Sunday, May 22, 2005


"Cock-A-Doodle-Due" Crowing is my name and THE TRUTH is my game. Posted by Hello

Morning Papers - It's Origins

Rooster "Cock-A-Doodle-When-Due"

"Oak-He-Doe-$he"

History…

1813,
Richard Wagner, composer, conductor, and essayist

1844,
Mary Cassatt, painter

1859, born, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, novelist, and detective-story writer, creator of the unforgettable master sleuth Sherlock Holmes.

Conan Doyle was born on May 22, 1859, in Edinburgh and educated at Stonyhurst College and the University of Edinburgh. From 1882 to 1890 he practiced medicine in Southsea, England. A Study in Scarlet, the first of 60 stories featuring Sherlock Holmes, appeared in 1887. The characterization of Holmes, his ability of ingenious deductive reasoning, was based on one of the author's own university professors. Equally brilliant creations are those of Holmes's foils: his friend Dr. Watson, the good-natured if bumbling narrator of the stories, and the master criminal Professor Moriarty. Conan Doyle was so immediately successful in his literary career that approximately five years later he abandoned his medical practice to devote his entire time to writing.

1902, Al Simmons, baseball player

1907,
Laurence Olivier, actor, producer, and director

Missing in Action

1967
BACKUS KENNETH F. PYRITES NY
1967
HOLMES LESTER EVAN PLAINFIELD IA
1967
PERRINE ELTON L. PITTSFORD NY
1967
VOGEL RICHARD D. MILLARD OH 03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE AND WELL 98
1968
ADAM JOHN Q. BETHEL KS CONTACT LOST
1968
CHAMBERS JERRY L. MUSKOGEE OK CONTACT LOST
1968
CREWS JOHN H. III ASHVILLE NC
1968
GLOVER CALVIN C. STEUBENVILLE OH CONTACT LOST
1968
KNEBEL THOMAS E. MIDWAY AR CONTACT LOST
1968
MASON WILLIAM H. CAMDEN AR CONTACT LOST
1968
MC PHAIL WILLIAM T. CHATTANOOGA TN CONTACT LOST
1968
MITCHELL THOMAS B. LITTLETON CO CONTACT LOST
1968
MILLER EDWIN F. BERGEN NJ 03/14/73 RELEASED BY DRV ALIVE IN 98
1968
PATE GARY BROOKS GA CONTACT LOST
1968
RASH MELVIN D. YORKTOWN VA CONTACT LOST
1968
ST PIERRE DEAN PAUL KANKAKEE IL

1761, the first life insurance policy in the United States was issued, in Philadelphia.

1819, the first steam- propelled vessel to attempt a trans-Atlantic crossing, the Savannah, departed from Savannah, Ga. (It arrived in Liverpool, England, on June 20.)

1868, the Great Train Robbery took place near Marshfield, Ind., as seven members of the Reno gang made off with $96,000 in loot.

1939, German dictator Adolf Hitler and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini sign the "Pact of Steel," establishing a military alliance between their countries.

1947, the Truman Doctrine was enacted as Congress appropriated military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey.

1969, the lunar module of Apollo 10 flew to within nine miles of the moon's surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.

1972, President Nixon began a visit to the Soviet Union, during which he and Kremlin leaders signed the SALT One arms-limitation treaty.

1992, after a reign lasting nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson hosted NBC's "Tonight Show" for the last time.
2003: Golfer Annika Sörenstam tees up for the Colonial tournament, becoming the first woman to compete in a PGA Tour event since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945.

Today, Sri Lanka takes this day to commemorate the struggle of the leaders of its National Independence Movement. Celebrate Sri Lanka's National Heroes Day with a visit to Sri Lanka Web Server and learn more about this beautiful country.

http://www.lanka.net/

Extracted from Daily News


Government taking good care of tsunami victims-President
From Ranil Wijayapala in Tangalle
President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga yesterday rejected outright "envious allegations" by a certain political party that the government was keeping huge sums of money received from donors for the reconstruction of tsunami hit areas adding that the government has not received five cents in cash for the reconstruction of tsunami hit areas.
The President stressed that except for the funds remitted to the accounts opened at the Central Bank under the Presidential Secretariat to the account opened by the Prime Minister, not a single cent has been received by the government in cash as pledged by donor countries.

The Daily News

Tsunami aid mechanism a peace bridge - Mangala

MINISTER of Ports and Aviation Mangala Samaraweera yesterday called the tsunami aid distribution mechanism a bridge on the road map for peace. Samaraweera told Parliament that the Government is determined to discuss the tsunami relief distribution mechanism with all stakeholders of the Government. "At present the only stumbling block is the UNP," the Minister added.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2005/05/21/main.htm

SLFP clarifies JVP's misleading interpretations of President's speech

SLFP General Secretary Maithreepala Sirisena, in a release yesterday clarified certain misleading interpretations by the JVP about President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's address at the Development Forum meeting in Kandy on May 16.
The SLFP statement said it cannot condone the JVP's condemnation of the President's speech. "We expect, in a sprint of brotherhood, that the JVP would rectify its mistake after scrutinising the President's full speech," it said.

The release: "The JVP in a media announcement on the President's address commented that it was inappropriate on the part of the President to express opinions on internal conflicts of ideologies at this international conference where only the common needs of the country were to be discussed.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2005/05/21/pol02.htm

Clinton here next week

BY MANJULA Fernando
FORMER US President Bill Clinton will pay his first visit to Sri Lanka as the UN Special Envoy for Tsunami Reconstruction next weekend.

The former US first citizen who recently underwent major heart surgery, was to attend the Sri Lankan donor forum held from May 16 to 17 in Kandy but postponed his visit heeding medical advice.
Diplomatic sources said Clinton will meet the donor representatives based in Colombo and will discuss tsunami reconstruction activities with President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga during his stay.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2005/05/21/news13.htm

World Biodiversity Day tomorrow
ENVIRONMENT and Natural Resources Minister A.H.M. Fowzie has sent the following message for World Biodiversity Day which falls on May 22, 2005. The theme for this year is "Biodiversity: Life Insurance for our Changing World".

Excerpts from the message:

Biodiversity is the 'green gold' and it is the source of the essential goods and ecological services that constitute the source of life for all.

Looking at the cultural side of biodiversity I must say it is very important heritage for all population in the world. It provides people with livelihoods and ensure food security. The conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity contributes to overall sustainable development and poverty alleviation.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2005/05/21/news31.htm

Call to set up Advisory Council for ethno-religious harmony
CHURCH of Ceylon has requested the Government to consider setting up an Inter-Religious Council to advise on building a culture of social harmony and mutual respect.

Rt. Rev. Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo in a statement to the press has said that the recent ethno-religious tensions and recurring incidents demand immediate pragmatic attention.

He has pointed out that although several religious heads have made repeated need to have Inter-religious Advisory Council, but regrettably there has been no response.

http://www.dailynews.lk/2005/05/21/news32.htm

Michael Moore Today

http://www.michaelmoore.com/

Mixed Reception;

Protests outside Christian College's commencement event and buttons worn on graduates' robes made clear that many students and faculty objected to Bush's policies.

May 21st, 2005 6:02 pm
Bush gets mixed reception at Christian college
By Caren Bohan /
Reuters
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - President Bush on Saturday championed faith in American society, but ran into some criticism as courted his Christian base in a commencement speech at a Michigan college.

… But anti-Bush ads that ran in the local newspaper, protests outside the event and buttons worn on graduates' robes made clear that many students and faculty objected to Bush's policies.

"We believe your administration has launched an unjust and unjustified war in Iraq," said a letter signed by about one-third the college's 300 faculty members and published in Saturday's Grand Rapids Press.

"As Christians, we are called to be peacemakers and to initiate war only as a last resort," it said.
The letter criticized economic policies that it said favored the wealthy over the poor, and faulted Bush for mixing religion and politics and exhibiting and "intolerance" for others' views.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2733


May 21st, 2005 6:39 pm
New Swedish Documents Illuminate CIA Action
Probe Finds 'Rendition' Of Terror Suspects Illegal
By Craig Whitlock /
Washington Post
STOCKHOLM -- The CIA Gulfstream V jet touched down at a small airport west of here just before 9 p.m. on a subfreezing night in December 2001. A half-dozen agents wearing hoods that covered their faces stepped down from the aircraft and hurried across the tarmac to take custody of two prisoners, suspected Islamic radicals from Egypt.
Inside an airport police station, Swedish officers watched as the CIA operatives pulled out scissors and rapidly sliced off the prisoners' clothes, including their underwear, according to newly released Swedish government documents and eyewitness statements. They probed inside the men's mouths and ears and examined their hair before dressing the pair in sweat suits and draping hoods over their heads. The suspects were then marched in chains to the plane, where they were strapped to mattresses on the floor in the back of the cabin.
So began an operation the CIA calls an "extraordinary rendition," the forcible and highly secret transfer of terrorism suspects to their home countries or other nations where they can be interrogated with fewer legal protections.
The practice has generated increasing criticism from civil liberties groups; in Sweden a parliamentary investigator who conducted a 10-month probe into the case recently concluded that the CIA operatives violated Swedish law by subjecting the prisoners to "degrading and inhuman treatment" and by exercising police powers on Swedish soil.
"Should Swedish officers have taken those measures, I would have prosecuted them without hesitation for the misuse of public power and probably would have asked for a prison sentence," the investigator, Mats Melin, said in an interview. He said he could not charge the CIA operatives because he was authorized to investigate only Swedish government officials, but he did not rule out the possibility that other Swedish prosecutors could do so.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2734

Inaction in New York Prison Abuse Stirs Anger
Justice officials called the treatment of immigrants after 9/11 outrageous. The Bureau of Prisons has not held anyone to account.
By Richard B. Schmitt and Richard A. Serrano /
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — It was the first prison abuse scandal of the post-Sept. 11 era, when scores of immigrants were rounded up and jailed in New York after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.
They were never charged with terrorism — but they endured abusive treatment that Justice Department investigators concluded was outrageous and cruel. It included being slammed into walls and subjected to unnecessary body cavity searches, some of it captured on videotape.
More than three years after the incidents, despite a recommendation from the department's internal watchdog that a dozen correctional officers be disciplined, no one has been held to account. A Bureau of Prisons official said the agency was still reviewing the matter and "working as expeditiously as possible."

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2737

Afghan prisoners were 'tortured to death' by American guards
By Justin Huggler /
The Independent
Shocking and detailed accounts have emerged of how two Afghan prisoners were tortured to death by American interrogators and prison guards at Bagram air base, outside Kabul.
A 2,000-page report on an internal investigation by the US military leaked to The New York Times and published yesterday provides exhaustive detail on how the two were kept chained in excruciating positions and kicked to death.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2727

Report implicates top brass in Bagram scandal
By Julian Borger /
Guardian
A leaked report on a military investigation into two killings of detainees at a US prison in Afghanistan has produced new evidence of connivance of senior officers in systematic prisoner abuse.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=2728

THE BEST reason to defeat the Republican Majority in the next election. Our Constitution demands it.

FilibusterFrist.com - Filibuster For Democracy

http://www.princeton.edu/~petehill/filibuster.shtml

We are protesting Senator Frist's proposal to eliminate the judicial filibuster in the Senate (the "nuclear option").

Phase IV: encouraging students all across America to
start filibusters on their own campuses. As of our last update, there have been 42 filibusters in 23 states confirmed to happen before 5/23!

Phase III: a campaign to
contact key senators and ask them to oppose Senator Frist's "nuclear option".

Phase II: we took the filibuster to Washington, D.C. for a final 24 hours, culminating during hour 384 in a rally with senators and representatives.

Phase I: a mock filibuster in front of the Frist Campus Center at Princeton University that continued uninterrupted for more than two weeks.

Read more about
our protest in Princeton and Washington, D.C. extending 384 hours from April 26th to May 12th!

Subscribe to our e-mail announcement list

http://www.princeton.edu/~petehill/filibuster.shtml

The senate is in the midst of the filibuster debate but on recess right now! Watch it live on
C-SPAN2!

http://www.princeton.edu/~petehill/filibuster.shtml

MoveOn, inspired by student protests at Princeton and nationwide, is also organizing citizen filibusters across the country to start at noon on Tuesday.
Click here to learn more.

http://www.princeton.edu/~petehill/filibuster.shtml

continued...

The Sunni Coalition. Come on, boys, time to take your RIGHTFUL place with the RIGHT TRUTH this time. Don't be fools! Be powerful ! The ONLY country living the LIE OF ALL LIES is the USA. No other country on Earth lives the lie Bush does. You are already the heros of Islam. Take your place with your family of ethnicities saved by Allah from the atrocities of Saddam.  Posted by Hello

The Poppy Economy of Afghanistan facilitated by the removal of USA focus and funds to the illegal invasion of Iraq. Posted by Hello

Morning Papers - continued

The New York Times

NOW THIS IS WHAT 'I' CALL A BIRTHDAY PRESENT. Thank you, Iraq. (Tears in my eyes). Peace to everyone in Iraq. We are trying to earn your friendship. Our government is very wrong about so much and the pain you all have suffered is our's.

Excavating the Lies being Buried by Bush/Blair in the Iraqi Desert (Also Known As "I Told You So")

The administration of George Walker Bush and Richard Cheney has used Iraq as a political wedge in the USA while driving religious focus to the forefront of the USA political landscape creating a Legislative Coup encouraged by the Executive Office to destroy the democracy of the USA and the USA Constitution.

Iraq was a country in transition before the invasion. It has much work ahead of it but the invasion destroyed it's 'contained state' into a country of anarchy. As a result the only focus of media has been the Bush Instilled Government then substituted by a well run Shi'ite take over of the Central Government. It is up to the Shi'ite majority to lead the country out of anarchy to peace among it's citizens. This is compromised by the fact the Iraqi Central Government appears to operate under the Shadow of the infidels of the USA placing into positions exiles loyal to Western Influence determined to keep the economic status of Iraq oil in the hands of The West rather than abandoning those ways and struggling with organizing it's own internal ministries loyal ONLY to the citizens of Iraq, including Sunni Arabs.

Iraq's Sunnis are actually the saviors of Iraq, which is the heart of Islam. Their resistance should be met with respect and the understanding the USA Coalition was wrong in their assertions before the United Nations Security Council. It should be met with the understanding the USA Coalition is incapable of apologies to them. Instead of further violence a representative group of Sunnis needs to take an active part in the new government speaking out against the atrocities of the Bush/Cheney Coalition and demand reconstruction of beloved cities such as Fallujah in war reparations from the USA guaranteed to them by The Geneva Conventions.

Iraq Sunnis have carried the 'heart' of Iraq with them during the years of invasion. They first witnessed the lies and prejudices of the USA Bush/Cheney Administration at the UN Security Council. Then what followed was the complete disregard by the USA Coalition of the United Nation's Security Council, realizing now the Bush/Blair Coalition organized and planned long before petitioning the UN an invasion using the UN as a 'smoke screen' for it's plans. The Sunnis, being the primary ethnic group of the Iraqi military and police because of Saddam's paranoia and pathological hatred of the Shi'ites and the Kurds realized they were the only Iraqis equipped to protect Iraq. They took that responsibility seriously carrying in their hearts the vindication of THE TRUTH to resistance any transformation of Iraq by the coalition. They were right. They continue to be right.

What the Sunnis in their insistence of THE TRUTH has left in it's wake is a determined Ayatollah who saw the opportunity to TAKE IRAQ from the invasionary forces and organized the Shi'ites into a determined majority to win an election and set policy incorporating Islamic precepts into Iraqi law. The Shi'ite majority has succesfully 'won' Iraq back from the hands of the infidel invaders. What is left to be done is an incorporation of these two great loyalist ethnic groups. One, the Shi'ites, standing in majority of Islamic demands on Iraq's new government and the other, the Sunnis standing in resistance to anything but the truth of Iraq before the assault of The West. These two great loyalist groups must come together in final defeat of the USA Coalition replacing 'occupation forces' with Iraqi military once again with the understanding the country of Iraq is now a Representative Theocracy which includes all it's citizens. When this is accomplished the final step is protecting the wealth of Iraq which the Kurds have successfully accomplished for decades in their region of the country. The third largest ethnicity group holds the fiscal future of Iraq in it's territorial right to exist and completes the picture creating an Iraq that is secure in it's Islamic History and Future, rich in fiscal assets for future generations of Iraqis and a history mired in THE TRUTH of the invasion seeking justice though the Geneva Accords and The World Courts to bring the USA lead coalition before the world's scrutiny and ridicule to prevent any further exploitation or destruction of Islam.

To fall short of any of these goals will serve only Osama bin Laden's legacy declaring the Iraq Invasion 'proof' of al Qaeda's justified existence. Worldwide Jihad will have it's basis in fact forever if the Sunni's aren't elevated to inclusion in the Iraqi government removing all the shame and ridicule brought to them by the Iraqi invasion. The USA Coalition was wrong. They had no plans for Iraq after the invasion except it's exploitation making up rules of engagement as they went along including the torture and imprisonment of people who never deserved any ill treatment.

I do not see my country as a hero to these people so much as exploiter as has been proven by records profits of companies like Halliburton and Bechtel while 100,000 innocent civilians have died, including women and children of a generation that could have inherited a far different Iraq under directed international policies of peaceful transition ending a dictatorship while strengthening the citizens of Iraq in democratic principles. The Iraqi society still remains splintered due to the overriding lies of the American Occupiers and the International Community should continue to resist assistance to this occupation which helps define the Sunni Rebellion.

The USA Coalition has placed itself in a Catch 22 situation as a defender to a new Iraqi government recognized by the same International Community that resists assistance to the occupying forces while it protects same from demise as that is where the political vestiture for Bush lies. The USA military needs to assume 'peacekeeper' among people they do not belong for the sake of allowing civil peace rather than resistance. The USA military is wrong to act against the rebels so much as protect the civilians from the violence. Attacking and destroying Fallujah was wrong and further actions of same is more of a stimulant to continued and escalated rebellion among IRAQI CIVILIANS singled out as 'trouble makers' when in fact they have witnessed an invasion based in lies and deception designed for corporate profit.

Iraq LITERALLY is a 'Fiery Phoenix' entrenched in the ashes of a former dictator that needs rebirth in a manner that records it's history with the truth making it's own citizens it's liberators including the Sunni Rebellion and not a distant liberator named Bush that was in truth a profiteer.

A very different picture emerges from Islam when a politically driven Evangelical Christian American President is elevated to 'Iraqi Sainthood' as opposed to The Truth of the Invasion and the Capitalist Exploitation of an oil rich Iraqi Desert to exonerate a wayward corporate executive turned American Vice President in Dick Cheney from the grasp of angry stockholders. The picture is the truth and elevation of Islam as opposed to the further exploitation of it.

The Message From the Sunni Heartland

By PATRICK GRAHAM
Published: May 22, 2005
DURING the nearly two years I reported from Iraq, from November 2002 to August 2004, I spent a great deal of time with Sunni Arab families in Baghdad and the countryside around Fallujah. I rented an apartment in Ramadi and visited for hundreds of hours in the houses of people who were deeply involved in the insurgency.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/weekinreview/22graham.html?hp

HERE AGAIN, the problem is not Afghanistan, but the USA. A program anywhere cannot be successful if under funded and under enforced. If the Wrong Minded Bush/Cheney Administration and Puppet Congress had focused all it's efforts on Afghanistan the Poppy Culture would no longer exist. If the troops in Iraq had been deployed to Afghanistan Osama bin Laden would be in prison or dead by now along with his Cleric Omar. Blaming Hamid Karzi is the most bizarre scapegoating I have ever witnessed. He has stood by the side of the USA post 9/11 to attempt to secure and somewhat 'well done' the future of Afghanistan from the hands of the people who attacks the USA. NOW, because, Rumsfeld has been a puppet for Cheney and the focus of all efforts in foreign policy has shifted to Halliburton profits, Hamid Karzi is a failure and more than that an enemy. This is nothing but pure unadulterated propaganda and an appauling cowing of the media on bended Christian knee to pander the King of the Castle in the White House for mercy.

To put it mildly? This is some of the most pandering BULL SHIT I have ever read The New York Times put out !!


U.S. Memo Faults Afghan Leader on Heroin Fight
By DAVID S. CLOUD and CARLOTTA GALL
Published: May 22, 2005
WASHINGTON, May 21 - United States officials warned this month in an internal memo that an American-financed poppy eradication program aimed at curtailing Afghanistan's huge heroin trade had been ineffective, in part because President Hamid Karzai "has been unwilling to assert strong leadership."

Darko Zeljkovic for The New York Times

Two Afghan workers scraped opium paste from a field of poppies near Kandahar. The U.S.-backed poppy-eradication program has had little effect.
A cable sent on May 13 from the United States Embassy in Kabul, the Afghan capital, said that provincial officials and village elders had impeded destruction of significant poppy acreage and that top Afghan officials, including Mr. Karzai, had done little to overcome that resistance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/international/asia/22afghan.html?hp&ex=1116820800&en=68f4e747f803b0b2&ei=5094&partner=homepage

NOW, this is not bad work. Not even covert. We'll take what they have to offer and sort the wheat from the chaff. Bring 'em on. They are no one that we haven't heard from before. I can't help it if they have chronic constipation and can't get past THEIR PAST founders and their FOUNDER flaws.

On a Christian Mission to the Top
By
LAURIE GOODSTEIN and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
Published: May 22, 2005
For a while last winter, Tim Havens, a recent graduate of Brown University and now an evangelical missionary there, had to lead his morning prayer group in a stairwell of the campus chapel. That was because workers were clattering in to remake the lower floor for a display of American Indian art, and a Buddhist student group was chanting in the small sanctuary upstairs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/national/class/EVANGELICALS-FINAL.html

EXACTLY CORRECT !! The New Class Structure of the USA includes safe guarding the treasuries of Cheney and Halliburton.

The Military Class of the USA

JIM WILSON/The New York Times
On a humid November evening in Gulfport, Miss., National Guard members from Tennessee waited to board jumbo jets that would start their journey to Iraq. The line of soldiers was so long, it edged along the runway for hundreds of yards.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2005/05/20/national/20050522_MILITARY_SLIDESHOW_1.html

IT'S ABOUT DARN TIME you all are getting this right. It's only been half a lifetime Michael Moore has carried this reality and others in his heart of hearts.

A more appropriate title for this is: "…so where do you get your meager income from?"


Blue Collars in Olive Drab
By JONATHAN D. GLATER
Published: May 22, 2005
On a humid November evening in Gulfport, Miss., National Guard members from Tennessee waited to board jumbo jets that would start their journey to Iraq. The line of soldiers was so long, it edged along the runway for hundreds of yards.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/national/class/MILITARY-FINAL.html

Can't say enough about this insight.

Shadowy Lines That Still Divide
By
JANNY SCOTT and DAVID LEONHARDT
Published: May 15, 2005
There was a time when Americans thought they understood class. The upper crust vacationed in Europe and worshiped an Episcopal God. The middle class drove Ford Fairlanes, settled the San Fernando Valley and enlisted as company men. The working class belonged to the A.F.L.-C.I.O., voted Democratic and did not take cruises to the Caribbean.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/national/class/OVERVIEW-FINAL.html

Swedes Dispute Translation of a U.N. Legend's Book
By
WARREN HOGE
Published: May 22, 2005
UNITED NATIONS, May 20 - Nothing left behind by Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold after his death in a plane crash in Congo in 1961 had a more enduring impact than a typewritten manuscript found in the bedside table of his New York apartment with an accompanying letter saying it was his "only true profile."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/22/international/europe/22dag.html?hp

The Mirror

STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH

Xbox, PS2,
£40, out now
NOW the time the last instalment of Star Wars Fever to prepare for is, as Yoda might say.

Games of films are generally rubbish, but this bucks the trend. It is a great arcade-style third-person action adventure.
You start off swapping between control of Anakin and Obi-Wan.
Excellent graphics, the chance to challenge your mates to light-sabre duels and the ability to improve your character's abilities at the end of each mission make this a winner.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/funandgames/gamezone/tm_objectid=15484108%26method=full%26siteid=94762%26headline=star%2dwars%2d%2d58%2d%2depisode%2diii%2d%2d%2drevenge%2dof%2dthe%2dsith-name_page.html

Sydney Morning Herald

Test Japan's whaling claims in court: Labor
May 22, 2005 - 10:35AM
Australia should legally test Japan's claim that its whaling is for scientific purposes, Labor said today.
The Opposition foreign affairs spokesman, Kevin Rudd, said today that, despite Australia's good relationship with Japan, Australia should take it to the International Court of Justice on the issue if diplomatic efforts to change its views failed.
Japan is seeking to double its scientific whaling program's kill count at an International Whaling Commission meeting in Korea next month.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Test-Japans-whaling-claims-in-court-Labor/2005/05/22/1116700581271.html

Negligence blamed as 41 soldiers left dying in blizzard
By Fiona Ortiz in Santiago
May 22, 2005
The Sun-Herald
Hopes faded yesterday for 41 soldiers trapped in the Andes after a blizzard hit their regiment during a mountain exercise, said Chile's army chief, who blamed the tragedy on negligence by army officers.
At least five men are already reported to have died. "The probabilities are low, very low" that the men survived, army commander-in-chief General Juan Cheyre told reporters after going part way up the slopes of the Antuco volcano near the Argentine border, 600 kilometres south-east of Santiago, to evacuate the only body so far recovered.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Negligence-blamed-as-41-soldiers-left-dying-in-blizzard/2005/05/21/1116533579460.html

Karzai demands action on prison abuse
May 22, 2005 - 2:48PM
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who will arrive in Washington later today to meet with US President George Bush, has demanded greater control over American military operations in Afghanistan and vigorous punishment of soldiers who mistreat prisoners.
He also said he wants the United States to hand over all Afghan prisoners still in US custody.
In a volatile southern Afghan province, meanwhile, a US soldier was killed and three were wounded in the latest in a string of attacks launched by loyalists of the ousted Taliban regime.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Karzai-demands-action-on-prison-abuse/2005/05/22/1116700585169.html

Kylie's surgery a success
By Christine Sams and AAP
May 22, 2005
The Sun-Herald

Dr Jenny Senior addresses the media.
Photo: Reuters
Kylie Minogue's breast cancer has been successfully removed, her surgeon announced yesterday.
Reading from a written statement, Dr Jenny Senior said the pop singer underwent surgery at 5pm on Friday in St Frances Xavier Cabrini Hospital in Melbourne.
"Her spirits are high and she's feeling fine. She has family and friends around her," Dr Senior said.
"Kylie has been the perfect patient and has charmed all my staff. I just wish I could have met her under happier circumstances.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/People/Kylies-surgery-a-success/2005/05/21/1116533581800.html

Warning over changes to super laws
May 22, 2005 - 3:50PM
Many Australians could be disadvantaged under new laws allowing for choice in superannuation, former Reserve Bank governor Bernie Fraser has warned.
He said there was a risk of poor advice from competing fund entrants leading to poor alternatives for employees.
Mr Fraser, a trustee and independent director of several super funds, launched a television advertising campaign for Industry Super Funds ahead of the introduction of the choice of funds laws on July 1.
Industry Super Funds started more than 20 years ago after an ACTU-led campaign and represents more than 3.8 million workers.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Warning-over-changes-to-super-laws/2005/05/22/1116700586351.html

Corby makes last-ditch plea for pardon
May 22, 2005 - 7:50PM
Accused drug smuggler Schapelle Corby has taken the unusual step of begging for a pardon from the Indonesian president before her verdict has been handed down.
Lawyers for the Gold Coast beauty student will take delivery tomorrow of her letter begging President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to set her free.
As Ms Corby's judgement day nears, her business backer Ron Bakir has apologised to the Indonesian prosecutors for accusing them of offering to take a bribe in return for a lighter sentence.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Corby-makes-lastditch-plea-for-pardon/2005/05/22/1116700588335.html

Torture acceptable, says former NCA chief
May 22, 2005 - 5:28PM
Into the fray: Peter Faris.
Photo: Andrew de la Rue
A former chairman of the National Crime Authority says torture is acceptable against terrorists and in some domestic criminal situations.
And Peter Faris, QC, has drawn from the classic Clint Eastwood film Dirty Harry to illustrate why.
Mr Faris today joined the debate sparked last week by the head of Deakin University's law school, Mirko Bagaric, and Deakin law lecturer Julie Clarke, who said torture was acceptable in some circumstances.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Torture-acceptable-says-former-NCA-chief/2005/05/22/1116700585264.html?oneclick=true

The New Zealand Herald

BOP residents brace for more as rains come again

22.05.05 4.00pm UPDATE

Worried Bay of Plenty residents are bracing themselves for more flood damage as the area is again being hit with heavy rain.
Tauranga City Council communications manager Elizabeth Hughes said heavy rain started falling about 2.00pm today.
However the Met Service said today’s rain should not be as bad as Wednesday’s deluge where flood waters damaged dozens of homes.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10126838

continued…


May 22, 2005. The Opera House in Sydney, Australia. Posted by Hello

May 22, 2005. The Sydney, Australia Botanical Gardens. Posted by Hello

May 22, 2005. A Sulfer Crested Cockatoo at the Sydney Botanical Gardens. Posted by Hello

Brookfield Zoo Giraffe Posted by Hello

Brookfield Zoo Wind Chime Posted by Hello

Morning Papers - concluding

The weather in Antarctica (Crystal Ice Chime) is:

Scott Base

Clear

-25.0°

Updated Sunday 22 May 8:59PM

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is:

41 °F / 5 °C
Mostly Cloudy

Humidity:
87%

Dew Point:
37 °F / 3 °C

Wind:
Calm

Pressure:
29.86 in / 1011 hPa

Visibility:
0.5 miles / 0.8 kilometers

UV:
0 out of 16

Clouds (AGL):
Mostly Cloudy 100 ft / 30 m


end