Month: May 2005

Forget about cancer. Smoking is now shown to cause pneumonia!

Smoking and drinking affects the body’s defences against infections Smoking on top of drinking alcohol leaves the body wide open to a bug that causes pneumonia, say scientists. They say they have shown for the first time that alcohol impairs an important defence barrier to lung infections, and that smoking intensifies this.

Not to mention that it makes your lungs look like this.

Rats exposed to alcohol and smoke lost movement of cilia – tiny hairs lining the airways that beat rhythmically to waft bugs up and out of the lungs.

The authors’ paper in Alcoholism said the same was probably true in humans.

And then, they get seriously gross.

Researcher Professor Martha Gentry-Nielsen, of Creighton University School of Medicine, said there were several reasons why alcoholics were more susceptible to an infection called streptococcus pneumoniae, which can cause pneumonia.

“They have a decreased gag reflex,” she said. This means it is easier for mucus from the nose and fluid from the gut, such as vomit, to go down into the lung, particularly when they lose consciousness, she said.

Eeewww.

“Host defences within the lungs of alcoholics are also compromised, so they are not well equipped to handle the infection once the organisms reach the lungs.”

She said that smoking compounded the problem.

“Smokers are much more likely to be colonised with the organism in their mouths and nasopharynx – the upper part of the nose – than non-smokers.

Organisms = bugs. Yikes.

“Smoking also injures cilia and alters the efficiency of their beating so that bacteria entering the trachea have an increased likelihood of making their way into the lungs.”

Oh, and it KILLS YOU. Duh.

Need I mention that tens of thousands of dollars were spent conducting this study?

Brilliant.

Via BBC: Rice pushes role for Iraq Sunnis

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has stressed the importance of Sunni Arabs being more involved in drafting Iraq’s new constitution. In a surprise visit to the country, Ms Rice said she and the Iraqi Prime Minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, had discussed mechanisms to achieve this.

She told American ABC television that Iraq’s achievements in the past year had been remarkable. But she said further political progress was vital to overcome the insurgency.

It’s great that she’s over there, and I think it’s important for our leadership to make appearances in the country in order to show the people there that we support them. We should encourage them and continue to push them toward freedom and democracy.

One thing does make me wonder — how do the Iraqi men relate to a powerful woman like Secretary Rice, especially when some of their own women are covered from head to toe in black and are prohibited from showing any personal freedom whatsoever? Yes, I know that many women in Iraq are coming out of their shells, abandoning the black garb for more fashionable colorful head coverings. Many are outspoken. Still, a culture shift has not yet fully occurred in the country, and until it does, women will continue to have a diminished role in society and especially in leadership.

What do the male Iraqi leaders say when Condi leaves the meeting room? To this group of men, with all the baggage of their culture, all the traditions and class systems they grew up with…is Secretary of State Rice credible?

I wonder.

Yoko Ono is plenty mad over a plan by British television network CHANNEL 4 to air a documentary featuring Mark Chapman, her late husbands killer.

JOHN LENNON’s widow YOKO ONO has attacked British television network CHANNEL 4 for planning to broadcast an interview with the late BEATLE’s crazed killer MARK CHAPMAN on the 25th anniversary of Lennon’s death.

The Japanese artist is devastated at the proposal and has warned TV bosses of the pain they will cause by airing the documentary.

Ono fumes, “I think it’s horrible of Channel 4 to do this. It shows a lack of understanding of the painful memories of what happened to John’s beautiful life.

“Myself, John’s family and so many fans will be hurt by the showing of such a programme.”

The interviews have been handed over to the network by journalist JACK JONES, who quizzed Chapman on three separate occasions for his book LET ME TAKE YOU DOWN – published in America in 1995. The title of the controversial tome is a chilling play on the first line of psychedelic BEATLES classic STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER.

But Channel 4 insist the subject will be treated with sensitivity – and claim the programme is more about investigating the psyche of a killer, than about the deceased singer.

A spokeswoman says, “It’s very much a serious documentary and will be handled accordingly,

“Neither Mark Chapman nor his family have received payment. The programme looks into Chapman’s psychology. It is about the mind of the murderer rather than about John Lennon.”

Yeah, so she broke up the Beatles. Yeah, so she can’t sing and when she does it drives dogs to commit suicide. Yeah, so she made a pansy out of her son Sean. Who cares…it’s all about JOHN anyway right? Did he ask to take a bullet from that freak Chapman? No way.

He’s dead, and that’s a drag.

Give a bonus to the public relations person who fed this story to the media, and fire the person at the editorial desk who thought this puff piece was newsworthy.

‘Mass Hysteria’ For Hillary Clinton At Commence Day Speech

“Everyone was screaming and jumping up and down. It was mass hysteria,” claims a graduate of a women’s liberal arts college in Decatur, GA, site of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s commencement day address this weekend.

With her presidential potential adding to the pomp and circumstance of commencement day, Sen. Hillary Clinton on Saturday urged graduates of Agnes Scott College to spread the cause of women’s rights and education around the world.

The ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION reports on Sunday: Clinton, a New York Democrat who has made two visits to Iraq and Afghanistan as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said she is “very proud of our country” for standing with the women of those nations. She said it is “absolutely essential to our national security and the furtherance of peace and democracy around the world” for that commitment to continue.

“You cannot have democracy if half the people are shut out,” the senator and former first lady said. “You cannot have freedom if half the people are told they are inferior. You cannot have peace when half the people can . . . decide how the other half lives.”

She said she hopes more young women will “contribute to that great struggle abroad.”

Although I don’t have $50 million dollars (and I probably never will), I can some how relate to “pulling a Flinstone”.

Dave Chappelle Found! Talks Exclusively with TIME Magazine in South Africa

“I figured, Let me just cut myself off from everybody, take a minute and pull a Flintstone-stop a speeding car by using my feet as the brakes. I am surprised at what I would do for $50 million. I am surprised at what people around me would do for me to have $50 million,” Dave Chappelle tells TIME’s Christopher John Farley in an exclusive interview.

CHAPPELLE tells TIME he’s not in mental hospital or drug rehab, debunking earlier reports in ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY and elsewhere.

Why this guy is even allowed to use writing utensils is beyond me.

Saddam Begins Memoirs from Behind Bars

Saddam Hussein has decided to write his memoirs while he languishes in an Iraqi jail awaiting trial after more than two decades of being responsible for brutal abuses.

According to Giovanni di Stefano, who is a member of Mr Hussein’s legal team, the former writer of allegorical novels better known as Iraq’s dictator resolved in recent weeks to start writing his biography.

Yeah, because eating three square meals a day, napping and watching TV is soooo strenuous.

Mr di Stefano promised: “There will be quite considerable detail. The Americans [holding him] are relaxed about it and we’ve seen some of the translation.

The Americans are relaxed about it. Wonderful. Someone fire those guys and bring in the soldiers from Abu Gharib.

Do not expect a confession. In his first appearance before an Iraqi judge in July last year, Mr Hussein, looking old and tired, was as defiant as ever, rejecting the courts jurisdiction and defending his 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Mr Hussein is writing about his childhood in Iraq, his early exile to Egypt and his misguided military adventures.

A wacky affair, to be sure. Hijinks abound!

I think I’m gonna be sick.

He will try to embarrass the great powers that once saw him as a useful buffer against the expansionist ambitions of Iran after the 1979 Islamic revolution. In particular, says Mr di Stefano, he will tell how France and Britain double-crossed him by also helping Iran’s Islamic republic during its eight-year war with Iraq in the 1980s.

Saddam, the victim. No story there.

There have been reports that Mr Hussein has been writing poetry in his jail cell.

Roses are red, violets are blue
When I get out of this prison cell I’m gonna kill you (Tariq)
Uh, with mustard gas

According to Mr di Stefano, since his capture in December 2003, he has also been watching more television than he is used to.

He purportedly enjoys TV Land reruns of I Love Lucy, and Desperate Housewives.

Puhleeze…can someone tell me why this murderer has a television in his cell? He probably has a frickin iPod too.

One programme his American guards were most insistent that he should see was the recent inauguration of Jalal Talabani, Iraq’s new president, one of the main leaders of the Kurdish minority oppressed under the Ba’athist regime.

Now that’s one show they can loop over and over again.

Iraq’s deposed president already likes to think of himself as an accomplished writer and a great novelist. Before the 2003 Iraq war, those books most widely praised by Iraq’s state propaganda and, hence, most closely read by western intelligence agencies were assumed to have been the leader’s work.

Signed “a book by its writer”, the novels are now believed to have been inspired by Mr Hussein but in fact written by a committee working for him.

Why is this surprising? The guy didn’t lift a finger…he had everyone doing everything for him.

In Zabibah and the King, released to Baghdad’s book shops in 2001, a king is portrayed as misunderstood by his people. His love for a young woman was seen by local reviewers as a metaphor representing the king’s attachment to his country.

Plans to publish Mr Hussein’s fourth and final novel, the story of an Arab who defeats his American and Jewish enemies, were shattered when the Americans invaded Iraq in 2003 and deposed him.

The book was found in the ruins of the information ministry building after the end of the war.

Its rightful resting place.

All of this drives me crazy. First there were stories about his frustrations with captivity, and now this. Saddam the writer. Gimme a break.

Someone keep Judith Regan away from his prison cell.

Now that the Pentagon has released the official list detailing 33 major base closures, the affected communities begin their fight to keep them open.

The Report

• Section 1 – (14.1 MB PDF)
• Section 2 – (1.7 MB PDF)

Fast Facts

• 150 military installations from Maine to Hawaii would be closed.
• That includes 33 major bases.
• It includes more than 100 smaller facilities, including scores of Reserve and National Guard installations.
• Plan would result in a net loss of 29,005 military and civilian jobs at domestic installations.
• Overall, Rumsfeld proposes pulling 218,570 military and civilian positions out of some U.S. bases while adding 189,565 positions to others.
• Closures and downsizings would occur over six years starting in 2006.
• This is the first round of base closures in a decade.
• There’s been an intense struggle by communities to save their facilities.

MAJOR CLOSURES

• Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico would lose more than 2,700 jobs.
• The Naval Station in Ingleside, Texas would lose more than 2,100 jobs.
• Fort McPherson in Georgia would lose nearly 4,200 jobs.
• The Naval Station in Pascagoula, Mississippi, which barely survived previous base closure rounds. That facility would lose 844 military jobs and 112 civilian jobs.

MAJOR GAINS

• The Army’s Fort Bliss in Texas.
• The Naval Shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia.
• Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.

CONNECTICUT

• Suffers the biggest loss in terms of jobs.
• Rumsfeld proposes closure of the Submarine Base in New London, which would result in the loss of 7,096 military jobs and 952 civilian jobs.

TEXAS

• Slated to lose 15 facilities.
• Includes Naval Station Ingleside, the Red River Army Depot and several Reserve and Guard installations.

PENNSYLVANIA

• Slated to lose 13 facilities.
• Includes the Naval Air Station at Willow Grove.

CALIFORNIA

• Hardest hit in the previous four rounds of closures.
• Would see eleven installations shuttered — mostly Reserve and Guard units and Defense Department accounting offices.

ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE

• Slated for closure.
• South Dakota’s second largest employer.
• Home to 29 B-1B bombers — half the nation’s fleet of the aircraft.
• Closure would deal a potential political setback to Republican freshman Senator John Thune, who had claimed he could protect the base if elected during his campaign to defeat former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.
• Thune on Friday called the Pentagon “flat wrong” in proposing to close Ellsworth, and he vowed to help lead the fight in the Senate to delay the entire round of closures. “We will continue to keep Ellsworth open,” Thune said.

WHY?

• For years, the military has been operating more bases than it needs for the 1.4 million troops on active duty.
• Congress has refused to authorize a new round of base closings since 1995 but reluctantly signed off on the idea last year after President Bush threatened to veto an entire spending bill. Lawmakers say it is unwise to close bases while U.S. troops are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the Pentagon argues that the timing is perfect to enlist cost-cutting measures given pressures from the ballooning federal deficit and to reshuffle the stateside network of bases while it works to reshape the entire military.

WHAT’S NEXT?

• A federal base closing commission must approve or change the Defense Department’s proposal.
• Congress and President Bush must then agree to the plan.
• The approval process will likely run into the fall.
• In four previous rounds of closures starting in 1988, commissions have accepted 85 percent of bases the Pentagon recommended for closure or consolidation. This commission’s chairman, Anthony Principi, has promised not to rubber stamp Rumsfeld’s list.

PREVIOUS CLOSURES

• Closures in 1988, 1991, 1993 and 1995 eliminated or realigned 451 installations, including 97 major ones.
• Those closures resulted in a net savings to the government of about $18 billion through 2001. The Pentagon projects recurring annual savings of $7.3 billion from those four rounds combined.

OFFICIALS PREPARE TO FIGHT THE LIST

• Lawmakers, local civic officials, lobbyists and base commanders will spend the next four months trying to convince the commission that their facilities shouldn’t be closed or consolidated.
• States are worried because losing a military installation could hurt local economies.
• Some states and congressional delegations are challenging Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s claim that he can shutter Army and Air National Guard installations without a governor’s consent.
• At least one state, Illinois, is threatening to go to court to block Rumsfeld. Governors in several states including North Dakota, Delaware and Arizona have weighed in on the issue, and the New Jersey congressional delegation has asked that the Pentagon cease any attempt to close National Guard bases.

CONFLICTING LAWS

• States and the Pentagon are relying on different laws as they stake out their positions.
• Governors and congressional delegations cite a law that says in part that Army or Air National Guard units can’t be “relocated or withdrawn under this chapter without the consent of the governor of the state.”
• The Pentagon argues that another law that authorizes this round of base closures takes precedence and allows Rumsfeld to close or downsize National Guard bases without getting approval from governors.
• The commission charged with reviewing the Pentagon’s list has suggested a legal opinion may be necessary.
• The Guard’s unique joint mission contributes to the legal confusion.
• On a federal level, the Guard is part of the U.S. military force responsible for national security. The president can activate units for federal missions, including wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Pentagon owns the weapons systems.
  The Guard also has a state role. Governors, through their adjutant generals, command both Guard forces during statewide emergencies like civil disturbances, floods, hurricanes or forest fires.

ARMY NATIONAL GUARD

• The Army National Guard numbers 350,000.
• Units are located at roughly 3,300 armories and other small installations scattered across the country.
• Roughly 106,000 people are in the Air National Guard.
• Its units are stationed at 95 Air Force bases and Air National Guard installations and on leased land at 78 civilian spots, including airports where airmen typically also provide firefighting, medical and security services. The National Guard Association of the United States, a nonpartisan organization representing nearly 45,000 current and former Guard officers, argues states should be consulted about base closings.

Here’s a more detailed list of the closures (PDF)

• What happens next? (PDF)
• Why and How the bases would be closed
• Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) urge BRAC to move quickly
• Cuts will save nearly 50 billion dollars over the next 20 years
• Keeping bases open is a 24/7 job for many communities
• Story from the Military Family Network
• Base closings lighter than expected?
• Rumsfeld’s strategy to revamp the military
• 150 installations targeted nationwide
• Base closure list becomes battleground
• The impact of closures on communities
• Base restructuring a boon for Colorado

The Affected

• Four Georgia bases recommended for closure
• California bases face closures, 2,000 lost jobs
• Peninsula Air Station on list
• The 911th Air Force Reserve set to close
• Minnesota, Wisconsin military bases targeted
• Ellsworth in South Dakota on the list
• Concord makes the closure list, City officials cheer the decision
• Texas to gain jobs, but lose four bases
• Portsmouth, Brunswick on list to be closed or scaled back
• Ingleside in Texas set to cose

The Spared

• Major N.C. military bases steer clear of closure
• Some major California bases are spared from closure
• Southcom and Homestead are secure
• State of Washington dodges base closure bullet
• Beale, Travis not on the list
• Eastern North Carolina bases will stay open
• MacDill to remain open, add jobs

The Quotes

“Our current arrangements, designed for the cold war, must give way to the new demands of the war against extremism and other evolving 21st century challenges,” Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in a statement today.

Michael Wynne, the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, said at a news briefing that the decision on which bases to close and which to keep open “is a very important component of the military transformation that President Bush asked us to conduct in 2001.”

Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, called the recommendation to close the New London base, which would cost several thousands jobs, “irrational and irresponsible.” “It insults our history and endangers our future,” he told The Associated Press.

In New Jersey, the proposed closing of Fort Monmouth, and the accompanying loss of more than 5,000 jobs, was dread become reality for nearby Eatontown. “It’s a major disappointment,” Mayor Gerry Tarantolo told The A.P. “But obviously this is just the beginning of the fight. The battle starts today.”

Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia pledged “a vigorous defense” of the bases in his state, which would be hit by six closings if the Pentagon’s recommendation is followed by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, or BRAC. “The battle is not over,” the governor said at a news briefing. Governor Perdue offered a comment that could have come from any one of scores of politicians today: “When it’s you, it makes a big difference.”

John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he thought that Texas “comes out a net winner,” but that some individual communities in the Lone Star State would suffer. He said he would confer immediately with community leaders “to begin to collect the information that we need in order to press our case.”

“The Pentagon is flat wrong in failing to recognize Ellsworth’s importance to our nation and state,” Senator John Thune, a Republican, said of the 63-year-old installation. His Democratic colleague, Tim Johnson, agreed. “We’re not throwing in the towel at all,” he told The A.P.

“The Pentagon is flat wrong in failing to recognize Ellsworth’s importance to our nation and state,” Senator John Thune, a Republican, said of the 63-year-old installation. His Democratic colleague, Tim Johnson, agreed. “We’re not throwing in the towel at all,” he told The A.P.

More Reaction

Base Realignment and Closure Timeline

• 1960s to 1987: The Pentagon closes about 60 bases as the United States reduces its overall post-World War II military posture. Congress is not consulted on a majority of the closings. It launches efforts to require that the Pentagon notify Capitol Hill of any future closings.
• 1987-88: Then-Rep. Dick Armey, R-Texas, pushes through legislation creating the first independent Base Realignment and Closure Commission. The formal structure aims to shield lawmakers from community backlash and tries to keep the process from becoming too politicized.
• 1988: The first Base Realignment and Closure Commission convenes: 16 major bases are closed.
• 1990: The end of the Cold War and pressure to cut defense spending lead then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney to push Congress for additional rounds. The result: The 1990 Defense Base Closure and Realignment Act, which calls for closure rounds in 1991, 1993 and 1995.
• 1991: The 1991 commission closes 26 major bases and seven major research facilities; it realigns 19 bases.
• 1993: The 1993 commission closes 28 major bases and realigns 13 major facilities.
• 1995: The 1995 commission closes 27 major bases and realigns 17 facilities. Two controversial decisions regarding depots in California and Texas leave lawmakers suspect of the process, and although another round is recommended for 2001; it is not supported until 2005.
• 2002: President Bush threatens to veto the 2003 defense spending bill unless it contains a provision for a 2005 closure round. Congress includes the closure language.
• Dec. 31, 2003: The Pentagon publishes the eight “base closure selection criteria” it wants to use to judge the value of each base. After several months of public comment and congressional input, the criteria are made official.
• Jan. 2004: The Pentagon begins “data calls” to each base, gathering information on the missions, personnel and equipment at each facility.
• March 2004: The Pentagon publishes its “Force Structure Plan and Inventory” that outlines what sort of end strength it wants in each branch, and what sort of threats it is preparing for in the next 20 years. It also takes an inventory of the more than 600 facilities and 600,000 buildings it maintains.
• May 2004: The House votes to delay the 2005 round, citing the war on terrorism. The same delay is narrowly defeated in the Senate. Bush threatens a second veto on 2005 funding if the defense bill does not contain base-closure authority. The final funding bill includes base closure.
• Aug. 2004: The Pentagon announces that it intends to relocate 70,000 troops from European and South Korean posts and bring them back onto U.S. bases. The announcement re-ignites the debate on whether bases should be closed in 2005.
• March 15, 2005: Bush nominates members for the 2005 closure commission, who are awaiting confirmation by Congress.
• May 13, 2005: The “list” is released: 33 major bases recommended for closure, 29 recommended for realignment.
• Week of May 16: The nine members of the commission will hold a series of hearings with the chiefs of each service branch to discuss the list’s recommendations.
• May through Sept. 8, 2005: The nine members of the commission will visit the facilities recommended for closure, and hold a dozen regional meetings with communities affected by the Pentagon recommendations.
• July 1, 2005: The comptroller general finishes examining the Pentagon’s recommendations and releases a report on the recommendations.
• Sept. 8, 2005: The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure commissioners must publish final recommendations by this date. If the president approves, the recommendations are official 45 legislative days after his approval, unless Congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval. If the president does not approve the list, then:
• Oct. 20, 2005: Deadline for the commissioners to publish revised recommendations.
• Nov. 7, 2005: Deadline for president to approve or disapprove recommendations. If he disapproves, or Congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval, the commissioners must re-revise their recommendations.
• April 15, 2006: The commission terminates.

Blog Comment

• Outside the Beltway  – Base Closure Plan Shows Pentagon’s New Direction, and BRAC May Emphasize ‘Realignment’ over ‘Closure’
• Redstate
• Citizen Smash
• Backcountry Conservative

UPDATE: Latest Report on BRAC Day

Although the news isn’t supposed to be released until tomorrow, a few sites have what is purported to be the official BRAC list of suggested base closures and realignments. Navyseals is one of the sites who has the list. Check the official Base Realignment and Closure Commission site tomorrow to see if the leaked list matches the official one.

Dave Reichert used to be sheriff for King County in the state of Washington. Maybe he’s trying to get some press or something…this is his first term after all. Hey, once a cop always a cop right? Other than that little tidbit, this story is completely mind numbing.

Nonetheless…

Here’s ‘Pelosi and the Case of the Missing Shoe’…presented in its entirety.

It was a Cinderella story, Capitol Hill style. Starring as Prince Charming, freshman Rep. Dave Reichert dropped to his knees Thursday in the midst of a news conference and handed over a beige leather slingback that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi lost during Wednesday’s hasty evacuation of Congress.

“I’m proud to be here, and proud to present you with your shoe,” said Reichert, R-Wash.

“That is my shoe!” Pelosi, D-Calif., exclaimed to laughter.

Pelosi lost her shoes when Capitol police literally lifted her out of them during the evacuation, which was prompted by a small plane that strayed into restricted airspace over the nation’s capital.

“I said, ‘I’m losing my shoe,’ and they said, ‘That’s too bad, just keep going,'” Pelosi said.

The shoe flipped up in front of Reichert as he ran down a crowded stairway on his way out. He scanned the crowd, but no luck.

Capitol police officers found the other shoe Wednesday and returned it. The breakthrough on the one Reichert had came when his wife e-mailed him mentioning a media report about Pelosi’s lost slingbacks.

“I said, ‘I have a shoe, are you serious?'” Reichert recalled.

Excuse me while I go wipe off the drool that has leaked from my gaping mouth. (Yes, this story is real)

If you’re a blogger, you’ll get this. If you aren’t, you won’t.