Saturday, February 27, 2010

Climate Change and Coffee

http://rawstory.com/2010/02/coffee-producers-getting-hammered-global-climate-change/

"..

Coffee producers ‘getting hammered’ by global climate change

By Agence France-Presse
Saturday, February 27th, 2010 -- 12:07 pm

coffee Coffee producers getting hammered by global climate changeCoffee producers say they are getting hammered by global warming, with higher temperatures forcing growers to move to prized higher ground, putting the cash crop at risk.

"There is already evidence of important changes" said Nestor Osorio, head of the International Coffee Organization (ICO), which represents 77 countries that export or import the beans.

"In the last 25 years the temperature has risen half a degree in coffee producing countries, five times more than in the 25 years before," he said.

Sipped by hundreds of millions of people worldwide, coffee is one of the globe's most important commodities, and a major mainstay of exports for countries from Brazil to Indonesia.

...

ICO figures show that production in Latin America dipped last year, largely due to poor weather, and producers say they are struggling to stay afloat.

In Colombia, one of the world's largest producers, production slumped 30-35 percent while Costa Rica and El Salvador still struggled to recover from poor harvests in 2000-2005.

The National Coffee Association of Guatemala -- a regional leader -- said production in nine Latin American countries was expected to fall 28 percent in the first three months of this season.


.."

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Protests heat up at Univ. California

http://rawstory.com/2010/02/riot-erupts-uc-berkeley-tuition-hikes-budget-cuts/
:
"..

Riot erupts at UC Berkeley over tuition hikes, budget cuts

By Stephen C. Webster
Saturday, February 27th, 2010 -- 12:57 pm

berkeleyriot dailycalifornian Riot erupts at UC Berkeley over tuition hikes, budget cutsIt started as a dance party in the streets. Within hours, trash bins were burning, windows were smashed and riot police were swinging their batons.

It was an ugly scene, even for a university best known for its fever-pitched politics.

Late Friday night and early Saturday morning, the streets of Southside became a battleground as tensions over budget cuts, tuition hikes and the recent discovery of a noose hung in the UC San Diego library boiled over.


After the discovery of the noose, students organized by several Web sites, including Reclaim UC, occupied UC Berkeley's Durant hall as a show of solidarity to San Diego students facing escalated racial tensions over the noose incident. The next step in the protests was to be a series of dance parties in the streets, which resulted in several occupied buildings at UC Santa Cruz, according to the blog Occupy California.

The overall goal of the dance parties was to raise support for the March 4 statewide protests over the state of public education, The Daily Californian reported. Tensions on all UC campuses have been on the rise since some students staged a "Compton Cookout" on President's Day, as a mockery of Black History Month.

...

The paper noted that UC Berkeley's Durant Hall was vandalized during the occupation, with locks cut and windows smashed. The Californian added that protesters also smashed the windows of a Subway sandwich shop on Bancroft Way.

Officers from six different departments responded to the crowd, which had grown to approximately 250 in size according to organizers.

"The tone of the gathering changed at about 1:55 a.m. when a dumpster was pushed into the center of the intersection and set on fire by members of the crowd," the Californian continued. "The Berkeley Fire Department responded as people danced on top of the dumpster and shouted, 'Whose street? Our street!'"

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Saturday, February 20, 2010

New Name for Iraq War

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/19/headlines#10

"..

US Changes Name of Iraq War

The Obama administration has changed the name of the US occupation of Iraq from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Defense Secretary Robert Gates issued a memo this week announcing the war in Iraq will be re-branded as “Operation New Dawn.” Gates wrote the name change marks “a strong signal that Operation Iraqi Freedom has ended and our forces are operating under a new mission.” Operation New Dawn shares the same name as the November 2004 US attack on Fallujah that killed hundreds of Iraqi civilians and displaced thousands more.


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Friday, February 19, 2010

New Proof that Pot can be Good Medicine

http://rawstory.com/2010/02/medical-studies-show-cannabis-compound-effective-treating-pain-spasms/

"..

Medical studies show cannabis effective for treating pain, spasms

By Stephen C. Webster
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 -- 11:10 pm
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americanmedicalassociationdoctor Medical studies show cannabis effective for treating pain, spasmsWith the results of a medical study summarized by a new report delivered to the California state legislature, the California Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research (CMCR) claims it has established scientific proof that inhaled cannabis holds medical value at or above the level of conventional prescription medicines used for a variety of ailments.

"As a result of the vision and foresight of the California State Legislature Medical Marijuana Research Act
(SB847), the CMCR has successfully conducted the first clinical trials of smoked cannabis in the United
States in more than 20 years," the group said in the study's conclusion summary. "As a result of this program of systematic research, we now have reasonable evidence that cannabis is a promising treatment in selected pain syndromes caused by injury or diseases of the nervous system, and possibly for painful muscle spasticity due to multiple sclerosis."

"Obviously more research will be necessary to elucidate the mechanisms of action and the full therapeutic potential of cannabinoid compounds. Meanwhile, the knowledge and new findings from the CMCR provide a strong science-based context in which policy makers and the public can discuss the place of these compounds in medical care."

"'There is good evidence now that cannabinoids (the active compounds in the marijuana plant) may be either an adjunct or a first-line treatment for … neuropathy,' said Dr. Igor Grant, Director of the CMCR, at a news conference at the state Capitol,'" according to Salem-News. "He added that the efficacy of smoked marijuana was 'very consistent,' and that its pain-relieving effects were 'comparable to the better existing treatments' presently available by prescription."

While the dangers of smoking remain, a study published by the Journal of Pharmeseutical Sciences in 2006 showed that inhaling vapors from the cannabis plant, created by flushing heated air through a small chamber, is a "safe and effective" mode of transmission for the drug.

...

"The California Legislature established the [CMCR] in 2000 to examine whether the therapeutic claims of medical marijuana advocates could withstand scientific scrutiny," the Associated Press reported. "In 1996, state voters became the first in the nation to pass a law approving pot use for medical purposes."

The study found that cannabis can help ease the pain of neuropathy, migraine headaches and facial pain, AP noted. In tests on rats, a "cannabis-like drug" reportedly reduced nerve cells' pain signals.

READ THE CMCR'S FULL REPORT (pdf link).


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Upscale Philly Area Schools gave Students Spy/Rat Computers

http://rawstory.com/2010/02/school-laptops-spy-hom/

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Lawsuit: School gave kids laptops to spy on them at home

By Daniel Tencer
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 -- 1:11 pm
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laptopwebcam Lawsuit: School gave kids laptops to spy on them at homeStudents in a Philadelphia-area school district have launched a lawsuit accusing their schools of spying on them at home through webcams installed in laptop computers the district gave them.

The parents of Blake Robbins, a student at Harriton High School in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, have launched a class-action lawsuit on behalf of 1,800 high school students who were issued laptops by the Lower Merion School District.

Robbins' lawsuit (PDF) alleges that students and parents weren't told that school administrators had the ability to activate the laptop webcams remotely, even when the student is at home or away from the computer.

The lawsuit seeks "damages for invasion of privacy, theft of private information, and unlawful interception and access to electronic information," reports Courthouse News.

Robbins' family only found out that school officials were allegedly spying on students when an assistant principal confronted Robbins about "improper behaviour in his home,” and showed him a picture taken from Robbins' school-issued laptop, reports the Toronto Star.

...


"But when schools take that personal information ... they send a much more powerful message: your privacy is worthless and you shouldn't try to protect it."

According to the Toronto Star, the Lower Merion School District is among the wealthiest in Pennsylvania, and one of only two districts in the state to earn "Moody’s highest bond rating," perhaps explaining how it can afford a laptop for every student.

The district's teachers "are among the highest paid in Pennsylvania and its students’ college-entrance scores are among the highest in the country," the Star reports..."


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Public Option Possible through "reconciliation"

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/po_reconciliation2/

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Senate Democrats: Use reconciliation to pass a public option

The public option isn't dead. The Senate can still include a public option in the health reform bill through reconciliation, which takes only 51 votes to pass.

In the Senate, eight Democrats have signed on to a letter written by Sen.
...
chance to get an up-or-down vote on real reform.

The reconciliation process is a way for the majority of the Senate to pass items that affect the budget under rules that prohibit a filibuster.

With the election of Scott Brown, the Democratic Caucus in the Senate accounts for only 59 votes, one short of the 60 votes required to stop a filibuster. It's hard to imagine a single Republican senator voting with the Democrats to stop a filibuster, so now the Democrats have an incentive to do the right thing and pass a stronger bill via reconciliation.

Sign our petition telling President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid that the Senate must use reconciliation to pass a better health care bill with a strong public option.

.."

Petition Here:

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/po_reconciliation2/

Software Engineer crashes small plane into U.S. Govt. Building

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0218/Austin-plane-crash-targeted-IRS-officials-say

"..

Austin plane crash targeted IRS, officials say

The remains of the plane's pilot – believed to be Joseph Andrew Stack – have been recovered. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo calls the attack "a criminal act by a lone individual."

News vans stop by the side of a highway next to the Echelon office building complex in Austin Tex., on Thursday. Joseph Stack crashed his single engine plane into a building at the site, which houses offices of the IRS.

Newscom

...


The pilot who flew his small, single-engine airplane into an Austin, Tex., office building Thursday morning intentionally targeted federal government employees, according to law enforcement officials.

Skip to next paragraph

This undated photo shows Joseph Stack, the man officials have identified as the pilot of the plane that crashed into an Austin, Tex., federal building on Thursday.

Courtesy of Pam Parker/AP

Authorities said Thursday evening that a body believed to be the pilot had been recovered from the charred seven-story building, which contains Internal Revenue Service offices. All indications are that the plane was flown by Joseph Andrew Stack, a 53-year-old software engineer from Austin with an apparent long-standing grudge against the IRS.

Even though Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo called the
...
immediate comparisons to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11, and has led many to call Thursday’s crash an act of domestic terrorism.This was a “deliberate and intentional attack against a federal building,” said US Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) at a press conference. When asked by a reporter if he consider it terrorism, Representative
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definitely needs to look at,” he said.

The Piper Cherokee PA-28 Dakota, one of the smallest airplanes manufactured today, struck Building 1 at the Echelon office complex at 9:56 a.m., 16 minutes after taking off from an airfield in Georgetown, Tex. About 200 IRS employees work inside the office building.

Witnesses said they saw the plane flying low overhead before accelerating and possibly diving before the collision. Thirteen employees were injured and treated at the scene. Two people were seriously injured and hospitalized. One federal employee remained unaccounted-for as of Thursday afternoon, according to Chief Acevedo. “The prospects are not very positive for that person at this time,” he said
...
before plowing his airplane into the federal building.

An antigovernment screed apparently written by Mr. Stack and posted on a website registered in his name prior to Thursday's incidents offered many clues into what motivated Thursday morning's events.

“I know I’m hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand,” Stack apparently wrote. “Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.”

The company that hosted the Web site took it down this afternoon at the request of the FBI.



.."

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Monday, February 15, 2010

Hands Across Sand 2500+

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/15/headlines#14

"..

Floridians Protest Offshore Oil Drilling Proposal

And in Florida, over 2,500 people gathered on the state’s beaches Saturday to protest offshore oil drilling in an event called Hands Across the Sand. Protests were held on over sixty beaches across the state. Florida is considering lifting a twenty-year ban on offshore oil drilling.


.."

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Health Insurance company Tried to raise rates 40%

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/15/headlines#12

"..

Anthem Blue Cross Puts Off Plan to Raise Rates

Health insurer Anthem Blue Cross has postponed its much-criticized plan to raise rates by 39 percent for individual policyholders. Anthem is a California-based subsidiary of the health insurance giant WellPoint, which earned $2.7 billion in the last quarter of 2009.


.."

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Chiquita, FARC, and Killing

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/02/12/colombia.chiquita.farc/?hpt=T2

"..

Chiquita finding bittersweet for families of men killed in Colombia

By Arthur Brice, CNN
February 12, 2010 8:10 p.m. EST
Tania Julin and her daughters watched as rebels abducted her husband, Mark Rich, in 1993.
Tania Julin and her daughters watched as rebels abducted her husband, Mark Rich, in 1993.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Judge dismisses company's attempt to dismiss widows' damage suit
  • Chiquita admitted making payments to Colombian rebels
  • "They're like a household name. ... It's just horrible to think about," widow says
RELATED TOPICS

(CNN) -- Tania Julin remembers the deep gut pain she felt when she found out nearly three years ago that Chiquita Brands International had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Marxist rebel group in Colombia that had abducted and killed her missionary husband.

The pain remains, but Julin felt some relief last week when a federal judge rejected Chiquita's motion to dismiss a damage suit she and four other widows brought against the Ohio-based company.

"My stomach still turns today at the thought of fellow Americans paying terrorists," Julin said. "It just makes my stomach sick."

Chiquita, which has admitted making payments to the rebels and was fined $25 million by the U.S. Justice Department, says it was victimized.

"Chiquita acquiesced to extortion payments to protect the lives of its employees," company spokesman Ed Loyd said.

To some analysts, the issue highlights the difficulties of conducting business in war-torn areas. Marxist guerrillas who call themselves the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia, commonly known as FARC, declared war on the government in 1964. Chiquita had more than 200 banana farms in Colombia before selling them in 2004.

"It's really tough doing business in an environment that is lawless and the state is largely absent," said Bruce Bagley, professor of international studies at the University of Miami.

For Julin, though, the issue is deeply personal. She had been married to Mark Rich for 3½ years when FARC rebels burst into their home in Pucuro, Panama, across the border from Colombia, on January 31, 1993. The rebels abducted Rich while his wife and two daughters -- ages 11 months and 2½ years -- watched in horror.

The FARC abducted two other members of the New Tribes Mission around the same time and demanded a $5 million ransom for the three men about a week later.

One year later, the rebels abducted two other missionaries belonging to the same Christian group. A $3 million ransom was demanded for their release.

No ransom was paid for any of them.

The families did not know anything about their loved ones for years. It was a tough time for Julin's daughters.

"They went through all of their growing-up years that they can remember asking where their daddy was and if he could come home for their birthdays," Julin said.

She and the wives of the other men abducted in 1993 found out the truth in December 2000, when New Tribes Mission officials told them the FARC had killed the three captives in 1996. The Colombian government confirmed the deaths in February 2007.

The two men who were abducted in 1994 were killed during a firefight between the FARC and the Colombian military in June 1995. Evidence and eyewitness reports obtained by the Colombian National Prosecutor's Office and the U.S. Justice Department confirmed that the FARC executed the missionaries.

The U.S. State Department designated the FARC a foreign terrorist organization on October 8, 1997.

The five widows found out another hurtful truth in March 2007, when Chiquita pleaded guilty to violating U.S. antiterrorism laws by providing payments to another Colombian terrorist organization, the paramilitary right-wing United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, known as the AUC. Chiquita made more than 100 payments to the AUC totaling at least $1.7 million, the Justice Department said.

As part of those proceedings, Chiquita acknowledged that it had also made payments to the FARC from 1989 to at least 1997. That period included the span during which the five missionaries were abducted and killed.

That knowledge still pains Julin.

"I just can hardly stand to think about it too much," she said.
...

That argument does not wash with Gary M. Osen, an attorney for the families.

"There's no law that says you have to operate in areas where you have to pay terrorists," Osen said. "That's something they chose to do."

Julin, a 40-year-old kindergarten teacher at a church school near Orlando, Florida, filed suit in March 2008. Civil provisions of the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act of 1991 allow American citizens, their heirs and their estates to be paid compensation for injuries suffered as a result of international terrorism.

The families "allege that Chiquita, knowing that FARC was a terrorist organization, intentionally agreed to provide money, weapons and services to it as part of a common scheme to subvert local trade unions, protect Chiquita's farms and shipments, harm Chiquita's competitors, [and] strengthen FARC's military capabilities, and that [the families] were injured by overt acts done in furtherance of the common scheme," U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra wrote in his 34-page ruling allowing the suit to go forward.

Court records show that Chiquita initially made monthly cash payments to the FARC ranging from $20,000 to $100,000. Eventually, Chiquita's payments were fixed to a percentage of the company's gross revenues from its Colombia banana business. Ultimately, up to 10 percent of those revenues were diverted to the FARC.

The company also supplied weapons, ammunition and other supplies to the rebels, the victims' families allege.

The families also said "Chiquita went to great lengths to hide its relationship with FARC," Marra noted in the February 4 ruling.

"The payments were often delivered by a former American military pilot known as 'Kaiser,' who held a management position with Chiquita in Colombia," the judge said the families allege.

According to the families, Marra said, Chiquita placed false names and nonexistent employees on its payroll, providing the money on local paydays to regional FARC commanders. The company also helped the FARC create front organizations to which Chiquita could channel money, the victims' families said.

In addition, the judge said, the families accuse Chiquita of working
.."

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Sunday, February 14, 2010

More civilians killed in "successful operation"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8515141.stm

"..
Civilians die in Afghan offensive



US soldiers at Marjah, 14 Feb 2010
Nato troops are now working to secure Marjah in the offensive

Nato has confirmed that two rockets fired at militants during its offensive in Helmand, south Afghanistan, missed their target and killed 12 civilians.

The rockets struck a house in Marjah as thousands of Nato troops continued their operations to oust the Taliban.

Nato's commander Gen Stanley McChrystal said that "we deeply regret this tragic loss of life".

...


The operation is also the first big test of US President Barack Obama's new "surge" strategy for Afghanistan.

Rocket system suspended

Civilian casualties have been a key concern for the Nato-led offensive.

...

The regions targeted were leafleted well in advance to minimise casualties.
...
off their intended target, killing 12 civilians."

Gen McChrystal said: "The current operation in Central Helmand is aimed at restoring security and stability to this vital area of Afghanistan.

"It's regrettable that in the course
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driving a wedge between them and the insurgents.
MARJAH: 'TALIBAN STRONGHOLD'
Town and district about 40km (25 miles) south-west of Lashkar Gah
Population of town estimated at 80,000; Marjah district: 125,000
An area of lush vegetation and farmland
Last remaining major Taliban stronghold in southern Helmand
Considered a centre for assembling roadside bombs
Lucrative supply centre for opium poppies, a Taliban revenue source
Estimates of Taliban numbers ranged from 400 to 1,000

He says it is exactly the kind of incident that Afghanistan leaders had said must be avoided and which they know can play straight into the Taliban's hands.

The Ministry of Defence has said that British troops were not involved in the incident.

Meanwhile, US, UK and Afghan forces have faced gun battles and numerous booby-traps on day two of the offensive in Marjah and Nad Ali in Helmand province.

In Marjah, US Marine commander Brig Gen Larry Nicholson told Agence France-Presse his forces had "blown up a lot of IEDs" and come up against "a lot of sniper fire".

He said it could take up to 30 days to make the area safe.

...


Casualties

Operation Moshtarak began before dawn on Saturday when more than 15,000 troops flew into central Helmand.

HAVE YOUR SAY
The "surge" approach drove most of the insurgents out of Iraq and there is no reason why it shouldn't work in Afghanistan
Alan Trent, London
Send us your comments

American forces, led by 4,000 Marines, are focusing on Marjah, while 4,000 British troops are in Nad Ali.

A large Afghan force, as well as Canadians, Danes and Estonians, is also involved.

Three Isaf deaths related to
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UK troops had taken small-arms fire.

AFP quoted President Obama's top security adviser, Gen James Jones, as also saying the offensive was "going well".

President Obama will be briefed on Sunday by the US commander in
.."
http://www.AmericanWisdom.org

Aspertame poison now rebranded as "aminosweet"

http://www.naturalnews.com/028151_aspartame_sweeteners.html

"..

Aspartame has been renamed and is now being marketed as a natural sweetener

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sweeteners do? Why, rename it and begin marketing it as natural, of course. This is precisely the strategy of Ajinomoto, maker of aspartame, which hopes to pull the wool over the eyes of the public with its rebranded version of aspartame, called "AminoSweet".

Over 25 years ago, aspartame was first introduced into the European food supply. Today, it is an everyday component of most diet beverages, sugar-free desserts, and chewing gums in countries worldwide. But the tides have been turning as the general public is waking up to the truth about a
...
evidence to the contrary.

Aspartame was an accidental discovery by James Schlatter, a chemist who had been trying to produce an anti-ulcer pharmaceutical drug for G.D. Searle & Company back in 1965. Upon mixing aspartic acid and phenylalanine, two naturally-occurring amino acids, he discovered that the
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G.D. Searle & Company submitted its first petition to the FDA in 1973 and fought for years to gain FDA approval, submitting its own safety studies that many believed were i
...
reports and for concealing evidence proving the chemical is unsafe for consumption.

Despite the myriad of evidence gained over the years showing that aspartame is a dangerous toxin, it has remained on the global market with the exception of a few countries that have banned it. In fact, it continued to gain approval for use in new types of food despite evidence showing that it causes neurological brain damage, cancerous tumors, and endocrine disruption, among other things.

The details of aspartame's history are lengthy, but the point remains that the carcinogen was illegitimately approved as a food additive through heavy-handed prodding by a powerful corporation with its own interests in mind. Practically all drugs and food additives are approved by the FDA not because science shows they are safe but because companies essentially lobby the FDA with monetary payoffs and complete the agency's multi-million dollar approval process.

C
.."

http://www.AmericanWisdom.org

TX candidates raise questions about 911 truth

http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/democrat-shami-also-raises-doubts-on-9-11-233460.html

"..

Democrat Farouk Shami on Friday became the second gubernatorial candidate in two days to say it's unclear whether the U.S. government was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Meanwhile, Republican Debra Medina, reeling from her own remarks that questioned the government's involvement in the attacks, on Friday blamed the ensuing firestorm on a "coordinated attack" that she speculated came from the campaigns of her better-known GOP rivals.

Shami's comments came during an interview on Dallas-Fort Worth's WFAA-TV in which the Houston businessman also said that most of his factory workers are Hispanic because "you don't find white people who are willing to work in factories."

When a reporter told Shami he wanted to ask him the same question Medina was asked — whether the U.S. government was involved in the attacks — Shami responded:

"I'm not sure. I am not going to really judge or answer about something I'm not sure about. But the rumors are there that there was a conspiracy. True or not? You know, it's hard to believe, you know, what happened. It's really hard to comprehend what happened. Maybe. I'm not sure."

He compared the situation to lingering questions in some quarters about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

"We still don't know who killed John F. Kennedy, who's behind it.... Will we ever find the truth about 9/11?" Shami said.

...

doing what we've been doing, campaigning hard for months," she said.

In response to a question Thursday from nationally syndicated radio talk show host Glenn Beck, Medina said there were "some very good arguments" that the U.S. was involved in the 2001 attacks that took down the World Trade Center and that killed about 3,000 people.

"I think the American people have not seen all of the evidence there, so I have not taken a position on that," she said.

Medina later in the day released a statement saying she didn't
.."

http://www.AmericanWisdom.org

Hands Across Sand St. Pete

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61C2LT20100213?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews

"...

Floridians protest offshore oil drilling

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida
Sat Feb 13, 2010 4:59pm EST

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Reuters) - Thousands of Floridians demonstrated against moves to allow offshore oil drilling on Saturday along the east and west coasts of the state in a protest dubbed "Hands Across the Sand."

U.S.

Organizer David Rauschkolb said about 80 demonstrations took place at beaches from Pensacola on the northwest coast of Florida to Key West in the south and Jacksonville in the north.

"This issue is one Floridians care about, protecting our waterways and coastlines from the devastating effects of oil exploration," Rauschkolb said in a telephone interview. He owns a beachfront restaurant in Seaside, Florida, on the Gulf of Mexico.

Legislation to allow oil drilling off the Florida coast passed the Florida House of Representatives last year but was blocked by Republican Governor Charlie Crist and the state Senate.

Oil-drilling opponents fear the legislation may come up again in this year's legislative session. Supporters of offshore drilling say it is needed to reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil.

"I don't think this issue is going away," Rauschkolb said.

In St. Petersburg, about 200 people including local officials, parents and children gathered at a beach resort hotel despite chilly weather and strong winds.

Most wore black to symbolize an oil spill. They stood in line facing the Gulf of Mexico and holding hands for several minutes as a small plane flew overhead towing a banner that read: "Love tourists - not drilling."

"Do you really want oil washing up on our beaches?" local organizer Cathy Harrelson said.

(Writing by Robert Green; Editing by Peter Cooney)


..."

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Alabama professor kills 3

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hf_Cw1b1x1DmRrdG4hiu4P55yZTgD9DRJL8O0

"...
Accused Alabama prof shot, killed brother in 1986

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The professor accused of killing three colleagues during a faculty meeting was a Harvard-educated neurobiologist, inventor and mother whose life had been marred by a violent episode in her distant past.

More than two decades ago, police said Amy Bishop fatally shot her teenage brother at their Massachusetts home in what officers at the time logged as an accident — though authorities said Saturday that records of the shooting are missing.

Bishop had just months left teaching at the University of Alabama in Huntsville when police said she opened fire with a handgun Friday in a room filled with a dozen of her colleagues from the school's biology department. Bishop, a rare woman suspected in a workplace shooting, was to leave after this semester because she had been denied tenure.

Police say she is 42, but the university's Web site lists her as 44.


..."

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Obama Escalates Drug War

http://rawstory.com/2010/02/obama-admins-promise-dea-continues-raids-medical-marijuana-growers/
:
"..

Despite Obama admin’s promise, DEA continues raids on medical marijuana growers

By Raw Story
Saturday, February 13th, 2010 -- 6:10 pm
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100213044524 02 13 10 chris b Despite Obama admins promise, DEA continues raids on medical marijuana growersOn Thursday, a Denver news station interviewed Chris Bartkowicz about his medical-marijuana operation in the basement of his home. Bartkowicz, confident of his compliance with state laws, boasted of its size and profitability.

"I'm definitely living the dream now," he told 9News.

The following day, the dream was over.

Drug-enforcement agents raided his home, placed him under arrest, and carried off dozens of black bags of marijuana plants and growing lights.

The Obama administration promised in October that the federal government would respect state laws allowing the growing and selling of marijuana for medicinal use, but the Drug Enforcement Agency sent a loud message with the arrest of Bartkowicz.

Story continues below...
...

Sweetin said the memo does nothing to change federal law, which makes marijuana illegal.

The difference between the Obama administration's stated mission to end the "war on drugs" and the actual enforcement of that policy by DEA agents may not come as a surprise to those who have seen the Office of National Drug Control Policy's (ONDCP) budget for fiscal year 2011.

"We're not at war with people in this country," Obama's drug czar Gil Kerlikowske told The Wall Street Journal in May.

But according to 2011 funding "highlights" released by the ONDCP (PDF link), the Obama administration is growing the drug war and tilting its funds heavily toward law enforcement over treatment.

During the interview in his jail cell, Bartkowicz said he realized his arrest is the center of a national
.."

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Saturday, February 13, 2010

Olympics Vancover

http://rawstory.com/2010/02/olympics-vancouver-civil-liberties/

"..

Ahead of Olympics, Vancouver assaults civil liberties

By Daniel Tencer
Friday, February 12th, 2010 -- 4:49 pm
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vancouverbritishcolumbia Ahead of Olympics, Vancouver assaults civil liberties

Vancouver may be the world's most livable city, at least according to one survey, but many of its residents are upset by what they
...
the line in its efforts to keep dissent as far away as possible from international news cameras.

The controversy began in earnest last summer, when a group calling itself the Olympics Resistance Network accused the city's Olympic security unit of harassing their members by showing up at their homes and issuing "thinly veiled threats to interfere with their jobs and invasions of personal spaces," Vancouver's The Province reported.

Concerns over civil liberties were ramped up when the provincial government of British Columbia passed a law allowing Vancouver to ban anti-Olympic signs, even when they are on private property. Under that law, residents can be imprisoned for six months and fined $10,000 ($9,500 US) for not removing "offensive" signage. Equally alarming to some was a provision that allows police to enter private property without a warrant to remove the signs.
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your property, fine you or throw you in jail will underscore the growing impression that our governments care more about their own camera appearances at Olympic events than about people’s rights,” Holmes added.

Meanwhile, Canadian border guards have been accused of using their powers in an effort to keep out American activists who may criticize the Olympics.

In a widely-reported incident last fall, Amy Goodman, the host of Democracy Now!, was detained at the Washington State-British Columbia border and grilled over whether she planned to discuss the Olympics at public appearances in Canada. Goodman was not; she was scheduled to give a talk about her new book at the Vancouver Public Library.

In a column, Goodman wrote that her treatment at the hands of Canadian border guards was "a flagrant violation of ... freedom of speech" that has "serious implications for the freedom of the press

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celebrate these important attributes, [the Vancouver Olympics committee] has gone the other way and tried to suppress them."

vancouverolympicmural Ahead of Olympics, Vancouver assaults civil libertiesMany residents of Vancouver were upset when the city ordered a number of popular and long-lasting murals to be painted over because of concerns it could reflect poorly on the city's reputation. Vancouverites responded by painting a new mural over the site of one of the old ones, with the words "With glowing hearts, we kill the arts." That's a pun on a line in Canada's national anthem, "With glowing hearts, we see thee rise."

Residents were further upset when it was reported that the Olympic security unit was planning to ban photography in public spaces around Olympic venues. After a public outcry, officials appear to have backed off that decree.

Some political activists fear the police will use agents provocateurs during anti-Olympic protests -- officers dressed as protesters who incite violence so that protesters can then be arrested.

That's more than a conspiracy theory; in recent years, Canadian police forces have developed a reputation for using just such tactics. Most famously, during a 2007 meeting in Quebec between President George W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon, a masked protester who was inciting violence was outed as a member of Quebec's

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Yet Vancouver's civil rights transgressions are relatively minor compared to what some other Olympic venues have been accused of doing in the name of a picture-perfect Olympics.

In a statement released Friday, Human Rights Watch warned that Olympic Games have been used in the past to crush political dissent, and may be used that way again in the future.

"One ugly legacy of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is the continued imprisonment in China of those who protested forced evictions or called for human rights improvements there," the group stated.

"The next Winter Games are scheduled to take place in the Russian town of Sochi, where p

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