Dews Tuesday Rundown...

Seemingly a sleepy week here at LSWTF.com, as the dominant stories have been away from our usual buffet of sports (and then arguing about how bad the San Francisco Giants are as opposed to the Baltimore Orioles), and more geared towards current events, Law, Politics, etc.

I know our good friend Jack Gonzo may still be recovering from a long trip to the west coast over the weekend though, so that may still require a bit more healing :).

Anyway, leading off the stories of the day are some news out of Ye Olde England and former Beatles Great, Sir Paul McCartney (or rather his Ex-wife gold-digger Heather Mills).

Its not like stories like these don't happen all the time, but this Mills character had been selling this split as brought on by actions of Sir Paul... This evidence of course did not exactly impress the judge:

"I have to say I cannot accept the wife’s case that she was wealthy and independent by the time she met the husband in the middle of 1999. Her problem stems from the lack of any documentary evidence to support her case as to the level of her earnings."
The Judge added: "Her tax returns for 1999 and 2000 do not support the wife’s case of very significant earnings as set out in her affidavit.

Which all kind of makes sense when you consider she originally had requested £125 Million as a settlement...

In the immortal words of Dr. Dre, you just can't make a Hoe a housewife... And lord, those truly are still words to live by!!!

The Dalai Lama continues to try to fix the situation in Tibet as it seemingly is spiraling out of control, by today announcing that if Tibetans continue using violence in their demonstrations then he will resign as the political leader and "head of state" for the Tibetan government in exile.

This story will of course get much worse before it gets any better I'm sure...

Finally in a more inspirational story, Darth Vader himself (Dick Cheney) is in Iraq visiting the troops, shaking hands, kissing babies, the whole nine yards.

In an ironically twisted way, the most telling part of the trip so far (besides the female suicide bomber that killed at least 43 at last count), was his inspiring speech to the troops hailing how badly the people of Iraq and Afghanistan needed freedom... There is just something about a leader giving that kind of speech to an army that is presently in a sovereign country just is kind of funny to me.

Dews Slow Monday...

Quite a lot going on in the world, as per its usual, but some truly disturbing news from Tibet as the protests against the Chinese government have spread to multiple provinces. Its looking more and more like China will be allowed to effectively exterminate any resistance in Tibet without any foreign journalists at this point as well:

In a sign that authorities were preparing for trouble, AP and other foreign journalists were ordered out of the Tibetan parts of Gansu and Qinghai provinces by police who told them it was for their safety."

Of course, any mention of any brutal tactics of the Chinese Government results in a site being banned in China, so hopefully we'll be added to that list soon enough.

This brutality that China has shown in dealing with dissent is really just amazing though in that nobody in the world stage feels like they can say a damn thing about it. Really sad stuff to see them commit what is essentially "cultural genocide" (to quote the Dalai Lama).

More strangeness out of Jersey as former Governor Jim Mcgreevey's driver has come forward with claims that "Dina Matos McGreevey (Wife of Jim) must have always known her husband was gay - because he was the other man in bed with them."

Hey, I mention it purely for the "wtf?" impact, not because I enjoy delving into the always strange sexual lives of politicians (in fact, I'm always reminded of the good Senator Pat Geary that was owned by the Corleone family in "The Godfather" when I think of politicians "other" lives).

Finally, the Supreme's (DC's version, not the Diana Ross kind) are about to take up a possible landmark type battle over DC's gun law, as well as possibly far reaching rules on "profanity" within media.

The case concerns a Federal Communications Commission policy that allows for
fines against broadcasters for so-called "fleeting expletives," one-time uses of
the F-word or its close cousins.

Fox Broadcasting Co., along with ABC, CBS and NBC, challenged the new policy after the commission said broadcasts of entertainment awards shows in 2002 and 2003 were indecent because of profanity uttered by Bono, Cher and Nicole Richie.

Should be an interesting story to follow, but I am not by any means the expert in this area (that would be our very own legal counsel Dewey, or "DC&H"), but will be interested nonetheless in how this all shapes up.

Local Spy Sweep

The FBI and Defense Dept is announcing today that they have successfully caught two chinese-born nationals as well as a Pentagon Official engaging in espionage.

Gregg William Bergersen, 51, of Alexandria, was arrested at his home on espionage charges. Tai Shen Kuo, a Taiwan-born U.S. citizen, 58, and Yu Xin Kang, a Chinese national, 33, both of New Orleans, were arrested in New Orleans on charges of conspiracy to provide defense secrets to China.

Mr. Bergersen worked as a weapons system analyst for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, in Arlington, which is in charge of U.S. arms sales to foreign nations. He held a top-secret clearance. One official said the case involved the transfer of command, control, communications and intelligence equipment originally sold to Taiwan that was diverted to China.

Just in case you all weren't paying attention, on top of recession woes, incompetent leadership at the highest levels, a Vietnam-like "conflict", and no real hopeful solution to any of those problems in sight, China is STILL very much involved in screwing with us!

Say what you will, but I don't buy the constant phrases we hear from China regarding their "Defense only" military purchasing. Should just start learning Mandarin I guess.

Dews Wednesday round-down

Of course the two big stories of yesterday continue to linger.

Between Heath Ledger's death, and Tom Brady's gimpy ankle, the women of the world have been on the edge of their seat for the past 24 hours I'm sure. At least you all will have Project Runway to watch this evening, with hopefully Victoria getting kicked off... But I digress...

(And yes Dewey, I watch Project Runway, and yes I am also ok with my sexuality...)

Leading off we have the rapidly declining chances of Governor Huckabee of Arkansas after a poor showing in South Carolina. A significant portion of his staff is apparently forgoing pay for the time being until the money "Hopefully" starts rolling back in:

The former Arkansas governor promised to remain in the race through next
Tuesday's Florida primary, telling about 50 people, mostly University of Florida
fraternity members: "We are taking a look at everything daily. But we will be
here every day in Florida until next week."

Quite honestly, I think the writing is on the wall for Huckabee's campaign at this point. He captured lightning in a bottle with an impressive showing in Iowa and then an enormous push nationally, but I think the establishment is starting to circle the wagons around McCain. It's pretty much a certainty that Fred Thompson, aka "The Conservative's candidate" will undoubtably endorse McCain shortly to possibly be the VP on the ticket...

>>>>

The crap just keeps getting piled on between the two "Candidates" (according to national media that is). As we've made pretty clear on this site, we've had just about as much as we can take of this behavior, but apparently the American people have not made that leap yet.

The twist (and wild card) in this situation is good ole Bubba, who seems to be helpful, but then horrendous to his wife's campaign.

"I know you think it's crazy, but I kind of like to see Barack and Hillary
fight," he said lightheartedly. "They're flesh-and- blood people and they have
their differences - let 'em at it."

I know this is almost sacrilege to suggest, but I'm honestly getting tired of Bill in this whole thing too. He isn't bringing a tone of civility to this race, but certainly is adding to the strife on both sides...

>>>>

Finally, on a more serious note, when are we going to finally crack down on China for its human rights violations? Every day I read article after article of abuses directed at its own citizens and yet we continue to plug away with our trade agreements as if nothing has happened...

Well, this has gone too far this time:

Chinese police have shut down a Web site selling real-time porn and arrested
33 people, state media said on Wednesday, part of a campaign which led to the
shut-down of 44,000 Web sites and arrest of 868 people last year.

China launched a crackdown on online pornography and "unhealthy" Web content
after Chinese President Hu Jintao said the country's sprawling Internet posed a
threat to social stability.

People of China, the time has come for you to rise as one and stop this tyranny!!!

International Competition and Lay-offs

Here in Barre, Vermont, granite has reigned as the king of industry for more than a hundred years. So, it is obviously a sad sign when Rock of Ages corporation announced the permanent lay off of about twenty-fve workers last night. Although you'd have to trust me that there are a lot of interesting issues of local concern here, I thought I'd open up the discussion on a more national (global?) issue: international competition.

Barre's granite industry is facing stiff competition from overseas granite producers, rumor is mostly from China, who can produce similar products at a fraction (some say an obscene fraction) of the cost of producing a better product here. It costs so much less that it is more profitable for granite cutting and shaping firms here in Barre to have the granite shipped from China to Vermont than to have granite shipped a couple of miles from local quarries.

The reason for the cost disparity is very likely labor costs. Workers at Rock of Ages are paid well, are represented by a union, and have great benefits, as you would expect for people who work in a dangerous business such as mining. Abroad, however, quarrymen don't have the same benefits, are paid a pittence for their work, and worker safety is simply not a concern. I think this is common knowledge by know. In a free international market, Barre workers simply cannot compete.

Now, I want to be clear: I'm neither for regulating international markets nor am I for workers here giving up the benefits and wages they've negotiated through years of union representation. I think both are fantastic examples of how a capitalist market should work. What I am frustrated with is the lack of a similar worker's movement abroad. Right now, I'm firmly convinced that the greatest American export of the 21st century ought to be ideas that will level the playing field for working folks. Ideas about collective bargaining, ideas about how a worker ought to be treated, and ideas about how a worker ought to be compensated. An Asian worker's time, skill, health, life, and products are no less valuable than the American version. But they aren't paid the same. I've not heard of strikes. I'm not sure they're even allowed.

So, I guess, in my frustration, I've come to think that the greatest question of the 21st century might just be "when will the Third World get its James Connolly?"

Nothing says Child's Toy like date rape!

It seems that all this year all we've heard about in regards to children's toys is the words lead and China. The toy and retail industries are worried about the potential harm to their Christmas profits cause of it. Now, well now the bar has been raised once again in the form of Aqua Dots.

U.S. safety officials have recalled about 4.2 million Chinese-made Aqua Dots bead toys that contain a chemical that has caused some children to vomit and become comatose after swallowing them.

Scientists have found the popular toy's coating contains a chemical that, once metabolized, converts into the toxic "date rape" drug GHB, or gamma-hydroxy butyrate, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission spokesman Scott Wolfson told CNN.

I love how they were "named Australia's toy of the year", this is truly the best news story this week. You thought your kids were in danger of lead, lead is merely child's play compared to what hell this toy can unleash. I wonder how many pedophiles ran out and purchased these by container.

Somehow I'm sure this was Clinton's fault.

Isn't that one of the major "talking points" for your standard Clinton hater/Gingrich? Didn't Clinton basically give China all our weapon technology? I could have sworn there was some fat pill-popping idiot spouting off something like that not too long ago...

Well, is this also his fault?

A Chinese company with ties to Beijing's military and past links to Saddam Hussein's army in Iraq and the Taliban will gain access to U.S. defense-network technology under a proposed merger, Pentagon officials say.

I mean, I'm sure with all the jumping around the world and trying to be involved in all sorts of different humanitarian efforts (ie, staying in the limelight somehow and improving on his Presidential "Legacy" by any means necessary), it was bound to happen right? I'm sure he's just been biding his time until he could sell MORE secrets to the Chinese right?

I can't wait to hear how this was Bill's fault... Will definitely make my head hurt...

Flash: China controls Media directed at own people

In an apparently slow news day, World Tribune reports that:

China’s government controls virtually all media outlets to exercise “mind control” and manipulate public opinion, according to testimony by a former state propagandist at a hearing of the U.S-China Economic Security Review Commission last week.

In related news, Rupert Murdoch coughs, mumbles "amateurs" under his breath and outlines his new plan to offer the Wall Street Journal online for free.

Additionally England has decided that bad news about its military is even MORE bad if it comes from members of it:

They will also be barred from playing multi-player computer games and sending text messages, photographs and audio or video material without permission if they relate to defence matters.

The guidelines say "all such communication must help to maintain and, where possible, enhance the reputation of defence", the paper reported.

Stupid people with their stupid opinions....

Stick with the Elephant

Fellas, if a lady ever tells you that you are hung like a giant panda, do not take that as a compliment. From my friend Salty (via CNN), a sexually suspect giant panda gave birth to twins in China today (although I guess it is technically yesterday in China now).

The panda, "Jinzhu", gave birth to two female cubs on Monday at the Wolong Nature Reserve in the mountainous southwestern province of Sichuan, 11 years after being declared male at birth in 1996, Xinhua news agency said.

"Jinzhu was believed to be male owing to her inconspicuous secondary sex characteristic and behavior," the agency quoted Wei Rongping, assistant director of the reserve's research center, as saying.

According to the article, an adult giant panda's penis on average is about 1.5 inches (3 centimeters) long. The supposed expert claims that this may have been the reason that Jinzhou was thought to be a male for nine years. (On a side note, it only took my mom maybe three months to figure out I was a boy, but I digress.)

Now I'm no zoologist nor have I even been to a zoo in many years but I would assume that there has to be some better way to recognize this type of thing. I realize you can not just pick up a panda to check but maybe use the blow test. I don't know. That's for the scientists to figure out.

But this report begs the questions, how many other sexually confused giants pandas are there out on the streets?