Jan. 6, 2008

[thx1138]

January 6, 2008

Br-r-r! Where did global warming go?


a funny thing happened on the way to the planetary hot flash: Much of the planet grew bitterly cold.





McCain: 100 years in Iraq "would be fine with me"


Okay John, here's your rifle ...





Found - The Footprints Of Adam And Eve


But, but, but, L. Ron Hubbard told us that aliens dropped the first humans off in a dead volcano!!!!!!






Twilight Zone / Five masked men
In a dirty and neglected room in the surgical department of Rafidiya Hospital in Nablus, an elderly shepherd lies injured, the victim of a vicious attack.

Five masked men assaulted him last week.
They beat him with sticks as he was tending his grazing sheep to the west of his home village of Til.
The five came down from the direction of Havat Gilad, an illegal outpost in the territories, sprayed tear gas in his face and at his companions, and then began hitting them with sticks, drawing blood, while he lay helpless on the ground.

Now the shepherd, Hashem Hamed, has two fractures in his left arm, fractures in his skull, large stitches on his head, in front and back, and is severely traumatized.



This is the country we support with our tax dollars as the only "democracy" in the Middle East.
Take a good, hard look at what this "democracy" means for Palestinians who have had the bad taste to keep breathing.



Cancer patient dies due to the Israeli army siege on Gaza


How can it be that the children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors have come up with a policy denying basic humanitarian treatment of sick Gazans in such a way as to create their very own "Final Solution" for them?


Mexican trucks allowed into U.S. despite new law to stop them

The Bush administration is going ahead with a controversial pilot program giving Mexican trucks greater access to U.S. highways despite a new law by Congress against it.
The hotly contested program, opposed by labor, independent truck owners and environmental groups, permits up to 500 trucks from 100 Mexican motor carriers full access to U.S. roads.

Can these drivers speak - and read - English?

How well are their trucks maintained, and what are their safety standards, as compared with those applicable to US long-haul
drivers?

Do they actually know the laws about driving on US highways?

Apparently, none of this matters to the current administration.

[hippifried]

Okay, here we go:

a funny thing happened on the way to the planetary hot flash: Much of the planet grew bitterly cold.
Just part of the northern hemisphere. Around here, we call it winter.

The Bush administration is going ahead with a controversial pilot program giving Mexican trucks greater access to U.S. highways despite a new law by Congress against it.
Oh??? Well seein's how I live right down here on the border where there's a major commercial port of entry & already a whole lot of bitching about the millions of dollars lost in crossing delays last year, one would think that something like a law negating the NAFTA treaty would be right there on the front page. What law? Got a number?

The hotly contested program, opposed by labor, independent truck owners and environmental groups, permits up to 500 trucks from 100 Mexican motor carriers full access to U.S. roads.
Yeah? So what? You do know that this works both ways, don't you? The treaty allows access for commercial transportation to use roads in all 3 countries regardless of their origin, providing they get all the proper licencing.

Can these drivers speak - and read - English?
Probably. I would imagine the companies that are sending their trucks up here would require their drivers to be bilingual just to avoid hassles. There's a lot of money involved. Doesn't matter though. We started changing the road signage in the US over to international symbols decades ago. Mexico did it long before that. Americans drive all over Mexico all the time without speaking any Spanish. Mexicans drive around up here all the time without speaking any English. Is there a point to your question?

How well are their trucks maintained, and what are their safety standards, as compared with those applicable to US long-haul
drivers?
They're brand new. They've been sitting waiting for the final paperwork so they could get on the road. What? You thought this was about Jose's fly-by-nite hauling service? Lose the stereotypes. They don't apply here. These are big companies with fleets of trucks hauling products from Quintana Roo to the Hudson Bay. The standards for the equipment are even more stringent than for domestic carriers or trucks coming down from Canada. That was done on purpose to avoid problems with people who just can't get past the fact that Mexicans know how to drive.

Do they actually know the laws about driving on US highways?
Of course they do. The laws are the same down there. Knowlege of the laws are part of the requirements for licencing, just like when somebody takes the written test for their driver's licence. More intense really because these are commercial carriers. Nobody wants to blow this deal because there's just too much money involved.

I can't even fathom the wierd image some people must have of Mexico. This isn't a Speedy Gonzales cartoon or some lame Italian Clint Eastwood movie. Golly geepers. They have speed limits, lines on the highways, traffic lights, pavement, telephones, electric lights, running water, & everything. Oh well... At least the anti-Mexican crowd finally figured out that the "NAFTA superhighway" is just the interstate system & not some special set of dedicated highways being built for Mexican trucks. Geezle...