Could Andrei Lugovoi be innocent?

18:16 25/04/2012

MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti)

State Duma Deputy Andrei Lugovoi, (click here) the former KGB officer accused by the British authorities in the fatal poisoning of another ex-KGB man, Alexander Litvinenko, has passed a polygraph test administered in Moscow by British experts.

“The British specialists were in Moscow and I worked with them for several hours, after which they concluded that I was not guilty,” Lugovoi said on Wednesday.

British prosecutors have sought the extradition of Lugovoi over the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who moved to London and died in a London hospital in 2006 after being poisoned with radioactive polonium-210.

Lugovoi invited journalists to examine a copy of the test documents....

Assad is retaliating against Syrians after contact with U.N. monitors.

Al-Assad won't stop. He is a minority ethnicity in Syria so that may be driving him somewhat. He is a member of the Alwite sect, a branch of the Shia religion. The Alwite sect is based primarily in Syria.
Syria is a country of about 20 million people.  I think Assad is driven by the fact his ethnic religion is a sincere minority in Syria, holds power over Sunnis, has a history geological right to Syria and its leadership. If he steps down he will be surrendering his identity and the future of what he views his ethnic domination.
Syrian ethnicity is constituted with 90.3% Arabs with minority groups of Kurds, Armenians, Turcomans, and Assyrians making up the remaining 9.7 percent of the population. Sectarian differences occur with Sunni Muslims (about 74 percent), Alawites (a Shi'ite subsect), Druze (a Middle-Eastern sect with a doctrine combining different Islamic, Jewish, and Christian elements), and other Muslim sects (about 16 percent). The Christian population in Syria (about 10 percent), and Jews number only a few thousand.
Former Secretary Annan wants 300 monitors. It would perhaps help, but, the approach has to be as much strategic to separate the people from the Syrian military as possible. In other words, the Syrian military has to leave the area where the monitors are and have been. The towns and cities will have to be left with local authority to maintain order as a method to have Assad's forces stand down. I think we are looking at instilling a police state enforced from internal organization other than Assad's forces. If a foreign power enters Syria there will be full blown war as Assad is just that desperate regarding his own 'kingdom.' Empowering local authorities to sustain their own peace while the Syria military rolls back into their official bases is a way to stopping this disaster in leadership. 
The Syrian military will have to be displaced into their own military bases by internal law enforcement structure organized at the local level. Basically, law enforcement that won't kill their own citizens. I think Assad is fanatical and there is nothing that will end that so long as his military remains in control by him. I would think there should be an ethnic mix in the Syrian military that might be harnessed through its generals to end the violence. The UN is walking on egg shells.
Syrian protesters gather around U.N. monitors during the monitors' visit to Duma, near Damascus.(Associated Press / April 23, 2012)
By Los Angeles Times Staff

April 25, 2012, 12:01 a.m.

BEIRUT — The presence of United Nations-backed monitors (click here) in Syria is providing only brief respites from violence and in some cases may be making the situation worse, a spokesman for U.N. and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan said Tuesday.

Annan spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said the small advance team of monitors is facing great difficulty in stemming the fighting between forces loyal to President Bashar Assad and opposition groups.

"When they leave, the exchanges start again," Fawzi told U.N. Television in Geneva, referring to the monitors. "We have credible reports that … these people who approach the observers may be approached by security forces or Syrian army and harassed or arrested or even worse, perhaps killed."

Annan, meanwhile, reportedly told the U.N. Security Council that the situation in Syria was bleak and called for the deployment of the full 300-member monitor force authorized by the council to verify what is happening there. The monitors are part of a peace plan set up to end the fighting in Syria....

A former circus elephant kills

My personal opinion regarding the rescue of elephants is they should never be a 'lone elephant.' I sincerely believe elephants thrive best in a social environment.


There was a Korean elephant noted to sooth their own lonely experience by vocalizing sounds it heard during the day. Some of the sounds involved the name of its handler.


In the wild elephants literally use a very low frequency among each other to consolidate their existence as a herd. I strongly believe elephants are hard wired to be social with strong attachments. They aren't inherently violent, but, they will rise to the occasion if a feeling of threat. I believe it is a mistake to keep a solitary elephant in any circumstance. 

4:00 AM Wednesday Dec 23, 2009

After 28 years (click here) in the rigours of the circus industry, Jumbo the elephant is enjoying her first Christmas as a pachyderm of leisure.

She moved to Franklin Zoo and Wildlife Sanctuary at Tuakau three weeks ago, after finishing her career with a year-long stint at Weber Bros' Loritz Circus.

Sanctuary director and veterinarian Dr Helen Schofield said the 36-year-old settled very quickly into her new surroundings and was happy in her large enclosure.

"Jumbo is intelligent and fun loving, and gains more confidence in her surroundings and in her team of carers each day."...

Vet crushed to death by elephant (click here)

5:42 PM Wednesday Apr 25, 2012

A veterinarian has been crushed to death by an elephant at Franklin Zoo south of Auckland, according to reports.

The zoo is home to just one elephant, a former circus elephant called Mila, One News reported.

TV3 reported that the elephant sat on the keeper then, acting protectively, would not let anyone else enter the enclosure to help the woman.

Police said they were called to the incident between the elephant and its female keeper at the zoo shortly after 4.30pm.

No further information would be available until next-of-kin had been notified and the matter had been referred to the coroner.

A fire communications spokesperson said they had limited information, but confirmed the brigade were asked to attend the Franklin Zoo in Ridge Road to assist where a person had been attacked by an elephant....

Named "Iceberg," the first adult albino Orca found in the wild seas of Russia.

'Iceberg' ... The fin of an albino killer whale travelling in a pod of 13 orcas near Bering island in the Commander islands in Russia. Photo: AFP/Far East Russia Orca Project

Ian Sample

April 25, 2012 - 3:57PM

Scientists have glimpsed (click here) a pure white adult orca, or killer whale, while on a research expedition off the far eastern coast of Russia.

The sighting in waters off the Kamchatka peninsula is believed to be the first time such a whale has been seen in the wild.

Researchers said the marine mammal, which they nicknamed Iceberg, was swimming with its mother and siblings and appeared to be fully accepted by its 12-strong family.

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White whales are not unheard of, but only young white orcas are thought to have been recorded by marine conservationists before.

The whale was seen by scientists on a research cruise co-led by Erich Hoyt of the Far East Russia orca project....

Could the Etan Patz case being opening others for review?

Madeleine McCann case can be solved:detective (click here)

3:00 PM Wednesday Apr 25, 2012

The detective leading a review of evidence related to Madeleine McCann's disappearance is confident the case can be solved.

DCI Andy Redwood said Scotland Yard had the "best opportunity" to solve the mystery because it was the first time information from all sources had been considered.

His team of 28 detectives and seven civilian staff were sifting through around 40,000 pieces of information and "seeking to bring closure to the case"....

'Maddy's alive': Police reveal new evidence suggests missing Madeleine McCann may still be alive (click here)

The sensational news came as police released an age progression image of what Maddy would look like today

Madeleine McCann may still be alive, the detective leading the hunt for the missing five-year-old said today.

DCI Andy Redwood revealed that "new evidence" uncovered during a review of the case has led his team to believe there is a possibility Madeleine is still alive.

The sensational news came as police released an age progression image of how Maddy would look today....

How many times has Karl Rove appeared on FOX News compared to any Democratic political figure?

News Corp. Chief Faces Inquiry (click here)

By CASSELL BRYAN-LOW

LONDON—With a fresh political scandal swirling around his global media conglomerate here, News Corp. NWSA +1.32% Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch on Wednesday began a day of questioning before a public press-ethics inquiry by deflecting criticism that he has used the company to call in political favors and push his commercial interests....

...Mr. Murdoch said early on that he wanted to "put certain myths to bed," and while he conceded "abuses" at his own company—which has been battered by a long-running scandal over illicit reporting tactics—he added: "I would say there are many other abuses, but we can go into that in time."....

...Along the way, Mr. Jay put to Mr. Murdoch a series of criticisms that are often targeted at the company and his management of it, including that he sought his growing media presence in the U.K. to influence politicians to get favorable decisions on commercial matters, dating back to Margaret Thatcher, who became prime minister in 1979.....