By many reports, the USA soccer team is good enough to be considered among the top ten teams in terms of talent when they take to the field in Germany for their first match in the 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament.
The game matches the USA against the Czech Republic and will be broadcast June 12 at 18:00 CET - that would be Monday morning at 9:00 am - on ESPN2.
The jersey colors for the game will be -
USA: navy blue shirt, navy blue shorts, navy blue socks
Czech Republic: white shirt, white shorts, white socks
This posting will be updated with the results after the game on Monday.
Excerpts from FIFAworldcup.com -
US ambition poses threat to Czechs
by FIFAworldcup.com - June 7, 2006
On 12 June at 18:00 CET, the Czech Republic and the United States will meet up in Gelsenkirchen to kick off their FIFA World Cup (TM) campaigns. With both teams desperate to take points from their opening game in a difficult-looking Group E, tension levels at the FIFA World Cup Stadium Gelsenkirchen are bound to be high.
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The players
The Czechs will be keen to confirm their status as one of the finest attack-minded sides on the continent and build on the impressive form they showed in reaching the semi-finals at the UEFA European Championship in Portugal two years ago. With Pavel Nedved back from temporary international retirement, towering striker Jan Koller recovered from the knee injury that threatened his participation, and a raft of talent that includes recent Arsenal signing Tomas Rosicky, Milan Baros and Petr Cech, the Czechs will be keen to make their 'debut' at the FIFA World Cup a resounding success.
The USA, for their part, are hunting for a first-ever finals win on European soil and are keen to maintain a recent run of progress that culminated in their quarter-final appearance four years ago in Korea/Japan. Now, as then (when they defeated Portugal), they started against European heavyweights and the pundits gave them little hope of survival. Coach Bruce Arena has assembled a squad of strong campaigners led by the European trio of Claudio Reyna, DaMarcus Beasley and Brian McBride, LA-based playmaker Landon Donovan and the outstanding Bundesliga-based keeper Kasey Keller.
How they qualified
Whereas the Americans coasted through their North, Central American and Caribbean qualifying campaign - finishing in first place over arch-rivals Mexico for the first time in their history - the Czechs struggled a little bit. Finishing five points off the pace set by Netherlands in European qualifying Group 1, they were forced to sweat it out in the play-offs with Norway where, thanks to the return of Nedved, they pulled off a 2-0 aggregate win.
Previous meetings
The two sides have never met in a FIFA World Cup finals as this will be the Czech Republic's first foray following separation from Czechoslovakia. As one half of the old country, they hammered USA 5-1 in their opening game at Italia 90.
Tournament history
A lot of time has passed since then and given the USA's impressive development, Arena will be fancying his side's chances. After reaching the semi-finals with a largely foreign-born side at the first finals in Uruguay in 1930, the USA pulled off a shock by beating England in Brazil in 1950. For the next 40 years, they wallowed in the wilderness only returning to the finals in 1990. After hosting the event in 1994 and finishing with the worst record in 1998, the Americans - with a new professional league in the MLS, and a sudden and unprecedented interest in the world's game - have come on in leaps and bounds as their fairy tale run in 2002 attests.
The Czechs, on the other hand, are debutants in name alone. As Czechoslovakia they qualified for eight FIFA World Cups (TM) and even reached the Final on two occasions (1934 and 1962) - that is more Final games than England or France.
Key contest
The most crucial individual contests on the pitch will surely revolve around the playmaking battle between Donovan and Nedved. It will also be interesting to see whether veteran US centre-back Eddie Pope can handle the Czech attacking duo of Koller and Baros.
All will be revealed on 12 June.
The coaches
Now in his ninth year with the team, Arena is the longest-serving coach in US football history. Known as an outstanding man-manager, the often brusque boss is renowned for getting the best out of his boys. That will be a necessary component if the US are to hold out any hopes of proving their new credentials on European soil, especially up against Karel Bruckner - who is not known as 'The Magician' by accident.
Link Here>>
UPDATE, June 12,2006:
Hope dims as the USA team plays "flat" against the Czech Republic.
USA, 0 - Czech Republic, 3
Sunday, June 11, 2006
The Warning From Mourning Iraqi Al-Qaida
It has taken a few days now, but the warnings of reprisal attacks are just now being issued.
Unlike the day after the F-16 attack and subsequent death of al-Zarqawi, when NBC reporter, Mike Boettcher, claimed that a car bombing in central Baghdad was the first of the "reaction bombings", this warning came from Iraqi Al-Qaida posted at an Islamic militant Web forum where the group has posted statements before.
I am sure that the MSM was just getting out in front of the story ... let's give 'em a pass, after all, al-Zarqawi was just your average "Freedom Fighter", right?
Excerpts from AP via Yahoo! News -
Al-Zarqawi death prompts attack warning
By LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writer - 15 minutes ago
CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida in Iraq vowed Sunday to carry out "major attacks," insisting in a Web statement that it was still powerful after the death of leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The statement did not name a successor to al-Zarqawi, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike Wednesday. But it said the group's leadership "renews its allegiance" to Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden "will see things that will bring joy to his heart," it said, vowing "to prepare major attacks that will shake the enemy like an earthquake and rattle them out of sleep."
The authenticity of the statement could not be independently confirmed. It was posted on an Islamic militant Web forum where the group has posted statements in the past.
The statement was issued in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq but was put out by the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of five insurgent groups that al-Zarqawi helped create.
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The message left unknown the issue of who will succeed al-Zarqawi as the group's "emir," or leader.
Thursday's al-Qaida statement was signed by al-Zarqawi's deputy emir, Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Iraqi, and sympathizers quickly flooded Web forums with vows of allegiance to him.
But Sunday's message did not mention his name. There is confusion over whether he is still alive, after the U.S. military said a man named "Abdul-Rahman," whom it identified as al-Zarqawi's spiritual adviser, died in the airstrike alongside his leader.
The U.S. military has said the mostly likely successor is an Egyptian associate of al-Zarqawi named Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who has a $50,000 reward on his head.
Read All>>
Hail Abu Ayyub al-Masri, may his rule and days be short in number!
What a slight though, a reward of $50,000 vs. $25,000,000 ... couldn't we just add a couple of more zeros for this ZERO? Oh, the shame of it all.
Soon, Abu Ayyub al-Masri go BOOM!
UPDATE June 12, 2006:
Excerpts from AP via Yahoo! News -
Militant chosen to succeed al-Zarqawi
By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 28 minutes ago
CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida in Iraq said in a Web statement posted Monday that a militant named Abu Hamza al-Muhajer was the group's new leader.
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"Al-Qaida in Iraq's council has agreed on Sheik Abu Hamza al-Muhajer to be the successor for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the leadership of the organization," said a statement signed by the group on an Islamic militant Web forum where it often posts messages.
It said al-Muhajer was "a beloved brother with jihadi (holy war) experience and a strong footing in knowledge."
Read All>>
Okay then! Soon, Sheik Abu Hamza al-Muhajer go BOOM - too!
Unlike the day after the F-16 attack and subsequent death of al-Zarqawi, when NBC reporter, Mike Boettcher, claimed that a car bombing in central Baghdad was the first of the "reaction bombings", this warning came from Iraqi Al-Qaida posted at an Islamic militant Web forum where the group has posted statements before.
I am sure that the MSM was just getting out in front of the story ... let's give 'em a pass, after all, al-Zarqawi was just your average "Freedom Fighter", right?
Excerpts from AP via Yahoo! News -
Al-Zarqawi death prompts attack warning
By LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writer - 15 minutes ago
CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida in Iraq vowed Sunday to carry out "major attacks," insisting in a Web statement that it was still powerful after the death of leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
The statement did not name a successor to al-Zarqawi, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike Wednesday. But it said the group's leadership "renews its allegiance" to Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden "will see things that will bring joy to his heart," it said, vowing "to prepare major attacks that will shake the enemy like an earthquake and rattle them out of sleep."
The authenticity of the statement could not be independently confirmed. It was posted on an Islamic militant Web forum where the group has posted statements in the past.
The statement was issued in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq but was put out by the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of five insurgent groups that al-Zarqawi helped create.
----
The message left unknown the issue of who will succeed al-Zarqawi as the group's "emir," or leader.
Thursday's al-Qaida statement was signed by al-Zarqawi's deputy emir, Abu Abdul-Rahman al-Iraqi, and sympathizers quickly flooded Web forums with vows of allegiance to him.
But Sunday's message did not mention his name. There is confusion over whether he is still alive, after the U.S. military said a man named "Abdul-Rahman," whom it identified as al-Zarqawi's spiritual adviser, died in the airstrike alongside his leader.
The U.S. military has said the mostly likely successor is an Egyptian associate of al-Zarqawi named Abu Ayyub al-Masri, who has a $50,000 reward on his head.
Read All>>
Hail Abu Ayyub al-Masri, may his rule and days be short in number!
What a slight though, a reward of $50,000 vs. $25,000,000 ... couldn't we just add a couple of more zeros for this ZERO? Oh, the shame of it all.
Soon, Abu Ayyub al-Masri go BOOM!
UPDATE June 12, 2006:
Excerpts from AP via Yahoo! News -
Militant chosen to succeed al-Zarqawi
By NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 28 minutes ago
CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida in Iraq said in a Web statement posted Monday that a militant named Abu Hamza al-Muhajer was the group's new leader.
----
"Al-Qaida in Iraq's council has agreed on Sheik Abu Hamza al-Muhajer to be the successor for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the leadership of the organization," said a statement signed by the group on an Islamic militant Web forum where it often posts messages.
It said al-Muhajer was "a beloved brother with jihadi (holy war) experience and a strong footing in knowledge."
Read All>>
Okay then! Soon, Sheik Abu Hamza al-Muhajer go BOOM - too!
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Newt? Why Not Newt For 2008!
Today, it is easy to become confused when one hears what politicions have to say when they discuss the issues that confront us all, "at the end of the day" ... both political parties sound the same.
With Newt Gingrich, this point is never moot. As Speaker of the House, Newt said what he ment and ment what he said - he got things done. In contrast, today our congress has trouble standing up for the current citizens that occupy our country over the millions of illegal aliens while they debate border security and whether to enforce current law ... or not.
Not with Newt.
Excerpts from the Washington Post -
Gingrich May Run in 2008 If No Front-Runner Emerges
By Juliet Eilperin - Washington Post Staff Writer - Saturday, June 10, 2006; Page A04
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) expects to run for president in 2008 if the contest for the Republican nomination still seems wide open late next year, he said yesterday.
In remarks that were critical of both parties' recent performance, Gingrich told a luncheon group of scholars and reporters at the Brookings Institution that he will make a decision in the fall of 2007 about running.
"If at that point there's still a vacuum . . . then we'll probably do something," Gingrich said, adding that his policy pronouncements have more weight if he is seen as a potential presidential candidate. "If you're interested in defining the idea context and the political context for the next generation of Americans, which I am, the most effective way to do that is to be seen as potentially available."
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Though he came to power as a fiery conservative, Gingrich has softened some of his partisanship since leaving office. He has criticized the current House leadership for cracking down on dissent, he appeared last year with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to back changes in how medical data are shared, and he supports federal funding for alterative energy sources.
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"We have a choice between those who are failing to deliver and those who are unthinkable," he said, adding that he would put "even money" on the Democrats taking back the House this fall. "Neither party currently is where the country is."
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Although DeLay embraced the nickname "The Hammer" while serving as both majority whip and majority leader, Gingrich said he favors a more tolerant form of leadership.
"The Gingrich model of an idea-led, contentious majority . . . is a lot better than a model of 'The Hammer.' A hammer is a relatively dumb symbol," he said, adding that now that DeLay is gone, "the House will become healthier with every passing week. You'll see an emergence of an idea-led Republican majority. The question is whether they'll do it fast enough to save the majority."
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Ever since federal authorities raided Rep. William J. Jefferson's (D-La.) congressional office last month, Gingrich has criticized the Justice Department for overreaching, and he delivered another sharp rebuke yesterday.
"It is an example of the arrogance of this administration toward the legislative branch, and it's intolerable," he said. "If I was speaker, there would be no appropriations to the Justice Department until this is resolved."
Read All>>
With Newt Gingrich, this point is never moot. As Speaker of the House, Newt said what he ment and ment what he said - he got things done. In contrast, today our congress has trouble standing up for the current citizens that occupy our country over the millions of illegal aliens while they debate border security and whether to enforce current law ... or not.
Not with Newt.
Excerpts from the Washington Post -
Gingrich May Run in 2008 If No Front-Runner Emerges
By Juliet Eilperin - Washington Post Staff Writer - Saturday, June 10, 2006; Page A04
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) expects to run for president in 2008 if the contest for the Republican nomination still seems wide open late next year, he said yesterday.
In remarks that were critical of both parties' recent performance, Gingrich told a luncheon group of scholars and reporters at the Brookings Institution that he will make a decision in the fall of 2007 about running.
"If at that point there's still a vacuum . . . then we'll probably do something," Gingrich said, adding that his policy pronouncements have more weight if he is seen as a potential presidential candidate. "If you're interested in defining the idea context and the political context for the next generation of Americans, which I am, the most effective way to do that is to be seen as potentially available."
----
Though he came to power as a fiery conservative, Gingrich has softened some of his partisanship since leaving office. He has criticized the current House leadership for cracking down on dissent, he appeared last year with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to back changes in how medical data are shared, and he supports federal funding for alterative energy sources.
----
"We have a choice between those who are failing to deliver and those who are unthinkable," he said, adding that he would put "even money" on the Democrats taking back the House this fall. "Neither party currently is where the country is."
----
Although DeLay embraced the nickname "The Hammer" while serving as both majority whip and majority leader, Gingrich said he favors a more tolerant form of leadership.
"The Gingrich model of an idea-led, contentious majority . . . is a lot better than a model of 'The Hammer.' A hammer is a relatively dumb symbol," he said, adding that now that DeLay is gone, "the House will become healthier with every passing week. You'll see an emergence of an idea-led Republican majority. The question is whether they'll do it fast enough to save the majority."
----
Ever since federal authorities raided Rep. William J. Jefferson's (D-La.) congressional office last month, Gingrich has criticized the Justice Department for overreaching, and he delivered another sharp rebuke yesterday.
"It is an example of the arrogance of this administration toward the legislative branch, and it's intolerable," he said. "If I was speaker, there would be no appropriations to the Justice Department until this is resolved."
Read All>>
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi Is One Less Living Evil
This is a great "get" on a day that Iraq announces a fully formed Government as the final two cabinet positions are filled. The greening of Iraq begins today with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi "pushin' up daisies".
This morning, on "Imus In The Morning", Don was interviewing Mike Boettcher of NBC News from Baghdad about the Zarqawi air raid and he began to report of another bombing in the streets of central Baghdad where 13 people were killed. Mike stated that the reactions to the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are already beginning to show with this most recent car bombing (an outrageous assertion).
Don Imus, no fan to the war effort in Iraq, immediately asked Mike Boettcher, "How do we know it's a reaction to that, Mike?" (that the attack on the 13 people was a reaction to the Zarqari death) and Mike stuttered and stated that he really did not know if the event was really connected. When pressed further by Don about the nature of original statement ... Mike's excuse was, "I had a little 'mixed-plus' (feed-back) in my ear". This, from an on-air professional who is comfortable to working with an earpiece in his ear.
Agenda driven media, our next airstrike target?
Excerpts from The Washington Times -
Zarqawi killed in air raid
ASSOCIATED PRESS - June 8, 2006 - 9:09 a.m.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Abu Musab Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader in Iraq who waged a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and beheadings of hostages, has been killed in a precision airstrike, U.S. and Iraqi officials said today. It was a long-sought victory in the war in Iraq.
Zarqawi and seven aides, including spiritual adviser Sheik Abdul Rahman, were killed yesterday in a remote area 30 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile province of Diyala, just east of the provincial capital of Baqouba, officials said.
"Zarqawi was eliminated," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said.
----
The announcement about Zarqawi's death came six days after he issued an audiotape on the Internet, railing against Shiites in Iraq and saying militias were raping women and killing Sunnis. He urged the community to fight back.
The Jordanian-born terrorist was Iraq's most-wanted militant - as notorious as Osama bin Laden, to whom he swore allegiance in 2004. The United States put a $25 million bounty on his head, the same as bin Laden. Mr. Al-Maliki told al-Arabiya television the bounty would be honored, saying "we will meet our promise," without elaborating.
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Mr. Al-Maliki said yesterday's airstrike by U.S. forces was based on intelligence reports provided to Iraqi security forces by area residents.
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Baqouba has in recent weeks seen a spike in sectarian violence, including the discovery of 17 severed heads in fruit boxes. It also was near the site of a sectarian atrocity last week in which masked gunmen killed 21 Shiites, including a dozen students pulled from minibuses, after separating out four Sunni Arabs.
"Those who disrupt the course of life, like Zarqawi, will have a tragic end," Mr. al-Maliki said. He also warned those who would follow the militant's lead that "whenever there is a new Zarqawi, we will kill him."
Read All>> (subscription)
UPDATE - 6-9-2006, al-Zarqawi's Greatest Hits:
ZARQAWI'S FOOTPRINTS
Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed Wednesday in a U.S. air strike at a safe house north of Baghdad. Here is a chronology of some attacks claimed by Zarqawi and his followers:
** Oct. 28, 2002: U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley is fatally shot in Amman, Jordan.
** Aug. 19, 2003: A truck bombing of the United Nations' headquarters in Baghdad kills 23.
** Aug. 29, 2003: More than 85 are killed in a car bombing in Najaf.
** March 2, 2004: At least 181 are killed in suicide bombings and mortar attacks at Shi'ite Muslim shrines in Karbala and Baghdad.
** May 11, 2004: American businessman Nicholas R. Berg is beheaded.
** May 18, 2004: Iraqi Governing Council President Abdel-Zahraa Othman is killed by a car bomb.
** Sept. 16, 2004: British engineer Kenneth Bigley and U.S. engineers Jack Hensley and Eugene "Jack" Armstrong are kidnapped in Baghdad. By Oct. 10, all three men are confirmed beheaded.
** Feb. 28, 2005: A suicide car bomber kills 125 in Hillah.
** Nov. 9, 2005: A triple suicide bombing at hotels in Amman, Jordan, kills 60.
** Feb. 22, 2006: One of Shi'ite Islam's holiest shrines, the Golden Mosque in Samarrah, is destroyed in a bombing, leading to more than 90 reprisal bombings on Sunni mosques.
Sources: Combined wire dispatches from The Washington Times
This morning, on "Imus In The Morning", Don was interviewing Mike Boettcher of NBC News from Baghdad about the Zarqawi air raid and he began to report of another bombing in the streets of central Baghdad where 13 people were killed. Mike stated that the reactions to the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi are already beginning to show with this most recent car bombing (an outrageous assertion).
Don Imus, no fan to the war effort in Iraq, immediately asked Mike Boettcher, "How do we know it's a reaction to that, Mike?" (that the attack on the 13 people was a reaction to the Zarqari death) and Mike stuttered and stated that he really did not know if the event was really connected. When pressed further by Don about the nature of original statement ... Mike's excuse was, "I had a little 'mixed-plus' (feed-back) in my ear". This, from an on-air professional who is comfortable to working with an earpiece in his ear.
Agenda driven media, our next airstrike target?
Excerpts from The Washington Times -
Zarqawi killed in air raid
ASSOCIATED PRESS - June 8, 2006 - 9:09 a.m.
BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Abu Musab Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader in Iraq who waged a bloody campaign of suicide bombings and beheadings of hostages, has been killed in a precision airstrike, U.S. and Iraqi officials said today. It was a long-sought victory in the war in Iraq.
Zarqawi and seven aides, including spiritual adviser Sheik Abdul Rahman, were killed yesterday in a remote area 30 miles northeast of Baghdad in the volatile province of Diyala, just east of the provincial capital of Baqouba, officials said.
"Zarqawi was eliminated," Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said.
----
The announcement about Zarqawi's death came six days after he issued an audiotape on the Internet, railing against Shiites in Iraq and saying militias were raping women and killing Sunnis. He urged the community to fight back.
The Jordanian-born terrorist was Iraq's most-wanted militant - as notorious as Osama bin Laden, to whom he swore allegiance in 2004. The United States put a $25 million bounty on his head, the same as bin Laden. Mr. Al-Maliki told al-Arabiya television the bounty would be honored, saying "we will meet our promise," without elaborating.
----
Mr. Al-Maliki said yesterday's airstrike by U.S. forces was based on intelligence reports provided to Iraqi security forces by area residents.
----
Baqouba has in recent weeks seen a spike in sectarian violence, including the discovery of 17 severed heads in fruit boxes. It also was near the site of a sectarian atrocity last week in which masked gunmen killed 21 Shiites, including a dozen students pulled from minibuses, after separating out four Sunni Arabs.
"Those who disrupt the course of life, like Zarqawi, will have a tragic end," Mr. al-Maliki said. He also warned those who would follow the militant's lead that "whenever there is a new Zarqawi, we will kill him."
Read All>> (subscription)
UPDATE - 6-9-2006, al-Zarqawi's Greatest Hits:
ZARQAWI'S FOOTPRINTS
Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed Wednesday in a U.S. air strike at a safe house north of Baghdad. Here is a chronology of some attacks claimed by Zarqawi and his followers:
** Oct. 28, 2002: U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley is fatally shot in Amman, Jordan.
** Aug. 19, 2003: A truck bombing of the United Nations' headquarters in Baghdad kills 23.
** Aug. 29, 2003: More than 85 are killed in a car bombing in Najaf.
** March 2, 2004: At least 181 are killed in suicide bombings and mortar attacks at Shi'ite Muslim shrines in Karbala and Baghdad.
** May 11, 2004: American businessman Nicholas R. Berg is beheaded.
** May 18, 2004: Iraqi Governing Council President Abdel-Zahraa Othman is killed by a car bomb.
** Sept. 16, 2004: British engineer Kenneth Bigley and U.S. engineers Jack Hensley and Eugene "Jack" Armstrong are kidnapped in Baghdad. By Oct. 10, all three men are confirmed beheaded.
** Feb. 28, 2005: A suicide car bomber kills 125 in Hillah.
** Nov. 9, 2005: A triple suicide bombing at hotels in Amman, Jordan, kills 60.
** Feb. 22, 2006: One of Shi'ite Islam's holiest shrines, the Golden Mosque in Samarrah, is destroyed in a bombing, leading to more than 90 reprisal bombings on Sunni mosques.
Sources: Combined wire dispatches from The Washington Times
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Going "Organic" May Require A College Degree
One would think that when one reads a label of classification on how a food product is produced that what you read says it all.
Take, for example, the word "ORGANIC" on the package of something you are interested in eating ... what does it really mean?
In order to understand what one is really getting with this classification on the package, one needs to have a degree in law, agriculture, biochemistry, animal husbandry, cattle ranching, and who knows what else and by the time one understands what they are buying ... you've lost your appetite!
Excerpts from U.S.News & World Report -
The Green Invasion
By Betsy Querna - U.S.News & World Report - 6/12/06
Grocery shoppers across America have been witnessing a subtle but revolutionary change on store shelves. Organic products are popping up in the cereal aisle, amid rows of canned goods, and beside bottles of salad dressing. Though organic food has been around for decades, it used to be found mainly in specialty stores like Whole Foods or confined to a tiny corner in the produce section.
Today, most grocery stores stock big organic brands like Earthbound Farm. Wal-Mart plans to double its organic offerings this summer in some stores, and grocers like SuperValu and Safeway recently unveiled organic house brands. Major food companies have grabbed up organic brands. General Mills, for example, owns the organic brands Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen. Some food producers are even rolling out organic versions of existing products. You can now fill your cart with Ragu organic pasta sauce, Snyder's organic pretzels, Orville Redenbacher's organic butter popcorn, and later this summer, organic Kraft macaroni and cheese. "With Wal-Mart in the game and Safeway and just about everyone else, organic is at a tipping point," says Samuel Fromartz, author of the new book Organic, Inc. "It's really gone mainstream."
Getting specific. With so many more choices, consumers may wonder what they're really getting when they buy this newfangled organic food. Though the organic label is often perceived as synonymous with healthful, virtuous, or just plain better, organic has a specific definition, set in 2000 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture after years of varying standards muddled its meaning. In a nutshell, organic produce cannot be grown with pesticides or most synthetic fertilizers, while animals must not be injected with antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic farms undergo a rigorous certification process and are inspected for compliance by an independent agent.
To earn the "100 percent organic" label under the USDA system, a food must contain only organically produced ingredients. Next in line is "organic," in which at least 95 percent of the ingredients must be organic. The other 5 percent must be an approved ingredient. Those are mostly preservatives, thickeners, or other things such as baking soda and spices. Here and with "100 percent organic" foods, consumers may also spot the USDA seal. Products that have at least 70 percent organic ingredients can sport the term "made with organic ingredients." Any less and the food gets no boasting rights beyond noting the organic elements in the list of ingredients. (In some cases, you will see a certifying agent seal. More details are at www.ams.usda.gov/nop.)
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What consumers should do, experts say, is carefully consider each organic purchase. There may be no reason to buy an organic version of a favorite food when its conventional counterpart is little or no different and most likely cheaper. On average, organic food costs 30 to 50 percent more than conventional food. Heinz's Classico pasta sauce usually sells for about $3; the organic version is a dollar more.
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While organic fruits and vegetables do usually have fewer pesticides than their conventional cousins, there is no consensus on how harmful those pesticides are to humans. Joseph Rosen, a professor of food science at Rutgers University who has been studying pesticides for more than 40 years, contends that the amount of pesticides on produce is too small to hurt and that the liver efficiently flushes them out. Other experts dispute that notion, and some shoppers don't want to take the risk.
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A 2003 Environmental Working Group study that looked at USDA pesticide data from more than 100,000 pieces of produce found that those with the most pesticides include strawberries, peaches, nectarines, bell peppers, and spinach. Because of the way they are grown or their heartiness, conventional broccoli, asparagus, mangos, and bananas are less likely to have pesticides.
Recently, several small studies have shown that organic fruits and vegetables might also have higher amounts of protective antioxidants. The thinking: Without pesticides, the plant must rely on its own defenses to shoo away bugs; one way it does this is to make more antioxidants. Still, it's only a hypothesis. "I wouldn't tell my mom or neighbor to go buy organic because it has more antioxidants," says Kathleen Merrigan, director of the agriculture, food, and environment program at Tufts University and an author of the USDA organic standards rule. "I would tell them to buy it because it has fewer pesticides."
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While health concerns motivate many buyers, others prefer organic milk for more humanitarian reasons. Many organic milk producers are small farmers, and their cows are often given more space to roam than cows at large dairies. In fact, major organic dairy producers such as Horizon have come under much criticism for their pasture size. On an Idaho farm that's taken the brunt, the cows "are very comfortable," says Kelly Shea, a Horizon vice president. "They have a nice life." Shea adds that the company is now converting more land to organic there so the cows can have more room and increase their grass consumption. The USDA is currently seeking comments on a rule that would nail down the amount of pasture required for these cows.
On conventional farms, animals are routinely given hormones and antibiotics, which could be passed on to your dinner plate. Though there is no scientific consensus about whether these substances cause health problems, shoppers who want to avoid them can look for other phrases on meat packages. "You are not necessarily going to see the organic label," says Keecha Harris, a national nutrition consultant for the Head Start program. "You are going to see how the animal is raised."
----
These days, the biggest organic explosion is in the middle of the store, where the cereals, frozen foods, and processed packaged goods are sold. Experts urge shoppers to remember that the organic label means one thing and one thing only. So the corn in Orville Redenbacher's organic microwave popcorn comes from an organic farm; Heinz's organic ketchup uses organic tomato concentrate and organic sugar. Shoppers still need to flip over those jars and packages and scrutinize the nutrition facts, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian with Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Organic food and regular food should be viewed with the same skepticism when it comes to calories and fat.
----
In the end, nearly everyone--even the most ardent organic fans--recommends that a consumer's first goal be a nutritionally balanced diet. Then the organic decision comes into play. "What people should be doing is getting more fruits and vegetables regardless of whether they're conventional or organic," says Harris. "A cheese puff is a cheese puff is a cheese puff."
Read All>>
Meanwhile, so I can take a break to figure this stuff out, I am going around the corner to In-N-Out to have a "Double-Double Animal Style" ... hold the fries!
Take, for example, the word "ORGANIC" on the package of something you are interested in eating ... what does it really mean?
In order to understand what one is really getting with this classification on the package, one needs to have a degree in law, agriculture, biochemistry, animal husbandry, cattle ranching, and who knows what else and by the time one understands what they are buying ... you've lost your appetite!
Excerpts from U.S.News & World Report -
The Green Invasion
By Betsy Querna - U.S.News & World Report - 6/12/06
Grocery shoppers across America have been witnessing a subtle but revolutionary change on store shelves. Organic products are popping up in the cereal aisle, amid rows of canned goods, and beside bottles of salad dressing. Though organic food has been around for decades, it used to be found mainly in specialty stores like Whole Foods or confined to a tiny corner in the produce section.
Today, most grocery stores stock big organic brands like Earthbound Farm. Wal-Mart plans to double its organic offerings this summer in some stores, and grocers like SuperValu and Safeway recently unveiled organic house brands. Major food companies have grabbed up organic brands. General Mills, for example, owns the organic brands Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen. Some food producers are even rolling out organic versions of existing products. You can now fill your cart with Ragu organic pasta sauce, Snyder's organic pretzels, Orville Redenbacher's organic butter popcorn, and later this summer, organic Kraft macaroni and cheese. "With Wal-Mart in the game and Safeway and just about everyone else, organic is at a tipping point," says Samuel Fromartz, author of the new book Organic, Inc. "It's really gone mainstream."
Getting specific. With so many more choices, consumers may wonder what they're really getting when they buy this newfangled organic food. Though the organic label is often perceived as synonymous with healthful, virtuous, or just plain better, organic has a specific definition, set in 2000 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture after years of varying standards muddled its meaning. In a nutshell, organic produce cannot be grown with pesticides or most synthetic fertilizers, while animals must not be injected with antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic farms undergo a rigorous certification process and are inspected for compliance by an independent agent.
To earn the "100 percent organic" label under the USDA system, a food must contain only organically produced ingredients. Next in line is "organic," in which at least 95 percent of the ingredients must be organic. The other 5 percent must be an approved ingredient. Those are mostly preservatives, thickeners, or other things such as baking soda and spices. Here and with "100 percent organic" foods, consumers may also spot the USDA seal. Products that have at least 70 percent organic ingredients can sport the term "made with organic ingredients." Any less and the food gets no boasting rights beyond noting the organic elements in the list of ingredients. (In some cases, you will see a certifying agent seal. More details are at www.ams.usda.gov/nop.)
----
What consumers should do, experts say, is carefully consider each organic purchase. There may be no reason to buy an organic version of a favorite food when its conventional counterpart is little or no different and most likely cheaper. On average, organic food costs 30 to 50 percent more than conventional food. Heinz's Classico pasta sauce usually sells for about $3; the organic version is a dollar more.
----
While organic fruits and vegetables do usually have fewer pesticides than their conventional cousins, there is no consensus on how harmful those pesticides are to humans. Joseph Rosen, a professor of food science at Rutgers University who has been studying pesticides for more than 40 years, contends that the amount of pesticides on produce is too small to hurt and that the liver efficiently flushes them out. Other experts dispute that notion, and some shoppers don't want to take the risk.
----
A 2003 Environmental Working Group study that looked at USDA pesticide data from more than 100,000 pieces of produce found that those with the most pesticides include strawberries, peaches, nectarines, bell peppers, and spinach. Because of the way they are grown or their heartiness, conventional broccoli, asparagus, mangos, and bananas are less likely to have pesticides.
Recently, several small studies have shown that organic fruits and vegetables might also have higher amounts of protective antioxidants. The thinking: Without pesticides, the plant must rely on its own defenses to shoo away bugs; one way it does this is to make more antioxidants. Still, it's only a hypothesis. "I wouldn't tell my mom or neighbor to go buy organic because it has more antioxidants," says Kathleen Merrigan, director of the agriculture, food, and environment program at Tufts University and an author of the USDA organic standards rule. "I would tell them to buy it because it has fewer pesticides."
----
While health concerns motivate many buyers, others prefer organic milk for more humanitarian reasons. Many organic milk producers are small farmers, and their cows are often given more space to roam than cows at large dairies. In fact, major organic dairy producers such as Horizon have come under much criticism for their pasture size. On an Idaho farm that's taken the brunt, the cows "are very comfortable," says Kelly Shea, a Horizon vice president. "They have a nice life." Shea adds that the company is now converting more land to organic there so the cows can have more room and increase their grass consumption. The USDA is currently seeking comments on a rule that would nail down the amount of pasture required for these cows.
On conventional farms, animals are routinely given hormones and antibiotics, which could be passed on to your dinner plate. Though there is no scientific consensus about whether these substances cause health problems, shoppers who want to avoid them can look for other phrases on meat packages. "You are not necessarily going to see the organic label," says Keecha Harris, a national nutrition consultant for the Head Start program. "You are going to see how the animal is raised."
----
These days, the biggest organic explosion is in the middle of the store, where the cereals, frozen foods, and processed packaged goods are sold. Experts urge shoppers to remember that the organic label means one thing and one thing only. So the corn in Orville Redenbacher's organic microwave popcorn comes from an organic farm; Heinz's organic ketchup uses organic tomato concentrate and organic sugar. Shoppers still need to flip over those jars and packages and scrutinize the nutrition facts, says Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian with Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. Organic food and regular food should be viewed with the same skepticism when it comes to calories and fat.
----
In the end, nearly everyone--even the most ardent organic fans--recommends that a consumer's first goal be a nutritionally balanced diet. Then the organic decision comes into play. "What people should be doing is getting more fruits and vegetables regardless of whether they're conventional or organic," says Harris. "A cheese puff is a cheese puff is a cheese puff."
Read All>>
Meanwhile, so I can take a break to figure this stuff out, I am going around the corner to In-N-Out to have a "Double-Double Animal Style" ... hold the fries!
"Meathead Money" Can Not Buy Fame For Reiner
Proposition 82, the ballot measure here in California to create a $2.4 billion (that's with a "B") universal preschool program, went down in a blistering defeat in yesterday's election by a 60% against vs. a 40% for margin.
Back on May 18th, the Reiner family committed another million dollars (bringing the contribution total to $2,700,000) to the Yes on Proposition 82 cause that would have placed a tax on a special class of our fellow citizens.
In a move to conceal the fact that "meathead money" is the main source of funding for the proposition, Rob Reiner's wife is credited with the lion's share of the contribution.
This result just goes to show that when you take away the ability to direct government money to promote a new government education program, and you are left with only your own meager resources, as the law allows, people win.
And the investigation into Rob Reiner's stewardship is not going to be completed until sometime in August, as the saga continues ... "Grinding Meathead - The Handle Turns"!
Back on May 18th, the Reiner family committed another million dollars (bringing the contribution total to $2,700,000) to the Yes on Proposition 82 cause that would have placed a tax on a special class of our fellow citizens.
In a move to conceal the fact that "meathead money" is the main source of funding for the proposition, Rob Reiner's wife is credited with the lion's share of the contribution.
This result just goes to show that when you take away the ability to direct government money to promote a new government education program, and you are left with only your own meager resources, as the law allows, people win.
And the investigation into Rob Reiner's stewardship is not going to be completed until sometime in August, as the saga continues ... "Grinding Meathead - The Handle Turns"!
Sunday, June 04, 2006
What The ____ ?
Yep! You guessed it. Any excuse for a party.
In this case, it is all about the dark side for Hell, Michigan with the "Gates Of Hell" to be installed at the childrens play area just in time for the festivities!
This from AP via Yahoo! News -
Hell, Mich., heats up for 6-6-6 party
AP - Sun Jun 4, 7:04 AM ET
HELL, Mich. - They're planning a hot time in Hell on Tuesday. The day bears the date of 6-6-06, or abbreviated as 666 — a number that carries hellish significance. And there's not a snowball's chance in Hell that the day will go unnoticed in the unincorporated hamlet 60 miles west of Detroit.
Nobody is more fired up than John Colone, the town's self-styled mayor and owner of a souvenir shop.
"I've got `666' T-shirts and mugs. I'm only ordering 666 (of the items) so once they're gone, that's it," said Colone, also known as Odum Plenty. "Everyone who comes will get a letter of authenticity saying you've celebrated June 6, 2006, in Hell."
Most of Colone's wares will sell for $6.66, including deeds to one square inch of Hell.
Live entertainment and a costume contest are planned. The Gates of Hell should be installed at a children's play area in time for the festivities.
"They're 8 feet tall and 5 foot wide and each gate looks like flames, and when they're closed, it's a devil's head," Colone told The Detroit News for a Saturday story.
Mike "Smitty" Hickey, owner of the Dam Site Inn, wasn't sure what kind of clientele would show up Tuesday.
"We're all about having fun here. I don't think we're going to get the cult crowd, the devil worshippers or anything like that," said Hickey, whose bar's signature concoction is the Bloody Devil, a variant of the Bloody Mary.
Colone, meanwhile, has been in touch with radio stations as far away as San Diego and Seattle that are raffling off trips to Hell in honor of 6-6-6.
The 666 revelry is just the latest chapter in the town's storied history of publicity stunts, said Jason LeTeff, one of its 72 year-round residents — or, as the mayor calls them, Hellions or Hell-billies. But LeTeff wasn't particularly enthused.
"Now, here I am living in Hell, taking my kids to church and trying to teach them the right things and the town where we live is having a 6-6-6 party," he said.
According to the town's semiofficial Web site, there are two leading theories about how Hell got its name.
The first holds that a pair of German travelers stepped out of a stagecoach one sunny afternoon in the 1830s, and one said to the other, "So schoene hell" — roughly translated as, "So bright and beautiful." Their comments were overheard by some locals and the name stuck.
The second holds that George Reeves was asked after Michigan gained statehood what he thought the town he helped settle should be called, and reportedly replied, "I don't care, you can name it Hell if you want to." The name became official on Oct. 13, 1841.
Link Here>>
UPDATE 6-5-2006:
Excerpts from The Washington Times -
Apocalypse tomorrow? 666 arrives
By Seth Borenstein - ASSOCIATED PRESS - June 5, 2006
Is tomorrow's date -- 6-6-6 -- merely a curious number, or could it mean our number is up?
There's a devilishly odd nexus of theology, mathematics and commercialism on the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year. OK, it's just the sixth year of this millennium, but insisting on calling it 2006 takes the devil-may-care fun out of calendar-gazing.
Something about the number 666 brings out the worry, the hope and even the humor in people, said the Rev. Felix Just, a professor of theology and religious studies at the University of San Francisco. A Jesuit priest, Father Just has taught both apocalyptic theory and mathematics and maintains a "666-Numbers of the Beast" Web site that contains history, theology, math and precisely 66 one-line jokes about 666.
One can even make sport of it, betting online if the apocalypse will happen on that date. The good news is that one online oddsmaker has made the world a 100,000-to-1 favorite to survive tomorrow -- something that Father Just said is supported by theology.
----
It all started with Revelation 13:18 in the Bible: "This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six."
The beast is also known as the Antichrist, according to some apocalyptic theories.
Many scholars, such as Father Just, say the beast is really a coded reference -- using Hebrew letters for numbers -- for the despotic Roman emperor Nero, and 616 appears instead of 666 in some ancient manuscripts. The Book of Revelation isn't prophesying a specific end of times but "is about the overall cosmic struggle of good versus evil," Father Just said.
But for some more apocalyptic theologians, the end of times is coming, even if not specifically tomorrow. The evangelical Raptureready.com Web site puts its "rapture index" at 156, calling that "fasten your seat belts" time.
----
"I don't think that people understand that 666 is not a good time," Mr. LaHaye said. He said he sees signs of an upcoming "tribulation period" that leads to the Antichrist's arrival in a movement toward one-world government, a single economic system and single religion.
----
So people have looked for -- and found -- 666 in all sorts of places. Believers in the number's power have used a biblical letter-numeric code to convert the names of countless political leaders, including many popes, to come out 666, marking them as that generation's Antichrist. That includes Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
The math of 666 is also open to biblical interpretation and manipulation. Father Just points out that 666 is the sum of all the numbers on a roulette wheel. Other oddities include variations on pi and products of prime number multiplication.
There's also something special about the number 6, which in the Bible stands for man, said Brian C. Jones, a religion professor at Wartburg College in Iowa.
Read All>>
In this case, it is all about the dark side for Hell, Michigan with the "Gates Of Hell" to be installed at the childrens play area just in time for the festivities!
This from AP via Yahoo! News -
Hell, Mich., heats up for 6-6-6 party
AP - Sun Jun 4, 7:04 AM ET
HELL, Mich. - They're planning a hot time in Hell on Tuesday. The day bears the date of 6-6-06, or abbreviated as 666 — a number that carries hellish significance. And there's not a snowball's chance in Hell that the day will go unnoticed in the unincorporated hamlet 60 miles west of Detroit.
Nobody is more fired up than John Colone, the town's self-styled mayor and owner of a souvenir shop.
"I've got `666' T-shirts and mugs. I'm only ordering 666 (of the items) so once they're gone, that's it," said Colone, also known as Odum Plenty. "Everyone who comes will get a letter of authenticity saying you've celebrated June 6, 2006, in Hell."
Most of Colone's wares will sell for $6.66, including deeds to one square inch of Hell.
Live entertainment and a costume contest are planned. The Gates of Hell should be installed at a children's play area in time for the festivities.
"They're 8 feet tall and 5 foot wide and each gate looks like flames, and when they're closed, it's a devil's head," Colone told The Detroit News for a Saturday story.
Mike "Smitty" Hickey, owner of the Dam Site Inn, wasn't sure what kind of clientele would show up Tuesday.
"We're all about having fun here. I don't think we're going to get the cult crowd, the devil worshippers or anything like that," said Hickey, whose bar's signature concoction is the Bloody Devil, a variant of the Bloody Mary.
Colone, meanwhile, has been in touch with radio stations as far away as San Diego and Seattle that are raffling off trips to Hell in honor of 6-6-6.
The 666 revelry is just the latest chapter in the town's storied history of publicity stunts, said Jason LeTeff, one of its 72 year-round residents — or, as the mayor calls them, Hellions or Hell-billies. But LeTeff wasn't particularly enthused.
"Now, here I am living in Hell, taking my kids to church and trying to teach them the right things and the town where we live is having a 6-6-6 party," he said.
According to the town's semiofficial Web site, there are two leading theories about how Hell got its name.
The first holds that a pair of German travelers stepped out of a stagecoach one sunny afternoon in the 1830s, and one said to the other, "So schoene hell" — roughly translated as, "So bright and beautiful." Their comments were overheard by some locals and the name stuck.
The second holds that George Reeves was asked after Michigan gained statehood what he thought the town he helped settle should be called, and reportedly replied, "I don't care, you can name it Hell if you want to." The name became official on Oct. 13, 1841.
Link Here>>
UPDATE 6-5-2006:
Excerpts from The Washington Times -
Apocalypse tomorrow? 666 arrives
By Seth Borenstein - ASSOCIATED PRESS - June 5, 2006
Is tomorrow's date -- 6-6-6 -- merely a curious number, or could it mean our number is up?
There's a devilishly odd nexus of theology, mathematics and commercialism on the sixth day of the sixth month of the sixth year. OK, it's just the sixth year of this millennium, but insisting on calling it 2006 takes the devil-may-care fun out of calendar-gazing.
Something about the number 666 brings out the worry, the hope and even the humor in people, said the Rev. Felix Just, a professor of theology and religious studies at the University of San Francisco. A Jesuit priest, Father Just has taught both apocalyptic theory and mathematics and maintains a "666-Numbers of the Beast" Web site that contains history, theology, math and precisely 66 one-line jokes about 666.
One can even make sport of it, betting online if the apocalypse will happen on that date. The good news is that one online oddsmaker has made the world a 100,000-to-1 favorite to survive tomorrow -- something that Father Just said is supported by theology.
----
It all started with Revelation 13:18 in the Bible: "This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six."
The beast is also known as the Antichrist, according to some apocalyptic theories.
Many scholars, such as Father Just, say the beast is really a coded reference -- using Hebrew letters for numbers -- for the despotic Roman emperor Nero, and 616 appears instead of 666 in some ancient manuscripts. The Book of Revelation isn't prophesying a specific end of times but "is about the overall cosmic struggle of good versus evil," Father Just said.
But for some more apocalyptic theologians, the end of times is coming, even if not specifically tomorrow. The evangelical Raptureready.com Web site puts its "rapture index" at 156, calling that "fasten your seat belts" time.
----
"I don't think that people understand that 666 is not a good time," Mr. LaHaye said. He said he sees signs of an upcoming "tribulation period" that leads to the Antichrist's arrival in a movement toward one-world government, a single economic system and single religion.
----
So people have looked for -- and found -- 666 in all sorts of places. Believers in the number's power have used a biblical letter-numeric code to convert the names of countless political leaders, including many popes, to come out 666, marking them as that generation's Antichrist. That includes Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.
The math of 666 is also open to biblical interpretation and manipulation. Father Just points out that 666 is the sum of all the numbers on a roulette wheel. Other oddities include variations on pi and products of prime number multiplication.
There's also something special about the number 6, which in the Bible stands for man, said Brian C. Jones, a religion professor at Wartburg College in Iowa.
Read All>>
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Meteor 1, Earth 0 - The End To Global Warming
An April 2006 satellite image from the Australian Bureau of Meterology shows Australia. A meteor's roaring crash into Antarctica -- larger and earlier than the impact that killed the dinosaurs -- caused the biggest mass extinction in Earth's history and likely spawned the Australian continent, scientists said. Image Credit: AFP/ABM-HO/FileHey, Al Gore, what happens to your "An Inconvenient Truth" if one of these "big boys" finds the Earth on its way between Galaxies? It would pretty much "bum your buzz", do ya' think?
Excerpts from AFP via Yahoo! News -
Meteor mega-hit spawned Australian continent: researchers
By AFP, Washington D.C. - Fri Jun 2, 1:54 PM ET
A meteor's roaring crash into Antarctica -- larger and earlier than the impact that killed the dinosaurs -- caused the biggest mass extinction in Earth's history and likely spawned the Australian continent, scientists said.
Ohio State University scientists said the 483-kilometer-wide (300-mile-wide) crater is now hidden more than 1.6 kilometers (one mile) beneath the East Antarctic Ice Sheet.
"Gravity measurements that reveal its existence suggest that it could date back about 250 million years -- the time of the Permian-Triassic extinction, when almost all animal life on Earth died out," the university said in a statement Thursday.
----
The Wilkes Land crater is more than twice the size of the Chicxulub crater in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula, which marks the impact that may have ultimately killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
The Chicxulub meteor is thought to have been 9.6 kilometers (six miles) wide, while the Wilkes Land meteor could have been up to 48.3 kilometers (30 miles) wide -- four or five times wider.
"This Wilkes Land impact is much bigger than the impact that killed the dinosaurs, and probably would have caused catastrophic damage at the time," said Ralph von Frese, a professor of geological sciences at Ohio State.
He and Laramie Potts, a postdoctoral researcher in geological sciences, led the team that discovered the crater. They collaborated with other Ohio State and NASA scientists, as well as partners from Russia and South Korea. They reported their preliminary results in a recent American Geophysical Union Joint Assembly meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
----
"All the environmental changes that would have resulted from the impact would have created a highly caustic environment that was really hard to endure. So it makes sense that a lot of life went extinct at that time," he said.
Read All>>
Look, if you really want to create fear on Earth, tell everyone that a large meteor is headed our way and we can not do anything about it.
If you want to create a climate of fear on which you can raise funds and run for President ... again, you -
- First, create the internet so that you can communicate to (not with) people
- Second, create a really un-watchable cable channel that plays off of the internet you created so that you can call yourself a media mogul
- Third, make a movie that over-reaches on the issue of what could really be normal processes that govern the climate of The Earth and call it "Global Warming" to convince people that you are "the one", the only one, who can do something about it ... "if only I were your President!"
That Al Gore, he's a pretty crafty fellow! INCOMING!
Animals Don't Kill Animals - PETA Kills Animals
Animals kill animals to eat - PETA kills animals to kill animals
On Wednesday afternoon in a North Carolina courtroom, defense lawyers for two animal-cruelty defendants asked a judge to dismiss dozens of criminal charges. The judge was unimpressed. The defendants, former -- or perhaps still (AP story below) -- employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), stand accused of killing adoptable dogs and cats in the back of a van in 2005 and discarding their bodies in a trash dumpster.
While the saga continues to drag on without a firm trial date, it's now settled that defendants Adria Hinkle and Andrew Cook will indeed face felony charges that carry lengthy jail sentences. (ht: Consumer Freedom)
This from Associated Press via Myrtle Beach Online -
Judge declines to dismiss animal cruelty charges in PETA case
Associated Press
WINTON, N.C. - A judge has declined to dismiss felony animal cruelty charges against two PETA workers accused of dumping euthanized animals into a trash container.
Defense lawyers argued Wednesday in Hertford Superior Court that the charges should be dropped because the animals were killed humanely. They also argued that Andrew B. Cook and Adria J. Hinkle are being unfairly prosecuted because some people don't agree with the work of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Cook, of Virginia Beach, Va., and Hinkle, of Norfolk, Va., were arrested last June by Ahoskie police officers who were staking out a trash container in which animal carcasses had previously been found. Detectives testified Wednesday that they arrested Cook and Hinkle after watching them throw several bags of dead animals inside the trash bin.
They also said they found more dead animals in the pair's van, a digital camera with images of living and dead animals and substances later determined to be euthanasia drugs.
Cook and Hinkle each face 21 felony counts of animal cruelty, seven counts of littering for illegally disposing of dead animals and three counts of obtaining property by false pretenses.
PETA spokesman David Perle said in an e-mail Thursday that the organization is confident its employees will be acquitted. Hinkle was suspended pending the outcome of the criminal case, he said. Cook, a new employee at the time, remains with PETA.
Links Here and Here>>
For more background information about this disturbing case, visit http://www.petakillsanimals.com/.
In addition to photos of PETA's furry victims (and the "death kit" tackle box they allegedly used), you can see government reports filed by PETA describing the 14,419 dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens the group has admitted killing since July 1998.
MAXINE says, "It's Good To Be The Pious People Who Claim To Be The Protector Of Animals, PeTA ... NOT"
PeTA workers Andrew Cook and Adria Hinkle hug in Hertford County Criminal Superior Court Friday, Feb. 2, 2007, in Winton, N.C., after a jury found them not guilty of animal cruelty for euthanizing animals they picked up from shelters, but guilty of littering for dumping the animals' bodies. Image Credit: AP Photo/Calvin Bryant
UPDATED 1-22-2007:
From the Department of Irony: PETA Kills Animals
Center for Consumer Freedom's Full-Page Ad in The New York Times and Mobile Billboard Provides Publicity PETA Doesn't Want
WINTON, N.C., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Two employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are facing felony animal-cruelty charges today in Hertford County Superior Court. And the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) is running a full-page ad in The New York Times simply stating the fact that PETA KILLS ANIMALS.
In addition, CCF is sponsoring a mobile billboard to remind Winton and Ahoskie residents about the only Internet website devoted to day-to-day coverage of the trial:
PetaKillsAnimals.com. The billboard truck will be visible outside the Hertford County Courthouse this morning and at the end of the day; it will tour Ahoskie during the early afternoon.
PETA employees Andrew Cook and Adria Hinkle each face 22 counts of Cruelty to Animals and 3 counts of Obtaining Property By False Pretenses. If convicted, they could face between 25 and 30 months in prison for each animal- cruelty count.
On June 15, 2005, Ahoskie police witnessed Hinkle and Cook throwing trash bags containing the bodies of 18 dead pets into a shopping-center dumpster. After arresting them, police recovered 13 additional dead animals from the PETA-owned van in which the two were traveling. Witnesses from the Ahoskie Animal Hospital and the Bertie County Animal Shelter confirmed that Hinkle and Cook had collected the animals, including puppies and kittens, earlier that day with the promise that PETA would find them adoptive homes.
"This trial will really open the eyes of people who don't know about PETA's darker side," said David Martosko, Director of Research at the Center for Consumer Freedom, a nonprofit watchdog that monitors the animal rights movement. "This is an animal rights group that takes in $25 million and kills 90 percent of the pets it receives. That's not ethical. It's hypocritical."
Mr. Martosko will be available to media in Winton this week. To arrange an interview, contact Sarah Longwell at 202-463-7112. Daily updates from the trial will be available at http://www.petakillsanimals.com/.
Public records from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services show that in 2005, the Norfolk-based PETA killed 90 percent of the animals it took in for adoption. By comparison, the nearby Norfolk SPCA killed less than 4 percent of its animals in that same year. The state average was 43 percent. Since 1998, PETA has put down over 14,400 dogs and cats. PETA's 2006 statistics will be made public by the end of January.
For more information about PETA's felony charges, including photographs from the scene of the 2005 arrests, visit http://www.petakillsanimals.com/.
The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies, and consumers, working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices.
Website: http://www.consumerfreedom.com/
Website: http://www.petakillsanimals.com/
Reference Here>>
On Wednesday afternoon in a North Carolina courtroom, defense lawyers for two animal-cruelty defendants asked a judge to dismiss dozens of criminal charges. The judge was unimpressed. The defendants, former -- or perhaps still (AP story below) -- employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), stand accused of killing adoptable dogs and cats in the back of a van in 2005 and discarding their bodies in a trash dumpster.
While the saga continues to drag on without a firm trial date, it's now settled that defendants Adria Hinkle and Andrew Cook will indeed face felony charges that carry lengthy jail sentences. (ht: Consumer Freedom)
This from Associated Press via Myrtle Beach Online -
Judge declines to dismiss animal cruelty charges in PETA case
Associated Press
WINTON, N.C. - A judge has declined to dismiss felony animal cruelty charges against two PETA workers accused of dumping euthanized animals into a trash container.
Defense lawyers argued Wednesday in Hertford Superior Court that the charges should be dropped because the animals were killed humanely. They also argued that Andrew B. Cook and Adria J. Hinkle are being unfairly prosecuted because some people don't agree with the work of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Cook, of Virginia Beach, Va., and Hinkle, of Norfolk, Va., were arrested last June by Ahoskie police officers who were staking out a trash container in which animal carcasses had previously been found. Detectives testified Wednesday that they arrested Cook and Hinkle after watching them throw several bags of dead animals inside the trash bin.
They also said they found more dead animals in the pair's van, a digital camera with images of living and dead animals and substances later determined to be euthanasia drugs.
Cook and Hinkle each face 21 felony counts of animal cruelty, seven counts of littering for illegally disposing of dead animals and three counts of obtaining property by false pretenses.
PETA spokesman David Perle said in an e-mail Thursday that the organization is confident its employees will be acquitted. Hinkle was suspended pending the outcome of the criminal case, he said. Cook, a new employee at the time, remains with PETA.
Links Here and Here>>
For more background information about this disturbing case, visit http://www.petakillsanimals.com/.
In addition to photos of PETA's furry victims (and the "death kit" tackle box they allegedly used), you can see government reports filed by PETA describing the 14,419 dogs, cats, puppies, and kittens the group has admitted killing since July 1998.
MAXINE says, "It's Good To Be The Pious People Who Claim To Be The Protector Of Animals, PeTA ... NOT"
PeTA workers Andrew Cook and Adria Hinkle hug in Hertford County Criminal Superior Court Friday, Feb. 2, 2007, in Winton, N.C., after a jury found them not guilty of animal cruelty for euthanizing animals they picked up from shelters, but guilty of littering for dumping the animals' bodies. Image Credit: AP Photo/Calvin BryantUPDATED 1-22-2007:
From the Department of Irony: PETA Kills Animals
Center for Consumer Freedom's Full-Page Ad in The New York Times and Mobile Billboard Provides Publicity PETA Doesn't Want
WINTON, N.C., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Two employees of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are facing felony animal-cruelty charges today in Hertford County Superior Court. And the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) is running a full-page ad in The New York Times simply stating the fact that PETA KILLS ANIMALS.
In addition, CCF is sponsoring a mobile billboard to remind Winton and Ahoskie residents about the only Internet website devoted to day-to-day coverage of the trial:
PetaKillsAnimals.com. The billboard truck will be visible outside the Hertford County Courthouse this morning and at the end of the day; it will tour Ahoskie during the early afternoon.
PETA employees Andrew Cook and Adria Hinkle each face 22 counts of Cruelty to Animals and 3 counts of Obtaining Property By False Pretenses. If convicted, they could face between 25 and 30 months in prison for each animal- cruelty count.
On June 15, 2005, Ahoskie police witnessed Hinkle and Cook throwing trash bags containing the bodies of 18 dead pets into a shopping-center dumpster. After arresting them, police recovered 13 additional dead animals from the PETA-owned van in which the two were traveling. Witnesses from the Ahoskie Animal Hospital and the Bertie County Animal Shelter confirmed that Hinkle and Cook had collected the animals, including puppies and kittens, earlier that day with the promise that PETA would find them adoptive homes.
"This trial will really open the eyes of people who don't know about PETA's darker side," said David Martosko, Director of Research at the Center for Consumer Freedom, a nonprofit watchdog that monitors the animal rights movement. "This is an animal rights group that takes in $25 million and kills 90 percent of the pets it receives. That's not ethical. It's hypocritical."
Mr. Martosko will be available to media in Winton this week. To arrange an interview, contact Sarah Longwell at 202-463-7112. Daily updates from the trial will be available at http://www.petakillsanimals.com/.
Public records from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services show that in 2005, the Norfolk-based PETA killed 90 percent of the animals it took in for adoption. By comparison, the nearby Norfolk SPCA killed less than 4 percent of its animals in that same year. The state average was 43 percent. Since 1998, PETA has put down over 14,400 dogs and cats. PETA's 2006 statistics will be made public by the end of January.
For more information about PETA's felony charges, including photographs from the scene of the 2005 arrests, visit http://www.petakillsanimals.com/.
The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies, and consumers, working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices.
Website: http://www.consumerfreedom.com/
Website: http://www.petakillsanimals.com/
Reference Here>>
Friday, June 02, 2006
This Mark Is No Lark-States Get Serious About RFID
About the size of a grain of rice, the microchip inserts just under the skin and contains only a unique, 16-digit identifier.
Image Credit: VeriChip Corporation
Automatic identification processes, which had their advent with the UPC (Universal Product Code) and its widespread use in the mid-seventies, are excellent at automating, identifying, and defining objects within a space.
Through the years, Auto ID technology has grown from a simple mark placed on an item to applications where that identifying mark or code can be transmitted via radio frequency and picked up by sensors (RFID) then carried to computers where software applications apply the database information associated with the code being processed.
This technological advance is pretty much okay if one wanted to have the advantage of driving on special freeway lanes or toll roads as with the use of a "FASTRAC" pass systems used in automobiles, but when one applies this type of Automatic Identification technology directly to human beings ... without their permission, "Houston (or in this case, Madison, Wisconson) we have a problem!".
Yesterday, the Governor of Wisconsin, Jim Doyle, signed a law making it a crime to require the implanting RFID tracking microchips into human beings. This action was precipitated by the invention and FDA approval of a RFID microchip, which is enclosed in a glass sheath, produced by VeriChip Corporation.
This from the VeriChip Corporation website -
VeriChip is the only company in the world today to offer an implantable FDA-cleared RFID microchip and offers this option in its VeriMed and VeriGuard systems.
Once inserted just under the skin, via a quick, painless outpatient procedure (much like getting a shot), the VeriChip™ can be scanned when necessary with a proprietary VeriChip reader, whether handheld or wall-mounted. A small amount of radio frequency energy passes from the reader energizing the dormant microchip which then emits a radio frequency signal transmitting the individuals unique verification number. This number can then be used for such purposes as accessing personal medical information in a password-protected database or assessing whether somebody has authority to enter into a high-security area.
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VeriChip offers the widest range of RFID tag technologies within its solutions - beyond just passive and active tags - including implantable, wearable, and attachable form factors. Associating the following icons with VeriChip products, you can easily determine which particular tag technology is available with each solution.
VeriChip products marked by the “Implantable” icon mean they utilize the implantable, passive RFID microchip, the VeriChip™, in their solutions for the purpose of automatic identification.
Link Here>>
Yesterday, Wisconsin took a major step toward protecting against the erosion of ones ultimate right in a free society, personal privacy.
Report excerpts from SpyChips.com -
Wisconsin Bans Forced Human RFID Chipping
Groundbreaking Law Spotlights Opposition to VeriChip
From Katherine Albrecht - SpyChips.com, 6-1-6
Civil libertarians cheered yesterday upon news that Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle signed a law making it a crime to require an individual to be implanted with a microchip. Activists and authors Katherine Albrecht and Liz McIntyre joined the celebration, predicting this move will spell trouble for the VeriChip Corporation, maker of the VeriChip human microchip implant.
The VeriChip is a glass encapsulated Radio Frequency Identification tag that is injected into the flesh to uniquely number and identify people. The tag can be read silently and invisibly by radio waves from up to a foot or more away, right through clothing. The highly controversial device is also being marketed as a way to access secure areas, link to medical records, and serve as a payment device when associated with a credit card.
"We're not even aware of anyone attempting to forcibly implant microchips into people," says Albrecht. "That lawmakers felt this legislation was necessary indicates a growing concern that the company's product could pose a serious threat to the public down the road."
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VeriChip Chairman of the Board Scott Silverman has been promoting the VeriChip as a partial solution to immigration concerns, proposing it as a way to register guest workers, verify their identities as they cross the border, and "be used for enforcement purposes at the employer level." He told interviewers on the Fox News Channel that the company has "talked to many people in Washington about using it."
The company has also confirmed it has been in talks with the Pentagon about replacing military dog tags with VeriChip implants.
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Albrecht and McIntyre have dogged the VeriChip Corporation, revealing medical and security flaws in its human chip and warning about its serious privacy and civil liberties downsides in their book "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Move with RFID."
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Wisconsin's new law was introduced as Assembly Bill 290 by Representative Marlin D. Schneider (D) and was passed unanimously by both houses of the Wisconsin State Legislature this spring. The law makes it illegal to require an individual to have a microchip implant and subjects a violator to a fine of up to $10,000 per day.
Read All>>
If one signs up and submits, it's all fair game ... but when a code becomes a requirement and implanted into your body to be passively scanned and processed? Uh-Uh!, No!, Nada! Iks-Nay!, No Thanks!, Get outta' here! Back-Off! Not with THIS body! ...
Post republished at Symblogogy, the automatic identification & data capture weblog for all things AIDC.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Prop 82 Is Being Served Up As ... Ground Round
Justice is prevailing over the Rob Reiner "Tax The Rich - and the parents if there are over-runs - Pre-school For All" proposition 82 to be voted on June 6th.
Not all of the legal money in the world (as opposed to the mounds of government "meathead money" Rob Reiner had slated for the promotion of this measure) will seem to be able to save this measure from defeat.
This from LA Weekly -
** A RESPECTED DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER TELLS ME PROP 82 HAS DIPPED BELOW 50%
in a private Democratic poll.
By Bill Bradley's New West Notes
Proposition 82, the tax-the-rich for universal preschool initiative on California's June 6th ballot presented by controversial movie director Rob Reiner, has clung to a narrow majority in the recent public polls by the Los Angeles Times and the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). But in the Times poll, that was based on people being read the ballot summary.
Prop 82 has garnered negative editorials from most every newspaper in California.
Prior to that, Reiner was forced to resign as chairman of the California Commission on Children and Families. Reports, many first published here, had revealed highly questionable actions during his stewardship of the heavily funded agency.
Link Here>>
And the investigation into Rob Reiner's stewardship is not going to be completed until sometime in August, as the saga continues ... "Grinding Meathead - The Handle Turns"!
Not all of the legal money in the world (as opposed to the mounds of government "meathead money" Rob Reiner had slated for the promotion of this measure) will seem to be able to save this measure from defeat.
This from LA Weekly -
** A RESPECTED DEMOCRATIC POLLSTER TELLS ME PROP 82 HAS DIPPED BELOW 50%
in a private Democratic poll.
By Bill Bradley's New West Notes
Proposition 82, the tax-the-rich for universal preschool initiative on California's June 6th ballot presented by controversial movie director Rob Reiner, has clung to a narrow majority in the recent public polls by the Los Angeles Times and the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC). But in the Times poll, that was based on people being read the ballot summary.
Prop 82 has garnered negative editorials from most every newspaper in California.
Prior to that, Reiner was forced to resign as chairman of the California Commission on Children and Families. Reports, many first published here, had revealed highly questionable actions during his stewardship of the heavily funded agency.
Link Here>>
And the investigation into Rob Reiner's stewardship is not going to be completed until sometime in August, as the saga continues ... "Grinding Meathead - The Handle Turns"!
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