Eyes on the Prize, the landmark documentary on the civil rights movement, is no longer broadcast or sold new in the United States. It's illegal.
The 14-part series highlights key events in black Americans' struggle for equality and is considered an essential resource by educators and historians, but the filmmakers no longer have clearance rights to much of the archival footage used in the documentary. It cannot be rebroadcast on PBS (where it originally aired) or any other channels, and cannot be released on DVD until the rights are cleared again and paid for.
...Securing clearance rights to archival footage is a growing problem for independent filmmakers -- and documentary filmmakers in particular. Filmmakers must pay for the rights to use every song, photograph or video clip included in the film. Since many documentary films are made with small budgets, filmmakers often can only afford to buy rights for a limited amount of time. That leaves many filmmakers essentially renting footage, and rendering their work unusable after a certain number of years unless they can find more funding to clear the rights again.
Eyes on the Prize is only one example of documentaries that are in limbo.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
MACGYVER'S SHOPPING LIST FOR G.I.S
In every American platoon, it seems, there's a MacGyver or a B.A. Baracus -- someone who can make just about anything, out of just about nothing. How else can you explain U.S. soldiers' amazing ability to piece together scraps and leftovers, and turn 'em into everything from gun turrets to armored Humvees?
With that in mind, nonproliferation expert Russell Seitz has put together a soldiers' shopping list of (mostly) off-the-shelf items that American troops could put to good use, in a hurry.
With that in mind, nonproliferation expert Russell Seitz has put together a soldiers' shopping list of (mostly) off-the-shelf items that American troops could put to good use, in a hurry.
Wal-Mart elected "Grinch of the Year" for 2004
The retailing giant Wal-Mart was named 'Grinch of the Year' in a national online poll held between December 6 and December 22 by Jobs with Justice.
Wal-Mart is a fitting recipient of the Grinch title. As the United States' largest retailer and largest employer, Wal-Mart is a driving force in setting wage standards wherever its stores are located. Despite nearly $9 billion in profits, its wages are so low that many employees are eligible for food stamps. Even so, local taxpayers often finance Wal-Mart's expansion through tax breaks and development incentives.
Wal-Mart has created such high barriers to qualify for its health care benefits, that many workers are left dependent on publicly financed medical services, a largely hidden taxpayer subsidy. According to a research study in California, Wal-Mart workers seek $86 million a year in state aid because of inadequate wages and benefits. In effect, Wal-mart cleverly shifts a portion of its labor costs to the public.
Wal-Mart is a fitting recipient of the Grinch title. As the United States' largest retailer and largest employer, Wal-Mart is a driving force in setting wage standards wherever its stores are located. Despite nearly $9 billion in profits, its wages are so low that many employees are eligible for food stamps. Even so, local taxpayers often finance Wal-Mart's expansion through tax breaks and development incentives.
Wal-Mart has created such high barriers to qualify for its health care benefits, that many workers are left dependent on publicly financed medical services, a largely hidden taxpayer subsidy. According to a research study in California, Wal-Mart workers seek $86 million a year in state aid because of inadequate wages and benefits. In effect, Wal-mart cleverly shifts a portion of its labor costs to the public.
U.S. Cuts Contributions To World Food-aid Programs
With the budget deficit growing and President Bush promising to reduce spending, the administration has told representatives of several charities that it was unable to honor some earlier promises and would only have money to pay for food in emergency crises like that in Darfur, in western Sudan. The cutbacks, estimated by some charities at up to $100 million, come at a time when the number of hungry in the world is rising for the first time in years and all food programs are being stretched.
As a result, Save Our Children, Catholic Relief Services and other charities have suspended or eliminated programs that were intended to help the poor feed themselves through improvements in farming, education and health.
As a result, Save Our Children, Catholic Relief Services and other charities have suspended or eliminated programs that were intended to help the poor feed themselves through improvements in farming, education and health.
Scared of Santa Photo Gallery
Nothing says Happy Holidays like a photo of sweet little toddlers screaming at Santa. The first 25 photos in this gallery are from the Chicago Tribune's "Scared of Santa" contest in 2003. All the rest of the photos were submitted by SouthFlorida.com readers this year. Enjoy!
First place: No one, not even the office Grinches, failed to laugh at this shot from Valerie Miller of Lansing, who captured now-22-year-old daughter Amie’s first glimpse of St. Nick--artfully rendered in plastic. It’s the first in a series that Miller says she torments Amie with every year. Now this is a mom who knows what Christmas is all about.
43 images [from KatieWeb.com]
First place: No one, not even the office Grinches, failed to laugh at this shot from Valerie Miller of Lansing, who captured now-22-year-old daughter Amie’s first glimpse of St. Nick--artfully rendered in plastic. It’s the first in a series that Miller says she torments Amie with every year. Now this is a mom who knows what Christmas is all about.
43 images [from KatieWeb.com]
9/11 Legislation Launches Misguided Data-Mining and Domestic Surveillance Schemes
~ Section 1016 - a.k.a. "TIA II" ~
A clause authorizing the creation of a massive "Information Sharing Environment" (ISE) to link "all appropriate Federal, State, local, and tribal entities, and the private sector."
This vast network links the information in public and private databases, which poses the same kind of threat to our privacy and freedom that the notorious Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA) program did. Yet the IRTPA contains no meaningful safeguards against unchecked data mining other than directing the President to issue guidelines. It also includes a definition of "terrorist information" that is frighteningly broad.
~ Section 4012 and Sections 7201-7220 - a.k.a. "CAPPS III" ~
A number of provisions that provide the statutory basis for "Secure Flight," the government's third try at a controversial passenger-screening system that has consistently failed to pass muster for protecting passenger privacy.
The basic concept: the government will force commercial air carriers to hand over your private travel information and compare it with a "consolidated and integrated terrorist watchlist." It will also establish a massive "counterterrorist travel intelligence" infrastructure that calls for travel data mining ("recognition of travel patterns, tactics, and behavior exhibited by terrorists").
A clause authorizing the creation of a massive "Information Sharing Environment" (ISE) to link "all appropriate Federal, State, local, and tribal entities, and the private sector."
This vast network links the information in public and private databases, which poses the same kind of threat to our privacy and freedom that the notorious Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA) program did. Yet the IRTPA contains no meaningful safeguards against unchecked data mining other than directing the President to issue guidelines. It also includes a definition of "terrorist information" that is frighteningly broad.
~ Section 4012 and Sections 7201-7220 - a.k.a. "CAPPS III" ~
A number of provisions that provide the statutory basis for "Secure Flight," the government's third try at a controversial passenger-screening system that has consistently failed to pass muster for protecting passenger privacy.
The basic concept: the government will force commercial air carriers to hand over your private travel information and compare it with a "consolidated and integrated terrorist watchlist." It will also establish a massive "counterterrorist travel intelligence" infrastructure that calls for travel data mining ("recognition of travel patterns, tactics, and behavior exhibited by terrorists").
Mobile-phone radiation damages lab DNA
The research does not provide definitive proof that equivalent radiation harms people who use mobile phones. But the researchers emphasize that more extensive studies to test this link should be done, and that, until then, phone users should be cautious.
Controversy has raged for years over whether the electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile phones can trigger tumours or Alzheimer's disease, or can otherwise harm human health. But the evidence showing whether and how radiation damages cells, and so might cause disease, has been scant and contradictory.
Controversy has raged for years over whether the electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile phones can trigger tumours or Alzheimer's disease, or can otherwise harm human health. But the evidence showing whether and how radiation damages cells, and so might cause disease, has been scant and contradictory.
More Background on the Mystery Spy Satellite Program
The National Security Archives last week posted an excerpt from Jeffrey Richelson's book The Wizards of Langley, which first described the MISTY program, and has now added some remarkable declassified documents obtained by Richelson which trace the historical roots of the stealth satellite concept as far back as 1963. [from Secrecy News]
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
*The 2004 Recount in Ohio: County Reports
Click the map or the menu at right to access the recount report for that county. The blue menus at right list which counties currently have reports available and for which counties reports are still pending. We are adding new reports daily as we receive them from our volunteer recount observers in the field.
Election "Irregularities"
Democrats' lawyer asks Blackwell for investigation of TRIAD tampering
Kerry-Edwards '04, 12/15
Congressman implicated in vote fraud
Seminole Chronicle [Oviedo, FL], 12/16
Recount continues in Ohio as vote machine company makes odd "service calls"
Associated Press, 12/16
According to a sworn statement from Sherole Eaton, the county's deputy director of elections, a TRIAD representative told her on Friday he wanted to inspect the county's tabulating machine. She said the employee then told her that ''the battery in the computer was dead and that the stored information was gone."''He proceeded to take the computer apart and call his office to get information to input into our computer," Eaton said.
Recount observer not allowed to inspect machines
The Advocate [Newark, OH], 12/16
Mary Lewin, the recount observer for Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik, wanted to inspect the voting machines as part of the recount, but her request was denied."They threatened to have me thrown out of the recount because I raised certain questions," Lewin said. "We felt we had a right to look at the machines. You can't look at the ballot in isolation of the ballot assembly."
Ohio Justice throws out election challenge
Associated Press, 12/16
Ohio election officials obstruct recount, say Greens
Press release, Green Party, 12/17
"Ohio election officials are violating both the spirit and the letter of the law governing the recount," said Cobb-LaMarche Media Director Blair Bobier.In two counties, Monroe and Fairfield, election officials have refused to do a full hand recount, as required under Ohio election law, when hand and machine tallies don't match. They instead have opted to get new machines to count the votes.In the vast majority of counties, election officials have pre-selected precincts to be sampled, rather than chosen them randomly, as required by law. In Cuyahoga County, the pre-selection of precincts eliminated those which reported the most problems on Election Day, thwarting the intent of the recount and raising serious concerns about the integrity of the process.
Kerry, Bush pick up votes in Ohio
Associated Press, 12/17
"Please, please, please, count all the votes"
The Plain Dealer [Cleveland], 12/17
Election challenge refiled by activists
Associated Press, 12/18
“Everyone felt better” after technician “repeated a repair”
Associated Press, 12/20
Election official “must have mis-heard” about patch installed on computer
Wired, 12/20
Votes ought to be counted
Editorial, The New York Times, 12/20
[compiled by UnknownNews.net]
Kerry-Edwards '04, 12/15
Congressman implicated in vote fraud
Seminole Chronicle [Oviedo, FL], 12/16
Recount continues in Ohio as vote machine company makes odd "service calls"
Associated Press, 12/16
According to a sworn statement from Sherole Eaton, the county's deputy director of elections, a TRIAD representative told her on Friday he wanted to inspect the county's tabulating machine. She said the employee then told her that ''the battery in the computer was dead and that the stored information was gone."''He proceeded to take the computer apart and call his office to get information to input into our computer," Eaton said.
Recount observer not allowed to inspect machines
The Advocate [Newark, OH], 12/16
Mary Lewin, the recount observer for Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik, wanted to inspect the voting machines as part of the recount, but her request was denied."They threatened to have me thrown out of the recount because I raised certain questions," Lewin said. "We felt we had a right to look at the machines. You can't look at the ballot in isolation of the ballot assembly."
Ohio Justice throws out election challenge
Associated Press, 12/16
Ohio election officials obstruct recount, say Greens
Press release, Green Party, 12/17
"Ohio election officials are violating both the spirit and the letter of the law governing the recount," said Cobb-LaMarche Media Director Blair Bobier.In two counties, Monroe and Fairfield, election officials have refused to do a full hand recount, as required under Ohio election law, when hand and machine tallies don't match. They instead have opted to get new machines to count the votes.In the vast majority of counties, election officials have pre-selected precincts to be sampled, rather than chosen them randomly, as required by law. In Cuyahoga County, the pre-selection of precincts eliminated those which reported the most problems on Election Day, thwarting the intent of the recount and raising serious concerns about the integrity of the process.
Kerry, Bush pick up votes in Ohio
Associated Press, 12/17
"Please, please, please, count all the votes"
The Plain Dealer [Cleveland], 12/17
Election challenge refiled by activists
Associated Press, 12/18
“Everyone felt better” after technician “repeated a repair”
Associated Press, 12/20
Election official “must have mis-heard” about patch installed on computer
Wired, 12/20
Votes ought to be counted
Editorial, The New York Times, 12/20
[compiled by UnknownNews.net]
Military has access to student records
The privacy form, which also includes other disclosure information, goes to all public school students across the state. Many schools have sent the form out; at others, it is making its way to homes this week.
The form has been sent out for years as part of routine DOE information gathering to be used in the release of such things as honors and awards.
But this is only the second year that it has included the notice of potential disclosure to the military.
The form has been sent out for years as part of routine DOE information gathering to be used in the release of such things as honors and awards.
But this is only the second year that it has included the notice of potential disclosure to the military.
At Guantanamo, a Prison Within a Prison
The buildings used by the CIA are shrouded by high fences covered with thick green mesh plastic and ringed with floodlights, officials said. They sit within the larger Camp Echo complex, which was erected to house the Defense Department's high-value detainees and those awaiting military trials on terrorism charges.
The facility has housed detainees from Pakistan, West Africa, Yemen and other countries under the strictest secrecy, the sources said. "People are constantly leaving and coming," said one U.S. official who visited the base in recent months. It is unclear whether the facility is still in operation today. The CIA and the Defense Department declined to comment.
The facility has housed detainees from Pakistan, West Africa, Yemen and other countries under the strictest secrecy, the sources said. "People are constantly leaving and coming," said one U.S. official who visited the base in recent months. It is unclear whether the facility is still in operation today. The CIA and the Defense Department declined to comment.
Climate Change Denial: A Note to Journalists
A recent survey of peer-reviewed studies published in Science magazine found no respected research debunking human-related activities as a major cause of climate change.
“The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change” Science Magazine (Vol 306, Issue 5702, 1686 , 3 December 2004)
Even the Bush administration’s 2002 report on climate change made this point clear.
“Greenhouse gasses are accumulating in the Earth’s atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing global mean surface air temperature and subsurface ocean temperature to rise”
US Climate Action Report (U.S. Department of State, May 2002)
The confusion in the public’s mind comes largely from a privately financed public relations campaign sponsored, at least in part, by petroleum interests.
The funding and intentions of this campaign became clear on May 28, 2003, when The New York Times broke the story. The paper discovered the following:
"Exxon now gives more than $1 million a year to such organizations, which include the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Frontiers of Freedom, the George C. Marshall Institute, the American Council for Capital Formation Center for Policy Research and the American Legislative Exchange Council."
"Exxon's publicly disclosed documents reveal that donations to many of these organizations increased by more than 50 percent from 2000 to 2002."
“Exxon Backs Groups That Question Global Warming” Jennifer Lee, New York Times, May 28, 2003
Much like the “scientists” hired by the tobacco industry to find that cigarette smoke had no connection with lung cancer, these groups represent a well-funded effort to confuse the public about the science, risks, and severity of climate change.
“The Scientific Consensus on Climate Change” Science Magazine (Vol 306, Issue 5702, 1686 , 3 December 2004)
Even the Bush administration’s 2002 report on climate change made this point clear.
“Greenhouse gasses are accumulating in the Earth’s atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing global mean surface air temperature and subsurface ocean temperature to rise”
US Climate Action Report (U.S. Department of State, May 2002)
The confusion in the public’s mind comes largely from a privately financed public relations campaign sponsored, at least in part, by petroleum interests.
The funding and intentions of this campaign became clear on May 28, 2003, when The New York Times broke the story. The paper discovered the following:
"Exxon now gives more than $1 million a year to such organizations, which include the Competitive Enterprise Institute, Frontiers of Freedom, the George C. Marshall Institute, the American Council for Capital Formation Center for Policy Research and the American Legislative Exchange Council."
"Exxon's publicly disclosed documents reveal that donations to many of these organizations increased by more than 50 percent from 2000 to 2002."
“Exxon Backs Groups That Question Global Warming” Jennifer Lee, New York Times, May 28, 2003
Much like the “scientists” hired by the tobacco industry to find that cigarette smoke had no connection with lung cancer, these groups represent a well-funded effort to confuse the public about the science, risks, and severity of climate change.
US Meat Plants Violating Mad Cow Rules-Inspectors
U.S. meat plants are allowing brains and spinal cord from older cattle to enter the food supply, violating strict government regulations aimed at preventing the spread of mad cow disease, a federal meat inspectors union said on Monday.
Nearly a year after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, meat plants have yet to implement measures required by the U.S. Agriculture Department to protect consumers, said the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals.
"We are seeing little to no change at these plants," said Stan Painter, the union's chairman.
Nearly a year after the first U.S. case of mad cow disease, meat plants have yet to implement measures required by the U.S. Agriculture Department to protect consumers, said the National Joint Council of Food Inspection Locals.
"We are seeing little to no change at these plants," said Stan Painter, the union's chairman.
Medicated Humans Setting Off Radiation Detectors
Cat litter, granite and truckloads of porcelain toilets headed for Home Depot and Lowes are setting off radiation alarms. And they're not remotely as "hot" as the humans.
With the explosion of nuclear medicine, physicians are giving radioactive drugs to people an estimated 20 million times a year. For a few days to several weeks those people are emitting gamma rays, beta particles or X-rays that can radiate beyond the walls of cars, buses and subway trains to reach the attention of anti-terror authorities.
With the explosion of nuclear medicine, physicians are giving radioactive drugs to people an estimated 20 million times a year. For a few days to several weeks those people are emitting gamma rays, beta particles or X-rays that can radiate beyond the walls of cars, buses and subway trains to reach the attention of anti-terror authorities.
Vote for Grinch of the Year
US threatens UN agency funds over report
The lead writer of a U.N. report on freedom and governance in the Arab world said on Saturday the United States was threatening to cut off funds to a U.N. agency if the United Nations releases it.
Nader Fergani, the Egyptian social scientist who has worked on the last three Arab Human Development Reports, told Reuters defying the United States could cost the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) about $100 million a year.
U.S. officials have denied trying to delay or suppress the report, which was originally due to come out in October. But U.N. officials said parts are being rewritten after the United States and some Arab governments asked for changes.
Fergani said the United States had already penalised UNDP by $12 million because it did not like the previous report.
Nader Fergani, the Egyptian social scientist who has worked on the last three Arab Human Development Reports, told Reuters defying the United States could cost the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) about $100 million a year.
U.S. officials have denied trying to delay or suppress the report, which was originally due to come out in October. But U.N. officials said parts are being rewritten after the United States and some Arab governments asked for changes.
Fergani said the United States had already penalised UNDP by $12 million because it did not like the previous report.
Saudi Arabia to Join Kyoto Protocol
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, on Monday approved the Kyoto protocol on climate change, the offial SPA agency reported.
The cabinet took the decision and "a royal decree has been prepared to this effect," the agency said.
The United States and Australia are the only two main industrialised nations not to have signed the treaty which seeks to control greenhouse gas emissions thought to be responsible for global warming, due to come into force in February.
The cabinet took the decision and "a royal decree has been prepared to this effect," the agency said.
The United States and Australia are the only two main industrialised nations not to have signed the treaty which seeks to control greenhouse gas emissions thought to be responsible for global warming, due to come into force in February.
Pennsylvania Parents File First-Ever Challenge to “Intelligent Design” Instruction in Public School
"Teaching students about religion’s role in world history and culture is proper, but disguising a particular religious belief as science is not," said ACLU of Pennsylvania Legal Director Witold Walczak. "Intelligent design is a Trojan Horse for bringing religious creationism back into public school science classes."
*Evidence of Bush Directly Authorizing Torture
The two-page e-mail that references an Executive Order states that the President directly authorized interrogation techniques including sleep deprivation, stress positions, the use of military dogs, and "sensory deprivation through the use of hoods, etc." The ACLU is urging the White House to confirm or deny the existence of such an order and immediately to release the order if it exists. The FBI e-mail, which was sent in May 2004 from "On Scene Commander--Baghdad" to a handful of senior FBI officials, notes that the FBI has prohibited its agents from employing the techniques that the President is said to have authorized.
Auditors Say That Government's Records Are So Inadequate They Cannot Be Evaluated, but Bush Official Cites Progress
The U.S. government's financial record-keeping is so inadequate that congressional auditors said last week that they could not determine whether the federal books meet generally accepted accounting principles.
It was the eighth fiscal year in a row that the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, was unable to provide a definitive opinion on the quality of the federal government's consolidated financial statements.
It was the eighth fiscal year in a row that the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, was unable to provide a definitive opinion on the quality of the federal government's consolidated financial statements.
Google plugs desktop search hole
They managed to trick the Google desktop search program into inserting those results into other web pages where an attacker could read them. This would only work after a user had visited an attacker's website, upon which a Java program (as created by the Rice group) would be able to fool the Google desktop software into providing the user's search information. The program was able to do anything with the results, including transmitting them back to the attacking site.
...According to a statement from the web search company on Monday, it has rolled out a fix for the vulnerability that a US computer scientist and two of his students found in the tool in late November.
...According to a statement from the web search company on Monday, it has rolled out a fix for the vulnerability that a US computer scientist and two of his students found in the tool in late November.
ISP wins $1 billion in spam suit
Robert Kramer, who owns CIS Internet Services, sued 300 spammers after his servers received up to 10 million spam e-mails a day in 2000, according to court documents.
"It's definitely a victory for all of us that open up our e-mail and find lewd and malicious and fraudulent e-mail in our boxes every day," Kramer told the Quad-City Times in Davenport.
"It's definitely a victory for all of us that open up our e-mail and find lewd and malicious and fraudulent e-mail in our boxes every day," Kramer told the Quad-City Times in Davenport.
Anti-Gay Activists Target Gay Employees
I received this same email from Alan Keyes and Larry Klayman. -McLir
The email includes:
"What I'm talking about is that homosexuals who work for American companies, in increasing numbers, are demanding and getting the same benefits for their "partners" as a legally-married husband and wife.
In fact, a homosexual 'partner' can move in on Sunday and begin getting benefits on Monday! And these FREE benefits include free healthcare, bereavement and family leave benefits, free life insurance, the use of fitness facilities, AND sick leave. And to be "fair," these companies sometimes (not always!) extend the same benefits to live-in boyfriends and girlfriends of heterosexuals, too.
BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, MY FRIEND, IT WAS -- AND IS -- THE RADICAL HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVISTS WHO HAVE PUSHED FOR THESE POLICIES.
Of course, ANY kind of 'equal' treatment for non-married couples sends the message that 'Marriage is no big deal,' and 'Our company sees no value in marriage!'"
So you might think it was just a handful of companies that would act this way.
But NO -- I'm talking about companies YOU deal with all the time! Companies like:
American Express, Procter and Gamble, Bank of America, Barnes & Noble, the stock broker Charles Schwab, Coca-Cola, Compaq Computers, Kodak, Ford Motor Co., JP Morgan Chase, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Levi Strauss & Co., Microsoft, Qwest Communications, Shell Oil Co., Starbucks, The Gap, Inc., Time Warner Co., and Verizon Communications."
The email includes:
"What I'm talking about is that homosexuals who work for American companies, in increasing numbers, are demanding and getting the same benefits for their "partners" as a legally-married husband and wife.
In fact, a homosexual 'partner' can move in on Sunday and begin getting benefits on Monday! And these FREE benefits include free healthcare, bereavement and family leave benefits, free life insurance, the use of fitness facilities, AND sick leave. And to be "fair," these companies sometimes (not always!) extend the same benefits to live-in boyfriends and girlfriends of heterosexuals, too.
BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, MY FRIEND, IT WAS -- AND IS -- THE RADICAL HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVISTS WHO HAVE PUSHED FOR THESE POLICIES.
Of course, ANY kind of 'equal' treatment for non-married couples sends the message that 'Marriage is no big deal,' and 'Our company sees no value in marriage!'"
So you might think it was just a handful of companies that would act this way.
But NO -- I'm talking about companies YOU deal with all the time! Companies like:
American Express, Procter and Gamble, Bank of America, Barnes & Noble, the stock broker Charles Schwab, Coca-Cola, Compaq Computers, Kodak, Ford Motor Co., JP Morgan Chase, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Levi Strauss & Co., Microsoft, Qwest Communications, Shell Oil Co., Starbucks, The Gap, Inc., Time Warner Co., and Verizon Communications."
Frontline: Secret History of the Credit Card
Even if you make your credit card payments on time, the credit card bank can raise your interest rate automatically if you're late on payments elsewhere -- such as on another credit card or on a phone, car, or house payment -- or simply because the bank feels you have taken on too much debt.
This practice is called the "universal default" clause and increasingly is becoming a standard clause in credit card agreements. According to credit card executives, the logic behind universal default is that the bank is not being unreasonable in raising rates when it has reason to believe that the risk of being repaid by the customer has increased. [Note: Credit card banks can now easily track your everyday financial activities and monitor your credit score -- see below.]
There is no limit on the amount a credit card company can charge a cardholder for being even an hour late with a payment.
In 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court in Smiley vs. Citibank lifted the existing restrictions on late penalty fees. Back then, fees ran to $5 or $10, and usually did not exceed $15. After the Court's decision, fees soared, reaching upwards of $30. Since then, the amount of revenue the companies generate from fees (including late charges, over-the-limit fees, and charges for returned checks) has doubled. Duncan MacDonald, one of the lawyers who worked on the Smiley case, predicts penalty fees could rise to $50 in another year.
[much more at Frontline site]
This practice is called the "universal default" clause and increasingly is becoming a standard clause in credit card agreements. According to credit card executives, the logic behind universal default is that the bank is not being unreasonable in raising rates when it has reason to believe that the risk of being repaid by the customer has increased. [Note: Credit card banks can now easily track your everyday financial activities and monitor your credit score -- see below.]
There is no limit on the amount a credit card company can charge a cardholder for being even an hour late with a payment.
In 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court in Smiley vs. Citibank lifted the existing restrictions on late penalty fees. Back then, fees ran to $5 or $10, and usually did not exceed $15. After the Court's decision, fees soared, reaching upwards of $30. Since then, the amount of revenue the companies generate from fees (including late charges, over-the-limit fees, and charges for returned checks) has doubled. Duncan MacDonald, one of the lawyers who worked on the Smiley case, predicts penalty fees could rise to $50 in another year.
[much more at Frontline site]
*American Torture
"Request for guidance regarding the OGC's EC regarding detainee abuse, referring to 'interrogation techniques made lawful' by the 'President's Executive Order.'" comes from Records Released in Response to Torture FOIA Request.
Smoking Gun ? asks the ACLU--or just another stepping stone from Torture's Path ? As Ex-Military Lawyers Object to Bush Cabinet Nominee, and in Torture begins at the top, Joe Conason suggests that a recently disclosed FBI memo indicates that "marching orders" to abandon traditional interrogation methods came from Defense Secretary Rumsfeld himself and all the while Guantánamo torture and humiliation still going on, says shackled Briton.
According to some, Moral values apply to torture, too, and Christians must oppose torture. Meanwhile, the ACLU reports U.S. Marines Engaged in Mock Executions of Iraqi Juveniles and Other Forms of Abuse and Special Ops Task Force Threatened Government Agents Who Saw Detainee Abuse in Iraq. And as Torture and terrorism suggests, even the Religious News Service is beginning to squirm: "There is no indication among top Bush administration officials, including the president himself, that there are either suitable feelings of guilt or a willingness to assume responsibility for the acts..." [from MetaFilter.com]
Smoking Gun ? asks the ACLU--or just another stepping stone from Torture's Path ? As Ex-Military Lawyers Object to Bush Cabinet Nominee, and in Torture begins at the top, Joe Conason suggests that a recently disclosed FBI memo indicates that "marching orders" to abandon traditional interrogation methods came from Defense Secretary Rumsfeld himself and all the while Guantánamo torture and humiliation still going on, says shackled Briton.
According to some, Moral values apply to torture, too, and Christians must oppose torture. Meanwhile, the ACLU reports U.S. Marines Engaged in Mock Executions of Iraqi Juveniles and Other Forms of Abuse and Special Ops Task Force Threatened Government Agents Who Saw Detainee Abuse in Iraq. And as Torture and terrorism suggests, even the Religious News Service is beginning to squirm: "There is no indication among top Bush administration officials, including the president himself, that there are either suitable feelings of guilt or a willingness to assume responsibility for the acts..." [from MetaFilter.com]
What is The Hum?
Some residents of Taos, New Mexico suffer from it, and it seems to happen elsewhere, too. Listen to it here and here (.wav files, and not actually very dramatic). No one knows quite what the hum is, and even refutations don't really work. There are some "scientific" explanations, but The Hum Remains mysterious and sinister. [from MetaFilter.com]
Technically speaking, is it a `fetus' or is it an `unborn child'?
The Washington Post, in its Sunday story on the Peterson verdict, used the term "unborn child." The New York Times used both "unborn child" and "fetus." The Associated Press referred at one point to "the son she [Laci Peterson] was carrying" and in another to the "fetus." The Tribune was consistent in using "fetus."
Randy Weissman, deputy managing editor/operations, noted that that was consistent with the guideline in the Tribune's current stylebook.
However, a new edition of the stylebook, scheduled for publication shortly, will permit the use of "unborn child" when the fetus is in the third trimester of gestation.
Randy Weissman, deputy managing editor/operations, noted that that was consistent with the guideline in the Tribune's current stylebook.
However, a new edition of the stylebook, scheduled for publication shortly, will permit the use of "unborn child" when the fetus is in the third trimester of gestation.
Monday, December 20, 2004
Bill Moyers bids farewell to television
Although Moyers is nominally retiring -- he and his wife of 50 years, Judith Davidson Moyers, will continue to produce documentaries -- it is doubtful he will go silent. A day after the telephone interview from his Manhattan production studio, he sent a draft by e-mail of his final remarks on "Now." In the note that accompanied the draft, Moyers continued to circle like a warplane, pumping round after round into its intended targets.
"I learned the hard way an old lesson that the greatest moments in the history of the press came not when journalists made common cause with the state but when they stood fearlessly independent of it," he said. "Now we have those megamedia companies that won't speak truth to power and an ideological media that willingly lies for power. Scary!"
"I learned the hard way an old lesson that the greatest moments in the history of the press came not when journalists made common cause with the state but when they stood fearlessly independent of it," he said. "Now we have those megamedia companies that won't speak truth to power and an ideological media that willingly lies for power. Scary!"
Ohio election-fraud case rejected over unusual technicality
[T]he 40 voters who brought the case likely will be able to refile the challenge.
Chief Justice Thomas Moyer ruled that the request improperly challenged two separate election results. Ohio law allows only one race to be challenged in a single complaint, he said.
...The challenge before Moyer included the results of the presidential race and of Moyer's race against a Cleveland municipal judge.
Chief Justice Thomas Moyer ruled that the request improperly challenged two separate election results. Ohio law allows only one race to be challenged in a single complaint, he said.
...The challenge before Moyer included the results of the presidential race and of Moyer's race against a Cleveland municipal judge.
Canada Consider Sharia Law in Family Disputes
“The Arbitration Act should continue to allow disputes to be arbitrated using religious law,” Ms. Boyd recommends in her report to the Ontario government.
She was appointed to study the issue after the Islamic Institute for Civil Justice requested the right to offer religious-based arbitrations for family disputes based on sharia, the code of Islamic law.
The proposal ran into opposition from women's groups, legal organizations and the Muslim Canadian Congress, who all warned that the 1,400-year-old sharia does not view women as equal.
She was appointed to study the issue after the Islamic Institute for Civil Justice requested the right to offer religious-based arbitrations for family disputes based on sharia, the code of Islamic law.
The proposal ran into opposition from women's groups, legal organizations and the Muslim Canadian Congress, who all warned that the 1,400-year-old sharia does not view women as equal.
Fire destroys cabin that inspired B-52's 'Love Shack'
Mats Sexton, author of "The B-52's Universe," said Pierson talked to him of her former house. "I remember Kate telling me about how many of the early songs were jammed on in the cabin, things like the sea creature sounds in `Rock Lobster' and many different guitar riffs and assorted lyrics," Sexton told the Athens Banner-Herald. "She spoke very fondly of that little place. In many ways, I think it was a symbolic part of the song `Love Shack."'
Lightning on Saturn '1 million times stronger' than on Earth
New data from the Cassini spacecraft shows that lightning on the ringed planet is a million times stronger than on Earth. But even terrestrial lightning can deliver between 100 million and one billion volts of electricity. Scientists compared the strengths of Earth and Saturnian lightning by detecting its radio signals. Cassini, the NASA probe currently orbiting Saturn, picked up radio signals from Earth lightning as far out as 89,200 kilometres. But as the spacecraft approached Saturn last July, it started detecting lightning signals at a point about 161 million kilometres from the planet.
Bush Prepares For Possible GPS Shutdown
President Bush has ordered plans for temporarily disabling the U.S. network of global positioning satellites during a national crisis to prevent terrorists from using the navigational technology, the White House said Wednesday.
Any shutdown of the network inside the United States would come under only the most remarkable circumstances, said a Bush administration official who spoke to a small group of reporters at the White House on condition of anonymity.
Any shutdown of the network inside the United States would come under only the most remarkable circumstances, said a Bush administration official who spoke to a small group of reporters at the White House on condition of anonymity.
*Rumsfeld gave "marching orders" for torture, then lied about it
The documents also show that officers from the CIA, the FBI and the Defense Intelligence Agency lodged "heated" objections to the abusive methods of interrogation used by the military, denouncing them in previously secret memoranda as not only unethical but useless and destructive.
..."We had also met with Generals Dunlevy and Miller explaining our position (Law Enforcement Techniques) vs. DoD [Department of Defense].Both agreed the Bureau has their way of doing business and DoD has their marching orders from the SecDef [Secretary of Defense]."
..."We had also met with Generals Dunlevy and Miller explaining our position (Law Enforcement Techniques) vs. DoD [Department of Defense].Both agreed the Bureau has their way of doing business and DoD has their marching orders from the SecDef [Secretary of Defense]."
Krugman: Privatization could wreck Social Security system
Right now, the revenues from the payroll tax exceed the amount paid out in benefits. This is deliberate, the result of a payroll tax increase - recommended by none other than Alan Greenspan - 20 years ago. His justification at the time for raising a tax that falls mainly on lower- and middle-income families, even though Ronald Reagan had just cut the taxes that fall mainly on the well-off, was that the extra revenue was needed to build up a trust fund. This could be drawn on to pay benefits once the baby boomers began to retire.
The grain of truth in claims of a Social Security crisis is that this tax increase wasn't quite big enough. Projections in a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office say that the trust fund will run out in 2052. The system won't become "bankrupt" at that point; even after the trust fund is gone, Social Security revenues will cover 81 percent of the promised benefits. Still, there is a long-run financing problem.
But it's a problem of modest size. The report finds that extending the life of the trust fund into the 22nd century, with no change in benefits, would require additional revenues equal to only 0.54 percent of gross domestic product. That's less than 3 percent of federal spending - less than we're currently spending in Iraq. And it's only about one-quarter of the revenue lost each year because of President Bush's tax cuts.
The grain of truth in claims of a Social Security crisis is that this tax increase wasn't quite big enough. Projections in a recent report by the Congressional Budget Office say that the trust fund will run out in 2052. The system won't become "bankrupt" at that point; even after the trust fund is gone, Social Security revenues will cover 81 percent of the promised benefits. Still, there is a long-run financing problem.
But it's a problem of modest size. The report finds that extending the life of the trust fund into the 22nd century, with no change in benefits, would require additional revenues equal to only 0.54 percent of gross domestic product. That's less than 3 percent of federal spending - less than we're currently spending in Iraq. And it's only about one-quarter of the revenue lost each year because of President Bush's tax cuts.
Think Tanker Masquerades as "Regular Folk" to Shill for Social Security "Reform"
When White House Budget Director Joshua B. Bolten introduced a "single mom" from Iowa to promote President Bush's plan to dismantle Social Security, she was presented as one of the "regular folks" in favor of private savings accounts. But Sandra Jaques, who addressed a White House economics conference on Thursday, "is not any random single mother," the New York Times' Edmund Andrews wrote. "She is the Iowa state director of a conservative advocacy group, FreedomWorks, whose founders are Jack F. Kemp, the former vice-presidential nominee, and Dick Armey, the former House Republican leader." FreedomWorks was formed by a merger in July 2004 of Citizens for a Sound Economy and Empower America. The American Prospect's Matthew Yglesias points out how a "little incidental dishonesty slip by" in Andrews' "otherwise excellent" article. Recently, the Times' Paul Krugman thought explaining the manufactured Social Security crisis was so important that he took "a break from my break" to debunk the hype: "Social Security is a government program that works, a demonstration that a modest amount of taxing and spending can make people's lives better and more secure. And that's why the right wants to destroy it."
Top 10 Net Hoaxes / Urban Legends of 2004
Unsurprisingly, the threat of terrorism and the conflict in Iraq figured prominently in the Netlore of 2004, alongside more "evergreen" topics such as sex, missing children, uncanny images and, of course, free money. In a somewhat less predictable result, the Top 10 wound up almost entirely free of political content despite a veritable tsunami of rumormongering in connection with the U.S. presidential election during the latter half of the year. Netlore aficionados will note that several of the items on the list, though long since debunked, are holdovers from previous years, proving yet again that "the truth never stands in the way of a good story."
Pfizer To Keep Celebrex On Market, But Stop Ads
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which said Friday it was considering warning labels for Celebrex or withdrawing the drug from the U.S. market, agreed with Pfizer's decision to halt advertising.
The move covers television, radio, newspaper and magazine advertising, Pfizer spokeswoman Mariann Caprino said.
"We discussed it with the FDA, and we all concurred that it was the appropriate step," Caprino told The New York Times.
The move covers television, radio, newspaper and magazine advertising, Pfizer spokeswoman Mariann Caprino said.
"We discussed it with the FDA, and we all concurred that it was the appropriate step," Caprino told The New York Times.
Liza Featherstone: Down and Out in Discount America
On the day after Thanksgiving, the biggest shopping day of the year, Wal-Mart's many progressive critics--not to mention its business competitors--finally enjoyed a bit of schadenfreude when the retailer had to admit to "disappointing" sales. The problem was quickly revealed: Wal-Mart hadn't been discounting aggressively enough. Without low prices, Wal-Mart just isn't Wal-Mart.
That's not a mistake the big-box behemoth is likely to make again. Wal-Mart knows its customers, and it knows how badly they need the discounts. Like Wal-Mart's workers, its customers are overwhelmingly female, and struggling to make ends meet. Betty Dukes, the lead plaintiff in Dukes v. Wal-Mart, the landmark sex-discrimination case against the company, points out that Wal-Mart takes out ads in her local paper the same day the community's poorest citizens collect their welfare checks. "They are promoting themselves to low-income people," she says. "That's who they lure. They don't lure the rich.... They understand the economy of America. They know the haves and have-nots. They don't put Wal-Mart in Piedmonts. They don't put Wal-Mart in those high-end parts of the community. They plant themselves right in the middle of Poorville."
That's not a mistake the big-box behemoth is likely to make again. Wal-Mart knows its customers, and it knows how badly they need the discounts. Like Wal-Mart's workers, its customers are overwhelmingly female, and struggling to make ends meet. Betty Dukes, the lead plaintiff in Dukes v. Wal-Mart, the landmark sex-discrimination case against the company, points out that Wal-Mart takes out ads in her local paper the same day the community's poorest citizens collect their welfare checks. "They are promoting themselves to low-income people," she says. "That's who they lure. They don't lure the rich.... They understand the economy of America. They know the haves and have-nots. They don't put Wal-Mart in Piedmonts. They don't put Wal-Mart in those high-end parts of the community. They plant themselves right in the middle of Poorville."
Genetically Modified Glowing Fish
Singaporean scientists genetically modify zebra fish to detect water pollutants by turning fluorescent. An American company realizes there's a consumer market for novelty glow-in-the-dark fish, and starts selling the US's first genetically modified pet. While the FDA, which oversees GM animals, 'finds no reason to regulate', California's Fish and Game Commission bans sales in the state over ethical concerns, and a coalition of watchdog groups files suit to support a national ban.
A year later, GloFish are still on sale, and California's reconsidering its sales block. With the first GM pet quietly swimming into homes, and others (like hypo-allergenic cats) close behind, are we ready for a designer pet invasion? [from MetaFilter.com]
A year later, GloFish are still on sale, and California's reconsidering its sales block. With the first GM pet quietly swimming into homes, and others (like hypo-allergenic cats) close behind, are we ready for a designer pet invasion? [from MetaFilter.com]
Spaniards to Lose Siesta
For centuries in Spain, heading home mid-afternoon for lunch and a snooze was regarded as something of a national right.
Long days at work and late nights with friends have always been common here.
Spaniards used to take a siesta to make it all more manageable.
But the country's corporate culture now spurns the idea of daytime dozing as being unproductive, and the siesta is fast becoming an endangered institution.
Long days at work and late nights with friends have always been common here.
Spaniards used to take a siesta to make it all more manageable.
But the country's corporate culture now spurns the idea of daytime dozing as being unproductive, and the siesta is fast becoming an endangered institution.
*Vote Machine Employee in Ohio Dismantles Machine before Recount
As a statewide election recount got underway in Ohio last week, a Democratic congressman called on the FBI to impound vote-tabulating computers in at least one county and investigate suspicions of election tampering in the state.
Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan), ranking Democrat of the House Judiciary Committee, sought the investigation after an Ohio election official disclosed in an affidavit (.pdf) that an employee of Triad Governmental Systems, the company that wrote voting software used with punch-card machines in 41 of Ohio's 88 counties, dismantled Hocking County's tabulation computer days before the recount and "put a patch on it."
Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan), ranking Democrat of the House Judiciary Committee, sought the investigation after an Ohio election official disclosed in an affidavit (.pdf) that an employee of Triad Governmental Systems, the company that wrote voting software used with punch-card machines in 41 of Ohio's 88 counties, dismantled Hocking County's tabulation computer days before the recount and "put a patch on it."
Survey finds support for restricting Muslim-Americans' freedoms
Nearly one in two Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict civil liberties for Muslim-Americans, according to a nationwide Cornell University poll on terrorism fears.
The survey also found respondents who identified themselves as highly religious supported restrictions on Muslim-Americans more strongly than those less religious.
Curtailing civil liberties for Muslim-Americans also was supported more by Republicans than Democrats, the survey found.
The amount of attention paid to TV news also had a bearing on how strongly a respondent favored restrictions.
The survey also found respondents who identified themselves as highly religious supported restrictions on Muslim-Americans more strongly than those less religious.
Curtailing civil liberties for Muslim-Americans also was supported more by Republicans than Democrats, the survey found.
The amount of attention paid to TV news also had a bearing on how strongly a respondent favored restrictions.
Vatican to Teach Satanism and Exorcism
The seminar, entitled "Exorcism and prayers of liberation," would seek to remedy the clergy's problems in dealing with "such delicate themes."
The courses, starting in February, will deal with demonology, the presence of the notion of the devil in sacred texts, and the pathology and medical treatment of people suffering from possession.
The courses, starting in February, will deal with demonology, the presence of the notion of the devil in sacred texts, and the pathology and medical treatment of people suffering from possession.
Friday, December 17, 2004
Iraqi's File Suit Against Rumsfeld in Germany
The Pentagon expressed concern Monday over a criminal complaint filed in Germany against US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, warning that "frivolous lawsuits" could affect the broader US-German relationship.
The complaint was filed in Berlin November 30 by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Berlin's Republican Lawyers' Association on behalf of four Iraqis who were alleged to have been mistreated by US soldiers. [from JuanCole.com]
The complaint was filed in Berlin November 30 by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Berlin's Republican Lawyers' Association on behalf of four Iraqis who were alleged to have been mistreated by US soldiers. [from JuanCole.com]
Australia accepts Iraqi refugees from Nauru
Australia has accepted a group of Iraqi refugees from Nauru after a recent review found their home country not conducive to return. The UN refugee agency has welcomed this move, and urged the Canberra government to grant complementary protection to the rest of the group until the situation improves in Iraq.
For background on Nauru, listen to this great story from This American Life
For background on Nauru, listen to this great story from This American Life
Top Science Stories of the Year
The conclusive discovery by a pair of wheeled robots that Mars once had vast pools of water and possibly could have harbored life was chosen by the editors of the journal Science as the most important scientific achievement of 2004.
NASA's two Mars rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, landed on the Red Planet early in 2004 and have since found clear and conclusive evidence that Mars was drenched with water at some time in its history.
NASA's two Mars rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, landed on the Red Planet early in 2004 and have since found clear and conclusive evidence that Mars was drenched with water at some time in its history.
Unit's vehicles all had armor within day of soldier's query
The generals said it was part of routine, pre-deployment preparations in Kuwait before the unit proceeded into Iraq.
''When the question was asked, 20 vehicles remained to be up-armored at that point,'' Speakes said at a Pentagon briefing. ''We completed those 20 vehicles in the next day. ... In other words, we completed all the armoring within 24 hours of the time the question was asked.''
''When the question was asked, 20 vehicles remained to be up-armored at that point,'' Speakes said at a Pentagon briefing. ''We completed those 20 vehicles in the next day. ... In other words, we completed all the armoring within 24 hours of the time the question was asked.''
Margaret Atwood to be on Studio 360 this Weekend
COVER STORY: Biology
Kurt Andersen talks with novelist Margaret Atwood about how biology grabs headlines -- and the imagination of artists. They discuss Atwood’s childhood among scientists, and her most recent novel, Oryx and Crake, in which biotech runs amok with catastrophic consequences.
The daughter of an entomologist, Margaret Atwood grew up in the woods of Canada. She is the author of more than 25 books of fiction, poetry, and essays, including The Handmaid's Tale, Alias Grace, and The Blind Assassin, which won the Booker Prize.
LISTEN TO THIS WEEK'S SHOW
Includes interview with Richard Dawkins
Kurt Andersen talks with novelist Margaret Atwood about how biology grabs headlines -- and the imagination of artists. They discuss Atwood’s childhood among scientists, and her most recent novel, Oryx and Crake, in which biotech runs amok with catastrophic consequences.
The daughter of an entomologist, Margaret Atwood grew up in the woods of Canada. She is the author of more than 25 books of fiction, poetry, and essays, including The Handmaid's Tale, Alias Grace, and The Blind Assassin, which won the Booker Prize.
LISTEN TO THIS WEEK'S SHOW
Includes interview with Richard Dawkins
U.S. and Russian Nuclear Missiles are Still on Hair-Trigger Alert
"The security of both nations should not be dependent on the heroic act or good judgment of a single individual," said Sam Nunn, the former senator from Georgia.
Long active in anti-proliferation efforts such as the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Nunn is leading a campaign to persuade U.S. and Russian leaders to take their thousands of strategic nuclear warheads off hair-trigger alert, a status that remains in effect more than a decade after the Cold War ended.
Long active in anti-proliferation efforts such as the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Nunn is leading a campaign to persuade U.S. and Russian leaders to take their thousands of strategic nuclear warheads off hair-trigger alert, a status that remains in effect more than a decade after the Cold War ended.
Pentagon Proposes Loosening Its Environmental Policy
A draft of the proposal, which would replace a 1996 directive, eliminates the Pentagon's vow to "display environmental security leadership within DOD activities worldwide." It stresses, instead, the "national defense mission."
The new proposal replaces a list of concrete responsibilities with vague guidance to the military about how to prevent pollution and guarantee compliance with federal and international laws.
The new proposal replaces a list of concrete responsibilities with vague guidance to the military about how to prevent pollution and guarantee compliance with federal and international laws.
*Wikipedia: 2004 U.S. presidential election controversy, exit polls
After the 2004 U.S. presidential election there were allegations of data irregularities and systematic flaws which may have affected the outcome of both the presidential and local elections. Unofficial results currently indicate a victory by George W. Bush over John Kerry. Allegations range from significant exit poll and other data irregularities potentially characteristic of fraud, to complaints voting was not conducted equally for all citizens, for example, uneven voting machine distribution which might lead to long voting lines and disenfranchisement.
*Climate change hits bottom line
The WMO reported that the average temperature of the world's surface for 2004 was expected to be 0.44C higher than the mean for the period 1961-1990, making it the fourth hottest year since 1861, just behind 2003, but still well below the all-time record year of 1998.
And this year has been the most expensive ever for the insurance industry in terms of payouts for damage from natural disasters such as hurricanes and typhoons.
Climate change: The evidence and future predictions
At-a-glance According to preliminary figures
And this year has been the most expensive ever for the insurance industry in terms of payouts for damage from natural disasters such as hurricanes and typhoons.
Climate change: The evidence and future predictions
At-a-glance According to preliminary figures
*Bush Uses Contradictory Economic Projections To Support Agenda
Throughout a two-day conference on the economy, President Bush and his allies extolled the virtues of his tax cuts and "pro-growth" policies, which they said have lifted the nation from recession and propelled it well above its international economic competitors. If Washington adheres to the path of fiscal restraint while following the president's tax prescriptions, it was suggested, policymakers could secure powerful economic growth far into the future.
Yet when the subject turned to the nation's legal or Social Security systems, the picture grew suddenly dark. Frivolous lawsuits have hobbled America's businesses and have put them at the mercy of their enlightened overseas competition, administration officials said. As for federal entitlements, a rising tide of retiring baby boomers will inevitably slow economic growth and bankrupt Social Security.
Yet when the subject turned to the nation's legal or Social Security systems, the picture grew suddenly dark. Frivolous lawsuits have hobbled America's businesses and have put them at the mercy of their enlightened overseas competition, administration officials said. As for federal entitlements, a rising tide of retiring baby boomers will inevitably slow economic growth and bankrupt Social Security.
Biometric passports are 'a tall order'
Plans to begin issuing biometric passports next year may fail because the technology isn't good enough, experts have warned.Governments are racing to get the systems up and running before October 2005, a deadline imposed by the US Congress.
In 2002, Congress stated that if countries wished to stay in the US visa waiver scheme they would have to start issuing biometric passports.
In 2002, Congress stated that if countries wished to stay in the US visa waiver scheme they would have to start issuing biometric passports.
Cult Leader's Attempt at Resurrection End Prosaically
Four members of a religious cult that believes in resurrection and eternal life are under investigation for burying their leader alive by sealing him in an underground room and pouring concrete over the entrance.
...Police uncovered yesterday the decomposed body of a 54-year-old man, thought to be the head of the cult. The remains were found in the basement of a social welfare office in Yongin, Gyeonggi province. According to Gyeonggi police, Mr. Song, the cult's leader, is thought to have died several years ago. He was found lying in bed by police. There were no external injuries, so police said they believe he died of starvation.
...Police uncovered yesterday the decomposed body of a 54-year-old man, thought to be the head of the cult. The remains were found in the basement of a social welfare office in Yongin, Gyeonggi province. According to Gyeonggi police, Mr. Song, the cult's leader, is thought to have died several years ago. He was found lying in bed by police. There were no external injuries, so police said they believe he died of starvation.
ClearChannel Subsidiary SFX Buys 85% of Elvis Estate
As well as running Graceland, Presley's home in Memphis, Tennessee, Sillerman will own his name and likeness, the rights to his photographs and revenue from his music, TV shows and films such as "Jailhouse Rock."
The title to Graceland and its surrounding property, including most of Presley's personal effects, will remain with Lisa Marie Presley. Graceland's visitor complex and "Heartbreak Hotel" across the street will be sold.
The title to Graceland and its surrounding property, including most of Presley's personal effects, will remain with Lisa Marie Presley. Graceland's visitor complex and "Heartbreak Hotel" across the street will be sold.
S. Dali + 3 Marxes
From Marx-Out-Of-Print, "a tribute to The Marx Brothers with full reproductions of books and articles from magazines and other publications that are now 'out of print' and hard to find." Dali was a huge fan of Harpo and once gave him a harp strung with barbed wire. He also wrote a script for the Marx Brothers, which was deemed "too surreal." [from MetaFilter.com]
People v. John Perry Barlow
If you haven't read it, please start by reading John Perry Barlow's account of the history of People v. John Perry Barlow, because I don't want to tell the whole story that gave rise to that case here. You would do much better to start off with Barlow's own account, not least because of its account of how John Gilmore bailed him out of jail. (You might also want to see Barlow's collection of legal documents, some of which are alluded to below.)
On Wednesday I went to Superior Court for the hearing on John Perry's motion to suppress. The defense claimed that the search at the airport in 2003 was not "reasonable" and therefore that evidence obtained from it should not be admitted. The Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo, is accustomed to dealing with cases that arose at the San Francisco Airport, but it's not particularly used to constitutional challenges to aviation screening procedures, nor to having multiple camera crews turn out for a single pre-trial evidentiary hearing in a misdemeanor drug possession case.
On Wednesday I went to Superior Court for the hearing on John Perry's motion to suppress. The defense claimed that the search at the airport in 2003 was not "reasonable" and therefore that evidence obtained from it should not be admitted. The Superior Court of California, County of San Mateo, is accustomed to dealing with cases that arose at the San Francisco Airport, but it's not particularly used to constitutional challenges to aviation screening procedures, nor to having multiple camera crews turn out for a single pre-trial evidentiary hearing in a misdemeanor drug possession case.
Eskimo Global Warming Suit Against US Just Tip of Legal Iceberg
The plan by the Inuit people of the Arctic to seek a ruling from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against the United States "for causing global warming and its devastating impacts" is just the tip of the iceberg of planned legal action by a host of different environmental organizations and state attorneys general.
A number of legal filings and complaints are being readied as green groups turn to the courts to seek redress against countries -- chiefly the U.S. -- and companies that environmental activists believe are causing catastrophic global warming.
A number of legal filings and complaints are being readied as green groups turn to the courts to seek redress against countries -- chiefly the U.S. -- and companies that environmental activists believe are causing catastrophic global warming.
Proof of Ohio Election Fraud Exposed
Move over "election irregularities", say hello to "recount irregularites". Hot on the heels of Blackwell's about face on his promise to let the recount proceed unmolested, and a Karen-Silkwood-esque attack on the "recount activist" who broke that story, comes even more damaging allegations concerning the central tabulators. The Kerry-Edwards campaign is nominally on the case, and the NY Times is finally picking up the story. Is American democracy hanging by a thread? [from MetaFilter.com]
US to forgive Iraq’s 4 billion-dollar debt
The administration of US President George W. Bush will agree to write off Iraq’s debts to Washington of 4.1 billion dollars, racked up during the regime of Saddam Hussein.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Treasury Secretary John Snow and Iraq’s Finance Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, according to a State Department statement Thursday, will sign the debt write-off accord in Washington on Friday.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Treasury Secretary John Snow and Iraq’s Finance Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, according to a State Department statement Thursday, will sign the debt write-off accord in Washington on Friday.
The Floating Logos Project
'Floating Logos' is a working title for this project. The images are inspired by signs perched high atop very tall poles in order for people to view them from a very long distance. The poles are digitally removed from the image in order to give the illusion that the signs are disconnected from the ground as they ominously float above us.
Frank Rich: 2004 - The Year of 'The Passion'
Yet if you watch the news and listen to certain politicians, especially since Election Day, you'll hear an ever-growing drumbeat that Christianity is under siege in America. Like Mr. Gibson, the international movie star who portrayed himself as a powerless martyr to a shadowy anti- Christian conspiracy in the run-up to the release of "The Passion," his fellow travelers on the right detect a sinister plot — of secularists, "secular Jews" and "elites" — out to destroy the religion followed by more than four out of every five Americans.
In the latest and most bizarre twist on this theme, even Christmas is now said to be a target of the anti-Christian mob. "Are we going to abolish the word Christmas?" asked Newt Gingrich, warning that "it absolutely can happen here." Among those courageously leading the fight to save the holiday from its enemies is Bill O'Reilly, who has taken to calling the Anti-Defamation League "an extremist group" and put the threat this way: "Remember, more than 90 percent of American homes celebrate Christmas. But the small minority that is trying to impose its will on the majority is so vicious, so dishonest — and has to be dealt with." [thanks to Sharon]
In the latest and most bizarre twist on this theme, even Christmas is now said to be a target of the anti-Christian mob. "Are we going to abolish the word Christmas?" asked Newt Gingrich, warning that "it absolutely can happen here." Among those courageously leading the fight to save the holiday from its enemies is Bill O'Reilly, who has taken to calling the Anti-Defamation League "an extremist group" and put the threat this way: "Remember, more than 90 percent of American homes celebrate Christmas. But the small minority that is trying to impose its will on the majority is so vicious, so dishonest — and has to be dealt with." [thanks to Sharon]
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
"Snapshot" of an electron orbital
Chemistry is all about how electrons move around. Every reaction shifts fuzzy, quantum clouds of electrons from one place to another. So a technique unveiled today, which takes pictures of these clouds, could revolutionize our understanding of the molecules that surround us.
..."The ability to observe a molecular orbital really caught a lot of people by surprise," says David Villeneuve, a physicist from the National Research Council of Canada's Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences in Ottawa. Villeneuve was part of the Canadian and Japanese collaboration that invented the method, described in this week's Nature1. "An approximate take on quantum mechanics tells you that you can't directly observe an orbital, yet we have," he says.
The imaging technique uses extremely short laser pulses to briefly ionize an electron away from a molecule of nitrogen, which is simply two nitrogen atoms stuck together. As they spring back, the electrons emit light that can interfere with the laser pulse in different ways depending on the electron's position and where the laser pulse hit the molecule.
..."The ability to observe a molecular orbital really caught a lot of people by surprise," says David Villeneuve, a physicist from the National Research Council of Canada's Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences in Ottawa. Villeneuve was part of the Canadian and Japanese collaboration that invented the method, described in this week's Nature1. "An approximate take on quantum mechanics tells you that you can't directly observe an orbital, yet we have," he says.
The imaging technique uses extremely short laser pulses to briefly ionize an electron away from a molecule of nitrogen, which is simply two nitrogen atoms stuck together. As they spring back, the electrons emit light that can interfere with the laser pulse in different ways depending on the electron's position and where the laser pulse hit the molecule.
ACLU Reveals Widespread Torture in Iraq
U.S. Navy documents released today by the American Civil Liberties Union reveal that abuse and even torture of detainees by U.S. Marines in Iraq was widespread. One Navy criminal investigator sent an e-mail in June 2004 describing his Iraq caseload "exploding" with "high visibility cases."
"Day after day, new stories of torture are coming to light, and we need to know how these abuses were allowed to happen," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "This kind of widespread abuse could not have taken place without a leadership failure of the highest order."
"Day after day, new stories of torture are coming to light, and we need to know how these abuses were allowed to happen," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "This kind of widespread abuse could not have taken place without a leadership failure of the highest order."
Several Factors Contributed to 'Lost' Voters in Ohio
Electoral problems prevented many thousands of Ohioans from voting on Nov. 2. In Columbus, bipartisan estimates say that 5,000 to 15,000 frustrated voters turned away without casting ballots. It is unlikely that such "lost" voters would have changed the election result -- Ohio tipped to President Bush by a 118,000-vote margin and cemented his electoral college majority.
But similar problems occurred across the state and fueled protest marches and demands for a recount. The foul-ups appeared particularly acute in Democratic-leaning districts, according to interviews with voters, poll workers, election observers and election board and party officials, as well as an examination of precinct voting patterns in several cities.
But similar problems occurred across the state and fueled protest marches and demands for a recount. The foul-ups appeared particularly acute in Democratic-leaning districts, according to interviews with voters, poll workers, election observers and election board and party officials, as well as an examination of precinct voting patterns in several cities.
Telemarketers won't have access to cellular database
There's been plenty of confusion -- and a lot of misinformation -- in recent days as an e-mail works its way around the Internet warning people about a directory of cell phone numbers that will be released to telemarketers on Jan. 1.
Just so you know: The e-mail information is absolutely false.
What's true: A Portland, Ore., company called Qsent will start compiling cell phone numbers for a 411 directory system Jan. 1.
But telemarketers will not have access to the database of cell phone numbers. There is no deadline to register your number on the federal government's do-not-call list. And your name and number will not be added to the database unless you want it to be -- and even then, it won't be listed in a book anywhere and certainly won't be handed over to telemarketers, said Greg Keene, chief privacy officer for Qsent.
Just so you know: The e-mail information is absolutely false.
What's true: A Portland, Ore., company called Qsent will start compiling cell phone numbers for a 411 directory system Jan. 1.
But telemarketers will not have access to the database of cell phone numbers. There is no deadline to register your number on the federal government's do-not-call list. And your name and number will not be added to the database unless you want it to be -- and even then, it won't be listed in a book anywhere and certainly won't be handed over to telemarketers, said Greg Keene, chief privacy officer for Qsent.
New York Art Shuttered After Bush Monkey Portrait
A portrait of President Bush using monkeys to form his image led to the closure of a New York art exhibition over the weekend and anguished protests on Monday over freedom of expression. "Bush Monkeys," a small acrylic on canvas by Chris Savido, created the stir at the Chelsea Market public space, leading the market's managers to close down the 60-piece show that was scheduled to stay up for the next month.
The show featured art from the upcoming issue of Animal Magazine, a quarterly publication featuring emerging artists.
"We had tons of people, like more than 2,000 people show up for the opening on Thursday night," said show organizer Bucky Turco. "Then this manager saw the piece and the guy just kind of flipped out. 'The show is over. Get this work down or I'm gonna arrest you,' he said. It's been kind of wild."
The show featured art from the upcoming issue of Animal Magazine, a quarterly publication featuring emerging artists.
"We had tons of people, like more than 2,000 people show up for the opening on Thursday night," said show organizer Bucky Turco. "Then this manager saw the piece and the guy just kind of flipped out. 'The show is over. Get this work down or I'm gonna arrest you,' he said. It's been kind of wild."
Saudis Advertising the Virtues of Life in Jail
Infamous for the alleged abuses and torture carried out within its walls, the Saudi prison system is hardly the cradle of restorative justice.
During a month-long amnesty earlier this year, when some of the country's most wanted men were told they would not face the death penalty, only four militants turned themselves in.
However, in a new attempt to entice the hunted out of hiding, the authorities this week launched a charm offensive, enlisting the apparently willing help of inmates.
A number of jailed terror suspects appeared on national television promoting prison life, with one - on the list of 26 most-wanted Saudis - saying it was better than being at home.
"I swear to God, they (jailers) are nicer than our parents," said Othman Hadi Al Maqboul al-Amri, who surrendered in June under the royal amnesty.
"We heard things about abuse and persecution that could or could not be believed," another prisoner, Abdul-Rahman al-Ahmari, said on the documentary from al-Hayer reform penitentiary, outside Riyadh. "But I found al-Hayer totally different."
During a month-long amnesty earlier this year, when some of the country's most wanted men were told they would not face the death penalty, only four militants turned themselves in.
However, in a new attempt to entice the hunted out of hiding, the authorities this week launched a charm offensive, enlisting the apparently willing help of inmates.
A number of jailed terror suspects appeared on national television promoting prison life, with one - on the list of 26 most-wanted Saudis - saying it was better than being at home.
"I swear to God, they (jailers) are nicer than our parents," said Othman Hadi Al Maqboul al-Amri, who surrendered in June under the royal amnesty.
"We heard things about abuse and persecution that could or could not be believed," another prisoner, Abdul-Rahman al-Ahmari, said on the documentary from al-Hayer reform penitentiary, outside Riyadh. "But I found al-Hayer totally different."
Biotech Critic Denied Tenure at UC Berkeley
Dr. Ignacio Chapela, whose research revealed contamination of native Mexican corn with genetically engineered DNA, taught his last class at University of California, Berkeley. Chapela was denied tenure at Berkeley, despite "overwhelming support from his own department and from his academic peers," GM Watch founder Jonathan Matthews writes. Chapela had also been a critic of a $25 million research deal between UC Berkeley and the Swiss biotechnology company Novartis (now Syngenta). Chapela supporters believe he is being retaliated against for his criticism of the biotech industry. SpinWatch's Andy Rowell and Matthews exposed how Monsanto's Internet PR company, Bivings Group, was at the very heart of the campaign to vilify Chapela and his research.
Hollywood Wants BitTorrent Dead
In the United States and the United Kingdom, the Motion Picture Association of America, the main lobbying arm of U.S. film studios, filed civil lawsuits against more than 100 operators of BitTorrent "tracker" servers that point to locations where digital files of movies, music and other content can be found.
The MPAA also targeted operators of servers for the eDonkey and Direct Connect networks. The group's actions include criminal complaints and cease-and-desist orders issued to ISPs on four continents. Acting in cooperation with the MPAA, French law enforcement authorities took related action Monday, and actions by authorities in Finland and the Netherlands followed Tuesday.
The MPAA also targeted operators of servers for the eDonkey and Direct Connect networks. The group's actions include criminal complaints and cease-and-desist orders issued to ISPs on four continents. Acting in cooperation with the MPAA, French law enforcement authorities took related action Monday, and actions by authorities in Finland and the Netherlands followed Tuesday.
Mystery of 'chirping' pyramid decoded
A theory that the ancient Mayans built their pyramids to act as giant resonators to produce strange and evocative echoes has been supported by a team of Belgian scientists.
Nico Declercq of Ghent University and his colleagues have shown how sound waves ricocheting around the tiered steps of the El Castillo pyramid, at the Mayan ruin of Chichén Itzá near Cancún in Mexico, create sounds that mimic the chirp of a bird and the patter of raindrops1.
The bird-call effect, which resembles the warble of the Mexican quetzal bird, a sacred animal in Mayan culture, was first recognized by California-based acoustic engineer David Lubman in 1998. The 'chirp' can be triggered by a handclap made at the base of the staircase.
Nico Declercq of Ghent University and his colleagues have shown how sound waves ricocheting around the tiered steps of the El Castillo pyramid, at the Mayan ruin of Chichén Itzá near Cancún in Mexico, create sounds that mimic the chirp of a bird and the patter of raindrops1.
The bird-call effect, which resembles the warble of the Mexican quetzal bird, a sacred animal in Mayan culture, was first recognized by California-based acoustic engineer David Lubman in 1998. The 'chirp' can be triggered by a handclap made at the base of the staircase.
The Flying Colors 2005 Calendar
I just put together a calendar for my place of work -- featuring our ragtag band of screenprinting and embroidery workers.
Optimized for easy printing!
Full of special days!
Featuring the employees of Flying Colors and their amazing stories!
Get your copy now!
http://www.flyingcolorsimprinting.com/
Enjoy,
-- McLir
Optimized for easy printing!
Full of special days!
Featuring the employees of Flying Colors and their amazing stories!
Get your copy now!
http://www.flyingcolorsimprinting.com/
Enjoy,
-- McLir
LEGO Logic Gates
I have now designed working NOT, OR, NOR, AND, and NAND gates. Using two NAND gates I have produced a NAND gate latch or Flip-FLop. The natural follow on from these is clocked logic, full-adders and ultimately a genuine "computer" device.
"Intelligent Design" in the Classroom
"The lawsuits are coming," school board member Angie Yingling said. "It's like being on the Titanic. Everyone seems to see the iceberg, but no one is steering away." The ACLU sued the Dover (Pennsylvania) Area School District today to prevent the district from enacting their recent controversial decision to teach "intelligent design" in the classroom. [from MetaFilter.com]
Finnish police raid BitTorrent site, arrest 34
The Motion Picture Ass. of America (MPAA) today announced (PDF (http://www.mpaa.org/CurrentReleases/2004_12_14_WwdeP2PActions.pdf)) that it is pursuing civil actions against hundreds of server operators of BitTorrent, eDonkey and DirectConnect P2P file-swapping networks, in its war on internet movie piracy.
In addition, the MPAA is co-operating in criminal investigations with police in Finland, the Netherlands and France, so it is reasonable to infer that reports of raids in more European countries are likely to surface shortly.
In addition, the MPAA is co-operating in criminal investigations with police in Finland, the Netherlands and France, so it is reasonable to infer that reports of raids in more European countries are likely to surface shortly.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Top 248 Ways to Annoy People!
...#53. Finish all your sentences with the words, "in accordance with prophecy."
...#102. Never break eye contact.
...#142. Wear your cap backwards and say "Yo, wazzup?" a lot.
...#102. Never break eye contact.
...#142. Wear your cap backwards and say "Yo, wazzup?" a lot.
U.S. government moves to muzzle dissident voices
In an apparent reversal of decades of U.S. practice, recent federal Office of Foreign Assets Control regulations bar American companies from publishing works by dissident writers in countries under sanction unless they first obtain U.S. government approval.
The restriction, condemned by critics as a violation of the First Amendment, means that books and other works banned by some totalitarian regimes cannot be published freely in the United States, a country that prides itself as the international beacon of free expression.
The restriction, condemned by critics as a violation of the First Amendment, means that books and other works banned by some totalitarian regimes cannot be published freely in the United States, a country that prides itself as the international beacon of free expression.
Newborn Almost Taken Away Because both Parents are Blind. Blind People Across the Internet Come to Aid and Kick Butt
When little Rivaldo was born Friday morning, Marco and Adelina Zepeda asked a Sequoia Hospital nurse to arrange for someone to visit their Redwood City apartment over the weekend to visually check on the baby's progress.
After observing the nervous father struggling to diaper the infant, a social worker convinced Marco Zepeda to sign a form authorizing child protective services to take temporary custody of the baby if the couple could not care for him properly.
"This is after 48 hours of no sleep. This was not presented in Mr. Zepeda's native language, and it was not presented in an accessible format, such as Braille," said Margie Donovan of the California Council of the Blind.
After observing the nervous father struggling to diaper the infant, a social worker convinced Marco Zepeda to sign a form authorizing child protective services to take temporary custody of the baby if the couple could not care for him properly.
"This is after 48 hours of no sleep. This was not presented in Mr. Zepeda's native language, and it was not presented in an accessible format, such as Braille," said Margie Donovan of the California Council of the Blind.
Monday, December 13, 2004
The Scope and Variety of Print News Stories on Potential Election Fraud in US
For example:
Some Still Questioning Ohio Vote Count
Protesters pushing for vote recount
Zogby Defense: 'My Polling Was Very, Very Good'
How Dare New York Times Ignore Congressional Hearings on Election Fraud
Startling new revelations highlight rare Congressional hearings on Ohio vote
New Ohio voter transcripts
The One-Two Punch of Racism: Whitewashing the Voter Fraud Issue
Protest calls for election investigation
Protesters say election anomalies ignored
Still not quite the coverage Paris Hilton's dog received.
Some Still Questioning Ohio Vote Count
Protesters pushing for vote recount
Zogby Defense: 'My Polling Was Very, Very Good'
How Dare New York Times Ignore Congressional Hearings on Election Fraud
Startling new revelations highlight rare Congressional hearings on Ohio vote
New Ohio voter transcripts
The One-Two Punch of Racism: Whitewashing the Voter Fraud Issue
Protest calls for election investigation
Protesters say election anomalies ignored
Still not quite the coverage Paris Hilton's dog received.
More Questions for Florida
Many questions have been raised about [Clint] Curtis, the 46-year-old programmer, who said he doesn't know if anyone ever placed the prototype code on voting machines. But this hasn't stopped frustrated voters and bloggers from seizing his story. Daily Kos mentioned the allegations, and Brad Friedman of The Brad Blog has written extensively about them.
Staff members for Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) met with Curtis last week to discuss the election allegations. Representatives for Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida) inquired about other allegations from Curtis that his former company spied on NASA.
The FBI in Tallahassee, Florida, has set up a meeting with Curtis, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, said it was trying to corroborate his claims about possible election fraud and NASA spying.
Staff members for Rep. John Conyers (D-Michigan) met with Curtis last week to discuss the election allegations. Representatives for Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida) inquired about other allegations from Curtis that his former company spied on NASA.
The FBI in Tallahassee, Florida, has set up a meeting with Curtis, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, said it was trying to corroborate his claims about possible election fraud and NASA spying.
Construction of world's tallest tower to begin
The construction of what will be the world's tallest building is set to begin in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The building contract was awarded to a consortium led by the South Korean Samsung Corporation on Thursday.
The Burj Dubai tower will stand 800 metres tall - just 5 metres shy of half a mile - once completed in 2008. That will be nearly 300 metres taller than the tallest floored building in the world today, the Taipei Tower in Taiwan.
The Burj Dubai tower will stand 800 metres tall - just 5 metres shy of half a mile - once completed in 2008. That will be nearly 300 metres taller than the tallest floored building in the world today, the Taipei Tower in Taiwan.
Blog Trolling Iraq?
Joseph Mailander of the Martini Republic weblog wonders if the U.S. government is "blog trolling" in Iraq: "touting the 'right' messengers with a mix of above-board, official recognition and below-board, ideology-based, sustained pump-priming, to generate a following for propagandistic messengers far beyond their natural level of interest." IraqTheModel, featuring two brothers in Baghdad, has become popular to the point that the brothers are touring the U.S., meeting President Bush and other prominent pro-war figures. "Contrast all this to the young woman computer systems analyst in Baghdad, Riverbend, who is in her views closer to the Iraqi opinion polls, especially with regard to Sunni Arabs, but who is not being feted in Washington, DC," notes Juan Cole. He adds, "The phenomenon of blog trolling, and frankly of blog agents provocateurs secretly working for a particular group or goal and deliberately attempting to spread disinformation, is likely to grow in importance." [from PRWatch.org]
Bush Administration wins Doublespeak Award
President George W. Bush, for the second year in a row, has set a high standard for his team by the inspired invention of the phrase "weapons of mass destruction-related program activities" (1) to describe what has yet to be seen. Further he has made clear the principle of democratic discussion: "[A]s you know, these are open forums, you're able to come and listen to what I have to say." (2) Bush also won for his creative use of language in public statements regarding the reasons why the United States needed to pursue war against Iraq—for unsubstantiated statements, for the lack of evidentiary support, and for the purported manipulation of intelligence data.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s description of the widespread torture at Abu Ghraib as "the excesses of human nature that humanity suffers" (3) was brilliantly mind-befuddling. The Secretary is well served by a Pentagon that erased terms like the Vietnam era "body bag" which became "human remains pouches" during the Gulf War and is now known as "transfer tubes," (4) the transfer of which are to be kept from media sight.
The Justice Department also deserves mention for its ingenious contributions to the cause of helping us not confront the shame of our government fostering torture. Jay S. Bybee, head of the Office of Legal Counsel, advised that, in order to be considered torture, the pain inflicted on a prisoner "must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death." Leaving aside the problem of how to quantitatively measure human pain in this way, the memo advised that international laws against torture "may be unconstitutional if applied to interrogation" conducted against suspected terrorists.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld’s description of the widespread torture at Abu Ghraib as "the excesses of human nature that humanity suffers" (3) was brilliantly mind-befuddling. The Secretary is well served by a Pentagon that erased terms like the Vietnam era "body bag" which became "human remains pouches" during the Gulf War and is now known as "transfer tubes," (4) the transfer of which are to be kept from media sight.
The Justice Department also deserves mention for its ingenious contributions to the cause of helping us not confront the shame of our government fostering torture. Jay S. Bybee, head of the Office of Legal Counsel, advised that, in order to be considered torture, the pain inflicted on a prisoner "must be equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death." Leaving aside the problem of how to quantitatively measure human pain in this way, the memo advised that international laws against torture "may be unconstitutional if applied to interrogation" conducted against suspected terrorists.
Seed company won't sell genetically- engineered squash seeds in Vermont
Seedway, Inc., based in Hall, NY, which markets commercial agricultural seeds across the eastern United States, notified the Agency of Agriculture in a Nov. 19 letter that, “Whereas Vermont is the only state which requires special labeling for genetically engineered seed, our Management has elected not to offer for sale any such vegetable products to growers in the State of Vermont. ”
Rumsfeld lied about armor production
Former Republican congressman Matt Salmon of Arizona, a spokesman for ArmorWorks in Tempe, Ariz., said his company will finish a $30 million contract with the Pentagon this month to make 1,500 armor kits for Humvees. “We are at 50% capacity, and we could do a lot more,” he said. “They are aware of it.”
Armor Holdings of Jacksonville told the Army last month it could add armor to as many as 550 trucks a month, up from 450, said Robert Mecredy of its aerospace and defense group. “We're prepared to build 50 to 100 vehicles more per month,” he said.
Armor Holdings of Jacksonville told the Army last month it could add armor to as many as 550 trucks a month, up from 450, said Robert Mecredy of its aerospace and defense group. “We're prepared to build 50 to 100 vehicles more per month,” he said.
Pentagon Covers Up Missile Defense Fraud At MIT
MIT president Charles M. Vest, whose last day is Sunday, released a statement yesterday saying that even though MIT's panel of investigators all have "appropriate security clearances," they have been denied access to the necessary material.
"Without that access, the investigation cannot be conducted," Vest said in the statement he issued in response to questions from MIT's student newspaper, The Tech. "We continue to seek the approval needed so that the investigation can proceed."
"Without that access, the investigation cannot be conducted," Vest said in the statement he issued in response to questions from MIT's student newspaper, The Tech. "We continue to seek the approval needed so that the investigation can proceed."
How Dangerous Is Depleted Uranium?
The Army values munitions manufactured from depleted uranium because, when fused with metal alloys, they are considered the most effective warhead for penetrating enemy tanks. Also, because depleted uranium is twice as dense as lead, the Army uses DU as armor plating.
Once a depleted-uranium round strikes its target, the projectile begins to burn on impact, creating tiny particles of radioactive U-238. Winds can transport this radioactive dust many miles, potentially contaminating the air that innocent humans breathe.
This inhalation may cause lung cancer, kidney damage, cancers of bones and skin, as well as birth defects and chemical poisoning.
Once a depleted-uranium round strikes its target, the projectile begins to burn on impact, creating tiny particles of radioactive U-238. Winds can transport this radioactive dust many miles, potentially contaminating the air that innocent humans breathe.
This inhalation may cause lung cancer, kidney damage, cancers of bones and skin, as well as birth defects and chemical poisoning.
Former Chief Weapons Inspector: The Oil-For-Food 'Scandal' is a Cynical Smokescreen
The oil-for-food programme implemented by the United Nations from 1996 until 2003 as the "greatest scandal in the history of the UN". But this posturing is nothing more than a hypocritical charade, designed to shift attention away from the debacle of George Bush's self-made quagmire in Iraq, and legitimise the invasion of Iraq by using Iraqi corruption, and not the now-missing weapons of mass destruction, as the excuse.
Pentagon Weighs Use of Deception in a Broad Arena
The Pentagon is engaged in bitter, high-level debate over how far it can and should go in managing or manipulating information to influence opinion abroad, senior Defense Department civilians and military officers say.
Such missions, if approved, could take the deceptive techniques endorsed for use on the battlefield to confuse an adversary and adopt them for covert propaganda campaigns aimed at neutral and even allied nations.
Critics of the proposals say such deceptive missions could shatter the Pentagon's credibility, leaving the American public and a world audience skeptical of anything the Defense Department and military say - a repeat of the credibility gap that roiled America during the Vietnam War.
Such missions, if approved, could take the deceptive techniques endorsed for use on the battlefield to confuse an adversary and adopt them for covert propaganda campaigns aimed at neutral and even allied nations.
Critics of the proposals say such deceptive missions could shatter the Pentagon's credibility, leaving the American public and a world audience skeptical of anything the Defense Department and military say - a repeat of the credibility gap that roiled America during the Vietnam War.
Tomatoes!
They are delicious, or at least they used to be. First came ethylene ripening and monoculture which turned them into tasteless red baseballs, and taste was't the only problem. Then came this year's hurricanes which decimated the crops, driving prices up. And now, just when you think you've found a really tasty variant on the market with the wonderfully appropriate name of UglyRipe, the state growers board goes and bans them for being too ugly. If you agree that this sucks go and tell the guys in charge. [from MetaFilter.com]
Gary Webb, Pulitzer-winning journalist, found dead
Investigative journalist Gary Webb found dead of an apparent suicide. Webb is known for his Dark Alliance series, linking the CIA to drug trafficking. As you can imagine, not everyone responded well to his work, especially his employer. An interview with Webb can be found here.
Gary Webb: I look like an idiot up here with all these mikes, the CIA agents are probably behind one or the other... [laughter from the audience]. - Jan 16, 1999 [from MetaFilter.com]
Webb was found Friday morning at his home in Sacramento County, dead of an apparent suicide. Moving-company workers called authorities after discovering a note posted on his front door that read, "Please do not enter. Call 911 and ask for an ambulance." Webb died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Sacramento County coroner's office. He is survived by two sons and a daughter.
Gary Webb: I look like an idiot up here with all these mikes, the CIA agents are probably behind one or the other... [laughter from the audience]. - Jan 16, 1999 [from MetaFilter.com]
Webb was found Friday morning at his home in Sacramento County, dead of an apparent suicide. Moving-company workers called authorities after discovering a note posted on his front door that read, "Please do not enter. Call 911 and ask for an ambulance." Webb died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to the Sacramento County coroner's office. He is survived by two sons and a daughter.
Venezuela: Chavez Enacts New Restrictions on Media
A new media law that came into force this week in Venezuela has caused widespread concern among Venezuelan and international human rights and press freedom organizations. Ostensibly aimed at protecting children from violent or sexual content in radio and television broadcasts, the law gives the government broad discretionary powers to fine and even close down broadcasters.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez has long had a difficult relationship with the country's independent media, most of which is fiercely opposed to his government.
Matters worsened after a coup attempt in April 2002, during which the president took opposition TV stations off the air, and the media censored the views and actions of the supporters who restored him to power.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez has long had a difficult relationship with the country's independent media, most of which is fiercely opposed to his government.
Matters worsened after a coup attempt in April 2002, during which the president took opposition TV stations off the air, and the media censored the views and actions of the supporters who restored him to power.
Debate over Religion in California School
A controversy over religion in public schools is raging in Cupertino, Calif. A fifth-grade teacher there claims school officials have muzzled him when he tries to teach his students about the role Christianity played in the American Revolution. Many parents in the community feel he's overstepped his bounds. NPR's Elaine Korry reports.
Touch-screen errors led to loss of 4,400 ballots - New Vote Called
The votes were lost because the touch-screen system could store only 3,000 votes that day, far fewer than the 10,000 the machines should be able to handle, according to the manufacturer, UniLect Corp. in Dublin, Calif.
Poll workers didn't immediately see that the machine had begun displaying a notice that said it couldn't accept any more votes, Cordle said. The machines don't produce paper copies of the ballots. "As a compromise, we agreed to allow those whose vote was not counted last time to vote, [as well as] anybody who didn't vote last time," Cordle said. "It's a very unusual ruling, and each [candidate] has 10 days to appeal it in court. It may get changed if they do."
The January election will cost the county $20,000, Cordle said, adding that it will use the same machines used in November but will allow only 3,000 votes per machine.
Poll workers didn't immediately see that the machine had begun displaying a notice that said it couldn't accept any more votes, Cordle said. The machines don't produce paper copies of the ballots. "As a compromise, we agreed to allow those whose vote was not counted last time to vote, [as well as] anybody who didn't vote last time," Cordle said. "It's a very unusual ruling, and each [candidate] has 10 days to appeal it in court. It may get changed if they do."
The January election will cost the county $20,000, Cordle said, adding that it will use the same machines used in November but will allow only 3,000 votes per machine.
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