Sunday, August 12, 2007

CHINA'S HIGH-TECH SURVEILLANCE

China Enacting a High-Tech Plan to Track People
Ariana Lindquist for The New York Times

Law enforcement technology is being introduced to monitor people, like these citizens from Hong Kong, crossing into Shenzhen.

KEITH BRADSHER

Published: August 12, 2007

SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 9 — At least 20,000 police surveillance cameras are being installed along streets here in southern China and will soon be guided by sophisticated computer software from an American-financed company to recognize automatically the faces of police suspects and detect unusual activity.

Starting this month in a port neighborhood and then spreading across Shenzhen, a city of 12.4 million people, residency cards fitted with powerful computer chips programmed by the same company will be issued to most citizens.

Data on the chip will include not just the citizen’s name and address but also work history, educational background, religion, ethnicity, police record, medical insurance status and landlord’s phone number. Even personal reproductive history will be included, for enforcement of China’s controversial “one child” policy. Plans are being studied to add credit histories, subway travel payments and small purchases charged to the card.

Security experts describe China’s plans as the world’s largest effort to meld cutting-edge computer technology with police work to track the activities of a population and fight crime. But they say the technology can be used to violate civil rights.

The Chinese government has ordered all large cities to apply technology to police work and to issue high-tech residency cards to 150 million people who have moved to a city but not yet acquired permanent residency.

Both steps are officially aimed at fighting crime and developing better controls on an increasingly mobile population, including the nearly 10 million peasants who move to big cities each year. But they could also help the Communist Party retain power by maintaining tight controls on an increasingly prosperous population at a time when street protests are becoming more common.

“If they do not get the permanent card, they cannot live here, they cannot get government benefits, and that is a way for the government to control the population in the future,” said Michael Lin, the vice president for investor relations at China Public Security Technology, the company providing the technology.

Incorporated in Florida, China Public Security has raised much of the money to develop its technology from two investment funds in Plano, Tex., Pinnacle Fund and Pinnacle China Fund. Three investment banks — Roth Capital Partners in Newport Beach, Calif.; Oppenheimer & Company in New York; and First Asia Finance Group of Hong Kong — helped raise the money.

Shenzhen, a computer manufacturing center next to Hong Kong, is the first Chinese city to introduce the new residency cards. It is also taking the lead in China in the large-scale use of law enforcement surveillance cameras — a tactic that would have drawn international criticism in the years after the Tiananmen Square killings in 1989.

But rising fears of terrorism have lessened public hostility to surveillance cameras in the West. This has been particularly true in Britain, where the police already install the cameras widely on lamp poles and in subway stations and are developing face recognition software as well.

New York police announced last month that they would install more than 100 security cameras to monitor license plates in Lower Manhattan by the end of the year. Police officials also said they hoped to obtain financing to establish links to 3,000 public and private cameras in the area by the end of next year; no decision has been made on whether face recognition technology has become reliable enough to use without the risk of false arrests.

Shenzhen already has 180,000 indoor and outdoor closed-circuit television cameras owned by businesses and government agencies, and the police will have the right to link them on request into the same system as the 20,000 police cameras, according to China Public Security.

Some civil rights activists contend that the cameras in China and Britain are a violation of the right of privacy contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Large-scale surveillance in China is more threatening than surveillance in Britain, they said when told of Shenzhen’s plans.

“I don’t think they are remotely comparable, and even in Britain it’s quite controversial,” said Dinah PoKempner, the general counsel of Human Rights Watch in New York. China has fewer limits on police power, fewer restrictions on how government agencies use the information they gather and fewer legal protections for those suspected of crime, she noted.

While most countries issue identity cards, and many gather a lot of information about citizens, China also appears poised to go much further in putting personal information on identity cards, Ms. PoKempner added.

Every police officer in Shenzhen now carries global positioning satellite equipment on his or her belt. This allows senior police officers to direct their movements on large, high-resolution maps of the city that China Public Security has produced using software that runs on the Microsoft Windows operating system.

“We have a very good relationship with U.S. companies like I.B.M., Cisco, H.P., Dell,” said Robin Huang, the chief operating officer of China Public Security. “All of these U.S. companies work with us to build our system together.”

The role of American companies in helping Chinese security forces has periodically been controversial in the United States. Executives from Yahoo, Google, Microsoft and Cisco Systems testified in February 2006 at a Congressional hearing called to review whether they had deliberately designed their systems to help the Chinese state muzzle dissidents on the Internet; they denied having done so.

China Public Security proudly displays in its boardroom a certificate from I.B.M. labeling it as a partner. But Mr. Huang said that China Public Security had developed its own computer programs in China and that its suppliers had sent equipment that was not specially tailored for law enforcement purposes.

The company uses servers manufactured by Huawei Technologies of China for its own operations. But China Public Security needs to develop programs that run on I.B.M., Cisco and Hewlett-Packard servers because some Chinese police agencies have already bought these models, Mr. Huang said.

Mr. Lin said he had refrained from some transactions with the Chinese government because he is the chief executive of a company incorporated in the United States. “Of course our projects could be used by the military, but because it’s politically sensitive, I don’t want to do it,” he said.

Western security experts have suspected for several years that Chinese security agencies could track individuals based on the location of their cellphones, and the Shenzhen police tracking system confirms this.

When a police officer goes indoors and cannot receive a global positioning signal from satellites overhead, the system tracks the location of the officer’s cellphone, based on the three nearest cellphone towers. Mr. Huang used a real-time connection to local police dispatchers’ computers to show a detailed computer map of a Shenzhen district and the precise location of each of the 92 patrolling officers, represented by caricatures of officers in blue uniforms and the routes they had traveled in the last hour.

All Chinese citizens are required to carry national identity cards with very simple computer chips embedded, providing little more than the citizen’s name and date of birth. Since imperial times, a principal technique of social control has been for local government agencies to keep detailed records on every resident.

The system worked as long as most people spent their entire lives in their hometowns. But as ever more Chinese move in search of work, the system has eroded. This has made it easier for criminals and dissidents alike to hide from police, and it has raised questions about whether dissatisfied migrant workers could organize political protests without the knowledge of police.

Little more than a collection of duck and rice farms until the late 1970s, Shenzhen now has 10.55 million migrants from elsewhere in China, who will receive the new cards, and 1.87 million permanent residents, who will not receive cards because local agencies already have files on them. Shenzhen’s red-light districts have a nationwide reputation for murders and other crimes.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/12/business/worldbusiness/12security.html?_r=1&th=&oref=slogin&emc=th&pagewanted=all

Friday, August 10, 2007

JESUS SABBATH KEEPER

Jesus and the Sabbath


The Ten Commandments are an expression of God's very nature and will, which is unchangeable. Jesus Christ did not come to change even the smallest portion of the moral law (Matthew 5:17,18). Some say that Christ changed the Sabbath from the seventh day of the week to the first day of the week. That would require a change in the law. The moral law says that "the seventh day is the Sabbath" and not the first day of the week. In no place does the Bible tell us of this change in the law from the seventh to the first day of the week.

The Sabbath was the commandment most corrupted by the Pharisees. So, it is not surprising that it was over Sabbath-keeping that Jesus would have most of his conflict with the Pharisees. The Sabbath issue between Christ and the Pharisees is never over which day to worship or over whether the Sabbath was still part of God's desire for man. The issue for Christ was the way in which the Sabbath was being kept and the Phariseesí attitude toward the Sabbath.

The most powerful statement regarding Christ's commitment to the Sabbath is found in Mark 2:27 and 28. "And he was saying to them, The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.'" The climax of Jesus' statement comes when he says that he is Lord of the Sabbath day. This means that Jesus has the authority over all the circumstances regarding the Sabbath. Christians should be taught that Jesus Christ can arrange circumstances in order to provide for people the opportunity to keep the seventh day Sabbath holy. God wants our undivided attention on the seventh day Sabbath, and He will use the resources of His kingdom to make this possible.

The story of creation in Genesis gives the origin of the Sabbath but it does not give the reason for God's creation of the Sabbath. However, a clue to the purpose of the Sabbath is given in the fact that the Sabbath was created right after man's creation. Perhaps the Sabbath was created by God with man in mind.

The fact that the Sabbath was made for man is stated clearly by Jesus Christ, the Creator of the Sabbath. "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). Here Jesus is addressing the Pharisees who are condemning Him for breaking the Pharisaic rules regarding the Sabbath. There are four things which can be learned from this message from the mouth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

First, the Sabbath was made. This is a clear reference back to Genesis 2 showing that the Sabbath was a part of the perfect creation order. The Sabbath existed from the very beginning as the final part of God's creation. This reference would also serve as a reminder to the Pharisees that the Sabbath was created by God and not by them.

Second, the Sabbath was made for man. Right after the creation of man, God made the Sabbath. (See Genesis 1 and 2.) Jesus, the Creator of the Sabbath, says that the Sabbath was created with all mankind in mind. The Sabbath does not have its origins in the Law. Its origins go back to creation. The Sabbath was not a Jewish Sabbath alone, because "the Sabbath was made for man" and not for just the Jews. When the Sabbath was created in the beginning there were no Jews. This is the clear message of Jesus in this New Testament text.

Third, "the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." At the time of Jesus, the Pharisees had lost the meaning of the Sabbath. God had created the Sabbath for man's benefit, but the Pharisees had reversed the meaning. For the Pharisees, the Sabbath was more important than man, and they believed that God had created man to keep the Sabbath.

Fourth, "the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath," means that Jesus Christ was and is the one who is in authority over the Sabbath. There would be no need for him to declare his Lordship if he planned to abolish it in the near future with his death. But because he is Lord of the Sabbath, he can and will bring all of his resourses to bear to empower us and to work our circumstances so that we can keep his day holy.

The Sabbath was created for our benefit. Jesus' life, death, and ministry did not change the original meaning and purpose of the Sabbath. But Jesus did attack the Pharisees for the way they had changed the original meaning and purpose of God's holy day.

Jesus Christ Kept the Sabbath


In every area of life, we look to Christ as our supreme example. We believe in baptism because of the example of Christ and the apostles and the command of God. And so it is with the Sabbath. We have the example of Christ and the apostles and the Ten Commandments of God written on the tables of stone and on our hearts. And yet, the majority of Christianity has chosen the tradition of man.

"He (Jesus) went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read" (Luke 4:16). The word of God tells that Jesus was a Sabbathkeeper. It was the Son of God who blessed and sanctified the Sabbath at creation by resting. This rest was the first example that Adam and Eve had in the Garden. When the Son of God became flesh, he once again set the example for Sabbathkeeping.

Source: http://www.seventhdaybaptist.org/7DB/Sabbath_EN.asp?SnID=334802911

THE WILL OF GOD

13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

14For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14


DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES COURT-GAY-PALOOSA

Democratic hopefuls grilled on gay rights

Stephanie Condron and agencies
Friday August 10, 2007 art.obama.gi.jpg

Guardian Unlimited

"Gay marriage - right or wrong?" was the question that divided Democratic candidates last night in a televised debate on gay rights.

In front of a Hollywood gathering predominated by gay people, and before television cameras for a gay TV channel that broadcasts to millions, six of the candidates vying to run for election next year laid bare their thoughts.

Not surprisingly, they said they supported gay rights.

Hillary Clinton, the New York senator and former first lady, the Illinois senator, Barack Obama, and the former North Carolina senator John Edwards were among those quizzed at the event.

One by one the politicians took to an armchair for around 20 minutes each to face a panel that included Melissa Etheridge, a lesbian singer.

Just two of the candidates, Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich, said they thought gay couples should be allowed to marry just as heterosexual couples can.

Mrs Clinton, Mr Obama, Mr Edwards and the New Mexico governor, Bill Richardson, argued that civil unions were sufficient.

Civil unions between same-sex couples are recognised by various states in the US, so gay people who "marry" are afforded equal rights to a point. But the federal government recognises only marriage between a man and woman, meaning there is not full equality.

Most Americans oppose giving same-sex couples the same marriage rights, a Gallup poll has shown.

Mr Obama, despite being a member of the United Church of Christ, which supports gay marriage, argued that civil unions were not a "lesser thing".

"If we have a situation in which civil unions are fully enforced, are widely recognised, people have civil rights under the law, then my sense is that's enormous progress," he said.

Mr Richardson said: "In my judgment, what is achievable is civil unions with full marriage rights."

The Human Rights Campaign, which organised the event, said it had shown that there was "more work to do" on gay rights.

"The overwhelming majority of the candidates do not support marriage equality," said Joe Solmonese, the group's president. "While we heard very strong commitments to civil unions and equality in federal rights and benefits, their reasons for opposing equality in civil marriage tonight became even less clear."

The candidates had clearly done their utmost to emphasise their gay-friendly credentials.

Mrs Clinton made it clear that she felt she had made a mistake in March when she sidestepped a question during a television interview on whether homosexuality was immoral by saying it was "for others to conclude".

"It was a mistake," she said.

Mr Richardson apologised for using a Spanish word, maricón, which is used as a gay slur, on a radio show last year and said he "meant no harm".

The question of whether one is born gay was also raised.

When asked by Ms Etheridge whether homosexuality was a choice or biological, Mr Richardson said: "I don't see this as an issue of science or definition. I see gays and lesbians as human beings."

But he later said: "I do not believe that sexual orientation or gender identity happen by choice."

All of the candidates said they supported a federal ban on job discrimination against gay people and wanted to see a repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy barring gays from serving openly in the armed forces. Mrs Clinton said such a repeal was one of her "highest priorities".

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007
Source:http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,330366876-124128,00.
P.S. Candidate Rodham-Clinton vowed to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell policy".
FYI: Her husband Bill, instituted that leigislation early in 1993, as one of his great achievements!

Thursday, August 09, 2007

'THE ENVY OF THE WORLD'

"The American economy is the envy of the world and we will keep it that way," he added. "We will continue to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of America, so more of our citizens can realize the American Dream."
-President George W. Bush, Saturday, August 6, 2005
.

...THE ULTIMATE APHRODISIAC

"Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac".



Henry A. Kissinger

FLORIDA AT CENTER OF HOUSING WOES

Florida at epicentre of US housing bust

By Eoin Callan in Sarasota County, Florida




Updated: 14 minutes ago


The seizure that gripped European financial markets on Thursday can be partly traced to an unlikely place. Like the proverbial butterfly that flaps its wings and sets off a tidal wave on the other side of the world, Sarasota, Florida is at the centre of the US housing bust that sent shockwaves through global markets.


The Gulf coast community seems an improbable setting for a financial crisis. Pristine yachts bob lazily off an eight-mile barrier island as bronzed children play close to sea turtles in the sugary white sand.


The shoreline is dotted with a blend of exclusive beachfront residences and family-friendly condominiums that give it an all-American appeal and have attracted well-known homebuyers such as Stephen King, the author.


But along with bubble property markets across America, west Florida has seen its luxurious lifestyle shaken. The Sarasota district has experienced the biggest drop in house prices in the country, with foreclosures spiking after a drop of almost 15 per cent in the year to March.


Florida is the "canary in the cage", according to Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs.


The precedent has alarmed Wall Street economists tracking the worst US housing slump in 16 years, as price falls in Sarasota have spread across the state and threaten to drag Florida into recession.


But what caused the west Florida housing bubble to inflate and then suddenly pop?


It is tempting to point the finger at the rise in popularity of high-risk adjustable loans that were backed by complex new credit securities, which are now in distress and, in some cases, regarded by traders as worthless.


These innovative financial instruments played a role. But the accounts of residents, real estate agents and mortgage brokers in Sarasota point to a more familiar culprit: simple old-fashioned greed.


"People were buying places figuring they would put in a new kitchen and then flip them. It was greed. We were all in the same game. We were selling a piece of paradise," says Christina Neff, a real estate agent with Michael Saunders in Siesta Key. "Flippers are behind what is happening."


Michael, a New York stockbroker who sold his condominium on Siesta Key during the boom, said buyers who had no intention of carrying a mortgage for the long-term joined bidding wars that pushed up his sale price.


Dorothea Sandland, a real estate agent with Remax, says: "A lot of buyers took out second mortgages, risky loans or even special bonds because they thought they could get rid of the property very quickly."


Short-term speculative investments drove prices to unaffordable levels and it was this that eventually caught up with buyers.


Speculative buying is not always easily discernable in publicly available housing data, but the accounts of local market participants are backed up by research showing Florida homes became increasingly unaffordable in the past two years.


Loan payments on a median-priced home in the state reached more than 30 per cent of median state income last year, compared with an average of 18 per cent in 2003 and a national rate of 23 per cent, according to Goldman Sachs.


This risk-taking by homebuyers willing to bet money they did not have that prices would keep rising has been a key cause of the global credit crunch that is now under way.


When house prices peaked and then faltered, many buyers were unable to sustain their mortgages. They are now being pushed towards foreclosure, hastened by higher borrowing rates as once-popular subprime loans re-set.


"I'm looking at condos coming to market that were bought for $259,000 [€189,225, £127,933] when there are brand new ones next door selling for $180,000," says Ms Sandland.


Claude, one of many so-called Canadian "snowbirds" who winter in Florida, said he had a good credit rating but opted for a subprime loan because the low initial rate made a short-term investment more profitable. He says he is now "trapped" with an unaffordable mortgage and a depreciating beachfront property.


With homeowners such as Claude dotted throughout the country and the outlook for the US housing market darkening, spooked bond investors have been fleeing the $8,500bn mortgage-market and shunning assets vulnerable to knock-on effects.


But Joe Hembree, president of the Sarasota Realtors Association, says the local market will recover as flippers cut their losses. "There are great bargains to be had throughout the community as asking prices have dropped," he says.


Already, speculative investors are returning to the market and can be found scouting foreclosed properties, confident a new generation of sun-seekers will be lured by the promise of paradise.


Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.


CHERTOFF STIPULATES INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

Chertoff allays US flight check fears


By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington and Doug Cameron in Chicago
Updated: 5 minutes ago

Passengers flying to the US would not have to register before each trip under new rules being developed by the Department of Homeland Security.

Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, said Washington was developing a new electronic travel authorisation (ETA) system to improve security for air travel. But he stressed that the rule would not prove as disruptive as many travellers had assumed.

European companies in particular had expressed concern that business passengers would have to provide at least 48 hours' notice on each occasion that they travelled to the US. In an interview, however, Mr Chertoff said the system would be designed to require registration only once every one or two years.

The ETA. . . is not trip-specific filing. You don't have to file it each time you take a trip," said Mr Chertoff.

Under the system, Mr Chertoff said, people intending to travel to the US at some point would register online and then would simply provide their authorisation number each time they made a reservation.

"That really ought to allay the concern of business travellers that somehow it is going to slow them up," said Mr Chertoff.

A spokesman for the European Commission said it favoured a system that "satisfies the security concerns of the US but with as little interruption as possible to travellers".

Mr Chertoff welcomed suggestions by the European Union that it might introduce a similar scheme, saying: "We are always willing to abide by the same systems that we are askingothers to abide by."

The Department of Homeland Security also announced a new rule on Thursday that would require airlines to provide the US government with passenger information from passports 30 minutes before departure, as opposed to receiving the details after departure, as at present.

Mr Chertoff said the advanced passenger information system was partly aimed at reducing instances where aircraft would be forced to return mid-flight.

The department also proposed another policy – known as Secure Flight – to screen US domestic passengers against government watchlists. Carriers have supported the transfer of the screening process to a government agency and welcomed the decision to limit the information collected.Additional reporting bySarah Laitner in Brussels

Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.

ARMY NURSE KILLED IN BAGHDAD BURIED

IRAQ WAR DEATH

Popular Army Nurse Is the First Killed in Combat Since Vietnam

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 17, 2007; Page B06

Capt. Maria Ines Ortiz had a smile that lighted up the hallways in every hospital where she worked, from Aberdeen to Walter Reed to Iraq.

When a patient needed extra care, the Army nurse would stay late. If a colleague was feeling blue, she was there.


Capt. Maria Ines Ortiz, 40, of Edgewood, Md., was struck by shrapnel in Baghdad.
Capt. Maria Ines Ortiz, 40, of Edgewood, Md., was struck by shrapnel in Baghdad. (Family Photo Via Associated Press)

Ortiz, 40, was killed last week by a mortar attack in the Green Zone in Baghdad. The Edgewood, Md., resident is the first Army nurse killed in combat since the Vietnam War, Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, the Army's acting surgeon general, said in an interview yesterday.

"Having one of the family go down is very, very hard," said Pollock, who also is a nurse. "You feel like a piece of your heart is gone."

Ortiz was returning from physical training July 10 when she was caught outside by a barrage of mortar shells. She was killed by shrapnel.

"If there was such a thing as the jewel of the clinic, she was the jewel," said Renee Smith, who worked with Ortiz at an Army health clinic at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. "Her work wasn't finished until everybody was cared for."

Ortiz's death has hit hard at Aberdeen, where she served as chief nurse at the Kirk U.S. Army Health Clinic for 18 months before going to Iraq last fall. Many broke down in tears when the clinic commander called everyone together and told the news.

"It really took everybody by surprise," Smith said. "God, it's a great loss."

Patients who knew Ortiz have "run in here in disbelief," said Maj. Kathy Presper, chief of medical management at Kirk. "She was dedicated, a step-up-to-the-plate type person."

At Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where Ortiz served from 2001 to 2003 as a dialysis nurse, Medical Command officials are considering whether to honor her by naming a building or clinic in her memory.

"She has many admirers and friends," Maj. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the hospital commander, said yesterday.

Ortiz volunteered for duty in Iraq and was eager to go do her part, colleagues said. "She was very proud of the fact that she was going to go over to take care of soldiers," said Wanda Schuler, a co-worker at Aberdeen.

When Schuler sent an e-mail asking Ortiz whether she needed anything, Ortiz asked her to send Christmas decorations she could use to brighten up the halls at the Army's 28th Combat Support hospital, where she was assigned. "While she was caring for patients physically, she was caring for them emotionally, too," Schuler said. "She tried to make it as cheery as possible."

Ortiz was home on two weeks' leave recently and paid a visit to the clinic at Aberdeen. "She said it was going well, and she felt like she was making a difference there," Smith recalled.

Colleagues at the Baghdad hospital held a memorial service for Ortiz soon after her death. "They gathered together, and they talked about how she touched their lives," Pollock said.

Ortiz, who was born in New Jersey and grew up in Puerto Rico, joined the service as an enlisted soldier with the Army Reserve in Puerto Rico in 1991, and she became active duty in 1993. She was commissioned as an officer in 1999.

Ortiz was engaged to be married to Juan Casiano upon her return from Iraq, friends said.

A memorial service for Ortiz is set for tomorrow at the Aberdeen clinic. A date for burial at Arlington National Cemetery has not been set, cemetery spokeswoman Kara McCarthy said.

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/16/AR2007071601717.html

P.S.Captain Ortiz is survived by her parents, and four sisters in New Jersey and Florida. A memorial service was held on Wednesday, July 18 at 3 p.m. at the Aberdeen Proving Ground chapel. She will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery on August 9, with full military honors.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Ines_Ortiz

DISTRICT COURT APPROVES VOTING IN CHURCHES

U.S. District Court Allows Voting in Churches

July 31, 2007

Summary judgment was lost today in Rabinowitz v. Anderson, the case launched by the Appignani Humanist Legal Center (AHLC) in its constitutional test of voting in churches. The case was filed November 29, 2006, in response to a specific abuse during the recent midterm elections.

U.S. District Judge Donald L. Middlebrooks disagreed with the AHLC's overwhelming evidence that the pervasive use of churches as polling stations violates the constitutional principle of government neutrality on religion. But the stakes in this case were unusually high. A decision favorable to the AHLC could have set the wheels in motion to outlaw the use of churches as polling places across the nation, resulting in the reassignment of polling places from coast to coast. The judge didn't appear up to making that bold move.

Judge Middlebrooks wrote, "This is not a case where a governmental actor actively placed a religious icon or message at a voting location, or on another piece of government property." He also said, "Voting in a secular election, even in the presence of religious objects, is not equivalent to state-sponsored prayer at a public school graduation." For the complete decision, go here.

"We're saddened by this decision," said Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the American Humanist Association (AHA), "but the struggle isn't over. We haven't ruled out an appeal in this case and will relaunch this case in another jurisdiction, challenging a similar abuse. We have members all over the United States who have answered our call to report these abuses or be plaintiffs."

Churches are the most common polling locations in America. This means that, during the process of voting, many citizens are surrounded on all sides by religious symbolism and, sometimes, politicized religious propaganda. This not only creates a religiously charged and politically biased atmosphere, but it also serves to promote the specific church hosting the polls.

Rabinowitz v. Anderson highlighted this flagrant disregard of church-state separation. The polling place of plaintiff Jerry Rabinowitz was at Emmanuel Catholic Church in Delray Beach, Florida. Even before entering the voting area he had to walk past a church-sponsored "pro-life" banner framed by multiple crosses. Then, inside, where he checked in and where he voted, Rabinowitz faced prominent religious symbols and slogans.

"Such a religiously-charged environment can serve to intimidate or unduly influence a person's vote," added AHA president and constitutional law professor Mel Lipman. "Recent studies reveal that environmental cues have a measurable effect on electoral results. Therefore, the government must provide a neutral setting for voters, free from religious or other influences. Sadly, due to Judge Middlebrooks' decision, many barriers still stand in the way of guaranteeing this kind of atmosphere on voting day for all Americans."

The AHLC will continue to oppose the constant encroachments made on church-state separation by the Religious Right under the administration of George W. Bush. "Despite this setback, we will continue to send a clear message to politicians at every level that violations of religious liberty and church-state separation simply can't be tolerated," said Lipman. "We the people value our religious and voting freedoms and will remain vigilant so these freedoms are respected."

The Appignani Humanist Legal Center is part of the American Humanist Association. Consisting of over two dozen humanist lawyers and backed by humanists from coast to coast, it is the first nontheistic legal center in the nation's capital.

For further information on this case, go to http://www.humanistlegalcenter.org/cases/cp/cppressrelease.html


# # #

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

SPRINT ON THE RUN

August 8, 2007 8:08 AM PDT


Sprint Nextel keeps on trucking




The second quarter ended as a bit of a mixed bag for struggling wireless operator Sprint Nextel, as it reported a huge drop in profits but also grew its subscriber base.


Sprint's profits dropped 95 percent to $19 million, down from $370 million in the same quarter a year earlier, largely due to high costs associated with building out the company's 4G WiMax network. But at the same time, Sprint added 373,000 new customers and reduced its churn rate, a major feat for a company that has been bleeding customers for past several quarters.


Most of its new subscribers came through the company's wireless subsidiary Boost Mobile and its wholesale partner Virgin Mobile USA. About 16,000 of the new additions were post-paid customers, or customers who pay a monthly fee for services. These are considered highly valuable customers. And Sprint has done a poor job up to this point attracting or retaining them. In the past three quarters the company has lost roughly 714,000 of these high-value customers.


In the second quarter, Sprint also improved its churn rate--the rate at which customers drop its service. The company reported that it had reduced churn to 2 percent, compared with 2.1 percent earlier and 2.3 percent in the first quarter.


Still, Sprint lags far behind its two main rivals, Verizon Wireless and AT&T. In total Sprint now has 54 million wireless subscribers. In the second quarter, Verizon Wireless added 1.6 million new subscribers for a total of 62.1 million subscribers, while AT&T added 1.5 million, giving it a total of 63.7 million. Many of the gains these operators reported are likely due to Sprint's losses.


Sprint's CEO, Gary Forsee, said he was pleased with the results. While no one likes to see profit drop like Sprint's has done, Forsee brushed this off as a necessary result of investing in the company's future.


Sprint is spending about $3 billion to build a new 4G WiMax network that will more than double network speeds. The company recently announced a partnership with network provider Clearwire to help build the network. And it recently announced a revenue-sharing deal with Google to integrate the search company's applications into a service offering. The WiMax network will initially launch in Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Chicago by the end of the year. And it will be available to 100 million people by the end of 2008.


Even though some Wall Street analysts are skeptical about Sprint's WiMax strategy, they seemed content with Wednesday's results. The company's stock was up $0.54, or 2.72 percent, to $20.75 in midmorning trading.


While the addition of post-paid customers was definitely a positive step, Sprint still has a long way to go. The company seems to do well among business users, touting its 3G EV-DO network. But it struggles in the consumer market.


"We see our network as a competitive advantage," Forsee said. "We aren't going to back off on that. The great network experience helps us stand out, and it sets up the WiMax discussion."


Still, Sprint can't ignore its shortcomings in the consumer market. Many of its customer losses over the past few quarters were due to network issues associated with Nextel. Sprint has said that it is working out these issues and doesn't expect these problems to continue.


But Sprint also has other issues when it comes to the consumer market. For example, it has a poor reputation for customer service. In June, Sprint ignited a public relations nightmare when it notified about 1,000 high-maintenance customers--who, in Sprint's estimation, had called customer support too often--that it would be cutting off their service. While Sprint may have reduced some costs by terminating these customers, it likely damaged its image among many existing and potential customers.


And if these issues weren't enough, the company is also facing pressure from the Federal Communications Commission to make good on its promise made three years ago to vacate Nextel's old airwaves. Nextel's service, which uses iDEN technology, often interferes with public safety and emergency responders who use adjacent spectrum for communications. The FCC said earlier this week it may ask Sprint to pick up the pace.


Forsee tried to downplay the pressure from regulators and tried to reassure analysts and investors that the concerns about this issue were overblown in the press.


"We are working in an incredibly coordinated way with public safety to ensure we match our network responsibilities in a market-by-market way," he said.


SOURCE: http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9756735-7.html

EARTHQUAKE SHAKES INDONESIA

Indonesia’s capital shaken by powerful quake

Jakarta residents panic as buildings sway violently; no tsunami expected


Updated: 2:37 p.m. ET Aug 8, 2007

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A powerful earthquake under the Java Sea shook Indonesia’s capital early Thursday, violently shaking tall buildings and sending panicked residents into the streets.

There were no immediate reports of damage, and geophysicists said there was little risk of a tsunami.

The quake, which struck at 12:04 a.m., had a preliminary magnitude of 7.5 and was centered about 66 miles east of Jakarta at a depth of 180 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Residents said tall buildings and single-story homes shook violently in the city of 9 million people, and water sloshed from swimming pools.

El-Shinta radio reported that the quake could be felt from Sumatra island in the west to Bali to the east, but that there were no immediate reports of damage.

The quake also was felt in parts of Malaysia, said Don Blakeman, a geophysicist at the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.

Tsunami unlikely
Because of the earthquake’s depth, there was little risk of a tsunami, said Robert Cessaro, a geophysicist at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii.

None of the instruments closest to the earthquake indicated that a tsunami was triggered, Cessaro said, although he added that there were no instruments “very close” to the quake’s epicenter.

The depth of the earthquake “suggests there will be no tsunami,” he said.

Cessaro said in order for an earthquake to trigger a tsunami, the quake must rupture the ocean floor with tremendous vertical force, in effect pushing the water upward. The farther below the ocean floor an earthquake is, the less likely it is to move the water, he said.

The Dec. 26, 2004, earthquake that triggered the tsunami off the coast of Sumatra and killed more than 131,000 in Indonesia’s Ache province was just 18 miles deep, according to the USGS.

Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20180884/

TORNADO CONFIRMED IN BROOKLYN


Confirm Tornado in Brooklyn
Publicado - Published: 08/08/2007

NEW YORK.- It was a Tornado F-2. The National Weather Service confirmed that the storm brought with it Brooklyn's first ever tornado since such weather events were recorded. Officials measured it to be an EF2 twister, characterized by winds of anywhere from 111 to 135 miles per hour.

A tornado warning had been issued in Brooklyn from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m., and during that time a severe thunderstorm blew through the region, making for an incredible headache for morning commuters. Thousands of New Yorkers found themselves enduring hours of delays in the sweltering heat with subways shut down and vacant taxi cabs hard to come by.

A woman on Staten Island died in a car accident which officials say was a result of the horrible driving conditions. In Brooklyn, amazingly, only scattered minor injuries were reported.

Source: http://www.desastres.org/noticias.php?id=08082007-62

BOLDS ADDED FOR EMPHASIS: BLOGMASTER.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The National Weather Service confirmed at 5:12 p.m. that a tornado touched down in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn this morning. The tornado was classified as a 2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which goes from 0 to 5. An EF2 tornado consists of winds of 111 to 135 miles per hour.

The weather service said in a statement:

The tornado path was discontinuous and started in Bay Ridge sometime just after 6:30 a.m. today on Bay Ridge Avenue, between Third and Fourth Avenues, and continued on an east-northeast path across 68th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues. Eleven homes in this section had moderate to severe roof damage. The storm continued to move east-northeast into Leif Ericson Park Square, where severe damage to trees occurred. As the tornado lifted, it tore off the roof of the Nissan car dealership at the corner of 66th Street and Fifth Avenue. The tornado returned to the ground father northeast, with scattered tree damage along Sixth Avenue. Based on the assessed damage, this tornado is classified as an EF-2 tornado with estimated wind speeds of 111 to 135 m.p.h.

The tornado returned to the ground as another pocket of significant damage occurred on 58th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. The roof was ripped off of five homes, and tree damage indicates strong EF-1 damage, with winds of 86 to 100 m.p.h.

The weather service noted that it “had issued a tornado warning for this storm at 6:28 a.m.”

The tornado was the first in New York City since a tornado that swirled through Staten Island on Oct. 27, 2003.

Jeffrey M. Warner, a meteorologist at Penn State University, said the tornado today was the first one to hit Brooklyn since at least 1950, when modern record-keeping began, and only the sixth tornado recorded in New York City since 1950.

Andy Newman contributed reporting.

Source: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/08/brooklyn-storm-is-declared-a-tornado/

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Bay RidgeA tree limb broke through the back window of a truck in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn during the storm this morning. (Benny Snyder/Associated Press)Photographs Slide Show: City Assesses Storm Damage

Updated, 5 p.m.

Heavy winds toppled power lines, uprooted trees and damaged about 40 buildings in a wide swath of southwestern Brooklyn early this morning, particularly in the neighborhoods of Sunset Park and Bay Ridge.

“The National Weather Service is going to do a determination as to whether or not a tornado hit down, but what we do know is that there’s been real damage,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said at an afternoon news conference in Brooklyn, adding that at the very least, the winds could be described as “a very strong localized storm.”

The winds were part of a tumultuous weather pattern that included what Mayor Bloomberg called a trio of events that also included torrential thunderstorms, which crippled the subways and caused flooding in neighborhoods like Maspeth and Jamaica, both in Queens, and scorching heat — highs in the 90s and a heat index that could reach 104 degrees — expected to smother the city this afternoon.

At 11:51 a.m., the National Weather Service put out an updated heat advisory, in effect until 8 p.m. “It will be another hot and very humid day,” the weather service announced, with heat index values from 104 to 108 degrees. Heat-related illnesses are likely to occur, officials warned.

The mayor and other city officials urged New Yorkers to check on elderly and disabled neighbors.

At the news conference, the mayor described extensive damage he had personally seen: a Nissan dealership in Bay Ridge where part of the roof had been ripped off; a missing roof and sheared-off siding at the Bay Ridge Baptist Church, and a broken front window at the Fourth Avenue Presbyterian Church. The damage appeared to be the most severe on 68th and 69th Streets between Third and Fourth Avenues.

In Leif Ericson Park, which straddles Sunset Park and Bay Ridge, an estimated 40 percent of the trees were toppled. Trees were felled in scattered parts of Queens and Staten Island. In Flatbush, near Beverly Road, trees were damaged all along Stratford Road, which is lined with old Victorian homes.

In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, three feeders in Consolidated Edison’s underground electrical network were down.

Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said that five people were taken to Lutheran Hospital, including a woman who had a fractured leg. Maimonides Hospital suffered some slight damage, mostly broken glass.

The American Red Cross has set up a temporary shelter at 59th Street and Sixth Avenue in Sunset Park, and around 50 people have arrived there.

The sanitation commissioner, John J. Doherty, said heavy equipment and 150 workers would come in this evening to clear away debris. The parks commissioner, Adrian Benepe, estimated that at least 150 trees and 230 tree limbs were felled by the winds.

“Homeowners should not try to dispose of the wood themselves,” Mr. Benepe said, noting that much of the neighborhood is in the quarantine zone for the Asian longhorned beetle.

Representative Vito J. Fossella, a Republican who represents Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn, including the area damaged by the storm, said in a statement:

I have been on the scene in Bay Ridge all day meeting with Mayor Bloomberg and City and State emergency management officials. I have also placed a call to the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to request that a Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) team be sent to Bay Ridge immediately to survey the damage. The PDA evaluates the magnitude of the damage and helps determine whether federal assistance can be made available to residents and business owners. I believe FEMA can play an important role in helping residents of Bay Ridge and Sunset Park recovery from the storm. I will be working closely with the City and State officials in the coming days to ensure that resources are available for residents impacted by the storm and that every action is taken to provide comprehensive assistance for those in need.

The damage throughout our community is widespread and significant. I’ve seen trees uprooted on many blocks and homes and cars badly damaged. I’ve also spoken with dozens of residents throughout the day and know they are appreciative and grateful for the quick response of the City. We are fortunate that injuries appear to be minimal. Our job now is to help the families affected by the storm return to their homes and their lives as quickly as possible.

Source: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/08/strong-winds-cause-extensive-damage-in-brooklyn/

NEW YORK CITY FLOOD PARALYSES TRANSIT

commuteAn M.T.A. worker patrolling late this afternoon inside the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall subway station, where there was still standing water on the tracks. Read the latest service updates. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Updated, 5:53 p.m.

A flood of Manhattan commuters struggled to make their way home this evening, following the extensive disruptions that paralyzed the New York City subway system in the morning.

While most subway service had returned to a somewhat normal state by mid-afternoon today, the subway lines that run under Queens Boulevard remained crippled by flooding of the stations around Jackson Heights. The M.T.A. ran shuttle buses down the thoroughfare and urged Queens subway riders to use the Long Island Rail Road instead.

ROAD WORKER DIES IN ACCIDENT

Road worker dies in accident
By Cristy Loftis

A 37-year-old man working on a road project in Homosassa was killed Tuesday when a driver missed his merge lane and plowed into a construction zone marked by orange barrels.

The crash happened at about 11:45 a.m. on U.S. 19 in front of the new Walgreens Drug Store being built just north of U.S. 98.

Christopher A. Sloan, of Morriston, died at the scene and his co-worker Robert E. Nell, 30, of Belleview, was taken to Citrus Memorial hospital after being hit by a 1994 Ford Taurus, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

The two men were working for Triple T Construction, Inc. and were on traffic control duty, according to Triple T president George Thompson, who came to the site after the accident. The project related to creating a turn lane into the Walgreens entrance.

Driver Joshua J. Church, 22, of Dade City, was turning onto U.S. 19 from U.S. 98. For some reason, Church didn’t merge when the lane closed and continued north through barricades, eventually hitting Sloan and Nell, according to FHP Sgt. Jamie Mulverhill.

Church said he was on his way to Crystal River for a job interview. During the crash he hit his head, but said other than being shook up, he was OK.

Charges in the case are pending an investigation of the crash. Nell’s condition was unavailable Tuesday.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation and National Center for Statistics and Analysis, in 2005, there were 111 fatal crashes in Florida construction zones.


Source: http://www.chronicleonline.com/articles/2007/08/08/news/news10.txt

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

EXPLOITING IGNORANCE FOR FUN AND PROFIT

August 7, 2007

Exploiting ignorance for fun and profit.

By Ed Martin

Everyone's all up in arms about the probability that Rupert Murdoc will pervert the Wall Street Journal to reflect his brand of slimy, sleazy, right-wing ideology. Well, everyone except the Republicans and the Bush administration. They can be confident that the editors at the WSJ will continue to give George Bush their unquestioning, cult-like, worshipping support. Nothing but the style is going to change. The WSJ has been doing it one way while Murdoch has been doing the same thing another way.

Let's use Bill O'Reilly as a prototype, the icon, the exemplification of Murdoch's style of doing business and the finest example of his product. The lies, distortions, dissembling, rationalizations, false accusations is the same product that the WSJ peddles in it's editorials. O'Reilly's unhinged, hysterical, feigned moral outrage act is apparent. The editors at the WSJ present the same ideological act, but clothed in the very sober, very serious disguise of a three-piece suit. The message is the same: a Republican can do no wrong. The Messiah of the Republicans, George Bush, can do no wrong. We have the God-given right to be conservative, to conserve what we have and to take what you have and conserve it, too.

There are two, separate, very differeent markets for this kind of ideological, mind-bending disinformation that presents what is obviously not true as common knowledge. The market that the WSJ aims at are those whose interests are in manipulating the economic system to make a lot of money, holding on to it and increasing it by adopting the George Bush, Republican style of fascism where the rich become government and those in government become richer. Adopting this ideology is necessary for the top, single digit percentages of the wealthy in order to stay in the top, single digit percentages. The fact that this ideology has a positive economic effect only on a very narrow spectrum of the population and is to the disadvantage of just about everyone in the United states must be consciously ignored (conscious ignorance) and swept away by falling back on the blatantly false rationalization that "Everyone has an equal opportunity to become a millionaire."

There is not the slightest chance that everyone working in the United States, the largest group at Wal-Mart, will become one of 300 million millionares. Thus the conscious ignorance of the wealthy is exploited by the Wall Street Journal by selling them a load of crap that they wish to believe.

The other market, at the other end of the economic spectrum, who are also sold a load of crap that they wish to believe are those whose unconscious ignorance is exploited by Bill O'Reilly. O'Reilly is worshipped as a bringer of truth unequaled only by George Bush by those limited to a knowledge of button push that produces only Fox News. They have no realization that what O'Reilly is presenting as the holy word of Republicanism is to their disadvantage, that it destroys their chance of economic betterment, that it puts them at even further risk of living in even more of a police state, that it leaves them spied on, poor, deprived of choice, deprived of habeas corpus, deprived of due process of law to retain their possessions and just generally screwed over.

These two narrow spectrums aren't a large segment of the population, but they're enough for the Wall Street Journal and Rupert Murdoch. They are both exploiting ignorance, both conscious and unconscious, to perpetrate what is actually a scam, a con on blissfully ignorant, willfully self-deceiving people. It's not possible that the Wall Street Journal, through it's Murdoch style editorials and Murdoch, through O'Reilly's rantings and ravings, are not aware that what they are doing is an assault on and violation of integrity, decency, reason, intellect, the facts and the truth. They do it because the market is there and you exploit whatever market of ignorance is available. Because it's easiest to fool the ignorant, and you never pass up an opportunity to make money the easiest way possible.

The test of whether it's about money is just as easy. Would Bill O'Reilly go out and get a job matching his skills, inevitably at Wal-Mart, and still hold to his right-wing, Republican ideological delusion? Does he really believe his poppycock, is he committed to the cause enough to come by the studio after work and preach his drivel to the ignorant without pay? I think not. I think you'd find that he does it for money. Because it's easy to make money by fooling the ignorant.

Don't worry about the Wall Street Journal changing under Murdoch. It'll keep doing the same thing, appealing to the ignorant, as Murdoch has been doing all along. If Murdoch wants to push his sleaze to the ultimate, he'll put O'Reilly in charge of editorials. It'd be the same hard-right Republicanism it is now, just in tabloid style. The message would be the same.

I have a preponderance of ignorance. I am ignorant of more things than I am knowledgeable of. But, I was never ignorant enough to be fooled by Bill O'Reilly, or the Wall Street Journal, or a buffoon like George Bush. A lot of people were. Won't admit they were fooled. Won't admit they were fooled by an obvious fool. What is astounding is that some of them have the unmitigated gall, the hubris, the pride, the egoism, the vanity and venality to run for President. And in spite of everything we can do, one of them will be elected.



Authors Bio: Ed Martin is an unindicted curmudgeon. He is not a Democrat, Republican, conservative, liberal, deist, atheist, or a member of any -ism.


Source: http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/print_friendly.php?p=opedne_ed_marti_070802_exploiting_ignorance.htm

P.S. Edited and sanitized for decent Christian consumption. Blogmaster

RUPERT MURDOCH

Rupert Murdoch
News Corporation: Chairman

Right Web News

last updated: March 21, 2007


Rupert Murdoch, head of the world's largest media empire, has used his influential position to push an ideological agenda closely associated with U.S. neoconservatives. During the lead up to the U.S. invasion of and war in Iraq, the editors of Murdoch's 175 media holdings vociferously supported President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair's pro-war campaign. One British newspaper opined: "You have got to admit that Rupert Murdoch is one canny press tycoon because he has an unerring ability to choose editors across the world who think just like him. How else can we explain the extraordinary unity of thought in his newspaper empire about the need to make war on Iraq? After an exhaustive survey of the highest-selling and most influential papers across the world owned by Murdoch's News Corporation, it is clear that all are singing from the same hymn sheet. Some are bellicose baritone soloists who relish the fight. Some prefer a less strident, if more subtle, role in the chorus. But none, whether fortissimo or pianissimo, has dared to croon the anti-war tune. Their master's voice has never been questioned" (Guardian, February 17, 2003).

If Murdoch's outlets have been safe haven for administration antics, companies and corporations may be looking forward to the same treatment: "Rupert Murdoch announced that his latest venture, the Fox Business Channel, would be 'more business-friendly than CNBC'" (New York Times, February 17, 2007).

Murdoch's News Corp has holdings in film, television, cable, newspapers, books, magazines, and more. Properties include the New York Post, the National Geographic Channel, HarperCollins Books, and 20th Century Fox. In 2006, Murdoch acquired MySpace, the popular social networking website, as part of Fox Interactive Media. (For more, see NewsCorp.com.)

Two News Corp holdings in particular have provided neoconservatives an influential platform: Fox News and the Weekly Standard. Murdoch's personal involvement has helped to ensure that almost all of his news organizations "have hewn very closely to Mr. Murdoch's own stridently hawkish political views, making his voice among the loudest in the Anglophone world in the international debate over the American-led war with Iraq," as one commentator put it (New York Times, April 7, 2003).

Gene Kimmelman of the Consumers Union told the New York Times: "[Murdoch] has extended the most blatant editorializing in the entire world through his media properties, and that is exactly the example of what we need to worry about when any one entrepreneur owns and controls too many media outlets" (April 7, 2003).

Fox News, which eclipsed CNN in 2002 as the top-rated cable news network in the United States, has frequently been singled out for criticism because of its blatantly one-sided coverage of the war in Iraq and for printing unsubstantiated stories about the conflict. When CNN reporter Christiane Amanpour blamed Fox for creating "a climate of fear and self-censorship" regarding coverage of Iraq, a Fox spokeswoman shot back, "Given the choice, it's better to be viewed as a foot soldier for Bush than a spokeswoman for al-Qaida" (USA Today, September 14, 2003).

Said Murdoch of the war, "The greatest thing to come out of this for the world economy, if you could put it that way, would be $20 a barrel for oil. That's bigger than any tax cut in any country" (Guardian, February 11, 2003).

The comic writer Al Franken once wrote of Murdoch: "There's one important thing you should know about Murdoch. He's evil. I defer to the ... Columbia Journalism Review: 'Murdoch uses his diverse holdings ... to promote his own financial interests at the expense of real news gathering, legal and regulatory rules, and journalistic ethics. He wields his media as instruments of influence with politicians who can aid him, and savages his competitors in his news columns. If ever someone demonstrated the dangers of mass power being concentrated in few hands, it would be Murdoch.'"


Affiliations

Weekly Standard: Owner, through News Corp.
Private Sector

News Corporation: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (1952-current)
Education

Oxford University


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sources

"Their Master's Voice," Guardian, February 17, 2003.

David D. Kirkpatrick, "Mr. Murdoch's War," New York Times, April 7, 2003.

Alessandra Stanley, "It's Reported, They Mock, You Decide," New York Times, April 7, 2003.

News Corporation Operations, NewsCorp.com.

"Amanpour: CNN Practiced Self-Censorship," USA Today, September 14, 2003.

"Murdoch Backs 'Courageous' Blair Over Iraq," Guardian, February 11, 2003.

Al Franken, Lies (And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them) (New York: Dutton, 2003).

Source: http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1304

P.S. The Wall Street Journal, can also be added to his assets.

GIULIANI QUESTIONED ON CATHOLICISM

Headline Image
Giuliani Questioned About Catholicism
NewsMax.com Wires
Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007

DAVENPORT, Iowa -- Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday that whether he was a practicing Catholic was a personal matter as he declined to answer questions about his religion.

Addressing a town-hall meeting in Iowa, the former New York mayor was asked whether he considered himself a "traditional, practicing Roman Catholic." An audience member also called on Giuliani to discuss the role his faith played in making decisions on issues such as abortion.

"My religious affiliation, my religious practices and the degree to which I am a good or not so good Catholic, I prefer to leave to the priests," Giuliani said. "That would be a much better way to discuss it. That's a personal discussion and they have a much better sense of how good a Catholic I am or how bad a Catholic I am."

Giuliani is alone among the major Republican candidates in favoring abortion rights, a practice that the Catholic Church opposes. Some church officials have suggested that candidates who favor abortion rights should be denied the sacrament of communion.

On a personal level, Giuliani has been married three times, with one annulment and one divorce. Catholics who are divorced and have remarried are not permitted to receive communion.

In two days of campaigning in Iowa, Giuliani has sought to focus attention on adoptions and improving the quality of life for children. Yet, he has faced questions about his personal life, dealing with queries about his 17-year-old daughter's political preference on Monday and his religion on Tuesday.

The first questioner at the town-hall meeting mentioned President Bush's success in winning the support of Catholic voters and pushed Giuliani to explain his religious faith.

"That's a matter of individual conscience," Giuliani said. "I don't think there should be a religious test for public office."

That answer didn't satisfy questioner Thomas Fritzsche of Davenport, Iowa.

"Of course he didn't answer my question," said Fritzsche.

Asked later why he didn't answer the questions, Giuliani insisted that even presidential candidates have a zone of privacy.

"I believe that things about my personal life should be discussed personally and privately," he said, adding that his personal life is relevant only to the extent that it would affect his performance in office.

"It's just sort of gossip," Giuliani said. "I've never been big on gossip."

Giuliani said he's the only Republican who can compete throughout the country without writing off traditionally Democratic states.

"I can make this campaign a nationwide campaign," Giuliani said. "We have only run in certain states."

Giuliani met privately with law enforcement officials who run anti-drug programs, and he told about 300 people at the town hall meeting that it was essential to expand the nation's anti-drug effort. He said no other presidential candidates has his experience fighting drugs.

"It's something I understand really well," said Giuliani, noting his experience as a prosecutor and mayor of New York City. "I've been doing this kind of work longer than I've been in politics."

Giuliani also offered his prediction about whom Republicans will face in the fall election.

"I suspect it will be a Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama ticket," he said. "Their views are pretty much the same."

© 2007 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

NEXT ATTACK; COMING DICTATORSHIP

SPECIAL ALERT

August 7, 2007

DVD

Coming Dictatorship Abruptly Sprang Forward On August 5!

On Sunday, August 5, Congress rushed to President Bush a new law giving him powerful dictatorial powers of surveillance, and allowed his actions of the next 6 months to become law that not even a future Congress can revoke! This action represents the greatest sell-out of the American citizen imaginable, and it came from "Liberal Democrat" Congressional leadership.

We have posted a most important new Headline News article on this horrific turn of events.

NEWS2227 - "Congress Has Just Given President Bush Unlimited 'Dictatorial Powers'!"

Acting just before breaking for Summer Recess, Congress presented Bush a law which gives him unchecked dictatorial surveillance powers for the next 6 months; law also makes whatever powers he has seized absolutely legal -- in perpetuity!

Does this law mean that another staged attack on this September 11 is no longer necessary, or does it guarantee just such a staged attack?

For the record, this dictatorial law is euphemistically entitled, "America's Protection Act"!

Another news article appeared which warns that the White House is prepared to stage another 9/11-type attack. Note that this warning occurred three weeks before Congress passed this new dictatorial law.

NEWS BRIEF: "White House preparing to stage new September 11 - Reagan official", RIA Novosti News, July 20, 2007

"WASHINGTON, July 20 (RIA Novosti) - A former Reagan official has issued a public warning that the Bush administration is preparing to orchestrate a staged terrorist attack in the United States, transform the country into a dictatorship and launch a war with Iran within a year. Paul Craig Roberts, a former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, blasted Thursday a new Executive Order, released July 17, allowing the White House to seize the assets of anyone who interferes with its Iraq policies and giving the government expanded police powers to exercise control in the country. Roberts, who spoke on the Thom Hartmann radio program, said: 'When Bush exercises this authority [under the new Executive Order], there's no check to it. So it really is a form of total, absolute, one-man rule'."

Exactly as Cutting Edge has been warning since October, 2001!

DVD

Mass Media Suddenly Began Really Hyping The Coming "Next Terrorist Attack"

Not surprisingly, these propaganda preparation articles came from Establishment news sources.

NEWS BRIEF: "Former CIA Director Woolsey: Terrorist Strike Within U.S. Real Threat", by Kenneth R. Timmerman, News Max, August 7, 2007

"Former CIA Director R. James Woolsey tells NewsMax in an exclusive interview that terrorists could strike the American homeland — possibly with a weapon of mass destruction — this summer or early fall ... 'I think the threat of a serious attack in the next few months is very real," Woolsey said. A terrorist strike with a dirty bomb or with biological weapons was 'a real possibility'."

For the record, Woolsey is an extremely high-ranking Illuminati figure; in the immediate time prior to the Iraqi invasion, Woolsey shamelessly pushed the Saddam WMD story to justify President Bush's invasion of Iraq.

This next news story spreads the same nuclear terrorist story, again from an Establishment news source.

NEWS BRIEF: "NYC Unprepared for 'Day After' WMD Attack", by Linda Keay, News Max, Aug. 6, 2007

"Despite the real threat of a terror attack using weapons of mass destruction, the New York City metropolitan area is woefully unprepared for such a horrendous calamity ... Not only are outlying areas – where city residents would likely seek refuge in the event of an evacuation – ill prepared for the snarl of traffic that would result, but some localities do not even have a contingency plan for dealing with the problems. Yet there is no doubt that al-Qaida and perhaps other terrorist organizations are seeking to acquire and detonate a nuclear weapon or radiation-spewing 'dirty bomb' in America's biggest city. FBI Director Robert S. Mueller told NewsMax in May that al-Qaida's paramount goal was to detonate a nuclear device that would kill hundreds of thousands of Americans, and he warned that New York would be the likely target."

Killing hundreds of thousands of Americans with a nuclear "dirty bomb" is a frightening prospect.

For the record, we feel it necessary to remind our readers and subscribers that, since 1986, Russian and American satellites have contained the capability to detect nuclear warheads anywhere in the world, in REAL time. Not only can satellites detect warhead locations even if they are encased in lead, they can track the movement of any nuclear warhead on earth. Therefore, no terrorist can move a nuclear device into place without the knowledge of the American government. If any nuclear device explodes in an American city, your government allowed it to happen!

We posted an article on this capability over five years: NEWS1938 -- "Debunking The Propaganda Lie That Terrorists Can Actually Hit An American City With A Nuclear Device".

Please read this Cutting Edge article and spread the word!

Source: www.cuttingedge.org

GLOBAL WARMING?


98 DEGREES IN THE SHADE

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: THE CONSET OF THE GOVERNED

From the June 2007 Idaho Observer:

The consent of the governed

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these
are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments
are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,
— That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is
the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,
laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form,
as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
~Declaration
of Independence
, July 4, 1776

As I ponder these great words from our Founding Fathers, I cannot imagine anyone
today having the courage to "alter or abolish" the current government
by walking up to the White House and ordering the Bush administration to leave the
grounds. I think we all know what the Bushites would do to anyone who would dare
to oust them on grounds they are destructive to the right of the governed to pursue
life, liberty and happiness.

So, what good are these words to any of us now if no one has the courage to use
them as they were intended?

How did we lose the freedoms our Founders fought and died to provide and how do
we, the people, find them again?

David Reischaver

Carson City, Michigan

David: It is my firm belief that "intent" is the most powerful force in
the universe. As it stands now, here on earth, the intent of those to enslave and
exploit is stronger than the intent of the commoners to be truly free.

Throughout history, people prefer to pretend they are free because with true freedom
comes responsibility. So long as they are fed and entertained, people can be enslaved
and exploited indefinitely. But, when they start to go hungry and the circuses stop
coming to town, they develop the collective desire to get rid of their old bosses
and elect new ones.

Therein lies the greatest perplexity of all time: How does one develop and sustain
a nation of people who would rather die than live as slaves, when all most people
want out of life is to be fed and entertained?

The answer is also found in history. People like us—people who will be free or die
trying—have, since humans began organizing as communities, been sprinkled sparsely
all over the planet. I think we have been charged with the task of teaching our
fellow sufferers to be worthy of freedom and intolerant of anything less.

As you can see, with only a few brief exceptions, the birth of our nation being
one of them, we have failed over and over again for millennia.

But, souls that need to be free keep being born into human form. That is because
past failures do not change the fact that our mission is to inspire our fellows
to demand freedom and be equal to its challenges. ~DWH

Source: http://www.proliberty.com/observer/20070628.htm

The Idaho Observer
P.O. Box 457
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Phone: 208-255-2307
Email: observer@coldreams.com
Web:
http://idaho-observer.com/
http://proliberty.com/observer/

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Influences of American Freedom

1620: Plymouth, Massachusetts

The Pilgrims left England for the freedom to practice their religious beliefs in a new land. They created the Mayflower Compact, a covenant in which they formed a government and agreed to obey its laws. Its importance lies in the belief that for government to be legitimate, it must derive from the consent of the governed.

Source: http://www.freedommuseum.us/html/roots.php?section=0&part=5