Political Olympics

Politics and Olympics seem to go hand in hand. In Ancient Greece, a truce was announced before and during each of the Olympic festivals, to allow visitors to travel safely to Olympia. During the truce, wars were suspended, armies were prohibited from entering Elis or threatening the Games, and legal disputes and the carrying out of death penalties were forbidden. But politics did inevitably play a role--political alliances were announced, games were declared invalid if a hosting country was out of favor, and exiles were pardoned.

In 1936, Hitler's Berlin games were possibly the lowest point in our history. In Germany, Jews, Gypsies and other "undesirables" were not even allowed to compete. On the flip side, the 1968 Mexico City Olympics gave black athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos (the gold and bronze medalists), a platform to demonstrate civil rights awareness by raising the black-gloved fist as the Star Spangled Banner was played.

This year is no exception and already it seems like we are starting off on on a sour note. Take our host China--in addition to the pollution, human rights violations, and overall bad vibes, they are now censoring the games for the rest of the world. China promised the International Olympics Committee that they would provide the media with the same freedom to report on the Games as they enjoyed at previous Olympics. However, today we find out that the IOC has brokered a deal with the Chinese government, which would allow Internet censorship.

"I regret that it now appears BOCOG has announced that there will be limitations on website access during Games time," IOC press chief Kevan Gosper said, referring to Beijing's Olympic organizers.

"I also now understand that some IOC officials negotiated with the Chinese that some sensitive sites would be blocked on the basis they were not considered Games related," he said.

Attempts at the main press centre to access the website of Amnesty International, which released a report on Monday slamming China for failing to honor its Olympic human rights pledges, continued to prove fruitless by mid-week.

We also have a little country called Iraq, who up until today was banned by the IOC from participating in the Olympics after the country’s government disbanded the committee and appointed a government official as its new leader. The IOC requires national committees to be elected and autonomous. But on the bright side, it looks like some of their athletes will be able to indeed compete.

[Their banning] led to widespread criticism of both the Iraqi government and the I.O.C. On Tuesday at I.O.C. headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, a compromise was reached. Iraq agreed to hold elections for its Olympic committee before the end of November. In the meantime, Iraq will have an interim committee approved by the I.O.C.

We look forward to putting politics aside and seeing sprinter Dana Hussein Abdul-Razzaq and discus thrower Haidar Nasir, compete for their country.

They don't call it the Dirty South for nothin'

HOUSTON — While most large American cities have started ambitious recycling programs that have sharply reduced the amount of trash bound for landfills, Houston has not.

The city’s shimmering skyline may wear the label of the world’s energy capital, but deep in Houston’s Dumpsters lies a less glamorous superlative: It is the worst recycler among the United States’ 30 largest cities.

Houston recycles just 2.6 percent of its total waste, according to a study this year by Waste News, a trade magazine. By comparison, San Francisco and New York recycle 69 percent and 34 percent of their waste respectively. Moreover, 25,000 Houston residents have been waiting as long as 10 years to get recycling bins from the city...

But city officials say real progress will be hard to come by. Landfill costs here are cheap. The city’s sprawling, no-zoning layout makes collection expensive, and there is little public support for the kind of effort it takes to sort glass, paper and plastics. And there appears to be even less for placing fees on excess trash.

“We have an independent streak that rebels against mandates or anything that seems trendy or hyped up,” said Mayor Bill White, who favors expanding the city’s recycling efforts. “Houstonians are skeptical of anything that appears to be oversold or exaggerated. But Houstonians can change, and change fast.”...

Those without the special bins must cart their recyclable garbage to one of just nine full-service drop-off depots in the city. But when Monica Pope, a locally renowned chef, approached a city-run recycling depot in her silver pick-up truck full of containers, she was turned away.“They said my truck was too full,” Ms. Pope recalled, laughing. “There are cultures that just don’t get it, and, unfortunately, Houston is one of them.”...

Gross Texas, gross.

Gentrification, Forbidden City style

Call me old fashion, (go ahead, I dare you) but when it comes to historic cities, progress and gentrification is not always a good thing. Growing up in Brooklyn, I know a little bit about the subject, but New York City is a relative new-born in comparison to, lets say, Beijing where some houses date to the Qing dynasty (mid 17-early 19th century). Very little is being done to preserve these fascinating and historic areas in China, especially now with a booming economy and the Olympics on the way. And what's more frightening is, in an Orwellian twist of fate, buildings are being razed and history censored on purpose to eradicate the 1950s-60s Socialist projects-style architecture that is viewed unfavorably by the government today.

The explosion of construction activity that has transformed Beijing into a modern metropolis over the past decade also turned many of its historical neighborhoods — known for their narrow alleyways, or hutongs — into rubble. As grass-roots preservationists began sounding the alarm, the aging wood frames and tile roofs of the ancient courtyard houses that give these neighborhoods their identity were being supplanted so quickly by mighty towers that it was hard to pinpoint where they once stood...

The current wave of demolitions was under way by the early 1990s as free-market changes gained momentum, and real estate speculators saw potential profit in redevelopment. It accelerated after Beijing’s bid to play host to the Olympics was accepted in 2001 and the city began a substantial slum-clearance program to prepare for foreign visitors.

In the Qianmen area, for example, a once poor but thriving neighborhood south of Tiananmen Square that was home to many of the city’s teahouses and theaters, hutongs have been replaced by shopping malls and office blocks with ugly postmodern facades that already look dilapidated, although many are only a few years old...

As affluent foreigners and China’s new rich buy the houses, they are embarking on multimillion-dollar renovations that are robbing the neighborhoods of their souls...

The Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, who seems to be everywhere in China these days, has argued that designating specific buildings as landmarks creates a distorted version of history. Rather he has proposed carving out a protected wedge through the city in which all of the city’s historical layers, from hutongs on through the Communist-style projects, would be permanently preserved. The result would be a sort of living museum, a place fixed in time even as tumultuous changes unfold around it...

The Forgotten War in Afghanistan

It's true, Afghanistan is so far off most of our radars that we have all but forgotten that there are still troops there. It's also somewhat shrouded in mystery. What's going on over there? Why has the news stopped covering it?

The Pentagon and presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain all seem to agree on the need to send more troops to Afghanistan, but they are at odds with much of the country these days on the need to send more Americans into the lawless Afghan mountains.

The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll found that a startling 45 percent of Americans said they do not think the war in Afghanistan is worth fighting, despite the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which provoked the war in the first place.

The growing disenchantment with the Afghan deployment hasn't reached the level of national frustration with the Iraq war, but after more than six years with U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan and violence on the rise, Americans are becoming increasingly wary about the country's involvement.

Fifty-one percent of Americans now say that the U.S. military effort in Afghanistan has been unsuccessful, up from 24 percent in fall 2002.

Only 44 percent of Americans consider the war in Afghanistan a success, down from 70 percent in 2002...

"I'm not shocked at all that American support is waning," [Sholom] Keller [a veteran who served in both Afghanistan and Iraq] told ABCNews.com. "If we are in Afghanistan because the U.S. was attacked on Sept. 11, then I want to see the perpetrators captured and brought to justice.

"If we're not finding them in Afghanistan, then I don't know why we're there," he added. "And if they are there I want to know why we haven't found them in the last seven years if they've been giving troops the right intelligence and missions."

Experts on the Middle East told ABCNews.com that many Americans share Keller's frustration, blaming several factors, including the fatigue from hearing about not one but two wars, as well as pressing issues at home, such as the failing economy.

"It's battle fatigue," [Judith] Kipper [director of Middle East programs at the Institute of World Affairs in Washington, D.C.] said.

"American don't want war; they know it's costing a lot and the worse the economy gets at home, the more people feel a lack of confidence in their daily lives," Kipper said. "The less confident they feel, the less likely they are to support foreign wars and adventures."...

"This is many years later and life goes on," Kipper said. "It's hard for Americans to relate to what happened years ago to their battle fatigue and war weariness now.

"[They care] about the problems that they're facing on a daily basis," she added...

This Ain't Rockwell's America

“OURS ... to fight for.” That simple phrase sits atop the Rockwell “Freedom From Want” and “Freedom From Fear” posters. But today, as many returning soldiers have witnessed, that sense of collective responsibility often seems absent, except for the occasional campaign speech....

Culled from a surprising new exhibition at the Wolfsonian museum at Florida International University titled “Thoughts on Democracy,” they are all artists’ responses to Rockwell’s wartime “Four Freedoms” series.

Sixty artists contributed to the show. But their creations bear little resemblance to the Rockwell paintings, which helped raise $133 million for the war effort in 1943 after the government turned them into posters. There is no folksy man standing up to speak his opinion (exemplifying “Freedom of Speech”), no devout group praying (“Freedom of Worship”) no wholesome family sitting down to a Thanksgiving meal (“Freedom From Want”)...

What all of this suggests is not just a reinterpretation of Rockwell but a meditation on an American crisis of self-confidence: the sense that trust in American ideals is giving way to fear and uncertainty about how they are exploited. Culture has long been a documentarian of sorts, and this somber mood is also reflected at the box office these days, where the dystopian world of “Wall-E” is a hit, and in bookstores, where titles like “Are You There, Vodka, It’s Me, Chelsea” are best sellers...

Many of the artists interviewed said they felt that now was not the time to emphasize American greatness, as Rockwell did, but rather to caution people about the risks of complacency. They said they created the posters because they loved their country — about two-thirds of the 60 are American — but felt that their fellow citizens needed to wake up, to break free from anxiety and a habit of looking away...

Reuse, Recycle: 1957 Interrogation Techniques used against US Soldiers now in use at Guantánamo

WASHINGTON — The military trainers who came to Guantánamo Bay in December 2002 based an entire interrogation class on a chart showing the effects of “coercive management techniques” for possible use on prisoners, including “sleep deprivation,” “prolonged constraint,” and “exposure.”

What the trainers did not say, and may not have known, was that their chart had been copied verbatim from a 1957 Air Force study of Chinese Communist techniques used during the Korean War to obtain confessions, many of them false, from American prisoners. [!!]

The recycled chart is the latest and most vivid evidence of the way Communist interrogation methods that the United States long described as torture became the basis for interrogations both by the military at the base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Some methods were used against a small number of prisoners at Guantánamo before 2005, when Congress banned the use of coercion by the military. The C.I.A. is still authorized by President Bush to use a number of secret “alternative” interrogation methods...

In 2002, the training program, known as SERE, for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape, became a source of interrogation methods both for the C.I.A. and the military. In what critics describe as a remarkable case of historical amnesia, officials who drew on the SERE program appear to have been unaware that it had been created as a result of concern about false confessions by American prisoners.

Senator Carl Levin, Democrat of Michigan and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said after reviewing the 1957 article that “every American would be shocked” by the origin of the training document.

I urge you to read the entire article; it only gets worse. More shocking than this story is that there will never be any public outcry. We have become the "Evil Doers" we once detested. If we let this war continue, we are all guilty of crimes against humanity.

The government doesn't need to know about my extensive online kitty porn collection!

WASHINGTON — Advocacy groups and some legal experts told Congress on Wednesday that it was unreasonable for federal officials to search the laptops of United States citizens when they re-enter the country from traveling abroad.

Civil rights groups have said certain ethnic groups have been selectively profiled in the searches by Border Patrol agents and customs officials who have the authority to inspect all luggage and cargo brought into the country without obtaining warrants or having probable cause.

Companies whose employees travel overseas have also criticized the inspections, saying that the search of electronic devices could hurt their businesses.

The federal government says the searches are necessary for national security and for legal action against people who bring illegal material into the country...

“But,” [Senator Russ] Feingold [Democrat of Wisconsin] continued, “if you asked them whether the government has a right to open their laptops, read their documents and e-mails, look at their photographs and examine the Web sites they have visited, all without any suspicion of wrongdoing, I think those same Americans would say that the government absolutely has no right to do that.”...

McBush

Now that we have our candidates in place it's time to start looking at the bigger picture. How much is McCain like Bush? Are you comfortable with the similarities?

A look at Mr. McCain’s 25-year record in the House and Senate, his 2008 campaign positions and his major speeches over the last three months indicates that on big-ticket issues — the economy, support for continuing the Iraq war, health care — his stances are indeed similar to Mr. Bush’s brand of conservatism. Mr. McCain’s positions are nearly identical to the president’s on abortion and the types of judges he says he would appoint to the courts...

The disparities between the two are murkier on other issues. On immigration, Mr. McCain started out with Mr. Bush — at odds with the Republican mainstream — by favoring a path to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants, then backed off and emphasized the border-security-first approach favored by a majority of his party...

Mr. McCain has reversed himself on some issues — most notably, embracing the Bush tax cuts now after deriding them initially as fiscally risky and excessively skewed to the wealthy — and continues to adjust his positions on others. On Monday, he said he continued to oppose opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, leaving him at odds with the White House and most of his party, but said he favored giving states more flexibility to decide whether to explore for oil off their coasts.

On balance, the McCain campaign has sought to emphasize the differences between Mr. McCain and the unpopular Mr. Bush rather than the similarities...

In a CBS News poll two weeks ago, 43 percent of registered voters said they believed he would continue Mr. Bush’s policies, and 21 percent said he would be more conservative in his policies than Mr. Bush. Twenty-eight percent said he would be less conservative than Mr. Bush...

Twas the Eve of Destruction

Check out this very funny video from our new friend, comedian/radio host/activist, Steve Hofstetter.

Merry voting to all and to all a good night!

Environment be damned, just keep them dirty foreigners out!

Is this how much we hate our neighbors to the south that we would cut off our nose to spite our face?

The Bush administration will waive more than 30 environmental and land-management laws in order to finish building 470 miles of border fence in the Southwest by the end of the year, officials said yesterday.

The move, permitted under an exemption granted by Congress, will be the most sweeping use of the administration's waiver authority since it started building the fence to curb illegal immigration. It will affect environmentally sensitive areas in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas.

In a statement, Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff said the agency has no choice but to bypass the standard environment reviews required of the federal government.

"Criminal activity at the border does not stop for endless debate or protracted litigation," Chertoff said. "Congress and the American public have been adamant that they want and expect border security. We're serious about delivering it, and these waivers will enable important security projects to keep moving forward. At the same time, we value the need for public input on any potential impact of our border infrastructure plans on the environment -- and we will continue to solicit it."

However, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said the administration has exceeded what Congress intended when it granted the department added flexibility under the Real ID Act. "Today's waiver represents an extreme abuse of authority," he said in a statement. "Waiver authority should only be used as a last resort, not simply because the Department has failed to get the job done through the normal process. It was meant to be an exception, not the rule."...

"Thanks to this action by the Bush administration, the border is in a sense more lawless now than when Americans first started moving West," Schlickeisen said in a statement. "Laws ensuring clean water and clean air for us and our children -- dismissed. Laws protecting wildlife, land, rivers, streams and places of cultural significance -- just a bother to the Bush administration. Laws giving American citizens a voice in the process -- gone. Clearly this is out of control."...

Related: The Great Wall (fence) of America

$3.29 / Gallon = $123 Billion Profit

Top executives of the five biggest U.S. oil companies were pressed Tuesday to explain the soaring fuel prices amid huge industry profits and why they weren’t investing more to develop renewable energy source such as wind and solar.

The executives, peppered with questions from skeptical lawmakers, said they understood that high energy costs are hurting consumers, but deflected blame, arguing that their profits — $123 billion last year — were in line with other industries...

With motorists paying a national average of $3.29 a gallon at the pump and global oil prices remaining above $100 a barrel, the executives were hard pressed by lawmakers to defend their profits.

“The anger level is rising significantly,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo., relating what he had heard in his district during the recent two-week congressional recess...

“Our earnings, though high in absolute terms, need to be viewed in the context of the scale and cyclical, long-term nature of our industry as well as the huge investment requirements,” said J.S. Simon, Exxon Mobil’s senior vice president...

“These companies are defending billions of federal subsidies ... while reaping over a hundred billion dollars in profits in just the last year alone,” complained Markey, chairman of the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

The House last year and again on Feb. 27 approved legislation that would have ended the tax breaks for the oil giants, while using the revenue to support wind, solar and other renewable fuels and incentives for energy conservation. The measure has not passed the Senate.

Banning Makes No Impact on Abortion Rates

As many of us have always believed, women who need to have an abortion, no mater the reason, will find a way weather it is legal or not.

In a study examining abortion trends from 1995 to 2003, experts also found that abortion rates are virtually equal in rich and poor countries, and that half of all abortions worldwide are unsafe.

The study was done by Gilda Sedgh of the Guttmacher Institute in the United States and colleagues from the World Health Organization. It was published in an edition of The Lancet medical journal devoted to maternal health.

“The legal status of abortion has never dissuaded women and couples, who, for whatever reason, seek to end pregnancy,” Beth Fredrick of the International Women’s Health Coalition in the U.S. said in an accompanying commentary.

Abortion accounts for 13 percent of maternal mortality worldwide. About 70,000 women die every year from unsafe abortions. An additional 5 million women suffer permanent or temporary injury.

“The continuing high incidence of unsafe abortion in developing countries represents a public health crisis and a human rights atrocity,” Fredrick wrote.

The number of worldwide abortions has dipped from about 46 million in 1995 to just under 42 million in 2003. But there was no change in the rate of unsafe abortions; nearly half the procedures are still performed illegally in potentially dangerous conditions.

“The only way to decrease unsafe abortion is to increase contraception,” said Sharon Camp, president and chief executive officer of the Guttmacher Institute.

Camp said that more countries are allowing women to have abortions legally, but many women only receive medical attention after a procedure has gone wrong. “I don’t think women should have to hurt themselves before they get medical treatment,” she said…

Nicaragua, for example has banned all abortions, even to save the life of the mother (something most pro-lifers in the US would probably agree with). It is one of 35 countries worldwide to completely ban abortions.

Two weeks after Olga Reyes danced at her wedding, her bloated and disfigured body was laid to rest in an open coffin — the victim, her husband and some experts say, of Nicaragua’s new no-exceptions ban on abortion.

Reyes, a 22-year-old law student, suffered an ectopic pregnancy. The fetus develops outside the uterus, cannot survive and causes bleeding that endangers the mother. But doctors seemed afraid to treat her because of the anti-abortion law, said husband Agustin Perez. By the time they took action, it was too late.

[Poster © Barbara Kruger]

Harry Potter, leftist intellectual?

Harry Potter -- left-wing hero of the intellectual aristocracy against the materialist middle classes? Well, yes, according to the French daily Liberation...

[French philosopher Jean-Claude Milner] identified a reaction to the free-market revolution instigated in Britain by Margaret Thatcher's governments.

"Reading it, one has the feeling that J.K. Rowling feels, like many cultivated English people, that there was a real, catastrophic Thatcherite revolution [I’m going to add Reaganomics here for us Americans], and that the only chance for culture now is to survive as an occult science," he wrote.

Milner identified the "Muggles" -- inhabitants of the ordinary, non-magical world -- as the uncultured bourgeoisie who did well materially out of the Thatcher years and later under Tony Blair.

"In the world described by J.K. Rowling, there are the Muggles, who represent the Thatchero-Blairite middle class (going from the lower middle class to the upper middle class), and then the others: the people, cultivated people and the penniless aristocracy, people whom you would expect to find in public schools or at Cambridge," he said.

Milner said the disinterested world of culture upheld by Harry Potter and his friends at the elite Hogwarts Academy represented a form of opposition to the values of the profit-seeking market economy.

"As such, Harry Potter is a war machine against the Thatcherite-Blairist world and the 'American Way of Life'."

Ouch! I was all excited to hear that Harry Potter was one of us, a left-leaning intellectual, but come on British people! “Cultivated penniless aristocracy,” really? You look down on the Muggles for not being born to privilege? For being Middle-Class? Even I can’t be that snobby. We hate the Thatcher-Reagan political era too, but being born an aristocrat rather than working hard for what you have is not a virtue that we share.

Al Gore-geous does it again!

Today it was announced that Al Gore, former vice president of these fine United States, two-time Democratic candidate for presidency, and inventor of the internet, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.

He joins the pantheon of Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Desmond Tutu, Mother Teresa, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Mr. Gore, congratulations! We on the left have faith in you. Run baby, RUN!

Dita von PETA - Updated

PETA has chosen the fur-loving burlesque queen herself, Dita von Teese, as their latest spokesmodel. Didn't they do their homework? I have never agreed with PETA's tactics or points of view but where is their integrity? To call them hypocritical would be inane.

From PETA's website: "Dita Von Teese is the definition of sexy. She is a spokesmodel for the MAC Cosmetics Viva Glam campaign and the face of the holiday catalog for Frederick's of Hollywood, performs live burlesque shows, and has graced the cover of magazines around the world, including Playboy, Elle, and Harper's Bazaar. Now Dita is combining her sex appeal with her compassion for animals to launch PETA's new ABC campaign."

From Dita's recent book: "Who wouldn't love an opportunity to don a cuff of mink given them as a gift, or to wrap a luscious stole of fox around her shoulders on a chilly day? (I guess there are some people out there that wouldn't want to, but I am definitely not one of them!) Silks, satins, furs--I have crowded rooms of such sumptuous materials--are decadent. I've always loved these materials for their softness, their beauty, and the added luster of femininity they bestow upon me when I wear them." (Dita Von Teese, Fetish and the Art of the Teese, p. 77)

One of our faithful readers (just so happens to be my sister) e-mailed PETA about this glaring error today and got this really, really long form letter back, excerpts of which I've included below:

"First, please know that, as an organization staffed and run largely by women, we would not do something that we felt contributed to the serious problems that women face. However, we feel that there is nothing shameful or “wrong” about being naked, and we believe that women—and men—should have the choice to use their own bodies as political statements...

Our purpose is to stop animal suffering like this, and we use all available opportunities to reach millions of people with powerful messages...

If you are concerned that a particular celebrity with whom we have worked may not yet be 100 percent vegan or in total agreement with PETA’s views on all animal issues, we can certainly understand your feelings. But we believe that by taking a stand against even one form of animal abuse or exploitation—and by helping us to educate the public about these issues—celebrity supporters can make a big difference...

Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to explain our position on this important topic and for all that you do to help animals.

Sincerely,

The PETA Staff

Uhhh... ok, not really what we asked but thanks anyway.

And thanks Maria for the tip!

UPDATE 10/08/07 (from People.com):

"PETA's totally aware of me," Von Teese told PEOPLE before performing – in fox fur – her signature striptease at the Macy's Passport AIDS benefit last week. "I'm not working with PETA to tell people to be vegetarians or to stop wearing fur. I am there to strictly speak about spaying and neutering your pets."

The animal-rights organization says it was aware of Von Teese's fur affections before approaching her to star in its campaign.

This is why PETA is a sham and why all it's members are, in my opinion, ditzes who can't grasp larger, more important social issues so they cling to something simple like saving kittens and puppies. Let's not forget PETA's number one gal Pamela Anderson, who sported sheep-skin UGGS for years and then claimed she had no idea they were made of SKIN. That soft supple feeling is a dead animal around your feets Pammy.

How can PETA collaborate with a known fur-advocate? Is this not the same organization that throws paint at women wearing fur, destroying their very expensive personal property??

Don't Tase Me Bro!

Wow, so I sure did miss a lot on my extended visit to the Greek island of Crete (you'll get it if you pay attention to the linked Wired article). So Senator John Kerry had finished a speech @ the University of Florida and a during the Q&A portion, an arguably annoying kid is arrested and tasered by the police. This incident brings up a lot of questions and has incited a lot of strong reactions. Below are some comments collected by Wired.com: (My favorite is the very last one in bold) because it most concisely encapsulates my initial gut reaction.

"This was really sickening to watch. In the video the kid offers to leave and walk out on his own, but instead more and more of those officers try to force him on the ground and into handcuffs.

What a horrible way to handle such a simple situation," writes "Aaron," one of Threat Level's readers.

"The University and its police department should be ashamed of themselves and embarrassed of the way they looked in front of a US Senator. Totally unacceptable," he adds.

Meanwhile, "Nightwatch," who says that he's with a university police department, weighed in and says that he and his colleagues agree that the Florida police handled the situation badly.

Taserprotest_7 And "Jon in Austin" writes that as an intensive care unit trauma nurse, he's concerned about the safety of the devices.

"I am an ICU Trauma Nurse, and I know there have been numerous deaths resulting from the use of the Taser device -- and no one knows who that next victim is going to be! It could be any one of us.

"If we don't stand up against the use of the Taser, who will be next?"

(Taser International says its technology is a "safer use-of-force option" on its web site.)

"I don't believe that asking a question at a town hall meeting, EVEN IF it is long-winded and perhaps even a little combative, should lead to this," writes Jon.

Judge Rules Patriot Act Equivalent to Breaking and Entering

A federal judge today struck down portions of the USA Patriot Act as unconstitutional, ordering the FBI to stop issuing "national security letters" that secretly demand customer information from Internet service providers and other businesses.

U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in New York ruled that the landmark anti-terrorism law violates the First Amendment and the Constitution's separation of powers provisions because it effectively prohibits recipients of the FBI letters (NSLs) from revealing their existence and does not provide adequate judicial oversight of the process.

Marrero wrote in his 106-page ruling that Patriot Act provisions related to NSLs are "the legislative equivalent of breaking and entering, with an ominous free pass to the hijacking of constitutional values."

The decision has the potential to eliminate one of the FBI's most widely used investigative tactics. It comes amid widespread concern on Capitol Hill over reported abuses in the way the FBI has used its NSL powers...

But Marrero wrote that "in light of the seriousness of the potential intrusion into the individual's personal affairs and the significant possibility of a chilling effect on speech and association--particularly of expression that is critical of the government or its policies--a compelling need exists to ensure that the use of NSLs is subject to the safeguards of public accountability, checks and balances, and separation of powers that our Constitution prescribes."

He ruled that only some of the NSL provisions were unconstitutional, but found that it was impossible to separate those provisions from other parts of the law. He therefore struck down the FBI's ability to issue NSLs altogether...

Related: Illegal Wiretapping Useless in "War on Terror"

Scaaaaaandalous Republican Senator

A government watchdog group filed an ethics complaint against Sen. Larry Craig Tuesday, after revelations that the Idaho Republican pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges stemming from a lewd conduct complaint in Minneapolis.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint with the Senate ethics committee seeking an investigation into whether Craig violated Senate rules by engaging in disorderly conduct.

Read all the juicy details of what went down in that airport men's bathroom here.

Idaho’s Larry Craig on the issues:

* Voted YES on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage. (Jun 2006)
* Voted NO on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes. (Jun 2002)
* Voted NO on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation. (Jun 2000)
* Voted YES on prohibiting same-sex marriage. (Sep 1996)
* Voted NO on prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. (Sep 1996)

**Thanks PerezHilton.com for the scoop and the photo!

Rumsfeld Resigned Before the Election

Donald Rumsfeld, architect of the unpopular Iraq war, resigned as defense secretary before last year's November election but his decision was not announced until after the voting, according to his resignation letter obtained by Reuters on Wednesday.

If its not already obvious, this is just another instance of George W. Bush's unbound hubris. He doesn't think of the greatest good (even for his own party) but rather how he can save himself and his pride. Some Republicans are none too happy with this news, believing that their party might have kept more seats in congress and kept control of the Senate if Rumsfeld left before the election.

Rumsfeld did not mention the Iraq war in his four-paragraph resignation letter.

Instead, the man who had become the focal point for critics of the Bush administration's management of the war praised the president for his leadership.

"I leave with great respect for you and for the leadership you have provided during a most challenging time for our country. The focus, determination and perseverance you have so consistently provided have been needed and are impressive," Rumsfeld told Bush.

"It is time to conclude my service. As I do, I want you to know that you have my continuing and heartfelt support as you enter the final two years of your presidency," Rumsfeld wrote.

Rumsfeld also praised U.S. troops for their dedication, professionalism, courage and sacrifice.

It's hard to keep track of how many rats have already jumped the sinking Titanic, but I'll give it a shot:

• Colin Powell, Secretary of State (till 2005)
• John W. Snow, Secretary of Treasury (till 2006)
• Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense (till 2006)
• Scott McClellan, White House Press Secretary (till 2006)
• John Ashcroft, Attorney General (till 2005)
• Mike Brown, FEMA Director (till 2005)
• John Bolton, US Representative to the UN (till 2006)
• Karl Rove, Deputy Chief of Staff (till 2007)

I Hate You MTA

I know this is a somewhat of a local story, but it's my blog so I get to rant. Early this morning New York experienced a bit of rain, ok it was a down pour. As a result the entire New York City subway system crumbled before our eyes. For those of you not familiar with our lovely system, when the subways stop running, NY stops running, literally. There is mass hysteria and panic when this occurs. And today, every line on the system experienced some form of failure. Why? Because some rain got on the tracks and evidently flooded the joint. In my part of Brooklyn, a tree fell over and blocked four lanes of subway tracks. My normal one hour commute took 3 ½ hours today. I came to work sweaty, upset, and with a headache. And there are thousands of horror commuter stories like mine; just check out the New York Times report.

How is it that the subway system stops completely when there is a storm or trains are put out of service when there is a sick passenger? There will always be rain and people will always get sick. You'd think after 100 plus years they would have some sort of contingency plan for these events. How can it be that the trains in Tokyo are considered extremely late if they are not on the platform within 30 seconds of their scheduled time? Don't they have rain? Don't they have sick passengers?

We need a major overhaul and increasing the fare from the already high $2 a ride is not the answer. The government needs to put an enormous amount of money into the transportation system, and why not, we deserve it! New York City is the main money maker for the tristate area and everyone sucks us dry. We get very little financial support from the state in relation to what we put in. We no longer collect a commuter tax from those suburbanites who find the city good enough to work in in during the day but run home at night to Westchester, Long Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut to their big homes and lower taxes without paying for the privilege of earning a living here.

Discipline, Hello Kitty style

I’ve been waiting a long time to be able to legitimately post a story about a Sanrio character, and here it is!

Thai police officers who break rules will be forced to wear hot-pink armbands featuring “Hello Kitty,” the Japanese icon of cute, as a mark of shame, a senior officer said Monday.

Police officers caught littering, parking in a prohibited area, or arriving late — among other misdemeanors — will be forced to stay in the division office and wear the armband all day, said Police Col. Pongpat Chayaphan. The officers won’t wear the armband in public.

The striking armband features Hello Kitty sitting atop two hearts.

Simple warnings no longer work. This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor,” said Pongpat, acting chief of the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok.

“(Hello) Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It’s not something macho police officers want covering their biceps,” Pongpat said…

*Sigh, a bunch of burly cops wearing pink Hello Kitty bands. What could be better?

Make mine a Venti

All of my life I’ve heard that coffee is bad for you, but no one can explain to me exactly what’s so bad about it (seriously, if you know feel free to leave a comment). I know that it stunts your growth, but I’m not nine so I don't care. I know it's supposed to make you jittery but I just call that a healthy burst of energy. I know it's addictive, but who cares if its not bad for you.

Since no one can explain the bad I'll give you the good. It tastes delicious, it cuts down your hunger pangs in the morning, it's a natural laxative, it tastes delicious, it gives you pep and oh yea, and it tastes delicious! Even more exciting is that coffee may actually have some real health benefits.

Drinking three or more cups of coffee a day may cut the risk of colon cancer in women by half, according to a study by Japanese scientists.

Researchers from Tokyo's National Cancer Center studied data from more than 96,000 men and women aged between 40-69 over a period of up to 12 years from 1990, a member of the team said on Wednesday. They found no significant benefit in men. [Sorry guys]…

Coffee is also good for your skin.

The combination of exercise and caffeine increased destruction of precancerous cells that had been damaged by the sun’s ultraviolet-B radiation, according to a team of researchers at Rutgers University.

Americans suffer a million new cases of skin cancer every year, according to the National Cancer Institute…

The researchers report in Tuesday’s issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Science that they studied hairless mice in four groups. Some were fed water containing caffeine, some had wheels on which they could run, some had both and a control group had neither.

“The most dramatic and obvious difference between the groups came from the caffeine-drinking runners, a difference that can likely be attributed to some kind of synergy,” Conney said.

Compared with the control animals, those drinking caffeine had a 95 percent increase in apoptosis in damaged cells. The exercisers showed a 120 percent increase, and the mice that were both drinking and running showed a nearly 400 percent increase…

I suppose if you drink a vat of coffee a day it might have adverse affects but so does eating a vat of anything, so as the wise ancient Greeks used to say, moderation in all things.

I Agree with His Holiness?

Could it be? Is the man making some kind of stone cold sense or is it just me?!

The pontiff, speaking as he was concluding his holiday in northern Italy, also said that while there is much scientific proof to support evolution, the theory could not exclude a role by God.

“They are presented as alternatives that exclude each other,” the pope said. “This clash is an absurdity because on one hand there is much scientific proof in favor of evolution, which appears as a reality that we must see and which enriches our understanding of life and being as such.”

He said evolution did not answer all the questions: “Above all it does not answer the great philosophical question, ‘Where does everything come from?’”

Benedict also said the human race must listen to “the voice of the Earth” or risk destroying its very existence…

“We all see that today man can destroy the foundation of his existence, his Earth,” he said in a closed door meeting with 400 priests on Tuesday. A full transcript of the two-hour event was issued on Wednesday.

“We cannot simply do what we want with this Earth of ours, with what has been entrusted to us,” said the pope…

“This obedience to the voice of the Earth is more important for our future happiness ... than the desires of the moment. Our Earth is talking to us and we must listen to it and decipher its message if we want to survive,” he said.

U.S. Has Never Supported the Troops

A few years ago I saw a special on TV, one of those Dateline, 20/20 type shows, that did an exposé on the VA hospitals across the US. What I saw was shocking. For better or worse, these men and women sacrifice themselves for this country and even though I may not agree with many of the conflicts we've started, our soldiers deserve to come back to the finest medical and psychiatric support that U.S. dollars can buy. Instead what the exposé uncovered was the dirtiest, scariest, most crowded, third-world looking hospitals you can imagine. In one of the more shocking instances, they showed a surveillance video of a man whose limbs were shot off during some war. A nurse comes over to his bed and simply places a tray of food in front of him and walks out of the room. How was he supposed to reach that food with no arms?

Let’s face facts, this country has never supported the troops. We use them up and spit them out. They give their bodies to whatever cause we send them to and they come back to nothing. This happened in Vietnam and it’s happening still.

Now Veterans are suing the U.S. over "shameful failures" in their medical care.

The many medical claims by veterans of U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has completely overwhelmed the American government, leading to "shameful failures" in treatment, a class-action lawsuit filed on Monday alleged.

"Because of those failures, hundreds of thousands of men and women who have suffered grievous injuries fighting in the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are being abandoned," according to the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for Northern California.

More than 1.5 million U.S. service members have been sent to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001.

Repeated and extended deployments to war zones have driven a rise in post-traumatic stress among troops. But Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department lack the resources and staff to help service members, according to recent reports.

The filing by two veterans groups sued various officials in the Department of Veterans Affairs and U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and challenged the constitutionality of a 1988 law establishing various VA practices. The two plaintiff organizations represent about 12,000 American veterans.

"Unless systemic and drastic measures are instituted immediately, the costs to these veterans, their families, and our nation will be incalculable, including broken families, a new generation of unemployed and homeless veterans, increases in drug abuse and alcoholism, and crushing burdens on the health care delivery system and other social services in our communities," the suit said.

The suit said the Department of Veterans Affairs faced a backlog of 600,000 claims, with some veterans dying while waiting to settle claims. It also claimed the VA was unable to deal with the growing number of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder cases…

UPDATE 7/25/07

A presidential panel on military and veterans health care released a report Wednesday concluding that the system was insufficient for the demands of two modern wars and called for improvements, including far-reaching changes in the way the government determines the disability status and benefits of injured soldiers and veterans.

The bipartisan commission made 35 recommendations that included expanded and improved treatment of traumatic brain injuries and the type of post-traumatic stress disorders that overwhelmed public mental healt facilities during the Vietnam era but remain stigmatized to this day.

President Bush told reporters at the White House late Wednesday that he had directed Robert M. Gates, the defense secretary, and Jim Nicholson, secretary of veterans affairs, “to take them seriously, and to implement them, so that we can say with certainty that any soldier who has been hurt will get the best possible care and treatment that this government can offer.”

The commission said fully carrying out its recommendations would cost $500 million a year for the time being, and $1 billion annually years from now as the current crop of fresh veterans and active military members ages and new personnel is in place.

Hopefully some good news. Read the details of this new plan here.

These are the kinds of stories that make us hate the Republican agenda

I find it pitiful when the lower and middle classes align themselves with the Right on an economic level. Do you think that they are looking out for your best interest? Your precious tax dollars? No! They want to squash your American dream and keep the pockets of the rich and super rich consistently lined with gold.

Oh Reaganomics, what hast thou done to my country?

Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked the Democrats from fulfilling a campaign promise to increase the federal minimum wage, demanding that the pay hike include tax relief for small business.

On a vote of 54-43, Democrats fell six short of the 60 needed to end debate and go to passage of a House-approved bill, to raise the minimum wage for the first time in a decade -- boosting it over two years to $7.25 per hour from $5.15…

With the gap between rich and poor widening, Democrats promised a minimum wage increase as a part of the campaign that saw them win control of the Congress from Bush's Republicans in last November's elections.

"Millions of Americans who earn the minimum wage have been waiting a decade for a much-deserved raise," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel (news, bio, voting record), an Illinois Democrat. "Incredibly, Senate Republicans would have them wait even longer."

Republicans have cited studies that say an increase would drive people out of work and hurt the economy.

But Democrats counter that a modest increase would cause no significant job loss. They have also noted a survey that found most small businesses believe it would not hurt them. Most already pay above it.

At $5.15 per hour, a person working 40 hours per week makes $10,712 per year, about $5,000 below the poverty line for a family of three…

Scary Evangelicals

[Alexandra Pelosi] the daughter of House speaker Nancy Pelosi traveled the Bible Belt to bring back footage of fundamentalist worshipers, as well as Christian miniature golf courses, wrestling federations, car clubs and theme parks. Her guide for much of the journey was Ted Haggard, president of the 30 million-member National Association of evangelicals until he resigned in November after evidence of his gay relationships and drug use came to light. The film was completed a week or so before that happened, and Pelosi chose not to revisit the interviews to make points on evangelical hypocrisy, though she might have…

Still, the parts of the film that were most troubling were not about abortion or gay marriage or even the incredibly pathetic attacks on evolution. Rather, it was the willingness of evangelicals, young and old, to accept as figurative and literal gospel anything and everything fed to them by authority figures. They appear as automatons, unable or unwilling to question the pronouncements of their leaders.

Also difficult to watch were those who, despite having elected a born-again president and established giant radio and TV networks and a political power base second to none, still feel they are a persecuted minority. If Pelosi's intent is to show that evangelical faith suffocates reason, the point is well-made.

Well said!

Doomsday Clock reads 5 minutes to midnight

The caretakers of the well-known Doomsday Clock on Wednesday moved its symbolic hands two minutes closer to midnight — citing nuclear proliferation and, for the first time, global warming.

The Doomsday Clock is a symbolic clockface maintained since 1947 by the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago. It uses the analogy of the human race being at a time that is "minutes to midnight" where midnight represents destruction by nuclear war.

It was the fourth time since the end of the Cold War that the clock has ticked forward, this time from 11:53 to 11:55, amid fears over what scientists are describing as “a second nuclear age” prompted largely by atomic standoffs with Iran and North Korea…

“As scientists, we understand the dangers of nuclear weapons and their devastating effects, and we are learning how human activities and technologies are affecting climate systems in ways that may forever change life on Earth,” said BAS member Stephen Hawking, the renowned cosmologist and mathematician.

“As citizens of the world, we have a duty to alert the public to the unnecessary risks that we live with every day, and to the perils we foresee if governments and societies do not take action now to render nuclear weapons obsolete and to prevent further climate change.”…

Since it was set to seven minutes to midnight in 1947, the hand has been moved 18 times, including Wednesday’s move.

It came closest to midnight — just two minutes away — in 1953, following the successful test of a hydrogen bomb by the United States. It has been as far away as 17 minutes, set there in 1991 following the demise of the Soviet Union.

Darfur awareness

Most of us have heard the name Darfur but we aren’t quite sure where it is and what’s really going on there. Genocide? Displaced refugees? Rape? Murder? Huh?

Well here’s one way you can help and become a little more aware at the same time. Graphic artist Milton Glaser (he’s the dude who created the iconic “I LOVE NY” design) has teamed up with the International Rescue Committee to create a very special posters whose sale benefit the organization. It’s only $35, so if you have the cash, why not? Or download a free screensaver and read up on the crisis at theIRC.com.

"With more than 2 million people driven from their homes, Darfur has been described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Despite the signing of the Darfur Peace Agreement in May 2006, fighting is increasing across the region and the people of Darfur are suffering violence, atrocities and abduction. Amid desperate conditions, the International Rescue Committee delivers lifesaving aid, protects women and girls, and speaks out for global action on behalf of the Sudanese people."

Hey There Lonely Boy

China is facing a crisis -- not enough women. The country's major gender imbalance means that in the very near future there will be a shortage of wives which means a real threat to social stability. I don’t know why this story had me a bit giddy. I guess that’s my angry feminist side sticking up my middle finger and yelling out “That’s what you get when you choose to abort all your baby girls! Now suck it!” Ok, maybe it’s not all their fault, seeing as how the government only allows families one child, and seeing as how most traditional cultures value male heirs (god knows why) over females. But still, I feel somewhat justified. Maybe that'll learn ya.

China will have 30 million more men of marriageable age than women in less than 15 years as a gender imbalance resulting from the country’s tough one-child policy becomes more pronounced, state media reported Friday.

The tens of millions of men who will not be able to find a wife could also lead to social instability problems, the China Daily said in a front-page report.

China imposed strict population controls in the 1970s to limit growth of its huge population, but one side effect has been a jump in gender selection of babies. Traditional preferences for a son mean some women abort their baby if an early term sonogram shows it is a girl.

Discrimination against the female sex remains the primary cause of China’s growing gender imbalance,” Liu Bohong, vice director of the women studies institute under the All-China Women’s Federation, was quoted as saying in a report from the State Population and Family Planning Commission.

Sex selective abortion is prohibited but the government says the practice remains widespread, especially in rural areas…

UPDATE 1/22/06

China sounded the alarm over the country's growing gender imbalance on Monday, vowing to improve protection of infant girls and ratchet up punishment for those who perform abortions based on the sex of the baby...

Abortions to select a child's gender are not currently outlawed. However, a family planning regulation prohibits the practice except for medical reasons. People who perform illegal scans or abortions face a minimum fine of 10,000 yuan ($1,255) or more based on their earnings from the procedure.

Pay It Forward Jerk-Ass

Well the holiday season is over and the good cheer might be gone with it but here's an article from the NY Times Magazine about positive psychology. It's quite a bit more than the concept of positive reinforcement you might have heard about in Psychology 101 as it's really best described as asking the question of "what [makes] life worth living."

The focus of Kashdan’s class that day was the distinction between feeling good, which according to positive psychologists only creates a hunger for more pleasure — they call this syndrome the hedonic treadmill — and doing good, which can lead to lasting happiness. The students had been asked first to do something that gave them pleasure and then to perform an act of selfless kindness. They approached the first part of the assignment eagerly. One student recounted having sex with her boyfriend 30 feet underwater while scuba diving. Another said he “went to Coastal Flats and got hammered.” A third attended a Nascar race in North Carolina, smoked, drank and had sex. Some also watched favorite TV shows; others chatted with friends.

When it came time to talk about the second part of the assignment, the students were excited, too. The Nascar attendee, who was afraid of needles, gave blood. Another collected clothes from family members and donated them to a shelter for battered women. The boy who had gotten hammered bought a homeless person a 12-pack of “Natty Ice” at a 7-Eleven, wondering if it was the right thing to do. A fourth gave her waiter at Denny’s a $50 tip.

It’s January in NY and I’m wearing a tube top

I’m scared, I’m really scared. I woke up this morning to the news that tomorrow’s temperatures will reach the high 60s. It’s January in New York and I’m sweating. Scientists from around the world are confirming everyone’s suspicions, that this is not normal.

Britain's Meteorological Office said there was a 60 percent probability that 2007 would break the record set by 1998, which was 1.20 degrees over the long-term average.

"This new information represents another warning that climate change is happening around the world," the office said.

The reason for the forecast is mostly due to El Nino, a cyclical warming trend now under way in the Pacific Ocean. The event occurs irregularly — the last one happened in 2002 — and typically leads to increased temperatures worldwide.

While this year's El Nino is not as strong as it was in 1997 and 1998, its combination with the steady increase of temperatures due to global warming from human activity may be enough to break the Earth's temperature record, said Phil Jones, the director of the Climatic Research unit at the University of East Anglia.

"Because of the warming due to greenhouse gases, even a moderate warming event is enough to push the global temperatures over the top," he said.

"El Nino is an independent variable," he said. "But the underlying trends in the warming of the Earth is almost certainly due to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere."…

In related news, A giant ice shelf the size of 11,000 football fields has snapped free from Canada's Arctic, scientists said.

The mass of ice broke clear 16 months ago from the coast of Ellesmere Island, about 800 kilometers (497 miles) south of the North Pole, but no one was present to see it in Canada's remote north.

Scientists using satellite images later noticed that it became a newly formed ice island in just an hour and left a trail of icy boulders floating in its wake. (Watch the satellite images that clued in ice watchers)…

"This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the Canadian North that have been in place for many thousands of years. We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead," Vincent said Thursday.

In 10 years of working in the region he has never seen such a dramatic loss of sea ice, he said…

Scientists say it is the largest event of its kind in Canada in 30 years and point their fingers at climate change as a major contributing factor.

"It is consistent with climate change," Vincent said, adding that the remaining ice shelves are 90 percent smaller than when they were first discovered in 1906…

Al Gore, as always, you were right...

Happy New Year America, here is your bill so far

Cost of the Iraq War to date:

- 4 Years

- 3,000 + American Soldiers dead

- 46,880 + American Soldiers wounded

- UNKNOWN Iraqis dead (Iraqi government believes it to be 16,273 civilians)

- $355,094,374,000 taxpayer’s cost and rising

The Season of Giving

Here's an informative and interesting read from the NY Times Magazine about charitable giving (and a lot more) by Peter Singer, a professor of bioethics at Princeton University. A lot of introspective questions came to mind while reading this article, especially since the holiday season is upon us:

• Am I a good person?
• What could I do to improve the world around me?
• Should I really spend another $60 on yet another Xbox 360 game?
• How does social responsibility extend past the immediate future and outside of my immediate community?
  

This article brings up some really interesting points about the responsibility of individuals to contribute to charity, how the U.S. government should be allocating foreign development aid, and just what motivates us as human beings. Quote from Singer here:

In any case, even if we were to grant that people deserve every dollar they earn, that doesn’t answer the question of what they should do with it. We might say that they have a right to spend it on lavish parties, private jets and luxury yachts, or, for that matter, to flush it down the toilet. But we could still think that for them to do these things while others die from easily preventable diseases is wrong. In an article I wrote more than three decades ago, at the time of a humanitarian emergency in what is now Bangladesh, I used the example of walking by a shallow pond and seeing a small child who has fallen in and appears to be in danger of drowning. Even though we did nothing to cause the child to fall into the pond, almost everyone agrees that if we can save the child at minimal inconvenience or trouble to ourselves, we ought to do so. Anything else would be callous, indecent and, in a word, wrong. The fact that in rescuing the child we may, for example, ruin a new pair of shoes is not a good reason for allowing the child to drown. Similarly if for the cost of a pair of shoes we can contribute to a health program in a developing country that stands a good chance of saving the life of a child, we ought to do so.

Remember that we can easily help without even giving money by supporting organizations such as one.org

Gender bias 'increases poverty'

Inequality at home between men and women leads to poorer health for the children and greater poverty for the family, says a new study.

The UN children's agency, Unicef, found that where women are excluded from family decisions, children are more likely to be under-nourished...

Unicef surveyed family decision-making in 30 countries around the world. Their chief finding is that equality between men and women is essential to lowering poverty and improving health, especially of children, in developing countries...

For example, in Ivory Coast and Ghana, it was discovered that when women's income increased for whatever reason, they spent the extra on more food for the family, whereas an increase in men's income made no significant difference, Unicef said.
In many households across the developing world, Unicef found that women are excluded from health-related decisions.

Children in these families are more likely to be undernourished as the family spends less on food, Unicef said.

Gender equality in family decision-making in South Asia would lead to 13.4m fewer malnourished children, a 13% reduction, the report said...

Perhaps the old adage is true; if we ruled the world maybe the world would be a better place.

Fart Bomb Grounds Plane Mid-Air

An American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing Monday morning after a passenger lit a match to disguise the scent of flatulence, authorities said.

The Dallas-bound flight was diverted to Nashville after several passengers reported smelling burning sulfur from the matches, said Lynne Lowrance, spokeswoman for the Nashville International Airport Authority. All 99 passengers and five crew members were taken off and screened while the plane was searched and luggage was screened.

The FBI questioned a passenger who admitted she struck the matches in an attempt to conceal a "body odor," Lowrance said. She had an unspecified medical condition, authorities said [yea, gas!]…

The flight took off again, but the woman was not allowed back on the plane. The woman, who was not identified, was not charged in the incident.

Rape encourages “Free Sex”?

Due to worldwide pressure, Pakistan is amending its law to exclude rape under Sharia law (which deals with many aspects of day-to-day life, including politics, economics, banking, business law, contract law, sexuality, and social issues).

If your not familiar with the Sharia court system, read about Mukhtar Mai, who was gang raped by orders of the Punjab village council as retribution for her brother’s adultery (or what we in the west call a date.)

Until now, rape cases were dealt with in Sharia courts. Victims had to have four male witnesses to the crime - if not, they faced prosecution for adultery.

However, Pakistan's opposition Islamic alliance, the MMA, is threatening country-wide protests over amendments to the country's rape laws.

The MMA parties boycotted the vote, saying the bill encouraged "free sex".

They also accuse President Musharraf of pleasing foreign powers.

“This bill has been brought under the directions of the United States and implemented by their representative in Pakistan, General Musharraf," Liaquat Baloch, an MMA leader, was quoted by AFP news agency as saying….

Adultery, which has always been illegal, will still be tried by both civil and Sharia courts, depending on which system the complainant chooses.

Religious parties called the new legislation "a harbinger of lewdness and indecency in the country", and against the strictures of the Koran and Sharia law.

Orthodox and Hasidic Jews have a saying I often hear here in Brooklyn, “Thank God I was born a man.” Well I’m modifying it to “Thank God I was born in the civilized world.” It’s abhorrent to equate a forcible violation of one’s body to adultery.

Why Not Wiccan?

The widows of two combat veterans sued the government Monday for not allowing Wiccan symbols on their husbands' military headstones.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs allows military families to choose any of 38 authorized headstone images. The list includes commonly recognized symbols for Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism, as well as those for smaller religions such as Sufism Reoriented, Eckiankar and the Japanese faith Seicho-No-Ie.

The Wiccan pentacle, a five-pointed star surrounded by a circle, is not on the list, an omission that the widows say is unconstitutional.

The lawsuit was filed by Roberta Stewart, whose husband, Nevada National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart, was killed in combat in Afghanistan last year, and Karen DePolito, whose husband, Jerome Birnbaum, is a Korean War veteran who died last year.

Wiccans worship the Earth and believe they must give to the community. Some consider themselves "white" or good witches, pagans or neo-pagans. Approximately 1,800 active-duty service members identify themselves as Wiccans, according to 2005 Defense Department statistics…

Obviously, this is a prejudice of our Judeo-Christian majority that is still completely ignorant about so-called pagan religions. People who worship the earth or several gods are not-necessarily agents of the dark lord. For God’s sake, Scientology is a recognized religion! Here we have a belief in which millions of followers actually think that life started on this planet when Zenu, an alien overlord, came to this planet to destroy the evil Thetins by tossing them in a volcano of burning lava only to have them resurface on earth and inhabit our souls. (DON’T SUE US TOM CRUISE; I GOT MY FACTS FROM SOUTH PARK.) Hey why not, most religious beliefs sound nutty if your not a follower.

CONGRATULATIONS!

11/9/06 UPDATE:
It's official, Democrats take control of the Senate 50 to 49. Now let's see if we can turn this sinking ship back around. Don't let us down Dems!

11/8/06 UPDATE:
The people have spoken! Mr. Rumsfeld is finally stepping down as Defense Secretary.

"The timing is right for new leadership at the Pentagon," Bush said at the White House Wednesday afternoon.

Rumsfeld has been heavily criticized for his policies in Iraq, and exit polls taken during Tuesday's midterm election, seen by some as a referendum on Bush and his administration, showed strong voter dissatisfaction -- 57 percent -- with the Iraq war.

"I recognize that many Americans voted last night to register their displeasure with the lack of progress being made" in Iraq, Bush said

Source: nytimes.com

VOTE OR DIE MOTHER F$@&%!

People, this is am important one. If you are dissatisfied with the way your country is being run and can't wait another two years for Bush to be ousted, then here is your chance to do something about it.

We have a really good chance of changing the Republican landscape of our government so take 2 minutes out of your day tomorrow and VOTE!

Click here if you need more information about your local candidates or who's running in your district.

It’s time to high-tail it out of there!

The White House said Monday that President Bush was no longer using the phrase "stay the course"” when speaking about the Iraq war, in a new effort to emphasize flexibility in the face of some of the bloodiest violence there since the 2003 invasion... [Hey, check out my last article below.]

Mr. Bush used the slogan in a stump speech on Aug. 31, but has not repeated it for some time. Still, Mr. Snow's pronouncement was a stark example of the complicated line the White House is walking this election year in trying to tag Democrats as wanting to "cut and run"” from Iraq, without itself appearing wedded to unsuccessful tactics there. [Hmm, you think?]

In a related note:

America'’s top military and civilian officials in Iraq said today that the Baghdad government has agreed to a timetable for a series of milestones to be pursued in the coming year, including cracking down on Shiite militias, completing a "national compact"” between competing political groups, persuading Sunni insurgents to lay down their arms and settling contentious issues like the division of oil revenues...

Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the senior American military commander in Iraq, said that at their current rate of development, in 12 to 18 months the Iraqi security forces "“will emerge as the dominant force in Iraq, possibly with some American support."...

Do you feel it? It's time for the "I Told You So's."