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Home	Second Avenue Subway	IEC: Testing timelines, escalator and elevator installation may delay Second Ave. Subway
IEC: Testing timelines, escalator and elevator installation may delay Second Ave. Subway
by Benjamin Kabak March 21, 2016
written by Benjamin Kabak March 21, 2016
MTA)" width="575″ height="348″ class="size-full wp-image-16193″ /> A glimpse inside the Second Ave. Subway's northern terminal at 96th St. Will it be open for passengers before 2017? (Photo: MTA)
Over the weekend, House Representative Carolyn Maloney stood in front of the future Second Ave. Subway station at 86th St. to announce her reelection campaign for Congress. Maloney has served since winning election in 1992 and isn't likely to face much of a challenge. She captured 80 percent of the vote in 2014.
In announcing her campaign, she played up the billions she has helped steer toward New York City infrastructure investments, but her press releases leading up to the announcement were a bit of a mess. In one, she touted, in various places that either 16 or 4 new subway stops would open this year at a cost of either $4 or $8 billion. Her press team also claimed that all 8.5 miles of the line would open this year (though with only four new stations). It was total nonsense and highlighted how the Congressional representative from the Upper East Side couldn't be bothered with the details of the first phase of the Second Ave. Subway. Thanks for the money, but perhaps learn the details behind your investment.
My skepticism aside, Maloney used the opportunity to stress that part of the Second Ave. Subway will open this year, but will it? As part of the build-up to the supposed December 2016 revenue service date, the MTA and its independent engineering consultant have been giving monthly updates to the Board. In December, the early reports warned of a moderate risk of delay, and January brought similar news. In February, the MTA vowed to spend more to accelerate work, but in this month's update, it's not clear the agency will meet those goals. Furthermore, the IEC and MTA give some hints as to the cause of potential delays, and they appear to be some usual suspects: tight testing timelines and concerns that escalators and elevators won't be installed in time.
The latest materials — available here as a PDF — weave a narrative of an agency trying to cram as much work as possible into the next nine months, but the MTA admits to certain yellow and red flags. Most of the issues concern testing. Testing at various stations for elevators, escalators, fire safety systems and vent fans may not be complete until the end of April, one month later than scheduled. As you may recall, issues with these exact systems' passing acceptance testing were a key driver behind the delayed opening of the 7 line extension. These though currently warrant only a yellow flag, but at 72nd St., installation for escalators and elevators at one entrance will not be completed until the end of October, leaving only two months for testing.
In response, the IEC notes that the MTA's testing schedule may be overly aggressive. "There appears to be a limited allowance for test failure and retesting activities," the IEC noted. Further, the issues with installation of those escalators and elevators is "close to impacting" the December 2016 revenue service date. The IEC again urges more spending to keep pace with the ticking clock and notes that late design changes and a backlog of change orders haven't been cleared yet. Any testing failures will throw that December promise into doubt.
Ultimately, the story remains the same. The MTA still promises to open the line before the year is out, but time is ticking as the issues that could delay the project aren't melting away. I still would expect a short delay, but word of one won't come out for a few more months. Meanwhile, we wait — for escalators, elevators, key systems, and, of course, House representatives who care enough to get the details right.
Before the L train shutdown, the M gets its day; weekend work for 13 subway lines
Scenes from the 7 line: Who watches the watchers?
Eric March 21, 2016 - 5:59 am
Don't forget the fire alarms. I'm sure it will be delayed another couple years because of broken fire alarms, based on 7 Extension experience.
Jeff March 21, 2016 - 6:16 am
Yeah it's not happening. At this point it looks like the deadline is more for internal project management use than any realistic expectation for opening.
Larry Littlefield March 21, 2016 - 6:54 am
There is no reason to focus on this date.
The real issue is why the entire section up to 125th Street did not open more than a decade ago, given that planning began in 1996.
Nick March 21, 2016 - 9:45 am
I think the original plan from 1996 was only for (what is now) the first phase. After the EIS was completed and the plan announced in the later 90s there was a public outcry that the whole line wouldn't be built. The tabloids called it the 'stubway.' So they went back and did the EIS for the whole line. The irony is that, 20 years later, without secure funding for the later phases, we may only get the stubway after all.
Jeff March 21, 2016 - 12:15 pm
The original plan was for Phase 1 & 2. It was after the public outcry that Phase 3 & 4 were added.
Larry Littlefield March 21, 2016 - 3:19 pm
The original plan was for Phase I, which was later divided into Phases I and II.
Sheldon Silver blocked it with a demand that a "full length" subway be planned. He got a three year delay and a new EIS, and we ended up with half a stubway up front instead of the whole thing.
It was Silver's doing. One of the many reasons I refer to his recent conviction as "Capone on tax evasion."
John-2 March 21, 2016 - 8:45 am
They'll probably end up with a press tour train through the tunnel sometime this year, in the same way they had one at the end of 2013 so Mayor Bloomberg could say the line was 'ready' before he left office.
Vooch March 21, 2016 - 9:07 am
They are Finally Working 2 shifts and even Have some Working saturday
Mike M. March 21, 2016 - 9:09 am
Is 96th Street really going to have black walls? Ew.
tacony March 21, 2016 - 10:25 am
At least black walls will be easier to keep clean (-looking). The sparking bright white of the new stations looks terrible after months of use without cleaning.
imogen March 21, 2016 - 1:18 pm
It's a pretty neat play on both the graphics standards for signage and the style of Fulton Center, too
Riverduckexpress March 23, 2016 - 4:49 pm
Are you referring to the walls next to the tracks? Because those walls will have the same white tiles as 86 St and 72 St. If you look above the third rail, you can already see that the bottom two rows of the white tiles have already been erected.
Herb Lehman March 21, 2016 - 9:26 am
I'd really be surprised if all three stations are up and running before 2018. Maybe we'll be lucky and the MTA will at least open the extra entrances at 63rd Street-3rd Avenue before the rest of the 2nd Avenue line.
Ryan March 21, 2016 - 9:55 am
All the infrastructure to run revenue-service Q trains into 63rd & Lexington is in place right now and has been for years. Turning trains at Lexington is kind of a pain in the ass because of the way that station is set up, but 72 St doesn't actually need to be open to run non-revenue Q trains up there, change ends, switch tracks and then back down to 63/Lex.
Restoring W service, running R trains via 63 St, and turning Q trains there at all times are service pattern changes which should be made well ahead of the actual service implementation up to 96 St; in the case of the R that change must be made to fix the issues surrounding 60 St being over capacity, and the Q/W service changes will if nothing else help to build confidence in the idea that this line will open in some part eventually.
Benjamin Kabak March 21, 2016 - 10:04 am
Except that the tunnel between 57th and 63rd is in terrible shape and needs to be repaired first. So there's a pretty compelling reason why the MTA can't run those trains yet. Though why this is being fixed at the 11th hour is a question no one has been able to answer yet, and I've asked.
Ryan March 21, 2016 - 10:10 am
Can't believe I missed that story.
Well, then I guess we can't be implementing confidence-building or operational efficiency-improving service changes on the Broadway Line.
My confidence has been shaken accordingly; I was betting on this thing opening for July 2017 but now I'm with with Herb in thinking 2018 instead. Yikes.
Nattyb March 21, 2016 - 2:20 pm
Makes me wonder how accurate those reports of those tunnels being used for maintenance and storage are? Naturally, this makes me think of another set of tracks that are contemplated to be re-activated, in particular, the F line express beginning at Bergen . . .
Brooklynite March 21, 2016 - 4:48 pm
The issue with the F is that 15tph is not enough to give sufficient service to the local stops north of Church, given the ridership there, while also giving the stations south of Church acceptable headways. F service cannot be increased because it needs to run with the E in Queens. Before 2010, the plan was to extend the V into Brooklyn to provide the additional service that would make an express possible, but this is now off the table. The only alternative I see is an additional Church-96/2 local, but that's unlikely.
Eric March 21, 2016 - 6:45 pm
Are there empty rush hour slots on the A/C tracks (Fulton St tunnels) that could be run through to the F express tracks?
Tower18 March 21, 2016 - 8:21 pm
Nope. I think there's technically 1 open slot, but it should go to the C before anything else. But Cranberry is at capacity (according to MTA anyway). I think technically there's a few more trains worth of tunnel capacity, but the interlockings at Canal and Hoyt can't handle the merges.
John-2 March 22, 2016 - 12:27 am
Any Church express is probably going to have to wait for a long, long time — if and when SAS Phase III is completed, and a connection could be made from it to the F line at or east of Houston-Second Avenue (and even then, that probably works only if some new Second Avenue service to Queens via 63rd Street is implemented, so one SAS route still has the option of traveling south to the financial district in Phase IV).
Ryan March 23, 2016 - 2:58 pm
You could shift the F from 63 to 53 and the R from 60 to 63 and be left with EF in the 53 St Tunnel, NW in the 60 St Tunnel, and RV in the 63 St Tunnel. That works from a capacity balancing standpoint and gives you QT north of 63 St and TV south of it, with the V becoming the Culver Express service.
I was about to raise the specter of the M's requirement to run to midtown as the only reason why this wouldn't work (other than, of course, the horribly badly designed nature of Phases 2-4) but that isn't even a problem since no services would be left operating between 57/6 Av and 63/Lex Av and trains could easily be turned on the switch at 57.
I can't remember when the last time it happened, but it hasn't been that long since the Q ran to Queensbridge during one of those weekends where the F went via 53rd. Maybe last year?
And as for the F express, it's a bad plan for the reasons Brooklynite outlined…there is no capacity with which to make this new service, since dividing the existing F is not going to work, and serving local stops, which are the bulk of the ridership, with just the G isn't going to work either.
The only option would indeed be a 2nd Avenue service via Rutgers…but that's gonna be a long way off. I suppose another possibility is if the M was eventually sent up 2nd Avenue, then there'd be room on 6th Avenue Local for more F/ service. But that's even less likely.
Ryan March 21, 2016 - 10:33 pm
Separating the M from the V is politically untenable because more ridership is gained by the access to Midtown than is/was lost by the discontinuation of service back into Brooklyn via the Montague tunnel.
But the M doesn't need to be connected to both Myrtle Avenue and Queens Boulevard; both those places want access to Midtown and neither I think particularly cares which avenue they happen to arrive at.
The real problem is that Phase 4 as designed does not use any of the provisions put into place for Second Avenue downtown – it deep bores under the Chrystie St Connection, which was provisioned to accommodate future Second Avenue Services with a double crossover and a cross-platform transfer at Grand Street. If the plan is changed to capitalize on that provision instead, then the M can become a Second Avenue service, it'll have to become the T because there's no express tracks and no turnback track at 55 (or 72) to keep the service turning in Midtown – but it's doable.
Those reports were completely accurate. The tracks between 57 St-7 Av and Lexington Av-63 St were used to store trainsets up until the reconstruction of 63 St station started several years ago. The repair work in those tunnels only started 2 months ago, in January 2016.
Here's a video from 2008, at around 1:22 in the video you can see a train stored on the tracks near Lexington Avenue – 63rd St
How is the workflow constructed on this line, anyway?
Is there any opportunity to redistribute work crews and workloads such that critical work to getting any part of this line open can be completed ahead of whatever arbitrary opening date this thing ends up with?
The tunnel between 57 and 63 not being ready for revenue service is extremely negligent; readying it ought to be priority 1 followed closely by opening 72 St (even if that delays the opening of 86 and 96.)
I think a lot of people would take 72 St opening on time in exchange for the rest of this thing falling into 2018, particularly if the alternative is all three new stations and the other half of Lex-63 don't open until July 2017.
SEAN March 21, 2016 - 10:28 am
At this point does a timeline really matter? It's more important that systems work properly &the line will open late anyway.
Speaking from experience with actually managing these types of projects, the further the deadline is, the slower the work will progress. So from that standpoint it's important for the MTA to keep the scheduled opening in place, at least for now.
As far as the general public is concerned, the current timeline has really no relevance.
In a way, only getting the stubway may end up being a blessing in disguise: canceling the remainder of the line would force us back to the drawing board, whereupon we can fix glaring flaws in the route as designed such as the Bronx-extension-precluding turn to 125 St in phase 2, the failure to utilize existing provisions for a cross-platform transfer at Grand St in phase 4, the lack of express tracks on phase 3 (at a minimum), and the failure to leverage additional capacity available downtown by connecting this thing to existing underutilized tunnels (Montague, Rutgers) in phase 4. It'd be more expensive to retrofit the express tracks onto phase 1, but far from prohibitive/impossible to do so.
TomS March 22, 2016 - 2:30 pm
The route south of 63rd street on Second Avenue is kind of useless. It doesn't go to any major job centers, at least until it actually hits Hanover Square. I doubt anyone from queens cares to take a train into the city and go down second avenue. Maybe for the hospital complex in the 30s on first Avenue?
The loss of the Bronx access is major. That area is going to redevelop and boom. A Subway from there that went to Midtown would accelerate the process. Shoot it right up over the Metro North tracks, either as an El using some of the space in the trench, and you have a good thing, replacing the Third Avenue el.
I don't think that's entirely true regarding job centers along 2nd Avenue. First, there are plenty of office buildings East of Lex, including along Third Avenue. Secondly, there are the hospital complexes. Third, the UN and related functions.
South of 14th I'd agree with you, but then again, at that point, the idea is no longer job centers, but population centers. And also, the idea isn't to connect residents of Second Avenue with their jobs on Second Avenue. Only one of those is necessary: living near the line, or working/traveling to somewhere near the line.
I don't live on line which is closest to my office.
Christopher March 21, 2016 - 4:47 pm
According to upstream comments, the 1st phase was split into 1 & Ii with the addition of III & IV because Silver through a fit. Now we have we have 1/2 of what we intended in 1996 and none of the rest. Twenty years later and half the project completed.
Christopher Stephens March 21, 2016 - 12:27 pm
Maloney has been a train wreck (if you will) for years; her public appearances are uniformly cringe-inducing. Now it sounds like her staff is in "we couldn't care less" mode as well. Time to dump her for someone who is actually up for the job. Is this the best my neighborhood can do?
Ed Unneland March 21, 2016 - 12:46 pm
Perhaps for many in that neighborhood, congressional salary is too much of a pay cut 😉
A.G. March 21, 2016 - 1:01 pm
The pdf of the Capital Program Oversight Meeting is dated as 1:45pm-2:45pm, Monday, 3/21/2016. Considering it's only 1:03pm when I'm typing this, and this post went up in the early morning, is the pdf inaccurate. Do the committees usually mess with the minutes and the meeting times?
Matthew March 21, 2016 - 1:53 pm
You are looking at the agenda for today's meeting. Following the agenda for today's meeting are the minutes from the last meeting(look at the date on the top of the page), and then after the minutes from the last meeting is the packet of documents related to the topics to be discussed/reviewed/voted on today.
Duke March 21, 2016 - 9:18 pm
I fully believe that by the end of the year, construction will be physically complete, it will be completely possible for trains to run to 96th St, and it would be completely possible for people to access the platforms except for barricades preventing such.
But, there will be glitches with all the modern technology in the stations that for regulatory and/or safety related reasons will need to be fixed before the public is actually permitted to use them.
Jerrold March 23, 2016 - 10:37 am
It makes you wonder if Maloney is actually THAT ignorant,
or whether she (or somebody who works for her) is just bullshitting the public in typical politician style.
Steve March 27, 2016 - 7:15 pm
She is both ignorant and clueless. A friend of mine used to work for a State Senator, and around 15 years or so ago the MTA took elected officials on a tour of one of the old uptown sections of SAS from the 1960's. Standing in the tunnel, Maloney asked "so does this go all the way downtown?" Not the brightest bulb.
JJ March 29, 2016 - 10:00 pm
If Maloney "promises" . . . . it will NEVER happen


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Q: I can't access array/obj outside jQuery event function So I've got an object, or array, declared at the beginning of anything, outside everything:
var Thing = {title:'horse'};

Then I've got:-
$('.clickedIt').fadeOut(200, function() { console.log(Thing.title); }

That will fail. However, if I place above that same console log out of fadeOut, it'll be fine.

A: If you want something to be global, just define it on the window Object.
window.Thing = { title: 'horse '};

Then use it like so:
$( '.clickedIt' ).fadeOut(200, function() {
    console.log( window.Thing.title );
});

Just a note, putting a number of variables on the window Object is not recommended, I would recommend looking into name-spacing: http://addyosmani.com/blog/essential-js-namespacing/
Here is an example:
//simple JavaScript module
( function( window ) {
    //define your applications root namespace
    window.myApp = {
        Thing: { title: 'horse '}
    };
})( window );

//jQuery ready function
$( function() {
    $( '.clickedIt' ).fadeOut( 200, function() {
        console.log( myApp.Thing.title );
    });
});

A: The value you assigned to title horse is undefined wrap it within quotes to make it string litral,
Live Demo
var Thing = {title:'horse'};
$('.clickedIt').fadeOut(200, function() { console.log(Thing.title); })

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The city's Serbian community is holding a fundraising event filled with food, dancing, heritage displays and fun for the May long weekend.
The Calgary-Serbian community has set up a full spread of food, dancing and activities at the Serbian Orthodox Church and they're inviting everyone to enjoy what they have to offer this weekend.
The event is held every May long weekend to provide people with a multicultural experience while also raising money for a number of worthy causes including the Children's Hospital, Food Bank and the Serbian Multicultural Centre.
Organizers say their goal is to raise about $5,000 for the Children's Hospital and as many non-perishable items as they can for the Food Bank.
Ana Milanovic, one of the organizers, says that the Serbian community has a long history in Calgary.
"We have been here a long time. One of our biggest presences was at the '88 Olympics. We even had dancers there. We are very well rooted in Calgary and we always try to give back to the community because they gave so much to us and we would love to see everyone come down to the festival."
The festival runs until Sunday at the Serbian Orthodox Church, 16025-243 Avenue E. Admission is $5 at the entrance.


Intercontinental Terminals Company spokeswoman Alice Richardson said Thursday company officials believe winds shifted foam that was sprayed over the tank, which has a gasoline component, allowing benzene vapors to escape.
She says samples will also be collected to test for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds, or PFAS, which are found in foam firefighters were using Thursday to try to prevent flare-ups at the Intercontinental Terminals Company facility in Deer Park.
City officials in Deer Park lifted the order Thursday and reopened roads around the Intercontinental Terminals Company, where a fire burned for the previous three days.
It is the second time Crump has left her home since the fire began Sunday at the Intercontinental Terminals Company, which is less than 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) away.
Harris County Fire Marshal Laurie Christensen said at a news conference Thursday that crews are applying layer after layer of foam where several storage tanks burned at the Intercontinental Terminals Company in Deer Park, southeast of Houston.


these lovely little beauties are full of joy! they are light and easy to pair with everything you have in your closet this spring. so throw those gorgeous locks up into a messy bun and highlight your cute little lobes with these happy earrings!
all components of these earrings are hand fabricated in fine silver. fine silver is 99.9% silver and is perfect for those with sensitive ears.


Cliff Cafe joined our Mission to help provide access to "Clean Water for All by 2030". This Mission was initiated by the United Nations.
A big thank you to Cliff Cafe's team and customers for joining this extremely important mission on 17 March 2018.
"Love coming here. Great hamburgers, good coffee and a nice smile."


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Q: Poly() with raw=TRUE provides different result then I() After running some polynomial fitting on wavelength data, I encountered quite different results for poly() with raw=TRUE enabled and using `I()'.
Some side-information: ln and T_T0 are colomns of the fbg_data_simp dataframe
reg_fbg<-lm(ln ~ poly(T_T0,2), data=fbg_data_simp,raw=TRUE)

and
reg_fbg<-lm (ln ~ I(T_T0) + I(T_T0^2), data=fbg_data_simp)

Summary's from both variants:
Summary view of top variant
Summary view of bottom variant
It's clear both results in very different terms. Any idea why this would be the case?
I am probably missing something.

A: raw= is an argument of poly, not of lm.


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Carrie Underwood Reunites with a Man From Her Past
By Jen Swirsky
The American Idol Alumni Association has been growing over the last thirteen years, collecting memberships from former contestants, judges, and hosts alike. Carrie Underwood, the Season 4 champion and one of the two most successful artists to come from the show, recently came together with another of Idol's renowned faces.
While visiting the United Kingdom and performing on the country's The X-Factor, Carrie saw old friend and crabby judge, Simon Cowell, on the set. The two caught up and snagged a photo to share with the world, showing that perhaps Simon isn't really the bad guy he portrays on these shows.
🎶Reunited and it feels so good🎶…Thanks again @SimonCowell and @TheXFactor for having me! I had a blast! 💗💖💘 pic.twitter.com/hq0Qpb3wgG
— Carrie Underwood (@carrieunderwood) December 1, 2015
Though mixed reviews came from the UK audience, we think Carrie was as spectacular as ever and represented the United States and country music perfectly. Watch Carrie perform her new single "Heartbeat" on UK's The X-Factor by clicking here!
Carrie Underwood, Heartbeat, Simon Cowell, The X-Factor, UK, X Factor
PrevPreviousCarrie Underwood teases new Heartbeat music video
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Deb 30 Nov 2015
Carrie looked and sounded amazing! She is just the real deal! Love her!
Jen Swirsky
Jen is a Florida-licensed attorney with dreams of never practicing law again. Originally attending law school with the hopes of working in the music industry, Jen found her niche after her degree was hung on the wall and she decided to pursue country music writing/journalism instead. Now living in Nashville, Jen spends her days as a social media strategist and her days/nights covering events, interviewing artists, and reviewing albums for Nashville Gab.
Luke Bryan is Hitting the Road with Little Big Town and Dustin Lynch
When it comes to country tours, 2016 just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Today, Luke Bryan announced his 2016 Kill the Lights Tour, and while
Danielle Bradbery – Honorary Member of Tribe Kelley
As we have all come to learn, the country music industry is truly a family. A sector of the big clan is the smaller, cohesive
Kenny Chesney Turns On Fans' Minds With Social Media Teaser
Kenny Chesney recently shared information about new music on the horizon, and now the country music touring sensation has dropped a teaser and fled the
Don't go buying Jason Aldean and Brittany Kerr a wedding present just yet…
Despite US Weekly reporting Jason Aldean and Brittany Kerr were set to the tie the knot, Jason's rep told Radar Online it ain't happenin'. Although it
Meet Steve Grand. He's tall, dark, handsome, a great singer, and happens to be openly gay
Since yesterday afternoon, I've noticed a whole slew of people coming to NashvilleGab by searching Google and other search engines for the term "gay male
This was maybe not the best picture to show LeAnn Rimes honoring Martin Luther King
LeAnn Rimes was in Washington D.C. on Wednesday where she took part in the 50th anniversary of the iconic Martin Luther King "I have a
Carrie Underwood makes a tweet new friend
Kelsea Ballerini's "Peter Pan" Bridges the Musical Generation Gap (Watch!)
Preview Carrie Underwood's new album, Storyteller, now
Go ahead and fall in love with Carrie Underwood's enchanted house
Carrie Underwood reaches rock star status…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Does Joe Biden Use A Food Taster To Avoid Poisoning?
ApostolisBril/Shutterstock
By Mark Wishnia/March 14, 2022 4:24 pm EST
A lot of resources and a lot of money go into keeping the president of the United States safe. Typically we think about this protection in the form of the Secret Service working to keep the Commander-in-Chief safe from attacks from weapons. According to Google Arts and Culture, roughly $5 billion is budgeted toward the Secret Service and keeping the President safe.
The site reports that the $5 billion is spent on both personnel and equipment. That includes Air Force One, the plane the president flies on, along with two other planes that fly with the President, as well as helicopters, armored SUVs, and more than 6,000 staff members.
Of course, someone who wants to harm the President may not do so using traditional weapons. In fact, in 2020, CNBC reported that mail intended for the White House had been contaminated with a dangerous substance. It was found at a screening facility before the mail arrived onsite at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
So we know the President is being protected from physical attackers, and we know that the leader of the free world's mail is being screened. But is someone making sure the President's food is safe before it's consumed?
Potential evidence of presidential food tasters
SOLOVEVA ANASTASIIA/Shutterstock
Whether there's somebody out there tasing a president's food before has always been up for debate — but there is evidence that such a position exists. The Sydney Morning Herald reported in 2009 that when then-President Barack Obama visited a French restaurant, someone had to eat the food before the president.
That wasn't the first time that President Obama had his supposed food testers make headlines. According to The Daily Mail, the former president once attended a luncheon with Republicans but opted not to eat the food because he didn't have his food testers on hand with him to check on it first.
Other Presidents have seemingly had food tasters as well. A 2001 article from The New York Times said that "Navy mess specialists" travel around the world with the President. The Times even called these individuals "tasters."
Despite all these reports that a presidential taster exists, a former executive chef at the White House previously told The Washingtonian that no such position exists. However, he did tell the publication that all food that is prepared for the President is carefully supervised to prevent any malfeasance.
Does someone test Joe Biden's food?
Haditha26/Shutterstock
Given there's previous evidence that a presidential food taster exists, one would think President Joe Biden has one as well. But it's still not totally clear. There previously was a Linkedin job posting looking for a food taster at the White House beginning on President Biden's first day in office.
But as The Washingtonian reports, it's unclear if the job posting was real. The job listing says, "Daily duties will include eating the finest foods and occasional corn pops to ensure they are safe for the leader of the free world." And the mention of corn pops is making people think it isn't real. It's also worth noting that the individual who posted the job is someone named Anthony Mandra who is a software engineer and appears to have no affiliation whatsoever to the White House or the U.S. government.
So whether the 46th President of the U.S. has a food taster remains unknown. There doesn't appear to be much news reporting about food tasters specifically for President Biden. All we have is past evidence that food tasters have existed in the White House. And if we believe that previous presidents had food tasters, it only makes sense to believe the same goes for Joe Biden.


text:
Archive for the 'Africa' Category
Posted in Africa, blogosphere, Islamism, Poland, Russia, UK, USA, Women's Rights on September 12, 2007| 15 Comments »
Oopssssssssss, the seeds planted by Orthodox Patriarc Alexis weren't fruitless. After defending the Iranian-Russian relationship as a way to build a new multipolar world and stating that "it is only adherents to traditional religions, first of all the Orthodox and Muslims, who can give 'an appropriate response to the challenges of the time", now the Orthodox Church is confronting a new challenge by … Muslims.
The Government wants to introduce a new optional subject about Orthodox culture. The no. 2 of the Orthodox Church, Kirill, has said that "In URSS there were a lot of people who was taught atheism. They were professional atheists. This people did not disappear. As there are also ultraliberals. But the overwhelming majority of the Russian people is backing this new subject".
But the religious Muslim authorities have united themselves with the laicists, to prevent the introduction of this subject in the Russian teaching system. The VP of the Russian Muftis' Council has accused the Orthodox Chruch of "clericalising" the Russian society. One of the most known teologians of the Russian Orthodox Chruch, Father Andrei Kurayev, has proposed the expulsion of the Mufti to the Gulf Persian States, where they practise the secularism that he likes so much.
But the curious thing is that, while the Muslim religious authorities want to prevent the teaching of this optional subject of Orthodox Culture, in the Russian republics where Islam is majority, as Chechenya, the Muslim traditions are taught in schools. What is more, the Muftis consider that some ethnic (!!!! Isn't this racism???) groups like Tartars, wherever they live, have a right to receive Muslim education, because historically they have belonged to Muslim religion.
ACTUALIDAD » Los musulmanes rusos se oponen a que se enseñe en las escuelas la religión cristiana
Related news: Putin dissolves Russian Government. h/t Kate.
America is quietly expanding its fight against terror on the African front. Two years ago the United States set up the Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership with nine countries in central and western Africa. There is no permanent presence, but the hope is to generate support and suppress radicalism by both sharing U.S. weapons and tactics with friendly regimes and winning friends through a vast humanitarian program assembled by USAID, including well building and vocational training. In places like Chad, American Special Forces train and arm police or border guards using what it calls a "holistic approach to counterterrorism." Sgt. Chris Rourke, a U.S. Army reservist in a 12-man American Civil Affairs unit living in Dire Dawa, in eastern Ethiopia, says it comes down to this: "It's the Peace Corps with a weapon."
Let's hope this is not like Somalian campaign.
Almost half of Britain's mosques are under the control of a hardline Islamic sect, whose next possible leader loathes Western values and calls on Muslims to "shed blood" for Allah, reports The Times of London.
Riyadh ul Haq, who supports armed jihad and preaches contempt for Jews, Christians and Hindus, is in line to become the spiritual leader of the Deobandi sect in Britain.
The ultra-conservative (yes, you know, it's a mixture between Bush, Aznar and Sarkozy What a moron!) movement, which gave birth to the Taleban in Afghanistan, now runs more than 600 of Britain's 1,350 mosques, according to a police report seen by The Times.
Ul Haq, 36, was educated and trained at an Islamic seminary in Britain and is part of a new generation of British imams who share a similar radical agenda. He heaps scorn on any Muslims who say they are "proud to be British" and argues that friendship with a Jew or a Christian makes "a mockery of Allah's religion".
Seventeen of Britain's 26 Islamic seminaries are run by Deobandis and they produce 80 percent of home-trained Muslim clerics. Many had their studies funded by local education authority grants. The sect has significant representation on the Muslim Council of Britain. It is strongest in the towns and cities of the Midlands and northern England.
Richard has posted about it here, where he underlines that in US more than 80% of the mosques (2002) were funded by Saudi Arabia and were preaching Wahabbi ideology.
Now a question: how many Spanish mosques are in this situation?
Cult of Death h/t Eursoc:
Gathering what we can from the works of such thinkers as Sayyid Qutb, Abul Ala Mawdudi, and Abu Bakr Naji (the author of The Management of Savagery), and from various pronouncements, fatwas, ultimatums, death threats, and suicide notes, we may compare radical Islam with the thanatoid political movements we know most about, namely Bolshevism and Nazism (to each of which Islamism is indebted). Of the many affinities that emerge, we may list, to begin with, some secondary characteristics. The exaltation of a godlike leader; the demand, not just for submission to the cause, but for utter transformation in its name; a self-pitying romanticism; a hatred of liberal society, individualism, and affluent inertia (or Komfortismus); an obsession with sacrifice and martyrdom; a morbid adolescent rebelliousness combined with a childish love of destruction; "agonism", or the acceptance of permanent and unappeasable contention; the use and invocation of the very new and the very old; a mania for purification; and a ferocious antiSemitism.
"But these are incidentals. Thanatism derives its real energy, its fever and its magic, from something far more radical. And here we approach a pathology that may in the end be unassimilable to the nonbelieving mind. I mean the rejection of reason – the rejection of the sequitur, of cause and effect, of two plus two. Strikingly, in their written works and their table talk, Hitler and Stalin (and Lenin) seldom let the abstract noun reason go by without assigning a scornful adjective to it: worthless reason, craven reason, cowardly reason. When those sanguinary yokels, the Taleban, chant their slogan, "Throw reason to the dogs", they are making the same kind of Faustian gamble: crush reason, kill reason, and anything and everything seems possible – the restored Caliphate, for instance, presiding over a planetary empire cleansed of all infidels. To transcend reason is of course to transcend the confines of moral law; it is to enter the illimitable world of insanity and death."
Eursoc has also some thoughts about the Committee of Ex-Muslims I posted about yesterday.
From Red Alerts:
The Jihad Fields are Calling has a post up celebrating the terror attacks of 9/11 and lavishing praise on the attackers and Osama bin Ladin. It's long and as tedious as anything else Mujahid writes, so I'll excerpt the only part that will interest you:
On the 6th Anniversary of the Blessed Attacks of September 11 it is our message to all the Americans and their allies. The Blessed Attacks of September 11 was just the beginning, by these blessed attacks we drag you to your graves in Afghanistan and Iraq, your countries and governments faced in these lands the worst humiliation in their history. But all what is happened to your countries yet is nothing.
But "The Jihad Fields are Calling" has been erased. No more calls. Why the authors deleted the blog? I'm just wondering…
And now, a photo: "Sea-bathing"
What a perspective!! Don't know what this commenter would say about this photo, but I just can only say about dressing like that: She is even wearing GLOVES… for sea-bathing….
Both burqa and niqab produce severe health problems, as you can see here, here, here, here .
Catholic Bishop urges to defend Europe and avoid Euroarabia:
Warsaw, Sep. 11, 2007 (CWNews.com) – During a Mass celebrated on September 11 to mark the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the US, the head of the Polish military chaplaincy appealed for a defense of Christian culture, particularly in Europe.
Bishop Tadeusz Ploski, the head of the military ordinariate, said that the Christian heritage of the European continent should be preserved and warned against the development of "Euroarabia."
With representatives of the Polish military leadership in attendance along with Orthodox and Lutheran chaplains, Bishop Ploski issued a reminder that September 11 is also the anniversary of the Battle of Vienna, which he described as "Islam's greatest defeat."
Thank God, Muskens is not the only Catholic Bishop…
Fausta posts about the attack on one Pakistani Buddha.
Suspected pro-Taleban militants have tried to blow up an ancient carving of Buddha in north-west Pakistan.
The area has seen a rise in attacks on "un-Islamic" targets in recent months.
Are we listening, UN??? Are we going to do something this time?
More on Global Warming
Posted in Africa, energy, environment, USA on June 12, 2007| Leave a Comment »
Firstly, whatever Al Gore have said in the past, researches have discovered that the meltdown of Kilimanjaro glacier is not caused by global warming h/t Desde El Exilio:
Kilimanjaro's ice has been melting away for more than a century, and most of that melt occurred before 1953, prior to the period where science begins to be conclusive about atmospheric warming in that region, according to Philip Mote of the University of Washington and Georg Kaser of the University of Innsbruck in Austria.
Also, as a tropical glacier, the processes governing ice melt on Kilimanjaro (located in Tanzania) are different than those on other mid-latitude glaciers located closer to the Earth's poles.
Also there are incresing signs of discontented scientists with this theory h/t Relapsed Catholic.
Though the fear of man-made global warming has come to dominate our cultural discourse, the science behind the scare is looking increasingly uncertain. David Evans is representative of scientists who have become disillusioned with the theory that industrial carbon dioxide emissions are the root cause of global warming: as he points out, the computer models don't seem to fit the data, while at the same time evidence is mounting in favor of alternative hypotheses, like the idea that climate change may be caused in large part by fluctuations in solar radiation. A series of articles by Lawrence Solomon, who has profiled prominent climate-change dissenters, demonstrates that Evans is hardly alone—and calls into question the often-parroted assertion that there is some sort of scientific "consensus" on the issue (whatever that might mean).
Read it all.
Lastly, we have (supposed) Presidential candidate Fred Thompson writing about the news that indicate that some planets of our solar system are also warming themselves. h/t O Inominável:
This has led some people, not necessarily scientists, to wonder if Mars and Jupiter, non-signatories to the Kyoto Treaty, are actually inhabited by alien SUV-driving industrialists who run their air conditioning at 60 degrees and refuse to recycle.
😀 Yeah, right.
Sudan, the UN ambassador, the rebels: why it is necessary a general denounce of the silence of the MSM on the Darfur crisis?
Posted in Africa, Human Rights, Media watchers, MSM, Religious freedom, violence, Web on October 23, 2006| 1 Comment »
So Darfur is even worse that it was some days ago. NYT looks very unhappy because the Southern rebels are trying to defend themselves from the Government forces. The article runs:
Instead Mr. Kabir, a field commander of the Darfur rebels fighting the Arab-dominated Sudanese government, found among the Sudanese soldiers his men had felled only the dark-skinned faces of southern Sudanese and Darfurians. He looked away in disgust.
"You see, they send black men to kill black men," he said. "We are waiting for them to send Arabs for a real fight."
This is the new battlefield in Darfur, a blood-soaked land in which at least 200,000 people have died since early 2003, many of hunger and disease, as a result of a campaign of violence the Bush administration and others have called genocide.
For the first time in more than two years, rebels fighting the government for more autonomy are making brazen, direct and successful attacks on soldiers, and are declaring that all previous cease-fires are no longer in effect.
The latest peace agreement, signed in May and heavily backed by the United States but approved by only one rebel faction and the Sudanese government, is in disarray.
The government vows to crush the rebellion, and as its military struggles to fend off attacks, it will likely turn again to Arab militias called janjaweed to wage its counterinsurgency campaign, analysts say.
Look that the Southern-Darfurians rebels are insurgents just as the terrorists in Iraq, accordingly to NYT. After all the people dead in those fields -some because of real blood-for-oil reasons, which has not been protested by any anti-war leftists-. The new Sudanese Government strategy is to send black Southern-Darfurians to battle agaisnt other Sothern-Darfurians. So the rebel commander is very clear:
"All of them are Sudanese, they are black people, they are our brothers," Mr. Kabir said. "The government sent them here to kill us, but we pity them. The janjaweed don't like to die and make war with us. They are cowards attacking women and children."
The rebels had picked the camp clean of matériel, carrying off several senior Sudanese field commanders as prisoners, they said, as well as caches of heavy weapons, machine guns, fuel tankers and pickup trucks.
At a hide-out a few miles away, soldiers preened with their new weapons:Chinese-made rockets, grenade launchers and antitank guns.
"We took this from Sudan, and we will use it to kill them," boasted Salah Arjah Boush, a rebel fighter, cradling a small gray rocket like a baby in his arms.
Chinese rockets! What a surprise! [Well, not for me at least] Sudanese Governement is also being helped by Chadian rebels, while Chadian Government is helping Sudanese rebels.
Because Sudan's large army is mostly made up of non-Arab foot soldiers who are unwilling to carry out brutal counterinsurgency tactics on fellow non-Arabs, the government has used Arab militias as ground troops in Darfur, paying them in cash and loot from the villages they raid. But now the fighting appears to be entering a new phase, in which the rebel groups, somewhat unified militarily under the banner of the National Redemption Front, are making increasingly brazen direct attacks on government troops.
The government is likely to respond to this new boldness with familiar tactics, said Colin Thomas-Jensen, Africa advocacy and research manager at the International Crisis Group, an independent organization that seeks to resolve armed conflict.
"Clearly Khartoum is still intent on pursuing a military solution, and just because the latest offensive seems to have hit a roadblock doesn't mean they are going to give up," Mr. Thomas-Jensen said. "The strategy in the past has always been to arm and train and support local militia groups. In all of this the consequences from a humanitarian standpoint are devastating. In Darfur it is ultimately among the civilians that there will be the greatest cost."
And what will be that military solution? The events which have happened on the latest hours show that it is going to be really hard. Khartoun has expelled Jan Pronk, the UN envoy who -for once- has had a very important role in denouncing the atrocities at Darfur (Sudan Watch):
The highly unusual expulsion of a UN official is likely to sour relations between Khartoum and the UN, which were already tense because of Sudan's refusal to accept a security council resolution calling for 20,000 troops to move into Darfur to protect civilians. Ironically, Mr Pronk had made it clear he personally agreed with Sudan's position that African Union troops could do the job just as well, provided they had proper funds and equipment. He was also a critic of the Bush administration for its confrontational line towards Khartoum.
Mr Pronk, 66, had a reputation for being outspoken as a minister in two Dutch governments but he took the unusual step of writing a regular weblog after his appointment as Mr Annan's special representative in Khartoum two years ago. This seems to have been his main sin. The weblog in which he often described the war in Darfur in graphic terms without the usual caution of a diplomat became required reading for everyone watching Sudan's war-torn western region closely. […]
The Sudanese government has admitted suffering two recent setbacks on the battlefield, at Um Sidir to the north of the main town El Fasher, and again near the Chadian border two weeks ago. But Mr Pronk's weblog gave new details. "The losses seem to have been very high," he wrote.
"Reports speak about hundreds of casualties in each of the two battles with many wounded and many taken as prisoner. The morale in the government army in north Darfur has gone down.
Foreign ministry spokesman Ali al-Sadiq explained the expulsion as resulting from "the latest statements issued by Mr Pronk on his website regarding severe criticism of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the fact that he said the government of Sudan is not implementing the Darfur peace agreement". [NOTE: see he has been expelled BECAUSE he critisized the Government!!!!].
Mr Sadiq said rebels would consider Mr Pronk's comments as encouragement to continue their military campaign.
Mr Pronk also annoyed the army by crossing frontlines and meeting rebel leaders in Darfur this month, although he made it clear on his weblog that he urged them to accept a ceasefire and think about signing the peace deal brokered in May.
Koffi Annan has asked Pronk to return to USA for consultations, and while the Sudanese Governemnt has asked Pronk to go before next Wednesday,
Jajweeds have begun to attack villages yesterday and reaped two girls, aged 16 and 18. "Government troops are also mobilising in this area, and we are prepared for an attack" (from Sudan Watch). Darfur rebels have added this will began a new campaign: this time using chemical weapons.
The NRF strongly denounces the callous decision of the Government of Sudan to expel UN Envoy Jan Pronk from Sudan. It is not a simple coincidence that this decision has been made at the very moment when the new offensive of the Khartoum regime in Darfur has been launched. Following successive defeats of its forces at the hands of NRF, the Regime in Khartoum is now resorting to the use of chemical warfare to reverse its luck. Few days ago, a Janjaweed led battalion moved out of Alfahir heading towards Tina. The force consists of over 60 vehicles armed with chemical weapons. In line with his cruel habit of sending poorly trained troops to their early graves, Albashir's new militias are to use chemical weapons that they have never seen before. This is what explained the rush to drive Mr. Pronk out of Sudan. Having neutralized the AU, the Government is now determined to render the people of Darfur totally voiceless. Mr. Pronk's departure will enable the Regime in Khartoum to carry out its genocidal acts behind a thick curtain.
The Government of Southern Sudan has also protested the expulsion claiming the Sudanese Government has not consulted them on this issue. US has protested the action by the Sudanese Government.
If you want to view his blog, click here.
This is a post made to denounce even more -if it can be- the outrageous situation Darfur is now in, without any type of support from the world and, of course, Europe. Some days ago, Mauro, from Italian blogs from Darfur, wrote a comment here about an important campaign Italian Blogs are making: they are denouncing the MSm for not giving any information about the tragedy that it is developing there. Go there and read it. It will worth your time.
Los últimos hechos en Darfur se están desarrollando muy deprisa. Durante el último mes, los rebeldes han infrigido al Gobienro sudanés 2 derrotas consecutivas en las que ha habido muchos muertos, heridos y mutilados. El Gobierno sudanés ha recurrido a otra estrategia: mandar a gente de Darfur a luchar contra sus propios vecinos. Pero como eso no ha resultado ha expulsado a Jan Pronk, el enviado de la ONU en Darfur.
El diplomático holandés había cometido el terrible disparate de contar la verdad en su blog particular, sobre las derrotas sudanesas, lo que le ha valido la expulsión por "criticar al gobierno sudanés". SI quereis verlo aún está operativo aquí. Son muy interesantes sus fotografías.
Y la venganza del Gobierno sudanés no se ha hecho esperar: ayer ya atacaron de nuevo los janjaweeds una aldea y violaron a dos niñas una de 14 y otra de 16. Los rebeldes afirman además que el Gobierno sudanés ha enviado camiones con armamento químico hacia Darfur.
Por eso, es importante que denunciemos lo que está ocurriendo en Sudán. El blog Italian Blogs for Darfur tiene por misión criticar la cobertura mediática del conflicto, que como no es Irak, y EEUU no se ha metido allí, no es interesante. Así, señalan:
300 mil muertos, 2 millones de personas sin hogar, 200 mil refugiados
Una tragedia que dura más de 3 años. Pero los muertos de Darfur no llenan los titulares.
Firma la petición on-line para que la RAI, Mediaset y La7 den más espacio televisivo para la ifnormación sobre Darfur y otras crisis humanitarias.
"Escribo para protestar por el poco espacio dedicado por su televisión al genocidio que está teniendo lugar en Durfar (Sudán).
En Darfur, durante más de 3 años, las personas están mueriendo pero la alarma que ha sido declarada por organizaciones humanitarias y militantes por los derechos humanos siguie sin ser oída por mucha parte de los medios italianos. Hata ahora, 300 mil muertos, 2 millones y medio de personas sin hogar, 200 mil refugiados han sido contabilizados, pudiéndose considerar la crisis tan grave como para considerarla un genocidio.
Todos los días las TVs alcanzan a mucha parte de la población de la península como la primera fuente de información, si no la única. La TV retiene el poder de información, incluso los periódicos pueden, aunque en una más pequeña proporción, contribuir a informar a los italianos sobre lo que está pasando en Darfur. Normalmente lo que no se dice en los medios de comunicación de masas no existe para una gran parte de las familias italianas.
Si los medios estuvieran informando conscientemente del genocidio de Darfur, esto ayudaría a parar las atrocidades que están teniendo lugar en la región.
POr esta razón, os pedimos un incremento en el espacio de información del genocidio de Darfur, para parar así las graves acciones contra los Derechos Humanos y la dignidad de la humanidad.
Como un consumidor de estos servicios públicos y privados, le pido por favor que de más importancia a esta tragedia actual, mediante programación que dé espacios, incluso diarios, sobre dossiers e informativos sobre el genocidio de Darfur.
Apreciaría inmediata atención en la materia".
¿Qué tal una carta parecida para Telecinco, A3, Pedrojota, Luis María Ansón, Prisa, etc…? Es una proposición, pero creo que merecerá la pena. También podríamos hacer un blogroll o algo parecido. Si alguien tiene alguna idea -a ver si alguien comenta algo…. 😉 – que la ponga en comentarios.
Technorati : Darfur, Janjaweed, Pronk, Sudan, UN, USA, humanitarian crisis
Del.icio.us : Darfur, Janjaweed, Pronk, Sudan, UN, USA, humanitarian crisis
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About converts to Christianity
Posted in Africa, blogosphere, Religious freedom, violence on October 19, 2006| 3 Comments »
Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey reports about Bahaa El Din Al Akkad (photo), an Egyptian Muslim, member of Tabligh and Daawa -organization to spread Islam-, who converted to Chistianity afterwards, has been imprisoned 18 months now under the charge of "blasphemy against Islam". He writes:
After contacting a couple of people who are involved in such cases in terms of human rights, the word came back that this story is actually true, that they have known about it for a while now, and have been in contact with this guy's lawyer and plan on coming out to the public with it soon enough, with their own statements. So I figured I would tell you guys first. This is for real. The guy got arrested for converting to christinaity and have been rotting in prison for the past 18 months for it. I don't think I need to tell you how much of a violation to his rights this is, but then again, this is Egypt, and we really have no rights to speak of.
Also in persecution.org.
Also the kidnappers of an Italian photojournalist are asking for Abdul Rahman, the Afgan who converted to Christianity and faced the death penalty for that and now exiled in Italy, or they will kill the photographer (tip: relapsed Catholic).
El blogger egipcio Sandmonkey informa de que Bahaa El Din El Akkad (foto de arriba), que era miembro de Tabligh and Daawa -organización cuyo objeto es extender el Islam-, ha sido encarcelado por convertirse al cristianismo bajo la acusación de "blasfemia contra el islam. Ya lleva 18 meses en el calabozo y varios grupos de derechos humanos están intentando sacarle de allí.
Además, los secuestradores de un periodista italiano han exigido que se les entregue a Abdul Rahman, el afgano que se convirtió al catolicismo y se enfrentó a la pena de muerte por ello, o si no matarán al periodista-fotógrafo.
technorati tags: Egypt, freedom+of+religion, freedom+of+expresion, persecution+of+Christians, Afganistan, Abdul+Rahman
Zapatero does not accept critics from anyone in immigration matters
Posted in Africa, Human Rights, Spain on September 28, 2006| Leave a Comment »
Yesterday there was a Government's control session in Congress. Spanish right-wing newspaper LA RAZÓN writes about it:
Nicholas Sarkozy, French Interior Minister, Otto Chilly, German Interior Minister; Rita Verdonk, Dutch Immigration Minister; Dominique de Villepin, French Prime Minister; Nicholas Schimit, Vicepresident from Luxembourg; Günther Beckestein, representative of the Interior Ministers from the German Länder; Wolfgang Schuable, Federal German Interior Minister and Franco Frattini, European Minister of Justice and Security. There can be foreign responsibles that speak about some sort of EU's problems, but not with such unanimity and in such a contusive manner as these responsibles have been doing these past weeks about the Spanish immigration policy. And not to praise it. The long list of critical voices was shown yesterday in Congress by Mariano Rajoy.
But Mr Rajoy also extracted two political consequences:
The first, that the credit of the Spanish Government "could certainly be better"; and the second, that it's "impossible to understand how the Minister for Labour and Social Matters (Mr Caldera or "immigrants do not read the laws") has not been dismissed".
The answer from Mr. Zapatero was that he:
did not admit any lectures from nobody of EU, and less from Sarkozy, remembering the riots who were "caused by citizens of foreign extraction in Paris".
He could have charged against any other European minister critical with his Government, that there a lot, but he chose the French Interior Minister -right-, the principal defender of a harder European immigration policy. Zapatero does not support Sarkozy, but integration and multicultural pluralism seriously questioned in some countries of EU. He is so sure about this that the lectures of European politicians are not valuable for him. "They could be valuable for you" -he shouted at Rajoy- but not for this Government, and they are not convenient for this country". He added that "there haven't been any critics. The European Governments and the European Commission try to cooperate in front of this challenge that for some countries has a great range".
Surprised at the answer, Rajoy censured Zapatero for denying evidence, and demanded him a little humility to recognize his errors, and to take a look at the PP's proposals regarding immigration. After that, Acebes showed the most shivering figures about immigration: for each illegal immigrant returned to their country of origin, 7 remain in Spain; thousands of them are not even taken to temporal living centers as they are too crowded; the calling effect has already taken to Spain 690.000 illegal immigrants and only 12.000 have been returned to their countries of origin.
Pride is one of the seven capital sins and this laic Government of us have a good proportion of it. The reason why he charged against Sarkozy can be that he is coming to Spain to participate in an interministerial conference on immigration matters. I would like to know what it is said on it… it would be funny.
The Madrid's Autonomous TV Channel showed a report in which some immigrants were escaping easily from the temporal living center in which they were held. That same day we were told that Interior Minister has instructed Policemen not to write down or make any statistics about the immigrants who escape from those centers. When questioned yesterday about this order, the Government did not contradict it. Vice President Fernández de la Vega only answered that now immigration is more "human and noble".
Tell that to the approximately 5.000 immigrants who have died in the trip. Tell it to the immigrants who are not granted even a health control when they are held to provide them with medicines and appropriate diagnose and treatment. Finally, look into the eyes of normal people and tell them that an invasion of nearly 1.400.000 (the 700.000 who were legalized last year and the 690.000 who have come because of the calling effect) without any control, job or even perspective of having one (if an illegal immigrant is employed by Spanish firms, the responsibles of the latter will have to face criminal punishment, aggravated by socialist laws, so they have it very difficult to be admitted in one), are not going to cause any type of security problems, not only to citizens but also to legal immigrants.
And after everything happens, laments are not necessary. Politicians should know they are experimenting with people's lives, dreams, desires, families, jobs, etc. So please before any type of "I'm so good and clever, my critics are idiot and are not worth even the time I am dedicating them", think a little bit. I think, so I am, said Descartes. Several political figures today do not exist -as they do not think at all-, but they harm citizens and societies a lot for being non-existent human beings from Descartes perspective.
Sarkozy in Senegal
Posted in Africa, Europe, European Union, Spain on September 26, 2006| 1 Comment »
French Interior Minister, Mr. Sarkozy, is in Senegal. Le Monde – after reminding the "drames of Ceuta et Melilla", that is, the dramas of Ceuta and Melilla – makes clear what is the new "treaty" between France and the African country about illegal immigrants:
Senegal accepts, respecting human dignity, the return of its nationals who are residing there in an irregular situation.
France only obliges to help in the creation of profitable activities in Senegal, promising a sum near 2,5 million of Euros to "microprojects".
Le Monde insists in the fact that Senegal rejected the return of the illegal immigrants who arrived at Canary Islands, because of "bad treatments". But it forgets to add that Spain paid Senegal 8 million euros, more that three times the sum promised by French Government.
The most interesting part of the article is this one:
Ni l'Europe ni la France ne peuvent recevoir tous ceux qui rêvent d'un eldorado, a déclaré M. Sarkozy. Une ouverture générale des frontières entraînerait en peu de temps une déstabilisation des sociétés européennes et l'arrivée au pouvoir de partis xénophobes. Cela, personne ne le souhaite." La visite de M. Sarkozy à Dakar intervient au lendemain de la réunion à Tampere (Finlande) des ministres européens chargés de l'immigration, où il avait refusé de se rendre, mettant en cause le laxisme de la politique espagnole de régularisation.
"Nor Europe nor France can receive all the people who are dreaming about El Dorado", declared Mr. Sarkozy. "A general openning of all frontiers will cause in little time a desestabilization of European societies and the rise to power of xenophobes parties. That is what anyone wants". The visit of Mr Sarkozy to Dakar was the day after the meeting at Tampere (Finland) of the European ministers in charge of immigration, which he did not attend, because of the soft -laxa- Spanish policy of regularization.
And the plan of Socialist Government was to reintroduce Spain in Europe, helped by France and Germany… My goodness.
Now that French Government has had to pay, Chirac has united himself to Spain (Mr. Zapatero), Portugal (Socrates), Greece (Caramanlis), Prodi (Italy), Cyprus (Papadopoulos), Malta (Gonzi), and Slovenia (Jans), to write a letter to Finnish Presidence. In it, they assure immigration problem should be reveiwed in a European level, "especially in terms of financial help and resources". We will see the results.
Gadaffi wants to be compensated
Posted in Africa, Europe, Unbelievable news on September 16, 2006| 8 Comments »
I wrote yesterday about immigration but Gadaffi's words are worthy of a post. I read in DOCE DOCE -I translate it- that the Lybian dictator
is surprised of the "reactions" European countries are showing regarding illegal immigration. But he added that they were ready to solve that problem if European countries payed them 10.000 millions of euros (1 euro is nearly $1.30).
He also stated that "Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and Kiti-Cola are made with essences that come from Africa, and as a result, multinationals must compensate us accordingly".
Marvellous, eh? And I figure they are not letting us, in case we were so idiot as to pay that sum for a problem they are creating in their own countries, any control over those funds. What happens, Gadaffi? Is your Swiss account not great enough? Or are you spending more than you thought?
But I fear that European bureaucrats will end by giving them some funds for something -controlling illegal immigration- which should be an obligation of these countries. Just because of the differences between both sides of the Gibraltar strait.
What are the citizens of these countries witing to ask their own Governments a compensation for lacking justice, freedom and equality?
The summer of illegal immigration
Posted in Africa, Europe, Human Rights, Spain, terrorism on September 15, 2006| 4 Comments »
The negotiation of Spanish Government with ETA has only been taken away of the first line of Spanish news by another topic: illegal immigration. There are a lot of stereotypes about immigration: "immigrants come because of misery, because of hunger, because of the wars in their countries of origins..."
Without denying that these can be some of the problems, there are some causes who are not been quietly examined: for example, First World is sending every year money to these countries. But -at least- citizens in the so-called First World do not know really where this money is going. There is no control over this funds. Are the hospitals/schools/etc. been built? Is really the help for culture, women development, doctors, etc. reaching these places? Well, Spanish politicians are not very worried about this particular matter, but are insisting on the mentioned topics.
But if this is particularly appalling, the stories of illegal immigrants being transported over Spain, without any knowledge of the authorities of the place where are taken are just shameful. Because these illegal immigrants are just thrown into unknown cities, without any knowledge of the language, without perspectives of a legal job, because they are illegal and without any health control. As a result, medical authorities are beginning to find some diseases who had been declared eradicated from Europe some time ago: smallpox, scarlet fever, scabies and even some varieties of hepatitis, who can be transmitted by drinking from the same glass, as they are not destroyed by the traditional means of washing with detergents.
El Confidencial Digital described the arrival of a group of 22 immigrants to the Galician City of Lugo:
August 22, 20:00. Bus station ofLugo. A furtive arrival of 22 immigrants of Lord knows where.
At that hour, people are waiting in the bus station and they see how a bus enters the station at great speed. Quickly 22 immigrants descend from it. The driver encourages one of them, who looks like their leader, to disperse as soon as possible, without forming a group. Then the bus goes at high speed again and disappears.
Some of the immigrants change their shirt in the surroundings. Some others waive at each other as a goodbye and go alone through the streets of the city.
A neighbour speaks with a worker about the scene: "Looks like today Lugo has more inhabitants". And the worker answers: "Nowadays they are peaceful, but there has been more "arrivals" with Africans. You can see that this is not happening in Barcelona or Bilbao"-
Their lives are been endangered by some politicians who have no scruples to lie. Mr. José Blanco, commonly known as Pepiño, Secretary of Organization of Socialist Party, has said that "with Socialists, immigration is legal and organized".
Now, they are coming from Pakistan to Canary Islands. Just as a note: Pakistan is between India and Afghanistan. Spanish Government is trying to repatriate them. But this is the third ship since August that brings "Asiatic" immigrants to Spain. Senegalese Police and Antiterrorist Forces are investigating nearly fifty Islamists in Dakar, its capital, accused of being linked with Islamic terrorism. And this is the other reason of why we should worry of the lack of control in the immigration flaws: since some time ago, Intelligence forces are worried about the presence of Al-Qaeda in Africa.
The immigrants vision is somewhat troubled, by propaganda. Moroccan immigrants think they are going to be given the legal papers three years after they arrive, by the King. "This is the law in Spain, that is what the King wants", says Mohammed, an illegal immigrant from Morocco, to an Italian journalist covering the problems of the illegal immigrants in Canary Islands. Of course, the notion of a democratic Government -even one as wrong as Socialist Government is now- does not cross his mind: "Spain is a Monarchy as Morocco, where a Monarch administers as he wants the happiness and the sufferings of his subjects".
But the best is how he sees Europe: "France is a racist country. Italy, on the contrary is ideal. If you work without bothering, Police just leaves you alone. In Spain, by contrast, if you are detained, you are thrown into jail". If you ask why this kind of accusations for France -not forgetting last November riots in France-, there are another news regarding this: France has accused Spain of creating a "calling effect" for immigrants. Sarkozy declared in French Public TV Channel, France 2: "This calling effect is the cause of the incapacity to control the secret immigration nets. Just watch what is happening in the Canary Islands".
The problems in Canary Islands are growing each day: there are 300 "illegal immigrants" by each policeman –there are nearly 8.000 illegal immigrants only in Canary Islands of which nearly 4.000 are from Senegal-, so if there is a violent "incident", they can be unable to contain the "illegals". If they see Civil Servants from Senegal working with Spanish police they sing "Spain, Spain, Spain" and "Repatriation to Senegal, no". Senegalese Civil Servants are beginning to feel panic also. They are collaborating after Spain has paid Senegal 8 million of euros: they were even blocking the operative to control the "cayucos", but now, with the money in their pockets detentions have begun … by Spanish Policemen in Senegal. A difficult job in a country where the new "aristocracy" is formed by the families of the immigrants who have reached Spanish soil. There are even parents encouraging their sons to make the trip.
Vicepresident De La Vega says the Government "working without resting", shouting and very altered at Parliament. Looks like she is working a lot and suffering from a lot of stress. But I do really not know if the Government as a whole is working to control and diminish immigration or just for the contrary. Because the massive regularization and expressions like "immigrants do not read the State Official Bulletin" -where the laws are published-, said by the Ministers of Labour and Social Matters, Mr Caldera, are just some of the examples we can point out of the disastrous policy of the Government.
It is not very striking then that some of the related Ministers are eluding the "invitations" to speak about the problem at Parliament. It is not the public opinion, it is not the work of the opposition, it is not the reality what they are fearing. El Pais, the newspaper from Prisa holding, the supporter of the Government, has criticized it about the chaos of the immigration. For a moment I thought they were ashamed. No, they are just fearing the unemployment row.
One last remark: according to a poll, Britain is a worse today than 20 years ago. Can you imagine why? One of the causes is immigration: 430,000 Eastern Europeans in two years –Conservative estimations rise it to 600.000– make people think about the impact of this phenomenon in British life. There is only one differences: their immigration is legal.
In Spanish:
Nuevo Digital:
Emigration creates an "aristocracy" in Senegal with families who have succeeded in sending one of their youths to Spain.
Terrorism and crime made British consider their country "worse for living" than 20 years ago amid a strong debate about an immigration"out of control".
Spanish immigration problem.
More on Spanish immigration.
Immigrants are paid to return to their countries or relocated in PP-ruled cities.
Latin American style express kidnappings in Spain.
Chinese PM launches Africa tour
Posted in Africa, blogosphere, China, Corruption Scandals, Europe, European Union, Human Rights, MSM, Russia, USA, violence on June 18, 2006| 1 Comment »
He flew into Egypt at the start of the trip which will also take him to Ghana, South Africa and four other countries.
Deals for oil, copper, timber and other resources are expected to be discussed. Chinese manufacturers are also seeking new markets, correspondents say.
Trade between China and Africa rose to $40bn (£22bn) last year.That total has quadrupled in the last five years.
Mr Wen will also visit Congo-Brazzaville, Angola, Tanzania and Uganda during his visit.His trip comes at a time of growing Chinese interest in the continent.
But critics in the United States and Europe say Beijing is blocking international efforts to put pressure on what they call oppressive regimes in Sudan and Zimbabwe because of its desire for economic deals.
BBC NEWS | Africa |
It is curious he is not going to Sudan, where he has so many interests. Ehh, can it be because all Chinese interests are well protected in Sudan?
You can read also Luo Minatti's post on this subject (HT: No Pasarán)
UPDATE: Go over to Causes of Interest and read UN hears of mass Darfur Killings.
technorati tags:Sudan, genocide, China, Russia, France, Europe, European, Union, oil, energy+resources, Human+Rights, no+more+blood+for+oil
Inmigrants are paid to return to their countries or relocated in PP-ruled cities
Posted in Africa, Spain, Unbelievable news on June 13, 2006| 1 Comment »
Spanish Interior Ministry is paying around 300 euros to inmigrants when they are outed from Spain to Africa to prevent them from rioting when they are landed in their country of origin, according to El MUNDO's police sources.That ws what happened in the flight to fly thtm to Guinea-Bissau that took place last Friday, in which 33 citizens were outed.
The policemen who went with them in the flight only were paid 120 euros for this service, less than half that was given to the illegal inmigrants, as denounces the Spanish Police Confederation (CEP) in Canary Islands.
The flight, with 33 citizens of Guinea-Bissau, 26 coming from Las Palmas and another 7 from Málaga, was early an odyssey. The agents found the airport shut, had to make a stop in Senegal and, after heavy negotiations, they succeeded and the authorities opened the airport to land the illegal inmigrants.
When they landed, each inmigrant was given 300 euros. Normally in these flights, inmigrants are not told about their destination and are lied telling them they are going to be flown to another Spanish city. To diminish their deception, Police give the inmigrants normally quantities between 100 and 300 euros.
Interior paga 300 euros a los subsaharianos que expulsa para evitar disturbios a su llegada | elmundo.es
The Government is carrying the inmigrants from Canary Islands, mostly to cities who voted for Popular Party in last elections mostly. Numbers are:
Madrid, 3.527 subsaharans.
Andalucía :Algeciras, 120; Málaga, 880
Catalonia 350
Murcia (282) y
Comunidad Valenciana (241)
Except Algeciras and Catalonia, the rest of Autonomous Communities and cities are ruled by Popular Party.
We have to take into account Canary Islands have received in six months more than 7.500 illegal inmigrants, 2.700 more than last year in full.
State Secretary of Inmigration Consuelo Rumí denied that there has been 3.527 inmigrants flown to Madrid and said this number refers to foreginers who have being flown by Madrid to another destination. But she failed to answer whn asked about their destination or the number of inmigrants which have being flown to other cities.
Submitted to Planck's Constant Open Trackback Alliance and to White House Press Secretary Don Surber Midweek Open Trackbacks.
technorati tags:Guinea-Bissau, Spain, Zapatero, Canary+Islands, PP, PSOE
Chinese new arsenal
Posted in Africa, blogosphere, China, Corruption Scandals, Europe, European Union, Human Rights, Russia, Spain, terrorism, USA, violence on June 3, 2006| 13 Comments »
The Pentagon's annual report to Congress on China's military power, released this week, reveals that Beijing's buildup has advanced well beyond what most analysts considered likely just 10 years ago. Some highlights: The new arsenal of the People's Liberation Army includes more than 700 missiles deployed opposite Taiwan, a fleet of sophisticated diesel electric submarines, a growing nuclear submarine capability and advanced destroyers armed with lethal anti-ship cruise missiles. By making the potential cost of any U.S. intervention in the Taiwan Strait extraordinarily high, Beijing has accomplished its decade-long goal of establishing a credible military threat to Taiwan — as well as a deterrent to the United States. The question is, what next?
The report points to some answers. With a growing dependence on oil imported from the Middle East and Africa, Chinese strategists are talking about creating a blue-water navy to secure Beijing's energy supply lines. The military may be reconsidering its nuclear "no-first-use policy" and examining ways to secure China's territorial claims in the South China and East China seas. Simply stated, as China's military power has grown, so too, it appears, have the strategic tasks that it may be assigned. This shouldn't be surprising. Our own history teaches that as a nation's power grows so do its ambitions.
So the country who jails protesters (HT Free Thoughts) and bloggers and do not respect Human Rights at all has a new arsenal … to secure its energy supply lines. And that "No more blood for oil"?
Why I am very concerned about these news? (UPDATED)
Posted in Africa, Europe, European Union, Human Rights, Spain on May 21, 2006| 1 Comment »
From BBC:
France and Morocco have agreed to work together to combat terrorism, drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy agreed the deal with his Moroccan counterpart, Chakib Benmoussa.
Mr Sarkozy was in Morocco as part of an African tour, widely seen as a prelude to his presidential bid next year.
He has already visited Benin and Mali, where there were street protests over his tough immigration policy, designed to keep out "unskilled" foreigners.
French MPs have already backed Mr Sarkozy's immigration bill but it can only become law after it has been passed by the Senate.
Wow! This is marvellous. I am very confident in them working together. They are just going to send more inmigrants to Spain, that's all. From Spain Herald:
Saharan human rights activist Aminetu Haidar said yesterday in Seville that prime minister Zapatero's support for his own Alliance of Civilizations project is "incompatible with permitting the tortures that the Moroccan government inflicts on the Saharan people." After speaking before the Andalusian regional parliament, Haidar said that if the Spanish government does not act in favor of self-determination for the Western Sahara, "it will be responsible for the genocide and massacres that are going to begin, if they have not already…Spain and France are the two governments that support Morocco's state terrorism against the Saharan people."
She called Zapatero's proposed Alliance of Civilizations "a makeup job that the administration applies to its face while it turns its back on the Saharan people, who have not received any support from this government, despite the strong support that the Spanish people have given us." Haidar added, "Morocco does not respect the Saharans."
Aminetu Haidar also called on Spain to accept "its historical and legal responsibility with respect to the Sahara, and recognize the crimes committed against the Saharan people." Therefore, she said, "Spain should take a clear position on self-determination."
I think that we are more indebted with this people that with American indigene population. While our American domination was ended because of an independence war, Saharan people were left alone after Franco's death and Morocco, with international support or at least not much critisizing of their position, invaded their territory.
But the aggressions to Saharan people continue: you can see photos here. The problem is that most of the documents are in Spanish. Anyway,there has been arbitrary detentions made to Saharan activists since the Moroccan invasion. The problem is that with the new antiterrorist measures, they are detained as Islamists or terrorists, being none of that (someone has heard of a Saharan terrorist? ehh, … NOPE).
Somalia: humanitarian crisis and possible talibanisation
Posted in Africa, violence on May 13, 2006| Leave a Comment »
You can read here and here. Just another humanitarian crisis caused by clashes between Islamic fundamentalism and secular forces. Hmm, let's hope UN finally proves useful to some extent.
I have written "hope", not "believed".
Technorati Tags: Somalia, Islamic fundamentalism, Humanitarian crisis, UN, USA, Khoffi Annan, Mogadiscio, civil war,
Somalian situation gets more complicated
As I wrote earlier, the situation in Somalia is very unstable:
From Interested-Participant
After 15 years without a national government, Somalia is a battlefield. Tribal militias and Islamic fundamentalists, allegedly tied to al-Qaeda, are struggling for control and many people are dying.
From KhaleejTimes.com:
Islamic militiamen and secular fighters battled Wednesday for control of Somalia's capital despite promises of a cease-fire, as the death toll rose to at least 90, with nearly 200 others wounded.
The sounds of heavy weapons echoed through the city, but the fighting was not as intense as it had been in the previous three days. The battle between the Islamic Court Union and the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counterterrorism has centered on the northern neighborhood of Sii-Sii, with neither side gaining an advantage.
BBC NEWS | Africa | Truce collapses in Somali capital
An alliance of warlords and an Islamist militia have fought each other over the past four days in northern districts. Islamic militia leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed called a unilateral truce on Tuesday in response to appeals from those affected by the violence. But his opponents said the truce was called because of a lack of ammunition. The United Nations has appealed to both sides to halt the clashes. "The indiscriminate use of heavy machine guns, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and artillery in and between urban areas is unacceptable," said chief UN envoy to Somalia Francois Lonseny Fall.
Can a humanitarian crisis happen in Somalia (again)? BBC NEWS | Africa | Somalis flee as city battle rages
The alliance of warlords has accused the Islamists of indiscriminate shelling, designed to provoke fear among the civilian population. The fighting between the Islamists and a group of warlords has killed some 120 people, in the worst clashes for years. Many Somalis accuse the US of backing the alliance of warlords. The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says this belief is fuelling the violence.
Ein? So they want the Islamists to win? But there is more:
A United Nations team says the Islamist alliance had gained ground since the fighting began last Sunday.(so the fighting began last Sunday and we only have known about it in the middle of this week?) Our reporter says several new parts of Mogadishu have come under attack, but the front line of the main battle has hardly moved from the northern suburbs where the fighting started.
Most of those killed in the fighting are civilians caught in cross-fire or hit by stray bullets or shells, he says.
So with this bad situation is probable than the smuggling of Somalis will boom and hence increasing the possibility of a very grave humanitarian crisis.
You can also read NoisyRoom.Net, who links to an article from The Counterterrorism Blog.
Crossposted in The Anti-Jihad Pundit.
Technorati Tags: Somalia, teenager, death penalty, Sharia, Mogadiscio,


Fox shine spikes another Fox as he tries to recover in Melee.
The shine spike is one of Fox's edgeguarding techniques. It consists of using Fox's down special, Reflector (also known as shine, hence the technique's name), to semi-spike an offstage opponent in order to gimp them, preventing them from being able to recover. In Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros. Melee, the shine spike is very effective, because of its instantaneous startup, trajectory of zero degrees (0°), and moderate knockback, allowing it to work even at 0%. Additionally, since the move slows Fox's vertical movement, it allows him to easily recover after a shine spike, especially in Melee where the shine can be jump canceled.
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the technique has lost some of its effectiveness. The shine now launches at a slightly higher trajectory of ten degrees (10°), which coupled with the generally slower falling speeds and better recoveries of the cast, allows it to be survived more easily. In particular, floaty characters, as well as those with either several recovery techniques (such as Wario) or a tether recovery, are usually able to survive it at low damage percentages. The shine's hitbox is also no longer instantaneous, hitting on frame 6 rather than frame 1, making it harder to intercept recoveries with it. However, the shine has gained low knockback scaling instead of having set knockback, increasing the shine spike's effectiveness at higher percentages, especially against characters who still have poor recoveries.
In Super Smash Bros. 4, Fox's shine has been further nerfed to the point of no longer allowing for true shine spikes. While keeping its 10° angle against grounded opponents, it now launches aerial opponents at a much higher 40° angle, no longer being a semi-spike. As a result, it has lost almost all of its utility as a tool for edgeguarding. Smash 4's changes to teching do provide a small boost to the shine's edgeguarding utility, however, as Fox can now pull off untechable stage spikes with his shine if the opponent recovers too close to the stage.
The Shine edgehog is a very useful technique for Fox offstage. It allows him to use his Reflector and grab the ledge after the move is done. First, the player must dash to the ledge. Before their momentum takes them off the edge of the stage, they must perform a Shine and quickly turn around in the air. (Note: This can be done without turning around, but turning around in the air gives more distance with the slide, plus Fox is then able to sweetspot the edge.) Doing it without turning around is practically useless, because it only goes so far, and players sweetspot the ledge before performing an unturned Shine.
This can be linked with a combo, like the waveshine. Characters with up special moves that meteor smash, including Ike and Kirby, can drag them down from the ledge, but if performed incorrectly, this tech allows a character to shine spike and edgehog.
This page was last edited on November 28, 2018, at 14:42.