An estimated 3.4 million Americans identified themselves as victims of stalking during a one-year span, according to federal crime experts who on Tuesday released the largest-ever survey of the aggravating and often terrifying phenomenon.
About half of the victims experienced at least one unwanted contact per week from a stalker, and 11 percent had been stalked for five or more years, according to the report by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics.
It covered a 12-month period in 2005-06.
The study was described as a groundbreaking effort to analyze the scope and varying forms of stalking, which had not been featured in previous versions of the National Crime Victimization Survey.
The researchers defined stalking as a course of conduct, directed at a specific person on at least two separate occasions, that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear.
The most commonly reported types of stalking were unwanted phone calls (66 percent), unsolicited letters or e-mail (31 percent), or having rumors spread about the victim (36 percent).
More than one-third of the victims reported being followed or spied upon; some said they were tracked by electronic monitoring, listening devices or video cameras.
Nearly 75 percent of victims knew their stalker in some capacity - most commonly a former spouse or ex-boyfriend/girlfriend.
Women were far more likely than men to be stalking victims, and people who were divorced or separated were more vulnerable than other marital categories.
People aged 18-24 were more likely to be stalked than older people.
Victims reported suffering a range of emotions because of the stalking.
Their most common fears included not knowing what would happen next (46 percent) and fearing the stalking would continue indefinitely (29 percent).
Nine percent of the victims said their worst fear was death.
According to the report, about 130,000 victims said they had been fired or asked to leave their job because of problems arising from the stalking.
About one in eight of all employed victims lost time from work, either for fear for their safety or to pursue activities such as seeking a restraining order or testifying in court.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Our Readers
Today readers in:
Canada, Scotland, Denmark, Romania, England, Germany, India, Egypt, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, Wales, Northern Ireland, Vietnam, Spain, the Maldives, Thailand. Poland, France, Guatemala, Malaysia, Slovakia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States
have enjoyed Carolina Naturally.
Canada, Scotland, Denmark, Romania, England, Germany, India, Egypt, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, Wales, Northern Ireland, Vietnam, Spain, the Maldives, Thailand. Poland, France, Guatemala, Malaysia, Slovakia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States
have enjoyed Carolina Naturally.
Daily Horoscope
Today's horoscope says:
Again, you'll figure out a way to get everything you want.
ALL RIGHT!
Again, you'll figure out a way to get everything you want.
ALL RIGHT!
Monday, January 12, 2009
Question of the Day
This question applies to my fellow American readers.
Why is it that all those that really do hate America and what America is and stands for are forever accusing the people who love America and what it is and what it stands for of being America Haters, oh, and throwing in that 'Leftist' label as well?
Why is it that all those that really do hate America and what America is and stands for are forever accusing the people who love America and what it is and what it stands for of being America Haters, oh, and throwing in that 'Leftist' label as well?
Only The Lonely
A rare look at Roy Orbison without his sunglasses from an early appearance on live TV.
Yes, Kiddies there used to be something called 'live TV' and the performers really were performing what you were seeing as you saw it. Not everything was on 'video' in those days.
Continuing insurance can exceed amout of unemployment benefit for some families
Newly unemployed Americans will have to spend about 30 percent of their jobless benefits on average to pay for health insurance through their former employer, according to a new report.
And if they want coverage for their families, the report by Families USA says it will take more than 80 percent of their unemployment check.
Unemployment hit a 16-year high last month as another 524,000 jobs were cut. For all of 2008, government says the economy lost a net total of 2.6 million jobs.
Read the rest in the Star Tribune.
Health News
Buttery Christmas cookies, eggnog, juicy beef roast, rich gravy and creamy New York-style cheesecake. Happy holiday food unfortunately can send blood cholesterol levels sky high.
Northwestern University scientists now offer a promising new weapon -- synthetic high-density lipoprotein (HDL), the "good" cholesterol -- that could help fight chronically high cholesterol levels and the deadly heart disease that often results.
The researchers successfully designed synthetic HDL and show that their nanoparticle version is capable of irreversibly binding cholesterol. The synthetic HDL, based on gold nanoparticles, is similar in size to HDL and mimics HDL's general surface composition.
The study is published online by the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS).
Read the rest here.
The very existence of Senator Al Franken is making wingnut heads explode
It's not hard to tell that the looming elevation of Al Franken to the U.S. Senate is making Republicans crazy. Last week Bill O'Reilly -- whose feud with Franken is now the stuff of legend -- had to resort to running one of Franken's old comedy videos (his hilarious parody of Mick Jagger) so he could call him a "pinhead."
Read the rest at Crooks and Liars.
Comparisions
The comparisons between here and now and the Great Depression are seeming less and less hyperbolic.
Check out the rest at Reuters News Agency.
Check out the rest at Reuters News Agency.
Fifty Most Loathsome People in America
The Buffalo Beast has published their annual 50 Most Loathsome People in America for 2008 and guess who is the most loathsome of the most loathsome?
That's Right! You guessed it.
That's Right! You guessed it.
1. Sarah Palin
Charges: If you want to know why the rest of the world is scared of Americans, consider the fact that after two terms of disastrous rule by a small-minded ignoramus, 46% of us apparently thought the problem was that he wasn’t quite stupid enough. Palin’s unending emissions of baffling, evasive incoherence should have disqualified her for any position that involved a desk, let alone placing her one erratic heartbeat from the presidency. The press strained mightily to feign respect for her, praising a debate performance that involved no debate, calling her a “great speaker” when her only speech was primarily a litany of insults to city-dwellers, echoing bogus sexism charges when a male Palin would have been boiled alive for the Couric interview alone, and lionizing her as she used her baby as a Pro-life stage prop before crowds who cooed when they should have been hurling polonium-tipped javelins. In the end, Palin had the beneficial effect of splitting her party between her admirers and people who can read.
Exhibit A: Waving her embryo-loving credentials, in the form of her Down syndrome baby, at "But ultimately what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy."
Sentence: Hand-to-hand combat with Vladimir Putin and a pack of wolves.
Funny video challenging Barack Obama's citizenship
The wing-nuts are getting funnier and funnier ... What is sad is they think they are being serious.
Charles Platt says:
I'm fascinated by the conspiracy theorists challenging Barack Obama's citizenship. After front-page stories in The Globe this week and last week, there's now this ad which was refused by the major TV networks.I love how they end the farce with - "'OUR' constitution stills means something" when they are the slack-jaws that have been shredding the Constitution of the United States for the last eight years. I have always known they had a different 'constitution' than the rest of us ... nice of them to admit it though.I'm reassured that the Web is facilitating a freedom of the press that didn't quite exist before. The more nutty theories, the better!
Top 11 compounds in US drinking water
Researchers at the Southern Nevada Water Authority analyzed tap water from 19 US water utilities. New Scientist shares the list of the top 11 detected compounds, fortunately all of which were "found at extremely low concentrations." According the Environmental Protection Agency, there's no cause for alarm but there could be risk "especially for the fetus and those with severely compromised health."
Here are the top 5:
Here are the top 5:
• Atenolol, a beta-blocker used to treat cardiovascular disease
• Atrazine, an organic herbicide banned in the European Union, but still used in the US, which has been implicated in the decline of fish stocks and in changes in animal behaviour
• Carbamazepine, a mood-stabilising drug used to treat bipolar disorder, amongst other things
• Estrone, an oestrogen hormone secreted by the ovaries and blamed for causing gender-bending changes in fish
• Gemfibrozil, an anti-cholesterol drug
Frogfish
Pictured are Antennarius maculatus, warty frogfish.They scurry around on the ocean floor, "walking" on their pelvic fins.
Weird "Walking" Frogfish , Zubi's Frogfish Pages
Teen convicted of killing mother over video game
This is but one reason I do not like video games ...
A judge has convicted an Elyria, Ohio teenager who shot and killed his mother and wounded his clergyman father over a video game dispute.
Defense attorneys for 17-year-old Daniel Petric didn't contest that Petric shot his parents in October 2007.
They insisted that the boy's youth and video game addiction made him less responsible.
But Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge said Monday that is not a defense and there was evidence of prior calculation and planning.
Petric faces maximum penalty of life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors said Petric planned to kill his parents because he was angry that his father would not allow him to play the video game "Halo 3," in which players shoot alien monsters that have taken over the Earth.
A judge has convicted an Elyria, Ohio teenager who shot and killed his mother and wounded his clergyman father over a video game dispute.
Defense attorneys for 17-year-old Daniel Petric didn't contest that Petric shot his parents in October 2007.
They insisted that the boy's youth and video game addiction made him less responsible.
But Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge said Monday that is not a defense and there was evidence of prior calculation and planning.
Petric faces maximum penalty of life in prison without parole.
Prosecutors said Petric planned to kill his parents because he was angry that his father would not allow him to play the video game "Halo 3," in which players shoot alien monsters that have taken over the Earth.
Motorcrash
The Sugarcubes
Has it been 21 years already ... seems like this was released just yesterday?!
Yet, another London photographer arrested for "terrorism"
A photographer who spent his whole life photographing and painting around his home neighborhood of Elephant and Castle in London was arrested under anti-terror laws and jailed, his DNA and fingerprints taken. He was released after five hours, once his Member of Parliament intervened. Under current policies, his DNA will remain on file forever -- though the EU has ordered Britain to cease this practice.
With a studio near the 1960s shopping center at the heart of this area in south London, he is a familiar figure and is regularly seen snapping and sketching the people and buildings around his home – currently the site of Europe's largest regeneration project. But to the police officers who arrested him last week his photographing of the old HMSO print works close to the local police station posed an unacceptable security risk.
"The car skidded to a halt like something out of Starsky & Hutch and this officer jumped out very dramatically and said 'what are you doing?' I told him I was photographing the building and he said he was going to search me under the Anti-Terrorism Act," he recalled.
China's future executives seek their inner chicken
Amena Schlaijker makes her students cluck like chickens, mimic a toothbrush, jump up and down or pretend to die an agonizing death.
The aim is to make budding business leaders think outside the box.
It may sound extreme, but this is China, where students have grown up on rote learning and the ruling Communist Party has long discouraged creative thinking lest it lead to challenging authority.
"You can tell them to think outside of the box, but some employees don't even have the concept of a box to begin with," said Roy Magee, an Australian whose training company, AchieveGlobal, has operated in China since 1997. "We just have to go in and start from scratch."
This comes as the government works on the economy's next leap forward - to transform the nation's industry from "Made in China" to "Invented in China."
Addressing parliament last year, President Hu Jintao spoke of making China a nation of innovators.
At the same time, China is recognizing that as wages and land prices rise, it is no longer a cheap place to manufacture other countries' products, and needs to invent its own to remain globally competitive.
While the state is spending billions of dollars on technology parks, research grants and art programs, the drive for creativity has spawned a market for classes run by foreign trainers like Schlaijker and Magee.
The aim is to make budding business leaders think outside the box.
It may sound extreme, but this is China, where students have grown up on rote learning and the ruling Communist Party has long discouraged creative thinking lest it lead to challenging authority.
"You can tell them to think outside of the box, but some employees don't even have the concept of a box to begin with," said Roy Magee, an Australian whose training company, AchieveGlobal, has operated in China since 1997. "We just have to go in and start from scratch."
This comes as the government works on the economy's next leap forward - to transform the nation's industry from "Made in China" to "Invented in China."
Addressing parliament last year, President Hu Jintao spoke of making China a nation of innovators.
At the same time, China is recognizing that as wages and land prices rise, it is no longer a cheap place to manufacture other countries' products, and needs to invent its own to remain globally competitive.
While the state is spending billions of dollars on technology parks, research grants and art programs, the drive for creativity has spawned a market for classes run by foreign trainers like Schlaijker and Magee.
Daily Horoscope
Today's horoscope says:
Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not your favorite way to make ends meet, as you well know.
Well, Duh!
Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not your favorite way to make ends meet, as you well know.
Well, Duh!
On the importance of walking ...
... and other healthful thoughts
Walking can add minutes to your life.
This enables you at 85 years old to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $7000 per month.
My grandpa started walking five miles a day when he was 60.
Now he's 97 years old and we don't know where he is.
I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.
The only reason I would take up walking is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.
I have to walk early in the morning, before my brain figures out what I'm doing..
I joined a health club last year, spent about 400 bucks.
Haven't lost a pound. Apparently you have to go there.
Every time I hear the dirty word 'exercise', I wash my mouth out with chocolate.
I do have flabby thighs, but fortunately my stomach covers them.
The advantage of exercising every day is so when you die, they'll say,
'Well, she looks good doesn't she.'
If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country.
I know I got a lot of exercise the last few years, ... just getting over the hill.
We all get heavier as we get older, because there's a lot more information in our heads.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
AND
Every time I start thinking too much about how I look, I just find a Happy Hour and by the time I leave, I look just fine.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Ancient Pyramids in Bosnia?
Maybe, maybe not. Here is an article on just that point.
It would be an interesting twist on history and would rewrite an awful lot of it and rather dramatically as well if it proves to be the case.
There is a theory floating out among the ether about how we've done all this before and 'blew it all to hell' around 14,000 years ago ... Atlantis is but one of the elements of this train of thought.
Now, if this idea holds credence about pyramids in in Europe - in this particular case - Bosnia it could lend some credence to the idea that 'we've done it all before'.
There is more than we know about our history and our world, so maybe, maybe not.
There is a theory floating out among the ether about how we've done all this before and 'blew it all to hell' around 14,000 years ago ... Atlantis is but one of the elements of this train of thought.
Now, if this idea holds credence about pyramids in in Europe - in this particular case - Bosnia it could lend some credence to the idea that 'we've done it all before'.
There is more than we know about our history and our world, so maybe, maybe not.
CMPD officer arrested for driving while impaired
A Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer was arrested this morning for driving while impaired, the department said this afternoon.
Officer Karen Dula, 27, was arrested after a traffic stop around 1:30 a.m. by a trooper with the N.C. Highway Patrol near the intersection of Seventh and McDowell streets, police said in a news release. Dula was off-duty at the time.
The department said Dula, who was hired by CMPD in September 2003, will be placed on administrative duties pending an internal investigation.
“It is unfortunate that a member of the CMPD has been arrested for driving while impaired, but we will continue to hold our officers responsible for their actions on and off-duty,” Police Chief Rodney Monroe said in the news release.
Labradoodle or Portuguese Water Dog
During an interview with George Stephanopolous this morning, president-elect Barack Obama was faced with a final, tough question. It came via Malia and Sasha Obama, who wanted George to ask their daddy: "What kind of dog are we getting and when are we getting it?"
Apparently, even the Obama girls don't know exactly when or what kind of pooch will be a part of the new First Family. But, it will definitely be a shelter dog because that's what Malia and Sasha want too. (Those girls are so smart!)
They seemed to have narrowed it down to a labradoodle or a Portuguese water hound....[a] medium sized dog, and so, we're now going to start looking at shelters to see when one of those dogs might come up. --Barack Obama on January 11, 2009
Obama said they are are "closing in" on finding a dog, but that the process has been "tougher than finding a commerce secretary." (Oh, what a sense of humor our new president has; he was referring to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson's withdrawal from consideration for the post because Richardson is the subject of a pending grand jury investigation into a state contract that was awarded to his political donors.)
With this morning's announcement specifying the breeds being considered by the Obamas, they will surely be deluged by shelters and rescue groups across the country. Maybe it will help them find that lucky dog that will go from homeless, shelter pup to First Dog.
Both the Labradoodle and Portuguese water dog have apparently been selected for their "hypoallergenic" qualities.
Watch the interview video excerpt HERE.
Yes, and?
From the "Tell us something we didn't know" Department:
In an interview with Brit Hume that aired today on Faux news Sunday, the shrub admitted that he personally authorized the torture of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
In an interview with Brit Hume that aired today on Faux news Sunday, the shrub admitted that he personally authorized the torture of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Read more at Think Progress
Ottawa-area Adventurers Reach Pole in Record Time
Three Canadian adventurers have broken the world record for the fastest unassisted journey to the South Pole.
Ray Zahab of Chelsea, Richard Weber of Cantley and Kevin Vallely of Vancouver reached their destination yesterday morning.
They traveled across Antarctica from Hercules Inlet on the Ronne Ice Shelf to the South Pole in 33 days, breaking the previous record of 39 days set earlier this winter.
Mr. Zahab traveled on foot and on snowshoes, while Mr. Weber and Mr. Vallely skied the more than 1,130-kilometre distance.
Ray Zahab of Chelsea, Richard Weber of Cantley and Kevin Vallely of Vancouver reached their destination yesterday morning.
They traveled across Antarctica from Hercules Inlet on the Ronne Ice Shelf to the South Pole in 33 days, breaking the previous record of 39 days set earlier this winter.
Mr. Zahab traveled on foot and on snowshoes, while Mr. Weber and Mr. Vallely skied the more than 1,130-kilometre distance.
The trio filed regular updates via satellite phone to their website, www. southpolequest.com, which was tracked by about 3,000 schoolchildren in Canada and the U.S.
“So the great news is we have arrived in world-record time at the geographic South Pole, in 33 days, 23 hours and 30 minutes,”
Mr. Zahab wrote in a blog. “We are here, guys, and in the coming next 24-48 hours you’ll get a lot of photos.”
They survived altitude sickness, enormous blisters, countless frozen snowdrifts, known as sastrugi, and blinding whiteouts.”
Read the rest in The Ottawa Citizen.
Meditation relieves post-holiday stress
A staple of traditional martial arts training is focusing of mind, helpful in achieving physical goals. Now that the sugar-shock of the 2008 holiday season is behind us, stress has taken over. Stress, like sugar, can create a false sense of increased productivity at first. However, like the after-effects of eating too much sugar at once, stress can have long-lasting, harmful effects on the body and mind. Meditation can help tackle the effects of stress on our lives. It is a technique useful to martial artists and non-martial artists alike.
Encognitive.com is a natural heath website with a series of videos designed to explain what meditation is, why we need it and how to do it. Begin with their "How to meditate" video and explore those that follow at the Encognitive.com website meditation page.
Four Mistakes that Sabotage a Home Sale
In these economic times - should you be attempting to sell your house you might want to take these four things to heart ...
1. That distinctive something
You love to walk into your home and smell the scent of orchid air freshener or apple pie baking, but will other folks? -- not so much. Fragrance is a very individual thing, and most experts will tell you that no smell is better than one that might be offensive. Even strong "clean" odors can be a turnoff, so don't spray everything with Febreze or clean with harsh chemicals right before buyers visit. Don't play "welcoming" tunes, either. Your taste in music, whether it's Van Morrison or Van Halen, may not jive with buyers' and is likely to be a distraction.
2. The wallpaper you love
Anything that "dates" your house -- that makes it seem not modern, in need of a re-do, or too aggressively personal -- can make a negative impression on a stranger seeing your house for the first time. Wallpaper and artwork are both seriously subjective, but at least the buyer knows the artwork is going with you; they'll be stuck with removing the wallpaper. These three mini makeovers can make a difference: Remove wallpaper and paint walls a fresh neutral color, replace old linoleum with modern tiles, and edit accessories -- artwork, family photos, and collections -- to a few not-in-your-face pieces.
3. That squeaky door
The little things you may have overlooked (or simply think are charming) may really bother potential buyers. We're talking doors that squeak, don't close completely, or bang against the wall when you open them, or floors that creak ominously when you cross them. What are those bangs, squeaks, or creaks telling people? A) That you don't care enough about your home to do basic maintenance, or B) Your house is so old that major repairs could be around the corner. The lesson: oil your doors, install doorstops, and get a professional in to de-creak your stairs and floors. Sometimes a few well-placed nails can diminish the scariest-sounding creaks.
4. Your hidden treasure
Real estate agents and stagers are often amazed at how home sellers can't see the forest for the trees: they literally do not know the top selling points in their home. Layers of curtains will cover the beautiful lines of an arched window or obscure an amazing city or country view. A couch will be blocking sight lines to the fireplace, which can be an obvious focal point -- or there is so much clutter in the kitchen that no one can see the beautiful polished concrete counter tops. Sellers who take the time and effort to look past their own personal taste and lifestyles to see their home through buyers' eyes, can edit their furnishings so that their home will really shine. If you don't, some buyers will have enough imagination to see past your decorating mistakes, but most won't -- and you'll have missed an opportunity to impress them.
President Obama's weekly address
Remarks of President-Elect Barack Obama
Radio Address
Saturday, January 10, 2008
Washington, DC
We start this new year in the midst of an economic crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime. We learned yesterday that in the past month alone, we lost more than half a million jobs – a total of nearly 2.6 million in the year 2008. Another 3.4 million Americans who want and need full-time work have had to settle for part-time jobs. And families across America are feeling the pinch as they watch debts mount, bills pile up and savings disappear.
These numbers are a stark reminder that we simply cannot continue on our current path. If nothing is done, economists from across the spectrum tell us that this recession could linger for years and the unemployment rate could reach double digits – and they warn that our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing in the world.
It’s not too late to change course – but only if we take immediate and dramatic action. Our first job is to put people back to work and get our economy working again. This is an extraordinary challenge, which is why I’ve taken the extraordinary step of working – even before I take office – with my economic team and leaders of both parties on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that will call for major investments to revive our economy, create jobs, and lay a solid foundation for future growth.
I asked my nominee for Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Christina Romer, and the Vice President-Elect’s Chief Economic Adviser, Dr. Jared Bernstein, to conduct a rigorous analysis of this plan and come up with projections of how many jobs it will create – and what kind of jobs they will be. Today, I am releasing a report of their findings so that the American people can see exactly what this plan will mean for their families, their communities, and our economy.
The report confirms that our plan will likely save or create three to four million jobs. 90 percent of these jobs will be created in the private sector – the remaining 10 percent are mainly public sector jobs we save, like the teachers, police officers, firefighters and others who provide vital services in our communities.
The jobs we create will be in businesses large and small across a wide range of industries. And they’ll be the kind of jobs that don’t just put people to work in the short term, but position our economy to lead the world in the long-term.
We’ll create nearly half a million jobs by investing in clean energy – by committing to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, and by modernizing more than 75% of federal buildings and improving the energy efficiency of two million American homes. These made-in-America jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, developing fuel-efficient cars and new energy technologies pay well, and they can’t be outsourced.
We’ll create hundreds of thousands of jobs by improving health care – transitioning to a nationwide system of computerized medical records that won’t just save money, but save lives by preventing deadly medical errors. And we’ll create hundreds of thousands more jobs in education, equipping tens of thousands of schools with 21st century classrooms, labs and computers to help our kids compete with any worker in the world for any job.
We’ll put nearly 400,000 people to work by repairing our infrastructure – our crumbling roads, bridges and schools. And we’ll build the new infrastructure we need to succeed in this new century, investing in science and technology, and laying down miles of new broadband l
ines so that businesses across our nation can compete with their counterparts around the world.
Finally, we won’t just create jobs, we’ll also provide help for those who’ve lost theirs, and for states and families who’ve been hardest-hit by this recession. That means bi-partisan extensions of unemployment insurance and health care coverage; a $1,000 tax cut for 95 percent of working families; and assistance to help states avoid harmful budget cuts in essential services like police, fire, education and health care.
Now, given the magnitude of the challenges we face, none of this will come easy. Recovery won’t happen overnight, and it’s likely that things will get worse before they get better.
But we have come through moments like this before. We are the nation that has faced down war, depression and fear itself – each time, refusing to yield; each time, refusing to accept a lesser fate. That is the spirit that has always sustained us – that belief that our destiny is not written for us, but by us; that our success is not a matter of chance, but of our own courage and determination. Our resources may be finite, but our will is infinite. And I am confident that if we come together and summon that great American spirit once again, we will meet the challenges of our time and write the next great chapter in our American story.
Saudi authorities release activist
The wife of a leading Saudi human rights activist says authorities have released her husband after more than seven months in jail.
Jamila al-Faleh said her husband, Matrook al-Faleh, was released Saturday and is in good health.
Al-Faleh was arrested in May at King Saud University, where he taught political science. His arrest was condemned by Saudi and international activists and human rights groups.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has said al-Faleh's arrest came after he publicly criticized conditions in a prison where two other human rights activists were serving jail terms.
Jamila al-Faleh said her husband, Matrook al-Faleh, was released Saturday and is in good health.
Al-Faleh was arrested in May at King Saud University, where he taught political science. His arrest was condemned by Saudi and international activists and human rights groups.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has said al-Faleh's arrest came after he publicly criticized conditions in a prison where two other human rights activists were serving jail terms.
Daily Horoscope
Today's horoscope says:
Don't offer to pay for everything, it's better to share expenses.
OK, works for me.
Don't offer to pay for everything, it's better to share expenses.
OK, works for me.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
William Zantzinger, villain in Dylan song, dies
William Zantzinger, a Maryland socialite whose fatal beating of a black barmaid was recounted in a Bob Dylan protest song of the 1960s, was buried Friday.
He was 69.
Zantzinger died January 3rd.
The tobacco farmer served six months and was fined $500 for manslaughter in 1963 for striking the 51-year-old barmaid with his cane for taking too long to serve him a drink.
Hattie Carroll later died of a stroke.
In the "Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," Dylan criticized different standards of justice meted out to whites and blacks.
Zantzinger was allowed to delay the start the sentence two weeks so he could harvest his tobacco crop and served the time in the Washington County jail, working in its kitchen.
"There is something wrong with this city when a white man can beat a colored woman to death and no one raises a hand to stop him," the Revrerend. Thomas C. Jackson said in his sermon at Gillis Memorial Church the Sunday after Carroll's death.
News accounts at the time said Zantzinger had been seen drinking with his wife at a dinner before a ball.
While dining, Zantzinger told jurors he began hitting waitresses with the cane.
"I'd been smacking - tapping - waitresses on the tail, and they didn't say anything.
I was just playing," Zantzinger told the jury in Hagerstown, where the case was tried.
"I had no other purpose than to have a good time," Zantzinger testified.
"The last thing I intended was to harm or injure anyone. I never even thought about it."
Zantzinger, who later became a foreclosure auctioneer, didn't answer questions about Dylan's song for years.
In 2001, he told Dylan biographer Howard Sounes the singer was "just a scum bag of the earth.
I should have sued him and put him in jail.
(The song is) a total lie."
He was 69.
Zantzinger died January 3rd.
The tobacco farmer served six months and was fined $500 for manslaughter in 1963 for striking the 51-year-old barmaid with his cane for taking too long to serve him a drink.
Hattie Carroll later died of a stroke.
In the "Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," Dylan criticized different standards of justice meted out to whites and blacks.
Zantzinger was allowed to delay the start the sentence two weeks so he could harvest his tobacco crop and served the time in the Washington County jail, working in its kitchen.
"There is something wrong with this city when a white man can beat a colored woman to death and no one raises a hand to stop him," the Revrerend. Thomas C. Jackson said in his sermon at Gillis Memorial Church the Sunday after Carroll's death.
News accounts at the time said Zantzinger had been seen drinking with his wife at a dinner before a ball.
While dining, Zantzinger told jurors he began hitting waitresses with the cane.
"I'd been smacking - tapping - waitresses on the tail, and they didn't say anything.
I was just playing," Zantzinger told the jury in Hagerstown, where the case was tried.
"I had no other purpose than to have a good time," Zantzinger testified.
"The last thing I intended was to harm or injure anyone. I never even thought about it."
Zantzinger, who later became a foreclosure auctioneer, didn't answer questions about Dylan's song for years.
In 2001, he told Dylan biographer Howard Sounes the singer was "just a scum bag of the earth.
I should have sued him and put him in jail.
(The song is) a total lie."
South Korean blogger arrested
A South Korean blogger pleaded not guilty Saturday to charges that he spread false economic information on the Internet, a news report said, in a case that drew heated debate over freedom of speech.
The blogger, identified only by his surname Park, gained prominence among South Koreans because some of his dire predictions about the global economy, including the collapse of Lehman Brothers, later proved to be correct.
Known widely by his pen name "Minerva," the mythological Greek goddess of wisdom, the 31-year-old Park was accused of spreading false information on an Internet discussion site last month that the government had ordered major financial institutions and trade businesses not to purchase U.S. dollars.
Kim Yong-sang, a judge at the Seoul Central District Court who issued an arrest warrant for Park following Saturday's court hearing, said the case "affected foreign exchange markets and the nation's credibility,"
Park told the judge he wrote articles to help underprivileged people and did not seek any personal financial gain or harm the public interest.
In about 100 postings on the popular Web site last year, Park criticized the government's handling of the economy and made predictions, largely negative, on the future.
His writings were sprinkled with jargon that convinced some readers he was an economic expert.
Park described himself in Web entries as a former securities firm employee with a master's degree earned in the United States and experience in the field of corporate acquisitions and takeovers, according to local media.
His deeply analytical style and sometimes prescient forecasts made Park a star on the Web, earning him the nickname "economic president on the Internet."
But prosecutors said Park was an unemployed resident of Seoul who studied economics on his own after graduating from a vocational high school and a junior college with a major in information and communication.
It is rare for bloggers to be arrested in South Korea, one of the world's most wired and tech savvy nations.
Critics say the case could undermine freedom of speech on the Internet.
"It is as if control on the Internet started as of today," a blogger wrote on a bulletin board in Daum Communications, one of South Korea's popular Web portals after news came of Park's detention on Wednesday.
Lawyers for a Democratic Society, a prominent human rights group, has called for Park's release and urged the prosecution to stop its investigation.
It is extremely intolerant for the government "to punish those who freely express their opinions and discuss them on the Internet," the group said Friday.
In a statement, the main opposition Democratic Party expressed disappointment over the arrest and accused the judiciary of paving the way for human rights violations.
If indicted and convicted, Park could be sentenced to up to five years in prison or receive a fine of up to 50 million won ($37,250).
Park was transferred to a Seoul detention center after the court issued the warrant.
The blogger, identified only by his surname Park, gained prominence among South Koreans because some of his dire predictions about the global economy, including the collapse of Lehman Brothers, later proved to be correct.
Known widely by his pen name "Minerva," the mythological Greek goddess of wisdom, the 31-year-old Park was accused of spreading false information on an Internet discussion site last month that the government had ordered major financial institutions and trade businesses not to purchase U.S. dollars.
Kim Yong-sang, a judge at the Seoul Central District Court who issued an arrest warrant for Park following Saturday's court hearing, said the case "affected foreign exchange markets and the nation's credibility,"
Park told the judge he wrote articles to help underprivileged people and did not seek any personal financial gain or harm the public interest.
In about 100 postings on the popular Web site last year, Park criticized the government's handling of the economy and made predictions, largely negative, on the future.
His writings were sprinkled with jargon that convinced some readers he was an economic expert.
Park described himself in Web entries as a former securities firm employee with a master's degree earned in the United States and experience in the field of corporate acquisitions and takeovers, according to local media.
His deeply analytical style and sometimes prescient forecasts made Park a star on the Web, earning him the nickname "economic president on the Internet."
But prosecutors said Park was an unemployed resident of Seoul who studied economics on his own after graduating from a vocational high school and a junior college with a major in information and communication.
It is rare for bloggers to be arrested in South Korea, one of the world's most wired and tech savvy nations.
Critics say the case could undermine freedom of speech on the Internet.
"It is as if control on the Internet started as of today," a blogger wrote on a bulletin board in Daum Communications, one of South Korea's popular Web portals after news came of Park's detention on Wednesday.
Lawyers for a Democratic Society, a prominent human rights group, has called for Park's release and urged the prosecution to stop its investigation.
It is extremely intolerant for the government "to punish those who freely express their opinions and discuss them on the Internet," the group said Friday.
In a statement, the main opposition Democratic Party expressed disappointment over the arrest and accused the judiciary of paving the way for human rights violations.
If indicted and convicted, Park could be sentenced to up to five years in prison or receive a fine of up to 50 million won ($37,250).
Park was transferred to a Seoul detention center after the court issued the warrant.
Yemen releases Osama bin Laden's former driver
The lawyer for Osama bin Laden's former driver says his client has been released from a Yemeni prison after serving out his sentence.
Lawyer Khaled Al-Anas says Salim Hamdan was released Friday.
A Yemeni Interior Ministry official has confirmed the release but says it happened Saturday.
The reason for the discrepancy was not clear.
A U.S. military tribunal convicted Hamdan in August of aiding al-Qaida and sentenced him to 5 1/2 years in prison.
He had already served five years and a month at Guantanamo Bay prison at the time.
The U.S. transferred Hamdan to his home country Yemen at the end of 2008 to serve out the rest of his sentence.
Lawyer Khaled Al-Anas says Salim Hamdan was released Friday.
A Yemeni Interior Ministry official has confirmed the release but says it happened Saturday.
The reason for the discrepancy was not clear.
A U.S. military tribunal convicted Hamdan in August of aiding al-Qaida and sentenced him to 5 1/2 years in prison.
He had already served five years and a month at Guantanamo Bay prison at the time.
The U.S. transferred Hamdan to his home country Yemen at the end of 2008 to serve out the rest of his sentence.
Run for your lives ... Yellowstone's going to explode!
Yeah, but today, tomorrow or next week?
Hundreds of small earthquakes at Yellowstone National Park in recent weeks have been an unsettling reminder for some people that underneath the park's famous geysers and majestic scenery lurks one of the world's biggest volcanoes.
In the ancient past, the volcano has erupted 1,000 times more powerfully than the 1980 blast at Mount St. Helens, hurling ash as far away as Louisiana.
No eruption that big has occurred while modern humans have walked the earth, however, and geologists say even a minor lava flow is extremely unlikely any time soon.
Some observers are nonetheless warning of imminent catastrophe.
"To those of us who have been following these events, we know that something is brewing, especially considering that Yellowstone is over 40,000 years overdue for a major eruption," warned a posting on the online disaster forum Armageddononline.org.
Another Web site contained a page entitled "Yellowstone Warning" that encouraged "everyone to leave Yellowstone National Park for 100 miles around the volcano caldera because of the danger in poisonous gasses that can escape from the hundreds of recent earthquakes."
That site, which carried the U.S. Geological Survey logo, has since been taken down.
"A casual observer would be led to believe that was an official source," Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash said, pointing out that the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, which monitors the park for seismic activity, hasn't changed the volcano's alert level from "normal."
Working with the Geological Survey, Nash issued a news release Thursday, saying no evacuation had been ordered.
Jessica Robertson, a Geological Survey spokeswoman in Reston, Va., said the Web page violated the USGS trademark and that the agency's attorneys were investigating whether a federal offense was committed.
Earthquakes are hardly unusual in Yellowstone. Hundreds occur in the park every year. Earthquake "swarms" like the recent activity also aren't uncommon, although the 900 or so quakes that began December 26, 2008 and significantly tapered off about a week later appear to have been the most energetic swarm in more than 20 years.
The most powerful temblor was magnitude 3.9, just short of being able to cause moderate damage. The vast majority of quakes were too weak to be felt by people.
Scientists knowledgeable about Yellowstone's geology aren't publicly speculating about what caused the swarm before they can analyze data.
That will take months.
"I could come up with 100 different theories without any evidence for them and they would all be equally likely," said Jake Lowenstern, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based scientist in charge of Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.
"Unless you have some reason to say that's what's going on, then you're not going to get a whole lot of people convinced by your speculation."
Park geologist Hank Heasler said the odds of a cataclysmic eruption at Yellowstone any time soon are astonishingly remote - about the same as a large meteorite hitting the Earth.
The last such eruption occurred 640,000 years ago.
The last eruption of any kind at Yellowstone was a much smaller lava flow about 70,000 years ago.
OK, Yellowstone is going to 'explode' - it IS a volcano after all. However, the likelihood of it happening anytime soon is relative. Soon - has a whole different meaning geologically than it does to we humans. Yellowstone's last eruption could be viewed as but a moment ago geologically and that was 70,000 years ago to we humans.
I for one am not going to fret about an eruption in Yellowstone ... then again, I live a bit away from there.
Hundreds of small earthquakes at Yellowstone National Park in recent weeks have been an unsettling reminder for some people that underneath the park's famous geysers and majestic scenery lurks one of the world's biggest volcanoes.
In the ancient past, the volcano has erupted 1,000 times more powerfully than the 1980 blast at Mount St. Helens, hurling ash as far away as Louisiana.
No eruption that big has occurred while modern humans have walked the earth, however, and geologists say even a minor lava flow is extremely unlikely any time soon.
Some observers are nonetheless warning of imminent catastrophe.
"To those of us who have been following these events, we know that something is brewing, especially considering that Yellowstone is over 40,000 years overdue for a major eruption," warned a posting on the online disaster forum Armageddononline.org.
Another Web site contained a page entitled "Yellowstone Warning" that encouraged "everyone to leave Yellowstone National Park for 100 miles around the volcano caldera because of the danger in poisonous gasses that can escape from the hundreds of recent earthquakes."
That site, which carried the U.S. Geological Survey logo, has since been taken down.
"A casual observer would be led to believe that was an official source," Yellowstone spokesman Al Nash said, pointing out that the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, which monitors the park for seismic activity, hasn't changed the volcano's alert level from "normal."
Working with the Geological Survey, Nash issued a news release Thursday, saying no evacuation had been ordered.
Jessica Robertson, a Geological Survey spokeswoman in Reston, Va., said the Web page violated the USGS trademark and that the agency's attorneys were investigating whether a federal offense was committed.
Earthquakes are hardly unusual in Yellowstone. Hundreds occur in the park every year. Earthquake "swarms" like the recent activity also aren't uncommon, although the 900 or so quakes that began December 26, 2008 and significantly tapered off about a week later appear to have been the most energetic swarm in more than 20 years.
The most powerful temblor was magnitude 3.9, just short of being able to cause moderate damage. The vast majority of quakes were too weak to be felt by people.
Scientists knowledgeable about Yellowstone's geology aren't publicly speculating about what caused the swarm before they can analyze data.
That will take months.
"I could come up with 100 different theories without any evidence for them and they would all be equally likely," said Jake Lowenstern, the Menlo Park, Calif.-based scientist in charge of Yellowstone Volcano Observatory.
"Unless you have some reason to say that's what's going on, then you're not going to get a whole lot of people convinced by your speculation."
Park geologist Hank Heasler said the odds of a cataclysmic eruption at Yellowstone any time soon are astonishingly remote - about the same as a large meteorite hitting the Earth.
The last such eruption occurred 640,000 years ago.
The last eruption of any kind at Yellowstone was a much smaller lava flow about 70,000 years ago.
*****
OK, Yellowstone is going to 'explode' - it IS a volcano after all. However, the likelihood of it happening anytime soon is relative. Soon - has a whole different meaning geologically than it does to we humans. Yellowstone's last eruption could be viewed as but a moment ago geologically and that was 70,000 years ago to we humans.
I for one am not going to fret about an eruption in Yellowstone ... then again, I live a bit away from there.
Interesting tidbit
No invention of the Industrial Revolution influenced Impressionism more than the camera.
Most of the Impressionists had cameras and experimented with their new images.
Photography inspired impressionists to capture the moment, but did you know that some of the most famous paintings of Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec or Gauguin were inspired on an original photograph?
Most of the Impressionists had cameras and experimented with their new images.
Photography inspired impressionists to capture the moment, but did you know that some of the most famous paintings of Van Gogh, Toulouse Lautrec or Gauguin were inspired on an original photograph?
China's internet 'spin doctors'
The Chinese Communist Party has reportedly raised a "50-Cent Army" of astroturfers who are paid RMB0.50 for each patriotic, pro-Chinese comment they post on blogs and social media sites. Some estimates have the size of the army at 300,000 people.
Comments, rumours and opinions can be quickly spread between internet groups in a way that makes it hard for the government to censor.So instead of just trying to prevent people from having their say, the government is also attempting to change they way they think.
To do this, they use specially trained - and ideologically sound - internet commentators.
They have been dubbed the "50-cent party" because of how much they are reputed to be paid for each positive posting (50 Chinese cents; $0.07; £0.05).
Eternal flame only lasts until gas bill arrives
An "eternal" flame at Bullhead City's new veterans memorial park that only lasted until city officials received a $961 gas bill has been re-lit following complaints by veterans groups.
The Medal of Honor Memorial at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Park alongside the Colorado River was lit on Veterans Day in November. When the bill arrived in late December, city officials were stunned.
"It caught us by surprise," City Manager Tim Ernster said Thursday. "What we decided to do for the time being is to turn the flame on ... for special events, for Veterans Day, Fourth of July, Memorial Day - those types of activities."
The flame was extinguished on Monday. The Mohave Valley Daily News published a story Friday quoting city officials and disgruntled veterans who had worked to pay for and build the memorial before turning it over to the city.
The flame was back on by mid-morning Friday following a meeting of city officials.
"What happened was really a miscommunication," city spokesman Steve Johnson said. "The issue came up one day and it was never intended to be shut off."
Johnson said the flame is impressive, but city parks officials are looking at ways to put a smaller burner in place and only use the larger one at special events.
"We're looking at alternatives, because $1,000 a month in these economic times is certainly a consideration," Johnson said.
Idaho pizza workers use tips for tropical holiday
And more power to them ...
Employees at an Idaho pizzeria are using more than $115,000 earned from tips over the past 13 years to pay for a week-long tropical vacation.
The Idaho Statesman reports that two locations of Flying Pie in Boise will close starting Jan. 13 so that 54 current and former employees and eight guests can go to Costa Rica. The guests paid for a portion of their costs.
The workers of the State Street and Fairview Avenue locations had been investing 10 percent of their tips toward a trip to Hawaii since the mid-1990s. The pizzeria pulled the money out last year after deciding to go to Costa Rica instead.
*****
I hope they have one helluva great trip.
Masked man waited in line to rob bank
Like DUH?!
A man may have tipped his intentions when he stood in line at a Stow, Ohio, bank wearing a ski mask before staging a holdup.
Police in Stow near Akron say 24-year-old Feliks Goldshtein of Highland Heights was arrested minutes later on Thursday following a brief car chase.
Police say the teller asked the man to take off the mask before being served. At that point the man displayed what turned out to be a toy gun and told the teller to give him all the money. He made off with an undisclosed amount.
Police Captain Rick Myers says it's unusual for a masked robber to wait in line at a bank.
Goldshtein was held at the Summit County Jail Friday on charges of aggravated robbery and failure to comply with a police order.
*****
It never ceases to amaze ... how stupid crooks are!
Carolinas, 30 other states have toxic ponds
156 power plants store coal ash in lagoons similar to one that ruptured in Tennessee
Millions of tons of toxic coal ash are piling up in power plant ponds in 32 states, a situation the government has long recognized as a risk to human health and the environment but has done nothing about.
An analysis of the most recent Energy Department data found that 156 coal-fired power plants store ash in surface ponds similar to one that ruptured last month in Tennessee.
Yesterday, a pond at a northeastern Alabama power plant spilled a different material.
Records indicate that states storing the most coal ash in ponds are Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama.
The man made lagoons hold a mixture of the noncombustible ingredients of coal and the ash trapped by equipment designed to reduce air pollution from the power plants.
Over the years, the volume of waste has grown as demand for electricity increased and the federal government clamped down on emissions from power plants.
The analysis found that in 2005, the most recent year for which data is available, 721 power plants generating at least 100 megawatts of electricity produced 95.8 million tons of coal ash. About 20 percent – or nearly 20 million tons – ended up in surface ponds. The remainder ends up in landfills or is sold for use in concrete, among other uses.
The Environmental Protection Agency eight years ago said it wanted to set a national standard for ponds or landfills used to dispose of wastes produced from burning coal.
The agency has yet to act.
As a result, coal ash ponds are subject to less regulation than landfills accepting household trash, even though the industry's own estimates show that ash ponds contain tens of thousands of pounds of toxic heavy metals. The EPA estimates that about 300 ponds for coal ash exist nationwide.
Without federal guidelines, regulations of the ash ponds vary by state. Most ponds lack liners and have no monitors to ensure that ash and its contents don't seep into underground aquifers.
“There has been zero done by the EPA,” said Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. Rahall pushed through legislation in 1980 directing the EPA to study how wastes generated at the nation's coal-fired power plants should be treated.
In 1988 and 1993, the EPA decided that coal ash should not be regulated as a hazardous waste. The agency has also failed to take other steps to control how the waste is stored.
The Tennessee spill was at a Tennessee Valley Authority plant and covered 300 acres in a slurry of coal ash and water, destroying homes and tainting waterways and soil with high levels of arsenic.
The utility reported a second leak yesterday (January 9, 2009) at a pond at a northeast Alabama power plant that was storing gypsum, a material trapped in air pollution control devices that is different from the sludge that spilled in Tennessee. Some of the gypsum reached a nearby creek before the leak was stopped.
Coal Ash ponds in the Carolinas
Power plants in the Carolinas with coal ash ponds and the amount in tons stored, according to an analysis of Energy Department data from 2005, the latest year statistics were available.
North Carolina
Progress Energy Carolinas. Buncombe County. 106,000 tons.
Progress Energy Carolinas. Chatham County. 101,300 tons.
Progress Energy Carolinas. Wayne County. 106,100 tons.
Progress Energy Carolinas. Person County. 46,300 tons.
Progress Energy Carolinas. New Hanover County. 166,000 tons.
Progress Energy Carolinas. Robeson County. 47,000 tons.
Progress Energy Carolinas. Person County. 212,800 tons.
Duke Energy. Gaston County. 143,400 tons.
Duke Energy. Rowan County. 121,900 tons.
Duke Energy. Cleveland County. 96,900 tons.
Duke Energy. Rockingham County. 28,500 tons.
Duke Energy. Catawba County. 33,500 tons.
Duke Energy. Gaston County. 93,100 tons.
Duke Energy. Stokes County. 41,400 tons.
South Carolina
Progress Energy Carolinas. Darlington County. 62,200 tons.
Duke Energy. Anderson County. 63,500 tons.
S.C. Electric & Gas Co. Colleton County. 101,100 tons.
S.C. Electric & Gas Co. Aiken County. 12,500 tons.
S.C. Public Service Authority. Berkeley County. 10,900 tons.
S.C. Public Service Authority. Horry County. 7,000 tons.
S.C. Public Service Authority. Berkeley County. 34,900 tons.
S.C. Public Service Authority. Georgetown. 8,950 tons.
Job loses in 2008 highest in Sixty years
The nation lost 524,000 jobs in December, reflecting a fear among employers that if they fail to shed workers quickly their companies might go under in a recession poised to become the worst in generations.
Rainy forecast, sunny outlook for Panthers
Good morning, Panther fans.
Our team is a 9.5-point home favorite against Arizona tonight.
Game time weather in Charlotte is likely to be rain, possibly dampening the potent Cardinals passing game.
The only person you know who's picking against the Panthers is ESPN analyst and possibly embittered Keyshawn Johnson.
All in all, a good start to your day.
The details:
The weather: Forecast calls for likely showers at game time, probably developing into rain by 9 a.m. Temperature: 52 degrees. Historically, rain hampers passing games, but it needs to fall at a decent rate to impact a game.
The picks: The more prominent predictions have rolled in at week's end. For early and midweek picks, click here and here. Also, click on available links below to see how experts picked the weekend's other games.
Peter King, Sports Illustrated: Carolina 26, Arizona 17. Go back to draft day. Remember the deal Panthers GM Marty Hurney made in the middle of round one? He dealt second- and fourth-round picks in the 2008 draft, and a first-rounder in 2009, for the Eagles' first-round choice (19th overall). Was right tackle Jeff Otah really worth that kind of quarterback-ish ransom? Apparently he was because the Panthers rushed for 30 touchdowns this year. Thirty! John Fox wanted an offense that was more slug-it-out than throw-it-deep. Luckily for him, the Panthers are blessed with the ability to do both, and I don't trust Arizona's running game to be as good this week as it was last week against Atlanta, when Edgerrin James swam in the Ponce de Leon pool. I think Carolina controls the clock and the game.
Sporting News football staff:
Vinnie Iyer - Carolina , 30-27
Arnie Spanier - Carolina, 31-20
Dennis Dillon - Carolina, 21-16
Greg Cosell - Carolina, 27-20
Clifton Brown - Carolina, 27-18
Albert Breer - Carolina, 31-13
Real Scouts - Carolina, 27-24
Brian Baldinger - Carolina, 24-23
ESPN football staff: Carolina wins - Seth Wickersham, David Fleming, Merrill Hoge, Ron Jaworski, Mark Schlereth, Marcus Allen, Chris Mortensen, Mike Golic, Mike Ditka, Cris Carter, Tom Jackson. Arizona wins - Keyshawn Johnson.
Madden NFL 09 Simulation: Carolina 23, Arizona 13.
Finally, some NFL odds:
Odds to win the 2009 Super Bowl XLIII:
New York Giants 13/4
Carolina Panthers 4/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 17/4
Tennessee Titans 6/1
Philadelphia Eagles 6/1
Baltimore Ravens 15/2
San Diego Chargers 9/1
Arizona Cardinals 20/1
Odds to win the 2009 NFC Championship
New York Giants 7/5
Carolina Panthers 3/2
Philadelphia Eagles 8/3
Arizona Cardinals 10/1
Odds to win the 2009 AFC Championship
Pittsburgh Steelers 8/5
Tennessee Titans 9/4
Baltimore Ravens 10/3
San Diego Chargers 7/2
Which team will score the most points this weekend?
Carolina Panthers 5/2
New York Giants 4/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 4/1
Arizona Cardinals 5/1
Philadelphia Eagles 5/1
Tennessee Titans 5/1
Baltimore Ravens 6/1
San Diego Chargers 6/1
source: bodoglife.com via NFLGridironGab
Our team is a 9.5-point home favorite against Arizona tonight.
Game time weather in Charlotte is likely to be rain, possibly dampening the potent Cardinals passing game.
The only person you know who's picking against the Panthers is ESPN analyst and possibly embittered Keyshawn Johnson.
All in all, a good start to your day.
The details:
The weather: Forecast calls for likely showers at game time, probably developing into rain by 9 a.m. Temperature: 52 degrees. Historically, rain hampers passing games, but it needs to fall at a decent rate to impact a game.
The picks: The more prominent predictions have rolled in at week's end. For early and midweek picks, click here and here. Also, click on available links below to see how experts picked the weekend's other games.
Peter King, Sports Illustrated: Carolina 26, Arizona 17. Go back to draft day. Remember the deal Panthers GM Marty Hurney made in the middle of round one? He dealt second- and fourth-round picks in the 2008 draft, and a first-rounder in 2009, for the Eagles' first-round choice (19th overall). Was right tackle Jeff Otah really worth that kind of quarterback-ish ransom? Apparently he was because the Panthers rushed for 30 touchdowns this year. Thirty! John Fox wanted an offense that was more slug-it-out than throw-it-deep. Luckily for him, the Panthers are blessed with the ability to do both, and I don't trust Arizona's running game to be as good this week as it was last week against Atlanta, when Edgerrin James swam in the Ponce de Leon pool. I think Carolina controls the clock and the game.
Sporting News football staff:
Vinnie Iyer - Carolina , 30-27
Arnie Spanier - Carolina, 31-20
Dennis Dillon - Carolina, 21-16
Greg Cosell - Carolina, 27-20
Clifton Brown - Carolina, 27-18
Albert Breer - Carolina, 31-13
Real Scouts - Carolina, 27-24
Brian Baldinger - Carolina, 24-23
ESPN football staff: Carolina wins - Seth Wickersham, David Fleming, Merrill Hoge, Ron Jaworski, Mark Schlereth, Marcus Allen, Chris Mortensen, Mike Golic, Mike Ditka, Cris Carter, Tom Jackson. Arizona wins - Keyshawn Johnson.
Madden NFL 09 Simulation: Carolina 23, Arizona 13.
Finally, some NFL odds:
Odds to win the 2009 Super Bowl XLIII:
New York Giants 13/4
Carolina Panthers 4/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 17/4
Tennessee Titans 6/1
Philadelphia Eagles 6/1
Baltimore Ravens 15/2
San Diego Chargers 9/1
Arizona Cardinals 20/1
Odds to win the 2009 NFC Championship
New York Giants 7/5
Carolina Panthers 3/2
Philadelphia Eagles 8/3
Arizona Cardinals 10/1
Odds to win the 2009 AFC Championship
Pittsburgh Steelers 8/5
Tennessee Titans 9/4
Baltimore Ravens 10/3
San Diego Chargers 7/2
Which team will score the most points this weekend?
Carolina Panthers 5/2
New York Giants 4/1
Pittsburgh Steelers 4/1
Arizona Cardinals 5/1
Philadelphia Eagles 5/1
Tennessee Titans 5/1
Baltimore Ravens 6/1
San Diego Chargers 6/1
source: bodoglife.com via NFLGridironGab
Motorist with 16 guns, ammo arrested at LA airport
From the "Bone-head move, there Sherlock" Department:
A motorist with more than a dozen guns - two of them loaded - and nearly 1,000 rounds of ammunition in his pickup truck was arrested Friday at a vehicle checkpoint as he entered Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said.
Phillip Dominguez of Orange was booked on suspicion of felony transportation of an assault rifle, but airport police said it appears he did not intend any harm and was there to pick up someone.
"He just made a very bad decision, and should not have been carrying those weapons," said airport police Sgt. Jim Holcomb.
The weapons - which included 10 handguns, five rifles and an antique black-powder musket - were in containers in the back of the 47-year-old man's truck, which was stopped by airport police officers at a major entrance to the passenger terminals area, said airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles.
Two of the weapons, a revolver and the musket, were loaded, Holcomb said.
Dominguez's wife, Sue Dominguez, said that her husband planned to go target shooting at an outdoor range with a friend whom he was picking up at the airport.
She said she found out about his arrest from a television news report and they later spoke on the phone.
She described him as a law-abiding citizen who treats his weapons with care.
"The guns are always double-locked. He has all the paperwork and everything. He's a fanatic about making it all legal," she said.
"He didn't lie to the police and he said they were polite and respectful to him."
Police initially reported that 37 weapons were found in the truck.
Castles said that count was an estimate based on the number of containers in the truck, which did not all contain weapons.
Airport police routinely set up vehicle checkpoints at roads leading into the airport's central roads.
The FBI, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Los Angeles Police Department are investigating whether the weapons were properly registered.
A motorist with more than a dozen guns - two of them loaded - and nearly 1,000 rounds of ammunition in his pickup truck was arrested Friday at a vehicle checkpoint as he entered Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said.
Phillip Dominguez of Orange was booked on suspicion of felony transportation of an assault rifle, but airport police said it appears he did not intend any harm and was there to pick up someone.
"He just made a very bad decision, and should not have been carrying those weapons," said airport police Sgt. Jim Holcomb.
The weapons - which included 10 handguns, five rifles and an antique black-powder musket - were in containers in the back of the 47-year-old man's truck, which was stopped by airport police officers at a major entrance to the passenger terminals area, said airport spokeswoman Nancy Castles.
Two of the weapons, a revolver and the musket, were loaded, Holcomb said.
Dominguez's wife, Sue Dominguez, said that her husband planned to go target shooting at an outdoor range with a friend whom he was picking up at the airport.
She said she found out about his arrest from a television news report and they later spoke on the phone.
She described him as a law-abiding citizen who treats his weapons with care.
"The guns are always double-locked. He has all the paperwork and everything. He's a fanatic about making it all legal," she said.
"He didn't lie to the police and he said they were polite and respectful to him."
Police initially reported that 37 weapons were found in the truck.
Castles said that count was an estimate based on the number of containers in the truck, which did not all contain weapons.
Airport police routinely set up vehicle checkpoints at roads leading into the airport's central roads.
The FBI, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Los Angeles Police Department are investigating whether the weapons were properly registered.
Tests show algae toxin in some sick pelicans
A toxic chemical produced by algae has been detected in some sick California brown pelicans that are being found in record numbers along the West Coast, though researchers don't believe it's the primary cause of their widespread illness, wildlife experts said.
Three of six blood samples taken from sick pelicans tested positive for domoic acid, according to preliminary laboratory results from the University of Southern California.
Five of 14 water samples taken from waters off the Southern California coast also indicated low concentrations of domoic acid in the phytoplankton.
"We believe these results are significant but do not explain all the signs we are seeing in the pelicans," said Dr. Heather Nevill, a veterinarian at the International Bird Rescue Research Center, which provided the samples.
"We are seeing a number of conditions that are not typical of domoic acid toxicity or a domoic acid event."
Most of the hundreds of ailing pelicans are thin, but birds poisoned by domoic acid are typically of good body weight.
That leads researchers to believe that domoic acid is likely playing a secondary role to a larger problem.
Domoic acid, a neurotoxin, is produced by microscopic algae.
Birds and sea mammals ingest the acid by eating fish and shellfish that consume the algae.
Jay Holcomb, executive director of the Fairfield-based center, said two of the pelican samples showed relatively high levels of domoic acid and one was relatively mild.
The center said additional blood and tissue samples are being tested and more information is anticipated within the next two weeks.
Sick, disoriented pelicans have been found in unusual places far from their homes on roads, farm fields, alleys and backyards.In the last week, the birds have been reported staggering across Culver Boulevard in Playa del Rey and on a Los Angeles International Airport runway.
One bird was reported to have struck a vehicle.
The center said it has recorded 265 reports of dead or ailing pelicans from Baja California, Mexico, to Washington state.
More than 100 pelicans are being nursed back to health at the center's two facilities in Fairfield and San Pedro, with a combination of intravenous fluids, medications and a diet of smelt and squid.
The California brown pelican is a subspecies of the common brown pelican.
Its habitat stretches from the Sinaloa and Nayarit coast of Mexico to the Channel Islands off the Southern California coast.
Brown pelicans nearly became extinct in the 1960s and 1970s because the pesticide DDT infiltrated their food in nesting grounds such as Southern California's Anacapa Island.
The species started to recover in 1972 when DDT was banned in the United States.
Three of six blood samples taken from sick pelicans tested positive for domoic acid, according to preliminary laboratory results from the University of Southern California.
Five of 14 water samples taken from waters off the Southern California coast also indicated low concentrations of domoic acid in the phytoplankton.
"We believe these results are significant but do not explain all the signs we are seeing in the pelicans," said Dr. Heather Nevill, a veterinarian at the International Bird Rescue Research Center, which provided the samples.
"We are seeing a number of conditions that are not typical of domoic acid toxicity or a domoic acid event."
Most of the hundreds of ailing pelicans are thin, but birds poisoned by domoic acid are typically of good body weight.
That leads researchers to believe that domoic acid is likely playing a secondary role to a larger problem.
Domoic acid, a neurotoxin, is produced by microscopic algae.
Birds and sea mammals ingest the acid by eating fish and shellfish that consume the algae.
Jay Holcomb, executive director of the Fairfield-based center, said two of the pelican samples showed relatively high levels of domoic acid and one was relatively mild.
The center said additional blood and tissue samples are being tested and more information is anticipated within the next two weeks.
Sick, disoriented pelicans have been found in unusual places far from their homes on roads, farm fields, alleys and backyards.In the last week, the birds have been reported staggering across Culver Boulevard in Playa del Rey and on a Los Angeles International Airport runway.
One bird was reported to have struck a vehicle.
The center said it has recorded 265 reports of dead or ailing pelicans from Baja California, Mexico, to Washington state.
More than 100 pelicans are being nursed back to health at the center's two facilities in Fairfield and San Pedro, with a combination of intravenous fluids, medications and a diet of smelt and squid.
The California brown pelican is a subspecies of the common brown pelican.
Its habitat stretches from the Sinaloa and Nayarit coast of Mexico to the Channel Islands off the Southern California coast.
Brown pelicans nearly became extinct in the 1960s and 1970s because the pesticide DDT infiltrated their food in nesting grounds such as Southern California's Anacapa Island.
The species started to recover in 1972 when DDT was banned in the United States.
Teen gets probation in murder-for-hire plot
An Missouri teenager gets two years probation for introducing his high-school classmate to two would-be hit men.
The sentence 18-year-old Joseph Garcia of Independence received Friday in county court is the same one imposed last month against 19-year-old Jacob Jett.
Prosecutors say Jett gave the would-be hit men $260 and three handguns to kill his adoptive parents because he thought they were too strict and wanted to inherit their money.
The plot came to light after one of the would-be hit men was picked up for a parole violation.
Prosecutors have said they didn't believe the men intended on committing the murders.
Garcia pleaded guilty in October to two counts of attempted second-degree murder.
The sentence 18-year-old Joseph Garcia of Independence received Friday in county court is the same one imposed last month against 19-year-old Jacob Jett.
Prosecutors say Jett gave the would-be hit men $260 and three handguns to kill his adoptive parents because he thought they were too strict and wanted to inherit their money.
The plot came to light after one of the would-be hit men was picked up for a parole violation.
Prosecutors have said they didn't believe the men intended on committing the murders.
Garcia pleaded guilty in October to two counts of attempted second-degree murder.
Baby moose falls through family's window
A Spokane, Washington, family got an uninvited visitor when a moose calf fell through a basement window and into a bedroom.
The Spokesman Review reports that the baby moose was apparently foraging in shallow snow near the house Thursday when it fell into a deep window well.
As it tried to get out and join its mother and sibling, the moose kicked in the window and became trapped in the bedroom.
A state wildlife biologist managed to shoot a tranquilizer dart into the moose's rump.
Then he and four others used a tarp to haul the 375-pound baby up a narrow stairway.
Wildlife officers tracked down the calf's mother and sibling and trucked the reunited family to a spot near Mount Spokane and released them.
The Spokesman Review reports that the baby moose was apparently foraging in shallow snow near the house Thursday when it fell into a deep window well.
As it tried to get out and join its mother and sibling, the moose kicked in the window and became trapped in the bedroom.
A state wildlife biologist managed to shoot a tranquilizer dart into the moose's rump.
Then he and four others used a tarp to haul the 375-pound baby up a narrow stairway.
Wildlife officers tracked down the calf's mother and sibling and trucked the reunited family to a spot near Mount Spokane and released them.
Daily Horoscope
Today's horoscope says:
You and a very attractive person can probably sneak away.
Now, that's what I'm talking about!
You and a very attractive person can probably sneak away.
Now, that's what I'm talking about!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Border Patrol Closes Friendship Park
Now this is how you promote Peace, Love and Understanding - I tell you?!
The top U.S. Border Patrol official in San Diego says he closed a half-acre oceanfront plaza on California's border with Mexico to enhance security.
The Border Patrol is tearing up concrete at Friendship Park, a plaza that sits on a bluff where throngs once gathered on both sides of the border to chat through a chain-link fence.
Mike Fisher, the Border Patrol's San Diego sector chief, says that some people have used holes in the fence to pass drugs and immigration documents for impostors.
The Border Patrol is replacing the plaza with a dirt road, sandwiched between fences, that will be off-limits to the public.
So much for friendship then!
The top U.S. Border Patrol official in San Diego says he closed a half-acre oceanfront plaza on California's border with Mexico to enhance security.
The Border Patrol is tearing up concrete at Friendship Park, a plaza that sits on a bluff where throngs once gathered on both sides of the border to chat through a chain-link fence.
Mike Fisher, the Border Patrol's San Diego sector chief, says that some people have used holes in the fence to pass drugs and immigration documents for impostors.
The Border Patrol is replacing the plaza with a dirt road, sandwiched between fences, that will be off-limits to the public.
So much for friendship then!
Chronic fatigue syndrome linked to childhood trauma
Childhood trauma, including sexual abuse, emotional abuse and emotional neglect, was linked to a six-fold risk increase for chronic fatigue syndrome in adults, in a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Read the rest here.
Amazing solar-powered fridge invented by British student in a potting shed helps poverty-stricken Africans
It's the kind of simple yet brilliant invention that would have the tycoons of Dragons' Den salivating with excitement.
Not only is the fridge solar powered, it can also be built from household materials - making it ideal for the Third World.
Read the rest here.
New study suggests winter babies face socioeconomic disadvantages
Many of us may often feel that we've been born under an unlucky sign. Now, new research by a pair of University of Notre Dame economists suggests that some of us are, in fact, born in an unlucky season.
Read the rest here.
HDTV on hold?
The incoming Obama administration has asked Congress to delay the conversion from analog to digital television.
Why?
Because, like everything else in the cabal, the converter box program was poorly planned, and they're out of funds for those rabbit-ear boxes.
Why?
Because, like everything else in the cabal, the converter box program was poorly planned, and they're out of funds for those rabbit-ear boxes.
Read more in TV Guide.
SAY WHAT?!
"We’ve had a count, we’ve had a recount, we’ve had a recount of the recount.
It’s been three weeks since the election and it’s time for Gore to be a statesman and give it up."
-- Mitch the Bitch (r-Ky.), Nov 27, 2000
"The race in Minnesota is not over. It’s well-established in the Senate: The way you get sworn in and the way you get seated is to show up with an election certificate. And that is determined under Minnesota law."
-- Mitch the Bitch (r-Ky.), January 6, 2009
-- Mitch the Bitch (r-Ky.), January 6, 2009
In case Mitch the Bitch and Norm Cloeman (yes, I know the spelling) need reminding - it has been two months and Franken HAS been certified the winner as opposed to three weeks and the shrub NOT being certified ... then again reality has never been a strong suit of the repugicans now has it?
And I Quote
"It's important not to live in the bubble.
So you've got to be open to outside information, particularly criticism.
I'll tell you, I very rarely read good press and I often read bad press,
not because I agree with it but because I want to get a sense of are there areas where I'm falling short and I can do better."
~ Barack Obama
So you've got to be open to outside information, particularly criticism.
I'll tell you, I very rarely read good press and I often read bad press,
not because I agree with it but because I want to get a sense of are there areas where I'm falling short and I can do better."
~ Barack Obama
Yes Pecan
Vermont ice cream company, Ben & Jerry's, is wasting no time ringing in the leadership changes in Washington, D.C., by renaming its butter pecan flavor "Yes pecan" in its scoop shops for the month of January, honoring the uniting theme of "Yes, we can" as a message celebrating America's opportunity for positive change, the company announced in a news release.
From Newsday
Psychic Warfare from 1981-2008
Over at Brainsturbator they have the following piece ... makes for an unusual read.
Psychic Warfare from 1981-2008
The year I was born, in 1981, the US Government decided magick was real. Well, the “US Government” is of course an abstraction—specifically, Congressional Research Service was commissioned to do a report on psychic phenomena and offered the following conclusion:“Recent experiments in remote viewing and other studies in parapsychology suggest that there exists an ‘interconnectiveness’ of the human mind with other minds and with matter. This interconnectiveness would appear to be functional in nature and amplified by intent and emotion.”
That sounds like a pretty accurate description of magick to me. Score one for the weirdos, right?
Of course, I don’t expect you to believe that. Ignore any claims that wouldn’t get made outside a college-level physics textbook. There is no need to believe in non-human or “extra-dimensional” intelligence, no need to believe in telekinesis, no need to believe in any of the claims made by the magick community. They are merely designing rituals to alter their perception and experiencing self-generated hallucinations.
The illusion of moving images is a puzzle that humans have cracked to great success, and by flashing sequential photographs at 24 frames per second or more, we get to watch movies—windows back in time. Humans have even learned to “fake” three-dimensional objects with holographic technology.
Read the rest at Brainsturbator
Pelicans fall out of sky from Mexico to Oregon
No it's not a joke of some kind ...
“Pelicans suffering from a mysterious malady are crashing into cars and boats, wandering along roadways and turning up dead by the hundreds across the West Coast, from southern Oregon to Baja California, Mexico, bird-rescue workers say. Weak, disoriented birds are huddling in people’s yards or being struck by cars. More than 100 have been rescued along the California coast, according to the International Bird Rescue Research Center in San Pedro.
Hundreds of birds, disoriented or dead, have been observed across the West Coast. “One pelican actually hit a car in Los Angeles,” said Rebecca Dmytryk of Wildrescue, a bird-rescue operation. “One pelican hit a boat in Monterey. While some of the symptoms resemble those associated with domoic-acid poisoning — an ocean toxin that sometimes affects sea birds and mammals — other symptoms do not. Domoic acid also apparently has not been found in significant amounts offshore, although more tests are needed.
Rescuers are wondering whether the illness is caused by a virus, or even by contaminants washed into the ocean after recent fires across Southern California. Many of the birds also have swollen feet.”
Read more in the The Seattle Times.
Arctic melt 20 years ahead of climate models
New Scientist reports that the Arctic could become ice-free during summers by 2030.
At the time, researchers including Mark Serreze of National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Colorado claimed that the Arctic had reached a "tipping point" - a dramatic and irreversible slide towards ice-free conditions.As the summer melting season finished up this year, they waited with bated breath to see how much, if any, ice would survive.
4.67 million square kilometres remained at the end of September. A positive interpretation says that the Arctic defied the apocalyptic prophecies by recovering slightly, thanks to a pattern of colder and windier weather.
But Serreze is sticking to the idea that we have reached a point of no return.
"If you look over the past five years, you see an acceleration of ice loss," says Serreze. Though 2008 did not beat the record set by 2007, it is still the second-lowest amount on record, below the record lows of 2002 and 2005.
The whistling orangutan
Bonnie is an orangutan who has taught herself how to whistle. Her imitation of a human caretaker is providing scientists with new insight into social learning and the evolution of speech. It's the first time that a non-human primate has been documented mimicking another species' sound without training. Bonnie lives at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Her unique talent is discussed in a new paper in the journal Primates by researchers from the Great Ape Trust and their colleagues. The Great Ape Trust site also has video of Bonnie whistling away.
From the Great Ape Trust:
From the Great Ape Trust:
Scientists have long known that orangutans copy physical movements of humans, but Bonnie’s whistling indicates that the learning capacities of orangutans and other great apes in the auditory domain might be more flexible than previously believed, (Great Ape Trust researcher Serge) Wich said. The behavior goes against the argument that orangutans have no control over their vocalizations and the sounds are purely emotional – that is, an involuntary response to stimuli such as predators.
Bonnie appears to whistle for the sake of making a sound rather than to receive a food reward or some other incentive. If asked to whistle, she is likely to oblige, another indication to scientists that she makes the sound voluntarily.
Joel Stein: "Nut allergies -- a Yuppie invention"
Joel Stein wrote an opinion piece for the LA Times alleging that nut allergies are, by and large, a Yuppie invention.
There are, however, those to whom an allergy to nuts is a very real and a fatal allergic reaction waiting to happen if they are not careful.
Your kid doesn't have an allergy to nuts. Your kid has a parent who needs to feel special. Your kid also spends recess running and screaming, "No! Stop! Don't rub my head with peanut butter!"I think he is a bit off in his assessments. Granted there are those who are just as he describes and there is nothing to their little darlings 'allergies', save what is in their fevered imaginations.Yes, a tiny number of kids have severe peanut allergies that cause anaphylactic shock, and all their teachers should be warned, handed EpiPens and given a really expensive gift at Christmas. But unless you're a character on "Heroes," genes don't mutate fast enough to have caused an 18% increase in childhood food allergies between 1997 and 2007. And genes certainly don't cause 25% of parents to believe that their kids have food allergies, when 4% do. Yuppiedom does.
There are, however, those to whom an allergy to nuts is a very real and a fatal allergic reaction waiting to happen if they are not careful.
Read the rest of his opinion - Nut allergies -- a Yuppie invention
Rare 'dinky' bird migrates to US for first time
At 5 inches with beige and yellow markings, the pine flycatcher doesn't look like much, but its unprecedented migration from Mexico and Guatemala is exciting birders all over the country.
"It's not a thrilling bird visually.
It's thrilling because it's a first U.S. record," said Wes Biggs, who flew to Choke Canyon State Park from Orlando, Fla., to catch a glimpse.
The bird, which appears to be alone, was first spotted last month and as recently as today.
The sightings have been confirmed by photographs and recordings of its chirping.
The bird, with a solitary nature, usually stays at high elevations but has made its winter home in the low Texas scrub-land about 200 miles north of its usual habitat.
Question of the Day
Why do those that are forever attacking others are always accusing the ones they attack of attacking them?
Our readers
So far today readers in:
Iceland, Vietnam, Austria, Spain, Australia, India, Malaysia, Canada, France, Brazil, Germany, Russia, Greece, Switzerland, Italy and the United States
have stopped in for a visit here at Carolina Naturally.
Iceland, Vietnam, Austria, Spain, Australia, India, Malaysia, Canada, France, Brazil, Germany, Russia, Greece, Switzerland, Italy and the United States
have stopped in for a visit here at Carolina Naturally.
Has to be an oversight
Obama is set to host a press conference with incoming Democratic National Committee chair Tim Kaine in what will ostensibly mark the beginning of a new era for the party and the committee. noticeably absent from the affair will be the individual who symbolized the old regime.
Former governor Howard Dean is not on the list of attendees for the event, a noticeable nonattendance for someone largely credited with revitalizing the Democratic party ranks and contributing -- whether politically or through his 50-state strategy - to major electoral gains.
Former governor Howard Dean is not on the list of attendees for the event, a noticeable nonattendance for someone largely credited with revitalizing the Democratic party ranks and contributing -- whether politically or through his 50-state strategy - to major electoral gains.
Read more here
French teens charged in attack on Jewish girl
A juvenile court judge filed preliminary charges against four French teenagers accused of attacking a Jewish girl, a judicial official said Friday, amid tensions around Europe over the fighting in Gaza.
Three of the four teenagers are accused of violence with a religious or ethnic motive, and the fourth is accused of failing to prevent a crime, the official said.
The four defendants - aged between 13 and 15 - are not in custody but are under judicial supervision.
Under French law, preliminary charges allow for further investigation before a magistrate determines whether to send the case to trial.
The teenagers are accused of making anti-Semitic insults toward the 14-year-old girl, pushing her to the ground and kicking her as she was leaving school in the northern Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel.
This is but one of the cases of the affects and effect of the ongoing violence in Gaza and elsewhere.
This has got to stop!
All 'sides' are wrong in this.
Not so long ago this same report could have been written with only altering two words: Muslim for Jewish and Anti-Muslim for Anti-Semitic.
That is the real crime here!
Three of the four teenagers are accused of violence with a religious or ethnic motive, and the fourth is accused of failing to prevent a crime, the official said.
The four defendants - aged between 13 and 15 - are not in custody but are under judicial supervision.
Under French law, preliminary charges allow for further investigation before a magistrate determines whether to send the case to trial.
The teenagers are accused of making anti-Semitic insults toward the 14-year-old girl, pushing her to the ground and kicking her as she was leaving school in the northern Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel.
*****
This is but one of the cases of the affects and effect of the ongoing violence in Gaza and elsewhere.
This has got to stop!
All 'sides' are wrong in this.
Not so long ago this same report could have been written with only altering two words: Muslim for Jewish and Anti-Muslim for Anti-Semitic.
That is the real crime here!
Another moment in time ...
Hey, for a brief moment there, Carolina Naturally had a PageRank of 8 out of 10 ... Woo woo!
Thank you , Mrs., Calabash, wherever you are.
Thank you , Mrs., Calabash, wherever you are.
Genocide judges reject corruption claims
Cambodian judges today denied that they paid kickbacks to government officials to secure jobs on a genocide tribunal to try former Khmer Rouge leaders.
The judges were responding to a complaint filed by lawyers for Nuon Chea, one of five former senior Khmer Rouge leaders due to be tried by the U.N.-backed tribunal for crimes against humanity and other offenses.
The dispute could further delay the tribunal's much-postponed first trial, which was slated to begin early this year.
The tribunal is tasked with seeking justice for the atrocities committed by the ultra-communist regime, whose radical policies caused an estimated 1.7 million deaths during its four years in power in the 1970s.
Many Cambodians are frustrated that the Khmer Rouge leaders have still not been tried three decades after the regime fell in 1979, and fear the aging and infirm defendants could die before they face justice.
Cambodian politics and disagreements between the government and the U.N. delayed the establishment of the tribunal for years.
Disputes over procedure - and allegations of corruption - have held up the tribunal as well.
The judges were responding to a complaint filed by lawyers for Nuon Chea, one of five former senior Khmer Rouge leaders due to be tried by the U.N.-backed tribunal for crimes against humanity and other offenses.
The dispute could further delay the tribunal's much-postponed first trial, which was slated to begin early this year.
The tribunal is tasked with seeking justice for the atrocities committed by the ultra-communist regime, whose radical policies caused an estimated 1.7 million deaths during its four years in power in the 1970s.
Many Cambodians are frustrated that the Khmer Rouge leaders have still not been tried three decades after the regime fell in 1979, and fear the aging and infirm defendants could die before they face justice.
Cambodian politics and disagreements between the government and the U.N. delayed the establishment of the tribunal for years.
Disputes over procedure - and allegations of corruption - have held up the tribunal as well.
The truth about job hunting in 2009
2009's arrival prompts a lot of questions: Will the economy get worse before it gets better? Will companies lay off more people? Can I still find a new job?
This is CareerBuilder, so how much 'truth' there is, is dependent on your perspective of CareerBuilder.
Find out the rest here.
This is CareerBuilder, so how much 'truth' there is, is dependent on your perspective of CareerBuilder.
Palin says she's been exploited by Couric and Fey
From the "Cry me a river" Department:
Alaska governor Sarah Palin says CBS News anchor Katie Couric and comic actress Tina Fey have been "exploiting" her.
Palin also is questioning whether Caroline Kennedy is getting better treatment from the news media in her quest for a Senate seat than Palin herself received as repugican John McCain's running mate.
Palin reflected on her campaign for national office in an interview this week with wing-nut radio hate-show host and propagandist John Ziegler.
Clips are posted on YouTube.
Palin gave Couric a rare interview at the beginning of her campaign, and Fey frequently impersonated Palin on "Saturday Night Live."
Palin says she thinks there may be a "class issue" involved in the press coverage of Kennedy and her own bid for office.
Damn, right it is a "class issue" - Kennedy has it and she doesn't.
As to her assertion the press has been kind to Caroline Kennedy - she must not be reading all those newspapers like she did during the campaign, then.
Alaska governor Sarah Palin says CBS News anchor Katie Couric and comic actress Tina Fey have been "exploiting" her.
Palin also is questioning whether Caroline Kennedy is getting better treatment from the news media in her quest for a Senate seat than Palin herself received as repugican John McCain's running mate.
Palin reflected on her campaign for national office in an interview this week with wing-nut radio hate-show host and propagandist John Ziegler.
Clips are posted on YouTube.
Palin gave Couric a rare interview at the beginning of her campaign, and Fey frequently impersonated Palin on "Saturday Night Live."
Palin says she thinks there may be a "class issue" involved in the press coverage of Kennedy and her own bid for office.
*****
Damn, right it is a "class issue" - Kennedy has it and she doesn't.
As to her assertion the press has been kind to Caroline Kennedy - she must not be reading all those newspapers like she did during the campaign, then.
Taylor's son faces 147 years for overseas torture
From the "Anyone else find this as just slightly hypocritical" Department:
The son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor could be sentenced to as many as 147 years in prison for his involvement in brutal slayings and torture while commanding an elite paramilitary force in Liberia.
Charles McArthur Emmanuel was convicted in October in a Miami federal court in the first test of a 1994 U.S. law that allows authorities to prosecute atrocities committed overseas.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. today.
Emmanuel is a U.S. citizen also known as Chuckie Taylor.
Prosecutors said the 31-year-old was involved in killings and torture in Liberia during his father's presidency from 1997 to 2003.
Editor's Note: The elder Taylor is on trial on war crimes charges at a United Nations tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands .
The son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor could be sentenced to as many as 147 years in prison for his involvement in brutal slayings and torture while commanding an elite paramilitary force in Liberia.
Charles McArthur Emmanuel was convicted in October in a Miami federal court in the first test of a 1994 U.S. law that allows authorities to prosecute atrocities committed overseas.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. today.
Emmanuel is a U.S. citizen also known as Chuckie Taylor.
Prosecutors said the 31-year-old was involved in killings and torture in Liberia during his father's presidency from 1997 to 2003.
*****
And this from a government who had committed the very same atrocities?!Editor's Note: The elder Taylor is on trial on war crimes charges at a United Nations tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands .
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