Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Fish meals 'stop sunburn'
Eating three portions of fish a week could offer significant protection from the sun, scientists have found.
posted by Prof. Hex at 11:33 PM
Waiting for a Leader
George W. Bush gave one of the worst speeches of his life yesterday, especially given the level of national distress and the need for words of consolation and wisdom. In what seems to be a ritual in this administration, the president appeared a day later than he was needed. He then read an address of a quality more appropriate for an Arbor Day celebration: a long laundry list of pounds of ice, generators and blankets delivered to the stricken Gulf Coast. He advised the public that anybody who wanted to help should send cash, grinned, and promised that everything would work out in the end.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:54 PM
'Cowboy' Bush failed in Katrina evacuation - Chavez
"That government had no evacuation plan, it is incredible, the first power in the world that is so involved in Iraq ... and left its own population adrift," Chavez said in a cabinet meeting broadcast live on television.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:24 PM
20 oil rigs missing in Gulf of Mexico: US Coast Guard
At least 20 oil rigs and platforms are missing in the Gulf of Mexico and a ruptured gas pipeline is on fire after Hurricane Katrina tore through the region, a US Coast Guard official said.
"We have confirmed at least 20 rigs or platforms missing, either sunk or adrift, and one confirmed fire where a rig was," Petty Officer Robert Reed of the Louisiana Coast Guard told AFP.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:23 PM
Extra-virgin olive oil anti-inflammatory-scientists
Scientists have just found out what gourmets have always known -- that there is something special about fresh extra-virgin olive oil.
A tasting experience at a molecular gastronomy meeting in Sicily led University of Pennsylvania biologist Gary Beauchamp to analyze freshly pressed extra-virgin olive oil, in which he found a chemical that acted like ibuprofen.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:18 PM
President's Poll Rating Falls to a New Low
Is Katrina the end of the Bush administration? Remember, these poll numbers were taken before the gulf was struck, before the administration's tepid response, and before gas prices rocketed.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:13 PM
IRAQ WAR EXCEEDING COSTS OF VIETNAM WAR
A stunning new report from the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) shows that the war in Iraq has so far cost every person in the U.S. $727, making the Iraq War the most expensive military effort in the last 60 years. Moreover, the costs of the war and the continuing American occupation of Iraq have exceeded those of the Vietnam war during eight years.
posted by Prof. Hex at 8:38 PM
2 elections officials indicted in recount
Two Cuyahoga County elections officials were indicted Tuesday on charges of not handling ballots correctly during the recount of the 2004 presidential election.
posted by Prof. Hex at 8:18 PM
Strain of Iraq War Means the Relief Burden Will Have to Be Shared
With thousands of their citizen-soldiers away fighting in Iraq, states hit hard by Hurricane Katrina scrambled to muster forces for rescue and security missions yesterday -- calling up Army bands and water-purification teams, among other units, and requesting help from distant states and the active-duty military.
posted by Prof. Hex at 3:08 AM
Dreams of Hollywood Disappear Along With Fake 'Real Rome'
There are two reasons that Jeff Barr, an aspiring screenwriter, won't be able to bring himself to watch Sunday's debut of the HBO series "Rome."
The first reason is that Barr is among 18 writers, art and costume designers, researchers and a producer who allege that they were victims of a con involving a docudrama project called "Real Rome," which they mistakenly believed also was backed by HBO.
posted by Prof. Hex at 2:38 AM
Archaeology from the dark side
In February of 1961, three amateur gem collectors dug a mechanical gizmo encased in fossil-encrusted rock out of a mountainside in the Southern California desert. They didn't know what it was, and began showing it to friends and associates. Within a few years this thingummy, which became known as the Coso artifact, had assumed an almost mythic importance.
It consisted of a cylinder of what seemed to be porcelain with a 2-millimeter shaft of bright metal in its center, enclosed by a hexagonal sheath composed of copper and another substance they couldn't identify. Yet its discoverers at first believed it had been found in a geode, a hardened mineral nodule at least 500,000 years old. If the Coso artifact was real -- that is, if it was really an example of unknown technology from many millennia before the accepted emergence of Homo sapiens, let alone the dawn of human history -- it would turn everything scientists thought they knew about the past of our species upside down.Alternative history, hijacked by Creationists. It's Salon, so you might have to watch a short ad.
posted by Prof. Hex at 1:02 AM
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Freemasons in Space!
No, really! Freemasons in Space!
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:24 PM
Buffing Up The Image Of George Washington
Despite what he looks like on the dollar bill, it turns out George Washington may have been kind of hot.
This is unsettling for those of us who prefer to think of our first president in more statesmanlike terms. He is so stiff and grim in all those portraits. But before Washington was middle-aged and the father of our country, he was a tall, strapping 19-year-old surveyor who still had all his teeth.
With recreated picture of America's first hottie.
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:51 PM
Did New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen?
Newhouse News Service, in an article posted late Tuesday night at The Times-Picayune web site, reported: "No one can say they didn't see it coming....Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever, serious questions are being asked about the lack of preparation."
In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to a Feb. 16, 2004, article, in New Orleans CityBusiness.
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:38 PM
Medieval appetite suppressant could be new slimming aid
Independent Online Edition > An 800-year-old herbal potion used by medieval monks to curb the appetite could soon find new popularity among 21st century dieters.
Archaeologists investigating an ancient hospital site founded by Augustinian monks about 845 years ago have found evidence that they used to chew on the bitter vetch plant to stave off hunger pains.
Great article.
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:21 PM
Sorry, Troops Needed At Home Are Not Available
According to Defense Department documents that show "a cumulative roster of all National Guard and Reserve personnel, who are currently mobilized," a total of 4,109 Louisiana Reserve and Guard troops are currently serving in Iraq.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:52 PM
Getting Agnostic About 9/11
Anyone who types the words "9/11" and "conspiracy" into an online search engine soon learns that not everybody buys the official narrative of what took place on Sept. 11, 2001. As a professor emeritus at the Claremont School of Theology, 66-year-old David Ray Griffin would seem to have more affinity for leather elbow patches than tin hats, yet after friends and colleagues prodded him into sifting through the evidence, he experienced a conversion. Now he's spreading the bad news.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:48 PM
Brace for more Katrinas, say experts
For all its numbing ferocity, Hurricane Katrina will not be a unique event, say scientists, who say that global warming appears to be pumping up the power of big Atlantic storms.
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:31 PM
Poverty Rate Rises to 12.7 Percent
Thanks George!
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:29 PM
Police reject woman's Azaria claims
NORTHERN Territory police have rejected a woman's claim that she is Azaria Chamberlain.
The woman walked into Alice Springs police station this week claiming to be the baby girl who disappeared from near Uluru 25 years ago.
Nine-week-old Azaria disappeared from a tent while her family was on a camping holiday at Uluru on August 17, 1980.
posted by Prof. Hex at 5:10 PM
New structure found at ancient Ohio site
Archaeologists say they have something new to study at Fort Ancient State Memorial. A previously unknown circular structure about 200 feet in diameter was detected recently during preliminary work for an erosion-control project at the site of 2,000-year-old earthworks, state authorities said.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:21 PM
In Iran, Camera Traps Reveal Rare Asiatic Cheetahs
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists, working in conjunction with Iran's Department of Environment (DOE) in an isolated region in the Dar-e Anjir Wildlife Refuge, recently discovered that a remote camera set out to survey wildlife had photographed an entire family of extremely rare Asiatic cheetahs. The pictures show an adult female and her four youngsters resting in the shade of a tree, marking the largest-known group of these rare cats ever photographed in Asia.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:20 PM
Discs in night sky over Dryden
There's been another UFO sighting in the Northwest.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:17 PM
Ex--special constable is latest to report UFO sighting
More than a month after the Bracknell News series' first article about a flying saucer hovering above the Coppid Beech Hotel in Binfield, 67-year-old Janet Burrell contacted the hotline to say she had seen a UFO.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:15 PM
Democrats Demand Probe of Demotion
Congressional Democrats demanded an investigation Monday into the demotion of a senior U.S. military contracting official who publicly criticized a controversial no-bid contract awarded to Halliburton Corp. for work in Iraq.
posted by Prof. Hex at 11:45 AM
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Police puzzled by theft of Communion wafers from Lynn church
Several priests contacted for this story declined to be identified and were reluctant to speculate on what uses the Communion wafers might have outside the church.
Hmmmm, I don't know, could it be..... Satan!
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:37 PM
Blood-sucking masterpiece
Le Vampire," a sculpture by the French Art Nouveau sculptor Agathon Leonard (1841-1923) at Crissy Galleries, is a rare example of fin de siècle erotica. The sculpture will be on display until sold.
This decorative statuette derives its subject matter from the novel "Dracula" (1897), a wild tale of vampires and werewolves by the English writer Bram Stoker (1847-1912). "Le Vampire" is the personification of the undead, a sculptural confluence of realism and fantasy in art.
With creepy, sexy pic. Worth a peek.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:35 PM
Our herbal heritage
While researching a new book on Queen Emma, Harriet O’Brien found Anglo-Saxons sought cures for ailments, from dandruff to pimples, just like u
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:29 PM
In haunting photos, the medium is the message
Nearly a third of American adults believe in ghosts, a recent Gallup poll tells us.
And if you're in that apparition-affirming group, "The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult" might be just the show for you.
The exhibit, which could have been called "I See Photos of Dead People," opens at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Sept. 27 and runs through the end of the year. It includes approximately 120 photos, artifacts from the heyday of Spiritualism, roughly from the Civil War to World War II.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:27 PM
Former FBI agent continues hunt for Cooper
Former FBI agent Richard Tosaw is determined to find out what happened to the legendary skyjacker known as D.B. Cooper.
It has been 34 years since Cooper parachuted from a jetliner with $200,000. He was never seen or heard from again.
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:20 PM
Decatur man writes book on "Weird Illinois"
Troy Taylor thinks there's something very, very weird about Illinois.
Author of nearly three dozen books, Taylor, 38, makes a living hosting tours of places across the United States that are eerie, mysterious and offbeat. His latest book is "Weird Illinois."
posted by Prof. Hex at 10:12 PM
Is "Stormfront" a hoax?
As Cindy Sheehan renews her vigil outside the Bush ranch, a group of "White Supremacists" have shown up just in time for the mainstream media to proclaim that the peace movement harbors racists and (shudder) anti-Semites!
The timing is just too cute to be believed, and in an age where Karl Rove has redefined political dirty tricks to a degree that even Dick Nixon would admire, one has good reason to be skeptical who the "White Supremacists" are and more to the point, who they work for.
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:50 PM
Republican Statements When Clinton Went to War
"Victory means exit strategy, and it's important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is." --Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:36 PM
Police chief- Lockerbie evidence was faked
FORMER Scottish police chief has given lawyers a signed statement claiming that key evidence in the Lockerbie bombing trial was fabricated.
The retired officer - of assistant chief constable rank or higher - has testified that the CIA planted the tiny fragment of circuit board crucial in convicting a Libyan for the 1989 mass murder of 270 people.
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:33 PM
Experts Warn Debt May Threaten Economy
You owe $145,000. And the bill is rising every day. That's how much it would cost every American man, woman and child to pay the tab for the long-term promises the U.S. government has made to creditors, retirees, veterans and the poor.
And it's not even taking into account credit card bills, mortgages — all the debt we've racked up personally. Savings? The average American puts away barely $1 of every $100 earned.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:47 PM
Friday, August 26, 2005
Poll: Many Back Right to Protest Iraq War
Many? How's 90 percent grab ya?
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:36 PM
Royal Servant George Smith Dies at 44
George Smith, a former royal servant whose claim of rape sparked lurid tales of sexual misdeeds within the royal household, has died at the age of 44, his father said Friday.
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:18 PM
Truly, It Was a Whopper, but Are There Bigger Fish?
Giant catfish from the Mekong, with pic.
Before he headed out on May 1, one of the men who caught it, Thirayuth Panthayom, 29, made sure luck would be on his side. He said he prayed at the shrine of the God of Catfish and begged his boat to help him, "Please, Miss Boat, let me catch something today and I'll sacrifice a chicken for you."
posted by Prof. Hex at 12:08 PM
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Hundreds Witness Flying Mothman in Serbia?
Great thread over at the Rigorous Intuition message board concerning the flying entity sighted over Serbia.
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:32 PM
The bizarre life of Mathias Rust
On 28.May.1987 a 19 year old German guy called Mathias Rust made headlines around the world when he illegally flew his Cessna light aircraft from Hamburg to Moscow and landed in Red Square.
posted by Prof. Hex at 6:27 PM
Bush's Obscene Tirades Rattle White House Aides
While President George W. Bush travels around the country in a last-ditch effort to sell his Iraq war, White House aides scramble frantically behind the scenes to hide the dark mood of an increasingly angry leader who unleashes obscenity-filled outbursts at anyone who dares disagree with him.
"I'm not meeting again with that goddamned bitch," Bush screamed at aides who suggested he meet again with Cindy Sheehan, the war-protesting mother whose son died in Iraq. "She can go to hell as far as I'm concerned!"
posted by Prof. Hex at 3:48 PM
Haunted - by a snake with two heads
Two local councillors have talked about a bizarre ordeal when their home was haunted by a two headed snake.
posted by Prof. Hex at 2:04 PM
Farmer May Have Caught Legendary 'Chupacabra'
A Texas farmer may have found what some would call a "chupacabra," a legendary animal known for sucking the blood out of goats.
With video.
posted by Prof. Hex at 1:59 PM
The Cannibal Sorcerers
In the lush Jayawijaya mountain range of New Guinea, live a tribe of people called the Korowai. They live in houses that are built into the trees as high as 30 to 80 feet off the ground on poles to save their houses from floods of the rainy season. This is a culture that has been untouched by the outside world for centuries. They live today as they have always lived; no outside influences have changed their way of life.
posted by Prof. Hex at 1:55 PM
Spontaneous Human Combustion
If you're a loser like me who spends Saturday afternoons watching Unexplained Mysteries (a rather redundant and poorly worded title if you ask me), you're already well versed in the mystery of "Spontaneous Human Combustion."
posted by Prof. Hex at 1:53 PM
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
MOHAMED ATTA SENIOR IN U.S. BEFORE 9.11 ATTACK
In the second major blow in as many weeks to the credibility of the 9.11 Commission report, the MadCowMorningNews has learned exclusively that during final preparations for the Sept 11 attack, Mohamed Atta's father was 'visiting' his terrorist ringleader son in Venice, Florida.
Moreover, the FBI knew about the U.S. visit of Cairo attorney Mohammed El-Amir almost immediately after the attack, when, after seeing him on television denying that his son had anything to do with the terrorist hijackings, a number of credible witnesses called the Sarasota office of the FBI to report they had seen Atta's father in Venice with his son ten days to two weeks before the attack.
In addition, closed circuit videotape provided to the FBI as evidence of Atta Senior's presence appears to have been intentionally erased.
posted by Prof. Hex at 6:18 PM
Rigorous Intuition: What do kids know?
Absolutely terrifying.
posted by Prof. Hex at 4:18 PM
Bush: Honor Dead U.S. Soldiers by Creating More Dead U.S. Soldiers
Stay the course, Chimpy.
posted by Prof. Hex at 4:08 PM
LA music producer missing after call to police
LOS ANGELES Authorities report a Grammy-nominated music producer who has been missing since Sunday called a friend that day on his cell phone to say he was being chased by people with dogs.
snip
Irwin's sister, Sharon Riolo, says her brother got scared when he received a check for 50-thousand dollars in the mail from Nigerians.
posted by Prof. Hex at 2:24 PM
Superman spotted in Serbia
Serbian authorities are investigating reports of a real-life Superman after people claimed to have seen a cloaked figure flying over their houses.
Hundreds of residents in Ljubovija described seeing a cloaked person flying above buildings "as if he had an invisible engine on his back" and changing directions while in mid-air, local daily Blic reported.
And speaking of flying things, check out the Mothman Annotations, from where I retrieved the following quote:
Paul Stonehill, Director of the Russian Ufology Research Center in California, has kept in close contact with his colleagues in the former Soviet Union. In the early 1990s he received news about the legendary Letayuschiy Chelovek, the Flying Man of Vladivostok, from Alexander Rempel, a leading ufologist in the far eastern sections of Russia.
Most reports of the Flying Man describe only its strange call, a womanlike scream that ends in a drawn out howl. The cry is accompanied by sounds as if something large is approaching through the forest, but nothing is seen. Otherwise fearless hunting dogs flee the creature. The howls of the Flying Man were reported in the 1930s and '40s, and from 1989 on they have come again.
And let's not forget Charles Fort:
Louisville, Kentucky: Charles Fort writes in LO! (1931): "I found accounts in the Louisville Courier-Journal, July 29, Aug. 6, 1880 . . . The story is that, between 6 and 7 o'clock, evening of July 28th, people in Louisville saw in the sky 'an object like a man, surrounded by machinery, which he seemed to be working with his hands and feet.' The object moved in various directions, ascending and descending, seemingly under control. When darkness came, it disappeared." [Complete Books, p. 641]
Jim Brandon adds that "a tall and thin weirdo" appeared in the Louisville vicinity that very day:
He wore a sort of uniform, made of shiny fabric, and with a long cape and metallic helmet. On his chest under the cape was a large, bright light. His big thing seemed to be scaring people -- particularly women -- sometimes getting so familiar as to pull their clothing off. His favorite method of escape was by springing smoothly over high objects like haystacks or wagons, then vanishing on the other side. [Weird America, page 92]
posted by Prof. Hex at 11:53 AM
Gary Webb's "Dark Alliance" Returns to the Internet
Gives whole new meaning to the term "crack troops".
posted by Prof. Hex at 11:31 AM
UFO 'expert' speculates about strange lights
Local UFO "expert" Robert Allen got noticeably excited when he got his first look at photos of the unexplained phenomenon that appeared over these skies last week.
"I'm getting goosebumps," he said, adding that these may be the clearest photos taken of a UFO in decades.
With pic.
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:28 AM
Romans in China stir up controversy
Xie Xiaodong, a life sciences researcher, has finally started the laboratory test he wanted to do 10 years ago.
He hopes a comparative DNA analysis may get him closer to unraveling a mystery that has haunted him for a decade.
The findings may help establish a genetic link between some villagers in Yongchang County, Northwest China's Gansu Province, and the ancient Romans in the Mediterranean.
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:14 AM
Ancient stone circle holds air of mystery
Avebury may not be as convenient, famous or spectacular as Stonehenge, and you may never have heard of it.
But it also lacks the large crowds, high fences, entrance fees and "don't touch" restrictions of Stonehenge. And it's well worth a visit.
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:11 AM
Neo as Johnny Stomp?
Keanu Reeves and Catherine Zeta-Jones are circling "Stompanato," a biopic about Johnny Stompanato, the boyfriend of actress Lana Turner who was killed by her young daughter, Cheryl Crane.
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:06 AM
The Mystery of Hitler's Lost Art Collection
Art experts have long been fascinated with the story of Adolf Hitler's dream of creating a huge museum in the Austrian city of Linz. A new book looks at where the Nazi leader's collection came from -- and where it went.
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:04 AM
Blog Round Up! Giddy-up!
I've added some new links to my fabulous links bar:
Cannonfire offers great insights on a variety of political topics and I've been meaning to add this link for a while now.
Covert History is a new discovery with great information on the JFK assassination, among other things.
And Xymphora offers insightful analysis of current events.
Go read.
posted by Prof. Hex at 8:52 AM
Church case documents say weapons confiscated
Guns, ammunition, several swords, a crossbow pistol and more than 25 knives showed up in a search involving the Hosanna Church investigation, according to documents prosecutors provided to the defense Tuesday.
Detectives found the cache of weapons at a storage facility during an investigation of allegations of sexual abuse of children at the Hammond church, the records indicate.
posted by Prof. Hex at 8:17 AM
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Nasty Monkey Bites! Sneezing At Tigers! Stiff Upper Lips! (Crikey!)
Profile of old-school explorer John Blashford-Snell.. . . a few old-school explorers are still hacking their way through the brush, square-jawed envoys to the secret world - and Colonel John Blashford-Snell is the most vividly drawn of the lot. He is quite possibly the only expeditioner who has his gear tailored on Savile Row. Or to have hauled an 800-pound grand piano 350 miles through punishing jungle deep in Guyana as a publicity stunt to raise relief aid for the flood-beleaguered Wai-Wai village.
posted by Prof. Hex at 9:36 PM
London Bombing ringleader, Haroon Rashid Aswat - double agent for MI6?
In a lengthy statement that will send shockwaves around the world, John Loftus, a terrorism expert and a former prosecutor for the US Justice Department, has publically revealed that the so called mastermind of the 7/7 London Bombings, Haroon Rashid Aswat, is a British 'Intelligence Asset'.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:59 PM
The Marlowe mystery
Professor Park Honan has unearthed a crucial document revealing that the murderer was well paid for his crime. Employed by Lady Audrey Walsingham, a favourite of James I, Frizer won a royal pardon, while his mistress, the wife of Marlowe's patron Thomas Walsingham, amassed manors, wealth and favours from the newly crowned Jacobean King. Sir Francis Walsingham, cousin of Thomas and head of Elizabeth's MI5, was now long dead. Had he lived, what secrets could he have spilt of intrigues base and plotting vile around an ageing queen!
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:53 PM
Captured Bigfoot? Coleman vs. Biscardi
First hour guest, cryptozoologist Loren Coleman reacted to Tom Biscardi's Bigfoot hunt. On Friday night's program, Biscardi claimed his group had captured one of the creatures and he would be presenting photos of it on Monday. Coleman said over the weekend one of Biscardi's associates posted in a blog that the capture story was a hoax. "This man is a Las Vegas promoter," and his actions speak louder than words, Coleman commented. Biscardi briefly phoned in for "equal time" declaring that he would be giving out the full story on Tuesday.
The funniest part is when Biscardi claims to have captured a "17 year-old" male Bigfoot. Coleman notes that readers have emailed him asking "how can anyone, with a straight face, claim they know a Bigfoot is 17 years old?"
You check his ID, of course.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:36 PM
Republican Committeeman Accused Of Molesting Boy
A state Republican committeeman in the Poconos has been charged with molesting a teenage boy at an underage beer party in a Stroudsburg motel, police said Friday.
posted by Prof. Hex at 7:16 PM
Troops' Gravestones Have Pentagon Slogans
These Bush assholes have no shame. Just put "Died For a Lie" on there and be done with it."I was a little taken aback," Robert McCaffrey said, describing his reaction when he first saw the operation name on Patrick's tombstone. "They certainly didn't ask my wife; they didn't ask me." He said Patrick's widow told him she had not been asked either.
"In one way, I feel it's taking advantage to a small degree," McCaffrey said. "Patrick did not want to be there, that is a definite fact."EDIT: On second thought, how about "My country went to war for no reason and all I got was this lousy gravestone"?  Bill Moyer, 73, wears a "Bullshit Protector" flap over his ear while President George W. Bush addresses the Veterans of Foreign Wars. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac)Pic found over at Eschaton.
posted by Prof. Hex at 4:08 PM
Tarot Kit for Teens
Review.
posted by Prof. Hex at 4:01 PM
U.S. dodges Robertson comments on Chavez
The Bush administration swiftly and unequivocally distanced itself Tuesday from a suggestion by religious broadcaster Pat Robertson that American agents assassinate Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a frequent target of U.S. foreign policy.Robertson's big mouth might be the best thing that ever happened to Chavez, but the Bushistas must be furious, because now they can't Wellstone him, or Carnahan him, or Colby him, or Baxter him, or Rice him, or Watkins him, or - well, you get the idea. For some Rigorous Intuition on the subject go here.
posted by Prof. Hex at 3:34 PM
The Vigilante
At a glance, the office of Tijuana's weekly newspaper, Zeta, gives just a hint of the kind of publication that is produced inside. It sits on a residential street in a middle-class neighborhood, and only a small plaque seems to distinguish it from the rest of the block's modest family homes.
Look closer and a theme emerges: the building is set back from the street, with much of it obscured by a concrete wall; no first-floor windows are visible; and the front door has heavy grating.
Watching the paper's editor and publisher, J. Jesus Blancornelas, arrive for work dispels any doubts. A caravan of three vehicles pulls up, two Suburbans and a blacked-out Chevrolet Caprice. Out pile fourteen serious-looking men - soldiers in the Mexican Army - bristling with M-16 assault rifles, shotguns, copious clips of ammunition, and body armor. That level of protection would be surprising for a journalist in Baghdad, let alone for one in a quiet neighborhood thirty minutes from downtown San Diego.
The precautions are for good reason, though. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, a significant majority of illegal drugs destined for the U.S. - marijuana, cocaine, and heroin - transit through Mexico. Tijuana, host to one of the world's most heavily traveled border crossings, is a strategic chokepoint. In the first four months of this year, there were 163 homicides in Tijuana, many drug-related.
Local journalists know how dangerous it is to shine a spotlight on the trade and the corruption it fuels among Mexican officials. Nine reporters have been killed in northern Mexico in the past decade, with the perpetrators enjoying what the Committee to Protect Journalists calls a "nearly perfect record of impunity." In such an environment, Zeta stands out, both for the work it has produced and the costs it has incurred.
posted by Prof. Hex at 3:25 PM
Second Officer Says 9/11 Leader Was Named Before Attacks
|
