Drew Sheneman, Copyright 2011 Tribune Media Services
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Osama Bin Laden Recording: Al Qaeda Releases Posthumous Audio
Shortly before his death, Osama bin Laden recorded a message praising the Middle East protest movements and predicting that revolutions would spread across the region.
"I think that the winds of change will blow over the entire Muslim world, with permission from Allah," bin Laden said in the 12-minute message released online Wednesday.
The message was released as a video, but it contains only an audio track and a photo of the terrorist leader.
Though both bin Laden and the West have generally supported protest movements in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere, their goals are very different.
The West hopes the protests will lead to democratic reforms. Bin Laden and his followers saw many Middle East governments as corrupt and hoped their collapse would lead to government based on their interpretation of Islamic law.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/18/osama-bin-laden-recording-released_n_863946.html
Just When You Thought It Was Safe, Sarah Palin Slides Into 2012 Waters
Sarah Palin told Hannity tonight that she is “still seriously considering a run,” and couldn’t name one specific candidate she would want to hear more from, saying “all of them” but noting that she was looking for someone who embodied “Tea Party principles.”
Palin also said that in our assessment of the candidates, we should “do our homework” and make sure they are living a fiscally and socially “conservative” beliefs in their personal life.
She warned people not to let the media define who their candidate should be. But most importantly, Sarah Palin slid her name back into the 2012 talk.
San Francisco To Vote on Circumcision Ban
There's only one ballot measure San Franciscans are sure to be voting on this November: a ban on circumcision.
Department of Elections officials today certified that the fellows who call themselves "intactivists" did indeed persuade enough city voters to sign their petition making circumcision on anybody under 18 a misdemeanor, even for religious reasons.
It would be punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
The petitioners cleared the cut-off point by inches. (Consider yourself warned: We'll be making these jokes for months.) They needed 7,168 signatures and got 7,743.
Supporters of a ban say it's a cruel, unnecessary practice akin to cutting off a baby's ear or nose. Opponents say the ban, even if passed by voters, would never hold up in court.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cityinsider/detail?entry_id=89248
Private Prisons’ Cost Benefits Debated
The conviction that private prisons save money helped drive more than 30 states to turn to them for housing inmates. But Arizona shows that popular wisdom might be wrong: Data there suggest that privately operated prisons can cost more to operate than state-run prisons — even though they often steer clear of the sickest, costliest inmates.
State Representative Chad Campbell of Arizona said private prisons “leave the most expensive prisoners with taxpayers.”
The state’s experience has particular relevance now, as many politicians have promised to ease budget problems by trimming state agencies. Florida and Ohio are planning major shifts toward private prisons, and Arizona is expected to sign deals doubling its private-inmate population.
The measures would be a shot in the arm for an industry that has struggled, in some places, to fill prison beds as the number of inmates nationwide has leveled off. But hopes of big taxpayer benefits might end in disappointment, independent experts say.
“There’s a perception that the private sector is always going to do it more efficiently and less costly,” said Russ Van Vleet, a former co-director of the University of Utah Criminal Justice Center. “But there really isn’t much out there that says that’s correct.”
Current GOP Leaders Voted 19 Times To Increase Debt Limit By $4 Trillion During Bush Presidency
After pushing the government to brink of shutdown last week, Republican Congressional leaders are now preparing to push America to the edge of default by refusing to increase the nation’s debt limit without first getting Democrats to concede to large spending cuts.
But while the four Republicans in Congressional leadership positions are attempting to hold the increase hostage now, they combined to vote for a debt limit increase 19 times during the presidency of George W. Bush.
In doing so, they increased the debt limit by nearly $4 trillion.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Alabama Announce ‘Bama Rising’ Benefit Concert for Tornado Relief
Country music legends Alabama will reunite for a rare concert for a great cause on Tuesday, June 14. ‘Bama Rising: A Benefit Concert for Alabama Tornado Recovery’ will take place at the BJCC Arena in Birmingham.
In addition to Alabama, who are spearheading the event, other artists scheduled to take part in the concert will include Rodney Atkins, Dierks Bentley, Bo Bice, Luke Bryan, Sheryl Crow, Sara Evans, Taylor Hicks, Little Big Town, Martina McBride, Montgomery Gentry, David Nail, Jake Owen, Brad Paisley, Kellie Pickler, Darius Rucker and Ashton Shepherd.
“My hope is that this will bring happiness and help to my fellow citizens in Alabama,” says Alabama’s Randy Owen in a statement about the show. “I believe it’s extremely important that we do this benefit, and I want everyone in the state to feel like they are part of it. I hope we all can pull together to help get through the worst natural disaster I’ve ever seen in Alabama. I appreciate my friends in country music, everyone that’s been involved, and anyone that’s helped in any way.”
Funds raised from ‘Bama Rising’ will benefit those affected by the April 2011 tornadoes which ripped through the south. In addition to ticket sales, funds will also be raised through corporate sponsorships of the event.
http://tasteofcountry.com/alabama-bama-rising-concert-june-14
The Serious Implications of Stephen Colbert's FEC Stunt
Stephen Colbert, in full character as the prototypical conservative pundit, appeared at the Federal Election Commission after filing paperwork for his political action committee, the "Colbert Super-PAC."
Colbert was there to determine if his airtime on Comedy Central would be considered a campaign contribution from the network's parent company Viacom, or if it would fall under the so-called "media exception" that allows newspapers, blogs, radio show hosts and others considered media to urge votes for or against candidates.
It was a typical Colbert stunt. In an address to a crowd of several hundred, he declared he was motivated by the "American dream."
U.S. Slaps Sanctions on Syrian President, Top Aides
The United States imposed sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and six other top aides for human rights abuses on Wednesday in a dramatic escalation of pressure on Syria to cease its brutal crackdown on protesters.
Targeting Assad personally with sanctions, which the United States and European Union have so far avoided, is a significant slap at Damascus and raises questions about whether Washington and the West may ultimately seek Assad's removal from power.
Syrian activists say at least 700 civilians have been killed in two months of clashes between government forces and protesters seeking an end to his 11-year rule.
The protests in Syria began after demonstrations toppled authoritarian leaders in Tunisia and Egypt.
The move, announced by the Treasury Department, freezes any assets of the Syrian officials that are in the United States or otherwise fall within U.S. jurisdiction and it generally bars U.S. individuals and companies from dealing with them.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/18/us-syria-usa-idUSTRE74H4XX20110518
Mexican Authorities Find 513 Illegal Immigrants in 2 Tractor-Trailers
Mexican authorities said they found and detained more than 500 illegal immigrants from Central America and Asia who were crammed inside two tractor-trailers heading toward the United States on Tuesday.
X-ray equipment detected the immigrants at checkpoints in the southern state of Chiapas, the state attorney general's office said. The drivers of both trucks sped away after authorities ordered them to stop, but police apprehended them nearby.
Inside the tractor-trailers, they found 513 people from El Salvador, Ecuador, China, Japan, Guatemala, India, Nepal, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/05/17/mexico.migrants/index.html
Korean Sex Workers Protest Police Crackdown
Hundreds of prostitutes and pimps rallied Tuesday near a red-light district in Seoul to protest a police crackdown on brothels, with some unsuccessfully attempting to set themselves on fire.
A crowd of about 400 people, mostly women wearing baseball caps, masks and sunglasses, chanted slogans like, "Guarantee the right to live!" during the four-hour rally.
At one point, about 20 protesters in their underwear and covered in body and face paint doused themselves in flammable liquid in an apparent attempt to burn themselves, but others stopped them from lighting any flames.
Some of the women then sat in the street and wept and screamed, while other protesters consoled them.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/5021296/Korean-sex-workers-protest-police-crackdown
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
SETI Turns Radio Telescopes Toward Kepler Candidate Planets, Listening for Signs of Life
A gigantic radio telescope in Virginia has started listening to 86 Earth-like planet candidates identified by the Kepler Space Telescope, hoping to hear signs of alien life.
Astronomers aren’t even sure the stars to which they are listening actually harbor planets, let alone radio-communicating extraterrestrials, but hey, we might as well bend an ear, right?
The SETI Institute is looking at Earth-like (rocky) planets with a focus on those with temperatures between 0 and 100 °C (32° and 212 °F), where liquid water can exist.
As far as our Earth-biased science can tell us, that’s a crucial ingredient for life.
Search For Aliens Should Include Intelligent Machines, Says SETI Astronomer Tags Technology, Rebecca Boyle, earth-like, exoplanets, Kepler, kepler space telescope, radio telescopes, search for extraterrestrial intelligence, SETI, seti@home SETI has been listening to parts of the sky for decades, but pointing directly at Kepler findings stands among the project’s best-informed attempts yet.
The Arecibo telescope in Puerto Rico looks at stars like the sun, hoping they might have planets around them.
Creationists Appointed to Science Review Panel
The Texas Education Agency just released the full list of members serving on the science review panels that will evaluate instructional materials submitted for approval by the State Board of Education (SBOE). The review panel for biology includes a number of individuals with a history of promoting intelligent design/creationism or advocating the teaching of phony “weaknesses” of evolution in science classes.
Last month the Texas Freedom Network and the National Center for Science Education identified proposed materials from one vendor, New Mexico-based International Databases, that promote intelligent design/creationism as real science. Now evolution deniers on the review teams will likely use their positions as a podium to promote the same flawed arguments.
http://tfninsider.org/2011/05/13/creationists-appointed-to-science-review-panels
When Is Enough Enough? Government Surveillance Skyrockets in 2010
The Department of Justice has just released its annual report on its surveillance activities for 2010 including its use of secret court orders, National Security Letters (NSLs) and electronic and physical surveillance — and boy were they busy. The report disclosed a dramatic increase in surveillance of Americans between 2009 and 2010, and these statistics don’t even include surveillance conducted under the new FISA Amendments Act.
The government more than quadrupled its use of secret court subpoenas, known as 215 orders, which give the government access to "any tangible thing," including a wide range of sensitive information such as financial records, medical records, and even library records. In 2010, the FBI made 96 applications, up from just 21 in 2009.
There was also a huge increase in NSLs, which allow the FBI to demand records related to a broad range of personal information, including financial records, a list of e-mail addresses with which a person has corresponded, and even the identity of a person who has posted anonymous speech on a political website, all without the permission or supervision of a court. In 2010, the FBI more than doubled the number of U.S. persons it surveilled with NSLs, requesting 24,287 NSLs on 14,212 people, up from 14,788 NSLs on 6,114 people the year before. The FBI also increased its electronic and physical surveillance, making 1,579 applications to wiretap and physically search individuals’ property last year, up from 1,376 the year before.
Obama’s Personal Approval Rating Hits 72% in Battleground States
If you want to know why Barack Obama is looking good for reelection despite the our nation’s economic struggles, the new Politico/GWU poll has your answer.
72% of voters in battleground states approve of Obama as a person.
The Politico/GWU poll found that despite 56% of voters saying they are concerned about the economy, President Obama has a 52% job approval rating.
Obama only has a 42% approval rating on the economy, but by a margin of 48%-42% he is more trusted to handle the economy than congressional Republicans.
Obama is also more trusted to create jobs (47%-43%), healthcare (52%-41%), handle Social Security (50%-37%), keep America safe from terrorism (55%-34%), and more Americans believe that he shares their values (51%-38%).
The only issue that the GOP led him on was the deficit, and their lead was within the margin of error (47%-44%).
Supreme Court: Justices Give Police More Leeway in Home Searches
Officers may break in if they hear sounds and suspect that evidence is being destroyed, the justices say in an 8-1 decision. Justice Ginsburg dissents.
The Supreme Court gave police more leeway to break into homes or apartments in search of illegal drugs when they suspect the evidence otherwise might be destroyed.
Ruling in a Kentucky case Monday, the justices said that officers who smell marijuana and loudly knock on the door may break in if they hear sounds that suggest the residents are scurrying to hide the drugs.
Residents who "attempt to destroy evidence have only themselves to blame" when police burst in, said Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. for an 8-1 majority.
In her dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she feared the ruling gave police an easy way to ignore 4th Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. She said the amendment's "core requirement" is that officers have probable cause and a search warrant before they break into a house. "How 'secure' do our homes remain if police, armed with no warrant, can pound on doors at will and …forcibly enter?" Ginsburg asked.
An expert on criminal searches said the decision would encourage the police to undertake "knock and talk" raids. "I'm surprised the Supreme Court would condone this, that if the police hear suspicious noises inside, they can break in. I'm even more surprised that nearly all of them went along," said John Wesley Hall, a criminal defense lawyer in Little Rock, Ark.
In the past, the court has insisted that homes are special preserves. As Alito said, "The 4th Amendment has drawn a firm line at the entrance to the house." One exception to the search warrant rule involves an emergency, such as screams coming from a house. Police may also pursue a fleeing suspect who enters a residence.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-court-search-20110517,0,6746878.story
Law Enforcement: Tape Us, Go to Prison
PDs pushing measures are also some of the "dirtiest", are under DOJ investigation
Anyone who works retail knows that you can and probably are being videotaped. And if you do something wrong, like steal something, you can bet you'll eventually be caught and those tapes will be used against you.
Unfortunately, some police officers across the United States seem to think that they should be above the level of accountability of the average citizen.
In response to a slew of cell phone and webcam photos and videos catching cops in brutality, racial profiling, and other unsavory acts, police have begun arresting and filing charges against those who video tape them.
http://www.dailytech.com/Law+Enforcement+Tape+Us+Go+to+Prison/article21633.htm
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