Robot Photo Science Discovery - Water On MARS

A before-and-after view of a new gully deposit in a crater on Mars is seen in a NASA handout photo. Images taken by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft suggest the presence of liquid water on the Martian surface, a tantalizing find for scientists wondering if the Red Planet ever has harbored life. Image Credit: REUTERS/Handout

Robot Photo Science Discovery - Water On MARS

A man, his robot satellite, and camera - it is just amazing what one can find clicking pictures. After circling around MARS a few years, while photo mapping the surface, NASA's satellite turns up evidence of a water disturbance deposit in the form of a gully.

Hully-Gully! Water on MARS!

This item from Reuters -

NASA images suggest liquid water present on Mars
By Will Dunham, Reuters - Wed Dec 6, 2006 5:00pm ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Striking images taken by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft suggest the presence of liquid water on the Martian surface, a tantalizing find for scientists wondering if the Red Planet might harbor life.

The orbiting U.S. spacecraft enabled scientists to detect changes in the walls of two craters in the southern hemisphere of Mars apparently caused by the downhill flow of water in the past few years, a team of scientists announced on Wednesday.

Scientists long have wondered whether life ever existed on Mars. Liquid water is an important part of the equation. On Earth, all forms of life require water to survive. Scientists previously established the existence of water on Mars in the form of ice at the poles and water vapor, and pointed to geological features that appear to have been carved by water ages ago.

Kenneth Edgett of Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, a scientist involved in the research, said there had been a quest for "smoking gun" evidence for liquid water currently on Mars.

"Basically, this is the 'squirting gun' for water on Mars," Edgett told reporters.

The scientists, whose research appears in the journal Science, compared images of the Martian surface taken seven years apart and also found 20 newly formed craters left by impacts from space debris.

They said water seemed to have flowed down two gullies in the past few years, even though liquid water cannot remain long on the planet's frigid, nearly airless surface because it would rapidly freeze or evaporate.

That seemed to support the notion that underground liquid water may reside close enough to the surface in some places that it can seep out periodically.

The images did not directly show water. But they showed bright deposits running several hundred yards (meters) seemingly left by material carried downhill inside the crater by running water, occasionally snaking around obstacles and leaving finger-shaped marks diverting from the main flow.

'SWIMMING POOLS'

"It could be acidic water, it could be briny water, it could be water carrying all kinds of sediment, it could be slushy, but H2O is involved," Edgett said.

Edgett said each apparent flow was caused by an amount equal to "five to 10 swimming pools of water."

Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program, said the observations provided the strongest evidence to date that water still flowed occasionally on the surface of Mars. "The big questions are: how does this happen, and does it point to a habitat for life?" Meyer said.

Among the planets in our solar system, only Earth has a more hospitable climate, and some scientists suspect Mars once sheltered primitive, bacteria-like organisms. Previous missions found evidence Mars at one time boasted ample quantities of water.

The scientists conceded the images were only circumstantial evidence not proof. They cited a possible alternative explanation that those features were caused by the movement of dry dust down a slope.

The researchers said their findings raised many questions, including the source and abundance of the water and whether it could serve as a resource in future missions to explore Mars.

The researchers reported finding those gullies in 2000, but this was the first time they revealed the presence of newly deposited material seemingly carried by liquid water.

Last month, NASA said it had lost contact with the Mars Global Surveyor after a decade-long mission in which it mapped the surface of Mars, tracked its climate and searched for evidence of water.
Reference here>

Biometrics Gone Wild - Flyin' Naked, A New Form Of Auto ID

Susan Hallowell, the director of the Transportation Security Administration's security laboratory, allows her body to be X-rayed by the "backscatter" machine at the Transportation Security Administration in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., Wednesday, June 25, 2003. Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix Arizona will test the new federal screening system that takes X-rays of passenger's bodies to detect concealed explosives and other weapons. The technology, called backscatter, has been around for several years but has not been widely used in the U.S. as an anti-terrorism tool because of privacy concerns. Image Credit: AP Photo/Brian Branch-Price

Biometrics Gone Wild - Flyin' Naked, A New Form Of Auto ID

Forget about fingerprint, facial, retina, vein pattern, hand ... smile, ear, nose, kneecap, elbow identification recognition ... well, you get the idea.

Let's implement X-RAY Full-Body identification, after all, it is just one step removed from the new technology that is being tried out by the TSA at Phoenix International Airport to protect us from terrorism in the skies.

This from the Associated Press -

Phoenix Airport to Test X-Ray Screening
Associated Press - Dec 1, 7:02 AM (ET)

PHOENIX (AP) - Sky Harbor International Airport here will test a new federal screening system that takes X-rays of passenger's bodies to detect concealed explosives and other weapons.

The technology, called backscatter, has been around for several years but has not been widely used in the U.S. as an anti-terrorism tool because of privacy concerns.

The Transportation Security Administration said it has found a way to refine the machine's images so that the normally graphic pictures can be blurred in certain areas while still being effective in detecting bombs and other threats.

The agency is expected to provide more information about the technology later this month but said one machine will be up and running at Sky Harbor's Terminal 4 by Christmas.

The security agency's Web site indicates that the technology will be used initially as a secondary screening measure, meaning that only those passengers who first fail the standard screening process will be directed to the X-ray area.

Even then, passengers will have the option of choosing the backscatter or a traditional pat-down search.

A handful of other U.S. airports will have the X-rays machines in place by early 2007 as part of a nationwide pilot program, TSA officials said.

The technology already is being used in prisons and by drug enforcement agents, and has been tested at London's Heathrow Airport.

The security agency says the machines will be effective in helping detect plastic or liquid explosives and other non-metallic weapons that can be missed by standard metal detectors.

Susan Hallowell holds up a side arm that was detected by the "backscatter" machine at the Transportation Security Administration in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. Wednesday, June 25, 2003. Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix Arizona will test the new federal screening system that takes X-rays of passenger's bodies to detect concealed explosives and other weapons. The technology, called backscatter, has been around for several years but has not been widely used in the U.S. as an anti-terrorism tool because of privacy concerns. Image Credit: AP Photo/Brian Branch-Price

Some say the high-resolution images - which clearly depict the outline of the passenger's body, plus anything attached to it, such as jewelry - are too invasive.

But the TSA said the X-rays will be set up so that the image can be viewed only by a security officer in a remote location. Other passengers, and even the agent at the checkpoint, will not have access to the picture.

In addition, the system will be configured so that the X-ray will be deleted as soon as the individual steps away from the machine. It will not be stored or available for printing or transmitting, agency spokesman Nico Melendez said.
Reference Here>>

HT: Pajamas Media

Hope Begins For A Stable Southern Border

Mexican President Felipe Calderon waves after being sworn in at the National Congress during his inauguration ceremony amidst a congress partially seized by lawmakers who tried unsuccessfully to block his swearing in ceremony in Mexico City on Friday Dec. 1, 2006. Image Credit: AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills

Hope Begins For A Stable Southern Border

After a pushing-and-shoving match between Mexico's politicitians at the National Congress, Felipe Calderon was sworn in as President of Mexico.

Problem is, his people are still flooding into the United States in massive numbers while our government has no stomach for funding and building the recently approved border fence.

Further, Mexican Nationals here complain that the elections were stolen and that many do not respect the rule of law while they, themselves, reside here illegally. They could have stayed home and voted, OH!, OH! ... and built an economy and culture that worked as opposed to trying to remake our economy and culture after their own image!

Here are two perspectives at the beginning of the Calderon era. Let us all hope for the best.

Excerpts from the CanWest News Service -

Mexican President sworn in at raucous ceremony
April Lindgren, CanWest News Service - Published: Saturday, December 02, 2006

MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's new president was sworn into office Friday in a brief ceremony that interrupted a morning of intermittent brawling between his supporters and opponents in the national congress.

Even as his political enemies in the congress screamed "get out" and blew whistles, Felipe Calderon swore the oath of allegiance and accepted the presidential sash from outgoing president Vicente Fox as international dignitaries, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, watched from an upper balcony in Mexico's house of representatives.

Leftist legislators who insist Calderon fraudulently stole the country's July 2 election from their candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, vowed to prevent his inauguration before congress.

Earlier in the morning, lawmakers from the two opposing camps threw chairs and fists at each other as supporters of Lopez Obrador tried to erect barricades and block Calderon's arrival. The swearing in lasted less than 10 minutes and Calderon had to save his inaugural speech, traditionally delivered by new presidents to the congress, for later in the day when he addressed political supporters in the National Auditorium.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who witnessed several scuffles amongst Mexican legislators in the moments before the ceremony in the congress began, described the scene as "interesting."

"Our Parliament is tame after all," the prime minister said on his way out of the congress. Harper was joined in the balcony by other heads of state from Central and South American as well as George W. Bush, father of the current U.S. president.

Harper and Bush, who led the American delegation, stopped to chat informally for a few moments after the inauguration.
----
Mexicans have been deeply divided over the country's political future since Lopez Obrador lost last summer's election by less than one per cent of the vote.

The former mayor of Mexico City refuses to concede defeat and has orchestrated mass street demonstration in support of his cause. Earlier this month he held his own inauguration ceremony where he declared himself president.

Early Friday morning thousands of supporters of AMLO, as he is popularly known, streamed into the city's main downtown square to hear their "president" speak.

Carrying placards proclaiming Lopez Obrador the country's legitimate president and shouting "Felipe, understand, the country doesn't want you," the protesters vowed to continue the fight well beyond Friday's inauguration.

"We don't recognize Calderon as president -- we know there was electoral fraud," said 23yearold university student Carla Gusman. "We will continue this resistance. It will be a constant fight so they don't sell off Pemex (the national oil company) and other things we need to keep. We won't let them sell off our heritage. We won't let them continue with their repression."

Mario Arturo Garcia Soreano, a 54 yearold auto mechanic, worried the continuing protests will result in a crackdown by the government.

"The government, it always turns to violence. But for our part, it will be a battle of ideas not arms."

In his speech, Lopez Obrador urged his followers to avoid violence "because the support of the people and our moral authority will be enough to triumph."
----
Inside the building, Calderon vowed to be a president for all Mexicans and to heal the country's deep political divisions.

"To those who voted for me, I welcome their support to those who didn't I say I won't ignore the reasons for that and I will work to earn your confidence," he told thousands.

Calderon, a 44yearold lawyer, career politician and former energy minister, reiterated his determination to deal with the drug violence that has killed more than 3,000 people in the last two years and promised to cut back lavish salaries for senior public officials.

He also insisted encouraging more private investment will generate jobs to alleviate the grinding poverty that affects half of all Mexicans.
----
Francois Prudhomme, a professor at El Colegio de Mexico, predicted Lopez Obrador won't abandon his campaign against Calderon's legitimacy any time soon.

"The left have been trying to create a situation where he is viewed as a very, very weak president who cannot govern."
Read All>>

And this reaction from Mexican nationals living in San Francisco's bay area.

Excerpts from the San Francisco Chronicle -

Local Mexicans weigh in on 'circus' south of the border
Tyche Hendricks, Chronicle Staff Writer - Saturday, December 2, 2006

Mexican residents around the Bay Area watched the tense inauguration of Mexico's new President Felipe Calderon with sadness and frustration Friday, some expressing disgust that Calderon prevailed in what they called a stolen election, others dismayed by the fisticuffs and jeers as opposition lawmakers tried to impede the swearing-in ceremony.

Many Mexicans who have kept an eye on the politics of their home country from here said they thought a combination of dirty campaigning and vote fraud had denied the presidency to leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost the election by less than 1 percent. But some said it was time for Lopez Obrador to give up his protest campaign and concede.

"Everyone's fighting -- they're not respecting the law or the institutions of government," said Roberto Guillen, a Novato restaurateur. "Lopez Obrador should accept that Felipe is president and work with him. Otherwise we'll have chaos. The country has been doing pretty well, but investors will stay away if Mexico can't govern itself."

Others disagreed, saying the protests by members of Lopez Obrador's Democratic Revolution Party, both in the streets and in the congressional chamber, are the only way to demand an end to corruption and focus on the needs of the poor.

"It's a form of protest that they're not in agreement with what is happening," said San Jose photographer Mateo Gutierrez. "Lopez Obrador deserved to win, but now the government will continue with corruption."

Miguel Araujo, a dual citizen and longtime immigrant rights activist who owns a San Bruno taqueria, said Calderon, of the conservative National Action Party, had usurped power.

"It's hard to see how things can change unless Calderon wants a change, but if he does, why did he bring those people into his Cabinet?" said Araujo, criticizing the new president's conservative choices. "The Mexican people may get so fed up with being cheated and lied to that they start a revolution. I see in Mexico a very big risk."

Some local Mexicans saw the bedlam surrounding the swearing-in ceremony as an embarrassment to the country.

"The international world sees it as something ridiculous," said Rosario Chacon, who is working toward her MBA at Mills College in Oakland. "It shows that the politicians don't know how to solve their problems peacefully. I think we need more women there. They have a little more tact, more diplomacy."
----
"The first time I voted, I saw the PRI bring truckloads of people in from the countryside and give them two pounds of tortillas for their votes," she said [Silvia San Miguel, an executive assistant for the city of Oakland]. "You don't see that anymore. I don't hope for perfection. I hope for fairness. And it is getting there."
Read All>>

Judging by the reactions sampled in the "Bay Area", if the Mexican government cracks down in order to maintain civil order, the leftist Mexican Nationals will begin a new tidal wave of illegal immigration. They may actually be coming to a safe haven if the goals of our new congress are allowed to go uncontested and unchecked.

Tick, Tick, Tick - The H5N1 Bird Flu Season Begins

Like A Time Bomb -Tick, Tick, Tick - The H5N1 Bird Flu Season Begins

Heads-Up!

This may be the first major report of this winter season watch on the potential of a bird flu epidemic as was the case last year at this time.

Not to be alarmist, but get your N95 masks & canned foods laid in, water stock piles planned, migratory bird paths marked out, and have a plan where the potentials for contact are greatly reduced. If this threat is real ... you will be glad you did.

This from News-Medical.Net -

South Korea to cull pigs, cats and dogs as well as poultry, to stop bird flu
News-Medical.Net, Disease/Infection News - Published: Tuesday, 28-Nov-2006

In an attempt to halt the further spread of the current outbreak of bird flu in South Korea, as well as culling 236,000 poultry, the Agriculture Ministry also plans to cull hundreds of pigs, dogs and cats in the area.

As experts believe humans cannot contract bird flu from cats and dogs, the measure is viewed by many as an overreaction and not a decision based on scientific evidence.

South Korea contends that other countries also slaughters cats and dogs but do not reveal the fact.

The only country which has culled animals other than poultry to halt the spread of the virus is Indonesia which has killed pigs.

South Korea officials hope this will effectively end the country's first outbreak in three years of the highly virulent H5N1 strain of bird flu.

All poultry will be culled within a 500-metre radius of a farm in North Cholla province, about 170 km from Seoul, where the avian influenza strain has been detected.

Quarantine authorities have also banned the shipment of more than 5 million poultry from 221 farms within a 10-km radius of the farm and destroyed as many as 6 million eggs.

South Korea's poultry industry has again been badly hit by the outbreak as it was in the 4 month period between December 2003 and March 2004, when as many as 400,000 poultry at South Korean farms were infected by bird flu.

That outbreak prompted the culling of 5.3 million birds at a cost of 1.5 trillion to prevent the disease spreading.

According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, since 2003 as many as 50 countries and territories have been affected and millions of birds have died or been culled.

The World Health Organisation estimates to date that 153 people have died from the virus and another 258 have been sickened.

Most of the victims were Asians, with 98 deaths in Vietnam and Indonesia.

North Korea too is on a high alert and has increased measures to prevent bird flu.

Following an outbreak of bird flu at two poultry farms near Pyongyang in February 2005, North Korea says it inoculated poultry and increased checks along its borders.

As a precaution Japan and Hong Kong have 'temporarily' suspended poultry imports from South Korea.
Reference Here>>

Ahhhh!, no chicken for Tempura or Kung Pao!

CITGO - The Consequence Of Words, The Power Of Action

LOCATION, LOCATION. FOR SALE PROPERTY AND BUSINESS. WORK AND PLAY AT THIS KEY LARGO FLORIDA CITGO GAS STATION. Image Credit: LoopNet - #1 in Commercial Real Estate Online

CITGO - The Consequence Of Words, The Power Of Action

In the last two and one-half months since Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez verbally assaulted President Bush and the United States during a speech at the United Nations, many Americans have taken to responding with their pocketbooks.

While standing at the main podium in the United Nations General Assembly hall, President Chavez said the following:

Excerpts from the CQ Transcripts Wire Wednesday, September 20, 2006; 12:28 PM

I think that the first people who should read this book are our brothers and sisters in the United States, because their threat is in their own house. The devil is right at home. The devil -- the devil, himself, is right in the house.

And the devil came here yesterday.

(APPLAUSE)

Yesterday, the devil came here. Right here. Right here. And it smells of sulfur still today, this table that I am now standing in front of.

Yesterday, ladies and gentlemen, from this rostrum, the president of the United States, the gentleman to whom I refer as the devil, came here, talking as if he owned the world. Truly. As the owner of the world.

I think we could call a psychiatrist to analyze yesterday's statement made by the president of the United States. As the spokesman of imperialism, he came to share his nostrums, to try to preserve the current pattern of domination, exploitation and pillage of the peoples of the world.

An Alfred Hitchcock movie could use it as a scenario. I would even propose a title: "The Devil's Recipe."

As Chomsky says here, clearly and in depth, the American empire is doing all it can to consolidate its system of domination. And we cannot allow them to do that. We cannot allow world dictatorship to be consolidated.
----
I have the feeling, dear world dictator, that you are going to live the rest of your days as a nightmare because the rest of us are standing up, all those who are rising up against American imperialism, who are shouting for equality, for respect, for the sovereignty of nations.
----
Our voice is an independent voice to represent the dignity and the search for peace and the reformulation of the international system; to denounce persecution and aggression of hegemonistic forces on the planet.

CHAVEZ (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): This is how Venezuela has presented itself. Bolivar's home has sought a nonpermanent seat on the Security Council.

Let's see. Well, there's been an open attack by the U.S. government, an immoral attack, to try and prevent Venezuela from being freely elected to a post in the Security Council.

The imperium is afraid of truth, is afraid of independent voices. It calls us extremists, but they are the extremists.
----
You know that my personal doctor had to stay in the plane. The chief of security had to be left in a locked plane. Neither of these gentlemen was allowed to arrive and attend the U.N. meeting. This is another abuse and another abuse of power on the part of the Devil. It smells of sulfur here, but God is with us and I embrace you all.

May God bless us all. Good day to you.
Transcript Here>>

According to reports, business at many CITGO branded stations is down over 15%.

7-11 Stores has sought to distance itself from the CITGO brand.

Analysts don't expect anti-Chavez sentiment to have a lasting effect on CITGO’s bottom line, since gasoline consumers typically put price above principles.

But amid the backlash, the Houston company, last month, began running full-page ads in major newspapers touting its 4,000 U.S. employees, its program to provide discounted heating oil to needy Americans, and work on behalf of charitable causes, such as disaster relief and fighting muscular dystrophy.

CITGO won't discuss the campaign's cost, but says it's not an effort to repair any financial damage from a consumer backlash targeting more than 13,000 independently owned, CITGO-branded U.S. filling stations.

Image Credit: State of Florida via WIKIPEDIA

And now the state of Florida has begun an effort to undo it’s exclusive contract with CITGO to supply fuel to the Florida Turnpike (tollway).

Excerpts from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel –

CITGO dispute leads to turnpike posting signs about alternative fueling choices
By Erika Slife - South Florida Sun-Sentinel - Posted November 24 2006

In a response to a state legislator's concern about the exclusive contract Florida's Turnpike has with CITGO gas stations -- which are affiliated with Venezuela -- the state Department of Transportation says it will advertise other fueling options for motorists.

The action stems from a letter by Rep. Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, who raised the issue in September when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Bush "the devil" during a speech at the United Nations. Hasner had asked state transportation officials to cancel CITGO’s contract to sell gas at turnpike service stations.

Image Credit: State of Florida via WIKIPEDIA

The exclusive contract with the CITGO operator doesn't expire until December 2008, according to an Oct. 31 response letter from Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Denver Stutler. In the meantime, the transportation department will use signs to inform motorists of alternative fueling options off the turnpike, the letter stated.

Transportation workers will begin installing the signs along the 312-mile tollway this winter, said Chad Huff, a spokesman for Florida's Turnpike. He did not know how much the signs will cost, or how many will be posted.

"The signs are being installed to allow customers to know what is available at those exits," Huff said.

CITGO Petroleum Corp., the U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela's state-run oil company, supplies fuel for the eight gas stations located along the 312-mile tollway.
----
Motorists who exit the turnpike to get gas will not be charged an additional toll to get back on.
----
"Florida taxpayers should not have to support an exclusive contract with CITGO and Hugo Chavez," said Hasner. "This goes back to the fact that I've been a leader in Tallahassee in the area of promoting energy independence and that's where this arises. It's my belief that we as a country and a state should not be dependent to countries that are hostile to us for our energy future."

CITGO has more than 13,000 independently owned and operated stations in the country. More than 1,400 are located in Florida, McCullom said. After Chavez made his remarks about Bush, calls were made to boycott the stations. Wheeler, meanwhile, said there has been "no significant change" in sales at the turnpike stations.

A spokesman for Jeb Bush said that the governor had already directed transportation officials to look for new fueling options for motorists.
Read All>>

Lebanon's Funeral For Assassinated Government Minister, Pierre Gemayel

Mourners gathered Thursday in Martyrs Square in Beirut before the funeral of Pierre Gemayel, the Christian politician who was assassinated Tuesday. Image Credit: Ben Curtis/The Associated Press

Lebanon's Funeral For Assassinated Government Minister, Pierre Gemayel

On this Thanksgiving day, we at MAXINE are thankful for the many blessings we have here in tha United States.

We also extend heartfelt prayers to those who wish to have a stable, homogenious Lebanon.

Protester outside of Martyrs Square in Beirut before the funeral of Pierre Gemayel. Image Credit: Pajamas Media

Pajamas Media Postings -
Lebanon's Funeral For Assinated Government Minister, Pierre Gemayel
The Mideast, 215 (November 23, 2006) -- Pierre Gemayel's funeral turns into anti-Syrian rally

Funeral transformed: The mourning ceremony essentially became an angry political rally exposing the hatreds and schisms that have paralyzed the state and threatened an increasing cycle of violence, with crowds chanting slogans cursing the president of Syria, Bashar al Assad, cursing the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah,and cursing the Christian leader, General Michel Aoun, who has allied his party with Hezbollah.(NY Times)

Amin Gemayel, father of slain minister and former Lebanese president addresses the crowd: “The martyrdom of Prime Minister Hariri ignited the independence of Lebanon, and today we should commit ourselves for a second independence, and we should not stop until real change and reform is achieved by electing a new president…. The countdown has begun for the tribunal for all assassinations, not only of the persons killed but the whole people of Lebanon … the blood of Pierre and the blood of all martyrs…Today his soul is with all of us and will cement our determination until we achieve all the goals for which they sacrificed themselves.” (Liveblogged from CNN’s live broadcast translation)

Service ends, speeches begin: Outside the cathedral where the funeral took place, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and Saad Hariri, son of slain Rafik Hariri, address the crowd. They are at a podium protected with thick bulletproof glass. Amin Gemayel, father of the late Pierre Gemayel, is standing at the podium with the other personalities, looking at the crowd and saluting. (al-Jazeera live coverage)

Look who showed up: Nabih Berri, one of the Shia leaders, is attending the funeral. “It remains to be seen if that is purely a condolence visit, or, hopefully, a political message (a further isolation of Hezbollah).” (Beirut Spring)

Liveblogging the funeral “Words cannot covey what I feel right now nor what I am seeing. I truly hope and pray to God that Sheikh Pierre Gemayel and Samir Chartouni will be the last martyrs ever in Lebanon. I doubt it but I do hope so….The coffins have just reached the church. May we all pray for their souls and the soul of every man/woman/child who died under aggression.” (Rampurple)

Casket carrying the body of Pierre Gemayel. Image Credit: Pajamas Media

500,000 people in attendance, according to the Lebanese Red Cross. (al-Jazeera live broadcast, no link)

Thousands in Streets to Honor Slain Lebanese Minister: Tens of thousands of Lebanese gathered Thursday to bid farewell to Pierre Gemayel, and his anti-Syrian allies turned his funeral into a powerful show of force against opponents led by Hezbollah militants and their backers in Damascus. The massive crowd rallied in Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut as Pierre Gemayel’s family and dignitaries prepared to hold a prayer service at a nearby cathedral. (AP/Breitbart)

Mehlis points finger: Former chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis accused “pro-Syrian forces in Lebanon” of involvement in Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel’s assassination. The German prosecutor who led the investigation into ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder before handing over the U.N.-backed probe to Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz in January also said Tuesday’s killing was an attack on the United Nations. (Nahranet)

115 killed in Baghdad: A series of car bombs killed 115 people in the Shi’ite militia stronghold of Sadr City, Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said. (Reuters) — LATER: AP ups the death toll to 144.

France OKs shooting Israeli jets: French soldiers in Lebanon who feel threatened by aggressive Israeli overflights are permitted to shoot at IAF fighter jets, a high-ranking French military officer told The Jerusalem Post.

Too much: The new Marine Corps commandant said Wednesday that the longer than anticipated pace of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is putting an unacceptable strain on his troops.

Talking with this enemy? Neo-neocon writes on what it means talking with Iran and Syria over Iraq.

We can work it out: The prime minister of Iraq will sit down for the first time next week with representatives of insurgent groups in his most concerted effort yet to quell the country’s sectarian war. (Fox News)

Peretz under fire, and we’re not talking Kassams: Pressure is growing on Israeli defense minister Amir Peretz to resign. (Haaretz)

A Blanket Of Dirt That Cools - A "Nobel" Idea!

Los Angeles Smog - 2006-05-28 - Photo courtesy, PDPhoto.org

A Blanket Of Dirt That Cools - A "Nobel" Idea!

Wasn't that (a blanket of dirt) what killed the dinosaurs? ... But I digress, it was a meteor that hit the earth and kicked up dirt that covered the earth and killed the Dino's (and their food supply).

Well, guess what, some egghead Nobel laureate thinks it might be a plausible idea to kick up some dirt of our own to counteract the effects of the greenhouse gasses we humans are contributing to the atmosphere that are warming our globe.

What happens to us if we over do it? We may all become dog team owners and aspire to run in the Iditarod, build igloos, and name our kids "Nanook". Problem though ... the nights may last a millennium or two - - oopsie!

Excerpts from the Associated Press -

Could smog protect against global warming?
U.N. climate-change conference
By Charles J. Hanley - The Associated Press - Thursday, November 16, 2006

NAIROBI, Kenya - If the sun warms the Earth too dangerously, the time may come to draw the shade.

The ''shade'' would be a layer of pollution deliberately spewed into the atmosphere to help cool the planet. This over-the-top idea comes from prominent scientists, among them a Nobel laureate. The reaction here at the U.N. conference on climate change is a mix of caution, curiosity and some resignation to such ''massive and drastic'' operations, as the chief U.N. climatologist describes them.

The Nobel Prize-winning scientist who first made the proposal is himself ''not enthusiastic about it.''

''It was meant to startle the policy makers,'' said Paul J. Crutzen, of Germany's Max Planck Institute for Chemistry. ''If they don't take action much more strongly than they have in the past, then in the end we have to do experiments like this.''

Serious people are taking Crutzen's idea seriously. This weekend, NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., hosts a closed-door, high-level workshop on the global haze proposal and other ''geoengineering'' ideas for fending off climate change.

In Nairobi, meanwhile, hundreds of delegates were wrapping up a two-week conference expected to only slowly advance efforts to rein in greenhouse gases blamed for much of the 1-degree rise in global temperatures in the past century.

The 1997 Kyoto Protocol requires modest emission cutbacks by industrial countries - but not the United States, the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases, because it rejected the deal. Talks on what to do after Kyoto expires in 2012 are all but bogged down.

When he published his proposal in the journal Climatic Change in August, Crutzen cited a ''grossly disappointing international political response'' to warming.

The Dutch climatologist, awarded a 1995 Nobel in chemistry for his work uncovering the threat to Earth's atmospheric ozone layer, suggested that balloons bearing heavy guns be used to carry sulfates high aloft and fire them into the stratosphere.

While carbon dioxide keeps heat from escaping Earth, substances such as sulfur dioxide, a common air pollutant, reflect solar radiation, helping cool the planet.

Tom Wigley, a senior U.S. government climatologist, followed Crutzen's article with a paper of his own on Oct. 20 in the leading U.S. journal Science. Like Crutzen, Wigley cited the precedent of the huge volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991.

Pinatubo shot so much sulfurous debris into the stratosphere that it is believed it cooled the Earth by .9 degrees for about a year.

Los Angeles Smog - Looking out from an office building in Sherman Oaks, one can see the thick pall of smog hanging above San Fernando Valley. Image Credit: photos©urban75 (2003)

Wigley ran scenarios of stratospheric sulfate injection — on the scale of Pinatubo's estimated 10 million tons of sulfur — through supercomputer models of the climate, and reported that Crutzen's idea would, indeed, seem to work. Even half that amount per year would help, he wrote.

A massive dissemination of pollutants would be needed every year or two, as the sulfates precipitate from the atmosphere in acid rain.

Wigley said a temporary shield would give political leaders more time to reduce human dependence on fossil fuels — the main source of greenhouse gases. He said experts must more closely study the feasibility of the idea and its possible effects on stratospheric chemistry.

"One of the main reasons I do not want to live out my days in Los Angeles. The smog can be pretty intense at times. Granted, it used to be worse, but the quality of air is still not acceptable." Image Credit: losangelesdailyphoto.blogspot.com

Nairobi conference participants agreed.

''Yes, by all means, do all the research,'' Indian climatologist Rajendra K. Pachauri, chairman of the 2,000-scientist U.N. network on climate change, told The Associated Press.

But ''if human beings take it upon themselves to carry out something as massive and drastic as this, we need to be absolutely sure there are no side effects,'' Pachauri said.

Philip Clapp, a veteran campaigner for emissions controls to curb warming, also sounded a nervous note, saying, ''We are already engaged in an uncontrolled experiment by injecting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.''
----
By telephone from Germany, Crutzen said that's what he envisioned: global haze as a component for long-range planning. ''The reception on the whole is more positive than I thought,'' he said.

Pershing added, however, that reaction may hinge on who pushes the idea. ''If it's the U.S., it might be perceived as an effort to avoid the problem,'' he said.

NASA said this weekend's conference will examine ''methods to ameliorate the likelihood of progressively rising temperatures over the next decades.'' Other such U.S. government-sponsored events are scheduled to follow.
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If this egghead was ''not enthusiastic about it'' - WHY BRING IT UP?

Who are you, Al Gore - media mogul, presidential aspirant, oh, and weatherman?

This UPDATE from The Brussels Journal via Pajamas Media -

Global Warming: Relax and Enjoy
From the desk of Richard Rahn on Fri, 2006-11-17 09:10

Yes, the world is getting warmer, but the Earth does this roughly every 1,500 years, and we cannot stop it. The good news is humans and most other species tend to do better during the warm periods.

There is a wonderful new book, “Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years,” by distinguished climate physicist Fred Singer and award-winning environmental economist Dennis Avery. The conclusion of their book in a nutshell is that, yes, the world is getting a bit warmer, but this is just the natural cycle. They provide overwhelming evidence this warming would occur with or without mankind increasing CO2 emissions or doing anything else. The good news is that if we realize we cannot stop global warming, and concentrate on constructively dealing with the problems it causes – which are all manageable at reasonable cost – and then enjoy the benefits, mankind will do just fine.

We have already had two cycles in recorded history; the Roman warming (200 B.C. to 600 A.D.) which was a very prosperous period, and the medieval warming (900 to 1300) during which farms were created in Greenland and Iceland. The modern warming period began about 1850, well before mankind was producing massive amounts of CO2.
----
Despite the general warming trend since 1850, we have had cooler periods, notably from 1940 to 1978, when many leading scientists were warning us we were rapidly heading for a new ice age. I can still remember those doomsday scenarios being played out on TV specials at the time.

The reason for skepticism is the very selective use of data presented by the end-of-the world crowd, such as Al Gore and this month by former World Bank economist Nicholas Stern. The common solutions that always come from the crisis-of-the-day gang are for more government spending, higher taxes and more government control, with little or no discussion of the downside of bigger government and higher taxes.

U.S. taxpayers now pay about $4 billion per year to global change scientists and government bureaucrats associated with global warming. If global warming were found to be not much of a problem, what do you think would happen to the budgets, employment and advancement opportunities of those with a vested interest in global warming?
----
Mr. Gore causes the emission of several hundred times the CO2 – by flying around the world in private jets, riding in limos, etc. – than the typical person does. Hence you would think if he really believed his scaremongering he would just stay home and give his speeches, etc., through teleconferencing and other electronic media. This would show greater commitment, but it would not be as much fun.
----
The Singer-Avery book is meticulously researched and footnoted (unlike many of the presentations from the scaremongers), and, as they note: “The 1,500-year cycle is not an unproven theory like the model-based predictions for the Greenhouse Theory. The 1,500 year climate cycle is real, based on a wide variety of physical evidence from around the globe.” (It comes from ice cores, sediment layers, isotopes, etc.)

The sun has far greater influence on climate than most people understand. The sun does not shine with a constant intensity, the Earth does not rotate around the sun in a constant orbit – during some periods it is more elliptical than others, and the Earth wobbles about its axis, all of which cause solar heating to vary. These effects swamp anything humans are likely to do to the climate.
----
So relax and enjoy the few extra days of summer and the milder winters – like our Roman and Viking ancestors did.
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RFID For RFID's Sake, It's Full Steam Ahead

United States State Department e-Passport - Image Credit: SecureIDNews eDigest

RFID Technology For RFID Technology's Sake, It's Full Steam Ahead At The State Department

Well, the right to privacy veil is about to be tested and potentially ripped wide open as the U.S. State Department puts the hammer down on the production and release of the new RFID embedded e-Passports.

As noted here back in August, a German computer security consultant, in a demonstration of RFID enabled passport information cloning, placed a new U.S. e-Passport on top of an RFID reader … and within four seconds the data on the RFID chip embedded in the new United States passport appeared on the screen in the Golden Reader Tool template. New e-passports come with a metallic jacket to prevent someone from surreptitiously "skimming," or reading the data on the chip from afar. But, as noted, to allow authorities to read the data on the RFID passport chip, the passport owner must remove the document from the shield before passing it over the RFID reader. It is at this point any passport is vulnerable to a skimming scam - from a distance.

Implementing technology for technology’s sake in order to make the process of identification faster and easier on the government workers may be the undoing of a true secure identification in our passport document approach. Truth is, there are also concerns that this new e-Passport may actually SLOW THINGS DOWN!

Excerpts from SecureIDNews -

ePassport issuance cranks up in U.S.
State Department rolls out citizen issuance though controversy still surrounds the project
By Marisa Torrieri, Contributing Editor, SecureIDNews - Tuesday, November 14 2006

In spite of a summer of criticism that included a prominent researcher's much-talked-about EU e-passport cloning demo, the U.S. State Department issued the first e-Passports and e-Passport readers.

Production began in late August at the Colorado Passport Agency and will expand to 17 other passport-issuing facilities throughout the United States in coming months.

And by the looks of things, most in the high-tech industry say it's a case of so-far, so-good. Pilot testing concluded in April 2006 and the bulk of this year was spent preparing for issuance. In 2005, more than 10 million passports were issued in the U.S. so this preparation is no small task.

The new passport's features include multi-layered security to authenticate passport holders and prevent unauthorized reading (called skimming) or eavesdropping:

**A 64 kbps contactless RFID chip in the rear cover of the passport

**Biometric data

**A metallic shielding material within passport's cover

**A randomized unique identification (RUID) feature will mitigate the risk that an e-passport holder could be tracked.

As of late, "there's really nothing new that's come out as far as any security vulnerabilities in the passport or any changes that have been made to improve the passport," says Randy Vanderhoof, chairman of the Smart Card Alliance. "Everything seems to be going pretty well."

But others say the "feelings are mixed"

"Certainly some issues have been addressed, such as cover design and authentication between the passport and the reader," says Bob Blakley, principal analyst for The Burton Group, former chief scientist for security and privacy at IBM. Though these have been dealt with, "security vulnerabilities aren't the only thing one should worry about."

Another concern, for example, is that reading the new technology may decrease travel as new passports could take longer to verify resulting in longer lines and other disruptions.

Much media attention has been paid to the possibility of counterfeiting the passport through cloning. "Certainly some attention needs to be paid as to whether good copies can be made of the electronic passports," Mr. Blakley says. "The new passport is significantly different than the old passport, and has not been extensively tested. I think it will be a while before we know if significant issues arise in terms of security of the passport. I think it’s likely we will discover there are additional issues that need to be addressed."
----
It's true one of the most common hack attacks involves intercepting information that travels across the air via RF-enabled communication between chips and readers, but the data is protected by other security measures that make such scenarios unlikely, Mr. Vanderhoof says.

"This German researcher had taken a German passport, and with some technology he acquired over the Internet was able to make an electronic passport and show that he could copy it into another device," explains Mr. Vanderhoof. "(But) what sounded like a vulnerability was not a vulnerability. Making a duplicate copy of the chip doesn't give someone an opportunity to enter the country. The procedure at the border entry point involves reading the chip data and comparing it to the printed data that is inside the passport document along with the appearance of the individual who is standing in front of the border agent. Copying the chip does nothing because the copied data won't match the printed data and photo of another passport or person holding it."

If a chip was duplicated and inserted into another passport, the photo stored in the chip would not match the physical photo in the book. The person would be caught at the checkpoint. And because of the security measures used to store data in the chips, it makes it vastly more difficult to change data than to simply duplicate it.

This is precisely the point of the inclusion of the new technology into the passports. In the past, counterfeit passports had no electronic checks and balances so fraudsters would insert their photo into another person's real document to cross borders. While most agree that no security effort is foolproof, the new e-passports are light years ahead of the prior iterations in regards to security.

Mr. Blakley adds, "there has been a lot of attention paid to the inclusion of the RFID chip, but it's only one of a number of important changes - and all of those [variables] need to be looked at, not just the RFID chip."
----
For more on the Electronic Passport, including links to transcripts with federal officials, visit the Bureau of Consular Affairs' Web site at http://travel.state.gov.
Read All>>

Identity theft is identity theft, ok, so one may not be able to clone a passport and enter the country but now one can easily breech the vail of personal identity information.

Besides, with the new leadership just voted in on the legislative side of our government, secure borders are not a priority, so why should we be so focused on a new high tech passport process? If they do not care, why should we?

We at MAXINE, as well as others, will wait and see.

SPACE CHICKEN

Image Credit: KFC

SPACE CHICKEN

Kentucky Fried Chicken in a PR inspired marketing effort, decided that it was time to lay down a "first" that no other company can claim. KFC fashioned a company logo on the desert floor outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. A full color logo (made with tiles) that is large enough to be seen from space.

Image Credit: KFC

This from Reuters -

KFC targets extraterrestrials with huge logo
Reuters - Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:48pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - From space, extraterrestrials and astronauts can look back to earth and see The Great Wall of China -- and KFC's Colonel Sanders.

The KFC Corp. on Tuesday launched a rebranding campaign with an 87,500 square-foot image of Colonel Sanders in the Nevada desert which the company says makes Kentucky Fried Chicken the world's first brand visible from space.

"If there are extraterrestrials in outer space, KFC wants to become their restaurant of choice," KFC President Gregg Dedrick said in a statement.

The logo consists of 65,000 one-foot by one-foot painted tile pieces that were assembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

"If we hear back from a life form in space today - whether NASA astronauts or a signal from some life form on Mars - we'll send up some Original Recipe Chicken," said Dedrick.

The logo also depicts an updated version of KFC icon Colonel Sanders who wears his signature string tie but with a red apron instead of his classic white double-breasted suit.

The logo was built at the remote Area 51 desert near Rachel, Nevada, which KFC said was known as the UFO capital of the world and famous for its association with UFO conspiracy theories.
Reference Here>>

The Long Term Struggle Nobody Wants To See

Manger Square - The site that commemorates this is the Church built here in 385 A.D. by Helena, Constantine's mother. Portions of the floor can still be seen today. The church building found at this site today was erected by Justinian. - Image Credit: Mustardseed.net

The Long Term Struggle Nobody Wants To See

The Bush administration calls it the “War On Terror”.

Nancy Pelosi and the more liberal in the Democrat Party who were recently elected to take power over the legislative branch of our government call it “just another problem to be solved”.

Still others wish to discount the uncivil treatment of humanity going on throughout the world by calling it a “Clash Of Cultures”.

The truth can be seen in the actions of this one group of philosophical zelots and how they encounter others, especially Christians, in daily life.

This group of religious fascists needs to be checked for if the world is at risk … America and its freedoms are at risk.

This from The Washington Times -

Christianity seen at risk of extinction in birthplace
By Brian Murphy - ASSOCIATED PRESS - November 12, 2006

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- The death threat came on simple white fliers blowing down the streets at dawn. A group calling itself "Friends of Muhammad" accused a local Palestinian Christian of selling cell phones with offensive sketches of the Muslim prophet.

The Oct. 19 message went on to curse all Arab Christians and Pope Benedict XVI, still struggling to calm Muslim outrage from his remarks on Islam.

While neighbors defended the merchant -- saying the charges were bogus -- the frightened phone dealer went into hiding, not reassured when authorities dismissed the message as a harmless rant.

Now the dealer is thinking of going abroad.

Call it a modern exodus, the steady flight of the Palestinian Christian minority that could lead, some predict, to the faith being virtually extinct in its birthplace within several generations -- just one of many dwindling pockets of Christianity across the Islamic world.

This will be a major theme the pope is expected to carry to Turkey for a four-day visit beginning Nov. 28 -- his first papal visit to a predominantly Muslim nation. The Vatican calls it "reciprocity": Muslim demands for greater sensitivity from the West must be accompanied by stronger protections and rights for Christian minorities in Islamic strongholds.

Map of Bethlehem - The "O Little Town" situated several miles south of Jerusalem is not so little any more. - Image Credit: Mustardseed.net

In some places, such as Pakistan, that means more safeguards from extremist attacks. In Indonesia and elsewhere, it touches on appeals to curb sectarian clashes. In Turkey, Iraq and much of the Middle East, it seeks to preserve communities dating back to the days when Jesus' first apostles preached.

But nearly everywhere in Muslim lands, Christian populations are in decline.

No place is this more striking than in the Holy Land.

For decades, it was mostly economic pressures pushing Palestinian Christians to emigrate, using family ties in the West or contacts from missionary schools. The Palestinian uprisings -- and the separation barrier started by Israel in 2002 -- accelerated the departures by turning once-bustling pilgrimage sites such as Bethlehem into relative ghost towns.

The growing strength of radical Islamic movements has added new worries. During the protests after the pope's remarks in September, some of the worst violence was in Palestinian areas with churches firebombed and hit by gunfire.

"Most of the Christians here are either in the process of leaving, planning to leave or thinking of leaving," said Sami Awad, executive director of the Holy Land Trust, a Bethlehem-based peace group. "Insecurity is deep and getting worse."

The native Palestinian Christian population has dipped below 2 percent of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Arab East Jerusalem, down from 15 percent or more a half-century ago, by some estimates. Meanwhile, the Muslim Palestinian birthrate is among the highest in the world.

Star of the Nativity - Inside the church is the traditional site of where Jesus was born.In this Catholic church a star has been built to commemorate this event. - Image Credit: Mustardseed.net

Dire predictions abound. The Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land said Christians could become "extinct" in the region within 60 years.

"It certainly doesn't look good for us," said Mike Salman, a Palestinian Christian who has conducted studies on demographic trends.

A walk along Shepherd Street puts a face to the lament.

Hannah Qumsieh spends his days playing Internet poker, fretting about unpaid bills and trimming his lemon trees at his house overlooking the field where the Bible says an angel told shepherds of the birth of Jesus. Mr. Qumsieh retired from the Palestinian tourism office last year, but has received no pension checks since the militant faction Hamas won elections in January and the West slashed aid to the Palestinian Authority.

"If I had money to leave, I would," he said, casting a glance at the newly built white stone house next door in Beit Sahour, one of the last Christian-dominated enclaves in the West Bank. Bethlehem, just up the hill, is now less than 20 percent Christian.

Some are trying to change the momentum.

Groups dedicated to Muslim-Christian cooperation are active. During the protests over Benedict's remarks, militiamen from Islamic Jihad vowed to protect a West Bank church. A poll released Oct. 18 by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion found 91 percent of respondents opposed attacking churches to protest the pope's comments.

Palestinian Christians -- dominated by Greek Orthodox and Latin Rite churches loyal to the pope -- now face sharp questions about whether their hearts lie in their homeland or in the West. It gets even more complicated because of the strong support for Israel and Jewish settlers from American evangelical Christians.

"We are stuck in no man's land," said a leading Palestinian Christian activist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of reported death threats. "In the eyes of the West, we are Arabs. In the eyes of Arabs, we are a fifth column."
Reference Here>>

At MAXINE, we would like to see a world that operates from a perspective of "live and let live", but in this struggle, it's "make uncomfortable and get rid of" all those who might disagree with you -- this approach is first applied to the Christians -- then anyone else who believes in a life lived in self determination and self reliance (really, anyone else).

Would some please inform the newly elected legislative leadership here in America? This approach to dealing with others is not "just a problem to be solved".

Of Basketball Floors, Friendship, And An·o·nym·i·ty

NAMESAKE: Jim Sterkel played for USC for two seasons in the 1950s, but the impression he left as a player was nothing compared with the impression he left as a friend. Image Credit: University of Southern California

Of Basketball Floors, Friendship, And An·o·nym·i·ty

Today is the day before an anticipated "landslide" election where the airwaves are filled with vile, slander, and puffery.

Ads paint Republicans and Democrats alike in the absolute worst light and it all can become a bit disheartening as to the prospects of actually having human relations of lasting value.

With this as a backdrop, here is a story about a gift and the real value of why people bother to communicate and share some time together throughout this life we live.

This from the Sports Section of the Los Angeles Times -

FLOORED
By Bill Plaschke - LA Times - November 5, 2006

An anonymous donation will introduce generations of Trojans to Jim Sterkel, and comes as quite a surprise to Mrs. Sterkel

The name is in giant cardinal letters, stripped across two sides of the new basketball court in this city's new basketball treasure, the signature on USC's signature arena.

It will be stepped upon by generations of Trojans basketball players.

It will be seen by millions of Galen Center fans.

Yet it is cloaked in mystery.

Jim Sterkel Court.

"Are you sure?" asks his wife, Joanne Sterkel. "His name is on what?"

It's on the hardwood, scripted there forever, officially scuffed for the first time on Nov. 16, when the Trojans open the season against South Carolina.

It honors a former Trojan who played only two seasons in the mid-1950s. He never averaged more than 10 points a game. His teams never won more than 16 games. He never graduated.

Jim Sterkel Court.

"You're kidding me," asks his daughter Jill. "Are you sure you have the right man?"

He spent a lifetime working as a Johnson Wax salesman. He died of cancer in 1997. He left behind a wife of 38 years and three children and a modest Hacienda Heights home.

Outside that home today there hangs a college banner.

A UCLA banner.

He wasn't a Trojans donor, he never had Trojans season tickets, and if he had any Trojans memories, he kept them to himself.

Jim Sterkel Court.

"I have no idea who put his name on there," says his wife. "And I have no idea why."

A most amazing story in this city of stars, a sports centerpiece decorated in average, laced in ordinary, painted in a nobody.

Or was he?

THE GIFT: As a tribute to his former college roommate, a USC donor gave $5 million to have the court at the Galen Center bear his friend’s name. Image Credit: Mel Melcon / LAT

This tale, like many Hollywood tales, starts quietly, in the suburbs, in adolescence.

Two boys meet at Mark Keppel High in Alhambra.

One likes to play sports, the other likes to watch sports, and together they become as one, chasing fun and fear and dreams.

They attend separate junior colleges, but remain close. When they both enroll in USC in the fall of 1955, they become roommates.

One is a 6-foot-7, 230-pound center named Jim Sterkel.

The other, for reasons you will understand later, is Anonymous.

Anonymous was the businessman, Sterkel was the jock, and it was through sports that Anonymous best understood his friend.

"Jim came home from a game at USF one time with two black eyes," Anonymous said. "It took him a while to admit that he had taken just two shots, and that Bill Russell had blocked both of them right back in his face."

It was then that Anonymous realized Sterkel's honesty and lack of ego, something his teammates already knew.

"The thing everyone remembers most about Jim was, he was just a real good-natured guy," said former Trojans guard Ken Walker. "There was not a mean bone in his body."

After scoring all of nine baskets in his junior year, Sterkel was voted the team's most improved player in his senior year, averaging 9.6 points and 8.6 rebounds.

"He was never a great player, no," said Anonymous. "But he was the kind that kept showing up."

After their senior years, the roommates set upon vastly different courses of life, but never strayed too far.

Anonymous became a business tycoon, while Sterkel became a suburban salesman and church leader, yet they still met for family dinners, fishing trips and pep talks on the phone.

Sterkel was the kind of guy who didn't smoke, didn't swear, and would lead his church in services and on its basketball courts.

He was the kind of guy neighbors phoned if they needed a television fixed or pipe unclogged. Giant and bespectacled and always smiling, he was the kind of guy who hugged everyone.

Anonymous was the kind of guy who, while leading a faster-paced life, gained strength from Sterkel's daily consistency.

"It's hard to find friends who last a lifetime," Anonymous recalled. "For me, Jim was that guy."

When Sterkel retired from Johnson Wax, Anonymous hired him for a job at his company.

When Sterkel first noticed a lump in his testicles, he told Anonymous, who immediately drove him to the doctor for the beginning of his long and fatal relationship with cancer.

While Sterkel was dying, Anonymous' young son also contracted cancer. Sterkel wrote Anonymous a poem, sealed it, and ordered it only to be read if Anonymous' son died.

Less than two years after Sterkel's death, Anonymous' son died of leukemia. He unsealed and read the poem. He said he still feels its imprint today.

"I'll never forget that he took the time out of his own life during his final days to do this for me, to try to inspire my life even when he was losing his own life," Anonymous said.

It was this inspiration that Anonymous remembered when he was approached by USC with an offer to make a donation to put his name on the new court.

He could have given the school his son's name. Most people would have given their own name.

Instead, he wrote a check for about $5 million and gave the name of Jim Sterkel.

"Some people don't deserve to be forgotten," Anonymous said. "Maybe this will keep him around a little longer."

At first, USC officials were stunned. Then, they were moved.

"A great example of the Trojan family," said Mike Garrett, athletic director.

Anonymous had only one request, that the donation be forever nameless, so USC refused to provide me with his name.

Even once I figured it out, Anonymous did not answer repeated interview requests for this story until he was finally promised that it would not include his name.

"The joy I have in remembering Jim would be significantly reduced if people knew who I was,'' he said.

When he finally agreed to the interview, my first question had been rolling around in my gut for a week.

"So what exactly did Jim Sterkel do for you to warrant this incredible honor?" I asked. "Did he give you a kidney? Did he pull you out of a burning car?"

Anonymous sighed.

"He did much more than that," he said. "He was my friend."

Some might think that Jim Sterkel's name was placed on the court not only for his memory, but for his family.

Well, Anonymous still hasn't told the family.

When I contacted them about the court, they had no idea. They had not read about it in the newspapers, or seen it on the USC website, or heard the buzz on the blogs.

Jill, a former Olympic gold medal swimmer, began crying. She politely excused herself, hung up the phone, and we talked later.

"My dad was never famous, he never cared about that," she said. "He was just a good guy and a great parent."

Upon hearing the news, Joanne also wept in disbelief.

After her initial shock, she figured out that there could be only one possible donor, and she correctly identified him, but she remained puzzled.

"He was such a good husband, such a good man, but do people really notice those things anymore?" she said of Jim.

Anonymous knew the family well -- photos of him and Jim are on the several walls of the house -- but he said he just didn't want to call attention to the gift.

In fact, he hasn't even spoken to the family since Jim's death.

Noting that Joanne attended UCLA, he said, "I thought it might be neat if she first saw the name when she was watching the Bruins play at Galen Center on television."

Actually, the family has not yet made any plans to see the court.

And USC, honoring the donor's anonymity, has no plans to contact them in this regard.

"We're just happy that a good person like Jim Sterkel can be remembered on our campus in perpetuity," said Don Winston, the university's associate athletic director and fund-raising whiz. "We've heard a lot of folks saying, 'Who's Jim Sterkel?' Now they will know."

Some folks are asking that question angrily.

There is talk in some USC circles that the naming of the court should not have been sold, but rather given to a former Trojans basketball hero like Bill Sharman, Tex Winter or Paul Westphal.

After all, John Wooden's name is on the UCLA court, and Lute Olson's name is on the Arizona court.

To which Anonymous says, "If you have a friend for 50 years, isn't that big enough?"

And it is. Of course it is.

In a town where sidewalks are filled with the names of people famous for acting like someone else, what is wrong with celebrating the name of someone who was great at just being himself?

In a town where five percent of the people are stars and the rest of them are like us, what's wrong with celebrating us?

A most amazing story in this city of stars, a sports centerpiece decorated in average, laced in ordinary, painted in a nobody.

Gosh, it's beautiful.
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To Repeat:

In a town where sidewalks are filled with the names of people famous for acting like someone else, what is wrong with celebrating the name of someone who was great at just being himself?

In a town where five percent of the people are stars and the rest of them are like us, what's wrong with celebrating us?

A most amazing story in this city of stars, a sports centerpiece decorated in average, laced in ordinary, painted in a nobody.

Gosh, it's beautiful...

...It certainly is!

And when tomorrow comes, go out and VOTE with a happy heart.