Author's posts
Mar 04 2010
Afternoon Edition
Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Baghdad attacks kill 14 as Iraq voting begins
by Salam Faraj, AFP
34 mins ago
| BAGHDAD (AFP) – Early voting in Iraq’s general election was overshadowed Thursday by two suicide bombings at polling stations that killed seven soldiers and a mortar attack that claimed the lives of seven civilians.
The blasts wounded 48 people, including 25 Iraqi soldiers, and came despite massive security, with troops, prisoners and the sick casting their ballots ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary election. Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq Abu Omar al-Baghdadi has threatened to disrupt the election by “military means” and 200,000 police and soldiers have been deployed in the capital alone to try to prevent attacks. |
Mar 03 2010
Afternoon Edition
Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Suicide blasts kill 33 ahead of Iraq polls
by Ali al-Tuwaijri, AFP
Wed Mar 3, 11:02 am ET
| BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) – Three suicide attacks, including one by a bomber who rode in an ambulance to hospital before blowing himself up, killed 33 people in central Iraq on Wednesday, just days before nationwide elections.
The blasts in Baquba, the deadliest to hit the country in nearly a month, also wounded 55 people and spurred security forces to clamp an immediate curfew on the city, 60 kilometres (40 miles) north of Baghdad. At least 10 policemen were among the 33 dead, a security official said. |
Mar 03 2010
Duh.
Interference Seen in Blackwater Inquiry
By JAMES RISEN, The New York Times
Published: March 2, 2010
WASHINGTON – An official at the United States Embassy in Iraq has told federal prosecutors that he believes that State Department officials sought to block any serious investigation of the 2007 shooting episode in which Blackwater Worldwide security guards were accused of murdering 17 Iraqi civilians, according to court testimony made public on Tuesday.
…
In December, a federal judge dismissed the criminal charges against five former Blackwater guards in the Nisour Square shooting, and criticized the Justice Department’s handling of the case, chiding prosecutors for trying to use statements from defendants who had been offered immunity and testimony from witnesses tainted by news media leaks.
The documents made public on Tuesday show that before the December dismissal, prosecutors and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents working on the Nisour Square case took the stand in October to argue that they had plenty of untainted evidence. In a closed-door hearing, they also contended that they had evidence that, in the immediate aftermath of the shootings, there had been a concerted effort to make the case go away, both by Blackwater and by at least some embassy officials.
In fact, prosecutors were told that the embassy had never conducted any significant investigation of any of the numerous shooting episodes in Iraq involving Blackwater before the Nisour Square case, according to the documents.
…
The dismissal of the criminal case against the guards for Blackwater in the Nisour Square shooting prompted bitter protests by Iraqis against the United States, and it led the Iraqi government to threaten to bring a lawsuit of its own in the case.
The Justice Department has now appealed the dismissal. Blackwater has settled one series of civil lawsuits brought by victims of the Nisour Square shooting, but another lawsuit brought by another group of victims is still pending.
(h/t Atrios)
Mar 03 2010
Wednesday Morning Science Supplement
Wednesday Morning Science Supplement is an Open Thread
| From Yahoo News Science |
1 Whale opponents huddle in Florida
by Shaun Tandon, AFP
Tue Mar 2, 9:06 pm ET
| WASHINGTON (AFP) – Key players on whaling huddled behind closed doors in Florida in an uncertain bid to find common ground on an issue that has bitterly divided Australia and Japan.
Negotiators opened talks at a resort hotel in Saint Pete Beach, near Saint Petersburg on Florida’s Gulf coast, participants said. Media were not allowed into the talks in the hopes of encouraging a more open dialogue. The delegates will review through Thursday a proposal by Cristian Maquieira, chairman of the 88-nation International Whaling Commission (IWC), that aims to work toward a grand compromise bringing aboard all sides on the debate. |
Mar 02 2010
Afternoon Edition
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Quake-hit Chile deploys more troops to battle unrest
by Moises Avila Roldan, AFP
1 hr 1 min ago
| CONCEPCION, Chile (AFP) – Thousands more troops were deployed across quake-hit Chile Tuesday as residents took up arms to stop a wave of mass looting in the nation’s second city, slapped with an 18-hour curfew.
President Michelle Bachelet doubled the number of troops patrolling the worst hit areas to 14,000, as people in ravaged Concepcion were barred from leaving their homes from 6:00 pm to midday. “Military personnel will be present in the streets of Concepcion until midday to maintain public order, and they will not waver in carrying out their duties,” warned General Guillermo Ramirez. |
Mar 01 2010
A Nation of Cowards
You should read this-
Whale trainer’s death jars safe world of adventure
By TAMARA LUSH, Associated Press Writer
Sun Feb 28, 1:22 pm ET
ORLANDO, Fla. – It is billed as a leisurely boat tour. The shark surfaces, its fin slicing through the water.
The boat’s captain, armed with a grenade launcher, blasts away at the bloodthirsty monster. Nearby gas lines explode and a column of fire erupts into the blue sky. We feel the heat from the flames, hear the shark’s body churning in the water. A child hides her face in the crook of her mother’s arm and whimpers as chilly water sprays everyone on the boat.
Of course, it isn’t real. It’s the “Jaws” ride at Universal Studios in Orlando, an attraction that runs hundreds of times a day.
Feb 28 2010
Olympic Alternatives XIV
You thought I was not serious?
I’m dead serious. The only way to effect change is through sacrifice (changing your habits) and protest (telling people what you think, publicly).
Plenty of other stuff out on the Hypnotoad. Just look-
The Hypnotoad.
| "Television is a vast wasteland" |
 |
Mid-Afternoon Update.
Primetime Update.
Final Update.
Feb 28 2010
Olympic Alternatives XIII
You thought I was not serious?
I’m dead serious. The only way to effect change is through sacrifice (changing your habits) and protest (telling people what you think, publicly).
Plenty of other stuff out on the Hypnotoad. Just look-
The Hypnotoad.
| "Television is a vast wasteland" |
|
Figure Skating Exhibition Repeats 3 & 4 Edition.
Feb 27 2010
Afternoon Edition
Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Tsunami hits Chile as Pacific Basin braces for impact
by Talek Harris, AFP
19 mins ago
| SYDNEY (AFP) – A tsunami crashed into Chile’s coast Saturday in a potential portent of disaster across the vast Pacific Ocean as nations went on alert for towering waves generated by a killer earthquake.
The ominous sound of evacuation sirens blared in Hawaii and French Polynesia as a tsunami raced around the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire” after the 8.8-magnitude quake in Chile, which left at least 122 people dead. About 50 countries and territories along an arc stretching from New Zealand to Japan were braced for immensely powerful waves, not long after the fifth anniversary of the Indian Ocean disaster that killed more than 220,000 people. |
Feb 27 2010
Olympic Alternatives XII
You thought I was not serious?
I’m dead serious. The only way to effect change is through sacrifice (changing your habits) and protest (telling people what you think, publicly).
Plenty of other stuff out on the Hypnotoad. Just look-
The Hypnotoad.
| "Television is a vast wasteland" |
|
Afternoon Update.
Early Evening Update.
Early Primetime Update.
Late Primetime Update.
Late Night Update.
Why are you Update.
Feb 26 2010
Afternoon Edition
Afternoon Edition is an Open Thread
| From Yahoo News Top Stories |
1 Haiti aid effort marred by slow U.N. response
By Tom Brown, Reuters
Fri Feb 26, 9:07 am ET
| PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) – Clutching automatic assault rifles, truckloads of U.N. troops patrolled the streets of Haiti’s shattered capital on the day after the earthquake hit last month, seemingly oblivious to the misery around them.
Cries for help from people digging for survivors in collapsed buildings were drowned out by the roar of heavy-duty engines as the troops plowed through Port-au-Prince without stopping to join rescue efforts, much less lead them. A common sight since they were deployed in 2004, the U.N. troops huddled in the shade of their canopied vehicles. |
Feb 26 2010
Olympic Alternatives XI
You thought I was not serious?
I’m dead serious. The only way to effect change is through sacrifice (changing your habits) and protest (telling people what you think, publicly).
Plenty of other stuff out on the Hypnotoad. Just look-
The Hypnotoad.
| "Television is a vast wasteland" |
|
Mid-Afternoon Update.
Early Evening Update.
Early Primetime Update.
Late Primetime Update.
Late Night Update.
Why are you Update.