Jessica Lynch. Neocon Nationalism at it's worst. Take a wrong turn, make a million dollars. Victimize a female soldier without a memory, wrap her in a flag and run for re-election.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Saving Private Lynch story 'flawed'
There was no [sign of] shooting, no bullet inside her body, no stab wound Dr Harith a-Houssona .
By John Kampfner
Private Jessica Lynch became an icon of the war, and the story of her capture by the Iraqis and her rescue by US special forces became one of the great patriotic moments of the conflict.
But her story is one of the most stunning pieces of news management ever conceived.
Private Lynch, a 19-year-old army clerk from Palestine, West Virginia, was captured when her company took a wrong turning just outside Nasiriya and was ambushed.
Nine of her comrades were killed and Private Lynch was taken to the local hospital, which at the time was swarming with Fedayeen. Eight days later US special forces stormed the hospital, capturing the "dramatic" events on a night vision camera.
They were said to have come under fire from inside and outside the building, but they made it to Lynch and whisked her away by helicopter.
There was no [sign of] shooting, no bullet inside her body, no stab wound Dr Harith a-Houssona
Reports claimed that she had stab and bullet wounds and that she had been slapped about on her hospital bed and interrogated.
But Iraqi doctors in Nasiriya say they provided the best treatment they could for the soldier in the midst of war. She was assigned the only specialist bed in the hospital and one of only two nurses on the floor.
"I examined her, I saw she had a broken arm, a broken thigh and a dislocated ankle," said Dr Harith a-Houssona, who looked after her.
Jessica amnesia
"There was no [sign of] shooting, no bullet inside her body, no stab wound - only road traffic accident. They want to distort the picture. I don't know why they think there is some benefit in saying she has a bullet injury."
Witnesses told us that the special forces knew that the Iraqi military had fled a day before they swooped on the hospital.
"We were surprised. Why do this? There was no military, there were no soldiers in the hospital," said Dr Anmar Uday, who worked at the hospital.
"It was like a Hollywood film. They cried 'go, go, go', with guns and blanks without bullets, blanks and the sound of explosions. They made a show for the American attack on the hospital - action movies like Sylvester Stallone or Jackie Chan."
There was one more twist. Two days before the snatch squad arrived, Harith had arranged to deliver Jessica to the Americans in an ambulance.
But as the ambulance, with Private Lynch inside, approached a checkpoint American troops opened fire, forcing it to flee back to the hospital. The Americans had almost killed their prize catch.
Some brave souls put their lives on the line to make this happen General Vincent Brooks
When footage of the rescue was released, General Vincent Brooks, US spokesman in Doha, said: "Some brave souls put their lives on the line to make this happen, loyal to a creed that they know that they'll never leave a fallen comrade."
The American strategy was to ensure the right television footage by using embedded reporters and images from their own cameras, editing the film themselves.
The Pentagon had been influenced by Hollywood producers of reality TV and action movies, notably the man behind Black Hawk Down, Jerry Bruckheimer.
Bruckheimer advised the Pentagon on the primetime television series "Profiles from the Front Line", that followed US forces in Afghanistan in 2001. That approached was taken on and developed on the field of battle in Iraq.
As for Private Lynch, her status as cult hero is stronger than ever. Internet auction sites list Jessica Lynch items, from an oil painting with an opening bid of $200 to a $5 "America Loves Jessica Lynch" fridge magnet.
But doctors now say she has no recollection of the whole episode and probably never will.
War Spin was broadcast on BBC Two on Sunday, 18 May, 2003 at 1915 BST.
By John Kampfner
Private Jessica Lynch became an icon of the war, and the story of her capture by the Iraqis and her rescue by US special forces became one of the great patriotic moments of the conflict.
But her story is one of the most stunning pieces of news management ever conceived.
Private Lynch, a 19-year-old army clerk from Palestine, West Virginia, was captured when her company took a wrong turning just outside Nasiriya and was ambushed.
Nine of her comrades were killed and Private Lynch was taken to the local hospital, which at the time was swarming with Fedayeen. Eight days later US special forces stormed the hospital, capturing the "dramatic" events on a night vision camera.
They were said to have come under fire from inside and outside the building, but they made it to Lynch and whisked her away by helicopter.
There was no [sign of] shooting, no bullet inside her body, no stab wound Dr Harith a-Houssona
Reports claimed that she had stab and bullet wounds and that she had been slapped about on her hospital bed and interrogated.
But Iraqi doctors in Nasiriya say they provided the best treatment they could for the soldier in the midst of war. She was assigned the only specialist bed in the hospital and one of only two nurses on the floor.
"I examined her, I saw she had a broken arm, a broken thigh and a dislocated ankle," said Dr Harith a-Houssona, who looked after her.
Jessica amnesia
"There was no [sign of] shooting, no bullet inside her body, no stab wound - only road traffic accident. They want to distort the picture. I don't know why they think there is some benefit in saying she has a bullet injury."
Witnesses told us that the special forces knew that the Iraqi military had fled a day before they swooped on the hospital.
"We were surprised. Why do this? There was no military, there were no soldiers in the hospital," said Dr Anmar Uday, who worked at the hospital.
"It was like a Hollywood film. They cried 'go, go, go', with guns and blanks without bullets, blanks and the sound of explosions. They made a show for the American attack on the hospital - action movies like Sylvester Stallone or Jackie Chan."
There was one more twist. Two days before the snatch squad arrived, Harith had arranged to deliver Jessica to the Americans in an ambulance.
But as the ambulance, with Private Lynch inside, approached a checkpoint American troops opened fire, forcing it to flee back to the hospital. The Americans had almost killed their prize catch.
Some brave souls put their lives on the line to make this happen General Vincent Brooks
When footage of the rescue was released, General Vincent Brooks, US spokesman in Doha, said: "Some brave souls put their lives on the line to make this happen, loyal to a creed that they know that they'll never leave a fallen comrade."
The American strategy was to ensure the right television footage by using embedded reporters and images from their own cameras, editing the film themselves.
The Pentagon had been influenced by Hollywood producers of reality TV and action movies, notably the man behind Black Hawk Down, Jerry Bruckheimer.
Bruckheimer advised the Pentagon on the primetime television series "Profiles from the Front Line", that followed US forces in Afghanistan in 2001. That approached was taken on and developed on the field of battle in Iraq.
As for Private Lynch, her status as cult hero is stronger than ever. Internet auction sites list Jessica Lynch items, from an oil painting with an opening bid of $200 to a $5 "America Loves Jessica Lynch" fridge magnet.
But doctors now say she has no recollection of the whole episode and probably never will.
War Spin was broadcast on BBC Two on Sunday, 18 May, 2003 at 1915 BST.
Morning Papers - It's Origins
Rooster "Cock-A-Doodle-Due"
"Oak-He-Doe-$he"
Do you know there is no such thing as 'Bigot's Anonymous.'
We can get caught up on history then and now anytime.
"Oak-He-Doe-$he"
Do you know there is no such thing as 'Bigot's Anonymous.'
We can get caught up on history then and now anytime.
"Wink"
Enjoy.
Can you name all the Repubilcan Playboys?
Arnold Schwarzenegger has lead a very glamourous life with multitudes of women.
Rudolph W. Giulianni divorced his spouse while having an affair with another.
Bernard Kerik's escapades are legendary.
Newt Gingrich was playing around while building his "Contract with America" followed by a subsequent divorce.
Think of all the Republicans that fell by the wayside while the House was trying to impeach Clinton. It was one after another until someone without an extramarital affair was able to preside.
Why even George Walker Bush himself lead a very spicey life due to his status of priviledge. Heck, there are women dead and missing due to his loose morals before he 'courted' the Religious Right with unconstitutional promises to be elected.
We know for a fact the divorce rate in the Red States is higher than other states in the nation.
Men with money/power attract women. They attack pretty women who are of value as a sex object. It's the way it is. Who are the top 2% of the nation? Who plays around and gets away with it?
The 'Value' politics of this administration is for one reason and one reason only and that is to control the American public and it's voting habits. When it comes down to it, controling civil rights to model the USA Constitution after the Evangelical demands in the Red States is nothing short of treason by men that are amoral to begin with as demonstrated time and time again as well as their brazen favoritism of cronies.
Rudolph W. Giulianni divorced his spouse while having an affair with another.
Bernard Kerik's escapades are legendary.
Newt Gingrich was playing around while building his "Contract with America" followed by a subsequent divorce.
Think of all the Republicans that fell by the wayside while the House was trying to impeach Clinton. It was one after another until someone without an extramarital affair was able to preside.
Why even George Walker Bush himself lead a very spicey life due to his status of priviledge. Heck, there are women dead and missing due to his loose morals before he 'courted' the Religious Right with unconstitutional promises to be elected.
We know for a fact the divorce rate in the Red States is higher than other states in the nation.
Men with money/power attract women. They attack pretty women who are of value as a sex object. It's the way it is. Who are the top 2% of the nation? Who plays around and gets away with it?
The 'Value' politics of this administration is for one reason and one reason only and that is to control the American public and it's voting habits. When it comes down to it, controling civil rights to model the USA Constitution after the Evangelical demands in the Red States is nothing short of treason by men that are amoral to begin with as demonstrated time and time again as well as their brazen favoritism of cronies.
The Corruption SNOWBALLS ...
conti2005 - 2:26 PM ET April 17, 2005 (#48986of 48991)
Tom DeLay & Randall Terry are some of the finest riffraff in the USA. Evangelicals are Insurgents/Unconstitutionalists
Conservative = Selfish
Power for Power's Sake
To say Tom DeLay is power hungry for the sake of having power is incorrect. They are power hungry to dominate the policies of government that will PURCHASE their constituency.
http://www.dol.gov/cfbci/funding.htm
The constituency of DeLay and the Repuglcians EXPECTS returns on their votes. These returns are not 'GENEROUS' returns they are expected to receive funding and movement in the direction of undermining the USA Constitution while casting a 'spell' over society bringing them under the umbrella of Evangelical Christian and nothing else.
Although the 'power' would appear to belong to Tom DeLay, Dick Cheney, Walker Bush and Hastert, in actuality, it belongs to the Evangelical Christian Right who OWNS the votes and preach loyalty to THE PARTY.
This morning in an astounding breach of separation of church and state and in my opinion a threat of The Crystal Cathedral's Non-Profit and Sanctuary Status; Robert Schuler in a self-righteous tone standing along side of I believe Billy Graham's offspring (It was actually Schuler, Jr.); proclaimed FIRST faith to George Walker Bush and not the Almighty. I couldn't believe my ears. Here a long respected man who has given solice to people who have lost children to pedophiles has turned out to be an Infomercial for the agenda and election campaigns of anyone attached to Bush.
Tom DeLay is not in this for the power alone. His role is not to possess power but to be a POWER BROKER to those that line his nest with dollars to keep the cash following right back to them. He does this RATHER THAN pledging in his vow of office to uphold the USA Constitution AND it's separation of Church and State.
Those that have turned their backs on Judges and our Constitution are treasonists and criminals including most of the Repuglican Party and the ever increasing infiltration of power grabbing by the Evangelical Religious Right.
Tom DeLay & Randall Terry are some of the finest riffraff in the USA. Evangelicals are Insurgents/Unconstitutionalists
Conservative = Selfish
Power for Power's Sake
To say Tom DeLay is power hungry for the sake of having power is incorrect. They are power hungry to dominate the policies of government that will PURCHASE their constituency.
http://www.dol.gov/cfbci/funding.htm
The constituency of DeLay and the Repuglcians EXPECTS returns on their votes. These returns are not 'GENEROUS' returns they are expected to receive funding and movement in the direction of undermining the USA Constitution while casting a 'spell' over society bringing them under the umbrella of Evangelical Christian and nothing else.
Although the 'power' would appear to belong to Tom DeLay, Dick Cheney, Walker Bush and Hastert, in actuality, it belongs to the Evangelical Christian Right who OWNS the votes and preach loyalty to THE PARTY.
This morning in an astounding breach of separation of church and state and in my opinion a threat of The Crystal Cathedral's Non-Profit and Sanctuary Status; Robert Schuler in a self-righteous tone standing along side of I believe Billy Graham's offspring (It was actually Schuler, Jr.); proclaimed FIRST faith to George Walker Bush and not the Almighty. I couldn't believe my ears. Here a long respected man who has given solice to people who have lost children to pedophiles has turned out to be an Infomercial for the agenda and election campaigns of anyone attached to Bush.
Tom DeLay is not in this for the power alone. His role is not to possess power but to be a POWER BROKER to those that line his nest with dollars to keep the cash following right back to them. He does this RATHER THAN pledging in his vow of office to uphold the USA Constitution AND it's separation of Church and State.
Those that have turned their backs on Judges and our Constitution are treasonists and criminals including most of the Repuglican Party and the ever increasing infiltration of power grabbing by the Evangelical Religious Right.
Moving on a Virgin
conti2005 - 7:21 PM ET February 4, 2005 (#29556 of 41194)The Revolt and the Revolting - http://stopwarsaveearth.blogspot.com/ - In God I Trust, Everyone Else I Monitor
Governor Richardson needs to file suit against the BLM.
Keeping Out of the Otero Mesa
It is just that simple.
Bush has little 'sex' in his life according to his 'lump in the bed' poetry (which was a fraud and never written by him) however, he continues to 'enjoy' fulfillment by raping wilderness and killing endangered species as if they were 'death sentenced' prisoners.
He does this for pure pleasure to prove how far oil and gas exploration has come and like the Alaskan Carbou every species on Earth will benefit from a deep oil/gas well every ten feet on land they inhabit.
There is little here to debate.
Bush is trying to 'pork' New Mexico for the sake of doing it and rather than 'rolling in the hay' from some 'spiritual satisfaction' in the arms of a woman he rather take his turn at every available drop of oil for the sake of cronies who enjoy activities such as $250,000 per plate 'District of Columbia Oil Baron's Ball.'
FILE THE LAWSUIT Governor Richardson, today is not too soon. You'll get no cooperation from the Oval Office.
Bush is an obnoxious and offensive 'little man' who has an ego that no one can satify but only allowed to admire. Just do it Governor Richardson, Bush never gets over the idea of 'moving on a virgin.'
Governor Richardson needs to file suit against the BLM.
Keeping Out of the Otero Mesa
It is just that simple.
Bush has little 'sex' in his life according to his 'lump in the bed' poetry (which was a fraud and never written by him) however, he continues to 'enjoy' fulfillment by raping wilderness and killing endangered species as if they were 'death sentenced' prisoners.
He does this for pure pleasure to prove how far oil and gas exploration has come and like the Alaskan Carbou every species on Earth will benefit from a deep oil/gas well every ten feet on land they inhabit.
There is little here to debate.
Bush is trying to 'pork' New Mexico for the sake of doing it and rather than 'rolling in the hay' from some 'spiritual satisfaction' in the arms of a woman he rather take his turn at every available drop of oil for the sake of cronies who enjoy activities such as $250,000 per plate 'District of Columbia Oil Baron's Ball.'
FILE THE LAWSUIT Governor Richardson, today is not too soon. You'll get no cooperation from the Oval Office.
Bush is an obnoxious and offensive 'little man' who has an ego that no one can satify but only allowed to admire. Just do it Governor Richardson, Bush never gets over the idea of 'moving on a virgin.'
This is for Tammy Phillips - We STILL want the Truth !
The Tin Commandments
Covet not the ass next door
by Alan Bisbort
February 3, 2005
On a visit to Atlanta earlier this week, I noticed a new affectation sweeping the fringes of red culture. On placards the size of real-estate transaction signs, the Ten Commandments are posted in front yards, augmenting the "God Bless America" ribbons on the rear-ends of homeowners' SUVs.
This was not deep in the Dark Ages of red culture. This was not Cobb County, where these signs are no doubt mandatory and where the school board has placed anti-evolution stickers on biology texts. This was Southern suburbia, where I grew up, two counties removed from Cobb. To my surprise, I didn't find myself flinching in horror at the "hidden agendas" of the Ned Flanderses and Church Ladies compelled to make such public pronouncements of self-righteousness. Rather, I refamiliarized myself with the actual words of the Ten Commandments. It was then that I decided to see if the "values"-laden Republicans who lord over us and shove the commandments down our throats, actually adhere to their own preachings.
Need I add the obvious answer? Of course they don't! The Republican "values" crowd would be lost without their hypocrisies. Indeed, hypocrisy is the glue that holds America together. James Hillman nailed it in his recent book, A Terrible Love of War : "Hypocrisy in America is not a sin but a necessity and a way of life. It makes possible armories of mass destruction side by side with the proliferation of churches, cults, and charities. Hypocrisy holds the nation together so that it can preach, and practice what it does not preach."
Check out the commandments for yourself, found in Exodus, Chapter 20, 1-18.
"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."
Moses (quoting God) told his people that they must stop worshipping false idols. I take this to mean that no other objects of worship besides God are allowed, including money, stocks, oil, real estate and Paris Hilton videos. Please deposit all such items in the receptacles at the back of the church on your way out the door. Praise the Lord.
"Thou shalt not make for yourself a carved (or graven) image"
...and worship it.That put me in mind of my Republican neighbor, who's out polishing his Hummer every other day.
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."
Does telling a U.S. Senator, "Go fuck yourself" on the floor of Congress qualify?
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
Hey, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Exxon, Target, Office Max, Circuit City and all other big Bush donors, if you don't close on Sundays you're living in sin.
"Honor thy father and mother."
When GWB was told that his father opposed the decision to go into Iraq, the son said, "I have a higher father that I follow ..."The old man's out of the loop as usual."
"Thou shalt not murder."
Where to begin? Iraqi civilians (100,000+), U.S. soldiers (1,400+) ... and counting.
"Thou shalt not commit adultery."
The roll call of lechers forms on the right: Newt Gingrich, Robert Livingston, Henry Hyde, Bill O'Reilly, Jack Ryan, Neil Bush, Daddy Bush, Phil Giordano, Strom Thurmond, Dick Morris, Schwarzenegger, Giuliani, Kerik ...
(Tammy Phillips
This is a Prayer for ALL the women of Bush .
Tammy Phillips has of course disappeared.
Torrid Bush Affair With Playboy Model Ended in June Woman has note in Bush's handwriting, thanking her for letting him keep her panties; No public comment yet from Gilchrest, Ehrlich.
http://www.croftononline.com/index23.html
Tammy Phillips, a 35-year-old partner in a gym in Carrollton, Texas had an 18 month long affair with GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush that ended in June, 1999 according to published reports based on an interview with Ms. Phillips.
...................
BUSH SEX SCANDAL Washington is a hotbed of sexual high jinks.
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/stories/feature.cfm?instanceid=61852
The White House has been rocked by an Internet sex scandal that reaches to the highest levels of the Bush administration -- but an ENQUIRER investigation reveals it's just the tip of the hanky-panky iceberg in Washington, D.C.
.......................
Margie Schoedinger is since dead, they claim at her own hand. US President Implicated in Sex Scandal? American woman filed a sex crime lawsuit against George W. Bush.
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/12/13/40786.html
A lot of women liked previous President of the United States Bill Clinton. Women thought that he was a very charming and attractive man. However, the situation with incumbent President George Bush is totally different. Mr. Bush is definitely a representative of another psychological type of human being. It is evident that he is often drawn to solve all problems with the help of the military force. As it turns out, this trait of his character it also seen when it comes to sexual relationships with women.
In her suit, Margie Schoedinger states that George W. Bush committed sexual crimes against her, organized harassment and moral pressure on her, her family members and close relatives and friends. As Schoedinger said, she was strongly recommended to keep her mouth shut. In addition to that, three unknown men attempted to kidnap her on October 26, 2000.)
"Thou shalt not steal."
Where to begin? Cheney's Halliburton, with no-bid contracts and price gouging. Daddy Bush's Carlyle Group, which has a key to the U.S. Treasury. Enron, thief of thousands of Americans' retirement savings. The Bushprano Family (W, Jeb, Neil, Marvin), just follow the money ...
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
Colin Powell, is that cornmeal in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? When Colin held that vial of kitty litter up at the U.N. and insisted it was proof of an Iraqi WMD program, he knew it was a lie. Ditto Condi Rice, and her 9/11 Commission testimony. Ditto, Dick Cheney every time he opens his mouth. Ditto, Swift Boat Veterans. Ditto, every utterance about Social Security.
"Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's house, wife, servant or hand-maid, ox or ass or anything else that is his."
And that includes his oil.
Covet not the ass next door
by Alan Bisbort
February 3, 2005
On a visit to Atlanta earlier this week, I noticed a new affectation sweeping the fringes of red culture. On placards the size of real-estate transaction signs, the Ten Commandments are posted in front yards, augmenting the "God Bless America" ribbons on the rear-ends of homeowners' SUVs.
This was not deep in the Dark Ages of red culture. This was not Cobb County, where these signs are no doubt mandatory and where the school board has placed anti-evolution stickers on biology texts. This was Southern suburbia, where I grew up, two counties removed from Cobb. To my surprise, I didn't find myself flinching in horror at the "hidden agendas" of the Ned Flanderses and Church Ladies compelled to make such public pronouncements of self-righteousness. Rather, I refamiliarized myself with the actual words of the Ten Commandments. It was then that I decided to see if the "values"-laden Republicans who lord over us and shove the commandments down our throats, actually adhere to their own preachings.
Need I add the obvious answer? Of course they don't! The Republican "values" crowd would be lost without their hypocrisies. Indeed, hypocrisy is the glue that holds America together. James Hillman nailed it in his recent book, A Terrible Love of War : "Hypocrisy in America is not a sin but a necessity and a way of life. It makes possible armories of mass destruction side by side with the proliferation of churches, cults, and charities. Hypocrisy holds the nation together so that it can preach, and practice what it does not preach."
Check out the commandments for yourself, found in Exodus, Chapter 20, 1-18.
"Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."
Moses (quoting God) told his people that they must stop worshipping false idols. I take this to mean that no other objects of worship besides God are allowed, including money, stocks, oil, real estate and Paris Hilton videos. Please deposit all such items in the receptacles at the back of the church on your way out the door. Praise the Lord.
"Thou shalt not make for yourself a carved (or graven) image"
...and worship it.That put me in mind of my Republican neighbor, who's out polishing his Hummer every other day.
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."
Does telling a U.S. Senator, "Go fuck yourself" on the floor of Congress qualify?
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."
Hey, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Exxon, Target, Office Max, Circuit City and all other big Bush donors, if you don't close on Sundays you're living in sin.
"Honor thy father and mother."
When GWB was told that his father opposed the decision to go into Iraq, the son said, "I have a higher father that I follow ..."The old man's out of the loop as usual."
"Thou shalt not murder."
Where to begin? Iraqi civilians (100,000+), U.S. soldiers (1,400+) ... and counting.
"Thou shalt not commit adultery."
The roll call of lechers forms on the right: Newt Gingrich, Robert Livingston, Henry Hyde, Bill O'Reilly, Jack Ryan, Neil Bush, Daddy Bush, Phil Giordano, Strom Thurmond, Dick Morris, Schwarzenegger, Giuliani, Kerik ...
(Tammy Phillips
This is a Prayer for ALL the women of Bush .
Tammy Phillips has of course disappeared.
Torrid Bush Affair With Playboy Model Ended in June Woman has note in Bush's handwriting, thanking her for letting him keep her panties; No public comment yet from Gilchrest, Ehrlich.
http://www.croftononline.com/index23.html
Tammy Phillips, a 35-year-old partner in a gym in Carrollton, Texas had an 18 month long affair with GOP presidential nominee George W. Bush that ended in June, 1999 according to published reports based on an interview with Ms. Phillips.
...................
BUSH SEX SCANDAL Washington is a hotbed of sexual high jinks.
http://www.nationalenquirer.com/stories/feature.cfm?instanceid=61852
The White House has been rocked by an Internet sex scandal that reaches to the highest levels of the Bush administration -- but an ENQUIRER investigation reveals it's just the tip of the hanky-panky iceberg in Washington, D.C.
.......................
Margie Schoedinger is since dead, they claim at her own hand. US President Implicated in Sex Scandal? American woman filed a sex crime lawsuit against George W. Bush.
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/12/13/40786.html
A lot of women liked previous President of the United States Bill Clinton. Women thought that he was a very charming and attractive man. However, the situation with incumbent President George Bush is totally different. Mr. Bush is definitely a representative of another psychological type of human being. It is evident that he is often drawn to solve all problems with the help of the military force. As it turns out, this trait of his character it also seen when it comes to sexual relationships with women.
In her suit, Margie Schoedinger states that George W. Bush committed sexual crimes against her, organized harassment and moral pressure on her, her family members and close relatives and friends. As Schoedinger said, she was strongly recommended to keep her mouth shut. In addition to that, three unknown men attempted to kidnap her on October 26, 2000.)
"Thou shalt not steal."
Where to begin? Cheney's Halliburton, with no-bid contracts and price gouging. Daddy Bush's Carlyle Group, which has a key to the U.S. Treasury. Enron, thief of thousands of Americans' retirement savings. The Bushprano Family (W, Jeb, Neil, Marvin), just follow the money ...
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."
Colin Powell, is that cornmeal in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? When Colin held that vial of kitty litter up at the U.N. and insisted it was proof of an Iraqi WMD program, he knew it was a lie. Ditto Condi Rice, and her 9/11 Commission testimony. Ditto, Dick Cheney every time he opens his mouth. Ditto, Swift Boat Veterans. Ditto, every utterance about Social Security.
"Thou shalt not covet they neighbor's house, wife, servant or hand-maid, ox or ass or anything else that is his."
And that includes his oil.
Constipation: Causes, Cures, Remedies, Education and Self-Help
Bush exhibits signs of constipation. Could it be serious?
Boost Energy!
Feel younger!
Lose weight!
An estimated 50 million Americans get constipation on occasion. Eighteen million Americans, (women twice as often as men), feel constipated on a regular basis.
When your stool is hard, infrequent and requires significant effort to pass, you have constipation. If it looks like it belongs in the cat box rather than the toilet, you have constipation.
"I was tired all the time, only to discover I had a mild case of constipation. Now that I control my constipation I feel younger and have more energy. My skin is clearer and I need less sleep."
- Sue Perkins
Portable Toilet Bill Goes to Gov. Bush
Porta potties would be regulated by the Department of Health under a bill passed unanimously Monday by the House and sent to Gov. Jeb Bush.
The measure (SB 626), which had earlier passed the Senate, creates administrative penalties and fines for failing to comply with state rules regarding where the waste from portable restrooms can be dumped.
http://www.theledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050503/NEWS/505030398/1004
Some of the FINEST Riffraff the USA has to offer !
Sponsored in part by Sharon von Zwieten, bigot and executive producer at CNN.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist for having the lowest IQ of any physician/surgeon in the country when voting for the Senate Bill of Terry's Law. Hello? How many plugs has he pulled? Not only that but how does an MD get away with keeping a Tennessee license to practice when he votes every crony bill including the one stating if a physician perscribs medication for a patient that MD is not liable as long as the medication/device is approved by the FDA. 1. Are there medications and devices on the market not approved by the FDA? 2. What exactly is medical malpractice/neglect then?
Dennis Hastert who believes "The South Shall Rise Again" and his inability to decern legislatures PLACE from judicial PLACE. There goes that IQ again. By the way, Lott is right. They need to keep the military where he is and reduce the presence in North Carolina. North Carolina has a PR campaign now stating "North Carolina is military friendly." The truth is North Carolina can be it's own country and take on every other state for dictatorship due to the heavy concentration of every branch of the military including one of the largest depots in the country. No state should have that type of power at it's disposal. Ever. Lott needs to make his case loud and clear !!
Jeb Bush - Christian Governor of Florida. Can there be a Christian Governor and an Elected Governor? Same for any other member of an local, state or federal seat. Perhaps, The Christian Coalition/Religious Right needs there OWN governing body to leave the USA Constitution ALONE !!!
They seem so confused to me.
Anyone ever wonder why there are liberals that lead universities? No? Because Neocons don't have an IQ to realize when a brain dead woman falls under the Supreme Court decision of The Cruzan Case and play 'religious folks' for fools.
Morning Papers - continued...
The Jakarta Post
Indonesia brings S. Korea to WTO panel over paper row
JAKARTA (Antara): Indonesia has brought its trade dispute with South Korea to the Dispute Settlement Board of the World Trade Organization as the latter accuses Indonesia of dumping its wood-free copy paper products, an official said on Thursday.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20050414172459&irec=0
Chief justice suggests death sentence changed into life imprisonment
JAKARTA (JP): Amid international pressure on the abolishment of capital punishment, Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan suggested on Thursday that a death sentence could be changed into a life sentence if the prisoner had been jailed for more than five years.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20050414123654&irec=7
Local govt in East Java halts new drilling operations
JAKARTA (Dow Jones): Bojonegoro regency administration in East Java has stopped PetroChina Co. (PTR) and state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina (PTM.YY) from drilling new oil wells in Sukowati oil field, demanding a 10% stake in the field, a government official said Thursday.
"According to the existing law, they (the Bojonegoro regional government) cannot stop the (new drilling) operations," said Iin Arifin Takhyan, director general of oil and gas at the Mines and Energy Ministry.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20050414123654&irec=8
Reinventing Indonesia
S.P. Seth, Sydney
Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is his country's best salesman. During his recent Australia visit he was exuding charm, making friends, saying the right things, handsomely sharing Australia's grief on the loss of its servicemen involved in relief work in Indonesia's earthquake stricken zone, and being an eternal optimist regarding his country's future. It was a genuinely moving sight to see Indonesia's First Lady Kristiani Herawati wiping her tears when the deceased Australian soldiers were given a final send off.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20050414.E02&irec=1
Indonesia and China to forge strategic partnership
Zakki P. Hakim and Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia and China will forge a strategic partnership in a bid to boost bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, infrastructure, and agricultural, Minister of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailworld.asp?fileid=20050414.K01&irec=0
The Australian
Sea King dead laid to rest
Drew Warne-Smith
April 14, 2005
THE burials have begun. And finally, the official recognition can too.
After a ceremonial homecoming, the military pomp and much private grief, the first three of the nine Australian servicemen and women killed in the Sea King helicopter crash were yesterday laid to rest.
And in death they can now be formally honoured.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12850378%255E2702,00.html
Aussie 'suicide bomber' to be deported from US
Amanda Hodge and Geoff Elliott
April 14, 2005
A CHINESE Australian man who sparked a major security alert in Washington DC this week after being suspected of being a suicide bomber is unlikely to face charges on his return to Australia.
Nor will he be indicted in the US after police decided not to pursue a minor charge of disobeying a police officer and to deport him instead.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12850306%255E2702,00.html
Free-trade talks come with warning
Katharine Murphy and Nigel Wilson
April 14, 2005
AUSTRALIA will offer China significant concessions on foreign investment but resist pressure to restrain iron ore exporters on price or open the textile market to greater competition, in a historic free-trade deal to be launched next week.
Cabinet has given approval for John Howard to proceed with trade talks that will formally recognise China as a free market, in return for a written undertaking from China's Commerce Minister Bo Xilai that the deal will cover all sectors of the economy - goods and services and investment.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12850385%255E2702,00.html
America unbuttons a new front in the war on breasts
… While operating within a very different philosophical paradigm to Palomar, the puritanical army currently attempting to purge the US of sex and obscenity is also ruminating with an intensity that cannot be healthy.
Outlawing Indecency, a new documentary that screened on SBS last night, reveals that the real sexual fetishists are not shady characters in gimp suits, but Christian activists. They're the ones who go on about the lecherous dangers of low-rider daks (which Louisiana recently attempted to penalise with a six-month jail term) and Janet Jackson's nipple (which one litigant claimed had caused countless Americans serious injury) with an obsession bordering on the lascivious.
The rest of us just have sex every so often, and move on.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12413894%255E12274,00.html
The Globe and Mail
THE USA can't even do anything about it because it's military obligations, including it's budget, is bogged down in Iraq.
So long, and thanks for all the jets
Harare, Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe thanked China for helping Zimbabwe during its "time of need" after six trainer jets were delivered to the cash-strapped country on Wednesday, state media reported.
The six Karakorum 8 (K-8) jets at Thornhill base near Gweru, about 250km west of Harare, will be used to train air-force pilots, The Herald reported.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=234958&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/
Twin car bombs hit Baghdad
Edward Harris Baghdad, Iraq
A pair of car bombs exploded near government offices in the Iraqi capital on Thursday, killing 18 and wounding three dozen, as insurgent attacks against the nation's nascent security forces left at least eight others dead.
The near-simultaneous explosions outside an interior ministry office in a south-eastern Baghdad neighbourhood killed 18 and wounded 36 others, said a ministry official, Captain Ahmed Ismael. The morning blasts sent large plumes of smoke over the city.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=234949&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/
The Telegraph
Asylum chaos left al-Qa'eda man free to plot ricin terror in Britain
By John Steele and Nigel Bunyan
(Filed: 14/04/2005)
An illegal immigrant trained by al-Qa'eda to be one of its top poisoners was jailed for 17 years yesterday for leading a plot to terrorise Britain with ricin and cyanide.
As he was sentenced at the Old Bailey, it was disclosed that Kamel Bourgass, an Islamic extremist from Algeria, had been convicted last year of murdering Special Branch officer Stephen Oake.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=03UIGPZELDOQRQFIQMGSM5OAVCBQWJVC?xml=/news/2005/04/14/nbour14.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/04/14/ixnewstop.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=39736
The bungled raid that left a policeman face to face with an al-Qa'eda assassin
(Filed: 14/04/2005)
Operation that ended in murder of Stephen Oake was flawed from the start, writes Nigel Bunyan
Stephen Oake's fate hung in the balance as soon as he and his Special Branch colleagues entered the tiny flat in Crumpsall, Manchester.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/14/nbour114.xml
From the Taliban camps to the poison factory over a north London chemist's
By John Steele and Sue Clough
(Filed: 14/04/2005)
On a hot day in August 2001, a wiry, intense and thoroughly dangerous former Algerian policeman, then using the name Nadir Habra, checked for letters sent to him at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London, a meeting place for Islamic extremists.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/14/nbour314.xml
The chaos that allows a failed asylum seeker to stay and kill
By Philip Johnston
(Filed: 14/04/2005)
There is no more incendiary issue in the election campaign than what to do about immigration and asylum. When Michael Howard suggested on Sunday that Britain's security was at risk because terrorists had used the asylum system to enter the country, he was accused by Labour of using "scurrilous, Right-wing, ugly tactics" to scare voters.
Yet the news yesterday that an Algerian asylum seeker, whose case was turned down by the authorities, was able to remain in the country to join a terrorist plot and, ultimately, to kill a police officer illustrates far more graphically than hours of party political posturing how badly the procedures have broken down. The killer, who went under a variety of names, including Kamel Bourgass, even used the envelope that contained his rejection letter from the Immigration Service to store recipes for ricin and other deadly chemicals that were intended to be used in a terror attack.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/04/14/do1401.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2005/04/14/ixopinion.html
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Belugas are Arctic Circle species. There isn't any reason for them to stay in the colder waters if they are getting warm. They follow food sources right into inlets and otherwise.
A whale with a tale
By Kaitlin Gurney and Joel Bewley
Inquirer Staff Writers
It looks as if he's Canadian.
Researchers from Quebec believe the 12-foot beluga whale that has lost his way on the Delaware River is one of their own, a male named Helis.
Identifiable by a large gash on his back near his dorsal ridge, the snow-white Helis (pronounced ell-EE) was first spotted in 1986 among belugas that make their home near the St. Lawrence River, Quebec's Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals said yesterday. The Canadian government even gave him a number: DL 018.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/11387700.htm
Monica Yant Kinney Traveling whale needs a name
By Monica Yant Kinney
Inquirer Columnist
Some of the best professional advice I ever received was to never look an animal story in the mouth.
Everybody reads them. Editors may sniff and snarl, but they usually put four-legged lore on the front page.
One of my first animal experiments involved a house fire in Florida.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/11387743.htm
Bush's Advisory Board should be disband. Between the COX2 drugs and Silicon Implants that is proof enough. Now inhalers are going to come into question and people will literally be deprived of their medication. This is an interesting one because it lowers the liability of Tobacco companies. Inhalers are using the first step in the diagnosis of COPD.
Asthma drugs getting scrutiny
A study shows that adults with a mild form of the disease may not need daily doses, which is the standard treatment.
By Susan FitzGerald
Inquirer Staff Writer
The recommendation that adults with mild asthma take medication every day to control the disease might be unnecessary, a new study suggests.
Patients with mild persistent asthma who went without inhaled steroids or other daily medication had no more frequent asthma flare-ups than and had equally good lung function as patients who used the drugs.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/11387703.htm
Sydney Morning Herald
WOMEN choose a mate based on pregnancy and how well the young will do. That is an 'anima' instinct that will never go away, hence, the old expression "Behind every great man is a great woman," it true. The difference between choosing a Dare Devil for romance or not is will he be around to help with the kids. Both in lifestyle and facing down death the answer is resoundingly 'no.' The advent of liberated women can completely remove men like this from the sexually perferred market place because women can choose a "mate" without having to be financially mired to him so even the remotestly desperate woman no longer has to settle for an asshole.
Daredevils 'a turn off'
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Daredevils-a-turn-off/2005/04/14/1113251723505.html?oneclick=true
Alert level on high as thousands flee volcano's warning signs
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Thousands-flee-volcanos-warning-signs/2005/04/13/1113251686250.html
Bolton style is kiss boss, kick juniors, says former spy
By Michael Gawenda, Herald Correspondent, in Washington and agencies
April 14, 2005
A former State Department intelligence chief has described President George Bush's choice as ambassador to the United Nations as a classic "kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy".
In blunt testimony that surprised members of the Senate foreign relations committee, Carl Ford said John Bolton's behaviour "brings real question to my mind about his suitability for high office".
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Bolton-style-is-kiss-boss-kick-juniors-says-former-spy/2005/04/13/1113251685442.html
The $9-a-bite burger
April 14, 2005 - 8:42AM
Hamburgers made of New Zealand beef are being sold by a London restaurant for STG55 ($134) each.
The burgers, made from meat from cattle of the Japanese wagyu breed, come with fries, and are being sold at the Zuma restaurant in fashionable Knightsbridge, the British tabloid The Daily Mail reported.
A spokeswoman for the restaurant said: "Our wagyu beef comes from New Zealand, where the cows are reared on beer and massaged until they weigh three-quarters of a tonne, more than double the weight of an average cow.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/The-9abite-burger/2005/04/14/1113251713222.html
The Miami Herald
Alcohol industry accused of marketing to minors
A lawsuit claiming that alcoholic-beverage makers promote underage drinking is similar to the one brought against the tobacco industry.
BY PATRICK DANNER
pdanner@herald.com
Some of the country's largest alcoholic-beverage makers have been accused in a Broward Circuit Court lawsuit of marketing booze to underage drinkers with images like the Budweiser frogs and Captain Morgan.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11388664.htm
U.S. needs credible voice in U.N. councils
OUR OPINION: JOHN BOLTON ISN'T THE RIGHT CANDIDATE FOR THIS JOB
As a rule, presidents should have wide latitude in appointments for high office. When questions arise, the nominee deserves the benefit of the doubt -- absent an egregious transgression. John Bolton's well-known disdain for the United Nations doesn't by itself disqualify him for the job of U.S. ambassador. But his ideological zeal, demonstrated by his dismaying record of carving the facts to fit narrow political goals, make him a singularly poor choice for this important position.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/11388655.htm
Sheriff pledges full cooperation
Ken Jenne reiterated at a speaking engagement that a state investigation into his personal businesses would reveal no wrongdoing.
By EVAN S. BENN
ebenn@herald.com
Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne, speaking Wednesday at a Weston Business Chamber of Commerce breakfast, briefly addressed a new state investigation regarding alleged misconduct by himself and others at the sheriff's office.
Jenne repeated what he wrote in a statement Monday: He welcomes the investigation from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and he is confident it will reveal no wrongdoing on his part.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11387795.htm
continued...
Indonesia brings S. Korea to WTO panel over paper row
JAKARTA (Antara): Indonesia has brought its trade dispute with South Korea to the Dispute Settlement Board of the World Trade Organization as the latter accuses Indonesia of dumping its wood-free copy paper products, an official said on Thursday.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20050414172459&irec=0
Chief justice suggests death sentence changed into life imprisonment
JAKARTA (JP): Amid international pressure on the abolishment of capital punishment, Supreme Court Chief Justice Bagir Manan suggested on Thursday that a death sentence could be changed into a life sentence if the prisoner had been jailed for more than five years.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20050414123654&irec=7
Local govt in East Java halts new drilling operations
JAKARTA (Dow Jones): Bojonegoro regency administration in East Java has stopped PetroChina Co. (PTR) and state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina (PTM.YY) from drilling new oil wells in Sukowati oil field, demanding a 10% stake in the field, a government official said Thursday.
"According to the existing law, they (the Bojonegoro regional government) cannot stop the (new drilling) operations," said Iin Arifin Takhyan, director general of oil and gas at the Mines and Energy Ministry.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaillatestnews.asp?fileid=20050414123654&irec=8
Reinventing Indonesia
S.P. Seth, Sydney
Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is his country's best salesman. During his recent Australia visit he was exuding charm, making friends, saying the right things, handsomely sharing Australia's grief on the loss of its servicemen involved in relief work in Indonesia's earthquake stricken zone, and being an eternal optimist regarding his country's future. It was a genuinely moving sight to see Indonesia's First Lady Kristiani Herawati wiping her tears when the deceased Australian soldiers were given a final send off.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20050414.E02&irec=1
Indonesia and China to forge strategic partnership
Zakki P. Hakim and Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia and China will forge a strategic partnership in a bid to boost bilateral cooperation in the fields of trade, investment, infrastructure, and agricultural, Minister of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday
http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailworld.asp?fileid=20050414.K01&irec=0
The Australian
Sea King dead laid to rest
Drew Warne-Smith
April 14, 2005
THE burials have begun. And finally, the official recognition can too.
After a ceremonial homecoming, the military pomp and much private grief, the first three of the nine Australian servicemen and women killed in the Sea King helicopter crash were yesterday laid to rest.
And in death they can now be formally honoured.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12850378%255E2702,00.html
Aussie 'suicide bomber' to be deported from US
Amanda Hodge and Geoff Elliott
April 14, 2005
A CHINESE Australian man who sparked a major security alert in Washington DC this week after being suspected of being a suicide bomber is unlikely to face charges on his return to Australia.
Nor will he be indicted in the US after police decided not to pursue a minor charge of disobeying a police officer and to deport him instead.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12850306%255E2702,00.html
Free-trade talks come with warning
Katharine Murphy and Nigel Wilson
April 14, 2005
AUSTRALIA will offer China significant concessions on foreign investment but resist pressure to restrain iron ore exporters on price or open the textile market to greater competition, in a historic free-trade deal to be launched next week.
Cabinet has given approval for John Howard to proceed with trade talks that will formally recognise China as a free market, in return for a written undertaking from China's Commerce Minister Bo Xilai that the deal will cover all sectors of the economy - goods and services and investment.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12850385%255E2702,00.html
America unbuttons a new front in the war on breasts
… While operating within a very different philosophical paradigm to Palomar, the puritanical army currently attempting to purge the US of sex and obscenity is also ruminating with an intensity that cannot be healthy.
Outlawing Indecency, a new documentary that screened on SBS last night, reveals that the real sexual fetishists are not shady characters in gimp suits, but Christian activists. They're the ones who go on about the lecherous dangers of low-rider daks (which Louisiana recently attempted to penalise with a six-month jail term) and Janet Jackson's nipple (which one litigant claimed had caused countless Americans serious injury) with an obsession bordering on the lascivious.
The rest of us just have sex every so often, and move on.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12413894%255E12274,00.html
The Globe and Mail
THE USA can't even do anything about it because it's military obligations, including it's budget, is bogged down in Iraq.
So long, and thanks for all the jets
Harare, Zimbabwe
President Robert Mugabe thanked China for helping Zimbabwe during its "time of need" after six trainer jets were delivered to the cash-strapped country on Wednesday, state media reported.
The six Karakorum 8 (K-8) jets at Thornhill base near Gweru, about 250km west of Harare, will be used to train air-force pilots, The Herald reported.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=234958&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/
Twin car bombs hit Baghdad
Edward Harris Baghdad, Iraq
A pair of car bombs exploded near government offices in the Iraqi capital on Thursday, killing 18 and wounding three dozen, as insurgent attacks against the nation's nascent security forces left at least eight others dead.
The near-simultaneous explosions outside an interior ministry office in a south-eastern Baghdad neighbourhood killed 18 and wounded 36 others, said a ministry official, Captain Ahmed Ismael. The morning blasts sent large plumes of smoke over the city.
http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=234949&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/
The Telegraph
Asylum chaos left al-Qa'eda man free to plot ricin terror in Britain
By John Steele and Nigel Bunyan
(Filed: 14/04/2005)
An illegal immigrant trained by al-Qa'eda to be one of its top poisoners was jailed for 17 years yesterday for leading a plot to terrorise Britain with ricin and cyanide.
As he was sentenced at the Old Bailey, it was disclosed that Kamel Bourgass, an Islamic extremist from Algeria, had been convicted last year of murdering Special Branch officer Stephen Oake.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=03UIGPZELDOQRQFIQMGSM5OAVCBQWJVC?xml=/news/2005/04/14/nbour14.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/04/14/ixnewstop.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=39736
The bungled raid that left a policeman face to face with an al-Qa'eda assassin
(Filed: 14/04/2005)
Operation that ended in murder of Stephen Oake was flawed from the start, writes Nigel Bunyan
Stephen Oake's fate hung in the balance as soon as he and his Special Branch colleagues entered the tiny flat in Crumpsall, Manchester.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/14/nbour114.xml
From the Taliban camps to the poison factory over a north London chemist's
By John Steele and Sue Clough
(Filed: 14/04/2005)
On a hot day in August 2001, a wiry, intense and thoroughly dangerous former Algerian policeman, then using the name Nadir Habra, checked for letters sent to him at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London, a meeting place for Islamic extremists.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/04/14/nbour314.xml
The chaos that allows a failed asylum seeker to stay and kill
By Philip Johnston
(Filed: 14/04/2005)
There is no more incendiary issue in the election campaign than what to do about immigration and asylum. When Michael Howard suggested on Sunday that Britain's security was at risk because terrorists had used the asylum system to enter the country, he was accused by Labour of using "scurrilous, Right-wing, ugly tactics" to scare voters.
Yet the news yesterday that an Algerian asylum seeker, whose case was turned down by the authorities, was able to remain in the country to join a terrorist plot and, ultimately, to kill a police officer illustrates far more graphically than hours of party political posturing how badly the procedures have broken down. The killer, who went under a variety of names, including Kamel Bourgass, even used the envelope that contained his rejection letter from the Immigration Service to store recipes for ricin and other deadly chemicals that were intended to be used in a terror attack.
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2005/04/14/do1401.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2005/04/14/ixopinion.html
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Belugas are Arctic Circle species. There isn't any reason for them to stay in the colder waters if they are getting warm. They follow food sources right into inlets and otherwise.
A whale with a tale
By Kaitlin Gurney and Joel Bewley
Inquirer Staff Writers
It looks as if he's Canadian.
Researchers from Quebec believe the 12-foot beluga whale that has lost his way on the Delaware River is one of their own, a male named Helis.
Identifiable by a large gash on his back near his dorsal ridge, the snow-white Helis (pronounced ell-EE) was first spotted in 1986 among belugas that make their home near the St. Lawrence River, Quebec's Group for Research and Education on Marine Mammals said yesterday. The Canadian government even gave him a number: DL 018.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/11387700.htm
Monica Yant Kinney Traveling whale needs a name
By Monica Yant Kinney
Inquirer Columnist
Some of the best professional advice I ever received was to never look an animal story in the mouth.
Everybody reads them. Editors may sniff and snarl, but they usually put four-legged lore on the front page.
One of my first animal experiments involved a house fire in Florida.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/11387743.htm
Bush's Advisory Board should be disband. Between the COX2 drugs and Silicon Implants that is proof enough. Now inhalers are going to come into question and people will literally be deprived of their medication. This is an interesting one because it lowers the liability of Tobacco companies. Inhalers are using the first step in the diagnosis of COPD.
Asthma drugs getting scrutiny
A study shows that adults with a mild form of the disease may not need daily doses, which is the standard treatment.
By Susan FitzGerald
Inquirer Staff Writer
The recommendation that adults with mild asthma take medication every day to control the disease might be unnecessary, a new study suggests.
Patients with mild persistent asthma who went without inhaled steroids or other daily medication had no more frequent asthma flare-ups than and had equally good lung function as patients who used the drugs.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/11387703.htm
Sydney Morning Herald
WOMEN choose a mate based on pregnancy and how well the young will do. That is an 'anima' instinct that will never go away, hence, the old expression "Behind every great man is a great woman," it true. The difference between choosing a Dare Devil for romance or not is will he be around to help with the kids. Both in lifestyle and facing down death the answer is resoundingly 'no.' The advent of liberated women can completely remove men like this from the sexually perferred market place because women can choose a "mate" without having to be financially mired to him so even the remotestly desperate woman no longer has to settle for an asshole.
Daredevils 'a turn off'
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Daredevils-a-turn-off/2005/04/14/1113251723505.html?oneclick=true
Alert level on high as thousands flee volcano's warning signs
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Thousands-flee-volcanos-warning-signs/2005/04/13/1113251686250.html
Bolton style is kiss boss, kick juniors, says former spy
By Michael Gawenda, Herald Correspondent, in Washington and agencies
April 14, 2005
A former State Department intelligence chief has described President George Bush's choice as ambassador to the United Nations as a classic "kiss-up, kick-down sort of guy".
In blunt testimony that surprised members of the Senate foreign relations committee, Carl Ford said John Bolton's behaviour "brings real question to my mind about his suitability for high office".
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Bolton-style-is-kiss-boss-kick-juniors-says-former-spy/2005/04/13/1113251685442.html
The $9-a-bite burger
April 14, 2005 - 8:42AM
Hamburgers made of New Zealand beef are being sold by a London restaurant for STG55 ($134) each.
The burgers, made from meat from cattle of the Japanese wagyu breed, come with fries, and are being sold at the Zuma restaurant in fashionable Knightsbridge, the British tabloid The Daily Mail reported.
A spokeswoman for the restaurant said: "Our wagyu beef comes from New Zealand, where the cows are reared on beer and massaged until they weigh three-quarters of a tonne, more than double the weight of an average cow.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/The-9abite-burger/2005/04/14/1113251713222.html
The Miami Herald
Alcohol industry accused of marketing to minors
A lawsuit claiming that alcoholic-beverage makers promote underage drinking is similar to the one brought against the tobacco industry.
BY PATRICK DANNER
pdanner@herald.com
Some of the country's largest alcoholic-beverage makers have been accused in a Broward Circuit Court lawsuit of marketing booze to underage drinkers with images like the Budweiser frogs and Captain Morgan.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11388664.htm
U.S. needs credible voice in U.N. councils
OUR OPINION: JOHN BOLTON ISN'T THE RIGHT CANDIDATE FOR THIS JOB
As a rule, presidents should have wide latitude in appointments for high office. When questions arise, the nominee deserves the benefit of the doubt -- absent an egregious transgression. John Bolton's well-known disdain for the United Nations doesn't by itself disqualify him for the job of U.S. ambassador. But his ideological zeal, demonstrated by his dismaying record of carving the facts to fit narrow political goals, make him a singularly poor choice for this important position.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/opinion/11388655.htm
Sheriff pledges full cooperation
Ken Jenne reiterated at a speaking engagement that a state investigation into his personal businesses would reveal no wrongdoing.
By EVAN S. BENN
ebenn@herald.com
Broward Sheriff Ken Jenne, speaking Wednesday at a Weston Business Chamber of Commerce breakfast, briefly addressed a new state investigation regarding alleged misconduct by himself and others at the sheriff's office.
Jenne repeated what he wrote in a statement Monday: He welcomes the investigation from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and he is confident it will reveal no wrongdoing on his part.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11387795.htm
continued...
Morning Papers - concluding
Michael Moore Today
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
This entire situation with DeLay is Pathetic:
Newt Knocks DeLay;
"DeLay's problem isn’t with the Democrats; DeLay's problem is with the country,"
Gingrich Criticizes DeLay
CBS News/AP
There was fresh criticism Tuesday of embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay from a prominent member of his own party.
In an exclusive interview with CBS News Correspondent Gloria Borger, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said it's time for DeLay to stop blaming a left-wing conspiracy for his ethics controversy and to lay out his case for the American people to judge.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2212
Tom DeLay is a one man road show. Laugh a minute.
'Tell them that this is all a plot and the Democrats are out to get me.'
House leader DeLay appeals for GOP senators' support
By Jill Zuckman / Chicago Tribune
Embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay made an extraordinary appeal Tuesday to Senate Republicans, asking them for their patience and support as he fends off investigations into his conduct in both Washington and Texas.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2206
DeLay Likens GOP Contract to Magna Carta
DeLay Likens GOP Contract to Magna Carta
By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - To House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, the Republican Party's "Contract With America" ranks right up there with the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights among the "great documents of freedom."
So says DeLay's Internet Web site. It describes that 1994 campaign treatise, credited with helping the GOP end four decades of House rule by Democrats, "a written commitment that presented to the people an agenda for the House of Representatives."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2203
Every which way but loose. That is the expression that covers such illegality and immorality. The reason Tom DeLay can't 'cleanse' himself of the scandal is because he is guilty. No matter all the other 'monies' he took, which everyone knows he did, he also attempted a huge distraction by invading privacy in the Florida Right to Die issue. He and those involved in the Florida issue are abusing power. The entire nation witnessed it. There is no denying what happened by any of them. They are attacking our civil rights as guaranteed by the USA constitution and we all know it. Those that want to see it happen are the only ones that still favor any of these men.
Thank you, Michael.
Journalism at Risk
Press freedom being tested by Bush
As President George W. Bush began his visit to Europe (including France on 26-27 May), Reporters Without Borders notes the limitations on press freedom imposed by the US government since the attacks of 11 September last, such as undermining the confidentiality of Internet messages and restrictions on access to the military base at Guantanamo and to military operations in Afghanistan. In this country, medias were bombed and at least five journalists and media assistants were beaten or threatened with death by US soldiers or their Afghan allies.
In United-States, the foiling of a government plan to use disinformation and the outcry at President Bush's decision to no longer pass on certain confidential material to Congress for fear of leaks to the media show the robustness of democratic traditions beyond the understandable emotion aroused by the 11 September attacks.
Since the United States boasts of being the land of human rights, these steps are exploited by dictatorships. The Chinese authorities now call the separatists in the western province of Xinjiang "terrorists" to justify repression and shutting down publications. Respect for human rights has been downgraded in the foreign policy of the world's great power. The United States is thus less concerned by abuses in Chechnya since Russia declared itself on the US side in the fight against terrorism. When he was received by President Vladimir Putin, the secretary-general of NATO borrowed the the official Russian parlance and spoke of "the plague of terrorism in Chechnya."
Only a few hours after the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, FBI agents went to the offices of Internet service providers AOL, Earthlink and Hotmail to install their Carnivore programme on the servers to monitor the e-mail of all their customers in the hope of finding traces of the attackers on the Internet.
This Internet monitoring was formalised on 24 October when the US House of Representatives passed the so-called Patriot Act, allowing the FBI to install Carnivore on any Internet service provider to monitor all e-mail messages and keep track of the web-surfing of people suspected of having contacts with a foreign power. To do this, the only permission needed is from a special legal entity whose activities are secret. The measures also eased the rules about phone-tapping. As well as the invasion of individual privacy, the confidentiality of journalists' sources is threatened by this blank cheque given to the FBI.
Encryption technology, which allows Internet users to code their messages to keep them private, is under attack from the FBI's Magic Lantern programme, a virus that can be sent to targets by e-mail without their knowledge and which records their keystrokes and thus the key to the encryption codes. After the press reported this, the FBI denied it had such a device, but admitted it was working on one.
War in Afghanistan: news under tight surveillance
From the first day of the US military's Operation Enduring Freedom, in Afghanistan on 7 October 2001, the Pentagon tried to control the filming of the war by signing an exclusive contract with the firm Space Imaging, preventing the company from "selling, distributing, sharing or providing" pictures taken by the Ikonos civilian satellite to the media, which were thus deprived of pictures of the results of the US bombings taken by this satellite. Ikonos is the most efficient of the civilian satellites.
A dozen media organisations covering the military operations were several times prevented from doing their work by US Special Forces troops and at least five journalists and media assistants were beaten or threatened with death by US soldiers or their Afghan allies. On 10 April this year, Ebadullah Ebadi, translator and assistant for the US daily The Boston Globe, was badly beaten by Afghan troops fighting with the US Special Forces, as the American soldiers watched. The Washington Post said that compared with recent wars, Rumsfeld's Pentagon has imposed greater restrictions on journalists' access to military operations and senior officers.
Restrictions were also decreed at the government-controlled radio Voice of America. The head of the station, Bob Reilly, asked editors to comply with the terms of a law adopted by Congress forbidding the radio to broadcast interviews with "any official of nations that sponsor terrorism or any representative or member of terrorist organisations."
The foreign media were not spared either. On 12 November, US troops bombed and seriously damaged the Kabul offices of the Qatari TV station Al-Jazeera. In February this year, the Pentagon refused to open an enquiry into the bombing, saying the building was suspected of harbouring Al-Qaeda militants and was therefore a military target. No apology was made to Al-Jazeera, which is frequently accused by the US government of giving too much air time to Osama Bin Laden and "encouraging anti-American feeling" in the Middle East. In October, US forces also bombed the installations of the taliban controlled media, Radio Shariat, and the state television (banned since 1996).
Difficult access to Guantanamo
Journalists from CNN, CBS, The Army Times and others were given permission on 11 January this year to photograph and film in Kabul the departure of about 20 prisoners being flown to the US naval base at Guantanamo, in Cuba. After the prisoners were flown out, the journalists were told they could not use their pictures. A Pentagon spokesman said they violated international agreements because they were "degrading" for the prisoners. Several media ignored the order.
A few months later, the Pentagon cited security concerns when it banned the media from covering the transfer of prisoners from Camp X-Ray to Camp Delta, both at the Guantanamo base. On 26 April, an army spokesman said that "we won't comment on the transfer of prisoners until it's over." Until then, the media had had some access to report on the building of Camp Delta.
The temptation to manipulate the media
The Bush Administration has several times tried to curb or control the flow of news. This anti-freedom temptation met resistance, which showed the country's solid democratic traditions.
On 5 October last year, President Bush, citing national security needs, instructed senior members of his government to stop sending certain confidential material to members of Congress for fear it would be leaked to the media. A few days earlier, the Washington Post had run a story saying members of Congress had been told a new terrorist attack on the United States was very likely. The president soon withdrew in the face of strong protests by members of Congress.
On 19 February, the New York Times reported that the Defense Department's Office of Strategic Influence (OSI) had proposed planting disinformation in the foreign media. At that time, the government feared the war against terrorism would be seen by foreigners as a war against Islam. The outcry set off by these revelations led White House spokesman Ari Fleischer to say President Bush knew nothing about the OSI project and had ordered the OSI closed down because, according to defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, "the Pentagon does not lie to the American people" or to "foreign audiences."
Setting a bad example
Some authoritarian countries, such as Tunisia, have rallied to the anti-terrorist cause as a way to crack down on critical media by accusing them of siding with terrorists. In China, the communist regime has stepped up its repression of unauthorized publications in the Xinjiang region, where the majority of people are Uigurs, and where Islamic separatists have become "terrorists" funded by Osama bin Laden. Chinese authorities in this region have seized and destroyed many books and other publications. A local communist party official openly admitted that "the anti-terrorist campaign around the world since September 11 has helped the Chinese government increase repression of the Muslim minority" in the province.
When he visited Russia last November, NATO secretary-general Lord Robertson told his Russian host, who had just sided with the United States in the fight against terrorism, "we certainly see the plague of terrorism in Chechnya with different eyes now." The remark was typical of the way human rights have been shunted into the background of American foreign policy. The comment also pleased the Russian army, which is trying to wage a secret war in Chechnya and is strictly controlling media access to the region.
Recommendations
Reporters Without Borders calls on US President George W. Bush to:
- respect the confidentiality of information circulating on the Internet, notably by ordering the FBI not to use spyware such as "Carnivore" and "Magic Lantern" without rigorous legal controls.
- respect the free movement of journalists in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo, in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that has been ratified by the United States.
- ensure that respect for human rights is once more at the heart of US foreign policy.
Reporters Without Borders calls on the German, French and Italian heads of state to support these recommendations and defend them when they meet their American counterpart.
Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned journalists and press freedom throughout the world, as well as the right to inform the public and to be informed, in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Reporters Without Borders has nine national sections (in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), representatives in Abidjan, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Montreal, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Tokyo and Washington and more than a hundred correspondents worldwide.
Régis Bourgeat, Americas desk, Reporters sans frontières, 5, rue Geoffroy-Marie, 75009 Paris - France
tél. : +33 (0) 1 44 83 84 57
fax : +33 (0) 1 45 23 11 51
e-mail: ameriques@rsf.org
http://www.london-daily.co.uk/news/rsf.htm
Newspaper Director Shot to Death on Gulf Coast
The director of a newspaper on Mexico's Gulf coast was shot to death in an apparent ambush by drug hit men, police said.
Raul Gibb Guerrero, director of the La Opinion of Poza Rica newspaper, was driving to his home Friday night near Poza Rica, about 125 miles north of Veracruz, when four gunmen riddled his truck with bullets, witnesses said. He lost control and crashed.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-briefs10.6apr10,1,4268098.story?coll=la-headlines-world
Journalism Prof Faces China's Silent Treatment
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
WASHINGTON — Jiao Guobiao (search) may not be the only Chinese academic who abhors the state-run media system in communist China, but he is one of the recent few who have dared to write about it.
For his troubles, when — and if — the 42-year-old journalism professor returns to China after a six-month fellowship at the National Endowment for Democracy (search) in Washington, he won't have a job and may face a punishment much more severe than a lost paycheck.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153258,00.html
MOROCCO: Journalist forbidden to report for 10 years
New York, April 12, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Moroccan court's decision today banning independent journalist and former newspaper owner Ali Lmrabet from practicing journalism for 10 years. The sentence comes just 10 days before Lmrabet was expected to receive a license to publish a new satirical weekly, Demain Libere.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Morocco12apr05na.html
Latin American Writers Demand Cuba Free Jailed Journalists
Over 100 reporters and editors join global denunciation of Castro regime
By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- More than 100 prominent writers, editors and reporters throughout Latin America and the Caribbean have joined the global community in demanding that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro immediately release 23 jailed journalists.
The demand, sent in a March 16 letter to Castro by 108 journalists in 19 countries throughout the Americas, said the two-year-long imprisonments of the journalists violate "the most basic norms of international law" and represent "an affront to human dignity."
http://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/Archive/2005/Mar/17-602224.html
10) What are the implication of these bills specifically on press freedom and the people's right to know?
A PRIMER ON THE ANTI-TERRORISM BILL
By THE NATIONAL UNION OF JOURNALISTS OF THE PHILIPPINES
The anti-terrorism bill being pushed by the Philippine government in the legislature has been deemed by the NUJP as inimical to the public's right to a free press and an affront to civil liberties and democracy itself. In this primer, the NUJP highlights the provisions and scope of the bill that would curtail these basic freedoms.
...Reporters are supposed to develop as many sources as possible, including those the government might consider "terrorist." If any of the anti-terrorism bills now pending were passed, journalists would be obliged to become witnesses against these sources, or else be in danger of being themselves charged with helping terrorism.
More reporters would feel the need to restrain themselves when covering controversial sources. In effect, a broad range of ideas or information would be withheld from the people, affecting their ability to make informed judgments on important political and economic issues, such as the Muslim rebellion and the underground left movement, or even economic issues such as money laundering.
Coverage of Muslim issues is likely to further deteriorate, further aggravating Muslim citizens, and deepening the resentment many already feel over their present treatment.
Ignorance of the issues would impair the rights and responsibilities of all citizens to effectively participate in the democratic processes.
March 2005, Manila, Philippines
Sources:
Latest draft of the House working group
Briefing notes and minutes of the technical working group
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=1162
Oscar Heck: In other words be honest, professional and respectful …
VHeadline.com commentarist Oscar Heck writes: Yesterday, March 28, the Washington Post published another article by Jackson Diehl, Chavez's Censorship” which, as usual, is filled with assumptions and distortions … assumptions and distortions which continue to represent the hate-filled diatribe of the anti-Chavez (anti-Venezuela and anti-democratic) Venezuelan movement (which is financially backed by the US government).
Memories are short … or long and intentionally re-worked and re-painted with the continued intent to destabilize democratically-elected Hugo Chavez’ government … a government whose leader, Hugo Chavez, received 58% support in a recent (August 2004) referendum.
(Note that 58% voter support is more than most “western” government leaders have at any given point in time!)
Ironically, Jackson Diehl states: “ … It’s easy to laugh at such buffoonery (laugh at statements made by Andres Izarra, Venezuela’s Minister of Information/Communication) if, like me, you have the privilege of working for an independent newspaper in a capital where demagogues such as Izarra aren’t taken seriously.”
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=28615
Adler 'should be jailed'
Mar 31 12:09
AAP
Prosecutors have recommended that Rodney Adler receive a full-time jail sentence, telling the former HIH director's sentencing hearing his crimes were very serious and a gross breach of trust.
As Adler faced the final day of the three-day hearing, prosecution barrister Lionel Robberds, QC, told the NSW Supreme Court that Adler had made a premeditated bid to mislead investors when he spoke to a journalist about his investment in HIH shares in June 2000.
Mr Robberds said Adler "used his position to further his interests to the detriment of the market and investors".
Adler's barrister Elizabeth Fullerton, SC, told the court her client could not be seen to have acted in a premeditated way because if the journalist had not contacted him, "no offence would have been committed".
http://afr.com/articles/2005/03/31/1111862507181.html
Niger: Director of Alternative Media Group Jailed
Media Foundation for West Africa (Accra)
PRESS RELEASE
March 31, 2005
Posted to the web March 31, 2005
Moussa Tchangari, Director of the Alternative Media Group, was on Tuesday, March 29th, 2005 jailed at the Penal Camp in Daikaina, located about 160km from Niamey.
Tchangari who was charged on two counts of “undermining the authority of the state and calling for an unarmed gathering”, is also the Communication Secretary of the Democratic Coalition of the Civil Society of Niger (CDSCN), one of the organizations calling for the withdrawal of the value added tax imposed on food products, water and electricity early this year.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200503310806.html
UK journalists deny illegally covering Zimbabwe poll
April 6, 2005
Norton, Zimbabwe: Two British journalists jailed in Zimbabwe on charges of reporting without permission pleaded not guilty yesterday and their lawyer said they would deny entering the country to cover its elections.
The Sunday Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent Toby Harnden and photographer Julian Simmonds appeared in court and entered not guilty pleas on charges they broke both Zimbabwe's tough media laws and immigration regulations.
The pair were arrested here on election day last Thursday and accused of reporting on the poll without official accreditation and overstaying their visas.
They entered the court handcuffed together, dressed in prison garb of khaki shorts and shirts frayed at the collar. They sat impassively as charges were read out, and occasionally passed notes to their lawyers.
http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=272&fArticleId=2471461
Press Freedom Groups Appeal to African Human Rights Commission
International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House (Toronto)
PRESS RELEASE
April 6, 2005
Posted to the web April 6, 2005
The African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) has agreed to hear a legal case against the Zimbabwean government, following an appeal filed by press freedom and human rights groups.
The human rights body, which assesses whether countries that have ratified the African Charter on Human and People's Rights are living up to their commitments, will hear an application filed by three organisations at its next session in the Gambia, which runs from 27 April to 11 May 2005.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200504060861.html
Jailed Saudi author, murdered Gambian newspaper publisher to receive 2005 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards
Country/Topic: International
Date: 06 April 2005
Source: PEN American Center
Person(s): Ali Al-Domaini, Deyda Hydara
Target(s):
Type(s) of violation(s):
Urgency: Bulletin
(PEN/IFEX) - The following is a 4 April 2005 PEN American Center press release:
Jailed Saudi Author, Murdered Gambian Newspaper Publisher To Receive 2005 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards
New York, New York, April 4, 2005 : PEN American Center today named Ali Al-Domaini, a leading Saudi literary figure who is one of three prominent intellectuals currently imprisoned for criticizing the pace and reach of human rights reforms in Saudi Arabia, and Deyda Hydara, a newspaper publisher and press freedom champion who was gunned down in December 2004 for challenging increasingly restrictive press laws in the Gambia, as recipients of its 2005 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards. The awards, which honor international literary figures who have been persecuted or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to freedom of expression, will be presented at PEN's Annual Gala on April 20, 2005 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/65808/
JOURNALISTS PROTEST AGAINST NEW CRIMINAL CODE
The Turkish government has delayed implementing a controversial new criminal code following vocal opposition from journalists who say it will lead to more restrictions on press freedom, report the International Press Institute (IPI), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the International Publishers Association.
Officials say the new Turkish Penal Code (TPC), adopted by the government in September 2004, will not come into force until 1 June 2005. It was supposed to have taken effect on 1 April.
Hundreds of journalists, including leaders of 15 press associations, have been demonstrating against the new legislation, which they say contains provisions that could restrict the right to report and may lead to the arbitrary prosecution of journalists and media.
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/65785/
Commission hears claims by NGOs of Violations of Civil and Political Rights
The Commission on Human Rights this morning continued its debate on civil and political rights, hearing from 46 non-governmental organizations alleging violations of civil and political rights in many parts of the world.
Violations concerning religious freedom, arbitrary detention, torture, forced disappearances, freedom of opinion and expression and arbitrary killings were claimed, with the speakers alleging that the authorities of those States had not taken appropriate action to protect those rights or that they were the perpetrators of the crimes.
http://www.unpo.org/news_detail.php?arg=02&par=2282
UK journalists may be jailed in Zimbabwe
Published in: Legalbrief Today
Date: Mon 11 April 2005
Category: General
Issue No: 1312
Two British journalists arrested for working without accreditation in Zimbabwe are bracing for jail terms of up to two years if found guilty at a trial expected to end this week.
Toby Harnden and Julian Simmonds, who were detained during last week's disputed parliamentary elections, appeared in court on Friday, according to a Mail & Guardian Online report. The defence argues that The Sunday Telegraph journalists, who entered the country on tourist visas, were travelling through the country as tourists. Some experts say the two may be fined and deported immediately from Zimbabwe, but others warn that the authorities might seek to make an example of them. ‘The Mugabe government wants to make an example of them, to warn other foreign correspondents to stay out, and to frighten any Zimbabwe journalists who might be working without accreditation,’ said a legal expert in Harare. During the trial state witness Max Makowe, an election observer, testified that when he asked Simmonds for his accreditation the photographer admitted the pair were journalists and apologised for working without permits.
http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=2005041109442591
Jailed Russian tycoon dismisses charges against him as asset grab
Alex Nicholson
Canadian Press
MOSCOW (AP) - In a dramatic finale to Russia's biggest trial in decades, oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky dismissed the charges against him Monday as "fantasies of a pulp fiction writer" meant to cover up a government effort to seize his assets and silence him politically. The court set April 27 as the date for a verdict.
The trial has gripped Russia and unsettled foreign investors. Khodorkovsky, who was arrested nearly 18 months ago and has watched the demise of his company Yukos from behind bars, faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of fraud, tax evasion and other charges - as is widely expected.
http://www.canada.com/businesscentre/story.html?id=6c8c1724-af0b-4825-83db-9d7bfbdc3c3a
Cuba won't let ex-political prisoner leave for United States
By VANESSA ARRINGTON
Associated Press Writer
April 11, 2005
Dissident Jorge Olivera has wanted to leave communist-run Cuba for years.
The independent journalist managed to get a visa to the United States in 2002, and was preparing to head north when he was picked up in a government crackdown of 75 political activists in March 2003.
After serving 21 months, Olivera was released from prison for colon problems in December. U.S. visa and political refugee papers in hand, he has been ready to leave since, but still finds himself in Havana after months waiting for an exit permit from the Cuban government.
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050411/APN/504111203&cachetime=3&template=dateline
The New Zealand Herald
Thousands evacuated as Indonesia volcano rumbles
Villagers of Bukit Sileh village carry their belongings as they evacuate after the Mt Talang volcano erupted. Picture / Reuters
13.04.05 3.30pm
By John Nedi
TANJUNG AUA, Indonesia - More than 25,000 panicked residents have been evacuated from the slopes of a volcano on Indonesia's Sumatra island.
Officials today raised the alert level as the mountain's activity intensified.
The heightened rumbling of Mount Talang has coincided with a string of moderate earthquakes on Sumatra, which is still recovering from a massive December 26 quake and tsunami that killed nearly 130,000 people in Aceh province to the north.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120276
Israel's Vanunu on trial for breaking restrictions
13.04.05 5.20pm
JERUSALEM - Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu went on trial today accused of violating terms of his release from prison by talking to foreign reporters and trying to visit the West Bank.
Vanunu, 50, was released last April after serving an 18-year term for spilling secrets about the Dimona nuclear reactor to a British newspaper. The revelations of the former technician led experts to conclude that Israel had nuclear weapons.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120244
North Korea calls Japan a political dwarf
13.04.05 1.00pm
North Korea's government has called Japan a "political dwarf", denouncing what it says are gross distortions in a new Japanese school textbook.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120236
Europe mulls $1.8 billion drug fund for bird flu
13.04.05 4.20pm
STRASBOURG, France - The European Union should be able to dip into a one billion euro ($1.8 billion) disaster fund to buy emergency vaccines and anti-viral drugs if there were a bird flu pandemic, the EU executive Commission said today.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120227
Second man charged in Scream theft
13.04.05 2.20pm
OSLO - Oslo police have charged a second man in connection with stealing the painting The Scream last year and said they remained hopeful of finding that and another missing masterpiece by Edvard Munch.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120242
Lebanon impasse puts poll in doubt
13.04.05 1.00pm
BEIRUT - Lebanon slipped deeper into a political vacuum today after bickering among officials held back the formation of a new government and made a delay in general elections set for May almost inevitable.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120232
Storm delays second phase of seal slaughter
The conservation ship Farley Mowat seen in calmer weather during the first phase of the seal kill on April 1. Picture / Reuters
13.04.05 1.00pm
by Neil Sanderson
Conservationists attempting to disrupt the second phase of the annual Canadian seal kill are crediting a spring storm with keeping most of the sealers ashore.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120257
Japan to kill more whales in Antarctic
13.04.05
The Japanese Government intends to expand what it describes as research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean to include humpback and fin whales from late this year.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120208
US tipped to cut 37,000 troops from Iraq
13.04.05
By ANDREW BUNCOMBE
The United States is planning to withdraw up to a quarter of its forces from Iraq - possibly next year.
Reports suggest military commanders believe they are making sufficient progress against insurgents and in training Iraqi security forces that the Pentagon has started to plan to reduce US forces from the current 142,000 to as few as 105,000.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120180
US prepares to promote democracy in Iran
12.04.05 4.00pm
by Rupert Cornwell
WASHINGTON - The United States has earmarked US$3m ($4.16m) to promote democracy in Iran - a tiny sum but one that has been denounced by Teheran as impermissible meddling in its internal affairs.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120059
US car makers hit by trend to smaller vehicles
Arnold Schwarzenegger at the launch of the Hummer H2 Sport Utility Truck in April, 2001. Americans are now buying fewer large vehicles. Picture / Reuters
12.04.05 1.00pm
by Katherine Griffiths
Just when America's ailing car industry thought conditions could get no worse, it is finding it cannot even rely on the country's love of all things big to buoy up profits.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120054
China arrests 15 in Aids blood donor scandal
14.04.05 2.35pm
BEIJING - China has arrested 15 people for involvement in illegal blood-selling schemes blamed for widespread HIV/Aids infections in the 1990s, the China Daily said on Thursday.
The arrests were linked to 106 cases of unsafe blood collection, illegal organisation of people to sell plasma and "serious malpractice" in blood market supervision, the newspaper quoted Vice Minister of Health Ma Xiaowei as saying.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120457
Muslims keep eye on case of detained NY girls
14.04.05 1.00pm
NEW YORK - Immigrants and Muslim communities watched with concern today as the US government prepared a case against two local teenage girls detained on immigration charges amid reports that they were seen as possible suicide bombers.
The two girls, both 16, one born in Bangladesh and one in Guinea, were being held in federal custody at an immigration centre in Pennsylvania.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120412
Opium farmers battle soldiers
14.04.05
By NICK MEO
The first day of Afghanistan's new push to eradicate opium production exploded into violence, as soldiers and police battled with farmers for control of their narcotic crops.
The fields around Maiwand in Kandahar became the backdrop to fierce firefights, as hundreds of Afghan workers tried to destroy blooms before harvest time.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120358
Nurses in nighties stage pyjama protest
14.04.05 4.20pm
JOHANNESBURG - South African nurses are wearing pyjamas and nighties to work to demand a higher uniform allowance, drawing criticism from health officials who say they are confusing patients and turning hospitals into bedrooms.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120436
French court orders retrial of Diana paparazzi
14.04.05 12.20pm
PARIS - Three photographers who took pictures of Princess Diana and Dodi al Fayed on the night of their fatal crash must be retried for breaching privacy laws, a French court has ruled.
The court annulled a ruling made last September, which acquitted Jacques Langevin, Christian Martinez and Eric Chassery of breaking the laws, an offence punishable by up to a year in jail.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120417
HOW DOES THE USA know they are not funding Osama's War? I mean the USA Military already has donated 380 tonnes of high explosives to militants in Iraq, why would they be any smarter about their spending? Osama probably owns an armor plating company for all we know.
US war spending hard to track, says watchdog
14.04.05 10.20am
WASHINGTON - The US Defence Department is unable to track how it spent tens of millions of dollars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the US war on terrorism, Congress' top investigator said today.
The department "doesn't have a system to be able to determine with any degree of reliability and specificity how we spent" tens of millions in war-related emergency funds set aside by Congress, Comptroller General David Walker told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120414
20-year-old woman shot dead for 'immoral behaviour'
14.04.05
By DONALD MacINTYRE
Hamas has mounted a desperate damage-limitation exercise in Gaza after one of its units shot dead an innocent 20-year-old Palestinian woman for "immoral behaviour" as she enjoyed a day out with her future husband.
Horrified residents of Beit Lahia, close to Gaza City, have demanded - so far in vain - that the Islamic armed faction hands over three of the gunmen still at large to the Palestinian Authority after what the victim's family believe was a - tragically unjustified - type of so-called honour killing.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120316
Bush's man a 'kick-down' bully
14.04.05
WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush's nominee for United Nations ambassador, John Bolton, was a bully who tried to force an analyst to bend intelligence on Cuba's weapons to fit a speech, a Senate hearing was told.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is considering the nomination, was told Bolton berated a State Department's intelligence analyst who held up a speech which stated Cuba had a biological arms programme.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120361
Pope's successor all sewn up
Filippo Gammarelli (right) outside the family's tailor shop where the three papal vestments are displayed. Picture / Reuters
14.04.05
ROME - Cardinals start choosing a new Pope next week, but the successor to John Paul will be all sewn up well before the secret conclave opens.
In a cobblestoned street behind Rome's Pantheon, tailor Filippo Gammarelli is adding the final stitches to an item that Monday's meeting will not start without - the white vestments the new Pope will wear when he is first revealed to the world.
Because Gammarelli has no clue who that Pope will be, he is making three versions of the silk and wool outfit, in small, medium and large, to clothe the most lean or corpulent cardinal.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120317
Petrol bombers target Northern Ireland hotel
14.04.05
BELFAST - More than 100 guests were evacuated from a Northern Ireland hotel after it was attacked with petrol bombs early on Wednesday, police said.
No one was injured and little damage was caused in the attack, in which five petrol bombs were thrown at the Days Hotel on the edge of the Sandy Row area, a tough Protestant neighbourhood near Belfast city centre.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120338
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Clear
-26.0°
Updated Wednesday 13 Apr 8:59PM
A DROP IN 24 HOURS OF 7 degrees C. That was the heat coming in from the equator. When ice is exposed to heat like this there is no immediate visible melting. It is a process called sublimination which take ice from a solid state to a gaseous state skipping the liquid state. So even though the surface air temperature states it is very cold, that does not mean the ice is safe. It means there is virtually undetectable evaporation (like an ice cube that erodes over time in a freezer) as the hot air from the equator swirls around the ice continent to cool off.
Scott Base
Overcast
-19.0°
Updated Thursday 14 Apr 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Glacier Bay National Park
36 °F / 2 °C
Mostly Cloudy
Humidity:
81%
Dew Point:
30 °F / -1 °C
Wind:
Calm
Pressure:
30.01 in / 1016 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Mostly Cloudy 3200 ft / 975 m
end
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
This entire situation with DeLay is Pathetic:
Newt Knocks DeLay;
"DeLay's problem isn’t with the Democrats; DeLay's problem is with the country,"
Gingrich Criticizes DeLay
CBS News/AP
There was fresh criticism Tuesday of embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay from a prominent member of his own party.
In an exclusive interview with CBS News Correspondent Gloria Borger, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said it's time for DeLay to stop blaming a left-wing conspiracy for his ethics controversy and to lay out his case for the American people to judge.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2212
Tom DeLay is a one man road show. Laugh a minute.
'Tell them that this is all a plot and the Democrats are out to get me.'
House leader DeLay appeals for GOP senators' support
By Jill Zuckman / Chicago Tribune
Embattled House Majority Leader Tom DeLay made an extraordinary appeal Tuesday to Senate Republicans, asking them for their patience and support as he fends off investigations into his conduct in both Washington and Texas.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2206
DeLay Likens GOP Contract to Magna Carta
DeLay Likens GOP Contract to Magna Carta
By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - To House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, the Republican Party's "Contract With America" ranks right up there with the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights among the "great documents of freedom."
So says DeLay's Internet Web site. It describes that 1994 campaign treatise, credited with helping the GOP end four decades of House rule by Democrats, "a written commitment that presented to the people an agenda for the House of Representatives."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2203
Every which way but loose. That is the expression that covers such illegality and immorality. The reason Tom DeLay can't 'cleanse' himself of the scandal is because he is guilty. No matter all the other 'monies' he took, which everyone knows he did, he also attempted a huge distraction by invading privacy in the Florida Right to Die issue. He and those involved in the Florida issue are abusing power. The entire nation witnessed it. There is no denying what happened by any of them. They are attacking our civil rights as guaranteed by the USA constitution and we all know it. Those that want to see it happen are the only ones that still favor any of these men.
Thank you, Michael.
Journalism at Risk
Press freedom being tested by Bush
As President George W. Bush began his visit to Europe (including France on 26-27 May), Reporters Without Borders notes the limitations on press freedom imposed by the US government since the attacks of 11 September last, such as undermining the confidentiality of Internet messages and restrictions on access to the military base at Guantanamo and to military operations in Afghanistan. In this country, medias were bombed and at least five journalists and media assistants were beaten or threatened with death by US soldiers or their Afghan allies.
In United-States, the foiling of a government plan to use disinformation and the outcry at President Bush's decision to no longer pass on certain confidential material to Congress for fear of leaks to the media show the robustness of democratic traditions beyond the understandable emotion aroused by the 11 September attacks.
Since the United States boasts of being the land of human rights, these steps are exploited by dictatorships. The Chinese authorities now call the separatists in the western province of Xinjiang "terrorists" to justify repression and shutting down publications. Respect for human rights has been downgraded in the foreign policy of the world's great power. The United States is thus less concerned by abuses in Chechnya since Russia declared itself on the US side in the fight against terrorism. When he was received by President Vladimir Putin, the secretary-general of NATO borrowed the the official Russian parlance and spoke of "the plague of terrorism in Chechnya."
Only a few hours after the 11 September attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, FBI agents went to the offices of Internet service providers AOL, Earthlink and Hotmail to install their Carnivore programme on the servers to monitor the e-mail of all their customers in the hope of finding traces of the attackers on the Internet.
This Internet monitoring was formalised on 24 October when the US House of Representatives passed the so-called Patriot Act, allowing the FBI to install Carnivore on any Internet service provider to monitor all e-mail messages and keep track of the web-surfing of people suspected of having contacts with a foreign power. To do this, the only permission needed is from a special legal entity whose activities are secret. The measures also eased the rules about phone-tapping. As well as the invasion of individual privacy, the confidentiality of journalists' sources is threatened by this blank cheque given to the FBI.
Encryption technology, which allows Internet users to code their messages to keep them private, is under attack from the FBI's Magic Lantern programme, a virus that can be sent to targets by e-mail without their knowledge and which records their keystrokes and thus the key to the encryption codes. After the press reported this, the FBI denied it had such a device, but admitted it was working on one.
War in Afghanistan: news under tight surveillance
From the first day of the US military's Operation Enduring Freedom, in Afghanistan on 7 October 2001, the Pentagon tried to control the filming of the war by signing an exclusive contract with the firm Space Imaging, preventing the company from "selling, distributing, sharing or providing" pictures taken by the Ikonos civilian satellite to the media, which were thus deprived of pictures of the results of the US bombings taken by this satellite. Ikonos is the most efficient of the civilian satellites.
A dozen media organisations covering the military operations were several times prevented from doing their work by US Special Forces troops and at least five journalists and media assistants were beaten or threatened with death by US soldiers or their Afghan allies. On 10 April this year, Ebadullah Ebadi, translator and assistant for the US daily The Boston Globe, was badly beaten by Afghan troops fighting with the US Special Forces, as the American soldiers watched. The Washington Post said that compared with recent wars, Rumsfeld's Pentagon has imposed greater restrictions on journalists' access to military operations and senior officers.
Restrictions were also decreed at the government-controlled radio Voice of America. The head of the station, Bob Reilly, asked editors to comply with the terms of a law adopted by Congress forbidding the radio to broadcast interviews with "any official of nations that sponsor terrorism or any representative or member of terrorist organisations."
The foreign media were not spared either. On 12 November, US troops bombed and seriously damaged the Kabul offices of the Qatari TV station Al-Jazeera. In February this year, the Pentagon refused to open an enquiry into the bombing, saying the building was suspected of harbouring Al-Qaeda militants and was therefore a military target. No apology was made to Al-Jazeera, which is frequently accused by the US government of giving too much air time to Osama Bin Laden and "encouraging anti-American feeling" in the Middle East. In October, US forces also bombed the installations of the taliban controlled media, Radio Shariat, and the state television (banned since 1996).
Difficult access to Guantanamo
Journalists from CNN, CBS, The Army Times and others were given permission on 11 January this year to photograph and film in Kabul the departure of about 20 prisoners being flown to the US naval base at Guantanamo, in Cuba. After the prisoners were flown out, the journalists were told they could not use their pictures. A Pentagon spokesman said they violated international agreements because they were "degrading" for the prisoners. Several media ignored the order.
A few months later, the Pentagon cited security concerns when it banned the media from covering the transfer of prisoners from Camp X-Ray to Camp Delta, both at the Guantanamo base. On 26 April, an army spokesman said that "we won't comment on the transfer of prisoners until it's over." Until then, the media had had some access to report on the building of Camp Delta.
The temptation to manipulate the media
The Bush Administration has several times tried to curb or control the flow of news. This anti-freedom temptation met resistance, which showed the country's solid democratic traditions.
On 5 October last year, President Bush, citing national security needs, instructed senior members of his government to stop sending certain confidential material to members of Congress for fear it would be leaked to the media. A few days earlier, the Washington Post had run a story saying members of Congress had been told a new terrorist attack on the United States was very likely. The president soon withdrew in the face of strong protests by members of Congress.
On 19 February, the New York Times reported that the Defense Department's Office of Strategic Influence (OSI) had proposed planting disinformation in the foreign media. At that time, the government feared the war against terrorism would be seen by foreigners as a war against Islam. The outcry set off by these revelations led White House spokesman Ari Fleischer to say President Bush knew nothing about the OSI project and had ordered the OSI closed down because, according to defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, "the Pentagon does not lie to the American people" or to "foreign audiences."
Setting a bad example
Some authoritarian countries, such as Tunisia, have rallied to the anti-terrorist cause as a way to crack down on critical media by accusing them of siding with terrorists. In China, the communist regime has stepped up its repression of unauthorized publications in the Xinjiang region, where the majority of people are Uigurs, and where Islamic separatists have become "terrorists" funded by Osama bin Laden. Chinese authorities in this region have seized and destroyed many books and other publications. A local communist party official openly admitted that "the anti-terrorist campaign around the world since September 11 has helped the Chinese government increase repression of the Muslim minority" in the province.
When he visited Russia last November, NATO secretary-general Lord Robertson told his Russian host, who had just sided with the United States in the fight against terrorism, "we certainly see the plague of terrorism in Chechnya with different eyes now." The remark was typical of the way human rights have been shunted into the background of American foreign policy. The comment also pleased the Russian army, which is trying to wage a secret war in Chechnya and is strictly controlling media access to the region.
Recommendations
Reporters Without Borders calls on US President George W. Bush to:
- respect the confidentiality of information circulating on the Internet, notably by ordering the FBI not to use spyware such as "Carnivore" and "Magic Lantern" without rigorous legal controls.
- respect the free movement of journalists in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo, in accordance with Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that has been ratified by the United States.
- ensure that respect for human rights is once more at the heart of US foreign policy.
Reporters Without Borders calls on the German, French and Italian heads of state to support these recommendations and defend them when they meet their American counterpart.
Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned journalists and press freedom throughout the world, as well as the right to inform the public and to be informed, in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Reporters Without Borders has nine national sections (in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), representatives in Abidjan, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Montreal, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Tokyo and Washington and more than a hundred correspondents worldwide.
Régis Bourgeat, Americas desk, Reporters sans frontières, 5, rue Geoffroy-Marie, 75009 Paris - France
tél. : +33 (0) 1 44 83 84 57
fax : +33 (0) 1 45 23 11 51
e-mail: ameriques@rsf.org
http://www.london-daily.co.uk/news/rsf.htm
Newspaper Director Shot to Death on Gulf Coast
The director of a newspaper on Mexico's Gulf coast was shot to death in an apparent ambush by drug hit men, police said.
Raul Gibb Guerrero, director of the La Opinion of Poza Rica newspaper, was driving to his home Friday night near Poza Rica, about 125 miles north of Veracruz, when four gunmen riddled his truck with bullets, witnesses said. He lost control and crashed.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-briefs10.6apr10,1,4268098.story?coll=la-headlines-world
Journalism Prof Faces China's Silent Treatment
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
By Kelley Beaucar Vlahos
WASHINGTON — Jiao Guobiao (search) may not be the only Chinese academic who abhors the state-run media system in communist China, but he is one of the recent few who have dared to write about it.
For his troubles, when — and if — the 42-year-old journalism professor returns to China after a six-month fellowship at the National Endowment for Democracy (search) in Washington, he won't have a job and may face a punishment much more severe than a lost paycheck.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153258,00.html
MOROCCO: Journalist forbidden to report for 10 years
New York, April 12, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Moroccan court's decision today banning independent journalist and former newspaper owner Ali Lmrabet from practicing journalism for 10 years. The sentence comes just 10 days before Lmrabet was expected to receive a license to publish a new satirical weekly, Demain Libere.
http://www.cpj.org/news/2005/Morocco12apr05na.html
Latin American Writers Demand Cuba Free Jailed Journalists
Over 100 reporters and editors join global denunciation of Castro regime
By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- More than 100 prominent writers, editors and reporters throughout Latin America and the Caribbean have joined the global community in demanding that Cuban dictator Fidel Castro immediately release 23 jailed journalists.
The demand, sent in a March 16 letter to Castro by 108 journalists in 19 countries throughout the Americas, said the two-year-long imprisonments of the journalists violate "the most basic norms of international law" and represent "an affront to human dignity."
http://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/Archive/2005/Mar/17-602224.html
10) What are the implication of these bills specifically on press freedom and the people's right to know?
A PRIMER ON THE ANTI-TERRORISM BILL
By THE NATIONAL UNION OF JOURNALISTS OF THE PHILIPPINES
The anti-terrorism bill being pushed by the Philippine government in the legislature has been deemed by the NUJP as inimical to the public's right to a free press and an affront to civil liberties and democracy itself. In this primer, the NUJP highlights the provisions and scope of the bill that would curtail these basic freedoms.
...Reporters are supposed to develop as many sources as possible, including those the government might consider "terrorist." If any of the anti-terrorism bills now pending were passed, journalists would be obliged to become witnesses against these sources, or else be in danger of being themselves charged with helping terrorism.
More reporters would feel the need to restrain themselves when covering controversial sources. In effect, a broad range of ideas or information would be withheld from the people, affecting their ability to make informed judgments on important political and economic issues, such as the Muslim rebellion and the underground left movement, or even economic issues such as money laundering.
Coverage of Muslim issues is likely to further deteriorate, further aggravating Muslim citizens, and deepening the resentment many already feel over their present treatment.
Ignorance of the issues would impair the rights and responsibilities of all citizens to effectively participate in the democratic processes.
March 2005, Manila, Philippines
Sources:
Latest draft of the House working group
Briefing notes and minutes of the technical working group
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=1162
Oscar Heck: In other words be honest, professional and respectful …
VHeadline.com commentarist Oscar Heck writes: Yesterday, March 28, the Washington Post published another article by Jackson Diehl, Chavez's Censorship” which, as usual, is filled with assumptions and distortions … assumptions and distortions which continue to represent the hate-filled diatribe of the anti-Chavez (anti-Venezuela and anti-democratic) Venezuelan movement (which is financially backed by the US government).
Memories are short … or long and intentionally re-worked and re-painted with the continued intent to destabilize democratically-elected Hugo Chavez’ government … a government whose leader, Hugo Chavez, received 58% support in a recent (August 2004) referendum.
(Note that 58% voter support is more than most “western” government leaders have at any given point in time!)
Ironically, Jackson Diehl states: “ … It’s easy to laugh at such buffoonery (laugh at statements made by Andres Izarra, Venezuela’s Minister of Information/Communication) if, like me, you have the privilege of working for an independent newspaper in a capital where demagogues such as Izarra aren’t taken seriously.”
http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=28615
Adler 'should be jailed'
Mar 31 12:09
AAP
Prosecutors have recommended that Rodney Adler receive a full-time jail sentence, telling the former HIH director's sentencing hearing his crimes were very serious and a gross breach of trust.
As Adler faced the final day of the three-day hearing, prosecution barrister Lionel Robberds, QC, told the NSW Supreme Court that Adler had made a premeditated bid to mislead investors when he spoke to a journalist about his investment in HIH shares in June 2000.
Mr Robberds said Adler "used his position to further his interests to the detriment of the market and investors".
Adler's barrister Elizabeth Fullerton, SC, told the court her client could not be seen to have acted in a premeditated way because if the journalist had not contacted him, "no offence would have been committed".
http://afr.com/articles/2005/03/31/1111862507181.html
Niger: Director of Alternative Media Group Jailed
Media Foundation for West Africa (Accra)
PRESS RELEASE
March 31, 2005
Posted to the web March 31, 2005
Moussa Tchangari, Director of the Alternative Media Group, was on Tuesday, March 29th, 2005 jailed at the Penal Camp in Daikaina, located about 160km from Niamey.
Tchangari who was charged on two counts of “undermining the authority of the state and calling for an unarmed gathering”, is also the Communication Secretary of the Democratic Coalition of the Civil Society of Niger (CDSCN), one of the organizations calling for the withdrawal of the value added tax imposed on food products, water and electricity early this year.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200503310806.html
UK journalists deny illegally covering Zimbabwe poll
April 6, 2005
Norton, Zimbabwe: Two British journalists jailed in Zimbabwe on charges of reporting without permission pleaded not guilty yesterday and their lawyer said they would deny entering the country to cover its elections.
The Sunday Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent Toby Harnden and photographer Julian Simmonds appeared in court and entered not guilty pleas on charges they broke both Zimbabwe's tough media laws and immigration regulations.
The pair were arrested here on election day last Thursday and accused of reporting on the poll without official accreditation and overstaying their visas.
They entered the court handcuffed together, dressed in prison garb of khaki shorts and shirts frayed at the collar. They sat impassively as charges were read out, and occasionally passed notes to their lawyers.
http://www.capetimes.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=272&fArticleId=2471461
Press Freedom Groups Appeal to African Human Rights Commission
International Freedom of Expression Exchange Clearing House (Toronto)
PRESS RELEASE
April 6, 2005
Posted to the web April 6, 2005
The African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) has agreed to hear a legal case against the Zimbabwean government, following an appeal filed by press freedom and human rights groups.
The human rights body, which assesses whether countries that have ratified the African Charter on Human and People's Rights are living up to their commitments, will hear an application filed by three organisations at its next session in the Gambia, which runs from 27 April to 11 May 2005.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200504060861.html
Jailed Saudi author, murdered Gambian newspaper publisher to receive 2005 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards
Country/Topic: International
Date: 06 April 2005
Source: PEN American Center
Person(s): Ali Al-Domaini, Deyda Hydara
Target(s):
Type(s) of violation(s):
Urgency: Bulletin
(PEN/IFEX) - The following is a 4 April 2005 PEN American Center press release:
Jailed Saudi Author, Murdered Gambian Newspaper Publisher To Receive 2005 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards
New York, New York, April 4, 2005 : PEN American Center today named Ali Al-Domaini, a leading Saudi literary figure who is one of three prominent intellectuals currently imprisoned for criticizing the pace and reach of human rights reforms in Saudi Arabia, and Deyda Hydara, a newspaper publisher and press freedom champion who was gunned down in December 2004 for challenging increasingly restrictive press laws in the Gambia, as recipients of its 2005 PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Awards. The awards, which honor international literary figures who have been persecuted or imprisoned for exercising or defending the right to freedom of expression, will be presented at PEN's Annual Gala on April 20, 2005 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/65808/
JOURNALISTS PROTEST AGAINST NEW CRIMINAL CODE
The Turkish government has delayed implementing a controversial new criminal code following vocal opposition from journalists who say it will lead to more restrictions on press freedom, report the International Press Institute (IPI), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the International Publishers Association.
Officials say the new Turkish Penal Code (TPC), adopted by the government in September 2004, will not come into force until 1 June 2005. It was supposed to have taken effect on 1 April.
Hundreds of journalists, including leaders of 15 press associations, have been demonstrating against the new legislation, which they say contains provisions that could restrict the right to report and may lead to the arbitrary prosecution of journalists and media.
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/65785/
Commission hears claims by NGOs of Violations of Civil and Political Rights
The Commission on Human Rights this morning continued its debate on civil and political rights, hearing from 46 non-governmental organizations alleging violations of civil and political rights in many parts of the world.
Violations concerning religious freedom, arbitrary detention, torture, forced disappearances, freedom of opinion and expression and arbitrary killings were claimed, with the speakers alleging that the authorities of those States had not taken appropriate action to protect those rights or that they were the perpetrators of the crimes.
http://www.unpo.org/news_detail.php?arg=02&par=2282
UK journalists may be jailed in Zimbabwe
Published in: Legalbrief Today
Date: Mon 11 April 2005
Category: General
Issue No: 1312
Two British journalists arrested for working without accreditation in Zimbabwe are bracing for jail terms of up to two years if found guilty at a trial expected to end this week.
Toby Harnden and Julian Simmonds, who were detained during last week's disputed parliamentary elections, appeared in court on Friday, according to a Mail & Guardian Online report. The defence argues that The Sunday Telegraph journalists, who entered the country on tourist visas, were travelling through the country as tourists. Some experts say the two may be fined and deported immediately from Zimbabwe, but others warn that the authorities might seek to make an example of them. ‘The Mugabe government wants to make an example of them, to warn other foreign correspondents to stay out, and to frighten any Zimbabwe journalists who might be working without accreditation,’ said a legal expert in Harare. During the trial state witness Max Makowe, an election observer, testified that when he asked Simmonds for his accreditation the photographer admitted the pair were journalists and apologised for working without permits.
http://www.legalbrief.co.za/article.php?story=2005041109442591
Jailed Russian tycoon dismisses charges against him as asset grab
Alex Nicholson
Canadian Press
MOSCOW (AP) - In a dramatic finale to Russia's biggest trial in decades, oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky dismissed the charges against him Monday as "fantasies of a pulp fiction writer" meant to cover up a government effort to seize his assets and silence him politically. The court set April 27 as the date for a verdict.
The trial has gripped Russia and unsettled foreign investors. Khodorkovsky, who was arrested nearly 18 months ago and has watched the demise of his company Yukos from behind bars, faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of fraud, tax evasion and other charges - as is widely expected.
http://www.canada.com/businesscentre/story.html?id=6c8c1724-af0b-4825-83db-9d7bfbdc3c3a
Cuba won't let ex-political prisoner leave for United States
By VANESSA ARRINGTON
Associated Press Writer
April 11, 2005
Dissident Jorge Olivera has wanted to leave communist-run Cuba for years.
The independent journalist managed to get a visa to the United States in 2002, and was preparing to head north when he was picked up in a government crackdown of 75 political activists in March 2003.
After serving 21 months, Olivera was released from prison for colon problems in December. U.S. visa and political refugee papers in hand, he has been ready to leave since, but still finds himself in Havana after months waiting for an exit permit from the Cuban government.
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050411/APN/504111203&cachetime=3&template=dateline
The New Zealand Herald
Thousands evacuated as Indonesia volcano rumbles
Villagers of Bukit Sileh village carry their belongings as they evacuate after the Mt Talang volcano erupted. Picture / Reuters
13.04.05 3.30pm
By John Nedi
TANJUNG AUA, Indonesia - More than 25,000 panicked residents have been evacuated from the slopes of a volcano on Indonesia's Sumatra island.
Officials today raised the alert level as the mountain's activity intensified.
The heightened rumbling of Mount Talang has coincided with a string of moderate earthquakes on Sumatra, which is still recovering from a massive December 26 quake and tsunami that killed nearly 130,000 people in Aceh province to the north.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120276
Israel's Vanunu on trial for breaking restrictions
13.04.05 5.20pm
JERUSALEM - Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu went on trial today accused of violating terms of his release from prison by talking to foreign reporters and trying to visit the West Bank.
Vanunu, 50, was released last April after serving an 18-year term for spilling secrets about the Dimona nuclear reactor to a British newspaper. The revelations of the former technician led experts to conclude that Israel had nuclear weapons.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120244
North Korea calls Japan a political dwarf
13.04.05 1.00pm
North Korea's government has called Japan a "political dwarf", denouncing what it says are gross distortions in a new Japanese school textbook.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120236
Europe mulls $1.8 billion drug fund for bird flu
13.04.05 4.20pm
STRASBOURG, France - The European Union should be able to dip into a one billion euro ($1.8 billion) disaster fund to buy emergency vaccines and anti-viral drugs if there were a bird flu pandemic, the EU executive Commission said today.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120227
Second man charged in Scream theft
13.04.05 2.20pm
OSLO - Oslo police have charged a second man in connection with stealing the painting The Scream last year and said they remained hopeful of finding that and another missing masterpiece by Edvard Munch.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120242
Lebanon impasse puts poll in doubt
13.04.05 1.00pm
BEIRUT - Lebanon slipped deeper into a political vacuum today after bickering among officials held back the formation of a new government and made a delay in general elections set for May almost inevitable.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120232
Storm delays second phase of seal slaughter
The conservation ship Farley Mowat seen in calmer weather during the first phase of the seal kill on April 1. Picture / Reuters
13.04.05 1.00pm
by Neil Sanderson
Conservationists attempting to disrupt the second phase of the annual Canadian seal kill are crediting a spring storm with keeping most of the sealers ashore.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120257
Japan to kill more whales in Antarctic
13.04.05
The Japanese Government intends to expand what it describes as research whaling in the Antarctic Ocean to include humpback and fin whales from late this year.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120208
US tipped to cut 37,000 troops from Iraq
13.04.05
By ANDREW BUNCOMBE
The United States is planning to withdraw up to a quarter of its forces from Iraq - possibly next year.
Reports suggest military commanders believe they are making sufficient progress against insurgents and in training Iraqi security forces that the Pentagon has started to plan to reduce US forces from the current 142,000 to as few as 105,000.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120180
US prepares to promote democracy in Iran
12.04.05 4.00pm
by Rupert Cornwell
WASHINGTON - The United States has earmarked US$3m ($4.16m) to promote democracy in Iran - a tiny sum but one that has been denounced by Teheran as impermissible meddling in its internal affairs.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120059
US car makers hit by trend to smaller vehicles
Arnold Schwarzenegger at the launch of the Hummer H2 Sport Utility Truck in April, 2001. Americans are now buying fewer large vehicles. Picture / Reuters
12.04.05 1.00pm
by Katherine Griffiths
Just when America's ailing car industry thought conditions could get no worse, it is finding it cannot even rely on the country's love of all things big to buoy up profits.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120054
China arrests 15 in Aids blood donor scandal
14.04.05 2.35pm
BEIJING - China has arrested 15 people for involvement in illegal blood-selling schemes blamed for widespread HIV/Aids infections in the 1990s, the China Daily said on Thursday.
The arrests were linked to 106 cases of unsafe blood collection, illegal organisation of people to sell plasma and "serious malpractice" in blood market supervision, the newspaper quoted Vice Minister of Health Ma Xiaowei as saying.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120457
Muslims keep eye on case of detained NY girls
14.04.05 1.00pm
NEW YORK - Immigrants and Muslim communities watched with concern today as the US government prepared a case against two local teenage girls detained on immigration charges amid reports that they were seen as possible suicide bombers.
The two girls, both 16, one born in Bangladesh and one in Guinea, were being held in federal custody at an immigration centre in Pennsylvania.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120412
Opium farmers battle soldiers
14.04.05
By NICK MEO
The first day of Afghanistan's new push to eradicate opium production exploded into violence, as soldiers and police battled with farmers for control of their narcotic crops.
The fields around Maiwand in Kandahar became the backdrop to fierce firefights, as hundreds of Afghan workers tried to destroy blooms before harvest time.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120358
Nurses in nighties stage pyjama protest
14.04.05 4.20pm
JOHANNESBURG - South African nurses are wearing pyjamas and nighties to work to demand a higher uniform allowance, drawing criticism from health officials who say they are confusing patients and turning hospitals into bedrooms.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120436
French court orders retrial of Diana paparazzi
14.04.05 12.20pm
PARIS - Three photographers who took pictures of Princess Diana and Dodi al Fayed on the night of their fatal crash must be retried for breaching privacy laws, a French court has ruled.
The court annulled a ruling made last September, which acquitted Jacques Langevin, Christian Martinez and Eric Chassery of breaking the laws, an offence punishable by up to a year in jail.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120417
HOW DOES THE USA know they are not funding Osama's War? I mean the USA Military already has donated 380 tonnes of high explosives to militants in Iraq, why would they be any smarter about their spending? Osama probably owns an armor plating company for all we know.
US war spending hard to track, says watchdog
14.04.05 10.20am
WASHINGTON - The US Defence Department is unable to track how it spent tens of millions of dollars in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the US war on terrorism, Congress' top investigator said today.
The department "doesn't have a system to be able to determine with any degree of reliability and specificity how we spent" tens of millions in war-related emergency funds set aside by Congress, Comptroller General David Walker told a Senate Armed Services subcommittee.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120414
20-year-old woman shot dead for 'immoral behaviour'
14.04.05
By DONALD MacINTYRE
Hamas has mounted a desperate damage-limitation exercise in Gaza after one of its units shot dead an innocent 20-year-old Palestinian woman for "immoral behaviour" as she enjoyed a day out with her future husband.
Horrified residents of Beit Lahia, close to Gaza City, have demanded - so far in vain - that the Islamic armed faction hands over three of the gunmen still at large to the Palestinian Authority after what the victim's family believe was a - tragically unjustified - type of so-called honour killing.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120316
Bush's man a 'kick-down' bully
14.04.05
WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush's nominee for United Nations ambassador, John Bolton, was a bully who tried to force an analyst to bend intelligence on Cuba's weapons to fit a speech, a Senate hearing was told.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is considering the nomination, was told Bolton berated a State Department's intelligence analyst who held up a speech which stated Cuba had a biological arms programme.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120361
Pope's successor all sewn up
Filippo Gammarelli (right) outside the family's tailor shop where the three papal vestments are displayed. Picture / Reuters
14.04.05
ROME - Cardinals start choosing a new Pope next week, but the successor to John Paul will be all sewn up well before the secret conclave opens.
In a cobblestoned street behind Rome's Pantheon, tailor Filippo Gammarelli is adding the final stitches to an item that Monday's meeting will not start without - the white vestments the new Pope will wear when he is first revealed to the world.
Because Gammarelli has no clue who that Pope will be, he is making three versions of the silk and wool outfit, in small, medium and large, to clothe the most lean or corpulent cardinal.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120317
Petrol bombers target Northern Ireland hotel
14.04.05
BELFAST - More than 100 guests were evacuated from a Northern Ireland hotel after it was attacked with petrol bombs early on Wednesday, police said.
No one was injured and little damage was caused in the attack, in which five petrol bombs were thrown at the Days Hotel on the edge of the Sandy Row area, a tough Protestant neighbourhood near Belfast city centre.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10120338
The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Scott Base
Clear
-26.0°
Updated Wednesday 13 Apr 8:59PM
A DROP IN 24 HOURS OF 7 degrees C. That was the heat coming in from the equator. When ice is exposed to heat like this there is no immediate visible melting. It is a process called sublimination which take ice from a solid state to a gaseous state skipping the liquid state. So even though the surface air temperature states it is very cold, that does not mean the ice is safe. It means there is virtually undetectable evaporation (like an ice cube that erodes over time in a freezer) as the hot air from the equator swirls around the ice continent to cool off.
Scott Base
Overcast
-19.0°
Updated Thursday 14 Apr 8:59PM
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Ice Chime) is:
Glacier Bay National Park
36 °F / 2 °C
Mostly Cloudy
Humidity:
81%
Dew Point:
30 °F / -1 °C
Wind:
Calm
Pressure:
30.01 in / 1016 hPa
Visibility:
10.0 miles / 16.1 kilometers
UV:
0 out of 16
Clouds (AGL):
Mostly Cloudy 3200 ft / 975 m
end
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)