• Entertainment

    Dixie Chicks Watch: Tour Struggling in Red State Markets

    Reuters: Dixie Chicks tour struggling in several markets

    Initial ticket sales for the Dixie Chicks’ upcoming tour are far below expectations and several dates will likely be canceled or postoned.

    Ticket counts for the 20-plus arena shows that went on sale last weekend were averaging 5,000-6,000 per show in major markets and less in secondaries, according to sources contacted by Billboard. Venue capacities on the tour generally top 15,000.

    In contrast, the band’s new album, “Taking the Long Way,” sold 526,000 units in its first week, according to Nielsen Soundscan, the third-largest sales week of 2006. The album logged a second week in the period ended June 4, according to sales data issued Wednesday.

    Despite those numbers, early ticket sales are clearly not meeting projections. The plug was pulled on public on-sales for shows in Indianapolis (August 23), Oklahoma City (September 26), Memphis (September 27) and Houston (September 30) because of tepid pre-sales in a national promotion with Target stores.

    The Memphis show has been pulled off the route and the status of the shows in Indianapolis, Houston and Oklahoma City remains uncertain. Industry speculation has it that much or all of the tour may be postponed. At the very least, it is likely routing and capacity will be reconfigured.

    But, they are popular in the U.K Canada and blue state markets.

    Early ticket sales for this tour are in marked contrast to the Chicks’ last proper outing in 2003 when a national on-sale moved some 867,000 tickets the first weekend, and second shows were added in several markets. The Chicks ended up with the top-grossing country tour of 2003 at $62 million.

    But not all shows on this tour are below projections. “We’re happy (with our on-sale) and comparatively seem to be ahead of most,” says John Page, Global Spectrum COO/GM at Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, where the trio is booked for July 25. A second date was added for the Air Canada Center in Toronto, where the first show sold out in eight minutes. “Canada loves the Chicks,” says ACC booking director Patti-Ann Tarlton.

    After two shows in London, the North American tour was set to begin July 21 in Detroit. But with ticket sales below expectations, it is possible the route and capacities may be further reconfigured.

    Flap supposes the tour market is reinforcing Shut Up and Sing!

    Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.

    Previous:

    Dixie Chicks Watch: Taking The Long Way, Debuts At #1 On Billboard Top 200

    Dixie Chicks Watch: Natalie Maines – “I Don’t Feel He (President Bush) Is Owed Any Respect Whatsoever.”


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  • Canada,  Terrorists

    Canada Terrorism Watch: Operation Badr – The Crown Synopsis

    The Globe and Mail: How the police watched the plan unfold

    Fahim Ahmad group’s alleged ’emir’

    It’s alleged that they called their project Operation Badr. And before its unravelling gripped the world’s attention on the weekend, it made quieter noises that police say they picked up on: a seemingly inconsequential gun seizure at the Canada-U.S. border; a gunshot near Cochrane in Northern Ontario; bullets shattering statues of Hindu gods during a target practice in a remote area in the Township of Ramara, Ont.; and the printing of business cards with a decidedly non-threatening e-mail address, Studentfarmers@hotmail.com.

    According to a copy of a Crown synopsis viewed yesterday by The Globe and Mail, police have months worth of surveillance, communication intercepts and physical evidence that were amassed before a monitored buy of $4,000 worth of ammonium nitrate fertilizer on Friday. This sting is said to be the final chapter of months of dogged police work, leading to the arrest of 17 suspects.

    Read it all.

    This is an interesting expose into the working of this terrorist group.

    Note:

    But according to the Crown dossier seen by The Globe, police were doing a lot: They were watching Mr. Ahmad’s communications, and came to believe he was talking to overseas figures with ties to international terrorism; they were trying to tie him to two Georgia-based terrorism suspects who had visited Toronto that spring; and they were keeping a close eye on the Toronto-area circles he moved in.

    Seems to be the rationale behind the NSA monitoring communications, eh?

    Another interesting piece in the Globe and Mail today is RCMP foiled dozen plots in past two years.

    The RCMP has quietly broken up at least a dozen terrorist groups in the past two years, according to documents obtained by The Globe and Mail.

    “We have completed 12 disruptions of national-level terrorist groups across the country,” the Mounties say in briefing notes prepared for Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day.

    Disruptive tactics — sometimes as simple as letting targets know they are under close surveillance — are used to prevent a terrorist attack when the police do not have enough evidence to lay criminal charges, the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service say.

    Unlike the high-profile arrests and court proceedings resulting from the weekend roundup of terrorist suspects in Southern Ontario, the public rarely learns about these operations, federal security officials say.

    The briefing notes, released to The Globe under the Access to Information Act, are part of the transition book prepared by the RCMP for Mr. Day when the Conservatives formed a new government in February.

    Read it all.

    Stay tuned……..

    Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.
    Previous:

    Canada Terrorism Watch: Second Arrest in the United Kingdom Tied to Canada Terrorist Round-Up

    Canada Terror Watch: Canada Plot Suspect Steven Chand Planned to Behead Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada

    Canada Terrorist Watch: Muslim Leader Accuses Media of ‘Racism’

    Canada Terrorist Watch: United States Links to Canada Terrorist Plot Investigated

    Canada Terrorism Watch: Canadian Terror Probe Expands to 7 nations

    Canada Terrorism Watch: Toronto Mosque Vandalized

    Canada Terrorism Watch: Terrorists from “Broad Strata” of Society

    Canada Terrorism Watch: Suspects Complain About Conditions and Demand Korans

    Canada Terrorism Watch: 17 Canadians in Custody for Terrorist Plot to Use Explosives


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  • United Nations

    United Nations Watch: U.N. Ambassador John Bolton Rebukes UN Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown for Anti-American Criticism

    John Bolton, US ambassador to the United Nations , responds outside the Security Council chambers at UN headquarters in New York, to a speech given by Mark Malloch Brown, deputy to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan . Bolton strongly rebuked Brown’s remarks which criticized Washington’s stance on key UN issues, demanding that they be repudiated to avoid doing serious damage to the world body.

    AFP: Bolton tangles with Annan deputy over US policy toward UN

    US Ambassador John Bolton rebuked a stinging criticism of Washington’s policy toward the United Nations by UN chief Kofi Annan’s deputy, demanding it be promptly repudiated to avoid doing serious damage to the world body.

    Addressing a New York conference on global leadership Tuesday, UN Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown slammed the prevailing US “practice of seeking to use the UN almost by stealth as a diplomatic tool while failing to stand up for it against its domestic critics.”

    He noted that while Washington is constructively engaged with the UN on a host of issues such as Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon or Syria, “much of the public discourse that reaches the US heartland has been largely abandoned to its loudest detractors such as (conservative radio talk show host) Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.”

    “Exacerbating matters is the widely held perception, even among many US allies, that the US tends to hold on to maximalist positions when it could be finding middle ground,” Malloch Brown said.

    And who the hell is this MORON?

    No wonder the United Nations is held in such LOW regard in the United States.

    And Americans pay more dues to the United Nations than any other country.

    In a furious reaction, Bolton called the speech by Annan’s deputy a “very grave mistake.”

    “We are in the process of an enormous effort to achieve substantial reform at the United Nations,” he said. “To have the deputy secretary general criticize the United States in such a manner can only do great harm to the United Nations.

    “Even though the target of the speech was the United States, the victim, I fear, will be the United Nations,” he added. “Even worse was the condescending and patronizing tone about the American people.”

    Bolton said the only way “to mitigate the damage to the United Nations” was for Annan to “personally and publicly repudiate this speech at the earliest possible opportunity.”

    “Otherwise I fear the consequences not just for the reform effort but for the organization,” he added.

    But, the crook Koffi Annan won’t repudiate his own deputy because he hates America and so do most of the third world countries that comprise the United Nations.

    Annan’s spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Annan “stands by the statement made by his deputy and he agrees with the thrust of it.”

    “So there is no question of any action being taken against the deputy secretary general,” he added.

    Malloch Brown’s speech should not be interpreted “as an anti-US speech” and in fact called for “greater US involvement in the United Nations and makes clear that the UN cannot work without US engagement and US leadership,” Dujarric said.

    But, the comments by Malloch Brown, who was a Social Democrat candidate for the U.K Parliament in 1983 were anti-American and no matter how he spins it, should be repudiated.

    And after the Flap Mark Mollach Brown  backpedaled:

    I think I don’t need to tell any of you that I have been deeply criticized by the G-77 in recent months for telling them that they too need to get their house in order and engage iaround this reform agenda. But it takes two sides to make a bargain, and to me it was enormously important to deliver that call to my American friends. But to do it in a way, and this is where you all have, and I really do urge you to read the speech, to do it in a way, that is not, that can be possibly characterized as anti-US, but which is intended as a very pro-US speech, in that its central point is an appeal for more consistent public leadership by the United States in the United Nations. And it is a critique not just of this Administratiuon but of Adminsitrations going all the way back to Truman although in my delivery of it Ted Sorenmson sort of made a pitch that maybe Kennedy should be exempted from this, but that we just not…but it has been very hard for Administrations to stand up and publicly avow the extraordinary use they make of the United Nations, so that was the appeal, which was: Engage here. Engage consistently and go out and engage with the American public to say the U.N. matters. And for the life of me I can’t understand how that can be construed as an anti-American speech.

    Stay tuned…..Flap does not think John Bolton will let this go……


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  • Iran Nuclear Watch

    Iran Nuclear Watch: United States – Iran Must Suspend Uranium Enrichment During Negotiations

    European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana (C) and Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki walk before a news conference in Tehran June 6, 2006

    Reuters: Iran must suspend enrichment throughout any talks: US

    The United States said on Wednesday Iran would have to suspend nuclear enrichment throughout any negotiations as a condition for proposed talks with the Islamic republic over curbing its atomic programs.

    State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told Reuters suspension is a “firm condition” of the major powers’ offer to begin negotiations and “that condition would have to hold throughout any potential negotiations.”

    “The suspension of all enrichment-related activity is at the core of what the international community is asking Iran to do,” he added.

    He refused to say if a proposal by six major powers to Iran includes a provision by which it might eventually be allowed to resume enrichment on its territory.

    But Western diplomats said the package of incentives presented to Iran this week leaves the door open to Tehran eventually resuming enrichment.

    The diplomats, in interviews with Reuters, stressed that this would take a very long time to achieve.

    “The standards (set by the major powers) are very high and Iran falls a long way short of those,” one diplomat said.

    He and others stressed that it took Japan years to win international approval for its nuclear energy program, while Iran is viewed with far more distrust.

    Diplomatic sources also outlined details of the offer, which was agreed on by the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany and included for the first time a U.S. offer to join European-led talks with Iran.

    The major powers’ proposal, which has not been made public, also offers to provide Iran with a new facility to stockpile nuclear fuel, deletes an earlier reference in a draft to guaranteeing Iran’s “territorial integrity” and proposes an informal regional security forum, the diplomats said.

    More leaks regarding the Big 6 proposal under consideration by Iran. This is the MAJOR issue which Iran will have to accept. If they do, they have SURRENDERED their nuclear weapons program.

    The international community will hog-tie Iranian compliance with inspections for years, if not decades. And within this period of time, the United States will further develop anti-ballistic missile technology and no longer have troops in Iraq.

    Will Iran accept?

    Doubtful…….

    Tick Tick Tick

    Stay tuned……

    Previous:

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Says Western proposal ‘positive’

    Iran Nuclear Watch: U.S. Energy Secretary Bodman on Possible Iran Disruption of Persian Gulf Oil Supplies – “We Can Handle it For a While”

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Receives Big 6 Nuclear Initiative

    Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Sweetens the POT

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Threatens Oil Disruption

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad to Publish Big 6 Offer to Iran

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Ahmadinejad – Iran Welcomes Unconditional Talks on Nukes

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran President Ahmadinejad – The West Won’t Deprive Iran of Its Nuclear Technology

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran “DETERMINED” to Go Ahead with Nuclear Enrichment Work

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Big 6 Agree on Iran Nuclear Incentives and Sanctions (?)

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Spurns Talks With United States

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran – United States Offer to Join Talks is “A Propaganda Move.”

    Iran Nuclear Watch: United States Prepared To Join Other Nations in Direct Iran Talks – IF…

    Iran Nuclear Watch: United States to Join Iran Nuclear Talks?

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – “We Are Determined”

    Iran Nuclear Watch: Iran Wants to Resume Nuclear Talks with European Union

    The Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Natanz is pictured in this January 2, 2006 satellite image.



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  • Canada,  Terrorists

    Canada Terrorism Watch: Second Arrest in the United Kingdom Tied to Canada Terrorist Round-Up

    The broken front door of a house in Bradford, England shows where police used force to enter the building and arrest a man who they believe is connected to the alleged terror plot in Toronto.

    Reuters: Second UK arrest linked to Canada swoop: BBC

    Police arrested a second person under Britain’s anti-terrorism laws on Wednesday in an operation the BBC said was linked to last week’s security swoop in Canada.

    The 16-year-old, who was not identified, was held in Yorkshire, northern England, after a man aged 21 was detained at Manchester Airport late on Tuesday, a police spokesman said.

    “This is a continuation of last night’s operation at Manchester Airport,” the spokesman said.

    The BBC, quoting unnamed sources, said the 21-year-old man, believed to be of Pakistani origin, was being questioned in connection with the arrest last week of 17 Muslim men in Canada accused of being al Qaeda sympathizers.

    Police said the public broadcaster’s report was “speculation” and would not comment further.

    Several of those arrested in Canada have been charged with plotting bombings in Canadian cities and training militants.

    British officers were searching five properties in the northern English towns of Bradford and Dewsbury as part of the investigation.

    The arrests were made less than a week after police in London shot and wounded a man during a raid on a house which they believed was being used to make a chemical bomb.

    Police said no armed officers were involved in Tuesday’s arrest and the operation was not related to the London inquiry, which was still in progress.

    Police stand guard outside a residence after a police raid in Bradford, UK. One man was arrested and police allege he is connected to the alleged terror plot in Toronto.

    Remember – It is a Global War on Terror………

    Might there be some international coordination between these terrorist cells?

    You betcha

    A case in point for the NSA Surveillance interception of international communications.

    Stay tuned……

    Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.

    Previous:

    Canada Terror Watch: Canada Plot Suspect Steven Chand Planned to Behead Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada

    Canada Terrorist Watch: Muslim Leader Accuses Media of ‘Racism’

    Canada Terrorist Watch: United States Links to Canada Terrorist Plot Investigated

    Canada Terrorism Watch: Canadian Terror Probe Expands to 7 nations

    Canada Terrorism Watch: Toronto Mosque Vandalized

    Canada Terrorism Watch: Terrorists from “Broad Strata” of Society

    Canada Terrorism Watch: Suspects Complain About Conditions and Demand Korans

    Canada Terrorism Watch: 17 Canadians in Custody for Terrorist Plot to Use Explosives


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  • California,  Election 2006,  Politics

    California Primary Election 2006 Results Watch: Rob Reiner’s Proposition 82 Preschool Initiative LOSES BIG

    Prop. 82 was spawned by Reiner, who in 1998 led the successful tobacco tax initiative known as Proposition 10, which provides about $550 million a year in “First Five” funding for early childhood programs.

    San Francisco Chronicle: Measure to tax rich for preschool for all heading for defeat

    A pitch for universal preschool that had split parents, business interests and members of political parties appeared headed for defeat Tuesday night after a hard-fought campaign.

    Proposition 82 would have placed California in the forefront of a growing national movement to provide publicly supported preschool.

    Supporters of the initiative called it the best fix for a struggling K-12 system by giving all 4-year-olds the basic skills needed to succeed in school. But opponents warned it could merely expand a failed state education bureaucracy and said voters needed to read the fine print of an initiative with natural appeal.

    With 44 percent of votes counted statewide, the measure was losing by a margin of 59 percent to 41 percent.

    Prop. 82 champion Rob Reiner sounded defeated as he addressed cheering supporters at a Los Angeles hotel Tuesday night.

    “Right now, it doesn’t look good, but it doesn’t matter,” the Hollywood director said. “Win or lose, we have raised the profile of the importance of early childhood education, and it will never go away.”

    Reiner called on opponents who said they supported the idea of publicly supported preschool — just not the proposition’s details — to help craft an alternative.

    Opponents were optimistic.

    “We’re feeling pretty confident the results will hold up,” said Kathy Fairbanks, a spokeswoman for the No on 82 campaign. “Voters rejected a tax increase to create a $2.4 billion preschool bureaucracy.”

    The measure would have levied an additional 1.7 percent tax on the incomes of couples who make more than $800,000 and individuals who make more than $400,000, starting Jan. 1, 2007. Preschools could apply to begin using the funding in 2010.

    An estimated 62 to 65 percent of California 4-year-olds now attend some form of preschool, but the proposition’s backers said many of those programs are of low quality and would be replaced by better schools with more highly trained teachers.

    Reiner and his LEFT Hollywood friends lost big time with this tax the rich universal preschool scheme.

    Everyone knows that preschool is good for children.

    And everyone knows that California public schools are some of the USA’s worst. And Reiner wanted to create another under-performing school bureaucracy.

    California voters said NO and in a big way.

    The Initiative:

    PROPOSITION 82

    OFFICIAL TITLE AND SUMMARY Three stars

    Prepared by the Attorney General

    Preschool Education. Tax on Incomes Over $400,000 for Individuals; $800,000 for Couples. Initiative Constitutional Amendment and Statute.

    • Establishes a right to voluntary preschool for all four-year old children.
    • Funded by a 1.7% tax on individual incomes above $400,000; $800,000 for couples.
    • Administered by the state Superintendent of Public Instruction and county school superintendents.
    • Directs counties to prepare reports on curricula, outreach, facilities, childcare coordination,
    budgeting, teacher recruitment and pay.
    • Limits administrative expenses; requires program audits.
    • Requires state Superintendent to develop a preschool teaching credential with financial aid
    for credential students.
    • Excludes revenue from appropriation limits, Proposition 98 calculations.

    Summary of Legislative Analyst’s Estimate of Net State and Local Government Fiscal Impact:

    • Increased state revenues of about $2.1 billion in 2007–08, growing annually with the economy
    to around $2.6 billion in 2010–11, when the preschool program would be open to all 4-year olds in the state.
    • Revenues would be used solely for new state preschool program and would be spent to run
    the program, pay for facilities, train teachers, and provide an operating reserve

    The results:

    Yes: 1,577,048 – 39.1 %

    No: 2,453,578 – 60.9 %

    The Hollywood Left and Rob Reiner were repudiated at the polls.

    Rob Reiner on the stump for Proposition 82

    Discuss this blog post and MORE…. at the FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blogs, My Dental Forum.
    Previous:

    Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Rob Reiner Resigns – FINALLY

    Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: This is Arnold Schwarzenegger’s MESS Now

    Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Rob Reiner = “A Friend”
    Arnold Schwarzenegger Watch: Meathead Rob Reiner Won’t RUN

    Rob Reiner Watch: Candidate for California Governor?

    Rob Reiner Watch: Tax the Rich for Pre-School

    	
  • Arnold Schwarzenegger,  California,  California Republican Party,  Election 2006,  Politics

    California Election 2006 Watch: Angelides v. Schwarzenegger

    California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) greets campaigning volunteers in Sacramento, California June 6, 2006

    ASSociated Press: Calif. treasurer to face Schwarzenegger

    State Treasurer Phil Angelides defeated Controller Steve Westly in a bitter primary battle, and the Democrats turned their attention to defeating a wounded but rebounding Republican Gov.
    Arnold Schwarzenegger in the fall.

    With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Angelides had 931,220 votes, or 48 percent, to Westly’s 855,320 votes, or 44 percent.

    California Democrats vote LEFT and pick California Treasurer Phil Angelides who is Gray Davis in a “GEEK” outfit.

    Arnold should be able to cruise on his way to re-election.

    Why?

    Angelides supports:

    1. Tax Increases

    2. California Driver’s Licenses for Illegal Aliens

    3. In-State Tuition for Illegal Alien students

    California Talk Radio will begin today to savage Angelides on the issues.

    Schwarzenegger will raise the money and even Angelides’ wealthy developer friends and public employee unions will not be able to prevent a very credible GOP media campaign.

    Stay tuned……

    Democratic gubernatorial candidate, state Treasurer Phil Angelides, thanks supporters during an election night party in Sacramento, Cailf., Tuesday, June 6, 2006.

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  • California,  Election 2006,  Politics

    California Primary Election 2006 Results Watch: GOP Bilbray WINS CA-50

    Brian Bilbray, Republican candidate in the 50th congressional district, center, addresses supporters as his daughter Briana Bilbray, left, son Patrick Bilbray, center left, and his wife his wife Karen Bilbray, right, look on at an election night party held at the Westgate Hotel in San Diego Tuesday, June 6, 2006.

    ASSociated Press: Former GOP Rep. wins Calif. House race

    A former Republican congressman narrowly beat his Democratic rival early Wednesday for the House seat once held by jailed Randy “Duke” Cunningham, a race closely watched as a possible early barometer of next fall’s vote.

    Republican Brian Bilbray emerged victorious after a costly and contentious special election race against Democrat Francine Busby, a local school board member.

    With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Bilbray had 56,130 votes, or 50 percent. Busby trailed with 51,292 votes, or 45 percent. “I think that we’re going back to Washington,” Bilbray told cheering supporters.

    The race — one of dozens of contests Tuesday in eight states — was viewed by Democrats as an opportunity to capture a solidly Republican district and build momentum on their hopes to capture control of the House.

    If this election is an example or a portent for November 2006, the GOP will handily retain control of the House in November.

    However, the margin of victory for Bilbray was 5-6 points lower than what President Bush carried the district in 2004. So, there is work for the GOP.

    But, the main thrust of Democrat Party Mo has been STALLED……

    The Democrat Pary “Culture of Corrupion” is DEAD.

    Speaker Hastert’s statement is here:

    House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert made the following statement upon hearing that Brian Bilbray won California’s 50th Congressional seat:

    “I want to congratulate Brian Bilbray on his victory in a hard fought race where voters clearly sided with local issues of protecting the homeland, growing the economy and securing the borders over a national Democratic agenda of higher taxes and border insecurity. I look forward to working with Brian on these issues in the House of Representatives.”

    Watch immigration reform (illegal aliens) as a MAJOR issue for the GOP in the Fall. Bilbray ran on “No Amnesty” and heavily criticized the Senate bill with the appropach favored by President Bush.

    Stay tuned……

    Previous:

    California Primary Election 2006 Watch: CA – 50 GOP Brian Bilbray Leads

    Election 2006 Watch: Francine Busby in California 50 – “You Don’t Need Papers for Voting”


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