op-ed: Searching For The Definition Of Leftinistra

There’s a newly made up word on the horizon Leftinistra but what does it mean? Searching for the meaning I wasn’t surprised that it’s not in any dictionary which makes sense being as it’s a made up word.

What was surprising is where the Google search leads.

The word is used to describe liberals. Liberals are also described as sniveling, whining, ungrateful and hate filled mutants. Those who use it claim that the media is securely entrenched in the world of the liberals.

What are the chances that you are within the “moronic” Leftinistra? If you have any liberal leanings it’s pretty good. From the apparent leader of this new word and movement to vilify the left comes 18 ways to be a good liberal. Do you qualify?

Well you just might be part of the leftinista if you think capital punishment is barbaric. If you are pro-choice. If you believe that the government can help individuals achieve the “American Dream.”

You could be a leftie if you think that gun reforms may make for a safer nation.

Do you think that federal funding for artist is a good thing you could be a whiner.

If you think that global warming is more than a farce, yep you too could be a labeled a leftinistian.

If you think that those with different sexual orientation have rights, oops you have to steer to the left fellows.

If you think that AIDS is only spread by needles and sex step off the Leftinistra bus.

Do you think that sex education has a place in schools? Okay you can get back on the bus.

Some of the qualifications for being a libel are pretty silly and aren’t really relevant to anything political so I am not bothering mentioning them.

There is a problem with this editorial. Those who want to spread the hate have themselves filtered into news sources. It’s a little rule that you can’t “attack” those within the same news source. You also at times can’t report on movements because of that rule. So why was it written?

The reason why is simple. During election periods in the United States movements crop up. Some of them are great and have a focus that is for the betterment of socialites. Some though represent a following of hate using any method they can. This particular movement has used the means in the past of challenging the mental stability of those who are liberal. All movements have a right to be reported on.

Name calling is part of the agenda during politcal times and is to be expected. It is also to be expected that those “names” will be researched.

I challenge you to Google the word and see where it leads you.

Olympics Taking Away Water From The People

A senior Chinese government official announced that the Beijing Olympics could be threatening the livelihoods of millions of the Chinese people. Water is being diverted for the games putting a strain on many local water supplies.

A project underway will divert water from southern China to the north with the use of tunnels, dams and canals. Part of the this water is to be used during the summer games. Mr. An of Shaanxi says the diversion of water will have a severe effect.

“In order to preserve the quality of Beijing’s water we have to close all our factories,” he said.

“But we still need to live. So I say the government needs to compensate Shaanxi.”

This isn’t the first time An has been critical of the government’s water management. He also drew attention to the Sanmexia Dam constructed in the 1950s. It has caused flooding from the Yellow River which is was constricted to avoid doing.

An is not the typical communist leader, most are not openly critical of government policies.

Both An’s Shaanxi province and the province of Hebei are being required to pump water to Beijing in time for the games. The northern mostly industrial regions of China is depending on the southern water projects stemming from the Yangtze River. The entire project is due to be completed by 2010 but the government is hopeful that the northern leg of the network will be functioning by this summer. The government has pumped billions of dollars into the hydro project.

Experts are predicting that water demands will increase by 30 percent this summer when visitors are expected to arrive and watch the games in person.

In Hebei a severe drought is going on. The province next to Beijing supplies most of the city’s water at the present time. With a lack of snow and rain the water supply is being stretched. Add on to this the games plus the 16 million who reside in Beijing. The agricultural land is now being threatened because of the lack of water. A quarter million of the residents in the province are already having problems obtaining drinking water.

Four Dead In Bristol, Tennessee Shooting

A fourth victim has died at Bristol Regional Medical Center after being shot by Rusty Rumley, Jr. earlier this Wednesday morning. Rumley shot four people at the Edgemont Towers. It is believed to be a case of domestic violence.

26 year old Rumley, Jr. went to the Edgemont Towers in Bristol this morning shooting at least four before fleeing. The police in the area were searching for the man on Rasnick Hollow Road where he abandoned his pickup and took off on foot. In the end Rumley took his own life.

The Carter County Sheriff’s Office was especially concerned because the man had military experience. The police were warning that the man was armed and dangerous.

Because of the shooting the local schools were put on a high alert. During high alerts the schools are locked down. To enter a school one has to be buzzed in.

Is The World Ready To Take On Drug Resistant TB?

Could this be the disease that we’ve been warned would be the next pandemic? WHO announced on Tuesday that drug resistant TB is spreading faster than medical experts had thought it would.

The strain of TB that drugs do not touch has topped 20 percent in some counties?

Ten years ago, it would have been unthinkable to see rates like this,” said Dr. Mario Raviglione, director of WHO’s “Stop TB” department. “This demonstrates what happens when you keep making mistakes in TB treatment.”

While the WHO survey is the world’s largest one it has flaws. Only half of the world’s countries provided the information collected from 2002 to 2006. In Africa suspected to be the hardest hit only 6 countries reported their findings. This is especially worrisome since the combo of AIDS and drug resistant TB could be a continental disaster.

With the lack of reporting Raviglione says that it is likely entire outbreaks of drug-resistant TB is being missed. Even more worrisome is the spread of XDR-TB. The strain is virtually a death sentence in poor countries. A 2006 outbreak in AIDS patients in South Africa killed almost every one infected within weeks. XDR-TB has been found in 45 countries.

Two of the most populated countries of the world have a high rate of drug-resistant TB, India and China. While theoretically a country that has strong treatment programs for TB should have little to fear China proves that theory could be very wrong. The government says that 94 percent of TB patients complete their first TB treatments.

There’s a huge, gross discrepancy there if they are then reporting 25 percent of the world’s multi-drug resistant TB cases,” said Mark Harrington, executive director of Treatment Action Group, a public health think tank. “They are clearly nurturing a multi-drug resistant TB epidemic and failing to report XDR-TB at all.”

It may not take long for national health systems to be overwhelmed by the number of TB patients they are dealing with.

There was some good news though in the report. Estonia and Latvia are becoming the “models” after being drug resistant TB hot spots 13 years ago. Today after making a substantial investment and hitting the issue straight on their new TB rates are actually falling.

The strain that WHO is tracking does not respond to at least isoniazied and rifampin among the first-line anit-TB drugs and among second-line drugs, is resistant to any fluoroquinolone and at least one of three injectable drugs. Because the list of drugs that no longer pentetate the disease is growing the condition is costly to treat and can be fatal.

While TB isn’t as easy to catch as the common cold it isn’t that hard either. The disease is an airborne carrier so that coughs and sneezes from an infected person increases the risk of those around them.

With the strain that WHO is discussing treatment takes a long time to get the stain controlled. Daily medications for up to two years along with shots is common.

“Multi-drug resistant TB is a threat to every person on the planet,” Harrington said. “It’s not like HIV, where you are only infected through specific actions. TB is a threat to every person who takes a train or a plane.”

Grown Up Time: Neverland Heads To Auction

It’s named for the land where little boys never grow up but unless Michael Jackson pays up it will be known as the ranch that went to auction. Neverland the Los Olivos, California home of Jackson is in serious default. The bank wants its money pronto.

Jackson owes more than $24 million on the property according to Financial Title Co. who has filed their final notice of trustee sale with the Santa Barbara County Superior Court. If Jackson doesn’t pay the full amount by March 19 then it will go to auction right there and then.

The property itself isn’t worth the $24 million asking price. While in 1987 Jackson purchased the ranch for $30 million it has been falling in value since at least 2004 when it was valued at $12 million. The assessor’s office in Santa Barbara assessed it’s value at only $6 million. The key to the higher amount though lays within the ranch itself and the family memorabilia. If the auction takes place everything will be up for grabs from bed linens to the Ferris Wheel that was a focal point of many a Hollywood party.

When Michael Jackson took the ranch he operated it as his own private amusement park. He hosted an Elizabeth Taylor wedding there. In 2003 the charities Oneness and Make-A-Wish had a party hosted by Jackson raising money.

Children were frequent guests to the ranch. According to household staff the kids were allowed free reign when they visited.

With over 2,800 acres its size was perfect for the rides and zoo that were part of a childhood Jackson was denied growing up as a celebrity perhaps. The amusement park features a Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, zipper, spider, sea dragon, wave swinger, super slide, dragon wagon kiddie roller coaster and bumper cars that are no longer in operation.

The ranch is also the center of the many allegations of wrongdoing between Jackson and young boys. The first trial came in 1993 but that case was settled out of court. In 2005 Jackson once again faced the judge and was found not guilty of all 10 counts from the charges he was accused of in 2003. Still the stigma remains.

In 2006 he also was dealing with employees left behind with no payment. The wage bill came to $306,000 plus a $169,000 fine for allowing insurance to lapse.

Jackson hasn’t been to Neverland since 2005. He now resides in Bahrain where he fled after the second child molestation trial.

Anne Frank’s Lost Love Has a Face

He died when he was eighteen at Auschwitz. This boy that made a young girl’s heart flutter now has a face for the world to see. Former childhood friend 81-year-old Earnst Michaelis has released a picture of the boy that Anne Frank loved.

During her time in hiding, Anne Frank wrote “Where can I find help? I simply have to go on living and praying to God that, if we ever get out of here, Peter’s path will cross mine.”

Michaelis and Peter Schiff were close friends during childhood. Growing up in Berlin they parted ways when the war in Germany forced them to part ways. In 1939 at the age of 12 they exchanged photos. They never saw each other again.

Michaelis went to England put of the Kindertransport that saved countless Jewish children. Peter went to Amsterdam where met Anne before her family went into hiding.

Anne wrote about her love of the boy who would never become a man throughout her time in hiding.

Michaelis took his children and grandchildren to Amsterdam on January 18 gifting the Anne Frank museum with photo. A gift given 69 years prior now gives a face to the one boy that helped a young girl survive years hiding in an attic.

“Normally childhood friendships are not for publication,” he told us. “But in this case, I think it is permissible.”

Islands With Rats Lose Their Birds

It may be the year of the rat but the Aleutian Islands is working on evicting the vermin. The action is taking place because of the massive ecosystems that have been changed with the presence of the rodents.

A study out by the University of California, Santa Cruz discovered that not only are introduced rats on Rat Island thriving they have drastically changed the habitat of most of the ecosystem. birds have vanished and so has seaweed. With the change of the seaweed comes more snails, barnacles and other invertebrates.

“When you’re on an island with rats, there are so few birds it’s silent, in contrast to the cacophony on the islands without rats,” graduate student Carolyn Kurle who lead the study said.

With the birds gone the islands see an increase of snails, limpets and other grazers. Those creatures eat more algae and clearing more space for other invertebrates to settle down. The end result is a shoreline stripped of the usual cover of seaweed.

The rat eradication program is expected to begin this summer.

Kurle spent three summers doing intertidal surveys on 32 islands. 17 had rats while the other 15 were free of the rodents. On islands that had rats the nighttime activity was almost deafening. The rodents seem to be everywhere. With that many rats the birds fall victim to their appetite. Rats mainly attack the young birds but if hungry enough will go after the adults. In the end bird breeding is almost impossible to do on an island with rats.

Another study completed by Donald Croll and assistant adjunct professor Bernie Tershy of UCSC’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology shows the direct results of rats and seabirds. Published this February in Conservation Biology the paper reviews a total of 94 published studies.

There is good news. Rat eradication has taken place on 274 islands throughout the world. Once the rats are removed the ecosystem rights itself.

“It’s been done many times,” Croll said. “What’s interesting is the synergy between the research and the conservation efforts. Academic researchers tend to do studies and publish them, and then nothing happens. So it’s very exciting for our students to see that their research can tie in directly with the conservation mission of a large organization like the Nature Conservancy.”

Tears Fall As Kaing Guek Eav Attends Mass Grave Viewing

Kaing Guek Eav was the head of the Khmer Rouge’s notorious S-21 prison. Last year he was taken into by the UN-assisted tribunal. Tuesday he was taken to the killing fields to see what his actions had done in the past.

The man known as Duch is charged with crimes against humanity for his role three decades ago as commandant of the Khmer Rouge’s notorious S-21 prison.

Much has been written on the “killing fields” where over a million people lost their lives. The Khmar Rouge convicted many of those in Cambodia for “pre-revolutionary lifestyles and crimes” sentencing them to the “killing fields”. It was a time where being poor and uneducated was a saving grace for the regime went for those who were educated or had a different ethnic background. Young men and women from peasant families were the primary executioners. The best known of these camps is Cheoung Ek where Duch was taken on Tuesday.

To have a better understanding of the harsh conditions the movie “The Killing Fields” from 1984 tells the story of Dith Pran, a Cambodian journalist sentenced to the death camps.

During the Khmer Rouge’s regime an estimated 1.7 million people died between 1975-1979 from starvation, disease, torture and execution. Duch, 65 is one of the five high ranking Khmer Rouge officials being held for trial by the UN-Cambodian tribunal set in 2006 to bring justice to the survivors of the regime.

Tuesday’s enactment was closed to public and media. It is part of a process that takes those accused to the crime scene so that they can be questioned about what happened in the past.

Duch wept at times Tuesday when explaining what happened by his hand.

“We noticed that he was feeling pity, tears were rolling down his face two or three times,” Reach Sambath said.

One spot in particular seemed to bring tears to the chief of S-21. A tree that executioners used to dispose of children by bashing their heads on it’s trunk.

Shallow graves display the remains and shreds of clothing left of those who died during the genocide remain visible to show the world the crimes of the Khmer Rouge. At Choeung Ek tourists visit the site where 16,000 men, women and children were tortured and lost their lives.

At the end of the tour is a Buddhist reliquary filled with 8,985 skulls. The bones that fill the stupa bear witness to the devices of torture that resulted in the lost. Hammer strikes, hoes, bamboo sticks and bullets put an end to the misery that those sentenced to the “prison” dealt with during their time spent.

Duch was taken to Choeung Ek from the tribunal’s detention centre. On Wednesday he is set to visit his former workplace, S-21. The Security Prison 21 had been Tuol Svay Prey High School prior to August 1975. Classrooms were tranformed into iron barred cells and torture chambers. Most of those that were sent to S-21 were former Khmer Rouge members who had been accused of betraying the party or revolution. Waterboarding was a common form of torture. Most of those sent to the prison lasted for two or three months before being executed in the killing fields.

S-21 is now the Tuol Sleng genocide museum. It is thought that of the thousands that were sent into its walls only 14 survived.

The trials may begin later this year. It is feared that the surviving leaders of the regime will be dead prior to facing the justice they deserve. Pol Pot, the movement’s head man died in 1998.

18 Theriault Kids Receiving Government Pension

Eighteen members of the Arcadian family Theriault have made it to the Guinness book of records for the most siblings over the age of 65. Between 1920 and 1941 Eugene and Alice Theriault welcomed seven sons and 12 daughters into their Grand Falls home.

In 2007 all 19 siblings were claiming government pensions until August when Yvonne died at the age of 87.

Between the siblings there have been 40 children and 46 grand-kids spread out from Grand Falls, Ontario, Quebec and the United States.

“While the 19 siblings were all born in Grand Falls where a few now remain, many have moved to the United States, Ontario and Quebec,” Yvon Cyr husband to the baby of the bunch Judy said Monday.

“It makes it difficult to organize family reunions.”

Last July the 13 children of Edgar and Anna LeBlanc from Moncton, N.B. established a new Guinness record for “Most Siblings to Reach Pension Age.” The news coverage prompted the Theriault’s to vie for the rightful claim.

The LeBlanc’s do beat the Theriault’s on expanding their brood though. The siblings children total 55 with the 100th grand-baby born recently.

How Low Can We Go?

As the United States hovers on economic disaster are those to the North in as much danger? As the stock market dangles close to a world wide free fall is there anywhere that’s safe from a United States recession?

Bush touts about the “vibrant economy” but those who watch the stocks are not being put to ease by the United States President’s claims that all is well. In 2007 the Dow Jones only posted a seven per cent gain. Within only 17 days in January that gain was wiped out. Bush is offering up a $150 billion lifeline but that shot in the dark may not be enough to calm international investors.

Within just hours of Bush’s pep speech U.S. stocks went right back into their downward spiral. Not encouraging at all. In Toronto the main stock indexed fall 605 points. That’s the biggest drop in a one day period since the aftermath of 9/11. The only saving grace to stop that spiral was a 75 point base cut to interest by the U.s. Federal Reserve matched by an additional 25 point cut in Canada.

What we fear happening is that we are in the early stages of a systemic financial meltdown,” explains Eric Sprott, renowned Toronto fund manager, well-known for his dire view on the U.S. economy. “I know those are very powerful words. But when you look around at the home builders and the monoline insurers who are down 80 per cent and the big U.S. banks down 50 per cent, those are monumental declines, and they’ve been incredibly abrupt. What’s this telling us? All these huge financial institutions are over-levered.”

Is anyone panicking yet?

Iran Has ‘Cure’ For Homosexuals

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In Iran, homosexual relationships are banned but sex change operations are illegal. Changing genders can be the only way out for homosexuals in a country where death is the punishment for the sexual orientation.

“Islam has a cure for people suffering from this problem. If they want to change their gender, the path is open,” says Hojatol Islam Muhammad Mehdi Kariminia, the religious cleric responsible for gender reassignment.

In Iran homosexuality is a crime befitting death. Since 1979 sex change operations have been legal when Ayatollah Khomeini passed a fatwa authorising them for “diagnosed transsexuals.” Today only Thailand has as many sex change operations taking place.

Once the operation has been completed the change of gender is recognised on birth certificates. The government even provides up to half of the cost for the surgery. Muhammad Mehdi Kariminia likens the process to “changing wheat to flour to bread” making it not a sin. Karminia says that homosexuality disrupts the social order and that transsexuals are separate from homosexuals.

Dr. Mir-Jalali is a Paris trained surgeon. His is also the leading specialist in sex change operations in Iran with claims of over 450 operations in the last 12 years. He says that many of his patients struggle to figure out what to do as they do not fit within their society.

“Transsexuals feel that their body doesn’t match how they feel,” he says. “Whatever you do, psychiatrists, pills, prison, punishment, nothing helps”.

Being diagnosed as a transsexual changes everything in Iran. The diagnose makes the feminine tendencies that some homosexuals have become a medical condition instead of a “sin” against nature. After the initial diagnosis and the operation is scheduled a person is allowed to begin cross dressing.

Although it is legal many families are against the operations going as far as disowning their children.

Griffin Claims British Government Knew Of Detainees Being Tortured

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Former SAS soldier Ben Griffin laid claims today in a press conference that Britain operated with the United States in covert operatives. He further stressed that senior officials in Britain knew that detainees were being tortured by the Americans.

According to Griffin , since 2001 the British government was aware of the tortures going on.

“This task force has been responsible for the detention of hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals in Afghanistan and Iraq,” Mr Griffin told an event hosted by the Stop the War Coalition.

The shocking allegations today come as the nation is just admitting that the U.S. touched down in Diego Garcia to refuel during rendition flights in 2002. The government is claiming that they were unaware that the Americans used the area for “torture” flights until recent American admission of the fact.

Griffin claimed that while the government has been vocal about the closing of Guantanamo Bay, it remained silent concerning secretive prisons in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He claims that Jack Straw, Margaret Beckett, David Miliband, Geoff Hoon, Des Browne, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown all must have been aware of the tortures in the joint venture with the United States.

“Throughout my time in Iraq I was in no doubt that individuals handed over to our American colleagues would be tortured,” he added. “I have no doubt in my mind that non-combatants I personally detained were handed over to the Americans and subsequently tortured.”

School Staff Tells Two Students to Drop Their Pants

Two Grade 8 students at Florida Pitt Waller were told to take off their shoes, socks and pants by the lunch lady and a female custodian, who suspected the kids of stealing $180. The mother of at least one of the boys is outraged.

The two Denver boys were asked to strip in the middle of the lunchroom in full view of other students.

Teachers and custodians seeing what was going on, intervened to stop the embarssment. The police were called to the school but declined to press charges against the lunchroom staff.

“I think they really did overstep their boundaries. I think they should have got on the phone and called me and let me know what was going on instead of walking up to my son and making him strip down to his drawers and accusing him of stealing money and telling him afterwards what the situation was about,” Mrs. Cleere, one of the mothers of the two boys said.

Later, the money was found where it should have been all along.

“I Can’t Breathe”

Did American Airlines just let a woman die? That’s what Carine Desir’s cousin says. Antonio Oliver alleges that an attendant on the flight at first refused to give the woman oxygen.

Desir had heart disease. On a flight home from Port-au-Prince, Haiti the 44 year old woman began to feel ill after eating a meal. She refused oxygen twice before the attendant finally on the third request honoured her request. The oxygen tank that was brought out was empty though. A second tank was brought over and it too proved to be empty.

At that point Desir was placed on the floor and a passenger who was a nurse administered CPR. A box that appears to have been a defibrillator was applied but that equipment also proved faulty.

During this time Oliver requested for the plane to land right away so that Desir could be taken to hospital. The pilot agreed to divert to Miami 45 minutes. During the time that the diversion was taking place Desir died. Her last words were, “I can’t breathe.”

Two doctors and two nurses on board worked on Desir before pronouncing her death. The flight changed course and continued to John F. Kennedy International Airport after Desir’s body was moved to first class covered by a blanket.

Op-Ed: Does The Legislature Really Need The Lord’s Prayer To Operate?

Does the Lord’s Prayer belong in the Ontario’s Legislature? It has been recited there for over 100 years but it just may be time to move beyond a Christian prayer in a province of such diversity. At least Premier Dalton McGuinty thinks it may be time.

That idea is causing quite a few citizens and politicians to be a little ticked off. The prayer has already been removed from public schools and municipal council meetings. Still there are those who do not want the prayer removed from one of the last vestiges in the government where it still remains.

There are many reasons behind those who want the prayer to remain from saying the prayer is part of the heritage of Ontario to believing that Canada is a Christian country and must retain its Christian flavour.

“Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.”

The words of the prayer could be considered to some as ecumenical in spirit. It comes straight from the New Testament. Or did it? According to Rabbi Bernard Baskin and The Interpreter’s Biblethe prayer itself comes from Jewish tradition. But does it matter where the prayer came from?

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:6) he chides “hypocrites” who pray in public in order to be seen and heard, and “pagans” who “babble.” Rather, he counsels the faithful: “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.”

Maybe if those in the government took the advice of Jesus and prayed in private then this wouldn’t be an issue.

Gee, McGuinty just may be right on this one.

Raul Castro Named President Of Cuba

Raul Castro is the new leader in Cuba. The Cuban parliament named Fidel’s brother as the new head of Cuba on Sunday. The vote came just five days after Fidel Castro announced he was retiring.

With Raul in place there is likely to be no major shift in the way the communist government operates on the small island. Many Cubans had been hoping for modest economic reforms that would improve the population’s daily live.

Raul has stated that he plans on consulting with Fidel on all major decisions of state and the parliament approved that proposal. The new number 2 position in the government left vacant by Raul will now be 77 year old Jose Ramon Machado. He fought along with the Castro brothers in the Sierra Maestra during the late 1950’s.

The new president said the nation’s sole legal party “is the directing and superior force of society and the state.”

“This conviction has particular importance when because the founding and forging generation of the revolution is disappearing,” Raul Castro added.

The U.S. has said the change from one Castro to another would not be significant, calling it a “transfer of authority and power from dictator to dictator light.”

Cuba’s parliament now must choose a new 31 member ruling body called the Council of State. The Council’s president serves as the head of state and government.

Since July 31, 2006 Raul Castro has been acting of the country’s leader. On that date Fidel Castro had emergency intestinal surgery and ceded his powers to his younger brother.

Transition in Cuba?” asked Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose country is now a major economic ally of Cuba. “The transition occurred 49 years ago, from that capitalism, dominated by imperialism, (under which Cuba) was a colony, to a socialist Cuba. The transition will continue marching forward, always with Fidel at the forefront.”

op-ed: A CJ’s Take On Vantage Point

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Vantage Point starring Dennis Quaid, William Hurt, Forest Whitaker and Matthew Fox is an intellectual thriller. It’s also a movie that highlights one of broadcast news shortcomings. Censorship.

Without being a journalist one character played by Forest Whitaker showed how ordinary citizens can have a clearer view of the news around them than those in front of the television.

Broadcast news censors what is seen and heard to basically cover themselves in the political agenda. That’s not always a bad thing but highlighting on only the positives can give a very distorted view of what is in the background.

Whitaker’s character armed with a digi-cam and a sense of wonder was able to have a better overall take on the story because he wasn’t bound by the higher ups. He was his higher up.

Perhaps that is one of the fears that mainstream news has when it comes to citizen journalists. While on Digital Journal journalists do have to back up their stories they have a freer reign when it comes to reporting on the news. There are no censors bearing down as long as a story is honest.

That’s not to say that CJ’s are above the law or even protected for journalist protections. 24 year old Tom Wolf went to jail for protecting a video that he took of San Francisco police and demonstrators over the Group of 8 summit in 2005. In France it is illegal for non-accredited journalists to record acts of violence making it more difficult in that nation for citizen journalists to report news taking place in front of them.

Still more and more people are turning to citizen journalism to report the news. Allowing a new brave breed to challenge those who perhaps would rather the “underdogs” remain quiet. Wael Abbas is another who has stood up to right wrongs by posting the truth. His report of abuses by the Egyptian police resulted in arrests but at a cost. Abbas has spent time in jail for covering his world.

As the world grows closer together through media common citizens may become the new news source, one that the public can trust to tell more of the story than those on the air. With that will come additional responsibilities to protect sources and chance imprisonment or worse. The new age of the news is upon us will we be ready to deliver?

Honeybees And CCD: Are We Closer To An Answer

Honeybees in North America have been dying. Researchers call the “killer” Colony Collapse Disorder. The hunt is on to find the cause of this disorder as crops lay in the balance. If the honeybee leaves the scene so do many of the nation’s crops.

The virus that could be the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder may have been discovered. After studying the DNA of honeybees in both stricken hives and healthy ones the Israeli acute paralytic virus was found in 25 out of 30 sick colonies. Scientists are trying to figure out how a virus most commonly found in Australia made it’s way to the United States where it had never shown up before. Australian honeybees were starting to be imported in 2004. Is there any coincidence that was the same year that reports came of declining hives?

It seems the case is solved. Right? Wrong. Skeptics doubt that the Australian viruses are the true cause of the sick honeybees. After all in the countries where this virus is common place the bees don’t get sick.

Another twist to the story is that the virus was indeed in the U.S. for at least two years prior to the Australian arrivals. New research shows that there have been dozens of strains of the virus in honeybees of North America.

In the lab this virus may indeed kill honeybees. The thing though is scientists don’t know how much of the virus to give to stimulate what is happening in the wild. An overdose of the virus in the lab may equal death while an actual dose in the wild has a happy buzzing bee pollinating the flowers.

Another problem is hives don’t come with maid service. Those bees are just like little kids bringing home all sorts of lovely germs and viruses. This is nothing new, it’s life. Trying to discover just which germ, which virus is killing the bees has turned into a needle haystack job.

So do researchers know the cause of CCD? The verdict won’t be in until the spring when the honeybees return. We hope.

Ancestry Visas May End In Britain

Portsmouth in England Map. Image: http://www.rundleholdings.co.uk/

For more than 35 years ancestry visas allowed for some Australians an inside track to citizenship. That could be a thing of the past within two years. These visas came into play in 1972.

The British government is overhauling its citizenship rules. Part of the changes that will take place is the ancestry route that allowed for Commonwealth citizens over 17 to be granted residency if they could prove a grandparent was born in England. After five years of residing in Britain they can then apply for citizenship.

What is now being proposed is people seeking citizenship must prove they are worthy by working on community activities.

A draft of the plans should be brought to the table by the middle of the year. All overhauls will not begin to start until 2010.

Canada Remains Quiet On Agreement Between U.S. During Civil Emergencies

On February 14 in Texas the United States and Canada agreed to help each other out in the case of civil emergencies. The signed agreement was not announced by neither the Canadian government nor Canadian Forces.

The U.S.’s military Northern Command did publicize the agreement that was signed by Gen. Gene Renuart and Canadian Lt.-Gen. Marc Dumais, head of Canada Command.

The lack of communication has been criticized by the Canadian left wing.

It’s kind of a trend when it comes to issues of Canada-U.S. relations and contentious issues like military integration. We see that this government is reluctant to disclose information to Canadians that is readily available on American and Mexican websites,” said Stuart Trew, a researcher with the Council of Canadians.

There is also work underway for both nations to have a joint plan to protect common infrastructure such as roadways and oil pipelines. Trew asked is if was going to be possible that American troops could be seen in Canada for minor threats to a pipeline or roadway.

Who would be in charge if the United States troops entered Canada during a civil emergency? Commander David Scanlon says that in the event that U.S. military troops entered Canadian soil they would be under the tactical control of the Canadian Forces but they would still be under the command of the U.S. military.

According to Scanlon the reason that this agreement has not been announced by Canada is simple. It still requires approval from both nations and that decision has yet to been decided on.

Ralph Nader Begins Campaign Trail

Ralph Nader. – Photo courtesy of Nader.org

Ralph Nader is back on the campaign trail. Nader has run in the last five campaigns as an independent and is back on the trail to attempt to get in the Oval Office. In 2004 he only got a tiny share of the vote. Could this attempt be different?

The 73 year old Nader announced his plans on NBC’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday. He stated that neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are addressing the problems that are facing the American public.

Nader called Washington “corporate occupied territory” that turns the government against the interest of its own people.

“In that context I have decided to run for president,” Nader said.

Those in the know are not surprised by Nader’s announcement. Obama doesn’t seem to be overly impressed with the consumer advocate.

“He seems to have a pretty high opinion of his own work.”

The “New” Muslim Country: Kosovo

The Republic of Kosovo is a mainly Muslim country but don’t expect to see a shipload of extremist venturing off to terrorize the world, the country wants to be known as a peaceful laid back nation.

“Our Islam is ‘lite’ – like Coke Lite or Marlboro Light cigarettes,” said Ilmi Krasniqi, an imam at one of five mosques in the eastern town of Gnjilane. “This is not Baghdad, and what goes on in Saudi Arabia cannot happen here.”

While tensions swirl around the newly formed republic, religious tensions are not the source of riots.

Perhaps one of the reasons that this tone has already started to take shape is that the government itself is secular. Religious leaders can concentrate on peace and distance themselves from radical actions.

Of course like anywhere else in the world some radicals will be present. Last October Agron Abdullahu pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide weapons to five other Muslims in a plot to attack Fort Dix. The 25 year old is a native of Kosovo but was residing in the United States.

The chief imam in Gnjilane, Agim Hyseni says that Muslims in Kosovo have distanced themselves from extremist ideology and acts.

Could it be that a nation that has been as war torn as this one could show others how to achieve peace?

“The people here feel no empathy for those kind of acts,” he said. “They know very well what terrorism is because they’ve suffered through so many terrorist acts.”

Terrorism has meaning for those who live there.
During the 1998-1999 war between ethnic Albanians and those loyal fo Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic an estimated 10,000 people died in this nation.

Kosovo natives insist that there isn’t a problem between those of Christian faith and those who practice Islamic beliefs.

Stephen Schwartz, executive director of the Center for Islamic Pluralism, a Washington-based think tank, contends Kosovo will become a model of religious pluralism in Europe.

“Albanians, although Muslim in their majority, are fanatics only about their appreciation for America. Albanian Islam is moderate, and constitutes a bulwark against radicalization of European Muslims,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s any other Muslim country in the world where there’s so much Christian missionary activity that goes on undisturbed,” Schwartz added.

It would be a pleasant change to have a newly formed nation show the world what peace looks like. Hopefully the future will show that those of Kosovo can pull off this feat.

Japan Launches High Speed Internet Satellite

Japan launched a rocket carrying a satellite that may speed up the Internet on Saturday evening. The WINDS satellite promises to deliver speeds up to 1.2 gigabytes per second.

The WINDS satellite is a joint venture between Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The rocket took off for space at 5:55 p.m. from Japan’s Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space Center.

If the satellite proves to be a successful subscribers with dishes will be able to surf the net at an amazing speed.

“Among other uses, this will make possible great advances in telemedicine, which will bring high-quality medical treatment to remote areas, and in distance education, connecting students and teachers separated by great distances,” JAXA said.

Virtual Fence Ready On Mexican Border

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A $20 million virtual fence is ready to service a 28 mile stretch of the Mexican border announced Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. The announcement was made during a review of border control efforts.

The review also allowed officials to reveal the higher fines for employers who hire illegal immigrants. The fine will be increased to $16,000 per illegal hire from the current $11,000.

The goal of the fence is to use more technology to fight back illegal border crossings and human smuggling. The 700 mile fence is still being planned.

Both Clinton and Obama suggested during Thursday’s debate the use of high tech surveillance would lessen the need for the huge border fence.

Homeland Security is also getting another unmanned aerial vehicle bringing the count to four for patrols. By year’s end they hope to have six aircraft up and running. They also plan to go from six ground based mobile radar surveillance systems to 40 this year.

“In some form or fashion, technology is going to be virtually every place on the border, but it’s not necessarily going to be in the configuration of P28,” Chertoff said.

President Bush has asked Congress this month for an additional $775 million to build more fencing and install high tech surveillance equipment along the border between Mexico and the United State

Birth Of A New Nation: U.S. Embassy Personnel Evacuate Kosovo

The U.S. is evacuating all nonessential personnel in Kosovo following Thursday’s attack on the embassy leaving walls blackened from fires. The building will remain closed until Monday or Tuesday. Ambassador Cameron Munter is staying behind.

Even though there are no specific threats against staff members at the embassy spokesman Bill Wanlund said the staff is still in a heightened state of alert. The United States has warned Serbia that it has a responsibility to protect its assets.

“They’d better get it, because they have a fundamental responsibility to protect our diplomats and our embassy and to protect American citizens,” said Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns. “What happened yesterday in Belgrade was absolutely reprehensible.”

Burns said that there were not enough security personnel protecting the embassy when Thursday’s riots broke out. The Serbians are protesting the announcement by Kosovo that it is an independent nation last weekend.

The British and German embassies were also attacked on Thursday, as well as a Nike shop and a McDonald’s. Demonstrators managed to get into one of the buildings at the U.S. embassy on Thursday. According to Burns it was a building that is rarely used and the rioters were unable to get any documents or embassy materials.

Little Sister To The Rescue

Karma Brown of Ontario was only 32 when she found out that she had cancer and her treatment would leave her unable to have children. She had only been dating her boyfriend Adam for three weeks when she found out the heartbreaking news.

Karma and Adam faced a tough choice very early into their relationship, children or no children. The couple have remained together in the three years that followed. The couple knew though that when push came to shove that they wanted to have children and they wanted to be together when they did. Before starting her cancer treatment Brown had her eggs removed and fertilized with Adam’s sperm, freezing them for a time in the future.

The treatments put Brown’s cancer in remission. The couple then tried to use the eggs to achieve their goal of children without success.

Enter into the picture little sister Jenna Davis. Davis couldn’t imagine her sister without kids and didn’t think twice about offering her womb. She is now six months pregnant with her sister’s child.

“My kids — Emily is five and Gavin is three — to them this is completely normal. We just said Auntie Karma’s tummy is broken so mummy’s tummy is going to carry their baby.”

Officer Protecting Clinton In Dallas Dead After Crash

Hillary Clinton

A police motorcycle officer has died while escorting Hillary Rodham Clinton’s motorcade. The accident happened in Dallas but there are no details on the crash. Clinton plans on placing a call to the family.

Clinton told reporters at a Dallas rally that she had just learned of the accident.

“This reminds us once again what the men and women in law enforcement do every single day,” Clinton said.

The officer was a veteran of the Dallas police force since 1988. He was escorting Clinton’s entourage to Oak Cliff when he lost control of his motorcycle.

The accident occurred on the Houston Street viaduct when the Kawasaki the officer was riding hit a concrete abutment.

Troy Bush, HD Chopper 8 pilot, estimated that the officer was thrown 20 yards after the impact.

The officer was rushed to Methodist Medical Center.

The fallen officer’s name has not been released.

Morals And Cheating May Mix Well

A new study shows those who have a sense of moral superiority may not be as ethical as you would think. The study found that those who describe themselves as honest and generous may also blur the lines when it comes to acts like cheating.

While those who are in this category do tend to lean to helping out by volunteering, the lines between right and wrong are often a little blurry.

One example is a medical student who wants to become a doctor to help others may cheat on an exam that will allow them to achieve that goal.

The study was published in the November issue of Journal of Applied Psychology. Researchers found that in people who think of themselves as having a high moral standard can be among the worst cheaters out there. If you think about the actions of some of the highly publicized “preachers” out there like Jim Bakker (fraud convict) and Ted Haggard (meth buyer) the study makes a little bit of sense.

“The principle we uncovered is that when faced with a moral decision, those with a strong moral identity choose their fate (for good or for bad) and then the moral identity drives them to pursue that fate to the extreme,” said researcher Scott Reynolds of the University of Washington Business School in Seattle. “So it makes sense that this principle would help explain what makes the greatest of saints and the foulest of hypocrites.”

The researchers found that these people also consider themselves an “honest cheat”. The more competitive the playing field the more often a pattern of cheating seems to appear.

The study taken on by Reynolds and University of Washington colleague Tara Ceranic surveyed about 230 college students with an average age of 21. The survey measures the moral identity of the participates with 13 questions dealing with certain characteristics such as generosity, working hard, honesty, compassion and social mores that are associated with morals. Those surveyed were also asked if they had cheated by any one of thirteen cheating behaviours.

The answers showed that cheating was commonplace. 90 percent of those surveyed admitted to committing at least one of the 13 cheating behaviours.

Those who scored high on both moral identity and considered that cheating was morally wrong though were the least likely to cheat. On the other hand the worst of the cheaters identified themselves as “moral” yet considered the cheating could be ethically justifiable in certain situations.

“If they think it’s wrong, they’ll never do it,” Reynolds told LiveScience. “If they think it’s OK, they do it in spades.”

Researchers also surveyed 290 managers finding very similar results. In that survey the participants were asked about 17 workplace “no-no’s” like using company services for personal use, padding an expense account and padding time sheets. The managers that had high moral identities were the ones more likely to engage in such behaviour.

“When people have a strong moral identity, they think of themselves as great moral people, their behavior tends to go to the extremes,” Reynolds said.

Op-Ed: I Don’t Think I Was There, Were You?

The ongoing debate over creationist and evolution theories will continue until the lights on this planet have been put out. Because both are theories the clear and true answer may never be known.

While scientifically evolution makes more sense of the two theories there are just as many who will argue for the religious method.

When it comes to education though which way should children be taught?

Common sense when it comes to science would make teaching evolution theory more relevant than creationism. Most of the world uses this theory as it makes sense with other aspects of the research of the past. We know that species evolve.

Florida is in the news right now because they are finally allowing for the teaching of evolution but with code words like “change over time”. The Florida Family Policy Council is jumping into the fray saying that it is against teaching the theory of evolution as fact is wrong. This group is also behind the drive to have gay marriages banned in the state.

In the 17th century Creationism was the only theory in town. But at the same time they had no idea what carbon copying was. They also believed that the only One strong enough to cease life on the Earth was by God. We know that is not the case today. Man has the capabilities to do that feat all on his own.

On both sides of the spectrum we have those who insist that their side is the only true and honest answer. Could both sides be wrong? Or could they both be right?

No one was walking around when this planet came into existence. No one saw the first human born. No one was able to write out a scientific explanation that would lead us to the promised land at that time.

We do know that man evolved throughout the ages. There is plenty of evidence of that fact. We know that in the past humans may not have been the mental giants that they are today. (Of course if you venture into the TV arena and watch Family Guy that mental giant statement is very much over rated, eh?) We don’t know, not for certain how the beginning started.

For many in the scientific community the theory that one supreme powerful entity looked around, got bored and decided to “make” the universe seems like a fairy tale. For just as many who believe in God that theory makes as much or more sense than a munch of dust got together and decided to hang out long enough for a galaxy to be formed. The end result is two opposing groups ready to battle it out.

But who was there? Who knows for sure?

Is it possible that both theories are on track?

As one who doesn’t think that the Bible was written in stone I have a harder time believing that God did the whole shebang in seven measly days. I believe in the art of science that says that wasn’t the way it happened. Of course seven days back then to the people who started the Bible could have been a heck of a long time. Seven days, seven million years……it is all relative in the big picture.

It is possible though that if God exists he started the ball rolling. Came up with a “killer” idea to play with and let nature take its course. He allowed for his idea to go through some serious changes, playing around with it at times. Who knows?

But for the sake of the children growing up it makes sense that they do know that carbon dating does make this big rock a lot older than what the theories of the Bible says it is. They deserve to know that man changed over time. They deserve to have all the theories laid out for exploration. Maybe, just maybe one of those kids will get curious enough to discover an answer that makes sense for everyone.

Isn’t that what education is all about? Unleashing a curiosity about the world and then going on to understand what is not known is what the root of education should be. It’s the rock that I want for my kids at least.

Oxford Wants To Know Why People Believe In God

Researchers at the University of Oxford has asked for a $4 million to study why the human race embraces the belief of God. The grant will bring together anthropologists, theologians, philosophers and other academics to ponder that question.

The Ian Ramsey Center for Science and Religion is starting a three year study to discover if the belief in a divine being is part of the basic human makeup.

“There are a lot of issues. What is it that is innate in human nature to believe in God, whether it is gods or something superhuman or supernatural?” said Roger Trigg, acting director of the center.

Trigg says that from the research done on a anthropological and philosophical level shows that faith in God is a universal human impulse. Most cultures have a fundamental belief system in place even as that core has cooled in Britain and western Europe.

“One implication that comes from this is that religion is the default position, and atheism is perhaps more in need of explanation,” he said.

The funding is coming for that U.S. based John Templeton Foundation. The foundation funds groups that deal with questions springing forth from the laws of natures and the issues within spirituality.

Giant Snakehead Fish Found in British River

Monster … snakeheads eat everything they see and can even kill humans. Picture: The Sun

The giant Snakehead is causing some in England to panic. The fish with razor sharp teeth from South East Asia has been known to eat anything in it’s path including humans. If it has breed it could cause an environmental crisis.

The fish was caught by a fisherman Andy Alder in Lincolnshire.

“It had a gob full of razor-sharp teeth. To be honest it looked terrifying.”

The fear from conservationists is that the fish could invade the waters killing off native species. It is considered the ultimate invasive species. This fish can survive even out of the water for up to four days.

The fish was believed to have been smuggled in for an aquarium and released illegally into the waters.

Kenneth Roth Denied Visa To Russia

Russian has denied a visa for the head of the US based Human Rights Watch. Kenneth Roth was refused the visa that he applied for to attend the launch of a report being released from his group.

“It is the first time that a Human Rights Watch official has not been given a visa since the fall of the Soviet Union,” Kenneth Roth told a press conference in Moscow, speaking by telephone from New York.

This refusal highlights the Russian government’s “pattern of harassment” when it comes from non-governmental groups. The study that was completed prior to the refusal had stated that Russian has been blocking independent activism with a series of new regulations.

the study is titled “Cut Red Tape That Stifles NGOs”. It focuses on the lack of freedom of expression within the nation of Russia. According to the study conducted with testimonies from six Russian cities the law is paralysing many organisations.

The report says that the southern region of Chechnya has been one of the areas that has had a major interference with free speech, human rights and opposition politics.

Fire on Queen Street West Brings Black Smoke to Toronto’s Downtown Core

Those working in downtown Toronto today may have to deal with traffic diversions as the city woke to a 6-alarm blaze at Queen St. W and Portland Streets. The fire broke out around 5 a.m. in a three-storey building.

The flames quickly spread to other buildings in the area made up of storefronts with apartments on the upper levels. Emergency workers are still attacking the blaze. There are concerns about the structural damage on the block.

“The walls of the structure are beginning to buckle,” said Chief Bill Stewart.

Black smoke can be seen from the area. At least 30 emergency vehicles are on scene. Firefighters will be on scene for most of the day.

No injuries have been reported. TTC buses are in the area sheltering those who had to leave their homes. The Bathurst and Queen St. W. streetcars are being diverted around the area.

The area is filled with fabric stores and hip one of a kind clothing stores.

Update: The Spadina streetcar is not running along this area at all.

F Word On Restaurant Bill Ticks Off Guests

When ten diners at Joe Delucci’s Italian restaurant in Bird Street, Lichfield, Staffordshire received their tab they were shocked by some of the wording. A very offensive $0.00 item appeared on the cheque.

Last Friday the group from Walsall went to the restaurant to enjoy dinner. The group of ladies complained about the poor service they received but didn’t expect to get a message about that complaint on their bill. Above a item they didn’t even order was the following:

1 SUCK MY D@@@ F@@@ FACE

Diner Clair Watkin opened up about the meal.

“We actually booked the table for 8 o’ clock in the evening, by the time they had taken our order it was quarter to nine and we didn’t actually receive our food until quarter past 10.”

She added: “I’d like a written apology from the restaurant and I’d also like some compensation.

“I think that the way that we’ve been spoken to is absolutely outrageous.”

The owner Mr. Langsdon says that the matter is being looked into. He also said that the message was meant to be seen only by the kitchen staff and wasn’t sure how it ended up on the bill.

He said: “That shouldn’t come out on the bill, so we’ve got to find out what’s gone wrong there.

“But we have apologised unreservedly to the girls concerned and said that they’re very welcome to come back and have a free meal and we’d like them to.”

For some reason I doubt the ladies will return to the eatery. Would you?

Matthew Lee Isn’t Going Away

Have your heard of journalist Matthew Lee? If you rely on Google to get your news then you won’t be seeing any of his most recent articles. Google News has blacklisted his site claims the whistle-blowing reporter.

Since 1987 Lee has been running the Inner City Press, an online newspaper that focuses on the inner city to Wall Street to the United Nations. Lee is known as a maverick who has been a thorn in the side of the United Nations.

The journalist is often controversial but has had many first rate articles that have shown the darker side of the United Nations. In 2006 he drew attention to human rights abuses by the Ugandan People’s Defense Force during a U.N. disarmament program.

That was before Google announced that it was partnering up with the UNDP to achieve anti-poverty goals. Lee questioned the Internet giant why it hadn’t signed a global human rights and anti-censorship compact. The reaction from Google was frosty.

I’ve been covering … U.N. stories, three to four a day, for two years, and for the last two years there’s been no problem at all,” Lee said. “Then that Friday, I received the e-mail. There’s something a little skeezy here. I think that Google got involved with the U.N. on these Millennium goals and thought, this is the United Nations, if they tell you some small Web site is a thorn in their side and there’s a credible reason you could remove them from your news service, you do it.”

The letter Lee is referring to came on Feb. 8 letting him know that he was now out of the loop when it came to being included on Google News.

“We periodically review news sources, particularly following user complaints, to ensure Google News offers a high quality experience for our users,” it said. “When we reviewed your site we’ve found that we can no longer include it in Google News.”

Lee suspects that someone at UNDP had urged Google to “de-list” him. The action by Google basically implies that Lee’s articles aren’t a legitimate news source.

Google News requires that a news source has more than two employees to be considered in their radar. Lee doesn’t give the number of employees Inner City News has other than he has a woman hired on full time and some volunteers.

After the Feb. 8th e-mail Lee contacted Google letting them know that Inner City Press had been accredited by the U.N. and was often mentioned by other media as an important U.N. watchdog.

Google then said that their position would be reversed. Still there have been no articles from the site on Google News since Feb. 13. Google attributes that to a technical error.

Others in the media world are reacting to the news.

“We’re alarmed,” said Bea Edwards, GAP’s international-program director. “The question is, is what user sent the complaint? And it’s probably not too hard to guess. We would guess the complaints came from the UNDP.”

Tuyet Nguyen, president of the U.N. Correspondents Association, said he was fully behind Lee, who was elected first vice president of the association in December 2006.

“The sad story about Google is that they’re shutting people up and not doing a good thing for society by only defending their business interests,” he said. “They have a responsibility to society in letting people speak out. And I’m not surprised that those U.N. agencies are trying to hide.”

David Morrison a spokesman for UNDP denies that his agency is behind the blackballing.

Google refused to name the source of complaints.

Lee’s online paper hasn’t stopped whistle-blowing or writing exposes on the United Nations since this happened though. He keeps on writing to help keep the agency in check.

Kenya’s Tourism Trade Takes Another Hit During The National Political Crisis

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Kenya’s recent troubles has caused it’s airline to suspend travel between the nation and Paris. Before the elections on Dec. 27 which has caused political riots resulting in more than 1,000 deaths Kenya was the destination for many vacations.

The riots and political unrest has put an end to those vacation plans for many. The tourism industry has taken a big hit as the once peaceful nation is becoming a killing fields.

French citizens reacted to their government’s decision to issue a blanket travel advisory against travel to Kenya,” Kenya Airways chief executive Titus Naikuni explained in a statement. He added that the airline was hopeful flights would resume in time for Europe’s summer travel season.

While hotel rooms are generally filled from December to March there are 34,000 available rooms at this time.

More than 400,000 jobs have been cut since the crisis began. By the beginning of June the lose of business could reach upwards of $3.6 billion dollars.

Much of the in country fighting has been against President Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe who the opposition has resented for a long time. The opposition has thought that the tribe dominated politics and the economy.

Yahoo Wants More, Microsoft Isn’t Offering It

Bill Gates demonstrates the Zune player.

Two of the big names in the computer biz Yahoo and Microsoft are not in a private haggling war according to Bill Gates. Yahoo rejected the $31 per share buyout offer that Microsoft had offered.

As AP reports:

“We sent them a letter and said we think that’s a fair offer. There’s nothing that’s gone on other than us stating that we think it’s a fair offer,” the Microsoft chairman said Monday. “They should take a hard look at it.”

Microsoft Corp. offered to buy Yahoo recently with a offer that was valued at $44.6 billion. Since that time Microsoft’s share price has slumped in the stock market making the offer closer to $41 billion.

Yahoo wants a little bit more for their company. They believe the final offer should push closer to the $50 billion mark.

Yahoo wants $40 a share. Microsoft isn’t budging on it’s offer.

On Friday Yahoo closed at $29.66.

update: Fire On Queen Street West Brings Black Smoke To Toronto’s Downtown

Those working in downtown Toronto today may have to deal with traffic diversions as the city woke to a 6-alarm blaze at Queen St. W and Portland Streets. The fire broke out around 5 a.m. in a three storey building.

The flames quickly spread to other buildings in the area made up of storefronts with apartments on the upper levels. Emergency workers are still attacking the blaze. There are concerns about the structural damage on the block.

“The walls of the structure are beginning to buckle,” said Chief Bill Stewart.

Black smoke can be seen from the area. At least 30 emergency vehicles are on scene. Firefighters will be on scene for most of the day.

No injuries have been reported. TTC buses are in the area sheltering those who had to leave their homes. The Bathurst and Queen St. W. streetcars are being diverted around the area.

The area is filled with fabric stores and hip one of a kind clothing stores.

update: The Spadina streetcar is not running along this area at all.

Heath Ledger’s Final Role To Be Split Between Law, Depp And Farrell

Heath Ledger. – Photo: Focus Features

Jude Law will take over the role in “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” that Heath Ledger was working on at the time of his death. Law will appear in the fantasy film along with Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell. All three actors will play the role of Tony.

The film had just finished shooting the scenes needed in London and was moving on to locations in Vancouver, Canada
when Ledger passed away.

The movie is described as a fantastical morality tale. The premise involves a traveling theatre company that control imaginations.

It’s not clear how the role will now be split up between the three actors.

Who are the Superdelegates?

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Superdelegates have never had to be called out to make the ultimate decision on who is the contender for the President of the United States. That is until now. The Democratic nominee is a toss up this year. Who will make the final choice?

Superdelegates are a very select group also known as unpledged delegates. The 800 extra votes they represent are made up of governors, senators, house members and other party officials and members.

During the runoffs the delegates awarded to a candidate are fixed. Those won will remain with the nominee during their party’s convention. Generally by the time the conventions roll around the nominee is already the clear winner.

The superdelegates are free to pledge their vote to whichever candidate they choice at the convention. In a close race where neither candidate has the 2,025 needed delegates to surge forth to be the front-runner those superdelegate votes are golden tickets.

As it stands right now Obama is leading the race but it’s not a large enough lead to take the position. When it comes to superdelegates though Clinton has that edge, 235 superdelegates compared to 160 for Obama. There are 400 more though that hold the final tally call.

“There has to be some agreement between the Clinton and Obama campaigns as to how to handle it,” New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, a prominent supporter of her campaign, said Sunday.

“We need to win in November and if one side tries to shove down the throats of the other side any rule, so that … all of her or his supporters walk away upset, we will lose.”

Willie P. Bennett Dead At 56

Juno Award winner Willie P. Bennett has passed away at the age of 56. The Canadian folksinger died at his home in Peterborough, Ontario. The folksinger was a fixture of the folk music scene throughout southern Ontario.

Last year Bennett suffered a heart attack. There has not been a cause given for his death at this time.

Bennett preferred the background even though he had a successful solo career. He often played the mandolin or harmonica for Fred Eaglesmith and other artists.

“He was a reluctant hero … he would step back and let other people shine,” MacIntyre told the Globe and Mail newspaper.

His Heartstings won the 1998 Juno for Best Solo Roots and Traditional Album. The album had been his first solo recording in nine years.

Bennett was a native of Toronto. Born in 1951 he emerged as a songwriter during the late 1960’s.

He is survived by his partner Linda Duemo, his mother and three siblings.

Healthy Food Is On The Table For New York City Inmates

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If you live to eat you have another reason not to commit a crime in New York City, the food isn’t anything to write home about. Although you may leave your cell behind to a healthier you.

There are no special frills when it comes to prison food in New York City but it does have one thing going for it, it’s good for you. The dietary wizards that feed those who are on the wrong side of the law are overhauling the menus with healthy alternatives.

Gone are the days when butter, sweets and whole milk were seen on the long tables. In place of those ingredients are fresh fruits, whole wheat bread and skim milk.

The menus aren’t bad. Actually they are what most of the world should be eating if they want to eat for health.

A sample dinner consists of pepper steak, rice and steamed carrots.

“These people are in our custody, and they don’t get to make their own choices,” said Department of Correction Commissioner Martin Horn. “We have a moral obligation to make sound choices for them.”

Inmates have said that the menu is bland. They also figure because it is bland it is healthy.

While the new changes do not change the amount that the city is buying for prison food in the short run it may help alleviate medical costs in the long run.

“The cost of an inmate having a stroke or going into diabetic shock is far greater than keeping people healthy to the extent we can,” Horn said.

Small Washington Airport Locked Down As Military Man Tries To Fly With Grenades

A 20 year old military member attempted to board a plane with two training grenades at Yakima Air Terminal in Washington Sunday evening. He was arrested as he tried to get through airport security.

Although there were live fuses in the grenades they were not packed with explosives. The small airport was closed for a few minutes as the 30 to 35 people needing to be evacuated were taken care of.

Experts for the Army’s Yakima Training Center dismantled the grenades. All incoming flights stayed grounded at other airports.

The man arrested has not been identified. It is known that he lives on a California military base. His branch of service is also unknown.

Normal operations resumed within an hour and a half.

We Have Your Number

A plan in England to be announced tomorrow will make the old threat of “it’s on your personal record” a reality. All 14 year olds in England will have their personal details and exam results added to an electronic database for the rest of their life.

The database will perform as a Big Brother looking over their shoulder as colleges and employers will be able to access the records online to check their prospective students and employees out.

The new plan will give the children a personal number that will remain theirs for live. Called the unique learner number it’s the governments attempt to computerise personal records. It has nothing though to do with the national identity cards.

Teachers’ leaders, parents groups, opposition MPs and human rights campaigners met last night to discuss if this Big Brother approach will infringe on the basic personal security of these teenagers.

The database will store a “tamper-proof CV” will be called MIAP. England at this time gives each student in school an unique pupil number but this one will be different as it will remain active for the employable lifetime of the student instead of being destroyed after a pupil leaves school.

Margaret Morrisey, of the National Association of Parent Teacher Associations, said that plans for MIAP, which will be compulsory for all 14-year-olds throughout the UK, would fill parents with horror.

“I suspect there will not be more than two parents in the land who would have faith in the Government that this information will be secure,” she said.

There are very legitimate fears for this process as the government doesn’t have the best track record when dealing with databases. Last year alone 25 million people deal with the loss of two computer discs that contained banking and personal details.

Fireworks Highlight The Birth Of A Nation: Kosovo

Lawmakers in the midst of fireworks announced that there is a new country in the world today, the Republic of Kosovo has broken away from Serbian forces. The nation’s people celebrated on rooftops and in the open as their country declared independence.

Both Russia and Serbia have condemned the declaration of Kosovo. The war torn region has seen 10,000 lives lost to bitter battles between separatists.

The capital of Pristina was elated today as thousands of ethnic Albanians celebrated. They waved both U.S. and Albanian flags while chanting KLA!KLA!

“This is the happiest day in my life,” said Mehdi Shehu, 68. “Now we’re free and we can celebrate without fear.”

The Serbians though have vowed that Kosovo is theirs and will not let it go. An explosion at a U.N. building in Kosovo’s north escaped major damage but underscores the threat of violence as this new nation begins.

16,000 NATO peacekeepers still guard the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Kosovo’s independence will to a dangerous precedent for “frozen conflicts” across the former Soviet Union. Both Chechnya and Georgia are attempting to gain their own independence.

Serbia has threatened to downgrade relations with any government that recognized the claim of independence of Kosovo.

As different parts of the world struggle as to where they stand with the newly formed nation the people of Kosovo choose to revel in their freedom.

“We, the democratically elected leaders of our people, hereby declare Kosovo to be an independent and sovereign state,” the proclamation read.

“From today onwards, Kosovo is proud, independent and free,” said Prime Minister Hashim Thaci, a former KLA leader. “We never lost faith in the dream that one day we would stand among the free nations of the world, and today we do.”

“Our hopes have never been higher,” he said. “Dreams are infinite, our challenges loom large, but nothing can deter us from moving forward to the greatness that history has reserved for us.”

Doctors Groups Backs Marijuna For Medical Use

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A doctors group is backing the use of marijuana for medical purposes. The American College of Physicians is urging the government to roll back the gates of prohibition so that patients can be treated with this herbal remedy.

The group is the second largest of its kind in the United States. It cites evidence that marijuana as a medical tool helps with the treatment of severe weight loss associated with ATDS and with countering some of the side effects of chemotherapy in cancer patients.

“Additional research is needed to clarify marijuana’s therapeutic properties and determine standard and optimal doses and routes of delivery. Unfortunately, research expansion has been hindered by a complicated federal approval process, limited availability of research-grade marijuana and the debate over legalization,” the group said.

The Philadephia based medical group was founded in 1915, and is composed of 124,000 doctors that treat adults.

The group is highlighting the use of the THC component of marijuana and not the smoked form of the drug. At this time the government has marijuana listed as a schedule 1 controlled substance placing it in the same grouping of drugs like LSD and heroin.

There are a dozen states that allow for the use of marijuana in medical cases but those states also patients can also face federal charges.

Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project, which urges legal and regulated sales of marijuana, said, “This statement by America’s second-largest doctors group demolishes the myth that the medical community doesn’t support medical marijuana.”

“The ACP’s statement smashes a number of other myths, including the claims that adequate substitutes are available or that marijuana is unsafe for medical use,” Kampia added.

Catholic Priest Accused Of Sexual Abuse Has HIV

A Texan Catholic priest, Rev. Philip Magaldi accused of preying on his congregation has been identified as having the HIV virus. The Fort Worth area man has been accused for years as having improper conduct with the boys and young men in his parish.

Bishop Kevin Vann is flying to the Vatican on Monday to speed up the process startedin late 2006 of ousting Magaldi from the priesthood. The Fort Worth Diocese found the priest guilty of sexual exploitation in one internal investigation. There are also several more credible reports of his misconduct within the young male population of the church. Magaldi has denied all of this.

North Richland Hills police are investigating an alleged report of sexual assault with a young male in the mid 1990s.

The priest is residing at a retirement home in North Richland Hills.

The Fort Worth Diocese first learned of Magaldi’s HIV status last week. Rev. Michael Olson, a member of the diocese confront Father Magaldi who admitted to being infected with the virus. Magaldi allowed for his physician to confirm the diagnosis.

Magaldi refuses to allow the church to have any more information on his condition. Based on details from discussion with associated though the church believes that he has been HIV positive since at least 2003.

The diocese has to pay a portion of the priest’s medical bills.

Magaldi is the second sexually abusive priest that has been confirmed HIV positive. The first was Rev. James Hanlon. Hanlon died in 1990 from the virus, alcoholism and liver disease.

In 1990 Magaldi was hired by the late Bishop Joseph Delaney. At that time Magaldi was under investigation in Providence, Rhode Island for stealing more than $120,000 from a church in that diocese. He was said to have used some of that money to take adolescent boys on vacation to tropical locations. He once gave a teenage boy enough money to get himself a car. Magaldi served a short time in prison from that case.

When Magaldi finished his prison term Delaney had the job of chaplain of the diocesan Scouting program waiting for him. He was also in charge of supervising the altar boys at a North Richland Hills parish.

These assignments remained even as misconduct complaints kept arriving. Magaldi continued working with young male children until the early 2000’s. Bishop Delaney told a local news agency that he had “no reason to distrust him”.

Father Magaldi was still working on his ministry until 2006 at the retirement home he resides at when Bishop Vann ended that reign.

SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, urged accusers to contact police instead.

David Clohessy, national director of the group, said Bishop Vann “should personally visit every parish where Magaldi worked and urge anyone who was harmed by this predator to come forward.”

‘Doomsday Vault’ to be Opened at End of Month

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Deep in the middle of a Norwegian mountain the “doomsday vault” lays in wait of a worldwide catastrophe. Nestled into this mountainous vault are seeds of all the world’s crops.

The island of Spitsbergen is half the size of England with a population less than 2,300. It’s as close to the North Pole as you can get without the aid of sleds or a support team. It is accessible by aeroplane. The average temperature is -16C this time of the year. No trees grow in this barren dark land. From November to January there is no sun. About 60 per cent of the land mass is glacier. People carry guns and they shoot to kill. In the midst of all of this harsh life lays a possible key to the world’s future.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault has been built into a mountain here. It holds samples of every agricultural seed in the world. In an icy vault the seeds will be able to survive wars, global warming, missiles and pestilence. Rising tides will not wash away the means of survival if all else fails. The permafrost of the mountain ensures that the seeds will never see a temperature above -3.5C.

Construction of this Norwegian project took over $3 million and the Global Crop Diversity Trust oversaw the process, making sure that the seeds housed inside would stand the test of time. At the end of February the mission will be complete. An opening ceremony will take place with Nobel Peace Prize-winning biologist Wangari Maathai, the Prime Minister of Norway, and the president of the EU. At this time the seeds of the world will be put to rest waiting for the worst to happen.

The mountain vault consists of three 100×30ft chambers to its rear. It will be storing 1.5 million distinct agricultural crop seeds.

‘This is a resource for the world,’ Dr Cary Fowler, the 58-year-old executive director of the Trust explained.

‘Every nation has been invited by the Norwegian government to place its seeds in this vault. It’s the last line of defence against extinction for all the crops we have, and the most long-lasting, most futuristic and most positive contribution to humanity being made by the international community today.’

Crops are becoming the new dinosaurs. 100 years in America there were 7,100 varieties of apple. Today there are 300 varieties left.

90 percent of the vegetables of England have disappeared within the last 100 years.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has estimated that in the past century 75 percent of the world’s agricultural diversity has vanished. Each day another plant disappears from the Earth.

I don’t believe it has really sunk in yet, in the scientific community, at a government level or with the general public,’ Fowler said. ‘There are varieties of our agricultural crops becoming extinct. We won’t ever see them again, just like we won’t see the dinosaurs.’

Fowler has traveled the world this year collecting the seeds that the vault will store, 45 countries to be exact.

As the world climate continues to change so will the crops that countries will need to cultivate. Added heat affects pollen and the moisture levels in soil. With heat comes diseases and pests that plants have to deal with, many will not survive.

Perhaps “Doomsday” will be the key that will feed our grand kids.

Sedan Plows Into Crowd Saturday Night Watching Street Race

A car ran into a crowd gathered to watch a street race early Saturday on an Accokeek, Maryland suburban road killing eight people and injuring at least five more. The white sedan was not part of the race.

A crowd of about 50 had gathered on the highway to watch the race on Route 210 near 3:40 a.m. Saturday morning. As the exhaust smoke rose the two cars sped down the road. The combination of the smoke and the dark of night is thought to be the cause of the sedan plowing through the crowd. No charges are pending for the driver.

Authorities are on the lookout for the two who were racing. The authorities are also attempting to identify the dead by showing digital photos to the bystanders.

Mark Courtney is one of those who died watching the illegal street race.

“He liked going to the race track, watching races,” Courtney said. “It’s going to take a toll on my family for a long time.”

Investigators had “more questions than answers,” brother Mark Copeland said.

The victims of the sedan covered a 200 yard stretch of the highway. Bodies were covered by white sheets, bodies were in the road and some had been thrown to the shoulder of the road.

The sedan came to a stop about 150 feet from where the crowd had stood. The driver did not appear to have serious injuries. His car had damage on its front, hood and roof.

Seven people died at the scene and another passed away at hospital. An additional 5 people were injured in the crash.

Lawrence King Died Because He Was Different

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When young Lawrence King was shot Tuesday morning it was more than just a random school shooting it was a hate crime. The eighth grader had never been in the closet about his sexual orientation. For that he lost his life.

King would sometimes wear jewelry and makeup to E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, California. He had told his classmates that he was gay. He was not ashamed that he was different from the others that attended his school.

He knew of bullying. Kids who are different have always had to deal with those who rather harass than be tolerant. School isn’t a safe place for kids who walk to a different beat. It’s not a new story at all.

Kids who have a different sexual orientation are often physically assaulted in the buildings that are for education. GLSENs 2005 National School Climate Survey showed that over a tenth of LGBT students had been the victims of violence at school.

Only ten states in the U.S. protect students from bullying and harassment based on sexual orientation. King lived and died in one of those states. Because of that his murderer will face hate crimes.

It shouldn’t take the death of a young boy though to notice that bullying is a problem.

Lawrence King’s body is being kept alive to give organs to those who need them.

op-ed: Timing Is Of The Essense

Questions of why now have been coming out over the decision about charging and bringing to trial six of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. The answer is simple, it’s all about timing.

As Bush prepares to leave office another President could make changes that differ from his administration dealing with the controversial military prison in Cuba. Water-boarding and conspiracy theories may play out for years even after the Iraq War is a distant memory.

The secrets and criminal crimes that have happened during this present war could in the end prove disastrous for the government. Is there any better way to get rid of some of the
evidence than by having military trials where documents can be silenced? Death sentences have a way of shutting up those involved with actions that would better be left quiet.

Members of the defense team for Salim Ahmed Hamdan have been forbidden to speak to other detainees because of risks to national security. Even with two members of the team holding security clearances authorizing them to the highest levels of classified information.

Last week Michael Mukasey, the attorney general of the United States announced to the Senate judiciary committee that he would not investigate criminal wrongdoing that may have happened during the interrogation of certain detainees at the military prison. The reasoning behind this was that interrogators had acted on orders that they believed to be lawful. Within a week the government announced that the six involved in this decision would be put on trial for war crimes dealing with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

When the government put the issue of water-boarding away it was setting in motion the possible trial of this century. There will be no need to discuss the possible tortures of these detainees during their criminal trials as those tortures are not what is being called into question.

The defense attorneys will have their work cut out for them. Evidence has been lost or erased. Interviews are classified and under wraps by use of the Military Commissions Act.

While the lawyers for the defense will have tightly bound wrists during these trials their clients will finally have their speedy trials. Because of the MCA any appeals can be completed within 120 days. If they are sentenced to death only one person has to personally approve it. Any guesses who that would be? George Bush.

If any of the accused decide to admit guilt and opt for the death penalty then all George Bush has to do is sign on the dotted line. Silence is golden.

If the trials go on into the next President’s watch then that office will be faced with the sticky wicket of appearing to approve of Gitmo policies by signing the death slip or by appearing unpatriotic by allowing those who were part of the most vile murders of American civilians to live out their lives in prison.

In the end there is only one winner in whatever outcome of these trials.

George Bush.

ACLU And Rick Steves Take On Washington Marijuana Laws

Travel writer Rick Steves and the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington are out to take on the issue of the criminalization of marijuana calling it the prohibition of our times.

Rick Steves is a travel writer who has admitted to using marijuana when he visits Europe. He claims he’s not “pro-marijuana” but in favor of discussing the laws that give 830,000 Americans a year an arrest record. 90 percent of those who are arrested are for possession charges.

Washington State’s ACLU has received funding from the national organization to create an informational program that will be broadcast on television and the Internet. It will delve into the disproportional arrest patterns that affect minorities and the severe punishments that can take place for possessing as little as 40 grams (that is about the same size as 2 packs of cigarettes or roughly 40 joints).

The program is being launched in Washington because of it is considered on the cutting edge of drug legislation. In 1998 medical marijuana use was approved and in 2003 Seattle voters approved the Initiative 75. That measure has allowed the police to focus on other issues than adult marijuana use by making it a low priority for law enforcement.

In the United States there are only 11 States that allow for the use of medical marijuana. Because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling though that states that laws can not be enacted that supersede federal criminal laws getting medically needed marijuana can still prove to be risky.

Marijuana use should be treated primarily as a health issue, not a criminal one. In Europe I’ve seen how more thoughtful approaches to social issues can really work. Our government’s war on drugs sounds very tough and results-driven, but all it really succeeds at is being enormously expensive, tearing families apart and treating nonconformists as criminals,” Steves said. He said as a society we’ve made the same mistake as was made when lawmakers banned alcohol during Prohibition.

Percentage wise marijuana smokers are white. In the United States 74 percent of all users are white as opposed to 14 percent who are African-American. Yet when you compare the arrests because of the leafy drug blacks account for 30 percent. The ACLU stated in 2006 that it was 12 times more likely for a black person to be arrested for using marijuana than a white person.

Seattle City Attorney Tom Carr called the claim unfair and statistically insignificant.

“What they’re doing is sensationalizing a number that has no statistical validity because the numbers are so small,” he said.

The issue of marijuana laws is one for state legislators, he said. “We enforce whatever laws are on the books.”

Op-Ed: Freedom Lost, Was it a Bloodless Coup?

It’s one of the most important documents in the foundation of the United States and it’s under attack. The Bill of Rights is changing before American eyes without a blink. Something is wrong here.

As the National Security Agency has gained in power the power of the Bill of Rights has lessened. The Patriot Act, The Military Commissions Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Modernization Act have all had a hand in taking away basic rights of Americans.

Some may question if anyone can even tell if those rights have been removed and for most people it’s not a “issue” but if you are affected it’s no small thing.

The Bill Of Rights wasn’t written for some it was written for all but today’s government doesn’t honour that value. Without a battle common everyday people have lost many of the personal freedoms that they had when they were born. It’s almost as if a bloodless coup came and went without a whimper.

The changes in the air are not only far from slight, but they are ominous in view of what another current Supreme Court justice, Anthony Kennedy, has warned: “The Constitution needs renewal and understanding each generation, or else it’s not going to last.”

The right to speak freely your point of view has slowly been changed. Many have been arrested as they peacefully gathered to protest the current war.

Three were arrested as they read the names of those lost in the Iraq war during a peaceful protest. Fr. Jerry Zawada is no stranger to the jail cell because of his protesting Fort Huachuca practices.
90 year old Lillain Wiloughby was arrested for protesting the war in Iraq. Since July 17th it is illegal to protest the war in Iraq.

Simple pleasures like going to the library have changed. It’s still an easy task of reading and checking out the books you want. Do note though your reading pleasures are being monitored. Thank you Patriotic Act.

To understand how some of this happened you have to revisit the congress right after the attacks of 9/11. On October 26, 2001 in the wake of terror the House was given a 342 page document that General John Ashcroft insisted was needed and the speed was crucial. Few had or took the chance to read the entire document and several commented later that parts of it seemed unconstitutional. The key thing here though is that the House approved it by a vote of 356 to 56.

dissenter David Obey of Wisconsin said bitterly, “Why should we care? It’s only the Constitution.”

Are there answers to bring back the freedoms lost? Do you miss them? Do you even care?

Grandfather Passes Out On Grandson, Killing Him

Young Xavian Cull was just two but had already beaten the odds at two months old battling a heart defect. Sadly, the toddler died when his intoxicated grandfather passed out on top of him earlier this week.

Grandfather David Cull was intoxicated on prescription medicine when he sat on top of the child who had been placed on a soft cushion chair before passing out. A family member woke Cull up at 5 a.m. of Thursday. It was then that young Xavian was found under his grandfather, unconscious and unresponsive.

“His lips were purple, and he had four purple stripes down the side of his face,” grandmother Donna Marie Cull said. “I blew in his face and he wouldn’t breathe. His hands were clenched, and he was cold.”

The Cull’s were the guardians of Xavian and his five year old half sister. The young girl was removed from the home by Child Protective Services Thursday and placed with another relative.

David Cull has been charged with reckless homicide. He is being held at the Carroll County Regional Detention Center in Kentucky. Bond has been set at $5,000 or $10,000 property.

Journalist John McWethy Died Thursday In A Skiing Accident

Journalist John McWethy died from injuries in a ski accident at the age of 61 on Thursday. The former ABC News chief national security correspondent was at the Keystone Ski Resort when he lost control slamming into a tree.

McWethy was being treated for blunt force injuries when he expired at Summit Medical Center.

Recently retired McWethy and his wife Laurie had moved to Boulder to enjoy their golden years on the slopes.

“He was doing something that he truly loved,” ABC News President David Weston said. “But he deserved many more years doing it than he was given.”

McWethy was on the scene at the Pentagon during the September 11th tragedy calmly reporting on the aftermath.

He was unflappable even in the most extreme situations because he was always centered by his love for his family and the knowledge that the television news business and all of this Washington hoo-ha was not ‘real life,’ ” former CNN producer Chris Plante said. “Unlike so many, he really did have a handle on what life was for. And the last moments of his life are proof of that.”

As devoted to his family as his work McWethy lived his life to the fullest. Along with his wife Laurie he will be remembered by his sons Adam, 28 and Ian, 24.

Wife Laurie was with McWethy on his final run. She said that he was a good skier and loved the natural beauty that Colorado offered.

During his career McWethy traveled to more than 50 countries. He was the primary ABC reporter assigned to Secretaries of State James Baker, George Shultz, Warren Christopher and Lawrence Eagleburger. During his years at ABC he was honoured with five Emmys. He was also awarded an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award and an Overseas Press Club Award.

He will be missed by his colleagues, friends and families.

David Groh Dead At 68

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Their divorce stunned the TV world in the 1970’s. David Groh, who portrayed Joe Gerard on the hit show “Rhonda,” has passed away at the age of 68. His sister-in-law Catherine Mullally stated that Groh died from kidney cancer on Thursday.

The marriage of Groh’s and Valerie Harper’s characters on the show “Rhonda” was the show’s highest rated episodes. Their stunning divorce during an era of television that rarely showed such things had viewers sending in condolence cards.

The show was a spin off of the popular “Mary Tyler Moore” series. After the third season when Groh left the series. He continued acting for 30 years in numerous TV shows and films.

Bats Dying in New York, Vermont

Thousands of bats in New York and Vermont are dying. Scientists that are clueless to the cause fear more than ten thousand of the winged creatures may be dying in abandoned mine shafts and caves in the Northwest.

Whatever the disease that is killing the bats researchers believe humans are immune to. That said the bats deaths will affect the coming growing season. Bats are needed by farmers to eat crop pests, midges and mosquitoes.

“I’ve studied bats for 40-something years, and I’ve never seen anything like this; it’s alarming,” said Thomas Kunz, a preeminent bat researcher at Boston University. “It’s frustrating and perplexing, because we don’t know what it is and we don’t know how to control it.”

The US Fish and Wildlife Service has warned the public to avoid caves and mines in New York and Vermont in case humans are the cause of the spread of the unknown pathogen. Cavers in New York and Pennsylvania have been asked to stay clear of places where bats are now in hibernation.

Massachusetts has not had any reports of dead or diseased bats but the state is on the lookout for them in four closed Western Massachusetts mines.

The first spotting of the disease was in a cave in Albany, New York in January 2007. Three more caves within a seven mile radius were soon found to have the diseased animals. By March it was estimated that 11,000 bats had died from the disease called “white nose syndrome”. The name comes from a flaky white fungus that has appeared on many of the sick and dead bats.

Scientists are uncertain if the fungus itself is the cause of the deaths. Researchers had hoped that last year’s outbreak was a one time deal. In the past few weeks though it has become apparent that the disease is back and spreading. Sick bats have been seen in caves as far as 135 miles apart.

“If we assume only 50 percent decline at the new sites, we are talking hundreds of thousands of bats that could die,” said Alan Hicks, a bat specialist with the New York Department of Environmental Conservation.

Four species have been affected by this outbreak so far.

Behind the Killer at Northern Illinois University

Stephen Kazmierczak stopped taking his medication within the past two weeks, spiraling erratically downward. The end result happened Thursday at Northern Illinois University where he killed himself after five laid dead on the floor.

Another person who was shot during the rampage has since died in hospital.

The former student of University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign had been planning the bloodbath for at least nine days. At that time he brought two of the guns used in the shooting.

“Apparently he had been taking medication” but stopped and had become “somewhat erratic” in the last two weeks, Grady said. He did not describe what kind of medication was involved.

The shots were all fired from a lecture hall stage as Kazmierczak rapidly fired off at least 50 shots into the crowd. In the end, 21 of the people in the hall had been hit by the spray of bullets.

In the few hours since the shooting, some is known about the “outstanding” student who will now be known as a mass murderer.

He was respected in academic circles as a sociology student having written awards on papers that he had composed about the role of religion in early U.S. prisons and self-injury in prison. He had lead a campus criminal justice group at his school.

His father, Robert Kazmierczak resides in Lakeland, Florida in a retirement community called Schalamar Creek .

A tearful Kazmierczak emerged about 11:30 a.m. and asked reporters to
“Please leave me alone. I have no statement to make and no comment. I’m a diabetic. This is a very hard time.”

There is no known motive for the shooting. No history of violence, no arrest record, no mental health history.

The days that follow may bring clues to the why but the why can’t bring back those who died.

Breaking News: Pipeline Explosions Near McCook, Texas

There have been multiple explosions reported at a South Texas gas pipeline. McCook, Texas where the explosions are taking place is a small town with a population of about 100. There are no businesses in the town.

There have been injuries reported but little else is known at this time. Authorities are working to cordone off the area close to the Mexican border.

New Book Reveals Details on Founding Fathers’ Religious Beliefs

A new book out by Rev. Gary Kowalski paints a different religious picture of the Founding Fathers than many have envisioned. The book gives well-rounded insight as to the honest beliefs of these men.

Kowalski’s fifth book Revolutionary Spirits: The Enlightened Faith of America’s Founding Fathers points out that the first leaders of the U.S. were neither devout Christians not secularists.

As USA Today reports:

“I wanted to set the record straight,” said Kowalski, 54, senior minister at the First Unitarian Universalist Society in Burlington, Vt. “I really felt that their legacy had been misappropriated by the religious right.”

The Reverend searched through authoritative biographies and personally written original documents of each of the men in question to find the truth instead of the myths that are commonly held.

What Kowalski found was one core belief that all of the fathers behind the start of the United States held and that was they wanted the nation to be inclusive for all religions. They also appear to have been fascinated by the scientific discoveries that happened during their lifetimes. What they did not hold in common were their personal religious backgrounds.

Many of the founders had a unique brand of spirituality. As USA Today reports:

“I think they would be surprised at how much our political leaders advertise their religious beliefs,” Kowalski said, “as well as the preponderance of evangelicalism in the country today.”

Kowalski’s research also revealed that these men used reason when dealing with the sermons on Christianity. They were at times wary of the messages that came from the pulpit.

Benjamin Franklin used his art of writing when it came to his thoughts on the Puritan-led witch burning. He penned a satirical story about the matter for the Pennsylvania Gazette to expose the silliness of such beliefs.

George Washington was once arrested for traveling on the Sabbath. He was running behind schedule and wasn’t in church.

While the final research Kowalski shows the men whose views and actions started the country were not secularists they were not devote church goers either. They all had their own faiths and beliefs. They had wished for a nation that like them could believe in the particular faith of their own choosing.

As USA Today reports:

“I think they would be very pleased by the spiritual diversity in our country today,” Kowalski said. “With greater diversity, there’s less chance for one religion to become too powerful.”

22,000 Lives Lost Because Drug Recall Was Delayed

When U.S. regulators delayed recalling a Bayer AG drug it resulted in the deaths of 22,000 patients. The drug Trasylol was used to stem bleeding during open heart surgery. Last November it was finally withdrawn from the market.

An observational study linked the drug to kidney failure requiring dialysis and increasing the death rate with patients who had been given it.

As many as a third of all heart bypass patients had been given the drug during the course of years the product had been on the market. Study researcher Dr. Dennis Mangano published his findings in January 2006. He speculated that had his research been acted upon as many as 22,000 patients would not have died as a result of this medication.

Mangano says that Bayer knew the results of his findings and had come up with similar results from their own study. He goes on to say that the company failed to disclose this information during an FDA advisory panel meeting in September 2006.

The chairman of that panel, Dr. William Hiatt told 60 Minutes that he would have changed vote had he had the Bayer study information to take the medicine off the market.

Bayer is now facing a number of product-liability lawsuits from patients who taken been given the drug or by surviving family members. Bayer spokeswoman Meredith Fischer did not know the actual number of lawsuits that have been filed against her company.

Op-Ed: In Search of the Far Left-Wing Blog

When you type “far left wing blog” into Google it’s surprising what comes up. Would you like to go on a little adventure with me? Be prepared for some surprising twists and turns along the way as I take you to the sites I was sent to.

I wanted to show the other side of the spectrum from my previous editorial piece, “Op-Ed: Why Do Some Far Right Wingers Hate Liberals?“. I figured that chances would be high that if one far side spews hate the other side would be tossing it right back.

I decided to view the top 10 listings on Google for this topic to have a fairly decent idea what is going on in Web land.

The first hit is Spartan Spectator. It’s the blog for the Young Americans for Freedom chapter of Michigan State University. Surprisingly it’s also a site that is dedicated to advocating conservative politics. Wait a minute, that’s not what I typed in…..

The first post listed is titled MSU-YAF Denounces Little Green Footballs for Being Prissy RINOs.

Well that’s interesting. Time to move on down the line.

The next place on our journey is
“The Kool-Aid Report.” The article at hand was published November 12, 2007. The article title is “Inside the Far Left-Wing DUMP (Drooling Unctuous Moronic Penisheads)”. I don’t know about this, it doesn’t really sound like a title from a far left blog. Reading through the post all I got out of it was these guys need a life. I think they are conservative but, okay I admit it, I couldn’t read the entire article, it was just that bad. I certainly hope number three gives me something to work with.

Now we come up to This Magazine. The first thing I notice though is the site is Canadian. I do though like the message of the header;

This magazine proves that some things get smarter even as the world seems to get dumber.- Mark Kingwell

The entry that came up was dated September 28, 2007 and asked an interesting question. Why are the most popular blogs more often on the right side of the political tug of war. Since the first two of the hits from Google I have to wonder the same thing.

Time for number four. Bluedaze actually appears to be a left wing blog. Victory at last. The article that comes up is dated December 15, 2007. The article is on Barnett Shale and it’s poisoning of well waters. By speaking out about this issue the author TXsharon has been branded a radical, far-left lunatic with a political agenda. Interesting.

The next blog on the list admits to being new to the blogging world. LeftAlign claims to be a frustrated mainstream journalist showing his true colours. Wait up she’s a Brit and as frustrated as I am reading about the far side of things. The post deals with the fact that for many in the extreme side of the left universe (and for that matter the right one if truth be told) are only concerned about things in D.C. Is there a world past the goings on at the White House?

Idea Whiplash is next. The post is a link to another post, hmmm. An article about the Marine protests. Gee whiz, I could have stayed at DJ and read about that. Next!

Britannica Blog, Where Ideas Matter is next down the list. A post about political labels from November 26, 2007is the one that appears. Robert McHenry is the author of this well written journal entry.

For many people, political maturity consists in memorizing which one of those labels means “us” and which one means “stupid, corrupt, conniving, subhuman, base, vile spawn of Hades.” There are always plenty of wise persons – journalists, bloggers, academics, the politically ambitious – who are eager to help out by sticking one or the other label (or both) on every politician, policy, or idea that comes into view.

It’s a great read and in the scheme of things covers both sides of the “national divide.”

Oh no! It’s another right side of things blog. “The Liberal Lie, The Conservative Truth.” The post that comes up is quite old though, from September 24, 2005. Just as I suspected another blog that uses name calling, at least it’s aimed toward the politicians and not other Americans. Although I don’t think the Clinton “Hildabeast” nor “Mr. Excitement” Al Gore would favorite this one.

The vastleft.com blog is number nine on the list. Finally a left wing blog that is what is says. Horror of horrors the author is also an atheist. The one thing that I can’t find though is name calling, at least on the page that popped up. Yes he isn’t big about the issues that the right are for and doesn’t mince words but doesn’t result to schoolyard mud slinging. I must be missing something. The blog has moved so a quick side trip is in order to the two links that have relevance for this article on the last post he wrote at vastleft.

The new blog for Vastleft is current. The main issue on this blog is the “dislike” of Obama. Darn, I was looking for something more.

The other link leads to Day Of Shame.com a site that highlights the day that Colin Powell addressed the United Nations to rally support for an invasion of Iraq. I found it very informative and interesting. Others may have a different view.

The final blog on the top ten list is FreeSpeech.com. The post that I was sent to via Google is titled “Obscure, violent left-wing blogger threatens murder for hire!”. What this post boils down to is two “grown” men having a fight, tossing names back and forth. Though they have some claims to left and right the post does not reflect any political themes.

In the end I found one maybe two blogs that I would deem left. I know they are out there. I know that my blog has been called one even though the majority of posts are on current events and the news. So where are the far left blogs? I know they are out there.

This search though did show me one thing, the right is very good at tagging. It’s much easier to find the conservative blogs because of that.

What is your favorite political blog? Is it to the far side of the moon or closer to the middle?

Op-Ed: Why Do Some Far Right Wingers Hate Liberals?

This election year like all others before it has those on both sides who believe that their views are the only views. Some of those will go on to not only challenge views but continue into what can only be termed as hate.

When people who have differing views result to name calling one has to wonder what kind of person lays beneath that view. There’s a new right wing foundation in the United States that believes that anyone that doesn’t believe in their way is a “libtard”.

These people not only attack liberals but those of any orientation that is not their own. Gays are deemed disgusting. Liberals are said to have mush as brains. One blog site goes as far as saying the an infrared scan of a leftist brain shows all the kinetic energy of a tub of refrigerated Jello.

Somehow these people can’t get a grasp that not everyone thinks that the America that is now isn’t beloved by the world at large. That opposition in the “War on Terror” has valid foundations. That wars that stand on lies are unjust.

Most liberals support the troops. They don’t however support a war that hasn’t shown positive advancements for either the United States or the countries that are involved.

Liberals don’t blast other religions for the most part. Those who have belief systems are not told they are wrong to practice their beliefs unless it oversteps boundaries that would take away the same rights for others. They are often more open to the truth that while the United States has always had a majority of Christians it was not based on simply Christian beliefs. That the founding fathers did not mean for the country to become a single religion nation. That those who are freethinkers have as much rights in the nation as those who are Baptist, Mormon, Muslim, Hindi, etc.

The coming election will deal with the issues that are tearing this country apart. There’s a war that is bankrupting the country and killing soldiers at every turn. Health care is in the toilet. Personal freedoms are already flushed and in the septic tank. Religious freedoms will be next.

It seems it’s more important to make sure there’s money for a bomb instead of a child being about to go to the doctor. It is more important to blast one religion over another than to find a way to table peace.

The Conservatives have been running the United States for the past eight years.

Has your life improved?

Just maybe the jello brained liberals may have some answers

California School Shooting Victim Declared Brain Dead

A 15-year-old boy from Oxnard, California ,is brain dead but on life support after a school shooting on Tuesday. Lawrence King was shot in the head at E.O. Green Junior High by another teenage boy.

The eighth grader is being kept alive for possible organ donation. He was declared brain dead at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Oxnard Police Department spokesman David Keith announced earlier King was dead.

“I’m sticking with my earlier statement. I was informed by the hospital that he has passed away,” Keith said.

The family has requested that the police not make comments on King’s medical condition.

The shooter has been arrested and booked for attempted murder. There has not been a motive released other than “bad blood” between the two students. When life support is turned off the charge could become more serious for the shooter. At that time the charge could be upgraded to murder and the use of a firearm in commission of murder.

Three-quarters of the student body returned to school Wednesday. Psychologists held counselling sessions for students needing that resource.

Mel Gibson Attended Court Today So He Doesn’t Have To Attend Court Again

Mel Gibson is getting a break. He doesn’t have to appear in court again while serving the rest of his probation for the 2006 arrest for drunk driving. Gibson arrived in court today escorted through a back entrance.

The 52 year old actor has completed the requirements of his no-contest plea and has no need to give progress reports to the court while he finishes his probation. He had been required to pay a $1,400 fine and attend alcohol rehab along with three years probation.

“You’re on your own now with the self-help groups, so this is the most difficult time for you,” Mira told a subdued Gibson during a brief hearing in Los Angeles. “Good luck to you as you continue your rehabilitation.”

Other than thanking Judge Mira Gibson remained silent in the courtroom.

The 2006 arrest was big news when Gibson spouted anti-Semitic remarks to the officier who arrested him.

Robert Gates Fractures Shoulder

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates may not like the winter that much this week. Tuesday night he slipped on some ice at his Washington home. Wednesday morning he went to Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Gates has a fractured shoulder that resulted from a slip on the ice. He will be able to continue his duty as defense chief even though he is in pain.

Gates though will not be at a hearing on the Pentagon’s budget before the House Appropriations Committee because of his injury. In his place Deputy Defense Gordan England will testify for the Pentagon.

Prabesh Sapkota Went To School Today

For many children it’s a rite of passage, taking the big yellow bus to school. For Prabesh Sapkota it was a dream that leukemia made almost impossible. The Make-A-Wish Foundation granted this little boy’s dream on Thursday.

March 21 Prabesh will be four. He has a little brother or sister will arrive in April. His parents hope he will still be alive to greet them. He visited a kindergarten class at Dundee Elementary School just in time to experience a Valentine’s Day party. His parents know that this may be his first and last time in a classroom.

“He sees school buses. Ever since he was 2, ever since he could say bus,” said Prabesh’s mother, Jennifer Sapkota. “I always have told him when he gets to his fourth birthday, then he gets to ride the school bus and go to school.

Prabesh spent the day in Mrs. Holland’s class. He got to see the class hamster Daisy.

At the end of the day he raced down the hallway to the school bus to take him home. The bus instead took young Prabesh to the hospital.

“You have to live life like that, and cherish the good days and get through the bad days,” Jennifer Sapkota said.

Dueling Billboards

A national billboard campaign is being taken on by the freethinkers group Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF). The first billboard was placed in Columbus, Ohio. It looks like a stained glass window with the words Imagine No Religion.

Dan Barker, Foundation co-president and author of ‘Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist’ said “Many of our members, including generous sponsors in Ohio, want to balance all that religion on the roadside with some reason on the roadside.”

In the heartland of America religious billboards fill the side of the roads. The controversial billboards from FFRF are hoping to show that not all Americans are on the church path.

The company that is contracted to run the “Imagine no Religion” signs in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania is taking no chances that others think they follow the dogma behind the FFRF signs. The signs are scheduled to rotate between three locations in the city. After each run another sign will start it’s run with the text “In God We Trust: Kegerreis Outdoor Advertising LLC..” Underneath are the words: “The previous sign posted at this location does not reflect the values or morals of our company. Thank you.”

Senior account executive for Kegerreis Outdoor Advertising, Dusky A. Chilcote has stated that after the first sign was put up their company had some negative calls. They want to make sure that people don’t associate the message on the signs with the company.

Another group “In God We Trust” (IGWT) has jumped onto the bandwagon by denouncing the billboards. It has posted a billboard using Kegerreis Outdoor Advertising just like FFRF in Chambersburg with the following message.

“Why Do Atheists Hate America?” alongside a picture of a school girl saying the Pledge of Allegiance.

What is your view? Do both sides have as much right to have their messages duelling it out on the side of the road?

Infant Dies After Being Detained At the Airport

Michael Futi of Tafuna, American Samoa died Friday in a locked room at Honolulu International Airport. The infant was 14 days old and on route to hospital for heart surgery when he, his mothers and a nurse were detained at the airport.

It isn’t clear why immigration officials detained the three putting them in a locked room. The infant went into respiratory failure while in the customs office. The police give his time of death as 5:50 a.m. Paramedics were called 15 minutes after the infant died.

The family had traveled to Honolulu for heart surgery on Hawaiian Airlines. The flight arrived at 5:30 am.

The family plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

Who Are These Six Men At Gitmo?

What do we know about the six men that are being charged at Guantanamo in connection to the 9/11 bombing? Why after all this time are the charges being applied? Are there answers to these questions?

What is known is a horror show. These men if the stories are true are vile, evil creatures in the guise of human beings.

Khalid Sheik Mohammed is said to have admitted being responsible for the worst terrorist attack on United States soil. He has admitted his role in at least 30 terror plots. He has also bragged that he was the one who personally decapitated Daniel Pearl in 2003. He has claimed that he was responsible for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York. He is also wanted by the French for his connection with a suicide bomb attack in Djerba in 2002. The Australians also would like to question him about the Bali bombing in 2002 where 202 people died.

Khalid Sheik Mohammed was arrested in March 2003 in Pakistan. He didn’t arrive to Cuba though until 2006. He is expected to be tried by special military tribunal.

Ramzi bin al-Shibh was the roommate of Mohammed Alta. He appears to have been the money behind 9/11. He was denied a visa to enter the U.S. four separate times in 2000 because of fears that he would not leave once he got on American soil. Considering who his friends were that is a valid thought, although it would have been because he would have been on board one of the four planes that were hi-jacked.

Ramzi bin al-Shibh was born in Yemen in 1972. In 1995 after being denied for a visa to the United States he fled to Germany and requested political asylum. He lived in Hamburg until 1997 when the judge refused to grant him asylum. He returned to Yemen for a short time until he received a German visa. During this time he was roommates with Alta.

In 2000 when he was denied four times entry into the United States his potential role of hijacker changed to the role of “coordinator”. He became a link between his former roommate Alta in the U.S. and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in Afghanistan.

A year to the day after the bombing in New York Binalshibh was captured in Pakistan. On September 14,2002 he was turned over to the United States. On October 17, 2002 he was removed from the FBI Seeking Information wanted list. From that time until September 2006 he was imprisoned in a disclosed location. In 2006 he was transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba along with other CIA held prisoners.

He is also wanted in Germany.

Mohammed al-Qahtani has been called the 20th hijacker. Weeks prior to 9/11 he was tried to enter the United States illegally in Orlando, Florida. Alta was in the parking lot to retrieve him at the airport when he was detained. It is believed he was to be on Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania because all of the other flights had five hijackers.

He has spent the most time at Gitmo as prisoner no. 063. There are many documents of the tortures that he has been subject to while in detention. Because of those questionable actions there was speculation that he would never be placed in a trial.

“The techniques made some detainees unprosecutable,” Fallon said. “It would provide the defense counsel a tremendous advantage at trial to sway the presiding officer and members, as well as it would have disclosed those techniques to the public.”

Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali also known as Ammar al-Baluchiis accused of serving as a key lieutenant to his uncle Khalid Sheikh Mohammed during the 9/11 attack. He was raised in Kuwait mentored by Ramzi Yousef who is considered one of the masterminds of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He is thought to have delivered funds to the hijackers prior to the attack in 2001. HE is also thought to have communicated with other plotters in attacks after 9/11 including the “shoe bomber” Richard Reid.

After his uncle was arrested he took over the responsibility of planning more hijacking attacks including Heathrow and targets in Karachi in 2003. He was captured within days of completing the Karachi plot according to the United States.

Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi and Walid bin Attash are thought to have selected and trained some of the hijackers. Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi is said to have tried to bring in some “muscle” with the 20th hijacker. It’s also said that he sent a total of $325,000 to the hijackers funding them. Walid bin Attash is said to be the mastermind behind the USS Cole bombing.

But one question remains for this CJ. Why now? With all the evidence why not years ago? They had the detainees in their hands the entire time. Isn’t justice expected to be swift?

Those are questions that will probaly never have an answer.

Major Child Porn Bust Nets 22 Arrests In Ontario

Twenty two have been arrested in a massive child porn bust in Ontario. There have been a total of 73 criminal charges laid out in the largest coordinated child porn investigation in Ontario history.

Twenty men, one woman and one youth have been arrested with additional arrests pending.

The investigation began last month and involved 25 search warrants in 16 communities throughout the province.

Child porn is the sexual abuse of children – a brutal crime committed by despicable predators,” Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino said.

“Every image of child pornography represents the irrefutable evidence of a child being brutalized; it’s not just about impersonal, abstract images.”

Most of the charges deal with the possession and distribution of child pornography.

The arrests come on the heels of a study that shockingly shows that 15,000 people in Ontario use their computers to distribute child porn. A special task force in the U.S. with help from the Toronto police discovered more than 4,000 computers just in the city of Toronto were involved in trading images of child sexual abuse.

Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino is giving a warning to those who deal in child porn.

“Fair warning to pedophiles,” Fantino said. “You can run, but you can’t hide and sooner or later we will identify you, we will arrest you and we will bring you to justice.”

In Ontario there are more than 63,000 unique IP addresses that have been linked to child porn images.

Those arrested are as follows:

Jay Hutchinson, 24, of Hamilton: one count each of make available child pornography, possession of child pornography;

-Doug MacDonald, 50, of Ottawa: one count each of possession of child pornography, make available child pornography;

-Edwin Morris, 63, of Burlington: one count each of possession of child pornography, access child pornography, make available child pornography;

-Michael E. Shipley, 31, of Milton: one count each of possession of child pornography, access child pornography, make available child pornography;

-Thomas Webb, 56, of Brantford: one count each of possession of child pornography, make available child pornography;

-Wendy Potter, 28, of Whitby: one count each of possession of child pornography, make available child pornography;

-Harry Aseltine, 57, of Oshawa: one count each of possession of child pornography, make available child pornography, possession of a controlled substance.

-Michael Cherry, 37, of London: four counts of possession of child pornography, three counts of making available child pornography.

-Nathan Armstrong, 27, of Peterborough: two counts of possession of child pornography, one count of make available child pornography.

-Matthew McDougall, 20, of Red Lake: two counts of possession of child pornography, one count of making available child pornography.

-Matthew Brunton, 22, of Cornwall: one count each of possession of child pornography, access child pornography.

-Guilio Carere, 46, of Guelph: one count each of possession of child pornography, make available child pornography, possession of a controlled substance.

-Keith Kamenz, 29, of Guelph: one count each of possession of child pornography, make available child pornography.

-Lawrence Bouillon, 44, of Espanola: two counts of possession of child pornography and one count each of make available child pornography, access child pornography, possession of a controlled substance.

-Eric Brown, 25, of Brampton: one count each of possession of child pornography, make available child pornography, access child pornography.

-Michael Avison, 33, of Mississauga: one count each of possession of child pornography, make available child pornography, access child pornography.

-Stephen Burritt, 39, of Sault Ste. Marie: one count each of possession of child pornography, make available child pornography, distribution of child pornography, possession of child pornography for the purpose of distribution; five counts of unsafe storage of firearm; one count each of unsafe storage of ammunition, knowingly possess a prohibited firearm without authorization, possession of prohibited firearm.

-Karl Herman, 64, of Cambridge: one count each of possession of child pornography, make available child pornography.

-Glenn Laurin, 45, of Toronto: one count each of possession of child pornography, make available child pornography.

-Matthew Sankoff, 29, of Toronto: two counts of luring under 14, one count of invitation to sexual touch, one count each of exposure to person under 14, possession of child pornography, distribution of child pornography.

-Leonard Legros, 60, of Ottawa: one count each of possession of child pornography, making available child pornography.

-One young offender from Hamilton: one count of possession of child pornography.

If you are viewing child porn be warned. They are looking for you and if justice is served they will find you.

Two CBS Journalists Kidnapped in Iraq

Two CBS journalists have been kidnapped in Iraq. A British journalist and his Iraqi translator was kidnapped in the port city of Basra on Sunday lead away by gunpoint from the Palace Sultan Hotel.

About 10 gunmen were involved in taking the British photo-journalist and his interpreter. The pair had flown to Basra from Baghdad on Saturday.

the U.S. network that employs the journalists have declined to give their names in order to protect their identities.

“We denounce and condemn the abduction of journalists all over Iraq in general and in Basra in particular,” the Basra wing of the movement said. “We ask the abductors to release the journalists.”

Iraq is considered the most dangerous venue for journalists to work in the world. Since March 2003 dozens of journalist, Iraqi and foreign have been kidnapped.

On Tuesday the Young Journalists League reported that the body of 27 year old Hisham Mijwit Hamdane, an Iraqi journalist had been found in Baghdad. He had disappeared two days before on a shopping trip. The police found the body of the married, father of two in the Bab al-Sheikh neighbourhood of central Baghdad.

“The Mosquito” Infringes On The Rights Of The Young

A high pitched machine called “The Mosquito” is being used in England to combat anti-social behaviours of the nation’s youth. There is a problem though, the device that uses ultra sonic tones hurts all under the age of 20.

The use of “The Mosquito” to curb “bad” behaviours is getting heat within human rights groups. The device’s ultra sonic tones can only be heard by those younger than their twenties. That age range includes infants and small children who are subjected to the painful tones if they are in an area where it is being used. The chances that they are in those areas is pretty high considering in England they are used where youth gather like shops and parks.

“I have spoken to many children and young people from all over England who have been deeply affected by ultra-sonic teenage deterrents. These devices are indiscriminate and target all children and young people, including babies, regardless of whether they are behaving or misbehaving,” England’s Children’s Commissioner Al Aynsley-Green stated.

There are around 3,500 of these devices in England. Leaders that deal with the nation’s youth have fears that by using this painful device teenagers may ultimately be pushed into unsafe venues in order to escape the torment.

The Mosquito was invented by Howard Stapleton in Wales. It is manufactured by Compound Security Systems. The company says their product is an ultrasonic teenage deterrent and “the most effective tool in our fight against anti social behavior.” The device has a range of 15 to 20 metres. The company boasts that teens will quickly move from an area using their device within
8 to 10 minutes.

Shop owners have bought into the hype and are using the device as are railway companies hoping to curb the amount of graffiti on their trains and station walls.

Shopkeeper Rober Gough from South Wales was the first to use the product and is satisfied.

“Either someone has come along and wiped them off the face of the earth, or it’s working.”

While shopkeepers may see a benefit from this product it is not popular among human rights groups.

Shami Chakrabarti, director of the human rights group Liberty, said: “What type of society uses a low-level sonic weapon on its children? Imagine the outcry if a device was introduced that caused blanket discomfort to people of one race or gender, rather than to our kids.

“The Mosquito has no place in a country that values its children and seeks to instill them with dignity and respect.”

This device reminds me of dog whistles. Knowing that small children have to deal with this machine while their Mums are shopping is horrible. Children aren’t animals.

Come to think of it, if a device was found to hurt an animal it would be quickly outlawed. Animals may just have more rights than children in the over all scheme of things.

You Joined Facebook, Now They Own Your Information For Life

Everyone is joining Facebook. It’s where all your friends are. But did you know that once you join Facebook, you could be a member for life? You can delete your account but Facebook retains copies of your information indefinitely.

The contract or terms of Facebook actually tell you this if you take the time to read it in its entirety. Those who read the over 6,500 words can tell you that you can’t use the terms in an article unless you have permission from the company to do so

Facebook claims that one of the reasons that they keep your info on hand is so when you decide to reactivate it’s all there. That means that you are there even if you have decided not to be anymore. Have you used your credit card number on Facebook to buy a virtual gift? That number remains with the rest of your data.

According to Facebook, though, you can leave without a trace; it just takes a lot of work on your part.

“Users can also have their account completely removed by deleting all of the data associated with their account and then deactivating it,” Amy Sezak, a spokeswoman for Facebook said. “Users can then write to Facebook to request their account be deleted and their e-mail will be completely erased from the database.”

With Facebook holding onto your information, it has the potential to be able to abuse it in the future. Facebook offers their advertisers the ability to connect with certain groups of people. Losing a client means they lose potential advertising monies.

“The thing they offer advertisers is that they can connect to groups of people. I can see why they wouldn’t want to throw away anyone’s information, but there’s a conflict with privacy,” said Alan Burlison, 46, a British software engineer who succeeded in deleting his account only after he complained in the British press

Canadian online community developer Steven Mansour, 28, spent two weeks in July trying to delete Facebook. He ended up writing a blog entry entitled “2504 steps to closing your Facebook account”. Mansour also is concerned about the privacy abuse issue. His account has been deactivated.

Now, most people won’t get why this is such a big deal. But it is a big deal. Your personal data, especially on the web, is something that will be increasingly valuable to corporate and government interests – and increasingly important (and, perhaps, difficult) to protect.

Although this information concerns me I will remain on as a Facebook member. I will also limit the information that I put out into the Facebook world.

What are your thoughts? Did you know when joining Facebook that they hang onto your information even after you may choose to leave? Did you read all of the term of agreements or click the “yea, yea sign me up button” saying that you had but didn’t have time for?

You know I think I may have been one of those. Next time I will know better. So will you.

Russian Bomber Buzzes USS Nimitz On Saturday

U.S. Air Force Photo

In a scene that could have come from the movie Top Gun, a Russian bomber buzzed by the USS Nimitz on Saturday. This Pacific Ocean fly-by was only 2,000 feet over the deck of the U.S. aircraft carrier.

American fighter jets quickly intercepted the two bombers, according to U.S. military officials Monday. One of the Russian jets flew over the deck of the carrier twice Saturday while another was within 50 miles of the military watercraft.

Four F/A-18A fighters were in the air from the Nimitz. When the two nations meet in air they did not exchange verbal communications.

Japanese officials said that four turboprop Tupolev-95 Bear bombers took off from Ukrainka air base in the middle of the night. One of those jets violated Japanese airspace.

The western Pacific has been active with the Russian bombers in the past several months. Two U.S. F-15 fighters had to intercept a plane that came within only 50 miles of the coastline in September.

Since July, there have been eight incidents near the Alaskan coastline.

The Longest Day: BlackBerry Service Out in North America

If there was a Help Line for BlackBerry addicts, today would have been hopping. A major service outage is ongoing across North America. Some users were about to get back on with their tapping late Monday afternoon but others are still in need of a fix.

Bell Canada says that most of its BlackBerry customers are still without service. AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless said their clients are also being affected. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. said that all wireless carriers have had to deal with the service being out today.

As SFGate reports:

“Everyone’s in crisis because they’re all picking away at their BlackBerrys and nothing’s happening,” Garth Turner, a member of the Canadian Parliament said. “It’s almost like cutting the phone cables or a total collapse in telegraph lines a century ago. It just isolates people in a way that’s quite phenomenal.”

These mini lifelines are addictive. The signs of the addiction are pretty apparent to those around the victims. Dinner conversations are via text messages instead of using a voice, sprained fingers from overuse of the tiny keyboard, tears springing up when looking for email and finding none.

Last year there was a two day interruption of service. There is no time estimate on how long this one will be. Clients are not happy. They need their BlackBerrys to survive in the business world.

As SFGate reports:

“I cannot believe this happened again,” Stuart Gold, a customer who says he gets 1,000 e-mails a day as director of field marketing for Web analytics company Omniture Inc. said as he got off a plane. “I’m on the road 300 days a year. My entire life is in my BlackBerry — my family life, my professional life, my emotional life, everything. … They’re not allowed to do this to me.”

Richard Zednik Has Carotid Artery Sliced During Game Sunday Night

Florida Panthers forward Richard Zednik was the victim of a freak accident Sunday night as a teammate’s skate came close to severing his carotid artery. Zednik lost five pints of blood in the accident.

Sunday night an emergency surgery was performed that lasted an hour to reconnect the artery at Buffalo General Hospital. Zednik is in stable condition in the intensive care unit.

The largest fear when the carotid artery has to be clamped is brain damage. Zednik appears to have escaped that fate.

During the period period Zednik was sliced across the right side of his throat by Olli Jokinen’s skate. According to doctors the jugular vein was nearly sliced.

The artery was “hanging by a thread” according to surgeon Sonya Noor. Had the artery been completely severed it would have receded into the neck making the surgery much more complicated.

The carotid artery supplies blood to the brain. Blood pressure in the artery is higher because of this task.

Zednik had to be “tubed” because of swelling around the cut. He also had a very low blood pressure prior to surgery.

Robert McCormack, the hospital’s clinical chief of emergency medicine, said: “We became concerned. He was clearly in shock from blood loss. His heart rate was high his blood pressure was a bit low.”

Zednik will be out of the game for six to eight weeks as he recovers.

Huge Fire Breaks Out In Winter Haven, Florida

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Firefighters are on location at a fire in Winter Haven, Florida. The old Scotty’s warehouse used now as a warehouse used to make cardboard boxes is fully engulfed by flames. More than 50 crew members are involved in battling the blaze.

Firefighters from Polk County, Auburndale, Winter Haven, Lakeland and Bartow are working on the flames on Recker Highway. The roof has collapsed into the building. A brush fire was quickly extinguished that had started from embers blown by the wind.

The building is owned by Saddle Creek Corp. but had been previously owned by Scotty’s Building Supplies.

According to one witness, Timothy Rhinock, the flames could be seen fifteen miles away.

More details will follow as they come available.

Two Separate Cases Of Espionage Result In Arrests

Gregg William Bergersen, 51, of Alexandria, Virginia stands accused of espionage. He has been arrested and charged with passing American military secrets to the Chinese government.

Bergersen is a weapons systems policy analyst at the Defense Department’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency in Arlington, Virginia. Also involved with this case are Tai Shen Kuo, 58, and Yu Xin Kang, 33, both of New Orleans, Louisiana.

Kuo is accused of cultivating a friendship with Bergersen in order to get national defense information for China.

There was also an arrest in a totally separate espionage case in California. A former Boeing Co. engineer was charged with working an an unregistered agent. He was trading secrets for the Chinese government. 72 year old Dongfan “Greg” Chung was arrested in connection to economic espionage. Chung is a naturalized U.S. citizen. Chung is scheduled to appear in federal court in Santa Ana, California to face charges relating to the U.S. space shuttle, the C-17 military aircraft and the Delta IV rocket.

“These two cases plainly represent the magnitude of the threat we face,” said Kenneth Wainstein, assistant attorney general for national security.

“It’s a threat to our national security and to our economic position in the world,” he added, “a threat that is posed by the relentless efforts by foreign intelligence services to penetrate our security systems.”

Six Detainees to be Charged For Involvement in 9/11

The Pentagon is planning to charge six detainees at Gitmo for the 9/11 attacks. The Pentagon also wants capital punishment to be the end result. It’s been more than six years since the attack that took more than 3,000 lives.

Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said the charges could come as early as Monday.

The men that are alleged to be involved are:

Khalid Sheik Mohammed
He is suspected to be the mastermind behind the attacks.

Ramzi bin al-Shibh
He is said to be the main intermediary between the hijackers and al-Qaida.

Mohammed al-Qahtani
He is said to have been the 20th hijacker.

Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali
He is said to be Mohammed’s lieutenant for the 2001 operation. He is also the nephew of Khalid Sheik Mohammed.

Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi
Walid bin Attash
Both of these men are alleged to have selected and trained some of the hijackers.

“The department has been working diligently to prepare cases and bring charges against a number of individuals who have been involved in some of the most grievous acts of violence and terror against the United States and our allies,” Whitman said.

This is a developing story that will undoubtedly fill in the missing pieces in the weeks and months ahead.

The Loonie Keeps It Up

The Loonie is on another upward spiral against the United States dollar. Opening Monday at 100.05 it jumped slightly from Friday’s closing rate. As the U.S. dollar loses value the Canadian dollar gains.

As the Loonie increases in value Wall Street has been dealing with a slide as an economic slowdown appears to be on the horizon for Americans.

The new doesn’t seem to be getting any better as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has threatened to cut oil sales to the United States. That has to do with the court battle between Venezuela and the Exxon Mobil Corp.

The U.S. is not the only country seeing slumping figures in their stock market. Japan, Britain, Hong Kong, Germany and France have all seen some slumps in the past week.

The Toronto stock exchange racked up a modest advance as the oil and bullion prices rose.

Superbug Is Increasing Among Vancouver IV Drug Users

A superbug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has a hold of injection drug users in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and it is worrying health researchers. The staph bacteria has the potential to be fatal.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA has been rising quickly within community acquired infection STATs. While most lay people don’t worry so much about a drug resistant virus affecting them when it’s in the drug community the fact that its rapid spread there means that the rest of the general population is at serious risk.

“I think what this says is: We’ve got a genetically very smart microorganism here,” said senior author Dr. Elizabeth Bryce, a medical microbiologist and infection control specialist with Vancouver General Hospital. “And these (injection drug users) could be the canaries in the coal mine.”

Researchers from Vancouver Coastal Health and the University of British Columbia saw an increase of 250 percent in the Eastside community between 2000 to 2006. If those figures are any indication of what could happen in all of the general population we could be sitting on a cannonball just waiting to be fired.

The current groups that are considered high risk other than IV drug users are residents of First Nations’ reserves, athletes that play team sports and prison inmates.

In 2006 18.6 percent of the 300 injection drug users in the study tested positive for MRSA. In 2000 only 7.4 percent had tested positive.

“This is certainly one of the highest colonization rates I’ve seen,” said Dr. Elizabeth Bancroft, a medical epidemiologist with the public health department of Los Angeles County, which for years has been battling what is now considered an endemic MRSA problem.

Between 25 to 30 percent of healthy people carry Staph in their nose or skin at any given time. Some of those will develop Staph infections of the skin like boils or skin lesions. Some though will come down with more serious infections attacking the bloodstream or pneumonia.

While Canada does have a lower level of population infection than the United States it is still quite worrisome to researchers. In the United States the most common drug resistant staph is the USA-300 strain with the USA-500 strain which is commonly found in hospitals.

The MRSA strain is a mutation of the USA-300 strain.

What was remarkable to me is not only did the rate of people with MRSA just jump up, but almost the entire increase was due to the so-called USA-300 strain coming into this population and then sort of spreading,” Bancroft said.

The researchers are suggesting that local public health authorities throughout Canada should be doing studies to find out how spread MRSA is outside of hospitals to be able to know what to deal with in the future.

“It can cause extremely nasty stuff,” Bancroft said. “It can cause anything from something that’s a self-limited decent size pimple all the way to death. It can cause a full range of outcomes.”

Frequent hand washing is your best defense against this bacteria.

Eloise, Florida Church Gives Away $10,000 In Free Gas

Early Saturday morning there was a line up at the 7-Eleven in Eloise, Florida. The First Baptist Church of Eagle Lake was offering free gas to fill your car up for as many people as $11,510 could pay for.

With gas at $2.94 a gallon the total of people that were gifted with a free tank of gas came to 378. The line was cut off at 10:30 a.m. by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office that were on hand to direct traffic.

Missy Powell from Wahneta was the last person to receive the free gas.

“If more people were like this, the world would be a better place,” she said.

65 volunteers from the church were on hand to pump gas, wash windshields and hand out Bibles to the masses. The man behind the idea of the gas giveaway was Rev. Jeff Buchanan. He declared it a way of spreading his church’s mission of “spreading God’s love.”

The church had approached several service stations being rejected before the 7-Eleven gave them the thumbs-up.

The employees at 7-Eleven got into the action by passing out small cups of free Slurpees and samples of brownies and taquitos.

Shhhh! British Athletes Told To Hush About China

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In order to make it to the Olympic Games this year in China, British athletes have to prove they are the best in their field and be prepared not to state their views on China’s human rights record.

The athletes have all had to sign a contract to promise to keep their mouths sealed.

Graham Nathan, spokesman for the British Olympics Association (BOA), told CNN that “British athletes will have to sign a contract promising not to comment on any politically sensitive issues.”

It’s not the first time the athletes from Britain have had to sign a contract prior to the games but this is a first when it comes to not talk about politically sensitive issues. If the players don’t sign they will miss out on their chance to shine.

This policy is not going over well with some other nations including the United States and Australia. Amnesty International is also upset about the move.

Amnesty International campaigns director Tim Hancock told the Press Association: “People in China can’t speak out about human rights without fear of reprisals; people in Britain can.

“It’s up to each individual to decide what they think and what they say about China’s human rights record and that goes for athletes too.

Wichita Zoo Gives Birth to Two Baby Komodo Dragons

It looks like if you’re a Komodo dragon you don’t need to have a man around to get things done. At the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita two little Komodo dragons hatched without a “daddy” to fertilize the egg.

The two new lizards are both male and the first to have been hatched in North America by parthenogenesis. That process occurs naturally in some species including plants and invertebrates. It happens rarely in vertebrates. The process has happened twice before at the London and Chester zoos in England.

According to the curator of reptiles and amphibians at the San Diego Zoo Don Boyer Komodo dragons are one of the few species that are known to be able to store sperm.

Komodo dragons can lay as many as 30 eggs at a time. Because of the space required to house these lizards zoos do not house males to keep their populations down.

The Komodo dragon is an endangered species. There are only 3,000 to 5,000 living in the wild. There are currently 80 living in North American zoos. Only six of those zoos in the United States breed the dragons.

“We never had a male dragon at the zoo. There were no tramps that came wandering through,” said Nate Nelson, the Sedgwick County zoo’s curator of amphibians, reptiles and fishes.

Norwegian Embassy In Kabul Is Closed Until Further Notice

Norway has closed its embassy in Kabul after “terror threats.” Kristin Melsom said that the embassy will be closed in the Afghan city until further notice. Norway has been the target of at least two attacks by al-Qaida.

Al-Qaida appears to have targeted the nation because they have a deployment in Afghanistan and there was a deployment in Iraq for a time. In March 200 extra soldiers will be joining the 500 that are stationed in Afghanistan. Special forces and helicopters will also be part of this deployment.

“According to detective reports, the enemies plan to launch a series of suicide attacks, explosions and harmful activities in Kabul city,” said the report, which was obtained by The Associated Press in Kabul. “(F)or this purpose, the enemies’ first plan is to target some more vulnerable infrastructures of Kabul city.”

The report sent out by Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry was dated January 20, 2008. There were 15 locations that were listed as targets by militants. The embassy for Norway was one of those 15.

Other embassies that have been classified as targets for possible attacks are Sweden, Belgium, India, Turkey, Finland and Indonesia. There are also three hotels in Kabul that are listed as possible targets. In January the Serena Hotel was attacked. The hotel is a favorite in the city for Westerns. The target of that attack was the Norwegian foreign minister. The foreign minister escaped injury but several others were killed during the brazen attack by three militants.

Mama And Boris Have Come Home

While Army Sgt. Peter C. Neesley walked this Earth he was an animal lover. That didn’t stop when he was stationed in Iraq. He took in two stray dogs. After naming the pair Boris and Mama he adopted them outright.

Neesley had hoped to bring them home to Michigan when he went back stateside. His family were behind him in his quest to care for the dogs that he had found.

Army Sgt. Peter C. Neesley died in his sleep on Christmas in Iraq. His death is still under investigation pending the results of his autopsy.

His family in their grief decided to honour the dream of Neesley by bringing Mama and Boris, his two dogs home to Michigan.

After weeks of transfers that were facilitated by family, animal rights groups, the media and elected leaders Mama and Boris are now in their new home in Michigan. They arrived on Friday.

He didn’t want another young man who had a wife and kids at home to die,” Carey Neesley, sister to Peter said. “He’s always had such a strong sense of family and protecting those who can’t protect themselves. Caring for a mother and her stray puppy, why would you ever think to do anything else?”

Oil Rig Off Scottish Coast Evacuated After Security AlertA oil rig off the Scottish coast is being evacuated this morning after a security alert. About 500 workers are scrambling to get off the Safe Scandinavia rig as quickly as possible. The rig is in the North Sea.

A oil rig off the Scottish coast is being evacuated this morning after a security alert. About 500 workers are scrambling to get off the Safe Scandinavia rig as quickly as possible. The rig is in the North Sea.

The Royal Air Force has five helicopters en route to help with the evacuation. They were notified by the Grampian police that there was a security incident on the oil rig.

The local police are coordinating the evacuation of the 500 or so workers. The rig is around 280 kilometres northwest of the Scottish town of Aberdeen.

A bomb disposal team is on route to the rig according to a Ministry of Defense.

“An explosive ordinance device team is being scrambled to the scene,” the spokesman said, adding that the evacuation was being coordinated by Grampian police.

A Mighty Burp

The star BP Piscium (center), in the constellation Pisces. The green and red streaks are jets of gas shot from the star. The image was obtained using the 3-meter telescope at the University of California’s Lick Observatory. (Credit: Image courtesy of Univ

BP Piscium appears to have swallowed its stellar companion and could be starting a new planet system. The middle aged star is about 1000 light years away from the Earth. Scientists are watching the development closely.

After BP Piscium ingested its stellar buddy it burped out a planet forming cloud. The star is now surrounded by a thick disc of gas and dust. The matter seems to be sucking up new material at a healthy rate.

Young stars do this a lot but BP Piscium is an older star. Scientists know this because of the weak signs of lithium in its light spectrum. As stars age they lose lithium.

The star is a giant because it has already exhausted the hydrogen fuel at its core. When that fuel goes the star begins to swell up. As the star started to grow it is believed that it became a red giant engulfing a smaller star that was a companion. Based on calculations the dusty disc contains the mass of about 50 Earths.

It’s possible that the disc will turn into planets. The star is being observed with the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray observatory.

The Trial Begins In The Case of Nizxmary Brown’s Murder

Nixzmary Brown was seven years old when she died. The two people who should have protected her, guarded her and taught her life lessons are those who stand accused of taking her life. Her stepfather’s lawyer says this little girl is to blame.

Cesar Rodrigues is on trial for the death of little Nixzmary in New York.

The jurors on this case have been shown photos of this little girl who was tortured, starved and forced to use a litter box for a bathroom. They are also being told by the prosecutor that this child and her mother are to blame for her death.

Attorney Jeffery Schwartz has called Nixzaliz Santiago a “monster” and Nixzmary a “little Houdini” that was violent. Schwartz wants to call Santiago to the stand as his first defense witness. There may be a conflict of interests though as she also is facing a trial later this year for her daughter’s murder.

Rodriquez has plead not guilty to the murder charges of Nixzmary. She died when she was struck on the head for punishment. Her “crime” was stealing yogurt.

The 29 year old Rodriguez does not deny that he was a strict disciplinarian. He doesn’t deny that he bound the frail child to a chair or that he beat her. It was a daily ritual in the life of little Nixzmary.

There is no question that these parents used materials like duct tape to immobilize the little girl who weighed a mere 36 pounds at her death.

The home where Nixzmary lived had six young children. Their father was an unemployed security guard who according to his lawyer tried to protect the children from their mother.

“Isn’t it a fact that Cesar Rodriguez was taking credit for all the injuries Nixzaliz Santiago inflicted?” the attorney asked a detective earlier this week in a cross-examination met with a barrage of objections by prosecutors.

The final day of Nixzmary’s life was a nightmare. The child had taken some yogurt from the refrigerator and damaged a computer printer according to a taped interview that Rodriquez gave. He decided to punish her by running her head under a bathroom faucet.

“I took her and threw some cold water on her … to make her think,” he said.

It is suspected that he smashed her head against the faucet. He denies that. He also denies that the two black eyes on the lifeless body were his doing. This man blames a dying seven year old child for giving herself two black eyes.

As this child laid on the floor moaning in pain Rodriguez never once sought help.

She died as she lived in pain at the hands of her parents. Hopefully justice will come at the end of this trial for a little girl who should be playing in the snow this winter instead of buried beneath it.

Op-Ed: How Does Blood Soaking the Soil Ever Become Just?

Is war ever just? Does coating the ground in red “save” souls? Do the victors ever really win in the end? If you win does that make your God, beliefs, nation, etc. better? Or does it just mean you have better guns?

My mailbox gets timely messages on the “evils” of religious beliefs (gosh, there sure are a lot of those theories out there) and the reasons why wars should be fought on a daily basis. It’s the us or them mentality of life.

Today I received one about religion. Pictures of hatred, using “God” as the reason littered the letter. I am an agnostic. It’s not a secret. This mailing only intensified one thought inside of me, religion is one of the greatest causes of war and civil unrest. In my mind that would put it in the “evil” side of things. But if religion was eliminated from the picture would war also be a thing of the past?

Even when a war begins without religion as the start elements of the religious beliefs between the “contenders” filter in. The war in Iraq is an example.

Let’s think about this concept for a minute before wanting to claim that this is a religious bashing article.

War has always been part of the world picture. The bigger kids with the most toys always wants more and have no problems taking those “toys” with force. How many times have those toys been people who believe differently? Almost every organized religion that is practiced by the masses is rooted in violence. Even the teachings of religions that are today considered non violent and peaceful have bloody pasts.

Is there ever a just reason to kill masses of people? Can there honestly be a just war?

I know many believe that force can change the world. I look around and I have to wonder what positive changes force has given us. Has it made neighbours of men? Has it bridged the gaps between the rich and the poor? Looking around again, I see it isn’t so.

“Holy War“

“Just War“

“collateral damage“

“gen-o-cide“

“sign of God“

Somehow the blood of humans coating the Earth can’t be holy. It can’t be justified. It is barbaric. It is animistic.

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one

Amy Winehouse Denied Visa To The U.S.

Amy Winehouse will be a no show at this year’s Grammy Awards. The singer has been denied a visa to gain entry into the United States. She has been nominated for six categories.

Winehouse’s British publicists issued a statement after the singer was denied a visa.

“Unfortunately, her application for a visa to enter the United States of America has been rejected at this time by the American Embassy in London,” the statement said.

“Amy has been treated well and fairly by the embassy staff, and thanks every one for their support in trying to make this happen,” the statement said. “There will of course be other opportunities and she very much looks forward to visiting America in the near future.”

The singer is currently in treatment for drug addiction. She entered into a clinic on January 24 after a home video was leaked showing her smoking something in a glass pipe. She had stated on the film that she had just taken six Valiums before the pipe was inhaled. Portions of the two minute video were posted on The Sun’s Web site.

Winehouse has become more famous for her drug use than her songs. Her song “Rehab” is about she reluctance to enter into rehab. She spent some time in treatment during the summer of 2007.

In October Winehouse and her husband Blake Fielder-Civil were arrested at a hotel in Norway for marijuana possession.

Fielder-Civil is currently living in jail in London. He has been charged with perverting the course of justice following a bar fight.

Imperial Sugar Refinery In Flames

An explosion at a sugar factory in the Savannah suburbs of Georgia could be felt for miles away. The explosion happened in a room where workers bag sugar at the Imperial Sugar refinery Thursday night located in Port Wentworth.

Six people have been unaccounted for in the resulting blaze that firefighters are still battling to get under control. At least 42 people were injured in the explosion.

“There was an explosion into the air with debris and a fireball that was probably five or six times as tall as the tallest trees here,” said Lt. Alan Baker of the Port Wentworth Police Department. “It’s the biggest explosion I’ve ever seen in my life.”

The Savannah Fire Department are using a tug boat on the Savannah River to blast water into the blaze. Because of the damage and flames firefighters have found it difficult to enter into the four story plant’s building.

Ambulances and emergency workers are on the scene. Twelve countries have sent their crews to help with the situation.

Memorial Health emergency room doctor Dr. Jay Goldstein said many of the victims that have gone through his triage station are in critical care. Some of the victims have been transported via helicopter to Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, Georgia. Other burn centers are also receiving victims.

At this time there are no listed deaths.

The refinery is a major employer for the town just northwest of Savannah.

Scotland Yard Says Blast Killed Bhutto

According to Scotland Yard, Benazir Bhutto died from the impact of the bomb instead of the bullets that missed her. As Bhutto waved to the crowd a suicide bomber aimed and fired a gun at the slain opposition leader. He missed.

The bomber then detonated explosives which caused Bhutto’s skull to smash against the car, killing her.

As AFP reports:

“The blast caused a violent collision between her head and the escape hatch area of the vehicle, causing a severe and fatal head injury,” added the summary, signed by British Detective Superintendent John MacBrayne.

President Pervez Musharraf allowed for Scotland Yard to investigate the fallen leader’s killing in order for a non-partial verdict.

The word out of England, though, may not convince those closest to Bhutto of the cause of her death. Her aides have stated she was shot. The aides also criticized authorities in Pakistan for hosing-down the scene within hours of the attack.

As AFP reports:

“The party is still looking at the Scotland Yard report — however, it is difficult to agree with its findings on the cause of death,” Pakistan People’s Party spokeswoman Sherry Rehman told AFP. “We do believe that she was killed by an assassin’s bullet,” she added.

All of the investigations now, though, have to be speculation. Bhutto was cremated before an autopsy was performed.

op-ed: Howard County School Board in Maryland Is Breaking The Law

One of Maryland’s education systems is breaking the law when it comes to pregnant teenagers attending high school. Howard County school officials are notifying parents when students reveal they are pregnant.

“There’s no question this will have a chilling effect on kids coming forward,” said County Health Officer Peter Beilenson. “It’s going to slow down health care.”

In Maryland students have the right to make medical decisions independently of their parents. The minor consent law that applies to those who are younger than 18 says that teens do not have to inform their parents to receive health services. This includes pregnancy testing, contraceptives and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.

“We wanted to make it clear: If the student does not tell the parents, the school system will advise the parents,” Aquino said. “Parents have a right to that information.”

Mark Blom, the system’s general counsel, said school health offices should not be regarded as clinical settings, where the state’s minor consent law would apply.

The school board is taking the law into it’s own hands and taking away the rights of those that they educate. In certain circumstances they are playing a potentially deadly game which is way there is a act that allows youth to seek medical services without their parents permission.

As a parent I would love to have every bit of information that concerns my children’s health but I also understand that there could come a time when some of their health needs are none of my business. Not only that by having to have permission for those needs they may not seek treatment. The lesser of the two evils is to make sure that treatment is there for minors even if parents are not aware of it.

I am a fairly liberal parent, others may not be as much. We have all heard of kids being kicked out of their homes for various reasons that ultimately have to do with sex. This is just one reason why there are laws in effect to protect kids.

Children are a parent’s concern, as is their health matters. But, and this is a big but, there is a time when a child has to act as a grown up if they are making adult decisions such as having sexual relations. In these cases they should be allowed to continue those adult behaviors with health care.

Just my opinion.

CNN Reporter Blogging While Detained At Erez

CNN’s Ben Wederman is stuck at the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza because his bullet proof jacket has suspicious particles on it. That is the only reason that the reporter has been given.

Wederman had to give over his cell phone number after initially refusing. Security has been asking about his connections in Gaza and than has left him alone in the passport control area for an hour.

This isn’t a first for a reporter crossing between the two areas. Erez is known for it’s detaining of reporters. They are strip searched and interrogated, held for hours on end. It’s not an unwise move though on the part of the Israeli security that monitors this checkpoint. With the many suicide bombers out there they have to be careful.

Still for reporters that are held there for hours it can be extremely frustrating. Wederman had grabbed a flack jacket before leaving his office at the CNN bureau in Jerusalem Wednesday. He was on route to cover a story about the American International School.

A year ago Wederman had been working on a story along with camera man Adil Bradlow about a workshop where militants made rockets that would later fly into Israel. The room that the two were in reeked of the chemicals that had fallen to the floor. When they passed through the Israeli control centre they were passed without issue.

That was a year ago. Today Wederman is blogging his day on Hala’s blog. He has not been strip searched. At least not at the time of this entry.

Dr. Amit Kumar Has Been Arrested In Nepal

The international manhunt for Dr. Amit Kumar has ended. The mastermind behind the cash for organs ring was nabbed in Saurah. The Nepalese town is 150 km south of Kathmandu ending a trail of terror.

Dr. Kumar was carrying $145,000 U.S. funds along with a cheque for 900,000 euros when he was captured by a special police team from Kathmandu. He was taken to a regional police station in Hetauda according to Ram Kumar Chaudhary.

Kumar is accused of stealing and buying kidneys after coercing healthy Indians and then selling the organs to foreigners for transplant.

A world wide manhunt was underway when Kumar was captured.

The police estimate that as many as 500 people had given a kidney to the organ donation ring.

the mastermind behind the cash for organs ring was nabbed in Saurah. The Nepalese town is 150 km south of Kathmandu.

Breaking News: Romney Suspends Campaign

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney has decided to hang up his coat and leave the presidential trial for the time being. By suspending his campaign Romney will keep his delegates and not have to give them to those still active in the Presidential race.

A presidential candidate may “suspend” their campaign without dropping out of the race and thereby remain a candidate. They are allowed to keep any statewide pledged delegates as well as their district level ones.

Jolie Goes To Iraq

Angelina Jolie takes her United Nations goodwill ambassador position seriously. She is now in Iraq highlighting internal refugees in that nation. With the violence that permeates throughout the country many have are choice but to live in refugee camps.

In a country that is filled with violence Jolie stated that there should be a more coherent plan to help the more than 2 million Iraqis that have been internally displaced get home.

“There’s lots of goodwill and lots of discussion, but there seems to be just a lot of talk at the moment,” Jolie said in excerpts of an interview aired on CNN.

While in Iraq Jolie plans to meet with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Iraqi migration officials.

Jolie has been seen visiting United States troops in the Green Zone. The area is heavily guarded and houses the embassy and Iraqi government offices in Baghdad.

The Future Is Soon, Norway Has Hopes For Robots Helping Seniors

The elderly in Norway may be looking at robot care to meet their needs. By using robots senior citizens will be able to live in their own homes longer and in comfort. The future is approaching for the use of robots living among us.

By 2020 there won’t be enough health care staff to meet the demands of the elderly in Norway. Two employee groups have teamed up to discover if robots are the answer to this increasing need.

Olav Ulleren, head of a group that represents Norwegian municipalities said that robots will be the ones that are doing simple housework chores like washing clothes, dishes and cleaning the floor. Devices should be in place to give daily medical tests or observation and help with personal hygiene.

“Everyone wants to take care of themselves as long as possible, and it is not the intention to rob anybody of the responsibility of caring for the elderly, this will just add another dimension,” Ulleren said. Using technology for household chores would make human health care more personal, he said.

Even with the help of migrant workers Norway’s 4.6 population is short of skilled workers. There is no word when the robot will be able to take over household duties for seniors in Norway.

Toronto School Kids Are Hoping For a Miracle

Could it be real? Is a snow day in the sights for the kids of Toronto? Children all over the GTA are sitting on pins and needles hoping for the miracle of all miracles…….SNOW DAY!

Toronto is being hammered by a snow storm just a day after the last one. Wednesday morning more than 10 cm of wet snow greeted commuters on their way to work. Weathermen spoke of at least 15 cm more to hit the streets after 4 pm.

“This storm has the potential to produce snowfall rates as high as 5 centimetres per hour with near zero visibilities especially during the evening hours,” says a warning posted on the Environment Canada website.

“The highest snowfall from this system is expected to fall over the Goderich to Palmerston to Orangeville to Newmarket areas tonight with upwards of 20 to 30 centimetres possible there by Thursday morning,” the warning continues.

Schools were closed on Wednesday in the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board and Peel District School Board.
But what about the city kids? They trudged along to school in the wintry white as they always do. Those country kids get all the breaks.

But there is a glimmer of hope. Thursday may see what could be a city kid’s idea of a miracle if the rumors that are swirling around prove right.

At my house the cells were ringing out as teens speak the sacred words, it could be a snow day tomorrow.

There is no mention about a snow day on Toronto News sites but the young are a hopeful bunch. Maybe that miracle will come in the morning.

Mom Can’t Sue Docs For Circumcision

Dawn Nelson didn’t like the way her son looked after his circumcision but a judge ruled that she can’t sue the doctor or the hospital. The boy was born Jan. 21, 2000 at Unity Hospital in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled that Nelson can not sue the hospital nor Dr. Steven Berestska for the “most erogenous tissue” removal. While she and the boy’s father claim that the precedure had been completed without their permission she did indictate on a prenatal form that she wanted the surgery done.

Nelson plans to appeal.

The boy had to have another surgery shortly after the inital circumsion for cosmetic purposes.

Could She Be The First Kid Again?

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How does Chelsea Clinton fit into the scheme of things this time around? When her father was elected as Head of State she was just a little girl. Now she’s an adult. Will her life change if her mother wins the biggest game in the land?

This time around the Clinton’s daughter has been fairly absent from the public eye. But she has been in the background. She brought coffee to the New Haven polling centre on Tuesday morning prompting election officials to caution that politicking within 75 feet of polling sites is a big no-no. She left the area though before the polls had even opened.

“I did not consider it an issue because she didn’t come here, as far as I’m concerned, to influence anything here or disrupt us,” Torres said. “She was here, I opened the polls and then she left.”

If we were to vote based on how a “kid” turns out Clinton may very well win the race. Chelsea has proven that she is a force to be reckoned with. Smart, loved, trustworthy Clinton has grace beyond her years. She works on Wall Street. At only 27 she is successful in her own right.

This time around if her mother wins Chelsea will not live at the White House. She has her own life. She hasn’t spoken publicly about the election that will take place in November. To her parents credit she has been allowed to stay in the backseat during the campaign.

“Somehow she understood the value of silence, the grace of staying just out of reach, even at a young age,” Davis wrote. “If Hillary gets elected, Chelsea will be the first First Daughter to do it all over again. And you know what? She’ll be fine.”

Ford Trucks Will Soon Feature On-board Computers

Ford Motor Co. will soon be offering computers in its pickups and vans. Plans are in the works to have an in-dash computer with high speed Internet and a ink jet printer on its F-150 trucks and commercial vans.

The Ford’s Work Solutions package will also include a radio-controlled tool tracking device, a computerized management system to help workers keep an eye on vehicle fleets and a lockable storage system for pickup beds. The package will be unveiled at this week’s Chicago Auto Show.

While pricing has not been released each of the features will be available together or separately. Ford commands 40 percent of the commercial vehicle market in the United States. By offering these features it hopes to increase that percentage.

The system will use Microsoft Windows CE and Windows Auto. The Internet connection will be with Sprint cellular broadband and will be Bluetooth enabled. The Tool Link component will allow for owners to mark and scan their tools using a radio tag. When a vehicle is powered up it will automatically scan inside the truck for an inventory which can be displayed on the in-dash computer.

As Business Week reports:

“Think of Tool Link as no tool left behind,” said Mark Fields, Ford’s president of the Americas.

The car show opens on Friday in Chicago.

Russia Is Busy Getting Sochi Ready For 22nd Winter Olympics

The 22nd Winter Olympics isn’t until 2014 but that hasn’t stopped Russia from starting to build a 350-hectare island complex. The infrastructure being built in the Black Sea is shaped like Russia and is expected to house Olympic athletes.

Russia has asked a consortium of Japanese companies to help with the building of the massive project.

The property prices since the announcement of Sochi as the site of the games have risen 40 percent. That increase makes the $6.2 billion cost of “Federation Island” a pretty decent investment. After the games there are already plans to turn the dorms into apartments and villas able to house up to 25,000 residents.

Using the Japanese companies is also a wise move on the part of the Russians. They are building a bridge between the two countries business wise. It comes at a time Japan needs to have more work for the builders that have faced less employment in their native land. The Japanese government has cut back on government spending on public works projects.

Hosting the games may prove to be a huge benefit to all involved in Sochi in the end.

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Dies At 91

The guru to the Beatles, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi has died at his Dutch home in Vlodrop. He died peacefully of natural causes. He is considered the one to introduce transcendental meditation to the West.

TM, transcendental meditation is the Hindu practice of mind control. The practice has gradually gained medical respectability throughout the years since Maharishi Mahesh Yogi started teaching the technique in the United States in 1959. The movement started to really move after he met the Beatles in 1967.

Last month Maharishi Mahesh Yogi retreated into silence wanting his last days to be spent studying ancient Indian texts.

After his meeting with the Beatles the group moved him into their compound. Later there was a falling out. The group accused him of inappropriate advances on Mia Farrow, a claim he denied. The real story may have been that the guru was angered over the use of drugs within the band.

“Don’t fight darkness. Bring the light, and darkness will disappear,” Maharishi said in a 2006 interview, repeating one of his own mantras.

Mararishi was born in central India. His birth date is thought to have been Jan. 12, 1917. He studied at Allahabad University. After school he became the secretary to a Hindu holy man.

In 1990 he moved to a monastery in Vlodrop, Holland. It was there where he died.

Blowtorches, Bricks, Action — A Trio Of Comics Take Over Monday Night TV

Maybe not having writers is a good thing, at least for the Monday night antics between Conan O’Brien, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. The trio chased through three shows and two networks during a mock fight.

The three were in the midst of a mock feud Monday night over who “made” Republican Mike Huckabee. The “fight” has been brewing for weeks now as the powder keg trio have exchanged barbs via their shows. O’Brien reportedly started this one off by claiming responsibility for Huckabee’s success because the former Arkansas governor had appeared on his show. Colbert took the offensive saying the rise of Huckabee was an effect of the “Colbert bump.”

During a debate over the “transitive property of Huckabee” in Colbertland Stewart was roped into the because he had hosted O’Brien on his show in 1994. For shame!

Too many words were tossed about ending on Monday night as the trio hopped, skipped and jumped across networks and shows with blowtorches, bricks and stunt doubles.

My favorite comedy is comedy where nothing is achieved and there is no point,” O’Brien said in a phone interview Tuesday. “That this whole Huckabee fight turned into an insane Marx brothers dance was fitting somehow.”

Finally in the end the boxes of tricks exhausted the trio finished their wackiness on “Late Night” by knocking each other out.

The fight could though begin again but not before Huckabee had the last word on Monday’s knock out.

“Let’s be clear: None of these guys made me. This great nation made me,” declared Huckabee. “So vote for me. God bless America and forget these three idiots.”

A widow of Iraq

In a country where men dominate how do the widows survive raising young families? That’s an issue that Iraqi women have been having to face since the war with the United States broke out. This is the story of one such woman, Teeba Jaweed.

Teeba Jaweed’s life changed on January 13, 2007. An employee of her husbands was banging on the door.

“Your husband’s been shot,” he said.

Her mother stayed behind watching over Teeba’s three daughters as she rushed to her husband’s side. Inside his grocery store Teeba found the lifeless body of the man she loved. His two brothers lay close by in a pool of blood. She screamed for help. It was too late, her world was changed.

At just thirty Teeba had become a widow with three young children to support.

There are an estimated 1.5 million widows in Iraq. Many of those have lost their husbands to the violence that war brings into a country.

Teeba and her children fled their neighbourhood after the death of her husband. She was a Sunni and the militia that had killed her husband was Shiite. It was a wise move, the neighbourhood quickly was taken over by Shiites.

Teeba went to live in her mother’s home. Her brother supports them with his earnings of $250 a month.

Hanaa Edward , the head of the Iraq Al Amal Association said that 11 percent of the more than 20 million families in Iraq are now headed by single or widowed mothers. Widows who receive state aid get about $40 a month to take care of their families. It’s not enough for one to survive on let alone a young family.

Many women have had to turn to the street begging to survive.

In December Teeba had a pain in her stomach. The doctors say it’s her heart. The tricuspid valve isn’t working the right way and the young mother needs to have a surgery to correct the problem. Her liver is swollen and her heart is now enlarged.

There are few cardiac surgeons in Iraq now. She needs to travel abroad to have the surgery. She will die without it.

“It’s enough that they lost their father. Do they need to be robbed of their mother, too?” she asked.

“They tell me, ‘Mama, please do the operation. Our father is already dead,’” said Jaweed, still wearing black to mourn her husband. “But I’ve lost all faith. I’m living on pills, and I cannot move much or my heartbeat rises.”

While a study by the Iraqi Family Health Survey in collaboration with the World Health Organization puts the figure at 155,000 Iraqis slain in the war since 2003 other studies have a much higher and sadder estimate on Iraqi deaths.

The assassinations and suicide bombings that plaque the country have left a nation of women and children alone without bread winners to survive.

Teeba is tired. She no longer is able to wake in the morning to feed her girls and take them to school. She doesn’t have the energy to play with them. She watches a video of better times, a year or so ago her husband was with her.

Violence is lessening in Iraq dropping to 2005 levels. That doesn’t change Teeba’s life. Her husband Dhia Sabar will never walk through the door again after a long day at work.

“Dhia won’t come back,” she said. “What hope do I have?”

When the hope has left a person what is left?

Op-Ed: Both Canada and the United States Have Doctor Shortages

There has been recent talk about the shortages of medical care within Canada as opposed to the United States. The truth though is in both countries there are shortages. Getting quick medical care comes down to where you live.

The more rural an area the less likely in either country will you be able to find a doctor. In the U.S. obtaining foreign doctors post 9/11 for rural areas is a web of red tape.

It is believed that 35 million Americans live in underserviced areas. It would take at least 16,000 doctors to fill in the gaps to provide for the need. That number will increase as time goes by. By the year 2020 it is guesstimated that the need for doctors in the United States will be t 200,000.

“And that will mostly be felt in rural America,” said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D. He added: “We’re facing a real crisis.”

In Canada those living in rural areas have to make due with only 9% of the nation’s supply of doctors.

The fact is in rural America residents are less likely to have employer covered insurance or prescription drug coverage. In Canada having coverage is a given for medical care. It is though at times hard to find a doctor if you don’t live within a large city.

With only 10% of all physicians in the country located in rural settings Americans have to travel to get proper medical care.

In rural Canadian settings doctors perform a wider range of services because specialists can be hundreds of kilometres aways. The family doctor in rural areas is just that, a doctor who treats the entire family. Travel times to see a pediatrician in rural areas average about 846 kilometres.

“When we talk about the importance of access to health care, it is crucial to pay attention to the trends of where doctors are located and how they are working,” says Dr. Roger Pitblado, co-author of the report. “If rural family doctors didn’t provide some specialty services, many people would be forced to travel even greater distances to get medical care-or they would simply go without.”

While much of the debate over which country provides better medical care and if federal insurance programs are better or worse the true issue is there is a major doctor shortage in both countries. Both countries must work at obtaining doctors in areas where these shortages are.

Having insurance doesn’t help if you can’t find a doctor regardless of where you live.

In the cities it is easy to find someone in a pinch. Both countries have walk in clinics, although in Canada you don’t have to worry about having the money to pay for that service. In the United States if you don’t have the money or insurance you can go to the emergency room and be treated and billed later. If you’re sick enough if there is a doctor around most people in these two countries can obtain medical service.
It’s a matter though of where you live as to if you can find a doctor to take care of you.

Does Britney Know What’s Going On?

Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon has ordered a court appointed psychiatrist to rule if pop star Britney Spears is aware of the legal proceedings that are going on around her.

Spears has been getting treatment at UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles for mental problems. She was on a 72 hour hold that has been extended for an additional two weeks.

While she is in hospital her father Jaime Spears has gained control over her assets. That control remains in effect until the next court hearing on Feb. 14. The report by the psychiatrist is due in on the 13th of this month.

Sam Lutfi, her current manager also has a restraining order against him — he is not allowed to contact the star. There have been reports that despite the order he has been in touch with the troubled singer.

The trip to the hospital cost the local authorities roughly $25,000 in order to protect Spear’s privacy. On Friday a Los Angeles city councilman proposed an order that would restrict the paparazzi’s movements while photographing stars in public.

Racing Death At Daytona

A sixty year old man was having the time of his life racing around the Daytona International Speedway on Monday when he had a life ending heart attack. Robert Boswell of Apopka completed three laps before he slumped over and crashed going about 70 mph.

Boswell was enjoying a birthday gift at Daytona’s track. People can buy race time for amateurs at Daytona, Las Vegas and Nashville.

Boswell died at hospital.

Boswell was the first death at the Daytona track. Two other deaths have happened with the same program at the other two tracks because of heart attacks.

Ching Cheong Released From Chinese Jail

Hong Kong reporter Ching Cheong has been released from his Chinese jail cell. He was arrested in April 2005 and the following year was sentenced to five years in jail for spying for Taiwan. Ching has never waived on stating his innocence.

As Ching gets to walk free another reporter enters into a jail cell. A four year sentence was handed down in the case of cyber-dissident Lu Gengsong for “inciting subversion of state power.”

Ching is reported to be back in Hong Kong.

“We are delighted at the news of Ching Cheong’s parole and long-awaited release,” said a spokesman for Singapore Press Holdings, which publishes The Straits Times.

“We are very happy that he will be reunited with his wife and family for Chinese New Year. We look forward to meeting him as soon as possible.”

His wife Mary Lau had been campaigning for the release of her husband on medical grounds.

Ching was born in mainland China but gained his citizenship with Hong Kong when it was still a British colony.

From 1982 until 1989 he was stationed in Beijing as a reporter with pro-Beijing Wen Wei Po newspaper. He stepped down from his position over the brutal Tiananmen pro-democracy movement that took place June 4, 1989.

Back in Hong Kong he set up Commentary, a magazine that featured in depth articles on Chinese politics. In 1996 he joined The Straits Times. He was a Taiwan correspondent when he took on the position.

There remains at least 30 journalists and 50 cyber-dissidents in Chinese jails for work that angered the authorities.

“There are still many people who are put under surveillance or house arrest or are arrested by Chinese authorities because of reporting news or fighting for freedom of the speech like Mr. Ching and they need the attention of the international community,” said the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan’s top policy-making body on China.

Prince Andrew Thinks The U.S. Would Be Doing Better If It Had Heeded British Advice

Prince Andrew is saying the United States would have avoided some of the problems in Iraq if it had listened to the advice his country had been giving out. The British prince made his statements as he gets ready to visit the U.S. on a business mission.

“Why didn’t anyone listen to what was said and the advice that was given?”

The Prince, fourth in line to the throne says the United States was Britain’s chief ally.

Some of the advice that the U.S. didn’t heed deals with banning Hussein’s Baath party and taking apart the Iraqi military.

The prince served on the military as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot. He now promotes British business aboard.

“If you are looking at colonialism, if you are looking at operations on an international scale, if you are looking at understanding each other’s culture, understanding how to operate in a military insurgency campaign – we have been through them all,” he was quoted as saying.

“We’ve won some, lost some, drawn some. The fact is there is quite a lot of experience over here which is valid and should be listened to.”

Prince Andrew is due in the United States for a 10 day trade mission.

This Is Kenya, These Are Her Children

Sugoi-Munsingen Children’s Home and School is a refuge for children with no where else to go in Kenya. This weekend that refuge was attacked. 130 children now have no home because of political unrest.

A soccer game had ended a few hours before attackers came armed with spears, machetes, bows and arrows. The building that had been a home for 130 troubled Kenyan children was looted and burned.

This is the new Kenya. A land where in a little over a month a thousand people have died because of political unrest.

The Sugoi-Munsingen Children’s Home and School was filled with children who had lived on the street. They survived the drug use and beatings that come to “invisible” children, the ones that have no home, no parents to run to. It was their refuge, their haven in a scary world. It can no longer take care of the them. Their home and safety have vanished.

As one child put it who understands being beaten, he bares the scars of one beating by his uncle’s hand;

“like I had another beating.”

It was believed that the school was owned by the Kikuyus. That was a false belief but it is the motive of those who attacked Headmaster Samuel Rutto’s school. A knife tried to stab him in front of his terrified students on Saturday. A miracle though took place on this horrific event, Rutto was left unharmed as the blade slid on his coat down his side instead of sticking into his heart.

On Sunday the damage was horrible. Everything is gone. Papers are charred, the corn that had been stored to feed the young that live there was still burning, clothes, cell phones, the very glasses that had rested on Rutto’s face stolen.

Attackers didn’t just attack the children of the Kikuyu tribe. All tribes were represented in the walls that housed these children, the home was run by the Presbyterian church. It did not look at the tribe a child was, just at the child who needed a bed to sleep in, a place to be safe.

“We have here Kalenjins, Luos, Kikuyus, Kisiis,” Rutto said, naming a few of Kenya’s ethnic groups. “But here they are all children.”

Since the attack the children’s new refuge is a hall in a Presbyterian church. The school will be rebuilt but not in the same location.

This is Kenya.

These are her children.

Op-Ed: What About The Other 25%?

The United States has a majority of its residents that believe in the Christian faith at 75 percent of the population. But what about the rest of the people who call the US home, do those 25 percent not matter as much?

During presidential campaigns in the United States citizens watch the various candidates attend church and let their Christian beliefs be known.

While the candidates may claim to have religious tolerance do they? In a nation that is expected to separate church and state why is the religion of those who will lead so important?

In the US about 18 percent of the population is atheist or agnostic. That leaves roughly only 10 percent of the nation’s population Jewish, Muslim, Hindu or another religious affiliation. Are they left out of the political front because they lack the same religious beliefs?

“Why is that relevant? Who cares? The great issue is where do we stand on Medicare and Social Security and immigration … Why inject religiosity into that?” asked Paul Kurtz, chairman of the Council for Secular Humanism.

“Are we (secular humanists and atheists) marginalized? No. Are we turned off? Yes!”

Those who have do not belong in religion have been the targets of the religious right who see moral decay and secularization in the same light. When the politicians cite freedom and that freedom requires religion it leaves a nasty taste.

A Pew Research Center survey found last year that 63 percent would be less likely to support a candidate who did not believe in God.

But here’s the kicker the two groups that actually go to their polling stations are evangelicals (90 percent) and those who have no affiliation (82 percent). Perhaps for that 82 percent the candidates should consider what they endorse.

And what do the candidates believe? Let their own words tell us:

Hillary Clinton

“Let’s not lose sight of the fact that ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is not working. We are being deprived of thousands of patriotic men and women who want to serve their country who are bringing skills into the armed services that we desparately need, like translation skills. And one can argue whether it was a good idea when it was first implemented, but we know have evidence as to the fact that we are in a time of war — when we really need as many people as we can to recruit and retain in an all-volunteer army — we are turning people away or discharging them not because of what they’ve done but because of who they are.” [3/14/07]

[In response to the question: Is homosexuality immoral?] “Well I’m going to leave that to others to conclude. I’m very proud of the gays and lesbians I know who perform work that is essential to our country, who want to serve their country and I want make sure they can.” [3/14/07]

Barack Obama

“In fact, because I do not believe that religious people have a monopoly on morality, I would rather have someone who is grounded in morality and ethics, and who is also secular, affirm their morality and ethics and values without pretending that they’re something they’re not. They don’t need to do that. None of us need to do that. But what I am suggesting is this – secularists are wrong when they ask believers to leave their religion at the door before entering into the public square. Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Williams Jennings Bryant, Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King – indeed, the majority of great reformers in American history – were not only motivated by faith, but repeatedly used religious language to argue for their cause. So to say that men and women should not inject their “personal morality” into public policy debates is a practical absurdity. Our law is by definition a codification of morality, much of it grounded in the Judeo-Christian tradition.” [6/28/06]

“The question is, how do we build on these still-tentative partnerships between religious and secular people of good will? It’s going to take more work, a lot more work than we’ve done so far. The tensions and the suspicions on each side of the religious divide will have to be squarely addressed. And each side will need to accept some ground rules for collaboration.” [6/28/06]

“I want to talk a little bit about what conservative leaders need to do — some truths they need to acknowledge. For one, they need to understand the critical role that the separation of church and state has played in preserving not only our democracy, but the robustness of our religious practice. Folks tend to forget that during our founding, it wasn’t the atheists or the civil libertarians who were the most effective champions of the First Amendment. It was the persecuted minorities, it was Baptists like John Leland who didn’t want the established churches to impose their views on folks who were getting happy out in the fields and teaching the scripture to slaves. It was the forbearers of the evangelicals who were the most adamant about not mingling government with religious, because they did not want state-sponsored religion hindering their ability to practice their faith as they understood it.” [6/28/06]

“This debate [on a proposed constitutional ban] is a thinly-veiled attempt to break a consensus that is quietly being forged in this country. A consensus between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives, Red States and Blue States, that it’s time for new leadership in this country – leadership that will stop dividing us, stop disappointing us, and start addressing the problems facing most Americans. I personally believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. But I also agree with most Americans, including Vice President Cheney and over 2,000 religious leaders of all different beliefs, that decisions about marriage should be left to the states as they always have been.” [6/7/06]

[I remain] “open to the possibility that my unwillingness to support gay marriage is misguided … I may have been infected with society’s prejudices and predilections and attributed them to God.” [10/17/06]

Mike Huckabee

“And you also have states that not only practice abortion, but if Roe v. Wade is overturned, we haven’t won the battle. All we’ve done is now we’ve created the logic of the Civil War, which says that the right to the human life is geographical, not moral. I think that’s very problematic. That’s why I think that people like Fred Thompson are dead wrong when he says just leave that up to the states. Well, that’s again the logic of the Civil War – that slavery could be okay in Georgia but not okay in Massachusetts. Obviously we’d today say, ‘Well, that’s nonsense. Slavery is wrong, period.’ It can’t be right somewhere and wrong somewhere else. Same with abortion.” [1/08]

“I would like to think… that I’ve made that people realize that Christians are real people and they have a real world view that’s defensible and intellectually sound, and that it impacts people’s lives in a positive way. I think it would be tragic if that were the case because the application of Christian principles in government ought to bring a greater sense of justice, a greater sense of hope, and a decency to the process” [1/08]

“I support and have always supported passage of a federal constitutional amendment that defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman. As President, I will fight for passage of this amendment. My personal belief is that marriage is between one man and one woman, for life.” [website]

“I support both the human rights amendment and a marriage amendment, and the reason that I do is because I think we need to codify in our Constitution that which has been acceptable and accepted view of what life and what marriage means. Frankly, if it weren’t being challenged, it wouldn’t be necessary. But it is being challenged. Now you have states that are passing same-sex marriage laws or civil union laws.” [1/08]

“I am opposed to research on embryonic stem cells.” [website]

John McCain

“Q: How would you describe your relationship with God today?
McCain: I pray every day. I ask for guidance. I ask for strength. I don’t ask for personal success. I think it’s wrong. When I was in prison, I told my fellow prisoners, don’t pray to go home. Pray to go home with honor, if it be God’s will, not just under any circumstances…. So, it’s a very important part of my life. But, I cannot tell you that I’ve ever had a revelation from God–it’s been kind of plotting. I pray, I receive comfort, I think I receive guidance, I know I receive guidance and I pray and it’s, you know, it’s not a spectacular kind of thing. It’s something that I think is very lasting.” [9/07]

“However, the reversal of Roe v. Wade represents only one step in the long path toward ending abortion. Once the question is returned to the states, the fight for life will be one of courage and compassion – the courage of a pregnant mother to bring her child into the world and the compassion of civil society to meet her needs and those of her newborn baby. The pro-life movement has done tremendous work in building and reinforcing the infrastructure of civil society by strengthening faith-based, community, and neighborhood organizations that provide critical services to pregnant mothers in need. This work must continue and government must find new ways to empower and strengthen these armies of compassion. These important groups can help build the consensus necessary to end abortion at the state level. As John McCain has publicly noted, ‘At its core, abortion is a human tragedy. To effect meaningful change, we must engage the debate at a human level.”‘ [website]

“We were founded as a nation on Judeo-Christian principles. There’s very little debate about that. And I think the noblest words ever written are, ‘We hold these truths to be self evident that all, all people are created equal and endowed by their Creator.’ So if you believe in that fundamental principle, then of course you believe in the desirability and the attractiveness of helping bring to those God-given rights to people all over the earth…. The problem is, we mishandled it terribly. I do agree and most people do – we’re a shining city on a hill. Has that shining city been dimmed and tarnished by our reputation in the world today? Of course, of course it has been. But, I still believe we have that role and mission to fulfill in the world.” [9/07]

“Our Founding Fathers believed in separation of church and state and they stated it unequivocally. But, they also continued to emphasize the Christian principle. In God We Trust or [all men are] created equal—every statement that they made had to do with the belief in a Divine Creator… They sought guidance from their Creator. So, when some people interpret their desire for separation of church and state as a failure to acknowledge the importance and influence of our Creator, I think that they have a different view of history than I do.” [9/07]

“As president, John McCain would nominate judges who understand that the role of the Court is not to subvert the rights of the people by legislating from the bench. Critical to Constitutional balance is ensuring that, where state and local governments do act to preserve the traditional family, the Courts must not overstep their authority and thwart the Constitutional right of the people to decide this question.

“The family represents the foundation of Western Civilization and civil society and John McCain believes the institution of marriage is a union between one man and one woman. It is only this definition that sufficiently recognizes the vital and unique role played by mothers and fathers in the raising of children, and the role of the family in shaping, stabilizing, and strengthening communities and our nation.

“As with most issues vital to the preservation and health of civil society, the basic responsibility for preserving and strengthening the family should reside at the level of government closest to the people. In their wisdom, the Founding Fathers reserved for the States the authority and responsibility to protect and strengthen the vital institutions of our civil society. They did so to ensure that the voices of America’s families could not be ignored by an indifferent national government or suffocated through filibusters and clever legislative maneuvering in Congress.” [website]

Mitt Romney

“You know, one of the great things about this country of ours is that we don’t choose our leaders based on what church they go to. We care about the values they have. And if you want to learn something about my values, you can meet my wife and my son and you can see that we have American values like anyone else in this country.” [8/9/07]

“And I’m really proud of the fact that wherever I go, people say, ‘We love the fact that you’re a person of faith, you believe in God, you believe in the Bible, you believe that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world.’ Those are my beliefs, they form who I am. And one of the great elements of America is that we accept people of all faiths as long as they share our values and our love for this great country.” [8/9/07]

[His brother-in-law's sister died from an illegal abortion in the 1960s.] “I’ve given a lot of thought to that issue, and someone like myself who is very much opposed to abortion, as I have always been, struggles with what the role of government ought to be in making that choice,” he says. “It’s not an easy decision, but when it went from a matter of discussion and a philosophical view to actually making a decision relating to life and death, I as governor concluded I had to come down on the side of life.” [8/9/07]

“While the doctrines of my church are quite different from evangelical Christian doctrines, the values of our faiths are very much the same. I don’t know of a doctrinal difference that would suggest a different policy outcome or that would suggest that a President of my faith would lead in a different direction than President Bush, an evangelical Christian.” [9/26/07]

“Do they [evangelical Christians] want agreement on doctrine, and does that really effect how someone leads as President? Or does someone want a President who shares values and will preserve the values and culture of America? That will only happen if people band together where we share common values.” [9/26/07]

The belief that marriage between a man and a woman is a sacred relationship leads one to protect the sanctity of marriage. These fundamental values are not associated with a doctrine of a faith, but instead are part of the value base of every faith of which I’m aware.” [9/26/07]

“The creation of new life specifically for the purpose of experimentation and destruction crosses a bright moral line. It is literally creating life to destroy it. And for me, whether that is done through embryo farming or done through cloning, both of them are wrong and are unacceptable.” [9/26/07]

Choosing a person to side with to run the nation is a hard job. Most people tend to have certain criteria for the person they will stand behind and pick to lead them. Their words during this time period have in the past not always proven to be where they end up when in office. It’s a delicate weaving of making the people smile and vote that the speech writers that the candidates use play on. So who’s voice will you take a gamble with?

Do you believe that the secular population deserves a vote? Do you think any of the candidates this time around will be able to separate church and state?

Do you believe that church and state should be separated?

Slowly Agreements Filtering In With The WGA

Striking writers have reached an interim contract with four New York based film makers. Writers can now work with speaking for GreeneStreet, Open City and Killer films immediately.

This agreement takes another step on the way back to writers being able to work again in the film industry. The writers strike started on November 5.

The Writers Guild of America have brought the film industry to an almost complete stop with their strike. For the first month or so the late night talk shows were supporting the writers. The hosts and staff though have returned to work since that time without the help of the writers.

Many in the film industry have been out of work during this strike. There are many jobs that are low paying within the industry and the loss of a paycheque has not been welcome.

WGA East president Michael Winship called the pacts “a reaffirmation of their dedication to great writing, bold innovation and good old-fashioned, New York City street smarts” by companies that he said had helped to revitalize the motion picture industry.

The WGA and 13 other film and TV production companies have already reached similar agreements.

15 Year Old Nicholas Waggoner Browning Alleged To Have Killed His Family In Maryland

A 15 year old Maryland boy has been charged with the murders of his parents and two younger brothers in Maryland. Nicholas Waggoner Browning of Cockeysville, Maryland has been formally charged with all four murders as an adult.

Browning is accused with killing John Browning, 45; Tamara Browning, 44; Gregory Browning, 13 and 11 year old Benjamin Browning. The murder instrument was his father’s shotgun.

Browning was arrested at 1:05 am Sunday morning. He has admitted to the killings according to Baltimore County Police spokesman Bill Toohey.

A police report says that the teen and his father were not getting along. On Friday night he went into his home after his family members were asleep. He used his father’s shotgun to shot each person in their sleep. After finishing he threw the gun in bushes near his home. The police have the gun in question.

Browning then spent the rest of the night Friday and all day Saturday with his friends. The friends brought him home at 5 pm on Saturday. He then entered the home and came out to say his father was dead. At that time he called 911.

Police found the father in a ground story room. The bodies of Browning’s mother and brothers were in bedrooms located on the second floor. According to Toohey there was no signs of confrontation.

Browning was denied bail Sunday morning. Bail review has been scheduled for Monday at District Court in Towson, Maryland.

It is unclear if the youth has a lawyer. Because of his age Browning can not be sentenced to death although he will be tried as an adult.

Op-Ed: Westboro Baptist Church Takes Another Step In Tacky

The Westboro Baptist Church has issued an open letter to the family of Heath Ledger asking for the location of his funeral. This “church” claims it wants to have a religious service and is miffed that the family won’t let them attend. Gee, too bad.

The “church” that preaches hate has further had the gall to state that heath Ledger would want them to appear to warn the living so that they could repent. They also mention that Ledger is in Hell.

The letter goes on to say that Ledger’s appearance in a movie (Brokeback Mountain) misled youth to think being gay was OK. Because of that those who were misled will follow Heath to Hell.

They then have the nerve to again request the location, date and time from the family of Ledger for the service.

Excuse me? The fact that these “humans” and I use that word very loosely are using “religion” to spread hate is already horrible enough. Now they think that they have the RIGHT to be allowed at private services. No one has the right to infringe on families in a time of grief. No one has to be invited to a funeral. Least of all a group of hate mongers who hide behind the robes of the faithful.

New First Lady For France, Model Carla Bruni

France has a new first lady, model Carla Bruni who married President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday. The couple met just three months ago. Sarkozy has only been divorced from his former wife for four months.

The couple were married in a private ceremony in the presence of their families. The presidential Elysee Palace served as the location of the wedding. Saturday night the newlyweds hosted a small dinner at La Lanterne outside of Paris.

The pair spent their first night as man and wife at a former hunting lodge near the palace at versailles.

This is the third marriage for Sarkozy. He has three sons from his other partnerships. Bruni has a young son from a previous relationship. This is her first marriage. In recent years the top model has enjoyed a singing career.

Wages Could Be Garnished Under Clinton’s Health Care Plan

Hillary Clinton said Sunday that those who choose not to enroll in health insurance programs may not have a choice when wages are garnished. She wants to make sure every American has health insurance and will achieve that goal by any means.

ABC’s “This Week,” she said: “I think there are a number of mechanisms” that are possible, including “going after people’s wages, automatic enrollment.”

That measure would only apply to those who can afford health coverage but refuse to buy it. For those who depend on every single penny in their wages just to survive Clinton promises subsidies making sure that insurance will be affordable for everyone.

This comes as she has criticized Obama for not requiring universal coverage with his health plan.

She also believes that Obama will have a harder time with the incoming Republican attacks than she will. She’s been through that wringer already while Obama hasn’t.

Abdul Hamid al-Ghizzawi Claims He Has AIDS

Abdul Hamid al-Ghizzawi has made claims that he was infected with the HIV virus in 2004. That statement wouldn’t be shocking if not for the location of where this man was in 2004. You see Abdul Hamid al-Ghizzawi is a detainee at Gitmo. He arrived in 2002.

In 2004 Abdul Hamid al-Ghizzawi was given a blood test. He remembers it because it “resulted in alarm amongst the hospital staff”. At that time he didn’t get a reason for the alarm but later when a doctor told him of the infection that alarm became very clear. It’s not the first illness that Mr. al-Ghizzawi has gotten since he was taken to the American prison on Cuban soil. He has TB. He had hepatitis B before Guantanamo but it had been dormant. That was before his stay though, now he is dealing with a triple whammy; AIDS, TB and hepatitis B.

When he arrived to the military prison he was in good health.

In an affidavit filed with the US District Court in September 2006, Dr. Ronald Sollock, the Chief Medical Doctor at Guantánamo, confirmed that Mr. al-Ghizzawi “was subjected to complete medical tests by the military upon his arrival in Guantánamo in 2002,” and that he “entered [the prison] in good health,” although he admitted that “a history of hepatitis B was identified in tests performed in August 2002″ (even though Mr. al-Ghizzawi was never informed of this fact), and that he “was exposed to tuberculosis while at the base.”

Dr. Sollock also claimed that Mr. al-Ghizzawi “does not want to be treated for his life threatening illness[es],” although this is strenuously denied by Mr. al-Ghizzawi himself, who insists that he has never been informed about his health problems, and has never been offered any kind of medical treatment whatsoever.

His lawyer Candace Gorman has documented her client’s health issues since her first meeting with al-Ghizzawi in July 2006. During that meeting she saw a very ill man sitting before her who appeared to be in constant pain. He confirmed that since he has been detained his health has gotten worse with each passing year. He states that he has lost 10-15 kilos (22-33 pounds) since his arrest. He has severe pain in his abdomen, left side and back. The pain goes down his legs and is a constant when he is standing or walking. His belly is bloated and he has problems with vomiting and diarrhea.

When Gorman approached Andrew Warder the Department of Justice attorney who was assigned to the case and the authorities at Guantanamo they refused to confirm or deny her client’s claims of getting HIV at the prison.

“We are not privy to the particulars of what your client may have been told by his doctor, if anything, but Guantánamo provides high-quality medical care to all detainees.”

Each time Gorman visited with her client she noticed further deterioration with Mr. al-Ghizzawi’s health. Part of the reasoning behind this was the conditions in which he was held. He had been stripped of “comfort items” such as a thermal shirt to shield him from the cold. The reason for this was he has toilet paper in his pocket when he went for a shower. In December 2006 he was moved to Camp 6.

Conditions in Camp 6 at best can be described as barbaric. The detainees are cut off from the rest of the world. They have no visits or letters from family. They are denied newspapers, TV or listening to the radio. They are allowed one book a week. The detainees in Camp 6 have no blankets only plastic sheets to protect them from the air conditioning that leaves their cells freezing cold. They are isolated. They can not even talk to others.

During the July 2007 visit, he told Gorman that, “in his total isolation … he had begun talking to himself.” He added that he “recognized that this was a sign of a fraying mental state” and was “very distraught” about it.

Mr. al-Ghizzawi has been held without charge or trail. His case is so weak that Combatant Status Review Tribunal in 2004 stated that the evidence against him was insufficient to declare him an “enemy combatant” and that he should be released. It’s now 2008 and he is still in Camp 6.

The man that is being held was born in 1962. He was a former meteorologist who was married to an Afghan woman. His daughter was just a few years old when he was captured. She is growing up without a father to protect her on the hard streets of Afghanistan. Before his capture al-Ghizzawi and his wife had a bakery. When the bombing begun in his country during October 2001 he took his wife and fled to Jalalabad where his wife had family.

“armed men came to the home and told the family to turn over ‘the Arab.’” Fearing that his family would be harmed, Mr. al-Ghizzawi complied, and was then sold to soldiers of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, who sold him on to the US forces.

In November of 2004 his CSRT had two claims, he was part of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and he received his military training from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Weak claims at best.

In September 2006 his dossier had an addition. Now it claimed that he had met member of al-Qaeda in Pakistan in 1997 and stayed at an LIFG house in Jalalabad in 1997.

Mr. al-Ghizzawi has denied each and every claim that has been thrown at him. The evidence is flimsy. He should have been released years ago and yet he is in isolation fighting for his life as illness takes it over.

This is the story of just one man who lays in a cell. He once was healthy. He is now an old sick man.

He will be 46 this year.

46 is just too young to be old.

The Writers Strike Could Be Nearing An End

KISS ME! Related Articles Canadian TV Shows Moving South of the Border 2 comments Op-Ed: Late Night Greed 2 comments Golden Globes To Be Boycotted by SAG 1 comment

There seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel for the Hollywood writers strike but is it too little and too late? It has been over four months since Hollywood writers used their talents and in that time the business has survived.

With other markets opening up could the writers be on the outside of the door when the strike does end?

Formal negotiations between television and movie writers and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have almost been completed. The formal paperwork has yet to be dotted and lined but if that goes well then the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East may have contracts to sign by the end of the week.

Behind closed doors on Friday a breakthrough may have occurred. If the contract does hit the tables next week, it will still need to be ratified by majority of the active guild members. Hopefully the more than 10,000 members will like the agreement.

Since the strike started on Nov. 5, talks have started only to be broken off over and over again. The strike is over money. The money that comes from residuals that others in the Hollywood biz get and that the writers don’t.

The Hollywood side had Robert A. Iger, chief executive of the Walt Disney Company; Peter Chernin, president of the News Corporation; Leslie Moonves, chief executive of CBS Corp in their corner during Friday’s meeting with Patric M. Verrone, the president of the West Coast guild; David J. Young, its executive director; and John Bowman, who headed the guilds’ negotiating committee and Alan Wertheimer, a prominent entertainment attorney sitting in for the writers’ side.

Once this strike is over, though, Hollywood may soon be in the midst of another. Next round may very well be the Screen Actors Guild. That guild’s contract ends June 30.

If the actors strike, it could mean an end for the Hollywood that most of us grew up with. The big companies may throw up their hands and allow for the works of others to replace Hollywood. “Hollywood North” is waiting in the wings to be the next best thing.

update: Five Dead After Shooting In Tinley Park Shopping Mall Shooting

This morning five women were shot and killed at a Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, Illinois. The gunman has alluded the police. All of the stores in the Brookside Marketplace have been searched. the first call to 911 came in at 10:44 am.

The store was open at the time of the morning shooting. Police believe that the motive of the shooting was a robbery that went wrong. All of the victims were in a back room of the store. Police are not disclosing the names of the victims until families have been notified. It is unsure if those who were killed were employees or customers.

The Lane Bryant store is part of a four or five store cluster on one side of the strip mall. Target and Best Buy is several yards away.

A white canopy was placed over the front of the building when two county vans were backed up to the front of the building.

The strip mall runs along Interstate 80 southwest of Chicago.

Police searched neighbouring shops trying to locate the suspect. They have downloaded video from inside the Lane Bryant store. Helicopters and dogs have been searching for the man.

The suspect is an African-American man. He stands about 5′9″ and weighs between 230 and 260 pounds. He was last seen wearing a black winter jacket, black cap and dark jeans.

The police believe there was only one shooter.

If you have information about this crime please contact police at 708-444-5368.

UPDATE:

It has been revealed that at least one of the victims was a store employee.

Abandoned Infant Dubbed Angelica-Leslie

A baby girl who was abandoned in the parking garage at a shopping mall at Leslie Street and Finch Avenue in Toronto on Wednesday has been dubbed “Angelica-Leslie” by the Children’s Aid Society.

CAS hope that the infant’s parents come forward but they will be seeking guardianship for one month on Monday. David Rivard, executive director for the Toronto branch says that there are clear signs that the little girl had been abused.

Police investigating the case have reason to believe the child is from the United States.

“We’re exploring this possibility and seeing where it takes us: if it leads to nothing, if it has to expand … we don’t know at this point. We’re trying everything that we can. And until we get some information that can assist us, we’re going to continue appealing to the public for their assistance,” Const. Wendy Drummond told CBC News.

The police have images from the parking garage where tiny Angelica-Leslie was abandoned. The images show that someone driving a recent model green four door sedan drove to the second story of the garage at about 10:30 a.m. The car was the only one in the area. Driving straight to the stairwell door the driver stopped and got out of the vehicle to check the stairwell. The driver then returned to the car and took the infant from the car to the stairwell. They returned to the car alone and left. The car is believed to be a Ford Escort.

Angelica-Leslie was found in the stairwell at 12:30 p.m. She was face down on the freezing concrete landing.

The baby is black with a light complexion. She was wearing a pink cotton sleeper, blue socks and a green hat when she was found.

She is now in foster care.

Police are worried about the mental health of her parents and if there are any other siblings she may have who could be in danger.

Woman Delivers Baby In Order To Have Heart Surgery

A Grande Prairie woman is going home from the hospital after having a Cesarean followed by open heart surgery. The woman who has not been named had a tear in her heart that had to be repaired immediately after the birth of her baby.

The surgeries were performed at the University of Alberta on January 24. The woman who was due to deliver in five weeks had complained of shortness of breath. Tests revealed a scary scenario. There was a tear in the walls of her aorta. If repairs are not made quickly a person has a 40 percent chance of dying within two days.

Heart surgeon Dr. Rod MacArthur had to make some decisions quickly. To do the heart surgery a patient’s body is cooled until the heart stops beating and then the blood is drained and the operation begins. In the woman’s case her child would also be subjected to the cooling and the risks were high that could harm the infant.

MacArthur put together two teams, one for the woman’s heart and an obstetrics team to deliver the baby. Working side by side the heart doctors opened the woman’s chest to be able to observe her heart and jump in if there were any problems during the delivery. The OB team lead by Dr. Billy Wong delivered the child quickly allowing MacArthur to work his magic on the heart.

If something untoward was to happen while the baby was being delivered then he (MacArthur) would have gone in,” said Dr. Arvind Koshal, director of cardiac surgery at the University of Alberta Hospital, noting the tear can cause strokes or even escalate beyond that.

“The worst problem is it can rupture outside the aorta – that’s usually when the game is over.”

Only a handful of these operations have ever been attempted. Both mother and child are doing well. The mother will be monitored by a cardiologist but within a few months should be fine.

Punxsutawney Phil Gives The News, More Winter To Come

In the tiny town of Punxsutawney lives a wizened weather man. He only appears once a year but his prediction is listened to across the continent. Punxsutawney Phil is “The” groundhog and today is groundhog day.

This year he saw his shadow when he was pulled out into the cold by anxious members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club Inner Circle who don top hats and tuxedos for this occasion.

That shadow predicts another six weeks of winter. An old German superstition that has a fairly decent track record. Decent enough that thousands descend on the small town of Punxsutawney to get a peek at Phil.

Phil lives the rest of the year at the town’s library with his “wife” Phyliss.

Maria Lauterbach Will Be Laid To Rest Today

Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach will be buried today at St. Christopher Catholic Church near Dayton, Ohio. The young marine grabbed the nation’s attention when she came up missing in December.

Lauterbach had accused Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean of rape in May of last year. The alleged rape resulted in a pregnancy.

The young Marine had stated that she faced harassment at Camp Lejeune and that the Marines were not protecting her. She failed to show up for work in mid-December. Lauterbach’s burned remains were found in a fire pit in Jacksonville, North Carolina. The residence belonged to Laurean.

A military court proceeding for the rape charges had been set to begin. The military was waiting for the birth of Lauterbach’s child to proceed.

Laurean has fled since Lauterbach’s remains were found. Authorities believe that he may be in his native Mexico. He is being sought on first degree murder charges. Before he disappeared he left a note saying that Lauterbach had slit her own throat and he then burned her body.

“Published reports and official statements have included some assertions that are inconsistent, illogical, and misleading,” Lauterbach’s family said in the statement, issued through attorneys. “There are many unanswered questions, and we are continuing to review and evaluate the information that has been released.”

‘Lolita’ Beds Cause Angry Parents to Raise Their Voices

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Woolworth’s in Britain had never heard of the novel “Lolita” when they sent out an ad featuring the Lolita Midsleeper Combi marketed at little girls in the six year old range.

Thanks to scores of angry parents they now know that “Lolita” was a sexually explicit novel where a stepfather and his 12 year old stepdaughter become lovers.

As Reuters reports:

“What seems to have happened is the staff who run the website had never heard of Lolita, and to be honest no one else here had either,” a spokesman told British newspapers. “We had to look it up on (online encyclopedia) Wikipedia. But we certainly know who she is now.”

The whitewashed beds had a pull out desk and cupboard. They have now been dropped by the company.

Op-Ed: Where Do you Stand?

An interesting comment by a reader at Digital Journal about the lack of voices concerning a reporter who could be executed got me to thinking. Where do we stand as citizen journalists?

Are we meek and quiet as our “professional” brethren are killed and sentenced for the act of their craft?

We all know by now that journalism isn’t a safe career move. In parts of the world journalists are shot down because they refuse to silence their pens. Their voices ring out with the injustices that they view. They give the rest of the world a glimpse at the horrors that men can do unto others.

And much of the world stands silent when they fell down dead in the street as bullet bleeds them dry.

We comment about the likes of Britney Spears having another “oops I did it again” day or when a politician is playing footsie with a cop. Why don’t we raise our voices and keyboards high when one of our own is silenced?

We are a family of sorts with people that we may very well never meet face to face. Citizen journalists use their words, their eyes, their voices in reporting what is going on in the world and yet when our “family” has to be buried we quietly look the other way. Or am I wrong?

If it takes a village to raise a child what does it take to stand up for our “family”? When the arrows of injustice ring out do we sit quietly and say a silent prayer that thank goodness no one has silenced me or do we take a stand?

Journalists are heroes to the silent masses that have no voice. Let their life not be in vain.

This year alone:
3 Journalists killed
0 Media assistants killed
126 Journalists imprisoned
7 Media assistants imprisoned
63 Cyberdissidents imprisoned

Afghanistan (1)
14 January 2008 – Carsten Thomassen, Dagbladet

Iraq (1)
28 January 2008 – Alaa Abdulkarim Al-Fartoosi, Al-Forat TV

Nepal (1)
12 January 2008 – Pushkar Bahadur Shrestha, Highway Weekly, New Season

31.01.2008 – Reporters Without Borders voices its support for Paul Cobb, the publisher of the Oakland Post newspaper, who has been put under police protection after being told a contract has been put out for his murder.

STATS from Reporters Without Borders

James Risen Subpoenaed To Grand Jury For Novel’s Sources

The feds want James Risen to spill the beans on who coughed up the information he used writing a chapter of his 2006 book “State of War”. Risen has been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury to disclose his sources.

Risen is the latest journalist that the feds have gone after when their journalistic investigations have disclosed sources and hot news that could perhaps show the government in a negative light.

Risen has stated that he will fight the subpoena when he is due to appear before the grand jury in Alexandria, Va. on February 7.

“He has an agreement of confidentiality with his sources and he intends to stand by that in the highest degree of journalistic traditions,” attorney David N. Kelley said.

Risen is a journalist at The New York Times. The paper is supporting their reporter.

“strongly supports Mr. Risen and deplores what seems to be a growing trend of government leak investigations focusing on journalists, particularly in the national security area.”

James Risen and colleague Eric Lichtblau won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting when they disclosed the Bush administration’s wiretapping program.

This is not the first time a New York Times reporter has faced the grand jury. Judith Miller was jailed for almost three months as she refused to identify a confidential source during an investigation into the disclosure of the name of a covert CIA agent. Only after I. Lewis Libby Jr. waived her pledge of confidentially did she reveal that he was the source.

Will Risen be forced to show he has the same commitment to journalistic ethics? We will know on Feb. 7.

Memo to Drug Dealers: Craigslist Is Not The Venue For Clients

You can buy and sell a lot of things on Craigslist but if you are a drug dealer it’s not the smartest place in the ‘hood to advertise. Just ask Steven Zahorsky, 24 who placed a laughable ad.

“Mary Jane in Fairfield County.” The ad offered a half-ounce of “A plus” marijuana for $220 and the same amount of “B plus” marijuana for $160.

It appears not only those who are trying to get a good deal scan the online site. Stamford, Conn. officers took a double take when viewing the brazen ad and decided to play let’s make a deal. Zahorsky allegedly agreed to meet a client at an Interstate 95 rest stop with three quarters of an ounce. That “client” made “his” way to the rest stop and called “Mensa” Zahorsky asking him to meet at the McDonald’s rest stop in 15 minutes. That meeting where dealer and client exchanged pot for $320 in cash was all a set up and now Zahorsky went to the pooky.

The police searched his Bridgeport apartment and found more goodies to add to his list of charges, three bags of marijuana and one bag of hallucinogenic mushrooms, along with a shotgun, ammunition and a digital scale.

After posting $10,000 bond Zahorsky is out of jail but facing several drugs charges. He is due to appear on Feb. 13 at Stamford Superior Court.

A New Low As Two Mentally Disabled Women Used In Suicide Attack

At least 53 people died today as two mentally disabled women were sent into two different busy market places and blown up using remote control devices in Baghdad. At the first market people had commented on the “crazy woman”.

There are reports of more than 175 people being injured in the attacks in addition to those who were killed outright.

Friday is the holiest day of the week in the Muslim community.

Gen. Qasim Atta, spokesman for Baghdad’s security team announced that both of the attacks were carried out by mentally disabled women who were blown up from another location using remote control.

The United States has laid the blame of the attacks to al Qaeda in Iraq.

The first explosion took place at al-Ghazil pet market at 10:30 am this morning. A half hour later the second attack went off.

Al-Ghazil pet market is a busy area with Friday being the busiest day at the market. This market has been attacked several times in the past year. In one attack during January 2007 15 people died and 52 more were injured while an attack in November killed 13.

In other news from the war torn country, Poland has announced that they are removing their soldiers from Iraq by October of this year.

Reporter Sentenced To Death For Reading About Women’s Rights On The Web

Pervez Kambaksh has been sentenced to death for reading about women’s rights

Journalist Pervez Kambaksh has been sentenced to death. The 23 year old downloaded information about women’s rights in Afghanistan. That act pegged him for death under the laws of blasphemy.

Kambaksh was accused of the crime after he downloaded a report from a Farsi website. The report stated that Muslim fundamentalists who claim that the Koran justifies the oppression of women misrepresent the views of the prophet Mohamed.

Yesterday the Afghan house supported the death sentence against the young reporter even with international outcry of the harsh sentence. Kambaksh has not had legal counsel throughout his ordeal. Now the Afghan government is saying maybe the sentence is not so final and that they will handle this case “very carefully.”

Yacoub Kambaksh, brother of Perves said his sibling is very concerned about his future. His brother states that he hasn’t had a fair trial nor a lawyer to defend him.

Kambaksh is a student at Balkh University and a journalist for Jahan-e Naw. The arrest took place in 2007.

Kentucky Senate Passes Bill That Bans Insurance At State Schools For Same Sex Couples

Kentucky’s senate has approved a measure that would prevent the eight public universities and state agencies from offering benefits to gay and lesbian partners of employees. The bill is being opposed by the state’s universities.

The vote on Senate Bill 112 was 30-5 yesterday. The only senators against the bill were Democratic Sens. Ernesto Scorsone of Lexington, Denise Harper Angel of Louisville, Gerald Neal of Louisville, R.J. Palmer of Winchester and Tim Shaughnessy of Louisville voting against it.

“The only thing that drives this measure is a gay-bashing effort,” said Scorsone, a homosexual.

Proponents of the bill say that it violates the Kentucky Constitution that was amended in 2004 banning same sex marriages.

“I have sympathy for Sen. Scorsone,” said Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville. “I know it’s difficult for him to deal with this issue. Nobody directed any comments at him, nor would we have stood for anyone to say anything disrespectful on the floor.”

Sen. Vernie McGaha, R-Russell Springs, who sponsored the bill, said it is about not sacrificing his convictions.

“I do not recognize domestic partnerships as being a correct thing,” he said. “My Bible teaches against it.”

Universities have been against the bill stating that it hurts their chances of recruiting researchers and professors. In 2006 the University of Louisville became the first in the state to extend health insurance benefits to unmarried domestic partnerships including homosexual relationships.

When universities stated that they need to be able to offer the same benefit packages as other states in order to recruit the best employees McGaha shot back with,

“Keep recruiting,” he said. “There’s plenty out there.”

It’s Winter White Again in Ontario

Earlier this week, the yards were glistening winter white and then the warmth brought green grass out from beneath it’s wintry cover. That was then, this is now, and Ontario braces for another major snowstorm.

Toronto is expecting 25 to 30 cm of snow by Saturday morning. If you live north of the GTA then you already know you’re about to be hammered with a little bit more but at least the freezing rain that is expected for some areas shouldn’t plague you.

Peel school kids have the day off but Toronto kids know better. The city kids rarely get the day off of school because of a little winter storm.

Pearson Airport is dealing with almost 200 cancellations as of 7 a.m. this morning.

“It’s definitely one of the major storms of the season,” Mr. Rodgers said. “It’s worth noting that the last time we had a storm take this track … was Dec. 16, [2007].”

This winter was predicted to be one of the colder ones in recent times for Canada. With seven more weeks of cold weather ahead, there is a lot of room for more snowstorms to hit.

And hit they will. Round Two of the snow storm will be packing its punch on Monday.

Canadian TV Shows Moving South of the Border

Canadian shows are crossing the border. The U.S. is picking up Canadian shows right and left. The latest show to soon be seen in the States is CTV drama “The Listener,” a show based in Toronto about a paramedic with telepathic powers.

“The Border”, another Canadian show from CBC is in discussion with several U.S. networks. “Sophie” and “Flashpoint” are two more shows that are poised to cross the border in addition to CTV’s The Listener.

While the US has suffered with the writers’ strike Canada and other countries have been plugging right along with new shows. The networks seem to like what they see on the Canadian market.

“Canada is the next big thing,” a U.S. agent said.

Canadian shows are considered more accessible to U.S. audiences than British or Aussie TV.

Considering the cost of the writers’ strike networks are also happy to see that Canadian shows are “strike proof”.

As Hollywood Reporter indicates:

“This is good news for Canadian producers, writers, directors and creators that we have the opportunity to have Canadian series exported to the U.S.,” said Stephen Waddell, national executive director of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), which represents about 21,000 performers. “Canada is ready for the big time. If you look at the (Canadian) programs that are being produced now, they’re interesting, they’re innovative, they bring a new perspective.”

Canada has always had the talent. In further years the writers strike may be remembered as the time when the Canadians took over Hollywood. Well, at least that would be the United States’ take on things. Canadians already know their power in Tinsel Town.

Common Cold Puts Great Apes At Risk

Between 1999 and 2006 there were five outbreaks of respiratory disease in Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa that afflicted chimpanzees and killed several of the animals. The virus that hit the chimps? The common human cold.

How did the endangered animals get the common cold? From researchers and eco-tourists that study the primates in their native homes.

This isn’t the first time that humans and great apes have spread diseases between each other.

The Ebola virus is as big a threat to gorillas and chimps as it is to humans. The disease may have spread from the apes to humans by people eating infected animals. It is thought the both Ebola and SARS first came from bats.

Chimps and other primates were the first to come down with the HIV virus.

We can thank gorillas for the first cases of pubic lice. “The crabs” was originally a primate condition. It makes you wonder how it was spread to humans.

There have been speculations that chimps at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania contracted polio as a result of the humans they came in contact with.

Yaws is a non-sexually spread disease related to syphilis that gorillas are believed to have contracted from humans.

Outbreaks of anthrax have been reported in gorillas and chimps in West Africa. The origins of the disease appear to be from cattle that was herded by humans although this one could simply be a natural event that existed within the forests.

There is a strong positive effect on the great apes because of research and eco-tourism. Poachers are more unlikely to be able to attack when the animals are being studied. Where eco-tourism is high the “political weight” favors protection for the animals.

There are drawbacks, though. Hygienic problems top the list. Scientists are beginning to wear masks and disinfect their boots when working with the animals. They are also keeping a greater distance, at least 20 feet away from the chimpanzees.

“We need to be much more proactive about instituting strict hygiene precautions at all ape tourism and research sites,” Leendertz said. “One possibility for promoting compliance is a certification process similar to the green labeling system now used in the timber industry.”

Reducing the chance of infecting the great apes with human conditions will help protect them. After all, that is the ultimate goal of both the eco-tourist and the researcher who makes their living studying humans closest animal relative.

One Of HIV’s Pathways Discovered

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It’s a tricky little devil playing hide and seek within a body and now the researchers that work with the HIV virus have found out how the virus builds up its dormant reservoirs.

Scientists at the University of Rochester think there may be a straightforward way of attacking the macrophages that HIV uses as viral hideaways in the body.

The discovery of which steps the virus takes to overtake the macrophage could lead to a new treatment with a medicine that is already being used for fighting parasites. The hope is that these drugs can be used to block the main step and cause the cell to self-destruct.

“It’s a very smart virus,” said lead researcher Dr. Baek Kim. “They have to have a very good fence to protect their house for a long time. … Get rid of the fence, and now their house is gone.”

Because of the advancements in treating the HIV virus in many parts of the world it is no longer a death sentence. While being able to change the killer virus into a chronic infection it is still uncurable because of two pools of dormant cells always ready to resurface. The memory T cells, which in many cases help build your immunity and protect you from viruses that have already attacked your body like measles. The other pool is the macrophages. The macrophage is another type of immune cell that soars through your blood looking for bacteria and other invaders of the body to attack. If a virus attacks them normally they self destruct. The HIV virus though is tricky and has no intention of dying off once it finds a host. The cell that should be fighting with all it has instead lives on long past a normal lifespan, remaining dormant.

“Up to now, nobody has really thought about how to eliminate the macrophage reservoir,” said Dr. Kuan-Teh Jeang, an HIV specialist at the National Institutes of Health. “The imagination now has turned toward, ‘How do we eliminate reservoirs?’ … The best way to address our problem is to simply kill those cells.”

The researchers at Rochester found a protein that HIV produces allowing a particular cell survival pathway. After many steps it activates an enzyme called Akt. Akt is a 911 call for self destroying cells that prevents them from doing themselves in. It would be great for a suicide help desk but it’s murder when you’re talking about HIV. By not being able to do themselves in the virus lives on.

This discovery could be the beginning of the end though for the virus. Drug tests are hoped to be started soon.

“The evidence they show is in fact pretty good,” said NIH’s Jeang, who says the next step should be a test of miltefosine in monkeys infected with SIV, the monkey version of the AIDS virus.

Tornado Took Away Home And Cable Boxes, Time Warner Sends Bill

Ann Beam thought having her home destroyed by a tornado was bad enough but when Time Warner Cable charged her for the devices that were lost during the storm she got a shock. The bill was for $2,000 dollars.

The Wheatland, Wis. woman was charged for five cable boxes and five remote controls. Hers had been lost when a tornado touched down in the Wheatland area on January 7.

She called the cable company right away only to discover that it wasn’t a mistake and there was nothing the company could or would do about the charges.

“They said I would have to take the bill and turn it in to my insurance company,” Beam said.

The equipment was nine years old and her insurance company would only pay for the depreciated value which of course was very short of the bill.

Celeste Flynn said that many customers got charges for their unreturned equipment because they canceled or transferred their service without stating that a tornado had carried their homes away.

“We understand this is an unusual situation,” Flynn said Wednesday. “All they will need to do is call and we will take the equipment off their account.”