WUI (Writing under the influence)

[...] Italy seems to have no problem with those who use mosques and Islamic cultural centers to spread hatred and Jihadist ideology among their followers. So far, Italy had no problem with the mosque of Viale Jenner in Milan, even though it is well-known for turning previously moderate Muslims into terror supporters, some them even ended up fighting Jihad in Iraq, Afghanistan and Chechnya. Before coming to Italy, Abu Omar was expelled from Egypt for his extremist activities.

posted by Polish Immigrant  # 11:51 PM 0 comments

SAN YSIDRO, Calif. -- U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a U.S. man Tuesday morning after they say he tried to smuggle three migrants into the country hidden in the seats of his vehicle.

CBP officers said they encountered the driver, a 33-year-old resident of Rosarito, Mexico, as he entered the port at about 5 a.m. driving a GMC Vendura van.

According to authorities, the driver stated he was a citizen of the United States and presented a valid California identification and birth certificate to the officer.

The primary officer said the driver has a nervous demeanor. The officer referred the vehicle and occupant to a secondary lot for a more in-depth examination.

In the secondary lot, CBP officers discovered three undocumented migrants sewn into three seats of the conversion van, including the driver’s seat. CBP officers said they carefully extracted two men and a woman from inside the seats.

Officers determined that the two men and woman are citizens of Mexico. They are being detained as material witnesses in the prosecution case.

The driver was charged with alien smuggling and was transported to the Metropolitan Correctional Center to await arraignment. The vehicle was seized by CBP.

"This case illustrates the length to which smugglers will go to transport undocumented people into the United States," said Adele Fasano, director of field operations in San Diego. "This involved good basic police work by alert CBP officers who intercepted this case."

posted by Polish Immigrant  # 9:31 PM 0 comments

• The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been steadily increasing since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This increase is most likely a consequence of increased burning of fossil fuels.
• Carbon dioxide is an infrared-active gas (I hate the term "greenhouse gas"), and hence all else being equal (an important qualification) we expect more downward infrared radiation (and a heating effect) from the atmosphere with an increase in carbon dioxide. The detailed consequences of this, however, are unknown and possibly unknowable. By consequences I mean length of growing season, distribution and amount of rain, distribution and amount of sunshine, etc. And the economic and social consequences are even more uncertain. However the climate changes, it is likely that some regions of the planet will gain, others will lose.
• Climate has changed in the past, and there is no reason to believe that it will not change in the future. After all, the last Ice Age ended only about 10,000 years ago, and it is fair to say that another Ice Age would be equally or more catastrophic for Earth than global warming.
• How much of the present climate change is a direct consequence of human activity is difficult to say with certainty.
• A prudent society would reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, especially oil, as quickly as possible for many reasons, not just the possibility of global warming. A prudent society would also develop drought-resistant crops and make other long-term plans for inevitable climate change of any kind.
• At the present, there seems to be no alternative to central power generation than nuclear power. Fusion is pie-in-the-sky. We are not even close to fusion. Solar and wind and tidal power can help but are not panaceas. Conservation is desirable but probably not acceptable to many people. The advantages and disadvantages, costs and benefits of all schemes for power generation should be carefully assessed. A full and honest balance sheet is needed. No matter how power is generated, some people will die or be injured as a consequence. This is a fact of life. I worked on the construction of a large power plant (not nuclear) about 46 years ago in Pittsburg, California. It was taken as axiomatic that several workers would die in the construction of any power plant.
• Whatever the US and Europe do to mitigate consumption is likely to be negated by increased consumption in countries such as China, India, and Brazil.
• Those who advocate less consumption (in the US) should show the way by consuming less themselves.
• Because of the present large population of Earth and the existence of nation-states, mass migration of people is no longer a feasible response to climate change without wars on all scales.
• There is no simple solution to global warming given the disparate views of people of different religions, political views, and nationalities, as well of competition between different countries for resources.
• The concept of tradeoffs has to be firmly grasped by everyone, especially environmentalists, who whine about global warming and then hop in jet planes and fly 2000 miles to go skiing in the Rockies. The notion of "green" power generation is absurd. A network of wind turbines adequate to provide appreciable power would require staggering amounts of construction materials: steel, aluminum, concrete. The same is true for solar power and tidal power—and anything else.

Skeptics about global warming are often painted as hirelings of the oil and automotive industries. Such claims irritate me. I have never earned a nickel as a consequence of my skepticism. Indeed, I have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars by it. First, you have to understand how a large research university operates. The professors are expected to obtain research grants, and in the atmospheric sciences these grants come mostly from government agencies.

In the atmospheric sciences it is difficult to get grants unless you can somehow tie your work to global warming, that is to say, to scare science. Because of my reputation, I immodestly believe that I could have jumped onto the global warming bandwagon. But I refused to do so because I would have found this repugnant.

posted by Polish Immigrant  # 8:26 PM 0 comments

Dixie Chicks Cancel 14 Shows on Tour

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Several concerts on the Dixie Chicks'"Accidents & Accusations" tour have been canceled after slow ticket sales, but the group says it has replaced them with other dates.

Kansas City, Houston, St. Louis, Memphis and Knoxville are among 14 cities no longer on the original schedule released in May, according to a revised itinerary posted Thursday on the Dixie Chick's Web site.

Other shows, including Nashville, Los Angeles, Denver and Phoenix, have been pushed back to later dates.

The North American leg of the tour kicked off July 21 in Detroit. Billboard magazine and other trade publications have reported lackluster sales in some markets, particularly in the South and Midwest.

posted by Polish Immigrant  # 8:20 PM 0 comments

New Medicaid rules require citizenship documentation

The Portland Business Journal - 9:52 AM PDT Monday
Oregonians applying for Medicaid programs will be required to provide evidence of citizenship beginning Sept. 1, as mandated by the federal Deficit Reduction Act, passed earlier this year by Congress.

The law affects those receiving Medicaid-paid Oregon Health Plan medical coverage, long-term care benefits and family-planning services. Approximately 500,000 people receive Medicaid benefits in Oregon. The state Department of Human Services estimates that as many as 3,000 persons may need state assistance in obtaining their documents.

Current recipients who are re-enrolling will generally be given 45 to 90 days from the re-enrollment date to produce documents, officials said. Individuals not currently enrolled in Medicaid will be expected to provide the required documents before they may begin receiving benefits.

"Both Gov. Kulongoski and federal officials have made clear that no one who is eligible for Medicaid should be denied services unnecessarily," said Dr. Bruce Goldberg, DHS director. "So we will balance full compliance with this new federal law with assistance to persons who cannot readily comply because of mental illness, homelessness, illiteracy or other legitimate barriers."

States expect the federal government to pay half their costs of administering the new law, Goldberg said.

posted by Polish Immigrant  # 9:48 PM 0 comments

Largest beer producer sees sales soar in Q2
Warsaw, Poland August 4, 2006
SABMiller's Polish unit, Kompania Piwowarska (KP), increased its Q2 beer sales 12.3% y/y to 3.5 mln hectoliters, the company said in a statement.

The company's share in the Polish beer market stood at 37% in Q2.

The beer industry association ZPPP said on Thursday that Poland's beer market increased 6.6% y/y to 9.4 mln hl in the second quarter.

In H1, KP sold 5.8 mln hl, some 11.6% more than in the year prior period.

Kompania Piwowarska is Poland's largest beer producer, owning such brands as Tyskie, Lech, Pilsner Urquell and others.

In the fiscal year ended on March 31, KP netted PLN 570 mln on revenues of PLN 3.8 bln.

posted by Polish Immigrant  # 1:00 PM 0 comments