Frogging Out

Chinese Families Reject $290 Payout for Melamine Milk Scandal

Crimson tide

Milk powder contaminated with melamine in China has killed six children and sickened nearly 300,000 children. Now, those families are being offered pitifully small payouts from dairies to compensate for their children’s pain and suffering.

The affected Chinese families have rejected the compensation and are attempting to sue for a greater settlement.

Although the payouts total 1.1 billion yuan (US$160 million) for the melamine contamination, they are sickeningly low per child. A child who suffered kidney stones would get only 2,000 yuan ($290). Sicker children would get a higher compensation of 30,000 yuan ($4,380), and the death of a child would be compensated with $29,000. Tian Xiaowei, an apple farmer and part-time truck driver, whose one-year-old child died from drinking melamine-tainted milk powder, explains is disgust:

Read more of this story »

Related posts: Quick and easy halloween recipes, Katu, Jon gruden, Sea lamprey, Vote in texas

Iran and Israel

In the United Nations document authorizing the formation of the state of Israel, an Arab/British/African clause weighted population numbers in favor of Arabs. In 1948, the Arab population was still largely transient. The clause identified any Arab who had been in Palestine for two years as a permanent resident.Would we give casual Mexican immigrants citizenship after two years in the United States?  –Marcus Wilder, Naive Abroad

There is no doubt that Iran and others have been funding and providing weapons for Hamas.  Who is on Israel’s side?  Who has provided defensive systems to Israel?  The United States, I am proud to say.  As Israel plans a cease fire to allow Hamas to “stop firing rockets into Israel” (how stupid does that sound?), Iran and others will step up to restock Hamas with weapons for the next round of fighting.

Turkey and Egypt plan to warn Israel that if a ground operation is launched in the Gaza Strip, Hizbullah might open another front in south Lebanon, Turkish sources told al-Hayat newspaper.

The report, published on Tuesday, said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit visited Ankara on Monday and presented his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan with a document detailing a four-point plan aimed at restoring order and ending the Israeli operation in Gaza

From Spiegel Online International, hat tip Marcus Wilder,:

As the violence in Gaza continues, with 360 Palestinians reportedly having lost their lives along and four Israelis killed by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, the frustration and anger among Muslims continues to grow. And spread. The Saudi Arabian television station Al Huda on Monday night once again broadcast a talk show focusing on the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip. A London-based Islamist was patched in, and he called on all Muslims — particularly those living in Europe — to make it clear to non-Muslims that they should not throw their support behind Israel.

“We Muslims once ruled the world,” the speaker intoned, “and we warn the West, which supports Israeli crimes, that we will one day re-establish the Islam Caliphate.” A commentator briefly interrupted to insist that the Palestinian conflict can only be solved through peace negotiations. But the speaker was unimpressed. “Hamas has finally picked up their weapons,” he said. “Should we have to, we will set the entire world aflame.”  (Spiegel Online International)

 CRC Open-Source Intelligence Briefs

Maj. W. Thomas Smith Jr., Director of the Counterterrorism Research Center

CRC Open Sources

gaza: if you read nothing else today, take a moment and read jed babbin???s ???gaza as microcosm??? in monday???s human events.   babbin, a former legate undersecretary of defense now editor of human events, writes:  
Related posts: Jennifer aniston interview, Sea lamprey, Rabbi, wife ’spread Jewish pride’ in Mumbai, Movies online, Ralph macchio ugly betty

NYT: Text Messages Are an Even Bigger Ripoff Than You Thought [Gougings]

we all know that text messaging is overpriced, but the nyt has pulled back the technological hide to find out that the prices aren’t just bad, they’re practically extortionate.

The article goes into some depth about how text messages are transmitted. In short, texts are unsurprisingly transmitted between towers over the main, wired network in the same way as cellular data, a portion of the journey that, considering the tiny amount of information in a 160-character text, costs very close to nothing.

Surely then, the carrier incurs costs to transmit the messages from towers to handsets. After all, this is the wireless part of the journey, and wireless=$$$, right? No:

text messages are not just tiny; they are also free riders, tucked into what’s called a control channel, space cool for operation of the wireless network.

That’s why a message is so limited in length: it must not exceed the length of the message used for internal communication between tower and handset to set up a call. The channel uses space whether or not a text message is inserted.

You read that right: sending a text message from an extant wireless tower to your handset costs the carrier, well, nothing. If it’s any consolation, the article also mentions that the Senate Antitrust Committee is kind of looking into the matter, so we may see relief (or even retribution) within the next 10-40 years. [NYT via BB Gadgets]

Oklahoma city bombing

Related posts: Melissa james, 2001 holiday bowl, Sea lamprey, Uc admissions, Amy poehler leaving snl

Sean Taylor Inducted in Redskins Ring of Fame

landover, md. - announced anecdote last anon a punctually as the “starting accessible safety” for the washington redskins, sean taylor was inducted into the team’s ring of fame previous sunday’s position against the new york giants.sean taylor was inducted by the get, while his dad, mother, and ex-girlfriend stood reserved by eachother on the cold football nut under umbrellas. sean taylor’s name was unveiled in the majuscule letters-level part of the fedex field. taylor’s number 21 was painted at midfield where the redskin’s usually have their logo placed.after the convention, the accessible address announcer said: “starting at disentangle safe keeping for your washington redskins, no. 21, sean taylor.”

Running back Clinton Portis, Taylor’s close friend, then ran onto the field carrying a download download animation adventure large burgundy flag with a gold No. 21.

Detroit lions 0 16

The game was the first following the one-year anniversary of Taylor’s death. He was shot in his Florida home last Nov. 26 and died a day later.

Related posts: Sea lamprey, Officials: Teen’s suicide seen on Internet, Nfl football schedule, Usher height, Katu

Can I really get sacked for what I did at the office party?

Filed under: Business

wallowing in a bit of gloom and sorrow about the way you acted at the office party last week? to help actuate you up we asked our legal connoisseur tom o’keefe about the true to life ramifications of overzealous holiday cheer. if you acted like a solid boy or… review more

Permalink Email this Linking Blogs Comments

Israel

Related posts: Jerome harrison, Astro, Polls open time, Movies online, Demar derozan

The Hockey Wing Speaks, Part I

by phil hecken (with a huge work for from teebz)

A few weeks ago, Sports Illustrated came out with a “ranking” of the new NHL third (alternate) uniforms. Many of us, particularly members of the UW Hockey Wing, disagreed with those assessments. With that in mind, I sought out members of that forgotten branch of the UW world, along with Hockey Wing President, Teebz, to compile a much more accurate listing of those thirds. The rankings have been derived by taking the responses I received to my survey, and averaged to come up with a rank. We’ll list them in reverse chronological order (worst to first) over the weekend, beginning with 19-10 on Saturday, and 9-1 on Sunday, along with comments from those who participated in the survey. Big thanks to everyone who submitted their lists! If I somehow forgot you, I apologize. And be sure to check out Teebz’ blog if you get the chance. Absolutely amazing stuff there! — Phil

First, I want to say thanks to Phil for putting this whole thing together. While I know some of you cringe whenever the hockey wing starts blabbing, I’ve always maintained that hockey sweaters/jerseys are the best uniforms in sports. However, as we’ve seen over the last few years with the introduction of Reebok’s designs, there have been some very questionable and very poor designs that have been put out on the ice. Thanks to Phil’s yeoman work, the hockey wing has tabulated the results of some informal polling, and we present to you the 19 alternate uniforms that the NHL unveiled this season from worst to first. I’ll be making a number of comments throughout the article, so please be gentle in destroying my credibility. Enjoy, and I look forward to the comments! – Teebz

And with that, President Teebz and Phil give you…the Worst Alternates of 2008-09. Agree? Disagree? Think we’re full of shit? Be sure to let us know what YOU think!

#19: San Jose Sharks: The blackest of the black jerseys was showcased by the San Jose Sharks. The black jersey doesn’t bother Teebz, as seen before on the Sharks, but the complete sell-out of an entire uniform set does. Naming these uniforms “BlackArmor” to help promote a portable hard drive made by Seagate, a partner with the Sharks, is the equivalent to European hockey jerseys. Why not just sublimate “Seagate Systems” on the back hem? As a North American professional sports team, selling an entire set of uniforms to a company is the lowest move one can make, and San Jose gets the lowest position for it. Jim Thorburn weighs in with this: “Pretty sure how the brainstorming for this uni went: Guy #1: SHIT! We forgot to make our third jersey for this year and the design is due in 30 seconds. Guy #2: QUICK! Just take our current jersey, make it black and add a tail to our logo! BAM! Done!” Not everyone hates the new Sharks unis, however. Matthew Lepke lets it be known that, “The BlackArmour thing never bothered me. It’s Silicon Valley, and I write this at a computer set up with three Seagate drives — so maybe my brand loyalty is blinding me. I really liked the original black alternate — the teal and white offset the black body well. Not having a stripe at the hem has always bugged me with this uni, though — it leaves the sweater looking unbalanced, especially when worn by anyone off-ice.”

Playing house

#18: Atlanta Thr