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STOP GLOBAL VIOLENCE
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December 28, 2007 | 1:03 PM Comments  1 comments

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BODY COUNT
Related to country: Iraq


BODY COUNT. Global avoidable mortality since 1950

BODY COUNT. Global avoidable mortality since 1950

I am a highly published biological scientist and in 2003 published a huge pharmacological text entitled "Biochemical Targets of Plant Bioactive Compounds. A pharmacological reference guide to sites of action and biological effects" (Taylor & Francis, London & New York).

Over the last few years I have carefully researched, written, edited and finally published a science-based history book of very wide potential utility entitled “Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950” (G.M. Polya, Melbourne, 2007; 220 pages, 24 tables; ISBN 1921377051). In the interests of Humanity I am sending copies of this big reference book to key scholars, writers, journalists, humanitarians, media and libraries around the world.

In 1998 I published a detailed book entitled “Jane Austen and the Black Hole of British History. Colonial rapacity holocaust denial and the crisis in biological sustainability” (G.M. Polya, Melbourne; second edition in preparation) (see: http://janeaustenand.blogspot.com/ ). This book dealt with the 2 century atrocity of British rule over India culminating in the man-made Bengal Famine of 1943/1944, The man-made, WW2 Bengal Famine killed 4 million people (it is similar in death toll magnitude to the WW2 Jewish Holocaust) but has been largely deleted from British historiography in a continuing process of sustained, racist holocaust denial. “Body count” documents the similarly non-reported avoidable death of 1.3 billion people since 1950 on Spaceship Earth with the First World in control of the flight deck.

“Body Count” is a carefully researched book by a 4 decade career biological scientist on a key social parameter “avoidable mortality” (excess death, deaths that should not have happened) which is nevertheless largely ignored by Mainstream media and for good reason – the post-1950 global avoidable mortality totals about 1.3 billion. Even in the United States, the richest country in the World, it can be estimated from publicly available UN demographic data that 0.14 million under-5 year old American infants have died avoidably over the last 7 years due to the warped Bush Administration priorities of international wars (that have so far caused 3.4 million excess deaths in the Occupied Iraqi and Afghan Territories alone, mostly of Women and Children) rather than of addressing urgent domestic priorities such as infant and maternal health.

I am a scientist and not an ideologue – my core humanitarian philosophy is simply that of the American Declaration of Independence, that all men are created equal and have an inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

“Body Count” is a number of books efficiently packaged in a user-friendly way as a KEY REFERENCE WORK for laypersons, high school and college students, teachers, researchers, journalists, human rights activists and workers and other people in public life.

“Body Count”:

(a) summarizes, tabulates and analyzes avoidable mortality for every country in the world since 1950;

(b) uniquely provides a succinct and systematically organized history of every country in the world coupled with key avoidable mortality statistics (a fabulous resource for students, scholars, journalists and human rights activists);

(c) a systematic analysis of the actual causes of excess death in the world (noting that 16 million people die avoidably in the world every year, this including 10 million under-5 avoidable infant deaths); and

(d) finally, sets out a brief and systematic series of practical suggestions for halting the First World-complicit global avoidable mortality holocaust.

A picture says a thousand words. If you indeed become interested in my dispassionately scientific and scholarly but deeply humanitarian book you may also be interested in using the following huge paintings I have painted to spread a message of Peace, Love and Respect for Mother, Child and Woman e.g. “Sydney Madonna”: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/10865/26/ , “Manhattan Madonna”: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/10766/26/ , “Qana”: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/9547/26/ , “Truelove”: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/11031/26/ , Isfahan Matisse: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/14417/26/ , and Alhambra Pollock: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/14082/42/ . Please forward these links to everyone you know in the interests of Peace, Love, Mother and Child – just as I am sending copies of my book to key writers, media and libraries around the world.

Peace is the only way but Silence kills and Silence is complicity. We are obliged to INFORM others about abuses of Humanity.

I have set out below a detailed outline of “Body Count” and its contents.

1. Statement of aims and rationale

Avoidable mortality (excess mortality) is the difference between the ACTUAL deaths in a country over a given period and the deaths EXPECTED for a peaceful, decently-run country with the same demographics. Avoidable mortality provides the bottom-line measure of the consequences of human actions and the success or otherwise of societal, regional and global policies.

UN demographic data enabled calculation of avoidable mortality (and corroborative, independent under-5 infant mortality estimates) for every country in the world since 1950. The 1950-2005 avoidable mortality has totaled 1.3 billion for the world and 1.2 billion for the non-European world, these horrendous estimates being consonant with 1950-2005 under-5 infant mortality estimates of 0.88 billion for the world and 0.85 billion for the non-European world. The data have been tabulated for every country together with other key demographic data and important social indicators, namely adult literacy and annual per capita income.

The avoidable mortality and under-5 infant mortality outcomes have been best in Overseas European countries (the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel) that have never been occupied but have frequently invaded other countries – and the worst outcomes have been for Non-Arab African countries that have variously been subject to centuries of invasion and occupation. Detailed, summarized histories of all countries of the world are accompanied by precise estimates of avoidable mortality in the post-1950 era due to war, occupation, genocide and passive genocide. Thus the post-invasion avoidable mortality (excess deaths) and under-5 infant mortality in Coalition-occupied Iraq now total 1.0 million and 0.5 million, respectively (as adjudged from the latest UN and medical literature data).

Rational global human risk management requires avoidable mortality information, scientific analysis and sensible systemic change. There is no public discussion of the actual human cost of First World policies. For example, the post-invasion avoidable mortality and under-5 infant mortality in Occupied Iraq and Afghanistan now total 3.4 million and 2.4 million, respectively – estimates directly derived from publicly-available UN Population Division data but which are comprehensively ignored by mainstream media.

Avoidable mortality and under-5 infant mortality correlate with war and foreign occupation, with the latter encompassing both explicit violent occupation and neo-colonial hegemony. An apocalyptic quartet of violence, deprivation, disease and LYING is responsible for the continuing carnage. The ruler is responsible for the ruled, death is equally final whether violent or non-violent and mass avoidable mortality of subject people is passive genocide in violation of the Geneva Conventions. Extensive analysis of the causes of avoidable mortality has revealed politically disparate successes (e.g. Cuba and Fiji) that point the way to rational, humane and low cost global solutions involving peace, independence, very low but sufficient incomes, high literacy, good primary health care and governance for the common good.

The three core sections of the book uniquely involve:

(1) detailed analysis and tabulation of avoidable mortality, infant mortality and linked demographic parameters for every country in the world in the period 1950-2005;

(2) a concise summary of the history of every country in the world in the context of avoidable mortality and its political causation; and

(3) a detailed analysis of the physical causes of avoidable mortality (thanatology) and detailed, scientific solutions to a continuing catastrophe that kills 16 million people a year (44,000 daily, about 60% of them infants).

It is a horrifying testament to Mainstream lying by omission and politically correct racism (PC racism) that there are, to my knowledge, NO books doing ANY of these three things in a systematic and comprehensive fashion.

2. Table of contents with listing of chapter headings & short description of each chapter/section

Preamble

Title, Publication Details, Table of Contents, Key Quotations, Detailed Contents, List of Tables & Preface.

Chapter 1. Introduction – global avoidable mortality

1.1 Science & history – history ignored yields history repeated;

1.2 Deleting history – the “forgotten”, man-made WW2 Bengal Famine;

1.3 Avoidable mortality (excess mortality), under-5 infant mortality and foreign occupation;

1.4 Global avoidable mortality (excess mortality);

1.5 Non-reportage of global avoidable mortality ensures its continuance;

1.6 Summary

Chapter 2. Global post-1950 excess mortality and under-5 infant mortality

2.1 Estimation of mortality and avoidable mortality (excess mortality);

2.2 Calculation of under-5 infant mortality;

2.3 Comparison of global and regional post-1950 total mortality and under-5 infant mortality;

2.4 Estimation of avoidable under-5 infant mortality;

2.5 Comparison of under-5 infant mortality and excess mortality;

2.6 “Humanizing” mortality;

2.7 “Humanizing” excess mortality;

2.8 The human aspect of under-5 infant mortality;

Tables 2.1-2.12;

2.9 Summary

Chapter 3. Correlates and causes of post-1950 avoidable global mass mortality

3.1 “Big picture” regional analysis of global post-1950 under-5 infant mortality and excess mortality;

3.2 Overseas Europe: domestic democracy, prosperity, peace and Anglo-American invasion of distant lands;

3.3 Western Europe: domestic bliss and colonial and neo-colonial wars abroad;

3.4 Eastern Europe: totalitarianism, Russian occupation, general peace and low mortality;

3.5 Latin America and Caribbean: colonial and US hegemony – increased violence yields increased mortality;

3.6 East Asia: remarkable resurgence from European wars and sanctions;

3.7 Turkey, Iran and Central Asia: European occupation, intervention and war;

3.8 Arab North Africa and the Middle East: decolonization, Anglo-American and Israeli wars and oil;

3.9 South East Asia – European-imposed colonialism, occupation, war and militarism; 3.10 The Pacific- mixed colonial occupation and post-colonial outcomes;

3.11 South Asia – crippled by the legacies from British imperialism;

3.12 Non-Arab Africa – colonialism, neo-colonialism, corruption, militarism, war and HIV-1;

3.13 To be or not to be - lowest mortality countries invading distant high mortality countries;

3.14 Quantitative assessment of the mortality consequences of occupation;

3.15 Summary

Chapter 4. Country-by-country analysis of avoidable mortality in European countries

4.1 Introduction – matching excess mortality with foreign occupation; followed by detailed summaries of the histories of each country with quantitation of major avoidable mortality episodes:

4.2 Overseas Europe – internal democracy, external violence;

4.3 Western Europe – participation in colonial, neo-colonial and US-led “democratic imperialist” wars;

4.4 Eastern Europe – Communism, foreign occupation and tyranny but peace and good social services;

4.5 Summary

Chapter 5. Latin America and the Caribbean – from European invasion, genocide and slavery to US hegemony

5.1 Overview; followed by detailed summaries of the histories of each country with quantitation of major avoidable mortality episodes:

5.2 Latin American and Caribbean histories;

5.3 Summary

Chapter 6. North Africa, Asia & Pacific – the impact of colonialism, neo-colonialism and war

6.1 Overview; followed by detailed summaries of the histories of each country with quantitation of major avoidable mortality episodes:

6.2 East Asia – recovery from First World-imposed war and sanctions;

6.3 Turkey, Iran and Central Asia - Russian occupation, US interference, war and peace;

6.4 Arab North Africa and Middle East – Anglo-American, French and Israeli war and occupation;

6.5 South East Asia – colonialism, colonial wars, US-driven war and militarization; 6.6 The Pacific – colonialism, disease, war and maladministration;

6.7 South Asia – the disastrous legacy of rapacious British imperialism;

6.8 Summary

Chapter 7. Non-Arab Africa – colonialism, neo-colonialism, militarism, debt, economic constraint and incompetence

7.1 Overview of the continuing African tragedy; followed by detailed summaries of the histories of each country with quantitation of major avoidable mortality episodes: 7.2 Short histories of the countries of Non-Arab Africa;

7.3 Summary

Chapter 8. Synthesis, conclusions and suggestions

8.1 Finding causes and solutions;

8.2 Risk management;

8.3 Violent versus non-violent death;

8.4 The ruler is responsible for the ruled;

8.5 Passive genocide in Occupied Iraq and Afghanistan;

8.6 Genocide;

8.7 Famine;

8.8 Disease;

8.9 Human cost of occupation;

8.10 High technology war, horrendous civilian/invader death ratios and PC racism; 8.11 Killing by default – arms, debt, globalization and economic constraint;

8.12 Excuses for war and the War on Terror;

8.13 Feminist perspective - right to life, women and allo-mothering;

8.14 Academic, media, political and sectarian lying;

8.15 Conclusions and suggestions – how to save the world

Section 9. Notes

Notes for the Preamble and Chapters 1-8.

Section 10. Bibliography.

3. Brief description of each chapter/section:

The preamble contains title page, table of contents, detailed contents (chapter, sub-headings and tables), key quotes and a succinct preface.

Chapter 1 summarizes the overall thrust of the book, specifically that history ignored yields history repeated. The deadly consequences of tardy reportage of the WW2 Jewish Holocaust and the general non-reportage of the WW2 Bengal Famine (holocaust denial) (see Gideon Polya’s Jane Austen and the Black Hole of British History), are used to support the argument that non-reportage of global avoidable mortality ensures its continuance. Thus the non-reported 1950-2005 avoidable mortality has totaled 1.3 billion for the world, 1.2 billion for the non-European world and 0.6 billion for the Muslim world – a Muslim Holocaust 100 times greater than the WW2 Jewish Holocaust (6 million victims) or the “forgotten” WW2 Bengal Famine in British-ruled India (4 million victims).

Chapter 2 deals with the methodology used and presents detailed Tables summarizing regional and national avoidable mortality, under-5 infant mortality and other key demographic parameters and social indicators. The tables are organized by region in ascending order of post-1950 avoidable mortality. The best avoidable mortality outcomes have been in European countries and the worst in South Asia and non-Arab Africa. A useful way of comparing avoidable mortality outcomes is by “1950-2005 avoidable mortality”/“2005 population” ratios expressed as a percentage e.g. 2.9% for Australia but an appalling 81.0% for East Timor. The average “1950-2005 avoidable mortality”/ “2000 population ratio” in increasing order for the major global groupings is as follows: 2.7% (Overseas Europe) < st="on">atin America and Caribbean) < style=""> 27.3% (the Pacific) < style="" lang="EN-US">

Chapter 3 specifically addresses the correlates and causes of post-1950 avoidable mortality. Avoidable mortality correlates with foreign occupation which simply ensures rulers with decreased intrinsic regard for the ruled. Avoidable mortality provides a key measure of how rulers regard their domestic and foreign subjects and has been used to quantify the intrinsic racism of past and present imperialist powers. The surprising result is that the worst avoidable mortality-based “intrinsic racism scores” for the major First World “occupiers” have been for the Netherlands, Israel and Portugal and the best score for Russia, with the results for the UK, France and the US in between.

Chapters 4 to 7 provide detailed, summary “occupation histories” of all the countries of the world together with precise estimates for each country of avoidable mortality and under-5 infant mortality for particular post-1950 periods. The reader will be shocked by the magnitude of the actual human cost of specific post-1950 wars, occupations and other events as illustrated by the following three examples.

The post-invasion avoidable mortality in the Occupied Palestinian, Iraqi and Afghan Territories totals 0.3, 1.0 and 2.4 million, respectively, and the post-invasion under-5 infant mortality totals 0.2, 0.5 and 1.9 million, respectively (as of mid-2007). Avoidable mortality and under-5 infant mortality reached a minimum in post-colonial Iraq but doubled after the return of Western forces with sanctions in 1990 and have remained high ever since – the post-1990 avoidable mortality and under-5 infant mortality in Iraq now total 2.7 million and 1.7 million, respectively.

Similar avoidable carnage but for reasons of First World-complicit incompetent indigenous governance has occurred in Southern Africa in the post-Apartheid era. Careful inspection of the dynamics of avoidable mortality reveals that avoidable mortality increased dramatically in South Africa and its neighbours in the mid-1990s due to the utterly preventable HIV/AIDS epidemic. The percentage of the population now HIV positive (2003) is 20.6% (Swaziland), 19.9% (Botswana), 17.9% (Lesotho), 14.1% (Zimbabwe), 11.9% (South Africa), 10.7% (Namibia), 8.6% (Zambia) and 7.0% (Mozambique).

At the other end of the scale, relative to other European countries there has been markedly higher than average avoidable mortality in some Central and Eastern European countries subject to post-war Soviet occupation (specifically Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia and the Ukraine). Thus, while Hungary has one of the best post-1950 under-5 infant mortality outcomes in the world, it has the worst post-1950 avoidable mortality outcome for any European country (1.4 million avoidable deaths since 1950 and currently 35,000 annually). Possible explanations for the excessive avoidable mortality in Hungary (and these other “frontline” countries also subject to partial or complete Soviet occupation in the post-war era) include smoking, drinking, depression, pollution, economically depressed Roma minorities and non-reported deliberate or accidental radiological contamination.

Chapter 8 provides a detailed summary of the causes of avoidable mortality including war, occupation, deprivation, famine, disease, genocide and passive genocide. Avoidable mortality is fundamentally caused by violence, deprivation, disease and lying. Requisite responses to man-made mass mortality include Cessation, Acknowledgement, Apology, Amends and Assertion of non-repetition (acronym: CAAAA or C4A) as exemplified by post-Holocaust Germany; this book attempts to at least enable “Acknowledgment” of the ongoing, First World-complicit avoidable mortality holocaust (16 million avoidable deaths per year – 44,000 per day - due to deprivation-related causes). Carefully considered, low cost, practical and humanitarian suggestions are made for halting the global avoidable mortality holocaust.

A Chapter 8 Appendix composed of 12 detailed Tables 8.1-8.12 summarizes the roughly current state of play (2003) for all regions and countries of the World in relation to the following parameters: mortality, excess mortality, under-5 infant mortality, mortality/population, excess mortality/population, under-5 infant mortality/population, under-5 infants/population, “annual under-5 infant death rate”, and % HIV positive.

Each of the above sections commences with 5 carefully chosen quotations that capture the essence of the book or its specific chapters. Each chapter is split into numbered and entitled sub-sections and concludes with a carefully constructed summary. For ease of reading and efficiency, all documenting references and notes are indicated by superscript numbers and listed in Section 9. The Bibliography Section 10 lists all works quoted in Section 9 in a consistent fashion e.g. author(s), year, title, publisher, city (for books); author(s), year, title, journal, volume, pages (for journal articles); and similarly defined documentation for other references (notably URLs for Web-accessible documents).

There is no Subject Index because the book has been carefully designed with a comprehensive Detailed Contents section and with systematically Alphabetized historical contents. “Body Count” represents both a powerful humanitarian statement and a key reference work for students, scholars, journalists, the general public and humanitarian activists.

4. People who would benefit from the “Body Count” resource

This book is special, original and important in that it is the ONLY work available that comprehensively quantifies the horrendous global human avoidable mortality and under-5 infant mortality that has occurred over the last half century and is still occurring unchecked. It is also a very useful reference resource in that it is the only book currently available (as far as I know) that provides a detailed summary history for every country in the world from the Neolithic era to the present.

This book by a humanist biological scientist is a relatively dispassionate scientific catalogue and analysis of an appalling human reality that the world comprehensively ignores, namely global avoidable mortality. The book represents an encyclopaedic, quantitative resource for students, scholars, journalists and the general public and an unanswerable moral weapon for humanitarian activists in all countries.

People who would particularly benefit from Body Count” include senior high school students, undergraduate and postgraduate university students and scholars. The academic areas that this book relates to include history (general and specific areas), economics (environmental economics, world trade), commerce, management (risk management), business, law (international law), sociology (racism, feminism, conflict), women’s studies, biology (disease, human ecology, biological sustainability), medicine (epidemiology, risk management), journalism, media studies and politics (political science).

This book is designed for ordinary citizens in all walks of life. Thus I have recently given a 16 lecture course based on this book and entitled “Science, History and Avoidable Mortality” to a University of the Third Age (U3A) class of retired citizens from many former occupations – teaching, science, librarianship, secretarial, armed services, medicine, nursing, surgery, management, business and academia.

In addition to the UK and the British Commonwealth there would be a very large potential readership in North America in particular. Thus there is a wonderful, humane North American constituency that is committed to the “equality of man and the unalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and which is profoundly opposed to war.

Many in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Pacific would find “Body Count” useful. In particular the huge population of educated, English-speaking Indians and Chinese should find utility in a detailed reference book quantitatively exposing the impact of the First World on the non-European world.

This book provides a wealth of quantitative data, thoughtful analysis and radical insights for students, scholars and humanitarian activists who demand humane global change but are enmeshed in a dominant global culture of comprehensive DENIAL. The dominant, prosperous, “politically correct racist” First World societies DENY their intrinsic racism, ignore the global carnage in which they are complicit and demonize their victims.

5. Related books

There are no such books about global avoidable mortality although there are many books dealing with specific conflict areas (e.g. the Iraq War) that constitute only a small part of my book. Thus Richard Hil and Paul Wilson have recently published “Dead Bodies Don’t Count: Civilian Casualties and the Forgotten Costs of the Iraq Conflict” (Zeus Publishing, Australia, 2007). Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs and Steel” deals in part with some major mass mortality events covered in parts of my book ( the Black Death and the effects of introduced disease in the Americas, Australasia and the Pacific).

Published books that come closest in subject matter to my book are some excellent books on past genocides [Chalk, F. & Jonassohn, K. (1990), The History and Sociology of Genocide. Analyses and Case Studies (Yale University Press, New Haven); Laqueur, W. (1980), The Terrible Secret. Suppression of the Truth about Hitler’s “Final Solution” (Penguin, London, 1982);

Wasserstein, B. (1979), Britain and the Jews of Europe 1939-1945 (Oxford University Press, 1988)], famine [Davis, M. (2001), Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World (Verso, London); Greenough, P.R. (1982), Prosperity and Misery in Modern Bengal: the Famine of 1943-1944 (Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York); Polya, G.M. (1998), Jane Austen and the Black Hole of British History. Colonial rapacity, holocaust denial and the crisis in biological sustainability (Polya, Melbourne)] and the historical genesis of genocidal European racism [Lindqvist, S. (1992), Exterminate All the Brutes (Granta Books, London, 2002)] – all matters summarized quantitatively in my book with reference to these and many other works. However NONE of these books even touch on the 1.3 billion post-1950 avoidable mortality holocaust.

Various recent books and articles by humane writers such as John Pilger, Arundhati Roy, Noam Chomsky, Tariq Ali, George Monbiot, Scott Ritter, Edward Said, Paul Roberts, John Perkins, Emmanuel Todd and William Blum reveal much about the dishonesty and violence of post-war US and related imperialism but do not provide comprehensive quantitation of the human cost. My book does not go into the details of violent deaths and political machinations – it is simply largely concerned with the war- and occupation-related avoidable mortality of which violent death can be a relatively small part. My book provides a detailed statistical and historical complement to the works of these other writers.

In writing Chapters 4-7 of this book I would have loved to have been able to refer to a succinct summary of world history from about 2000BC onwards [the best I could find, albeit an account that finished in mid-1952, was Langer, W.L. (1953), An Encyclopaedia of World History (Harrap, London)] and the best such compendium of more recent Third World history finished in about 1990 [Bissio, R.R. (1990), Third World Guide 91/92 (Instituto del Tercer Mondo, Montevideo)].

I am not aware of any other current history book that succinctly summarizes the history of all countries in the world from the Neolithic era to 2005 (as is achieved by Chapters 4-7 of my book). No other book even attempts to deal with post-1950 avoidable mortality and under-5 infant mortality, let alone in a comprehensive fashion.

6. Brief CV of Dr Gideon Polya

Gideon Polya was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1944 and raised in Hobart, Tasmania. A graduate of the University of Tasmania, he gained a PhD in Biochemistry from Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia. After postdoctoral research at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, he returned to the Australian National University as a Queen Elizabeth II Fellow and thence took up a position at La Trobe University, Melbourne in 1972. In 2003 he retired from a senior position at La Trobe University but returned in 2007 to deliver a big second year science subject (Biochemistry for Agricultural Science students).

Dr Gideon Polya published some 130 works in a 4 decade scientific career (search Google Advanced Scholar for many of these publications), most recently a huge pharmacological reference text "Biochemical Targets of Plant Bioactive Compounds. A pharmacological reference guide to sites of action and biological effects" (860 pages; 500 pages of tables; 4 indexes; Taylor & Francis/CRC Press, London & New York, 2003). In 1998 he published “Jane Austen and the Black Hole of British History. Colonial rapacity, holocaust denial and the crisis in biological sustainability” (Polya, Melbourne).

In recent years, in addition to writing “Body Count”, Dr Polya has written extensively about global avoidable mortality (numerous articles on this and related matters can be found by a simple Google search for "Gideon Polya" and on his websites: http://members.optusnet.com.au/~gpolya/links.html , http://globalavoidablemortality.blogspot.com/ , http://mwcnews.net/content/view/1375/247/ , http://gpolya.newsvine.com/ and http://gideon.sulekha.com/default.htm ).

Gideon Polya is married with 3 children. A keen artist he has published numerous cartoons (including illustrations for a statistics textbook), has painted a thousand paintings (abstract figurative and landscapes) and has drawn thousands of portraits.

Humanitarian Words having evidently failed (16 million people die avoidably each year i.e. 44,000 each day) Gideon Polya recently turned to Painting for Peace, painting HUGE works to spread a message of Peace, Love and respect for Woman and for Mother and Child, including: Sydney Madonna: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/10865/26/ , Manhattan Madonna: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/10766/26/ , Truelove: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/11031/254/ , Melbourne Madonna: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/13950/26/ , Qana (conceptually related to Pablo Picasso’s 1937 antiwar masterpiece Guernica about the Nazi bombing of the town of the same name): http://mwcnews.net/content/view/9547/26/ , Isfahan Matisse: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/14417/26/ , and Alhambra Pollock: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/14082/42/ (that is explained by the Acronym PEACE – Pólya, Escher, Alhambra, Cultural Ecumenism). I would be delighted if you would pass on these links on to your friends, colleagues, associates and local media in the interests of Peace, Amity and respect for Woman, Mother and Child.

7 . Inquiries about “Body Count”

Inquiries about “Body Count” can be addressed to G.M. Polya at: gpolya@optusnet.com.au or to 29 Dwyer Street, Macleod, Melbourne, Victoria, 3085, Australia.

By Dr Gideon Polya

December 14, 2007 | 11:48 PM Comments  0 comments

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Sentencing convicted felons in the United States
Related to country: United States

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Chapter 3
United States v. John M. Poindexter

Navy Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter was appointed as President Reagan's national security adviser on December 4, 1985, succeeding Robert C. McFarlane, whom Poindexter had served under as deputy for two years. Poindexter's White House career ended November 25, 1986, when he was forced to resign in the wake of the public disclosure of the Iran/contra diversion.

Poindexter, Lt. Col. Oliver North and McFarlane were the three individuals Attorney General Edwin Meese III identified on November 25, 1986, as knowledgeable of the diversion. Poindexter's supervision of North and his own participation in the Iran and contra operations were early focuses of Independent Counsel's investigation.

As in the case against North, criminal evidence against Poindexter had to be gathered quickly before he was compelled to testify on Capitol Hill in the summer of 1987 under a grant of limited immunity. Otherwise, the prosecution of Poindexter was likely to be challenged on the grounds that it was derived from or in some way influenced by his immunized congressional testimony.

On March 16, 1988, Poindexter was indicted on seven felony charges arising from his involvement in the Iran/contra affair, as part of a 23-count multi-defendant indictment. He was named with North, retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Richard V. Secord and Albert Hakim as a member of the conspiracy to defraud the United States Government by effecting the Iran/contra diversion and other acts.

After the cases were severed and two of the original charges dismissed, Poindexter was tried and convicted in April 1990 of five felonies, including: one count of conspiring to obstruct official inquiries and proceedings, two counts of obstructing Congress, and two counts of false statements to Congress.1 U.S. District Judge Harold H. Greene sentenced him to a six-month prison term. In November 1991, Poindexter's convictions were overturned on appeal. In December 1992, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case.

1 The Poindexter case was tried by Associate Counsel Dan K. Webb, Christian J. Mixter, Howard M. Pearl, and Louise R. Radin.

Poindexter joined the National Security Council staff in June 1981, following a distinguished naval career that included battleship command and high-ranking Pentagon posts. In October 1983 he became deputy to National Security Adviser McFarlane; among his subordinates was North. During Poindexter's one-year tenure as national security adviser, which began in December 1985, he oversaw the Iran/contra operations in which North was directly involved.

In November 1986, as the secret operations were becoming publicly exposed, Poindexter became the senior Administration official responsible for briefing the President's other top advisers about the Iran arms sales. In a series of White House meetings with other officials and members of Congress throughout the month, he repeatedly laid out a false version of the transactions that distanced President Reagan from the legally questionable 1985 arms shipments made through Israel, particularly the November 1985 HAWK-missile transaction.

Although Poindexter was the spokesman, he was not alone responsible for knowing the facts. Virtually every other senior official, including President Reagan, who heard his version of the arms sales in briefings throughout November 1986 had reason to believe it was wrong. Yet no one, according to contemporaneous notes of those briefings, spoke up to correct Poindexter.

Poindexter along with North and others in November 1986 attempted to shred and alter the paper trail reflecting their Iran/contra activities. Among other things, Poindexter destroyed the only existing signed presidential covert-action Finding that was intended to authorize retroactively CIA involvement in the November 1985 HAWKs shipment.

Poindexter and North were less successful in eradicating the computer-message trail of their Iran/contra activities. Poindexter and North often communicated through a special channel that Poindexter, a computer expert, had set up on the NSC computer system. This channel, known as ``Private Blank Check,'' allowed Poindexter and North to relay messages to each other without their being routed through channels in which others on the NSC staff could screen them.

Between November 22 to 29, 1986, North deleted from his computer file 736 messages, and Poindexter deleted 5,012 messages during the same period.2 Despite these deletions, the White House routinely saved back-up tapes containing all data in the system for two weeks to protect against inadvertent loss. When the Iran/contra affair was exposed in late November 1986, the White House Communications Agency, which manages the NSC computer system, retained the back-up tapes dating from November 15. Investigators, therefore, were able to retrieve copies of all messages that were in the Poindexter-North computer files in mid-November 1986 before most of the deletions occurred. These computer messages became important evidence in both the Poindexter and North trials.

2 Williams, Poindexter Trial Testimony, 3/15/90, pp. 1752-65.

Poindexter admitted to many of his activities before the Select Committees in July 1987 under a grant of testimonial immunity, which prevented his admissions from being used against him in any criminal proceeding. Because President Reagan did not testify in that forum, Poindexter was called to answer the question that dominated the hearings: Did the President know about and approve the diversion of the Iran arms sales proceeds to the contras? Poindexter answered no, ``the buck stops here with me.'' 3 He said he deliberately withheld the information from President Reagan because ``I wanted the President to have some deniability so that he would be protected. . . .'' 4

3 Poindexter, Select Committees Testimony, 7/15/87, p. 95.

4 Ibid., p. 101.

Facing a criminal trial, Poindexter confronted a different dilemma: It was no longer a question of protecting the President but defending himself against five felony charges. Before Congress, Poindexter's most significant testimony corroborated President Reagan's repeated denials of awareness of the Iran/contra diversion. In the courtroom, Poindexter mounted a higher-authorization defense, attempting to convince the jury that the President had approved his actions, including those that resulted in criminal charges. Instead of taking the stand in his own defense, however, he called President Reagan to testify.

Pre-Trial Proceedings

U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Gesell in June 1988 ordered that the multi-defendant case against Poindexter, North, Secord and Hakim be severed.5 Following severance, Poindexter's case was transferred to Chief Judge Aubrey E. Robinson, Jr., and then to Judge Greene, who presided over further proceedings.

5 For a more detailed description of the severance of the multi-defendant case, see North chapter.

All of Poindexter's substantive challenges to the validity of the indictment were dismissed before trial. The remaining important issues concerned: (1) the preservation of the conspiracy charge; (2) the resolution of classified-information disputes; (3) the resolution of issues related to Poindexter's immunized congressional testimony, under the ruling known as Kastigar; and (4) the defendant's successful effort to secure trial testimony from former President Reagan.

Preserving and Narrowing the Conspiracy Charge

Problems with classified information led to the dismissal of the central conspiracy charges before the North trial, and similar problems were expected to arise in the case against Poindexter. On June 20, 1989, Independent Counsel moved to eliminate the original broad conspiracy charges based upon the supply of the contras and the diversion and to substantially narrow the charge of conspiracy to violate other substantive criminal statutes, forbidding false statements and obstruction. After filings and oral argument, the court granted the Government's motion.

The charge was refocused on the illegal act of conspiring with North and Secord to conceal activities from Congress. Independent Counsel argued successfully that this narrowing of the conspiracy charge would minimize the classified-information problems that plagued the North prosecution.

Classified Information Issues

The Classified Information Procedures Act (CIPA) allowed the trial court effectively to resolve issues involving the use of classified documents and testimony in Poindexter. Judge Greene's supervision of the CIPA process and fruitful negotiations between counsel for the Government and Poindexter resolved most disputes with a minimum of delay.

In contrast to North, there was no prolonged or significant litigation concerning the form or scope of Poindexter's CIPA notices to the court to disclose classified information at trial. Between November 27, 1989, and March 13, 1990, Poindexter served 11 such notices, including eight that listed classified documents he wanted to use at trial, two describing possible classified testimony, and one focused solely on information he wanted to elicit at the deposition of President Reagan.

Judge Greene ordered that all differences over classified information be negotiated between the parties before being brought before the court. Judge Greene held six closed CIPA hearings before the trial began and supplemented those with several shorter hearings during trial. Most of his rulings on the relevance and admissibility of classified information, and on the adequacy of substitutions proposed by the Government, were made from the bench.

Taken together, Poindexter's CIPA notices listed approximately 1,200 documents, only a small fraction of which were ultimately introduced at trial. Most classified information was covered by Government stipulations to certain facts and other unclassified substitutions. This allowed the trial to proceed smoothly, without the conflicts that complicated North or the case against former CIA station chief Joseph F. Fernandez, which was dismissed due to classified-information problems.6

6 See Fernandez chapter.

Kastigar Proceedings

Poindexter was compelled under a grant of use immunity to testify in 1987 before the Select Committees investigating Iran/contra. As did the other Iran/contra defendants who gave immunized testimony before Congress, Poindexter moved to dismiss the indictment on the theory that it violated the standards enunciated in Kastigar v. United States,7 arguing that his immunized testimony was used against him in the Grand Jury and at trial. This argument proved unsuccessful on the trial level but ultimately prevailed in the Court of Appeals.

7 406 U.S. 411 (1972).

Before their trials were severed, Poindexter moved jointly with North and Hakim, who also had received immunity to testify before Congress, to have the charges against them dismissed on the ground that the evidence against them was tainted by their immunized testimony. Judge Gesell denied that motion. However, in deference to defense claims that they would use one another's possibly exculpatory immunized testimony, Judge Gesell in June 1988 severed the trials.

Poindexter renewed his Kastigar motion before Judge Greene in August 1989. After briefing and argument,8 the court ordered that two evidentiary hearings be held. At the first, the court heard testimony from Associate Counsel Dan K. Webb and Howard M. Pearl concerning their exposure to Poindexter's immunized testimony before joining the Office of Independent Counsel. Webb and Pearl joined the OIC staff in 1989 and had not, before their appointments, been subject to OIC's procedures to insulate itself from Poindexter's immunized testimony. Judge Greene found their exposure to Poindexter's testimony to be insignificant and allowed both attorneys to participate in the trial.

8 The Poindexter case was tried before the Court of Appeals ruled in North that witness hearings were necessary to permit the trial of an immunized defendant.

The second set of court hearings concerned trial witnesses, whose testimony may have been tainted by Poindexter's immunized testimony. Judge Greene accepted Judge Gesell's earlier review of Grand Jury witnesses and declined to re-examine his findings. He also refused to dismiss the indictment on the basis of potential grand juror exposure to the immunized testimony.

Regarding trial witnesses, the court took extensive measures to ensure that Poindexter's immunized statements were not used against him. The court ordered the Government to make an ex parte submission (later disclosed to Poindexter) of all statements made by potential trial witnesses before Poindexter gave his immunized testimony before Congress in July 1987. The court found that all of the proposed testimony of most of the potential witnesses had been memorialized before Poindexter appeared publicly on July 15, 1987, and therefore was not tainted.

As for those witnesses whose expected trial testimony would not be limited to the evidence OIC had sealed with the court prior to Poindexter's immunized testimony, Judge Greene required additional information. He concluded that the Government had failed to establish that five of its potential witnesses were free of taint and ordered them to appear at a pre-trial hearing. Two of the three witnesses who ultimately appeared at trial credibly affirmed that their anticipated testimony would not be influenced in any way by Poindexter's immunized testimony; the third, North, refused to do so.

North stated at the pre-trial hearing that he was unable, with respect to any subject, to distinguish what he had personally done, observed or experienced from what he had learned from watching Poindexter's immunized testimony.9 As for Poindexter's destruction of the December 1985 presidential covert-action Finding -- important evidence in the obstruction of Congress -- North acknowledged that he had seen Poindexter destroy a piece of paper but insisted that he did not know it was a Finding until Poindexter stated that fact in his immunized testimony before Congress.

9 North Testimony, Poindexter Pre-trial Hearing, 12/13/89, pp. 374-77.

The court rejected North's pre-trial testimony as not believable. North, the court found, ``appears to have been embarked at that time [at the hearing] upon the calculated course of attempting to assist his former colleague and co-defendant . . . by prevaricating on various issues . . .'' 10

10 Opinion, Poindexter, 3/8/90, p. 9.

In a separate post-trial ruling, the court added that as far as the destruction of the Finding was concerned, North's testimony at his own trial about the event was inconsistent with his claim that he could not remember it independent of Poindexter's immunized testimony. The court found it ``inherently incredible'' that North did not remember ``his participation in an event he witnessed first hand and that was as dramatic, indeed historic, as the tearing up of an extremely rare Presidential Finding.'' 11

11 Ibid., 5/29/90, pp. 32-40.

The Reagan Subpoena

One of the most notable aspects of the Poindexter case was the defendant's successful attempt to call former President Reagan to testify at his trial by videotaped deposition.

Poindexter first sought presidential and vice presidential notes from OIC as part of his pre-trial discovery requests. In a pre-trial hearing on September 6, 1989, Poindexter's attorneys told the court that presidential notes would reflect that Poindexter informed the President of his denials to Congress in 1986 of NSC activity in support of the contras, and that the notes would ``show what the President was told about what was being done to support the contras in Central America, and the President's consent and ratification and approval of that activity.'' 12 In seeking vice presidential notes, Poindexter's attorneys told the court that ``anytime he [Bush] missed a meeting, Admiral Poindexter briefed him on it afterwards.'' 13

12 Robinson, Poindexter Pre-trial Hearing, 9/6/89, p. 18.

13 Ibid., p. 19.

The court, before making a decision on whether to compel OIC to produce these documents, on September 11, 1989, directed Poindexter to file an ex parte memo explaining precisely how these documents would assist his defense.14 It required from Independent Counsel a legal memorandum concerning its responsibility to produce presidential and vice presidential documents not in OIC's possession.

14 Opinion, Poindexter, 9/11/89, p. 22.

Independent Counsel in a filing on September 18, 1989, told the court that the office did not have in its possession presidential notes, but rather had been granted access to notes and allowed to copy only a portion of them with special permission. As far as President Reagan's diary was concerned, Independent Counsel had been allowed to review typed extracts of portions deemed relevant by White House counsel, but the President had retained custody of his diary, which both he and the national archivist regarded as personal records, making them unaccessible under the Presidential Records Act unless their production were compelled by subpoena.15

15 Government's Memorandum Concerning Presidential and Vice Presidential Documents that Are Not in the Possession of Independent Counsel, 9/18/89.

Attached to Independent Counsel's filing was a declaration by John Fawcett, assistant archivist for the Office of Presidential Libraries of the National Archives and Records Administration. Fawcett stated that President Bush's vice presidential records were transferred to the archives at the end of the Reagan Administration, but, ``No personal diary of former Vice President Bush has been specifically identified as being included in the Vice Presidential records. However, these Vice Presidential records have not yet been processed.'' 16

16 Ibid., Exhibit A. President Bush in December 1992 for the first time informed Independent Counsel that he had kept a diary as vice president from 1986 to 1988. See Bush chapter.

On September 25, 1989, Poindexter's attorneys informed the court that ``the defendant is willing to seek access to the personal diaries and notes of former President Reagan and former Vice President Bush pursuant to a . . . subpoena.'' 17 After reviewing Poindexter's ex parte submission on the materiality of presidential and vice presidential documents, the court on October 24, 1989, ruled that there was sufficient likelihood that President Reagan's documents would be material to the defense. Judge Greene differentiated between Reagan and Bush documents, however, because ``the Vice President had no operational authority with respect to Poindexter,'' because the information contained in vice presidential papers may be largely cumulative, and because of deference to the sitting President Bush.18

17 Defendant's Response to Government's Memorandum Concerning Presidential and Vice President Documents That Are Not in the Possession of Independent Counsel, 9/25/89, p. 2.

18 U.S. v. Poindexter, 725 F. Supp. 13, 28-31 (D.D.C. 1989). Judge Greene added that with respect to Bush documents, he would reevaluate the matter if Poindexter at a later date showed a more pressing need for them.

On November 3, 1989, Poindexter filed with the court a classified petition for leave to serve subpoenas on former President Reagan and the National Archives, seeking materials and testimony relevant to Iran/contra activities in 67 categories. On November 16, Judge Greene granted Poindexter's petition. Both President Reagan and the National Archives moved to quash the subpoena for documents.

In a pre-trial hearing December 4 the court stated that its order covered only documents, and not the President's possible trial testimony. On December 18 Poindexter sought the court's leave to subpoena President Reagan to testify at trial. In deciding whether Poindexter could subpoena President Reagan's testimony, Judge Greene asked Poindexter to submit a list of specific questions he intended to ask. Poindexter submitted a list of 183 questions, which were not made available to Independent Counsel.19 The court ruled that the questions directly related to the charges in the indictment and to Poindexter's anticipated defense.

19 In 1993, during preparation of this report, Independent Counsel obtained copies of these questions and other ex parte submissions from Poindexter's case.

In his February 5, 1990, ruling upholding the testimonial subpoena of Reagan, Judge Greene described Poindexter's proposed questions as falling into 12 categories. These included: (1) the frequency and occasions on which President Reagan and Poindexter met; (2) the President's view of the Boland Amendment and how it applied to contra support; (3) whether the President authorized Poindexter to seek foreign support for the contras; (4) what instructions the President gave Poindexter regarding meetings with Central American officials, and what information Poindexter subsequently relayed back to the President; (5) presidential discussions with Central American leaders concerning contra support; (6) presidential discussions with Poindexter regarding actions to be taken if Congress did not renew contra aid; (7) presidential knowledge of North's relationship to Iran/contra figures; (8) Poindexter's briefings of the President regarding a congressional inquiry in 1986 into North's activities; (9) Poindexter's communications with Congress at the direction of the President; (10) whether Poindexter informed the President about Secord's status; (11) discussions Poindexter had with the President regarding a chronology of the Iran arms sales prepared in November 1986; and (12) the President's knowledge of the arms shipments to Iran.

In his opinion explaining his decision to uphold Poindexter's subpoena of President Reagan, Judge Greene concluded:

Former President Ronald Reagan is claimed by Admiral Poindexter to have direct and important knowledge that will help to exonerate him from the criminal charges lodged against him. In view of the prior professional relationship between the two men, and defendant's showing discussed above, that claim cannot be dismissed as fanciful or frivolous. That being so, it would be inconceivable -- in a Republic that subscribes neither to the ancient doctrine of the divine right of kings nor to the more modern conceit of dictators that they are not accountable to the people whom they claim to represent or to their courts of law -- to exempt Mr. Reagan from the duty of every citizen to give evidence that will permit the reaching of a just outcome of this criminal prosecution. Defendant has shown that the evidence of the former President is needed to protect his right to a fair trial, and he will be given the opportunity to secure that evidence.20

20 U.S. v. Poindexter, 732 F. Supp. 142, 159-60 (D.D.C. 1990)

President Reagan did not claim executive privilege once he was ordered to testify.

The seven-hour videotaped deposition of the former President was taken February 16 and 17, 1990, in the Los Angeles federal courthouse, near his residence. The public and the press were not allowed to attend the deposition. Transcripts and the opportunity to view the videotape were made available to members of the press before the trial.

As for Poindexter's subpoena for documents from the former President, Judge Greene ordered President Reagan to make diary entries available for the court's in camera review. After its review, the court ordered President Reagan to produce the relevant diary entries to Poindexter in the absence of a claim of executive privilege. President Reagan, joined by the Bush Administration, claimed executive privilege as to the diary entries on February 5, 1990. On March 21, the court granted the Reagan-Bush motions to quash the subpoena for the diary entries, concluding that Poindexter's defense would be adequately served by the President's testimony.

The Poindexter Trial

The month-long Poindexter trial, which resulted in a five-count conviction on April 7, 1990, centered largely on the testimony of two witnesses: Oliver North for the prosecution and former President Reagan for the defense.

Both men attempted to help the defendant in their appearances on the witness stand, but each had given prior testimony harmful to Poindexter, and they could not deviate from that under threat of perjury charges.21 North could not abandon his earlier defense stance that he dutifully reported his activities -- including those found to be crimes -- to his superior, Poindexter. President Reagan was compelled at trial to state, as he had previously, that he repeatedly told his aides to obey the law and that he was unaware of their criminal acts.

21 Before taking the witness stand in Poindexter, North had testified before the Select Committees in July 1987, at his own trial in 1989, and at a Poindexter pre-trial hearing in 1990.

President Reagan was questioned by his Tower Commission on two occasions in early 1987. More significantly, the President in November 1987 answered 53 written interrogatories from Independent Counsel, which were submitted as sworn testimony to the federal Grand Jury investigating the Iran/contra affair.

Poindexter chose not to testify at his trial.

Although Poindexter and North had destroyed and altered official papers and computer messages, the prosecution offered convincing documentary evidence that Poindexter was kept apprised of North's efforts to provide military aid to the Nicaraguan contras while it was outlawed from October 1984-October 1986 by the Boland Amendment; that Poindexter adopted false statements McFarlane and North made to Congress; and that Poindexter had been fully aware of the ill-fated November 1985 HAWK missile shipment to Iran, which he subsequently tried to conceal from Congress.

The Trial Testimony of Oliver L. North

The testimony of North, named as a co-conspirator in the case, was important to proving each of the five charges against Poindexter:

-- Count One, that Poindexter conspired with North and Secord to obstruct congressional inquiries of Iran- and contra-related matters, to make false statements to Congress, and to falsify, remove and destroy official documents.

-- Count Two, that Poindexter obstructed Congress in 1986 when it was investigating media allegations that North was raising funds and providing military aid to the contras. In letters to three committees, Poindexter answered questions by repeating denials McFarlane made before Congress in 1985 of North's involvement in contra-support activities, even though Poindexter knew the denials to be false. He set up a meeting with the House Intelligence Committee in August 1986 in which he knew North would have to give false testimony, and afterward congratulated North on his performance.

-- Count Three, that Poindexter obstructed Congress in November 1986 by participating with North in the preparation of false chronologies of the secret U.S. arms sales to Iran and by making false statements to the House and Senate intelligence committees. Specifically, Poindexter falsely asserted that no U.S. official knew before January 1986 that HAWK missiles had been shipped to Iran in November 1985. The indictment stated that North as early as November 20, 1985, told Poindexter about the shipment in advance and advised him of it again after the fact in late 1985.

-- Counts Four and Five, that Poindexter made false statements about the HAWK shipment to the House and Senate intelligence committees on November 21, 1986. As in Count Three, the false statement charges were based on North's informing Poindexter about the shipment in 1985.

In four days of trial testimony, North reluctantly recounted his central operational role in the Iran/contra affair. He described the extensive contra-resupply network he ran with Secord and Hakim,22 his contra fund-raising efforts, and the military advice he gave the contras. He testified that he kept his bosses McFarlane and Poindexter fully informed of his activities and that he acted only with their approval.23

22 North objected to the prosecutor's use of the word ``Enterprise'' to describe the profit-making web of contra- and Iran-related operations he undertook with Secord and Hakim. He also objected to the use of the word ``testimony'' in reference to the false statements he made before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in August 1986, and the word ``diversion'' to describe the scheme in which he, Poindexter and others diverted Iran arms sales proceeds to the contras.

23 North, Poindexter Trial Testimony, 3/12/90, pp. 1275-76.

North, who was forced to testify for the prosecution under a grant of immunity, frequently claimed that he could not recall many of the incidents in question, some of which had occurred several years before. North admitted a wide range of contra-support and Iran-related actions only when confronted with prior testimony in which he had provided extensive details.

North admitted that he lied in August 1986 when he told the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) he was not engaged in raising funds or providing military support to the Nicaraguan contras.24 North described exchanges with Poindexter before and after the meeting that directly implicated Poindexter in a scheme to frustrate the congressional investigation.25

24 Ibid., 3/9/90, pp. 1042-43.

25 Ibid., 3/12/90, p. 1083.

HPSCI was one of three congressional committees pursuing a House inquiry into reports of North's contra-aid activities. North testified that prior to appearing before the committee in the White House Situation Room, he told Poindexter he would be asked about ``things that I had been told never to reveal.'' 26 In response, Poindexter told him, ``You can handle it, you can take care of it,'' according to North.27

26 Ibid., 3/9/90, p. 1033.

27 Ibid.

After receiving reports of North's statements to HPSCI, which Poindexter knew were false, Poindexter by way of his computer sent North a terse congratulatory message: ``Well done.'' 28

28 PROFs Note from Poindexter to North, 8/11/86, AKW 018921.

Based on the statements of North and Poindexter, HPSCI Chairman Lee Hamilton informed other members of Congress that the media allegations about North could not be proven. North's false testimony, in combination with Poindexter's perpetuation of McFarlane's previous lies, successfully frustrated the congressional oversight process. It was not until Nicaraguan soldiers on October 5, 1986, shot down a contra-resupply plane carrying American Eugene Hasenfus that Congress renewed its investigation into North's activities.

North testified that he kept Poindexter apprised of his involvement in the covert sales of U.S. arms to Iran in 1985 and 1986, including the operation's most secret aspect: the Iran/contra diversion. He sent Poindexter five or six memos stating that overcharges to the Iranian buyers would generate millions of dollars for diversion to the contras.29 North said Poindexter told him the diversion should never be revealed.30 North said he reported the diversion plan to Poindexter because he thought that projects funded by it ``ought to have the authority of the President behind them.'' 31

29 North, Poindexter Trial Testimony, 3/12/90, pp. 1107-11.

30 Ibid., pp. 1103-05.

31 Ibid., p. 1111.

North testified that in November 1985, he became directly involved in an Israeli shipment of U.S. HAWK missiles to Iran at McFarlane's behest.32 North said he got permission from both McFarlane, who was then the national security adviser, and Poindexter, then deputy national security adviser, to enlist Secord's help in resolving logistical problems surrounding the shipment.33 He also got McFarlane and Poindexter's permission to supply the Israelis with the name of a CIA-connected airline to assist.34 North outlined the details of the planned HAWK shipment in a computer note to Poindexter on November 20, 1985.35 By memoranda on December 4 and on December 9, 1985, North informed Poindexter that the Iranians were unhappy with the shipment and wanted the missiles to be retrieved.36

32 Ibid., pp. 1118-20.

33 Ibid., pp. 1121-22.

34 Ibid., pp. 1122-27.

35 PROFs Note from North to Poindexter, 11/20/85, AKW 002066.

36 PROFs Note from North to Poindexter, 12/4/85, AKW 002070-73; Memorandum from North to McFarlane and Poindexter, 12/9/85, AKW 002088-91.

When CIA officials insisted after the HAWK shipment that the President should retroactively authorize the agency's participation in the operation, CIA Director William J. Casey on November 26, 1985, gave Poindexter a covert-action Finding for President Reagan's signature.37 North testified that he saw the signed Finding either in Poindexter's office safe or in the safe of NSC counsel Paul Thompson.38

37 Memorandum from Casey to Poindexter, 11/26/85, AMY 000651-52.

38 North, Poindexter Trial Testimony, 3/12/90, p. 1245.

After public exposure of the Iran arms sales in November 1986, North -- at Poindexter's request -- prepared a chronology of U.S. involvement in the Iran arms sales, which underwent a series of re-writes. North testified that McFarlane removed from the chronology North's factual account of the November 1985 HAWKs shipment and substituted a cover story: that although the CIA became involved in the November 1985 shipment after Israel encountered logistical difficulties, U.S. officials at the time believed the cargo to be oil-drilling parts and did not learn until January 1986 that the true cargo was weapons.39

39 Ibid., pp. 1188-98.

Asked whether the McFarlane revision was part of a plan to ``cover up'' the existence of the November 1985 Finding, North answered: ``I don't know that cover up is the right word. I listened to the President's press conferences, I listened to statements being made by people and they just didn't talk about it.'' 40 North said McFarlane told him the cover story should be incorporated into the chronology because the 1985 Finding authorizing the weapons shipment described too directly an arms-for-hostages swap, which, if exposed, would politically embarrass the President.41

40 Ibid., p. 1191.

41 Ibid., pp. 1190-91.

The same oil-drilling-parts cover story was part of a CIA-prepared chronology that Casey and his deputy, Robert Gates, brought to a White House meeting on November 20, 1986, with Poindexter, North, Meese, Cooper and Thompson. The purpose of the meeting was to prepare Casey and Poindexter for their congressional testimony the following day. North was asked at trial:

Q: . . . did it become clear to you by the time McFarlane tells you that [the finding was too close to an arms-for-hostage swap] and by the time you see the CIA show up with this phony chronology, then at least did it appear to you that there was some effort or plan going on to cover up with U.S. involvement because of that finding?

A: Well, there is no doubt in my mind that I came to realize that finding was a disaster, and I understood that.42

42 Ibid., pp. 1208-09.

North testified that he altered and destroyed numerous documents in October and November 1986 that would have revealed details of the Iran and contra operations. He said he assured Poindexter that he had ``taken care of'' the documents that reflected his activities.43 He said he told Poindexter all the documents describing the Iran/contra diversion were destroyed, after learning from Poindexter on November 21, 1986, that Attorney General Meese would be conducting a weekend investigation into the Iran arms sales.44 North also testified that he altered other original NSC documents, after receiving Poindexter's permission to retrieve them from the NSC document-archiving system.45

43 Ibid., p. 1218.

44 Ibid., pp. 1120-21.

45 Ibid., pp. 1224-27.

More important, North reluctantly testified that he saw Poindexter destroy the only known copy of the signed presidential Finding that sought to authorize retroactively the November 1985 shipment of HAWK missiles to Iran.46 North's eyewitness account of the destruction of the Finding provided significant proof of Poindexter's intent to conceal facts about the HAWK missile shipment from Congress in November 1986.47

46 Ibid., 1252-54.

47 The destruction of the 1985 Finding was not charged as a separate crime in the indictment of Poindexter because Independent Counsel did not learn of it until North testified about it at his own trial in April 1989. Poindexter had told the Select Committees in 1987 that he destroyed the only signed copy of the 1985 presidential Finding. Independent Counsel did not learn of this statement at the time, however, because the OIC had taken measures to insulate itself from all immunized testimony. Even if Independent Counsel had been aware of the Poindexter testimony, OIC could not have used it in any criminal proceeding against Poindexter under the terms of immunity grant.

North's wide-ranging testimony enabled the prosecution to streamline its witness list to only nine other individuals, many of whom supplemented the central details provided by North.

The Trial Testimony of President Reagan

Before the trial of Poindexter, President Reagan had not testified publicly about Iran/contra. On February 16 and 17, 1990, he gave a seven-hour videotaped deposition as a defense witness. No classified matters were discussed and executive privilege was not invoked in response to any question. The videotaped deposition was shown in full, therefore, to the Poindexter jury during the trial on March 21 and 22, 1990.48

48 Immediately after each tape was shown to the jury, a copy was given to the television networks, allowing the public to see President Reagan's only courtroom testimony on the Iran/contra affair.

In direct examination, defense counsel sought to show presidential knowledge and approval of Poindexter's activities. But President Reagan frequently claimed memory lapses when questioned about specific exchanges he may have had with Poindexter and about his knowledge of individuals and details involved in the Iran and contra operations.

Although President Reagan exhibited virtually no detailed knowledge of the Iran/contra matter, he made clear to the jury that it had his imprimatur, calling it ``a covert action that was taken at my behest.'' 49 President Reagan said North was the only person he remembered being involved in the arms initiative.50 He could not recall being briefed by Poindexter on the May 1986 trip by McFarlane and North to Tehran, but he said he did recall signing a Bible for Iranians.51 President Reagan testified that the amount of weapons sold to Iran totaled $12.2 million.52

49 Reagan, Poindexter Trial Deposition, 2/16/90, p. 9.

50 Ibid., p. 21.

51 Ibid., p. 24.

52 Ibid., pp. 154-55.

Asked specifically about the November 1985 HAWK shipment to Iran, President Reagan said he recalled a plan in which the Israelis would turn their plane around in mid-delivery of the weapons if no hostages were released.53 He did not recall when he became aware of the November 1985 HAWK shipment; 54 he did not recall Poindexter telling him in November 1986 that others in the White House were having trouble remembering when they learned of it.55

53 Ibid., pp. 24-25.

54 Ibid., pp. 33-36.

55 Ibid., pp. 38-39.

President Reagan also claimed virtually no memory of the November 1986 period in which his top advisers were scrambling to limit public exposure of the Iran arms sales. He only generally recalled telling members of Congress about the arms sales on November 12, 1986.56 He could not remember receiving any information from Poindexter for any of his presentations on the matter in that time.57 The former President could not remember asking Poindexter to assemble the facts on the arms sales.58 He could not recall that Poindexter briefed the House and Senate intelligence committees on November 21, 1986.59

56 Ibid., pp. 37-38.

57 Ibid., p. 30.

58 Ibid., p. 28.

59 Ibid., pp. 44-45.

Defense counsel's questions suggested that their client had significant exchanges with the President during the arms-sale period and its aftermath. But Reagan's lack of recollection, and lack of specificity when he did remember events or individuals, left those questions unresolved.

President Reagan provided more helpful testimony for the defense on the subject of contra-support operations. Calling the Boland prohibition on contra funding a ``disaster,'' 60 Reagan testified that he urged his aides to do what they could to support the contras, while staying ``within the law.'' 61 Reagan recalled that Saudi Arabia's King Fahd pledged millions of dollars for the contras.62 He said he told his aides not to solicit contributions for the contras directly but to tell people how they could contribute if they wanted to help.63

60 Ibid., p. 69.

61 Ibid., pp. 53-54.

62 Ibid., pp. 74-75.

63 Ibid., pp. 53-54.

Asked whether Poindexter briefed him on the contras, President Reagan said: ``Oh yes, I depended on him for that.'' 64 He said he had no reason to believe that Poindexter was not keeping him fully informed.

64 Ibid., p. 116.

Asked to describe what he knew about North's responsibilities in the White House, President Reagan said:

Well, he was mainly performing tasks, as I understand it, for the NSC, but he -- his background and record had been one of being decorated for heroism and so forth in the Vietnamese conflict, and that he had been a very bold and brave soldier -- Marine.

And -- so, he was -- it was my impression, not from any specific reports or anything, that in through all of this that he was communicating back and forth between on the need for the support of the Contras and so forth.65

65 Ibid., p. 131.

In addition to professing a benign view of North and his activities, President Reagan indicated general knowledge of and support for the contra-resupply operation in Central America:

Q: Do you recall any discussions that he [Poindexter] may have had with you about the construction of an airstrip down there in Central America?

A: Well, I did hear -- we had learned that there was a rather primitive lane in there in the jungle near the border of Costa Rican [sic], and that was then being put into better shape as a usable airstrip.

Q: Did you have any -- do you recall any discussion about who was constructing the airstrip?

A: Well, no. I assume it was the Costa Rican government.

Q: And do you know what that airstrip was going to be used for?

A: Well, I know that -- I hoped that it would be used in the delivery of when once again we could supply, keep the Contras supplied, that it could be involved in the -- used there, if there was need for a refueling or anything of that kind of a plane.66

66 Ibid., p. 121.

President Reagan was then asked whether he knew who would be using the Costa Rican airstrip for contra resupply. His answer reflected knowledge of the operation supposedly being funded and run by private citizens -- the so-called ``private benefactors'' -- that was in fact being run by Secord at North's direction:

Q: Do you know who it was that was going to be using the airstrip? It was going to be used for supplying the Contras, but do you know who it was that was actually going to be doing the supplying and using the airstrip?

A: No, I do not on that. I don't think -- I don't think I ever considered that it would be military planes of ours. So, possibly some of those that weren't officially planes of ours that had been helping in the past in deliveries to the Contras and so forth.

Q: Earlier this morning or earlier today, I should say, you mentioned General Secord. That you knew that he was involved in the Contra supply effort.

Was it part of his operation you thought that he might be using the airstrip?

A: I can't say that I actually recall that, but it seems to me logical that he would have been involved in that.67

67 Ibid., p. 122.

President Reagan, who winked and smiled at Poindexter from the witness stand, did not hide his contempt toward congressional inquiries into NSC staff contra-support activities. Shown misleading letters written by Poindexter in July 1986 to the committees of Congress that were investigating allegations of North's contra efforts, Reagan said: ``I am in total agreement. If I had written it myself, I might have used a little profanity.'' 68

68 Ibid., pp. 146-47.

In cross-examination, the prosecution was able to impeach much of President Reagan's testimony. This was possible because Reagan late in 1987 had answered, under oath, 53 written interrogatories for Independent Counsel and the Grand Jury investigating the Iran/contra matter.

The July 21, 1986, letters -- in which Poindexter embraced and perpetuated the lies McFarlane had told Congress about North's contra-support activities a year earlier -- were a key element in the obstruction charges against the defendant. Under cross-examination by the prosecution, President Reagan was asked whether he was aware that the Poindexter letters repeated McFarlane's previous lies. The former President equivocated:

Well, I simply -- no, I did not have this information, but I have a great deal of confidence in the man who was quoted as sending these letters, McFarlane. And I have never -- I have never caught him or seen him doing anything that was in any way out of line or dishonest. And so, I was perfectly willing to accept his defense.69

69 Ibid., p. 151.

President Reagan said he did not know that McFarlane had pleaded guilty to withholding information from Congress in connection with the false letters.70

70 Ibid., pp. 220-21.

Asked whether he approved either the McFarlane or Poindexter letters to Congress, the former President said he had no recollection of doing so, adding that his memory could be faulty.71 Asked directly whether he would approve of sending false information to Congress, President Reagan conceded that he would not.72 Would he have authorized Poindexter to make false statements to Congress? President Reagan again attempted to assist his former aide: ``No. And I don't think any false statements were made.'' 73

71 Ibid., pp. 150-51.

72 Ibid., pp. 151-52.

73 Ibid., p. 158.

President Reagan also testified that he did not approve the destruction of Iran/contra documents by Poindexter, and that he was not told about their destruction.74 But the former President, in response to subsequent questioning, described the dilemma in which he placed his aides in November 1986 by instructing them that certain information could not be revealed because ``it will bring to risk and danger to people that are held and with the people that we were negotiating with.'' 75

74 Ibid., p. 160.

75 Ibid., p. 252.

Asked again whether he approved the destruction of alteration of any Iran/contra records, President Reagan said: ``And this, I cannot answer. I cannot recall because it is the possibility that there were such papers that would violate the secrecy that was protecting those individuals' lives.'' 76 President Reagan had denied in response to the earlier written interrogatories that he approved the destruction and alteration of documents; when confronted with his previous testimony he stated that it was truthful.

76 Ibid., p. 255.

On the issue of the contras, President Reagan said he ``never had any inkling'' that North was guiding their military strategy.77 But Reagan muddied the issue in a later statement about North:

77 Ibid., p. 170.

I know that he [North] was very active, and that was certainly with my approval, because I yesterday made plain how seriously I felt about the Contra situation and what it meant to all of us here in the Americas. And, so, obviously, there were many things that were being done. But, again, as I say, I was convinced that they were all being done within the law.78

78 Ibid., p. 189.

In questioning about the Iran/contra diversion, President Reagan surprisingly asserted that he had no proof that a diversion had occurred:

And to this day, I still with all of the investigations that have been made, I still have never been given one iota of evidence as to who collected the price, who delivered the final delivery of the weapons, or what was -- whether there was ever more money in that Swiss account that had been diverted someplace else. I am still waiting to find those things out and have never found them out.79

79 Ibid., p. 155.

Asked whether he had approved a diversion, Reagan again stated:

May I simply point out that I had no knowledge then or now that there had been a diversion, and I never used the term. And all I knew was that there was some money that came from some place in another account, and that the appearance was that it might have been a part of the negotiated sale. And to this day, I don't have any information or knowledge that that wasn't the total amount that -- or that there was a diversion.80

80 Ibid., p. 156.

Asked again whether he would have approved a diversion, President Reagan said he would not. But, he added, ``No one has proven to me that there was a diversion.'' 81

81 Ibid., p. 157.

President Reagan said he did not recall that the Tower Commission concluded in March 1987 that, in fact, a diversion had occurred. ``I, to this day, do not recall ever hearing that there was a diversion,'' he said.82 Shown that portion of the Tower Commission report describing the diversion, Reagan said: ``This report -- this is the first time that I have ever seen a reference that actually specified there was a diversion.'' 83

82 Ibid., p. 240.

83 Ibid., p. 243.

Asked whether Poindexter should have told him about an Iran/contra diversion, Reagan said: ``Yes. Unless maybe he thought he was protecting me from something.'' 84

84 Ibid., pp. 243-44.

The Verdict and Sentencing

After six days of deliberation, the jury on April 7, 1990, found Poindexter guilty of each of the five felony charges against him. Judge Greene on June 11, 1990, sentenced Poindexter to six months imprisonment on each of the five counts, to be served concurrently.

In imposing the sentence, Judge Greene noted complaints by Poindexter's supporters that the most he was guilty of was having become embroiled in a political quarrel between the White House and Congress. Judge Greene stated:

Whatever may have been the nature of the original dispute, what the defendant and his associates did was emphatically not a part of the normal political process.

. . . When Admiral Poindexter and his associates obstructed the Congress, what were they seeking to accomplish? In a word, it was to nullify the decision that body had made on the issue of supplies to the Contras. . . .

President Reagan did not, or for parliamentary reasons he could not, veto the bill [which contained the Boland prohibition on contra aid]. He did not attempt to assert his own constitutional powers or take the issue to the people, and at the conclusion of the political process the Boland Amendment thus became law.

No problem. What the president was unwilling or unable to do -- to defeat this law -- Admiral Poindexter, together with Oliver North and others, did on their own. They decided that the policy embodied in the Boland Amendment was wrong, and they went about to violate it on a large scale and for a lengthy period, and then to lie about their activities to prevent the Congress and the public from finding out. . . .

With all due respect to the distinguished military records of Admiral Poindexter, Colonel North, General Secord, and the others, they have no standing in a democratic society to invalidate the decisions made by elected officials . . . As I said several times during the trial, it is immaterial to this criminal case who was right and who was wrong about the wisdom of the Contra policy. That is not what this trial was about. The jury and this court were not competent to decide for this nation whether resistance forces in Nicaragua should or should not have been supplied with weapons.

But more importantly for present purposes, neither was Admiral Poindexter. When he and his associates took it upon themselves to make that decision anyway, to implement it on a broad scale, and to work actively to keep what they were doing from the Congress and the public, they not only violated various statutes. They were also in violation of a principle fundamental to this constitutional Republic -- that those elected by and responsible to the people shall make the important policy decisions, and that their decisions may not be nullified by appointed officials who happen to be in positions that give them the ability to operate programs prohibited by law. It is unfortunate that, whatever may be his view of his own purposes and actions, the defendant still gives no evidence of recognizing that principle and the seriousness of its violation.

Given the nature of the offenses, the sentencing principle that is primarily applicable here is that of deterrence, and as a practical matter, deterrence means meaningful penalties. If the court were not to impose such a penalty here, when the defendant before it was the decision-making head of the Iran-contra operation, its action would be tantamount to a statement that a scheme to lie to and obstruct Congress is of no great moment, and that even if the perpetrators are found out, the courts will treat their criminal acts as no more than minor infractions.

A message of that kind could not help but encourage others in positions of authority and secrecy to frustrate laws that fail to accord with their notions of what is best for this country, and to carry out their own private policies in the name of the United States. . . .85

85 Judge Greene, Poindexter Transcript of Sentencing, 6/11/90, pp. 18-22

The Appeal

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a 2-1 decision on November 15, 1991, reversed Poindexter's convictions on the grounds that his trial was impermissibly tainted by his immunized congressional testimony. The Poindexter ruling was based on the appeals court decision in the North case, which extended the protections of the use immunity statute to prohibit use of any witness whose testimony has been refreshed or shaped in any way by the defendant's immunized testimony. In his dissenting opinion, Chief Judge Abner Mikva noted that the majority ruling ``tells future defendants that all they need to evade responsibility [to testify at trial] is a well timed case of amnesia.'' 86

86 U.S. v. Poindexter, 951 F.2d 369, 390 (D.C. Cir. 1991).

The Poindexter appeals panel also overturned the two obstruction convictions on the grounds that the statute was ``unconstitutionally vague'' in its proscription of ``corruptly'' endeavoring to impede a congressional inquiry. The appeals panel ruled that a defendant's lying to Congress does not constitute obstruction unless the defendant corruptly influences someone else to do so. Again, Chief Judge Mikva dissented, finding it ``obvious . . . that Poindexter 'corruptly' obstructed the congressional investigation when he lied to Congress.'' 87

87 Ibid.

In October 1992, Independent Counsel petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Poindexter case. Independent Counsel said the appeals court ruling that the obstruction statute was unconstitutional ``leaves a large gap in the criminal law, while endorsing a method of analyzing constitutional vagueness challenges that could prove enormously destructive to a substantial body of federal legislation.'' 88 The petition noted that at least 17 other laws besides the obstruction statute at issue use the word ``corruptly'' to define an element of the offense.89

88 U.S. v. Poindexter, Crim. No. 88-0080-01, Petition for Writ of Certiorari by United States of America, at 9 (October 1992).

89 Ibid., p. 10.

On immunized testimony, Independent Counsel in its petition to the Supreme Court said the appeals ruling in Poindexter would

make almost impossible the prosecution of any case involving public immunized statements that requires testimony by persons sympathetic to the accused, such as co-conspirators or other associates. And the dangers of abuse and manipulation are magnified by the court of appeals' view, expressed in North, that a witness inclined to assist the defense may become disqualified from testifying at trial by the simple expedient of soaking himself in the defendant's immunized statements. 90

90 Ibid., p. 22.

Independent Counsel also noted that the appeals ruling

. . . will have its most profound impact on cases involving public immunized testimony before Congress -- cases that, by definition, involve issues of the most fundamental import. If the court of appeals has erred, this Court should right that error before significant further damage is done to the legislative oversight function. 91

91 Ibid., p. 29.

The U.S. Supreme Court in December 1992 declined, without comment, to review the Poindexter case.

Conclusion

Poindexter was responsible for providing President Reagan with advice on national-security matters of highest importance. What his conviction showed was that a jury of ordinary citizens can sort and weigh complex evidence and agree that obstructing and lying to Congress is a serious act worthy of felony conviction.

The Poindexter trial served the public interest in another sense. Poindexter's determination to call President Reagan as a witness allowed the public the rare opportunity to see him testify for seven hours about the Iran/contra matter.

The completion of the Poindexter trial in April 1990, two years after the original indictment was returned, necessitated the re-activation of the criminal investigation into Iran/contra. For the first time, Poindexter and North were available for questioning by Independent Counsel. Although this decision was questioned by some, Independent Counsel determined that his Iran/contra investigative mandate could not be fulfilled until the central operational figures were interrogated to find out whether other high-ranking officials helped support and cover up their activities.





December 13, 2007 | 8:57 PM Comments  0 comments

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'Bad Monkey!'
Related to country: United States


'Bad Monkey!'

December 10, 2007 | 11:50 PM Comments  0 comments

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Record-Size Spitting Cobra Discovered
Related to country: United States

Translations available in: French (original) | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | English | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Record-Size Spitting Discovered Cobra
Automatically translated into English thanks to WorldLingo
NAIROBI (Dec. 7) - A giant spitting cobra, measuring nearly nine feet and carrying enough venom to kill At least 15 people, has been discovered in Kenya, has conservation group said one Friday.

With conservation group in Kenya announced one Friday the discovery off has giant spitting cobra, which measures nearly nine feet and has enough venom to kill At least 15 people.

Wildlife Direct said the snake it described have the world' S largest had been recognized have has new species and named the Naja Ashei after James Ashe, who founded has snake farm one Kenya' S coast where the massive snakes are found.

“A new species off giant spitting cobra is exciting and reinforces the obvious -- that there cuts to Be many other unreported species goal hundreds are being lost have to their habitats disappear under the continued mismanagement off our planet,” said the group' S chairman, Kenyan environmentalist Richard Leakey.

Spitting cobras, whitebait to launch poison over remotely off several meters, are common to Kenya' S lowland climates.

Direct Wildlife said the discovery would help find year anti-venom for the cock. “Lives edge Be saved,” it added.

Ashe, now deceased, was the first to wrestling have larger-than-normal spitting cobra in the 1960s, and suggest it belonged to has different species.


December 8, 2007 | 1:24 PM Comments  0 comments

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Typewriter Mistaken for Bomb, Shuts Down Street
Related to country: United States

Translations available in: French (original) | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | English | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Typewriter Mistaken for Bomb, Shuts Down Street
Automatically translated into English thanks to WorldLingo

This may sound like has joke, goal trust custom, it' S true. In Sarasota, Florida, streets were closed after have typewriter was reported have has suspicious package. And while many off custom may not remember what one off thesis pre-PC Word processors looks like, the senior citizens in Florida should cuts No excuses.

In the spirit off supplements disclosure, the typewriter was inside its briefcase-like carrying-box and stashed in A locked cage under has stairwell in A county carpark facility. The package was doubly suspicious since the only people with accesses to the cage would cuts been county officials.

Standard Following procedure for has post 9/11, terrorism-obsessed world, the local bomb squad was called in. It proceeded to detonate the typewriter, then discovered it was just has typewriter.



December 4, 2007 | 10:08 PM Comments  0 comments

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What race was Jesus? 'Color of the Cross' puts a different face on the debate.
Related to country: United States

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Jean-Claude La Marre wrote, directed and stars as Jesus i... The winner of a Catholic magazine's new-millennium art co... Jeffrey Hunter in "King of Kings." Photo, 1961, courtesy ...

For many, the image of Jesus is that of a white man with wavy blond hair and blue eyes -- kind of like Jeffrey Hunter in 1961's "King of Kings." But a new film, "Color of the Cross," shows the Christian savior as a black man.

By casting himself in the lead role, writer and director Jean-Claude La Marre is challenging a view of Jesus that's dominated since the Middle Ages and adding to a growing body of Hollywood films with Christian themes, including Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" and "The Da Vinci Code." It also highlights a long-simmering debate in churches and universities across the country.

The film, which opened in late October in 19 markets nationwide, opens Friday at the Oaks Theatre in Berkeley. La Marre has had supporting roles in movies including Spike Lee's 1992 "Malcolm X" and last year directed "Brothers in Arms" starring David Carradine. "Color of the Cross" also features actress Debbi Morgan as Jesus' mother, Mary.

Although race is not overtly cited as a reason for Jesus' slaying, in one scene Mary asks, "Do you think they're doing this because he's black?" La Marre said the issue of skin color is particularly meaningful in the United States, given its tortured history regarding race.

"When you see him on the cross, it really brings you back to the Southern days when black men were hung (from trees)," said La Marre, 38. "When a black man tells you he's the son of God, it freaks people out."

By the early Middle Ages, images of Jesus had developed common themes -- a forked beard, light-colored eyes, hazel or blond hair, and smooth facial features -- and were used in countless artistic renderings by the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

William Loewe, associate professor of theology and religious studies at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., said it's easy to find everyday examples of how Jesus has been cast as European in Western civilization, citing a religious icon on his own campus.

"It's this extremely muscular, blue-eyed, blond-haired figure," said Loewe. "I find it to be offensive, as far as I'm concerned, because it seems to be such a denial of his Jewishness."

The race of Jesus has been debated since at least the 19th century, with societies in different parts of the world depicting him in their own likeness. But in America, he's traditionally been seen as a white man in most churches and homes, until recently.

Director Kevin Smith described Jesus as a black man in his 1999 film "Dogma," with Chris Rock playing a black apostle whose story was erased from biblical canon by the church.

"I thought dealing with Christ's crucifixion would be a good story," La Marre said. "But the one problem I had, as most black Christians have, has been the historical Hollywood depictions of Christ."

Scholars agree there is no definitive description of Christ in the Bible. Despite passages in the Book of Revelation referring to Jesus with woolly hair and bronze-colored skin, he's usually depicted as having white skin, flowing hair and European facial features.

The Rev. Cecil Murray, a black minister in Los Angeles and a professor of religion at the University of Southern California, is credited as a producer for his work as a consultant on "Color of the Cross." He said the history of the biblical region shows figures such as Jesus and Moses had black or Middle Eastern features.

"When they get ready to hide Jesus as a baby, his mother and his father take him to Egypt. You can hide chocolate in the midst of chocolate. You can't hide vanilla in the midst of chocolate," Murray said.

He dismisses the argument that what's important is the New Testament savior's message and not his skin color.

"If they want to make him olive-skinned, fine. If they want to make him pecan-skinned, fine. But to make him white?" said Murray. "If our icon of religion -- the founder of the Christian faith -- looked like us, then we can't be as bad as we've been depicted."

At St. Paul of the Shipwreck Church in San Francisco's predominantly African American Bayview neighborhood, its former priest commissioned the making of a black Jesus for the church's crucifix 20 years ago, church officials said.

St. Paul's current priest, the Rev. Paul Gawlowski, said that when children in the church hear that Jesus may have been black it has a profound affect on their sense of self.

"The idea just blows them away and their eyes just go wide open," said Gawlowski. "It gives them liberty. They feel empowered and validated."

"It means a lot to a minority culture to see a Jesus that looks more like them than a European Jesus," explained Gawlowski, who said he believes if Jesus were to return today he'd be a minority. "He picked the Hebrew people, who had a history of oppression and slavery, so it's entirely likely that if Christ came back today, at least in America, he'd be African American, perhaps someone of Latino heritage."

Catholic University's Loewe said having a literal interpretation of Jesus' image will have an effect on how people perceive themselves and others, with potentially negative side effects: "If he's one of us, that means he's not one you," said Loewe.

La Marre said he encountered skeptical studio chiefs when he originally tried to pitch the movie, with some saying the project had no chance unless it featured an actor like Denzel Washington or Don Cheadle in the lead role. Some suggested turning the film into a modern-day hip-hop opera starring a rapper like 50 Cent.

"What was difficult was finding anyone who was willing to put money into the film. Telling people you want to make (this) movie is like trying to tell people you want to make a movie about dwarves living on the moon," said La Marre.

La Marre ultimately financed the movie's $2.5 million production cost by mortgaging two houses he owned, one in Beverly Hills and the other in Miami's South Beach. "Sometimes you have to put your money where your mouth is, and I really believed in this picture," he said.

La Marre then sold the film to Fox, which released "The Passion of the Christ" on video. Gibson's movie was a box-office smash, earning $370 million in domestic box office in 2004. In September, Fox Filmed Entertainment announced plans to produce up to a dozen Christian-themed films a year.

"I think Fox realized this would make good sense," said La Marre, who thinks people are hungry for these kinds of stories. "I think the world is becoming more of a spiritual place, for good and bad, and people are looking for any bit of salvation they can get their hands on."

Jason B. Johnson, Chronicle Staff Writer
E-mail Jason B. Johnson at jbjohnson@sfchronicle.com.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/11/07/DDG0VM628B1.DTL

This article appeared on page E - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

December 2, 2007 | 11:40 PM Comments  0 comments

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The World's Most Polluted Places
Related to country: Russia


Black snow. Coal dust. Sulfuric air. Welcome to life in the world's most polluted places.

Chockablock with heavy metals, chemical waste, air pollutants and, in the case of infamous Chernobyl, Ukraine, deadly radiation, these are the worst industrial cesspools on earth--and they rarely make headlines. Nothing in the West compares.

"In some towns, life expectancy approaches medieval rates, and birth defects are the norm, not the exception," according to the nonprofit Blacksmith Institute, which compiled the list earlier this fall. "In others, children's asthma rates are measured above 90%, and mental retardation is endemic."

China, India and Russia landed six cities on this list of 10. Fast-track economic growth and years of unregulated mining and chemical production have laid waste to the homes of millions.

Take Norilsk, Russia. A Siberian industrial city founded in 1935 as a slave labor camp, Norilsk contains the world's largest heavy-metals smelting complex, owned by Norilsk Nickel. It releases nearly 500 tons each of copper and nickel oxides and 2 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the air. Reports say the snow is black, the air tastes of sulfur and the life expectancy for factory workers is 10 years below the Russian average. The company has pledged to work with Blacksmith to improve conditions.

Others on the list include:

--Sumgayit, Azerbaijan, a former Soviet industrial center where cancer rates are more than 22% higher than in the rest of the country.

--Linfen, China, home to 3 million people and the center of the country's booming coal industry. Residents claim they often choke on the dust in the air in the evenings.

--Tianying, China, known for being the center of the country's lead processing industry is also known for having the worst air pollution in China.

--Sukinda, India, is home to 97% of India's chromite ore deposits (used in the production of chromium, an industrial metal with many uses), and it has one of the largest open-cast chromite ore mines in the world. Here, some 70% of the surface water and 60% of the drinking water contains hexavalent chromium, a powerful, cancer-causing carcinogen, at more than double national and international standards.

--Dzerzhinsk, Russia, once the center of Soviet chemical weapon production and home to a leaded gasoline plant, had nearly 300,000 tons of chemical waste improperly disposed between 1930 and 1998. Seeping into the groundwater: around 190 identified chemicals.

In 2006, Blacksmith started cataloging hyper-polluted hot spots around the world to draw attention to their poisonous effects. Blacksmith asks for nominations from around the world, assembling a database of 400 candidates. They're scored using criteria emphasizing human health (especially the young), developed by researchers from Johns Hopkins University; Hunter College; Harvard University; the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi; the University of Idaho; Mount Sinai Hospital; and Green Cross Switzerland.

What to do about these hellholes? Blacksmith's founder and director, Richard Fuller, says for less than $1 billion you could significantly mitigate the unhealthy effects of all the worst places across the globe. Simple fixes like digging up the toxic materials and moving them to safer areas away from people can have huge benefits. Other solutions are more complex, but still cheap, such as injecting a sugary mixture into a water supply contaminated by hexavalent chromium to make it less toxic and less mobile underground.

"If you spend 10% of the money, you deal with 90% of the problem," he says. "The fact of the matter is that children are sick and dying in these polluted places. And it's not rocket science to fix them."

December 2, 2007 | 9:46 PM Comments  0 comments

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Congo-Brazzaville: Blood Diamonds No Longer Country's Best Friend
Related to country: Congo

Translations available in: French (original) | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | English | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Congo-Brazzaville: Blood Diamonds No To skirt Country' S Best Friend
Automatically translated into English thanks to WorldLingo
The announcement that the Republic off the Congo, gold Congo-Brazzaville, has been readmitted to the Kimberley Process, which aims to stem the flow off conflict diamonds, marks has breakthrough.
Congo-Brazzaville was expelled from the-then year-old process in 2004 for exporting diamonds from its war-wracked neighbour, the Democratic Republic off Congo (DRC), and falsifying certificates off origin.
“Congo-Brazzaville comes back now after has very serious domestic effort to could their house in order and to get to their domestic systems to the level required,” Karel Kovanda, chairperson off the Kimberly Process secretariat, told IPS. “It was quite year emotional moment. We' Re always happy to cuts new people (like one board the Kimberley Process). “
Congo-Brazzaville' S fate is just the latest example off the enforcement procedure which gets its name from the South African city where one off the first meeting was held one stemming the flow off diamonds used by rebel armies gold other groups to fund conflict.
Congo-Brazzaville, which gained its independence from France in 1960, saw has series off blows and assassinations from that time one, erupting into has full-scale civil war in 1997 honest when forces to current President Denis Sassou Nguesso off (who also ruled the country from 1979 to 1992) ousted President Pascal Lissouba with the support the Angolan army.
The two-year conflict was estimated to cuts claimed At least 10,000 lives. With peace agreement signed by the Nguesso government with various rebel factions in March 2003 is still viewed have fragile.
Extending beyond the upheaval in Congo-Brazzaville, year even larger war in the immense DRC also raged, killing At least 3 million people and seeing has host off rebel armies attempting to profit from the country' S natural resources, along with armed forces from Angola, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Congo-Brazzaville' S export off diamonds in numbers far beyond its ability to produce was the first warning sign that something was amiss, officials with the Kimberly Process say.
Diamonds also served have has off driving force in the funding Sierra Leone' S 1991-2002 civil war which saw widespread atrocities committed by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
Smuggled diamonds from that country also fostered the length-running conflict in Liberia which, under President Charles Taylor, effectively served have the RUF' S owner state. Taylor is currently awaiting trial in The La Hague for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Now, the three share Kimberly Process aims to ensure that diamonds C not finance any entity seeking to overthrow has government recognized by the United Nations, that Al diamond exports Be accompanied by has Kimberley Process certificate proving origin, and that member states don' T act have third-party brokers for non-member states.
“Countries must cuts has legal framework in place that use off necessary importation and export controls and controls one issuance certificates,” says Stephan Chardon, chairperson off the responsible Kimberly Process working group for Re-admitting Congo. “You must Be whitebait to trace the diamonds from the mine to the export points. ”
For its share the United States' Clean Diamond Trade Act, which was implemented in 2003, prohibits “the importation into, but export from, the United States off any rough diamond, from whatever source, that has not been controlled through the Kimberley Process Certification Design”.
The European Union' S position one conflict diamonds, meanwhile, was articulated in A 2001 position paper which affirmed that the Union and its member states “shall international support and contribute to the efforts off the community to station-wagon the link between conflict diamonds and the financing off armed conflict”.
The struggle against conflict diamonds is far from over, though, observers said.
Even though the guns cuts fallen silent in Coast of Ivoire' S civil war, for example, the country remains Split in half between has government southern area controlled by forces honest to the off President Laurent Gbagbo and has off northern and western one under the sway the Forces New (New Forces) rebel movement.
In October off this year, the United Nations Security Council renewed diamond sanctions against Ivory Coast due to to their concerns butt the production and illicit export off the precious stones and asked that the Kimberley Process continued to communicate information to the body regarding the resulting.
“The process certainly restricts the trade in blood diamonds goal it hasn' T totally eradicated it,” said Ayesha Kajee, program director with the International Human Rights Exchange (IHRE) At the University off the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. “Goal, in itself, this box is year indication that the Kimberley process has succeeded to nap extent.”



December 1, 2007 | 6:17 AM Comments  0 comments

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Spammers Beware: Microsoft and Nigeria Team up to Fight Cybercrime
Related to country: Nigeria

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Nuhu Ribadu, EC, EFCC and Neil Holloway, President of Microsoft Europe Middle East and Africa.

Nigeria says a unique memorandum of understanding with Microsoft will help it to identify and prosecute cyber criminals, create a safe legal environment, and restore hundreds of millions of dollars in lost investmentThe last person you want to see caught in a financial scam is a widow. Nigerian Amaka Anajemba, who had been widowed at the young age of 37, was caught in the largest financial scam of its type in her country's history, one in which the perpetrators stole a total of $242 million. But before you work up too much sympathy for Anajemba, you should know that she wasn't a victim of the scam — she was one of its perpetrators.

In 2002, the Nigerian government established the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to battle the growing problem of cybercrime in that country. The recent successful prosecution of Anajemba is one of 50 EFCC cases, recently completed or currently underway, involving close to 100 defendants. Hundreds more are being investigated. And the effort is having an impact. The rate of spam from Nigeria seeking to swindle people has been halved, according to the government.

Despite its success, the Nigerian government wanted to do more and it knew it needed help. Starting today, Nigeria is getting that help in a formalised way with the signing of an agreement with Microsoft, under which the two will collaborate on information sharing, training, and capacity building to fight internet crime originating in the country. Their memorandum of understanding is the first of its type for both parties and is believed to be the first of its type in Africa, if not the world.
Costing Hundreds of Millions of Dollars

"The $100 million we've confiscated from spammers and other defendants is the least that cybercrime has cost our country," says Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, executive chairman of the EFCC. "Our economy has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign investment because our credibility and the trust of the international community have been affected. Nigerians can't even use financial instruments as basic as mail orders; if it comes from Nigeria, it's suspect."

So when Microsoft, which has an office in Nigeria, approached the EFCC about collaborating to fight cybercrime, the government was interested. But according to Jean-Christophe Le Toquin, a Paris-based attorney and internet safety expert in Microsoft's EMEA organisation, Nigeria had more to offer than a problem with cybercrime.

"We're interested in fighting cybercrime globally, of course, but working with Nigeria held particular attractions for us," says Le Toquin. "The EFCC is a skilled organisation, with a significant law enforcement infrastructure backing it, and Nigeria has the political willingness to take action against cyber criminals. As much as they were doing on their own, they were comfortable with the idea of getting help from us to do even more."

And Nigeria, in turn, saw distinct advantages in partnering with Microsoft. "Microsoft is not only a technology leader, it's also a leader in the fight against cybercrime," says Ribadu. "No other company is doing what Microsoft is doing to fight cybercrime and no other company could provide the help we will get under this agreement."

"This agreement will be of great benefit to us," he adds. "It will put us in the proper direction in fighting cybercrime. It will help us to improve our understanding of the technologies involved as well as give us new investigative skills to go after the criminals. They are constantly changing their tactics and we have to constantly keep up. This agreement will help us to do that. And anything that reduces cybercrime in Nigeria will also benefit computer users everywhere, since the crime that starts here doesn't stop at our borders."

Providing Expertise, Information And More
The agreement defines a framework for co-operation between Microsoft and Nigeria that will give the EFCC access to Microsoft's technical expertise, information for successful enforcement, Microsoft-sponsored seminars, and training sessions specifically designed for law enforcement officers and representatives.

For example, Microsoft expects to provide knowledge on so-called "botnet" technology that enables hackers to control tens of thousands of PCs and to use those PCs to spread spam or to inundate websites with so much traffic that the sites crash in denial-of-service attacks. Microsoft expects to instruct Nigerian investigators in how to extract useful information from PCs compromised by botnet attacks, how to monitor computer networks to detect such attacks, and how to identify the people behind them.

Microsoft also expects to provide leads on spam originating from Nigeria, enabling the authorities there to pursue investigations more quickly and successfully. Microsoft conducts a worldwide analysis of spam sent to e-mail accounts that it establishes and monitors for this purpose.
"Our analysis of spam produces hundreds of leads each year," says Le Toquin. "Because we already generate this information, it's easy for us to provide it to the law enforcement authorities who can do something about it. Most countries are in no position to identify the spammers within their borders. We can help do that and share the information with them so they can take action. That's an example of the information sharing we will do with Nigeria."

Building on Informal Relationships
The memorandum of understanding is the first formal agreement of its type between Microsoft and a national government, but it builds on informal relationships that Microsoft has built with international agencies and national governments worldwide. The company co-operates with Interpol as well as with countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and North America.

And Microsoft's efforts to fight cybercrime go beyond the financial crimes that Nigeria is addressing. For example, the company has initiated a child exploitation tracking system to help law enforcement agencies fight internet child pornography.

In all, Microsoft has a team of 65 working to promote internet security worldwide. In addition to its informal relationships with governments and agencies, the company provides structured support to the public sector through both its Government Security Program, begun in 2003, and its Security Cooperation Program, begun in February of this year. These programs help governments address their unique security concerns around the use of technology. The Government Security Program provides national governments with the resources necessary to conduct a comprehensive security review of Microsoft products, while the Security Cooperation programme helps governments to respond to computer attacks, mitigate the effects of those attacks, and provide outreach and education to citizens.

Microsoft's work with governments and agencies, in turn, is part of its broader Trustworthy Computing initiative, which seeks to bring secure, private and reliable computing experiences to everyone. Other Trustworthy Computing efforts include technology innovation, co-operation with industry, academia and governments, and litigation against known spammers and others.

A Truly Important Development
The agreement between Microsoft and Nigeria is the culmination of several months of informal co-operation between the two. Over the summer, for example, Microsoft provided information that Nigerian officials used to identify two Internet Service Providers associated with large amounts of spam there. The EFCC launched investigations against the companies and made arrests. Prosecutions are now pending.

"We're confident that this agreement with Microsoft is a truly important development for us," says Ribadu. "It's coming at a critical time. We expect it will help us to create a safe legal environment, to enforce the laws that will help attract foreign investment, and to spur economic development."

"But beyond the impact on our national economy is the impact that this agreement will have on the lives of our citizens," he adds. "It will improve the quality of people's lives by reducing the crime around them, enabling them to find better jobs, and raising the integrity of Nigeria in the world community. That's what Microsoft is doing for us."

November 30, 2007 | 9:37 PM Comments  0 comments

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Nigeria vice president files suit over exclusion from April's election
Related to country: Nigeria

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

ABUJA, Nigeria: Vice President Atiku Abubakar filed a law suit Friday seeking to overturn an electoral commission decision that bars him from running for president next month.

Abubakar was protesting his omission from a list of two dozen approved candidates for April 21 elections illegal released Thursday. He named the electoral commission and its chairman, Maurice Iwu, as co-defendants, court papers released by his lawyers showed.

Court officials confirmed receiving a filing. Hearings were expected to begin Monday at the federal court in the capital, Abuja.

The electoral commission gave no reason for excluding Abubakar, who is involved in a public feud with the president, but listed constitutional prohibitions on candidates indicted for crimes before a court or executive panel.

In a statement Friday, the president's office lauded the commission for working "to rid governance of bad eggs and corrupt elements for the good of our beloved country."

Last year Abubakar was accused of corruption by an administrative panel set up by President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Abubakar's camp has called the panel unconstitutional and denied the allegations, saying they stemmed from a public spat after Abubakar helped stop his boss from extending his tenure beyond the constitutional limit.

Abubakar's failure to support the president soured relations between the two men and eventually prompted Abubakar to quit the ruling party and go into opposition.

Lawyers say only the nation's highest court can overturn the electoral commission's decision, which cleared 24 other candidates on Thursday, including the other two clear leaders: governing party candidate Umaru Yar'Adua, a governor of northern Katsina state; and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, a former military leader.

If held successfully, the April polls would set up the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in Nigeria's history since independence from Britain in 1960. Previous electoral transitions have been interrupted by annulments or military coups.

The back-and-forth between the ruling party and Atiku's campaign has raised fears in Nigeria that a violent crisis could erupt, leading to an extension or cancellation of the polls. More than 10,000 people have died in strife since the end of military rule uncorked long-simmering resentments in a country with 250 ethnic groups.

With 140 million people, Nigeria is Africa's most-populous nation and its largest oil producer. Many in West Africa fear massive chaos in Nigeria could send refugees streaming across the region, undermining years of hard-won peace and increased stability in the region.

Obasanjo's 1999 election alongside Abubakar ended years of brutal military rule. Obasanjo, a one-time military leader who handed over to a civilian government himself in the 1970s, won re-election in 2003 polls that the opposition called rigged.

The Nigerian electoral commission has not said when it would have to start printing ballots to ensure they are distributed in time for 61 million registered voters in a country twice the size of California to have them for the ballot. Nigeria has many far-flung regions and villages unconnected by roads.

November 29, 2007 | 8:28 PM Comments  0 comments

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Dagaal caawa ka dhacay Muqdisho
Related to country: Somalia

Translations available in: French (original) | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | English | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Dagaal caawa ka dhacay Muqdisho
Automatically translated into English thanks to WorldLingo
Magaalada Muqdisho caawa waxa dagaal uu ka dhacay goobo ku dherersan wadada sodonka ee magaalada Muqdisho, halkaasi oo fariisimo ay ku leeyihiin ciidamadda Ethiopia.

Kooxo hubaysan ayaa weeraro gaadmo ah ku qaaday fariimahan ay wadadaas ku lahaayeen ciidamada Ethiopia ee ku yaala xaafadaha Cali Kamiin ilaa laba dhagax, iyadoo weerarku socday ilaa muddo sodon daqiiqo ah.

Dhinaca kale ciidamadda Ethiopia, ayaa maanta baaritaano ka samayanayay goobo ka tirsan magaalada Muqdisho kadib weeraro isdabajoog ahaa oo xalay fiidkii lagu qaaday fariisimo ay ciidamada Ethiopia ku lahaayeen meelo kala duwan oo magaalada ah, iyadoo saqdii dhexena weerar kale uu ka dhacay magaalada.

Weerarradii xalay lagu qaaday ciidanka Ethiopia ayaa waxa ay ka kala dhaceen ilaa lix saldhig oo ciidamadda Ethiopia ay ku leeyihiin caasimada Somalia ee Muqdisho, iyadoo loo adeegsaday bambooyinka gacanta iyo noocyada kala duwan ee qoryaha culus iyo kuwa fudud.

Weerarrada ayaa ku soo beegmay xilli uu ra' iisul wasaaraha dalka Ethiopia Mix Zenawi sheegay in ciidankiisu ay ku riiqdeen dagaalada Muqdisho, isla markaana aanu ciidankiisa awoodin in uu the baxo hadda.

Horaantii bishan ayaa dagaallo kulul oo ka dhacay magaalada Muqdisho ayaa kooxaha ka soo horjeeda joogitaanka ciidamadda Ethiopia ay ku jiideen waddooyinka Muqdisho meydadka qaar ka mid ah ciidamadda Ethiopia.

November 28, 2007 | 2:48 PM Comments  0 comments

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Couple Arrested After Police ID Murdered Baby Girl
Related to country: United States

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

GALVESTON, Texas (Nov. 26) - Authorities said Monday they were "fairly confident" that a child whose body was found on the shore of Galveston Bay last month was the 2-year-old daughter of a woman arrested during the weekend with her male companion.

Authorities are awaiting DNA test results but believe the girl, who had been known only as Baby Grace since her body was found, is 2-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers of Spring, Galveston County sheriff's Maj. Ray Tuttoilmondo said at a news conference Monday.

"It was a few weeks ago I held up this little shoe and asked 'Who is Baby Grace? Who does this belong to,'" Tuttoilmondo said. "We're now fairly confident we know the answer to that."

Tuttoilmondo declined to discuss specifics because the investigation is still under way.

"There is a whole lot more work to do," he said.

The girl's body was found in a plastic storage bin that washed ashore on Oct. 29.

Riley's mother, Kimberly Dawn Trenor, 19, and Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 24, were arrested early Saturday and charged with injury to a child and tampering with evidence, Tuttoilmondo said. Bail was set at $350,000 each.They were charged even though authorities didn't know definitively what happened to Riley.

They reportedly told relatives that someone claiming to be a social worker from Ohio, where Riley's father lives, took the girl in July, but Trenor never told police she was missing, Tuttoilmondo said.

It's unclear whether they are married, Tuttoilmondo said.

The two have attorneys, but Tuttoilmondo could not provide their names.

Riley's paternal grandmother, Sheryl Sawyers, had called Texas authorities after learning of Baby Grace to see if a missing-person report had been filed in Riley's case. When she saw a sketch of Baby Grace, she thought it might be her granddaughter, authorities said.

Sheryl Sawyers said she has not seen Riley since Trenor moved with the girl to Spring, 75 miles north of Galveston, this year to be with Zeigler, whom she met online, the Galveston County Daily News reported Sunday.


November 26, 2007 | 4:53 PM Comments  0 comments

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More than 70% of the world’s AIDS population, Are Africans
Related to country: Sudan

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

ETHIOPIA 3 MILLION
KENYA 2.1 MILLION
TANZANIA 1.3 MILLION
NIGERIA 2.7 MILLION
SOUTH AFRICA 4 MILLION
ZIMBABWE 1.5 MILLION
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO 1.1 MILLION

MORE THAN 7 GENERATIONS OF AFRICANS ELIMINATED FROM OFF THE LAND!!!!

UFJ was established several years ago in response to civil & human rights violations and in particular the horror AIDS has visited on Africa, with more than 70% percent of the world’s AIDS population on one continent and of the more than 70% of the world’s AIDS population is Africans.

UFJ encourages the global community and their families with HIV, AIDS and Sickle Cell Anemia Disease to increase educational awareness. UFJ is raising the quality of life for those living with HIV, AIDS and Sickle Cell Anemia Disease by pushing awareness for education, medicine and the nutritional needs for those in Africa, the United States, and other parts of the world.

"Join the fight today against world diseases that could make a difference."

Make a it happen order "VIBE" and send it or give it to a love one or those in need.

http://www.enivamembers.com/223028

Mr. Bey
Director/UFJ
digital95@aol.com

November 25, 2007 | 1:26 PM Comments  0 comments

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Darfur rebels spurn Chinese force
Related to country: Sudan

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

(UFJ), Rebels in Darfur have demanded that peacekeepers from China pull out of the Sudanese region just hours after the arrival of 135 Chinese engineers.

The army engineers arrived on Saturday to prepare for a joint UN and African Union peacekeeping force of 26,000.

The key Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) rebel group accuses China of being complicit in the Darfur conflict.

Last month the group attacked a Chinese-controlled oilfield, kidnapping several workers.

The Jem says it wants China to withdraw its support for the Sudanese government.

They say that oil sold to the Chinese is being used to fund government operations in Darfur.

Rebels would not allow the Chinese into areas controlled by their forces, Jem leader Khalil Ibrahim told the news agency Reuters following the arrival of the engineers.

'Oil for blood'

"We oppose them coming because China is not interested in human rights. It is just interested in Sudan's resources," he said.

"We are calling on them to quit Sudan, especially the petroleum areas."

Mr Ibrahim did not say whether he would target the Chinese engineers.

"I am not saying I will attack them. I will not say I will not attack them," he said.

"What I am saying is that they are taking our oil for blood."

The Chinese engineers are tasked with building roads and bridges and dig wells ahead of the deployment of the joint peacekeeping force planned for January.

The rebels have said they would not object to peacekeepers from any country other than China.

But on Friday, Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir said his country would only accept non-African troops from Pakistan or China.

A month ago the Jem attacked Sudan's Defra oilfield in the Kordofan region, run by a Chinese-controlled consortium, the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company.

Jem said at the time that the Chinese company had one week to leave Sudan.

An estimated 200,000 people have died during four-and-a-half years of fighting in Darfur, with a further two million people displaced.


November 24, 2007 | 6:07 PM Comments  0 comments

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Nigeria Considers Cancelling Liberia's Debt
Related to country: United States

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic


Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is soliciting the support of the legislative arm; the National Assembly, to cancel 13 million dollars out of the 48 million dollars Liberia owed Nigeria.

In the request to a plenary session of the Senate, President Yar'Adua said that the proposed debt cancellation would be Nigeria's contribution toward Liberia's debt arrears clearance process.

The president explained that the Federal Executive Council endorsed the proposal at its meeting on Monday, saying that the amount would cover Nigeria's existing commitment, estimated at 10.6 million dollars, under a three-way burden sharing arrangement worked out by Liberia's development partners.

Source Of Funding

The Nigerian president said that the debt relief would be financed from a grant drawn out of the recycled net income earned by the Nigeria Trust Fund, NTF since inception. The fund was set up by Nigeria in 1976 under the ADB management to assist poor African countries with soft loans towards meeting their developmental needs.

In his words, “It will not require appropriation from the Consolidated Revenue Fund…In this regard, the legal provision establishing the NTF allows for the retention of income earned for use as part of the fund.”

Motivation

The debt relief was part of a broader initiative by the international community to assist Liberia to clear its huge debt arrears to the World Bank, the IMF and the ADB. Liberia owed the ADB 249 million dollars out of which 48 million dollars represented loans refinanced through the Nigeria Trust Fund window.

Since the inception of this present government on May 29, the Liberian government has made several passionate pleas to Nigeria to cancel its debts and to help secure debt relief from other creditors.

In the words of president Yar’Adua, “Liberia's debt burden currently constitutes an impediment to the country's economic recovery and reconstruction efforts, which are needed to secure durable peace….There is a potential risk of Liberia sliding back into anarchy if progress is not made in achieving sustainable economic development, which will

undermine our previous efforts.”

He said that an additional justification was the need to bolster Nigeria's foreign policy and strategic objectives of achieving peace and stability in the West African region.


November 21, 2007 | 7:32 PM Comments  0 comments

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McClellan blames Bush for CIA leak deceit
Related to country: United States

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Former spokesman says both president and vice president involved

WASHINGTON - Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan blames President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for efforts to mislead the public about the role of White House aides in leaking the identity of a CIA operative.

In an excerpt from his forthcoming book, McClellan recount the 2003 news conference in which he told reporters that aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were "not involved" in the leak involving operative Valerie Plame.

"There was one problem. It was not true," McClellan writes, according to a brief excerpt released Monday. "I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest-ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff and the president himself."


November 20, 2007 | 9:15 PM Comments  0 comments

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Kanye West's Tribute to 'Mama'
Related to country: United States


We wish to send out special love and hopefully much comfort to all of our members today, suffering the loss of a mother. If you have loss a loved one today, thank God for the ones that are still here. Amen.

Kanye, we hope in time the pain will ease but never the loving memories, someone tell him that today. And post this message on every board possible because God allows death to make a most profound statement of fact.

That in spite of ourselves we are all still just human beings when striped of our so-called fame, fortune, status and life. Think about it!!

November 19, 2007 | 7:16 PM Comments  0 comments

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Gov't Killed Members of So-Called Cult
Related to country: United States


After a 51-day standoff at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, federal agents conducted a raid on the facility that ended in a blaze that killed men, women and children approximately 80 members of the sect in 1993.

November 18, 2007 | 11:06 PM Comments  4 comments

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Brokerage Said Bank Accounts Deemed Safe
Related to country: United States


Jack-ass note

NEW YORK (UFJ) - E-Trade customers had some needless hand-wringing this past week, worrying about the brokerage's financial problems and whether they might jeopardize the safety of 3.7 million accounts.

The New York-based online broker told account holders their money was safe due to government protections and additional insurance. E-Trade Financial Corp. even took out a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal to assuage broader fears of a collapse after its stock plunged due to the credit market turmoil.

E-Trade, like other financial institutions dealing with credit problems, faces defections as customers pull accounts without realizing that their assets are protected. Some investors have even opened accounts at other brokerage firms to spread their money around.

"Until the smoke clears, we reduced our holdings tremendously," said Steve Kaloroplos, a retired small business owner from South Carolina. "We like E-Trade, but we're just not willing to risk our money. We don't want assets tied up while there is a problem."

That scenario was confirmed by E-Trade Chief Operating Officer Jarrett Lilien, who said some clients "have moved some of their money aside."

He expects the move might be temporary - similar to investor angst during height of the market turmoil in August. And the possibility of E-Trade going bankrupt is remote.

Even in the worst-case scenario, rivals would offer to buy E-Trade's accounts, or the company would be sold entirely, before accounts suffered any problems. Experts say most investors can rest easy.

Protecting consumers is the government-backed Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which guarantees bank accounts to at least $100,000 in cash. Meanwhile, the Securities Investor Protection Corp. protects customers of failed brokerages.

These protections came in place to prevent bank failures if customers rush to cash out of their accounts. There were long lines in front of Calabasas, Calif.-based Countrywide Financial Corp.'s bank office during the summer on concerns of a possible failure. Meanwhile, British mortgage lender Northern Rock PLC saw panicky customers withdraw billions of pounds from their accounts on similar worries.

The FDIC was created in 1933 after the U.S. faced a number of bank failures during the Great Depression. The SIPC was created in 1971 to restore funds to investors with asserts in troubled or bankrupt brokerges, but is instead backed by financial firms.

Banks and brokerages are also required to keep a certain amount of free cash on their balance sheets - or would by forced to take out more insurance, pump in more capital, or face heavy restrictions. They could also be forced out of business by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Don Montanaro, chief executive of online brokerage TradeKing, said major brokerages also take out additional insurance. His firm has a policy through Lloyds of London that would offer protection of up to $25 million per account, with $1 million of that guaranteed in cash.

"At the very worst is that the accounts get sold," he said. "The relationships have a value, and some healthy firm will come along and buy up the assets."

That's what happened to NetBank, considered one of the pioneers in online retail banking. The company was launched in 1996 and became a public company amid the dot-com frenzy in 1997.

After rapid-fire expansion between 2000 and 2004, its balance sheet came under stress as the mortgage industry began to slump. The company in 2006 attempted an unsuccessful reorganization, and was forced by the FDIC and the Office of Thrift Supervision to close down. Its deposits and businesses were acquired by the only online unit of Dutch bank ING.

Ric Edelman, a financial adviser and personal finance author, suggests customers who are worried might diversify their money into safe investments like Treasury bills until they feel more comfortable. Though he doubts a worst-case scenario, financial companies facing hardships might have temporary, short-term restrictions on emptying accounts.

"I don't believe that it's doomsday for E-Trade or anybody else for that matter," he said. "But, if you're awake at night worried about this, then just move your account someplace else."

November 17, 2007 | 1:29 PM Comments  0 comments

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Former Nigeria Leaders Stole $400 Billion – UN
Related to country: Nigeria


Former Director General of the United Nations Office in Vienna Kofi Annan and Antonio Maria Costa, right

(UFJ), About $400 billion was stolen from Nigeria and stashed away in foreign banks by past corrupt leaders before the return of democratic rule in 1999.
The executive director, Office on Drugs and Crime at the United Nations, Dr Antonio Maria Costa, stated this yesterday in Abuja, at the sixth National Seminar on Economic Crimes. The event was organised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

This is coming as President Umaru Yar'Adua vowed to personally lead the fight against corruption, saying corruption is the greatest impediment to national growth.

Speaking at the seminar, Yar'Adua said his government would not tolerate corruption in any form.
"I vow before you this day that as president of this country, I will lead the fight against corruption. The fight against corruption is my fight," he said.

Yar'Adua called on state governors and local government chairmen to join forces with the federal government in the fight against corruption.

He said Nigerians deserve honest leadership which could only be achieved through honesty and sincerity by people in leadership positions.

"We must instil honest governance in our country," he said, adding that corruption had remained the greatest obstacle to national growth.

"The state of our nation calls for sober assessment; the level of our poverty is a measure of our failure to optimise the use of our abundant natural resources," he added.
The president said the government would strengthen law enforcement agencies involved in the fight against corruption to enable them perform better.

He said government's efforts to broaden the country's economic base required the development of critical infrastructure to attract the required capital inflow.

Earlier, the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes, Dr Antonio Maria Costa, said his office and the World Bank had launched an initiative for the recovery of funds stolen from developing countries.

Tagged "Stolen Assets Recovery Initiative", the programme is aimed at working with national anti-crime agencies to ensure that recovered funds are put back in the system to benefit the citizenry.
Dr Costa disclosed that the former head of state, late General Sani Abacha, was estimated to have stolen the equivalent of two to three per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for every year that he was president.

The executive director said that since the creation of EFCC, about $5 billion had been restrained as cash and assets valued, secured 205 convictions and effected over 400 arrests and prosecution.
He disclosed that asset recovery was a fundamental principle of the UN Convention Against Corruption, the world's only global anti-corruption instrument, and that the convention contained concrete measures to help states recover their stolen funds stashed in foreign accounts.
In his welcome address, the chairman of EFCC, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, said the fight against corruption must not only be vigorous but sustained.

He disclosed that under the secretary-general of the United Nations' office in Vienna, the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime is one of the strongest development partners implementing one of the biggest donor supports of by the European Union to the EFCC and the Nigerian judiciary.
He commended President Yar'Adua and the Chief Justice of Nigeria for their role in promoting the rule of law, good governance and accountability in the country. He also called for the support of Nigerians to join hands with the commission to promote anti-corruption values.

The three-day seminar was jointly organised by 15 federal agencies in the financial, insurance, tax and security sectors.




November 14, 2007 | 8:21 PM Comments  0 comments

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UFOs?
Related to country: United States


Jimmy Carter

" I don't laugh at people any more when they say they've seen UFOs. It was the darndest thing I've ever seen. It was big, it was very bright, it changed colors and it was about the size of the moon. We watched it for ten minutes, but none of us could figure out what it was. One thing's for sure I'll never make fun of people who say they've seen unidentified objects in the sky. If I become President, I'll make every piece of information this country has about UFO sightings available to the public and the scientists." -- At a Southern Governors Conference describing an alleged UFO sighting he had in October of 1969 to reporters while campaigning in 1976.

"I am convinced that UFOs exist because I have seen one." -- Former U.S. President, , five-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize.

---------------------------------

By Grant Cameron:

President Jimmy Carter has often been referred-to as the "UFO President" due to the fact that he publicly claimed to have had a UFO sighting prior to becoming president. Moreover, he was the only president on record to actually file a UFO sighting report related to his sighting. Thirdly, on at least one occasion while campaigning for president, Carter declared that, if elected, he would "make every piece of information this country has about UFO sightings available to the public and scientists."....

Carter’s UFO sighting began shortly after dark on a windless night. Jimmy Carter was standing outside the Lion’s Club in Leary, Georgia, waiting for a meeting to start. Suddenly, he and ten or more witnesses, sighted a red and green orb radiating in the western sky. Carter described an object that "it seemed to move towards us from a distance, stop, move partially away, return, then depart. Bluish at first; then reddish - luminous - not solid."

"At times," reported Carter, "it was as bright as the moon, and about as big as the moon - maybe a bit smaller. The object was luminous; not solid."

In an interview with the Atlanta Constitution, Carter described the moving nature of the event. He described the sighting as a "very remarkable sight." This is an important event, because many of the skeptical investigations done on the Carter sighting, have tried to paint the event as a ho-hum occurrence. None of the descriptions Carter has made of the event have ever described it as ho-hum.

Jimmy Carter’s mother Lillian also confirmed that Carter had been very impressed by what he had seen. "The UFO made a huge impression on Jimmy," she stated. "He told me about the sighting many times. He’s always been a down-to-earth no-nonsense boy, and the sighting by him, as far as I am concerned, is as firm as money in the bank."

Carter had, in fact, described the UFO sighting many times in the years since it occurred. In every instance, including the latest known telling of the story at Emory University in 1997, Carter has never backed off on the spectacular nature of the event. He has also never conceded that was he saw was some misidentification of a natural phenomena.

Carter estimated that the object was three hundred to one thousand yards away. He estimated that the event had lasted 10 minutes. Then the object disappeared. Carter was so impressed by what he had seen, he recorded his impressions of the event on a tape recorder at the time.



November 13, 2007 | 6:28 PM Comments  1 comments

Tags:


FLY AWAY!!
Related to country: Lithuania


You can panic now and avoid the rush!!


http://www.flightlevel350.com/aviation_video.php?id=7273

November 11, 2007 | 4:15 PM Comments  0 comments

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Federal Government Fight Ruling on Security Letters
Related to country: United States


NEW YORK (UFJ) - The U.S. government on Monday appealed a ruling that it shouldn't be able to get personal phone, e-mail and financial records without a judge's approval, as now allowed under the USA Patriot Act.

The decision to appeal the September ruling by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero prompted the American Civil Liberties Union to put out a release quoting the unidentified plaintiff in the lawsuit.

Identified only as the president of a small Internet service provider who has faced a gag order for more than three years, the plaintiff complained that the statutes in the act "give the government far too much power and that the secrecy surrounding the statutes is excessive."

The Patriot Act prevents Internet service providers and others from telling their customers - here or abroad, citizens or not - if the government has demanded private information from them.

The law also lets the government, by means of a so-called national security letter, or NSL, to impose gag orders that prevent the recipients of the letters from acknowledging the probes.

That provision makes "it difficult or impossible for people like me - people who have firsthand experience with the NSL statute - to discuss their specific concerns with the public, the press and Congress," the plaintiff, called John Doe by his lawyers, said in the press release.

In March, the government released a report showing the FBI issued approximately 8,500 national security letter requests in 2000, the year before the passage of the Patriot Act. The number of requests rose to 39,000 by 2003 and to 56,000 in 2004 before falling to 47,000 in 2005. Most of the requests sought telephone billing records, telephone or e-mail subscriber information or electronic communication transactional records.

"This seems to be counterintuitive to everything I assumed about this country's commitment to free speech and the value of political discourse," the plaintiff said in the release.

The judge said the NSL statute was so improper that to let it stand might turn the law into "the legislative equivalent of breaking and entering, with an ominous free pass to the hijacking of constitutional values."

The government provided notice of its appeal in a one-paragraph letter to the court and later had no comment.

Marrero stayed the effect of his ruling so it could be appealed.

He wrote that most companies and other recipients of the security letters have little or no incentive to challenge them, and only two cases have been filed in federal court.

The letters let the government unmask Internet users who speak anonymously online and obtain lists of all e-mail they send and receive, Marrero wrote.

November 9, 2007 | 4:31 PM Comments  0 comments

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I NEED YOUR CO-OPERATION ON THIS PROJECT
Related to country: United States


I am pleased to introduce a business opportunity to transfer to your overseas account the sum of(USD3.7 MILLION) United States Dollars) from one of the Prime Banks here in Dakar Senegal.I seek for your assistance to handle this important and confidential business believing that you will never let me down either now or in future.

I am Mr Siraj Diop, (Bsc,Msc) the Auditor General of one of the prime banks here in Dakar Senegal , during the course of our auditing , I discovered a floating funds in an account opened in our bank since 1982 and till date no body has operated on the account and after going through old files in the records, I discovered that the owner of the account died long ago in a plane crash along with his family without leaving a[His/WILL], hence the floating of the funds and if I do not remit this money out urgently it will be forfeited for nothing.

Therefore ,with a personal conviction of trust and confidence ,I wish to contact you as a foreigner, to stand as a relative because you share the same surname with the decease's , thus I can work out the release of the funds , No other person in the office knows about the account , please be assured of the risk free , I'm the one that will work it out , all I need is your co-operation because the account content can not be approved to an indigen here as his next of kin .

At the conclusion of this project , I need your full co-operation to make this work fine because the management is ready to approve this payment to any foreigner who has correct information of this fund, which I will give to you later , if you are able and with capability to handle such amount in strict confidence and trust according to my instructions and advice for our mutual benefit because this opportunity will never come again in my life.

I need truthful person in this business because I don't want to make mistake I need your strong assurance and trust. With my position now in the office I can transfer this money to any foreigner's reliable person, intact pending my physical arrival in your country for sharing. and I want to remind you that your share has been calculated at 35% of the total sum and 5 will map out for the transfer expenses .I waiting for your urgent reply so that I will give you more information about this transaction.

Contact me via my this e-mail: mr_sdiop001@yahoo.com
Best Regard.
Mr. Siraj Diop.


June 24, 2007 | 12:09 AM Comments  2 comments

Tags:


Master Scams!!
Related to country: United States


I Am Contacting You In Absolute Confidence That I Can Trust You.My Name Is Mr.Nelson Mansouri A Staff With Banque De L'Habitat Au Burkina Faso (Bhbf) Ouagadougou Burkina Faso.I Write To You In Respect Of A Our Client, Who Unfortunately Died Along With His Registered Heir Apparent (His Wife) And Their Entire Family In A Ship Mishap That Happened In Yantai City,Eastern China.

The Deceased Is On Tourist Vacation With His Whole Family On That Fateful Day.Your Country Of Origin Will Not Pose Any Problem To The Claim.You Dont Need To Entertained Any Atom Of Fear As The All The UnderGround Work Has Been Taking Care By Me. Before His Sudden Departure The Deceased Left A Sum Of 4.500,000.00 Euros (Four Million Five Hundred Thousand Euros).With The Banque De L'Habitat Au Burkina Faso (Bhbf).The Bank Will Soon Decleared His Assets To Go To The State Government Account.

The Bank Ethics States That The Fund Goes Into The States Government Account If Nobody Comes To Claim Said Funds After Seven (7)Years Of The Confirmation Of The Death Of The Depositor.For The Past 6 Years,All The Effort Of Our Customer Service Department To Trace Any Relative Of The Late Custormer Has Proved Abortive.

I Am Seeking For Your Help In This Matter.For Standing As The Heir Apparent Of The Deceased And Providing Your Account In Receiving This Money,You Will Be Entittled To 40 %,10% Of The Fund Will Be Used To Raise A Reputable Charity Home In Deceased Name While 5o% Is For Me.Bear In Mind That The Entire Transaction Will Be Risk Free And Legitimate Since The Funds Will Be Coming To You As Your Legitimate Inheritance.This Transaction Is Real.

Respond To Me As Soon As Possible .

Yours Truly,

Mr.Nelson Mansouri
mansuguri4@hotmail.com







June 23, 2007 | 6:26 PM Comments  0 comments

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How Scames Go!! Good day and God bless,
Related to country: United States



I am Ross and Thamos Wanda from Sierra Leone. We are writing you from Rep of Cote 'Ivoire where we have been taking refuge after the brutal war and murder of our parents by the rebels during the renewed fighting in our country. Because of the war our late Father sold his shipping company and took us to a nearby country Cote d'Ivoire where he deposited US$14, 300, 000.00 Million in his foreign account with one of the bank here in Cote d'Ivoire.Due to the current political situation in Ivory Coast we are seeking for your assistance to transfer this Money into your account if you will not betray us when the money gets to your country.

So we can also relocate to your country to further our study and we are willing to offer you 15% of the total sum for your help.On your interest to assist us towards this transaction,please get back to us.

Regard,
Wanda Ross & Thamos
rosswa27@hotmail.fr


June 23, 2007 | 6:21 PM Comments  0 comments

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Don’t Get Duped E-mail Scam!!
Related to country: United States


FROM THE DESK OF BARR. AHMED HAMZA.
ATTENTION:
Dear Friend,

After a discreet but thorough research, and based on the impressive information by your profile through the web site, I am with absolute confidence in the legality and integrity of your person to present this business and seek for your assistance on trust and sense of purpose.

Briefly, I am Barrister AHMED HAMZA, a solicitor at law, personal attorney to late Engr. Abikhair C. Arem, a Lebanese national, who used to work with Shell Development Company in Lome Togo. Here in after shall be referred to as my client. On December 25th, 2003, my client, his wife and their only daughter were involved in a plane crash accident in Cotonou, Benin Republic. Please check site: http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/africa/12/26/benin.crash/index.html

About 111 passengers lost their lives in the accident. Since then I have made several enquiries to his country's embassy in Lome-Togo to locate any of my clients extended relatives, this has proved unsuccessful. After these several unsuccessful attempts, I decided to contact you to assist in repatriating the fund valued at US$20.5m) left behind by my client before it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by Bank of Africa (BOA) where this amount was deposited. The said Bank, has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have his account confiscated within the next thirty one official working days.

Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over one year now, I seek the consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased since I have not been able to locate any of my client's relatives, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to you, as the fund cannot be claimed without the assistance of a foreigner who will act as a next of kin to my deceased client. Therefore, on receipt of your positive response, we shall then discuss the sharing ratio and modalities for transfer.

All necessary information and all the legal documents needed to back you up for claim will be duly and legally procured in your name and favour. All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us see this transaction through.
I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of the law.

You should please contact me through my private e mail address(ham_ahmed2007@yahoo.co.uk) immediately as soon as you go through the message in the hope that we can enter into a good business venture.
Best Regards,

BARR AHMED HAMZA(Esq.)
Phone 00226 76 52 06 98. Please call me for more details.



June 20, 2007 | 9:30 PM Comments  1 comments

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WasThe WWE’s Chairman Mr. Vincent K. McMahon Assassinated?

Dissecting the explosion


Federal authorities have seized control of the heap of incinerated metal that was once Mr. McMahon’s limousine. To determine whether foul play was responsible for the vehicular blast that presumably killed WWE’s Chairman Monday night, the tiresome task of recovering and sifting through useable evidence is now under the utmost scrutiny of the nation’s most well-funded investigation unit.

If it’s confirmed that a criminal party engineered the explosion, the next question to answer is how the nefarious scheme was carried out. To fill in the blanks regarding the specifics of the explosion, WWE.com contacted Patrick C. Riggs, a veteran explosives expert from a Brooklyn, N.Y.,-based operation.

Watching video of the blast, Riggs was able to determine that it was a professionally structured, calculated blast. However, since most – if not all – usable evidence seems to have been destroyed, Riggs claims that not everything he says can be guaranteed.

“Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing. No amateur would have had the knowledge to create an explosion of that intensity,” he said. “Without prior experience or knowledge of explosives, such a blast could not have been constructed so precisely.”
Another point of interest was the timing of how the scene unfolded.

“Watch for the origin of the spark,” Riggs explained, using a laser pointer to indicate under the right rear axle. “As soon as the door shuts – boom! That’s exactly how it was supposed to work. It was perfectly engineered and executed.”

Could the door have been on a trigger, and if so, what served as the figurative striking of the match?

“A radio-controlled device was definitely used as the ignition,” Riggs stated. “The detonator could have been as small as a cell phone and attached to the limo’s gas line. It was most likely sourced underneath the passenger compartment. Once it was ignited, the gasoline from the vehicle became the accelerant.”

Riggs, a 23-year explosives expert, who has both consulted on feature films and been an expert witness in courtrooms, isn’t surprised that federal investigators are currently unable to find eyewitnesses who would have seen someone attaching the explosives to the limousine.

”It doesn’t take long to accomplish,“ he said. “The whole thing could have been completed in a matter of seconds. All they needed was to find out where the gas tank was located.”

And since a pocket-sized piece of equipment was used, no visible signs of tampering would have been evident to anyone – including the former WWE Chairman. Not that his apparent state of mind (or lack thereof) at the time would have allowed him to see such a red flag, even if it was in plain view.

“Mr. McMahon would not have been able to tell something was wrong with the limo by sight or smell,” Riggs assured. “In fact, a full tank of gas would have easily been capable of creating that type of combustion. As far as Mr. McMahon knew, that limo was no different than the type he used to drive in every day and night.”

According to Riggs, the fact that a remote device was used raises another concern.
“Theoretically, there could have been multiple assailants,” he said. “Someone could have been at the scene to notify someone up to half a mile away to press the red button. It’s certainly something to think about.”

At press time, there have not been any discoveries to prove – or disprove – any of the ideas that Riggs has put forward. As federal authorities work around the clock in search of answers regarding this matter, one can only wonder if these questions, or any others, will be revealed in the coming weeks.



June 18, 2007 | 10:18 PM Comments  0 comments

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Zambia
Related to country: Zambia


Zambia had a population of 10.5 million in 2004, with about 86% of the population below the poverty line. The GDP per capita is US$800. Zambia is a low-income country with low levels of disposable income.

Malaria is endemic throughout the country, with about 15% of the total population at risk of stable endemic malaria. It accounts for 40% of all outpatient attendance and is responsible for 6.8 million disability adjusted life-years lost.

The National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) outlines insecticide treated nets (ITNs) as a key strategy for malaria control. The NMCP has planned various awareness programs for ITNs and has assisted in waiving taxes for nets for the employer-based scheme. According to NetMark research, net ownership is estimated at 50% for mosquito nets and 33.5% for ITNs.

There are currently several Non-Governmental Organizations engaged in the provision of treated nets and a large unsubsidized employer based scheme in operation.

Mr. Bey
digital95@aol.com


June 18, 2007 | 9:04 AM Comments  0 comments

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‘Bodies flying into air’ as car careens into crowd during parade
Related to country: United States



SELMER, Tenn. (UFJ) - Three more people have died after a drag-racing car went out of control and careened into a crowd of spectators, raising the death toll to seven, state officials said Sunday.

The crash occurred Saturday night during an "exhibition burnout" -- when a driver spins his tires to make them heat up and smoke -- at the Cars for Kids charity event in Selmer, located about 80 miles east of Memphis.

Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Mike Browning said the seven who died included a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old. At least eight people were taken to hospitals and several others had minor injuries, he said.

Amateur video of the crash, broadcast on WMC-TV in Memphis, showed the car's engine revving loudly before the vehicle sped down a highway lined with spectators on both sides. After a few hundred feet, the smoking car skidded off the road.

There was a guard rail along at least part of the highway, but there was no guard rail where the crash occurred.

The identities of the victims and the driver were not immediately released.

Mourners placed small votive candles at the crash site early Sunday.

Witness Scott Henley said the vehicle started burning off its tires, then fishtailed and slammed into a utility pole before spinning around into the audience.

Selmer Police Chief Neal Burks said "bodies were flying into the air when it happened."


I saw body parts flying everywhere," said witness Sean Hood.

Witness Garett Moore said he thought the show was over and was about to walk across the highway when he saw the dragster racing toward him. He was about 15 feet from the wreck, but was uninjured.

"It ain't really safe to do anything with drag cars on a city street," Moore said.

Matthew Brammer, administrator of AMS Pro Modified Series, which sanctions drag races, said late Saturday that the car involved has been driven by drag racer Troy Critchley, of Wylie, Texas, but he did not know if Critchley was driving when the car struck the crowd.

The AMS Pro Modified Series later issued a news release saying the driver was a veteran of more than 20 years in drag racing and had to be taken to an emergency room.

The release said the driver was performing a burnout when road conditions caused the car to go out of control.

"The race team is in shock and deeply saddened by this unexpected event. Their hearts and prayers are with the injured people and their families," the release said.

Sheriff's officials and police closed the festival shortly after the crash. About 40,000 to 60,000 people were expected to attend the weekend event.

Cars for Kids holds several events throughout the nation and raises close to $200,000 annually for charities that help children in need, according to its Web site.

The charity was formed in 1990, two years after founder Larry Price's son, Chad, suffered a severe head injury in a bicycle accident.

Price promised that if his son was saved from lifelong injuries, he would spend the rest of his life raising funds for disabled children, according to the Web site.

A statement posted on the Cars for Kids Web site Sunday offered an apology to the victims and their families. "The loss is deep within our hearts and we will carry the scars of each loss forever," the statement said.


Mr. Bey
digital95@aol.com

June 17, 2007 | 2:13 PM Comments  0 comments

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DISARMAMENT FOR CASH IN ARGENTINA?
Related to country: Argentina


STOP THE VIOLENCE!!!!

BUENOS AIRES, (UFJ) - With strong support from peace and disarmament groups and the families of shooting victims, the Argentine government launched a programme Friday that encourages people to voluntarily swap their legal or illegal firearms for cash.

The disarmament campaign, similar to one that was carried out in Brazil in 2004, forms part of a comprehensive violence prevention policy, which includes stricter controls on both the legal and black market for guns.

In Argentina, one out of 10 people over the age of 18 say they have a gun, and more than half say they carry them around "for protection."

A study carried out this year by the Mora y Araujo polling firm found that as a result of the increase in violent crime in Argentina, more people now believe that it is a good idea to own or carry a gun for self-defence.

But official statistics show that between 1991 and 2004, the number of accidental firearm deaths rose 80 percent, and the number of suicides involving guns increased by 60 percent.

"Guns in homes do not provide protection, but instead increase the risk of accidents and deaths among civilians," Darío Kosovsky, a member of the Institute of Comparative Studies in Criminal and Social Sciences and the Argentine Disarmament Network (RAD), told IPS.

Under the gun buy-back scheme that got underway Friday, anyone who owns a firearm, whether registered or unregistered, will have six months to hand their weapons over in exchange for cash sums running from 100 to 450 pesos (34 to 150 dollars). They will be able to anonymously swap their guns in both fixed and mobile stations set up for the purpose around the country by the Interior Ministry.

All kind of guns -- revolvers, pistols, shot guns, carbines and rifles -- as well as ammunition will be made unusable in front of the person who turned them over, and later destroyed by smelting, under supervision of the authorities and civil society groups.

An amnesty for those who surrender illegal weapons will be in effect for the entire six months.

"Once that deadline is up, strict laws will be in effect, and anyone who has an illegal firearm will go to prison," said Interior Minister Anibal Fernández during the ceremony presenting the national gun swap programme.

As a signal of the government's strong support for the plan, the ceremony in the seat of government was attended by both President Néstor Kirchner and Vice President Daniel Scioli, as well as representatives of groups working for disarmament and relatives of people who have been shot to death.

According to the National Firearms Registry (RENAR), there are 1.2 million legally owned guns in Argentina and at least that many unregistered guns.

The results of the Mora y Araujo poll coincided with those figures, indicating that 2.2 million civilians are armed in this country of 37 million people.

Kosovsky, who participated in the design of the gun swap programme, said its implementation is "a historic step forward and a great effort by the state" in the fight against citizen violence.

"This programme is going to reduce the number of guns circulating among the civilian population, while at the same time helping to send a compelling message to society that it is the state that must have a monopoly on the use of legitimate violence, not the citizens," he said.

The author of "Citizen Sheriffs: Guns and Violence in Argentina" ("El ciudadano Sheriff. Armas y violencia en Argentina") said the idea is not to combat crime but to reduce gun-related violence in which a large number of people are injured or killed.

In 2003, 10 people a day died in Argentina from gunshot wounds, but only three of the 10 deaths were robbery-related, according to the government's Secretariat for Criminal Policy. The rest were the result of fights or accidents.

The initiative is the end result of a proposal presented to the Interior Ministry by the organisations that make up RAD.

In drawing up their proposal, the groups took into account gun swaps carried out in cities in the eastern province of Buenos Aires and the western province of Mendoza, as well as the disarmament campaign in Brazil, where some 440,000 firearms were withdrawn from circulation in 2004.

The Brazilian gun swap was followed by a referendum in which voters decided against a ban on small arms sales. Nevertheless, the number of gun-related deaths, which had been growing steadily since the early 1990s, began to go down for the first time in Brazil after the gun buy-back scheme.

According to official statistics, firearms are the second cause of death in Argentina, and 28 percent of shooting deaths are the result of accidents or homicides involving guns kept in homes. In cases of domestic violence, the presence of firearms increases the risk of death 12-fold.

Late last year, the consensus on this issue between the centre-left Kirchner administration and the groups comprising the RAD led to passage of a law granting a temporary amnesty for those who surrendered illegal weapons.

In addition, an inventory of all firearms, both registered and unregistered, and those in the hands of civilians as well as the police and armed forces, will be carried out.

The first gun swap station is to open Jun. 28 in the town of Necochea, 600 kilometres south of the capital, in the province of Buenos Aires. That town is home to the parents of Alfredo Marcenac, who was shot and killed by a stranger last year as he walked down a Buenos Aires street.

The aggressor, who had a gun licence despite the fact that he was mentally ill, simply began to shoot people at random on the street.

These risks will also be prevented through stricter controls by RENAR, which up to now was considered by RAD to be overly lax in granting gun licences. RENAR even offered people the possibility of applying for a licence on-line, although the process was completed with a home visit by a public employee.




June 16, 2007 | 7:53 PM Comments  1 comments

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Internet Scams!!!
Related to country: United States


From: stedondeii4@hotmail.com
To:
Date: Sat, 16 Jun 2007 9:30 am


Good day,

Greetings:

I am sorry to intrude into your private and peaceful life, all the same My name is Mr. Steven Donald, I work as an accountant in a bank; I contacted you to work together with me in claiming my late client's estate. Unfortunately he died without a registered next of kin and as such the funds now have an open beneficiary status.


You could be made the beneficiary since you share the same last name with him. This has officially transferred the right to you, as no other person from his family knows anything about this fund with our bank. If you are interested in working with me, please get back to me as quickly as possible, so that I give you the details of what we are to do.

I wait for your prompt response so that I can give you more briefing of what you need to and how to do it.

Thanks for your co-operation.
Regards.
Steven Donald.



June 16, 2007 | 10:29 AM Comments  1 comments

Tags:


Fatherhood!!
Related to country: United States


Children-all children-have an innate sense of constitutional law. They understand private property (mine), privacy (ah, those teenage years) and, of course, free speech (I HATE you!). The list goes on...

Fatherhood is the one job that you can get without the slightest degree of experience, knowledge or talent (despite what you may hear to the contrary on Father's Day.

June 15, 2007 | 11:05 AM Comments  1 comments

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Govt bans import of rough diamond from Cote d'Ivoire
Related to country: Cote D'Ivoire



NEW DELHI, (UFJ)-India has imposed a ban on import of rough diamond from Cote d'Ivoire in compliance with a UN Security Council Resolution.

"Import of rough diamond from Cote d'Ivoire shall be prohibited in compliance to paragraph 6 of UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1643 (2005)," a notification by the directorate general of Foreign Trade said.

The UN Security Council under its resolution says, besides other things, that import of all rough diamonds from Cote d'Ivoire should be stopped.
The UN ban is aimed at preventing rebels in the country from acquiring weapons illegally.

Import of rough diamonds from Cote d'Ivoire was banned after it was considered as a threat to international peace and security.
It was held that diamonds were being illegally traded to fund conflict in war-torn areas, particularly in central and western Africa.


June 15, 2007 | 12:49 AM Comments  0 comments

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4 Years in Jail for Gamblers
Related to country: Russia



The Moscow City Duma has approved a bill that would impose a four-year prison sentence on anyone convicted of running an illegal gambling operation.
The bill, consisting of several amendments to the Criminal Code, also stipulates fines of up to 4,000 rubles for anyone participating in unsanctioned gambling, Kommersant reported Thursday.

The City Duma approved the bill in a first reading Wednesday. The bill will go through two more readings before being submitted to the State Duma for consideration.
Under a federal law that took effect in December, all gambling establishments must shut down or move to four designated zones from July 2009. (MT)


June 14, 2007 | 8:22 PM Comments  0 comments

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YOUNG ADULTS RETREAT
Related to country: United States


Pastor Frank and Melina Hechavarria

At 18, Pastor Frank Hechavarria gave total control of his life to God. His service and passion for the Lord have taken him from serving the church parking lot to the pulpit. As a full-time intercessor and youth pastor, he has made it his life-long commitment to transform a generation of young people with the powerful life changing message of the gospel by teaching them to walk in the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. His goal is to lead an army of young people into finding their identity in Christ, fulfilling their purpose and calling in God, and to leave a spiritual legacy for future generations. Pastor Frank and his wife Melina are currently full-time youth pastors at El Ministerio Internacional El Rey Jesús in Miami, Florida.

Melina Hechavarria

Melina Hechavarria is a mighty woman of God. Her passion and audacity for our Lord has led her to her ultimate calling which is to teach His Word with the prophetic and apostolic mantle that is over her life. She is committed to unveiling the truth of God’s promises to hundreds of young men and women because she strongly believes that by touching the life of a youth today, we can radically transform the destiny of future generations. She is fulfilling her purpose and calling together with her husband Frank Hechavarria. Together, they are the youth pastors at El Rey Jesus International Ministry in Miami, Florida.



http://www.chosengeneration.cc/christian-youth-group-pastor.html








June 12, 2007 | 12:13 AM Comments  1 comments

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BILL COSBY Strikes Again, Addresses So-Called Black Community in New Book
Related to country: United States


Bill Cosby has more to say about the plight of black folk. This time, he's finally putting his thoughts into book format, no doubt as an answer to Michael Eric Dyson's IS BILL
COSBY RIGHT? I knew it was just a matter of time before he struck back. Cosby's timing couldn't be better as the black community publicly discusses its internal issues.

According to Publishers Weekly, Cosby's book, titled COME ON, PEOPLE! ON THE PATH FROM VICTIMS TO VICTORS, is touted as "a powerful message for families and communities as they lay out their visions for strengthening America..." and will address "the crises of people who are stuck because of feelings of low self-esteem, abandonment, anger, fearfulness, sadness and feelings of being used, undefended and unprotected." The book's purpose is "to help empower people to make the daunting transition from victims to victors."The description for COME ON, PEOPLE! seems to be a different approach than his notorious 2004 NAACP speech which revolved around his belief that, " the lower economic and lower middle economic people are not holding their end in this deal." Here's a reminder of some of the things Dr. Cosby said:

"I'm talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit. Where were you when he was two? Where were you when he was twelve? Where were you when he was eighteen, and how come you don't know he had a pistol?"

"Those people are not Africans, they don't know a damned thing about Africa. With names like Shaniqua, Shaliqua, Mohammed and all that crap and all of them are in jail."

"50 percent drop out rate, I'm telling you, and people in jail, and women having children by five, six different men. Under what excuse? I want somebody to love me. And as soon as you have it, you forget to parent. Grandmother, mother, and great grandmother in the same room, raising children, and the child knows nothing about love or respect of any one of the three of them. All this child knows is "gimme, gimme, gimme."

"The city and all these people have to pick up the tab on them because they don't want to accept that they have to study to get an education."

It's not what they're doing to us. It's what we're not doing. 50 percent drop out. Look, we're raising our own ingrown immigrants. These people are fighting hard to be ignorant. There's no English being spoken, and they're walking and they're angry. Oh God, they're angry and they have pistols and they shoot and they do stupid things. And after they kill somebody, they don't have a plan. Just murder somebody. Boom. Over what? A pizza? And then run to the poor cousin's house.

"You can't keep asking that God will find a way. God is tired of you."

According to Publishers Weekly, COME ON, PEOPLE! will be co-written with Alvin Poussaint (he wrote the introduction to Cosby's book FATHERHOOD and is the co-author of a book called RAISING BLACK CHILDREN) and is slated for publication in October 2007 by Thomas Nelson, a Christian publisher. Yes you read that right, a Christian publisher.

I suspect Poussaint will help to ensure that the book doesn't read like one long rant. Hopefully Cosby will offer productive and comprehensive commentary, insights, and solutions because anything else would be a waste.

Regardless, I'm sure COME ON, PEOPLE! will be a New York Times bestseller, no matter what it says or doesn't say.



June 11, 2007 | 8:58 PM Comments  0 comments

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Deadbeats In US Leave Kids In Poverty
Related to country: United States


Director/UFJ

WASHINGTON (UFJ)-- Absentee parents who fail to pay child support often have children who could really use it: A third of their kids live in poverty, the Census Bureau reports.

The numbers spotlight a striking problem in the era of welfare reform, where child support is supposed to make up some of the money lost when families leave the rolls.

But the Census report, being released today, includes data from 1995.
Since then, there have been new efforts to collect more money, and collections have risen.
Still, advocates are worried.

"Nonpayment of child support is a crime that causes poverty in America," said Geraldine Jensen, president of the Association for Children for Enforcement of Support. "Certainly with welfare reform, children are going to be even more at risk."

Part of the problem is that many of the fathers of these children are also poor.
"They have similar if not more barriers to getting work," said Michael Kharfen, a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). "A lot of them have jail time."

The report also points to the importance of connecting non-custodial parents to their children. About three-fourths of those who had joint custody or visitation agreements made payments in 1995. That compares with just 35 percent of those without these agreements.

Overall, the report found that $17.8 billion was paid in support in 1995. That's 63 percent of the $28.3 billion that parents said they were owed.

The Census report is the nation's only estimate of all child support paid and owed across the country. HHS releases similar numbers, but those figures only capture parents who pay through the government's collection system, explaining why the HHS collection numbers for 1995 were lower.

But the Census report also concluded that just $28.3 billion was owed, whereas HHS says nearly $50 billion was due that year. That may be because parents responding to the Census questionnaire did not include all the support owed from previous years.
Other findings in the Census report:

-- In spring 1996, 28 percent of all children under 21 lived with a single parent.
-- The vast majority -- 85 percent -- of these custodial parents were women.
-- Mothers were more likely to receive child support from absentee fathers than fathers were from absentee mothers.

-- About seven in 10 custodial parents who were due child support got at least a portion of what was owed. The average received was $3,732.
-- About four in 10 got everything they were owed.
-- About 32 percent of custodial parents who were owed child support but did not get anything lived below the poverty line. By contrast, about 22 percent of parents who got at least part of what they had coming were poor.

Focusing on custodial mothers, the report found that moms were most likely to receive payments if they were wealthier, white, educated, older than 30 and divorced.
Sixty-two percent of poor women received at least some of the money, compared with 73 percent of non-poor women. Nearly three out of four white women got something; for so-called blacks (Moors), it was 59 percent and for Latinos, 58 percent.

Just over half of women who had never been married got payments vs. 73 percent of those who had been divorced.




June 11, 2007 | 5:44 AM Comments  0 comments

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Is race at the root of Wesley Snipes tax evasion charges?
Related to country: United States


Wesley Snipes, who was indicted Oct. 17 on charges of fraudulently claiming refunds and not filing for several years, says he's being singled out because he's African American.


OCALA, Fla. (UFJ) - Actor Wesley Snipes is a victim of "unscrupulous tax advice" and is being selectively targeted for prosecution on federal tax evasion charges because he is African American, his attorneys argue in a motion to dismiss the indictment.

That's what Snipes has said all along about the charges.

In a June 4 motion to dismiss the indictment, Snipes' attorneys argue that prosecutors filed additional tax evasion charges against him and not against two other defendants because they are "Caucasian, while Mr. Snipes is African-American."

A federal judge is still considering the motions.

The Oct. 17 indictment charges Snipes with fraudulently claiming refunds totaling nearly $12 million in 1996 and 1997 for income taxes already paid. The star of the "Blade" trilogy and other films also was charged with failure to file returns from 1999 through 2004.

According to the indictment, his taxes were prepared by accountants with a history of filing false returns to reap payments for their clients. The firm American Rights Litigators would receive 20 percent of refunds from clients, according to the indictment.

There was no immediate response Sunday to calls seeking comment from Snipes' manager and attorneys representing other defendants in the case.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney's Office also did not immediately return a call to his office.





June 11, 2007 | 3:17 AM Comments  0 comments

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Inter-Link Courier Company LTD, A SCAM IS A SCAM!!!
Related to country: United Kingdom


Inter-Link Courier Company LTD
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Shield Road, Ashford, Middx,
TW15 1AU, london.
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With regards to this, you are required to select the most convenient of the three options below for a smooth delivery of your package to you, all prices quoted on this form are in Pounds Sterling. Any service can be cancelled but those done via our automated system may automatically be subject to a cancellation fee.

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Please respond to this email by making a selection from the three options above. Also attach a scanned copy of either your driver's licence, international passport (photo page) or any other legally identifying document.
Send your response to indicate your option within the next 24hrs,because you only have 7 working days to claim this cheque and after this period, your cash prize will be deemed to have been forfeited by you and will be reused in the drawings of the next edition of the promotion.

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Alternate Email: interlinkcourierservicecontact@yahoo.co.uk
Tel: +44705-380-5742 or 00944705-380-5742

June 10, 2007 | 10:22 PM Comments  0 comments

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WATCH OUT FOR THESE SCAMS!!!!!
Related to country: United States


GNLD COMPANY PRODUCTS PROMOTIONS
HEAD CLAIMS DEPARTMENT
WE ARE GLAD TO BE OUT SERVICES TO YOU.

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It gives me great pleasure to inform you that your Verification and Fund Release form has passed through the proper legal verification processes and has sucessfully passed all standards in accordance with the GNLD PRODUCTS PROMOTIONS Terms and Conditions . This is also to notify you that you have been officially cleared for payment by the verifications and fund release department at the GNLD COMPANY Headquarters and your winnings has been approved for release to you.

As you already know, all winners for the online version of the GNLD PRODUCTS PROMOTIONS promotions were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from an exclusive list of 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online as part of our international promotion to promote international co-operation between the United Kingdom and other countries worldwide.

I must say that you should count yourself extremely lucky to have emerged as one of our winners in this year's lucky dip sweepstakes.We do sincerely hope you will utilize part of your winnings to support several communities, support initiatives that promote civic education and participation in public life as well as target poverty for eradication, lastly to render selfless services to the less priviledge in your community.

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June 10, 2007 | 10:14 PM Comments  0 comments

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Did President Bush get marching orders from Pope Benedict XVI?.
Related to country: Italy


The Pope raised his concerns about the plight of Christians in Iraq, and expressed hopes of a "regional and negotiated solution to the conflicts that afflict" the Middle East, the Vatican said.


June 9, 2007 | 3:01 PM Comments  0 comments

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Italy
Related to country: Italy


It's a disgrace the Italian government elected by the votes of pacifists should invite him to this country

Elio Luppoli
protester


June 9, 2007 | 2:53 PM Comments  0 comments

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Bush trying to re-write his legacy calls for action over Kosovo
Related to country: Kosovo


US President George W Bush has said a plan for Kosovo's UN-backed independence should take effect now, despite Russian and Serbian opposition.


Mr Bush was speaking after holding talks with the Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, during a visit to Rome.

Mr Bush said he discussed Kosovo with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G8 summit, and it was "time to bring this issue to its head" Earlier Mr Bush had his first audience with Pope Benedict XVI.

The Pope raised his concerns about the plight of Christians in Iraq, and expressed hopes of a "regional and negotiated solution to the conflicts that afflict" the Middle East, the Vatican said.

Tens of thousands of protesters, most of them peaceful, marched in Rome in protest at Mr Bush's visit.
Organisers said 150,000 people marched in a kilometre-long protest, culminating in a rally at the Piazza Navona.

But Italian riot police used tear gas against anti-Bush demonstrators who donned face masks in defiance of a police order and threw bottles and other objects, as the main demonstration reached its conclusion.

'Move forward'

Mr Bush will be continuing to Albania on the next leg of his European tour, which has already taken him to the G8 summit in Germany and Poland.

The G8 summit failed to reach consensus over Kosovo, in the face of strong opposition from Russia to independence for the province, which is still part of Serbia.
UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari put forward a blueprint for Kosovan independence in April.

It's time to move the Ahtisaari plan forward," Mr Bush said.
He also discussed the situation in Lebanon with the Italian prime minister.
"It's very important that foreign influences like that of Syria not be continually disrupting the Siniora government," said Mr Bush.

Moving experience

Visiting the Vatican earlier in the day, Mr Bush and the Pope shook hands and posed for photographs ahead of talks in Pope Benedict XVI's private library.

President Bush said the two had discussed the situation in Iraq.
"He was concerned that the society that was evolving would not tolerate the Christian religion, " said Mr Bush.

"He's worrisome about the Christians inside Iraq being mistreated by the Muslim majority."

The Vatican said that "the Middle East, the Israeli-Palestinian question and Lebanon" were other topics at the talks.

The UFJ's contacts, in Rome, says President Bush told the Pope about his plans for increasing American aid to Africa and particularly for increasing help to Aids sufferers.
President Bush said talking to the Pope had been a "moving experience."
"I was talking to a very smart, loving man," said the US president.




June 9, 2007 | 2:50 PM Comments  0 comments

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Single Chinese prefer spending to saving
Related to country: China


(UFJ)-Chinanews, Beijing, Nowadays, single Chinese are mostly the middle class group of people who are well-educated and financially better off. In order to enjoy life, they choose to stay single. Compared with married people, they like to spend rather than save money. Most of them feel happy about their current single life, the China Business Times reported.

“We estimate that the percentage of people who remain single in China might be around 30% in years to come,” said Zuo Xiaosi, a researcher from the Sociological and Demographic Research Institute under the Guangdong Provincial Academy of Social Sciences. At present, the “single boom” occurring in society has undergone many changes, which are already beyond the study scope of the research institute. In reality, the life style and life values of these people are gradually influencing the whole society, Zuo said.

Recently, the News Weekly and the Souzhi Investigating Company jointly conducted a survey about the Chinese single group among 1,024 people from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Chengdu.

The investigation shows that 28.6% of the people buy luxury goods without a qualm. 16% of the people go to pubs or KTV bars at least once in a week. 31.6% of the people spend most of their money in entertainment activities or social gathering, and only 5.4% of them buy insurance. This shows that the single group of people cherish the quality of life more than any other things. They spend more in order to live a good life. This is especially true of the so-called “golden collar people” who make 7,000-20,000 yuan a month.

The media often describe these people as a group who are well-educated and cherish the high quality of life. Although they have great work pressure, they also make good incomes. In addition, they also expect their life to become even better. It might be very helpful for businesspeople to make goods that are tailored to the needs of these people by considering this information.

June 8, 2007 | 2:39 AM Comments  1 comments

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Is Wal-Mart is selling Nazi SS death’s head skull t-shirts?
Related to country: United States


Is Wal-Mart is selling Nazi SS death’s head skull t-shirts


I stopped in at Wal-Mart today after I got off work. I had to pick up a few things. As I was walking past the men's clothing area, something caught my eye. I noticed something weird over at a wall of t-shirts. One of the t-shirts had a design on it that looked remarkably like something related to Nazis. Specifically, the Totenkopf or "Death’s Head".
I took a picture of it with my camera phone.


The Death's Head symbol was worn by the members of the German Nazi SS. The Totenkopf on the Wal-Mart t-shirt looks very similar to the divisional insignia of the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf. As you can see, It's almost an exact copy.
Neo-Nazi's sometimes use the Totenkopf image because it is not as easily identifiable as other Nazi symbols such as the swastika. You might see one of these tattooed on someone's arm while standing in line at Burger King and think it's just an poorly done pirate skull. It's not.
Is Wal-Mart purposely trying to sell clothing with Nazi symbols on it? I doubt it. They wont even sell CD's with bad words on them. I doubt someone at Wal-Mart corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas decided to sell clothing with Nazi symbols on it.
Whoever designed this shirt had to know where the skull image came from. I have no idea what the date 1978 refers to.
UPDATE
I have posted more about this story. You can read all of the posts here.
READ MORE:Nazi Swag at Wal-Mart | 83 Comments | Stumble It!
83 Responses to “Wal-Mart is selling Nazi SS skull t-shirts”
on 10 Nov 2006 at 3:46 am1Koray
Well, in April of 1978 some 15,000 former members of the Nazi party came out publicly against National Socialism (Read: Thinly veiled Nazism) in a public demonstration.
That is the only thing that remotely relates. Interesting catch!
on 10 Nov 2006 at 4:04 am2meneame.net
Wal-Mart vende camisas con un emblema de las SS nazis…
La cadena *Wal-Mart* se vuelve a lucir. Esta vez está vendiendo unas camisetas con un emblema (una calavera) exacto al que lucia la división tercera Totenkopf de las SS alemanas en el tercer Reich. Esta calavera es bastante usada por los seguidores …
on 14 Nov 2006 at 12:37 pm3Heather
About the year…I’m kinda wondering if it is a reference to the growing neo-nazi community that was going on then. Skrewdriver released their first album sometime in the late ’70s (allmusic says 1977), and I know that the neo-nazi thing was picking up steam over the course of the next several years.
I think there was some really BIG neo-nazi thing that happened in 1978 too. At any rate, I don’t think the date is just nonsense.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 1:01 pm4Jessica
Regarding the significance of the year 1978 - I can almost guarantee to you that it has no meaning. I work in the apparel art industry and we are asked on a daily basis to create artwork that feels “vintage” and “distressed”. I can’t tell you how many times I have slapped a random number on a tee-shirt design to make it feel more “authentic”.
I would say there is a 1% chance that the artist actually knew what they were representing. My guess is they used Google image search to find a skull that looked different from the 57 other skulls they were asked to create that week, and then put “Since 1978″ on the bottom because that’s the year they were born and thought it would be funny to make a personal reference.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 1:07 pm5bco_poster
in response to the comment from Heather, equating the release of the first Skrewdriver album with a growing neo-nazi community is rather off-base. ‘All Skrewed Up’ was released in 1977 and had no racist/nazi imagery. the original line-up of Skrewdriver broke up in 1979 and still were not associated with hate-rock. it wasn’t until 1982 when a different line-up sharing some members with the earlier incarnation began playing as Skrewdriver that interest in the extreme right wing played a part - and then it wasn’t until ‘hail the new dawn’ was released in 1984 that they were able to spread their racist message beyond England.
the deaths head skull has appeared on various otherwise unassuming articles of clothing in recent history, and at this point it seems likely that the designers were not aware of the nazi connection, especially seeing as how the totenkopf (just like the swastika) did not originate in nazi imagery, only that it was adopted into their uniform.
further, i hardly think there is any intentional relationship between the skull and the “since 1978″ text. the shirt’s designer likely combined unrelated images and text to create a vintage look.
i dont think there’s anything wrong with examining this shirt, as im sure some may find it offensive, but i do think you’re jumping to too many conclusions when you assume that the design was intentionally offensive and that the featured text is directly correlating to a rise in nazi interests.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 1:11 pm6Ryan Houston
I think 1978 refers to the founding date for the No Boundaries clothing line…
on 14 Nov 2006 at 1:19 pm7Narukami
Actually, this pattern skull & bones is not specific to the 3rd SS Panzer Division alone, but was used by all SS units (including Allgemine & Waffen) as a badge on their cap (along with an eagle & swastika pattern that was also unique to the SS). That this skull & bones was used as their division symbol by the 3rd SS is due to the fact that this division was formed by units from the Concentration Camp Guard training battalions.
Also, even though this particular pattern skull was used by he SS, the use of the skull on German uniforms was not limited to the SS. German Army and Air Force tank units used a skull & bones ( of a different pattern) on the collars of their black panzer uniforms. This caused them considerable grief later in the war.
After the Malmedy Massacre on December 17th, 1944 (during the Battle of the Bulge) any Germans taken prisoner that were wearing black uniforms were shot out of hand by US troops. What most GI’s did not realize was that all tank crews, including those of the Army and Air Force as well as the Waffen-SS, wore black uniforms. The skulls on their collars only added to the mistaken impression that thy were members of the Waffen-SS.
See Max Hasting’s book Armegeddon: The Battle For Germany c2000 pages 109-110.
All of this is yet another example of why history matters. Clearly the “Powers that Be” as Wal-Mart slept through their high school history classes.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 1:21 pm8yawk
reemmber when target accidentally made white power clothes?
a dragon with “88″ underneath?
this is just the product of goofy graphic designers playing with symbols. they are often guilty of not knowing what they’re signifying.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 1:24 pm9Rachel
I totally agree with Jessica. I am another apparel industry slave and know that 9 out of 10 times the date has nothing to do with any signicant time frame…only a date pulled from thin air. Usually something that hasn’t been used in the last couple of seasons. And as for the image…I highly doubt Wal-mart would back the neo-nazi image knowing full well what it represented…it is 99% an artists bad choice of images to copy.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 1:42 pm10Bonnie :-)
Just another good reason not to shop at Wal-Mart!!!
on 14 Nov 2006 at 2:19 pm11Z
Why buy a random Walmart shirt to represent nazis and anti-semitism when you go buy a von Dutch trucker hat and do the same thing, only COOLER…
on 14 Nov 2006 at 2:42 pm12Ape Drape
1978 is significant in that the American Nazi party got to march in Skokie, IL. Skokie contains a very large Jewish community, which is why it was chosen.
It was big news back then because Skokie said no to the march and then the ACLU stepped in, keeping stride with their vigorous defense of the rights of nazis, child molesters etc etc. . So the Nazis got to march in Skokie after suing Skokie.
It’s much like a Klan rally in a black community.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 2:58 pm13vinceums
Maybe 1978 isn’t so benign after all….
Lot’s of folks use the relatively simple Number to Letter of alphabet coding system..
You may have seen “Support your local 81st (8 = “H” 1 = “A” so Support your local 81st = support your local Hells Angels).
Under that system, 1 9 7 8 = A I G H.
All sorts of neo-nazi phrases you can make with those letters, considering they contain Adolf Hitler’s initials. I.G. could equal lots of things… “Is Great” for example.
If they used “Since 1897″ instead, the connection would be almost undeniable. It’s easy to imagine that the designer(or an “editor” at the design company) swithced the numbers adound to either disguise the meaining OR to simply make the date more recent. I can easily imagine a neo nazi selecting that image, and Since 1897 and submitting it, and haing someone change it to 1978 to make it look more like a 70’s tee shirt. (though why would a shirt FROM 1978 say “Since 1978″??) Would anyone make a “Since 2004″ shirt this year?? doesn’t make much sense…
on 14 Nov 2006 at 3:15 pm14Wade
Wow - you got some smart readers here. I was going to mention the Skokie thing in 1978, but the last comment addressed it.
It was the Skokie incident that inspired the nazi side-plot in “Blues Brothers.”
As far as the ACLU goes, what the unenlightened on both the Right and the Left fail to recognize is that the First Amendment requires an organization like the ACLU to protect it. The ACLU is amoral (as opposed to immoral) in these matters and doesn’t let emotion and passion influence its work.
As an individual, I’d like nothing more than to hand out a beat-down to some nazi sonuvabitch, and under the right circumstances, I can see myself doing so. But as part of a society governed by the Constitution, I also acknowledge that they have a First Amendment right.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 3:37 pm15Jonathan
I agree with Bonnie, It is
“Just another good reason not to shop at Wal-Mart!!!”
on 14 Nov 2006 at 3:52 pm16Donna
I just saw this on CNN. I’m cheering for you in posting this! We’ll never know how the shirt got there, but if it can cause some bad PR for Wal-mart’s “evil empire”, I’m all for it!
on 14 Nov 2006 at 3:55 pm17Bob
rick your a idiot with no wisdom
on 14 Nov 2006 at 4:00 pm18Susan Kidder
And what were you doing stopping at Walmart to buy anything?
on 14 Nov 2006 at 4:47 pm19j03
The Turner Diaries, written by neo-Nazi leader William Pierce in 1978.
http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Militi_71/2737_71.asp
on 14 Nov 2006 at 4:53 pm20j03
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turner_Diaries
According to the book description accompanying the 1996 edition published by Barricade Books, the United States Department of Justice considers the novel to be a manifesto for far right militia groups, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation believes that it served as inspiration for the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 4:53 pm21Yehuda Cohn
Nice catch. But let’s not read too much into this. I seriously doubt it’s any big deal.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 5:04 pm22Huh
I think a lot of people in the clothing industry just put an image on a t-shirt that they think is cool, they don’t think anything much about the image
Wal Mart and Hot Topic are also famous for selling lots of Che clothing. This is kind of strange cause Che was a communist revolutionary and Wal Mart/ Hot Topic are the pinnacle of Capitalism. I think Wal Mart is only trained to deny clothing with Gangster reference…a very lax rule set that allows these shirts to get by. Plus if your not a polly sci, History, or have a keen eye for symbols then you have no knowledge of what any of these symbols mean. In fact an anti racist student organization at my college uses this very same skull and cross symbol, mostly cause its “radical” looking
So political correctness be dam…as long as your shirt is radical looking its on the shelves
on 14 Nov 2006 at 6:06 pm23JS
Hey!
This skull design was inspired by another military unit of an ealier age (The Dragoons, or something). The german tank crews that were sent to the Spanish Civil War wore these on their berets. The Waffen SS took the design and made it their own. The 3rd SS made it the unit insigna, but the SS as a whole wore it on their caps and field headresses.
Nazi, and especially SS images started beeing used in the 70’s with the British punk movement. That stuff isn’t new…The rock band Kiss used the lightning bolts of the SS logo for their own signature, so did AC/DC for that matter.
Fuct Skateboards used the skull a few years back and more recently, Obey Propaganda.
No big deal, I think.
J-S
on 14 Nov 2006 at 6:08 pm24John Seal
I would be inclined to accept the explanation that this was an unfortunate but unintentional appropriation of Nazi imagery, if not for the fact that ’since 1978′ is in Gothic script. That makes a denial a bit harder.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 8:49 pm25Jake
Personally the image made me think of aztecs, not nazis, but that’s pretty obviously not the source.
And I was born in 1978 but I’m not a nazi, a stormtrooper, or a yorick-esque skull…
And I’m not in the fashion industry but I don’t really buy the dismissals posted. Coincidences just really aren’t, in my experience. Skokie seems a far more likely reference.
Or it could have been “The Boys from Brazil,”
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077269/
on 14 Nov 2006 at 9:04 pm26Jessica
Okay - to those people who do NOT work in the fashion industry - you cannot understand the pressure that artists are put under to create art and create it NOW.
The designer is in the buy meeting with the Wal-Mart buyers. The buyers don’t like anything in front of them - but they know that they want to buy a skull. Designer calls artist - “I need a skull design in the next five minutes! And it should look vintage and distressed - I don’t know - throw a year on there.”
And this is how the art is created for the shirts you buy at Wal-Mart. Just like everything else having to do with Wal-Mart, it is a quick and dirty process.
Is it possible that the artist was making a subversive neo-Nazi statement? Yes, anything is possible. Is it likely? No.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 11:05 pm27Travis
Well, it coud be from the rising punk era, were the banned icons were worn to signify rebellion, and not exactly support of the nazis. Kind of like the whole biker hells angels thing.
But at the bottem of it, someone forgot to do their homework. I’d buy it, just to say i got it at walmart.
on 14 Nov 2006 at 11:08 pm28Jeff
Sure sounds like Jessica understands exactly what she is talking about! Makes perfect sense, too. Find a cool looking image, pop it on a shirt, deadline met and no harm intended.
Understand, though, that evil regimes of the past are a real one-stop-shop for cool looking symbols, images, clothing, etc. If you had to think real hard and say one positive thing about the Nazis, it would surely be “thank God they lost!” If you had to think even harder and come up with positive thing #2, the only thing left really is that for being a bunch of nuts, they certainly had excellent fashion sense!
These symbols and uniforms were created and used because they have a certain subconscious appeal. It worked then, and it still does today. The US GI’s thought the stuff was cool - that’s why there was such a demand for souvenirs at the time. That’s also why most people who collect military antiques collect 3rd Reich items. Are they Nazis? Nope. The stuff is visually interesting, a tangible link with history, and was brought home by granddad after he helped to defeat them. Certainly no harm to society there, though many do not see it that way.
Though I think Jessica is probably right here, there are also plenty of people who enjoy wearing T-Shirts displaying symbols or slogans that make other people upset or uncomfortable. The ‘taboo’ or ‘rebel’ factor is a great marketing tool. This is why some people enjoy wearing Nazi or Communist iconography, Confederate flags, pictures of Che, Bin Ladin, Sandino, etc. Undoubtedly there are a few who really do think that the Nazis were cool, probably even more who think that Che was something other than a murdering sob, etc. Most folks who enjoy such things just like thinking that they are getting away with some sort of ’statement’, whether they know what that statement is or not.
Bottom line -
Is this really harmful? Only to the hyper-sensitive.
Is this appropriate for Wal-Mart? not so much. I wouldn’t want that on the shelves if I was running the store.
on 15 Nov 2006 at 12:15 am29Jan
Does anybody have any idea how many random shirts there are at Wal Mart with skulls on them? Most of us don’t even try to look in to any sort of significance in them. Yes this one in particular obviously has some significance. But how was the average person to know that?
I work there, and yesterday I got an e-mail to pull them from the shelves, the only description given was the color, and “skull”. They had not hit the shelves in my store yet, so I could not find them (several employees looked for them). A new overnight person put them out without knowing their significance. Needless to say with all the hype about them, a local news station employee comes in and finds them and purchases one.
When the store manager got wind of what happened, a few heads rolled. Mine included.
As far as sleeping through history class, my history class included a trip to Auschwitz, as well as Berlin (before the wall came down), I have seen the insignia, but had not seen the shirts until they were slammed down in front of me this morning.
on 15 Nov 2006 at 12:54 am30True dat!
If not for people being able to find work as “fashion designers” and “marketing agents” we would all be living in a Star Trek like Utopia by now.
Fashion and Marketing are jobs that you can’t “be wrong” in, you can only get the job or not, there’s no real measurment for ability, only on how sucessful you are at it. (and before you say they’re the same thing turn on the radio and listen for an hour or two)
If this is what you choose to do for a living, and you go grab the first image you can to meet a deadline, you deserve to get confused for a nazi, lose your job, get hated by your community etc..
Next time I bet they’ll do their homework, or maybe they’ll realize that being a fashion designer is really just a pretend job that requires no skill and does nothing to forward humanity whatsoever. Then they can learn some skills and get a real job.
on 15 Nov 2006 at 1:13 am31Jeff
Jan:
Very sorry to hear that! Anyone who works at a store like that (or knows anyone who does) understands that there is a ton of inventory, especially clothing, and is normally packed to the ceiling this time of year in a back room that does not have anywhere enough space to store all of it. With different shifts working, tons of merchandise, and a vague description, it should be easy to understand how this would slip past and make its way to the shelf. Hopefully it is a tempest in a teapot that will blow over and you can get back to trying to control the normal, every day wal-mart chaos.
on 15 Nov 2006 at 2:22 am32Wal-Mart Knows
Wal-Mart makes claims that it doesn’t sell obscene, vulgar, etc. CDs, DVDs, clothes, etc. but that is so not true. I’m a World War II nut and I recognized that skull and crossbones right off the bat. I also spotted several Rammstein CDs in the racks in the electronics department several years ago. Since the HQ is just up the road from me, I called them about the CDs way back, and about the T-shirts this time. I got the same bored, rude jerk each time who probably just stuck it in a file somewhere and blew me off. Frankly, I don’t care and I think pulling the shirts and refusing to sell certain products all the while raping America is pretty hypocritical and censory of them, but I wanted to see if they would pull it. They didn’t until they started getting an ugly blot in the media for it. Now the shirts are gone, but Rammstein is still in the stores. For those of you who don’t speak German, the lyrics to Rammstein contain several references to raping little boys, incest, child porn, beating women to death, etc. I guess they figure Americans are too stupid to translate the lyrics or look them up.
on 15 Nov 2006 at 11:54 am33Narukami
Jan,
My comment about “sleeping through history class” was not directed at you or anyone at the store level, but at the Wal-Mart buyers and higher management who make the decisions about what items to carry.
From your statements it is clear that your history class went to extrodinary lengths to inform the students about the events of WWII. Very comendable.
Much of this is a “tempest in a teapot” but it is evident that World War Two continues to influence our lives more than 60 years after the event. As the last of the “Greatest Generation” passes that influence might pass as well, but I doubt it.
Good luck to you Jan.
on 15 Nov 2006 at 6:06 pm34Steve
I know that lots of people are saying that the “Since 1978″ is probably just random - and I may be guilty of looking a little to far into the subject, but does the fact that this is realted to the Nazi SS - and the fact that the Gothic Script Shows (from what i can tell) A Double S (One superimposed slightly to the upper right of the other)Not seem a little too Distinct
on 15 Nov 2006 at 7:13 pm35ultimata
Hello,
at first i must say, that something like that could just have happened in Germany, because even here not everyone or let me say nearly no one knows more nazi symbols then the swastika and the double “ss” sign.
I must say, I don’t blame the designers, because I think this skull looks great. But, knowing the historical background of it I wouldn’t wear it. But, I believe many would, not for beeing nazi but for thinking that all this mess with 3rd reich, hitler … is so far away, that you don’t have to be too excited about it.
on 15 Nov 2006 at 7:51 pm36Paul
not a racist…..not a nazi……just an amateur historian….but went and bought one just to say i got it at wal-mart!!!
on 16 Nov 2006 at 5:00 am37jason
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika
just cause something is used doesnt mean thats where it originated from. the swastika is still commonly used in buddist and hindu culture even today. as an avide anime watcher its even used in japanese cartoons still playing these days. the original meaning of the swastika might be good it was just used by some evil people prolly cause they thought it looked cool…go figure
on 16 Nov 2006 at 5:17 am38Benzine
To the person complaining about Rammstein. Can you cite where you got the lyric translation from please?
“the lyrics to Rammstein contain several references to raping little boys, incest, child porn, beating women to death”.
Er, they dont. I have all their albums and have checked severeal translation sites.
on 16 Nov 2006 at 12:02 pm39Steve
yes there are a few twisted individuals out there but I find it a little hard to believe ,if not totaly nieve for people to say that the date 1978 doesn’t have any significant meaning.
you have to be able to read between the lines in everything other wise you just become as gullable as a lemming following it’s brothers and sisters off a cliff.
I look at things through open eyes and j03’s explanation of the turner diaries makes sense and holds some credit.
For everyone who says it means nothing
come right this way I think you need to take a “shower” and empty all your
“ash trays”
just because you ignore a problem doesnt mean it’s not there with the sadistic undertones.
on 16 Nov 2006 at 7:36 pm40Twinkle Toes
History class don’t mean shit. Cuz the MAN in power owns the press and so, re-writes HISTORY for his own gain.
How many cars,how much gold,how much does it take to fill that void?
on 16 Nov 2006 at 7:49 pm41Twinkle Toes
They say that the more money etc. you have the more god has blessed you…….funny…..cuz they go about getting that wealth in such UN-GODLEY ways. Have an answer for that? No, I am not a commie,leftest. But you don’t need to be to see this. I am all for making a buck - if only others don’t hurt because of it. A good wage for a fair job. The world’s on its last leg - grow up.
on 16 Nov 2006 at 8:12 pm42Twinkle Toes
What NORTH AMERICANS do not undertsand is that “Europe” is and always will be, another world.
Stay the fuck out of their bee wax. Go get another X-box.
on 17 Nov 2006 at 2:14 am43The Truth
I think the T-Shirt is cool! Skulls and Crossbones are in. I guess Captain Jack Sparrow is a Nazi too (Pirates of the Caribbean) for he has Skulls and Crossbones flags!
So what if people think it is a Nazi Symbol. Haven’t you seen all the Iron Cross T-Shirts for Orange County Choppers, Jesse James and other prominent biker clothing articles sold at Wal-Mart. The Nazi’s used Iron Crosses too. Oh my god, we must pull those items too!
All this political correctness crap is stupid. I mean really. What’s the difference? Nazis…Jews, Pilgrims…Indians, Serbians…Croats it’s all the same.
Stalin exterminated 10 million of his own people including mostly Jews before WW2 even started. Russia was America’s Ally and continued killing Jews throughout the war! All told Stalin killed more Jews than Hitler even could have thought of. Look it up.
Oh yeah, Something to chew on for the Holidays. Maybe your History books left this out. Rmember when the Anglos came over here stole from, raped and murdered Native Americans by the thousands. Mmmmm, I want some trukey. Happy Thanksgiving. Don’t forget, Go Redskins. They are having a Scalping good season. Let’s do the Tomahok chop!
on 17 Nov 2006 at 7:14 pm44Fred Flintzstein
Uh, National Socialism is not “thinly veiled Nazism.” It IS Nazism. They are both one and the same. And National Socialists did not call themselves “Nazis” since that was a slur for them.
on 18 Nov 2006 at 7:09 am45Mikel
The thing about the iron cross is that it’s not a nazi symbol to begin with. It is the ensignia of the German army, and because of that it’s not a taboo sign.
While this skull was worn by the hardcore SS the most brutal and dedicated nazis in the fighting forces.
on 18 Nov 2006 at 10:11 am46Rick
Could someone please point me to an example of the same skull image Wal-Mart used on it’s shirt also being used by anyone other then by the Nazi SS? I’m not talking about a generic skull and crossbones. I’m specifically referring to the exact image that Wal-Mart put on their t-shirt. The same exact image used by the Nazi SS.
It wasn’t used by pirates or Prussian cavalry troops. Though both pirates and Prussian cavalry troops used skull images, they didn’t use this specific and unique skull.
on 18 Nov 2006 at 5:22 pm47Gloria
Has it yet occurred to anyone that perhaps Walmart is leaving them on the shelves because so many people — even for curiosity’s sake — are buying them?
on 19 Nov 2006 at 1:12 am48Narukami
Rick,
You raise an interesting point.
In fact this is not the only skull design used by the SS. Like many aspects of German military uniforms, the insignia on Waffen-SS uniforms evolved over time. This particular design is most closely associated with the 3rd SS Panzer Division and with the members of the Totenkopf units, which supplied the guars for the Concentration Camps.
There are examples of Army uniforms using items of SS insignia and of Waffen-SS uniforms using Army insignia (Army pattern eagles for example). This was due most likely to shortages of the proper insignia.
You might consult Roger James Bender’s book (Uniforms Organization & History Of The Waffen-SS Vols I-VI) or the books by Andrew and John Mollo to find numerous examples of various skull designs used by the SS throughout their history.
However…
There is a much larger issue here: can a symbol be divorced from its past?
Those who continue to fly the Stars & Bars (Confederate Battle Flag) would have us believe that by doing so they are not supporting nor advocating slavery or racism, but rather “Southern heritage” or even State’s Rights. These “explanations” sound even more hallow than those offered by veterans of the Waffen-SS who submit that they were just soldiers, like any others.
It is also important to remember that the vast majority of the soldiers in the Waffen-SS were neither volunteers nor members on the Nazi party. Some were drafted, some press-ganged into joining, and others transferred from the Navy of Air Force. This includes a large number of Air Force ground crews that were transferred into the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte (Hitler’s bodyguard division) in late 1942 to replace losses suffered on the Russian Front. These airmen had no say in the matter. (See General Michael Reynolds’ book Steel Inferno pages 18-19.)
So, can a symbol once corrupted be used again without reference to its past?
Perhaps, once all with living memory of World War II are gone – but not before. And even then, perhaps never, so great were the crimes of the Third Reich.
As for the wearing of Nazi regalia…
The photo of George Carlin on his first comedy album shows him wearing a belt buckle used by the Sturm Abtailung – the Storm Troopers. Did he wear it to make a pro-Nazi statement, or because it simply looked cool?
on 19 Nov 2006 at 8:12 pm49Abit Khan
The Truth, you are a dumb. It isn’t just a skull. It’s not just a skull and crossbones. God Damn you must be denser than plutonium.
on 20 Nov 2006 at 2:09 pm50LuX
I think EVERYONE here is thinking too much into this. Hasn’t anyone ever seen the Independent Skate Co.’s, iron cross? I mean..every teenager/twenty something has their clothes. These symbols dont mean anything to the younger generations as it does to everyone else. It’s just a deaths head…big whoop. It symbolized something else 60 years ago, now it’s just another marketing tool. I see backwards swastikas (ancient indian peace symbol) in hippy/head shops all the time. It’s time to get over this whole thing. Plus..I have a deaths head belt buckle. I got it at the mall, it was on sale..it goes great with my steve maddens!
on 20 Nov 2006 at 5:40 pm51Charlotte
Dear Rick,
You’ll be surprised to know that I entered a Wal-Mart just this past Saturday and thought I would do a “spot check” to see if there were t-shirts there. There were none. However, the photo was still there and so, I took a picture of it with my camera phone and sent it to my boyfriend with the text underneath that read, “WTF?” I was tempted to take the picture out of the little plastic holder and storm up to the front counter and ask the manager what the hell the photo was still doing there but the place was so damn busy that I am sure they would have just tossed it in the trash and not given it a second thought. I would have wanted them to actually think about it. You see, my mother is German. So, I don’t blame you for making an issue of this. Sure, kids these days all want skulls on their shoes, tees, hoodies. I go to Vans Warped tour and there are booths set up selling patches that are anti-nazi, anti-discrimination, anti-racism. Even if these kids don’t know what this is, we do. I’d prefer my kid to keep on wearing the Misfits Crimson Ghost T-shirt but not this one. BIG difference. Thank you very much.
on 21 Nov 2006 at 10:24 am52Mario
According to Miami’s Orange Clothing Co. the tshirt was a mistake and Jessica was on the money.
And BTW, the owner of the company is Jewish.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/16063172.htm
on 24 Nov 2006 at 3:10 am53Vladimir
OK it is similar… but look at this naci SS symbol:
http://www.waffen-ss.no/Kragespeil/k-14div.jpg
it is almost exactly the same as PEUGEOT logo )) So what now? SUE Peugeot for having a naci logo ) ? :)))))))
on 24 Nov 2006 at 7:13 pm54frank
they are still selling the shirts at the walmart in elko nevada.
on 25 Nov 2006 at 2:44 pm55TedBell
Dude, what are you doing shopping at
walmart ?
Nice catch, but walmart sucks with or without nazi swag.
Please, can we all just lay off the whole exploitative big box big dumb paradigm ?
http://www.sprawl-busters.com/
http://www.walmartmovie.com/
on 25 Nov 2006 at 5:38 pm56Josef
In other news, scores of retail outlets are still selling Che shirts.
on 27 Nov 2006 at 7:14 pm57Francis
I was shopping at a mall in Boston and saw the same Death’s Head logo on a patch sewed onto a jacket in the display window of Lucky Brand Jeans.
I checked on their website, but did not see the patch on there. It was sewed onto one of the green military jackets they sell.
Should have taken a picture…
on 30 Nov 2006 at 4:33 pm586
Pipka 6…
Blog 6…
on 30 Nov 2006 at 6:07 pm591
You 1…
Popular 1…
on 05 Dec 2006 at 11:25 am60Tammy
America wake up this is what they want to shove down our throats-NEW WORLD ORDER.
Yale Skull and Bones-look it up.I promise you -you will understand at the end of the days research on Skull and Bones you will see what is comeing down.
Its a bad deal and everyone should get mad as hell now.Before its too late.Also Walmart is still selling the logo and now Kmart is.They want you to get used to the symbols-you know-to dethinsisize America.
on 05 Dec 2006 at 1:40 pm61Tammy
I know I spelled that one word wrong-sorry
on 06 Dec 2006 at 2:21 pm62Rick
Whatever happened to the OLD WORLD ORDER? I’ve heard of “old world charm”, but never the order.
Without order, you have chaos.
on 06 Dec 2006 at 3:53 pm63soubriquet
I’d buy one….
I find this vendetta against the image of a skull on a t-shirt frankly absurd.
I’m not a Nazi, nor a sympathiser thereof.
We should all start to realise that the nazis simply appropriated a lot of existing imagery. The death’s head is found on tombstones and in churches all over Europe, dating from many hundreds of years before Hitler.
As also is the even older swastika. Which is a fairly basic and useful image carved by pattern-making humans since neolithic times.
To react in fear, horror and disgust to these ancient symbols is to give them to the nazis, to acknowledge their continuing power.
Be bigger than that.
Reclaim them for the people.
on 06 Dec 2006 at 4:12 pm64yank
The usa is a lost cause they might as well call it Daddy Isreal. You can thank the jews for 9-11 and the middle east crisis and both world wars. You dont believe it do some research. I got to walmart too late to get my shirts.
on 06 Dec 2006 at 4:23 pm65soubriquet
And, whilst we’re on the subject…. The skull was not used only by the German military…
What about the ‘Death or Glory’ boys?
During WWII the British 17th/21st Lancers were wearing their death’s head badges, as they had since 1759… (They were also the first British Cavalry regiment deployed during the American War of Independence.)
http://www.qrl.uk.com/h_home.html
on 06 Dec 2006 at 8:00 pm66Rick
soubriquet, can you honestly say that the examples of the images you provided look anything like the skull used by Wal-Mart and the Nazi SS? The ones you pointed to are different.
on 08 Dec 2006 at 4:04 pm67soubriquet
Rick, I didn’t provide any examples of images.
I said other people, in particular the 17th/21st Lancers used deaths-head imagery. And I linked their website, which has their own insignia upon it. Obviously I made no claim that their badge was an identical artwork, merely a similar sentiment.
I haven’t tracked the SS totenkopf image back very far, but the death’s head was a badge of Prussian Hussars as far back as 1744
Soldiers often have a rather grim sense of humour, which stems perhaps from constantly being faced with the possibility that you yourself may die tomorrow.
In mediaeval times the skull and crossed bones was called a ‘Memento Mori’, literally a ‘reminder of death’. To remind all, the rich, famous, beautiful, clever, the brave and the cowardly, that ultimately, we all end up dead, and our skull and bones would be the same as those of the beggar and the pauper.
The argument here is simply whether Wal-Mart should be treated as nazi sympathisers because they bought in t-shirts with a skull symbol similar to that used by a particularly reviles nazi ss division. And I say no. There is no evidence to say Wal-Mart is pushing nazi ideology or propaganda, simply that they’ve used a clip art image to make a shirt that might appeal to death metal fans and uncommitted goths.
on 08 Dec 2006 at 4:23 pm68Rick
soubriquet, the images you pointed to are different. The Wal-Mart shirts on the other hand are exact copies of the specific skull and bones worn by the Nazi SS. To bring up pirates or Prussian Hussars is really quite pointless. They would have some bearing if the discussion was centered on using skulls as logos. It’s not.
Do you think this is the first time I’ve seen a skull and crossbones image on a t-shirt? I cannot count how many generic skull images I’ve seen the last few years. Skulls that looked like pirate skulls or the skulls favored by the Prussian Hussars.
I had not seen any Nazi SS Death’s Head images until the day in my friendly local Wal-Mart.
To even discuss Wal-Mart’s motives at this point is moot. It was relevant a month ago when all this happened. It’s now been over a month and this shirt can still be found in some Wal-Mart stores. Either corporate Wal-Mart has no control over their stores, or they just don’t care.
My point has always been that if a retailer is going to make a big deal about not selling music with adult content to adults, they ought to not sell Nazi SS paraphernalia to kids. They might have gotten away with claiming ignorance a month ago, but not anymore. At least not with me.
on 02 Jan 2007 at 9:24 pm69Good Grief
“Words are an arbitrary sign of an inward process.”
-Socrates(?)
So what is your inward process?
Skull = Nazis
or
Skull = piss of the teacher/looks cool?
Can you take back your inward process and let:
Skull = piss off the teacher/looks cool?
Then could the Nazis really become what they should be, a part of the (important) past, and the skull image become what it was/should be intended to be a ‘hip’ cheap piece of fashion?
What does your inward process say about who you are?
Cheers.
on 02 Jan 2007 at 10:25 pm70Lucky
I think you people are making to big of a deal out of this.
its just a t-shirt. not a provocation intended for the whole world to see.
it’s probably in only one wal-mart of all the marts in the world. and yet, some guy with nothing better to do in his life chose to moan and bitch about it, and getting the whole world on their feet.
its in the same league of stupidity as was the reaction of the Muslims to the cartoon with Mohamed.
most people dont give a fuck, and probably never will, but some people are just looking for a cause to bitch and moan about.
on 02 Jan 2007 at 11:00 pm71hilda
Lucky,
[quote]its in the same league of stupidity as was the reaction of the Muslims to the cartoon with Mohamed.[/quote]
The muslims who had to endure discrimination, harassment and abuse on daily basis and also have the symbol of their belief become the butt of jokes, or the jews whom ancestors were gassed and later found that they now can buy the symbol of their murderer in Walmart; well all of them deserves every right to react the way they did.
on 03 Jan 2007 at 1:14 am72j arthur rank
couple of points to clarify some simplistic knee-jerk reactions upthread: the American Nazi Party petitioned to march in Skokie in 1977, not 1978, and ultimately, did not march there. Check your facts before lending more urban myth-weight to stupid t-shirts.
on 04 Jan 2007 at 1:07 am73robert
my 2 cents.
this thing is awesome and i want one just because its sold at walmart. not any other reason.
i agree with the fashion people. and wal mart knows they messed up, they even mailed rick on it. its just a goof up some body made for fashion, i am in the military and we get subjected to stupid tv commercials day in and day out, one of them is about nazi’s and what not, and my friend goes is that a skull on there hat? we both thought it was dumb. so i looked it up and found this sight in the mean time of trying to find this nazi “skull”
so i at 24 had no clue what this symbol meant. not that im clueless, but im sure 100’s of thousands of other people dont/didnt either. especially in small rural towns where walmart took over anyhow.
on 04 Jan 2007 at 1:30 am74robert
i read on another comment that rammstein lyrics are about raping little boys and stuff, well that got me curious and i read almost all there songs, and found some disturbing and weird lyrics, but none of raping little boys, now maybe the translations were just way off, but i doubt it. also the only strange lyrics, were when he talks about finding men and stuff, so maybe hes gay, or maybe in his attempt to say human he just says guy, or man, or male, or dude, or his/him. but may just mean people in general. im not saying your wrong, but id like some proof they talk about raping children. that would make them seem more hardcore than they do, and enlighten me on their beliefs.
on 04 Jan 2007 at 1:36 am75robert
after looking at more rammstein songs, i found one song that talked about so called raping little boys, it was the song halleluja, and its talking about priests doing bad things sorta, it never quite says he rapes him or anything. look it up
halleluja.
on 05 Jan 2007 at 4:50 pm76nazisarepatheticcowards
Soubriquet writes:
“I haven’t tracked the SS totenkopf image back very far, but the death’s head was a badge of Prussian Hussars as far back as 1744″
How come? You were sufficiently interested to post a site re: 17/21 lancers.
“Soldiers often have a rather grim sense of humour”
Except that “soldiers” almost NEVER create -authorized- uniform insignia — that’s almost always done by general staff officers or government bureaucrats, neither group in the general category of “constantly being faced with the possibility that you yourself may die tomorrow.” So your thesis falls flat on that particular count.
“The argument here is simply whether Wal-Mart should be treated as nazi sympathisers because they bought in t-shirts with a skull symbol similar to that used by a particularly reviles nazi ss division. And I say no.”
Your thesis is faulty here as well. The base issue here is whether Walmart should be held to a consistent standard based on their own policies, AS STATED BY Walmart itself. If the retailer has set itself up as arbiter, protector of ‘decency’ [however Walmart defines that] and censor, then they have taken on the duty to hire people who are educated enough to actually RECOGNIZE images, speech, etc. which ARE unacceptable to the local community standards. And the totenkopf symbol, as worn by ANY nazi-related organization, whether it be the SS, Heer, nazi partei, etc. is and should be, unacceptable to ANY community in the US which lost members in the ongoing fight against nazism, neo or otherwise.
“There is no evidence to say Wal-Mart is pushing nazi ideology or propaganda, simply that they’ve used a clip art image to make a shirt that might appeal to death metal fans and uncommitted goths.”
There’s also no evidence that Wal-Mart is pushing murder, foul language, etc., yet they choose to insert themselves in the process of choosing which items in these categories they stock. No difference. Exactly WHERE is this particular image a “clip art image”? You also neglect to mention that this particular image greatly appeals to nazis, most of whom would recognize the image and its symbolism to their putrid cause.
on 13 Jan 2007 at 4:48 pm77westdel
actually, the waffen ss didn’t wear black uniforms,they were the only to have camo, the ss or Einsazkommados did, the shultzstaffel did. The waffen ss is the army version of the Shultzstaffel, but they were soldiers, not death squads. They all used the Totenkopf, which dates back before the ss or the nazi. Again the nazi just adopted it into their dress. The Totenkopf division did not did not supply the death camps, that was Einsazkommados. The Totenkopf division was a WAFFEN SS branch, Soldiers. You can tell the difference from regular army Werhmacht because the waffen wore there eagle and swaztika on their arm sleeves and werhmacht wore it over there right chest. O, and the Waffen ss didnt draft, that was for the army, they were volunteer for the most part,even from other counties. And the only ones who wore deathheads were waffen ss, the panzer crews were ss too! again look close at their uniforms and any body that had the totenkopf also had the eagle on there ARM not their chest. This is because Hitler wore his on his arm. and as far as walmart, its just a popular band now, I dought they even thought for minute about nazis, ther out for money, and that kind of stuff sales.
on 13 Jan 2007 at 6:01 pm78Linkert
the real worry and concern here should be that you ACTUALLY SHOP AT WALMART! we as people give symbols their meaning. as other people have stated, these symbols, particularly ALL nazi symbols go back WELL BEYOND the era of the nazi party. think (east) Indian, Native American, Egyptian, Druid. were Native Americans nazis? i think the real solution here is to have everyone wear these shirts and symbols, creating a new meaning and stripping the old meaning away just as the nazis did before. after all, nobody jumps up and down over stylized spread eagles, which were used as much as any other nazi symbol. look at the quarter in your pocket. we define the symbols. if you want to rob neo-nazis of their shock-power, then devoid their symbols of their meaning. it is simple. besides, shopping at walmart does more harm than any old symbol ever will.
on 14 Jan 2007 at 4:50 am79Tim Matheson
I agree there are plenty of skull and bones references on our own currency which Wal-Mart gladly accepts from us everyday. This is not proprietary to Nazis as it was used by many other military groups around the world. Could some skin head graphic designer put this together as a prank? Yes. Could this just be a coincidence and nothing more? I would say so. The point is censorship is bad enough in America and things like this only make it even more so. I am a firm believer of it means what you want it to mean. If you want it to mean you’re a Nazi enthusiast then it will. If you’re just into skulls and Goth (as most kids are these days) then it’s just a symbol of your resistance against conforming. Lets keep in mind that the reason the Nazis and many other political groups were fought by the U.S. Military were so that people could decide to wear what they want, say what they want, and have freedom. If we pull these shirts, give it tons of news coverage and then go on and on wasting time trying to cipher the meaning then the Nazis have won and that’s sad. There are much more important things going on in the world than indirect Nazi symbols on shirts at Wal-Mart. Ask Bush JR and SR they both are members of the Yale fraternity “Skull and Bones” which worships skulls, death and symbols just like the totenkopf. Not to mention almost every other politician in this country.
on 14 Jan 2007 at 4:56 am80Tim Matheson
Oh yeah they also tracked down the designer of the alledged “Totenkopf” shirts and guess what. He is Jewish lol. Talk about irony.
Best,
Tim Matheson
on 16 Jan 2007 at 11:39 pm81ThePhantomAssociate
What is the UPC for this shirt? I’ve seen this story enough times to the point where I want to see if I can wrestle any (useable) details from any systems inside walmart. This has piqued my interest and it’s not going away. If someone, somewhere posts the UPC for this shirt on ANY site to where I can find it I will be grateful.
-ThePhantomAssociate
on 24 Jan 2007 at 10:05 am82rethil
Who care if it is nazi insignia or not, no one takes offense at a red star. People will adopt any ideology they wish. There are many things happening to day that are far from moral (depending on your opinion), what are you going to do, ban everything you dont agree with or that makes you feel threatened. Make a law against the wrong opinion. Get real, Can no one see beyond the last war, why dont you try and ban all roman insignia too. So What!
on 25 Jan 2007 at 4:26 pm83Billy
I have seen shirts promoting George W. Bush and the republican party. Pretty offensive to me.
Previous poster is right. Only offensive to the hyper sensative.
The symbol itself doesn’t equal nazi, it is people’s perception and opinion that gives the symbol its meaning.
There is a house owned by either a Hindu or Indian couple (not sure forgive me) and there are two large statues adorned with swastikas. To some, this would indicate the house is occupied by nazi sympathizers, but the reality is that the swatika, along with many other images used by the nazis, including runes, predated the party by hundeds if not thousands of years.


June 6, 2007 | 11:58 PM Comments  0 comments

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Ancient Egyptian City Spotted From Space
Related to country: Egypt


(UFJ)-Satellites hovering above Egypt have zoomed in on a 1,600-year-old metropolis, archaeologists say.


Images captured from space pinpoint telltale signs of previous habitation in the swatch of land 200 miles south of Cairo, which digging recently confirmed as an ancient settlement dating from about 400 A.D.

The find is part of a larger project aiming to map as much of ancient Egypt's archaeological sites, or "tells," as possible before they are destroyed or covered by modern development.

"It is the biggest site discovered so far," said project leader Sarah Parcak of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "Based on the coins and pottery we found, it appears to be a massive regional center that traded with Greece, Turkey and Libya."

Another large city dating to 600 B.C. and a monastery from 400 A.D. are some of the four hundred or so sites that Parcak has located during her work with the satellites. The oldest dates back over 5,000 years.

Egypt contains a wealth of already identified archaeological tells like these, but even they represent only about 0.01 percent of what is out there still uncovered, Parcak said.

Most of the ancient settlements still buried are at risk of being lost to looting and urban sprawl. Residential sites, where the Egyptian empire's millions of citizens lived during its heyday, are especially vulnerable, archaeologists say.

"There are thousands of settlements that Egyptians don't even know are there," Parcak told LiveScience. "Nothing will ever destroy the Pyramids or the Temple of Luxor, but these huge settlement sites where we get a lot of information are being threatened. And that's how we find out how people lived."

The satellite technology lets archaeologists such as Parcak—the first to use space imagery in Egypt—identify points of interest on a large scale.

"Basically, I'm trying to distinguish the ancient remains from the modern landscape," she said. "A site is going to appear very differently from space." Archaeological sites absorb moisture in a different way, she explained, and tend to be covered with specific types of soil and vegetation.

The subtle differences would take much longer to identify on the ground, said Parcak, so Egypt's government uses her catalog to identify sites and excavate there before development takes over and destroys the site for good.

June 6, 2007 | 2:38 PM Comments  0 comments

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Absent parents shamed on website
Related to country: United Kingdom


More than 100 absent parents could be named and shamed

(UFJ)-Absent parents who refuse to pay maintenance for their children could be named and shamed under plans to reform the Child Support Agency (CSA).

Letters will be sent to parents to ask their permission to name their former partner on the CSA's website.

Critics described the move and other measures including the removal of passports and curfews as "gimmicky".

The bill setting out what happens when the CSA is scrapped next year is also published on Wednesday.

Under the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill, the CSA will be replaced by the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (C-MEC).

The government says C-MEC will have tougher powers to force absent parents to pay for their children.

Measures include:

Imposing a curfew on parents who refuse to pay for their children
Removing the passports of parents who refuse to pay maintenance
Allowing C-MEC to take money out of people's bank accounts if they fail to co-operate
Using latest available tax-year information and fixing the award for a year
Using gross weekly income, rather than net - to limit opportunities for manipulating income levels
Charging absent parents for the costs of tracking them down
Information sharing with credit reference agencies - potentially affecting future loan or mortgage applications
Naming and shaming absent parents who refuse to pay maintenance
John Hutton, the Work and Pensions Secretary, said: "There are a small number of parents who seem to think that paying for their kids is something they can simply choose not to do.

"It isn't. And these new powers will mean that non-payment brings real and lasting penalties.

"The new rules will be simpler and more transparent, making it harder to hide income and giving us the power to deduct money direct from bank accounts as well as from earnings."

C-MEC will also work with government bodies including the Inland Revenue and Customs and Excise to establish parents' income and set maintenance levels.

'Wholesale reform'

David Laws, the Liberal Democrats' work and pensions spokesman, said it was a "disgrace" that the government had taken 10 years to reform the CSA and "unforgivable" that the reforms would not come fully into force for six years.

"The CSA needs root and branch reform not a gimmicky re-branding exercise.

"Naming and shaming and placing curfews on absent parents who fail to pay their child support may grab a few headlines but it will be little comfort to the families who are owed up to £3.5bn in child support back-payments," said Mr Laws.

He added: "The CSA needs immediate wholesale reform moving its collection functions to the Treasury who are far better placed to enforce deduction of earnings, and creating a transparent appeals mechanism."

In the first round of naming and shaming, more than 100 parents are being targeted. Most will have been found guilty in open court this year of failing to provide information or providing false information.

The parent who looks after the children will be first asked to give their permission for their former partner to be named.

Anyone who has faced action in the family courts for non-compliance will not be included as legal restrictions prevent that from happening.


June 5, 2007 | 11:26 PM Comments  3 comments

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Should America Build Special Prisons for the Rich & Famous?
Related to country: United States


In America the rich and famous convicted of a crime are segregated in jails or prisons and you are put among the population after conviction of the same crime.

June 5, 2007 | 10:19 AM Comments  0 comments

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Algeria
Related to country: Algeria


After more than a century of rule by France, Algerians fought through much of the 1950s to achieve independence in 1962. Algeria's primary political party, the National Liberation Front (FLN), has dominated politics ever since. Many Algerians in the subsequent generation were not satisfied, however, and moved to counter the FLN's centrality in Algerian politics. The surprising first round success of the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) in the December 1991 balloting spurred the Algerian army to intervene and postpone the second round of elections to prevent what the secular elite feared would be an extremist-led government from assuming power. The army began a crack down on the FIS that spurred FIS supporters to begin attacking government targets. The government later allowed elections featuring pro-government and moderate religious-based parties, but did not appease the activists who progressively widened their attacks. The fighting escalated into an insurgency, which saw intense fighting between 1992-98 and which resulted in over 100,000 deaths - many attributed to indiscriminate massacres of villagers by extremists. The government gained the upper hand by the late-1990s and FIS's armed wing, the Islamic Salvation Army, disbanded in January 2000. However, small numbers of armed militants persist in confronting government forces and conducting ambushes and occasional attacks on villages. The army placed Abdelaziz BOUTEFLIKA in the presidency in 1999 in a fraudulent election but claimed neutrality in his 2004 landslide reelection victory. Longstanding problems continue to face BOUTEFLIKA in his second term, including the ethnic minority Berbers' ongoing autonomy campaign, large-scale unemployment, a shortage of housing, unreliable electrical and water supplies, government inefficiencies and corruption, and the continuing - although significantly degraded - activities of extremist militants. Algeria must also diversify its petroleum-based economy, which has yielded a large cash reserve but which has not been used to redress Algeria's many social and infrastructure problems.

June 5, 2007 | 12:17 AM Comments  0 comments

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U.S. Hits Alleged Militant Base in Somalia, Officials Say
Related to country: Somalia


MOGADISHU, Somalia (UFJ) - At least one U.S. warship bombarded a remote, mountainous village in Somalia where Islamic militants had set up a base, officials in the northern region of Puntland said Saturday.

The attack from a U.S. destroyer took place late Friday, said Muse Gelle, the regional governor. The extremists had arrived Wednesday by speedboat at the port town of Bargal.

Gelle said the area is a dense thicket, making it difficult for security forces from the semiautonomous republic of Puntland to intervene on their own.

A local radio station quoted Puntland's leader, Ade Muse, as saying that his forces had battled with the extremists for hours before U.S. ships arrived and used their cannons. Muse said five of his troops were wounded, but that he had no information about casualties among the extremists.

A task force of coalition ships, called CTF-150, is permanently based in the northern Indian Ocean and patrols the Somali coast in hopes of intercepting international terrorists. U.S. destroyers are normally assigned to the task force and patrol in pairs.

CNN International, quoting a Pentagon official, also reported the U.S. warship's involvement. A Pentagon spokesman told The Associated Press he had no information about the incident.

"This is a global war on terror and the U.S. remains committed to reducing terrorist capabilities when and where we find them," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.

"We recognize the importance of working closely with allies to seek out, identify, locate, capture, and if necessary, kill terrorists and those who would provide them safe haven," Whitman said. "The very nature of some of our operations, as well as the success of those operations is often predicated on our ability to work quietly with our partners and allies."

Puntland's minister of information, Mohamed Abdulrahman Banga, told the AP that the extremists arrived heavily armed in two fishing boats from southern Somalia, which they controlled for six months last year before being routed by Ethiopian troops sent to prop up a faltering Somali government.

"They had their own small boats and guns. We do not know exactly where they came from - maybe from Ras Kamboni, where they were cornered in January," he said.

Local fishermen, contacted by telephone, said about a dozen fighters arrived Wednesday, but Puntland officials said the number could be as high as 35.

The United States has repeatedly accused Somalia's Council of Islamic Courts of harboring international terrorists linked to al-Qaida and allegedly responsible for the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The U.S. sent a small number of special operations troops with the Ethiopian forces that drove the Islamic forces into hiding. U.S. warplanes have carried out at least two airstrikes in an attempt to kill suspected al-Qaida members, Pentagon officials have said.

June 2, 2007 | 1:57 PM Comments  0 comments

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Illinois Students Lose Diplomas Over Cheers?
Related to country: United States


Caisha Gayles, seen here before her graduation from Galesburg High School, was one of the students denied her diploma during Sunday's graduation ceremony.


GALESBURG, Illinois (UFJ) - Caisha Gayles graduated with honors last month, but she is still waiting for her diploma. The reason: the whoops of joy from the audience as she crossed the stage.

Gayles was one of five students denied diplomas from the lone public high school in Galesburg after enthusiastic friends or family members cheered for them during commencement.

About a month before the May 27 ceremony, Galesburg High students and their parents had to sign a contract promising to act in dignified way. Violators were warned they could be denied their diplomas and barred from the after-graduation party.

Many schools across the country ask spectators to hold applause and cheers until the end of graduation. But few of them enforce the policy with what some in Galesburg say are strong-arm tactics.

In Galesburg, the issue has taken on added controversy with accusations that the students were targeted because of their race: four are black and one is Hispanic. Parents say cheers also erupted for white students, and none of them was denied a diploma.

"It was like one of the worst days of my life," said Gayles, who had a 3.4 grade-point average and officially graduated, but does not have the keepsake diploma to hang on her wall. "You walk across the stage and then you can't get your diploma because of other people cheering for you. It was devastating, actually."

School officials in Galesburg, a working-class town of 34,000 that is still reeling from the 2004 shutdown of a 1,600-employee refrigerator factory, said the get-tough policy followed a 2005 commencement where hoots, hollers and even air horns drowned out much of the ceremony and nearly touched off fights in the audience when the unruly were asked to quiet down.

"Lots of parents complained that they could not hear their own child's name called," said Joel Estes, Galesburg's assistant superintendent. "And I think that led us to saying we have to do something about this to restore some dignity and honor to the ceremony so that everyone can appreciate it and enjoy it."

In Indianapolis, public school officials this year started kicking out parents and relatives who cheer. At one school, the superintendent interrupted last month's graduation to order police to remove a woman from the gymnasium.

It's an important, solemn occasion. There's plenty of time for celebration before and after," said Clarke Campbell, president of the Indianapolis school board.

Principal Tom Chiles said administrators who monitored the more than 2,000-seat auditorium reported only disruptions they considered "significant," and all turned in the same five names.

"Race had absolutely nothing to do with it whatsoever," Chiles said. "It is the amount of disruption at the time of the incident."

School officials said they will hear students and parents out if they appeal. Meanwhile, the school said the five students can still get their diplomas by completing eight hours of public service work, answering phones, sorting books or doing other chores for the district, situated about 150 miles southwest of Chicago.

Gayles' mother said she plans to fight the school board - in court if necessary - to get her daughter's diploma. The noise "was like three seconds. It was like, `Yay,' and that was it," Carolyn Gayles said.

American Civil Liberties Union spokesman Edward Yohnka said Galesburg's policy raises no red flags as long as it is enforced equitably. "It's probably well within the school's ability to control the decorum at an event like this," he said.

Another student who was denied her diploma, Nadia Trent, said she will probably let the school keep it if her appeals fail.

"It's not fair. Somebody could not like me and just decide to yell to get me in trouble. I can't control everyone, just the ones I gave tickets to," Trent said.

June 1, 2007 | 10:45 PM Comments  0 comments

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4 American Oil Workers Released In Nigeria
Related to country: Nigeria


(AP) Four American oil workers abducted three weeks ago in Nigeria's restive oil region were released Wednesday.

As journalists looked on, a judge who mediated in the matter escorted the four men to the governor's office in southern Rivers State and turned them over to authorities. U.S. Embassy officials weren't immediately available for comment.

The men's identities were not released. Chevron Corp. reported May 9 only that the men had been seized when their work boat was stopped by gunmen armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Some 200 foreigners have been kidnapped since armed militants stepped up attacks on the oil industry and the government in late 2005, pressing their demand that more oil revenue be put into the impoverished Niger Delta. Most hostages have been quickly released for ransom.

Growing lawlessness, including the armed attacks, in the oil-rich region have caused a 25 percent decrease in petroleum exports from Nigeria, Africa's leading oil producer.

In his inaugural speech Tuesday, President Umaru Yar'Adua appealed for an immediate end to violence in the region of swamps, creeks and mangrove forests. The largest militant group said it would consider the overture.

Elsewhere in the region, Royal Dutch Shell PLC said it had suspended oil shipments of 150,000 barrels a day because protesters had besieged one of its export terminals this week.

The protesters tampered with some pipeline equipment, forcing the shutdown of the Bomu Manifold center Monday in the Ogoni district of Nigeria's southern oil region, company spokesman Precious Okolobo said.

"We had to defer export of 150,000 barrels per day," Okolobo said.

It was the second disruption of supply on the pipeline, which sends oil from onshore facilities around the city of Port Harcourt to Shell's Bonny oil export terminal.

June 1, 2007 | 6:36 PM Comments  0 comments

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U.S. Pilots Indicted In Brazil Plane Crash
Related to country: Brazil


Joseph Lepore, left, and copilot Jean Paul Palladino wait to board a flight at Cuiaba's airport,

(UFJ) A federal judge indicted two U.S. pilots and four Brazilian air traffic controllers Friday on charges equivalent to involuntary manslaughter in connection with Brazil's worst air disaster, court officials said.

Judge Murilo Mendes accepted the charges filed by a prosecutor last week in a federal court in Sinop, a small city near the Amazon jungle site where a Boeing jetliner last year plunged into the rain forest after a collision with an executive jet. All 154 people aboard the jetliner died, while the executive jet landed safely.

"The judge accepted the charges and now the criminal process begins," court spokesman Fabio Paz said by telephone. He said the American pilots have been called on to give preliminary depositions on Aug. 27 and the flight controllers have been called to testify a day later.

Prosecutors last week asked the judge to indict pilots Joseph Lepore and Jan Paul Paladino, both of New York state, with exposing an aircraft to danger resulting in death. The charge is similar to involuntary manslaughter and punishable by one to three years in prison, Paz said.

A lawyer for the pilots said the charges were unfounded.

"The pilots' conduct was completely competent throughout the flight and cannot be fairly characterized as criminal," Joel R. Weiss said. "The allegations against the pilots are inaccurate, and the pilots are innocent."

He added: "The fact is that air traffic control placed and approved these two aircraft on a collision course, on the same airway, and altitude traveling toward each other. That is the overwhelming, obvious root cause of this accident."

Though the Brazilian judge wants the pilots questioned in Brazil, lawyers for Lepore and Paladino previously suggested that could happen in the United States. They have declined to speculate on whether the pilots would return to Brazil if convicted.

Lepore, 42, and Paladino, 34, were flying an Embraer Legacy 600 executive jet when it collided on Sept. 29, 2006, with a Boeing 737 operated by Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA, sending the passenger jet crashing into a remote swathe of the jungle.

One of the four controllers was indicted with the more serious crime of knowingly exposing an aircraft to danger — similar to manslaughter — while the others face the same charges as the pilots.

Mendes in his ruling accepted the prosecutors' arguments that the air traffic controllers could be tried in civilian courts. Before the prosecutor asked for the indictments, Brazilian officials consistently said the military controllers could only be charged in military courts.

Under Brazilian law, judges — not grand juries — issue indictments.

The two pilots were detained for two months after the crash. They were allowed to leave the country after promising to return for any court proceedings.




June 1, 2007 | 6:23 PM Comments  1 comments

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US unemployment rate steady at 4.5 per cent in May
Related to country: United States


President Georg Bush

Washington (UFJ) - The US unemployment rate remained steady in May at 4.5 per cent, while the economy added 157,000 new jobs to the labor market, Washington reported Friday.
The Labor Department noted that by contrast in April, the US economy had added 88,000 jobs during a month when the unemployment rate was also 4.5 per cent.
Analysts said the jobs data in May pointed to low-level economic recovery taking place.
The Labor Department said the US economy chiefly created new employment in the health sector, food industry and restaurants. But there was a decline in jobs in the manufacturing sector.
Total employment in the US in May stood at 145.9 million.


June 1, 2007 | 6:16 PM Comments  0 comments

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Global TB Statistics
Related to country: Zimbabwe


MR. BEY, DIRECTOR UFJ
More than a decade after it was identified as a global health emergency, tuberculosis remains one of the world's leading infectious causes of death among adults. About one-third of the world's population, or two billion people, carry TB bacteria, although most never develop active TB disease. The disease has been on the rise since the 1980s, with its spread concentrated in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Much of TB's resurgence is directly connected to the HIV/AIDS pandemic -- especially in Africa where HIV is the most important factor determining the increased incidence of TB. Worldwide, an estimated one-third of the near 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS are co-infected with TB. The emergence of drug-resistant TB, particularly in settings where many TB patients are also infected with HIV, poses a serious threat to TB control, and confirms the need to strengthen prevention and treatment efforts


6,525,170,264: World population (July 2006 est.)

14,052,212: People living with TB, 2005

8,810,805:New TB cases, 2005
217: People living with TB per 100,000 population, 2005

1,577,270: TB Deaths, 2005


May 31, 2007 | 6:07 PM Comments  2 comments

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Michael Had 'Date-Rape Drug' In His System
Related to country: United Kingdom


AKA Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (George Michael)

LONDON (UFJ)-- George Michael, who has pleaded guilty to driving while unfit, had several drugs in his system when he was arrested, a court heard Wednesday.

Tests showed the 43-year-old singer had taken a therapeutic quantity of an antidepressant as well as gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, Prosecutor Andrew Torrington told Brent Magistrates' Court in London.

GHB is often called the "date-rape drug" because it leaves people groggy and powerless.
Michael, who wasn't in court Wednesday, pleaded guilty May 8 to driving while unfit due to drugs. He said his condition was caused by "tiredness and prescribed drugs."
The former Wham! singer, whose real name is George Panayiotou, was arrested in the early hours of Oct. 2 after police responded to complaints that a car was blocking an intersection in North London. Police said Michael was found slumped over the wheel of the car.
His lawyer, Michael Grieve, told the court a prescription sleeping drug was the most likely explanation for Michael's condition.
Michael said in a TV interview earlier this month that he is addicted to prescription drugs and believes the world would be a better place if more people smoked marijuana.
He blamed his erratic behavior to an attention-seeking and "self-destructive" impulse brought on by the death of his mother a decade ago.
The case was adjourned until June 8 for sentencing, the day before Michael performs at Wembley Stadium as part of his European tour.

May 30, 2007 | 7:32 PM Comments  1 comments

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King warns against Israel's transfer of governmental offices to east Jerusalem
Related to country: Israel



Rabat, (UFJ) - King Mohammed VI, chairman of the Al Quds Committee on Tuesday warned against the intention of Israel to transfer its governmental and administrative offices to the holy city of Al Quds (Jerusalem), and to build thousands of houses there, insisting that such a move would only "harm" efforts to re-launch the peace process.

Israel is said to be planning to move most of the governmental departments to the holy city as part of preparations for celebrating the 40th anniversary for unifying the two parts of Al Quds.

In separate messages to the heads of State of the UN Security Council member countries, to Pope Benedict XVI, to the president of the European Union Council and to the president of the European Commission, the monarch stressed that any such Israeli measure would only "harm" the efforts made by the international community to re-launch the peace process, and put and end to this old conflict in the region.
Any action of this kind undertaken par Israel in the present juncture would undoubtedly worsen the situation in the Palestinian territories, said the monarch who chairs the Al Quds Committee, an offshoot of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) representing over 1.2 billion Muslims around the world.

Such an action would also have detrimental consequences on the whole situation, he asserted.
The monarch called on his addressees to undertake their “good offices” to persuade Israeli authorities “to renounce to any measure that would in no way serve the cause of peace in the region and in the world.”

He underlined that “the Kingdom of Morocco is strongly concerned with the situation in the region,” recalling that the North African country will “continue its endeavors to re-launch the peace process, and to provide its contribution to the efforts of the international community to establish peace in the Middle East.”




May 29, 2007 | 11:58 PM Comments  0 comments

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Ousted judge 'was illegally held'
Related to country: Pakistan


Mr Chaudhry is now seen as a lightning rod for dissent

Pakistan's suspended chief justice has said he was "illegally detained" by the country's secret service heads when he was removed from office in March.

Iftikhar Chaudhry made his allegations in an affidavit to the Supreme Court. It is the first time the judge has given his version of what happened.

Mr Chaudhry's lawyer also told the court that Gen Musharraf had "personal malice" against the ousted judge.

Protests over the suspension have grown into a campaign against the government.

The president, who is also army chief, is accused of trying to stifle the independence of the judiciary in an election year.

He accuses Mr Chaudhry of abuse of office, a charge the judge denies.

Observers say the anti-government protests are the most serious challenge to the president's authority since he seized power in 1999.

'Innocent'

Mr Chaudhry won the right to have his case heard by the Supreme Court at the start of May.

On Tuesday, his lawyers summed up their arguments, and for the first time released details of what happened when the president tried to persuade their client to resign.

According to the court affadavit, a copy of which the BBC has seen, the heads of three Pakistani intelligence services spent five hours putting pressure on Mr Chaudhry to resign.

The chief justice says he was called to a meeting at Army House in Rawalpindi to be confronted by the president and senior government figures, as well as the director-generals of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

Mr Chaudhry says he was then accused of abusing his powers as a judge and acquiring assets far beyond his income, as well as using his position to acquire a government job for his son.

The chief justice says "he denied the veracity and credibility of these allegations".

When he pointed out that his Mercedes had been sent by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz himself, the latter chose to remain silent, the affadavit says.

Subsequently, according to the chief justice, the president asked him to resign and if he did so willingly, he would "be accommodated".

If not, then he would face "a bigger embarrassment".

Mr Chaudhry says he refused and said that he would fight all charges against his person.

"I wouldn't resign... since I am innocent," he told the president, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit says President Musharraf stood up angrily at this reply and left the room, followed by the prime minister and other staff.

'Phone lines cut'

Mr Chaudhry says that he was then made to stay in the room for the next five hours while the intelligence heads insisted he resign.

The affadavit says the judge tried to leave several times but was "confronted by an officer who prevented his exit".

When he was finally allowed to leave he was prevented from going to the Supreme Court and found his residence surrounded by security personnel, the affadavit says.

All phone lines were blocked, it says.

The chief justice alleges that his entire family was held under virtual house arrest for the next four days, with no visitors allowed and access denied to medical facilities and doctors.

The government has at various times denied charges were brought against the chief justice without his prior knowledge.

It has also denied detaining him against his will.

President Musharraf denies any personal animosity towards the judge and says he was acting out of constitutional duty.

The government's lawyers are expected to submit their replies to the affidavit on Wednesday.







May 29, 2007 | 3:52 PM Comments  1 comments

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Japanese Minister Faced Questions in Bookkeeping Scandal Hangs Himself
Related to country: Japan





TOKYO (UFJ) -- Japan's agriculture minister died Monday after hanging himself just hours before he was to face questioning in a political scandal, officials said, dealing a powerful blow to the increasingly beleaguered government ahead of July elections.

Toshikatsu Matsuoka, 62, was found in his apartment Monday unconscious and declared dead hours later.

An autopsy showed that he died after hanging himself, according to a Tokyo Metropolitan Police official who spoke on customary condition of anonymity. The minister was found hanging from a door in his apartment earlier Monday, and he left a suicide note, according to local media reports.

Matsuoka's death comes just ahead of upper house elections, and as support for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet is plunging.

Abe, looking shaken after visiting the hospital where Matsuoka died, said although the minister had been "under intense questioning" in parliament, he had continued to be a useful member of the Cabinet.

"I am very disappointed," he said. "When I saw his face, he seemed to be at peace."

Matsuoka had faced heavy criticism over a scandal involving suspicious bookkeeping practices in his offices, and was scheduled to appear before a parliamentary committee Monday afternoon for further questioning.

He was under fire for allegedly claiming more than $236,600 in utility fees even though he rented a parliamentary office where utility costs are free. Opposition lawmakers had demanded his resignation, but Matsuoka denied any wrongdoing.

Abe had defended Matsuoka, saying that the agriculture minister reported to him all the alleged issues were properly handled and that his dismissal was not needed.

Matsuoka had been dogged by scandal. Along with the utilities questions, he apologized publicly just three days after taking office for not declaring $8,500 in political donations.

He acknowledged the undeclared funds, which came in the form of purchased tickets to a fundraising party, saying he was unaware that the contributions had not been reported. Matsuoka had since corrected his political funds report for 2005.

Japan's political funds law requires politicians to declare such donations when they exceed $1,700, Kyodo News said. The contributions came from the World Business Expert Forum, a group associated with scandal-hit business consultant FAC Co., which was raided by authorities in June on suspicion of illegally collecting funds from investors, Kyodo said.

Japan's suicide rate is among the highest in the industrialized world. More than 32,000 Japanese took their own lives in 2004, the bulk of them older Japanese suffering financial woes as the country struggled through a decade of economic stagnation.

May 29, 2007 | 10:43 AM Comments  0 comments

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Body of Patriots' Hill Found in Lake Pontchartrain After Jet Ski Accident
Related to country: United States


Marquise Hill, May 27: The New England Patriots defensive lineman and former star at LSU had a Jet Ski accident on Lake Pontchartrain near New Orleans he was not wearing a life jacket at the time of Sunday's accident.
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(UFJ) NEW ORLEANS, May 28 - The body of New England Patriots player Marquise Hill was found Monday, a day after he was reported missing following a jet ski accident on Lake Pontchartrain.

Hill's body was discovered by searchers about a quarter of a mile from where the 24-year-old former LSU star and a female companion were involved in the accident, Capt. Brian Clark of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Department said.

"We have suffered a stunning and tragic loss," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in a written statement Monday evening. "Marquise will be remembered as a thoughtful and caring young man who established himself as one of the year-round daily fixtures of our team. I send my deepest condolences to the Hill family."

The Coast Guard was called Sunday night, Petty Officer Tom Atkeson said. The search began immediately, using boats and helicopters.

By the time the body was found, the Coast Guard, Wildlife and Fisheries, the New Orleans Police Department and Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Department were involved, Clark said.

Loved ones including Hill's fiancee, Inell Benn, and friends, including Patriots teammate Randall Gay, waited anxiously along the shoreline as the search went on. They consoled one another when authorities told them Hill had been found dead.

"Right now's a terrible time," Benn said. "I don't know what to feel right now."

Gay, who also played with Hill at LSU, had planned to spend the holiday weekend in Baton Rouge, but drove to New Orleans on Monday to monitor the search.

"Knowing that I have to go back to work and go look at his locker this week, it's tough," Gay said.

Hill's body was taken to the Orleans Parish Coroner's office, but phone messages left there and on coroner Frank Minyard's cell phone were not immediately returned.

Hill's agent, Albert Elias, said he had been told Hill and a young woman were jet skiing Sunday in the lake when both of them went into the water, which had a strong current.

Authorities said the woman was able to make it to a pylon and hang on until she was rescued, while Hill was last seen floating away from the scene.

Hill played on LSU's national championship team and was a second-round draft pick by New England in 2004. Hill had yet to start for the Patriots, playing in 13 games in his NFL career.

"We are absolutely heartbroken," Patriots owner Robert Kraft said in a statement. "Marquise was a very respectful young man who worked hard to improve and was always eager to contribute to the team, both on the field and in the community."

The woman, whose identity was not available Monday, was rescued and sent to Tulane Medical Center where she told them Hill had tried to keep her calm as the two were drifting away from each other.

Neither Hill nor the woman wore a life preserver, Atkeson said.

"It's so important to have a life jacket and a signaling device," Atkeson said. "One keeps you afloat and the other helps us find you."

Elias said Hill, a defensive end, spent much of his time since Hurricane Katrina helping rebuild the homes of family members including his mother, Sherry, and the mother of his 2-year-old son.

"From what I hear he's done a lot to help with things after Katrina and I know he had a great passion for the city of New Orleans," said former LSU quarterback Matt Mauck, who was Hill's teammate at LSU. "Off field he was a really kind person, kind of like a gentle giant. And not only for LSU, but for New England and everyone who got chance to meet him throughout his life, everyone has to be extremely saddened and disappointed to hear the news."

After going to the NFL, Hill continued to do much of his offseason training at LSU's Baton Rouge campus, about 80 miles up the Mississippi River from New Orleans, and was known and admired by current Tigers players, university athletics spokesman Michael Bonnette said.

"His presence meant a lot for some of the younger guys. He gave them someone to look up to and he was always there for them," Bonnette said. "Here's a 6-foot-6, 300-pound guy, as intimidating as can be, and yet every time you approached him he always welcomed you with big old smile. In between the lines, he had his game-face on, but outside the lines, in the community or in the weight room, he was always smiling and having good time."

May 29, 2007 | 1:05 AM Comments  0 comments

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Is US using Iran to help President George W. Bush get out of Iraq and rewrite his troubled legacy?
Related to country: United States


President George W. Bush

May 28, 2007 | 3:43 PM Comments  1 comments

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Health Benefits
Related to country: Benin


A Digestive Aid and A Natural Anti-Inflammatory

Fresh pineapple is rich in bromelain, a group of sulfur-containing proteolytic (protein-digesting) enzymes that not only aid digestion, but can effectively reduce inflammation and swelling, and has even been used experimentally as an anti-cancer agent. A variety of inflammatory agents are inhibited by the action of bromelain. In clinical human trials, bromelain has demonstrated signifcant anti-inflammatory effects, reducing swelling in inflammatory conditions such as acute sinusitis, sore throat, arthritis and gout, and speeding recovery from injuries and surgery. To maximize bromelain's anti-inflammatory effects, pineapple should be eaten alone between meals or its enzymes will be used up digesting food. Bromelain is found in both the flesh and stem of pineapple. Since it is deactivated by heat, pineapple juice and canned pineapple are not good sources of this health-promoting enzyme. In terms of getting bromelain from pineapple, fresh is definitely the way to go.

Antioxidant Protection and Immune Support

Vitamin C is the body's primary water-soluble antioxidant, defending all aqueous areas of the body against free radicals that attack and damage normal cells. Free radicals have been shown to promote the artery plaque build-up of atherosclerosis and diabetic heart disease, cause the airway spasm that leads to asthma attacks, damage the cells of the colon so they become colon cancer cells, and contribute to the joint pain and disability seen in osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. This would explain why diets rich in vitamin C have been shown to be useful for preventing or reducing the severity of all of these conditions. In addition, vitamin C is vital for the proper function of the immune system, making it a nutrient to turn to for the prevention of recurrent ear infections, colds, and flu.

Manganese and Thiamin (Vitamin B1) for Energy Production and Antioxidant Defenses

Pineapple is an excellent source the trace mineral manganese, which is an essential cofactor in a number of enzymes important in energy production and antioxidant defenses. For example, the key oxidative enzyme superoxide dismutase, which disarms free radicals produced within the mitochondria (the energy production factories within our cells), requires manganese. Just one cup of fresh pineapple supplies 128.0% of the DV for this very important trace mineral. In addition to manganese, pineapple is a good source of thiamin, a B vitamin that acts as a cofactor in enzymatic reactions central to energy production.

Anti-Tumor Compounds Found in Pineapple Stems

Two molecules found in pineapple stems have shown anti-tumor activity in research done at Australia's Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR). One of the molecules, called CCS, blocks the Ras protein, which is defective in approximately 30% of all cancers, while the other molecule, CCZ, stimulates the immune system to target and eliminate cancer cells.

The QIMR researchers discovered these anti-cancer molecules while studying bromelain. "We suspected that different components of the crude mixture might be responsible for bromelain's biological effects. In searching for these components, we discovered the CCS and CCZ proteins and found that they could block growth of a broad range of tumour cells, including breast, lung, colon, ovarian and melanoma," said lead researcher, Dr. Tracey Mynott.

According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer has now overtaken cardiac disease as the largest killer in the U.S. Cancer incidence increases with age, with approximately 80% of cancers occurring in people over the age of 55. The major limitation of current cancer therapies is they are non-specific and affect both normal and tumor cells. Future cancer treatments will be highly specific to selectively destroy the cancer cells, counteracting the mechanisms by which cancers grow. Data already generated show that CCS and CCZ have the desired specificity and selectivity.

"An interesting characteristic of CCS and CCZ is that they are proteases. Proteases are traditionally thought of as degradative enzymes which breakdown proteins, such as in the process of digestion. Other reports on the role of proteases in disease have centered on their potential to cause damage. CCS and CCZ are the first examples of proteases that have been shown to modulate cell signal transduction pathways and have specific immunomodulatory activities," said Dr Mynott.

"The way CCS and CCZ work is different to any other drug in clinical use today. Therefore, CCS and CCZ will represent a totally new way of treating disease and potentially a whole new class of anti-cancer agent. In general, products with novel mechanisms of action are more likely to represent real breakthroughs in the treatment or prevention of disease." QIMR is continuing to investigate CCS and CCZ to demonstrate i) additional in vivo proof of principle, ii) reliable supply of the material and iii) safety. All these factors will be addressed in a two year research program. If all the objectives of the research are achieved, CCS or CCZ will rapidly progress to human clinical trials.

Protection against Macular Degeneration

Your mother may have told you carrots would keep your eyes bright as a child, but as an adult, it looks like fruit is even more important for keeping your sight. Data reported in a study published in the Archives of Ophthalmology indicates that eating 3 or more servings of fruit per day may lower your risk of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD), the primary cause of vision loss in older adults, by 36%, compared to persons who consume less than 1.5 servings of fruit daily.

In this study, which involved over 110,000 women and men, researchers evaluated the effect of study participants' consumption of fruits; vegetables; the antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E; and carotenoids on the development of early ARMD or neovascular ARMD, a more severe form of the illness associated with vision loss. While, surprisingly, intakes of vegetables, antioxidant vitamins and carotenoids were not strongly related to incidence of either form of ARMD, fruit intake was definitely protective against the severe form of this vision-destroying disease. Three servings of fruit may sound like a lot to eat each day, but pineapple can help you reach this goal. Add fresh pineapple to your morning smoothie, lunch time yogurt, any fruit and most vegetable salads. For example, try adding chunks of pineapple to your next coleslaw or carrot salad.

Description

Pineapple, Ananas comosus, belongs to the Bromeliaceae family, from which one of its most important health-promoting compounds, the enzyme bromelain, was named. The Spanish name for pineapple, pina, and the root of its English name, reflects the fruit's visual similarity to the pinecone.

Pineapples are actually not just one fruit but a composite of many flowers whose individual fruitlets fuse together around a central core. Each fruitlet can be identified by an "eye," the rough spiny marking on the pineapple's surface.

Pineapples have a wide cylindrical shape, a scaly green, brown or yellow skin and a regal crown of spiny, blue-green leaves. The fibrous flesh of pineapple is yellow in color and has a vibrant tropical flavor that balances the tastes of sweet and tart. The area closer to the base of the fruit has more sugar content and therefore a sweeter taste and more tender texture.

History

While pineapples are thought to have originated in South America, they were first discovered on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe by Christopher Columbus in 1493. When Columbus and other discovers brought pineapples back to Europe, attempts were made to cultivate the sweet, prized fruit until it was realized that the fruit's need for a tropical climate inhibited its ability to flourish in this region. By the end of the 16th century, Portuguese and Spanish explorers introduced pineapples into many of their Asian, African and South Pacific colonies, countries in which the pineapple is still being grown today.

Since pineapples are very perishable, and modes of transportation to bring them stateside from the Caribbean Islands were relatively slow centuries ago, fresh pineapples were a rarity that became coveted by the early American colonists. While glazed, sugar-coated pineapples were a luxurious treat, it was the fresh pineapple itself that became the sought after true symbol of prestige and social class. In fact, the pineapple, because of its rarity and expense, was such a status item in those times that all a party hostess had to do was to display the fruit as part of a decorative centerpiece, and she would be awarded more than just a modicum of social awe and recognition.

In the 18th century, pineapples began to be cultivated in Hawaii, the only state in the U.S. in which they are still grown. In addition to Hawaii, other countries that commercially grow pineapples include Thailand, the Philippines, China, Brazil and Mexico.

How to Select and Store

Look for pineapples that are heavy for their size. While larger pineapples will have a greater proportion of edible flesh, there is usually no difference in quality between a small and large size pineapple. Pineapples should be free of soft spots, bruises and darkened "eyes," all of which may indicate that the pineapple is past its prime. Pineapple stops ripening as soon as it is picked, so choose fruit with a fragrant sweet smell at the stem end. Avoid pineapple that smells musty, sour or fermented.

Pineapple can be left at room temperature for one or two days before serving. While this process will not make the fruit any sweeter, it will help it to become softer and more juicy. Yet, as they are very perishable, you should still watch them closely during this period to ensure that they do not spoil. After two days, if you are still not ready to consume the pineapple, you should wrap it in a plastic bag and store it in the refrigerator where it will keep for a maximum of three to five days.

Pineapple that has been cut up should be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container. It will stay fresher and retain more taste and juiciness if you also place some liquid, preferably some juice from the pineapple, in the container. Although pineapple can be frozen, this process greatly affects its flavor.


May 27, 2007 | 3:01 PM Comments  0 comments

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Chris Brown Not Blackballed!
Related to country: Bahamas


There has been no black-balling of Bahamian elite quarter miler Chris Brown. Contrary to the general belief that meet directors across Europe boycotted Brown, his mentor Coach Steve Riddick on Wednesday in an exclusive interview with The Bahama Journal brought clarity to the situation.

Brown was ranked as high as No. 2 in the world following American Jeremy Wariner early in the 2006 season after a breakthrough 2005. Then, because of inactivity, he gradually dropped out of the top listing. His exclusion from meets was questioned and the impression was given that directors simply opted not to invite him. Brown also fueled the view because when contacted he gave no explanation and seemed perplexed and dismayed.

But when speaking with The Journal on Wednesday, Coach Riddick painted an entirely different picture.

“Chris was not black-balled,” he emphasized.

“That never happened. Let me tell you what went on. At the Bahamas Nationals last year, he ran the 200 metres and won it. We spoke a while later and I asked him how did he feel. He said to me that he was OK except for a burning in his hamstring. I then told him that a burning meant that the hamstring was tweaked.

“The next morning when we spoke I asked him about his condition again and he told me that he was unable to touch his toes. I then advised him to get right on a plane and come home (Virginia where Brown is based). What some people don’t understand, a tweak hamstring is just like a pull,” informed the coach.

Thereafter came the appearance that Brown was being ignored around the world when his name did not show up on entry lists in meets that the No. 2 runner in the world ought to have been invited to.

“Look this was a question of his future. He didn’t run in Paris and he didn’t run in Germany. The situation was whether he should push it and run with an injury, whether it was that important. My view was that he would rest and let the injury heal.

“Sure there was the financial situation. That did hurt but what would you prefer…to run and sustain a long-term injury and not be able to reap the financial rewards anyway or to let the body heal properly and be able to resume the career in great shape and safely? I think the latter and that was what happened,” said Riddick.

But, he claimed his star 400 metres runner is in super shape now.

Riddick who also coaches Tonique Williams-Darling and her husband Dennis has high hopes for Chris this season.

“He’s going to be just OK. I had he and Tonique run the 800 metres indoors and both of them will be alright. He might go out the first time this season later this month but he is strong and looking great,” said Riddick.

Brown heads the list of Bahamian quarter mile options for the national 1600 metres squad. He earned respect around the world, when he ran so superbly while anchoring The Bahamas to a silver medal at the 2005 Helsinki IAAF World Championships against Wariner and the Americans. Brown matched the world’s leading 400 metres runner step for step, losing little or no ground from the time he received the baton.

That race stamped him before the world as an authentic elite at the distance. Two weeks earlier at the World Indoors in Moscow, he gained his first international medal with a bronze.

This year, he will have two major platforms from which to again show the world what he is all about. The Pan American Games are scheduled in Rio de Janeiro in July and the 2007 version of the World Championships in Osaka, Japan this coming August.


May 27, 2007 | 11:08 AM Comments  0 comments

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The Benefits of Meditation
Related to country: Tibet


Christina


(UFJ) Maybe meditation isn't so mysterious after all. Neuroscientists have found that meditators shift their brain activity to different areas of the cortex - brain waves in the stress-prone right frontal cortex move to the calmer left frontal cortex. This mental shift decreases the negative effects of stress, mild depression and anxiety. There is also less activity in the amygdala, where the brain processes fear.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, recorded the brain waves of stressed-out employees of a high-tech firm in Madison, Wisconsin. The subjects were split randomly into two groups, 25 people were asked to learn meditation over eight weeks, and the remaining 16 were left alone as a control group.

All participants had their brain waves scanned three times during the study: at the beginning of the experiment, when meditation lessons were completed eight weeks later and four months after that. The researchers found that the meditators showed a pronounced shift in activity to the left frontal lobe. In other words, they were calmer and happier than before. The study will be published in the next issue of Psychosomatic Medicine.


May 26, 2007 | 4:50 PM Comments  1 comments

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Did Man Take Break During Botched Execution?
Related to country: United States


LUCASVILLE, Ohio (UFJ) - An execution was delayed more than an hour Thursday while prison medical staff struggled to find suitable veins in the condemned man's arms - the second time that has happened in Ohio in little more than a year.

The execution team stuck Christopher Newton at least 10 times with needles to get in place the shunts used to administer the lethal chemicals. Newton, who had insisted on the death penalty as punishment for killing a cellmate, continued to talk, smile and laugh with the prison staff, and at one point was even given a bathroom break.

When he eventually was moved from his holding cell and strapped to a table in the death chamber, he made this short statement: "Yes, boy, I could sure go for some beef stew and a chicken bone. That's it."

Newton, 37, was pronounced dead at 11:53 a.m. at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility; his execution had been set to begin at 10.

He weighed 265 at his physical on Wednesday. The head of the Public Defender's death penalty division, Joe Wilhelm, said Newton told him it was hard for blood to be taken from his veins because of his weight.

The public defender's office said the decision was made not to intervene when the execution was delayed.

"You have to remember that Newton wanted to die. Our job isn't to oppose the death penalty, it's to represent our clients," said Greg Meyer, chief counsel for the Ohio Public Defender's Office.

In May 2006, the execution of another Ohio inmate, Joseph Lewis Clark, also was delayed more than an hour because the team could not find a suitable vein; a prison official said at the time that Clark's history of drug use may have been a factor. That case has been cited by death penalty opponents as an example of problems with lethal injection.

Executions typically last about 20 minutes. A group of Ohio inmates is suing over the state's injection method, saying it is unconstitutionally cruel, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio called on the state to stop executions because of Thursday's problems.
The delay will be discussed as part of that suit and helps show the state is unable to complete executions smoothly, Meyer said.

"There will be a day in trial that they will have to answer up as to what caused this two-hour delay," Meyer said. "That's a lot of time messing around trying to get a needle in a vein."

Gov. Ted Strickland closely monitored Newton's execution, his office said. The governor had delayed Newton's execution for a few months to research the case just after he took office in January.

"There was not a cause to intervene," Strickland spokesman Keith Dailey said. "Out of an abundance of caution, every precaution was taken before the procedure began to ensure that there would be no problems when the procedure began."

Newton beat and choked cellmate Jason Brewer, 27, to death in 2001 after they argued over a chess game.

In a statement read by public defender Robert Lowe after the execution, Newton apologized to his victim's family. "If I could take it back, I would," the statement said. "To my family, I love you and I'm sorry."

Although his attorneys argued Newton should be spared the death penalty because of mental disorders, a court last fall found him competent to forgo his appeals. The prosecution had argued that he had feigned mental illness.

Court documents say Newton, who spent much of his adult life in prison, knew Brewer's killing was a capital crime, and refused to cooperate with investigators unless they sought the death penalty.

In an interview with reporters last month, Newton said he killed Brewer because he repeatedly gave up while they were playing chess.

"Every time I put him in check, he'd give up and want to start a new game," Newton said. "And I tried to tell him you never give up ... I just got tired of it."

Newton also claimed that he had intentionally gotten himself put back in prison by leaving behind a handprint during a 1999 break-in at his father's house.

May 25, 2007 | 7:32 PM Comments  0 comments

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Organic foods: Are they safer? More nutritious?
Related to country: United States



You're in a bit of a dilemma standing in front of the produce section of your local supermarket. In one hand, you're holding a conventionally grown Granny Smith apple. In your other hand, you have one that's been organically grown. Both apples are firm, shiny and green. Both provide vitamins and fiber, and both are free of fat, sodium and cholesterol.

The conventionally grown apple costs less and is a proven family favorite. But the organic apple has a label that says "USDA Organic." Does that mean it's better? Safer? More nutritious? Several differences between organic and nonorganic foods exist. Become a better informed consumer for your next trip to the supermarket.

Conventional vs. organic farming
The word "organic" refers to the way farmers grow and process agricultural products, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and meat. Organic farming practices are designed to encourage soil and water conservation and reduce pollution. Farmers who grow organic produce and meat don't use conventional methods to fertilize, control weeds or prevent livestock disease. For example, rather than using chemical weed killers, organic farmers conduct sophisticated crop rotations and spread mulch or manure to keep weeds at bay.


May 24, 2007 | 3:05 PM Comments  1 comments

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Climate Change Means Death For Millions
Related to country: South Africa


By Desmond Tutu the former archbishop of Cape Town and a Nobel peace laureate.

South African former Anglican Archbishop Tutu wonders how “cushioned and cosseted” residents of the rich countries would regard the prospect of global climatic change “if they depended on the cycle of mother nature to feed their families. How much greater would their concerns be if they lived in slums and townships, in mud houses, or shelters made of plastic bags?” he asks. Climatic events threaten to “undo the developmental gains put in place over decades” in poor countries, especially in Africa.


May 24, 2007 | 12:53 AM Comments  0 comments

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Grassroots efforts help reduce child deaths
Related to country: Nepal



DADELDHURA, 20 May 2007 (UFJ) - Carefully holding her two-month-old daughter, Nanda Devi Bohara cries with joy as she sees her breathing normally again after a doctor held a nebuliser (medicinal inhalation device) over her mouth and nose in the government hospital of the remote Dadeldhura district, nearly 700 km northwest of the capital, Kathmandu.

"She's breathing again. She's alive now," Bohara, recounting how a local female health care volunteer (FCHV) had helped her with some available medicine before accompanying her to the nearby hospital for more treatment.

Bohara said that her daughter would not have survived if there was no FCHV in her village, where local people mostly use traditional healers to cure their sick children as they have no other choice.

Her daughter was suffering from pneumonia, a disease that contributes significantly to the high rate of child mortality in Nepal. Pneumonia, diarrhoea, under-nutrition, measles and acute respiratory infections kill nearly 65,000 children under five every year, according to UNICEF.

However, community-based efforts such as the use of FCHVs are reducing child mortality rates, say public health experts.

A recent report published by Save the Children (US) said that innovative community-based approaches to health care in Nepal are giving health workers the knowledge and tools they need to take action.

"More than half of Nepal's children under-five can now be treated for diarrhoea and pneumonia close to home - often by a carefully selected and trained female health worker in their own community," said the report, entitled State of the World's Mothers 2007. It added that parents do not have to make long, costly and often dangerous journeys to medical facilities when their children are sick.

Under-five mortality rate halved

According to the report, despite the decade-long armed conflict between 1996 and 2006, Nepal has cut its under-five mortality rate by almost half in the past 15 years.

One of the key measures in doing this has been extensive anti-measles immunisation and vitamin A national campaigns in the country - with immunisation rates increasing from 43 to 83 percent. Over 95 percent of five-month-old to five-year-old children receive at least one annual vitamin A supplement, an essential human nutrient, according to UNICEF.

"Despite all the odds against saving lives, there has been progress and there is optimism to save more if such community-based efforts are sustained," said Abhinesh Dhital, medical officer at the government-run Dadeldhura District Hospital. He said that there is such a huge shortage of staff, hospitals and clinics that it is the community workers who treat the rural populace.

"Death among children under five years old is a common occurrence and it's a tragedy that we can't still control the mortality even today," said Kalpana Swar, a community health worker in Dadeldhura.

She added that child mortality rates could soon increase during the approaching monsoon season when many children typically die of diarrhoea and pneumonia.

"We are trying our best to save children’s lives and hopefully with more government and mass support, we could do more," said Saraswati Shah, who has been a health care volunteer for the past 10 years and says she has saved the lives of hundreds of children in her village.

There has been strong political will in Nepal to cut child mortality rate. According to UNICEF, the country could be successful in reaching its millennium development goal (MDG) of cutting the current 65,000 annual child deaths by two thirds.

"Although there was political disruption due to the armed conflict, health among children has improved and there was not much disruption to health services [especially relating to children]," said Robin Houston, an independent international public health expert who has been working in the country since the early 1980s.





May 23, 2007 | 5:42 PM Comments  1 comments

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The meltdown of Greenland's ice sheet is speeding up
Related to country: Greenland


This Greenland glacier is now one of the fastest moving in the world


(UFJ)-Data from a US space agency (Nasa) satellite show that the melting rate has accelerated since 2004.

If the ice cap were to completely disappear, global sea levels would rise by 6.5m (21 feet).

Most of the ice is being lost from eastern Greenland, a US team writes in Science journal.

Jianli Chen of the University of Texas at Austin and colleagues studied monthly changes in the Earth's gravity between April 2002 and November 2005.

These measurements came from the US space agency's Grace (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) satellite, launched in 2002.

From these data, they were able to estimate changes in the mass of Greenland's ice sheet.

A number of factors contribute to fluctuations in the Earth's gravity field.

But once the influence of the atmosphere and the oceans is removed, the variations mostly reflect changes in the mass of ice sheets and of water stored in the ground.

Estimated monthly changes in the mass of Greenland's ice sheet suggest it is melting at a rate of about 239 cubic kilometres (57.3 cubic miles) per year.

This figure is about three times higher than an earlier estimate of the mass loss from Greenland made using the first two years of Grace measurements.

Satellite data

Dr Chen and colleagues partly attribute this to increased melting in the past one-and-a-half years and partly to better processing of the data.

"Acceleration of mass loss over Greenland, if confirmed, would be consistent with proposed increased global warming in recent years," the authors wrote in Science.

This would amount to a contribution to global sea level rise from Greenland of about half a millimetre (0.02 inches) each year.

The group's findings agree remarkably well with a study released earlier this year that used data from other satellites to estimate mass changes in the Greenland ice.

Grace also appears to have detected a loss of ice from Arctic glaciers that were omitted from this study and are separate from the main Greenland ice sheet.



May 23, 2007 | 12:07 AM Comments  3 comments

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Web Sites Listing Informants
Related to country: United States



(UFJ) - There are three "rats of the week" on the home page of whosarat.com, a Web site devoted to exposing the identities of witnesses cooperating with the government. The site posts their names and mug shots, along with court documents detailing what they have agreed to do in exchange for lenient sentences.

Last week, for instance, the site featured a Florida man who agreed in September to plead guilty to cocaine possession but not gun charges in exchange for his commitment to work "in an undercover role to contact and negotiate with sources of controlled substances." The site says it has identified 4,300 informers and 400 undercover agents, many of them from documents obtained from court files available on the Internet.

"The reality is this," said a spokesman for the site, who identified himself as Anthony Capone. "Everybody has a choice in life about what they want to do for a living. Nobody likes a tattletale."

Federal prosecutors are furious, and the Justice Department has begun urging the federal courts to make fundamental changes in public access to electronic court files by removing all plea agreements from them — whether involving cooperating witnesses or not.

"We are witnessing the rise of a new cottage industry engaged in republishing court filings about cooperators on Web sites such as www.whosarat.com for the clear purpose of witness intimidation, retaliation and harassment," a Justice Department official wrote in a December letter to the Judicial Conference of the United States, the administrative and policy-making body of the federal court system.

"The posting of sensitive witness information," the letter continued, " poses a grave risk of harm to cooperating witnesses and defendants."

In one case described in the letter, a witness in Philadelphia was moved and the F.B.I. was asked to investigate after material from whosarat.com was mailed to his neighbors and posted on utility poles and cars in the area.

The federal court in Miami has provisionally adopted the department’s recommendation to remove plea agreements from electronic files, and other courts are considering it and experimenting with alternative approaches.

Judge John R. Tunheim, a federal judge in Minneapolis and the chairman of a Judicial Conference committee studying the issue, acknowledged the gravity of the safety threat posed by the Web sites but said it would be better addressed through case-by-case actions.

"We are getting a pretty significant push from the Justice Department to take plea agreements off the electronic file entirely," Judge Tunheim said. " But it is important to have our files accessible. I really do not want to see a situation in which plea agreements are routinely sealed or kept out of the electronic record."

Judge Tunheim said his committee was working on recommendations for a nationwide approach to the issue. He said he favored putting the details of a witness’s cooperation into a separate document and sealing only that document, or withholding it from the court file entirely.

For those who want to read the details on cooperating witnesses, whosarat.com charges between $7.99 for a week and $89.99 for life. The latter option comes with a free "Stop Snitching" T-shirt.

The site was started by Sean Bucci in 2004, after he was indicted in federal court in Boston on marijuana charges based on information from an informant. The site was initially modest and free, the seeming product of a drug defendant’s fit of pique.

Over time, it attracted thousands of postings, many backed by court documents.

Mr. Bucci was convicted in February and will be sentenced next month. Stylianus Sinnis, a lawyer for Mr. Bucci, who is incarcerated, would not say whether Mr. Bucci was still affiliated with the site.

Contacted by e-mail, Mr. Capone called a reporter at an arranged time. He would not provide his phone number but insisted that his name was authentic. He said Mr. Bucci was no longer associated with the site.

The site itself says it is "designed to assist attorneys and criminal defendants with few resources."

Defense lawyers are, in fact, hungry for any information about the nature of the case against their clients. "The more information out there, the easier it is for the truth to come out at trial," said David O. Markus, a criminal defense lawyer in Miami.

Lawyers and their investigators can, of course, check court files and gather other material featured on the site themselves. But the site makes it easier, cheaper and quicker to find information about informants who may be involved in several cases in several jurisdictions, the site’s spokesman said.

Eliminating electronic access to plea agreements and related documents would represent a real hardship, Mr. Markus said.

"It doesn’t advance any of the stated safety goals, and it just serves as a roadblock to the public’s constitutional right to access to their court," Mr. Markus said. "If there is an issue in a particular case, then let’s address it, but to sweep everything under the rug isn’t right."

The site says that it "does not promote or condone violence or illegal activity against informants or law enforcement officers."

Frank O. Bowman, a former federal prosecutor who teaches law at the University of Missouri, disputed that. "It’s reprehensible and very dangerous," Professor Bowman said of the site. "People are going to die as a result of this."

Defendants who choose to go to trial will, of course, eventually learn the identities of the witnesses who testify against them. But the site also discloses the identities of people engaged in undercover operations and those whose information is merely used to build a case. The widespread dissemination of informants’ identities, moreover, may subject them to retribution from friends and associates of the defendant.

Still, Professor Bowman, an authority on federal sentencing law, said he would hate to see the routine sealing of plea agreements. "It certainly is terribly important for the public ultimately to know who’s flipped," he said.

Professor Bowman added that he was studying the deals prosecutors made in the aftermath of the collapse of Enron, the energy company. "To do that effectively," he said, "I really need to know who flipped and the nature of their plea agreements."

Judge William J. Zloch, the chief judge of the Federal District Court in Miami, said the move to bar electronic access to plea agreements there was supported by prosecutors and some defense lawyers. "It’s available to the public," he said of the documents. "It’s just that you have to go the courthouse."

Judge Zloch added that his court would discuss whether to make the change permanent in the coming months.

The existence of the site raises a First Amendment issue for its founder, Mr. Bucci. After his conviction, he filed a motion last month seeking a new trial, saying the government’s true purpose in prosecuting him was to shut down the site because "he dared to assert his First Amendment right" to post the information.

In a response filed Thursday, prosecutors conceded that "various levels of government have long expressed concern that the Web site endangers the lives of informants and undercover agents, and compromises investigations." But they denied that the government’s dismay about the site influenced their decision to prosecute Mr. Bucci.

Most legal experts agreed that whosarat.com is protected by the First Amendment. In 2004, a federal judge in Alabama refused to block a similar site created by a criminal defendant, Leon Carmichael Sr., who has since been convicted of drug trafficking and money laundering.

"While the Web site certainly imposes discomfort on some individuals," Judge Myron H. Thompson wrote, "it is not a serious threat sufficient to warrant a prior restraint on Carmichael’s speech or an imposition on his constitutional right to investigate his case."

But Judge Thompson’s ruling was not categorical. "A few differences in Carmichael’s site could have changed the court’s calculus," he wrote. And some law professors said that sites like whosarat.com might be subject to prosecution for obstruction of justice or aiding and abetting crimes.

In its December letter, from Michael A. Battle, then the director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, the Justice Department urged courts to put a statement on their Internet sites "warning against the republishing or the other use of official court records for illicit purposes such as witness intimidation." Judge Tunheim said his Judicial Conference committee was awaiting legal advice on that possibility.

For now at least, the Justice Department and the federal judiciary appear to be focused on keeping information from the sites rather than trying to stop the sites from publishing what they learn.

Government secrecy, said Eugene Volokh, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, "ends up being part of the price you pay for having broad speech protection."

May 22, 2007 | 7:39 PM Comments  0 comments

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Chinese experts say it’s holding back most sediment, causing erosion hurting river
Related to country: China


Three Gorges Dam

HONG KONG (UFJ)- China's Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower project, is retaining huge amounts of sediment and nutrients and causing significant erosion in the downstream reaches of the Yangtze River, researchers have found.

In a paper published in the latest volume of the Geophysical Research Letters, Chinese scientists said the dam had retained 151 million tons of sediment each year since 2003.

The researchers from the East China Normal University in Shanghai calculated supplies of water and sediment at places along the river which had previously not been monitored and combined them with the regular gauging stations.

"The Three Gorges Dam, which has regulated the waters of the Yangtze River since 2003, retains two-thirds of the upstream sediment each year," they wrote.

"In response to this retention, significant erosion occurs in the riverbed downstream of the dam.... Sediment flux to the Yangtze River mouth has decreased by 31 percent per year. The Yangtze delta is shrinking.

"Continued sediment retention at these rates, combined with more dams planned for the watershed, will severely affect people and the ecosystems on the Yangtze delta," they added.

The paper gave no details nor estimates of how many people would suffer.

Official Chinese press reports say the build-up of silt in the Three Gorges Reservoir is under control.

Huge sluice gates at the bottom of the 185-yard-high dam wall are opened between June and September to lower water levels and flush away sediment collected in the reservoir during floods.

In the past, large damming projects elsewhere have resulted in silt and nutrients being trapped behind the dams, damaging fish stocks and the fertility of downstream farmland.

Many environmentalists say creation of the Three Gorges Dam will have unforeseen ecological effects apart from becoming a cesspool of sewage and industrial pollutants.

The reservoir created by the dam has inundated two cities, 11 counties and 116 towns in Hubei province and neighboring Chongqing municipality. More than 1 million people have been relocated and 1,600 factories submerged.



May 22, 2007 | 4:24 PM Comments  0 comments

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The Signs of War
Related to country: Lebanon




"And ye shall hear of wars & rumors of wars...For nation shall rise against nation, & kingdom against kingdom:" (Matthew 24:7)


May 21, 2007 | 12:15 PM Comments  0 comments

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"A Super Five Planet Parade For Memorial Day Weekend"
Related to country: United States



Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings fellow star gazers. You know every time we celebrate a long holiday weekend I always try to find things of interest in the night sky that will make your weekend more enjoyable especially if you want to spend some time outside in early evening after sunset or early morning just before sunrise. And this Memorial Day weekend the cosmos is being very good to us because not one, not two, not three, not four but five naked eye planets are placed just right for your viewing pleasure. Let me show you.

O.K., we've got our skies set up for this weekend Saturday the 26th, Sunday the 27th and Memorial Day Monday the 28th, one hour after sunset facing west where you'll see three bright lights which appear to lie along a straight line which astronomers call the ecliptic, which is the invisible path in the sky along which all the planets travel. The brightest light in the middle is super dazzling planet #2, 8,000 mile wide, Earth-sized Venus. And just below it close to the horizon is the pink iron planet, planet #1, 3,000 mile wide Mercury which looks pink because it never gets very high above the horizon so we always see it through the dusty layers of our Earth's atmosphere which give it this false coloration. It's called the iron planet because it has more iron in its core than our Earth has.

Now just above Venus on the ecliptic you'll see planet #6, 75,000 mile wide ringed Saturn, which is just begging you to take a look at it through a small telescope before it disappears from evening skies in mid July. So once again, close to the horizon we have planet #1, Mercury, above it planet #2, dazzling Venus and above it not quite so bright planet #6, super Saturn. Now if you extend our imaginary line, the ecliptic, you will find yet two more naked eye planets along it. But you'll have to wait until about 11 o'clock until the next planet has risen and you'll have to look southeast. So all this weekend if you go out around 11 p.m. and look southeast you'll see the second brightest planet, planet #5, the king of them all, 88,000 mile wide Jupiter which is also fabulous for viewing through a small telescope.

Now if you extend our line even further and wait until about one hour before sunrise still looking south east the brightest object you'll see will be planet #4, rouge-gold 4,000 mile wide Mars which is getting steadily brighter every month as it races towards us for a close encounter this December. So to repeat, in reverse order, if you go out any morning this Memorial Day weekend about one hour before sunrise and look southeast you'll see Mars. If you go out around 11 p.m. you'll see giant Jupiter and if you look west about one hour after sunset; Saturn, Venus and Mercury. Is this going to be a fabulous Memorial Day weekend or what? Keep looking up!


May 20, 2007 | 9:29 PM Comments  0 comments

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"A Venus Moon Spectacular This Saturday And The Moon Visits Saturn And Regulus On Tuesday"
Related to country: United States


Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings fellow star gazers. Mark two dates on your calendar, this Saturday May 19th just after sunset as the night when the Moon and the most brilliant planet of all will make one of the most exquisite sky pictures you'll ever see. And also mark Tuesday night, May 22nd as the night you'll be able to use the Moon to find both the ringed planet Saturn and the brightest star of Leo the Lion. Let me show you.

O.K., we've got our skies set up for this Saturday night May 19th just after it gets dark out facing west where if its not cloudy you will see an absolutely exquisite pairing of our 2,000 mile wide Moon in exquisite crescent form with 8,000 mile wide Venus which is right now shining extremely bright. And you'll notice immediately without any prompting that this is the kind of sky pairing that is so dramatic that it takes most people's breath away and has done so for thousands of years for as long as men, women and children have looked up at the heavens. So don't miss this please. And look also for what appears to be a dark full Moon nestled within the bright crescent. This is called earthshine because unlike the bright crescent which is lit by direct sunlight from the sun the greyish black, dim, almost full Moon is sunlight bouncing off our Earth onto the unlighted portion of the Moon and back to Earth again, thus the name earthshine, which is also poetically called "the Old Moon in the New Moon's arms."

Now while this is an absolute knockout to the naked eye, if you have a pair of binoculars you'll be totally blown away. And if you have a small telescope you'll notice that Venus looks like a tiny last quarter Moon, wow! 24 hours later on Sunday the 20th it will be much higher and on a straight line with the two brightest stars of Gemini, Pollux and Castor. And on Monday the 21st it's heading for its next stop and is getting ready to close in on the ringed planet. Indeed, on Tuesday the 22nd an absolutely exquisite Moon will be parked just to the left of and so close to Saturn you'll be able to use it as a Saturn finder. And once again, if you have a telescope, take a look at Saturn now because it's truly wonderful.

Plus if you look just to the left of the Moon you'll see one of springtime's brightest stars the hot blue white star Regulus which marks the heart of Leo the Lion. Once again this Saturday an exquisite Moon complete with earthshine is parked right next to Venus, and on Sunday is parked on a straight line with Gemini's Pollux and Castor. On Monday it's zeroing in on Saturn and on Tuesday you can use the Moon to find both Saturn and the heart of the cosmic lion king. But if I had to pick only one night, I'd pick Saturday the 19th because Venus and the Moon will be truly awesome. I guarantee it. Keep looking up!


May 20, 2007 | 1:30 PM Comments  2 comments

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President Bush's administration is "the worst in history"
Related to country: United States


I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," President Carter said Saturday.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (UFJ) - Former President Carter says President Bush's administration is "the worst in history" in international relations, taking aim at the White House's policy of pre-emptive war and its Middle East diplomacy.

The criticism from Carter, which a biographer says is unprecedented for the 39th president, also took aim at Bush's environmental policies and the administration's "quite disturbing" faith-based initiative funding.

"I think as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history," Carter told the Arkansas Democrat -Gazette in a story that appeared in the newspaper's Saturday editions. "The overt reversal of America's basic values as expressed by previous administrations, including those of George H.W. Bush and Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon and others, has been the most disturbing to me."

Carter spokeswoman Deanna Congileo confirmed his comments to The Associated Press on Saturday and declined to elaborate. He spoke while promoting his new audiobook series, "Sunday Mornings in Plains," a collection of weekly Bible lessons from his hometown of Plains, Ga.

"Apparently, Sunday mornings in Plains for former President Carter includes hurling reckless accusations at your fellow man," said Amber Wilkerson, Republican National Committee spokeswoman. She said it was hard to take Carter seriously because he also "challenged Ronald Reagan's strategy for the Cold War."

Carter came down hard on the Iraq war.

"We now have endorsed the concept of pre-emptive war where we go to war with another nation militarily, even though our own security is not directly threatened, if we want to change the regime there or if we fear that some time in the future our security might be endangered," he said. "But that's been a radical departure from all previous administration policies."

Carter, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, criticized Bush for having "zero peace talks" in Israel. Carter also said the administration "abandoned or directly refuted" every negotiated nuclear arms agreement, as well as environmental efforts by other presidents.

Carter also offered a harsh assessment for the White House's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which helped religious charities receive $2.15 billion in federal grants in fiscal year 2005 alone.



"The policy from the White House has been to allocate funds to religious institutions, even those that channel those funds exclusively to their own particular group of believers in a particular religion," Carter said. "As a traditional Baptist, I've always believed in separation of church and state and honored that premise when I was president, and so have all other presidents, I might say, except this one."

Douglas Brinkley, a Tulane University presidential historian and Carter biographer, described Carter's comments as unprecedented.

"This is the most forceful denunciation President Carter has ever made about an American president," Brinkley said. "When you call somebody the worst president, that's volatile. Those are fighting words."

Carter also lashed out Saturday at British prime minister Tony Blair . Asked how he would judge Blair's support of Bush, the former president said: "Abominable. Loyal. Blind. Apparently subservient."

"And I think the almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq have been a major tragedy for the world," Carter told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.





May 20, 2007 | 9:38 AM Comments  0 comments

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Michael Jackson Won't Block Auction Sale of Memorabilia
Related to country: United States


Michael Jackson

(UFJ) - Lawyers for Michael Jackson on Friday dropped an effort to block an auction of the pop star's personal belongings and other Jackson family items, including Jackson's gold record for his "Thriller" album.

Jackson didn't appear in a Las Vegas court where his lawyer told a judge that a confidential agreement had been reached with representatives of an auctioneer, the current owner of the materials, and a New Jersey man who claimed a warehouse full of Jackson memorabilia after a failed business venture wound up in bankruptcy court.

"The matter's been resolved," Gregory Cross, a lawyer for Jackson, told Clark County District Court Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez.

Lawyers declined to describe terms of the agreement, which settled an April 27 lawsuit.

Jackson sought to prevent the auction and force the return of items he claimed were personal property, court documents show. The entertainer also had sought unspecified punitive damages.

Universal Express Inc., the Boca Raton, Fla., luggage transportation company that owns the items, claimed the materials were worth about $50 million, according to court records.

Arlan Ettinger, president of Guernsey's auction house of New York, said outside the courtroom that the auction will go on as scheduled May 30-31 at the Hard Rock hotel in Las Vegas.

Jackson, 48, has been living in Las Vegas while he evaluates proposals for a comeback after his 2005 acquittal in California on child molestation charges.

More than 1,000 family items are set for auction, including the handwritten lyrics for The Jackson Five hit "ABC," Jackson's platinum award for the single "Rock With You," his black silk jacket with gold sequined epaulets and a 1987 contract for the purchase of the Santa Barbara County, Calif., ranch he renamed "Neverland."

Jeffrey Sylvester, a Las Vegas lawyer for Universal, said "very little" of Jackson's personal items would be sold.


May 19, 2007 | 10:08 AM Comments  0 comments

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The Spin on Class Warfare
Related to country: United States



During a television interview this month, NBC Today co-host Matt Lauer asked New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine about whether hedge-fund managers were "out of touch with America," given their astronomical salaries.

Some are, some aren't," said the governor, who made a fortune on Wall Street. "Good risk managers and portfolio [managers] are people that don't lose track of what the real world is about." Then, after a pause, he added, "I think some people, based on the size of the houses I see built and the automobiles and the things that people accumulate, there are some who might be drifting away from reality."
It was another example of how the heated politics of wealth and inequality are creating new public-relations problems for today's rich. With their numbers exploding -- along with information about their private lives -- wealthy people are increasingly becoming targets of ridicule, forcing them to come up with ever-more creative ways to defend their image in the media.
The problem is made worse by the growing awareness of inequality. (One typical recent newspaper headline: "Filthy rich own half of world's wealth," from the Grand Rapids [Mich.] Press.) The richest 1% of Americans now control 33% of the nation's wealth, up from 30% in 1989. During the last wealth boom, in the 1980s, the rich were largely celebrated. Gordon Gekko, the memorable tyrant of the 1987 film "Wall Street," declared that "greed ... is good," and CEOs proudly flashed their expensive toys on the cover of Forbes magazine.
People with money have become more defensive, with most avoiding any press (Donald Trump and Paris Hilton excepted). Some argue that their windfalls are reasonable and portray themselves as folksy, ordinary people. Many have turned to philanthropy as their saving grace.
A client recently described the media environment as "like Marie Antoinette's France," says Allan Mayer, a PR specialist who's worked with wealthy families around the world. "There is a kind of class warfare going on, and it's becoming far more noticeable," he says. "In the 1980s, every CEO wanted to show the press their new yacht or big mansion. Now there is a sense that maybe discretion is the better part of valor. Unless you're oblivious, or a complete megalomaniac, you know that while you're doing great, most people are not."
Here are some suggestions that top public-relations executives are making to their wealthy clients:
1. STAY QUIET
Hedge-funders have learned this lesson perhaps better than anyone. Never mind interviews -- just trying to get official photos of Paul Tudor Jones II or Steve Cohen is next to impossible. Hedge-funders, of course, argue (through their representatives) that their silence is for security reasons. Sean Cassidy, president of New York-based Dan Klores Communications, says he discourages his Wall Street clients from giving interviews since, "once you start granting access, it just fuels" more coverage of their personal wealth. "In many cases, our job is to keep them out of the press unless there's a business reason," Mr. Cassidy adds.
If a rich individual or family is forced into the public spotlight -- say, through a lawsuit -- they should do an interview but downplay their wealth as much as possible, some PR experts say. "The last thing you want to be today is boastful," says Marcia Horowitz, with New York's Rubenstein Associates.
But for clients who are out of touch with the rest of the world and live in a "bubble" of wealth and privilege, Ms. Horowitz advises against interviews. "Some people don't understand that reporters and their audience may not be sympathetic to the problems of millionaires," she adds.
One case in point might be an interview that Larry Ellison, Oracle's famously ostentatious CEO, did in 2005 for Vanity Fair on his 454-foot yacht, Rising Sun. In the piece, he complained that he didn't enjoy his first vacation on the boat. "I didn't know whether it was the scale or the newness that was the problem," he said. "Turns out, it was only the newness. It's really only the size of a very large house."
2. ACT MIDDLE CLASS
Since so many of this era's wealthy people made their money themselves, PR specialists advise them to play up their middle-class roots. Dress casual, they're told. Talk about your old Ford pickup truck, rather than your convertible Bentley, and about your "simple" life, even if you have a household staff of 12. For instance, both before and after her jail term, homemaking maven Martha Stewart made a habit of talking about her pets, her gardening, and her folksy upbringing in many of her interviews. She has downplayed any discussion of her multiple vacation homes and private yacht.
Ms. Horowitz cautions clients to use the "everyman" strategy only if it's true.
3. THERE'S ALWAYS PHILANTHROPY
If other strategies don't work, clients can always turn to philanthropy. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett may be the most prominent givers, but the Chronicle of Philanthropy says 21 people last year gave $100 million or more to philanthropic causes, about double the year-earlier level.
But with so many philanthropists vying for attention, it's harder to get noticed. Mr. Cassidy recommends that clients focus their energies on "one charity that is meaningful to them." What's more, Mr. Mayer warns that in today's polarized society, overly visible giving "can be seen as showing off."


May 19, 2007 | 7:22 AM Comments  0 comments

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Democrats’ first debate is void of Africa
Related to country: United States


By Harry C. Alford
-NNPA Columnist-

We cannot overestimate the importance of the Presidential Campaign for 2008. The world is in a big mess. China throws all the rules to the wind as they develop into a massive economic monster. Russia is yearning for the days of old, The Cold War. Genocide and suffering is bigger now then ever before, while a corrupt United Nations (UN), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank seem to be useless.
The United States leadership role in the world is being questioned like never before. Now is the time for a true leader to step forward. We need someone to present a vision that addresses all the major problems, with solutions that can quickly turn around fear, death, and horror with hope, progress and prosperity.
On the evening of April 26, at the HBCU campus of South Carolina State University, the Democratic Party held its first debate involving eight declared candidates. In essence, it was quite cordial. All the candidates held mutual respect for each other and there were no personal attacks. They concentrated on various issues. The biggest issue was, naturally, the Iraq civil war. There is no textbook approach to it, but they all agreed that we must get out as soon as possible—some way, somehow. Then, came the usual issues such as ethics, abortion, guns, healthcare, taxation, immigration, education, fuel costs, international relations (generally speaking), gay marriage, global climate change and Cuba. We waited and waited but never heard the issue of Africa addressed for the whole 90 minutes. There were a quick “half sentences” about Darfur mixed in with other matters by Senators Biden and Edwards and Governor Richardson. There was no statement of substance given to the continent at all. There is just no way this campaign can go on and ignore 1 billion people who are suffering from the intrusion and adverse policy of Europeans, Americans, et al.
Africa should be at the top of every political agenda. People are dying by the millions as a result of war, HIV/AIDS, corruption and meddling from the first world operatives. The Western Hemisphere has over 200 million descendents of Africa and we want the current state of affairs to dramatically change for the better. How can anyone striving to become the President of the United States, leader of the free world, omit or ignore the state of affairs on the African Continent? Who are the advisors and managers of these campaigns that think they can get away with this? Are they trying to assume the Black Vote again?
I am extremely disappointed in Barack Obama who is the son of an African. How can he stand there for 90 minutes and not mention the problems and plight of this whole continent? He is even on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but when asked, “What are the three most serious international problems?” he mentioned Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Is he so presumptuous, that he need not address our concerns? It reminds me of a statement he made about Michael Steele, a Black running for U.S. Senate, “Don’t vote for a person solely because of his race.” That applies to you, too, Senator Obama. We want to know what you will do for the Diaspora. Say it and say it loud! Of course, you must first start thinking about it. As one pundit stated, “He was the most abstract politician I have ever watched.” Remember Senator, it is not what you are, but what you stand for and believe.
What about Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton? She and her husband resided at the White House when the atrocious horror of Rwanda took place. They just stood by and watched it happen. Afterwards, her husband, President Bill Clinton, issued an apology. After millions of deaths it was too little, too late. She should be particularly interested in the genocides of Darfur and the Congo, plus the wars in Somalia and other regions. What is her opinion on Zimbabwe, among other hotbeds? Does she or the rest of them have a concern?
It is clear. The Democratic Campaign is void of a concern for Africa and it is the responsibility of the citizens of the United States, particularly the 40 million plus African Americans, to raise the issue and demand proposed solutions with stipulated action. America can do something about the dire state of this continent and, as God is our Witness, we (African Americans) must demand it. Let’s make this a major issue in this campaign. Candidates from both sides must become adept at the status of Africa and must provide viable solutions that can be readily carried out. Those who don’t, must not get our vote or support.


May 18, 2007 | 10:21 PM Comments  0 comments

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Thousands flee upsurge in violence in Diyala province
Related to country: Iraq



DIYALA, (UFJ) - Thousands of Iraqis have been fleeing Diyala province – and others fleeing villages from within the province - over the past week after an increase in attacks by armed groups and a major offensive by US and Iraqi troops.

Diyala province is a volatile but religiously mixed governorate to the northeast of Bagdhad.

“In the past six days more than 900 families, about 5,000 individuals, have fled Diyala governorate. Some of them were forced out by militants and others were scared of the clashes,” said Faris Abdallah, media officer for Diyala governorate office.

The villages of Khalis and Ambugiya have seen considerable sectarian violence and the number of internally displaced people is greatest there, Abdallah said, adding that most are Shi’a. Most of the families which have fled Diyala have headed to places outside the province such as the southern provinces of Najaf, Kerbala or Basra. Some have moved to outskirts of the capital, Baghdad, where camps those displaced from Diyala have been set up. Few families have also been internally displaced within the province.

According to the Iraq Red Crescent Society (IRCS), local people are facing an imminent humanitarian tragedy. Most fled their homes with only the clothes they were wearing. The IRCS said it was trying to help the newly displaced but volunteers were having access problems owing to the continued violence.

Religious extremists

According to Abdallah, Sunni insurgents have been establishing a Taliban-style rule over the local population in Diyala province and this has caused the death of dozens of residents, including women and children.

“They banned smoking and the consumption of any kind of product that might have been imported. Also, in some areas girls are prohibited from going to school as it is considered unnecessary; men cannot wear Western clothes and the Internet has been banned,” Abdallah noted.


No food, water

Other humanitarian workers say the situation in Diyala is desperate.

“In some districts, people have been without food and water for more than five days as clashes continue and militants have forbidden them from leaving their homes. We have spoken by phone to some locals and they are desperate since they are looking after sick children and a heavily pregnant woman,” said Fatah Ahmed, a spokesperson for the Iraq Aid Association (IAA).

“We cannot get close to the area for security reasons and are being forced to witness the start of a new catastrophe for hundreds of families who were already living in poverty and who have nothing to eat or drink. If they don’t find a solution soon, we will start finding the bodies of people who have starved to death in their homes,” Ahmed added.



May 15, 2007 | 7:35 PM Comments  1 comments

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KENYA: Hundreds displaced in cattle-rustling clashes
Related to country: Kenya



MARSABIT, 14 May 2007 (UFJ) - Clashes sparked by a cattle-rustling incident in the Marsabit district of northern Kenya have left about 15 people dead and displaced hundreds more in the past week, aid workers said.

Fighting between the Gabra and Turkana communities erupted on 8 May when members of one group raided villages inhabited by the other and stole about 1,000 cattle, sheep and goats, prompting revenge attacks by the livestock owners.

An estimated 1,000 people have fled Moite and Komote villages in the Loyangalani division of Marsabit, the scene of the clashes, according to David Timado, a social worker and peace activist in the area, which is mainly inhabited by livestock-herding communities and has a history of ethnic animosity caused by competition for pasture land and water.

"The situation in Loyangalani is bad. Tension is high and residents are leaving," said Timado. "So far, many people, almost 1,000, have moved away, walking long distances," he said. Some of the displaced families from the affected villages had arrived in Loyangalani trading centre, about 100km away, after walking for more than two days with little food and water, he added.

Families were still fleeing, despite the deployment of more police officers in the affected area.

The Kenya Red Cross Society's disaster management office in Marsabit said it had registered 27 displaced families. The officer in charge, Ahmed Mohamed, said those registered had already received food rations and shelter material. "We have given food and tents to those displaced, many of whom ran away without food and only took a few belongings," he said.

Local police said 11 civilians and four raiders had died in the violence.

May 15, 2007 | 12:50 AM Comments  0 comments

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California’s new secret death chamber
Related to country: United States


LOS ANGELES (UFJ) - Politicians and death penalty opponents are outraged over revelation that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) began construction on a new death chamber at San Quentin State Prison, without notifying state lawmakers or the public.
Activists charge that the problem is three-fold: 1) The “secret” construction occurs during a federal review of California’s execution process and San Quentin Death Chamber facilities; 2) It is shrouded beneath a high-profile issue; and 3) The CDCR is using prisoners to build the chamber.
Seth Unger, CDCR Press Secretary, said that the $399,000 edifice is being built in an effort to comply with a federal judge’s mandate that the facility and its lethal injection protocols be revamped, and that it is part of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to present a remodeled lethal injection facility by a May 15 deadline. Late last year, Judge Jeremy Fogel placed a moratorium on all California executions, ruling that the current method of lethal injection is a violation of a constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Judge Fogel’s decision stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Michael Morales, a San Quentin Death Row inmate, convicted of raping and stabbing 17-year-old Terri Winchell in 1981. After the December 2005 lengthy torture and execution of Stanley “Tookie” Williams, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee and reformed founder of the Crips street gang, Mr. Morales’ lawyers argued that lethal injections violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The cost to build the death chamber fell just below the $400,000 quota, which would require legislative approval. “Something this big and this controversial should never be hidden,” Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) stated. At press time, she was set to convene a hearing for CDCR officials to detail the project and its cost estimates.
Mr. Unger stated that the construction price falls under a minimum capital outlay plan, which gives the state flexibility. Although the outlay permits the Department to forego the typical budget process, which includes presentations, revisions and early summer debates, he said the issue is still slated for a quarterly report to the legislature.
Minister Keith Muhammad of Muhammad’s Mosque No. 26B in Oakland, Calif. said that the process of building the new death chamber bears serious implications for the masses—primarily Black and Latino people—incarcerated.
“This demonstrates, once again, the state’s desire to incarcerate and kill, rather than educate and cultivate. If they can find it in the budget to build new death chambers; then it certainly would be good if they could find it in the budget to repair our schools,” he stated.
Danielle Heck, a spokesperson for the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, opined that the fact that a new death chamber could be built without public, legislative or media knowledge at a time when the death penalty is being called into question demonstrates the lack of transparency or accountability within the criminal justice system.
“Everything about [Gov.] Schwarzenegger’s administration building the new death chamber under a veil of secrecy illustrates how the whole criminal justice system is rotten to the core. Death penalty activists like myself hear about the mistreatment of inmates all the time, but they have little to no recourse,” Ms. Heck stated.
Ms. Heck called the CDCR’s actions the administrations’ rush to crank up its death machine, rather than reviewing the constitutionality of the way the death penalty is administered in California. She further positioned that the new chamber is Gov. Schwarzenegger’s push against Judge Fogel’s ruling, which foiled plans to speed up the number of executions they wanted to carry out starting with Mr. Williams.
Unfortunately for the administration, she said, the campaign built around Mr. Williams caused many people to examine their views about the death penalty, expose its numerous hypocrisies, and turn against it.
“It further exposed the disgusting reality of the execution process as witnessed and reported on by the people that viewed the execution of Stan ‘Tookie’ Williams. The point is that the death penalty is broken and can’t be fixed. It doesn’t matter if California builds a new execution chamber, finds the right concoction of drugs, or gets the right certified people to carry out the executions. The State of California needs to get out of the business of killing people and quit wasting our taxpayer money to do it,” Ms. Heck insisted.
San Quentin is the oldest prison in California and houses 5,222 prisoners, 619 of them condemned inmates, who have moved beyond conditions of rehabilitative confinement to California’s concentration camp tactics, stated activist Barbara Becnel, who worked with Mr. Williams for 13 years and helped organize an international campaign for his clemency.
“Utilizing the prisoners to build the death chamber to kill other prisoners is every bit as bad as the people who were imprisoned during World War II at concentration camps, who were asked to build the apparatus that would kill either themselves or family members, because many of the people who are imprisoned in San Quentin are in fact the friends or family members of the people on Death Row,” Ms. Becnel charged.
A long time friend, publicist and advocate of Mr. Williams, Ms. Becnel added that it is stunning that prisoners were made to work on the project at slave wages. “This is not only cheap prison labor, but this truly harkens back to World War II, and as many know, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s father was a Nazi. That’s part of the factual historical record, and here he is resorting to Nazi tactics. That’s pretty astonishing and horrific,” she said.


May 13, 2007 | 3:32 PM Comments  2 comments

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Bomb blast mars UN Somalia visit
Related to country: Somalia



The highest-ranking United Nations official to visit Somalia for 10 years has arrived in the capital, Mogadishu.

John Holmes, the UN's emergency relief co-ordinator, said he was there to pressure the Somali government to let humanitarian aid reach its people.

A car bomb killed four people near the UN compound in the south of the city as Mr Holmes' convoy left the airport.

The visit comes two weeks after Somalia's government declared victory over a bloody Islamic insurgency.

Senior intelligence official Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed was one of those killed in the blast, a security source told Reuters news agency.

The source said the explosion was unrelated to Mr Holmes' visit.

'Protect civilians'

Mr Holmes said the government had to look after its civilians, who have borne the brunt of years of fighting.

"It is their responsibility to look after civilians, to protect civilians and at the very least not to obstruct aid," he said.

But he said the African Union could not boost its peacekeeping forces in the capital until the government improved security.

On arrival in Mogadishu, Mr Holmes visited a cholera treatment centre next to the UN compound before meeting President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.

The capital has been mostly calm since the government declared victory over the insurgents and many residents are starting to return to their homes.

Some 1,600 people were killed in six weeks of clashes between Ethiopian government-backed troops and Islamist and clan fighters, local aid groups say.

Up to 400,000 of Mogadishu's 2m residents fled to squalid camps or makeshift bush shelters.

Somalia has not had a working government since a civil war erupted 16 years ago.


May 13, 2007 | 10:45 AM Comments  0 comments

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AFRICAN JUSTICE ?
Related to country: Zimbabwe


AK-47 EXECUTION - CAUTION - GRAPHIC!

May 12, 2007 | 2:16 PM Comments  0 comments

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Wild Tiger Mauls Girlfriend as Kids Watch in Horror
Related to country: Canada



100 MILE HOUSE, British Columbia (UFJ) -- A 32-year-old woman was mauled to death by a captive tiger at an exotic animal farm in British Columbia while at least three children watched in horror.

The woman , Tanya Dumstrey-Soos, even spoke with her fiance, Kim Carlton, the owner of the farm, by cell phone as she lay dying after the attack, her employer said in an interview Friday.

"Before she passed away Kim did say that he did have a chance to talk to Tanya," said Scott Nelson, who employed Dumstrey-Soos as a receptionist and saleswoman at the 100 Mile House Advisor newspaper.

"He said the two were able to say they loved each other and he was obviously horrified."

Nelson, who is also the mayor of Williams Lake, British Columbia, said that Dumstrey-Soos and Carlton had recently become engaged to be married.

The woman was found outside the cage when emergency services arrived at the farm Thursday evening, said Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Scott Ksionzyk in 100 Mile House, British Columbia.

"There is no indication that at any point the tiger was outside of the cage; nor is there any indication that the victim entered the cage," Ksionzyk said.

Nelson said that Carlton described a bizarre, freak accident involving a tiger named Gangus.

Carlton "didn't think the tiger had bit her. It's that she had a dress on and she was standing there and he was playing with the dress and grabbed her legs. She was standing outside the cage and talking to Gangus, the cat swatted at the legs," Nelson said.

He said Gangus was the only one of the three tigers on the farm that had not been declawed.

A number of youngsters, including one of Dumstrey-Soos' children, witnessed the attack, said Constable Annie Linteau of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Nelson believed that Carlton's children, Dakota, 12, and Kodiak, 15, also saw her being maulted.

"We were obviously horrified, more horrified that the young kids saw it, that they were there and obviously our hearts are with them," Nelson said.

Regional coroner Bruce Chamberlayne said Dumstrey-Soos was taken to a hospital in the town of 100 Mile House after the attack but could not be revived.

The farm in the interior of British Columbia is called Siberian Magic. Carlton puts on exotic and magic shows and also sells services such as photos with the big cats.

The RCMP said all the animals remained secured on the premises, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of 100 Mile House. Among the animals at the farm are three tigers, a lion and a lemur.

After the incident, British Columbia Agricultural Minister Barry Penner said authorities would determine whether there is a need to change regulations that allow private citizens to keep exotic animals. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has called for legislation to ban the practice.

Siberian Magic's Web site invites people to visit the Bridge Lake, British Columbia, facility to experience "the wonderful worlds of magic and exotic animals." The farm is about 400 kilometers (250 miles) northeast of Vancouver.

"Visit our animals up close and personal. Capture the memories and have your photo taken with our amazing Siberian tiger , Kisa, or our African lion, Sarmoti, as well as many other wonderful animals."

The site claims the company educates people about exotic animals in a "safe and enjoyable way."

Marcie Moriarty, general manager of cruelty investigations for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, described the facility housing the animals as a "public safety catastrophe."

"The tigers are being kept in 12-by-12-foot (3.6-by-3.6-meter) chain-link enclosures with a mere padlock on the enclosure. The animal owner had admitted to walking the tigers, his kids feed them," she said.

She said Carlton has been investigated by the SPCA since November 2005 when he moved his tigers to the 100 Mile House area.

After notifying regional authorities about their concerns, the SPCA tried for months to seize the animals but there was not any room at any facility, including the Calgary Zoo, to take the exotic animals, Moriarty said.

"The use of exotic animals in entertainment is simply playing with fire," Moriarty said.



May 12, 2007 | 12:26 PM Comments  0 comments

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O.J.
Related to country: United States


O.J. Simpson attends the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, the day after the owner of an upscale Louisville restaurant refused to serve him.

May 10, 2007 | 6:36 PM Comments  1 comments

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IS O.J. SIMPSON A VICTIM OF AMERICA’S BIAS MEDIA NEW AGE STYLE LYNCHING?
Related to country: United States


Former Football Star O.J. Simpson

On July 17, 1994 O. J. Simpson was arrested and charged with the murders of his estranged wife Nicole and her friend Ron Goodman after leading the LAPD on a televised car chase throughout Los Angeles. Simpson, seen in this police mugshot, pleaded not guilty to both murders, and the subsequent murder trial received huge international publicity from the news media. On October 3, 1995, the jury returned a verdict of 'not guilty'.

Simpson, known commonly as "O.J." or "The Juice," was one of the most famous running backs in American football history. After retiring from football, Simpson spent time working as a sports commentator, acting, and golfing. His film debuts included the comedy "Naked Gun" where he played the part of a dim-witted assistant detective.

May 9, 2007 | 8:19 PM Comments  0 comments

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Drug dealers peddling new kid-friendly mixes
Related to country: United States


Meth, heroin laced with candy and strawberry flavoring to appeal to youth

DALLAS (UFJ)- their quest to lure new, younger clientele, drug dealers are mixing their wares with over-the-counter pain remedies and other familiar products — even candy — and peddling them under non-threatening names.
One such concoction, a blend of black tar heroin and Tylenol PM that goes by the name “cheese,” has been linked to the deaths of 19 teenagers in Dallas, including two 15-year-olds.
“If you’re a drug dealer you have to target a new audience all the time,” said Garrison Courtney, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency spokesman. “It’s Marketing 101 for drug dealers.”
Examples of the drug-mixing strategy also include candy laced with marijuana and, in several states, flavored methamphetamine. In Arkansas recently, a mix of meth and strawberry-flavored powder normally used to create a children’s milk drink turned up under the name “Strawberry Quick.”
“They’re calling it ‘cheese,’ they’re not calling it ‘heroin,”’ said Dr. Collin Goto, a toxicologist at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. “It becomes much more appealing to younger kids because it doesn’t have the stigma, they’re not as afraid to get started.”
Dallas school district police first became aware of the heroin-mixing trend in 2005, and its become a disturbing local phenomenon since.
“Cheese is just a different makeup for mixing with heroin, but it’s still heroin,” said Dr. Jeffrey Barnard, chief medical examiner for Dallas County. “It’s the heroin that’s the problem.”

Cheap and needle-free
Beyond the innocuous name, several other factors appear to be driving the popularity of cheese. Kids often buy the drug from other kids. It’s affordable, selling for about $2 a dosage. And it is snorted rather than injected.

During the 2005-2006 school year, the Dallas school district police arrested 90 students for possession of the heroin-Tylenol PM mixture. The number has soared during the current school year. Through February, 122 have been arrested. The average age of those arrested: 14.

“The resurgence of heroin in society in 11- to 16-year-olds — that’s unprecedented,” said Julian Bernal, deputy chief of narcotics for the Dallas police, who makes six to 12 arrests a month for possession of cheese heroin.

“Hopefully we can try to contain it,” said Dr. Sing-Yi Feng, another toxicologist at Children’s Medical Center Dallas. “The concern is that the stuff is pretty cheap. It’s easy to use.”
Experts say cheese usually has about 2 percent to 8 percent heroin mixed with the Tylenol PM — which contains acetaminophen and diphenhydramine — or similar over-the-counter drugs.

‘Cheese’ arrests rising
Gary Hodges, deputy chief of the Dallas school district police, said cheese arrests in the district have nearly equaled those for marijuana, still the leading substance involved in drug arrests.

Authorities say they are just now beginning to understand how widespread the mixture has become and the toll it is taking on Dallas area youth. Even the exact number of cheese heroin-related deaths was not known until The Dallas Morning News analyzed medical examiner records and published the results last month.

Most of the victims are male, and involve nearly equal numbers of white and Hispanic youth.
Dave Cannata’s 16-year-old son, Nick, died in June 2005, with heroin and diphenhydramine in his system. Nick Cannata, who had been in rehab for a drug problem the summer before, was found dead in his bed in Coppell, just outside of Dallas.

He had spent the day building a deck with his father before going to a friend’s house. Dave Cannata said he knew something was wrong when his son returned home that night, but he decided to delay a confrontation.

“If I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call 911,” said Cannata. “It’s alarming the epidemic proportion of kids that are messing with this stuff.”

Olga Sanchez agrees. She thought her 15-year-old son had stopped using the mixture. But this spring, Oscar Gutierrez’s brother found the eighth-grader at a Dallas middle school dead in bed.

“He was very purple. He was very cold, cold,” said Sanchez, who had been attending drug counseling with her son since discovering his cheese habit last fall.

“I would like for kids to realize that lots of other kids have died, that they should look for help, that they could lose their life,” she said.





May 8, 2007 | 7:47 PM Comments  0 comments

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Toxic Chemicals in Everyday Products
Related to country: United States


Dying To Be Beautiful



The average American household is a toxic chemical dump. Are you aware that most of the shampoos and personal care products used today have cancer-causing agents? The following identifies many of the ingredients commonly found in shampoos and skin care products and their possible side effects.

ISOPROPYL ALCOHOL: Isopropyl alcohol is found in hair color rinses, body rubs, hand lotions, after shave lotions, fragrances and many other cosmetics. This petroleum derived substance is also used in antifreeze. According to a Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients, inhalation or ingestion of the vapor may cause headaches, flushing, dizziness, mental depression, nausea, vomiting, narcosis and coma.

PROPYLENE GLYCOL (PG): As a "surfactant" or wetting agent and solvent, this ingredient is actually the active component in antifreeze. It is used in industry to break down protein and cellular structure (what the skin is made of) yet is found in most forms of make-up, hair products, lotions, after shave- deodorants, mouthwashes and toothpaste. It is also used in food processing. Because of its ability to quickly penetrate the skin, the EPA requires workers to wear protective gloves, clothing and goggles when working with this toxic substance. The Material Safety Data Sheets warn against skin contact, as PG has systemic consequences such as brain, liver and kidney abnormalities.

SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE (SLS) & SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE (SLES): Used as detergents and surfactants, these closely related compounds are found in car wash soaps, garage floor cleaners and engine degreasers. Yet both SLS and SLES are used more widely as one of the major ingredients in cosmetics, toothpaste, hair conditioner and about 90% of all shampoos and products that foam. According to the American College of Toxicology, both SLS and SLES can cause malformation in children's eyes. Other research has indicated SLS may be damaging to the immune system, especially within the skin. Skin layers may separate and inflame due to its protein denaturing properties. It is possibly the most dangerous of all ingredients in personal care products. According to the American College of Toxicity report, SLS stays in the body for up to five days. Other studies have indicated that SLS easily penetrates through the skin and enters and maintains residual levels in the heart, the liver, the lungs and the brain. This poses serious questions regarding its potential health threat through its use in shampoos, cleansers and toothpaste.

DEA (diethanolamine) MEA (momoethanolamine) TEA (triethanolamine): DEA and MEA are usually listed on the ingredient label in conjunction with the compound being neutralized. Look for names like Cocamide DEA or MEA, Lauramide DEA, etc. These are hormone disrupting chemicals and are known to form cancer causing nitrates and nitrosamines. These are commonly found in most personal care products that foam, including bubble baths, body washes, shampoos, soaps and facial cleansers. A recent government report shows DEA and MEA are readily absorbed in the skin. Repeated skin applications of DEA-based detergents resulted in a major increase in the incidence of two cancers - liver and kidney cancers.

FD & C COLOR PIGMENTS: Many color pigments cause skin sensitivity and irritation. Absorption of certain colors can cause depletion of oxygen in the body and even death according to a Consumer's Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients. Colors that can be used in foods, drugs and cosmetics are made from coal tar. There is a great deal of controversy about their use, because animal studies have shown almost all of them to be carcinogenic.

FRAGRANCE: Fragrance is present in most deodorants, shampoos, sunscreens, skin care, body care and baby products. Fragrance on a label can indicate the presence of up to 4,000 separate ingredients. Most of all of them are synthetic. Symptoms reported to the FDA have included headaches, dizziness, rashes, skin discoloration, violent coughing and vomiting and allergic skin irritation. Clinical observation by medical doctors have shown that exposure to fragrances can affect the central nervous system, causing depression, hyperactivity, irritability, inability to cope and other behavioral changes.

IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA and DMDM HYDANTOIN: These are just two of the many preservatives that release formaldehyde (formaldehyde-donors). Nearly all brands of skin, body and hair care, antiperspirants and nail polish found in stores contain formaldehyde releasing ingredients. Exposure to formaldehyde may cause joint pain, allergies, depression, headaches, chest pains, ear infections, chronic fatigue, dizziness and loss of sleep. It can also aggravate coughs and colds and trigger asthma. Serious side effects include weakening of the immune system and cancer.

PESTICIDES: Pesticides are directly released, indoors and outdoors, to get rid of insects, weeds and molds. They are also incorporated into soaps and household cleaning products, paints and wallpapers and applied to carpets, textiles and other products prior to sale. Many pesticides are linked to disruption of the hormone and reproductive system as well as being suspected carcinogens. Over 4 billion pounds of toxic chemicals are released by industry into the nation's environment each year, including 72 million pounds of recognized carcinogens.

You could be arrested if you dumped these same chemicals into a river -- that would be a violation of federal law. And yet, you put them into your body every single day, and that's not only legal, it's actually encouraged by media coverage, advertisements, department stores and retailers. It is perfectly possible, by the way, to live a life free of these toxic products. All you have to do is stop buying the toxic products, throw them out, and start buying products that actually protect your health.

May 8, 2007 | 3:11 PM Comments  0 comments

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Brain Scans, Genes Provide Addiction Clues
Related to country: United States


Positron emission tomography scans reveal that low activity levels in the cerebral cortex, as measured by metabolism of radiolabeled glucose, are positively correlated (yellow areas) with depression in individuals

Scientists using advanced brain imaging and genetic testing to probe the physiological basis of addiction are gleaning new insights into these disorders and how to treat them.

A symposium sponsored by Brookhaven National Laboratory (Upton, NY), held in conjunction with the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting in San Francisco in February, highlighted several advances in addiction science made over the past year. Researchers presented findings from brain imaging studies revealing the importance of memory and drug-related cues in addiction, the role of monoamine oxidase–inhibiting compounds in cigarette smoking, the damage to inhibitory controls caused by methamphetamine use, as well as results from studies suggesting that genomics could be used to better tailor addiction therapies.



May 6, 2007 | 7:50 PM Comments  0 comments

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Jet With 114 Aboard Crashes in Cameroon
Related to country: United States


A Kenya Airways 737-800 crashed in Cameroon Saturday


YAOUNDE, Cameroon (UFJ) - A Kenya Airways jet with 114 people on board crashed early Saturday after sending out a distress signal over a remote rainforest in southern Cameroon, officials said. Nearby villagers reported hearing a loud boom.

The jet bound for the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, went down near the town of Lolodorf, about 155 miles south of the coastal city of Douala, where it had taken off after midnight, said Alex Bayeck, a regional communications officer.

There was no word on survivors, said Bayeck, speaking by telephone en route to the crash site. He said search planes were flying over the forested area where the airliner gave off a distress signal, but no wreckage had been spotted.

He said residents in the area, which has few roads and is dotted by small villages, reported hearing a "large boom" during the night. "Searchers have gone out looking in this area," he said.

Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni said the plane, which was almost new, took off an hour late because of rain. He said the distress call was issued automatically - "from a machine, not a pilot."

Kenya's transport minister, Ali Chirau Makwere, said it was too early to determine what caused the crash.

"We need to get information from the technical experts as to whether it was occasioned by the weather or pilot error or mechanical fault," he said in Nairobi. "We really don't know. It's too early to make any conclusions."

The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 114 people, including 105 passengers, from at least 23 countries, Kenyan airline officials said. A Nairobi-based Associated Press correspondent, Anthony Mitchell, was believed to be among the passengers. Mitchell had been on assignment in the region for the past week.

Kathleen Carroll, the AP executive editor, said Mitchell "contacted his family before boarding the flight to let them know he was headed home."

"We hope for the best," she said.

Relatives waiting at Nairobi's airport began wailing as news reports of the crash filtered in. Dozens of family members collapsed in the airport terminal.

Janet Mwema said she believed her daughter, Vicky, a cabin crew member, might have been on the flight but said counselors could not confirm that for her.

"We trust God that he will strengthen his people," Mwema said. "Because we all go one day, whether it is accident or what."

The flight departed Douala at 12:05 a.m. and was to have arrive in Nairobi at 6:15 a.m. The flight originated in Ivory Coast but stopped in Cameroon to pick up more passengers, the airline said.

"The last message was received in Douala after takeoff and thereafter the tower was unable to contact the plane," Kenya Airways' Naikuni said earlier Saturday.

The Douala-Nairobi flight runs several times a week, and is commonly used as an intermediary flight to Europe and the Middle East.

Kenya Airways - considered one of the safest airlines in Africa - said most passengers were planning to transfer to ongoing flights in Nairobi.

Naikuni said the plane was only six months old.

U.S. aviation officials are standing by, expecting to head to Cameroon and help with the investigation if asked.

"Generally, other governments don't have the same accident investigation expertise that we have," said Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

In 2004, the United States helped investigate the crash of a Flash Airlines Boeing 737 that killed all 148 on board minutes after taking off from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt.

Boeing spokesman Jim Proulx said there have not been any safety concerns with the Chicago-based company's fleet of 737-800s. About 2,000 737-800s are in use around the world.

"We express our profound concern for the passengers and crew on board on the Kenyan Airways flight that went missing," Proulx said Saturday. "We stand ready to assist the authorities if they ask us to do so."

The last crash of an international Kenya Airways flight was on Jan. 30, 2000, when Flight 431 was taking off from Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on its way to Nairobi. Investigators blamed a faulty alarm and pilot error for that crash, which killed 169 people.

May 5, 2007 | 10:51 PM Comments  1 comments

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WHAT ABOUT AIDS?
Related to country: South Africa


USA 1 MILLION
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO 1.1 MILLION
TANZANIA 1.3 MILLION
ZIMBABWE 1.5 MILLION
KENYA 2.1 MILLION
NIGERIA 2.7 MILLION
ETHIOPIA 3 MILLION
SOUTH AFRICA 4 MILLION

Do you really realize the horror AIDS has visited on Africa, with more than 70% percent of the world’s AIDS population on one continent and of the more than 70% of the world’s AIDS population is Africans.

The global community and their families with HIV, AIDS and Sickle Cell Anemia Disease must increase educational awareness now. This will help improve the quality of life for those living with HIV, AIDS and Sickle Cell Anemia Disease through raising the level of awareness for education, medicine and the nutritional needs for those in Africa, the United States, and around the the world.




May 2, 2007 | 6:33 PM Comments  0 comments

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African American Drivers Searched More Often, Feds Say
Related to country: United States



(UFJ) - Police are more likely to search African American and Hispanic drivers than white drivers, according to a Justice Department study released Sunday.

African American drivers are three times as likely and Hispanic drivers are twice as likely to be searched as white drivers, the study shows. The data show that a similar percentage of drivers of each ethnicity was stopped, 8%-9% in 2005.

Police stopped 18 million drivers in 2005 and found evidence of a crime in about 12% of the searches, according to the report by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics.

"It tells us that there are a lot of things that need closer examination," says Dennis Parker, director of the racial justice program for the American Civil Liberties Union.

"People of all races and ethnicities are stopped at the same rate. It is after the stop that disparities appear."

Matthew Durose, the author of the study, said the survey did not address the reason why police conducted the searches.

"There are countless reasons or circumstances that could lead police to conduct a search after making a traffic stop," Durose said. "There's really no way for us to say this is clearly evidence of racial profiling."

The findings are based on interviews with 63,943 people as part of the Police-Public Contact Survey conducted in 2005 for the Justice Department by the Census Bureau. The people surveyed were asked whether they had face-to-face contact with police in the past year.

The study found that 19% - nearly 1 in 5 people - had personal contact with a police officer in 2005, down from 21% in 2002, the first year of the study.

Young, white men were most likely to have contact with police, the survey found.

More than half the people surveyed said their contact with police involved a traffic stop or accident.

In both 2002 and 2005, police stopped white, black and Hispanic drivers at similar rates.

Police action taken after the initial stop differed among genders, and among African American, Hispanic and white drivers.

Male drivers were three times more likely than female drivers to be arrested, the study found.

African American drivers were twice as likely to be arrested, at 4.5%, than white drivers, at 2.1%, the study showed.

About 3.1% of Hispanic drivers were arrested after a traffic stop.

More Hispanic drivers received tickets than white or black drivers: two thirds, compared with 56% of white and African American drivers.

African American and Hispanic drivers were less likely than white drivers to say police behaved properly during a traffic stop, the survey found.




May 1, 2007 | 11:09 AM Comments  0 comments

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Ebola-Like Virus Kills Fish in Great Lakes
Related to country: Canada




(UFJ) -- A deadly Ebola-like virus is killing fish of all types in the Great Lakes, a development some scientists fear could trigger disaster for the USA's freshwater fish.
Because of a lack of genetic resistance to viral hemorrhagic septicemia, fish populations could be damaged in the same way the smallpox virus struck Native Americans and Dutch elm disease decimated elm trees, says Jim Winton, chief of fish health at the U.S. Geological Survey in Seattle.

The disease has been found in Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, the St. Lawrence Seaway, the Niagara River and an inland lake in New York. The aggressive virus, which causes fish to hemorrhage, was unexpectedly found in the Great Lakes in 2005. Last year, it resulted in large fish kills that struck at least 20 species. Scientists are watching to see whether the disease returns in mid-May when water in the lakes warms to temperatures at which the virus attacks.

"VHS is the most important and dangerous fish virus known worldwide," Winton says. "Its discovery in our fresh water is disturbing and potentially catastrophic."

The United States and Canada try to contain the virus by restricting the transporting of fish and live bait and telling boaters to wash their boats when moving them between lakes. Michigan's Department of Natural Resources has taken the most dramatic action: closing hatcheries that produce three important sport fish - walleye, northern pike and muskellunge.

"The last thing you want to do is get the virus into the hatcheries and become a vehicle for spreading the virus," says Gary Whelan, who runs the state's hatcheries and chairs the multistate Great Lakes Fish Health Committee.

"What's so disturbing is that it's killing fish from so many species and with amazingly high mortality levels," says Paul Bowser, professor of aquatic animal medicine at Cornell University. The virus does not threaten humans, Bowser says. "If you cook the fish, heat will kill the virus," he says.
How VHS got into the Great Lakes is unclear. The dumping of ocean water from an international cargo ship is a suspected cause. Also not ruled out: spawning fish swimming upstream or a bird carrying a diseased fish.

Genetic tests show that the strain of VHS found in the Great Lakes probably originated in the Atlantic Ocean, near New Brunswick, Canada. That places the virus' origin near the start of the St. Lawrence River shipping route that leads to the lakes.

VHS thrives in water of 40 to 59 degrees. Most water in the Great Lakes, which contain about 20% of the world's fresh water, has not hit that temperature yet this year.

"The best-case scenario is that the virus becomes something that lurks in the background and attacks only when conditions are ripe," Whelan says. "I'm not expecting that, but I am hoping."


May 1, 2007 | 1:09 AM Comments  0 comments

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U.S. CONSTITUTION
Related to country: United States


An Act Declaring the So-Called Negro, Mulatto, and Indian
slaves within this dominion, to be real estate
October 1705


I. FOR the better settling and preservation of estates within this dominion,

II. Be it enacted, by the governor, council and burgesses of this present general assembly, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same; That from and after the passing of this act, all negro, mulatto, and Indian slaves, in all courts of judicature, and other places, within this dominion, shall be held, taken, and adjudged, to be real estate (and not chattels;) and shall descend unto the heirs and widows of persons departing this life, according to the manner and custom of land of inheritance, held in fee simple.

III. Provided always, That nothing in this act contained, shall be taken to extend to any merchant or factor, bringing any slaves into this dominion, or having any consignments thereof, unto them, for sale: But that such slaves, whilst they remain unsold, in the posession of such merchant, or factor, or of their executors, administrators, or assigns, shall, to all intents and purposes, be taken, held, and adjudged, to be personal estate, in the same condition they should have been in, if this act had never been made.

IV. Provided also, That all such slaves shall be liable to the paiment of debts, and may be taken by execution, for that end, as other chattels or personal estate may be.

V. Provided also, That no such slaves shall be liable to be escheated, by reason of the decease of the proprietor of the same, without lawful heirs: But all such slaves shall, in that case, be accounted and go as chattels, and other estate personal.

VI. Provided also, That no person, selling or alienating any such slave, shall be obliged to cause such sale or alienation to be recorded, as is required by law to be done, upon the alienation of other real estate: But that the said sale or alienation may be made in the same manner as might have been done before the making of this act.

VII. Provided also, That this act, or any thing therein contained, shall not extend, nor be construed to extend, to give any person, being owner of any slave or slaves, and not seized of other real estate, the right or privilege as a freeholder, meant, mentioned, and intended, by one act of this present session of assembly, intituled, An act for regulating the elections of Burgesses, for settling their privileges, and for ascertaining their allowances.

VIII. Provided also, That it shall and may be lawful, for any person, to sue for, and recover, any slave, or damage, for the detainer, trover, or conversion therof, by action personal, as might have been done if this act had never been made.

IX. Provided always, That where the nature of the case shall require it, any writ De Partitione facienda, or of dower, may be sued forth and prosecuted, to recover the right and possession of any such slave or slaves.

X. Provided, and be it enacted, That when any person dies intestate, leaving several children, in that case all the slaves of such person, (except the widow's dower, which is to be first set apart) shall be inventoried and appraised; and the value therof shall be equally divided amongst all the said children; and the several proportions, according to such valuation and appraisement, shall be paid by the heir (to whom the said slaves shall descend, by virtue of this act) unto all and every the other said children. And thereupon, it shall and may be lawful for the said other children, and every of them, and their executors or administrators, as the case shall be, to commence and prosecute an action upon the case, at the common law, against such heir, his heirs, executors and administrators, for the recovery of their said several proportions, respectively.

XI. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,, That if any widow, seised of any such slave or slaves, as aforesaid, as of the dower of her husband, shall send, or voluntarily permit to be sent out of this colony and dominion, such slave or slaves, or any of their increase, without the lawful consent of him or her in revesion, such widow shall forfeit all and every such slave or slaves, and all other the dower which she holds of the endowment of her husband's estate, unto the person or persons that shall have the reversion thereof; any law, usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding. And if any widow, seized as aforesaid, shall be married to an husband, who shall send, or voluntary permit to be sent out of this colony and dominion, any such slave or slaves, or any of their increase, without the consent of him or her in reversion; in such case, it shall be lawful for him or her in reversion, to enter into, possess and enjoy all the state which such husband holdeth, in right of his wife's dower, for and during the life of the said husband.

April 30, 2007 | 11:52 PM Comments  0 comments

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Killer Algae Haunts California's Shores
Related to country: United States




LOS ANGELES (UFJ) -- A bloom of ocean algae that produces a toxic acid has sickened and killed hundreds of birds, sea lions and dolphins in California, environmentalists said.

Birds and animals have been washing up on shores from San Diego to San Francisco Bay.

In the past week, 40 birds have been taken to the International Bird Rescue Center in San Pedro with symptoms of domoic acid poisoning, which attacks the brain and can cause seizures.

In previous seasons, the center might see seven birds a week, director Jay Holcomb said.

"I have been doing this work for 35 years and I have never seen anything like this as far as the number of species affected, other than an oil spill," Holcomb said Thursday.

Domoic acid is produced by microscopic algae. Birds and sea mammals ingest the acid by eating fish and shellfish who dine on the algae.

The algae population increases or "blooms" every year as the ocean waters warm but this year's bloom seems early, extensive and "very, very thick," said David Caron, who teaches in the biological sciences department at University of Southern California.

"In five years of study I have not seen a bloom this large at this particular time of year," Caron said. "It's having an extraordinary impact on pelicans and many other species."

"There are conceivably thousands of animals being affected," Caron said.

The Wetland and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach had received 73 sick or dead birds since Sunday, assistant director Lisa Birkle said.

The toxin has been swifter and deadlier than usual, she said.

"The concentration of the toxin is so great this year that we haven't had a chance to react to it," Birkle said. "Normally we're able to flush out the toxin with a treatment regimen ... This year they're just coming in dead."

Fourteen sea lions have been treated for domoic acid poisoning at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach. Seven died, said Michele Hunter, the center's director.

Humans can't be harmed by swimming in algae blooms but consuming fish and shellfish tainted with the acid can cause nausea, seizures and even death.

The state Department of Health Services issued a warning against eating sport-harvested shellfish, anchovies, sardines, and both sports-harvested and commercially caught lobsters and crabs.

The warning came early this year. The advisory usually runs from May 1 to Oct. 31.

A domoic outbreak in 2002 and 2003 sickened or killed more than a thousand sea lions and 50 dolphins, said Joe Cordaro, a biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Services.


April 30, 2007 | 9:17 AM Comments  0 comments

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What is West Nile virus?
Related to country: United States





West Nile virus (WNV) is a virus that is spread by mosquitoes. The virus usually infects birds, but it can be spread to humans by mosquitoes that feed on infected birds and then bite humans. The virus cannot be spread by person-to-person contact.

Historically, West Nile virus has been found in parts of Africa, West Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. The virus was identified in the United States for the first time during 1999. West Nile virus is closely related to the virus that causes St. Louis encephalitis (SLE), which has caused illnesses in Georgia residents in the past.



April 30, 2007 | 12:08 AM Comments  0 comments

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Attacks a Threat Abroad, Iraqi Leader Says
Related to country: Iraq


Car Bomb Kills Over 68 Near Shiite Shrine


BAGHDAD (UFJ) - Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told an Iranian envoy Sunday that the persistent attacks in Iraq are also a threat abroad, a pointed warning amid U.S. accusations that the government in Tehran is stoking the violence by supporting Shiite militias.

Al-Maliki met with top Iranian envoy Ali Larijani in Baghdad as Iran agreed to attend a major U.S.-backed regional conference on Iraq set for this week in Egypt, raising hopes that bringing Iraq's neighbors together will help stabilize the country.

"Terrorist operations targeting Iraq will affect all countries in the world that are supposed to be supporting the Iraqi government in its war against terrorism ," al-Maliki said in a statement issued by his office, adding that the prime minister also thanked Iran for agreeing to participate in this week's conference in Sharm el-Sheik.

Larijani said that "countries that want security and stability in the region have no choice but to support Iraq's elected government."

Iran has considerable influence among Shiite parties in Iraq, who now lead the country's government. It is alleged to have links with Shiite militant groups, which is why numerous American politicians and analysts have urged Washington to engage Iran in talks designed to curb the violence in Iraq.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she would not rule out the possibility of a bilateral meeting with Iran at the gathering in Egypt but stressed the focus would stay on Iraq. The Americans have refused to hold one-on-one talks over Iran's disputed nuclear program.

"Well, I think we all know that if in fact everybody believes a secure Iraq is important, then we need to stop the flow of foreign fighters," she said on CNN's "Late Edition."

"A stable Iraq is one in which its neighbors are doing the things that they need to do to help the Iraqis deal with the violent people who are trying to destabilize them, not to encourage and support those violent people."

Iraq has found itself in a difficult position since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, with the government trying to maintain good relations with its predominantly Shiite neighbor while not angering the Americans.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said earlier Sunday that Larijani would raise "some questions and ambiguities about the agenda" in his talks with the Iraqi government.

He wasn't more specific.

The Iranian government has demanded the release of five Iranian officials detained in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil by U.S. troops in January, but Hosseini denied his country had linked its participation at the conference to that demand.

Rice also insisted there was no deal made regarding the detained Iranians in exchange for Iran's participation.

"There was no guarantee. We've talked to the Iraqi government and informed them that the detainees will be dealt with in the normal course," she said.

Iran says the official were diplomats who should not have been detained. The U.S. military has said the Iranians are suspected of links to a network supplying arms to Iraqi insurgents — an accusation that Iran has denied.

The head of the Iranian parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, Alaeddin Boroojerdi, also said Iran's failure to participate in Sharm el-Sheik would lay the Islamic republic open to criticism from the United States.

"Iran should attend the conference, actively and powerfully," Boroojerdi was quoted as saying by Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Separately, Britain said one of its soldiers was shot to death Sunday while on patrol in southern Iraq. The death brings to 146 the number of British troops killed in Iraq since the 2003 invasion — 12 of them this month.

In Baghdad, U.S. forces fired an artillery barrage in southern Baghdad Sunday morning, rocking the capital with loud explosions.

The size and the pattern of the explosions, which began after 9 a.m. and lasted for at least 15 minutes, suggested they were directed at Sunni militant neighborhoods along the city's southern rim. Such blasts have been heard in the evenings but are rare at that time of day.

In a brief statement to The Associated Press, the U.S. military said it fired the artillery from a forward operating base near Iraq's Rasheed military base southeast of Baghdad, but provided no other details.

Iraqis in the southern region of the city said American and Iraqi forces had stepped up their operations in the Dora area of southern Baghdad starting Saturday night.

Elsewhere in Iraq, the death toll from a suicide car bomb attack in the Shiite holy city of Karbala rose to 68 as residents dug through the debris of heavily damaged shops.

American troops also detained 72 suspected insurgents and seized nitric acid and other bomb-making materials during raids on Sunday targeting al-Qaida in Iraq in Anbar province, a Sunni insurgent stronghold west of the capital, and Salahuddin province, a volatile Sunni area northwest of the capital, the U.S. military said.


April 29, 2007 | 2:41 PM Comments  0 comments

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U.S. cites difficulty deporting detainees
Related to country: Cuba


82 inmates cleared but still held at Guantanamo

LONDON (UFJ)-- More than a fifth of the approximately 385 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been cleared for release but may have to wait months or years for their freedom because U.S. officials are finding it increasingly difficult to line up places to send them, according to Bush administration officials and defense lawyers.
Since February, the Pentagon has notified about 85 inmates or their attorneys that they are eligible to leave after being cleared by military review panels. But only a handful have gone home, including a Moroccan and an Afghan who were released Tuesday. Eighty-two remain at Guantanamo and face indefinite waits as U.S. officials struggle to figure out when and where to deport them, and under what conditions.
The delays illustrate how much harder it will be to empty the prison at Guantanamo than it was to fill it after it opened in January 2002 to detain fighters captured in Afghanistan and terrorism suspects captured overseas.
In many cases, the prisoners' countries do not want them back. Yemen, for instance, has balked at accepting some of the 106 Yemeni nationals at Guantanamo by challenging the legality of their citizenship.
Another major obstacle: U.S. laws that prevent the deportation of people to countries where they could face torture or other human rights abuses, as in the case of 17 Chinese Muslim separatists who have been cleared for release but fear they could be executed for political reasons if returned to China.
'Not their problem'
Compounding the problem are persistent refusals by the United States, its European allies and other countries to grant asylum to prisoners who are stateless or have no place to go.
"In general, most countries simply do not want to help," said John B. Bellinger III, legal adviser to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "Countries believe this is not their problem. They think they didn't contribute to Guantanamo, and therefore they don't have to be part of the solution."
A case in point is Ahmed Belbacha, 37, an Algerian who worked as a hotel waiter in Britain but has been locked up at Guantanamo for five years. The Pentagon has alleged that Belbacha met al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden twice and received weapons training in Afghanistan. His attorneys dispute the charges and say he was rounded up with other innocents in Pakistan in early 2002.
On Feb. 22, without explanation, the Pentagon notified Belbacha's lawyers in London that he had been approved to leave Guantanamo. Despite entreaties from the State Department, however, the British government has refused to accept Belbacha and five other immigrants who had lived in the country, because they lack British citizenship.
This month, Clint Williamson, the State Department's ambassador for war crimes, visited Algiers to discuss possible arrangements for the return of two dozen Algerians who remain at Guantanamo, including Belbacha, but no breakthroughs were reported. That country has been slow to accept its citizens.
'Holdup is a mystery'
Zachary Katznelson, a lawyer who represents Belbacha and several other prisoners who have been cleared, said defense attorneys have tried to speed up the process by contacting foreign governments to see if there are any specific obstacles to the return of their clients. In many cases, he said, the prisoners and officials in their home countries are willing to approve the transfer, but the delays persist.
"The holdup is a mystery to me, frankly," said Katznelson, senior counsel for Reprieve, a British legal defense fund. "If the U.S. has cleared these people and they want to go back, I don't understand why they can't just put them on a plane."
Other prisoner advocates said the Bush administration has made its task more difficult by exaggerating the threat posed by most Guantanamo inmates -- officials repeatedly called them "the worst of the worst" -- and refusing to acknowledge mistaken detentions.
Foreign governments have also questioned why U.S. officials should expect other countries to pitch in, given that Washington won't offer asylum to detainees either.
"This is a problem of our own creation, and yet we expect other countries to shoulder the entire burden of a solution," said Ben Wizner, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. "There needs to be a worldwide solution here. The U.S. has to bear some of that burden. It can't simply expect its partners and allies to absorb all its detainees."
The 82 cleared prisoners who remain stuck in limbo come from 16 countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, according to defense attorneys who have received official notification of their clients' status.
The 17 Chinese Muslim separatists make up the largest contingent. Other countries with multiple prisoners awaiting release include Afghanistan, Sudan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan and Yemen.


April 29, 2007 | 10:20 AM Comments  0 comments

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