USA Wildfires
Firefighter braves wildfires deep in the heart of Texas
By JOHN MOORE Staff writer
WAGENER — David Widener has 22 years of experience fighting fires with the S.C. Forestry Commission, but the recent Texas wildfires were unlike anything he has seen before.
Widener, a bulldozer operator, spent 15 days battling wildfires that burned thousands of acres in central Texas.
He arrived Jan. 1, the day after a fire burned more than 35,000 acres and 60 homes in the area.
“The fires were running 200-300 feet per minute,” Widener said. “We didn’t really have to do much plowing. We mostly handled water. There were fires all over. You can’t get in front of it plowing. We just had to wait for the wind to die down or for it to hit natural barriers.”
Widener said helicopters dropped water on the fires, and much of the work plowing was done to protect property and houses.
“A lot of times we had to flank a fire and run the sides of it,” Widener said. “Sometimes we had to get 20 miles ahead of the fire to plow. We had to make a good break to slow it down.”
Widener said the weather was extremely windy.
“The fire causes the wind to blow even stronger,” Widener said. “When I left, the wind was getting to 30 mph even during the middle of the night.”
Widener said no significant rainfall is expected in some parts
Please see FIREFIGHTER, page 8A
of Texas until spring.
“I wouldn’t want to live in Texas now,” Widener said. “The place hasn’t seen a decent rain since September.”
Widener returned home Monday morning.
“The least hours we worked a day was 12 hours,” Widener said. “We worked 15, 16 or 17 hours some days — we worked a lot of hours.”
While the work was difficult, Widener enjoyed the experience.
“I love my job,” Widener said. “It’s a great job. It is a very flexible job. I can do something else working for the forestry commission.”
When there is a call, Widener drives brings his bulldozer to fight the fire.
“I plow out fires in state, but I can go anywhere in the Southeast,” Widener said. “We have a compact with other states. If they need us we will go to them, if we need them they will come to us.”
Widener has fought fires in Florida and California, but the Texas experience was very different.
“California had similar terrain but more mountainous,” Widener said. “The terrain was nothing like I expected it to be. That was the first time I’ve ever been in Texas. When they show pictures of Texas, they show the good parts.”
Widener said the area surrounding McGregor, Texas, where he fought most of the fires, was flat grassland with a few cedar trees.
Widener said even the leader of the firefighting efforts had not seen fires like the ones that were burning during the first part of the month.
“This was all new to him,” Widener said. “He had to learn how to do things he never had to do before.”
Widener said there 12 people from the SC Forestry Commission now in Texas fighting wildfires.
Contact John Moore at jmoore@aikenstandard.com
http://www.aikenstandard.com/122306.ihtml
Local fireman battles Texas wildfires
From staff and wire reports
An Horry County firefighter has returned home after 15 days of fighting Texas wildfires so severe that President Bush declared a major disaster in the state.
Bulldozer operator and wildfire veteran Matt Schlaefer of Myrtle Beach was among five S.C. Forestry Commission firefighters who went to the Lone Star State on New Year's Day.
Twelve more Forestry Commission firemen are still fighting the Texas blazes.
According to the Forestry Commission, Schlaefer served in central Texas as an initial attack firefighter, being among the first to respond to a wildfire.
After hundreds of destructive wildfires in recent weeks, President Bush on Wednesday declared a major disaster in Texas, enabling residents of stricken communities to tap into a broad range of federal assistance.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram last week reported that since Jan. 1, more than 240,000 acres have burned across Texas.
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/mld/myrtlebeachonline/13646014.htm
Currently there are two fires still ablaze on the Map.
http://activefiremaps.fs.fed.us/
The Seattle Post Intelligencer
Fierce winds whip through Southern Calif.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES -- Fierce Santa Ana winds whipping through Southern California on Monday fanned brush and house fires, knocked out power to 77,000 utility customers and littered roads with palm fronds and trash cans.
The dry wind, gusting near 70 mph in some places, roared out of the desert and down mountain passes and canyons to the coast, sending firefighters chasing outbreaks and toppling big rigs on highways.
One fire destroyed a home and damaged five others in the Tujunga section, and a blaze in suburban La Canada Flintridge forced evacuation of 15 homes before it was contained.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_California_Winds.html
Earthquake strikes off coast of Vanuatu
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SYDNEY, Australia -- A magnitude-6.2 earthquake struck Monday near Vanuatu in the South Pacific, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The earthquake occurred just after 5 p.m. local time about 40 miles northwest of the Vanuatu capital of Port Vila, the USGS said.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center at Ewa Beach, Hawaii, said the quake could cause a localized tsunami but ruled out a Pacific-wide tsunami.
New Zealand's High Commissioner to Vanuatu, Paul Willis, said the earthquake was "short and sharp."
"As far as I can see there was no damage," he said in a telephone interview.
A phone call to the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office in Port Vila was not immediately answered.
Vanuatu is an 80-island archipelago located about 1,400 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia. A volcano on one of the country's islands began erupting in November after a 10-year slumber, causing thousands of residents to flee to makeshift camps.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1106AP_Vanuatu_Quake.html
Wildfires rage in southern Australia
By DENNIS PASSA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
MELBOURNE, Australia -- Wildfires raged across southern Australia on Monday, and a firefighter was killed as a fire truck overturned speeding to a blaze, police said. Distraught ranchers shot cattle injured by the flames.
Three other firefighters were injured in the accident at an intersection 56 miles northeast of Melbourne, police spokesman Greg Jenkins said.
Around 10,000 firefighters were working to contain more than two dozen wildfires that have killed thousands of head of livestock and left two people dead late Sunday when their car plowed into a tree as they drove through a fire region.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1106AP_Australia_Wildfire.html
Landslide kills eight in Papua New Guinea
By JEANNETTE FRANCIS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
SYDNEY, Australia -- A landslide sent mud and boulders smashing through a remote village in Papua New Guinea, killing at least eight people and leaving five more missing and feared dead, an emergency service official said Tuesday.
The landslide swept through the village of Bapa, 75 miles north of the capital Port Moresby, on Friday night after weeks of rain soaked the area, the Morobe Province disaster coordinator Tera Gauba told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
News of the extent of the devastation and loss of life in the remote and inaccessible region only emerged Tuesday in Port Moresby.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1102AP_Papua_New_Guinea_Landslide.html
W.Va. lawmakers approve mine safety rules
By LAWRENCE MESSINA
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- After 14 coal mining deaths in three weeks, West Virginia lawmakers unanimously passed a bill Monday that would require mines to use electronic devices to track trapped miners and stockpile oxygen to keep them alive until help arrives.
The Senate and House both acted speedily at the urging of Gov. Joe Manchin, who unveiled the legislation about 11 a.m. and pressed lawmakers to pass it by the end of the day.
"We can't afford to wait any longer," Manchin said after two miners were found dead over the weekend in a mine fire in Melville. Three weeks ago, 12 miners died after an explosion at the Sago Mine.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Mine_Fire.html?source=mypi
Gay rights bill may be just the start
Same-sex marriage also a hot topic for lawmakers
By CHRIS McGANN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT
OLYMPIA -- Gay rights and gay marriage are on a collision course in the Legislature this year, and the Democrats in power are doing everything they can to bring home the former before the latter becomes an issue.
Eight years ago, a Legislative supermajority outlawed gay marriage.
This week, lawmakers are on the verge of outlawing discrimination of gays and lesbians in employment, housing and lending at the same time the state Supreme Court is poised to hand down its ruling on their earlier work.
A worst-case scenario for Democrats would be if the high court ruled against the Defense of Marriage Act and asked the Legislature to make the fix. Democrats who have championed the gay rights bill would be forced to take a stand on the much more controversial issue of gay marriage.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/256807_gayrights24.html
National Security: Yes, ban torture
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
President Bush has run into more embarrassment over his handling of questions about torture. Twenty-two former military leaders sent a letter last week asking the president to enforce the new ban on torture.
When ex-military leaders such as retired Marine Gen. Joseph Hoar and Rear Adm. John Hutson, a former Navy judge advocate general, feel they have to ask a president to enforce policy within the rest of his administration, it's a cause for national worry. It's worse that the issue is torture, which has already severely damaged U.S. credibility.
After making a show of the president's decision to sign the anti-torture legislation written by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the White House quietly issued a "signing statement" that seemed to say there are loopholes. The document said the White House "shall construe (the legislation) in a manner consistent with the constitutional authority of the president ... as commander in chief." Legal experts, several Republican senators and even White House officials told the Boston Globe that the statement meant the president believes he can waive the torture ban when he judges it vital to security.
The military leaders' letter told the president that troops are endangered by any suggestion torture is acceptable. They wrote, "Clear and unambiguous implementation (of the anti-torture measure) will help ensure that our brave men and women in uniform will never again feel that to prevail against the enemy they must risk their honor or the values they fight to protect." It's embarrassing enough that that needed to be said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/256719_tortured.asp
Laguna Beach tradition becomes battlefield
By GILLIAN FLACCUS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. -- For 40 years, this quaint city overlooking the Pacific has united around its annual Patriots' Day Parade, a celebration of school marching bands, charities, civic groups and military personnel.
The small-town tradition, though, has become an unlikely battlefield in the national debate over illegal immigration.
The nonprofit group that runs the parade recently rejected a float sponsored by the Minuteman Project, a self-styled border patrol run by illegal immigration opponent Jim Gilchrist. Now, his group is threatening legal action on free-speech and discrimination grounds and has gone to the airwaves to criticize the city and its parade.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Parade_Politics.html
Super puzzle completed
Star power meshes with bit players
By DANNY O'NEIL
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
Seattle's stars stood out, evident in spite of the clouds that hovered over the city and shining through the confetti and fireworks that filled Qwest Field.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/football/256670_hawk23.html
Heiress Paris Hilton dances at the Blender Sessions party in Park City, Utah. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)
(January 22, 2006)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/ae/popup.asp?gtitle=Sundance%20Film%20Festival&SubID=1374&page=0&css=/photos/gtitle.css&pubdate=01/22/06
Software Notebook: Is Gates' prediction on spam a bust?
By TODD BISHOP
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
It was a prediction that captured the attention of the international media and weary Internet users alike: "Two years from now, spam will be solved," Microsoft's Bill Gates said.
Well, time's up.
As of this week, two years have passed since Gates made that declaration at the 2004 World Economic Forum in Switzerland. Microsoft and others point to progress in the struggle against unwanted e-mail, on several fronts. A Federal Trade Commission report last month concluded that the overall volume of spam "has begun to level off."
But has the problem of spam e-mail been solved?
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/256579_software23.asp
Tug sinks in Elliott Bay
Foundering boat nearly pulls another one down with it
By JAKE ELLISON
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
The 101-foot tugboat Island Brave sank early Sunday afternoon where it was moored in Elliott Bay at the mouth of the Duwamish River, nearly dragging another tug down with it.
The cause of the tugboat's sinking was unknown Sunday. The boat's owners don't expect to determine the cause at least until today, when they hope to lift the Island Brave back to the surface.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/256652_tugboat23.html
Eavesdropping leaps into 21st century
By MATTHEW FORDAHL
AP TECHNOLOGY WRITER
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- In the past, intercepting communications meant just that - copying a telegram mid-route, steaming open an envelope or attaching alligator clips to the copper wires that connected every telephone in the world.
But the old ways of communicating are heading into the sunset like the Pony Express and being replaced by phone calls, instant messages, e-mail and more that are converted into digital data before they gallop across the Internet and other advanced networks.
This constant interchange of massive amounts of data, converging into speeding bitstreams on common pipes, is both a blessing and a curse for eavesdroppers.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1700AP_Wiretap_Tech.html
DNA exonerates Fla. man after 24 years
By MITCH STACY
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TAMPA, Fla. -- Alan Crotzer stepped into the warm sunlight outside the courthouse Monday and raised his arms to the sky, celebrating his freedom after more than 24 years behind bars for crimes he didn't commit.
A judge freed the 45-year-old Crotzer after DNA testing and other evidence convinced prosecutors he was not involved in the 1981 armed robbery and rapes that led to his 130-year prison sentence.
"It's been a long time coming," said Crotzer, his black hair graying at the temples. "Thank God for this day."
Crotzer walked free more than three years after he wrote to the Innocence Project in New York, a legal clinic that seeks to exonerate inmates through DNA testing.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_DNA_Exoneration.html
Judge orders man removed from death row
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A man convicted of three murders was taken off death row after a federal judge ruled that an IQ test administered when the inmate was 10 showed he was mentally retarded.
U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle's decision made Elton O. McLaughlin, 55, the 12th death row inmate in the state spared because of mental retardation.
Boyle ruled that a test showing McLaughlin had an IQ of 70 was valid, even though it was administered in the 1960s by a teacher and not by a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, as state law requires.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_BRF_Death_Row_IQ.html
Katrina evacuees face eviction in Dallas
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DALLAS -- Some Hurricane Katrina evacuees face possible eviction from their rental housing because the Dallas Housing Authority has not paid their December rent.
Under the housing authority's rental voucher program, evacuees receive a voucher to cover their rent and utilities through February. The housing authority then makes payments directly to the landlord.
But the program has been overwhelmed by 6,600 applications and has fallen behind on rent payments, The Dallas Morning News reported in Tuesday editions.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Evacuee_Housing.html
Uganda rebels kill eight U.N. peacekeepers
By EDDY ISANGO
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
KINSHASA, Congo -- Ugandan rebels ambushed U.N. peacekeepers in Congo on Monday, killing eight of them in a gunbattle that also left 15 attackers dead near the Sudanese border, U.N. officials said.
The Guatemalan peacekeepers were looking for Lord's Resistance Army rebels from Uganda who were believed to be in Garamba National Park, in Congo's remote northeast, U.N. spokesman Kemal Saiki said.
The incident was the second largest single loss of life suffered by the 16,000-strong peacekeeping mission since it began in 1999. Nine Bangladeshi troops were killed in February 2005 by ethnic militiamen.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1105AP_Congo_UN_Violence.html
Pakistanis kept from visiting attack site
By RIAZ KHAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
YUKKA GHUND, Pakistan -- Pakistani security forces stopped Islamist opposition leaders Monday from reaching a border village hit by a U.S. missile strike, curbing an anti-American protest as the prime minister visited Washington.
The opposition politicians, addressing hundreds of their supporters at a roadblock in the foothills of the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, condemned the obstruction and branded President Gen. Pervez Musharraf as an "American slave."
"The government doesn't want political parties to create awareness among the tribal people about their rights. That's why we are stopped here," said Qazi Hussain Ahmed, head of the six-party Mutahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) or United Action Front.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_Pakistan_Al_Qaida_Attack.html
Pakistani PM plays down tension with U.S.
By FOSTER KLUG
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz brushed aside tensions with the United States as he prepared for a meeting Tuesday with President Bush.
Aziz's trip to the White House comes at a strained point in U.S.-Pakistani relations, with many in the Islamic nation blasting the U.S. for a Jan. 13 airstrike in a remote area of northern Pakistan that killed at least 13 civilians, including women and children.
During a speech Monday at the Heritage Foundation, Aziz played down deteriorating relations, calling America "our friend and ally."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_US_Pakistan.html
Rahul Gandhi says he hopes to lead India
By OMER FAROOQ
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
HYDERABAD, India -- Rahul Gandhi, heir to India's pre-eminent political dynasty, told supporters Monday he hopes to lead the country but urged them to be patient as he builds a following.
Gandhi, 35, whose father, grandmother and great-grandfather were all prime ministers of the giant subcontinent nation, has kept a relatively low-profile since being elected to parliament in 2004, focusing on his constituency in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
But he spoke of his aspirations in response to demands from backers of the ruling Congress party at the party's annual convention in this capital of Andhra Pradesh state.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1104AP_India_Rahul_Gandhi.html
Six killed in southwest Iran bombings
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
TEHRAN, Iran -- Bombs killed six people and wounded more than 30 others Tuesday in Ahvaz, a southwestern city with a history of violence involving members of Iran's Arab minority, Iranian state media reported.
The bombs exploded outside a bank and a state environmental agency building in Ahvaz, the capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province, which borders Iraq, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad canceled a planned visit to Ahvaz Tuesday, citing a forecast calling for heavy rain, IRNA reported. The report did not say whether the blast had any bearing on the cancellation.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iran_Explosions.html
Two U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq bombing
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A roadside bomb has killed two U.S. soldiers in Baghdad and two Marines died in a vehicle accident in western Iraq, the military said Tuesday.
All four of the troops died Monday, the military said. One of the soldiers was killed at the scene of the bombing, while the other died en route to a hospital. The Marines died in a non-hostile vehicle accident near Taqaddum, about 45 miles west of Baghdad.
Also Tuesday, a car bomb exploded in eastern Baghdad shortly before the resumption of the Saddam Hussein trial, wounding at least one policeman and one civilian, said police Maj. Qusai Ibrahim.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_Violence.html
Sunnis in Iraq urged to defend themselves
By PAUL GARWOOD
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A leading Sunni Arab party Tuesday urged fellow Sunnis to confront armed attacks on their community following a raid on a Sunni neighborhood in Baghdad in which three men were killed and more than 20 abducted.
Also Tuesday, two German engineers were kidnapped north of Baghdad by gunmen in two cars, police said. The U.S. military said a roadside bombing in Baghdad killed two U.S. soldiers Monday and two Marines died in a vehicle accident west of the capital.
The call for Sunnis to defend themselves was made in a statement issued by the Iraqi Islamic Party a day after gunmen, some wearing uniforms of the Shiite-led government security forces, swept into the Toubji area of Baghdad, raiding houses, abducting males and shooting three men dead.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq.html
Report: Sharon's doctors concealed info
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's health problems were more serious than doctors indicated before the stroke that has left him comatose, an Israeli newspaper reported Tuesday.
The Haaretz newspaper said Sharon had a large aneurysm in the septum between the chambers of his heart. He also suffered from a shunt that causes blood to flow in the wrong direction through a tiny hole in the septum, the newspaper said.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Israel_Sharon.html
Harper wins narrow victory in Canada
By BETH DUFF-BROWN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
OTTAWA -- Conservative leader Stephen Harper narrowly lost his chance at becoming prime minister in the 2004 elections after opponents painted him as a scary right-winger who would reshape the landscape like a U.S.-style evangelical Republican.
This time around the scare tactics didn't work.
Despite the fears that Liberals conjured up, Harper won a narrow victory over Prime Minister Paul Martin in Monday's general elections.
The 46-year-old economist, who often makes fun of his lackluster personality, will become the 22nd prime minister when he's sworn in, likely in the next week or so.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1101AP_Canada_Harper.html
The Jerusalem Post
Security forces arrest one of Sasson Nuriel's murderers
Abdullah Arar, 29, a Hamas fugitive who planned and participated in the abduction and murder of Sasson Nuriel in September last year, was arrested by security forces overnight Monday in Ramallah.
Sources in the Shin Bet said that most of the cell members involved in Nuriel's abduction and murder were arrested in the days after the incident, and details gleaned from them revealed that Arar was the key planner of the attack; he also participated in Nuriel's murder.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605903156&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull
IDF kills Palestinian near Shvut Rahel
Talkbacks for this article: 2
IDF soldiers deployed south-east of Shvut Rahel, near El Muair in the Binyamin District, shot and seriously wounded a Palestinian youth in his chest after he and a companion repeatedly ignored soldiers' warnings to halt their actions.
The army summoned a helicopter to transport the youth to a hospital, but he died before arrival.
The military said on Tuesday morning that it was investigating the incident.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1137605900036&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Hamas kidnaps, kills J'lem candy maker
A 50-year-old Jewish resident of Jerusalem was kidnapped and brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists, police said in late September.
The body of Sasson Nuriel of the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of Pisgat Ze'ev was found on September 26 in the West Bank village of Beitunya, near Ramallah, five days after he was reported missing.
A court gag order which had been in place at the police's request was partially lifted that afternoon after a news blackout on the abduction.
Nuriel's body was found after a four-day joint Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), IDF and police manhunt which resulted in the capture of one of the suspected members of the Hamas cell believed responsible for the killing, Jerusalem police said.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1137605903678&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Ezra: Barghouti won't be PA minister
Talkbacks for this article: 6
The government won't allow jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti to serve as a minister in the Palestinian Authority following Wednesday's elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council, Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
"He won't be a minister from prison. How can he be a minister from prison?" Ezra said. "There is someone sitting in jail who has been elected mayor of Kalkilya. [Do you think] he serves as the mayor of Kalkilya? He is in jail."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605901205&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
US won't cut PA ties if Hamas in cabinet
Talkbacks for this article: 3
The US won't deal with Hamas ministers in a future Palestinian Authority government, but will also not cut off ties with the PA as a result of Hamas's inclusion, diplomatic officials said Monday.
According to the officials, the US formula for dealing with a PA government following Wednesday's elections would be based on the "Lebanese model." In Lebanon, the officials said, the US continues to have strong ties with the government in Beirut even though Hizbullah is part of it. It does not, however, have any contact with the one Hizbullah minister.
The officials said that since Hamas was on the US list of terrorist organizations, the US would be legally proscribed from having contact or dealing with Hamas officials, even if they were PA ministers.
At the same time, they said, the law would not necessarily proscribe the US from continuing to deal with the PA or contributing money to it.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605901460&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Analysis: Franklin case shows what's in store at the AIPAC trial
Friday's sentencing of Larry Franklin, the former Pentagon analyst who was convicted of communicating classified information to staffers at the America Israel Public Affairs Association and to an Israeli diplomat, is only the first of the trials in the case, but it can serve as an indicator to what can be expected when the second begins in late April.
Judge T.S. Ellis of the US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, set forth two important principles when sentencing Franklin to 12 1/2 years in prison: The first was accepting Franklin's claim that he had no intention other than helping what he believed to be American interests, and the second was that no matter what the intentions might have been, the law is the law and whoever breaks it faces harsh punishment.
For former AIPAC staffers, Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman, this means good news and bad news. The good news is that the court does not seem to see the matter as an espionage case or as an act directed at harming the US or assisting a foreign nation. The bad news is that this perception doesn't really make any difference on the legal level.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605901484&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
continued …
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Monday, January 23, 2006
The average climate of 'sea level' Estonia doesn't even come close to these Arctic temperatures.
January 20, 2006.
Estonia
The city noted above, Kingisepp is 7 meters (22 feet) above sea level. The Climate noted from the table is from average monthly climate indicators based on 8 years of historical weather readings.
It would seem as though the 'Thermohaline Circulation' has slowed down considerably
January 20, 2006.
Estonia
27 degrees Centigrade BELOW Zero.
This is frozen fog.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Morning Papers - continued ...
Globe and Mail (Canada)
U.S. officer guilty in Iraqi general's death
By JON SARCHE
Sunday, January 22, 2006 Posted at 1:42 AM EST
Associated Press
Fort Carson, Colo. — An Army interrogator was convicted of negligent homicide late Saturday in the death of an Iraqi general at a detention camp.
A panel of six Army officers also convicted Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jr., 43, of negligent dereliction of duty but acquitted him of assault after six hours of deliberations.
Mr. Welshofer was accused of putting a sleeping bag over the head of Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush, sitting on his chest and using his hand to cover the general's mouth while asking him questions in 2003.
Mr. Welshofer, who stood silently and showed no reaction when the verdict was announced, faces a dishonorable discharge and up to three years in prison for negligent homicide and three months for negligent dereliction of duty. Sentencing was scheduled for Monday.
If convicted of the original murder charge, he could have been sentenced to life in prison.
The defence had argued a heart condition caused Maj. Gen. Mowhoush's death, and that Mr. Welshofer's commanders had approved the interrogation technique.
"What he was doing he was doing in the open, and he was doing it because he believed the information in fact would save lives," attorney Frank Spinner said.
Prosecutor Maj. Tiernan Dolan described a rogue interrogator who became frustrated with Maj. Gen. Mowhoush's refusal to answer questions and escalated his techniques from simple interviews to beatings to simulating drowning, and finally, to death.
"He treated that general worse than you would treat a dog and he did so knowing he was required to treat the general humanely," Maj. Dolan said.
Mr. Welshofer used his sleeping bag technique in the presence of lower ranking soldiers, but never in the presence of officers with the authority to stop him, Maj. Dolan said.
The treatment of the Iraqi general "could fairly be described as torture," Maj. Dolan said.
In an e-mail to a commander, Maj. Dolan said, Mr. Welshofer wrote that restrictions on interrogation techniques were impeding the Army's ability to gather intelligence. Mr. Welshofer wrote that authorized techniques came from Cold War-era doctrine that did not apply in Iraq, Maj. Dolan said.
"Our enemy understands force, not psychological mind games," Maj. Dolan quoted from Mr. Welshofer's message. Maj. Dolan said an officer responded by telling Mr. Welshofer to "take a deep breath and remember who we are."
The defence urged jurors to consider conditions in Iraq at the time of the interrogation: Soldiers were being killed in an increasingly lethal and increasingly bold insurgency. Mr. Welshofer had to make some decisions on his own because guidance was lacking and other techniques weren't working, Mr. Spinner said.
Officials believed Maj. Gen. Mowhoush had information that would "break the back of the whole insurgency," said defence attorney Capt. Ryan Rosauer. They also thought Maj. Gen. Mowhoush helping to bring foreign fighters into Iraq from across the Syrian border, he said.
Several prosecution witnesses, including one whose identity is classified and who testified in a closed session, had been granted immunity in exchange for their cooperation, Mr. Spinner noted. Two soldiers who were initially charged with murder in the case also were given immunity.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060122.wofficer0121/BNStory/International/
Tearful farewell for Afghan-bound soldiers
Saturday, January 21, 2006 Posted at 6:31 PM EST
Canadian Press
Edmonton — It is the life of a soldier to bid farewell to loved ones and face the dangers ahead.
And it is the lot of military families to let them go.
The tightly knit Edmonton Garrison played out this age-old ritual during an emotional farewell Saturday morning as about 80 soldiers departed for conflict-ridden Afghanistan — the first wave of a major new deployment of Canadian troops to the danger zone.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wafhgan-soldiers21/BNStory/National/
Desperate bid to save journalist
Baghdad — A U.S. Muslim advocacy group arrived in Baghdad on Saturday to plead for the release of American hostage Jill Carroll, while an Iraqi official urged American forces to free six detained Iraqi women in a bid to save the journalist.
A deadline set by kidnappers, who threatened to kill Ms. Carroll unless U.S. forces released all Iraqi women in military custody, passed late Friday with no word on her fate.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wiraq-journalist21/BNStory/International/
Ottawa looks into possible mad cow case
Sunday, January 22, 2006 Posted at 7:33 PM EST
Canadian Press
Ottawa — Federal agriculture inspectors are looking into the possibility of another case of mad cow disease, a spokesman for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Sunday.
"We have an ongoing testing program for BSE and that means from time to time we undertake confirmatory tests when we come up with a suspicious sample," said Mark Van Dusen.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060122.wmad0122/BNStory/National/
Wounded soldier's condition worsens
Monday, January 23, 2006 Posted at 1:24 AM EST
Canadian Press
One of three soldiers wounded in a Jan. 15 suicide attack in Afghanistan took a turn for the worse over the weekend, likely delaying his return to Canada, an official said Sunday.
A specialized team of Canadian military doctors and other medical staff who arrived in Germany on Sunday were leaving to the last minute a decision on whether to move Corporal Jeffrey Bailey with his wounded comrades on Tuesday.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060122.wsold0122/BNStory/National/
Suspected pirate ship surrenders to U.S.
Navy Eight-hour chase off Somali coast is sign of stepped-up Western safeguard attempts
By PAUL KORING
Monday, January 23, 2006 Posted at 4:49 AM EST
From Monday's Globe and Mail
WASHINGTON — A suspected pirate ship was shadowed, shot at and finally surrendered to a U.S. warship after an eight-hour, slow-speed chase off the Somali coast, the navy announced yesterday.
The high-seas drama, not far from where gunmen in fast launches fired a rocket-propelled grenade and swept bullets across the decks of a posh cruise liner last November, was the first evidence of stepped-up efforts by Western navies to safeguard shipping from the increasing threat of seaborne hijackings and robberies.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060123.wxpirates23/BNStory/International/
Think women are more sarcastic? Yeah, whatever!
Men's language less literal, study shows
By ANNE MCILROY
Monday, January 23, 2006 Posted at 5:03 AM EST
From Monday's Globe and Mail
You go into work, grab a coffee and sit down with the newspaper. A co-worker walks by and says, "Don't work too hard." Is the sarcastic colleague more likely to be a man, or a woman?
Scientists would say a man. Men make sarcastic comments twice as often as women do, says University of Western Ontario psychologist Albert Katz, an expert in sarcasm and other forms of non-literal language.
Some of the experiments he and his colleagues have done suggest that both sexes use sarcasm as an indirect form of verbal aggression that gets a message across in ways people will remember.
Women, however, are champs at sarcasm when it is used to cut other women out of a conversation or a social group, he says.
"This is called relational aggression, a tendency to cut people out. It tends to be a female phenomenon."
This fits in with early-childhood-development studies that found young boys tend to be more physically aggressive, but girls are more likely to exclude someone from a group.
Preschoolers do not use sarcasm, they take words literally, and studies have suggested that even teenagers can have difficulty understanding irony and sarcasm.
Still, by adulthood, sarcasm is an important communication tool for men.
Researchers have also found that both men and women expect men to be more sarcastic.
In one experiment, male and female volunteers are asked to read a number of written passages with sarcastic statements in them. There are no clues in the material as to whether the sarcastic character is a man or woman, but both men and women are more likely to guess that it is a man
Dr. Katz is interested in non-literal language, such as sarcasm, irony or metaphors, because the brain has to process that someone is saying something that they don't mean. His work, funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, sheds light on the subtle differences in the way men and women use and interpret language.
Men sprinkle metaphors -- "this car is a lemon," "this marriage is on the rocks" -- more liberally in their conversations than women do, says Dr. Katz.
He recently completed a study on metaphor use with his graduate student at Western, Karen Hussey. They studied the on-line conversations of student volunteers.
Their theory is that men are more likely to take the risk of being misunderstood than are women. Women, it turns out, use more metaphors when they are among friends than when they are talking to strangers. This suggests that when they are comfortable, among people they trust, women take the risk of saying something that may be misconstrued. Men use metaphors with both strangers and friends.
Dr. Katz is now studying those seemingly empty words we use in some social situations, the ritual exchanges such as: "how are you doing?," "that's great" and "wonderful."
Most people would recognize this as elevator or street-corner language. It's formally known as phatic language, and Dr. Katz wants to know whether men use it in different ways than women do.
An experiment now under way seems to suggest that they do, at least in the context of being thanked for doing a small but onerous job, such as looking after a neighbour's cat. When the neighbour says thanks, and a man says "any time," he really seems to mean that he would do the job again, says Dr. Katz.
But in the same kind of exchange, in which a woman says "any time," her meaning is likely to be a little different. A woman is more likely to say she was just being polite.
The male approach may be a way of showing dominance, says Dr. Katz, a way for a man to indicate that he has the resources to help.
"It is not a throwaway comment. It is a way of showing alpha maleness."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060123.wxgender23/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/
Good weather for voting
By LISA PRIEST
Monday, January 23, 2006 Posted at 4:27 AM EST
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Despite worries about a winter election and all the bad weather it could bring, today's voting day will be downright balmy in most of the country.
"There's an expression used in the weather office where we say, 'There is no weather today,' " David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, said in a telephone interview yesterday.
"Essentially, election day will be as close as you could have to a no-weather day across the country."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060123.wxelxnweather23/BNStory/specialDecision2006/
Tory lead steadies: poll
By DANIEL LEBLANC
Saturday, January 21, 2006 Posted at 9:51 PM EST
Globe and Mail Update
Montreal — The Conservative Party is still carrying a 10-point lead over the Liberals in the final stretch of the election campaign, with the NDP slowly picking up additional support among women voters in Ontario and in British Columbia, a new poll suggests.
The poll done by The Strategic Counsel on behalf of CTV and The Globe and Mail said the Conservatives have the support of 37-per cent of respondents across the country, while the Liberals are at 27-per cent and the NDP is at 18-per cent.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wpoll0121/BNStory/specialDecision2006/
Harper predicts breakthrough in Canada's biggest cities
By GLORIA GALLOWAY
Saturday, January 21, 2006 Posted at 4:26 PM EST
Globe and Mail Update
GUELPH, ONT. — Conservative Leader Stephen Harper predicts his party will make an important breakthrough in Canada's big cities when the votes are counted on Monday — and that the Liberals will be shut out beyond metropolitan borders.
Mr. Harper also decided today to cut off his daily formal question-and-answer session with reporters — prompting criticism from Liberal Leader Paul Martin and NDP Leader Jack Layton — but later relented and paid a visit to the media buses following his campaign.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wharper-media21_2/BNStory/Front
Martin predicts comeback like in 2004
By CAMPBELL CLARK
Saturday, January 21, 2006 Posted at 4:44 PM EST
Globe and Mail Update
BRAMPTON, ONT. — Liberal Leader Paul Martin told supporters today his party is poised to win a comeback victory — despite polls showing it trails the Conservatives by up to 10 percentage points.
He also ridiculed Conservative rival Stephen Harper who today cancelled for the rest of his campaign his daily formal question-and-answer session with reporters. The Liberal Leader argued this shows Mr. Harper's claim to be accountable is insincere.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wmartin-0121/BNStory/Front
Layton vows to remain available to the press
By BILL CURRY
Saturday, January 21, 2006 Posted at 7:46 PM EST
Globe and Mail Update
Thunder Bay — Stephen Harper's decision not to take questions from reporters in the final weekend of the campaign is a sign the Conservative party can't be trusted, NDP leader Jack Layton said today.
"It certainly seems odd and surprising when we're in the middle of a democratic process and people are making up their final decisions," Mr. Layton told reporters in Vancouver.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wlayton-ndp0121/BNStory/Front
Bloc takes swipe at Alberta
By DANIEL LEBLANC
Saturday, January 21, 2006 Posted at 2:57 PM EST
Globe and Mail Update
Quebec — The Bloc Québécois is resorting to Alberta-phobia in the dying days of the campaign in an attempt to salvage its seats in eastern Quebec, where the Conservative surge is most pronounced.
The Bloc took out full page ads in newspapers in Quebec City and in eastern Quebec saying that there is a western menace hanging over Quebec
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wbloc0121/BNStory/Front
Decision 2006
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/decision2006
Michael Moore Today
STOP picking on Mike.
He's a good guy !!!
It's too bad you are all frustrated with Bush/Cheney incompetence. Stop displacing it !!!!!!
If you want to discuss politics and the RE-EMERGENCE of Osama bin Laden then why not pick on Bush. It has been five years and Osama's status is no different than it was before 911. Bush call his campaign of fear "The War on Terror." NOT, the War on Terrorists. You should all start to discern the difference. Either way, I do believe Bush is losing ! The question is 'Does he like it that way?' Osama bin Laden is still terrorizing the airwaves and causing deaths globally. When is this going to stop? Never? There are and have been a paltry amount of USA military in Afghanistan. Pakistan has been paid billions. And we still don't have Osama bin Laden ?
No one can argue Iraq was nothing but Bush/Cheney's misguided agenda. Never once did Iraq matter in stopping al Qaeda. As a matter of fact the invasion into Iraq has PROLONGED the 'War on Terror.' Iraq never had an issue with any al Qaeda influence UNTIL Bush turned loose anarchy.
People need to get their heads screwed on straight !
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
A statement from Michael Moore on the Canadian election
Friday, January 20th, 2006
Michael Moore Statement on Canadian Election
Michael Moore is currently in production on his next movie. As an avid lover of all things Canadian, he has issued the following statement regarding Canada's upcoming election on Monday:
Oh, Canada -- you're not really going to elect a Conservative majority on Monday, are you? That's a joke, right? I know you have a great sense of humor, and certainly a well-developed sense of irony, but this is no longer funny. Maybe it's a new form of Canadian irony -- reverse irony! OK, now I get it. First, you have the courage to stand against the war in Iraq -- and then you elect a prime minister who's for it. You declare gay people have equal rights -- and then you elect a man who says they don't. You give your native peoples their own autonomy and their own territory -- and then you vote for a man who wants to cut aid to these poorest of your citizens. Wow, that is intense! Only Canadians could pull off a hat trick of humor like that. My hat's off to you.
Far be it from me, as an American, to suggest what you should do. You already have too many Americans telling you what to do. Well, actually, you've got just one American who keeps telling you to roll over and fetch and sit. I hope you don't feel this appeal of mine is too intrusive but I just couldn't sit by, as your friend, and say nothing. Yes, I agree, the Liberals have some 'splainin' to do. And yes, one party in power for more than a decade gets a little... long. But you have a parliamentary system (I'll bet you didn't know that -- see, that's why you need Americans telling you things!). There are ways at the polls to have your voices heard other than throwing the baby out with the bath water.
These are no ordinary times, and as you go to the polls on Monday, you do so while a man running the nation to the south of you is hoping you can lend him a hand by picking Stephen Harper because he's a man who shares his world view. Do you want to help George Bush by turning Canada into his latest conquest? Is that how you want millions of us down here to see you from now on? The next notch in the cowboy belt? C'mon, where's your Canadian pride? I mean, if you're going to reduce Canada to a cheap download of Bush & Co., then at least don't surrender so easily. Can't you wait until he threatens to bomb Regina? Make him work for it, for Pete's sake.
But seriously, I know you're not going to elect a guy who should really be running for governor of Utah. Whew! I knew it! You almost had me there. Very funny. Don't do that again. God, I love you, you crazy cold wonderful neighbors to my north. Don't ever change.
Michael Moore
(Mr. Moore is not available for interviews because he now needs to address the situation in Azerbaijan. But he could be talked into it for a couple of tickets to a Leaf's game.)
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=192
January 19th, 2006 11:24 pm
Young voters promise big turnout Monday
OTTAWA (CP) — A new survey suggests young Canadians have decided who they want to support, and are planning to turn out at the polls on Monday as they've never done before.
Almost nine in 10 young people asked by Innovative Research say they've read, seen or heard something about the election.
And despite the increasingly negative campaign, 64 per cent say they definitely plan to vote.
Only 38 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 24 turned out at the polls in the 2004 federal election.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5592
Apathy is Boring
http://www.apathyisboring.com/
What is Go Vote?
Go Vote Go Vote is a national non-partisan youth coalition that aims to connect the candidates to the concerns of young people, and connect young people to the political process. The coalition will coalesce around 16 hours of action and awareness on January 16th, and use this day to encourage all candidates to engage with young voters.
http://govote.ca/index.en.html
Find Your Riding - Recherchez votre circonscription
http://ridingsite.greenparty.ca/index.php
Liberal Party
http://liberal.ca/candidates_e.aspx
New Democratic Party
Find Your Candidate
To find your NDP candidate, enter your postal code or select your province/territory from the map below.
http://www.ndp.ca/myriding/lookup
Jihadball?
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5598
Chris Matthews compares Michael Moore to Osama Bin Laden
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/01/19.html
John Kerry responds to Chris Matthews
Kerry came out swinging:
"You'd think the only focus tonight would be on destroying Osama Bin Laden, not comparing him to an American who opposes the war whether you like him or not. You want a real debate that America needs? Here goes: If the administration had done the job right in Tora Bora we might not be having discussions on Hardball about a new Bin Laden tape. How dare Scott McClellan tell America that this Administration puts terrorists out of business when had they put Osama Bin Laden out of business in Afghanistan when our troops wanted to, we wouldn't have to hear this barbarian's voice on tape. That's what we should be talking about in America." -- John Kerry
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/01/19.html
DAOU Report
by Peter Daou
UPDATE: John Kerry blogs on Daily Kos, Chris Matthews responds to the pressure with a half-hearted comment about being "misunderstood"-- In a 12-hour period, over 20,000 people visit An Open Letter to Chris Matthews.
DEMAND AN APOLOGY: "Bin Laden sounds like Clint Eastwood" -- "Bin Laden sounds like Ron Silver" -- "Bin Laden sounds like Rush Limbaugh" -- "Bin Laden sounds like Bill O'Reilly"-- "Bin Laden sounds like Mel Gibson" -- "Bin Laden sounds like Bruce Willis" -- "Bin Laden sounds like Michelle Malkin"... Imagine the outrage on the right and in the press (but I repeat myself) if a major media figure spat out those words. Well, on Hardball, Chris Matthews just blurted out that Bin Laden sounds like Michael Moore. Simple: Matthews should apologize. On the air. This has NOTHING to do with Michael Moore and everything to do with how far media figures can go slandering the left.
And last I checked, Michael Moore didn't massacre thousands of innocent Americans. (The indispensable Crooks and Liars has the clip) And here's John Kerry's blistering statement on the Hardball scandal and Bin Laden's reappearance:
"You'd think the only focus tonight would be on destroying Osama Bin Laden, not comparing him to an American who opposes the war whether you like him or not. You want a real debate that America needs? Here goes: If the administration had done the job right in Tora Bora we might not be having discussions on Hardball about a new Bin Laden tape. How dare Scott McClellan tell America that this Administration puts terrorists out of business when had they put Osama Bin Laden out of business in Afghanistan when our troops wanted to, we wouldn't have to hear this barbarian's voice on tape. That's what we should be talking about in America." -- John Kerry
MATTHEWS SCANDAL BLOG ROUNDUP
+++ Atrios: "Wanker of the Day: Chris Matthews" +++ Huffington Post: "Equating a prominent conservative activist to a murderous terrorist would bring the wrath of the rightwing machine on Matthews' head. But in today's political environment, Dems and liberals are fair game, either through insidious pro-Bush narratives like 'Bush is firm' and 'Dems are muddled,' or through blatant and vile comments like the one Matthews so glibly foisted on us." +++ Digby (who offers readers contact information to MSNBC): "This is ridiculous. This man is either working overtime to kiss right wing ass for some reason or he's been paid off to do full-on GOP character assassination. This is exactly what the Republicans did to Tom Daschle and Max Cleland." +++ Matt Stoller: "It is outrageous that Chris Matthews can slander the left, and take the threat of terrorism so lightly. I'd like to see a Democrat step up to the mike on this one." +++ Aravosis: "Pitiful. And terribly embarrassing for NBC and all of its namesakes." +++ More from Jane, Daily Kos, Seeing the Forest, The Green Knight, and The Left Coaster +++ Remember: This is not just about Chris Matthews or Michael Moore or Osama Bin Laden, it's about the willingness of a prominent media figure to slander an opponent of the war. +++
UPDATE: Markos adds: "The blowhards like Chris Matthews are orgasmic in their denunciations of liberals these days in the wake of the latest Osama Bin Laden tape. But let's remember -- it's not liberal who are in power. It's been George Bush and his neocon pals. It is THEY who have failed to capture or kill Bin Laden. It is they who have made our country less safe, and created a world in which terrorist attacks have increased. It is they who are making a mess out of the war in Iraq, failing to provide our troops with basic necessities like body and vehicle armor."
And don't forget to read An Open Letter to Chris Matthews
http://daoureport.salon.com/synopsis.aspx?synopsisId=c4f13a24-a385-4395-b342-7d3d378bb0f2
Matthews Feels Your Heat, Says He Was “Misunderstood”
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: Why is he doing it? Why is he trying to track what he picks up in the internet and from the media as the lingo of the left in America, like Moore? Why would he start to talk like Moore? People misunderstood what I said last night. I think he’s getting some advice from people, he’s getting some lingo, some wordage that he hears working in the United States about this thing for war profiteers and he’s jumping on every opportunity. Is that what you are saying Joe?
Let MSNBC know how you feel about that non-apology: hardball@msnbc.com or (202) 824-6707
http://openlettertochrismatthews.blogspot.com/
Matthews: “People Misunderstood What I Said Last Night”
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/01/20/matthews-misunderstood/
Real Hardball
by John Kerry
Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 03:52:31 PM PDT
There's something that doesn't sit right with me when, on the day Osama Bin Laden resurfaced in a disturbing audio tape, cable television ends up in a game of name calling as a war protester is compared to Osama Bin Laden.
That's reason to be outraged - but even more outrageous is the fact that in a flurry of sound bites what was lost was a real discussion of the fact that more than four years after the devastating attacks of 9/11, more than four years after George Bush boasted we wanted Osama "dead or alive," more than a year after Osama Bin Laden showed his hateful face in yet another video, this barbarian is still very much alive and boasting of additional attacks against the United States.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/1/20/175232/080
Physical condition saved soldiers, MD says
Canadian officials hope to bring wounded men back to Canada early next week
CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — The excellent physical condition of three soldiers wounded by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan probably saved their lives and is contributing to their recoveries, says a doctor monitoring their progress. All three were expected to survive the Sunday attack despite daunting wounds that may ultimately affect their quality of life, said air force Maj. Nick Withers, one of two Canadian military doctors posted in Europe.
“The physical condition of the three soldiers is going to assist in the recovery,” Withers said in an interview Thursday from Landstuhl, Germany.
“They are in very good shape. It’s going to allow them to fight things like infection and other problems a little better. It will serve them well with respect to their recovery and their survival.”
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5590
A Town Becomes a Prison
By Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed / IPS
SINIYAH, Iraq, Jan 20 - People of Siniyah town 200 km north of Baghdad are angry over a six-mile long sand wall constructed by the U.S. military to check attacks by rebels.
"Our city has become a battlefield," 35 year-old engineer Fuad Al-Mohandis told IPS at a checkpoint on the outskirts of the city. "So many of our houses have been destroyed, and the Americans are placing landmines in areas where they think there might be fighters, even though most of the time it is near the homes of innocent civilians."
Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division have been coming under nearly daily attack from roadside bombs.
Fuad said the U.S. military was now enforcing a curfew from 5pm. He said "so many explosions occur now which terrify our children."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5595
Purported Tape of al-Zawahri Posted on Web
By Omar Sinan / Associated Press
CAIRO, Egypt - An audiotape purportedly from al-Qaida's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri, was posted Friday on an Islamic Web site in which he read a poem praising "martyrs of holy war" in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.
The tape made no mention of a Jan. 13 U.S. airstrike in Pakistan that was targeting al-Zawahri and killed four al-Qaida leaders.
Officials at two U.S. counterterror agencies said the recording does not appear to have been made recently and may even date back years. They described the recording as a poetry reading praising martyrs of wars in Afghanistan, but it was not immediately clear whether that referred to the Northern Alliance action against the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, or even to the Afghanistan war with the Soviets in the 1980s.
The CIA was conducting a voice analysis to determine whether the speaker was al-Zawahri, a CIA official said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5596
Iran threatens oil crisis in nuclear standoff
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran warned of a world oil crisis if sanctions are imposed over its nuclear program even as the United States and Europe struggled to get support for UN Security Council action.
"In case of sanctions, other countries will suffer as well as Iran," Oil Minister Davoud Danesh-Jafari said, according to the official news agency, IRNA.
"One of the consequences will be the unleashing of a crisis in the oil sector and particularly a price hike."
Iran, the number two oil exporter in OPEC with oil revenue last year of 42 billion dollars, risks being referred to the United Nations Security Council over what the West suspects is a covert nuclear weapons drive.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5597
More Than 3,200 Still Missing From Katrina
By Michelle Roberts / Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS -- More than 3,200 people are officially still unaccounted for nearly five months after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, and the state medical examiner wants the search to resume for those missing from the most devastated neighborhoods.
A total of nearly 11,500 people were reported missing to the Find Family National Call Center, a center run by federal and state workers. The reports included people from throughout the Gulf Coast area, but most were from Louisiana.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5577
Congressional Agency Questions Legality of Wiretaps
By Dan Eggen / Washington Post
The Bush administration appears to have violated the National Security Act by limiting its briefings about a warrantless domestic eavesdropping program to congressional leaders, according to a memo from Congress's research arm released yesterday.
The Congressional Research Service opinion said that the amended 1947 law requires President Bush to keep all members of the House and Senate intelligence committees "fully and currently informed" of such intelligence activities as the domestic surveillance effort.
The memo from national security specialist Alfred Cumming is the second report this month from CRS to question the legality of aspects of Bush's domestic spying program. A Jan. 6 report concluded that the administration's justifications for the program conflicted with current law.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5581
Administration Lays Out Legal Case for Wiretapping Program
By Eric Lichtblau / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 - The Bush administration today offered its fullest defense of the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program, saying that congressional authorization to defeat Al Qaeda after the Sept. 11 attacks "places the president at the zenith of his powers in authorizing the N.S.A. activities."
In a 42-page white paper, the Justice Department expanded on its past arguments in laying out the legal rationale for why the N.S.A. program does not violate federal wiretap law and why the president is the nation's "sole organ" for foreign affairs.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5585
Oil jumps $1 on al Qaeda threat, supply concern
By Matthew Robinson / Reuters
NEW YORK - Oil prices jumped over $1 to near $67 a barrel on Thursday following threats that al Qaeda was preparing attacks on the United States and supply concerns from crude oil exporters Iran and Nigeria.
Dealers ignored bearish weekly U.S. data that showed oil inventories piling up and focused instead on the potential for a major supply outage.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5586
Security-technology stocks stage rally
Audiotape of bin Laden warns of new attacks on U.S.
By Ciara Linnane / MarketWatch
NEW YORK -- Shares of security-technology companies rallied Thursday after an audiotape, purportedly featuring the voice of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, warned of fresh terrorist attacks planned for inside the U.S.
The threat was broadcast by Arab TV network Al Jazeera, reports said.
On the tape, bin Laden said increased security in the U.S. since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, hasn't prevented al-Qaida from attacking again.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5583
Sen. Leahy to Oppose Alito Nomination
By Jesse J. Holland / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy said Thursday he will oppose Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's confirmation, saying he did not believe the conservative judge would be independent of President Bush and the executive branch in his future rulings.
"At a time when the president is seizing unprecedented power, the Supreme Court needs to act as a check and to provide balance," Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a speech at Georgetown University's law school. "Based on the hearing and his record, I have no confidence that Judge Alito would provide that check and balance."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5587
Democrats Poised Against Alito
By Maura Reynolds / Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats emerged from a strategy meeting Wednesday saying that most members appeared inclined to vote against the nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court, but that they were unlikely to mount a filibuster to halt his confirmation.
"Arguments were being made pro and con, but mostly con at the moment," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a key vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which vets the nomination before it goes to the full Senate for debate.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5594
Breaking Ranks
Larry Wilkerson Attacked the Iraq War. In the Process, He Lost the Friendship of Colin Powell.
By Richard Leiby / Washington Post
In an overheated old schoolroom in Washington, Larry Wilkerson, a retired Army colonel, is doing his best to impose military discipline on 25 pupils as they prepare to attack a mountain of pizza, cupcakes and cookies. It is the year-end party for Macfarland Middle School's Colin L. Powell Leadership Club, a tutoring and mentoring program that Wilkerson oversees as a volunteer. Striding before his charges in smart burgundy suspenders, the colonel -- everybody here calls him the colonel -- makes a point about duty:
"If you're not attending the meetings, you aren't a member of the club. It's as simple as that." He rebukes a boy who has shown up for the party but otherwise been scarce. "You know how I'll feel if you don't come to subsequent meetings," Wilkerson warns, "and you don't want to get me angry."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5579
The New Zealand Herald
Lightning sparks damaging bushfires
21.01.06
Bushfires have killed 100 sheep and threatened homes, a primary school and an ambulance station in Victoria's far west overnight.
Two blazes, sparked by lightning, burnt through 300ha and reached the fence lines of houses in the town of Goroke, west of Horsham. Lightning struck in the region about 9pm and crews took about two hours to contain the fires.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364672
Whale swims up Thames to central London
21.01.06 9.00am
LONDON - A small whale swam up the Thames to central London on Friday, a rare event which drew large crowds of sightseers and brought traffic to a standstill.
But as the whale twice tried to ground itself before eventually finding slightly deeper water as the tide came in, concerns grew that it might not survive.
As the Northern Bottle-nosed Whale beached next to Chelsea Bridge, three men waded into the river hitting the water and then punching the air in celebration as it swam off.
But it soon beached again, prompting more people to jump into the water to move it on.
"I am very concerned for the safety of this animal at the moment, particularly if boat traffic increases in the river," said Laila Sadler, scientific officer at animal protection charity, the RSPCA.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364745
London whale has died
22.01.06 9.00am
The enormous effort to save a wayward whale which got stuck in London's River Thames has come to nothing.
Despite a high speed dash by barge out to deeper waters, the northern bottlenosed whale has died.
Vets say there was always a danger the stress of the journey would be too much for the animal.
It was the first whale seen in the Thames since records began in 1913.
The whale's fate has captured the hearts of Londoners, and thousands lined the bridges overlooking the river to catch a glimpse of it.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364745
Rescuers say whale's death may save others
23.01.06 3.20pm
LONDON - Marine experts who failed to rescue a whale stranded in London's Thames River said today they hoped worldwide public interest in its fate would promote conservation of the endangered species.
Rescue teams had tried to return the adolescent 6m northern bottle-nosed whale to the open seas but it died yesterday after its health took a turn for the worse.
"It was always a race against time," Tony Woodley of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue group, which co-ordinated the rescue attempt, said.
Paul Jepson, head of the UK Marine Mammals Strandings Programme, said he hoped international coverage of the animal's fate would have a positive impact.
"There are probably many children who may remember seeing this bottle-nosed whale in London and in the future I hope that they may become marine mammal enthusiasts and conservationists."
The whale triggered headlines around the world after it was spotted on Friday in the Thames near the Houses of Parliament, around 65km from the sea.
It was the first time since records began in 1913 that a whale had been seen so far upstream.
Huge crowds lined the river banks during the elaborate rescue operation on Saturday afternoon, with every twist and turn in the saga captured on live television.
Rescuers managed to lift the whale by crane onto a barge but it died as they tried to take it to open water.
The result of the post-mortem, to be conducted by Jepson, will not be known for several days.
Experts speculated the whale was so far from its natural environment because it was either very ill, had got lost chasing food or had been driven from its usual habitat by military testing or loud sonar.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364961
Iran to remove funds from Europe in nuclear dispute
21.01.06 1.00pm
TEHRAN, Iran - Embroiled in a nuclear standoff with the West, Iran said today it was moving funds out of Europe to shield them from possible UN sanctions and flexed its oil muscles with a proposal to cut Opec output.
"Yes, Iran has started withdrawing money from European banks and transferring it to other banks abroad," said a senior Iranian official, who asked not to be named.
Central Bank Governor Ebrahim Sheibani was quoted as saying Tehran had started shifting funds. But he sidestepped a question on whether the assets would go to Asian accounts.
Financial markets reacted nervously to the uncertainty about Iran's foreign holdings, estimated at more than US$30 billion (NZ$44bn), helping send oil to a four-month high above US$68. US stock prices fell and the dollar dipped against the euro and the safe-haven Swiss franc.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364757
Chirac ups the nuclear ante
20.01.06
By John Lichfield
President Jacques Chirac dropped a political bombshell yesterday, threatening to retaliate with nuclear strikes against any state which carried out a large-scale terrorist attack on France.
In the biggest shift in French nuclear doctrine for 40 years, President Chirac revealed that the "force de frappe" - the French nuclear deterrent - had already been re-configured to allow it to destroy the "power centres" of any state which sponsored a terrorist assault.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364660
Former East German parliament doomed
21.01.06
A last-ditch effort by German left-wing parliamentarians to save a steel and concrete colossus that once housed communist East Germany's legislature failed on Thursday after parliament ruled the Berlin building must fall.
There is now little hope that the "Palace of the Republic" will escape the wrecking ball next month.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364669
Annan urges Iran to halt its research
20.01.06
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged Iran to scrap its controversial decision to resume nuclear-fuel research, and return to negotiations over its nuclear ambitions.
"My own advice to the Iranians is to create an environment that will allow the negotiations to go forward," Annan said. "They should not escalate. They should not press ahead with their nuclear-fuel research." Germany, France and Britain have been negotiating with Iran but broke off talks after Tehran announced this month it was breaking UN seals on nuclear equipment and resuming research.
The three nations want the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for further pressure. But they will probably not be able to do so at its early February meeting because of objections from Russia and China.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364656
Australian wheat firm admits deceiving UN in Iraq
20.01.06 1.00pm
SYDNEY - The chief of Australia's monopoly wheat exporter agreed after repeated questioning at an oil-for-food inquiry on Thursday that the group deceived the United Nations on the details of its contracts with Iraq.
Documents released by AWB Ltd. at the Australian government inquiry on Thursday showed that the company inflated wheat prices to raise $8 million, which was in turn used to pay off another company's debt.
AWB Managing Director Andrew Lindberg was asked by the inquiry's lawyer whether the United Nations, which managed Iraq's now defunct oil-for-food funds, had been deceived by the AWB.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364615
Second quake shakes southern Hawke's Bay
23.01.06 8.30am
An earthquake centred near Waipukurau this morning was felt throughout the southern Hawke's Bay and followed a smaller tremor in the area last night.
The quake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale hit at 5.52am 10km north of Waipukurau at a depth of 20km, the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences said.
An earthquake measuring 3.7 struck 40km south of Wairoa at 10.11pm last night at a depth of 30km.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10364936
Two US miners dead, governor vows action
23.01.06 12.20pm
By Jacque O'Bryant
CHARLESTON, West Virginia - Two miners trapped in a West Virginia coal mine that had caught fire were found dead yesterday, and officials, angered also by 12 other mine deaths this month, vowed to make the industry safer.
"We found the two miners that we were looking for for the past 40-some hours. ... Unfortunately, we don't have a positive outcome," said Doug Conaway, West Virginia's mine safety chief.
"We did find the two miners near the fire area that was on the (conveyor) belt line," he said. "It appears right now that the two miners were trying to make a valiant effort. They were together trying to get outside and they encountered pretty high temperatures and high (carbon monoxide) levels."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364967
Australian bushfire could double in size
23.01.06 4.00pm
PERTH - Residents of a West Australian town have been told to review their fire plans as a deliberately lit blaze continues to burn out of control in the state's south-west.
Six water bombers today joined more than 100 firefighters, who battled the fire overnight in steep terrain and gusty conditions.
Deep leaf litter and dry conditions are fuelling the fire south-east of Dwellingup, 97km southeast of Perth.
It has already destroyed more than 2,000 hectares and could double in size before it is contained, Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) spokesman Terry Maher warned.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364991
Georgia accuses Russia of sabotage over gas pipeline
23.01.06 1.00pm
By Margarita Antidze
TBILISI - Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili accused Moscow of sabotage after explosions knocked out the main pipeline in southern Russia that supplies gas to Georgia and Armenia.
Russian officials blamed the blasts on anti-Moscow insurgents in its southern region of North Ossetia.
But Saakashvili, who has irritated the Kremlin by pushing his ex-Soviet state closer to the West, said he did not believe the Russian explanation and accused Moscow of cutting gas supplies and triggering an energy crisis just as sub-zero temperatures hit his tiny Caucasus state.
"This morning there was a serious act of sabotage on the part of Russia on Georgia's energy system," he told a news conference.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364972
Israel weighs response to possible Hamas poll win
23.01.06 1.00pm
By Adam Entous
JERUSALEM - Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered aides to draw up contingency plans in the event Hamas makes a strong enough showing in this week's Palestinian parliamentary election to join the government.
An Israeli cabinet minister cast doubt on the future of peacemaking if the Islamic militant group was given a role in the government. Hamas, contesting the legislative vote for the first time, is committed to destroying Israel.
In separate statements, Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef said their forces had been put on heightened alert in case of an escalation of violence that could disrupt Wednesday's ballot.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364975
US aids Palestinian Authority ahead of election
23.01.06 2.20pm
WASHINGTON - The United States has spent almost US$2 million ($2.9 million) in a bid to bolster the Palestinian Authority's governing Fatah party against the Islamic militant group Hamas before this week's parliamentary election, two US newspapers reported today.
A spokeswoman for the American consulate in East Jerusalem, Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, told The New York Times the programme was designed "to work with the Palestinian Authority to enhance democratic institutions and support democratic actors, not just Fatah."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364988
Iraq Sunnis commit to coalition talks
23.01.06 1.00pm
By Ross Colvin
BAGHDAD - Iraq's biggest Sunni political bloc committed itself today to talks with Shi'ites and Kurds to form a government of national unity, but said its key demands, including changes to the constitution, must be met.
The United States, keen to drive the political process toward a stable consensus, wants the Kurds and majority Shi'ites, who dominated last month's elections, to form a government that includes minority Sunnis. It hopes an inclusive coalition will undermine the raging Sunni Arab insurgency.
Four policemen were killed and nine wounded by a roadside bomb in Baquba, 65km north of Baghdad. Thirteen other people were killed in attacks across Iraq, including a policeman's four nephews who died when a rocket hit his home.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364970
Iraq Shi'ites seal power
21.01.06 9.00am
BAGHDAD - Iraq's Shi'ite Islamists have been confirmed in power by election results that gave them a near-majority and opened the way for US-backed negotiations with Kurds and Sunni Arabs on a national unity government.
With Baghdad all but sealed off by security forces on alert for attacks by Sunni rebels who accused the ruling Shi'ite Alliance of cheating in last month's poll, two civilians were killed in one of several bomb attacks on US and Iraqi patrols.
In restive Ramadi, insurgents fired rockets at US and Iraqi bases, causing some minor injuries, the military said. There was celebratory gunfire in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364744
Italy to withdraw 1000 Iraq troops in June
20.01.06 4.20pm
ROME - Italy will withdraw 1000 of its 2600 troops in Iraq by June and aims to finish its mission there by the end of this year, Defence Minister Antonio Martino said on Thursday.
Martino told a parliamentary committee Italy will gradually end its military presence and phase into a new type of presence that he said would be "substantially civilian in nature."
Italy, which has the fourth largest foreign contingent in Iraq, faces a general election next April where the unpopular Iraq war is likely to become an issue. Most Italians and all opposition parties were opposed to the troop deployment.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364626
Bombs kill 22 as Iraq locks down for vote results
20.01.06 1.00pm
BAGHDAD - Iraqi insurgents killed at least 22 people in two simultaneous bomb blasts in central Baghdad on Thursday, challenging a security clampdown in the capital ahead of the release of the results of last month's elections.
International monitors effectively rejected allegations by minority Sunni Arabs of massive vote-rigging by concluding that the election was broadly fair. In a nod to Sunni sentiment, however, they called for all communities to join in government.
The United Nations envoy in Iraq endorsed that appeal.
All but final results, obtained by Reuters, showed Sunnis taking a little over a fifth of the seats in parliament and the Shi'ite Islamist bloc 10 seats short of retaining its majority. Final results are due at 1am tomorrow (NZ time).
Fearing a surge in attacks by once-dominant Sunnis angry at the outcome, the Shi'ite and Kurdish-led government sealed off cities and sent extra troops and police onto Baghdad's streets.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364620
BY praising the fighters in Afghanistan the Dynamic Al Qaida Duo is guaranteed some of those fighters will be loyal to protecting them. I definitely believe Osama is scared. Definitely. We are close. We are very close to 'getting him.'
Alleged al-Zawahri tape praises fighters in Afghanistan
21.01.06 1.00pm
DUBAI - Al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, praised Islamic fighters in Afghanistan, according to an internet audio tape posted on Friday, a day after Osama bin Laden warned of attacks in America.
The speaker on the latest tape sounded like the Egyptian-born Zawahri. The little-known website which carried the tape said it was new but this could not be verified.
"I am honoured to recite this jihadist poem," he said, praising mujahideen fighters.
"We shall remain true to our oath (with the Afghan mujahideen)."
The message emerged one day after bin Laden, al Qaeda's leader, said the group was preparing attacks in the United States but was open to a conditional truce with the Americans, according to an audio tape attributed to him.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364754
Reporter nabbed seeking job at Buckingham Palace
21.01.06 1.00pm
LONDON - Police have arrested a journalist for trying to get a job at Buckingham Palace for an undercover report.
A spokeswoman for London's Metropolitan Police said the 25-year-old woman had been arrested on Thursday after they discovered bogus details on her application for a job at the palace.
The News of the World, a Sunday tabloid, said its reporter Bethany Usher "was engaged in a legitimate journalistic exercise investigating security" at the palace.
The stunt was an apparent attempt to repeat a much-heralded scoop by an arch-rival tabloid, the Daily Mirror, which had an undercover reporter get a job as a palace footman and work there for two months in 2004.
The Mirror reporter's description of lax security at the palace caused major embarrassment when it was published on the eve of a state visit by US president George W. Bush.
A spokeswoman for the News of the World said Usher was not caught as a result of improved palace employment vetting, but because another rival newspaper had tipped the palace off.
Usher was released on bail and ordered to return to a police station on Feb 9, the police spokeswoman said.
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364758
Republican 'witch-hunts' leftist university lecturers
21.01.06
The University of California's Los Angeles campus has been thrown into turmoil by a conservative Republican graduate who is offering money to students to record the classes of professors they suspect of left-wing bias and "indoctrination".
The young Republican, Andrew Jones, has drawn up a hit list of professors he refers to as the "dirty 30" and devoted page upon page of his website to denouncing their supposed professional malfeasance.
"Do you have a professor who just can't stop talking about President Bush, about Howard Dean, about the war in Iraq ... or any other ideological issue that has nothing to do with the class subject matter?" he asks in his recruitment statement.
"If you can help ... collect information about abusive, one-sided or off-topic classroom behaviour, we'll pay you for your work."
Jones' targets have accused him of attempting to conduct McCarthy-like witch-hunts at one of the most prestigious universities in the US.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364664
Colombia starts clearing coca from national park
20.01.06 1.00pm
LA MACARENA NATIONAL PARK - Colombia on Thursday sent more than 900 shovel-wielding workers into a nature reserve to destroy plants used by Marxist rebels to make cocaine, the first such operation in a Colombian national park.
The coca eradication campaign, which police say is aimed mainly at restoring La Macarena National Park's ecosystem, was ordered by President Alvaro Uribe after guerrillas killed 29 soldiers during a battle in the area last month.
It was one of many bloody clashes over the planting of coca in this rugged part of southern Colombia.
The workers, brought to the area by helicopter to avoid contact with the rebels, were guarded by 1500 soldiers and police ready to ward off an attack from the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364598
Cheese spoils fine wines - so stick to the plonk
21.01.06
By Cahal Milmo
For generations, it has been the fare of choice at charity fundraisers and suburban parties: a cube of cheddar on a cocktail stick and a glass of cheap red wine.
Now, it seems, the organisers of wine and cheese parties were right all along to choose plonk rather than vintage wines to go with their fromage. Scientists have found that, when sampling a fine claret or expensive burgundy, the last foodstuff it should be paired with is cheese.
The study, which submitted the tastebuds of 11 drinkers to eight cheeses combined with cheap and expensive wines, found that the cheese always masked the flavours of a pricey vintage.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10364684
Standing ovation for NZ film at Sundance Film Festival
23.01.06 1.00pm
Fresh from its success at the United States Sundance Film Festival last night, New Zealander Toa Fraser's debut movie No 2 has been invited to compete at the Berlin Film Festival in February.
The movie tells the story of a Fijian matriarch who, inspired by a dream of her childhood back in Fiji, demands her grandchildren put on a big feast at which she will name her successor.
The New Zealand Film Commission said the film was met with a standing ovation at its premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Utah, and the invitation to be screened at the Berlin festival would mark the movie's European premiere.
The film will be released in New Zealand cinemas on February 16.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=197&objectid=10364977
continued …
U.S. officer guilty in Iraqi general's death
By JON SARCHE
Sunday, January 22, 2006 Posted at 1:42 AM EST
Associated Press
Fort Carson, Colo. — An Army interrogator was convicted of negligent homicide late Saturday in the death of an Iraqi general at a detention camp.
A panel of six Army officers also convicted Chief Warrant Officer Lewis Welshofer Jr., 43, of negligent dereliction of duty but acquitted him of assault after six hours of deliberations.
Mr. Welshofer was accused of putting a sleeping bag over the head of Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abed Hamed Mowhoush, sitting on his chest and using his hand to cover the general's mouth while asking him questions in 2003.
Mr. Welshofer, who stood silently and showed no reaction when the verdict was announced, faces a dishonorable discharge and up to three years in prison for negligent homicide and three months for negligent dereliction of duty. Sentencing was scheduled for Monday.
If convicted of the original murder charge, he could have been sentenced to life in prison.
The defence had argued a heart condition caused Maj. Gen. Mowhoush's death, and that Mr. Welshofer's commanders had approved the interrogation technique.
"What he was doing he was doing in the open, and he was doing it because he believed the information in fact would save lives," attorney Frank Spinner said.
Prosecutor Maj. Tiernan Dolan described a rogue interrogator who became frustrated with Maj. Gen. Mowhoush's refusal to answer questions and escalated his techniques from simple interviews to beatings to simulating drowning, and finally, to death.
"He treated that general worse than you would treat a dog and he did so knowing he was required to treat the general humanely," Maj. Dolan said.
Mr. Welshofer used his sleeping bag technique in the presence of lower ranking soldiers, but never in the presence of officers with the authority to stop him, Maj. Dolan said.
The treatment of the Iraqi general "could fairly be described as torture," Maj. Dolan said.
In an e-mail to a commander, Maj. Dolan said, Mr. Welshofer wrote that restrictions on interrogation techniques were impeding the Army's ability to gather intelligence. Mr. Welshofer wrote that authorized techniques came from Cold War-era doctrine that did not apply in Iraq, Maj. Dolan said.
"Our enemy understands force, not psychological mind games," Maj. Dolan quoted from Mr. Welshofer's message. Maj. Dolan said an officer responded by telling Mr. Welshofer to "take a deep breath and remember who we are."
The defence urged jurors to consider conditions in Iraq at the time of the interrogation: Soldiers were being killed in an increasingly lethal and increasingly bold insurgency. Mr. Welshofer had to make some decisions on his own because guidance was lacking and other techniques weren't working, Mr. Spinner said.
Officials believed Maj. Gen. Mowhoush had information that would "break the back of the whole insurgency," said defence attorney Capt. Ryan Rosauer. They also thought Maj. Gen. Mowhoush helping to bring foreign fighters into Iraq from across the Syrian border, he said.
Several prosecution witnesses, including one whose identity is classified and who testified in a closed session, had been granted immunity in exchange for their cooperation, Mr. Spinner noted. Two soldiers who were initially charged with murder in the case also were given immunity.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060122.wofficer0121/BNStory/International/
Tearful farewell for Afghan-bound soldiers
Saturday, January 21, 2006 Posted at 6:31 PM EST
Canadian Press
Edmonton — It is the life of a soldier to bid farewell to loved ones and face the dangers ahead.
And it is the lot of military families to let them go.
The tightly knit Edmonton Garrison played out this age-old ritual during an emotional farewell Saturday morning as about 80 soldiers departed for conflict-ridden Afghanistan — the first wave of a major new deployment of Canadian troops to the danger zone.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wafhgan-soldiers21/BNStory/National/
Desperate bid to save journalist
Baghdad — A U.S. Muslim advocacy group arrived in Baghdad on Saturday to plead for the release of American hostage Jill Carroll, while an Iraqi official urged American forces to free six detained Iraqi women in a bid to save the journalist.
A deadline set by kidnappers, who threatened to kill Ms. Carroll unless U.S. forces released all Iraqi women in military custody, passed late Friday with no word on her fate.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wiraq-journalist21/BNStory/International/
Ottawa looks into possible mad cow case
Sunday, January 22, 2006 Posted at 7:33 PM EST
Canadian Press
Ottawa — Federal agriculture inspectors are looking into the possibility of another case of mad cow disease, a spokesman for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Sunday.
"We have an ongoing testing program for BSE and that means from time to time we undertake confirmatory tests when we come up with a suspicious sample," said Mark Van Dusen.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060122.wmad0122/BNStory/National/
Wounded soldier's condition worsens
Monday, January 23, 2006 Posted at 1:24 AM EST
Canadian Press
One of three soldiers wounded in a Jan. 15 suicide attack in Afghanistan took a turn for the worse over the weekend, likely delaying his return to Canada, an official said Sunday.
A specialized team of Canadian military doctors and other medical staff who arrived in Germany on Sunday were leaving to the last minute a decision on whether to move Corporal Jeffrey Bailey with his wounded comrades on Tuesday.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060122.wsold0122/BNStory/National/
Suspected pirate ship surrenders to U.S.
Navy Eight-hour chase off Somali coast is sign of stepped-up Western safeguard attempts
By PAUL KORING
Monday, January 23, 2006 Posted at 4:49 AM EST
From Monday's Globe and Mail
WASHINGTON — A suspected pirate ship was shadowed, shot at and finally surrendered to a U.S. warship after an eight-hour, slow-speed chase off the Somali coast, the navy announced yesterday.
The high-seas drama, not far from where gunmen in fast launches fired a rocket-propelled grenade and swept bullets across the decks of a posh cruise liner last November, was the first evidence of stepped-up efforts by Western navies to safeguard shipping from the increasing threat of seaborne hijackings and robberies.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060123.wxpirates23/BNStory/International/
Think women are more sarcastic? Yeah, whatever!
Men's language less literal, study shows
By ANNE MCILROY
Monday, January 23, 2006 Posted at 5:03 AM EST
From Monday's Globe and Mail
You go into work, grab a coffee and sit down with the newspaper. A co-worker walks by and says, "Don't work too hard." Is the sarcastic colleague more likely to be a man, or a woman?
Scientists would say a man. Men make sarcastic comments twice as often as women do, says University of Western Ontario psychologist Albert Katz, an expert in sarcasm and other forms of non-literal language.
Some of the experiments he and his colleagues have done suggest that both sexes use sarcasm as an indirect form of verbal aggression that gets a message across in ways people will remember.
Women, however, are champs at sarcasm when it is used to cut other women out of a conversation or a social group, he says.
"This is called relational aggression, a tendency to cut people out. It tends to be a female phenomenon."
This fits in with early-childhood-development studies that found young boys tend to be more physically aggressive, but girls are more likely to exclude someone from a group.
Preschoolers do not use sarcasm, they take words literally, and studies have suggested that even teenagers can have difficulty understanding irony and sarcasm.
Still, by adulthood, sarcasm is an important communication tool for men.
Researchers have also found that both men and women expect men to be more sarcastic.
In one experiment, male and female volunteers are asked to read a number of written passages with sarcastic statements in them. There are no clues in the material as to whether the sarcastic character is a man or woman, but both men and women are more likely to guess that it is a man
Dr. Katz is interested in non-literal language, such as sarcasm, irony or metaphors, because the brain has to process that someone is saying something that they don't mean. His work, funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, sheds light on the subtle differences in the way men and women use and interpret language.
Men sprinkle metaphors -- "this car is a lemon," "this marriage is on the rocks" -- more liberally in their conversations than women do, says Dr. Katz.
He recently completed a study on metaphor use with his graduate student at Western, Karen Hussey. They studied the on-line conversations of student volunteers.
Their theory is that men are more likely to take the risk of being misunderstood than are women. Women, it turns out, use more metaphors when they are among friends than when they are talking to strangers. This suggests that when they are comfortable, among people they trust, women take the risk of saying something that may be misconstrued. Men use metaphors with both strangers and friends.
Dr. Katz is now studying those seemingly empty words we use in some social situations, the ritual exchanges such as: "how are you doing?," "that's great" and "wonderful."
Most people would recognize this as elevator or street-corner language. It's formally known as phatic language, and Dr. Katz wants to know whether men use it in different ways than women do.
An experiment now under way seems to suggest that they do, at least in the context of being thanked for doing a small but onerous job, such as looking after a neighbour's cat. When the neighbour says thanks, and a man says "any time," he really seems to mean that he would do the job again, says Dr. Katz.
But in the same kind of exchange, in which a woman says "any time," her meaning is likely to be a little different. A woman is more likely to say she was just being polite.
The male approach may be a way of showing dominance, says Dr. Katz, a way for a man to indicate that he has the resources to help.
"It is not a throwaway comment. It is a way of showing alpha maleness."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060123.wxgender23/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/
Good weather for voting
By LISA PRIEST
Monday, January 23, 2006 Posted at 4:27 AM EST
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Despite worries about a winter election and all the bad weather it could bring, today's voting day will be downright balmy in most of the country.
"There's an expression used in the weather office where we say, 'There is no weather today,' " David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, said in a telephone interview yesterday.
"Essentially, election day will be as close as you could have to a no-weather day across the country."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060123.wxelxnweather23/BNStory/specialDecision2006/
Tory lead steadies: poll
By DANIEL LEBLANC
Saturday, January 21, 2006 Posted at 9:51 PM EST
Globe and Mail Update
Montreal — The Conservative Party is still carrying a 10-point lead over the Liberals in the final stretch of the election campaign, with the NDP slowly picking up additional support among women voters in Ontario and in British Columbia, a new poll suggests.
The poll done by The Strategic Counsel on behalf of CTV and The Globe and Mail said the Conservatives have the support of 37-per cent of respondents across the country, while the Liberals are at 27-per cent and the NDP is at 18-per cent.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wpoll0121/BNStory/specialDecision2006/
Harper predicts breakthrough in Canada's biggest cities
By GLORIA GALLOWAY
Saturday, January 21, 2006 Posted at 4:26 PM EST
Globe and Mail Update
GUELPH, ONT. — Conservative Leader Stephen Harper predicts his party will make an important breakthrough in Canada's big cities when the votes are counted on Monday — and that the Liberals will be shut out beyond metropolitan borders.
Mr. Harper also decided today to cut off his daily formal question-and-answer session with reporters — prompting criticism from Liberal Leader Paul Martin and NDP Leader Jack Layton — but later relented and paid a visit to the media buses following his campaign.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wharper-media21_2/BNStory/Front
Martin predicts comeback like in 2004
By CAMPBELL CLARK
Saturday, January 21, 2006 Posted at 4:44 PM EST
Globe and Mail Update
BRAMPTON, ONT. — Liberal Leader Paul Martin told supporters today his party is poised to win a comeback victory — despite polls showing it trails the Conservatives by up to 10 percentage points.
He also ridiculed Conservative rival Stephen Harper who today cancelled for the rest of his campaign his daily formal question-and-answer session with reporters. The Liberal Leader argued this shows Mr. Harper's claim to be accountable is insincere.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wmartin-0121/BNStory/Front
Layton vows to remain available to the press
By BILL CURRY
Saturday, January 21, 2006 Posted at 7:46 PM EST
Globe and Mail Update
Thunder Bay — Stephen Harper's decision not to take questions from reporters in the final weekend of the campaign is a sign the Conservative party can't be trusted, NDP leader Jack Layton said today.
"It certainly seems odd and surprising when we're in the middle of a democratic process and people are making up their final decisions," Mr. Layton told reporters in Vancouver.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wlayton-ndp0121/BNStory/Front
Bloc takes swipe at Alberta
By DANIEL LEBLANC
Saturday, January 21, 2006 Posted at 2:57 PM EST
Globe and Mail Update
Quebec — The Bloc Québécois is resorting to Alberta-phobia in the dying days of the campaign in an attempt to salvage its seats in eastern Quebec, where the Conservative surge is most pronounced.
The Bloc took out full page ads in newspapers in Quebec City and in eastern Quebec saying that there is a western menace hanging over Quebec
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060121.wbloc0121/BNStory/Front
Decision 2006
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/decision2006
Michael Moore Today
STOP picking on Mike.
He's a good guy !!!
It's too bad you are all frustrated with Bush/Cheney incompetence. Stop displacing it !!!!!!
If you want to discuss politics and the RE-EMERGENCE of Osama bin Laden then why not pick on Bush. It has been five years and Osama's status is no different than it was before 911. Bush call his campaign of fear "The War on Terror." NOT, the War on Terrorists. You should all start to discern the difference. Either way, I do believe Bush is losing ! The question is 'Does he like it that way?' Osama bin Laden is still terrorizing the airwaves and causing deaths globally. When is this going to stop? Never? There are and have been a paltry amount of USA military in Afghanistan. Pakistan has been paid billions. And we still don't have Osama bin Laden ?
No one can argue Iraq was nothing but Bush/Cheney's misguided agenda. Never once did Iraq matter in stopping al Qaeda. As a matter of fact the invasion into Iraq has PROLONGED the 'War on Terror.' Iraq never had an issue with any al Qaeda influence UNTIL Bush turned loose anarchy.
People need to get their heads screwed on straight !
http://www.michaelmoore.com/
A statement from Michael Moore on the Canadian election
Friday, January 20th, 2006
Michael Moore Statement on Canadian Election
Michael Moore is currently in production on his next movie. As an avid lover of all things Canadian, he has issued the following statement regarding Canada's upcoming election on Monday:
Oh, Canada -- you're not really going to elect a Conservative majority on Monday, are you? That's a joke, right? I know you have a great sense of humor, and certainly a well-developed sense of irony, but this is no longer funny. Maybe it's a new form of Canadian irony -- reverse irony! OK, now I get it. First, you have the courage to stand against the war in Iraq -- and then you elect a prime minister who's for it. You declare gay people have equal rights -- and then you elect a man who says they don't. You give your native peoples their own autonomy and their own territory -- and then you vote for a man who wants to cut aid to these poorest of your citizens. Wow, that is intense! Only Canadians could pull off a hat trick of humor like that. My hat's off to you.
Far be it from me, as an American, to suggest what you should do. You already have too many Americans telling you what to do. Well, actually, you've got just one American who keeps telling you to roll over and fetch and sit. I hope you don't feel this appeal of mine is too intrusive but I just couldn't sit by, as your friend, and say nothing. Yes, I agree, the Liberals have some 'splainin' to do. And yes, one party in power for more than a decade gets a little... long. But you have a parliamentary system (I'll bet you didn't know that -- see, that's why you need Americans telling you things!). There are ways at the polls to have your voices heard other than throwing the baby out with the bath water.
These are no ordinary times, and as you go to the polls on Monday, you do so while a man running the nation to the south of you is hoping you can lend him a hand by picking Stephen Harper because he's a man who shares his world view. Do you want to help George Bush by turning Canada into his latest conquest? Is that how you want millions of us down here to see you from now on? The next notch in the cowboy belt? C'mon, where's your Canadian pride? I mean, if you're going to reduce Canada to a cheap download of Bush & Co., then at least don't surrender so easily. Can't you wait until he threatens to bomb Regina? Make him work for it, for Pete's sake.
But seriously, I know you're not going to elect a guy who should really be running for governor of Utah. Whew! I knew it! You almost had me there. Very funny. Don't do that again. God, I love you, you crazy cold wonderful neighbors to my north. Don't ever change.
Michael Moore
(Mr. Moore is not available for interviews because he now needs to address the situation in Azerbaijan. But he could be talked into it for a couple of tickets to a Leaf's game.)
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=192
January 19th, 2006 11:24 pm
Young voters promise big turnout Monday
OTTAWA (CP) — A new survey suggests young Canadians have decided who they want to support, and are planning to turn out at the polls on Monday as they've never done before.
Almost nine in 10 young people asked by Innovative Research say they've read, seen or heard something about the election.
And despite the increasingly negative campaign, 64 per cent say they definitely plan to vote.
Only 38 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 18 and 24 turned out at the polls in the 2004 federal election.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5592
Apathy is Boring
http://www.apathyisboring.com/
What is Go Vote?
Go Vote Go Vote is a national non-partisan youth coalition that aims to connect the candidates to the concerns of young people, and connect young people to the political process. The coalition will coalesce around 16 hours of action and awareness on January 16th, and use this day to encourage all candidates to engage with young voters.
http://govote.ca/index.en.html
Find Your Riding - Recherchez votre circonscription
http://ridingsite.greenparty.ca/index.php
Liberal Party
http://liberal.ca/candidates_e.aspx
New Democratic Party
Find Your Candidate
To find your NDP candidate, enter your postal code or select your province/territory from the map below.
http://www.ndp.ca/myriding/lookup
Jihadball?
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5598
Chris Matthews compares Michael Moore to Osama Bin Laden
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/01/19.html
John Kerry responds to Chris Matthews
Kerry came out swinging:
"You'd think the only focus tonight would be on destroying Osama Bin Laden, not comparing him to an American who opposes the war whether you like him or not. You want a real debate that America needs? Here goes: If the administration had done the job right in Tora Bora we might not be having discussions on Hardball about a new Bin Laden tape. How dare Scott McClellan tell America that this Administration puts terrorists out of business when had they put Osama Bin Laden out of business in Afghanistan when our troops wanted to, we wouldn't have to hear this barbarian's voice on tape. That's what we should be talking about in America." -- John Kerry
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/01/19.html
DAOU Report
by Peter Daou
UPDATE: John Kerry blogs on Daily Kos, Chris Matthews responds to the pressure with a half-hearted comment about being "misunderstood"-- In a 12-hour period, over 20,000 people visit An Open Letter to Chris Matthews.
DEMAND AN APOLOGY: "Bin Laden sounds like Clint Eastwood" -- "Bin Laden sounds like Ron Silver" -- "Bin Laden sounds like Rush Limbaugh" -- "Bin Laden sounds like Bill O'Reilly"-- "Bin Laden sounds like Mel Gibson" -- "Bin Laden sounds like Bruce Willis" -- "Bin Laden sounds like Michelle Malkin"... Imagine the outrage on the right and in the press (but I repeat myself) if a major media figure spat out those words. Well, on Hardball, Chris Matthews just blurted out that Bin Laden sounds like Michael Moore. Simple: Matthews should apologize. On the air. This has NOTHING to do with Michael Moore and everything to do with how far media figures can go slandering the left.
And last I checked, Michael Moore didn't massacre thousands of innocent Americans. (The indispensable Crooks and Liars has the clip) And here's John Kerry's blistering statement on the Hardball scandal and Bin Laden's reappearance:
"You'd think the only focus tonight would be on destroying Osama Bin Laden, not comparing him to an American who opposes the war whether you like him or not. You want a real debate that America needs? Here goes: If the administration had done the job right in Tora Bora we might not be having discussions on Hardball about a new Bin Laden tape. How dare Scott McClellan tell America that this Administration puts terrorists out of business when had they put Osama Bin Laden out of business in Afghanistan when our troops wanted to, we wouldn't have to hear this barbarian's voice on tape. That's what we should be talking about in America." -- John Kerry
MATTHEWS SCANDAL BLOG ROUNDUP
+++ Atrios: "Wanker of the Day: Chris Matthews" +++ Huffington Post: "Equating a prominent conservative activist to a murderous terrorist would bring the wrath of the rightwing machine on Matthews' head. But in today's political environment, Dems and liberals are fair game, either through insidious pro-Bush narratives like 'Bush is firm' and 'Dems are muddled,' or through blatant and vile comments like the one Matthews so glibly foisted on us." +++ Digby (who offers readers contact information to MSNBC): "This is ridiculous. This man is either working overtime to kiss right wing ass for some reason or he's been paid off to do full-on GOP character assassination. This is exactly what the Republicans did to Tom Daschle and Max Cleland." +++ Matt Stoller: "It is outrageous that Chris Matthews can slander the left, and take the threat of terrorism so lightly. I'd like to see a Democrat step up to the mike on this one." +++ Aravosis: "Pitiful. And terribly embarrassing for NBC and all of its namesakes." +++ More from Jane, Daily Kos, Seeing the Forest, The Green Knight, and The Left Coaster +++ Remember: This is not just about Chris Matthews or Michael Moore or Osama Bin Laden, it's about the willingness of a prominent media figure to slander an opponent of the war. +++
UPDATE: Markos adds: "The blowhards like Chris Matthews are orgasmic in their denunciations of liberals these days in the wake of the latest Osama Bin Laden tape. But let's remember -- it's not liberal who are in power. It's been George Bush and his neocon pals. It is THEY who have failed to capture or kill Bin Laden. It is they who have made our country less safe, and created a world in which terrorist attacks have increased. It is they who are making a mess out of the war in Iraq, failing to provide our troops with basic necessities like body and vehicle armor."
And don't forget to read An Open Letter to Chris Matthews
http://daoureport.salon.com/synopsis.aspx?synopsisId=c4f13a24-a385-4395-b342-7d3d378bb0f2
Matthews Feels Your Heat, Says He Was “Misunderstood”
Transcript:
MATTHEWS: Why is he doing it? Why is he trying to track what he picks up in the internet and from the media as the lingo of the left in America, like Moore? Why would he start to talk like Moore? People misunderstood what I said last night. I think he’s getting some advice from people, he’s getting some lingo, some wordage that he hears working in the United States about this thing for war profiteers and he’s jumping on every opportunity. Is that what you are saying Joe?
Let MSNBC know how you feel about that non-apology: hardball@msnbc.com or (202) 824-6707
http://openlettertochrismatthews.blogspot.com/
Matthews: “People Misunderstood What I Said Last Night”
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/01/20/matthews-misunderstood/
Real Hardball
by John Kerry
Fri Jan 20, 2006 at 03:52:31 PM PDT
There's something that doesn't sit right with me when, on the day Osama Bin Laden resurfaced in a disturbing audio tape, cable television ends up in a game of name calling as a war protester is compared to Osama Bin Laden.
That's reason to be outraged - but even more outrageous is the fact that in a flurry of sound bites what was lost was a real discussion of the fact that more than four years after the devastating attacks of 9/11, more than four years after George Bush boasted we wanted Osama "dead or alive," more than a year after Osama Bin Laden showed his hateful face in yet another video, this barbarian is still very much alive and boasting of additional attacks against the United States.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/1/20/175232/080
Physical condition saved soldiers, MD says
Canadian officials hope to bring wounded men back to Canada early next week
CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA — The excellent physical condition of three soldiers wounded by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan probably saved their lives and is contributing to their recoveries, says a doctor monitoring their progress. All three were expected to survive the Sunday attack despite daunting wounds that may ultimately affect their quality of life, said air force Maj. Nick Withers, one of two Canadian military doctors posted in Europe.
“The physical condition of the three soldiers is going to assist in the recovery,” Withers said in an interview Thursday from Landstuhl, Germany.
“They are in very good shape. It’s going to allow them to fight things like infection and other problems a little better. It will serve them well with respect to their recovery and their survival.”
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5590
A Town Becomes a Prison
By Dahr Jamail and Arkan Hamed / IPS
SINIYAH, Iraq, Jan 20 - People of Siniyah town 200 km north of Baghdad are angry over a six-mile long sand wall constructed by the U.S. military to check attacks by rebels.
"Our city has become a battlefield," 35 year-old engineer Fuad Al-Mohandis told IPS at a checkpoint on the outskirts of the city. "So many of our houses have been destroyed, and the Americans are placing landmines in areas where they think there might be fighters, even though most of the time it is near the homes of innocent civilians."
Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division have been coming under nearly daily attack from roadside bombs.
Fuad said the U.S. military was now enforcing a curfew from 5pm. He said "so many explosions occur now which terrify our children."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5595
Purported Tape of al-Zawahri Posted on Web
By Omar Sinan / Associated Press
CAIRO, Egypt - An audiotape purportedly from al-Qaida's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahri, was posted Friday on an Islamic Web site in which he read a poem praising "martyrs of holy war" in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.
The tape made no mention of a Jan. 13 U.S. airstrike in Pakistan that was targeting al-Zawahri and killed four al-Qaida leaders.
Officials at two U.S. counterterror agencies said the recording does not appear to have been made recently and may even date back years. They described the recording as a poetry reading praising martyrs of wars in Afghanistan, but it was not immediately clear whether that referred to the Northern Alliance action against the Taliban after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, or even to the Afghanistan war with the Soviets in the 1980s.
The CIA was conducting a voice analysis to determine whether the speaker was al-Zawahri, a CIA official said.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5596
Iran threatens oil crisis in nuclear standoff
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran warned of a world oil crisis if sanctions are imposed over its nuclear program even as the United States and Europe struggled to get support for UN Security Council action.
"In case of sanctions, other countries will suffer as well as Iran," Oil Minister Davoud Danesh-Jafari said, according to the official news agency, IRNA.
"One of the consequences will be the unleashing of a crisis in the oil sector and particularly a price hike."
Iran, the number two oil exporter in OPEC with oil revenue last year of 42 billion dollars, risks being referred to the United Nations Security Council over what the West suspects is a covert nuclear weapons drive.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5597
More Than 3,200 Still Missing From Katrina
By Michelle Roberts / Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS -- More than 3,200 people are officially still unaccounted for nearly five months after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, and the state medical examiner wants the search to resume for those missing from the most devastated neighborhoods.
A total of nearly 11,500 people were reported missing to the Find Family National Call Center, a center run by federal and state workers. The reports included people from throughout the Gulf Coast area, but most were from Louisiana.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5577
Congressional Agency Questions Legality of Wiretaps
By Dan Eggen / Washington Post
The Bush administration appears to have violated the National Security Act by limiting its briefings about a warrantless domestic eavesdropping program to congressional leaders, according to a memo from Congress's research arm released yesterday.
The Congressional Research Service opinion said that the amended 1947 law requires President Bush to keep all members of the House and Senate intelligence committees "fully and currently informed" of such intelligence activities as the domestic surveillance effort.
The memo from national security specialist Alfred Cumming is the second report this month from CRS to question the legality of aspects of Bush's domestic spying program. A Jan. 6 report concluded that the administration's justifications for the program conflicted with current law.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5581
Administration Lays Out Legal Case for Wiretapping Program
By Eric Lichtblau / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 - The Bush administration today offered its fullest defense of the National Security Agency's domestic eavesdropping program, saying that congressional authorization to defeat Al Qaeda after the Sept. 11 attacks "places the president at the zenith of his powers in authorizing the N.S.A. activities."
In a 42-page white paper, the Justice Department expanded on its past arguments in laying out the legal rationale for why the N.S.A. program does not violate federal wiretap law and why the president is the nation's "sole organ" for foreign affairs.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5585
Oil jumps $1 on al Qaeda threat, supply concern
By Matthew Robinson / Reuters
NEW YORK - Oil prices jumped over $1 to near $67 a barrel on Thursday following threats that al Qaeda was preparing attacks on the United States and supply concerns from crude oil exporters Iran and Nigeria.
Dealers ignored bearish weekly U.S. data that showed oil inventories piling up and focused instead on the potential for a major supply outage.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5586
Security-technology stocks stage rally
Audiotape of bin Laden warns of new attacks on U.S.
By Ciara Linnane / MarketWatch
NEW YORK -- Shares of security-technology companies rallied Thursday after an audiotape, purportedly featuring the voice of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, warned of fresh terrorist attacks planned for inside the U.S.
The threat was broadcast by Arab TV network Al Jazeera, reports said.
On the tape, bin Laden said increased security in the U.S. since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, hasn't prevented al-Qaida from attacking again.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5583
Sen. Leahy to Oppose Alito Nomination
By Jesse J. Holland / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy said Thursday he will oppose Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's confirmation, saying he did not believe the conservative judge would be independent of President Bush and the executive branch in his future rulings.
"At a time when the president is seizing unprecedented power, the Supreme Court needs to act as a check and to provide balance," Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a speech at Georgetown University's law school. "Based on the hearing and his record, I have no confidence that Judge Alito would provide that check and balance."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5587
Democrats Poised Against Alito
By Maura Reynolds / Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — Senate Democrats emerged from a strategy meeting Wednesday saying that most members appeared inclined to vote against the nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the Supreme Court, but that they were unlikely to mount a filibuster to halt his confirmation.
"Arguments were being made pro and con, but mostly con at the moment," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a key vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which vets the nomination before it goes to the full Senate for debate.
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5594
Breaking Ranks
Larry Wilkerson Attacked the Iraq War. In the Process, He Lost the Friendship of Colin Powell.
By Richard Leiby / Washington Post
In an overheated old schoolroom in Washington, Larry Wilkerson, a retired Army colonel, is doing his best to impose military discipline on 25 pupils as they prepare to attack a mountain of pizza, cupcakes and cookies. It is the year-end party for Macfarland Middle School's Colin L. Powell Leadership Club, a tutoring and mentoring program that Wilkerson oversees as a volunteer. Striding before his charges in smart burgundy suspenders, the colonel -- everybody here calls him the colonel -- makes a point about duty:
"If you're not attending the meetings, you aren't a member of the club. It's as simple as that." He rebukes a boy who has shown up for the party but otherwise been scarce. "You know how I'll feel if you don't come to subsequent meetings," Wilkerson warns, "and you don't want to get me angry."
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=5579
The New Zealand Herald
Lightning sparks damaging bushfires
21.01.06
Bushfires have killed 100 sheep and threatened homes, a primary school and an ambulance station in Victoria's far west overnight.
Two blazes, sparked by lightning, burnt through 300ha and reached the fence lines of houses in the town of Goroke, west of Horsham. Lightning struck in the region about 9pm and crews took about two hours to contain the fires.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364672
Whale swims up Thames to central London
21.01.06 9.00am
LONDON - A small whale swam up the Thames to central London on Friday, a rare event which drew large crowds of sightseers and brought traffic to a standstill.
But as the whale twice tried to ground itself before eventually finding slightly deeper water as the tide came in, concerns grew that it might not survive.
As the Northern Bottle-nosed Whale beached next to Chelsea Bridge, three men waded into the river hitting the water and then punching the air in celebration as it swam off.
But it soon beached again, prompting more people to jump into the water to move it on.
"I am very concerned for the safety of this animal at the moment, particularly if boat traffic increases in the river," said Laila Sadler, scientific officer at animal protection charity, the RSPCA.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364745
London whale has died
22.01.06 9.00am
The enormous effort to save a wayward whale which got stuck in London's River Thames has come to nothing.
Despite a high speed dash by barge out to deeper waters, the northern bottlenosed whale has died.
Vets say there was always a danger the stress of the journey would be too much for the animal.
It was the first whale seen in the Thames since records began in 1913.
The whale's fate has captured the hearts of Londoners, and thousands lined the bridges overlooking the river to catch a glimpse of it.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364745
Rescuers say whale's death may save others
23.01.06 3.20pm
LONDON - Marine experts who failed to rescue a whale stranded in London's Thames River said today they hoped worldwide public interest in its fate would promote conservation of the endangered species.
Rescue teams had tried to return the adolescent 6m northern bottle-nosed whale to the open seas but it died yesterday after its health took a turn for the worse.
"It was always a race against time," Tony Woodley of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue group, which co-ordinated the rescue attempt, said.
Paul Jepson, head of the UK Marine Mammals Strandings Programme, said he hoped international coverage of the animal's fate would have a positive impact.
"There are probably many children who may remember seeing this bottle-nosed whale in London and in the future I hope that they may become marine mammal enthusiasts and conservationists."
The whale triggered headlines around the world after it was spotted on Friday in the Thames near the Houses of Parliament, around 65km from the sea.
It was the first time since records began in 1913 that a whale had been seen so far upstream.
Huge crowds lined the river banks during the elaborate rescue operation on Saturday afternoon, with every twist and turn in the saga captured on live television.
Rescuers managed to lift the whale by crane onto a barge but it died as they tried to take it to open water.
The result of the post-mortem, to be conducted by Jepson, will not be known for several days.
Experts speculated the whale was so far from its natural environment because it was either very ill, had got lost chasing food or had been driven from its usual habitat by military testing or loud sonar.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364961
Iran to remove funds from Europe in nuclear dispute
21.01.06 1.00pm
TEHRAN, Iran - Embroiled in a nuclear standoff with the West, Iran said today it was moving funds out of Europe to shield them from possible UN sanctions and flexed its oil muscles with a proposal to cut Opec output.
"Yes, Iran has started withdrawing money from European banks and transferring it to other banks abroad," said a senior Iranian official, who asked not to be named.
Central Bank Governor Ebrahim Sheibani was quoted as saying Tehran had started shifting funds. But he sidestepped a question on whether the assets would go to Asian accounts.
Financial markets reacted nervously to the uncertainty about Iran's foreign holdings, estimated at more than US$30 billion (NZ$44bn), helping send oil to a four-month high above US$68. US stock prices fell and the dollar dipped against the euro and the safe-haven Swiss franc.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364757
Chirac ups the nuclear ante
20.01.06
By John Lichfield
President Jacques Chirac dropped a political bombshell yesterday, threatening to retaliate with nuclear strikes against any state which carried out a large-scale terrorist attack on France.
In the biggest shift in French nuclear doctrine for 40 years, President Chirac revealed that the "force de frappe" - the French nuclear deterrent - had already been re-configured to allow it to destroy the "power centres" of any state which sponsored a terrorist assault.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364660
Former East German parliament doomed
21.01.06
A last-ditch effort by German left-wing parliamentarians to save a steel and concrete colossus that once housed communist East Germany's legislature failed on Thursday after parliament ruled the Berlin building must fall.
There is now little hope that the "Palace of the Republic" will escape the wrecking ball next month.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364669
Annan urges Iran to halt its research
20.01.06
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has urged Iran to scrap its controversial decision to resume nuclear-fuel research, and return to negotiations over its nuclear ambitions.
"My own advice to the Iranians is to create an environment that will allow the negotiations to go forward," Annan said. "They should not escalate. They should not press ahead with their nuclear-fuel research." Germany, France and Britain have been negotiating with Iran but broke off talks after Tehran announced this month it was breaking UN seals on nuclear equipment and resuming research.
The three nations want the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for further pressure. But they will probably not be able to do so at its early February meeting because of objections from Russia and China.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364656
Australian wheat firm admits deceiving UN in Iraq
20.01.06 1.00pm
SYDNEY - The chief of Australia's monopoly wheat exporter agreed after repeated questioning at an oil-for-food inquiry on Thursday that the group deceived the United Nations on the details of its contracts with Iraq.
Documents released by AWB Ltd. at the Australian government inquiry on Thursday showed that the company inflated wheat prices to raise $8 million, which was in turn used to pay off another company's debt.
AWB Managing Director Andrew Lindberg was asked by the inquiry's lawyer whether the United Nations, which managed Iraq's now defunct oil-for-food funds, had been deceived by the AWB.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364615
Second quake shakes southern Hawke's Bay
23.01.06 8.30am
An earthquake centred near Waipukurau this morning was felt throughout the southern Hawke's Bay and followed a smaller tremor in the area last night.
The quake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale hit at 5.52am 10km north of Waipukurau at a depth of 20km, the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences said.
An earthquake measuring 3.7 struck 40km south of Wairoa at 10.11pm last night at a depth of 30km.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10364936
Two US miners dead, governor vows action
23.01.06 12.20pm
By Jacque O'Bryant
CHARLESTON, West Virginia - Two miners trapped in a West Virginia coal mine that had caught fire were found dead yesterday, and officials, angered also by 12 other mine deaths this month, vowed to make the industry safer.
"We found the two miners that we were looking for for the past 40-some hours. ... Unfortunately, we don't have a positive outcome," said Doug Conaway, West Virginia's mine safety chief.
"We did find the two miners near the fire area that was on the (conveyor) belt line," he said. "It appears right now that the two miners were trying to make a valiant effort. They were together trying to get outside and they encountered pretty high temperatures and high (carbon monoxide) levels."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364967
Australian bushfire could double in size
23.01.06 4.00pm
PERTH - Residents of a West Australian town have been told to review their fire plans as a deliberately lit blaze continues to burn out of control in the state's south-west.
Six water bombers today joined more than 100 firefighters, who battled the fire overnight in steep terrain and gusty conditions.
Deep leaf litter and dry conditions are fuelling the fire south-east of Dwellingup, 97km southeast of Perth.
It has already destroyed more than 2,000 hectares and could double in size before it is contained, Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) spokesman Terry Maher warned.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364991
Georgia accuses Russia of sabotage over gas pipeline
23.01.06 1.00pm
By Margarita Antidze
TBILISI - Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili accused Moscow of sabotage after explosions knocked out the main pipeline in southern Russia that supplies gas to Georgia and Armenia.
Russian officials blamed the blasts on anti-Moscow insurgents in its southern region of North Ossetia.
But Saakashvili, who has irritated the Kremlin by pushing his ex-Soviet state closer to the West, said he did not believe the Russian explanation and accused Moscow of cutting gas supplies and triggering an energy crisis just as sub-zero temperatures hit his tiny Caucasus state.
"This morning there was a serious act of sabotage on the part of Russia on Georgia's energy system," he told a news conference.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364972
Israel weighs response to possible Hamas poll win
23.01.06 1.00pm
By Adam Entous
JERUSALEM - Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered aides to draw up contingency plans in the event Hamas makes a strong enough showing in this week's Palestinian parliamentary election to join the government.
An Israeli cabinet minister cast doubt on the future of peacemaking if the Islamic militant group was given a role in the government. Hamas, contesting the legislative vote for the first time, is committed to destroying Israel.
In separate statements, Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef said their forces had been put on heightened alert in case of an escalation of violence that could disrupt Wednesday's ballot.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364975
US aids Palestinian Authority ahead of election
23.01.06 2.20pm
WASHINGTON - The United States has spent almost US$2 million ($2.9 million) in a bid to bolster the Palestinian Authority's governing Fatah party against the Islamic militant group Hamas before this week's parliamentary election, two US newspapers reported today.
A spokeswoman for the American consulate in East Jerusalem, Micaela Schweitzer-Bluhm, told The New York Times the programme was designed "to work with the Palestinian Authority to enhance democratic institutions and support democratic actors, not just Fatah."
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364988
Iraq Sunnis commit to coalition talks
23.01.06 1.00pm
By Ross Colvin
BAGHDAD - Iraq's biggest Sunni political bloc committed itself today to talks with Shi'ites and Kurds to form a government of national unity, but said its key demands, including changes to the constitution, must be met.
The United States, keen to drive the political process toward a stable consensus, wants the Kurds and majority Shi'ites, who dominated last month's elections, to form a government that includes minority Sunnis. It hopes an inclusive coalition will undermine the raging Sunni Arab insurgency.
Four policemen were killed and nine wounded by a roadside bomb in Baquba, 65km north of Baghdad. Thirteen other people were killed in attacks across Iraq, including a policeman's four nephews who died when a rocket hit his home.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364970
Iraq Shi'ites seal power
21.01.06 9.00am
BAGHDAD - Iraq's Shi'ite Islamists have been confirmed in power by election results that gave them a near-majority and opened the way for US-backed negotiations with Kurds and Sunni Arabs on a national unity government.
With Baghdad all but sealed off by security forces on alert for attacks by Sunni rebels who accused the ruling Shi'ite Alliance of cheating in last month's poll, two civilians were killed in one of several bomb attacks on US and Iraqi patrols.
In restive Ramadi, insurgents fired rockets at US and Iraqi bases, causing some minor injuries, the military said. There was celebratory gunfire in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10364744
Italy to withdraw 1000 Iraq troops in June
20.01.06 4.20pm
ROME - Italy will withdraw 1000 of its 2600 troops in Iraq by June and aims to finish its mission there by the end of this year, Defence Minister Antonio Martino said on Thursday.
Martino told a parliamentary committee Italy will gradually end its military presence and phase into a new type of presence that he said would be "substantially civilian in nature."
Italy, which has the fourth largest foreign contingent in Iraq, faces a general election next April where the unpopular Iraq war is likely to become an issue. Most Italians and all opposition parties were opposed to the troop deployment.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364626
Bombs kill 22 as Iraq locks down for vote results
20.01.06 1.00pm
BAGHDAD - Iraqi insurgents killed at least 22 people in two simultaneous bomb blasts in central Baghdad on Thursday, challenging a security clampdown in the capital ahead of the release of the results of last month's elections.
International monitors effectively rejected allegations by minority Sunni Arabs of massive vote-rigging by concluding that the election was broadly fair. In a nod to Sunni sentiment, however, they called for all communities to join in government.
The United Nations envoy in Iraq endorsed that appeal.
All but final results, obtained by Reuters, showed Sunnis taking a little over a fifth of the seats in parliament and the Shi'ite Islamist bloc 10 seats short of retaining its majority. Final results are due at 1am tomorrow (NZ time).
Fearing a surge in attacks by once-dominant Sunnis angry at the outcome, the Shi'ite and Kurdish-led government sealed off cities and sent extra troops and police onto Baghdad's streets.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364620
BY praising the fighters in Afghanistan the Dynamic Al Qaida Duo is guaranteed some of those fighters will be loyal to protecting them. I definitely believe Osama is scared. Definitely. We are close. We are very close to 'getting him.'
Alleged al-Zawahri tape praises fighters in Afghanistan
21.01.06 1.00pm
DUBAI - Al Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahri, praised Islamic fighters in Afghanistan, according to an internet audio tape posted on Friday, a day after Osama bin Laden warned of attacks in America.
The speaker on the latest tape sounded like the Egyptian-born Zawahri. The little-known website which carried the tape said it was new but this could not be verified.
"I am honoured to recite this jihadist poem," he said, praising mujahideen fighters.
"We shall remain true to our oath (with the Afghan mujahideen)."
The message emerged one day after bin Laden, al Qaeda's leader, said the group was preparing attacks in the United States but was open to a conditional truce with the Americans, according to an audio tape attributed to him.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364754
Reporter nabbed seeking job at Buckingham Palace
21.01.06 1.00pm
LONDON - Police have arrested a journalist for trying to get a job at Buckingham Palace for an undercover report.
A spokeswoman for London's Metropolitan Police said the 25-year-old woman had been arrested on Thursday after they discovered bogus details on her application for a job at the palace.
The News of the World, a Sunday tabloid, said its reporter Bethany Usher "was engaged in a legitimate journalistic exercise investigating security" at the palace.
The stunt was an apparent attempt to repeat a much-heralded scoop by an arch-rival tabloid, the Daily Mirror, which had an undercover reporter get a job as a palace footman and work there for two months in 2004.
The Mirror reporter's description of lax security at the palace caused major embarrassment when it was published on the eve of a state visit by US president George W. Bush.
A spokeswoman for the News of the World said Usher was not caught as a result of improved palace employment vetting, but because another rival newspaper had tipped the palace off.
Usher was released on bail and ordered to return to a police station on Feb 9, the police spokeswoman said.
- REUTERS
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364758
Republican 'witch-hunts' leftist university lecturers
21.01.06
The University of California's Los Angeles campus has been thrown into turmoil by a conservative Republican graduate who is offering money to students to record the classes of professors they suspect of left-wing bias and "indoctrination".
The young Republican, Andrew Jones, has drawn up a hit list of professors he refers to as the "dirty 30" and devoted page upon page of his website to denouncing their supposed professional malfeasance.
"Do you have a professor who just can't stop talking about President Bush, about Howard Dean, about the war in Iraq ... or any other ideological issue that has nothing to do with the class subject matter?" he asks in his recruitment statement.
"If you can help ... collect information about abusive, one-sided or off-topic classroom behaviour, we'll pay you for your work."
Jones' targets have accused him of attempting to conduct McCarthy-like witch-hunts at one of the most prestigious universities in the US.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364664
Colombia starts clearing coca from national park
20.01.06 1.00pm
LA MACARENA NATIONAL PARK - Colombia on Thursday sent more than 900 shovel-wielding workers into a nature reserve to destroy plants used by Marxist rebels to make cocaine, the first such operation in a Colombian national park.
The coca eradication campaign, which police say is aimed mainly at restoring La Macarena National Park's ecosystem, was ordered by President Alvaro Uribe after guerrillas killed 29 soldiers during a battle in the area last month.
It was one of many bloody clashes over the planting of coca in this rugged part of southern Colombia.
The workers, brought to the area by helicopter to avoid contact with the rebels, were guarded by 1500 soldiers and police ready to ward off an attack from the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10364598
Cheese spoils fine wines - so stick to the plonk
21.01.06
By Cahal Milmo
For generations, it has been the fare of choice at charity fundraisers and suburban parties: a cube of cheddar on a cocktail stick and a glass of cheap red wine.
Now, it seems, the organisers of wine and cheese parties were right all along to choose plonk rather than vintage wines to go with their fromage. Scientists have found that, when sampling a fine claret or expensive burgundy, the last foodstuff it should be paired with is cheese.
The study, which submitted the tastebuds of 11 drinkers to eight cheeses combined with cheap and expensive wines, found that the cheese always masked the flavours of a pricey vintage.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&ObjectID=10364684
Standing ovation for NZ film at Sundance Film Festival
23.01.06 1.00pm
Fresh from its success at the United States Sundance Film Festival last night, New Zealander Toa Fraser's debut movie No 2 has been invited to compete at the Berlin Film Festival in February.
The movie tells the story of a Fijian matriarch who, inspired by a dream of her childhood back in Fiji, demands her grandchildren put on a big feast at which she will name her successor.
The New Zealand Film Commission said the film was met with a standing ovation at its premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Utah, and the invitation to be screened at the Berlin festival would mark the movie's European premiere.
The film will be released in New Zealand cinemas on February 16.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=197&objectid=10364977
continued …
Saturday, January 21, 2006
A body deserves 'mercury' based vaccines? Oh, really? No where near me, thank you !
It's Saturday Night
Because Merury (Hg) produces oxygen under certain conditions. The body doesn't see it as having hostile properties. The body incorporates it as if it were a nutrient. The adverse effects of mercury in the body is resultant from the fact it's chemical structure alters the shape and function of normal body molecules. Lead has the same issue.
This is the year 2006. This is not to be an issue !
The Material Safety Data Sheet of Mercury. It is a 'workplace' toxin..
... heavier than LEAD ?
Mercury is a very strange metal.
It is a liquid at room temperature, but it is so dense that cannon balls float in it.
With the atomic number 80 in the periodic table and with an atomic weight of 200.59, this element is heavier than lead.
Mined as the ore Cinnabar, mostly from the Quavos mine and the Almaden mine, this ore is then ground up, producing Vermillion. This was used by the artist Rubens in his famous painting "the three graces" as the blusher on the faces of the ladies. This was rather appropriate, as at the time the painting was done, Vermillion was used as blusher (despite it's toxicity).
After it is fairly powdered, it is then heated, and at 357 degrees centigrade it the mercury boils out of the rock. Because of the low boiling point it is very easy to produce very pure mercury. This turned out to be very useful in 1908, when Camelling Onnes made use of this property and it's relatively high resistivity to prove the concept of superconductivity (which he ended up getting the nobel prize for).
Because of it's low boiling point, it was very easy to use mercuric oxide to produce pure oxygen. In fact, this proved incredibly useful for Priestley and Lavoisier in 1777 to use to help in the development of the foundations of modern chemistry. It was essential in Lavuosier's final defeat of the phlogiston theory, when he proved resperation to be a slow form of combustion.
The strange properties of mercury were also useful to Michael Faraday, who took Orsted's observation of the deflection of a compass needle by an electric current and used it as the basis for formulating the rules of electromagnetism.
Mercury is also a member of the thermoelectric series. In combination with silver it forms a dendritic structure know as the tree of Diana, but if you have a higher percentage of mercury it forms a liquid. Mercury forms an amalgum with gold.
PS
Health impacts of lead poisoning.
It is a liquid at room temperature, but it is so dense that cannon balls float in it.
With the atomic number 80 in the periodic table and with an atomic weight of 200.59, this element is heavier than lead.
Mined as the ore Cinnabar, mostly from the Quavos mine and the Almaden mine, this ore is then ground up, producing Vermillion. This was used by the artist Rubens in his famous painting "the three graces" as the blusher on the faces of the ladies. This was rather appropriate, as at the time the painting was done, Vermillion was used as blusher (despite it's toxicity).
After it is fairly powdered, it is then heated, and at 357 degrees centigrade it the mercury boils out of the rock. Because of the low boiling point it is very easy to produce very pure mercury. This turned out to be very useful in 1908, when Camelling Onnes made use of this property and it's relatively high resistivity to prove the concept of superconductivity (which he ended up getting the nobel prize for).
Because of it's low boiling point, it was very easy to use mercuric oxide to produce pure oxygen. In fact, this proved incredibly useful for Priestley and Lavoisier in 1777 to use to help in the development of the foundations of modern chemistry. It was essential in Lavuosier's final defeat of the phlogiston theory, when he proved resperation to be a slow form of combustion.
The strange properties of mercury were also useful to Michael Faraday, who took Orsted's observation of the deflection of a compass needle by an electric current and used it as the basis for formulating the rules of electromagnetism.
Mercury is also a member of the thermoelectric series. In combination with silver it forms a dendritic structure know as the tree of Diana, but if you have a higher percentage of mercury it forms a liquid. Mercury forms an amalgum with gold.
PS
Health impacts of lead poisoning.
Mercury, the molten metal, poses global hazard to humans
Mercury
Do you actually want it in your body?
Do you want children to be surrended to it's ill effects?
What is there to say?
Mercury is a heavy metal.
A very heavy metal.
It's an issue.
Bird flu vaccine, anyone?
A very heavy metal.
It's an issue.
Bird flu vaccine, anyone?
"Where Fear Ends" by Mercury Rising from the album "Upon Deaf Ears"
"Where Fear Ends"
I've felt the deadly grip of compromise
And fought to keep conviction burning in my eyes
Surrender perseverance doesn't recognize
And with the light of each new day
I'll find my way
Beneath the pulsing beat of neon heat and city streets
Or on a mountain side under moonlit sky with stars on high
The answer lies not so much in where you are
But destination and what you'll find
Into the fire some would throw their lives
And hope that with security and fear subsides
Dreams and ambitions they would choose to hide
A disregarded spirit leaves them empty inside
Inside of every man a master plan the high command
Truth to one's self is shelter from the storm and keeps the sin unborn
The greatest truth I've ever known has been where truth begins where fear ends
How sad a man could lose his destiny to the powers that be in this world
For just outside this lifetime is a higher call stand or fall
Victory is more than just security
Affluency has no jurisdiction over death
Victorious the man who stands his ground and won't go down
But offers to the cause his every breath
I've felt the deadly grip of compromise
And fought to keep conviction burning in my eyes
Surrender perserverence doesn't recognize
And with the light of each new day
I'll find my way
I've seen the empty eyes, believing lies hypnotized
I stand uncompromised and await the new sunrise
The greatest truth I've ever known has been where truth begins is where fear ends
Victory is more than just security
Affluency has no jurisdiction over death
Victorious the man who stands his ground and won't go down
But offers to the cause his every breath
I've felt the deadly grip of compromise
And fought to keep conviction burning in my eyes
Surrender perseverance doesn't recognize
And with the light of each new day
I'll find my way
Beneath the pulsing beat of neon heat and city streets
Or on a mountain side under moonlit sky with stars on high
The answer lies not so much in where you are
But destination and what you'll find
Into the fire some would throw their lives
And hope that with security and fear subsides
Dreams and ambitions they would choose to hide
A disregarded spirit leaves them empty inside
Inside of every man a master plan the high command
Truth to one's self is shelter from the storm and keeps the sin unborn
The greatest truth I've ever known has been where truth begins where fear ends
How sad a man could lose his destiny to the powers that be in this world
For just outside this lifetime is a higher call stand or fall
Victory is more than just security
Affluency has no jurisdiction over death
Victorious the man who stands his ground and won't go down
But offers to the cause his every breath
I've felt the deadly grip of compromise
And fought to keep conviction burning in my eyes
Surrender perserverence doesn't recognize
And with the light of each new day
I'll find my way
I've seen the empty eyes, believing lies hypnotized
I stand uncompromised and await the new sunrise
The greatest truth I've ever known has been where truth begins is where fear ends
Victory is more than just security
Affluency has no jurisdiction over death
Victorious the man who stands his ground and won't go down
But offers to the cause his every breath
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