involve rival factions of the Michoacan-based La Familia drug cartel, some of whose members now call themselves "The Knights Templar."
Mexico still has fewer people displaced by violence than countries like Colombia, according to the Norway-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, which tracks such figures. It estimates about 230,000 people in Mexico have been driven from their homes, often to stay with relatives or in the United States. An estimated 3.6 million to 5.2 million people have been displaced by decades of drug- and guerrilla-war violence in Colombia.
Buenavista police chief Othoniel Montes Herrera said he has neither the manpower nor the armament to patrol rural areas frequented by drug gangs. Sending ill-armed officers out there "would be certain death, and we're not thinking of putting our personnel at that risk."
Drug violence has been on the rise in Nayarit, a Pacific Coast state known for its surfing and beach towns. In October, gunmen killed 15 people at a car wash in the capital of Tepic, an attack that police said bore the characteristics of organized crime. The bodies of 12 murder victims, eight of them partially burned, were found on a Nayarit dirt road a year ago. Officials have not identified the gangs fighting there.
Associated Press
MORELIA, Mexico (AP) — Fierce fighting among apparent rival drug gangs in western Mexico bloodied one highway with 28 dead, while in a nearby state more than 700 people huddled in shelters after fleeing villages that had become battlegrounds.
The violence, which appeared to be unrelated, escalated Wednesday in the western states of Nayarit and Michoacan, where drug cartels have been warring for territory.
Police in Nayarit initially responded to a citizen complaint of a kidnapping by a group of armed men, who fled on a federal highway near the town of Ruiz in the central part of the state, according the state prosecutors office.
As the officers headed toward the scene, they heard a second report of a shootout involving the same men, according to the statement, which did not identify the gangs or the victims.
Police found 28 men lying dead and four others wounded on the road littered with bullet casings from high-powered weapons and 10 abandoned vehicles.
The statement released late Wednesday by the attorney general's office gave no further details.
Earlier in the day, an official in the nearby western state of Michoacan said drug cartel violence had prompted frightened villagers there to flee hamlets and take refuge at five shelters set up at a church, event hall, recreation center and schools.
It is at least the second time a large number of rural residents have been displaced by drug violence in Mexico. In November, about 400 people in the northern border town of Ciudad Mier took refuge in the neighboring city of Ciudad Aleman following cartel gunbattles. That shelter has since been closed and most have returned to their homes.
Michoacan state Civil Defense Director Carlos Mandujano said about 700 people spent Tuesday night at a primitive water park in the town of Buenavista Tomatlan, with most sleeping under open thatched-roof structures.
Mandujano said state authorities were providing sleeping mats, blankets and food for those in the shelter.
Residents told local authorities that gunbattles between rival drug cartel factions had made it too dangerous for them to stay in outlying hamlets. The latest reports said arsonists were burning avocado farms in the nearby town of Acahuato.
"We woke up with fear (on Monday), but things appeared to have quieted down. It wasn't until later that morning that we saw SUVs with armed men driving by very fast and shooting at each other," said a woman who did not want to be named for security reasons.
Several displaced people said they would stay at the shelters all week before considering going back to their villages.
"I am not scared, but my children are," said a mother, who asked not to be quoted by name because of fear of retaliation.
The fighting in Michoacan is believed to involve rival factions of the Michoacan-based La Familia drug cartel, some of whose members now call themselves "The Knights Templar."
Mexico still has fewer people displaced by violence than countries like Colombia, according to the Norway-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, which tracks such figures. It estimates about 230,000 people in Mexico have been driven from their homes, often to stay with relatives or in the United States. An estimated 3.6 million to 5.2 million people have been displaced by decades of drug- and guerrilla-war violence in Colombia.
Buenavista police chief Othoniel Montes Herrera said he has neither the manpower nor the armament to patrol rural areas frequented by drug gangs. Sending ill-armed officers out there "would be certain death, and we're not thinking of putting our personnel at that risk."
Drug violence has been on the rise in Nayarit, a Pacific Coast state known for its surfing and beach towns. In October, gunmen killed 15 people at a car wash in the capital of Tepic, an attack that police said bore the characteristics of organized crime. The bodies of 12 murder victims, eight of them partially burned, were found on a Nayarit dirt road a year ago. Officials have not identified the gangs fighting there.
Associated Press
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Newt Gingrich’s dubious claim of a ‘normal’ no-interest charge account at Tiffany
NEWT GINGRICH: You know, we don't do elaborate things.
BOB SCHIEFFER: Did you owe a half-million dollars to a jewelry company at one point?
GINGRICH: We had a revolving fund.
SCHIEFFER: Well, what does that mean?
GINGRICH: It means that we had a revolving fund. It was a –
SCHIEFFER: I mean, who buys a half-million dollars worth of jewelry on credit?
GINGRICH: No. It's a — go talk to Tiffany's. It's a standard, no-interest account.
SCHIEFFER: How long did you owe it?
GINGRICH: I have no idea, but it was paid off automatically. We paid no interest on it. There was no problem with it. It's a normal way of doing business.
SCHIEFFER: Well, I mean, it's very odd to me that someone would run up a half-million-dollar bill at a jewelry store.
GINGRICH: Well, go talk to Tiffany's. All I'm telling you is we are very frugal. We, in fact, live within our budget. We owe nothing.
— Exchange on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” May 22, 2011
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s claim of being “very frugal” reminded us of this Reliable Source item from 1999:
When Newt and lady love Callista Bisek shared dinner at the Old Angler's Inn in Potomac Saturday night, he ordered the priciest item on the wine list — a $450 bottle of 1983 Chateau Latour. That's twice the price of the restaurant's next most expensive wine — a $220 Opus One Baron de Rothschild 1996 from California's Mondavi Vineyard.
Unfortunately for Gingrich, he overpaid — the 1983 was a mediocre year for the Latour vineyard. But perhaps he learned his lesson from overpaying for so-so wine and now he’s frugal?
We’re not sure. But we are also puzzled by his claim that he had a “standard, no-interest account” at Tiffany & Co. The disclosure filings that Gingrich’s third wife, Callista, provided to the House of Representatives when she worked for the Agriculture Committee listed debts to Tiffany of $250,001 to $500,000 on a “revolving charge account” for two straight years. (The disclosure forms also show debts of $15,001 to $50,000 to American Express.)
Would Tiffany really charge no interest for that period of time on that amount of money?
The Facts
As Gingrich urged, we tried first to talk to Tiffany. We e-mailed and called three different spokesmen in the New York headquarters. One spokeswoman curtly said they were aware of Gingrich’s comments and they would try to respond. But so far, we have received no answer or explanation.
Then, we looked at the current installment credit application form posted by Tiffany on its Web site. That form shows an annual interest rate of 21 percent for the state of Virginia, where Gingrich and his wife live. That interest rate is charged if you do not pay the balance off in full within 25 days after the close of each billing cycle.
That would be a hefty interest charge in a year—about $50,000 on a $250,000 loan. Gingrich’s wife’s filings cover the 2005 and 2006 calendar years, and indicated the couple at that time had between $1 million and $2.5 million in assets.
The filings also certainly suggest that the Tiffany bill was not paid off every month in full, since the same figure is listed for two years straight. (Callista Gingrich then left the staff of the House Agriculture Committee, and was no longer required to file a disclosure statement, so it is unclear whether or when the loan was paid off.)
We checked with credit-card experts. They said Gingrich’s comments made little sense.
“It doesn’t sound plausible to me,” said Ben Woolsey, director of marketing and consumer research at CreditCards.com. “Store credit cards almost never carry these kinds of terms, and it is highly unlikely for an exclusive retailer like Tiffany’s.”
Some department stores, such as Sears, might offer a few months of “same as cash” credit for buying major appliances. But Woolsey said a store like Tiffany is not going to offer zero-interest credit for purchases of jewelry, given the type of clientele it attracts. “Maybe with Zales, but not with Tiffany’s,” he said.
John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at SmartCredit.com, said Gingrich’s comments made sense only “if he had some sort of no-interest grace period. You can't revolve a balance and not pay interest unless there is a zero percent interest rate. Carrying a balance of up to $500,000 and not paying interest is anything but ‘normal.’ ”
However, he added that Tiffany “isn't your normal retailer, and upscale retailers are notorious for cutting special deals with VIPs like entertainers, athletes, and political figures.”
We queried Gingrich’s spokesman, Rick Tyler, for further explanation but as usual did not get a response.
The Pinocchio Test
Gingrich’s claim that he had a “standard, no-interest account” as part of the “normal way of doing business” appears highly dubious. Tiffany does not appear to provide such a revolving line of credit account to regular customers. And Callista Gingrich’s disclosure documents clearly show the debt was carried for at least two years.
So either Gingrich and his wife paid high rates of interest on their Tiffany’s debt — or they received a special deal because of his political prominence. The fact that Tiffany won’t say a word — after Gingrich said to “go talk” to them — certainly raises questions.
Given the facts at hand, under the “reasonable-man” standard, Gingrich earns three Pinocchios for his statement. If new facts come to light, we could adjust this ruling.
Three Pinocchios
NEWT GINGRICH: You know, we don't do elaborate things.
BOB SCHIEFFER: Did you owe a half-million dollars to a jewelry company at one point?
GINGRICH: We had a revolving fund.
SCHIEFFER: Well, what does that mean?
GINGRICH: It means that we had a revolving fund. It was a –
SCHIEFFER: I mean, who buys a half-million dollars worth of jewelry on credit?
GINGRICH: No. It's a — go talk to Tiffany's. It's a standard, no-interest account.
SCHIEFFER: How long did you owe it?
GINGRICH: I have no idea, but it was paid off automatically. We paid no interest on it. There was no problem with it. It's a normal way of doing business.
SCHIEFFER: Well, I mean, it's very odd to me that someone would run up a half-million-dollar bill at a jewelry store.
GINGRICH: Well, go talk to Tiffany's. All I'm telling you is we are very frugal. We, in fact, live within our budget. We owe nothing.
— Exchange on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” May 22, 2011
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s claim of being “very frugal” reminded us of this Reliable Source item from 1999:
When Newt and lady love Callista Bisek shared dinner at the Old Angler's Inn in Potomac Saturday night, he ordered the priciest item on the wine list — a $450 bottle of 1983 Chateau Latour. That's twice the price of the restaurant's next most expensive wine — a $220 Opus One Baron de Rothschild 1996 from California's Mondavi Vineyard.
Unfortunately for Gingrich, he overpaid — the 1983 was a mediocre year for the Latour vineyard. But perhaps he learned his lesson from overpaying for so-so wine and now he’s frugal?
We’re not sure. But we are also puzzled by his claim that he had a “standard, no-interest account” at Tiffany & Co. The disclosure filings that Gingrich’s third wife, Callista, provided to the House of Representatives when she worked for the Agriculture Committee listed debts to Tiffany of $250,001 to $500,000 on a “revolving charge account” for two straight years. (The disclosure forms also show debts of $15,001 to $50,000 to American Express.)
Would Tiffany really charge no interest for that period of time on that amount of money?
The Facts
As Gingrich urged, we tried first to talk to Tiffany. We e-mailed and called three different spokesmen in the New York headquarters. One spokeswoman curtly said they were aware of Gingrich’s comments and they would try to respond. But so far, we have received no answer or explanation.
Then, we looked at the current installment credit application form posted by Tiffany on its Web site. That form shows an annual interest rate of 21 percent for the state of Virginia, where Gingrich and his wife live. That interest rate is charged if you do not pay the balance off in full within 25 days after the close of each billing cycle.
That would be a hefty interest charge in a year—about $50,000 on a $250,000 loan. Gingrich’s wife’s filings cover the 2005 and 2006 calendar years, and indicated the couple at that time had between $1 million and $2.5 million in assets.
The filings also certainly suggest that the Tiffany bill was not paid off every month in full, since the same figure is listed for two years straight. (Callista Gingrich then left the staff of the House Agriculture Committee, and was no longer required to file a disclosure statement, so it is unclear whether or when the loan was paid off.)
We checked with credit-card experts. They said Gingrich’s comments made little sense.
“It doesn’t sound plausible to me,” said Ben Woolsey, director of marketing and consumer research at CreditCards.com. “Store credit cards almost never carry these kinds of terms, and it is highly unlikely for an exclusive retailer like Tiffany’s.”
Some department stores, such as Sears, might offer a few months of “same as cash” credit for buying major appliances. But Woolsey said a store like Tiffany is not going to offer zero-interest credit for purchases of jewelry, given the type of clientele it attracts. “Maybe with Zales, but not with Tiffany’s,” he said.
John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education at SmartCredit.com, said Gingrich’s comments made sense only “if he had some sort of no-interest grace period. You can't revolve a balance and not pay interest unless there is a zero percent interest rate. Carrying a balance of up to $500,000 and not paying interest is anything but ‘normal.’ ”
However, he added that Tiffany “isn't your normal retailer, and upscale retailers are notorious for cutting special deals with VIPs like entertainers, athletes, and political figures.”
We queried Gingrich’s spokesman, Rick Tyler, for further explanation but as usual did not get a response.
The Pinocchio Test
Gingrich’s claim that he had a “standard, no-interest account” as part of the “normal way of doing business” appears highly dubious. Tiffany does not appear to provide such a revolving line of credit account to regular customers. And Callista Gingrich’s disclosure documents clearly show the debt was carried for at least two years.
So either Gingrich and his wife paid high rates of interest on their Tiffany’s debt — or they received a special deal because of his political prominence. The fact that Tiffany won’t say a word — after Gingrich said to “go talk” to them — certainly raises questions.
Given the facts at hand, under the “reasonable-man” standard, Gingrich earns three Pinocchios for his statement. If new facts come to light, we could adjust this ruling.
Three Pinocchios
POLL: Bill O'Reilly Is The MOST BELIEVABLE Person On All Of Television
A new poll out of Boston's Suffolk University reveals that Fox News and Bill O'Reilly are the most trusted names in news.
By a lot.
More that a quarter of those polled believe that Fox News is the most trustworthy, and 9% say that Bill O'Reilly is the most believable (from a list of 28 choices).
This result is perhaps somewhat less surprising when you consider that O'Reilly has long been the most-watched person on cable news (you don't stay on top for that length of time for no reason).
But as Brent Bozell, president of the conservative Media Research Center tells US News, it also demonstrates that "the network news have completely lost their brand."
Indeed. Though the fact the network newscasts are slowly dying is not exactly news. However these numbers likely demonstrate a somewhat larger shift than that.
Much to the chagrin of the MSM, journalistic "objectivity" -- long proclaimed to be the ultimate goal of any news organization --no longer engenders an audience's trust.
Judging by these numbers, the audience wants to know exactly where its news source is coming from; transparency equals trust not objectivity. And more than any other network out there, Fox News is clear about its bias.
Here's the rest of the breakdown: CNN clocked in second at 18%, NBC at 10%, MSNBC fourth at 7%, CBS and ABC tied at fifth with 6%. On the anchor front CNN's Eliot Spitzer and NBC's David Gregory each received just two votes.
A new poll out of Boston's Suffolk University reveals that Fox News and Bill O'Reilly are the most trusted names in news.
By a lot.
More that a quarter of those polled believe that Fox News is the most trustworthy, and 9% say that Bill O'Reilly is the most believable (from a list of 28 choices).
This result is perhaps somewhat less surprising when you consider that O'Reilly has long been the most-watched person on cable news (you don't stay on top for that length of time for no reason).
But as Brent Bozell, president of the conservative Media Research Center tells US News, it also demonstrates that "the network news have completely lost their brand."
Indeed. Though the fact the network newscasts are slowly dying is not exactly news. However these numbers likely demonstrate a somewhat larger shift than that.
Much to the chagrin of the MSM, journalistic "objectivity" -- long proclaimed to be the ultimate goal of any news organization --no longer engenders an audience's trust.
Judging by these numbers, the audience wants to know exactly where its news source is coming from; transparency equals trust not objectivity. And more than any other network out there, Fox News is clear about its bias.
Here's the rest of the breakdown: CNN clocked in second at 18%, NBC at 10%, MSNBC fourth at 7%, CBS and ABC tied at fifth with 6%. On the anchor front CNN's Eliot Spitzer and NBC's David Gregory each received just two votes.
Radio host says Rapture actually coming in October
OAKLAND, Calif. - California preacher Harold Camping said Monday his prophecy that the world would end was off by five months because Judgment Day actually will come on Oct. 21.
Camping, who predicted that 200 million Christians would be taken to heaven Saturday before the Earth was destroyed, said he felt so terrible when his doomsday prediction did not come true that he left home and took refuge in a motel with his wife. His independent ministry, Family Radio International, spent millions , some of it from donations made by followers , on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 RVs plastered with the Judgment Day message.
But Camping said that he's now realized the apocalypse will come five months after May 21, the original date he predicted. He had earlier said Oct. 21 was when the globe would be consumed by a fireball.
Saturday was "an invisible judgment day" in which a spiritual judgment took place, he said. But the timing and the structure is the same as it has always been, he said.
"We've always said May 21 was the day, but we didn't understand altogether the spiritual meaning," he said. "May 21 is the day that Christ came and put the world under judgment."
It's not the first time the independent Christian radio host has been forced to explain when his prediction didn't come to pass. He also predicted the Apocalypse would come in 1994, but said it didn't happen then because of a mathematical error.
Rather than give his normal daily broadcast on Monday, Camping made a special statement before the press at the Oakland headquarters of the media empire that has broadcast his message. His show, "Open Forum," has for months headlined his doomsday message via the group's radio stations, TV channels, satellite broadcasts and website.
When the Rapture didn't arrive Saturday, crestfallen followers began turning their attention to more earthly concerns.
Jeff Hopkins had figured the gas money he spent driving back and forth from Long Island to New York City would be worth it, as long as people could see the ominous sign atop his car warning that the End of the World was nigh.
"I've been mocked and scoffed and cursed at and I've been through a lot with this lighted sign on top of my car," said Hopkins, 52, a former television producer who lives in Great River, NY. "I was doing what I've been instructed to do through the Bible, but now I've been stymied. It's like getting slapped in the face."
Camping said Family Radio would never tell anyone what they should do with their possessions.
"That is between them and God," he said.
But he said he wouldn't give away all his possessions ahead of Oct 21.
"I still have to live in a house, I still have to drive a car," he said. "What would be the value of that? If it is Judgment Day why would I give it away?"
Apocalyptic thinking has always been part of American religious life and popular culture. Teachings about the end of the world vary dramatically , even within faith traditions , about how they will occur.
Still, the overwhelming majority of Christians reject the idea that the exact date or time of Jesus' return can be predicted.
Tim LaHaye, co-author of the best-selling "Left Behind" novels about the end times, recently called Camping's prediction "not only bizarre but 100 percent wrong!" He cited the Bible verse Matthew 24:36, "but about that day or hour no one knows" except God.
"While it may be in the near future, many signs of our times certainly indicate so, but anyone who thinks they `know' the day and the hour is flat out wrong," LaHaye wrote on his website, leftbehind.com.
In 2009, the nonprofit Family Radio reported in IRS filings that it received $18.3 million in donations, and had assets of more than $104 million, including $34 million in stocks or other publicly traded securities.
Associated Press writer Tom Breen in Raleigh, N.C.and AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll in New York, contributed to this report.
OAKLAND, Calif. - California preacher Harold Camping said Monday his prophecy that the world would end was off by five months because Judgment Day actually will come on Oct. 21.
Camping, who predicted that 200 million Christians would be taken to heaven Saturday before the Earth was destroyed, said he felt so terrible when his doomsday prediction did not come true that he left home and took refuge in a motel with his wife. His independent ministry, Family Radio International, spent millions , some of it from donations made by followers , on more than 5,000 billboards and 20 RVs plastered with the Judgment Day message.
But Camping said that he's now realized the apocalypse will come five months after May 21, the original date he predicted. He had earlier said Oct. 21 was when the globe would be consumed by a fireball.
Saturday was "an invisible judgment day" in which a spiritual judgment took place, he said. But the timing and the structure is the same as it has always been, he said.
"We've always said May 21 was the day, but we didn't understand altogether the spiritual meaning," he said. "May 21 is the day that Christ came and put the world under judgment."
It's not the first time the independent Christian radio host has been forced to explain when his prediction didn't come to pass. He also predicted the Apocalypse would come in 1994, but said it didn't happen then because of a mathematical error.
Rather than give his normal daily broadcast on Monday, Camping made a special statement before the press at the Oakland headquarters of the media empire that has broadcast his message. His show, "Open Forum," has for months headlined his doomsday message via the group's radio stations, TV channels, satellite broadcasts and website.
When the Rapture didn't arrive Saturday, crestfallen followers began turning their attention to more earthly concerns.
Jeff Hopkins had figured the gas money he spent driving back and forth from Long Island to New York City would be worth it, as long as people could see the ominous sign atop his car warning that the End of the World was nigh.
"I've been mocked and scoffed and cursed at and I've been through a lot with this lighted sign on top of my car," said Hopkins, 52, a former television producer who lives in Great River, NY. "I was doing what I've been instructed to do through the Bible, but now I've been stymied. It's like getting slapped in the face."
Camping said Family Radio would never tell anyone what they should do with their possessions.
"That is between them and God," he said.
But he said he wouldn't give away all his possessions ahead of Oct 21.
"I still have to live in a house, I still have to drive a car," he said. "What would be the value of that? If it is Judgment Day why would I give it away?"
Apocalyptic thinking has always been part of American religious life and popular culture. Teachings about the end of the world vary dramatically , even within faith traditions , about how they will occur.
Still, the overwhelming majority of Christians reject the idea that the exact date or time of Jesus' return can be predicted.
Tim LaHaye, co-author of the best-selling "Left Behind" novels about the end times, recently called Camping's prediction "not only bizarre but 100 percent wrong!" He cited the Bible verse Matthew 24:36, "but about that day or hour no one knows" except God.
"While it may be in the near future, many signs of our times certainly indicate so, but anyone who thinks they `know' the day and the hour is flat out wrong," LaHaye wrote on his website, leftbehind.com.
In 2009, the nonprofit Family Radio reported in IRS filings that it received $18.3 million in donations, and had assets of more than $104 million, including $34 million in stocks or other publicly traded securities.
Associated Press writer Tom Breen in Raleigh, N.C.and AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll in New York, contributed to this report.
Payment Method Bypasses the Wallet
Square's new apps allow consumers to pay their bills without swiping a credit card. But the company has competition.
On Monday, Jack Dorsey, Square’s co-founder and chief executive, announced a way for shoppers to pay by simply giving their name to the merchant. Mr. Dorsey, who also co-founded Twitter, said customers would use a new feature on Square’s iPhone or Android apps, called Card Case, to make payments. Merchants would use one called Register to ring up and track purchases.
Using cellphones to ease offline purchases is a crowded corner of tech investment. Most companies are tackling one aspect of purchasing, like mobile payments or coupons. But Mr. Dorsey is thinking big. He wants Square to be involved in every step of the transaction process by replacing cash registers, loyalty cards and paper receipts. “We think it should be one system,” he said.
The start-up faces formidable competition. Square’s goal is to replace cash registers and point-of-sale terminals and the companies that make them, like Verifone. Square is also taking on the many start-ups that offer cellphone loyalty cards, like Foursquare, and competing with Google, Apple, PayPal and major credit card companies and banks to provide mobile payments.
Square’s new payment services are available at only 50 merchants in New York, San Francisco, Washington, St. Louis and Los Angeles.
Shoppers can use the Card Case app to search for those businesses, pay their bill and store receipts. A shopper opens the app, which looks like a brown leather wallet, clicks to open a tab at a store and then gives the merchant his or her name. The shopper’s credit card number is already stored with Square. Merchants see a photo of the Square user so they can confirm it is the same person.
With the Register feature, merchants can appeal to nearby shoppers who have the Square app by posting deals or menus. They can also store receipts digitally and track customer behavior.
Some shoppers said they were uneasy trusting Square with their credit card information when all it takes to pay is a name, not a plastic card.
According to Square, the photos and the fact that people can only pay if they and their phones are nearby adds a level of protection. For purchases more than $50, shoppers also have to enter a personal identification number as they do at an automated teller machine. Mr. Dorsey compared it to Amazon.com and Apple’s iTunes, which store credit card numbers so people can easily make purchases with their e-mail address and password.
Square joins a host of tech companies, phone carriers, banks and credit card issuers that are trying to replace wallets by letting people use their phones to pay. Most of the efforts are in the early testing stages. Unlike Square, most of the others plan to use a technology called near-field communication, or N.F.C., through which phones communicate information like credit card numbers to the merchants.
Initially, the company most in Square’s sights is Verifone, whose point-of-sale terminals and software are in 70 percent of businesses in the United States. In an interview before Square’s announcement, Doug Bergeron, Verifone’s chief executive, said that Square would not catch on for payments because people will prefer N.F.C. technology and have security concerns about using Square.
Square's new apps allow consumers to pay their bills without swiping a credit card. But the company has competition.
On Monday, Jack Dorsey, Square’s co-founder and chief executive, announced a way for shoppers to pay by simply giving their name to the merchant. Mr. Dorsey, who also co-founded Twitter, said customers would use a new feature on Square’s iPhone or Android apps, called Card Case, to make payments. Merchants would use one called Register to ring up and track purchases.
Using cellphones to ease offline purchases is a crowded corner of tech investment. Most companies are tackling one aspect of purchasing, like mobile payments or coupons. But Mr. Dorsey is thinking big. He wants Square to be involved in every step of the transaction process by replacing cash registers, loyalty cards and paper receipts. “We think it should be one system,” he said.
The start-up faces formidable competition. Square’s goal is to replace cash registers and point-of-sale terminals and the companies that make them, like Verifone. Square is also taking on the many start-ups that offer cellphone loyalty cards, like Foursquare, and competing with Google, Apple, PayPal and major credit card companies and banks to provide mobile payments.
Square’s new payment services are available at only 50 merchants in New York, San Francisco, Washington, St. Louis and Los Angeles.
Shoppers can use the Card Case app to search for those businesses, pay their bill and store receipts. A shopper opens the app, which looks like a brown leather wallet, clicks to open a tab at a store and then gives the merchant his or her name. The shopper’s credit card number is already stored with Square. Merchants see a photo of the Square user so they can confirm it is the same person.
With the Register feature, merchants can appeal to nearby shoppers who have the Square app by posting deals or menus. They can also store receipts digitally and track customer behavior.
Some shoppers said they were uneasy trusting Square with their credit card information when all it takes to pay is a name, not a plastic card.
According to Square, the photos and the fact that people can only pay if they and their phones are nearby adds a level of protection. For purchases more than $50, shoppers also have to enter a personal identification number as they do at an automated teller machine. Mr. Dorsey compared it to Amazon.com and Apple’s iTunes, which store credit card numbers so people can easily make purchases with their e-mail address and password.
Square joins a host of tech companies, phone carriers, banks and credit card issuers that are trying to replace wallets by letting people use their phones to pay. Most of the efforts are in the early testing stages. Unlike Square, most of the others plan to use a technology called near-field communication, or N.F.C., through which phones communicate information like credit card numbers to the merchants.
Initially, the company most in Square’s sights is Verifone, whose point-of-sale terminals and software are in 70 percent of businesses in the United States. In an interview before Square’s announcement, Doug Bergeron, Verifone’s chief executive, said that Square would not catch on for payments because people will prefer N.F.C. technology and have security concerns about using Square.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
TODAY ON THE SUNDAY TALK SHOWS
NBC - Ryan: Gingrich 'deeply inaccurate' on Medicare plan
CBS - Gingrich used 'unfortunate language' to describe Ryan plan
CNN - Armey: Tea party 'disappointed' about Daniels
FOX - Cain: GOP in a corner on debt limit
ABC - Mitchell: Obama's Israel speech not radical
CSPAN - Medicare chief: Don't cut, make care better
NBC: MEET THE PRESS
Ryan: Gingrich 'deeply inaccurate' on Medicare plan
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said emphatically that he will not run for president in 2012, but said he would not get into "hypotheticals" when asked if he would accept the vice presidential nomination. He called GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's assessment of his Medicare plan "deeply inaccurate" and a "gross mischaracterization." Ryan said his Medicare plan is "sensible and as gradual as it gets." He blasted Senate Democrats for not passing a budget in "753 days." On the debt-limit debate, he said "nobody wants default to happen, but at the same time we don’t want to rubber stamp a debt-limit increase that shows we’re not getting our situation under control."
CBS: FACE THE NATION
Gingrich used 'unfortunate language' to describe Ryan plan
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich did his best to explain week-old comments that appeared to be critical of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) proposal to reform Medicare. “I probably used unfortunate language...but my point was really a larger one: that neither party could impose on the American people something that they are deeply opposed to,” Gingrich said. The former House speaker stressed that he has spoken to Ryan about the plan and that he thinks it is a starting point. “He and I are on the same side in that conversation,” Gingrich said. “Obama’s on the opposite side of that conversation.”
CNN: STATE OF THE UNION
Armey: Tea party 'disappointed' about Daniels
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said his former 'Gang of Six' colleague, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), is unlikely to return to the group attempting to negotiate a deal on deficit reduction. He called on his fellow senators not to abandon negotiations. Durbin said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) has the support of the panel's Democratic members "in principle," but they will need "some Republican buy-in" to pass a budget. He blasted "totally irresponsible" members of Congress who entertain the idea that the U.S. may default on its debt when the government reaches the debt ceiling.
The intelligence panel's ranking member, Rep. C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger (D-Md.) said it is "time to reset" the U.S.'s relationship with Pakistan. He also called for further investigation into how much Pakistani intelligence services knew about Osama bin Laden's presence in their country. Rogers said the United States should not pull the plug on aid to Pakistan, but could hold back some aid to improve its negotiating position.
Former House majority leader Dick Armey said members of the tea party are "disappointed" by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels's decision not to seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2012. He suggested the tea party may "start looking at drafting" House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
FOX NEWS SUNDAY
Cain: GOP in a corner on debt limit
Newly announced presidential candidate Herman Cain said Republican leaders have painted themselves into a corner on the debt limit. “They should have seen this coming -- which they did -- but they didn’t move fast enough,” he said. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is pushing for trillions of dollars in cuts before Republicans will sign off on a debt limit increase, but not raising the debt limit risks serious economic problems, problems Republicans have acknowledged.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said President Obama’s proposal to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict comes at the wrong time, given the turmoil in the Middle East. “This is the very worst time to be pushing Israel into making a deal,” McConnell said.
ABC: THIS WEEK
Mitchell: Obama's Israel speech not radical
Former senator George Mitchell, who resigned Friday as Obama’s top envoy to the Middle East, said Obama’s proposals on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are significant shifts, but that they aren’t as radical as some have contended. “I don’t believe it is threatening Israel,” Mitchell said.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II traced the uprisings in the Middle East to the economic hardship of young people. “It was economic frustration and desires that led, I think, to a political awakening; they want to be able to chart their own destiny,” he said. He also said that, if nothing is accomplished on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he expects some sort of armed conflict.
CSPAN: NEWSMAKERS
Medicare chief: Don't cut, make care better
Donald Berwick, head of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the House GOP Medicare plan makes budget cuts "very efficiently" but said he thinks it will lead to Medicare "benificiaries who won't be able to afford insurance." He said the alternative to cutting is to "make care better," which he said President Obama's health-care law will do. He said he is "100 percent confident" in the success of the new law.
By Matt DeLong and Aaron Blake
NBC - Ryan: Gingrich 'deeply inaccurate' on Medicare plan
CBS - Gingrich used 'unfortunate language' to describe Ryan plan
CNN - Armey: Tea party 'disappointed' about Daniels
FOX - Cain: GOP in a corner on debt limit
ABC - Mitchell: Obama's Israel speech not radical
CSPAN - Medicare chief: Don't cut, make care better
NBC: MEET THE PRESS
Ryan: Gingrich 'deeply inaccurate' on Medicare plan
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said emphatically that he will not run for president in 2012, but said he would not get into "hypotheticals" when asked if he would accept the vice presidential nomination. He called GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's assessment of his Medicare plan "deeply inaccurate" and a "gross mischaracterization." Ryan said his Medicare plan is "sensible and as gradual as it gets." He blasted Senate Democrats for not passing a budget in "753 days." On the debt-limit debate, he said "nobody wants default to happen, but at the same time we don’t want to rubber stamp a debt-limit increase that shows we’re not getting our situation under control."
CBS: FACE THE NATION
Gingrich used 'unfortunate language' to describe Ryan plan
Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich did his best to explain week-old comments that appeared to be critical of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s (R-Wis.) proposal to reform Medicare. “I probably used unfortunate language...but my point was really a larger one: that neither party could impose on the American people something that they are deeply opposed to,” Gingrich said. The former House speaker stressed that he has spoken to Ryan about the plan and that he thinks it is a starting point. “He and I are on the same side in that conversation,” Gingrich said. “Obama’s on the opposite side of that conversation.”
CNN: STATE OF THE UNION
Armey: Tea party 'disappointed' about Daniels
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) said his former 'Gang of Six' colleague, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), is unlikely to return to the group attempting to negotiate a deal on deficit reduction. He called on his fellow senators not to abandon negotiations. Durbin said Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) has the support of the panel's Democratic members "in principle," but they will need "some Republican buy-in" to pass a budget. He blasted "totally irresponsible" members of Congress who entertain the idea that the U.S. may default on its debt when the government reaches the debt ceiling.
The intelligence panel's ranking member, Rep. C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger (D-Md.) said it is "time to reset" the U.S.'s relationship with Pakistan. He also called for further investigation into how much Pakistani intelligence services knew about Osama bin Laden's presence in their country. Rogers said the United States should not pull the plug on aid to Pakistan, but could hold back some aid to improve its negotiating position.
Former House majority leader Dick Armey said members of the tea party are "disappointed" by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels's decision not to seek the GOP presidential nomination in 2012. He suggested the tea party may "start looking at drafting" House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).
FOX NEWS SUNDAY
Cain: GOP in a corner on debt limit
Newly announced presidential candidate Herman Cain said Republican leaders have painted themselves into a corner on the debt limit. “They should have seen this coming -- which they did -- but they didn’t move fast enough,” he said. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is pushing for trillions of dollars in cuts before Republicans will sign off on a debt limit increase, but not raising the debt limit risks serious economic problems, problems Republicans have acknowledged.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said President Obama’s proposal to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict comes at the wrong time, given the turmoil in the Middle East. “This is the very worst time to be pushing Israel into making a deal,” McConnell said.
ABC: THIS WEEK
Mitchell: Obama's Israel speech not radical
Former senator George Mitchell, who resigned Friday as Obama’s top envoy to the Middle East, said Obama’s proposals on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are significant shifts, but that they aren’t as radical as some have contended. “I don’t believe it is threatening Israel,” Mitchell said.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II traced the uprisings in the Middle East to the economic hardship of young people. “It was economic frustration and desires that led, I think, to a political awakening; they want to be able to chart their own destiny,” he said. He also said that, if nothing is accomplished on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he expects some sort of armed conflict.
CSPAN: NEWSMAKERS
Medicare chief: Don't cut, make care better
Donald Berwick, head of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the House GOP Medicare plan makes budget cuts "very efficiently" but said he thinks it will lead to Medicare "benificiaries who won't be able to afford insurance." He said the alternative to cutting is to "make care better," which he said President Obama's health-care law will do. He said he is "100 percent confident" in the success of the new law.
By Matt DeLong and Aaron Blake
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Exclusive: New Details on Dominique Strauss-Kahn's Maid's Trauma
The luxury-hotel maid who alleges she was sexually assaulted by Dominique Strauss-Kahn was found by a supervisor in a hallway where she hid after escaping from the former International Monetary Fund director's room. Hotel workers described her as traumatized, having difficulty speaking, and immediately concerned about pressing charges and losing her job, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
Members of the NYPD enter the Sofitel hotel in New York on May 14, 2011. (Photo: John Minchillo / AP Photo) The maid also repeatedly spit on the walls and floors of the suite in front of her hotel colleagues as she alleged that Strauss-Kahn locked her in his room and forced her into oral sex acts. That saliva is being tested for DNA markers and could become a crucial piece of evidence in the case, the sources said.The sources, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, provided The Daily Beast details of what happened inside New York City's Sofitel hotel in the hour between the alleged attack and when hotel security notified the police, a gap Strauss-Kahn's defense team is certain to question as the case proceeds in court. Strauss-Kahn's lawyers deny any wrongdoing on his part.
The sources said the fact that it only took an hour for the hotel to calm the woman, get her to overcome her difficulty describing what happened, do a thorough interview and get police on scene for forensic testing helped make the case and apprehend the suspect before he fled the country.
The sources said the maid, described as a West African immigrant in her 30s, had normally been assigned to clean a different floor in the hotel but recently volunteered to take the floor where Strauss-Kahn's luxury suite was after a colleague had gone on leave.
The maid reported she entered Strauss-Kahn's room shortly before noon on Saturday, May 14, after a room-service employee had assured her the suite was empty, and she left the door open as she began cleaning, according to the sources.
She told supervisors she was startled when Strauss-Kahn emerged naked from a bathroom. She said she apologized to him and turned away from him, but that the IMF chief grabbed her from behind and, as The Daily Beast reported Friday, touched her breasts, remarking she was beautiful, the sources said.
Throughout the questioning, the maid appeared traumatized, at one point going to a bathroom to try to vomit and several times spitting on the floor and walls of the suite, according to the sources.
The woman alleged Strauss-Kahn slammed the door to the suite and engaged the indoor latch to lock it, trapping her inside. She alleged that he dragged her deeper inside the suite, and when she slipped trying to get away, he forced her head down to perform oral sex acts, the sources said, as The Daily Beast reported Friday.The woman eventually escaped the room and hid in a hallway just outside his $3,000-a-night VIP suite, as Strauss-Kahn hurriedly left the suite and went downstairs to check out, the sources said.
A cleaning supervisor for the floor found the maid shortly before 12:30 p.m, when she appeared traumatized as she stood near a closet outside the suite. The maid told authorities she had hid in a hallway until Strauss-Kahn left, and the supervisor emerged from a service elevator a few moments later for a routine floor check, the sources said.
The supervisor tried to calm the maid and ascertain what happened, taking her back to Strauss-Kahn's suite, where the alleged victim became visibly upset. The maid expressed concern during at least one of the conversations with her supervisors that she'd lose her job because she had walked in on a hotel guest, the sources said.
The first supervisor reported the maid had nausea and was trembling. As soon as the supervisor ascertained an attack had occurred, she called one of her bosses in housecleaning, who responded to an in-house call and came to the floor, the sources said.
When the more senior housekeeping supervisor got enough details from the maid to make clear a crime had been committed, she called a hotel security officer to the room, the sources said.
The security officer interrogated the maid, getting extensive details of what had happened in the suite. Throughout the questioning, the maid appeared traumatized, at one point going to a bathroom to try to vomit and several times spitting on the floor and walls of the suite, according to the sources.
The hotel security officer decided to alert the chief of the hotel's security, a former law-enforcement officer himself, who tried to conduct another interview that was halting at times because the woman had become increasingly traumatized and sick, the sources said.
The maid repeated her concerns about being fired and inquired whether she should even press charges, the sources said.
The security chief immediately called the New York Police Department and an ambulance once he had ascertained there was enough evidence of a crime and that the maid's story had been consistent during all four contacts she had with hotel employees, the sources said.
The four interviews and repeated efforts to calm the woman took about an hour and police were summoned around 1:30 p.m., according to the sources.
Police showed up at the scene, and began hours of investigation. Shortly after police arrived, Strauss-Kahn called the hotel to report he had left his cellphone behind and his call was immediately routed to the Sofitel security chief, the sources said.
Working with detectives who were in the room, the hotel security chief falsely told Strauss-Kahn the cellphone had been located and he would drive it out to the IMF chief. The security boss got Strauss-Kahn to tell him that he was already at the Air France lounge at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport and planning to fly to Paris, the sources said.
Using the information from the security chief's call, the detectives called Port Authority police and were able to apprehend Strauss-Kahn on the jetliner about 10 minutes before the flight was to depart, the sources said.
“The quick reaction of the security chief and the detectives is what helped us nab the suspect,” one source told The Daily Beast.
The Sofitel has fully cooperated with law enforcement, making available employees for voluntary interviews, reviewing security tapes, and turning over records of phone calls, check-ins and check-outs and door card readers. Some witnesses were also brought before a grand jury before Strauss-Kahn was formally indicted and released on $1 million bail late last week, the sources said.
John Solomon is executive editor of the Center For Public Integrity.
Bibi’s White House Tantrum
Netanyahu's rejection of Obama's Mideast speech underestimated the president's strength—and could hasten the Israeli leader's political demise. Praise from Jewish rights groups, and grief from Palestinians.
Netanyahue could have reacted any number of ways to Barack Obama’s mention of the “1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps.” Let’s say, actually, four ways—embrace, circumspection, suspicion, tantrum. That he chose the last—saying immediately after the Obama speech that he “expects” to hear Obama in essence renounce what he’d just said before the entire world!—tells us a lot about the man’s shortcomings and (lack of) political instinct. All political is local, and Netanyahu undoubtedly scored points with his Likud base back home. But he has a base here in America too, and I think he misjudged that base badly.
One senses here a big public-relations, and possibly public-opinion, shift from two years ago. Right after he took office in 2009, Obama pushed Israel too hard on settlements, thinking that he had more political capital on the issue than he had. He got slapped down, by Netanyahu and AIPAC and members of Congress from both parties. At the same time, Syria was rebuffing administration overtures, and the new president was learning the hard way that the Middle East wasn’t the staff of the Harvard Law Review, and it wouldn’t quite so pliably prostrate itself to his will and aura.
But now, is it Obama who’s going to suffer the PR blow? Something tells me that this time, the pressure will mount more on Bibi than Barack. His behavior these last 48 hours has verged on, if not been, petulant. A foreign leader (no less one of a state whose existence depends on the United States) isn’t supposed to talk like that to a president. Add to the bargain: Obama’s a stronger president now on foreign affairs than he was in 2009, partly because of the bin Laden coup and partly because the speech was well received
across the American political spectrum. The criticisms of Obama on the borders statement have been entirely partisan, led by Republican Presidential hopefuls. That has had the effect of cheapening the criticism of Obama and making it more dismissible: Do Americans, and Israelis and Palestinians, really care what Tim Pawlenty thinks about the situation?
The Anti-Defamation League’s Abe Foxman, never shy about criticizing the administration on these matters, came out Friday to The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent and judged the speech a defense of Israel: “The speech indicated to me that this administration has come a long way in better understanding and appreciating the difficulties facing both parties, but especially Israel in trying to make peace with the Palestinians.”
” This may be a sign that the usual cordon won’t hold around Bibi this time. Oh, he’ll receive a thunderous welcome from Congress Tuesday, mostly from Republicans who want to embarrass Obama by backing the prime minister. But the applause will only mask temporarily what everyone knows—that he is in total denial about the future.
Alex Wong / Getty Images Israel, of course, has legitimate security concerns, especially in light of the recent Fatah-Hamas entente. And there’s nothing, really, to prevent Netanyahu from running out the clock if that’s what he wants to do. But things have changed. Two years ago, politically speaking, time was on his side. Now it’s against him. Having thrown this tantrum, it seems unlikely that he can come back in two weeks, or two months, or a year, and say gee, the ’67 borders with swaps is actually a good idea after all. It seems like the peace process will have to wait for a new prime minister. And he may have hastened that day, too.
The Truth About Upper Big Branch
“I’m set up to fail here,” one miner wrote in his work notes two weeks before the tragedy. He despaired at being one of only two part-time “rock dusters” tasked with controlling the mine’s volatile coal dust — a lethal problem for which company records showed a backlog of hundreds of safety work orders.
Massey has denied culpability and attributed the explosion to an unpreventable surge of underground methane gas. Investigators rejected that claim and the state report convincingly traces the disaster through a chain of neglect, while accusing the company of building “a culture in which wrongdoing became acceptable.”
A federal investigation has already led to the criminal indictment of the mine’s security chief, who was charged with lying to federal investigators and attempting to dispose of evidence. The Obama administration has toughened regulatory oversight, demanding rigorous inspections and heavy penalties for offending mining companies. But the state report underlines the urgent need for far stronger safety laws. House Republicans and coal-state Democrats dedicated to Big Coal have refused to move on any sensible legislation.
Miners need whistle-blower protection to raise the alarm about dangerous conditions without fear of losing their livelihoods. Congress should make it a felony to alert managers that mine inspectors are on the way. Serial violators like Massey must face the strongest penalties, and the cynical gaming of safety violations with endless appeals must finally end. Hesitant lawmakers claim they need a fuller sense of what happened in the tragedy. They should face up to the 126-page report’s finding that the Upper Big Branch tragedy is a “tale of hubris.”
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