(2007-01-19) — The Chinese ambassador to the United States today apologized for what he called “a roman candle gone awry” which U.S. intelligence experts mistook for a missile test that hit an orbiting Chinese weather satellite.
According to a statement released to the media, the ambassador said, “It is understandable that the U.S. would have concern if a communist superpower demonstrated the ability to hit military, communications and navigational satellites, thereby blinding the Pentagon. Of course, this did not happen.”
The Chinese, famous for their fireworks, were apparently testing a new type of roman candle destined for American store shelves in time for Independence Day 2007.
“We wanted something spectacular so the Americans could celebrate their democracy,” the statement said. “It turns out that the prototype had a range of some 537 vertical miles, and was inadvertently mounted with a kill vehicle that took out one of our aging satellites with astonishing precision.”
China immediately promised that the U.S. will “never see such a mistake again.”
77 responses so far ↓
1 camojack // Jan 19, 2007 at 8:13 am
I think China and North Korea are up to something…
2 Ms RightWing, Ink // Jan 19, 2007 at 8:19 am
Hmm, I never heard that story on Good Morning America. I’m afraid that would make it Bad Morning America instead.
3 Scott Ott // Jan 19, 2007 at 8:39 am
China Sorry for ‘Roman Candle Gone Awry’…
by Scott Ott[Audio Version](2007-01-19) — The Chinese ambassador to the United States today apologized for what he called “a roman candle gone awry†which U.S. intelligence experts mistook for a missile test that hit an orbiting Chinese weather…..
4 tomg // Jan 19, 2007 at 8:55 am
I hope it sent out lots of those fat white trails of sparks on impact and made that neat crackly sound instead of just a boom.
5 Analchord // Jan 19, 2007 at 8:57 am
they’re called bottle rockets. roman candles are different. neither are funny here. let me ask you something, did you feel like posting this article again a half hour after you blogged it?
Were the guys in the space station angry that someone had creamed their order for egg rolls and mo shu which would have arrived on time if only….?
did those responsible for the launch get beheaded because the satellite they destroyed was providing China’s only link to “Desperate Housewives”?
see? there’s just no fixin’ your blog today…. missiles aint funny no how no way
6 JamesonLewis3rd // Jan 19, 2007 at 8:58 am
I consider this a serious development, not only because someone else (besides us and Russia) has shown the capability to destroy an orbiting satellite, but because of the debris field which poses a danger to all orbiting satellites (which includes, of course, the space station and our shuttle when it is up there).
Of course, in a world where it is okay to do whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, however you want, to whomever you want…..
7 JamesonLewis3rd // Jan 19, 2007 at 9:01 am
I forgot to mention that the Chinese hit their aging weather satellite with a blunt instrument-it didn’t exploded the satellite, just smashed it to pieces.
8 RedPepper // Jan 19, 2007 at 9:20 am
Relax, folks! Fireworks displays are essential for celebrating Chinese New Year !
9 TouchyFeely // Jan 19, 2007 at 9:24 am
The left and the press (same thing) will always want peace at any price, until the missiles start flying, then they want to know why something wasn’t done sooner (unless the top procrastinator was one of their own i.e. Clinton)
10 upnorthlurkin // Jan 19, 2007 at 9:34 am
Thank-you Bill Clinton! Can’t wait to see the rush to defend his “selling missile technology secrets to the Chinese” policy by the LSM! I think maybe we’ve just discovered the Clinton legacy they’ve been trying so hard to invent!! (Wonder if Sandy Burglar is involved with anything suspicious here? Nah!)
11 upnorthlurkin // Jan 19, 2007 at 9:38 am
Kudos Scott for the great hat tip from Powerline yesterday!
12 Maggie // Jan 19, 2007 at 9:40 am
Good Morning Scrapplers-all!
Red Pepper,
And who doesn’t want to celebrate the Chinese New Year?
These roman candles are probably sold at a Wal-Mart near you.
(BTW….those of you on my email list will receive an important petition from Jay Sekulow.URGENT)
13 Darthmeister // Jan 19, 2007 at 10:45 am
Hey, I thought real love meant never having to say you’re sorry!
I see the Red Dragon in the East is rising on a pillar of fire. It just gets more interesting each and every day.
14 bystander // Jan 19, 2007 at 10:50 am
“Of course, in a world where it is okay to do whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you want, however you want, to whomever you want…..”
Gee, I see you have been talking to George Dubya !
15 JamesonLewis3rd // Jan 19, 2007 at 10:52 am
Huh?
16 maverick24 // Jan 19, 2007 at 10:53 am
Good morning Scrapplers,
Weather Satellites are in geosynchronous orbit at 35,786 kilometers (19,323 nautical miles) which places them above the same spot on earth. This means the debris is well above manned space vehicles like the space shuttle which only orbits at 300 KM (250 NM) or the International Space Station which orbits at 352.8 km (190.5 NM). Even if no explosive was used, two vehicles colliding at orbital velocity will have produce enough energy to spread debris well above and below their original orbit, producing a potential hazard to other Weather Satellites over Asia and the “reconnissance” satellites of Russia and the United States.
17 Darthmeister // Jan 19, 2007 at 11:24 am
maverick24,
Hopefully the debris which does not stay in the geosynchronous orbital plane (and the vast majority of debris won’t) will either be accelerated into a higher orbit (which would still present hazards to space vehicles leaving Earth orbit) or the debris which was decelerated by the explosion (any debris being blown backward of the orbitting satellite will in effect be decelerated) into a lower orbital profile would assume such a trajectory that it will end up burning in the Earth’s upper atmosphere within a few months. Unfortunately some debris will find orbital equilibrium in areas which may interfere with future “low orbit” missions.
18 JamesonLewis3rd // Jan 19, 2007 at 11:35 am
Thanks. I should have looked that up, I guess.
It still seems (to my amateur eye) that gravity might come into play, that the shards could have gone in any direction (though, I suppose [assuming the missile was going "up" when it slammed into the satellite] the shrapnel would, more than likely, be sent “outwards”) and that it seems like an inconsiderate, careless (not to mention provocative) thing to have done.
The missile could have gone up to the aforementioned orbit, turned left on a course to intercept its target, merely nicked the far side of the satellite and sent the entire glob of electronics plummeting at lightning speed toward my house (worse yet, my beloved Dodge pickup).
(Anybody want to borrow some parentheses? I have plenty to spare.)
19 Ms RightWing, Ink // Jan 19, 2007 at 11:43 am
All that technical jibber jabber is great but that still begs the question why is a certain person writing here and not using caps, but the troll who once visited here and claiming not to be a troll also refused to use caps.
Anybody who can figure that out with a slide rule, please report to my office at once.
20 conserve-a-tips // Jan 19, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Speaking of Clinton, here is a link to the Congressional Record and a speech that our Senator Inhofe gave to chastise Clinton for his veto of missile defense. Kind of ironic considering today’s headline. Read it and weep.
21 Fred Sinclair // Jan 19, 2007 at 12:24 pm
I suppose the Liberal Left is holding their collective breath, gleefully awaiting news that China has “loaned” a few of their “Roman Candles to Iran, with which they can ‘play’ games.
“Accidently hitting a few Israli Satilites would be “unfortunate mishaps”. meriting an abject apology. i.e. “Sorry ’bout dat”.
Our Liberal Left Fruitcakes will refuse to be happy (satisfied) until we have here in America at least two or three more Muslim Terrorist attacks of the magnitude of 9-11-01. A few suitcase sized nuclear bombs ala Jack Bauer on “24″, should just about do it.
Then, of course, it will be Bush’s fault because he knew all about it and did nothing, so as to “get even” with his detractors.
Heirborn Ranger
22 GnuCarSmell // Jan 19, 2007 at 1:09 pm
In 1996 Clinton allowed the sale of ballistic missile guidance technology to China by transferring such decisions from the Pentagon (which opposed such sales) to the Commerce Department, which allowed the sale. It was later learned that millions of illegal dollars snaked their way from China into Clinton’s campaign coffers.
China’s ability to shoot down satellites is part of Clinton’s legacy.
23 kajun // Jan 19, 2007 at 2:54 pm
I thought ROMAN CANDLES WERE MADE in Italy!
24 upnorthlurkin // Jan 19, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Kajun, well yeah, me too! You stayin’ warm enough down there?
25 gafisher // Jan 19, 2007 at 3:55 pm
The candle may have been Roman but the debris will be roamin’ for a long time to come. Could make for some pretty light shows when that junk starts hitting the atmosphere, but I don’t think entertainment was the primary goal.
Real rocket scientists have been careful to track everything we’ve left up there bigger than a paint chip; now it looks like there’s been a bull in the china shop, or rather the reverse.
26 puzzletop // Jan 19, 2007 at 5:01 pm
Stop to think about it. Each piece of debris out there, and it has to be in the thousands, has to be flying around at a velocity of over 18,000 miles per hour. Consider that the debris particles are as large or larger than an M-16 round that would be a considerably dangerous thing to be randomly buzzing around. I guess the little Chinese bullies are rubbing their hands together hoping to use their new toy with all the money they make on Americans buying their junk.
27 Darthmeister // Jan 19, 2007 at 5:16 pm
JL3rd,
Orbital mechanics can be counter-intuitive at times. When I was in my teen years I was absolutely fascinated with the American space program and the concept of space travel in general. I also ground my own 6 inch reflector mirror for a Newtonian telescope I put together. Boy was it cool navigating the night skies with a handmade telescope. Instead of silvering the mirror I shipped it out to be professionally aluminized with a quartz overcoating to protect the finish. The mirror was good to a quarter wavelength of light at a certain industry standard angstrom of green light.
Given the vacuum of space, if the satellite was indeed destroyed it would have had to been pretty much a direct hit if it was a kinetic warhead or a very near miss so that the expanding gases and shrapnel from whatever warhead was used could directly impact the satellite.
For sake of argument if it had been a direct hit and the satellite had simply blown apart in a roughly circular pattern then there will be fragments mostly redistributing themselves in higher and lower orbits and most probably in newer and highly eccentric orbits. Keep in mind that the geosynchronous satellite itself is traveling at about two miles/sec at an altitude of about 22,300 miles. So when different vectors of acceleration or deceleration have been imparted to individual pieces of debris of said satellite it gets to be a pretty big mess spread out over an ever expanding area until each piece achieves either orbital equilibrium (discounting any peturbations) or burns up by re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere. I seriously doubt enough energy could be put into an individual piece by a conventional or kinetic warhead that could accelerate it from 2 miles/sec to escape velocity.
Obviously there are many highly complex vectoring (speed + direction) factors which will determine the final orbit of the space debris, and it is certainly true that a certain set of factors will cause some debris to experience terminal orbital decay and eventual re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere in rather short order. But a lot of that stuff will settle into new orbits and pose continuing hazards to new payloads being boosted into low and medium Earth orbits. Of course the higher the orbit the more volume of space there is to help “spread out” the debris. And I imagine equatorial low Earth orbits are probably the most cluttered with junk.
I understand there are private and governmental agencies which keep track of all this debris by radar but I haven’t the slightest idea if space agencies tailor trajectories of rocket launches to avoid certain debris fields (adjusting liftoff times or find orbital lanes relatively free of debris?) or if they simply build into satellites and spaceships the ability to simply take multiple hits from the really small stuff and hope for the best.
28 mig // Jan 19, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Oh goodie! I love Firepower, I mean fireworks!
29 JamesonLewis3rd // Jan 19, 2007 at 5:45 pm
I know, I was being somewhat facetious in my second post on the topic (a shameless ploy for more info-thank you, by the way).
Anyway, we all know that, even if an entire, in-tact Chinese weather satellite were to careen toward Earth, it would just bounce harmlessly off the impenetrable, man-made, greenhouse gas layer and plummet into the sun causing it to explode into a super nova that, when observed from a distant planet in a distant galaxy, would appear as a giant Wal-Mart sign…..
30 Darthmeister // Jan 19, 2007 at 5:56 pm
You do have a point JL3rd. Then it again such space junk could achieve polar orbit it might have a chance to get through the Ozone Hole.
puzzletop, keep in mind it is the actual closing rate relative to the satellite being boosted that is important. I would think during the boost phase while cutting through lanes of space debris is the most dangerous time. Once orbit is achieved its the debris with highly elliptical orbits which would then pose the biggest problems.
Though space junk might have a velocity of 2 to 4 miles a second, keep in mind that’s a speed measured in relation to a stationary point on the ground and not to a rocket would will also be traveling close to the speed of the junk in the general vicinity. But you’re right, closing rates of a few feet per second may not be a big deal but something on the order of 3200 fps (the muzzle velocity of a 5.56 round) could be punching mucho holes in thin-skinned space vehicles.
31 da Bunny // Jan 19, 2007 at 7:00 pm
gafisher #25…good one!
32 Analchord // Jan 19, 2007 at 8:11 pm
#27 a 500 word manifesto? You’re quite mad, you know.
What troubles me, about you yahoo financial board rejects, is that no new bloggers are arriving. This is like a fraternity of nudniks.
You blog to yourselves for nothing about nothing, and you presume to sell religion on the links. (aggregious sacrilege, and what’s funny is that you all think you’re christian……trust me, you aint.)
You clowns have a one way ticket. Enjoy.
I judge you. Not christ. Not mohammed. not buddha. but me, the uber-troll. You are condemned to hell-in-a-hand-basket for your self-serving, unjustifiably self -righteous blabber about humor, politics, and god.
May god have mercy on your skidmark-stained souls.
Cause I wont.
Failed satire is not pretty. Trolls camped on a blog are even worse. Ms. Rightwing Ink: try praying for someone other than you. impress god. dont you think he hears self serving prayers all day long? be different. pray for those you hate. pray for those who despise your kind. pray for someone who cant possibly benefit you. impress god, oh, he will be impressed. surprise god. he likes surprises. trust me. I know. you’re nearly finished. you can save yourself. I cant. I can barely save myself.
Satire. think about it.
33 mig // Jan 19, 2007 at 8:57 pm
Fireworks can’t be complete without firecrackers.
34 rv // Jan 19, 2007 at 9:22 pm
#32 said, “I can barely save myself”
No, you can’t.
Only One saves.
Wishing and hoping and thinkin’ and prayin’ won’t do it, either.
And . . . there ain’t nothing any of us can do to impress God.
35 conserve-a-tips // Jan 19, 2007 at 9:48 pm
Analchord, I take it that you are asking us to pray for you. Will do.
Oh, and God is spelled with a big “G” as in ‘no other gods before Me’…not Mohammed or Buddha or you.
36 Analchord // Jan 19, 2007 at 9:59 pm
good one!.. too bad that’s a predictable reply. You’re toast and you know it. Read the gospels. I mean, READ the gospels. you’ll see yourself. (hint, you’re the crucifiers)
and I think it’s a damn shame.
You christian trolls…..sometimes I can hardly wait till judgement day….when you’ll see for the first time….oh, you’ll see the light…..and know that you were blinded by greed and self serving prayer
know now, and be taught forever that when you pray for yourself, or tithe for financial reward, that you are worshipping satan himself, who offered christ the horizon itself. God offered Christ the cross. Satan offered Christ the world. See the diff? see the diff?
See the diff?
Learn. Read. Understand.
You’re toast. You’re devils. You’re gone. You’re the collective horrid hateful living stink of evil.
Satire? think again.
but by all means, put up those links to christian revenue websites.
Sell christ, and reap the rewards, you devil scum.
I SAID DEVIL SCUM!!!!
37 mig // Jan 19, 2007 at 10:14 pm
Ah the Roman Candle came from here:
“Our mistake was selling it for export,” said William Robertson, State Metal’s attorney. He said the company knew the material was going to China but didn’t know the Chinese government partially owned the buyer.
-A California company, All Ports, shipped hundreds of containers of U.S. military technology to China between 1994 and 1999, much of it acquired in Pentagon surplus sales, court documents show. Customs agents discovered the sales in May 1999 when All Ports tried to ship to China components for guided missiles, bombs, the B-1 bomber and underwater mines. The company and its owners were convicted in 2000; an appeals court upheld the conviction in 2002.
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,122187,00.html?ESRC=dod.nl
38 conserve-a-tips // Jan 19, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Analchord, scripture tells us that Satan is the great liar and accuser, “…For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony..” Rev. 12:10-11
You see, Satan, through people like you, stands as the accuser and falsely manipulates the truth in order to make men think that somehow their works will save them or condemn them, either way. Those who know Christ, know beyond a shadow of a doubt that “He is the Way, the Truth and the Life” and that “noone can come to the Father” except by Him. There is noone, not one, single individual who is good enough to please God. Man is basically self-centered and separated from God. It was Christ’s sacrifice that bridged that chasm and gave man the opportunity of a relationship with the God of the Universe. It is only through Him that eternal life may be had. It has nothing to do with how much one prays or what one prays for or how many poor people they have helped or how much money they have tithed. If that were the case, then we could brag, as you are doing, that we worked our way into God’s good graces. As it is, in this Bible which you so encourage everyone to read, you perhaps have missed Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.”
39 Ms RightWing, Ink // Jan 19, 2007 at 10:23 pm
re:32
Ms. Rightwing Ink: try praying for someone other than you. impress god. dont you think he hears self serving prayers all day long? be different. pray for those you hate. pray for those who despise your kind. pray for someone who cant possibly benefit you. impress god, oh, he will be impressed. surprise god. he likes surprises. trust me. I know. you’re nearly finished. you can save yourself. I cant. I can barely save myself.
????????????????????????????????????????
I read this about a dozen times and still can’t figure it out-but don’t worry, I will pray for you if you like, but I don’t really think you want me to. I might impress God. Then what?
40 JamesonLewis3rd // Jan 19, 2007 at 10:31 pm
It is the goal of the troll to highjack the thread through the use of the ad hominem and the straw man.
It is the goal of satan to bring us down to his level.
I was praying for him from #32, glad I wasn’t the only one.
41 conserve-a-tips // Jan 19, 2007 at 10:46 pm
MsRightwing, Ink: It means nothing. Absolutely nothing. And yes, we must pray for him. How are you doing today and is it cold up there? We are bracing for a foot of snow tonight and tomorrow. The wind is definitely “whipping down the plains” in Oklahoma.
42 JamesonLewis3rd // Jan 19, 2007 at 11:45 pm
Each day the Democrat party shows more of its depraved, hate-filled egomania.
If Pelosi and Reid actually believe the things they said today, they’re not only totally nuts but just plain stupid.
43 Darthmeister // Jan 19, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Check out this Drudge headline:
CHINA TRIES TO REASSURE THE WORLD ON SPACE MISSILE ‘AIMED AT PEACE’…
Gee, I guess we got it wrong, it was all about peace. We should have learned from Iran’s and North Korea’s insistence that their nuclear industry was for peace. Why are we always so suspicious of tyrannical and despotic regimes? **smacking forehead**
44 Darthmeister // Jan 20, 2007 at 12:30 am
Well, we know Analchord has essentially admitted that he knows next to nothing about the real Gospel of Christ. You nailed it c.a.t, Analchord is the willing conduit for Lucifer the false accuser.
It’s the trolls who have a form of godliness which will lead to their eventual destruction. They follow after the wisdom of the world and the lust of their flesh. They’re the self-righteous ones because they believe they can save themselves. I know of no Christian Scrappler here that has ever taken credit for their own salvation, believing as we do that we are saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves, it is a gift of God that can be received by a greatful heart acknowledging Him as the Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
But psuedo-religious trolls have taken great pride in “warping Scriptures to their own destruction” here. They run around accusing the very elect of God by attempting to sow confusion through the same lies their father Lucifer has been spewing down through ages.
Repent, Analchord, for today is the day of salvation. Do not harden your heart because in doing so you will sear your conscience and eventually be broken beyond remedy you stiff-necked, SELF-righteous troll. For there is no other name by which salvation comes to man, that name being Messiah Jesus, the Son of the Living God. We’ve clearly come to terms with that reality … you haven’t.
And isn’t it amazing. If we were a bunch of humorless, old-fashioned, boring stiffs, trolls would condemn us for being such stuck up Victorian prudes that have nothing to offer the world but sheer boredom. But when we engage in light humor, freely fellowshipping and sharing our personal faith in the Great Governor of the Universe while holding a mirror up to the perishing sycophants of secular humanism, we’re condemned as being irreverent, sellers of Christ, blah, blah, blah. And this from SELF-righteous trolls who, when not busy worshipping the wisdom of the world or lying to themselves about their own wretched spiritual condition, spit on the Cross of Christ and His followers for good measure.
And it is precisely that person steeped in the liberal/secular/humanistic wisdom of the world who will stand before the Judge of all and will, in a last act of desperation, appeal to all the “good works” he/she has done, maybe even works done in the name of Jesus. And Jesus will say unto such a one, “Depart from me you worker of iniquity, I never knew you.”
For you see, Analchord, you’re saved by unmerited divine favor through child-like faith, but you’ll never truly understand that reality until you humble yourself beneath the mighty hand of Yahweh and empty yourself of your intransigent vanity and pride.
45 Godfrey // Jan 20, 2007 at 1:54 am
Analchord:
Pardon me for pointing out the obvious, but if Scrapplers really are a “fraternity of nudniks” who blog to themselves “for nothing about nothing”…how much more wretched must be the sad little creature who derives glee from taunting them?
Are you not inherently the butt of your own joke?
46 Fred Sinclair // Jan 20, 2007 at 7:34 am
Re #45 Godfrey - Sometimes you utterly amaze me.
Heirborn Ranger
47 MargeinMI // Jan 20, 2007 at 8:36 am
Godfrey, #45: Great pun!
Mornin’ all!
48 Maggie // Jan 20, 2007 at 8:49 am
Godfrey re#45………magnificent.
btw……what happened to all the new year’s resolutions to not talk to the trolls?
49 Maggie // Jan 20, 2007 at 8:51 am
Marge,
Good morning back at ya.
Are you snowed in?
50 Analchord // Jan 20, 2007 at 8:53 am
Say hello to my little friend:
51 mig // Jan 20, 2007 at 9:02 am
Here’s one reason that explains the hoop-ala over the Presidential Library being connected with a Methodist University:
David Ray Griffin blames the United States for 180 million deaths around the world every decade. Griffin, a professor emeritus at United Methodist Claremont School of Theology in California, claims that the U.S., as the hegemon of a global capitalist empire, is responsible for nearly every premature death everywhere. As such, it is worse than Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, and is today the “chief embodiment of demonic power.†Ray’s book, which alleges the Bush administration actually blew up the World Trade Center and Pentagon, was published by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) publishing house.
( http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=24923 )
52 Darthmeister // Jan 20, 2007 at 9:05 am
Scrapple Dictionary:
A-chord: a self-aggrandizing false witness who, in his own moral confusion, calls evil good and good evil. See “luciferic lemming”.
And he wonders why he never gets any respect here. Heh!
NEWS FLASH:
Rosie O’Donnel, that winsome woman many American liberals think is an intellectual giant, recently criticized the show American Idol.
“If you keep serving people crap, they’re eventually going to think it’s a meal,†Rosie touted.
Being the obvious expert on these matters herself, I suppose she should know.
53 mig // Jan 20, 2007 at 9:10 am
Soujourners better watch out for Pelosi!
“Preaching the Word” is designed for pastors who preach “with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.”
( http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7018 )
54 mig // Jan 20, 2007 at 9:11 am
Ms.Spelling where are you? Sojourners!
55 mig // Jan 20, 2007 at 9:15 am
Darth-
Maybe Rosie is part of Code Pinks rolling fast which ‘limosene liberals’ had participated.
‘Some left-leaners in Tinseltown believe they have found a way to promote their antiwar cause without skipping a gourmet beat. Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Danny Glover, and Ed Asner are a few of the Hollywood celebrities who believe they can wage a hunger strike and get compassionate credit while having someone else do the fasting for them.’
56 conserve-a-tips // Jan 20, 2007 at 9:20 am
Godfrey and Darthmeister, re #’s 44 & 45: Very, very good. Amen and all that stuff.
Maggie, I don’t think that includes talking to a troll about the amazing Gospel.
God made us a vessel to pour out His words and however they are received is left in God’s hands.
57 Ms RightWing, Ink // Jan 20, 2007 at 9:24 am
conserve-a-tips
A foot of snow! Oh my! We are seeing our first real snow of the year but it is barely enough to cover the ground as of now. Global warming has slipped away for the remainder of January as has the El Ninio winter we were enjoying.
Actually I have waited for this white winter’s day all season, so be it a small storm, I will take it. It is about 22 degrees as I speak.
I heard the experts who produce the Weather Channel have denounced local meteorologist who think there is no global warming as nincompoops. Hmm, pay no attention to the big man behind the cable curtain.
58 MargeinMI // Jan 20, 2007 at 9:58 am
Well, I just typed a Darth-length skreed, but hit the wrong button and lost it. Probably a good thing-why spoil you all’s good mood this morning with my woes about my son’s dead-beat dad.
I would ask you friends to please say a prayer for some peace of mind for me, however. I’m just beside myself right now I’m so sad and angry at him and at Friend of the Court (HA! friend of NOTHING!) Short version: this loser has not paid a dime since June, 2005; he’s $15K+ in arrears; he ACTUALLY SHOWED UP for a court date, and they gave him two more months to come up with $409.00. W? T? FFFFF??????????????!!!!!!!!!!!
I would also like to say: GOD BLESS all of you who are good fathers to your children. And mothers please appreciate them if you have them. I wish I could.
/rant over for this posting, not necessarily for me.
They say you can’t squeeze blood from a stone(s). I say, give me a big industrial vice and let ME try!
OK, now I’m done.
sigh. (sob)
59 Maggie // Jan 20, 2007 at 10:08 am
CAt re#56….your are absolutely right……my bad.
60 Maggie // Jan 20, 2007 at 10:14 am
Marge,
So sorry you must endure this trial.Many of us do understand your concerns and will pray for you and offer encouragement.(Gen.18:14)Read this verse aloud and then give the only logical answer.He honors His word and notes the sparrow that falls.
61 conserve-a-tips // Jan 20, 2007 at 10:16 am
Marge,
Been there…done that…to sound trite. I am assuming that you have turned this over to the county DA’s Child Support Enforcement Services and are in touch with your state Child Enforcement Services. Federal law is now such that if a case is turned over to these entities, tax returns, paychecks, etc. are automatically garnisheed and in most states, the driver’s license is taken away as well. Plus, you can contact your local “Deadbeat Dad” advertiser whether that be a news station - whatever - and have his picture broadcast. It works. Believe me. My former (alcoholic who ran off with a college student) was $15000 behind and wound up paying all but $850 which I have just said , “Oh well” about. If you haven’t contacted your local DA, I encourage you to do so. It means that they become your advocate.
62 JamesonLewis3rd // Jan 20, 2007 at 10:27 am
RE: #57~~
Ms RightWing, Ink~~
On the same topic of “you can say what you want, as long as you’re not disagreeing with me,” here’s a cartoon.
63 MargeinMI // Jan 20, 2007 at 10:41 am
Thank you ladies.
c-a-t, The only time I have EVER gotton any kind of regular payment (for about three months) was when he had a REAL job, courtesy of the court and a tether. He has made it a life-long ambition to never have a job that wasn’t ‘under the table’ (therefore no opportunity to garnish wages or tax returns or social security when he hits 65 for that matter-you have to pay in to get back don’t you?). Driver’s license? Ha. He’s the ‘under the table’ slave to the local chief of police who lets him drive licenseless so he can work for him on his ’side’ business. As far as posting his picture as a ‘deadbeat dad’, everyone in the county knows what a loser he is (wish someone would have told me!), so what’s the point? He’s beyond humiliation. In fact, I’m sure in his mind I’m the villian who just used him as a sperm donor so I could milk him for cash in the future. If that was the case, I surely would have chosen someone with better potential (anyone else that is)! LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSER!!!
ugh.
64 da Bunny // Jan 20, 2007 at 11:12 am
MRW, good “Wizard of Oz” analogy at #57! According to some articles on “Drudge” yesterday, there has been a strong backlash against this “Weather Channel” babe who thinks that all meteorologists who don’t spout the “global warming” party line should be stripped of their certification. Dr. Heidi Cullen…Weather Nazi.
65 da Bunny // Jan 20, 2007 at 11:22 am
Marge, your story is all too familiar to many. My brother’s best friend has custody of his three children, and his “deadbeat mom” of an ex-wife owes him thousands of dollars in unpaid court-ordered child support. But, the court order isn’t being enforced, because this perennially unemployed “mom” went out and had two more children, after abandoning her first three, and the court refuses to put the two little ones “at risk” by trying to “squeeze blood out of that trollop…er, turnip.” I guess the older kids don’t count in the court’s view. So sorry you’re having to deal with the same kind of mess, ’cause I’m sure you could use the money!
66 RedPepper // Jan 20, 2007 at 11:42 am
Here she comes - Ms. America !
“I’m not just starting a campaign, though, I’m beginning a conversation with you, with America,” she said. “Let’s talk. Let’s chat. The conversation in Washington has been just a little one-sided lately, don’t you think?”
Clinton launches 2008 White House bid
67 conserve-a-tips // Jan 20, 2007 at 11:55 am
Marge, that stinks, but though it is hard to do, just remember that God is faithful and that the impossible is possible for Him. That may mean getting the money or it may mean surviving in some other way without the money. When mine left, my children and I were literally left on the street with no home, no income and total humiliation. It is true that “all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” Those years were not easy, but in my moments when I could totally ‘let go and let God’, I saw things happen that give me chills to this day. My children are now in their 20’s, healthy, independent, Christian and more mature for the experience. They have seen where God has taken us and they are in just as much awe as I am. “May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you and give you peace.”
68 Ms RightWing, Ink // Jan 20, 2007 at 12:11 pm
As I read all the “deadbeat” story I can only say this, and it hurts, as the truth often does. It took two to make one. In this world we live in, courts are all to easy to grant a divorce and the churches are all to easy to grant a marriage.
I know my parents, as did many of our parents, never agree on important matters but life went on. Money, ha!, there were times when my dad was laid off (1959) and if wasn’t for my mom working in a stinky rubber factory there would have been some slim pickens on our dinner plates as food stamps were never seen around our place.
We were lucky because we lived in the country and always had a lot put away from the garden. Never once did I ever hear the ‘D” word spoken. I’m sure my dad felt like a heal for not bringing home the bacon, but he worked where ever he could in order to get through the tough times.
Nowadays that scenario would certainly bring the divorce to the table. So am I preaching to others? Well maybe, being married twice I can only look back at my youth and say shame on me. What little nit pickens brought us to the courts of law? I would be ashamed to say, and perhaps I have to much time on my hands nowadays, but if I had to live life all over again and knowing what I do now, boy it sure would be different.
I think divorces should be so hard to get that any man who asked for one should spend a year in an orphanage or any other place where kids have lost a parent. Mothers too.
Oh, I know there are the drunks and druggies ( and who married them?) but most are men and women who thought life would be better if…. are sorely mistaken. And the point is-life is never easier on the other side.
Men are beat down by the courts in many cases. Their spouses lie like their heads are on their chopping block and revenge is often the end motive. Many of my friends are so guilty of this and I have one friend with two men she is milking so she can drive a nice car, eat out, and live pretty good. The fathers meanwhile can’t buy a car, pay rent, buy a house or live any kind of life.
Men are often denied access to their kids and any decision on how they should be raised. The same goes for mothers who have had their child taken by lying lawyers and crooked judges.
We need to overhaul the whole support issue and take it out of the hands of the federal government. Oh how dare you say that! Well we scream about government invasion in nearly every other issue don’t we.
We need to put men back into raising kids again and we wouldn’t have so many nanny raised children that are so gay acting that they will become a new generation of worthless pollywogs.
Most marriage vows end with “until death do we part. So now we have millions of quick to run fathers (and mothers) speaking the second marriage vows that also say, “until death do we part.”
I don’t know the answers but often I hear on talk radio in the evening as fathers call in stating their case. I think child support as it now stands is one of the most destructive terrorist tools our government has. Perhaps forcing divorced parents to live next door to each other would be a better deal, then they would have to look each other in the eye and both could see the kids every day. Hmmm
So as usual my commentary will get me on the most hated list, but this is life as I see it and have lived it. I am no angel and have screwed up as much as the next, so toss the stones. Gee, I’m beginning to sound like my ol’ friend Possum.
As to my friend Marge, this is not to say the old man deserves to be whipped at the post. Many fathers do, but many have been beat by the county judge already.
Therefore I end my sermon
69 conserve-a-tips // Jan 20, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Redpepper, I believe that I will have her over for tea and scones to “chat”. She will come won’t she? I am sure that she will heed what I have to tell her. And Santa really flies in a sleigh with eight reindeer, right???
70 Ms RightWing, Ink // Jan 20, 2007 at 12:50 pm
re:68
I guess I sounded a bit insensitive in the above piece but I usually don’t go back and apologize for what I say. I meant not to denigrate Marge’s situation, it is that I just hate what is happening to our marriages in our brave new world.
71 RedPepper // Jan 20, 2007 at 2:15 pm
c-a-t #69: I hope that you plan to inventory your silverware afterward.
And your furniture …
72 JamesonLewis3rd // Jan 20, 2007 at 2:41 pm
I was reading Buckley’s take on the Chinese weather satellite take-down and saw that he said the satellite was “500 miles in space”.
As it so happens, there’s an article on Wikipedia on this incident:
“The Feng Yun 1C polar orbit weather satellite was hit by a medium-range, ground based ballistic missile approximately 537 miles above the Earth’s surface. The missile used a “kinetic impact” to destroy the satellite, said Johndroe. Both the satellite and the missile was launched from the Xichang Space Center in Sichuan Province; the satellite in 1999, and the missile on January 11 this year.”
Query (RE: #16):
Is 537 miles the same as “35,786 kilometers (19,323 nautical miles)”?
Answer: Nope.
537 miles = 864.57 kilometers and 35, 786 kilometers = 22,187.32 miles.
The Space Shuttle orbits (depending on what it is doing, I guess) at an altitude of up to 340 miles. The International Space Station orbits at about 224 miles.
73 JamesonLewis3rd // Jan 20, 2007 at 2:42 pm
Also, note: Scott specifically states the altitude as 537 miles.
74 The Noosance // Jan 20, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Too bad it wasn’t aimed at the Starbucks in the Forbidden City.
http://www.thenoosewire.blogspot.com
75 kajun // Jan 20, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Upnorthlurkin
#24:
You can have yer cold front back, anytime!
Waitin for ice to melt off Wal Mart trail so we can buy some more Chineese stuff.
76 Godfrey // Jan 20, 2007 at 5:20 pm
The big news of the day is that Hillary Clinton is (gasp!) running for president. The little news of the day is that Sam Brownback has thrown his hat into the ring as well. I’m not sure how I feel about this guy; his views vary pretty wildly.
On the plus side, he is:
1. Pro Life
2. Pro Flat Tax
3. Against Bush’s illegal wiretaps
On the negative side, he is:
1. Against the troop surge, apparently buying into the notion that a “political” solution to Iraq can arise independent of a military solution. I think they’re inextricably linked.
2. In favor of teaching “Intelligent Design” in science classes, even though IE is about as far from science as you can get.
3. Leaning toward an anti-death penalty stance, apparently a result of his newfound Catholicism (he was a mainline protestant, then an evangelist…now he’s a Catholic. I think it’s safe to assume that by 2008 he’ll be dabbling in Buddhism).
I’m pretty sure that the GOP can field stronger candidates than this, but he’s still oh so better than Hillary.
77 MargeinMI // Jan 21, 2007 at 8:32 am
Good morning all! May I take a moment and thank you all for (involuntarily) coming to my own little pity party yesterday. I was very upset and forgot that Scott’s great blog is NOT my forum for spewing my problems. All I could think about was my need to vent and knowing I would get some sympathy here from my dear Scrapple friends. Please forgive me for abusing it.
In response to Ms. RW, may I say ‘ouch’ (yes the truth does hurt), and believe it or not, I agree with most all you said. No offense taken. There are many who abuse the system (remember I grew up in Detroit-capital of the ‘welfare mama’), but I’m not one of them. My biggest first mistake in this situation was believing a first class liar. Unfortunately, by the time I realized how far and deep his lies were, I was 3 weeks pregnant. (When I write my autobiography, it will be titled, “Bad Choices/Bad Timing-the Saga of Marge.)
You are absolutely right, it does take two to make one. I take full responsibility for my part in that choice. It is a reality that I have also taken full responsibility for everything that has followed, while he has walked away. Such is biology.
Speaking in generalities now, since the availability of birth control and abortion, it seems that men have been totally let off the hook for their ‘responsibility’ part of the equation. How to fix that? I surely don’t know, but it will be the destruction of society if not corrected. Women, in their struggle for equality (ha), have denigrated the role of men to the point where they feel their input is unwanted, not needed, or just plain unimportant. Who could blame them for walking away? Shame on us! The FACT is, they ARE needed to raise healthy children.
I also agree that the FOC system is a shambles. It is so unfair to all involved. Deadbeats are allowed to be deadbeats, while fathers who pay faithfully are often persecuted if their circumstances change and one payment is missed. In a perfect world, fathers would gladly support their children without the strong arming of the law, but that’s not the world we live in. Most of my frustration yesterday was due to the court’s actions, not the deadbeat dad’s (I’ve resigned myself to his loserness). He has retained counsel (how’d he afford that?) and the court has adjourned his payment for two months for ‘monitoring’, whatever that means. Are they going to monitor how he spends his money in the bar every night? Every other time they actually had him in court, they have made him pay a pittance at least. After ten years of his obvious deadbeatness, why do they need another two months to ‘monitor’? The whole situation is just plain WRONG!
Am I bitter and angry? Yeah, you betcha. Am I filled with guilt for making such a bad choice? More than you’ll ever know. Do I pray for God to take this ugliness from my heart? Every day. Do I love my boy and do my best to raise him to be a good man? To the best of my ability, which is really hard without close-up first-hand knowledge of what a good man is. How will he ever know how to be a good dad? It’s a worry.
And so I continue on, day by day, with the wonderous Grace of God to sustain me. Thanks for listening.
And now ON TOPIC:
To Hitlery-”You’re stupid if you think we’re stupid enough to elect you POTUS!”
Oh, and A-chord, DEFINITELY time for your meds.
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