From Ryan Parry In New York
HEATHER Mills McCartney lost her prosthetic leg in a violent clash with guards during an anti-fur protest at Jennifer Lopez's office.
It became detached when the wife of former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney was manhandled by J-Lo's security team as she tried to deliver a DVD of animals being killed for their skins.
Although Heather, 37, was left clutching her knee in pain, guards refused to unlock a bathroom so she could fix back the false limb in private.
I guess the guards were "stumped" about what to do in this case.
Photographer Richard Corkery, who witnessed the scuffle, said: "I saw her touch her knee and I could see she was in pain. She limped to the ladies' room but it was locked.
"I found another door open which led on to a stairwell. At least she could have the private moment she needed."
Heather, who lost her leg in a road accident in 1993, recovered her composure and was able to leave. She had been campaigning with animal activists People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals at the New York headquarters of J-Lo's Sweetface fashion range, which uses real fur in its clothes.
PETA (Peaople Eatring Tasty Animals - I am enjoying my Burger King Angus Burger as I type this)
Her spokeswoman said: "It's true Heather's prosthetic limb became detached. Peta has been trying to speak to J-Lo for two years without success which is why they resorted to entering her office."
Sweetface refused to comment on Tuesday's incident but a security guard said: "About 12 or 13 of them forced their way in. They were really rude and wouldn't leave when asked.
"They made their way up to the fifth floor into Sweetface's offices. They had no right to be here taking pictures and causing a lot of trouble."
The incident was filmed by the BBC which is making a documentary for screening later this year on former model turned activist Heather.
Filmed ? Will we hear the *thoup* noise when it pops off?
At an earlier demo, Heather had pleaded with fans to boycott the J-Lo's music, films and clothes.
Normally I find JLo annoying, but in this case I am on her side. Anything touched by PETA is a mess. Based on earlier stories about euthanizing animals, they seems to have a touch of the hypocrite in them as well.
#4
A leather/fur coat decays naturally in a few decades. PETA types seem to wear polyester and nylon coats that will still be around in 20,000 years. NUFF SAID!
#5
"About 12 or 13 of them forced their way in. They were really rude and wouldn't leave when asked.
Breaking and entering. Trespassing seems like gilding the lilly, but it applies.
"They made their way up to the fifth floor into Sweetface's offices. They had no right to be here taking pictures and causing a lot of trouble."
Disturbing the peace.
The incident was filmed by the BBC which is making a documentary for screening later this year on former model turned activist Heather.
Add the BBC crew to conspiracy to commit, and RICO PETA.
I'm sick and tired of thugs getting away with political violence simply because they're left wing. If anti-abortion protestors pulled this shit, they'd be in jail and the lead story on every news report in the country.
We either push back, making it clear that violence and thuggery is unacceptable, or we accept the consequences of making violence a normal part of political discourse.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
09/30/2005 16:58 Comments ||
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#6
I don't think she has a leg to stand on in court.
In Belfast? That's appropriate... BELFAST (Reuters) - Delegates to the annual World Toilet Summit in Northern Ireland's capital Belfast could be forgiven for feeling flushed this week after sitting down for a three-day debate on the finer points of public sanitation. Damn, they're funny bastards at Reuters, aren't they?
I sure hope this is the straight poop...
Some 350 experts at the summit, which ended Thursday, discussed such pressing subjects as anti-social behavior in rest-rooms, portable toilets, and facilities for the blind. "A lot was achieved, including the finalization of a protocol setting out global standards for the provision and hygiene of public toilets," Raymond Martin, director of the Irish Toilet Association, told Reuters. You got a card, Raymond? Bet mom's so proud.
Other highlights of the summit included the launch of a "Bog Standard Campaign" to push for better toilets in UK schools, and the unveiling of Belfast's first public UriLift toilet, a stainless steel urinal that rises hydraulically out of the ground at night to facilitate male revelers. ...INSERT IRISH JOKE HERE...
In terms of public toilet excellence, it was generally agreed that Singapore was a model for the rest of the world, with the UK somewhere around the middle of the league table.
The Frenchies, of course, ain't squat...
Martin said that with hundreds of toilet experts gathered in one place lavatorial humor was unavoidable. Ya think? I'll bet you got a million of them, right?
"But what you actually find is that when the punning and joking is over people actually take toilets very seriously. It's a subject that's close to everyone's heart." That ain't all they're close too...
#1
I heard a rumor that they were finding paded seats environmentally unfriendly, and were seeking a worldwide ban. Too much methane released compared to hard seats, you know...
EFL: Boston Police are mobilizing for this weekend's do-or-die Red Sox-Yankees series with the largest crowd-control force of any recent sports event and with a deployment plan that addresses shortcomings found to have contributed to a fan's fatal shooting by police last October. A draft deployment plan, dated yesterday and obtained by the Globe, calls for 876 officers and commanders to be on duty for each of the three games starting tonight: 558 from Boston and 318 more from the State Police, the state Correction Department, and several other police departments. The plan focuses on how to keep celebrations from getting out of hand if the Sox clinch a playoff berth.
Nothing is sweeter than clinching it by beating the Yanks
The plan points out that the three-game series will probably determine which team makes the playoffs and that if the Sox clinch a postseason spot, there will be much revelry. ''The Department and our Law Enforcement partners will ensure that fans are able to celebrate but will not tolerate disorder, property destruction, [or] reckless behavior that endangers themselves and others."
Posted by: Steve ||
09/30/2005 11:04 ||
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#1
Go, Sox! If the Yanks don't make the post-season, maybe Steinbrenner will can Torre and clean house--then the Yanks won't be back for 4-5 more years! Bwa-ha-ha-ha!
I'm not a Sox fan--I just hate the Yanks for buying their way to the post-season year after year after year...
Posted by: Dar ||
09/30/2005 11:48 Comments ||
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Dar? Seen the Sox payroll? Go Padres!
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/30/2005 12:42 Comments ||
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#3
What odd on another drunk Sox fan taking a whack at a Yankee outfielder?
#4
Frank--I know, I know... It's kind of like choosing the lesser of two evils, but the Sox don't have the pattern of running roughshod over everybody year after year like the Yanks--and they don't get all the limelight like George and his boys do either.
I still savor watching the Marlins beat the Yanks in the finals a few years ago--Now that was sweet when a team with about 1/3 the payroll pulled off the upset!
Posted by: Dar ||
09/30/2005 13:08 Comments ||
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Follow up to a story evoked here; kinda sad, actually, for the hurt tellers and all, of course, but also for the two dumbasses. With the glimpse on prison life that orgs like "Stop prisoner rapes" (spr.org or so IIRC) allow, being a sheltered white boy in an Us correction center certainly won't be easy, I'm not sure being the homosexual f*ckslave of a large tattoed man and his pals is part of the judgement. "Life is tough, it's even tougher when you're stoopid".
Two Australian bank robbers, Luke Carroll and Anthony Prince, were given jail terms by a US court today. The dramatic, tear-filled speeches appeared to have helped as US District Court judge Phillip Figa jailed the two mates, nicknamed Dumb and Dumber by the press, for far less than the maximum 25-year sentence. Carroll was sentenced to five years in a US prison, while New Zealand-born Prince was handed a four-and-a-half-year jail term. Prosecutors had asked for at least seven years and have not ruled out appealing the sentence.
Under US law, even with good behaviour they will have to serve at least 85 per cent of their sentences in America's harsh federal prison system, although there is the possibility they could be transferred to Australian jails. Why two clean-cut lads with no criminal history and loving parents back in Australia armed themselves with BB guns that looked like pistols, walked into a Vail, Colorado bank, injured one of the female tellers and placed a gun at the back of the other's neck, remained a mystery.
Prince's father, Peter, said his son must have been in a "fantasy land".
Prince told the court he also could not explain it. He said he had lived a sheltered life growing up in the quiet rural community of Rosebank, a small town outside Byron Bay on the NSW north coast, and had never experienced "the dark side" until his arrest.
One experienced American lawyer admitted he had never come across a crime similar to the violent bank robbery that briefly netted Carroll and Prince $US132,000 ($170,000), but also severely damaged the lives of the two and their families. "In the 33 years I have been practising law in this state, I don't think I've ever participated in a case that's sadder," Carroll's lawyer, Daniel Smith, told Judge Figa.
Continued on Page 49
N.B. to the rest of the world-- if you don't want to rot in our prisons, don't commit any crimes here.
Posted by: N guard ||
09/30/2005 10:09 Comments ||
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The lawyers for Carroll and Prince also argued their clients would be disadvantaged in the US federal prison system because as Australians they would not be given the same educational and vocational opportunities as US inmates.
What the hell?
Going to prison for a violent crime is a disadvantage for the criminals? Do tell. The physical harm they caused the teller is a disadvantage for her, too.
Nobody (but them) seems to know why the "boys" pulled an armed robbery. I doubt it was for "educational opportunities," but don't worry, Mr. Shyster, I guarantee you they're going to get educated.
Losers.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/30/2005 15:14 Comments ||
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Two foreign idiots on a ski vacation beleived all the tales bruited about the wild and wooly West of the lawless and gunfilled America... and decided to get in on the action. If they'd been just gone a little farther, it would be Darwin Award material. Instead they'll merely be a cautionary tale, the poor stupid darlings.
And yet Spiderman is only in his twenties (though he might be a tad more aged in the comics, last time I checked he was married and everything).
A scientist has determined the age of a spider that was trapped and preserved in amber 20 million years ago. Palaeontologist Dr David Penney, of the University of Manchester, found the 4cm long by 2cm wide fossil during a visit to a museum in the Dominican Republic. Since the discovery two years ago he has used droplets of blood in the amber to reveal the age of the spider. It is thought to be the first time spider blood has been found in amber and scientists hope to extract its DNA.
I've seen that movie, it doesn't end well.
White haired, absent-minded perfesser, beautiful and brilliant assistant, hard-driving outsider (journalist, army officer or scientist) ... yep, we got all the ingredients.
Dr Penney the guy with the white hair, of the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, said he had used the blood droplets to trace how, when and where the spider died. It is a new species from the filistatidae family commonly found in South America and the Caribbean.
When it starts growing, and it weighs 750 tons and it's eating Cleveland, don't come crying to us...
Dr Penney believes it was climbing up a tree 20 million years ago when it was hit on the head by fast flowing resin, became engulfed in the resin and died.
That's why it needs revenge, y'see. And remember it hasn't eaten anything in 20 million years, so it's hungry...
He claims the shape and position of the blood droplets revealed which direction the spider was travelling in and which of its legs broke first. "It's amazing to think that a single piece of amber with a single spider in it can open up window into what was going on 20 million years ago," he said. "By analysing the position of the spider's body in relation to the droplets of blood in the amber we are able to determine how it died, which direction it was travelling in and even how fast it was moving." He first saw the fossil during a visit to the Museo del Ambar Dominicano, in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.
Came across this. Could be pretty interesting to post under this url name. ~WEG~ Anyone interested?
If you are interested in purchasing ArabicNews.com or you represent a party that is, please fill out this form, and you will be contacted in this regard. All the information on this form must be filled.
#5
Ain't it funny how capitalism and technology are evil, until the EU/UN wants to try and make a buck off it. Besides with Jack Chirac's French Sewage,,, errr Social Model I'm sure the Euroweenies will have something better soon...
#6
Perhaps if they let Al Gore be president of the EU...
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
09/30/2005 12:19 Comments ||
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If for some stupid moronic reason, this gets turned over, watch for the creation of a new, second internet that is US only. American businesses will NOT tolerate control of the internet going to the UN out of fear of their own liabilities. You thinking hacking and DOS attacks are bad now? Let the UN have it, and you'll have the same problems with them being unable to call terrorists terrorists. Prosecution of any hacking will become next to impossible despite US laws.
The only thing the UN should have control over is France.
#8
I would be in favor of a shadwo internet for U.S. only that is free and with EU/UN or any other control. Want to guess which would be more profitable?
#9
I actually have thought about doing an RFC to replace the current IP basis of the internet addressing.
I would like to see GPS (multiple antennas) in all nics so you would have Lat, Long, Height and a random number between 1 and 256. This should be done to about a 5 meter sphere plus the random number. That gives a solid shell mesh addressing with multiple neighbor connections. Then instead of a network hierarchy you get a network solid. Yeah I know the NSA would hate it but it would be much more resistant faliure as there would not be single points in the hierarchy to cause problems.
#11
It's about censorship people. It's the same reason the UN wants control. They want to control what you read and see. We can't have dirty landury, scandal and treason viewed by the "public" can we.
#15
How can an entity that has yet to formally exist, i.e. does NOT legally or morally exist as per the rejection by various Euro-states of its proposed Constitution, now asking to share??? At least NAFTA and simil were approved by the USA, Canada, and Mahico [Mexico], etc.
BRUSSELS - Austria set out impossible tough terms on Thursday for allowing the European Union to open accession talks with Turkey next week while EU ambassadors met to seek elusive agreement on a negotiating mandate.
In a barrage of newspaper interviews Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel demanded Ankara be offered an explicit alternative to full membership -- something Turkey vehemently rejects -- and said the EU also should open talks with Croatia immediately.
Diplomats said there was scant chance of envoys clinching a deal in light of Austriaâs stance, and EU president Britain was poised to call an emergency foreign ministersâ meeting in Luxembourg on Sunday evening, hours before the Turkey talks are due to start on Monday. âIt looks as if this will go down to the wire on Sunday night,â one diplomat said.
Schuessel, whose conservative Austrian Peopleâs Party is fighting to avert defeat in regional elections in the province of Styria on Sunday, said European politicians should learn from the failed EU constitution votes in France and the Netherlands. âDemocracy means you have to listen to the demos.â
What an odd concept for Europe.
âIf Turkey does not fulfil the criteria, then Turkey should be bound in Europe by the strongest possible bond and if the union canât absorb Turkey, then we are also looking for the strongest possible alternative bond,â he said. That wording was almost identical to the draft negotiating mandate proposed by the executive European Commission, but Schuessel said he wanted a more precise formula.
His comments reflected growing public opposition in western Europe to admitting the vast, poor, overwhelmingly Muslim country on the edge of Europe and the Middle East. Polls show 80 percent of his electorate opposed to Turkish entry.
Schuesselâs stance has isolated him in the 25-nation bloc, since EU leaders promised unanimously last December to open negotiations with Turkey on Oct. 3 if it met two key conditions which it has since fulfilled.
âIt is blasphemy in the church of the European Union to go back on European Council (summit) conclusions,â one senior EU diplomat said.
'blasphemy'? What an odd word for a continent of unbelievers to use.
Austria takes over the EU presidency from Britain in January and could also jeopardise its relations with the United States, which strongly supports Turkeyâs accession process.
Schuessel also linked the start of Turkey talks to an agreement to begin negotiations with Croatia, which have been stalled by Zagrebâs failure to cooperate with a U.N. tribunal in the hunt for fugitive war crimes suspect Ante Gotovina. âIf we trust Turkey to make further progress, we should trust Croatia too ... It is in Europeâs best interest to start negotiations with Croatia immediately,â Schuessel told the Financial Times newspaper. âIt is not fair to leave Croatia in an eternal waiting room. I donât understand the logic at all,â he added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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The last condition: reconverting to Eastern Orthodox and restoring the church seat in Constantinople, is gonna be a toughie.
Posted by: ed ||
09/30/2005 6:21 Comments ||
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#2
The Austrians seem to have lingering memories of their last little dust-up with the Turks in 1683.
Posted by: jolly roger ||
09/30/2005 6:38 Comments ||
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#3
The olde Seperate but Equal deal. That'll work.
#4
I wonder how ridiculous things are going to have to get before the Turks realize that instead of being second class citizens in the EU, they could, with Iraq, dominate a Middle East Common Market?
Set up with rules that both Turkey and Iraq would like: 1) You must be a democracy; 2) You must be a secular democracy; and 3) You must remain a secular democracy.
Such a situation could cause an overnight democratic-secular domino theory in the Middle East. Think how powerful each additional nation could make a MECM.
Ironic, I supposed, that after all was said and done, it would result in something approaching the Caliphate, in scope. But an economic Caliphate, *not* a religious one.
#5
But how can islam finally overwhelm Christian Europe if Turkey throws in with the ME. Deep down this is why Turkey is so adamant about full membership. What a win for allah to have millions of turkish immigrants free and unrestricted access to Europe.
The Ottoman Empire is still a recent memory. I dont think it so far fetched that Turkey's islamist Govt still holds that dream in the wings.
GERMANY was yesterday heading for a "grand coalition" government between the two main parties, with reports suggesting Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was preparing to stand down on Monday as the country commemorates 15 years of reunification between East and West.
Mr Schröder has planned a meeting with leaders of his Social Democrat Party (SPD) on Monday afternoon which follows on from a vote in Dresden on Sunday, where the election was delayed because of the death of a candidate. Party insiders say Mr Schröder, 61, who vowed to stay in power after the inconclusive general election result nearly a fortnight ago, sees the result in Dresden as the true end of the campaign - even though the result in the eastern city will not drastically alter the outcome of the general election which saw the Christain Democrats (CDU) become the biggest party, with three more seats than the SPD.
Although Mr Schröder did not win the vote outright, he succeeded to a degree, leading his party to a close second behind Angela Merkel's CDU when weeks before it seemed certain the opposition would win easily. A power-sharing coalition between the SPD and the conservative CDU yesterday appeared to be the likely outcome of tense talks, leaving the chancellorship as the main, remaining issue.
One veteran MP said Mr Schröder saw the Dresden poll as "closure" and added that rumours were rife on all sides that he was about to call it a day.
Yesterday Mrs Merkel said: "The possibility or likelihood of a coalition with the SPD is much higher than the other constellations." She has acquired the air of a victor or at least someone buying into the rumours that her nemesis is close to quitting.
SPD party insiders yesterday claimed Mr Schröder, who has an appalling economic record in seven years of leadership, was ready to admit defeat. He had been claiming that only he could be chancellor. But after talks on Wednesday the political tectonic plates in Berlin seemed to be shifting in her favour.
An alliance between the SPD and CDU would be the first time Germany has had such a "grand coalition" of the two main political forces since 1969. Both parties yesterday described the talks as "fruitful and serious". Mrs Merkel said: "I was pleasantly surprised that we were able to discuss the matters at hand, only ten days after such a campaign."
Only Edmund Stoiber, head of the Christian Social Union conservative party of Bavaria, mentioned the touchy question of who would lead Germany during the talks. Though both sides said they did not discuss it during the meetings, Mr Stoiber said he hoped "that the SPD accepts Mrs Merkel's leadership claim".
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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They have plenty of time yet. Gerd has to go in any case. Merkel is a much better back room dealer than Gerd. She will come out on top.
OTTAWA -- Canada's defence budget should double and the military should add thousands of new recruits, says a Senate committee report. The budget should be $25 billion to $35 billion a year instead of the anemic $14.3 billion earmarked this year and the Forces should have 90,000 people in uniform instead of the 62,000 authorized today, the defence committee said Thursday.
However, Defence Minister Bill Graham isn't buying the idea. He said the last budget gave the military its biggest increase in 20 years. "I understand from talking to the generals, the admirals and all the experts that you can only absorb so much money at one time," he told reporters. "We've got the amount of money we need to do the job we have to do."
As long as that doesn't involve actually doing anything.
The senators argued that, in a world of escalating disasters, both natural and man-made, the military is likely to be more important to Canadian well-being over the next few decades than it has since the Second World War. And it needs more money and people. "Canadians should think of Canada's military as a tool box for the government to use to fix things that are of vital interest to Canadians . . . our tools are rusting," the committee said.
The government has promised to enrol 8,000 new regulars and reserves, but the creaky recruitment and training system won't be able to get those new people into the field for five years or so. Changes need to start now, the senators said.
The committee held hearings across the country and heard from senior generals and admirals, who often tried to put the best face on their situation. The report skewers some of those bureaucratic comments.
For example, Vice-Admiral Bruce MacLean is quoted at length discussing budget shortfalls, lack of sailors and the need to manage an inevitable decline until the fleet is replaced. "Should no resources be allocated to address these issues, this decline will be obvious to Canadians."
The reported inserted a "translation" of the admiral's comments: "We're falling apart and we think that Canadians will start to notice when the ships start to think." A similar translation for the air force: "We're barely keeping up appearances here."
And for the army: "We are too underfunded to correct the weaknesses caused by past underfunding, we are too underfunded to meet our current responsibilities and we are too underfunded to prepare for the massive changes you want that will allow us to serve Canadians in the future."
Kenny said the military has managed to improvise for years while short of money, short of equipment and short of people. "We talk about the elastic band that you can't stretch any farther," he said. "They have muddled through up to now. What we're saying is that at some point the elastic snaps and we think we are at that point now."
Graham said that's an exaggeration and that the Forces are "getting better than they ever were before."
And since he's the Liberal defense minister, not much is going to happen.
The report said it is urgent to come up with more money quickly, because the cumbersome procurement process can take 15 years to deliver a major equipment purchase. "The lag time between when you push the button and when things actually start to work is exceedingly long," Kenny said.
The report said the navy's destroyers are going to be at the end of their service life by 2011, although the service hopes to keep them sailing to 2015. The supply ships are decaying and even the frigates are coming up for mid-life refits. The air force needs new transports, both tactical and strategic, as well as a new search-and-rescue plane. And what comes after the CF-18 fighter-bombers are grounded in 2020 or so? The army's needs are relatively simple: "More boots on the ground."
Graham said there will be more money down the road for new kit, including destroyers. "As we go forward, we'll be looking at what other equipment we have to buy." But he said the military has the money it needs today.
The senators said one problem is a lack of candour. The brass give answers that their political masters will be happy with. Political leaders want to curry votes and worry about expensive military purchase. "Defending democracy relies on reciprocity -- upon military leaders telling politicians and the public the truth about any given situation, upon politicians levelling with the public about what needs to be done in relation to what is being done and with the public rewarding this candour by caring about issues that are so vital to them."
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
"We've got the amount of money we need to do the job we have to do."
Genuflecting before the mighty UN certainly is expensive.
#3
Hey Steve, didn't you leave out a word or two here??
"Canadians should think of Canada's military as a tool box for the government to use to fix things that are of vital interest to Canadians LIBERAL GOVERNMENT. ."
Heck, is there anything like Posse Commitatus up there?
The House on Thursday passed legislation that could greatly expand private property rights under the environmental law that is credited with helping keep the bald eagle from extinction but also has provoked bitter fighting.
By a vote of 229-193, lawmakers approved a top-to-bottom overhaul of the 1973 Endangered Species Act, perhaps the nationâs most powerful environmental law...
The rewrite faces an uncertain future in the Senate, where Republican Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, head of the panel that oversees the law, has expressed concerns about the House bill...
The bill would require the government to compensate property owners if steps to protect species thwarted development plans. It also would make political appointees responsible for some scientific determinations and would stop the government from designating "critical habitat," which limits development. This bill wins hearts and minds througout the western US, where the ESA has been used in insane ways to steal land, drive people out of their homes, confiscate water rights, and any number of other authoritarian offenses.
#2
No. Actually the ESA should be declared an unconstitutional abridgement of the separation of church and state. If the Boy Scouts are a religious organization, then the ESA is a government establishment of the oldest religions known to man, the worship of nature. Still in effect in many primitive [as well as university] cultures.
Byron York - NRO: For the last two years, as he pursued the investigation that led to Wednesday's indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Travis County, Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle has given a film crew "extraordinary access" to make a motion picture about his work on the case. The resulting film is called The Big Buy, made by Texas filmmakers Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck. "Raymond Chandler meets Willie Nelson on the corner of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in The Big Buy, a Texas noir political detective story that chronicles what some are calling a 'bloodless coup with corporate cash,'" reads a description of the picture on Birnbaum's website, markbirnbaum.com. The film, according to the description, "follows maverick Austin DA Ronnie Earle's investigation into what really happened when corporate money joined forces with relentless political ambitions to help swing the pivotal 2002 Texas elections, cementing Republican control from Austin to Washington DC."
"We approached him [Earle], and he offered us extraordinary access to him and, to an extent, to his staff," Birnbaum told National Review Online Thursday. "We've been shooting for about two years." Birnbaum and Schermbeck showed a work-in-progress version of The Big Buy last month at the Dallas Video Festival. At the moment, they do not have a deal for the film to be shown anywhere else. Their last film, Larry v. Lockney, was shown on PBS, and they hope that perhaps a similar arrangement might be made for the new picture. Whoever ends up showing it, the film has so far been funded entirely by its makers. "We tried really hard to get it funded," Birnbaum says, "but we didn't get any takers."
Schermbeck told National Review Online that the film was an irresistible Texas story. "I've been pretty interested in watching Tom DeLay work," Schermbeck says. "I thought he was a fascinating guy, certainly the most powerful Texan to emerge on the national scene in some time, a kind of Republican Sam Rayburn type, with that kind of mastery of the machinery and the will to do it." But DeLay did not cooperate with the filmmakers, and neither did a number of DeLay allies. Earle, on the other hand, did. "I had known about Ronnie Earle for a very long time," Schermbeck says. "I thought that would be an angle to approach the whole story, telling something about Tom DeLay, even though Tom DeLay wouldn't grant us an interview."
Yeah, Ronnie Earle is unbiased prosecutor. Not!
Earle "allowed us behind the scenes when the indictments came down last year, the first wave of indictments," Schermbeck says. "We got to follow him back to his home a couple of times, which I understand he doesn't allow anybody to do." Schermbeck says the film includes interviews with some critics of Earle, as well as lawyers who are representing some of the targets of the investigation. So far, The Big Buy has received almost no attention in the press. With DeLay's indictment, and increased attention to Earle as well, that situation seems likely to change. (The filmmakers say they will be back at work next week, filming a new ending to the picture.)
You might want to wait until the charges are thrown out, but then that would ruin your chances of an Oscar, wouldn't it?
"We're pretty low on everybody's radar," Schermbeck says. "We kind of took a gamble three years ago. We didn't know what was going to happen. We feel like, as documentary filmmakers, we gambled and it paid off."
"Mr Schermbeck, 60 Minutes, Line Two!"
Posted by: Steve ||
09/30/2005 08:27 ||
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48 hour rule works again. Funny how the truth always takes a couple of days. I hope the Dems get this "movie" released - it will backfire in 06 like Michigan Fats's movie backfired in 04.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
09/30/2005 9:54 Comments ||
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When New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin briefed Nation of Islam chief Louis Farrakhan about damage to the city's levees in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, it wasn't the first time the Louisiana Democrat had reached out to the racially polarizing black leader. In June, the Bayou Buzz reported that Nagin's police department hired Farrakhan deputy Dennis Muhammad to conduct "sensitivity training" sessions for New Orleans' cops after a rise in "anti-police" sentiment in the city.
In an item picked up by the Drudge Report, Police Chief Eddie Compass explained that "members of the Nation of Islam have some type of relationship" with the community and might be able to help ease tensions. The Muhammed appointment immediately sparked controversy, with New Orleans Police Association spokesman David Benelli telling the Bayou Buzz that his phone had "been ringing off the hook" with complaints from the rank and file.
No link on this. We presume it's Bayou Buzz?
Fixed
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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Hire a bigot to teach sensitivity training,that makes since.It does somewhere,just can't figure out where.Wonder what the hugh and cry would be if the L.A.Cali.police departent hired David Dukes for sensitivity training.
Smart. Still in jug for a few months and then decide to blab. Real smart, must be a reporter. EFL.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 - Judith Miller, the New York Times reporter who has been jailed since July 6 for refusing to testify in the C.I.A. leak case, was released from a Virginia detention center this afternoon after she and her lawyers reached an agreement with a federal prosecutor to testify before a grand jury investigating the matter, the paper's publisher and executive editor said.
Ms. Miller was freed after spending more than 12 weeks in jail, during which she refused to cooperate with the criminal inquiry. Her decision to testify came after she obtained what she described as a waiver offered "voluntarily and personally" by a source who said she was no longer bound by any pledge of confidentiality she had made to him. She said the source had made clear that he genuinely wanted her to testify.
That source was I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, according to people who have been officially briefed on the case.
Dang. Thought it was Rove.
Ms. Miller met with Mr. Libby on July 8, 2003, and talked with him by telephone later that week. Discussions between government officials and journalists that week have been a central focus of the investigation.
Ms. Miller said in a statement that she expected to appear before the grand jury on Friday. Ms. Miller was released after she and her lawyers met at the jail with Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the prosecutor in the case, to discuss her testimony.
The Times' publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., said in a statement that the newspaper supported Ms. Miller's decision to testify, just as it backed her earlier refusal to cooperate. "Judy has been unwavering in her commitment to protect the confidentiality of her source," Mr. Sulzberger said. "We are very pleased that she has finally received a direct and uncoerced waiver, both by phone and in writing, releasing her from any claim of confidentiality and enabling her to testify."
"Hey Lib, how much longer you gonna torture that reporter?"
"Dunno, Karl, whatcha think? She's been in 12 weeks already."
"Well, the Boss is going to name a new justice soon. Let's get this cleaned up. Besides, we need a new hook for the Dems to hyper-ventilate."
"Hokay, Karl, I'll sign the waiver."
The agreement that led to Ms. Miller's release followed intense negotiations between Ms. Miller; her lawyer, Robert Bennett; Mr. Libby's lawyer, Joseph Tate; and Mr. Fitzgerald. The talks began with a telephone call from Mr. Bennett to Mr. Tate in late August. Ms. Miller spoke with Mr. Libby by telephone earlier this month as their lawyers listened, according to people briefed on the matter. It was then that Mr. Libby told Ms. Miller that she had his personal and voluntary waiver.
But the discussions were at times strained, with Mr. Libby and Mr. Tate asserting that they communicated their voluntary waiver to Ms. Miller's lawyers more than year ago, according to those briefed on the case. Mr. Libby wrote to Ms. Miller in mid-September, saying that he believed her lawyers understood that his waiver was voluntary.
Others involved in the case have said that Ms. Miller did not understand that the waiver had been freely given and did not accept it until she had heard from him directly.
"Karl, you aren't going to believe what that dizzy dame said on the phone."
In written statements today, Ms. Miller and executives of The New York Times did not identify the source who had urged Ms. Miller to testify. Bill Keller, the executive editor of The New York Times, said that Mr. Fitzgerald had assured Ms. Miller's lawyer that "he intended to limit his grand jury interrogation so that it would not implicate other sources of hers."
Mr. Keller said that Mr. Fitzgerald had cleared the way to an agreement by assuring Ms. Miller and her source that he would not regard a conversation between the two about a possible waiver as an obstruction of justice.
Ms. Miller said she believed the agreement between her lawyers and Mr. Fitzgerald "satisfies my obligation as a reporter to keep faith with my sources." She added: "I went to jail to preserve the time-honored principle that a journalist must respect a promise not to reveal the identity of a confidential source. I chose to take the consequences - 85 days in prison - rather than violate that promise. The principle was more important to uphold than my personal freedom. "
And far more important to her than upholding the rule of law.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/30/2005 00:00 ||
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Notice: buried in the article, Libby gave her a waiver a year prior -- but they didn't comprehend it. What a farce.
Posted by: Captain America ||
09/30/2005 1:59 Comments ||
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#2
Captain, remember...."journalism major". Soon to replace the words "education major" as shorthand for the "dumbest kids in the local college", if it hasn't already.
#5
At least when I was in college, a lot of the education majors were cute and very date worthy. Can't say the same for journalism majors. In fact they looked a lot like the ones attending Workers World Party/ANSWER rallies today.
Posted by: ed ||
09/30/2005 6:10 Comments ||
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#6
That's great news, Judith! Why, I almost forgot you were in there! As a reward, prepare a story on Life in the Big House. We'll get you space in the Sunday magazine. Off to the Hamptons! Call me Monday. Kiss-kiss...
#7
Where the hell was the outrage, dammit! Katrina who? Rita who? WTF! I'm a New York Times Reporter, imprisoned by the imperial Bushitler's gendarmes! I wanted my Joe Wilson time in the sun!
Nice timing...damn
#9
"Ms. Miller and her source that he would not regard a conversation between the two about a possible waiver as an obstruction of justice."
Miller is nothing but a self-made first ammendment martyr. 12 weeks in jail for civil-contempt pales in comparison to an obstruction of justice sentence.
#10
I think she is lying. But there's no way to prove it unless the Democratic source for which she is covering testifies under oath. And there is zero chance of that.
Ummmmmmmmmmmm...don't think Mickey D's started out like this.
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - A new Cambodian cafe is offering diners a slice of life under the Khmer Rouge, with a menu featuring rice-water and leaves, and waitresses dressed in the black fatigues worn by Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist guerrillas. Newly opened across the road from Phnom Penh's notorious Tuol Sleng "S-21" Khmer Rouge interrogation and torture center, the cafe is meant to remind Cambodians of the 1975-1979 genocide in which an estimated 1.7 million people died. Have it OUR way! Or else!
But the set "theme menu" of salted rice-water, followed by corn mixed with water and leaves, and dove eggs and tea at $6 a time is proving too much to swallow for many visitors. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...but kinda pricey.
"Our grandfather and other relatives lost their lives under Pol Pot's regime," said 17-year-old manager Hakpry Agnchealy, whose brother owns the business. "This is more than just a restaurant. It is to remind us of those who died." Might be other ways to go about it maybe? "We opened two weeks ago, but have only had two Europeans coming here to eat. We don't know how much longer we can go," she said. Might want to go "sports bar". Or maybe move to San Francisco...
Faithful to the Khmer Rouge era, when many victims starved to death after a disastrous attempt to transform the country into a peasant utopia, the waitresses are barefoot and clad in the black pajamas and red-white scarves of the guerrillas. Speakers blare out tunes celebrating the 1975 toppling of U.S.-backed president General Lon Nol and the walls are adorned with the baskets, hoes and spades Pol Pot hoped would power his jungle-clad south-east Asian homeland to communist prosperity. Doesn't sound like a dating hot spot.
Recognizing that many tourists might not be able to stomach such a close brush with the Killing Fields, the "Khmer Rouge Experience Cafe" is also promoting itself to those wishing to shed a few pounds. Now that might work...
"It's good for me to slim down," said Tan, a 40-year-old Malaysian visitor. Don't say that too loud or a waitress might beat you to death with one of the shovels. In keeping with the theme...
For some who survived Pol Pot's rule, the cafe served up too many chilling reminders of one of 20th century history's darkest chapters. "My mother visited me here once, saw the Khmer Rouge style and has never come back again," Hakpry Agnchealy said. Wonder who their marketing expert is?
#4
Orp. Well, there is a mountain range between the Gulf and Tucson, so when if it hits Tuesday, it should be no more than a monsoon thunderstorm. Cami will be unhappy, though. Thunder makes her pull the cushions off the furniture.
Net and catalogue shoppers could see unexpected sales tax charges tacked onto their purchases starting tomorrow.
On Oct. 1, 13 states--with five more scheduled to follow over the next two years--are slated to kick off their participation in the Streamlined Sales Tax Project...
#1
For now, the new streamlined system is voluntary for companies that don't already have to collect the taxes, and it's hard to say how many will sign on.
And why is internet commerce any different from me picking up the phone and calling in an order or filling out an order form and mailing it? A little consistancy people.
#2
Just because you live in a State doesn't give them any right to tax purchases you make outside of the State. It's just too bad that you *could* have bought it in-State, but didn't.
In a strange but true incident, health workers, who had gone to vaccinate children against polio in a Muslim dominated locality of Muradnagar town in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh, were roughed up by parents unwilling to protect their children against this deadly disease.
The residents allegedly manhandled a woman health worker. Her colleague was forced to open her mouth and a phial of vaccine was emptied into it.
The police have registered a case against six men after the health workers lodged a complaint with the District Magistrate. One person has been arrested.
According to Dr DP Singh, health officer of the city, a six-member team was administering polio drops to children in Osaf Nagar, a Muslim-dominated area, on Thursday as part of the countrywide pulse polio campaign to eradicate this crippling disease.
When the health workers knocked on the door of Hasimuddin, a resident of Osaf Nagar, he came out and refused to have his children vaccinated. When the health workers tried to reason with him, he became aggressive and began to push them around. By then, six men from the neighbourhood had joined him.
Hasimuddin then snatched a phial of vaccine and forcibly poured the contents into the mouth of one of the health workers, Shalu. When the team leader protested, she was manhandled by the crowd. Soon, other residents began pelting stones at the health workers, forcing them to flee.
The health workers later met District Magistrate Santosh Kumar Yadav and briefed him about the incident. According to them, they routinely face trouble and harassment in Muslim-dominated areas where people are reluctant to vaccinate their children. Mr Yadav instructed the police to register a criminal case and take swift action.
Statistics show that despite the intensive pulse polio campaign, cases of polio continue to be reported from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Most of these cases are reported from Muslim dominated areas.
Posted by: john ||
09/30/2005 18:06 ||
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Polio would have been wiped off the face of the earth a few years ago but for muslim paranoia
Posted by: john ||
09/30/2005 18:29 Comments ||
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Darwinism works here. The mussies refuse to get vaccinated against disease, they die. Gaia isn't friendly towards stupidity.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
BELFAST (Reuters) - Delegates to the annual World Toilet Summit in Northern Ireland's capital Belfast could be forgiven for feeling flushed this week after sitting down for a three-day debate on the finer points of public sanitation.
For the last two years, as he pursued the investigation that led to Wednesday's indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Travis County, Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle has given a film crew "extraordinary access" to make a motion picture about his work on the case. The resulting film is called The Big Buy, made by Texas filmmakers Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck. "Raymond Chandler meets Willie Nelson on the corner of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in The Big Buy, a Texas noir political detective story that chronicles what some are calling a 'bloodless coup with corporate cash,'" reads a description of the picture on Birnbaum's website, 
When New Orleans Mayor 
