Tomorrow is another day...

September 22, 2007

7:31 PM EDT

Southeast USA

Since the tropical depression in the Gulf came inland the offshore heat intensity shifted to the southeast seaboard. Wilmington has been experiencing severe thunderstorms and rainfall. I am currently at a lull and posting this but it may not last considering the radar. Wilmington is just north of the border with South Carolina where the 'big, fluffy' clouds are right now.

It's my rule of thumb that when these storms come through these days, all the electronics are turned off. I had an incident last year whereby an ionic storm came through with strong winds, lots of rain, thunder and lightning; during the storm the wireless router was fried even though it wasn't plugged in. Recently, a friend lost a complete system during a storm. They never listen, you know?

So, tomorrow should prove to be a better day.

Good night, all.

How profound is Republican moronity? Everyone knows who this man is. He is the radical President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

He is an extremist that answers to an Ayatollah. Guess what? He is coming to the USA, invited by the professors of Columbia University.

Imagine that. Real dialogue with the Iranian President. I take it he didn't cancel after all. I would expect Columbia not to cancel either and why?

Why?

Because.

What was the one aspect of the tensions in The Middle East that is stated to be lacking in this administration that might very well lead to better tolerances?

What was it?

Do you remember? Does it matter? Does it matter to you?

Diplomatic relations between the USA and Iran is absent in the military presence of the USA's war in neighboring Iraq.

Dialogue.

Why do I get the feeling Columbia has more of feeling of the pulse of the Middle East and what it takes to secure the USA and the Middle East than any moronic Republican in Washington, DC?

Can't imagine why I have that impression of the situation, do you?

Morning Papers - continued...

Sydney Morning Herald

Extra $430m for drought relief
September 17, 2007 - 1:12PM
Prime Minister John Howard has announced an extra $430 million for farmers hurt by continued drought conditions.
"We're announcing a package which will provide an additional $430 million of drought assistance to farmers throughout Australia," Mr Howard told ABC Radio.
AAP

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/extra-430m-for-drought-relief/2007/09/17/1189881402658.html


Government pledges more help for drought-stricken farmers
September 17, 2007 - 7:45AM
The Federal Government has pledged to provide further financial support to drought-stricken farmers, if necessary.
With the drought showing no sign of breaking, Prime Minister John Howard promised that the government would stand "shoulder to shoulder" with rural and regional Australia.
"If more is needed to ensure our regional communities and farms survive this prolonged drought it will be provided," he said in his weekly radio message.
"The drought is continuing to have a devastating impact on much of rural and regional Australia.
"Without urgent spring rain, crops are expected to fail in the coming weeks, placing further strain on an already deeply stressed farm sector."
Mr Howard said the nation's healthy budget position meant the government was in a position to help if required.
AAP

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/government-pledges-more-help-for-droughtstricken-farmers/2007/09/17/1189881379081.html


Schools defy drought
Sarah Price
September 23, 2007
IN 1900, Booligal's only school had 26 students. Today, it has just six, five of whom are cousins.
But the one-teacher schoolhouse in the state's far west endures because the people of Booligal and the State Government are refusing to surrender to the worst drought on record.
"We wouldn't be closing these sorts of schools - and certainly not during drought times," NSW Department of Education Riverina director of schools Colin Parker said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/drought/schools-defy-drought/2007/09/22/1189881838204.html


Costs for disputed desal plant rise $73m
Frank Walker
September 23, 2007
THE cost of building Sydney's controversial desalination plant has blown out by another $73million.
Figures buried deep in a Sydney Water submission to increase water prices reveal the plant's construction cost is higher than the Government claimed.
Premier Morris Iemma said in June the cost of the project was $1.76billion, but Sydney Water's submission last week to the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal stated the cost was $1.83billion.
The total cost could go even higher. Sydney Water said the cost of building pipelines to the plant was still uncertain.
Contractors are doing geotechnical and planning work for the pipelines. A cost estimate should be ready next month.
Sydney Water is seeking a 33 per cent increase in residential water bills to cover the cost of building the plant at Kurnell. It would add an extra $130 a year to the average household bill.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/drought/desal-plant-costs-rise-73m/2007/09/22/1189881840119.html


Recycling offsets car emissions - study
Hannah Edwards
September 23, 2007
FOR every bin full of paper and cardboard put out to be recycled each fortnight, households are offsetting 90.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide a year, a report on recycling trends has found.
It's the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced by driving a car 7200 kilometres, the survey by the Waste Management Association and SITA Environmental Solutions said.
If every household in Australia recycled a full 240-litre wheelie bin of paper each fortnight, they would collectively save more than 18.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere annually.
And by recycling a wheelie bin of mixed items such as glass, plastic and paper, 3.9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide would not be produced each year, offsetting the equivalent of the emissions produced by 860,000 cars during the same period.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/recycling-offsets-emissions--study/2007/09/22/1189881842577.html



New York Times hires influential blogger
September 21, 2007 - 4:24PM
The New York Times is launching a blog about the television business that will be written by one of the TV industry's most influential bloggers, highlighting the established media's increasing reliance on less traditional ways of delivering the news.
The Times said that 22-year-old Brian Stelter is lead writer on TV Decoder, http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com, the Times's new blog on the TV industry that launched on Thursday.
The blog will feature other contributors, Stelter said in an interview. He said he aims to personally post five times a day and that his postings would include breaking news.
"I am doing multiple interviews for most of these posts," he said. He said he plans to split his time between blogging and writing stories for the newspaper.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/new-york-times-hires-influential-blogger/2007/09/21/1189881759864.html



Dive team seeks recruits for explosive day at the office
Risk assured ... the team were active during the 1991 Iraq war.
Photo: Jenny Evans
Alex Cauchi
September 23, 2007
IT is one of our most elite fighting forces, handling some of the most dangerous jobs its country has to offer. During the 1990-1991 Gulf War, it performed high-risk naval work, clearing mines in the Persian Gulf.
Now the Australian Navy's clearance diving team is on a recruitment campaign.
Diving Team One is made up of the navy's specialists in explosive ordnance disposal. They hope they can attract interest in their often precarious work.
"We come across dangers every time we go down. Diving to depths of 90metres can never be completely safe," Lieutenant Tor Sorensen said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/navy-seeks-recruits-for-explosive-day-at-the-office/2007/09/22/1189881841747.html



Detained Burma leader greets protesting monks
September 23, 2007
DETAINED Burma democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi stepped out of her home in tears yesterday to greet Buddhist monks marching past the place where she is confined by the military junta, witnesses said.
Armed guards usually block the road leading to the rambling lakeside house, but in an unprecedented move, they allowed about 1000 monks to walk past the home where she has been detained for most of the past 18 years.
Aung San Suu Kyi walked out with two other women and cried as she paid her respects to the monks as they marched past, the witnesses said.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/detained-burma-leader-greets-protesting-monks/2007/09/22/1189881840250.html



Castro alive and laughing at death
CONVALESCING Cuban leader Fidel Castro has appeared on state television, looking frail but alert and laughing off speculation he was on his death bed after a long absence from public view.
"Well, here I am," said Dr Castro, 81. "Nobody knows when they will die."
The absence of pictures of the veteran revolutionary leader since June 5 had fuelled rumours of his death. "He is dying, he is dead, he will die the day after tomorrow," Dr Castro said, summing up the speculation over his condition.
Dr Castro underwent intestinal surgery on July 27, 2006, and has not been seen in public since. Just after the operation he provisionally handed power to his brother Raul, Cuba's long-time No.2.
Wearing a tracksuit in the red, white and blue colours of Cuba, Dr Castro spoke in a soft, slow voice as he discussed the US economy, global oil prices and the rambling essays he had been writing over the past months.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/castro-alive-and-laughing-at-death/2007/09/22/1189881837487.html



Facebook turns up rabid bat woman
September 23, 2007
CANADIAN health officials have found a new use for the online social network Facebook - to find a woman who needed rabies shots after touching a rabid bat.
A Toronto Public Health spokeswoman said it explored all the traditional methods - the telephone book, Google, the police, even a media appeal - to find the woman who had taken an injured bat to the Toronto Wildlife Centre this month. But no one stepped forward.
Then a colleague sent messages to a number of women on Facebook with names similar to the person they were seeking. Facebook delivered - within an hour - and the woman got her rabies shots.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/facebook-turns-up-rabid-bat-woman/2007/09/22/1189881837493.html>



Bali nine dad's anger at drug-dealing jailer
Eamonn Duff
September 23, 2007
EXCLUSIVE
Death row ... Matthew Norman.
Photo: Glenn Campbell
THE father of Bali nine member Matthew Norman is furious at the Indonesian Government after the security chief of the prison where his son is being held was arrested for running drugs.
Muhammad Sudrajat remained on 24-hour watch yesterday after a suicide attempt following his arrest by Bali police. Extensive undercover surveillance and tip-offs from ex-prisoners, who claimed he had been their drug dealer, led to the arrest.
The high-profile arrest comes as an embarrassment to the Indonesian Government. Despite its zero-tolerance approach to drugs, the police sting has provided evidence that narcotics are widely available within its prisons.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/bali-nine-dads-anger-at-jailer/2007/09/22/1189881838195.html


Local market restrained by nervous wait for US news
September 22, 2007
THE Australian sharemarket closed in negative territory amid uncertainty about the health of the American economy, despite the US Federal Reserve cutting interest rates this week by half a percentage point.
At the close yesterday, the benchmark ASX200 index had lost 35.8 points to 6357.8, while the All Ordinaries had dipped 29.7 points to 6371.2. On the Sydney Futures Exchange, the December share price index contract was 45 points lower at 6408, on a volume of 15,239 contracts.
A CMC Markets dealer, Matthew Lewis, said the market got off to a poor start after a weak lead from Wall Street overnight.
"There is still uncertainty among traders about the overall health of the US economy, particularly the housing market, and this negativity has flowed on to the local market today," Mr Lewis said. "Traders are still on a nervous wait until next week, when key economic data, including US home sales and consumer confidence data, will be released."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/local-market-restrained-by-nervous-wait-for-us-news/2007/09/21/1189881773491.html


Hedge fund chiefs, privateers make the Forbes 400
Adam Satariano
September 22, 2007
HEDGE fund and private equity managers made up more than half the newest members in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, which was again topped by Microsoft's co-founder, Bill Gates.
Gates, 51, came first for the 14th consecutive year with a net worth of $US59 billion ($69 billion), ahead of the $US52 billion held by his friend, Warren Buffett, 77, the chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway.
Steven Cohen, of SAC Capital Advisors, was the richest hedge fund manager with $US6.8 billion, and was ranked 47th.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/hedge-fund-chiefs-privateers-make-the-forbes-400/2007/09/21/1189881773530.html


Never say never. Vigilance on housing debt essential
Annette Sampson
September 22, 2007
There are a couple of phrases that any half-smart investor should have tattooed into their consciousness. Phrases like "This time it's different" and "It could never happen here".
Both have so often been the harbingers of doom that their mere mention should set off warning bells, yet "It could never happen here" is a claim that has been flung about fast and furiously since the US subprime housing loan market went off the rails.
It's true that the aggressive selling of housing loans to people who couldn't afford them - the trend that caused all the problems in the US - was not mirrored in the Australian market. Data provided by the Reserve Bank and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to the recent government inquiry into home lending shows that non-conforming loans made up only 2 per cent of new loans in 2006 as opposed to about 20 per cent in the US.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/never-say-never-vigilance-on-housing-debt-essential/2007/09/21/1189881773548.html



Card debt hits $41bn as banks lift rates
Frank Walker
September 23, 2007
CREDIT card debt has reached record levels with more Australians using cards to meet mortgage payments.
And in the past month, several banks have pushed up card interest rates way beyond official Reserve Bank increases.
Interest rates on some cards went up by as much as one percentage point when the Reserve Bank increased official rates by only 0.25 percentage points.
Australians owe a record $41.02 billion on credit cards. For the first time the average debt on a credit card account has passed $3000.
A near record total of $1.08 billion was borrowed on cash advances in July. A record $16.4 billion purchases were put on credit cards, an average of $1197 per card.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/card-debt-hits-41bn/2007/09/22/1189881838198.html



Gulf states on $US25b buying spree
Will McSheehy and Arif Sharif
September 22, 2007
Diversifying … Borse Dubai now owns almost 20 per cent of Nasdaq, from which it has bought 28 per cent of LSE.
THE Persian Gulf states, flush with cash from burgeoning oil revenues, are buying overseas assets at a record rate and countering a slowdown in takeovers caused by the surge in corporate borrowing costs.
Abu Dhabi agreed on Thursday to pay $US1.35 billion ($1.57 billion) for 7.5 per cent of Carlyle Group, the world's second-biggest private equity firm. Dubai and Qatar took competing stakes in the Nasdaq stockmarket, London Stock Exchange and Nordic bourse OMX. Qatar also won approval to examine the financial records of J Sainsbury, the second-largest UK supermarket chain.
The deals are worth $US25 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg shows. The pace of international investments by Gulf states, which earn $US1.2 billion a day from oil exports, is quickening as they seek to diversify. They have already spent a record $US68 billion on overseas acquisitions this year.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/gulf-states-on-us25b-buying-spree/2007/09/21/1189881773488.html



Taking a quick peek
If you have more than four hours' stopover at Narita, Japan's international airport, you have time to visit nearby Narita City.
Destination: Japan
June 25, 2006
Use a stopover to sample traditional Japan in four hours and under $10, writes Michael Challinger.
Japan's not exactly a cheap destination. Flights via Japan, though, can be very good value. There are competitive fares through Tokyo both to Europe and North America. Japan Airlines even offers a bargain fare to Mexico through their hub at Narita.
The question is: can you afford the time and money to see a bit of Japan on the way? Well, if you've got a couple of hours between flights and 10 bucks to spare, the answer is yes.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/06/24/1150845384904.html


Tech tycoons dominate US rich list
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates (left) and right, from top to bottom: Google's Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Oracle's Larry Ellison, and Dell's Michael Dell.
Photo: AP
Stephen Hutcheon and agencies
September 21, 2007 - 12:48PM
Page 1 of 2 Single page
Bill Gates might still be the richest, but the growing clout of Google is evident in Forbes magazine's latest list of the wealthiest Americans.
According to the magazine, Gates is the richest person in America for the 14th year in a row.
Gates' fortune grew by $US6 billion in the past year to $US59 billion, Forbes said.
Gates was one of 34 rich list members - all of them men - who made their money in a technology-related area. Five of them appear in the top ten.
The Microsoft co-founder was recently overtaken as the world's richest man by Mexican telecom billionaire Carlos Slim.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/biztech/tech-tycoons-dominate-us-rich-list/2007/09/21/1189881743796.html



Contraceptive dispensing discrepancy is a bitter pill to swallow
Lisa Pryor
September 22, 2007
If you are a woman of child-bearing age, or you ever were, you may have experienced the no-pill panic. As you brush your teeth before bed, you look for your Juliet or Diane or Jasmin contraceptive pills and find nothing.
So you search the bathroom cabinet, the medicine shelf and the bedside table for a spare pack. Nothing. You dig through kitchen drawers, admin folders and piles of paper in search of a repeat prescription. Still nothing.
By this stage your only option, if you don't want to render yourself fertile, is to track down an after-hours doctor, get a new prescription, find a chemist that is still open and take the pill. If you really care about being safe, you can't even wait until the morning. When you take a pill more than 12 hours late, there is no guarantee it will work.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/a-bitter-pill-to-swallow/2007/09/21/1189881774997.html



Ethical dilemmas
September 20, 2007
Exploitative multiplayer worlds don't deserve to be called art, a designer tells Jason Hill.
World of Warcraft
A prominent independent developer labelled modern games such as World of Warcraft "unethical" at a recent Melbourne conference.
Jonathan Blow, creator of upcoming time-bending game Braid, told the Free Play conference at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image that games can be art but he is concerned about what they are really teaching players.
"I believe that games are important to the future of humanity," Mr Blow says. "It sounds like a grand statement but it's obviously true for other forms of art that we're very familiar with. Films and novels have drastically shaped the society that we live in; without them our lives would be very different.
"I don't think games are there yet but if we are good about it we can develop games into a medium that's more relevant to the wide swathe of humanity."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/articles/ethical-dilemmas/2007/09/19/1189881577195.html



Step up to the bar
September 21, 2007 - 12:06PM
Pole dancing is moving out of the clubs and going mainstream. Adam Fulton reports.
World-wide hit ... a dancer competes in China's first national pole dancing competition held earlier this year.
Photo: AP
Hot conditions with frequent steamy patches are forecast for Sydney's Enmore Theatre on Saturday night when it hosts the Miss Pole Dance Australia championship.
Seventeen finalists are to compete after winning rounds around the country and will be judged for their "pole skill, technique and creativity", says Vanessa Brecht, co-owner of Bobbi's Pole Studio, which organises the contest.
"They take it very seriously," she says. "They train and they train and they train."
But wait - aren't seedy strip clubs the exclusive domain of pole dancing?
No longer, Brecht says - the activity has branched out into the suburbs and the mainstream. Classes at Bobbi's Pole Studio in the city and Miranda attract more than 1000 students a week, she says. "We've got grandmothers that come. We've got lawyers, doctors."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/health/step-up-to-the-bar/2007/09/21/1189881740723.html



Snoop Dogg pleads guilty to weapons charge
September 21, 2007 - 10:52AM
Snoop Dogg pleaded guilty today to one count of felony possession of a dangerous weapon, his lawyer said.
In a plea deal, the 35-year-old rapper was sentenced to 160 hours of community service and three years probation. He was also ordered to make a $US10,000 ($A11,620) charitable donation, attorney Donald Etra said.
"We are very pleased with the outcome," Etra said. "Snoop's goal is to make music, not make court appearances."
Snoop Dogg, born Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr, was arrested September 27, 2006, after the discovery of a collapsible baton in his computer bag at John Wayne Airport in Orange County.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/snoop-dogg-guilty-on-weapons/2007/09/21/1189881734093.html



Sexperts: Too old, too fast
2007-09-18 00:00:05
Brooke Hemphill looks at the concerns surrounding the sexualisation of young people in advertising and the media.(06:58)

http://media.smh.com.au/?category=Sexperts&rid=31627


Kids to get own channel
September 23, 2007
AUSTRALIAN children will have their own dedicated free-to-air television channel next year, regardless of who wins the federal election.
It is understood that Prime Minister John Howard will formally announce plans to create the new children's channel during the election campaign. Labor has already backed the idea.
The channel would be owned by the ABC and available as a separate digital service known as ABC 3.
Communications Minister Helen Coonan met ABC head Mark Scott last week to hammer out the details.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/kids-to-get-own-channel/2007/09/22/1189881838186.html


'Don't Tase me, bro!' a global sensation
University of Florida student Andrew Meyer is removed from a forum where Senator John Kerrey was speaking in Gainesville, Florida on Monday.
Photo: Jarrett Baker/AP
Asher Moses
September 20, 2007 - 12:40PM
The anguished cries of a student prankster, who was subdued using a Taser stun gun at a political meeting in Florida, has resonated worldwide in a matter of hours.
Two days later, it has now earned a place in the pop culture lexicon alongside Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" and the infamous Star Wars Kid.
"Don't Tase me, bro!" was uttered by Andrew Meyer as he was pinned to the floor by police after he disrupted a question and answer session with US Senator John Kerry.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/09/20/1189881651002.html



Tasered woman: 'Pain was sickening'
2007-09-22 20:39:22
An Ohio woman is subdued by a police officer wielding a stun gun. The woman says she worried about either passing out or dying. The officer's actions are being investigated.(01:04)

http://media.smh.com.au/?category=Breaking%20News&rid=31842



Fire destroys historic $40-million Myer building in Hobart
Glenn Cordingley and Julie Tullberg
September 23, 2007
A MASSIVE fire has destroyed the historic $40million Myer building in central Hobart.
All the floors and the roof collapsed after the blaze ripped through the building and spread a blanket of smoke over Hobart yesterday.
Fire crews worked for more than four hours to contain the fire and stop it from spreading to buildings near the corner of Liverpool and Murray streets.
Myer's historic facade, dating to 1836, is on the brink of collapse.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/fire-destroys-historic-40million-myer-building-in-hobart/2007/09/22/1189881840007.html



Women priests debate continues
September 23, 2007
THE Sydney Anglican Church will again debate whether women can be ordained as priests at its annual synod, continuing tomorrow.
The ordination of women has been consistently voted against by Sydney Anglican church leaders, but in a last-ditch effort, a motion is expected to be debated asking Archbishop Peter Jensen to "explore ways in which these different views can be creatively lived out in the life and practice of the diocese".
The motion also states: "Synod notes that there is another understanding of scripture held by a small but significant minority within the diocese."
The synod will finish on Tuesday.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/women-priests-debate-continues/2007/09/22/1189881838240.html



Generations declare war on home and work fronts
Kurt Tsagaris, 24, and Daniela De Zotti, 23.
Photo: Jenny Evans
Maxine Frith
September 23, 2007
THE generations are at war, turning on each other over age, money and careers.
The baby boomers and generation X are at loggerheads, but both are frustrated by generation Y, while the builder generation is causing problems of its own, a new report shows.
McCrindle Research has dubbed the escalating conflict between the age sets "generational warfare", concluding that while the generations have never had more to do with each other, the divides between them have never been greater.
In a national report to be released this month the company reveals the three largest age sets - baby boomers, gen X and gen Y - are increasingly resentful of each other's lives and attitudes to work, home and the wider world. While people have become more tolerant of gender, sexual and cultural diversity, ageism is alive and flourishing.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/generations-declare-war-on-home-and-work-fronts/2007/09/22/1189881841606.html



Virgin sued for using teen's photo
The photo of Alison Chang (left) from Justin Ho-Wee Wong's Flickr photo-sharing web page. The photo was used by Virgin Mobile in an advertising campaign.
Photo: Justin Ho-Wee Wong
AdvertisementAdvertisement
September 21, 2007 - 11:09AM
A Texas family has sued Australia's Virgin Mobile phone company, claiming it caused their teenage daughter grief and humiliation by plastering her photo on billboards and website advertisements without consent.
The family of Alison Chang says Virgin Mobile grabbed the picture from Flickr, Yahoo Inc's popular photo-sharing website, and failed to credit the photographer by name.
Chang's photo was part of a Virgin Mobile Australia campaign called "Are You With Us Or What?" It features pictures downloaded from Flickr superimposed with the company's ad slogans.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/09/21/1189881735928.html


Caged heat
Once more with feeling ... Teddy Tahu Rhodes in rehearsal.
Photo: Marco del Grande
Big issues and big risks define a new opera that asks a lot of its unlikely cast, including an aria - while doing push-ups - from its star.
ENTERING THE OPULENT State Theatre via a laneway strewn with milk crates and skip bins appears to put the cast and crew of the opera Dead Man Walking in the right frame of mind. It's a suitably unceremonious entrance into the grim world being created inside the 1929 picture palace.
"We are making a virtue of poverty and raw energy for the opera," says director Nigel Jamieson, whose most recent production, Honour Bound, was about David Hicks's incarceration at Guantanamo Bay. "The resources are ridiculously small and there are many pressures in building the production from scratch. But Dead Man Walking is about leaps of faith and so, too, is the way we are approaching the piece and reinventing the way opera can be done."

http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/dead-man-walking/2007/09/20/1189881672433.html



Clooney injured in motorbike crash
September 23, 2007
ACTOR George Clooney and his girlfriend Sarah Larson have been injured in a collision between their motorcycle and a car on a narrow road in Weehawken, New Jersey.
Clooney suffered cuts and a broken rib. Larson broke her foot. They were treated at a medical centre and released, Clooney's spokesman, Stan Rosenfield, said.
"He's doing fine," Mr Rosenfield said.
"He has a broken rib, it's very painful and it'll take a long time to heal."
The crash occurred as Clooney and Ms Larson sped up to overtake on the right side of a car that was preparing to make a right turn, said Weehawken police Sergeant Sean Kelly. Both were wearing helmets.
It was not known whether the car's driver, whose identity was not immediately released, used a turn signal. The accident was under investigation.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/george-clooney-cracks-rib-in-motorbike-crash/2007/09/22/1189881834906.html


Beware Madam Lashless
Glenn Close is ideal as the hard-nosed lawyer.
Ruth Ritchie
September 22, 2007
DOES GLENN CLOSE have any eyebrows? Or is it that she is eyelash-challenged? General eye baldness lies at the core of her success. I used to think she was a great actor but now after all these years of sticking out that Punch and Judy chin and squinting and blinking those tiny eyes, all that crazy intensity can be reduced to the fact that she has a face shaped like a Chinese take-away container that cannot be softened with the natural drapery of lashes and brows.
The original and definitive bunny boiler staked her claim on that territory in Fatal Attraction all those years ago and now if she played Alice in The Brady Bunch the audience would fear for Sam the Butcher's life. I can't imagine that Susan Sarandon and Close ever compete for the same roles. Sarandon has eyelashes like Bambi's. Sally Field can wheel out the nutty intensity and the odd expletive at a truly bad Emmy show but she can still apply enough mascara to connect her to the rest of the sisterhood.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/beware-madam-lashless/2007/09/20/1189881672534.html



Football is A Girl's Game?
Ladies, please stay in the kitchen.
That was one suggestion to last week's discussion here on the evolution of women's football in Australia.
It was not a lone voice. Similarly, a few "fan" discussion boards have received comments during the week with similar sentiment, maybe lonely boys trolling for attention.
Female sport it seems - yes, even in Australia - has a long way to go before it earns any respect from a wide audience.
Apparently a lot of this is because watching Australia play Canada in the Women's World Cup is not the same as watching a Premier League match.

http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/matthewhall/archives/2007/09/women_please_st.html



US posse on trail of dangerous fugitive
Donna Walker-Mitchell and Ian Munro
September 23, 2007
US MARSHALS are prepared for a violent showdown if they corner fugitive father Nai Xin Xue, who is a kung fu expert and skilled swordsman.
A 24-strong team of marshals has been assigned to hunt for Xue, who is wanted for abandoning his three-year-old daughter at a Melbourne train station and is suspected of killing his wife.
The head of US Marshals in Los Angeles, Chief Tom Hession, told The Sun-Herald yesterday that New Zealand police had informed his office that Xue was skilled in the use of deadly weapons, such as samurai swords.
Confirming that his officers would be prepared in case of a struggle, he said: "Any type of suspect that's wanted for a crime like this, we automatically assume they could be a danger to us so we take all precautions."
Xue, 54, is wanted in New Zealand for killing his wife, Anan Liu, in Auckland and abandoning his daughter, Qian Xun Xue, in Melbourne last Saturday.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/posse-on-trail-of-dangerous-fugitive/2007/09/22/1189881837469.html


Gas company's bill blunder a $60,000 shock for pensioner
Frightening ... Anita Giabra was on the receiving end.
Photo: Jacky Ghossein
Angela Cuming
September 23, 2007
THE first Anita Giabra knew of her frighteningly large gas bill was when she opened a letter from debt collectors demanding immediate payment of more than $60,000.
Stamped with "final demand", the sternly worded letter from debt recovery agency Impact Financial Services demanded a total of $60,375 owed to gas company AGL.
But it turned out the massive bill was the result of a typographical error.
AGL rang Mrs Giabra when it realised its error and issued an apology.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/pensioners-60000-gas-bill-shock/2007/09/22/1189881838225.html

continued...

The latest in "Terry's Laws" Legislation. I donated to MoveOn.Org today, did you? You should. They protect this country better than the Senate.

It's time for all good Americans to come home in every way. The fabric of our nation is growing weak in the face of incompetent leadership.

The more the Democrats pander to Republican "Ideologes" the more they are going to fail the electorate and be turned away if they don't end this war.

The "MoveOn.Org" (proudly click here) ad that has caused Republican's a platform to 'attempt' to Swift Boat the elections of 2008 was a legitimate right of Freedom of Speech. The ad was supposed to shock those that read it to think about what was transpiring in Washington, DC. Was Petraeus under so much pressure from Bush to perform to an artificial standard that he would contort the evidence of the circumstances in Iraq? That is what the ad asked.

Quite frankly he did and as the questioning continued it was completely obvious he did. I don't believe it was premediated, but, I do believe he has been under so much pressure from Bush that he 'taylored' his comments to support the Iraq War. There was a profound statement the general made at the beginning of his comments that mostly went unnoticed and that was the qualifying statement, "I realize the Iraq War isn't necessarily the only focus to the security needs of the USA..." To that reality this ad was more loyal to the security of the USA than anyone whom tried to oppress/suppress it at the Senate or media.

One might ask Senator Jim Webb right now, what good did it do him to stand for oppression of free speech realizing he didn't get a valuable amendment passed to support the well being of the USA military troops and their families? I strongly recommend all Democrats, Senate or House reflect on that reality. The Republicans lost respect in 2006 for their corruption and their cronism. Sidling up to Republicans isn't the way to support the national security of the USA, it's a road to ruin for this country.

The legislation passed in the Senate is a violation of the First Amendment and is a slap in the face to a military that is protect the USA Constitution and not destroy it.

The Iraq War is an illegel and genocidal war, needs to come to an end.


September 21st, 2007 5:51 pm
Senate Approves Resolution Denouncing MoveOn.org Ad
By David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 — The Senate approved a resolution on Thursday denouncing the liberal antiwar group MoveOn.org over an advertisement that questioned the credibility of Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American commander in Iraq.
MoveOn.org, with 3.2 million members, has become a powerful force in Democratic politics and the advertisement it paid for, which appeared in The New York Times, has come under sharp attack from Congressional Republicans and others as unpatriotic and impugning the integrity of General Petraeus.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Senator Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, both Democratic candidates for president, voted against the resolution, which passed 72 to 25.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10260



U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 110th Congress - 1st Session
as compiled through Senate LIS by the Senate Bill Clerk under the direction of the Secretary of the Senate
Vote Summary

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00344



*** 23 Democrats Condemn First Amendment ***
Max Baucus (D-MT), Evan Bayh (D-IN), Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Thomas Carper (D-DE), Robert Casey (D-PA), Kent Conrad (D-ND), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Claire McCaskill (D-MO), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Ben Nelson (D-NE), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Jon Tester (D-MT), James Webb (D-VA)

http://www.michaelmoore.com/



September 21st, 2007 1:58 pm
Democrats fail to pass anti-war bill
By Anne Flaherty / Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The Senate rejected legislation Friday that would have ordered most U.S. troops home from Iraq in nine months, culminating a losing week for Democrats who failed to push through any anti-war proposal.
The vote, 47-47, fell 13 votes short of the 60 needed to pass.
"We're going to continue to lose lives and squander resources while they (the Iraqis) dawdle," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who sponsored the bill.
Republicans blocked the measure, contending it would have dire consequences for the region and usurp control of the war from seasoned generals. Last week, Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, recommended to Congress and President Bush that some 130,000 troops be kept there through next summer — a slight decrease from the more than 160,000 troops there now.

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/latestnews/index.php?id=10257



Friday, September 21st, 2007
General Betray-Us and MoveOn.org ... by Cindy Sheehan
I have often been critical of MoveOn.org, basically because I feel, for the most part that they support Democrats to the detriment of democracy. However, MoveOn.org was a big help to me at Camp Casey in August ‘05 and organized the thousands of candlelight vigils that occurred across the country. I will always be grateful to them for that.
I had a policy when my children were younger. I would always try to catch them doing something "right" (sharing, being kind, etc) and I would praise them and give them a treat. In that vein, I have to give my 100% support to MoveOn.org in regards to their right-on ad in the NYT that has become even the object of a Senate denouncement.
It must be hard for MoveOn.org to have 21 Democratic Senators vote to denounce the ad when MoveOn.org has been so supportive of the party. However, I don't think that it's appropriate for the Senate to be voting on newspaper ads, when it is a clear 1st Amendment right of anyone in our representative republic to place such ads, whether one agrees with them or not, and with almost half the Senate Dems voting to denounce MoveOn's freedom of speech and the Dem leadership taking impeachment "off the table" and giving BushCo more latitude to spy on us, I wonder which part of our Constitution the Dems will defile next?

http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php?id=923