Jaws in 30 Seconds

and re-enacted by bunnies.

US Polling Firm Illegally Sent False Results to Venezuelan Media

The U.S.-based "strategic market research firm" Penn, Schoen & Berland is under scrutiny in Venezuela. The firm's polling erroneously predicted that President Hugo Chavez lost a recall referendum; the opposition "insists [the poll] shows the results of the vote itself were fraudulent." Moreover, poll "results ... were sent out by fax and e-mail to media outlets and opposition offices more than four hours before polls closed," in violation of Venezuelan law. The fact that "members of Sumate, a Venezuelan group that helped organize the recall initiative, [did] the fieldwork for the poll," has also raised questions; Sumate received U.S. National Endowment for Democracy funding "to encourage participation in the referendum." Source: Associated Press, August 19, 2004

Jerry Falwell Opens a Law School

The Reverend Jerry Falwell will open a law school next week in hopes of training a generation of attorneys to take up conservative causes.Falwell says the future lawyers will work to outlaw abortion, gay marriage and other issues that he believes the legal establishment has forced on the public.
Falwell says he hopes to produce highly skilled litigators who will "be as far to the right as Harvard is to left."

FLORIDA VOTE: New Crisis in the Making?

“(We) do not have any verifiable backup in case one of those machines malfunctions or there's a challenge to the accuracy of the machines.”
Blitzer seemed shocked by this. “Well, how is that possible in this day and age you don't have a backup?”
Graham's answer was stunning: “Because I'll say (Florida) Governor (Jeb) Bush and his administration have stonewalled the efforts to get a paper trail behind these electronic machines.”
...Concerns about the adequacy of electronic voting machines have been percolating in the background for some time. Finally, the issue was getting some serious airtime.
But no sooner had it surfaced than it disappeared.
The media's lack of sustained interest in this story is striking, given what happened four years ago, when disputes over the Florida vote led to the biggest electoral crisis in U.S. history.

The God Game

Test the consistency of your religious beliefs.

Brilliant Aerial Photography

Signs of life on planet Earth

Senator Kennedy Was on No-Fly List

Kennedy says he had to enlist the help of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge to get his name stricken from the list. The process took several weeks, in all.

Helen Thomas: Our Two Pro-War Candidates

Both President Bush and his rival, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., seem to think it was worth the 932 American lives (so far) and thousands of U.S. wounded to get one man behind bars -- Saddam Hussein.
There also are the untold thousands of Iraqis dead and wounded as well. But, as one Pentagon spokesman told me, "They don't count."
Kerry has made a colossal mistake by continuing to defend his October 2002 vote authorizing President Bush's invasion of Iraq.

Iraqi Police Threaten to Kill Reporters in Najaf

A uniformed lieutenant then told the assembled journalists and hotel staff: "We are going to open fire on this hotel. I'm going to smash it all, kill you all, and I'm going to put four snipers to target anybody who goes out of the hotel. You have brought it upon yourselves."

Wen Ho Lee Reporters Held in Contempt

U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson imposed a fine of $500 a day each for Associated Press reporter H. Josef Hebert; James Risen and Jeff Gerth of The New York Times; Robert Drogin of the Los Angeles Times; and Pierre Thomas of ABC, who was at CNN when the stories were done.
Jackson said the fines would be delayed pending appeals. Attorneys for the journalists said they would appeal.

Guerrilla Artist Depicts Justice as Prostitute

"This is a brand new monument for London," Banksy wrote in a statement read out by rapper MC Dynamite.
"It is a monument dedicated to thugs, to thieves, to bullies, to liars, to the corrupt, the arrogant and the stupid."

Victory for P2P Software Developers

Today the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals made a crucial decision (PDF) in support of technology innovators by declaring that distributors of the peer-to-peer software Grokster and Morpheus cannot be held liable for the infringing activities of their users.

FBI official questioned propriety of warnings issued about protests

Her request came to light as political activists in Missouri and elsewhere complained that the FBI was investigating them without cause.
A Justice Department legal opinion in April cleared the FBI bulletins, but Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee called this week for a probe of what they said appear to be "systematic political harassment and intimidation of legitimate anti-war protesters."

Marijuana Extract Fights Brain Cancer in Mice

The cannabinoids inhibited the expression of several genes critical to angiogenesis known as the VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) pathway. “Blockade of the VEGF pathway constitutes one of the most promising antitumoral approaches currently available,” Guzman says. The cannabinoids work by increasing the potency of a fat molecule known as ceramide, the team posits. Increased ceramide activity, in turn, inhibits cells that would normally produce VEGF and encourage blood vessel growth.

UPDATE: Expert Says Beatle Find is a Hoax

Pete Nash, a memorabilia expert from the British Beatles Fan Club who examined the contents of the suitcase on behalf of a British television channel, said he saw photocopied ticket stubs, laser-scanned pictures from the 1990s - and no rare reel-to-reel recordings.
"It's farcical, really," Nash told The Associated Press.

Iraqi Soccer Team Resents Bush Ad Featuring Them

"Iraq as a team does not want Mr. Bush to use us for the presidential campaign," Sadir told SI.com through a translator, speaking calmly and directly. "He can find another way to advertise himself."
Ahmed Manajid, who played as a midfielder on Wednesday, had an even stronger response when asked about Bush's TV advertisement. "How will he meet his god having slaughtered so many men and women?" Manajid told me. "He has committed so many crimes."
The Bush campaign was contacted about the Iraqi soccer player's statements, but has yet to respond.

Quantum Teleportation across the Danube Demonstrated

Rupert Ursin and his colleagues at the Institute for Experimental Physics in Vienna fired a laser through a barium borate crystal to generate two pairs of photons. One pair is entangled, which means that if something disturbs the state of one, the other feels the effects as well--even when they are not physically connected. By separating the entangled pair, the scientists successfully transported information about the state of one photon to the other. Using fiber-optic cable laid under the water in sewer pipes, together with microwaves sent across the air above the water, three distinct states were teleported across the Danube. Over the course of a 28-hour experimental run, the system was correct 97 percent of the time.

McGreevey Scandal Linked to Israeli Intelligence Operation

Here we go again. Another political bombshell hits the American people and there is yet another connection to the subterranean labyrinth of possible Israeli intelligence activities. New Jersey Democratic Governor Jim McGreevey's announcement on August 12 that he was resigning because of his involvement in a gay relationship with an Israeli national may be the tip of an iceberg that represents another high-level Israeli attempt to burrow into the most sensitive areas of U.S. national security and our political process. The surprise announcement is also being used by a number of neo-conservative news outlets to tarnish the Democratic Party and absolve Israel of any connection to the New Jersey political scandal.

See also: http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?ReleaseID=34760

Charter Schools Lag Public Schools - Results Buried

The American Federation of Teachers compiled the report from information in the 2003 national Assessment of Educational Progress in math and reading. Although the NAEP report was released in November, the AFT said the charter school data were buried within it.

Government "Wiretapping" the Web

In one case, the Federal Communications Commission voted 5-0 last week to prohibit businesses from offering broadband or Internet phone service unless they provide Uncle Sam with backdoors for wiretapping access. And in a separate decision last month, a federal appeals court decided that e-mail and other electronic communications are not protected under a strict reading of wiretap laws. Taken together, these decisions may make it both legally and technologically easier to wiretap Internet communications, some legal experts told NEWSWEEK. “All the trends are toward easier to tap,” says Kevin Bankston, an attorney at the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Bush Events Limited to Supporters

When the time came to "Ask President Bush" Friday, none of his 16 questioners challenged him on his policies. Several did not ask questions at all, but simply voiced their support.

New Reason to Block Prescription Drugs from Canada

"Cues from chatter" gathered around the world are raising concerns that terrorists might try to attack the domestic food and drug supply, particularly illegally imported prescription drugs, acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Lester M. Crawford says.
..."While we must assume that such a threat exists generally, we have no specific information now about any al-Qaeda threats to our food or drug supply," said Brian Roehrkasse, spokesman for the Homeland Security Department.

Cartoon Ferret Teaches Copyright Morals

The BSA--a trade group supported by Microsoft, Adobe Systems and other major software makers to enforce software licenses and copyrights--revealed the new mascot Tuesday as part of a national campaign to scare kids out of using peer-to-peer networks.
...The campaign also includes an online game in which the ferret races to destroy pirated copies of software while collecting valid licensing agreements.

US Ordered to Give Torture Papers to Rights Groups

U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein expressed impatience with the government and said prosecutors must start handing over certain papers identified by the American Civil Liberties Union by Aug. 23 unless they can show the documents cannot be found or they are subject to certain exemptions.

FBI Questioning Activists Across Country

The FBI has been questioning political demonstrators across the country, and in rare cases even subpoenaing them, in an aggressive effort to forestall what officials say could be violent and disruptive protests at the Republican National Convention in New York.

Questions Remain in Berg Case

The congressman said Michael Berg questioned if his son, who never was charged with any wrongdoing, was given the basic rights and due process that an American citizen should expect."There is no indication that he was given any of those rights at this point," said Gerlach.
There is no evidence that Nicholas Berg was given a chance to consult an attorney or to make a telephone call while he was in custody, said Gerlach.
Although the congressman said he was "not prepared to fault the FBI yet," he said he "wants to explore that."

US Treasure Missing Over $1 Trillion

From Department of Defense (DoD)...
"We reported that DoD processed $1.1 trillion in unsupported accounting entries to DoD Component financial data used to prepare departmental reports and DoD financial statements for FY 2000."
David K. SteensmaActing Assistant Inspector Generalfor Auditing for the DoDFebruary 26, 2002

From Housing & Urban Development (HUD)...
"At the time we discontinued our audit work... An additional 242 adjustments totaling about $59.6 billion, were made to adjust fiscal year 1999 activity."
Susan GaffneyHUD Inspector GeneralMarch 22, 2000

Health official apologizes after kids' lemonade stand shut down

But on Tuesday, the girls said, a Health Department inspector told them they didn't have the proper business licenses and were selling unsafe ice cubes. The girls were using powdered lemonade mix with ice cubes bought from a store.
A resident, O.V. Carreathers, 48, had registered a complaint about the stand last Friday with the city's Citizens Service Bureau. The girls didn't work Monday, but the inspector found them Tuesday.
Carreathers said she wanted to keep the girls off her property: "I just didn't want them blocking my walkway."

Wal-Mart Underwriting NPR

"We've really been in the spotlight and I think that's made us especially sensitive to the need for balanced coverage," Williams said. "It doesn't matter if the subject is Wal-Mart or something else. You just aren't going to have that unless different perspectives are represented." Without diversity, she added, "the result can be narrower thinking as news events are presented to the public."
Influencing that presentation may be at the heart of the effort, although Williams said there was "no hidden agenda here" and added that it probably would have been done even if Wal-Mart had not come under scrutiny.

UPDATE: Bush Plans to Screen Population for Mental Illness

This is your source for the latest news about USA President George W. Bush plans -- plans, it turns out, that were cooked up by the psychiatric drug industry -- to screen every USA resident, especially youth, for "mental illness," according to the... British Medical Journal.

Google's Ad Policies

Details of Google's ad policy were disclosed in internal documents obtained by The Chronicle. Subsequent interviews with the company also revealed new information about its procedures.

Iraq Evicts Reporters from Najaf

Though the order did not spell out a punishment for those who did not comply, the police who delivered it said any reporters remaining would be arrested, according to journalists at the hotel. The police said any cameras and cellular phones they saw would be confiscated. In response to the threat, many journalists left the city.

Cyprus Govt. Admits CIA Campaign Against Indymedia

Responding to a publicity and solidarity campaign by Indymedia, the Government of the Republic of Cyprus has been forced to admit that they were acting under orders from the US Government to carry out an intelligence investigation of Cyprus Indymedia and of one of its founding members

Four of 585 at Gitmo Ruled "Enemy Combatants"

The U.S. military has ruled that four terror war suspects jailed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are legitimate "enemy combatants" after completing a fledgling appeals process that will eventually review all 585 being held, the Pentagon said on Friday.

Wired No Longer to Capitalize internet

True believers are fond of capitalizing words, whether they be marketers or political junkies or, in this case, techies. If It's Capitalized, It Must Be Important. In German, where all nouns are capitalized, it makes sense. It makes no sense in English. So until we become Die Wired Nachrichten, we'll just follow customary English-language usage. (Web will continue to be capitalized when part of the more official entity, World Wide Web.)

See also: http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3855589 (RealAudio)

National Preparedness Month for Kids

Coming soon to a school or TV near you: efforts to teach fourth- to eighth-grade kids the ABCs of emergency preparedness in the event of a terrorist attack. Complete with a mascot - an American shepherd dog - and instructions to bug parents to develop a family emergency plan.

New Research Into Directed-Energy Weapons

Aside from paralyzing potential attackers or noncombatants like a long-range stun gun, directed-energy weapons could fry the electronics of missiles and roadside bombs, developers say, or even disable a vehicle in a high-speed chase.

Doctors Apparently Complicit in Torture

We know that medical personnel have failed to report to higher authorities wounds that were clearly caused by torture and that they have neglected to take steps to interrupt this torture. In addition, they have turned over prisoners' medical records to interrogators who could use them to exploit the prisoners' weaknesses or vulnerabilities. We have not yet learned the extent of medical involvement in delaying and possibly falsifying the death certificates of prisoners who have been killed by torturers.

Bloggers Map Timing of Terror Alerts

Soon, Biltud and I started to research together all these occurrences, and more interesting "coincidences" started to appear. We finally built this timeline of terror alerts and how they relate to the news headlines of the days immediately prior to that very alert. I think it's very easy to see a pattern recurring.

Howard Dean Questions Terror Alerts

I am not the only person to believe that the timing of this announcement was somewhat based on politics. News organizations like the Associated Press, The Washington Post and The New York Times interviewed national security experts and political strategists, including a "top GOP operative" and "some senior Republicans" who have also questioned the timing of this announcement.

Halliburton Fined for Accounting Fraud

The Halliburton Company secretly changed its accounting practices when Vice President Dick Cheney was its chief executive, the Securities and Exchange Commission said today as it fined the company $7.5 million and brought actions against two former financial officials.

State Rep Says "Suppress the Detroit Vote"

Pappageorge, 73, was quoted in July 16 editions of the Detroit Free Press as saying, "If we do not suppress the Detroit vote, we're going to have a tough time in this election."

CIA Reportedly Making New Plans Against Chavez

CIA under secretary for southern hemispherical affairs, William Spencer, has been drafted to Santiago de Chile to analyze the "Venezuelan situation" with CIA country directors from Colombia, Ecuador, Brasil and Peru.

Slavery in Florida

For nine months, The Palm Beach Post explored the roots of modern-day slavery. Reporters and photographers traveled to destitute Mexican villages, crossed the desert with a smuggler, rode across the U.S. with illegal immigrants, found new claims of slavery, uncovered rampant Social Security fraud, and found that Florida's famous orange juice comes with hidden costs.

Toonces Alert: Cat Attacks Pilot In Flight

As an investigation got under way into Monday's incident, Mr Sciot explained that it appeared to be essentially a freak accident, caused by a series of circumstances:
• the cat's owner was apparently sleeping when it escaped from its travelling bag
• a child in a neighbouring seat may have interfered with the bag, releasing the cat
• nobody alerted the crew before the cat slipped into the cockpit as meals were being served to the crew

America is a safer, more dangerous nation, says Bush

"We are a nation in danger," Bush says
"America and the world are safer," Bush says

Jon Stewart Responds

JS: So, basically, what it comes down to is this: The Bush administrations strategy to fight terrorism is repetition. You know what? Give us one final America is safer, and this time, give it a flourish that says stop questioning me about any of this.
BUSH: And America, and the world, are safer.
JS: Boom! Nicely done. Alright, on the subject of security, as you know, last week Homeland Security Director Thomas Ridge appeared at a press conference to tell us this.
TOM RIDGE: Credible reporting now indicates that Al Qaeda is moving forward with its plans to carry out a large scale atack in the United States, in an effort to disrupt our democratic process.
JS: [zombie-like] American people are safer. Yes, [unintelligible] they're planning an attack to disrupt our democratic process. It's scary, I know, but we're not going to let Al Qaeda tell us what to do. In fact, our government has decided if Al Qaeda tries to disrupt our democratic process, we're going to respond. By disrupting it first.

Ohio Turnpike Scans All License Plates

Electronic devices have been placed at both ends of the turnpike - and in two cruisers driving along the toll road - to zap license plate numbers and feed them into a huge national crime database.

Plastic Surgery for Dogs

The cost of the ear treatment is $75 (£40). There is a detailed price-list for other procedures - including Botox injections to correct facial wrinkling.
Since undergoing surgery Brutus has become one of Brazil's most successful competition dogs.