Yellow, Red, Blue - Not Badges Of Honor - UPDATED

The United States, whose President George W. Bush (R) is pictured here, Canada and Australia, whose Prime Minister John Howard (L) is pictured here on 16 May 2006 in Washington D.C., lost little time in blasting Iran for a report, quickly denied, that Tehran may force non-Muslims to wear colored badges in public. Photo Credit: AFP/File/Brendan Smialowski

Absolutely troubling! Iranian parliment is pondering a rule that all Jews, Christians, and other non-muslims must wear colored badges on their clothes while in public.

Hugh Hewitt dedicated a large segment of his show to this report and it should make everyone shudder who believes that all men (genderless) are created equal.

Excerpts from AFP via Today Online -

US and allies concerned by reports Iran to tag non-Muslims
AFP - Posted: 20-May-2006 06:25 hrs (Time is GMT + 8 hours)

The United States, Canada and Australia lost little time in blasting Iran for a report, quickly denied, that Tehran may force non-Muslims to wear colored badges in public.

While acknowledging they had no details beyond a report in a Canadian newspaper, the three countries went on the offensive in separate statements, with Washington and Ottawa evoking the atrocities of Nazi Germany.

"If you did have such an occurrence, whether it was in Iran or elsewhere, it would certainly be despicable," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington. "I think it has clear echoes of Germany under Hitler."

The National Post newspaper, citing human rights groups, reported Friday that Iran's parliament had passed a law this week that sets a public dress code and requires non-Muslims to wear a special insignia.

Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians would be forced to wear a yellow, red or blue strip of cloth, respectively, on the front of their clothes, according to the newspaper.
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"Unfortunately, we have seen enough already from the Iranian regime to suggest that it is very capable of this kind of action," Harper [Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada] said in Ottawa.

"I think it boggles the mind that any regime on the face of the earth would want to do anything that could remind people of Nazi Germany," he added.

"The fact that such a measure could even be contemplated, I think, is absolutely abhorent."

Howard also expressed indignation during an official visit to Canada, calling the report "appalling" if confirmed.

"Anything of that kind would be totally repugnant to civilized countries, if it's the case, and something that would just further indicate to me the nature of this regime," he said.

Iran's new hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has already come in for widespread criticism for suggesting that the Holocaust was a myth and calling for Israel to be wiped off the face of the map.
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The United States, Canada and Australia lost little time in blasting Iran for a report, quickly denied, that Tehran may force non-Muslims to wear colored badges in public.

While acknowledging they had no details beyond a report in a Canadian newspaper, the three countries went on the offensive in separate statements, with Washington and Ottawa evoking the atrocities of Nazi Germany.
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In Ottawa, Harper's parliamentary secretary, Jason Kenney, also told the House of Commons that Canadian officials were trying to verify the claims and were "deeply concerned".

"Should these reports turn out to be true, this government will condemn in the strongest terms possible this kind of revisiting of the darkest period of the last century. It is something that the entire civilized world should condemn," Kenney said.
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UPDATE:

PRESS RELEASE: AMIR TAHERI ADDRESSES QUERIES ABOUT DRESS CODE STORY
by Amir TaheriBenador Associates May 22, 2006

Regarding the dress code story it seems that my column was used as the basis for a number of reports that somehow jumped the gun. As far as my article is concerned I stand by it. The law has been passed by the Islamic Majlis and will now be submitted to the Council of Guardians. A committee has been appointed to work out the modalities of implementation.

Many ideas are being discussed with regard to implementation,including special markers, known as zonnars, for followers of Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism, the only faiths other than Islam that are recognized as such. The zonnar was in use throughout the Muslim world until the early 20th century and marked out the dhimmis, or protected religious minorities. (In Iran it was formally abolished in 1908). I have been informed of the ideas under discussion thanks to mysources in Tehran, including three members of the Majlis who had tried to block the bill since it was first drafted in 2004. I do not know which of these ideas or any will be eventually adopted. We will know once the committee appointed to discuss them presents its report, perhaps in September.

Interestingly, the Islamic Republic authorities refuse to issue anofficial statement categorically rejecting the concept of dhimmitude and the need for marking out religious minorities. I raised the issue not as a news story, because news of the new law was already several days old, but as an opinion column to alert the outside world to this most disturbing development.

Iranian author and journalist Amir Taheri is a member of Benador Associates.
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3-D Image Pollution @ Google Earth

Image Credit: Google

Google Earth Pollution!

Where's Greenpeace and the science community when we need them the most?

This from "Google Watch" via eWEEK News & View's -

Google Earth Pollution, in 3-D!
By Ben Charny - Google Watch

Google's nascent 3-D experiment is enabling a bit of a problem: Google Earth pollution.

Since late April, Google's been making available a number of free programs to create 3-D images, then upload them onto Google Earth maps, or the 3D Warehouse, a place where the graphic can be downloaded by others.

The goal was to bring 3-D to the masses. It's sure working.

Take a gander at the Empire State Building, via Google Earth's "fly to" feature. There's now several 3-D images of buildings near the Empire State Building, including one of the Chrysler Building.

To some people, these new images only add to the existing clutter on the maps. The Google Maps screen was so filled with names of locations and businesses as the image resolves into Manhattan that, at one point, all the scrunched-up names and symbols totally obscured the satellite photo.

As to the clutter and in Google's defense, Manhattan is a special case, where there are hundreds of listings to cram onto the map. And Google makes available a quick and relatively painless way to get rid of all of the, assuming here, paid listings.

Of course, the 3-D features showing up on Google Earth can all be avoided by not downloading the network software Google makes available.

But a lot of Google Earth users are sure to like the new additions. The 3-D imagery is a kind of high-tech graffiti that adds an interesting flavor to the maps. The King Kong image for the Empire State was a nice touch, for instance.

So in a way, for a lot of people it's kind of welcome clutter.

But Google's got a difficult task on-hand of walking the fine line between cute and so cluttered it's tough to make things out.
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Meathead Money - Rob Reiner's Additional Million

Photo Credit: www.TAX-R-US.de

The Reiner family commits another million dollars (bringing the contribution total to $2,700,000) to the Yes on Proposition 82 cause that will tax a special class of our fellow citizens.

In a move to conceal the fact that "meathead money" is the main source of funding for the porposition, Rob Reiner's wife is credited with the lions share of the contribution.

Excerpts from LA Weekly - Bill Bradley's NEW WEST NOTES -

Reiner Antes Up, Again
May 18th, 2006

Movie director Rob Reiner has just put another million dollars into his universal preschool initiative on California’s June 6 ballot, Proposition 82. This brings the total to date from Reiner to some $2.2 million. His TV comedy pioneer father Carl Reiner has also previously contributed $500,000 to the campaign.

Also this week, Reiner public relations counsel Mark Fabiani, who ran damage control for the Clinton White House during the Whitewater controversy, confirmed that Reiner attended UCLA but did not earn a bachelor’s degree. This would make the Oscar-nominated director and Emmy-winning actor ineligible to be a preschool instructor. Under the terms of Reiner’s initiative, only those with bachelor’s degrees would be allowed to teach preschoolers their numbers, letters, and colors, a reason why many existing preschool programs oppose the initiative.

Prop 82 would levy a 1.7 percent tax surcharge on high-income Californians making over $400,000 a year to set up a $2.4 billion annual preschool program open to all 4-year olds. The initiative requires preschool instructors to have teaching credentials. Around two-thirds of 4-year olds already attend some kind of preschool program.

Reiner, who insisted that “This isn’t about me” during his unsuccessful attempt to defuse the controversy over his stewardship of the California Children and Families Commission at a March 14th appearance before the Sacramento Press Club, has disappeared from public view following his resignation under fire from the commission.
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There is some gamesmanship in the form of the new million dollar Reiner contribution. $750,000 of the money is attributed to his wife, Michelle Singer Reiner. Her listed occupation is that of homemaker. According to the Internet Movie Database, she has one Hollywood credit, for a small role in the 1994 Steve Martin comedy Mixed Nuts, in which her husband co-starred.

By attributing most of this contribution to her, the Yes on 82 campaign could avoid describing Reiner as the initiative’s biggest backer on TV ad disclaimers.

Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and current and former Senate Presidents Pro Tem Don Perata and John Burton, both Democrats, oppose Prop 82. Democratic gubernatorial candidates Phil Angelides and Steve Westly both support it.
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The Yes on 82 campaign will also protest the No side’s use of actors to depict a teacher and principal in the opposition’s only TV ad. The No on 82 ad focuses on the creation of a new bureaucracy, the possible imposition of a “parent tax” (which is not explained) if the initiative is not providing enough money, and better uses for the funds to buttress the existing K-12 system. The opponents, however, generally oppose all tax increases and are not supporting a tax hike for that purpose.
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Well, at least this isn't the type of "Meathead Money" Rob Reiner was planning to use before he was forced to resign ... The monies that were potentially to be directed from his stewardship of the California Children and Families Commission in the form of PR and advertising contracts awarded and improperly dedicated to the YES on Proposition 82 campaign.

Ring Of Fire Speaks Up

Indonesia's Merapi volcano erupts in Cangkringan Wednesday, May 17, 2006 as seen from Yogyakarta, the capital of Central Java province, Indonesia. The highest-status alert remained Wednesday for the 3,000-meter (9,800-foot) mountain at the heart of Java island, and scientists cautioned that a lull in activity did not mean the danger was over.
Photo Credit: AP-Ed Wray

Alert the Greenies, global warming and ozone layer agenda gets put on hold!

This from AP via Yahoo! News -

Indonesia's Mount Merapi Erupts Violently
By CHRIS BRUMMITT, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 18 minutes ago

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia - Mount Merapi shot a large cloud of searing hot ash and gas into the sky Wednesday, ending two days of relative calm and underscoring the dangers still facing thousands of people living on the volcano's slopes.

Witnesses said the eruption appeared to be smaller than the mountain's most violent sputterings Monday, when ash and gas clouds surged around 2 1/2 miles from the peak and triggered panic.

Vulcanologists keeping the mountain on 24-hour watch were not immediately available for comment on the eruption just after 5 p.m. (6 a.m. EDT), which sent volcanic material plunging down its western flanks, but appeared to fell well short of populated areas.
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Moonshine Makeover

THIS 10 GALLON GEORGIA RIDGE MOONSHINE STILL HAS COMBINED BOTH A HIGH EFFICIENCY LOW PRESSURE EXPANSION JOINT COLUMN WITH THE MODERN TECHNOLOGY OF REFLUX MAKING FOR ONE OF THE FINEST ALL COPPER MOONSHINE STILLS AVAILABLE. COMPLETE = $799 Photo Credit: COLONEL WILSON'S COPPER MOONSHINE STILLS

It is time to bring back the art of home brewin' as a national agenda of sacrifice to aid in our country's effort on the war on terror. There would be nothing more uniting to our country's culture, and put our country on a war-footing than to fire up the backyard moonshine still ... and make ethanol.

Of course the EPA would have problems with the burdens we all would put on our air quality and it wouldn't be long until our landscape would resemble parts Mexico City ... or North Hollywood (no trees).

Excerpts from AP via The Washington Insider -

Stills brew motorists' moonshine
By Bill Poovey - ASSOCIATED PRESS - May 17, 2006

TULLAHOMA, Tenn. -- The still -- standard equipment of any moonshiner -- has a shot at becoming the must-have accessory of penny-pinching motorists.

An upstart Tennessee business is marketing stills that can be set up as private distilleries making ethanol -- 190-proof grain alcohol -- out of fermented starchy crops such as corn, apples or sugar cane. The company claims the still's output can reduce fuel costs by nearly a third from the pump price of gasoline.

Buyers of stills need a federal permit to make ethanol on private property. In what amounts to an honor system, they are to add a poison to their homemade alcohol so it isn't "white lightning."

"We make it very clear that it is against the law to drink what comes out of it," said Shelley McClanahan, a spokeswoman for her family's business, Dogwood Energy.
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Mr. Sasher's new creekside assembly warehouse in south-central Tennessee -- down a backwoods road, next door to a noisy rooster and less than 5 miles from the distillery that makes Jack Daniel's whiskey -- has orders for an estimated 45 assembled stills.

The company is building four or five stills a day and has sold 45 in recent weeks, more than 125 since September, to meet the demand from customers ranging from small businesses to thrifty individuals.

"You can save a lot of money. That's what this is all about," Mrs. McClanahan said.

A bushel of the fermented starch crop, mixed with yeast, water and sugar, and allowed to sit for about 2½ days, then strained and heated to boiling, makes about 2.6 gallons of ethanol, which is then added to gasoline to produce a blended fuel.

Dogwood Energy says it costs about 75 cents per gallon to make ethanol at home. Adding 15 percent ethanol to $3 gasoline reduces the cost of a fill-up to $2.40 per gallon, Mrs. McClanahan said.

A blend with 85 percent ethanol cuts the cost to $1.09 for a blended gallon, she said.
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"We don't have to use oil from the Middle East. There are options," Mr. Mollenarro said.

Dubose Porter of Dublin, Ga., a state representative and editor of the Courier Herald, said the newspaper ordered a still to help offset delivery costs.

"The still idea is intriguing for a small company like ours," he said.

Using ethanol to power cars isn't new. The original Model T Ford was built to run on alcohol.
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More than 30 models of new flex-fuel cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles -- including General Motors' Yukon and Ford's Taurus -- can use up to 85 percent ethanol, known as E85 fuel.
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Its great advantage is cooking the mash at just the right temperature, 170 degrees, according to John Franklin, a former engine company design engineer and teacher in Evansville, Ind., who has ordered two of the stills.

"If the temperature is too high, then you are losing the alcohol. If it is too low, you are not able to recover enough of that alcohol that is pure enough, that is fuel grade," Mr. Franklin said.

"It really isn't rocket science," he said. "He makes it to where it is much more automated. He does that with that mechanical temperature-control valve. That is half the expense of the still. His still is much more automated and much more precise."

Ethanol already is routinely added to gasoline in New York, Connecticut, California and the Midwest, and makes up about a third of the gas sold in the United States, according to Kristin Brekke, a spokeswoman for the American Coalition of Ethanol in Sioux Falls, S.D.
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Matt Hartwig, a spokesman for the Renewable Fuels Association, which represents ethanol producers, has heard of Dogwood Energy.

"You've got to appreciate Americans' entrepreneurial spirit," he said. He hasn't heard of anyone making homemade ethanol, though.

"The only ethanol I know being made at home is still the beverage," Mr. Hartwig said.
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You gotta love the product "photo studio" over at Colonal Wilson's Copper Moonshine Stills!

New Archaeological Find In The Amazon

Part of the group of 127 granite monoliths up to three-meters-high discovered 12 May, 2006 in the middle of the Amazonian florest, in the state of Amapa, northern Brazil. According to the archaeologists of the Scientific and Technological Research Institute of the state of Amapa (IEPA) this could possibly be the oldest astronomical observatory in Brazil.
(AFP/SECOM/Gilam Nascimiento)

Just when you think our human experience has nothing new to find or offer ... after all, we have Google Earth, we have landed on the Moon, and we don't even need to have a bank account to have and use an ATM card.

This from AFP via Yahoo! News -

'Amazon Stonehenge' found in Brazil
Sat May 13, 6:12 PM ET

RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - Archaeologists discovered a pre-colonial astrological observatory possibly 2,000 years old in the Amazon basin near French Guiana, said a report.

"Only a society with a complex culture could have built such a monument," archaeologist Mariana Petry Cabral, of the Amapa Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (IEPA), told O Globo newspaper.

The observatory was built of 127 blocks of granite each three meters (10 feet) high and regularly placed in circles in an open field, she said.

Cabral said the site resembles a temple which could have been used as an observatory, because the blocks are positioned to mark the winter solstice. In December, the path of the sun allows rays to pass through a hole in one of the blocks, possibly to calculate agricultural activity and religious rituals.

Its exact age has been difficult to determine, but based on ceramic fragments found nearby, archaeologists estimate it between 500 and 2,000 years old.

The discovery is in Calcoene, 390 kilometers (240 miles) from Macapa, the capital of Amapa state, near Brazil's border with French Guyana.

Archaeologists said the find holds mysteries similar to Stonehenge, in Salisbury, England, another monument of huge stones, whose purpose is also unclear.
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Illegal Immigration Hurts All Citizens

Here is a point of view as to how race is not the issue from voices of American citizens who would know better.

The left in this country, the "Open Borders" proponents, are really trying to use the issue of race to tear apart the last thread of fabric in our American culture that holds us together.

Our non-response on illegal immigration is resulting into more than what our liberal political leaders, Hispanic leadership and clergy want us to think it is --- It is not just race as a wedge issue ... it is evolving into a race against race as a wedge issue.

American sovereignity is the real issue and our government needs to step up and be counted as protecting the interests of ALL American citizens over the "so called" rights (claimed) of illegal immigrants.

Excerpts from The Washington Insider -

Blacks see threat from Hispanic illegal aliens
By Keyonna Summers - THE WASHINGTON TIMES - May 15, 2006

Blacks in the region are joining Minuteman militia groups opposed to illegal Hispanic aliens working in the United States, saying they take jobs from blacks and piggyback off the strides made during the civil rights movement.

Several blacks Friday attended a Minuteman rally in the District. And yesterday, Ted Hayes, a black Los Angeles-based homeless activist and founder of the Crispus Attucks Brigade, held a rally in Upper Senate Park denouncing attempts by immigrant rights groups to link their movement to that of black civil rights.

"Illegal immigration is the greatest threat to black people since slavery," Mr. Hayes said. "The civil rights movement was made by black citizens of this country, but [illegal aliens] are claiming civil rights as a key to cross the American border illegally."

He and several area blacks at the rallies said losing jobs is their biggest concern.

Mr. Hayes said illegal aliens are accepting "slave wages" after decades of blacks' not allowing employers to pay them less than minimum wage.
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"If I'm going to be held to abiding by the law, they should be, too," she said. "I don't like my tax money going to people who are living here illegally."

A recent survey by the Pew Research Center shows that about 80 percent of blacks have a favorable view of Hispanic immigrants' work ethic and family values. The survey also shows that 33 percent of blacks are less likely to suggest deportation of illegals aliens, compared with 59 percent of whites.

However, the survey indicates that about half of blacks in the region see immigrants as a burden because they take jobs and housing. More than 50 percent of blacks in the region and more than 75 percent nationwide say increased immigration has led to difficulties in finding a job, compared with 50 percent of whites nationwide and 20 percent in the region who say the same.

The survey stated 22 percent of blacks and 14 percent of whites said they or a relative had lost a job to an immigrant.
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Brigade members have also branded supporters of the immigrant movement such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and black leaders the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as "sellouts" who are "leading blacks in a circle."

Mr. Hayes predicted their imminent overthrow.

"They do not own civil rights," he said. "They don't speak for us. They haven't talked to us, the black people, about their civil rights. These are not our leaders. We've had 40 years of Jesse Jackson, and enough is enough. This will be his undoing."
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Again, this tension really isn't about race, it is about citizenship.

Let me know when we all are going to wake up and protect ourselves from the gross degradation of our basic American rights, the rights that come with citizenship.

MAXINE, On Mother's Day

Maxine, with brood (JET) at "HollyLoa", 1953. Photo Credit: WCJ (dad)

"To share often and much … To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded."—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Mother's Day, Mom (1917-1989).

Grinding Meathead - Government Worker Unions Threaten Consumer Boycotts

Capitol and Grounds from the Capitol Mall, California State Capitol in Sacramento, California taken March, 2001. Photo Credit: Les Partridge

In a move that could only be seen as bizzarre, unions that represent the interests of federal, state and county government workers ... issue a threat to organize a boycott.

This consumer boycott would be directed at some niche market clothing retailers because the unions wanted to show their displeasure over these companies support of the defeat of the actor, director, and now shamed liberal political operative, Rob Reiner's preschool initiative, Proposition 82.

These tax payer-paid ingrates want to raise taxes, again, on successful wage earners (those who are classified as upper-income) so that the state would provide universal pre-school to all 4 year olds.

Excerpts from the Sacramento Bee -

Prop. 82: Initiative backers threaten Gap boycott
By Laura Mecoy -- Bee Los Angeles Bureau - Published 2:15 am PDT Friday, May 12, 2006 - Story appeared on Page A1 of The Bee

LOS ANGELES - Employing a new political tactic, two large labor unions are using the threat of a consumer boycott to try to curb corporate contributions to groups opposing the universal preschool initiative on the June ballot.

The Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees sent a letter last week threatening a national boycott of all of the Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic stores.

They said they would launch the boycott if the Gap, its affiliates or any members of the family that founded the Gap donated to groups opposing actor and director Rob Reiner's preschool initiative, Proposition 82.

"It is our hope that you come to the conclusion that opposing preschool for every child in California is bad for kids and bad for California," said the letter, signed by SEIU's and AFSCME's presidents and SEIU's secretary treasurer. The two unions, AFSCME and SEIU, represent more than 2.7 million members nationwide. They are likely to gain more members if Proposition 82 is approved because it would allow collective bargaining among those working in the preschools the initiative would fund.
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Proposition 82 would raise upper-income Californians' taxes to pay for a free half-day of voluntary preschool for all the state's 4-year-olds by 2010.

The California Business Roundtable, the California Chamber of Commerce and several other business groups have said they oppose the measure because it is "badly flawed" and could ultimately hurt K-12 education funding.

Opponents started their campaign against the initiative long after the proponents and have fallen behind in fundraising.
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Kathy Fairbanks, "No on 82" campaign spokeswoman, also called the boycott threat and the union's statements "unfortunate," saying the opposition is widespread.

Nathan James, "Yes on 82" campaign spokesman, applauded the boycott threat and said the Fisher family patriarch, Don Fisher, has been soliciting donations for opponents.
"He's not been outspoken publicly," James said. "But in donor circles ... he's committed to fighting it by raising money against it."

Proposition 82's backers have been trying to make an issue of the Fisher family donations for months by distributing leaflets at Gap stores around the state.

John Jackson, founder of the Say Yes to Children Network, said he organized those demonstrations in hopes of discouraging other corporate donors.

He said John Fisher was the first big corporate contributor against Proposition 82, and he hoped others would be discouraged to give if they believed their companies could be picketed.
"The strategy for us was ... that perhaps it would slow down the money," he said.
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Bob Stern, Center on Governmental Studies president, said he'd never heard of a group seeking to halt campaign contributions by threatening a boycott.

He said he had mixed feelings about the threat: He was pleased to see publicity about large campaign contributions but troubled by attacks on a company that was staying out of the election.

Bob Witeck, a Washington, D.C.-based public relations executive who has worked with several large corporations facing boycotts, called the union's boycott threat "novel."
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[Witeck continues] "The notion of getting into a boycott as a political tactic is very interesting," he said. "But I think it's going to be hard to convince and educate enough people to boycott the stores. ... It's harder than people think."
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Just think, if Rob Reiner was still able to control the government-collected, cigarette tax monies he once had control over ... the "Meathead Money" would be all over the support of this initiative.

Of course, this is why "Sausage" (Rob Reiner) was removed and replaced with "Chorizo" (Hector Ramirez).

Proposition 82 is goin' down.

Iraq - Takes A Step To Secure Governmental Future

Iraqi members of Parliament raise their hands as they vote on a resolution.
Image Credit: AFP/Getty Images

The photo above illustrates clearly why our troops are in Iraq. From "purple fingers" to parliament votes, our effort in this part of the world is producing dividends dispite what one may hear from the naysayers.

Excerpts from The Washington Times -

Iraq leader seeks 'interim' control
By Sharon Behn - THE WASHINGTON TIMES - May 12, 2006

BAGHDAD -- Iraq's prime minister-designate has proposed to take over temporarily the powerful ministries of interior and defense in order to end a crippling political stalemate and move ahead with the formation of a new government.

Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, would command the two ministries for an "interim" period of as little as one week while the political parties continue negotiations on who will serve as permanent ministers, officials close to the talks said yesterday.

"This is temporary until they reach a solution and find the right people," said former government member Mahmoud Othman.
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Mr. Othman said the political parties have already agreed that the interior ministry -- which controls the police and certain other security forces -- will go to a Shi'ite, while the defense ministry will go to a Sunni. But infighting continues over which parties and individuals will get the posts, with Sunnis pressing for a more secular Shi'ite at the interior ministry.

"I think [Mr. al-Maliki's move] helps get the rest of the process moving," said another official close to the government talks, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "You can't get bogged down because of two ministries. This is not a grab for power, it is to keep the process moving."
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"The violence is tragic," said Hanna Edwar, a women's rights activist who has been fighting for more women in government. "On every corner of the street, there is a body full of blood."

Mrs. Edwar, the secretary of the Iraqi Al-Amal Association, which works to foster nonviolence and respect for human rights, was not confident that Mr. al-Maliki's move would end the daily torture and killings, large movements of displaced people and the constant car bombs.

The politicians, she said, appeared to be more interested in serving their own parties' interests than the good of Iraq. "They don't want to see people with real qualifications, they are looking from inside their circles," she said.
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At MAXINE, we believe these are the stories from Iraq that carry the most weight.

An Iraq with an elected, and negotiated government is the goal, the ideal, and the vision.

This is the type of success the MSM and the Democrat Party leadership are not as pleased to hear about than those of us who know that we are actually ... AT WAR ... and why.

On-Line Retailing's Shortcomings Highlighted

Image Credit: U.S. Free Ads

A Forrester survey conducted for a recent report titled, “How to Master Online Merchandising,” found that the penetration of tools and technologies that improve online merchandising still has far to go among retailers.

The most commonly used online functionality falling under Forrester’s definition of online merchandising tools was site search. With 54% of retailers surveyed saying they use site search --- that means more than a third of the retailers still don’t have a site search function.

More excerpts from Internet Retailer newsletter -

Online retail merchandising ripe for improvement, Forrester report finds
Internet Retailer – May 11, 2006

Internet retailers generally have nailed the basics of e-commerce, opening the way for them to start investing in improving their online merchandising with more innovative tools and technologies. And online merchandising is an area in need of retailers’ attention, notes Forrester Research, with conversion rates averaging only about 2.6% and some retail verticals averaging even lower.
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Among other online merchandising tools now in use among surveyed retailers, 55% said they had implemented technology to bring richer imagery to their sites, 47% use zoom, and 42% use swatching technology.

A total of 41% use buying guides on their site, while 33% use A/B design testing.

Customer ratings and reviews were cited by 26%, live chat by 26%, streaming video by 22% and personalized recommendations were used by 16% of the retailers.

Gift registries and wish lists were cited by only 15% of retailers surveyed; 9% use 3-D rotation technology, and only 6% used virtual model technology.

“Even though online retail sites have evolved and matured, most consumers who come to those sites just don’t purchase,” says Forrester analyst Sucharita Mulpuru. “By engaging in efforts that place products more effectively throughout a web site and present features in a more engaging way, retailers can drive the incremental conversion improvements that dramatically affect overall sales.”
Link Here>>

We know retailing online will never replace the tactile nature of a "brick & mortar" experience ... but with the way "Gaming" technology (E3 tradeshow in LA this week) has evolved recently, one thinks that these effects could be applied to bring forth a more satisfying experience that results in increased sales.