Jane Q. Public

When Toasts to the Queen Go Bad
Doug Powers | Twitter @ThePowersThatBe | May 25, 2001

It’s been an interesting UK day for President Obama. Earlier he thought it was 2008, and now this.

Jake Tapper has the detailed description of what you have to see and hear to experience the full awkwardness of the moment, but here’s the short version: President Obama was delivering a toast to the Queen and the band misunderstood a pause for the president being finished speaking. The band began playing God Save the Queen — you know, England’s National Anthem — and Obama kept toasting during the song. I’m not completely up to speed on protocol, but judging from the Queen’s behavior I think that’s a total no-no. The order in which things were supposed to happen remains a mystery.

Peak awkwardness starts at about the 25-second mark:

If he gifts the Queen with another pre-loaded iPod, I doubt this particular moment will make the cut.

I’m starting to wish President Obama hadn’t been excluded from the invitation list for William and Kate’s wedding now — who knows what fun we missed out on.

John Edwards: U.S. Green-Lights Prosecution for Alleged Campaign Law Violations Tied to Affair Cover-Up
ABC World News | James Hill | May 24, 2011

A source close to the case said Edwards is aware that the government intends to seek an indictment and that the former senator from North Carolina is now considering his limited options. He could accept a plea bargain with prosecutors or face a potentially costly trial.

Edwards has been the focus of a lengthy federal investigation focusing on hundreds of thousands of dollars allegedly provided by two wealthy supporters. The government will contend those were illegal donations that ultimately went to support and seclude his mistress, Rielle Hunter.

Hunter was a campaign videographer with whom Edwards had a lengthy affair that resulted in a daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter, now three years old.

THAT should go over well in prison.

Of course he’s insane. Try him anyway.

Smiling all the way to the psychiatric unit.

The GOP spoilers hand another win to the Democrats. Stupid, stupid, stupid. They deserved to lose.

Democrat Wins G.O.P. Seat; Rebuke Seen to Medicare Plan
New York Times | Raymond Hernandez | May 24, 2011

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GOP Machine v. “The Spoiler”

Capitalism trumps principle in the failed communist regime.

Revolutionary Cuba Now Lays Sand Traps for the Bourgeoisie
New York Times | Randal C. Archibold | May 24, 2011

“…Cuba’s deteriorating economy and the rise in the sport’s popularity, particularly among big-spending travelers who expect to bring their clubs wherever they go, have softened the government’s view, investors said. Cuban officials did not respond to requests for comment, but Manuel Marrero, the tourism minister, told a conference in Europe this month that the government anticipates going forward with joint ventures to build 16 golf resorts in the near future.”

Money talks. Communist principles walk.

Congress and President Obama agree – the Patriot Act is a good thing and should be extended for another 5 years. Totally predictable.

Serving as a harsh reminder of working conditions of the past, the findings of the 2010 Coal Mining Disaster investigation team read like a history book with examples of turn-of-the-century employee exploitation and abuse. Ultimately, Massey Energy’s blatant disregard for their employees’ safety ended not only in the death of 29 people, but also in the demise of the company itself. A fitting consequence for such abysmal business practices.

Report Faults Mine Owner for Explosion That Killed 29
New York Times | Sabrina Tavernise | May 19, 2011

In the first comprehensive state report on the 2010 coal mine disaster in West Virginia, an independent team of investigators has put the blame squarely on the owner of the mine, Massey Energy, concluding that it had “made life difficult” for miners who tried to address safety and built “a culture in which wrongdoing became acceptable.”

The report, released on Thursday by an independent team appointed by former Gov. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and led by J. Davitt McAteer, a former federal mine safety chief, echoed preliminary findings by federal officials that the blast could have been prevented if Massey had observed minimal safety standards.

But it was more pointed in naming Massey as the culprit, using blunt language to describe what it said was a pattern of negligence that ultimately led to the deaths of 29 miners on April 5, 2010, in the worst American mining disaster in 40 years.

“The story of Upper Big Branch is a cautionary tale of hubris,” the report concluded. “A company that was a towering presence in the Appalachian coal fields operated its mines in a profoundly reckless manner, and 29 coal miners paid with their lives for the corporate risk taking.”

Chinese Student Takes Aim, Literally, at Internet Regulator
New York Times | Andrew Jacobs | May 19, 2011

The authorities are seeking a college student who sneaked into a lecture hall at one of China’s most prestigious universities on Thursday and tossed eggs and shoes at a computer scientist both lionized and reviled as the architect of China’s strict Internet controls.

According to Twitter postings from a man claiming responsibility for the attack, the eggs missed, but at least one shoe hit its intended target: Fang Binxing, popularly described as “the father of the Great Firewall,” who was giving a talk on Internet security. The student, known for the moment only by his Twitter handle, @hanunyi, apparently fled the scene in bare feet.

Way to go, @hanunyi! You have struck a blow for the rights of all Chinese whose freedoms are strictly curtailed by an oppressive government. May this be encouragement to other students in China. Let those eggs and shoes fly for your freedom!

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China: Censorship Suit Filed Against Web Company

I’ve been interested in the progress of the Three Gorges Dam since the project began. The preparations for its construction included displacing all those who lived on the lands which would be flooded by the waters of the artificially backed up rivers. Many of these people were evicted from homes which had belonged to their families for 6 generations or more. Homesteads which allowed them to perpetuate the traditional Chinese way of life, nearly untouched by modernity. In return for evicting them from the family homes, the government promised these people homes in settlements which resemble American housing projects. To date, many of the displaced have not even been allowed to settle in these “projects,” despite the government’s promise of housing.

Additionally, the dam construction promised to flood lands which contain ancient items and human remains from the earliest of the Chinese dynasties. Archaeologists raced to extract as many of these priceless and irreplaceable artifacts even as the waters rose. What was not extracted is lost forever to the waters of the manipulated Yangtze River.

Reports of the Dam’s troubled construction and negative environmental impact comes as no surprise. The Chinese government’s ambition appears to have outpaced its capabilities by a wide margin. The world will suffer the consequences of their folly for generations to come.

China Admits Problems with Three Gorges Dam
New York Times | Michael Wines | May 19, 2011

The Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric project and a symbol of China’s confidence in risky technological solutions, is troubled by urgent pollution and geologic problems, a high-level government body acknowledged Thursday.

The statement came as technicians were certifying the very last of the dam’s array of generators as suitable for hydroelectric generation, the final step in a contentious 19-year effort to complete the project in defiance of domestic and international concerns over its safety as well as threats to the environment, displaced people, historical areas and natural beauty.

According to official figures, the venture cost China about $23 billion, but outside experts estimate it may have cost double that amount. The dam has been plagued by reports of floating archipelagoes of garbage, carpets of algae and landslides on the banks along the vast expanse of still water since the 600-foot-tall dam on the Yangtze River was completed in 2006. Critics also have complained that the government has fallen far short of its goals in helping to resettle the 1.4 million people displaced by the rising waters behind the dam.

China’s State Council, a coordinating body often likened to the United States president’s cabinet, said in a vague statement that the project suffered from a wide range of serious problems. “Although the Three Gorges project provides huge comprehensive benefits, urgent problems must be resolved regarding the smooth relocation of residents, ecological protection and geological disaster prevention,” the statement said.

This appears to be a bell that can’t be unrung.

Well, if you’re lucky and you’ve been good, you’re getting “raptured.” No, that’s not some kind of extreme sport, theme park ride, Blondie song, or effect of some trippy drug. It is, in fact, your final trip – from here to Heaven. Better get on your knees now or you’re going to get left behind with the rest of us lost souls.

Riiiiiiiiight.

Make My Bed? But You Say the World’s Ending
New York Time | Ashley Parker| May 19, 2011

Last weekend, the family traveled to New York, the parents dragging their reluctant children through a Manhattan street fair in a final effort to spread the word.

“My mom has told me directly that I’m not going to get into heaven,” Grace Haddad, 16, said. “At first it was really upsetting, but it’s what she honestly believes.”

Thousands of people around the country have spent the last few days taking to the streets and saying final goodbyes before Saturday, Judgment Day, when they expect to be absorbed into heaven in a process known as the rapture. Nonbelievers, they hold, will be left behind to perish along with the world over the next five months.