The National Affairs Desk News Wire

Abraham Lincoln in The New Millenium

2011-07-14T23:05:00.000-07:00

Do the famous principles of our most iconic forefather, Abraham Lincoln, still hold any weight? Special guest contributor Neal Tarshis presents an informative look into the life, lessons, and legacy of our 16th President. COMING SOON!

NAVY SEAL BICKLE CAUGHT RED-HANDED IN STOLEN ARMS SCANDAL

2010-11-07T12:56:00.000-08:00

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

2010-10-13T01:46:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-09T04:15:00.000-07:00

(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!!"

2010-10-05T14:07:00.000-07:00

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 ...

2010-10-02T13:09:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-30T17:52:00.000-07:00

(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

2010-09-30T17:35:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-29T23:59:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-25T03:08:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-22T20:12:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-09-21T09:53:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

OBAMA to Cut $17 B from Federal Budget

2010-09-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

MAN Vs. THE OCEAN

2010-09-18T13:58:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

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!!

2010-09-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-13T03:42:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-08-29T22:07:00.001-07:00

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!

Why Good Journalism Is Important

2009-11-16T16:57:00.000-08:00

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?

A regular genius.

2009-11-04T18:09:00.000-08:00

Police: Breathalyzer-costumed man accused of DUI

AP – Wed Nov 4, 4:47 pm ET

OXFORD, Ohio – An Ohio man dressed as a Breathalyzer test for Halloween found himself blowing into one after police stopped him for allegedly driving the wrong way without headlights on a one-way street. Oxford police said they stopped 20-year-old James P. Miller on Halloween night and found beer in his front seat and in the trunk. Full Story »

2009-11-02T18:34:00.000-08:00

Space hotel says it's on schedule to open in 2012

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By Stuart McDill – Mon Nov 2, 10:55 am ET

BARCELONA (Reuters) – A company behind plans to open the first hotel in space says it is on target to accept its first paying guests in 2012 despite critics questioning the investment and time frame for the multi-billion dollar project.

The Barcelona-based architects of The Galactic Suite Space Resort say it will cost 3 million euro (2.7 million pounds) for a three-night stay at the hotel, with this price including an eight-week training course on a tropical island.

During their stay, guests would see the sun rise 15 times a day and travel around the world every 80 minutes. They would wear velcro suits so they can crawl around their pod rooms by sticking themselves to the walls like Spiderman.

Galactic Suite Ltd's CEO Xavier Claramunt, a former aerospace engineer, said the project will put his company (http://www.galacticsuite.com ) at the forefront of an infant industry with a huge future ahead of it, and forecast space travel will become common in the future.

"It's very normal to think that your children, possibly within 15 years, could spend a weekend in space," he told Reuters Television.

A nascent space tourism industry is beginning to take shape with construction underway in New Mexico ofSpaceport America, the world's first facility built specifically for space-bound commercial customers and fee-paying passengers.

British tycoon Richard Branson's space tours firm, Virgin Galactic, will use the facility to propel tourists into suborbital space at a cost of $200,000 (122,000 pounds) a ride.

Galactic Suite Ltd, set up in 2007, hopes to start its project with a single pod in orbit 450 km (280 miles) above the earth, travelling at 30,000 km per hour, with the capacity to hold four guests and two astronaut-pilots.

It will take a day and a half to reach the pod - which Claramunt compared to a mountain retreat, with no staff to greet the traveller.

"When the passengers arrive in the rocket, they will join it for 3 days, rocket and capsule. With this we create in the tourist a confidence that he hasn't been abandoned. After 3 days the passenger returns to the transport rocket and returns to earth," he said.

Woman calls 911 to report herself as drunk driver

2009-11-02T18:32:00.000-08:00

Woman calls 911 to report herself as drunk driver

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1 min ago

NEILSVILLE, Wis. – The call came into the 911 dispatcher: "I don't want to hurt anybody. I'm drunk." And with that, Mary Strey, 49, of Granton, reported herself as a drunken driver about three miles northeast of Neilsville in central Wisconsin.

Clark County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Jim Backus said Monday that Strey's call on Oct. 24 led deputies to cite her for misdemeanor drunken driving with a blood-alcohol level double the legal limit to drive. She makes her first court appearance Dec. 10.

Backus said drunken drivers reporting themselves is rare.

In the 911 call, Strey said she wanted to report a drunken driver and the dispatcher asked if she was behind the suspect vehicle. "I am them," Strey said. She then followed the dispatcher's advice to pull over and turn on her flashers, telling him she had been "drinking all night long."

2009-11-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

Ohio woman hopes trick-or-treater may find ring

AP – Mon Nov 2, 3:19 pm ET

TERRACE PARK, Ohio – A Halloween trick or treater in Ohio may have gotten a bigger treat than expected — a diamond ring. A woman in suburban Cincinnati said she thinks she may have lost her wedding ring when she was tossing candy into trick or treaters' bags on Halloween.

The Church of Satan takes Television by Storm!

2009-10-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

This is some seriously funny shit. "To hell with all of you!"

I only wish this were a regular program...

Do You Have Toxic Neighbors?

2009-10-28T06:22:00.000-07:00

Two things caught my attention strongly this week.

First, from the U.S. National Library of Medicine came the results of a study done on the incidences of Autism in proximity to point sources of environmental Mercury release.

An investigation on the release of mercury in the environment by the Environmental Protection Agency and autism count data collected by the Texas Educational Agency between 1998 and 2002 found that for every 1000 pounds of industrial release, there was a corresponding 2.6% increase in autism rates and a 3.7% increase associated with power plant emissions.

These findings are so significant that they have warranted further investigation.

In researching this more, I found a very enlightening section in the Dallas Morning News regarding industrial sites abutting residential neighborhoods.

Dallas county, alone, has 900 sites that house industrial chemicals.

Poor city planning and haphazard zoning has put industrial areas in close proximity to many residential areas, businesses, and even schools.

I highly recommend you read the entire incredibly interesting investigative report.

As someone who is increasingly interested in finding better, safer ways for the industrialization of our country, I found these stories to be very insightful!

The Toronto Newsdesk

2009-10-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

The WIRe – Week in Review

David Hunter

TORONTO – Here’s what stuck in my craw this week…the big story of the week of course was President Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize, inviting controversy and surprise. I for one never expected it….two American women, Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider, share the Nobel Prize for medicine, a first….Herta Mueller, a member of Romania’s ethnic minority who was persecuted for her criticisms of life behind the Iron Curtain, won the Nobel Prize for literature on Thursday, on the 20th anniversary of the Communist collapse…. Islamic extremist Zakaria Amara, 24, became the fifth member of the “Toronto 18” to plead guilty for plotting to bomb RCMP headquarters, nuclear power plants, and attacking Parliament; including plans to behead the Canadian Prime minister….earlier this week there were reports that the Toronto School Board was planning to ban the controversial book To Kill a Mockingbird after a parent complained, it has since been revealed that the woman’s child had never read the book, and the ban was taken off the docket. Mockingbird survives again, for now…..former British Prime Minister Tony Blair may be next in line for the newly created European President, or more accurately, the President of the European Union. Tea time for all….in a historic discovery, Canadian scientists decoded all three billion letters in the DNA sequence of a metastatic breast cancer tumor, identifying the mutations that cause the tumor to spread….meanwhile, University of Toronto researchers have developed a prototype chip that measures estrogen from tiny samples of blood and tissue – a technology they believe will assess a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer more quickly. I hope they all share a Nobel Prize if this works….

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In lighter news, Miley Cyrus has quit Twitter, saying in her last tweet “FYI Liam doesn’t have a Twitter and he wants me to delete mine with good reason” ….oh Miley, so young, so stupid….it’s always the 1.5 million followers that have to suffer….Brazilian police are looking for TV host Wallace Souza who is accused of commissioning killings to boost ratings. His show, Canal Livre, features graphic footage of crime victims. The things people will do for ratings….A 25 year-old woman in Stamford Connecticut was attacked by six other women who didn’t like her performance. The woman suffered bruises and chipped teeth. Tough crowd….A New Orleans man has been sentenced to seven years in prison and fined $15,000 dollars after duping the Egyptian Government into paying 7 million bucks for a shipment of frozen chickens he never delivered. He’s getting more time then some accused killers, the Justice System DOES work….Kelly Osbourne is pissed off because a British body spray she used left her with burn marks all over her body. Lesson; buy American next time….Toronto finally gets a Google Street View application. Huzzah…Guy Ritchie says he still loves Madonna, “And of course, here you go, I still love her. But she’s retarded too.” He said. Aw Guy, you old smoothie you….The FBI is probing whether Anna Nicole Smith plotted to kill her tycoon husband, 91 year old J. Howard Marshall. All she had to do was have sex with him….Who wants to see a movie based on the life of Robert Pattinson? A feature length documentary of the Twilight star’s life is forthcoming. I’ll be sure to miss that one….our Prime Minister Harpo decided he was going to play the piano at the National Arts Center Gala this week in order to change his stuffy and uptight image. Mmm, no, it didn’t work, he’s still a tool….Elizabeth Taylor had successful heart valve surgery this week. She’s a fighter, that’s for sure….child rapist Roman Polanski loses his extradition battle, but his team of Lawyers are appealing. I’m appealing too; let him go to jail….Finally, NASA decides to bomb the moon! In an effort to find water on the moon they plan to smash a rocket onto it’s surface. Nothing like a little regression to cure what ails us…

End notes

This week had been rolling along fairly normally until I heard that Barack Obama had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. I was initially surprised at this, since he hasn’t even finished a single year in office. Some wags even suggested that Obama got the award just for not being George Bush. Granted, he hasn’t done much to warrant the award, but he carries a certain intangible that is rare; he galvanizes, communicates, and brings people together. He is a central figure, respected, and I can name no other United States President in recent history who shares those attributes. If I were American, I would be proud. I AM proud, as I view the President of the United States with as much reverence as the Prime Minister of Canada, our present PM Harpo excluded of course. …until next week……

David Hunter, Over and Out. -- The Toronto News desk,

Earthquakes Rock South Pacific

2009-10-07T19:57:00.000-07:00

(CNN) -- Three major earthquakes struck within an hour and 10 minutes Thursday morning near Vanuatu in the South Pacific, prompting a tsunami warning that was quickly lifted.
Thursday's quakes struck near Vanuatu in the South Pacific.

The first quake, with a magnitude of 7.8, struck at 9:03 a.m. (6:03 p.m. ET) at a depth of 35 km (22 miles) and an epicenter 295 km (180 miles) north-northwest of Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

For more info visit CNN, and USGS (United States Geological Survey)

100 Arrested in Online Fraud Crackdown

2009-10-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

In what it is calling Operation Phish Phry, the F.B.I. began arresting 53 people on Wednesday on charges of conducting a vast financial fraud based on phishing — the act of tricking Internet users into revealing their passwords and other information.

The arrests were in Southern California, Nevada and North Carolina, while the authorities in Egypt sought to arrest 47 people whom the F.B.I. said were co-conspirators.

Read more at The New York Times

Breaking News: Breast Cancer Breakthrough....

2009-10-07T16:14:00.000-07:00

VANCOUVER, CANADA (BNO NEWS) – Canadian scientists on Wednesday said they have achieved an unprecedented breakthrough in breast cancer research, opening new doors to new breast cancer treatment targets and therapies.

For the first time ever, scientists at the B.C. Cancer Agency were able to decode all of the three billion letters in the DNA sequence of a metastatic lobular breast cancer tumor, a type of breast cancer which accounts for about 10 percent of all breast cancer cases. The scientists were able to find all the mutations, or "spelling" mistakes that caused the cancer to spread further.

Read more... at BNO NEWS

10,000+ Hotmail Accounts Exposed [Alert]

2009-10-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

It has now been confirmed that the usernames and passwords of more than 10,000 Hotmail users were posted online last week to a website for sharing code snippets. Read more at MASHABLE: http://mashable.com/2009/10/05/hotmail-accounts-exposed/

It is being advised that you change or alter your password as soon as possible.

The Toronto News Desk --

The WIRe – Week in Review

2009-10-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

From the National Affairs Desk: Toronto

TORONTO – Been a busy week, so let’s get to it….Swiss cops arrested Film director Roman Polanski as he was flying in for the Zurich Film Festival. He faces extradition to the U.S. for statutory rape charges for having sex with a 13 year old in 1977. Polanski claims it was consensual; I guess that means its okay…. 73 year old Dennis Hopper was taken to a New York Hospital this week; eyewitnesses say he was brought into the emergency room wearing an oxygen mask and had numerous tubes connected to him….Spencer Pratt says he’s afraid to have sex with wife Heidi Montag because he’s afraid she’ll get pregnant. Really, we all should have such problems….Tufts University in Boston has a new dorm policy banning sexual activity while a roommate is in the same room. That one’s just too easy….Apparently Canadian actress Ellen Page enjoys shoveling Goat manure, helps her relax…..Madonna, when asked this week if she’ll ever marry again stated: “I’d rather get hit by a train…” now THERE’S a ringing endorsement for marriage….. An earthquake measuring 7.6 hit Sumatra Wednesday with death tolls estimated at 1100, according to the UN….Meanwhile flooding in the Philippines leaves 140 dead after a month of rain falls in just 12 hours….astronomers say a bright flash in the sky over Ontario was likely a meteor streaking momentarily, and was possibly the size of a microwave….Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi cancelled his mysterious trip to St. John’s Newfoundland this week. His reason for cancelling the trip is just as mysterious as why he wanted to go there in the first place…. Chancellor Angela Merkel is re-elected with a majority government in Germany’s latest election, Portugal re-elects the Socialists, and Canada is still stuck with mister poopy-head in office….Lucy Vodden, classmate of Julian Lennon and inspiration for John Lennon’s classic song Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, has died after a long battle with Lupus, she was 46….A toxicology report confirms that Adam Goldstein, AKA DJ AM, died of a lethal overdose of prescription drugs and cocaine….Jenny Slate, newcomer to Saturday Night Live, drops an F-bomb in the middle of a skit on live TV; “You know what? You stood up for yourself, and I fucking love you for that…” she said, before rolling her eyes and blushing at her mistake…...David Letterman must be blushing too; this week he came out and admitted he had sex with staff members, He also said a man had threatened to expose the relationships unless a payment of $2m was made. CBS employee and 48 Hours producer Robert "Joe" Halderman has been implicated. Didn’t know you had it in you, Dave, or hanging out of you… author, columnist, and Pulitzer Prize winner William Safire has died at the age of 79 after a battle with cancer. Safire penned more than 3000 columns over 30 years for the New York Times and wrote Spiro Agnew’s famous line “nattering nabobs of negativism.”

..On the Lighter Side…..

I nominate Canadian cutie Ellen Page as the Inaugural “National Affairs Girl of the Week” for her Brains, Beauty and Toughness, and her willingness to shovel Goat manure:

Thanks to all our contributors this week, and for making the NAD the great blog that it is. The conversation got a little heavy this week; a lot of religious discussion, and a lot of opinions. Sorry I didn't weigh in on it, but as I said, it's been a busy week. Thanks for reading! until next time...

David Hunter, the National Affairs Desk: Toronto

Judge Questions Texas Gay Marriage Ban

2009-10-02T01:57:00.000-07:00

~From The Dallas Morning News: Click here for the full story!

Dallas state District Judge Tena Callahan ruled Thursday that two men, who prefer to remain unidentified, may divorce in the state of Texas and that the state's ban on gay marriage violates the U.S. Constitution. The men married in Cambridge, Mass., in September 2006 and in the interim since returning to Dallas have decided to dissolve their union.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott tried to intervene, arguing that because gay marriage is not legally recognized in Texas, a Texas court can not dissolve their marriage through divorce.

However, in March 2003, a Texas court became the first court outside Vermont to grant the dissolution of a civil union. The judge reversed his decision after a challenge by Abbott, a Republican.

Schulte, who represents one of the men in the divorce proceedings, was "surprised and ecstatic" by Judge Callahan's ruling and should have the order ready for the Judge to sign within "the next few weeks."

Abbot plans to appeal the ruling "to defend the traditional definition of marriage that was approved by Texas voters."

Texas Forensic Science Commission To Review Arson Ruling That Led To Execution

2009-10-02T01:13:00.000-07:00

Cameron Tod Willingham was executed in February of 2004 for the suspected arson of his home that led to the death of his three children on December 23, 1991.

The Innocence Project has taken a closer look at the case, however, and their findings have prompted the Texas Forensic Science Commission to review a report Friday from an expert who has concluded that the arson determination may have been faulty.

Created by the Texas Legislature in 2005, the nine member panel will hear from others including the State Fire Marshal's Office and then release its own report. What happens after that is unclear. This is the commission's first review case; they do not have the authority to determine Willingham's guilt or innocence.

The purpose of this panel is only to determine forensic negligence.

Click here to read the full story on MSNBC.com!

Hell comes to Somoa!!

2009-10-01T10:00:00.001-07:00

Darkness decends on the small island of Somoa Wednesday around 7am as a 8.0 Earthquake and FOUR tsunami waves rip throught the terrian leaving hundreds dead in the wake!

Full story and pictures to come...

The National Affairs Desk: Toronto

2009-09-30T11:38:00.001-07:00

The WIRe – Week in Review

David Hunter

TORONTO -- A few things that came across the news desk here in Toronto this week; The 61st Prime Time Emmy’s were broadcast this week hosted by former child star Neil Patrick Harris and his forehead, and it featured a new category: reality programming. Here’s a reality: ZzzzZzzzzzzzzz….. A video has surfaced of Ben Stiller teaching 89 year old Mickey Rooney how to use Twitter. That ought to be worth a larf, since Mickey is older than electricity itself….Former chess champ Anatoly Karpov had a rematch with Gary Kasparov on the 25th anniversary of their title bout, which took almost as long to finish; the original match lasted five months and had to be called due to player “exhaustion”….Barack Obama, who became the first sitting U.S. President to guest on Letterman’s show, was intrigued by a heart-shaped potato brought in by a fan, and by Letterman’s question, “how long have you been a black man?”….Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper passed on addressing the United Nations at the G20 summit, dumping the duties on Deputy Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon. Wouldn’t want our PM to do anything IMPORTANT like being a statesman for our country now would we....speaking of the G20, Pittsburgh turned chaotic Thursday after protesters responded to calls to disperse by throwing stones and knocking over garbage cans, yeah, that helps…Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau is being inducted into the Queer Hall of Fame for his role in de-criminalizing homosexuality....K-Fed is apparently okay with adding "fatso" to his other attributes "untalented" and "obnoxious"....Zooey Deschanel marries Death Cab singer Ben Gibbard, and this writer's heart is breaking....Canadian author Douglas Coupland's new book "Generation A" is being released; from X to A, eh Doug?.... Mackenzie Phillips, star of the 70’s sitcom One Day at a Time, and daughter of Papa John Phillips, has alleged in her new book that she and her father had a sexual relationship for ten years, by turns it was rape and consensual, she alleges… Mama Michele says she’s crazy because, “she’s had a needle up her arm for 35 years…” Gee mom, you’re swell….scientists have come to the brilliant conclusion that if you paint a Butterflies antennas black, they will become lost and be unable to migrate. I could have told you THAT without a science degree….Patrick Swayze’s memoir’s are set to hit the shelves soon, and in it he states that the script for his hit movie Dirty Dancing “seemed fluffy, nothing more than a summer camp movie”….why is former UFC champ Chuck Liddell dancing with the stars? Shouldn’t he be grounding and pounding them instead? It’d be more fun to watch….Jessica Simpson’s Maltipoo daisy was ingested…I mean EATEN… by coyotes and she is devastated. “Jessica has a very small inner circle,” one of her friends says, “but she always had Daisy. Daisy gave her unconditional love.”

End Notes
Thanks to all the NAD contributors this week, it’s been interesting. Although we had no rhyme, reason or theme this week, we can be thankful that all remaining celebrities are still alive and not dead as this Summer of Death comes to a close. Please scroll down and revisit some of this week’s great posts, and enjoy our comment sections, some of the best on the net, in my humble opinion. Until next week.

David Hunter's THE WIRe IMMENTENT!

2009-09-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

INBOUND TRANSMISSION FROM THE TORONTO OFFICE>>>>>>

ATTN NEWSWIRE: THE WIRe

MASSIVE FLOOD NEARLY WASHES PHILLIPINES INTO THE ABYSS!

2009-09-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

Death Toll Hits 240 in Philippine Flooding

Jay Directo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The town of Angono, just east of Manila, was still covered with floodwaters on Tuesday, three days after tropical storm Ketsana hit the country. More Photos >

By CARLOS H. CONDE

Published: September 29, 2009

All Maximo Merioles Jr. could think about were his two children. As the floodwaters that had swamped his neighborhood came close to submerging him, he grabbed his two kids, ages 12 and 10, and swam toward another house, clambered up to the third floor, jumped between roofs and climbed down a wall to safety across the street.

Multimedia

Slide Show

Aftermath of Typhoon Ketsana

The Lede: Filipinos Document Their ‘Katrina’ Online(September 28, 2009)

Times Topics: Philippines

Enlarge This Image

Mike Alquinto/Associated Press

Residents of Pasig, a suburb of Manilla, on Tuesday. More Photos »

Mr. Merioles’s heart sank Saturday as he watched not just the flood but also a raging fire eat up most of the houses in Tatalon, a slum area in Quezon City, one of the cities that make up Greater Manila.

As residents dealt with the aftermath of Tropical Storm Ketsana, the government was facing criticism on two fronts: Did it provide enough warning before the floods, and was it doing enough to help people recover?

To help with the recovery, the government on Monday appealed for international help as the death toll rose to at least 240.

The American Embassy deployed Navy personnel to help out in the rescue and relief operations and also promised $50,000 in immediate disaster aid.

“The system is overwhelmed, local government units are overwhelmed,” Anthony Golez, a spokesman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, told reporters during a briefing on Monday. “Our assets and people are spread too thinly.”

In Tatalon, unlike the other areas that were ravaged by the storm, what the flood did not destroy, the fire did. Seven residents died in Tatalon, officials said.

Mr. Merioles and the others interviewed in his neighborhood said electrical power remained in their area even as the floodwaters rose above four feet. No one knows exactly how the fire started. “Either you die from the fire or from the flood,” said Mr. Merioles, a stocky electronics repairman.

The tropical storm arrived in the Philippines over the weekend, releasing the largest amount of rainfall in nearly half a century and flooding 80 percent of Greater Manila before moving on to Vietnam, where it has killed at least 23 people, The Associated Press reported Tuesday morning.

Nearly 2 million people in the Manila area were affected, including more than 100,000 who were displaced after the storm dumped 16.7 inches of rain in just 12 hours on Saturday.

In Pasig City, one of the hardest-hit suburbs near the heavily silted and polluted Pasig River, the floodwaters in many communities hardly decreased. “The water is not moving,” a tearful Nene Monfort, 71, told ABS-CBN television in a live interview. She said she and her family, who have been holed up on the second floor of their apartment, could not come down because of the water.

The Health Department warned Monday of a possible spread of infectious diseases, especially in the refugee centers of Manila, which number more than 200.

And as the affected residents tried to rebuild their lives, they were seeking answers as well.

Many, like Rene Anselmo, 57, a retired driver in Tatalon whose three-story house was burned down except for about 5 feet of browned concrete and singed wood, wanted to know “why there was no warning about a flood this big.”

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, the government’s weather bureau, denied in local reports that it had been negligent in warning people, saying it had issued warnings as early as Thursday, even raising storm alert levels the next day.

In an attempt to help deal with the aftermath of the storm, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo decided to open a portion of the grounds of the presidential palace to refugees. “The president has allowed the use of Malacanang itself, her own home, to be a center of relief operations,” said her press secretary, Cerge Remonde. He said the first family would be transferred to another area in the presidential compound.

The government also had declared a “state of calamity” in metropolitan Manila and 25 storm-hit provinces, including many that had not flooded before, allowing officials to use emergency funds for relief and rescue.

Mrs. Arroyo earlier announced that her government would not relent in its efforts to help those hurt by the storm.

Criticism of Mrs. Arroyo’s response could affect the presidential election, which is eight months away. The administration’s candidate is Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, who also leads the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

In the narrow streets of Tatalon, residents spent Monday taking out burned trash, dumping it on the main street outside of the slum, where mounds of black debris had been piled, practically blocking the street. Filthy floodwaters snaked beneath the rubbish.

Zoraya Tera, a 39-year-old homemaker, spent hours scrubbing her floor tiles and cleaning up her burned utensils. “Nothing is left, as you can see, but I am glad that none of my children were hurt,” she said, gesturing at what remained of her home, which had nothing in it except the burned and now rusting galvanized iron roofs.

Where the hell is Osama bin Laden??

2009-09-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

By Peter Bergen
Special to CNN

Editor's note: Peter Bergen, CNN's national security analyst, is a fellow at the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank that promotes innovative thought from across the ideological spectrum, and at New York University's Center on Law and Security. He's the author of "The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda's Leader."

Peter Bergen says Osama bin Laden is still alive and still significant eight years after September 11.

HELMAND, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Eight years after September 11, the "war on terror" has gone the way of the dodo. And President Obama talks instead about a war against al Qaeda and its allies.

What, then, of al Qaeda's enigmatic leader, Osama bin Laden, who has vanished like a wisp of smoke? And does he even matter now?

The U.S. government hadn't had a solid lead on al Qaeda's leader since the battle of Tora Bora in winter 2001. Although there are informed hypotheses that today he is in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province on the Afghan border, perhaps in one of the more northerly areas such as Bajaur, these are essentially guesses, not "actionable" intelligence.

A longtime American counterterrorism analyst explained to me, "There is very limited collection on him personally."

That's intelligence community shorthand for the fact that the usual avenues of "collection" on a target such as bin Laden are yielding little or no information about him. Those avenues typically include signal intercepts of phone calls and e-mails, as well as human intelligence from spies.

Given the hundreds of billions of dollars that the "war on terror" has consumed, the failure to capture or kill al Qaeda's leader is one of its signal failures.

Does it even matter whether bin Laden is found? Yes, it does. First, there is the matter of justice for the almost 3,000 people who died in the September 11 attacks and for the thousands of other victims of al Qaeda's attacks around the world.

Second, every day that bin Laden remains at liberty is a propaganda victory for al Qaeda.

Third, although bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri aren't managing al Qaeda's operations on a daily basis they guide the overall direction of the jihadist movement around the world, even while they are in hiding.

Don't Miss

Those messages from al Qaeda's leaders have reached untold millions worldwide via television, the Internet and newspapers. The tapes have not only instructed al Qaeda's followers to continue to kill Westerners and Jews, but some also carried specific instructions that militant cells then acted on.

In March 2008, for instance, the al Qaeda leader denounced the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper as a "catastrophe" for which punishment would soon be meted out. Three months later, an al Qaeda suicide attacker bombed the Danish Embassy in Islamabad, killing six.

Some reading this may think: But what's the proof that the al Qaeda leader is still alive? Plenty. Since September 11, bin Laden has released a slew of video and audiotapes, many of which discuss current events. After a nine-month silence, for instance, bin Laden released a 22-minute audiotape on March 14, sharply condemning the recent Israeli invasion of Gaza.

Are these tapes real? Not one of the dozens of tapes released by bin Laden after 9/11 has been a fake. Indeed the U.S. government has authenticated many of them using bin Laden's distinctive voiceprint.

And what about the persistent reports that he is ill? In 2002, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said bin Laden had kidney disease, for which he required a dialysis machine, and was therefore likely dead. But the stories of bin Laden's life-threatening kidney problems are false, judging by his appearance in videos that he released in 2004 and again in 2007, in which he showed no signs of illness.

On the 2007 tape, the al Qaeda leader had even dyed his white-flecked beard black, suggesting that as the Saudi militant entered his fifth decade, he was not immune to a measure of vanity about his personal appearance.

In fact, bin Laden looked much better in those videos than he did in the video he released shortly after the battle of Tora Bora in late 2001, where he had narrowly escaped being killed in a massive American attack.

The situation is further complicated by the fact that bin Laden and al-Zawahiri are almost certainly hiding out in the tribal areas of Pakistan, on the Afghan border.

Arthur Keller, a CIA officer who ran a spy network in Pakistan's tribal areas in 2006, told me the problems of working in the region: "It's an incredibly remote area. They're hiding in a sea of people that are very xenophobic of outsiders, so it's a very, very tough nut to crack."

An additional factor operating in bin Laden's favor is the personal popularity he has long enjoyed in Pakistan. Three years after the September 11 attacks, for instance, a Pew poll found that al Qaeda's leader had a 65 percent favorability rating among Pakistanis.

However, it is clear from the videos of bin Laden and al-Zawahiri that aired in the years since the attacks that they are not living in caves.

In those tapes, both men's clothes were clean and well-pressed. Caves generally don't have laundry facilities. And the videos that they have released are well-lit and well-shot productions, suggesting access either to electrical outlets or to generators to run lights. Al-Zawahiri is often filmed in a library setting, and on one of his videos from March 2006, there are curtains clearly visible behind him, suggesting that the tape was shot in a house.

By early 2008, the Bush administration had tired of the Pakistani government's unwillingness or inability to take out al Qaeda's leaders, and in July, the president authorized Special Operations forces to carry out ground assaults in the tribal regions without the permission of the Pakistani government.

But in the face of the intense Pakistani opposition to American boots on the ground, the Bush administration chose to rely instead on drones to target suspected al Qaeda and Taliban leaders. Bush ordered the CIA to expand its attacks with Predator and Reaper drones.

Between July 2008 and this month, U.S. drones have killed dozens of lower-ranking militants and at least 10 mid- and upper-level leaders within al Qaeda or the Taliban.

This strategy seems to have worked, at least in terms of combating the ability of al Qaeda to plan or carry out attacks in the West. Law-enforcement authorities have uncovered no serious plots against U.S. or European targets that were traceable to militants who had received training in Pakistan's tribal regions after the drone program had been dramatically ramped up there.

The increased pace of the American drone attacks in Pakistani's tribal areas was motivated in part by the hope that it would increase panicked communications among the militants, which might help pinpoint the locations of the top leaders in al Qaeda or the Taliban, but that approach has not paid off when it comes to bin Laden.

If killing bin Laden with a drone has proved difficult, so too will be capturing him alive.

His former bodyguard Abu Jandal told Al Quds al Arabi newspaper, "Sheikh Osama gave me a pistol. ... The pistol had only two bullets, for me to kill Sheikh Osama with in case we were surrounded or he was about to fall into the enemy's hands, so that he would not be caught alive "

Should bin Laden be captured or killed, that would probably trigger a succession battle within al Qaeda.

While al-Zawahiri is the deputy leader of the terror group and therefore technically bin Laden's successor, he is not regarded as a natural leader. Indeed, even among his fellow Egyptian militants, al-Zawahiri is seen as a divisive force, and so he is unlikely to be able to step into the role of leader of al Qaeda and of the world jihadist movement that is occupied by bin Laden.

By the law of averages, eventually, bin Laden will be captured or killed. Yet the ideological movement that he helped spawn -- "Binladenism" -- will live on long after he is gone. That is bin Laden's legacy.

Last Days of Kiddie Land

2009-09-27T20:10:00.000-07:00

Big turnout for Kiddieland's last day

September 27, 2009 7:48 PM | 17 Comments | UPDATED STORY

T.J. Pleva chokes up when she reminisces about her decades' worth of trips to Kiddieland in Melrose Park.

"We have a lot of sad memories of saying goodbye to this," she said, motioning to her two children, Haley, 8, and Nolan, 6. She came when she was young and brought her own kids to the amusement park four times this year, Pleva said, but "we're looking forward to a great last day."

Kiddieland opened its gates to the general public for the final time today, and hundreds waited outside in bright sunlight for the chance to buy tickets. At one point, more than 400 stretched in an hourlong line around the chain link fence, listening to the screams of those riding the Tilt-A-Whirl and the Little Dipper. The park, open since 1929, will host one final celebration next week for those who won bids to be among the last on rides like the train and roller coaster.

About 6,000 people came to Kiddieland today, according to park estimates, with a line about 1,000 feet long at its peak. The adults wore T-shirts with farewell messages and openly admitted to nostalgic motivations, but the kids lived only in the moment.

Nicholas Martorina, 9, of Chicago, is the first one to arrive a little before 9:00 a.m. at Kiddieland in Melrose Park, Ill. on Sunday. The park is closing at the end of the day for good, 80 years after it opened its doors to the public. (William DeShazer/Chicago Tribune)

Nicholas Martorina and his father, Sam, were near the front of the line, and the 9-year-old ran full-bore for the bumper cars when the gates opened at noon.

"It feels awesome," said Nicholas, a third-grader at Andrew Jackson Language Academy in Chicago. "I've never been first in line for anything."

Among the morose, though, were park owners, who expected a day of mixed emotions.

"It's certainly going to be bittersweet," said Tom Norini, one of the owners. "We're trying to be as upbeat as we can."

He said the part of the family that owns the property Kiddieland sits on didn't allow a lease renewal, so closing was the only option. The park's future, Norini said, is unknown.

"Nobody's been able to find out," he said. "There's all kinds of rumors."

The family drama, though, was the last thing on the minds of those waiting to enter the park.

They instead relived their own Kiddieland memories, of which there were legion.

Kisha Lipscromb, of Bellwood, said that as a child, she rode the steam train, the Kiddieland Limited, over and over while her mother studied for nursing school on a nearby bench. Denise Javers, of Chicago, brought her daughter, Amanda, 11, and told her stories about her own childhood, when a day of Kiddieland would be followed by barbecue at a nearby Russell's restaurant.

"Everybody has wonderful memories, and everybody has a story," said Mary Rynes, another one of the owners. She said they've heard of people meeting on rides, then winding up married. Those who worked at Kiddieland said the park was just as important to them. Before the doors opened, they began the day doing the "Cha-Cha Slide" dance together. They say that's the kind of relaxed environment they've come to cherish.

"You meet a lot of new people, friendships that I'm sure will last forever," said Diana Lopez, 17, who works in the park's arcade. The last day is "going to be a lot of fun. ... It's going to be a sad day, as well."

For many, sadness at times overshadowed the day's pleasures. Pleva, who said her kids cried as they watched a news program Sunday morning about the park's closing, fondly remembers trips to Kiddieland with her parents when she was 4 years old.

"It's really sad that they couldn't have grown up and have their kids come here," she said, tears in her eyes.

-- Georgia Garvey, Steve Brosinski

Surprise Energy Alternative

2009-09-27T16:20:00.000-07:00

updated 3:19 p.m. CT, Sun., Sept . 27, 2009

WASHINGTON - Think propane and butane are just for barbecuing? Think again: The common cooking fuels can also chill your drinks and ice cream with less energy and almost none of the global warming worries of current refrigerants.

Some of the world's largest consumer product companies are promoting freezers and refrigerators in the U.S. that use propane, butane and other coolants that don't trap heat in the atmosphere as much as Freon and other conventional refrigerants.

The new so-called hydrocarbon coolers — already popular in Europe — are being tested by Ben & Jerry's ice cream company at stores in the Washington and Boston areas. Meanwhile, General Electric is seeking approval to market a home refrigerator in the U.S. using a hydrocarbon refrigerant.

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The new freezers take advantage of the way hydrocarbon gases absorb heat when they change from a liquid to a gas. It's the same process when a propane tank becomes cool to the touch when you're using it with a gas grill. The hydrocarbon refrigerant is compressed and expanded as it makes its way through the compressor and tubes surrounding the freezer.

Unlike car exhaust or power plant pollution that's spewed directly into the air, the coolants used in most U.S. refrigerators today only enter the atmosphere when their compressors leak, or when appliances are thrown out and their refrigerant eventually escapes.

If hydrocarbons are accidentally released into the atmosphere, their effect on trapping heat is about 1,400 times less than conventional refrigerants, said Pete Gosselin, director of engineering for Ben & Jerry's.

The fuels are flammable, of course, but current models only use the amount contained in two or three cigarette lighters. Electronic components are designed to prevent igniting a possible leak.

"It's extremely potent," Gosselin said. "And as the world develops, especially in developing nations, refrigeration use is one of the first technologies that comes on board."

The appliances cost about the same as similar conventional freezers and use about 10 percent less electricity.

"And that turns out to be a huge gain in terms of your carbon footprint, that 10 percent gain in efficiency," Gosselin said. "Every kilowatt hour that comes in the wall, comes in with a certain amount of CO2 footprint with it and if you can knock 10 percent off that, that's huge."

NOT POLANSKI !

2009-09-27T12:13:00.000-07:00

Swiss Arrest Roman Polanski for Possible Extradition to U.S. in Sex Case

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Nov. 14, 2008: Polish-born filmmaker and Academy Award winner Roman Polanski arrives for the opening of the 8th Marrakech Film Festival in Morocco.

Director Roman Polanski was arrested by Swiss police for possible extradition to the United States for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl, authorities said Sunday.

Polanski, a French citizen, was flying in to receive an honorary award at the Zurich Film Festival when he was apprehended Saturday at the airport, the Swiss Justice Ministry said in a statement. It said U.S. authorities have sought the arrest of the 76-year-old around the world since 2005.

"There was a valid arrest request and we knew when he was coming," ministry spokesman Guido Balmer told The Associated Press. "That's why he was taken into custody."

Balmer said the U.S. would now be given time to make a formal extradition request.

Polanski has been living in France since he fled the U.S. in 1978, a year after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with the underage girl. Authorities told FOX News that Polanski's possible extradition to the U.S. will likely take some time — up to a month or longer.

The director of such classic films as "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" has asked a U.S. appeals court in California to overturn a judges' refusal to throw out his case. He claims misconduct by the now-deceased judge who had arranged a plea bargain and then reneged on it.

Is this really a surprise?

2009-09-27T12:08:00.001-07:00

Iran to Test-Fire More Missiles That Could Hit Israel, U.S. Bases

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Sept. 27: Iran Revolutionary Guard's Zelzal missile is launched in a drill near the city of Qom, 80 miles south of Tehran.

After claiming to successfully test-fire two short-range missiles during drills Sunday by the elite Revolutionary Guard, Iran will test-fire a missile on Monday that could have the capability to hit Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf region, Reuters reported.

The drills are a show of force days after the U.S. and its allies condemned Tehran over a newly revealed underground nuclear facility that was being constructed secretly

The Guards on Monday will test-fire the surface-to-surface Shahab 3 missile, which Iranian officials say has a range of around 1,240 miles, potentially putting Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf within reach, according to state radio. It has been tested several times before.

English-language Press TV reported that on Sunday, the first day of exercises, the solid-fuel Fateh-110, Tondar-69 and Zelzal missiles were test fired, but did not give specifics on range or other details. Both are short-range, surface-to-surface missiles.

Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guard Air Force, told reporters Iran tested for the first time a multiple missile launcher. Press TV showed pictures of at least two missiles being fired simultaneously and said they were from the latest drill.

500, 000 Loonies to protect Bush's ass

2009-09-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

Some how, amongst maintaining the madness that is the NAD, and that of my real world, I will find time to throw some rant this way. Any way, I have a little something, something. A Bush bash, man I miss bashing the Bush (sounds naughty, doesn't it?), so here goes...

First read this; by way of the Globe and Mail (link)

The short version is that the Canadian tax payer is about to spend $500,000 on added protection so that Bush can pretend to be an adult and do what Bill Clinton does, which is travel all over the place and make mad money doing speaking engagements.

I am not sure what baffles me the most. Is it the idea that the Canadian government would agree to flip all those loonies towards the Bush entourage, in order to protect a man that probably has a small army of secret service agents around him all the time anyway? Or, or, and here is the punch line; who in there right mind, aside from those of us that loves a good Bushism, is going to spend good money listening to Bush speak? He would be better off doing a tour where he throws out first pitches. I'd be leery of letting him handle scissors, so I guess grand openings are out of the question. Oh Georgie, how I have missed you so.

Joseph Lane

Welcome to The National Affairs Desk LIVE!

2009-09-26T22:10:00.000-07:00

Here come the bastards....