Ladywriter

looks like ass kickin o' clock

looks like this series is coming to an end....

I love the way the old defeated characters are being written back in. Mr 3 is on level two, maybe more of Croc's guys are down there too. 3's abilities would be useful as the pirates rampage through ID, blocking off doors and trapping guards in wax......

Where's a Russian with a suitcase nuk when ya need one?

More than 300 killed in 3-day Gaza barrage; U.S. blames Hamas for flare-up GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israel obliterated symbols of Hamas power on the third day of what the defense minister described Monday as a "war to the bitter end," striking next to the Hamas premier's home, and devastating a security compound and a university building. The three-day death toll rose to at least 315 by Monday morning, with some 1,400 wounded. The U.N. said at least 51 of the dead were civilians, and medics said eight children under the age of 17 were killed in two separate strikes overnight. Israel launched its campaign, the deadliest against Palestinians in decades, on Saturday in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns. Since then, the number of Israeli troops on the Gaza border has doubled and the Cabinet approved the call-up of 6,500 reserve soldiers. The Bush administration called Monday for an end to the new flare-up, saying Hamas has "once again shown its true colors as a terrorist organization" with attacks on Israel. Spokesman Gordon Johndroe said that Hamas had chosen not to renew a six-month cease-fire agreement arranged by Egypt. At the same time, Johndroe said the United States has asked Israel to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza. The spokesman declined to respond to questions about whether the United States believes Israel is ready to launch a ground attack on Gaza. Johndroe told reporters that President George W. Bush had spoken early Monday with King Abdullah of Jordan, and had spoken on Saturday with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. He also Bush had a detailed briefing by video conferencing with Vice President Dick Cheney, White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and national security adviser Stephen Hadley. Johndroe repeated that President-elect Barack Obama is getting daily intelligence briefings "and we will continue to stay in touch with his staff as developments warrant." Johndroe said that "at this time" there are no plans for Bush to speak on the issue. Hamas driven underground The strikes have driven Hamas leaders into hiding and appear to have gravely damaged the organization's ability to launch rockets, but barrages continued. Sirens warning of incoming rockets sent Israelis scrambling for cover throughout the day. One medium-range rocket fired at the Israeli city of Ashkelon killed an Arab construction worker there Monday and wounded several others. He was the second Israeli killed since the beginning of the offensive, and the first person ever to be killed by a rocket in Ashkelon, a city of 120,000. On Sunday, Hamas missiles struck for the first time near the city of Ashdod, twice as far from Gaza as Ashkelon and only 25 miles from Israel's heart in Tel Aviv. Hamas leaders have also threatened to renew suicide attacks inside Israel. At first light Monday, strong winds blew black smoke from the bombed sites over Gaza City's deserted streets. The air hummed with the buzz of drone aircraft and the roar of jets, punctuated by airstrike explosions. Palestinian health officials said one strike killed four Islamic Jihad militants and a child. Some Palestinians ventured outside for mourning. In northern Gaza, a father lifted the body of his 4-year-old during a funeral Monday for five children from the same family killed in an Israeli missile strike. Most of those killed since Saturday were members of Hamas security forces, though the precise numbers remain unclear. A Hamas police spokesman, Ehab Ghussen, said 180 members of the Hamas security forces were among the dead, and the U.N. agency in charge of Palestinian refugees said at least 51 of the dead were civilians. A rise in civilian casualties could intensify international pressure on Israel to end the offensive. 300 airstrikes since Saturday Israel's intense bombings — more than 300 airstrikes since midday Saturday — reduced dozens of buildings to rubble. The military said naval vessels also bombarded targets from the sea. One strike destroyed a five-story building in the women's wing at Islamic University, one of the most prominent Hamas symbols in Gaza. Other attacks ravaged a compound controlled by Preventive Security, one of the group's chief security arms, and destroyed a house next to the residence of Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas prime minister. Late Sunday, Israeli aircraft attacked a building in the Jebaliya refugee camp next to Gaza City, killing five children and teenagers under age 17 from the same family, Gaza Health Ministry official Dr. Moaiya Hassanain said. In the southern town of Rafah, a toddler and his two teenage brothers were killed in an airstrike aimed at a Hamas commander, Hassanain said. In Gaza City, another attack killed two women. Some families fled their apartments next to institutions linked to Hamas. Suad Abu Wadi, 42, kept her six children close on mattresses in her Gaza City living room. Her husband sat with them, chain-smoking. Abu Wadi said he said nothing since seeing their neighbor carrying the body of his child, killed in an airstrike Saturday. Hospitals are overwhelmed Gaza's nine hospitals were overwhelmed. Hassanain, who keeps a record for the Gaza Health Ministry, said that some of the over 1,400 wounded were now being taken to private clinics and even homes. Abdel Hafez, a 55-year-old history teacher, waited outside a Gaza City bakery to buy bread. He said he was not a Hamas supporter but believed the strikes would only increase support for the group. "Each strike, each drop of blood are giving Hamas more fuel to continue," he said. Ehud Barak, the Israeli defense minister, told parliament Israel was not fighting the residents of Gaza. "But we have a war to the bitter end against Hamas and its branches," he said. Barak said the goal is to deal Hamas a "severe blow" and that the operation would be "widened and deepened as needed." In Israel, 17 people have been killed in attacks from Gaza since the beginning of the year, including nine civilians — six of them killed by rockets — and eight soldiers, according to Israel's Foreign Ministry. Israeli security officials have warned that the militants' range now includes Beersheba, a major city 30 miles from Gaza. Resident Mazal Ivgi, 62, said she had prepared a bomb shelter. "In the meantime we don't really believe it's going to happen, but when the first boom comes people will be worried," she said. CONTINUED Smuggling tunnels hit

Upstate N.Y. also saw high winds; new storm moves into Northwest DETROIT - Crews were working to restore electricity to 177,000 Michigan homes and businesses early Monday, a day after strong winds knocked down tree limbs and power lines, while residents in parts of the Northwest braced for another winter storm.Meanwhile, flood warnings were posted throughout the Midwest as temperatures rose after a week of heavy snowfall. Forecasters said flooding was possible in areas of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and northwest Ohio. In Michigan, roads in some Ottawa County subdivisions were under 2 to 3 feet of water, while the first floors of some homes were flooded, National Weather Service hydrologist Mark Walton said. In southeastern Wisconsin, the National Weather Service predicted the Fox River would crest about a foot over flood stage Tuesday in the town of Wheatland. In northwest Missouri, the Grand River reached nearly 9 feet above flood stage in places over the weekend. In the Northwest, new winter storm warnings were issued throughout the region, which has been hammered by storms in recent weeks. The National Weather Service said northeastern Washington and the Idaho panhandle could expect 3 to 7 inches of new snow in the valleys, and 6 to 10 inches in the mountains through Monday evening. Spokane, Wash., already had received upward of 51 inches of snow this month — more than it sees in a typical winter — but it kept falling Monday, accompanied by winds that gusted to 35 mph. Roads were so clogged in the city that Spokane police asked semi-truck drivers to use chains after several trucks became stuck in giant snowbanks. Black ice was also causing many accidents on Interstate 90, officials said. In Michigan, winds gusting more than 60 mph knocked out power Sunday to 400,000 customers as temperatures dropped back into the 20s and 30s. Parts of the state also got about 4 inches of snow. 75 mph winds in upstate N.Y. Strong winds also gusted across upstate New York on Sunday, reaching 75 mph and toppling some power poles and trees from Buffalo to central New York. More than 9,000 customers in five western and northern counties were without power early Monday, down from more than 60,000 the night before. Amtrak canceled one train Sunday night and one Monday morning between Chicago and Grand Rapids, Mich., because of the weather, Amtrak spokeswoman Tracy Connell said. t'was a bit breezy round here

Sir Croc got kicked out after Luffy and co exposed Baroque Works and his plans (looking for the ancient weapon/making Alabastar his base). Blackbeard has taken Croc's place as one of the 7. The Shichibukai are more like privateers then pirates.

By Eoin O'Carroll, Christian Science Monitor. Posted December 16, 2008. At a news conference in Chicago Monday, Barack Obama announced many of his energy and environment appointees, a team that many say signals a sharp break from Bush administration policies toward pollution, wildlife, clean energy, and climate change. “In the 21st century, we know that the future of our economy and national security is inextricably linked to one challenge: energy,” Obama said Monday, according to a press release. “The team that I have assembled here today is uniquely suited to meet the great challenges of this defining moment. They are leading experts and accomplished managers, and they are ready to reform government and help transform our economy so that our people are more prosperous, our nation is more secure, and our planet is protected. I look forward to working with them in the years ahead.” The picks are as follows: Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy Mr. Chu, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who runs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, has been tapped to head the Department of Energy, an agency charged with designing and producing nuclear weapons, disposing of radioactive waste, overseeing domestic energy production, and conducting energy-related research. On that last front, Chu has spearheaded many clean energy initiatives at the Berkeley Lab, many of which have focused on using non-food plants to convert sunlight into liquid fuel. One of these initiatives, known as Helios, is expected to begin construction in 2010. Chu’s Nobel Prize came in 1997 for his contributions to “laser cooling,” a method of trapping gaseous atoms with laser light. This technique makes it easier to study atoms. Chu is highly respected in physics circles, but according to CNN, some Democrats are concerned at his lack of political experience. If nominated and confirmed, Chu will be the first Chinese-American to hold this office. Carol Browner, Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change The Obama administration has created a new role in response to what it sees as a challenge in coordinating all of the federal agencies that have a hand in energy policy. These include the Transportation Department, which mandates fuel economy standards; the Interior Department, which grants permits for oil and gas drilling on federal land; the EPA, which regulates air quality; the Department of Commerce, which develops infrastructure to promote economic growth and sustainable development; and the Department of Energy. This role is probably an outgrowth of a February 2008 proposal by the Center for American Progress, which called for a White House-level advisor to coordinate energy-related federal agencies as well as “outreach with states, localities, and the private sector, and U.S. leadership and partnership in international efforts to reduce global emissions.” The Center for American Progress was founded by former Clinton chief-of-staff John Podesta, who also co-chairs Obama’s transition team. The position was quickly dubbed by the media as “energy czar,” a term that the Obama team reportedly dislikes. Ms. Browner, a former adviser to Sen. Al Gore, served as head of the Environmental Protection Agency from 1993 to 2001. Since then, she has worked for the Albright Group, a “global strategy firm” headed by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright that helps corporations do business internationally. Browner is also the chair of the National Audubon Society. Browner’s husband, former New York Rep. Tom Downey, has lobbied on behalf of some of the world’s largest polluters, including Exxon Mobil and Chevron. Working under Browner as Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change will be Heather Zichal. Ms. Zichal served as the Policy Director for Energy, Environment, and Agriculture for Obama’s presidential campaign, and in 2004 drafted John Kerry’s energy and environment policies. Lisa Jackson, EPA Administrator The Environmental Protection Agency is not a cabinet department, but the 17,000-employee agency’s head is considered to have a cabinet-level position. Ms. Jackson, a former EPA scientist who from 2006 until this month ran New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection, has her work cut out for her. Many observers say that the agency has become demoralized under the current administrator, Stephen Johnson. In February, 19 union leaders representing about 10,000 EPA employees sent a letter to Johnson claiming that he had repeatedly violated the agency’s standards of scientific integrity. In April, the Union of Concerned Scientists released the result of a survey that found that 889 of 1,586 staff scientists at the EPA reported that they have experienced political interference in their work in the past five years. 1 2 Next page » View as a single page

that shit was hilarious esp the ending

well.... I dunno if I woulda made Hillary Sec of State. Yes she does know and have working relationships via the Clinton presidency/foundation with diplomats BUT the majority of her work has focused around families issues; education, health care etc since the time she was 1st lady. I would have preferred seeing her in a position that kept her state side and working for families. The political "smart" of making her sos ~ Hillary has a spot in line of succession to the presidency; a move to hopefully appease still disgruntled Hillary supporters and Hillary aint around to give Barak any more grey hair When (not if) Hillary runs for prez again she'll have 4-8 years of SoS experience to add to her resume; unless Barak is magically worse then W ~not in a trillion billion years~ Hillary is fully set up to become presedent after the Obama admin is all done. The democratic party has seen how badly voters wanted Hillary. They'll play the "this is historic" card going from 1st black presedent to first woman president. Its set up nicely for the dems to control the oval office for the next 16 years. I prolly wouldn't have chosen Lisa Jackson "If the EPA is saying that New Jersey's enforcement is bad, you know there is a serious problem” Um, hellz yes. Just to get somebody from epa to do anything you have to light a fire under their ass. They're kinda like FEMA and the FDA. They dun fuckin care about you. :sparkle:Chu has spearheaded many clean energy initiatives at the Berkeley Lab, many of which have focused on using non-food plants to convert sunlight into liquid fuel. One of these initiatives, known as Helios, is expected to begin construction in 2010. Chu’s Nobel Prize came in 1997 for his contributions to “laser cooling,” a method of trapping gaseous atoms with laser light. This technique makes it easier to study atoms. Chu has pushed scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and in industry to develop technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He has joined the Copenhagen Climate Council, an international collaboration between business and science, established to create momentum for the 2009 United Nations Climate Chance Conference in Copenhagen. Chief in Chu's campaign is an unprecedented research pact reached between UC Berkeley, the oil major BP, the Lawrence Berkeley Lab and the University of Illinois, which has drawn controversy with some of Berkeley's faculty voicing their concerns that the university was selling out to the industry giant.[/url]Nearly US$400 million in new lab space will expand energy-related molecular work centered at Lawrence Berkeley that involves partners around the world. A US$160 million Energy Biosciences Institute Helios Building is to be funded by British Petroleum and subsidized with $70 million of California state funds. It will house up to 50 BP scientists in a private lab, and will include Chu's separate solar-energy program, but is reportedly on hold due to "geotechnical issues". He is an early signatory to Project Steve, an educational campaign supporting the conventional scientific understanding of evolution.

he had fun

An environmental disaster of epic proportions has occurred in Tennessee. Monday night, 2.6 million cubic yards (the equivalent of 525.2 million gallons, 48 times more than the Exxon Valdez spill by volume) of coal ash sludge broke through a dike of a 40-acre holding pond at TVA's Kingston coal-fired power plant covering 400 acres up to six feet deep, damaging 12 homes and wrecking a train. According to the EPA the cleanup will take at least several weeks, but could take years. Officials also said that the magnitude of this spill is such that the entire area could be declared a federal superfund site. Toxic Sludge Got Into Tributary of Chattanooga Water Supply Apart from the immediate physical damage, the issue is what toxic substances are in that sludge: Mercury, arsenic, lead, beryllium, cadmium. Though officials said the amounts of these poisons in the sludge could not be determined on Monday, they could (at the mild end) irritate skin or trigger allergies or (longer term) cause cancer or neurological problems. This toxic sludge got into the Emory River, a tributary of the Clinch and Tennessee Rivers: The water supply for Chattanooga, Tennessee as well as millions of people living downstream in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. TVA says that as yet the spill (which they are characterizing as a mudslide or landslide, but frankly it's still toxic…) has not affected the water quality in the Emory River. High Levels of Rain, Thaw Freeze Cycles May Have Weakened Pond Walls On why the spill happened, the Tennessean speculated, The area received almost 5 inches of rain this month, compared with the usual 2.8 inches. Freeze and thaw cycles may have undermined the sides of the pond. The last formal report on the condition of the 40-acre pond -- an unlined, earthen structure -- was issued in January and was unavailable Monday, officials said. Greenpeace Calls for Criminal Investigation In a press release issued yesterday, noting that spills of similar substances have resulted in felony charges, Greenpeace called for a criminal investigation into the spill: "Every facility like this is supposed to have a spill contingency plan to prevent this kind of disaster," said Rick Hind, Greenpeace Legislative Director. "The authorities need to get to the bottom of what went wrong and hold the responsible parties accountable." TVA Releases Official Statement In an official statement, TVA president and CEO Tom Kilgore said, Protecting the public, our employees, and the environment is TVA's primary concern as we supply electric power for the people of Tennessee Valley region. We deeply regret that a retention wall for ash containment at our Kingston Fossil Plant failed, resulting in an ash slide and damage to nearby homes.We are grateful no injuries have been reported, and we will take all appropriate actions to assist those affected by this situation. We appreciate the continuing efforts of local and state agencies, as well as TVA employees, to respond to this situation quickly and efficiently. Our intense effort to respond effectively will continue 24/7 for the foreseeable future with the safety of the public our top priority. Clean Coal, Yeah Right As many people in the blog world are noting, it's this sort of thing that really makes the proposition of clean coal so absurd. Even if you can scrub all the CO2 out of it, you still have so many other toxic waste products associated with burning coal that have to be stored that carbon emissions are just a part of the problem. How many other holding ponds are out there waiting to burst? AlterNet is making this material available in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107: This article is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. FUCK

merry...fucking... capitalism erm I mean Christmas

wow we dropped the ball on this well, you know them better then us and I'm sure ya made the right choice

Why does everything suck...

Just in time for the holidays -- and the last days of the Bush administration -- the Center for Biological Diversity is launching two hard-hitting television and online public service announcements spotlighting the undeniably devastating effects of global warming on polar bears and their icy Arctic home. Thanks to your generous donations earlier this year to create and distribute these ads, tens of millions of people across America will now see, in no uncertain terms, how global warming is already changing our planet. As our thanks for all your support, we're giving you a first look ? go to http://www.SaveThePolarBear.org right now to view the two ads before they make their national television and online debut this week. But this isn't just a thank you note -- it's a call to action. We're at a pivotal moment in our history: President-elect Barack Obama takes office in just 28 days. And when he does, we'll deliver 50,000 petitions from people like you calling on his administration to reverse the anti-environmental policies of the Bush era to stop global warming and save the polar bear. Please sign the petition now at http://www.SaveThePolarBear.org and then send it to all your friends. It's a gift you and your loved ones can give the planet this holiday season. Because as the new year dawns, we need to save the polar bear -- and all life on Earth -- by taking the lead on rapid, large-scale efforts to immediately curb greenhouse gas emissions, improve fuel efficiency, conserve energy and develop alternative energy sources, and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Thank you again for your support of this critical and timely project. Join with me now to share these moving and powerful ads with everyone you know -- and take action to save the polar bear. Sincerely, Kierán Suckling Executive Director first vid is so fucking depressing have yer zoloft handy

Housing & Urban Development Shaun Donovan Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood Secretary of Commerce Bill Richardson Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki UN Ambassador Susan Rice EPA administrator Lisa Jackson Trade representative Ron Kirk

To browse at your leisure: Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of Defense Robert Gates Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Dashle Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack Attorney General Eric Holder Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis Tried to give ya voting records when possible article

By George Monbiot, Monbiot.com Until this year's report, the International Energy Agency mocked people who said that oil supplies might peak. Now they've changed their tune. http://www.alternet.org/environment/113047/ ... Around 2020. That casts the issue in quite a different light. Mr Birol's date, if correct, gives us about 11 years to prepare. If the Hirsch report is right, we have already missed the boat. Birol says we need a "global energy revolution" to avoid an oil crunch, including (disastrously for the environment) a massive global drive to exploit unconventional oils, such as the Canadian tar sands. But nothing on this scale has yet happened, and Hirsch suggests that even if it began today, the necessary investments and infrastructure changes could not be made in time. Fatih Birol told me "I think time is not on our side here." When I pressed him on the shift in the agency's position, he argued that the IEA has been saying something like this all along. "We said in the past that one day we will run out of oil. We never said that we will have hundreds of years of oil … but what we have said is that this year, compared to past years, we have seen that the decline rates are significantly higher than what we have seen before. But our line that we are on an unsustainable energy path has not changed." This of course is face-saving nonsense. There is a vast difference between a decline rate of 3.7 percent and a rate of 6.7 percent. There is an even bigger difference between suggesting that the world is following an unsustainable energy path -- a statement almost everyone can subscribe to -- and revealing that conventional oil supplies are likely to plateau around 2020. If this is what the IEA meant in the past, it wasn't expressing itself very clearly. So what do we do? We could take to the hills, or we could hope and pray that Hirsch is wrong about the 20-year lead time, and begin a global crash programme today of fuel efficiency and electrification. In either case, the British government had better start drawing up some contingency plans. big surprise not

By Sam Pizzigati, Too Much: A Commentary on Excess and Inequality. Posted December 23, 2008. For obvious reasons, we probably couldn't have picked a better year than 2008 to "honor" our most avaricious. http://www.alternet.org/workplace/114782/ This time of year always seems to bring a never-ending barrage of "top ten" lists. The year's top ten movies, the top ten books, the top ten news stories, and on and on. Here at Too Much we've decided to join in on the action -- with our very own list of America's top ten greediest. We probably couldn't have picked a better year than 2008 to so "honor" our most avaricious. This year's stunning economic meltdown has fixed the attention of our entire nation -- and world -- on the grasping antics of those who yearn for ever more than they could rationally ever need. But this year also presents enormous challenges for anyone bold enough to rank the greedy. With so much greed out there, how could we possibly limit our list to a mere ten? The latest greed explosion to hit the headlines -- the $50 billion Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme -- illustrates just how difficult a task ranking the greedy can be. To whom in this scandal should we award the most greed points? Bernie Madoff himself, the 70-year-old who scammed his wealthy friends and charities to keep up his credentials as a Wall Street investing "genius" -- and maintain a $6 million pad in Manhattan, a waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, and a weekend getaway on Long Island? Or should those greed points go instead to the ever-so-sophisticated hedge fund "middlemen" like Walter Noel, who built a five-manse fortune by steering clients to Madoff and charging them tens of millions in "due diligence" fees for the steering. Or should the greed points go to Madoff's investors themselves, the swells who pay $250,000 a year for the privilege of belonging to a swanky country club? So many choices! How about James Cayne, the Bear Stearns CEO who rode toxic securities into billionairedom? Or Angelo Mozilo, who took the same ride at Countrywide Financial, spreading suffering to subprimed families all along the way? In the end, we came to realize, the size of the fortune alone doesn't determine greed. It's the thought that counts. In that holiday spirit, we hope you find our top ten greedy list of some interest -- and greed-busting inspiration. I think I'll take up muggin ppl

mmmhmm n u don't even remember how many years we've been screwed together

Around here with all of the 'tudes... yeah another tea party could defiantly happen. Ppl from NY... well we're... gotta lotta anger management issues

rope is cheap and reusable lets invest in some of that for under 100$ we could take care of the entire lot of bloated overpaid underachievers no oversight and accountability is how congress got us into this mess. never shoulda given them a dime until the oversight committee was in place and ready to work. chucking cash at a problem might work in fantasy land but in real life it does not. Somebody better be headed to jail/made to pay back the millions if it were you or me pulling this scam we'd be locked up. I don't think we put our kids in debt so these fuckers can go hot tubing on their private planes on their way to their ritzy fart "business meetings" that cost 1/2 a million $. I think its time for some good ol' tyme lynching parties

seriously tho... how r Luffy n Ace gonna escape without help?

Wintry weather, strong winds expected in storm-ravaged areas Slideshow Winter madness Snow blankets the nation in the usual – and not so usual – places. Thousands stranded by storm Dec. 20: Arctic air continues to dump snow across the Northeast leaving thousands of homes without power. MSNBC's Jeff Ranieri reports. MSNBC