tagged w/ too bad
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Here is a sentence with so many strange and wonderful parts in it that it's best just to let it speak for itself:
A Lufkin man drove his $2 million Bugatti sportscar into a Galveston-area lagoon after being distracted by a pelican.
First, who spends $2 million on a car? And second, of all the places you'd expect such a person to be from, Lufkin would be right behind oh, say, La Porte. Third, you've got the whole aspect of the vengeful, possibly jealous, pelican. It's pretty much the signature bird of the island, of course, so it's symbolically lots better than if the driver had been distracted by a grackle shitting on his precious windshield.
Finally, there's the lagoon. Ain't got no lagoons in Lufkin.
The driver, who was uninjured but no doubt very pissed, refused to give his name (or probably much else information besides "Goddamn bird"), but the Galveston County Daily News was able to piece together the story.
The man, who was on the island looking for real estate that we'll guessing he will now never buy, was driving along the frontage road of I-45 just south of the levee near Omega Bay in La Marque.
He was driving a Bugatti Veyron, a very limited-edition car that has 16 cylinders, four turbo-chargers (but only two seats!! Come on!), a car that can do more than 250 mph when it's not being attacked by pelicans.
The driver told police the bird distracted him, and he "dropped his cell phone" (good move using a cell phone; you don't want to be paying close attention when you're driving a $2 million car), went across a patch of dirt and into about two feet of a saltwater lagoon.
We're thinking of the line in Risky Business, as the Porsche repairman looks at the recently submerged Dad's car Tom Cruise is desperate to get fixed: "Who's the U-Boat captain?"
Saddest line ever written about the semi-demise of a $2 million car:
The Veyron's powerful engine gurgled like an outboard motor for about 15 minutes before it died.
As Jimmy Webb once almost wrote: "Galveston, oh Galveston -- I can see your seabirds flying / While I steer the car I'm driving / Into a lagoon / And I curse you, Galveston."
http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2009/11/bugatti_pelican_crash.phpHere is a sentence with so many strange and wonderful parts in it that it's best... more
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BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Three senior Islamist militants escaped from their cells in clashes overnight at a police station in Iraq’s western city of Ramadi, which killed at least seven police and seven militants, officials said.
Prisoners being held at the al-Fursan facility overpowered a policeman who entered a cell early on Friday, stealing the man’s weapon and killing him, said Major-General Tareq Yusuf, police commander for Anbar province.
Six other police officers, including a lieutenant colonel and a captain, were killed in subsequent clashes and six were wounded, Yusuf said. Seven of the militants inside the police prison were killed in the fighting, he said…
Both Yusuf, also known as Tareq al-Dulaimi, and the ministry official said three leaders of the al Qaeda-linked Sunni Islamist group Islamic State in Iraq escaped in the fighting.
The Interior Ministry official said that 23 out of a total of 40 detainees initially escaped but were later recaptured…BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Three senior Islamist militants escaped from their cells in... more
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WASHINGTON – Barack Obama opened his presidency by breaking sharply from George W. Bush's unpopular administration, but he mostly avoided divisive partisan and ideological stands. He focused instead on fixing the economy, repairing a battered world image and cleaning up government.
"What an opportunity we have to change this country," the Democrat told his senior staff after his inauguration. "The American people are really counting on us now. Let's make sure we take advantage of it."
In the highly scripted first days of his administration, Obama overturned a slew of Bush policies with great fanfare. He largely avoided cultural issues; the exception was reversing one abortion-related policy, a predictable move done in a very low-profile way.
The flurry of activity was intended to show that Obama was making good on his promise to bring change. Yet domestic and international challenges continue to pile up, and it's doubtful that life will be dramatically different for much of the ailing country anytime soon.
Obama's biggest agenda items — stabilizing the economy and ending the Iraq war — are complex tasks with results not expected soon. Even as Obama made broad pronouncements and signed a stream of executive orders to usher in a new governing era, his actions leave unanswered or unresolved questions, including how he will close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for suspected terrorists.
In other cases, Obama set out new policy, only to signal it could be applied selectively.
He decreed that interrogators must follow techniques outlined in the Army Field Manual when questioning terrorism suspects, even as he ordered a review that could allow CIA interrogators to use other methods for high-value targets. Also, while a new White House rule limits staffers' previous lobbying activities, exceptions were made for at least two senior administration officials.WASHINGTON – Barack Obama opened his presidency by breaking sharply from George... more
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NEW YORK – In 1973, a young terrorist named Khalid Duhham Al-Jawary entered the United States and quickly began plotting an audacious attack in New York City.
He built three powerful bombs — bombs powerful enough to kill, maim and destroy — and put them in rental cars scattered around town, near Israeli targets.
The plot failed. The explosive devices did not detonate, and Al-Jawary fled the country, escaping prosecution for nearly two decades — until he was convicted of terrorism charges in Brooklyn and sentenced to 30 years in federal penitentiary.
But his time is up.
In less than a month, the 63-year-old Al-Jawary is expected to be released. He will likely be deported; where to is anybody's guess. The shadowy figure had so many aliases it's almost impossible to know which country is his true homeland.
Al-Jawary has never admitted his dark past or offered up tidbits in exchange for his release. Much of Al-Jawary's life remains a mystery — even to the dogged FBI case agent who tracked him down.
But an Associated Press investigation — based on recently declassified documents, extensive court records, CIA investigative notes and interviews with former intelligence officials — reveals publicly for the first time Al-Jawary's deep involvement in terrorism beyond the plot that led to his conviction.
Government documents link Al-Jawary to Black September's murderous letter-bombing campaign targeting world leaders in the 1970s and a botched terrorist attack in 1979. Former intelligence officials suspect he had a role in the bombing of a TWA flight in 1974 that killed 88 people.
"He's a very dangerous man," said Mike Finnegan, the former FBI counterterrorism agent who captured Al-Jawary. "A very bad guy."NEW YORK – In 1973, a young terrorist named Khalid Duhham Al-Jawary entered the... more
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Bearded Hamas activists on Friday delivered an envelope with five crisp $100 bills to a veiled woman whose house was damaged during Israel's invasion of Gaza, the first of promised relief payments by the militant group.
In another part of the territory, a bulldozer cleared rubble and filled in a bomb crater where a week before a top Hamas leader had been killed in an Israeli air strike.
Since a truce took hold this week, ending Israel's three-week onslaught, Gaza's Hamas rulers have declared victory and gone out of their way to show they are in control.
They have pledged $52 million of the group's funds to help repair lives, the money divvied up by category. The veiled woman received emergency relief money for her two-story home in the northern town of Beit Lahiya.
Hamas, which is believed to be funded by donations from the Muslim world and Iran, said the emergency relief would include $1,300 for a death in the family, $650 for an injury, $5,200 for a destroyed house and $2,600 for a damaged house.
More than 4,000 houses were destroyed and about 20,000 damaged, according to independent estimates.
"We are in control and we are the winner," Hamas legislator Mushir al-Masri declared this week, after attending the funeral of four Hamas gunmen.
But Israeli strikes destroyed all of Hamas' security compounds and most government buildings. Its top two leaders, strongman Mahmoud Zahar and Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, have not yet appeared in public.
Israel claims to have killed more than 700 Hamas fighters, while the militants say they lost about 280 armed men, the vast majority members of the police force killed in surprise bombings on the first day of the war.GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Bearded Hamas activists on Friday delivered an envelope... more
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WASHINGTON - U.S. Predator drones hit two suspected AlQaeda dens in Pakistan with Hellfire missiles Friday - the first cross-border strikes from Afghanistan on President Obama's watch.
Pakistani officials said at least 15 people were killed, including three children and four civilians. The attacks signaled Obama had given the green light to the CIA and the military to continue former President Bush's policy of targeting Al Qaeda and Taliban safe havens in Pakistan.
New White House press secretary Robert Gibbs repeatedly declined to say whether Obama had personally signed off on the missile attacks that hit two villages in Pakistan's lawless northwest frontier zone. "I'm not going to speak about these matters," Gibbs said.
But U.S. intelligence sources told the Daily News neither the military nor the CIA was authorized to carry out such attacks without presidential approval.
In one of the strikes, "A militant den was successfully destroyed. At least five foreign Al Qaeda militants were killed," a Pakistani official told Agence France-Presse.
During the campaign, Obama warned that he would authorize cross-border operations to go after Osama Bin Laden and his No. 2, Ayman al-Zawahiri, with or without the approval of Pakistan, which complained about the missile strikes.
"It helps us in no way conducting our operations" against Islamic militants, Pakistani Army Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas told CNN.
"We face much more difficulty as a result of drone strikes, and we have conveyed our position on that" to the U.S., Abbas said.
Pakistan routinely protests the air strikes as violations of sovereignty, but U.S. sources have suggested that Pakistan secretly supports the tactic to hit militants that also threaten the central government.
The U.S. has carried out more than 30 air strikes on targets in Pakistan since last July, killing more than 260 people.
Among those killed were top operatives planning attacks against the West, sources told The News. The list included:
* Khalid Habib, a veteran combat leader and operations chief involved in plots to attack the West. He was deputy to AlQaeda No. 3, Shaikh Sa'id al-Masri.
* Rashid Rauf, the mastermind of the 2006 British airliner plot.
* Abu Khabab al-Masri, Al Qaeda's most seasoned explosives expert and trainer, who headed its chemical and biological weapons efforts.
* Abdallah Azzam, also a top aide to Shaikh Sa'id al-Masri.
* Abu al-Hassan al-Rimi, who led cross-border operations against coalition forces in Afghanistan.WASHINGTON - U.S. Predator drones hit two suspected AlQaeda dens in Pakistan with... more
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WASHINGTON – A Saudi militant who was released from Guantanamo Bay after six years of confinement is now a top figure in the Yemeni branch of al-Qaida, a U.S. counterterrorism official confirmed Friday.
Said Ali al-Shihri was released in 2007 to the Saudi government for rehabilitation. He re-emerged this week, identified by a militant-leaning Web site as a top deputy in "al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula," a Yemeni offshoot of the terror group headed by Osama bin Laden.
The Yemeni branch has been implicated in several attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Yemen's capital Sana.
Al-Shihri is one of a small number of deputies in the group, the U.S. counter-terror official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive intelligence.
The militant Web site, which referred to al-Shihri under his terror nom de guerre, "Abu Sayyaf al-Shihri," also revealed his Guantanamo prisoner number, 372.
The announcement from the militant site came the same day that President Barack Obama signed an executive order directing the closure of the jail at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, within a year.
A key question facing Obama's new administration is what to do with the 245 prisoners still confined at Guantanamo. That means finding new detention facilities for hard-core prisoners while trying to determine which detainees are harmless enough to release.WASHINGTON – A Saudi militant who was released from Guantanamo Bay after six... more
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KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed the new U.S. administration's decision to close Guantanamo prison, saying Friday it would help build international support for the fight against terrorism.
Many Afghans detained since U.S.-led forces toppled the Taliban government after the September 11 attacks are still held in Guantanamo, hurting the standing of the United States in Afghanistan where some 30,000 U.S. troops are fighting a virulent Taliban insurgency.
"This good decision of the United States government will help find support among the international community for the fight against terrorism and include all nations in this fight," Karzai said in a statement.
"Closing this will have a good impact, a significant impact on the minds of Afghans here in Afghanistan," said Karzai's spokesman Humayun Hamidzada. "We see it as extremely important and timely and we appreciate the decision taken by the new administration."
The prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba -- where prisoners have been detained for years without charge, some subjected to interrogation that human rights groups say amounted to torture -- had damaged America's moral standing in the world.
President Barack Obama has ordered a full review of U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, where he is expected to approve plans to as much as double troop levels.KABUL (Reuters) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed the new U.S.... more
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PORTLAND, Ore. – A confession by Portland's first openly gay mayor that he lied about having sex with a teenager is dividing this famously progressive city, as well as its gay community.
Just three weeks after Sam Adams was sworn in, many gays are questioning whether he is the man they want as their trailblazer.
"Sam has been our guy forever, which makes this even harder," said Marty Davis, publisher of the newspaper Just Out, which has called for his resignation. "It's completely dividing and tearing our community right down the middle."
Portland's progressive reputation is based on its dedication to eco-friendly buildings, its large network of bike paths, an expanding mass transit system and the city's welcoming attitude toward gays and lesbians, which was reflected in Adams' easy victory in last year's election.
Adams took office on Jan. 1, making Portland the largest U.S. city with an openly gay mayor. But the community's image is taking a beating over the sex scandal.
It started earlier this week when the 45-year-old Adams admitted to an alternative newspaper, Willamette Week, that he lied during his election campaign when he denied having sex in 2005 with a teenage male who was a legislative intern.
The newspaper said it had evidence showing otherwise, although it never reported details. After being confronted about the relationship, Adams insisted he did not have sex with the young man until after he turned 18.
At a Tuesday news conference, Adams apologized for lying — and for asking the young man to lie — and left open the possibility that he could resign if doing so would be in the city's best interests.
Since then, pressure has mounted on the Democrat to do just that.
Four newspapers have called for Adams to step down, including Just Out and the city's major daily, The Oregonian. Willamette Week said Thursday that it has not taken a stand.
Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard, who defended Adams when the rumor first surfaced last year, said Thursday that a "large volume" of e-mail to his office was in favor of Adams' resignation.PORTLAND, Ore. – A confession by Portland's first openly gay mayor that he... more
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SHIJIAZHUANG, China (Reuters) – A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced two men to death for their role in a tainted milk scandal that killed at least six children, while the woman most widely blamed for the tragedy got life in jail.
Nearly 300,000 children fell ill last year after drinking milk intentionally laced with melamine, a toxic industrial compound that can give a fake positive on some nutrition tests.
The closely watched trial of middlemen and executives from the Sanlu Group, a now bankrupt firm that had failed to report cases of infants getting sick from drinking its products, wrapped up just before the most important holiday in China.
The Lunar New Year is traditionally a time for families to reunite and Beijing may have hoped the sentences would deflect public outrage about the deadly impact of the tainted milk during the festive period.
Affected parents had focused their anger on Sanlu's former general manager, Tian Wenhua, and were angry she was given a life sentence and would not face execution.
"She should have been shot," said Zheng Shuzhen, a 48-year-old who said her granddaughter died in June of kidney failure after drinking Sanlu milk formula but was not included in the list of victims.
"So many children died but they kept the official number down so that she could get life (in jail), not death," she added.
Tian had pleaded guilty to charges of producing and selling fake or substandard products, which state media said did not carry a death sentence. Besides the life sentence, she was fined 24.5 million yuan ($3.6 million).
Melamine is more commonly used in making plastics chairs, countertops, flame retardants and even concrete, and causes health problems included kidney stones when consumed by children.
POLITICAL VOLATILITY
Claims of official concealment and indifference have turned the milk powder case into a volatile political issue for the ruling Communist Party, which is wary of protest.
Police detained two parents to stop them attending the trial of the dairy executives, one father and fellow activists said on Wednesday.
On Thursday, police guarded the courthouse at Shijiazhuang, a gritty industrial city south of Beijing, nudging people away but avoiding harsh confrontation. The session to announce the verdicts and sentences was closed to the public but a court official gave details to reporters outside.
One of the men sentenced to death was Zhang Yujun, who had made and sold over 600 tonnes of "protein powder" laced with melamine between October 2007 and August 2008, the official China Daily quoted prosecutors saying earlier this month.
The powder was bought by middlemen who added it to pooled, watered-down milk from farmers that was then sold on to Sanlu. One of these men was also given the death sentence.
A third man was handed down a suspended death sentence, which usually means life in prison on good behavior.
The court had announced it would sentence 21 defendants implicated in the scandal on Thursday afternoon. However, it said shortly before the court opened that nine of them would be sentenced at other courts.
(Writing by Chris Buckley and Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Nick Macfie and Dean Yates)
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Collapse ArticleSHIJIAZHUANG, China (Reuters) – A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced two men to... more
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is going on the offensive against news organizations and bloggers she says are perpetuating malicious gossip about her and her children. But political observers say the former Republican vice presidential candidate can't have it both ways: trotting out the children to showcase her family values, then trying to shield them from scrutiny.
Palin's criticism also raises questions about her motivations because she has said she is open to a presidential run in 2012.
"I think she's positioning herself. She's attacking the media as a way to generate support among a base she hopes will support her," said Leonard Steinhorn, a professor of communications at American University in Washington and an expert on the presidency.
Palin shied away from interviews during the campaign, although her children often accompanied her on her travels, including her oldest daughter, Bristol, who was pregnant at the time.
But in recent weeks, she has personally reached out to media outlets such as People magazine and The Associated Press to complain about information she claimed is wrong.
She slammed reports that 18-year-old Bristol Palin and the teen's fiance are high school dropouts. The governor insists the two are not dropouts because they enrolled in correspondence courses.
The couple last month had a son — the governor's first grandchild.
The governor said she is speaking out to set the record straight, not because of any political aspirations.
"It's all about the family," she said. "I'm wired in a way that I can take the criticism. I can take the shoANCHORAGE, Alaska – Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is going on the offensive against... more
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Standing on a newly formed hillside of rubble in the destroyed Jabaliya refugee camp, five young men all claim to be resistance fighters.
"All of Gaza are mujahideen," they said.
But when asked which of them had actually fired a gun in the three week-long battle with Israel, none gave a convincing answer.
And as armed Hamas policemen return to Gaza's street-corners and traffic-lights, many in Gaza are wondering where they were when it came to fighting the Israeli Army.
Hamas still has enough power and influence here that few will criticise the Islamist movement openly.
But when Hamas called for a rally to celebrate what it has been calling a historic victory over the Israelis, the citizens of Gaza voted with their feet - they stayed at home.
In the past Hamas could easily call tens of thousands into the streets, but this time only party stalwarts could look around the devastation and believe this could be victory.
"I think the resistance is strong," said Beithar Ajar, 26, who described himself as a Hamas legal adviser.
"I think the Israeli army is very weak. Very weak."Standing on a newly formed hillside of rubble in the destroyed Jabaliya refugee camp,... more
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WASHINGTON – Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, ill with a brain tumor, suffered an apparent seizure at a post-inauguration luncheon for President Barack Obama on Tuesday and was rushed by ambulance from the Capitol to a hospital. There was no immediate word from medical personnel on his condition, although fellow senators said he remained conscious as he was taken for further evaluation and was upbeat and joking.
A spokeswoman at the Washington Hospital Center said the Massachusetts Democrat was awake and answering questions when he arrived and was able to receive a phone call from Obama. Kennedy's wife, Vicki, and son Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., were with him.
A few hours later, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., visited Kennedy, 76, whom he said had suffered "a mild seizure similar to what he's had before. It's part of the battle he's fighting" since he was diagnosed with brain cancer and had surgery last year.
Kerry said Kennedy would remain overnight at the hospital. "He's laughing and joking right now. He's got all his Irish dander up," he added.
There was no immediate word on what tests would be conducted on Kennedy. Standard procedure in cases like his often calls for a CT scan to search for any bleeding or any other abnormalities in the brain.
"It looked like a seizure," said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who told reporters he was with Kennedy until they reached the ambulance.
Kerry said he and Mrs. Kennedy took hold of the senator as he became ill at the early afternoon lunch.
Added Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., "It took a lot out of him. Seizures are exhausting."WASHINGTON – Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, ill with a brain tumor, suffered an... more
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