NAVY SEAL BICKLE CAUGHT RED-HANDED IN STOLEN ARMS SCANDAL

This is especially a shame because to me, a Navy Seal is somewhere between Superman, Captain America, and GI Joe...the ULTIMATE powerhouse and delivery boys for brute force needed at times to keep our nation...and maybe even the world a little safer. Damn-it man! Why did ya have to tarnish your outfit's image? I know there is a lot I know nothing about--and I understand the urge to take advantage of a money-making opportunity (since we all know about the "riches" bestowed upon you by our tight-wad government for risking your life in the name of America's safety. )...but your a damn-near super hero, man!! A NAVY SEAL! Fuck! Ya let us down--but so what? The world keeps spinning. I hope they go easy on you for once in your professional military career. Good Luck, Mr. Bickle!
November 5, 2010 8:28 p.m. EDT
FROM CNN

Nicholas Bickle appeared before a judge in San Diego, California, on Friday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Navy SEAL is accused of trying to sell powerful weapons fresh off Iraqi battlefields
• SEAL Nicholas Bickle due to appear in court in San Diego, California
• Agents got information from an informant, the complaint indicates
• SEALs are supposed to pass same strict checks entering U.S. as other troops, officials say

Washington (CNN) -- The arrest of a Navy SEAL accused of trying to sell arms smuggled from Iraq or Afghanistan has raised questions about how he managed to get 80 high-powered weapons into the U.S. through military transport.
The questions were buzzing Friday inside the ranks of the U.S. military after an accusation that a Navy SEAL, one of America's elite warriors, was at the center of a weapons smuggling ring.
The 18-page criminal complaint from the U.S. attorney's office in Las Vegas, Nevada, reads like a paperback thriller -- full of machine guns, cash, threats and bravado, a lot of it told to federal agents by a cooperative informant who had been facing domestic battery and robbery charges.
The AK-47 rifles are described as fresh off the battlefield, marked with the Arabic letter that signifies they were part of the Iraqi Army arsenal -- or, as one of the alleged conspirators said: "There is still Iraqi sand in this [expletive]."
The Navy SEAL is identified as Nicholas Bickle. He talked tough, according to the complaint.
"If you ever [expletive] with me you know who we are. We're the government, we'll catch you," he told one person.
From what little information could be gleaned from the Pentagon and Bickle's Naval Special Warfare Command in San Diego, California, he's 33 years old, enlisted in 2004, and pinned on the SEALs' trident insignia in 2005. Bickle deployed twice to Iraq, according to Kate Wallace, a spokeswoman at Naval Special Warfare Command.
Bickle appeared in a San Diego federal court Friday.
The military rules are clear: Everyone gets searched before heading home from deployment. Military screeners are trained by Customs and Border Protection officials and they screen the people, the luggage, the gear and the cargo, according to Wallace.
"Our special forces members don't have special waivers for customs inspections. They're subject to all the same rules and restrictions as anyone else in uniform," said Wallace.
But the rules seem to bend a little for special operations forces.
"The regular guys go through a more robust search, but it's only a cursory search for special forces guys," one person with insider knowledge of military procedures told Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence,
A special forces team might travel with far more equipment, including classified hardware, have a shorter deployment, and might arrive and leave on a far different and less formal schedule than regular troops.
Rank-and-file military get even more rigorous treatment than civilians might face in an airport line: Put the duffel on the conveyor belt, have it X-rayed, and then dump the contents out on a table and have them picked over. And then pack it up and have it X-rayed again before heading to the plane and home.
Outside, before troops get to the military screeners, there are so-called "Amnesty Boxes," a last chance for a military man or woman who might "forget" to hand in that battlefield souvenir or might have an extra live round in a pocket. They can drop items in the box with no questions asked. And the rules are strict about not bringing back weapons, apart from those assigned and supplied, which are placed in the aircraft hold.
"To bring any kind of war trophies back, you have to go through a process," Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said Friday. Asked what might follow the arrest of Bickle, Lapan would only say, "Too soon to tell."
There are cases of troops taking unauthorized equipment from the battlefield, but almost all of those involve smuggling items home as personal souvenirs, according to the Defense official.
"This seems to go way beyond that. We have dangerous gangs operating just over that Southwest border, and here we have a SEAL arming the very guys we could be fighting," the Defense official said.
The Naval Special Warfare Command is cooperating with federal officials, but it is not conducting its own investigation into how Bickle allegedly smuggled in all the weapons as a SEAL.

"If it's determined we need to reassess procedures in place to make sure our members are not transporting items stateside, then we'll certainly do that," Wallace said.

Senior N.A.D. News Wire Editor Flexes His America Muscles

By ADAM DOLIN,
News Wire Editor, Guest Contributor, & Ronin

 I see a country that is no longer split. No longer "bi-partisan." A country that has no solutions...only complaints. A country that will so passionately preach those complaints that they will go to the reaches of saying things like "the problem with this economy is that we have gotten away from being a catholic nation. If you want to fix the economy, listen to our forefathers who created this land as a catholic nation, and return it to that state."
I see the 50+ responses to that sort of a post, and the extreme belief in it. I look at the other posts that these people submit. I see the glenn beck clips. I see less of them, but i also see almost as many people that subscribe to articles with the title "Right-wing extremism may be on rise, report says."
Report says...REPORT FUCKING SAYS??? Who has the right to report, and why are there so many extremists that follow them?

The person that posted the article about us needing religion to fix our economy happens to be a very dear friend of mine. He posts Glenn Beck's "news cast" on a daily basis. Sometimes an hourly basis...and unfortunately, I can't say any different for the other side.

He is the same person that continuously posts messages (and gets very heated responses) about the hate crimes and "terrorism" that has been caused by religious extremists from the middle east...and I would like to pose a question to every american soul that has a BRAIN OF THEIR OWN.

Where did those extremists that blew your shit up start coming up with those ideas? Was it the hatred of your own personal feeling of superiority? Was it the hatred of what America is becoming? Did it start from one person who was capable of getting up on a podium and preaching to a group of 100 people that what they believe is right? Was it that person's ability to speak the way that I am right now?

Well let me pose one more question...from an editor to the president of the national affairs desk......what happens when those other 100 people that post their affirmation of what the "leader" believes, continue to expose themselves to the same media that he does? What happens when those same uneducated people, who are just looking for something powerful to latch onto decide to do something about it? What happens when they decide that because they don't know anything whatsoever, and don't care about that fact, that they will start subscribing to the same media that their "leader" does. And what are the consequences that this world will suffer when they decide to act on it the same way that the extremists in the middle east that they preach about did?

Are we any different than a middle eastern between the ages of 17-34 if we go and blow up one of their buildings? Why? Because we are american?

The second most disturbing thing about this problem is that those middle eastern males between the ages of 17-34 know what they are talking about. The most disturbing thing about this subject, is that clearly...american males that preach this way don't. They are simply fed powerful propaganda and "news reports" from people like john stewart and glenn beck. Not to say that john stewart and glenn beck aren't right about some of the things that they say. But it becomes a problem when you have a nation of morons who gather their information from the biggest extremist in the country. It becomes and even bigger problem when they start preaching the same bullshit that they hear. It becomes a catastrophy when those people build a big enough netword of people that don't know what else to latch onto because they are too lazy to think for themselves. And it becomes the end of the world when they begin to act on it.

So in honor of The Woody Creek chapter 11, I am reaching out to anyone that is in the age group of americans that will be the future of our world, AND are capable of thinking AND acting for themselves.

I am asking for those people who have their specific talents, and are passionate enough about using their brain for a greater good. Not passionate about using their amazing talents for negativity. I am asking for the support of people like you, to realize that YOU CAN THINK FOR YOURSELF. You can be thankful for what you have. You can find the positive in a negative situation. I am simply asking that you do that.

With all of the negatives that our society exposes us to, our minds are trained to pick a side. Once you've picked your side, whether you have any clue about what you are talking about or not...unfortunately your side is made up.

But what if there was a side in the middle. A side that tries to find the good in life, and cultivate it. Rather than exposing as many people as you can with your talents to the negatives in our society, why not be an innovator? Why not get the public to realize the positives. And what happens when a nation of extreme negativists turn into a nation of people that want to feel happy again?

I need people like you Matt. I need people like me, and people like brian lapins, and people like llonatan axle, and people like Tal Ben-Shahar, and Martin Seligman. I have submitted these same ideas to Dr. Seligman (president of the American Psychology Association and National Positive Psychology Association). And I WILL get a response. And I will not only get a response, I am ready to make a difference in this world. Because it needs people that are willing to start a website called the "national affairs desk." And it needs people that are willing to find the positive in a society filled with greed, finger pointing, and ultimately...............finish that sentance yourself.

I will be a poster boy. I have created the connections to be a poster boy. I will get up on stage and I will tell the public that they are MISGUIDED!

But I need minds like yours.

So thankyou for reading my soap-box message board post. If you would be so kind as to post it on your web-site, it would be much appreciated. But this society will end if all we have are two groups of people, or three groups of people, or four groups, or a world of people that are only capable of finding things that are wrong with the world, and never anything that is right, or a solution to their problems. We will crumble as a planet, not just as a nation, if all we are capable of focusing on are the things that are already destroying us. We have focused on that long enough. It is time for a new era. A new era of positive thought. An era of thought that will move us FORWARD, instead of dwelling on why we are moving backwards.

I have an attorney, an investment banker, a college professor with a PHD in positive psychology, a close friend who literally aced his LSAT, a brother with an MBA and 4 other BA's in business, accounting, statistics, and valuation. I have a strangle hold on the insurance industry, and am now licensed in every state in the country to sell not only what our people NEED as far as insurance goes, but also what they NEED as far as investment, and life insurance go. I have the capability now to show the people our age, who have no idea what to think, but are never the less subject to having their thoughts controlled...ways to counter act the fact that our generation will not have social security. I am licensed in every state of the US to sell insurance, banking products, and securities of every kind, and I have the contacts to start a revolution of people that WANT to be educated. The only reason they aren't is because the generation before us did such a good job with their generation that they didn't take the time to teach us how to do the same thing.
So I guess this is my form of an extremist post. I am extreme in the way of saying fuck you to all the close minded morons, who make opinions that are SO strong, based on nothing but the words of a glenn beck.
Please feel free to pass this message on to anybody who has an open mind, and has been misguided to this point in their lives. Because we are at a point where either the people like you and I will educate our world...or the uneducated will destroy it.

By National Affairs Desk Syndicate Senior Editor,
ADAM DOLIN

Obama Administration Lifts Deep-Water Drilling Moratorium

By Tom Cohen, CNN

October 12, 2010 4:54 p.m. EDT

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued the moratorium in May, which was overturned, then issued a second ban in June.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Gibbs denies any political reason for timing of the decision
• Bromwich expects some permits for new drilling this year
• Salazar announces conditions for resumed drilling
• Moratorium was declared after the Gulf oil spill disaster

Washington (CNN) -- The Obama administration is lifting the moratorium on deep-water oil drilling -- put in place after the Gulf oil spill disaster -- for operators who comply with tough new rules and regulations, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Tuesday.
"There will always be risks associated with deep-water drilling," Salazar said. "We have reached a point where we have significantly reduced those risks."
The six-month moratorium was first issued by Salazar in May after the April 20 explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 people and triggered one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. An estimated 4.9 million barrels (206 million gallons) of oil gushed into the Gulf before the broken well, 5,000 feet below the surface, was capped.
Salazar's initial moratorium was overturned by a federal judge whose ruling was upheld by an appeals court. The interior secretary then issued a second ban in June that was scheduled to expire in November.
Critics of the ban, including Republican leaders, Gulf state officials and Gulf Coast residents, said it would only hurt oil and gas workers in the already hard-hit coastal communities, where hundreds of jobs were lost because of the disaster.
Environmental groups and other supporters of the moratorium argued it was necessary due to a lack of effective regulation of deep-water drilling that allowed the Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent spill to occur.
Tuesday's decision came three weeks before congressional elections in which Democrats are expected to lose seats in both chambers, and possibly lose control of the House. Asked if the move was politically motivated to help Gulf state candidates in tough races, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said it was based on the completion of a proper policy review.
"This is a very deliberative policy process," Gibbs said. "It puts in place some important safety steps to ensure that when it is done again, it is done safely."
Salazar said the moratorium provided time to make sure similar accidents involving a failed piece of equipment called a blowout preventer wouldn't occur, and that rig operators were prepared to deal with worst-case scenarios if it did happen.
Under the new requirements, operators must show that their proposed development and exploration plans can deal with potential blowouts and undergo detailed inspections and design reviews of blowout preventers by independent third parties, said Michael Bromwich, the new head of the federal agency that oversees offshore oil drilling.
Bromwich said it might take time for companies to come into full compliance, but he expected some permits for resumed drilling to be approved by the end of the year.
"We will not approve permits without vital supplemental information required by the rules," said Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.
Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, a critic of the moratorium, called Tuesday's announcement a good first step but said more was needed to help the region's oil and gas industry get back to work.
"This means that the administration must continue to accelerate the granting of permits in shallow and deep water, and provide greater certainty about the rules and regulations industry must meet," Landrieu said in a statement.
Landrieu has blocked Senate consideration of President Barack Obama's nomination of Jacob Lew to become the new director of the White House Office of Management and Budget to protest the moratorium. Her statement said she would study the situation in coming weeks before deciding whether to lift her hold on the nomination when the Senate returns from recess after the November 2 congressional elections.
Gibbs told reporters that the Lew nomination was unrelated to the oil spill issue and he criticized Landrieu for playing politics.
"We have said from the beginning that the hold was unwarranted and outrageous," he said.
The chairman of the House Energy and Environment subcommittee, Democratic Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, praised the moratorium as a necessary step to instill safety in the drilling industry.
"This deepwater drilling suspension was always about keeping the Gulf workers and waters safe from another oil spill, and it has been effective in doing so," Markey said in a statement. "The new rules that the Interior Department has issued will help ensure that if oil companies are going to drill ultra-deep, they are doing so in a manner that is ultra-safe."
Environmental groups questioned if enough had been done to prevent another rig explosion and spills like the one that took oil giant BP and the government months to contain.
"Today's actions are premature," said a statement from Peter Lehner, executive director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The difficult clean-up process in the Gulf has taught us prevention is key. To ensure a disaster like this never happens again, we must know what caused it in the first place. We're still waiting for that answer and until we get it -- the moratorium should remain in place."
David Guest, an attorney for Earthjustice, said it was "surprising the federal government thinks it has so quickly resolved all the problems that contributed to the spill."
"We learned from this spill that we have only a tiny fraction of what's necessary to control deep water oil spills," Guest said in a statement. "While we've now got some new regulations that address technology and safety, the federal government still hasn't come up with any new regulations addressing oil spill response. We still don't have the equipment or technology to control or contain the oil from a major blowout in the Gulf."
However, Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana said the moratorium should have been lifted sooner, and that he now worried that "severe bottlenecks in the federal permit review process have resulted in a de facto moratorium for shallow water drilling,"
The moratorium affected 36 operators, half of which were able to continue some level of work such as helping to dig relief tunnels that capped the broken well, Salazar said. Lifting the moratorium means applications for 18 exploratory wells can again move forward, providing they comply with the tougher new regulations and rules, he said.

"The policy position we've articulated today is that we're open for business," Salazar said. "We will be taking applications for drilling in the deep water and we'll be processing those applications under the road map ... created in the last six months."

Mobster "Shocks Us All" By Finding Loophole To Escape Prison Time

(Reuters/ National Affairs Desk) -SICILY - A court in Sicily has ruled that an accused Mafioso can be put under house arrest because he is too fat for any Italian jail. Regardless of accommodations offered, the only "reasonable" plan was to simply send the hardened criminal home so he could be comfortable.

Salvatore Ferranti, who weighs 210 kg (462 pounds), was allowed to go home after spending six months in four Italian prisons, his lawyer told Reuters, confirming a local newspaper report.

Guards at the first two prisons said they constantly needed to help Ferranti, 36, get dressed and undressed, move about and go to the bathroom.

"If we refused to aid him, we would have been stuck cleaning up all his [feces]," Said one of the guards. "...which there was an enormous amount of. It was amazing because he was only given two plain sandwiches a day."

Guards at other prisons said there was no bed big enough for him, that he could not get through the bathroom door, and that they would be at a loss if he had to be taken to a hospital in an emergency.

Ferranti was accused of being a member of the Mafia clan once headed by Salvatore Lo Piccolo, the "boss of bosses" arrested last November.

Mob Lawyer Raffaele Bonsignore filed a motion with a court in Palermo to release him under house arrest because he suffered from "grave obesity", calling it "a pathology incompatible with prison".

"Just because he is a drug dealing, bank-heisting murderer and criminal mastermind is no justification for him needing to be uncomfortable in a jail cell. Home is where he belongs. And he can also eat what he likes there as well, which he will enjoy.".

(reporting by Philip Pullell) (with comical addition from the NADNW)

"EYES WIDE SHUT PARTIES REAL!!"

I know it's not current events but I almost fell on the floor when I saw this. For those of you who haven't seen the film...its no use--just go watch it. This is an advertisement for a "company" that coordinates similar parties around the world. I have researched them and yes, they are REAL. They have hosted a over a dozen of these parties and still, no one has video or comments on them. Could this be a recruiting front for an actual secret society?


Here is a clip from the movie...a scene a could never see too many times.

Parents sue NYC over handling of son's brain ...

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK, N.Y. - A couple are suing New York City after learning that their dead son's brain was on display at a city morgue.

Jesse Shipley was 17 when he died in a car crash in 2005.

Andre and Korisha Shipley, of the New York City borough of Staten Island, say they had no idea his brain was removed during an autopsy until some of the teen's classmates at Port Richmond High School spotted it floating in a jar on a field trip.

After the incident, the city returned the brain and the family disinterred their son from a cemetery so they could bury him with the missing organ.

A city doctor said the brain had been kept for additional tests related to the autopsy.

A city lawyer says officials are "evaluating our legal options" for resolving the case.

Stephen J. Cannell, prolific TV writer and producer, dies at 69

By FRAZIER MOORE [AP]

Stephen J. Cannell, the voracious writer-producer of dozens of series that included TV favorites "The Rockford Files," "The A-Team" and "The Commish," has died at age 69.

Cannell passed away at his home in Pasadena, Calif., on Thursday night from complications associated with melanoma, his family said in a statement on Friday.

During three decades as an independent producer, he distinguished himself as a rangy, outgoing chap with a trim beard who was generally identified with action dramas full of squealing tires and tough guys trading punches.

But his range was greater than for which he was given credit. "Tenspeed and Brown Shoe" was a clever detective drama starring Ben Vereen and a then-unknown Jeff Goldblum in 1980. "Profit" was a shocking saga of a psycho businessman that was unforgettable to the few viewers who saw it: Fox pulled the plug after just four episodes in 1996. With "Wiseguy" (1987-90), Cannell chilled viewers with a film-noir descent into the underworld that predated "The Sopranos" by more than a decade.

"The Rockford Files," of course, became an Emmy-winning TV classic following the misadventures of its hapless ex-con private eye played by James Garner.

"People say, 'How can the guy who did "Wiseguy" do "The A-Team"?' I don't know," said Cannell in an interview with The Associated Press in 1993. "But I do know it's easier to think of me simply as the guy who wrote 'The A-Team.' So they do."

During his TV heyday, Cannell became familiar to viewers from the ID that followed each of his shows: He was seen in his office typing on his Selectric before blithely ripping a sheet of paper from the typewriter carriage, whereupon it morphed into the C-shaped logo of Cannell Entertainment Inc.

That was all the idea of his wife, Marcia, he said, and it "appealed to my sense of hooey. ... I'm a ham."

He was also an occasional actor, most recently with a recurring role on ABC-TV's series, "Castle."

A third-generation Californian, Cannell (rhymes with "channel") got into television writing scripts for "It Takes a Thief," "Ironside" and "Adam 12." It was a remarkable career choice for someone who had suffered since childhood from severe dyslexia (he became an advocate for children and adults with learning disabilities).

Cannell in recent years had focused his attention on writing books. His 16th novel, "The Prostitute's Ball," will be released this month.

"I never thought of myself as being a brilliant writer, and still don't," he said in the AP interview. "I'm a populist. With 'Rockford,' we were never trying to be important. And as thoroughly hated as it was by critics, I loved 'The A-Team.' I thought it was really cool."

He was a producer of the feature film updating "The A-Team," released earlier this year.

Cannell is survived by Marcia, his wife of 46 years, their three children, and three grandchildren.

Tony Curtis || 1925 - 2010

(Reuters) - Tony Curtis, whose dark hair and good looks made him a Hollywood star well before he became an accomplished actor in hit movies such as "Some Like It Hot" and "The Sweet Smell of Success," died Wednesday night at his home in Nevada. He was 85.

Curtis, one of the biggest box-office stars of the 1950s and 1960s and one of Hollywood's busiest playboys, died of cardiac arrest at his home in Henderson, Nevada, outside Las Vegas, where a memorial service is planned for Monday.

The handsome leading man starred in more than 140 films including the classic gladiator drama "Spartacus" and he received an Academy Award nomination for 1958's "The Defiant Ones."

Curtis, who was born Bernard Schwartz in New York to poor Hungarian immigrants on June 3, 1925, got off to a rocky professional start. In one of his first major roles, playing an Arabian in "Son of Ali Baba" in 1952, he wrote in a memoir that he was roundly mocked for proclaiming in a thick New York accent, "Yonduh in the valley of the sun is my fadder's castle."

Still, Universal Pictures' star-making machinery and teen fan magazines managed to make him a heartthrob, and movie-goers loved his dark-haired sex appeal and impish grin.

Within a few years, Curtis had improved enough for Saturday Review magazine to call him "a rare phenomenon, an authentic screen personality who, through hard work, has made himself into an actor of considerable subtlety and some breadth."

Two of his most enduring performances came in "Some Like It Hot" as he teamed with Jack Lemmon -- playing cross-dressers opposite Marilyn Monroe -- and "The Sweet Smell of Success," in which he played a fawning press agent.

His Oscar nomination was for "The Defiant Ones," playing a racist prison escapee chained to a black man played by Sidney Poitier. Other notable films included "Houdini," "Trapeze," "Operation Petticoat," "The Boston Strangler," "The Vikings" and "The Great Imposter."

When the leading movie roles dried up, Curtis struggled with cocaine and alcohol abuse. He eventually overcame those problems and transformed from leading man to character actor, taking roles on TV. He also turned to painting and art to fill his days.

"My father leaves behind a legacy of great performances in movies and in his paintings and assemblages," his daughter, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, said in a statement.

The actor's sixth wife, Jill Vandenberg, told celebrity news show Inside Edition that Curtis died peacefully in his sleep. "His heart survived many things that would have killed an ordinary man," she said. "This time his heart was ready to go."

In Hollywood, fans turned out on the Walk of Fame to lay flowers by Curtis' star.

BROOKLYN BORN

Curtis started acting after serving on a Navy submarine tender during World War Two. He was known to be demanding at the height of his stardom and television producer Lew Gallo called him "an impetuous child."

His fans were as fascinated by Curtis' private life as they were his movies. He was an inveterate womanizer whose girlfriends included Marilyn Monroe and Natalie Wood. The first of his six marriages was to actress Janet Leigh -- a union he later admitted was partially motivated by publicity value. After divorcing Leigh, he married Christine Kaufman, who was 17 years old when they met while filming "Taras Bulba."

Canadian-Iranian blogger jailed 19 years || By QMI Agency

A Canadian-Iranian blogger, sometimes referred to as the Blogfather for kick-starting blogging in Iran, has been sentenced to 19.5 years in prison.

Conservative Iranian news site Mashreghnews.ir reported Tuesday that Hossein Derakhshan, who ran the popular hoder.com blog for years, was convicted of collaborating with hostile governments, spreading propaganda against the Islamic state, spreading propaganda in favour of anti-revolutionary groups, insulting sacred beliefs and creating or managing corrupt and immoral websites.

His sentence, which can still be appealed, includes 19.5 years in prison and a ban from participating in any political or media activity for five years.

He must also return all funds he received through his blogging, which amounts to tens of thousands of dollars.

Derakhshan was arrested in 2008 and has been in prison ever since. His website is no longer active.

"We are deeply concerned about the news of this severe sentence. Our officials continue to seek confirmation of these reports from Tehran," Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said in a prepared statement Tuesday.

"If true, this is completely unacceptable and unjustifiable. Canada believes that no one should be punished anywhere for simply exercising one's inherent right to freedom of expression."

According to the foreign affairs department, Derakhshan's situation is made more complicated because of his dual citizenship, which Iran doesn't recognize.

Paris-based advocacy group Reporters Without Borders called for Derakhshan's release.

“Such a long jail term has never before been imposed on a blogger in Iran and is indicative of a desire to make an example out of Derakhshan,” the organization said in a statement.

“He is the victim of political rivalry within the government and the case against him was fabricated. We urge President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to intercede personally in order to obtain his release without delay.”

An online petition at Freetheblogfather.org is demanding his freedom. It was set up shortly after Derakhshan was arrested and currently boasts just over 4,900 signatures. A Facebook group with the same goal has just over 2,000 members.

In the meantime, the Canadian government is also monitoring the situation.

"We will continue to press the Iranian authorities on Mr. Derakhshan’s behalf and urge Iran to fully respect all of its human rights obligations, both in law and in practice," Cannon said.

Ottawa demands release of Iran’s ‘blogfather’

Sonia Verma

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

Published Tuesday, Sep. 28, 2010 8:47AM EDT

Ottawa is ratcheting up pressure on the Iranian government to release Hossein Derakhshan, the controversial Iranian-Canadian “blogfather” who was sentenced to 19½ years in prison by a revolutionary court.

“If true, this is completely unacceptable and unjustifiable,” Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lawrence Cannon said in a statement.

“Canada believes that no one should be punished anywhere for simply exercising one’s inherent right to freedom of expression,” he said, adding Canadian officials are still seeking consular access to Mr. Derakhshan, who is being held in a revolutionary guard jail within Iran’s notorious Evin prison complex.

Mr. Derakhshan, 35, is widely known by his online name “Hoder.” He was born in Iran, but moved to Canada and became a Canadian citizen in early adulthood. He is a staunch advocate of free expression in Iran, and became known as the “blogfather” of Iran’s on-line community for training pro-democracy advocates to blog and podcast in the late nineties. Later, he apologized for his dissenting views, and emerged as an unlikely supporter of the regime, at one point comparing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a modern-day Che Guevara.

So when the Iranian government invited him to travel to Iran in 2008, he accepted, thinking he would help his country reach out to the world, according to friends and family. Upon his arrival, however, another branch of the government arrested him.

On Tuesday, he was convicted of insulting Islamic thought and religious figures, managing obscene websites and co-operating with “enemy states” because he visited Israel five years ago. He was also ordered to pay the equivalent of approximately $45,000 in fines.

“It’s not as bad as a death sentence, but it’s an awful and really bad sentence for someone that’s only writing,” Mr. Derakhshan’s former wife, Marjan Alemi told CBC’s The Current.

“He went back thinking he could go back to Iran and help,” she added.

Ms. Alemi said Mr. Derakhshan has spent most of the two years preceding his trial in solitary confinement.

“He can’t exercise. He can’t have books. He can see his family for only five or 10 minutes a week,” Ms. Alemi said. Neither the family’s lawyer, nor any representative from the Canadian government were present at his trial.

While Mr. Derakhshan’s family has the right to appeal the ruling, they are not hopeful.

“He’s always very positive, but I don’t think anybody can keep strong for 19½ years,” his former wife said.

Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based advocacy group, issued a statement saying that “never has such a tough sentence been handed to a blogger in Iran.”

“This case, fabricated from start to finish, shows that part of the regime wants to make Hossein Derakhshan into an example.”

The group’s statement said Mr. Derakhshan’s sentence was due to “internal rivalries and struggles for influence inside the regime. We ask Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to intervene personally to free him as soon as possible.”

Some observers have drawn parallels between Mr. Derakhshan’s case and that of Maziar Bahari, an Iranian Canadian journalist who was imprisoned by the Iranian government for 118 days before he was released on bail last October, under pressure from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

So far, Mr. Derakhshan’s case has failed to ignite similar expressions of sympathy.

Mr. Cannon’s statement was the strongest issued yet: “We will continue to press the Iranian authorities on Mr. Derakhshan’s behalf and urge Iran to fully respect all of its human rights obligations, both in law and in practice,” it read.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bahari, who has returned to London where he is based as a correspondent with Newsweek magazine, is calling for the United Nations to intervene by assigning a human rights monitor to Iran.

“Hossein’s case is tragic, puzzling and mind-boggling,” Mr. Bahari said, noting Mr. Derakhshan’s support for the regime didn’t seem to mitigate the harshness of his sentence.

“This is a regime that’s treating its friends like that,” he said, “so you can imagine how it is treating its enemies.”

Amazing Computer Technology

What really freaks me out is that this video is nearly 3 years old. Still, it's a type of computer system I've never seen. I definitely want one!!  

Loose Change 2...The TRUTH Behind 9/11 Revealed!

THIS WILL MAKE YOU SICK. ANY OF YOU "THERE IS NO 9/11 CONSPIRACY" IDIOTS WILL THINK AGAIN IF YOU WATCH THIS DOCUMENTARY. Our government arranged this, paid for this, and covered it up the best they could. Why? Nearly $100 BILLION was lost in gold bullion and made in insurance money. I know a guy who will commit MURDER for $200 literally. I wonder what he or other like-minded sicko's would do for $100 Billion...surely kill some people!! Watch, learn and be amazed.

9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB. WATCH THIS VIDEO. Its as close to pfoof as you can have with out the CIA showing up at your door!!

WATCH IT DOWN LOAD IT SAVE IT AND SHOW IT TO EVERYONE YOU CAN!!!

Senate Bill s510 to Crush our American Basic Freedoms!

This is not something I wrote. My friend Simon P. texted me about some horrible new bill the government is trying to fuck us with. I did a couple hours of research and had to post this entry directly from another site (I hope this doesn't get me sued or kicked of blogger...)but I felt under the circumstances I didn't want to wait two weeks for me to come up with a polished piece. So here, in the words of a respectable journalist, are some fact you should know about why this bill will infringe upon our basic American rights. Please read on and email to others...

Senate Bill S510 (FDA Food Safety Modernization Act) Explained:


When I heard about Senate Bill s510 I was completely freaked out. The first thing I heard about it was that it makes it illegal to grow your own food. I immediately got on the phone to call my senator about how OUTRAGED I was and why was he planning on putting my grandma in jail for that cute little patch of cucumbers she grows for her canned pickles! What kind of man likes to put grandmas in JAIL HUH? In fact, I think I will just go down there and tell him what an asshole he is in person!! But then I regained some of my brain cells and remembered that MY senator probably didn’t write the bill and took a journey down the rabbit hole to see what I could find out about this bill.

The first thing I found out was it doesn’t make growing your own food at home and eating it yourself illegal. PHHHEWWWW!! Grandma’s pickles are SAFE!! Then I started actually reading what WAS in the bill.

You will probably think this bill is a good thing. Unless you are one of those tin foil hat wearing weirdos who think you need rights and freedoms. It might even be better than that wonderful piece of extistence we call the Patriot Act (Don’t you LOVE that one?)

A couple pertinent facts on the bill include:

The original bill no longer exists. The new S510 is only one part of an amendment they kept. (Kinda makes you wonder how bad the first one was huh?) It also is only in committee, which means the senate has been asked to consider it. Will they vote on it? Why yes of course, otherwise the senate doesn’t care about the children. Did I mention the bill is sponsored by congressman Dingell?

but here is why you should be mad as hell and just aren’t going to take it anymore:

If you trade or give your food away, or sell it at farmers markets, you are no longer considered growing for personal consumption which puts you in a category as a Community Supported Agriculture supplier, or so you forget what it actually means CSA’s for short. This is a whole world of difference because now your food has to be “traceable” That means if your neighbor little sally walker has a tummy ache, you need to be held accountable for giving her those bacteria laden zucchinis. What it really means is a drive to the freshly built State Agriculture Office, to talk to the ladies who got promoted from the DMV to fill out a stack of paperwork the size of War and Peace, pay a handy little “CSA Liscensing fee” plus all the taxes and stuff of course, agree to surprise inspections, OH, and don’t forget that dollar to the blabbity blabb fund. By the way would you like to register to vote sir?

So in other words you don’t grow it yourself, you probably aren’t going to get to eat it. Which is going to make you a pretty big ball of sad if you get most of your fruits and veggies from farmers markets. Is this going to be the end of organic farming? No probably not directly or in the near future but farmers who can afford to give away 50% of their profits to the government to implement this bill will probably not going to be living in your town. And because of the lack of farmers putting their heirloom seed grown produce out there, we will eventually see a decline in the amount of heirloom seeds available to the public. The worst part though is the bill will directly affect pet and animal feed manufacturers as well, which means higher feed costs for farmers, which means you ain’t makin chicken wings for the backyard barbecue buddy. It’s all hot dogs from here. We will probably still get hamburgers for a while, but eventually hamburgers will be the price of steak, steak will be the price of lobster, lobster will be filled with oil.

So the question now is how much do you love freedom? And vegetables.

PS there is a counter part in the house of representatives to this bill called H.R. 2749 I haven’t checked it out but it may be cause for a part 2 and s510 could cost Americans $825 billion in 2010 alone

Click here for an opportunity to send a letter opposing S.B. 510 as it is currently written.

References:

Click here to read the entire bill

• Congress Bill s510



• FAQ's About Bill s510 and ammendments

Posted via web from laughterandliberty’s posterous

LIARS!!

Here we will focus on some of the most blatant liars in modern times. This might even get turned into a regular NATIONAL AFFAIRS DESK LIVE weekly podcast...on with the lies!

Bush Caught Lying About 9/11

Around the Globe in 60 seconds...World News

OBAMA to Cut $17 B from Federal Budget

MAN Vs. THE OCEAN

I know it's not "news", but after you watch the video you'll see why I had to post it. People actually do this sort of thing? It was news to me! Get you trunks on! Real news coming shortly...come back won't you?

AIDS EPIDEMIC FINALLY ON DECLINE

Sub-Sahara Africa leads global decline in new HIV cases
Sculpture of an HIV ribbon The UN called for greater global investment in HIV/Aids prevention

Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are leading a global decline in new HIV infections, the UN has said.

UNAids said 22 countries in the world's worst affected region had seen a drop in new cases of more than 25%.

The fall was because of greater awareness and better use of preventative measures, it said.

But UNAids also noted that cases of HIV were increasing in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and among gay men in developed countries.

Michel Sidibe, UNAids executive director, said the world was making "real progress" towards achieving the sixth Millennium Development Goal (MDG6) of halting and reversing the spread of HIV/Aids by 2015.

"For the first time change is happening at the heart of the epidemic. In places where HIV was stealing away dreams, we now have hope," he said.

UNAids says there are now 5.2 million people worldwide receiving treatment for HIV/Aids, which has helped to ensure that 200,000 fewer people died from the virus in 2008 than in 2004.

The agency said young people "are leading the prevention revolution by choosing to have sex later, having fewer multiple partners and using condoms, resulting in significantly fewer new HIV infections in many countries highly affected by Aids".

The use of male condoms has also doubled in the past five years, while the report notes that "tradition is giving space to pragmatism" in many communities as they embrace male circumcision, which research shows has the potential to reduce HIV infections among men by nearly 60%.
'Challenges remain'

China, where cases are largely concentrated within high-risk groups, was praised for its efforts to increase preventative measures for drug users.

UNAids said South Africa had also rapidly increased "efforts to achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support".

But there was a warning that "challenges remain" in the global fight against HIV/Aids, including expanding epidemics in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and resurgence in new infections in wealthier nations among men who have sex with men.

The UN also called for greater investment in HIV/Aids prevention, warning that there was a $10bn (£6.4bn) shortfall in 2009.

It said those countries most severely affected by HIV/Aids could not handle the crisis with their own resources alone.

"At this turning point flat-lining or reductions in investments will set-back the Aids response and threaten the world's ability to reach MDG 6," said Mr Sidibe.

"Investing for Aids is a shared responsibility - between development partners and national governments."

Excerpts from the BBC

ICE CAPS VANISHING FAR FASTER THAN PROJECTED!!

The Arctic from space The Arctic on 3rd September, as visualised using data from Nasa's Aqua satellite

Ice floating on the Arctic Ocean melted unusually quickly this year, but did not shrink down to the record minimum area seen in 2007.

That is the preliminary finding of US scientists who say the summer minimum seems to have passed and the ice has entered its winter growth phase.

2010's summer Arctic ice minimum is the third smallest in the satellite era.

Researchers say projections of summer ice disappearing entirely within the next few years increasingly look wrong.
Continue reading the main story
Related stories

* Norway and Russia 'open up for business' in the Barents sea
* Arctic starting to feel the heat
* In pictures: Arctic peril

At its smallest extent, on 10 September, 4.76 million sq km (1.84 million sq miles) of Arctic Ocean was covered with ice - more than in 2007 and 2008, but less than in every other year since 1979.

Walt Meier, a researcher at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado, where the data is collated, said ice had melted unusually fast.

"It was a short melt season - the period from the maximum to the minimum was shorter than we've had - but the ice was so thin that even so it melted away quickly," he told BBC News.

The last 12 months have been unusually warm globally - according to Nasa, the warmest in its 130-year record.

This is partly down to El Nino conditions in the Pacific Ocean, which have the effect of raising temperatures globally.

With those conditions changing into a cooler La Nina phase, Nasa says 2010 is "likely, but not certain" to be the warmest calendar year in its record.
Ice made

Arctic ice is influenced by these global trends, but the size of the summer minimum also depends on local winds and currents.
Walruses Walruses have claimed parts of the Alaskan coastline as the sea ice they use was absent

This means ice can be concentrated in one region of the Arctic in one year, in another region the next.

This year, the relative absence of ice around Alaska has brought tens of thousands of Pacific walruses up onto land recently.

In terms of the longer-term picture, Dr Meier said the 2010 NSIDC figures tally with the idea of a gradual decline in summer Arctic ice cover.

But computer models projecting a disappearance very soon - 2013 was a date cited by one research group just a few years ago - seem to have been too extreme.

"The chances of a really early melt are increasingly unlikely as the years go by, and you'd need a couple of extreme years like 2007 in a row to reach that now," he said.

"But the 2040/2050 figure that's been quoted a lot - that's still on track. It could end up being wrong, of course, but the data we have don't disprove it."

NSIDC will release a full analysis of the 2010 data next month.

Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

Why Good Journalism Is Important
There is a disturbing trend I have watched develop over the last decade or so.

Yellow Journalism seems to be taking over more and more respectable news sources.

Now, before anyone forgets, Faux News, I mean, Fox News, has never been even close to a semblance of a credible news source.

I mean, come on. One of their own spokesmen ADMITTED that they use propaganda on a consistent and constant basis.

Now that we have that out of the way, I would like to talk to YOU, CNN.

Yellow Journalism, as I learned it, is the use of attention-grabbing headlines in order to draw in readers or the practice of presenting opinion as fact.

Now, more than ever, we are bombarded with a never-ending stream of information. Whether it is the internet, cable news, or the slowly dying print media, if you want to find out about what is going on in the world, it is literally less than a click away.

The information junkie part of myself is in love with this fact, but the cynical side of me often wonders just how reliable these sources are that the information is coming from.

Really? A helium balloon can carry a six year old child? How stupid do you think we are? Do you mean to tell me you are seriously going to cover this ALL DAY when it takes 4 SECONDS for it to register in your brain that this is physically impossible??? Wow. Faaaaaaantastic.

You see, I don't know if it is because I am the daughter of a former Washington Post reporter and Virginian-Pilot editor or maybe I just have common sense, but more and more I am noticing a lot more opinion seeping in and less and less facts.

And, it bothers me.

It bothers me, immensely.

I see it as a personal responsibility as a journalist, no matter what "type" of journalist you are, to present the facts as they are and NOT what you think of said facts.

I understand that as a writer, you are allotted your own voice and must use it, BUT I draw the line when journalists delve into opinion territory while reporting facts.

Call me silly, but isn't that an editorial and not a report?

I truly believe that especially now we, the American people, DESERVE to be given facts.

Just the facts.

I don't know about you, but if you give me the facts, I can pretty much ascertain my OWN opinion from it, without the help of any "talking head."

And, I truly believe that the rest of us are perfectly capable of doing that, as well.
So, this is my open letter to you, Journalists of America. It is time to bring TRUE fact reporting back.

Walter Cronkite would be pleased.
Your thoughts?


by the National Affairs Desk "House Guest",

Stephanie Stebbins

IM GETTING SICK OF THIS ADAM!

Why won't my editor, Adam Dolin, return my emails?

Sun, 09/13/2010 - 03:14 — Matt

TO: Assistant Editor Adam Dolin
INRE: FRIDAY RELEASE/ RECORDS KEEPING CRISIS
FROM: The Good Sir

Dear Mr. Adam Dolin, assistant editor, N.A.D.Chicago**

Good day to you sir. All apologies for writing to you in this state, but sweet jumping Jesus do I have good reason.
Due to a rent payment "disaster", the building management/ bastards have kindly asked me to vacate the building...including, of course, the National Affairs Desk HeadQuarters.
This indeed poses all of the "what the fuck am I going to do?" type of head-spinning worry, in addition to neatly packing up the National Affairs Desk for secure transport to a new HQ location.
Ist and foremost, I believe you have a good bulk of some of my earlier work and original "Friday Releases". And I need 'em...or at least copies OF them. I can't very well archive my work if you have a third of it in your bottom left desk drawer at the firm. I have NO idea where my copies are, but THAT my friend is utterly besides the point.
Please send word of their safety or disappearence. I won't be angry or anything if they ARE gone, I'd just have to realize that they may very well have gotten sucked into the very same VOID that stole 9 years of my life and most of my hair at that firm. If so, the material is gone...and for good.
I'm opening up several new blog sites and working with a couple others and will be shucking out copies of a few of my more "polished" stories over the www, and I for one know we'll need a level head to assist in the effort. If you can make time to help or have an interest on any level get in touch with me so i can fill you in. Either way I'll need a response before I feel the need to publicly post more emails you have failed to return. Don't fuck around on this one bud, now is the time...now we need you.
Right-e-o...........................Matt (Hell-Dog, ect)

Garbage Island still Growing!

What the Hell Have We Done To Ourselves!?

Matt Byron said...

FROM THE National Affairs Desk NewsWire...
MATT BYRON, N.A.D. Shock and Awe Reporter

Long time no see to all the loving and loyal N.A.D. Newswire fans! I've been doing a little research on, at least for me personally, a very "random" topic. And if the point of this beacon-of-truth of a web site is to spread the word about need-to-know news...this is a thing everyone should be aware of...and I'm so immersed in watching documentaries on the subject I don't even have the attention span to produce a reasonable article devoid of spastic emotional and drug-induced outbursts...

If you want a good reason to stop littering or some extra fuel for the environmentalist fire, go to YOUTUBE and look for any documentary about a god-awful, horrible thing called "GARBAGE ISLAND"--it's an ever-growing free-floating mass of solid human garbage out in the pacific ocean about 2 times the size of TEXAS! The footage is un-fucking-believable. If you care about the environment at all (or even if you don't have much personal interest in the subject like myself) this could possibly make you lose your stomach.

Check 'em out and lets get a discussion going. Anyone with a god-damn pulse will have an opinion after they watch some footage of Garbage Island...I'm ready to pass the discussion baton all the way from the Windy City, Chicago. Over and out!