tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66445692541407476022024-02-18T23:00:54.244-07:00activeViews that may change from day to day seen from ColoradoRobert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.comBlogger99125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-70463877834833151992012-03-19T13:47:00.001-06:002012-03-26T08:36:03.479-06:00BLOG DISCONTINUED ARCHIVES AVAILABLEBLOG DISCONTINUEDRobert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-78843090537230299252012-03-16T12:06:00.002-06:002012-03-17T11:47:22.451-06:00Hard Cases Make Bad Law<br />
Without gainsaying that Dharun Ravi was guilty of a hate crime, the prosecution never proved that he hated gays.<br />
<br />
It didn’t matter. In cases where there is no way to compensate a victim juries often go for the extremes.<br />
<br />
Such a case more than 200 years ago led to the saying that bad cases
make tough law Tyler Clementi is dead. His soul left adrift on a Twitter
posting.<br />
<br />
He committed suicide after Ravi made a video of him kissing a lover.<br />
<br />
The Convictions<br />
<br />
Ravi was found guilty of the most serious charge, bias intimidation. He
faces up to ten years in prison and possible deportation.<br />
<br />
No one will ever know how much the video played in Clementi’s decision
to kill himself. Certainly other things that had happened to him after
he came out of the closet caused great hurt. Some of these events
involved people he knew, including his mother.<br />
<br />
The Web<br />
<br />
Also weighing on the jury would be the explosion of privacy invasion that are part and parcel of the Web.<br />
<br />
Surveillance cams are on many streets throughout the nation. People are growing tired of it.<br />
<br />
And the Web has become a powerful tool for bullying.<br />
<br />
This decision hopefully will cause some people to think twice before
acting in harmful ways with handy Web tools, including smart phones.<br />
<br />
What To Do In This Case<br />
<br />
Making Ravi a martyr to some could have an impact that was the opposite of what the jury intended.<br />
<br />
Those predicting that the decision will have a major impact on social media may not understand how powerful a force it is. Ravi became a trending topic on Twitter almost immediately after the decision was announced.<br />
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<br /></div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-58450385054280275942012-03-07T11:45:00.000-07:002012-03-07T16:52:57.896-07:00March Madness<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We should have known when the Ides of March was preceded by Linsanity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Holy Steve Jobs. Not only did we have a Super Tuesday, Wednesday starts with a new iPad.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Defendant in privacy case in
New Jersey is rushed by spectators in a court room.</span></div>
<div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pirate Bay now calls itself
Supr Bay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Peyton Manning will always be
a Colt. But because of an injury caused by a bounty hunter he won’t be playing
for them.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Politics remain a dream.
Should we call in a Lego crew? Caesar was stabbed 23 times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A bad joke that needs to be
told again. Republicans appear headed to a Sanatorium.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What did they expect after
they pissed off a majority of women and workers. Who does that leave out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rush made sure contraception
was included. I’ll bet this guy never hard of foreplay. Well, with all those
drugs available why bother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Six Brits killed in
Afghanistan. No, the war is not over. Perhaps the mainstream media might
mention it from time to time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The slaughter continues in
Syria. Again, too many references to screw ups elsewhere, like Vietnam. Let’s
talk about Rwanda, the Balkans and Liberia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Where is a drone when you
need one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-83834226683001680292012-03-06T15:57:00.003-07:002012-03-07T06:33:40.646-07:00Ludicrous Tuesday<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2I8-iHHGg9SyLt13vusT5jtMtmwQggKqJrdFVtSd30glb8kJT-BrkSYBb4cjawbnfKBKKZPCIB_rCiXtPgnCQMNlqtH2dMa3IDpJWl_2yi9rEU_BSfiqurv1T5Vr7LtfFebFcm3DLnLo6/s1600/gopcartoon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2I8-iHHGg9SyLt13vusT5jtMtmwQggKqJrdFVtSd30glb8kJT-BrkSYBb4cjawbnfKBKKZPCIB_rCiXtPgnCQMNlqtH2dMa3IDpJWl_2yi9rEU_BSfiqurv1T5Vr7LtfFebFcm3DLnLo6/s1600/gopcartoon.jpeg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">You are more likely to have
an Amazon store come to your town than a Republican primary.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">It certainly would mean more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">Sometimes these things look
like the kind of standoff a local SWAT team would handle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">The media reports today that Independents
don’t care for any of the candidates. That is blamed on bruising primaries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">It does seem that some
candidates have taken out bounties on their opponents. It is easier, however,
to knock an opponent out than to build your own credibility.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">One possible factor, in
addition to the primaries, is the possibility Independents were put off by the
failure of the GOP to do anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">President Obama, on the other
hand, can probably count on enough Progressives to vote for him to win a second
term.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">For some it is déjà vu all
over again. At least in 1968 there was a third candidate, sadly it was George
Wallace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">Given the Internet’s ability
to send unhappy activists into the streets of Cairo and Moscow, and into the artillery of Syria, one wonders
why so little impact here. Occupy this, occupy that. Hey they try.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">Recessions being somewhat
cyclical, things are turning around. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">Who will admit being a
Republican in December? Kind of reminds one of the late Everett Dirksen denying
he had nominated Barry Goldwater as the GOP presidential nominee. Expect
something like that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">And all the stories of this
boring campaign wouldn’t even fill the smallest Kindle.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 18pt;">The fact is they want us to have no fun of any kind.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18pt;"><br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></span></div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-88342383202252819732012-03-02T03:20:00.000-07:002012-03-02T03:26:02.268-07:00Six Things You Didn't Know About Bison<br />
6 Amazing Facts You Never Knew About Bison<br />
from Wildlife Promise<br />
2 2/29/2012 // Judith Kohler<br />
Bison, Great Plains, tribal bison, Yellowstone National Park<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3KS7BjbK1gU20Ioan2nrl2r72xgQ9zJzj8ZvGbuxkD8zR-SGHYL51NjEEy7QIApdnIkqmq2QQHks-vKT6NYbD4xyfEMgDgBRJtvlF8oTUjdeuj1stXHYURxn-908zel84u7vBGrwDEYbk/s1600/DSC_0230.JPG-copy-287x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3KS7BjbK1gU20Ioan2nrl2r72xgQ9zJzj8ZvGbuxkD8zR-SGHYL51NjEEy7QIApdnIkqmq2QQHks-vKT6NYbD4xyfEMgDgBRJtvlF8oTUjdeuj1stXHYURxn-908zel84u7vBGrwDEYbk/s1600/DSC_0230.JPG-copy-287x300.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Photo credit: Beth Pratt/NWF<br />
The bison, shaggy behemoth of the Great Plains, despite weighing as much as a ton, can race up to 40 mph, jump up to 6 feet vertically and can quickly pivot to combat predators. Unfortunately this mighty beast is not faster than a speeding bullet.<br />
<br />
<br />
Though the bison’s ancestors roamed the continent with saber-toothed tigers and woolly mammoths, he could not protect himself from expansion and was nearly wiped out in the late 1800s as the nation’s population moved West.<br />
<br />
Millions of bison were slaughtered for sport, for their hides, to clear the plains for settlers and their livestock and to control the Plains tribes. Native Americans used the bison for food and clothing, shelter, tools and ceremonial implements – nearly everything to survive physically and spiritually.<br />
<br />
Before their near extermination, an estimated 30 million to 60 million bison ranged from Canada to northern Mexico and from the Plains to Eastern forests. By about 1890, roughly 1,000 remained, including two dozen in Yellowstone National Park.<br />
<br />
Now the tribes at Fort Peck and Fort Belknap are preparing for the arrival of 65 Yellowstone bison.<br />
<br />
The American buffalo, also known as bison, has always held great meaning for American Indian people…buffalo represent their spirit and remind them of how their lives were once lived, free and in harmony with nature. -the InterTribal Buffalo Council<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM0Q4M16ssCDNqMQiR4AbgvJoTXV9gfwf5rZbDFe50eWWtlsnLNh2LISOOcxSptR4C6x4rlhTJk_-E8CPnR16beDfESJVcwxsd28dtngkinlU4Nrl6PuILUu8pIbH0YsLq-q08ZiBqjv3K/s1600/Bison_and_calf_Dick_Forehand-300x240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM0Q4M16ssCDNqMQiR4AbgvJoTXV9gfwf5rZbDFe50eWWtlsnLNh2LISOOcxSptR4C6x4rlhTJk_-E8CPnR16beDfESJVcwxsd28dtngkinlU4Nrl6PuILUu8pIbH0YsLq-q08ZiBqjv3K/s1600/Bison_and_calf_Dick_Forehand-300x240.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Credit: D. Forehand of Montana<br />
6 Facts about Bison:<br />
<br />
1) Bison are North America’s largest land animals. Mature bulls weigh up to 2,000 pounds and mature cows as much as 1,000 pounds.<br />
<br />
2) A bison stands 6 – 6.5 feet tall and 10 – 12.5 feet long.<br />
<br />
3) A bison’s hump is composed of muscle, supported by long vertebrae. It allows the animal to use its head to plow through snow.<br />
<br />
4) Most of the 500,000 or so bison nationwide are raised as livestock on ranches. About 30,000 are managed for conservation in private and public herds.<br />
<br />
5) Fossils and accounts from early travelers show that Yellowstone National Park is the only place in the U.S. where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times.<br />
<br />
6) The Yellowstone herd is one of the few that remains genetically free of cattle genes.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
By: Judith Kohler<br />
Judith Kohler's Bio // Archive of Posts<br />
Get Judith Kohler's Feed<br />
DisqusRobert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-91965236500214229932012-03-01T10:44:00.000-07:002012-03-01T22:03:05.592-07:00The End Of Privacy<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4x3442-eK9AVTU6-bVA-u91NVTwIXh8pSRYV4JilGS0PfQK2kCguDwhnUHb23c0nxps2p8QjzqyMkO21NRpd2i9cBAV5SXCDesIhP-QjS6AsOcoUiSYTB_zybw2XfKw4klBoDjAfrKYLp/s1600/clementi.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4x3442-eK9AVTU6-bVA-u91NVTwIXh8pSRYV4JilGS0PfQK2kCguDwhnUHb23c0nxps2p8QjzqyMkO21NRpd2i9cBAV5SXCDesIhP-QjS6AsOcoUiSYTB_zybw2XfKw4klBoDjAfrKYLp/s1600/clementi.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> The End
of Privacy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> In this century it appears the loss of anonymity will be more shocking than the loss of virginity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> Two
events that resulted in deaths, and both involve the Internet at least
tangentially, signal the need for a reexamination of privacy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> Is it
even possible in a world with surveillance cameras wherever you turn? Drones aren’t only used in Afghanistan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;">In the
Princeton suicide case of Tyler Clementi his predator had figured out how to
set up a remote control viewing of his sex with an older gay man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> Even
though it never happened, and even though no video of the sexual encounter was
ever posted, the mere appearance on Websites of the fact it happened led to
Clementi jumping off the George Washington Bridge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> This
raises another issue. In any sexual harassment case it is difficult to
determine what happened, and why. There will be exaggeration, which could
result in a more extreme response than might otherwise have followed.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> Can a court handle cases like this. Did events in Clementi's prior life contribute to his decision to take his life?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> How can
there be free speech if your right to swing ends where my iPhone begins.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;">Must
everything be figurative, not literal.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> AFP reports a Frenchman is suiing Google for posting a photo of him peeing in his back yard on its Street View.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;">This week
a teen in Chardon, Ohio, allegedly killed three high school students after
publishing a poem that included references to death on Facebook that could have
been a warning of what was to come.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> The
Christian Science Monitor reported T.J. Lane, the Chardon killer, attended an
alternative school for students who are evaluated as a high risk for “substance
abuse/chemical dependency, anger issues, mental health issues, truancy,
delinquency, difficulties with attention/organization, and academic
deficiencies,” according to the school's website. All are red flags that should
have made the family weapon more difficult to obtain, says Jennie Lintz, acting
executive director of The Center to Prevent Youth Violence in New York City,
the Monitor reported.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> Lane had
been accused of assaulting a family member in 2009. What does it take for
authorities to act.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> As far
back as the Columbine High School Massacre 12 years ago, a lifetime in the Web
age, killers Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, issued threats on the Internet. And
they were reported to area law officers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> Families
at the high school remain convinced police action could have prevented 13
deaths. Instead of investigating why no action was taken the Colorado state
government has blocked release of information that may hold the answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> Had the
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office dragged the two boys into its headquarters
for questioning the officers might have faced a court order insisting the
threatening words were covered by the First Amendment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> On the
other extreme, Princeton student Dharun Ravi, is on trial for revealing to the
university public and beyond electronically that his dormitory roommate was
gay. Tyler Clementi jumped off the George Washington Bridge after learning of
his betrayal, it has been reported.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;"> ----------------------</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 22pt;">The
author was the lead reporter for Associated Press on the Columbine Massacre,
and ten years of events that followed. He also was working the night life
support was turned off for Matthew Shepard in a Colorado hospital.</span></div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-64312023796734057902012-03-01T07:01:00.000-07:002012-03-01T07:01:12.170-07:00ICRC Syria<br />
<div class="p1">
<b>Syria<i> – ICRC Bulletin No. 01 / 2012</i></b></div>
<div class="p2">
1 March 2012</div>
<div class="p2">
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<div class="p3">
<b>Syria: with no halt in fighting, aid effort faces major challenges</b></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<i>In areas affected by the violence, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, with ICRC support, is doing its utmost to evacuate the wounded and others in need. It is also distributing essential aid to the population in areas of unrest.</i></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
On 21 February, the ICRC called for a daily humanitarian pause in the fighting of at least two hours, so that ICRC staff and Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers have enough time to deliver aid and evacuate the wounded and the sick.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
In Homs, as the violence continues, the humanitarian situation is very worrying. Despite ongoing negotiations with the authorities and opposition groups, Syrian Arab Red Crescent personnel managed to enter Baba Amr only twice in the last seven days. The situation makes it impossible to distribute aid in the Baba Amr and Il-Insha'at areas at present. However, assistance operations are taking place in other areas, sometimes with difficulty owing to the security conditions.</div>
<div class="p2">
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In Al-Zabadani, 50 kilometres north-west of Damascus, people have been leaving the city for Bludan and Madaya, near the Lebanese border, in search of safety. Bludan residents and people they took in from Al-Zabadani were without medical care for 10 days. There were reports of shortages – of food, electricity and water – resulting from the lack of security in the Zabadani area.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<b>Evacuating the wounded and distributing aid in Baba Amr and elsewhere in Homs</b></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p4">
● Convoys of 13 trucks carrying relief goods and food, and five other Syrian Arab Red Crescent and ICRC vehicles, entered Homs between 11 and 28 February. The supplies they carried included medical items, food for 30,000 people for one month, 3,000 blankets, 1,000 baby-milk tins and hygiene items for 9,000 people.</div>
<div class="p4">
● The Homs branch of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent has been distributing the aid since 15 February in four areas of Homs (Al-Khalidiyah, Karm al-Zaytun, Al-Rastan and Al-Tawzi' al-Ijbari). Subsequent distributions also took place in six other parts of the city.</div>
<div class="p4">
● A convoy of nine ambulances, a mobile medical unit and three Syrian Arab Red Crescent and ICRC vehicles entered the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs on 24 February. Syrian Arab Red Crescent ambulances evacuated seven seriously wounded people and 20 sick women and children to the nearby Al-Amin Hospital.</div>
<div class="p4">
● Three other people, including two women, were evacuated on 27 February.</div>
<div class="p4">
● On 11 February, ICRC and Syrian Arab Red Crescent personnel joined local Red Crescent volunteers in Homs in evacuating more than 80 inhabitants of the Insha'at area to a mosque in a safer neighbourhood. "A period of calm made it possible for us to evacuate people," said Jeroen Carrin, an ICRC delegate who took part in the evacuation. "People looked exhausted. They had been trying to leave the neighbourhood for nearly a week. Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers provided first aid for those who needed it."</div>
<div class="p4">
● The ICRC also provided medical supplies for the private hospitals that continue to function in the city.</div>
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<b>Bringing aid to Hama, Idlib and Dara'a</b></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p4">
● During the past week, humanitarian convoys entered Hama, Idlib and Dara'a. The relief goods they were carrying included the first ICRC aid to reach Hama since 17 January. A total of 2,000 food parcels, 500 blankets and hygiene items for 2,200 people were delivered to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent branch in Hama. "The distribution of the assistance started on 28 February," said Rula Daoud, an ICRC field officer on the scene.</div>
<div class="p4">
● Another convoy reached Idlib on 28 February, carrying 1,500 food parcels, 1,000 blankets and hygiene items for 9,000 people.</div>
<div class="p4">
● In addition, 500 food parcels were delivered to Dara'a for distribution by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent branch in the city.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<b>Medical teams enter Bludan and Madaaya</b></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p4">
● On 18 and 19 February, the ICRC set up another first-aid and medical post in Al-Zabadani, manned by 17 Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers, including three doctors and 11 first-aid workers, and provided with two ambulances and a mobile clinic. Three specialized clinics (paediatrics and surgery) were formed to provide medical care. The ambulances brought in people who would otherwise have been unable to reach the post for treatment. The Syrian Arab Red Crescent also set up a pharmacy to dispense medicines. Nearly 700 people have been treated.</div>
<div class="p4">
● On 12 February, Syrian Arab Red Crescent set up a medical post in Bludan. For three days, volunteer doctors attended to more than 250 people, many of them injured. Returning to Damascus, the medical team brought five patients with them, including a woman and her daughter, who could not receive proper medical treatment on location.</div>
<div class="p4">
● On 11 February, a Syrian Arab Red Crescent convoy of ambulances and trucks carrying 480 baby-milk tins and other food for 16,200 people, 800 blankets and hygiene supplies entered Bludan.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
During the same period, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent delivered and distributed 1,500 20-kilogram ICRC food parcels to the affected population in Bludan, Madaya and Buqqin and 1,000 57-kilogram food parcels from the World Food Programme in Al-Zabadani. In addition, at least a dozen injured people were evacuated to Damascus for treatment and then returned to their homes a day later.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<b>Activities in the Golan</b></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
The ICRC continued its activities to ease the effects of the occupation on Syrian Arabs living in the Golan Heights. On 27 February, ICRC staff facilitated the return to the occupied Golan of a bride, three students, and five other people whose travel to Damascus had been arranged for humanitarian reasons.</div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<b>For further information, please contact:</b></div>
<div class="p5">
<b>Saleh Dabbakeh, ICRC Damascus, tel: </b><a href="tel:%2B963%20993%20700%20847"><span class="s1"><b>+963 993 700 847</b></span></a><b> or </b><a href="tel:%2B963%2011%20331%200476"><span class="s1"><b>+963 11 331 0476</b></span></a></div>
<div class="p5">
<b>Hicham Hassan, ICRC Geneva, tel: </b><a href="tel:%2B41%2022%20730%2025%2041"><span class="s1"><b>+41 22 730 25 41</b></span></a><b> or </b><a href="tel:%2B41%2079%20536%2092%2057"><span class="s1"><b>+41 79 536 92 57</b></span></a></div>
<div class="p5">
<b>or visit our website: </b><a href="http://www.icrc.org/"><span class="s1"><b>www.icrc.org</b></span></a></div>
<div class="p5">
<br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<b>To preview and download the latest ICRC video footage in broadcast quality, go to</b></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="s2"><a href="http://www.icrcvideonewsroom.org/content/index.asp"><b>www.icrcvideonewsroom.org</b></a></span></div>
<div class="p5">
<br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<b>To find out what the ICRC is doing to put an end to attacks on health workers and patients, go to</b></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="s2"><a href="http://www.icrc.org/eng/what-we-do/safeguarding-health-care/index.jsp"><b>icrc.org/eng/life-death</b></a></span></div>
<div class="p5">
<br /></div>
<div class="p6">
<span class="s3"><b>Follow the ICRC on </b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/icrcfans"><span class="s1"><b>facebook.com/icrcfans</b></span></a><b> and </b><a href="http://twitter.com/icrc_english"><span class="s1"><b>twitter.com/icrc_english</b></span></a></span></div>
<div class="p5">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<br /></div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-35267377029497946312012-02-26T07:51:00.000-07:002012-02-27T07:11:21.748-07:00Two French Movies Vie for Best Film<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQu0dUJZ5m4cnQOgItHAYaC_guKMtWpa1RcL7iqq1Oh33g6JDqv2NM9DOW360uVQbpIigX6un1q-koi8Lj_QJRFjh0dT50IWUiF5dv7OYUyaAbm9gbkBszE80JoXJQoCrIWKVQbZOwr5aL/s1600/oscar.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQu0dUJZ5m4cnQOgItHAYaC_guKMtWpa1RcL7iqq1Oh33g6JDqv2NM9DOW360uVQbpIigX6un1q-koi8Lj_QJRFjh0dT50IWUiF5dv7OYUyaAbm9gbkBszE80JoXJQoCrIWKVQbZOwr5aL/s1600/oscar.jpeg" /></a></div>
<br />
Whether they are really French is irrelevant, one was filmed in Paris and the other was a French production, tous les deux are Gallic.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hugo deserves as many awards as it can get. The Artist
should be Best Picture because it is so novel. Michel Hazanavicius, as its
director, should take the Oscar. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Both leads in The Artist also should win, Jean Dujardin for best actor and Berenice Beijo for best supporting actress. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Virtually every performance of Glenn Close is Oscar-worthy.
Meryl Streep has plenty of Oscars, and the role of the Iron Lady should have
gone to Helen Mirren.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Viola Davis gave The Help what it needed to lift itself up from previous civil rights movies and deserves best actress.<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kenneth Branagh deserves best supporting actor. A true
renaissance performer on stage, on screen or producing and directing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For musical song, head south for the samba. Rio in Rio.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This year seems to have a surplus of excellent and original
movies, including “The Tree of Life” and “The War Horse.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Artist has an old-fashioned kicker, a surprise ending
not to be revealed here.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/6tBDz1yJ12w?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br /></div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-68898120458637364542012-02-23T20:30:00.000-07:002012-02-25T08:11:00.286-07:00Credit 22<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the economy starts showing signs of life don’t expect that any one of those hundreds of jobs you have applied for will fall into your hands.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sadly, many employers will not hire you if you have bad credit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Personal finance expert Liz Weston says there is no evidence connecting bad credit to job skills or likely performance.<br />
She has included the subject in her latest book because there is "mounting evidence that employers are abusing credit checks."<br />
It’s kind of like insurance companies refusing to pay victims of PTSD a third of the money they are entitled to if part of their problem is depression.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Geeze. You are suffering from PTSD or some other major problem and you get depressed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You lose your job, or jobs, can’t pay your bills and your credit goes down the toilet.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course bankers, if they escape jail, can get right back where they were. No one blames them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These days you are lucky if you can even talk, face to face, with an employer. It’s almost always some kind of résumé orgy. It just isn’t going to happen.<o:p></o:p><br />
<div>
Some states are cracking down on the use of bad credit to deny jobs. But spam for finding out credit scores must be driven by something.</div>
</div>
</div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-81581713276173629922012-02-20T19:01:00.000-07:002012-02-21T06:52:03.926-07:00Winds of War<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn95GcKMlXGzTm9egv7xeFnKmfxDio4DCHUhhdU9eEL7544aWw97F9J3vWDONPkBcH14IqjZHS_KrtjbFUiL-y-lrwVly7bBicRV-Ka2mb54123udTxUIrpXAEcrPjyTOIY-cLQlSeDlgR/s1600/usslincoln.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn95GcKMlXGzTm9egv7xeFnKmfxDio4DCHUhhdU9eEL7544aWw97F9J3vWDONPkBcH14IqjZHS_KrtjbFUiL-y-lrwVly7bBicRV-Ka2mb54123udTxUIrpXAEcrPjyTOIY-cLQlSeDlgR/s1600/usslincoln.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
With American/NATO, Iranian and Russian warships playing
chicken, it appears a missing plug in, in today’s language, is the only thing
missing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Syria could be it. Israel could be the decider<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is increasing evidence that the Putin Regime wants to
match arms with the U.S., a battle it lost long ago and is not likely to win
again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Clearly it is a way to guarantee his election to a second
presidential term. Only time will tell whether the tactic can be dropped once
the victory is won.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Critics of expanding relations with Moscow would say we have
already given away most our leverage. Last December Moscow was allowed in the
World Trade Organization.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Retired CIA station chief Robert Grenier, writing for Al
Jazeera, said, “Any conventional war involving Israel, the US, Iran and perhaps
other regional powers would be a limited one. Military efforts to degrade
Iranian nuclear capabilities and defence infrastructure will surely not include
an attempt at occupying the country, nor at forcibly removing its government.
Even the US would not be capable of doing so, even if it were so inclined. Nor
is war likely to induce either the Iranian regime or its people to capitulate
on their nuclear program, regardless of its ultimate intent. Instead, armed
intervention is far more likely to swing the Iranians more solidly behind their
government and its nationalist agenda, even if that agenda were temporarily set
back.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I recall France once rather ominously pointed out that it has a
very dirty bomb that could be used and keep property damage limited.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Should strong force be needed to drive Syria’s Assad from
power could that cause Iran to step back. Would Russia attempt to forcefully
block the West, not if its recents signals are accurate.<o:p></o:p></div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-47880982018844556292012-02-16T12:10:00.002-07:002012-02-16T12:15:04.736-07:00Entertainment Industry Picked Wrong Time to be Money-Grubbers<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One evening in Manhattan in the mid ‘70s I was leaving
Rockefeller Center for home and the thunder began.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I could have taken a subway, but chose to dance my way
“Singing in the Rain,” literally.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The way things seem headed, if I tried it today the
copyright police would be after me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes the industry has slipped some new obstacles past us, but
they seem to be losing the war.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Entertainment is about the only bright thing on the horizon
in these dismal days. Don’t expect any sympathy from the 99 when all that money
is going to the 1ers.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A quietly negotiated Web strangling agreement is being
repudiated. A European judge blocked an order requiring social media to insert
filters to prevent copyright abuse.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Back in the day many, if not most, would have had no
argument with making sure entertainers got their fair share. With the earnings
in the billions it is hard to shed more than a crocodile tear.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The concept of making music cheaper and infinitely easier to
acquire, might have held the high ground.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not so when an online bookseller got $15 from me for a Kindle
edition by a little-known writer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Few subjects are less prone to be targets of the Occupy
people.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-58225012012906110852012-02-16T08:23:00.001-07:002012-02-16T16:10:40.458-07:00Blogger: Robert Weller - Edit post<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6644569254140747602#editor/target=post;postID=4069152640239437683">Blogger: Robert Weller - Edit post</a>:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk" style="font-size: 13px;">'via Blog this'</a><br />
<br />
UN Assembly Condemns Syria<br />
http://aje.me/xdd73K<br />
<br />
<br />
NEWS FROM EUROPE,AGHANISTAN, CHINA,RUSSIA,SIBERIARobert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-41042903604138243762012-02-16T02:15:00.001-07:002012-02-16T02:15:58.163-07:00Hardship and Risk Remain in Libya<br />
<h1>
Libya: hardship and danger remain</h1>
<div class="contentBlock">
<h2 class="subheading grey">
16-02-2012 Operational Update No 12/01 </h2>
<div class="boldintro divider">
Thousands
of people remain in detention, individual lives and communities
continue to be threatened by unexploded devices, and many families are
still trying to find out what happened to their missing loved ones. The
ICRC is pressing ahead with its humanitarian work.</div>
<h2>
Effective monitoring of the situation of detainees</h2>
ICRC
delegates currently visit approximately 8,500 detainees in more than 60
places of detention. About 10 per cent of the people held are foreign
nationals.<br />
"We pay particular attention to the treatment of
detainees and stress that their dignity must be respected at all times,"
said Mr Comninos. "The current situation is complex and challenging,
with many places of detention and many different authorities in charge."
The ICRC has called upon the authorities at various levels to ensure
that detainees are handed over to the Ministry of Justice and are placed
in suitable detention facilities as soon as possible.<br />
"While we
remain committed to addressing any issues in a bilateral manner with
those in charge, the current situation in Libya has confirmed that our
work is needed in places of detention," said Mr Comninos. "Our expertise
and the quality of the dialogue we have established with the
authorities at all levels enable us to obtain certain improvements at
this critical moment."<br />
ICRC visits take place regularly. The
organization's delegates talk in private with detainees of their choice
in order to monitor the conditions in which these people are being held
and the treatment they receive. All detention facilities and all
detainees must be visited. The ICRC also looks into the detainees' need
for medical attention, and detainees are given the opportunity to
contact their families.<br />
Between the beginning of March 2011 and
the end of last year, the ICRC carried out some 225 visits in 100 places
of detention in Libya.<br />
In order to help ensure that conditions of
detention are acceptable, the ICRC has also provided detainees with
aid. More than 2,500 hygiene kits have been distributed to detainees in
over 30 facilities throughout the country. In prisons in the Nefusa
mountains, Tajoura, Tripoli and Misrata, the supplies provided included
over 3,000 blankets, 700 mattresses, and almost 2,900 sweaters and other
winter items.<br />
<h2>
Reducing the risks posed by explosive remnants of war</h2>
To
date, many areas affected by fighting remain contaminated by unexploded
ordnance. This continues to pose a serious threat to civilians as they
try to get back to the life they had before the conflict. The city of
Sirte is the worst affected area in the country.<br />
Over the past few
weeks, reports about explosive remnants of war still littering Sirte
have been collected at a community clinic and at the local branch of the
Libyan Red Crescent Society. The ICRC also works in close coordination
with local authorities to identify areas that need to be cleared. "We
have removed hundreds of unexploded devices from Sirte since November
2011," said Jennifer Reeves, the coordinator of this ICRC programme.
"Now we also need to coordinate our activities with those of other
organizations that have arrived on the scene to help with the clearing."<br />
In
the Nefusa mountains, ICRC staff are working with the local authorities
to destroy abandoned ammunition. Alerted by reports from the community,
they are also clearing contaminated farmland in remote areas.<br />
At
the beginning of February, volunteers from 15 Libyan Red Crescent
branches received three days of training on how to educate communities
about the risks posed by unexploded ordnance, how to collect data about
casualties and how to identify dangerous areas.<br />
<h2>
Access to clean water and health care</h2>
In
early February the ICRC donated seven new pumps needed to supply clean
drinking water to an estimated 32,000 people in the town of Al Qubah and
12 villages near Benghazi. "The population had spent three months
without an adequate or regular supply of potable water," said Sari
Nasreddin, the ICRC delegate in charge of the operation. "The water
network stopped functioning because no maintenance was performed on the
original pumps during the conflict. People were relying on
water-trucking services, which were not able to supply enough water for
all those in need."<br />
As clashes continue to occur sporadically in
the country, causing casualties, the ICRC is re-supplying health-care
facilities where needed in order to ensure that weapon-wounded patients
can be properly treated. Enough surgical supplies to treat 100 wounded
patients were delivered to Assaba'a along with other medical items, and
surgical instruments were provided in Gharyan. In December 2011, the
ICRC organized a seminar on the surgical treatment of patients with
weapon-related injuries, an event that was attended by over 100 surgeons
from all over the country.<br />
<h2>
Family reunited in Sabha</h2>
The
life of Aisha, a 52-year-old widow and mother of seven children from
Sirte, came to a standstill in October 2011. That day she went out with
her 10-year-old son and was stuck outside the city because of the
fighting. By the time she and her son finally managed to return home,
her house had been completely burned down and her six other children
were dead.<br />
Aisha and her son were forced to leave. They ended up
in the Sidi Faraj camp for displaced people in Benghazi. The camp
manager noticed that Aisha and her son were terribly traumatized, and
brought them to the attention of the ICRC. Aisha said she wanted to be
reunited with her 15-year-old granddaughter, living with a host family
in a village close to Sabha in southern Libya. On 25 January, Aisha and
her son were taken there by the ICRC. "It was a very moving experience,"
said Fatma Eljack, an ICRC delegate who accompanied them on their
two-day journey from Benghazi to Sabha. "Aisha had lost everything: her
house, her personal effects and, above all, her children."<br />
In late
June and early July 2011, in cooperation with the Libyan Red Crescent,
the ICRC carried out a large-scale maritime transfer to reunite several
hundred families dispersed by the conflict.<br />
Approached by
grief-stricken families, the ICRC is providing the authorities with
technical support and advice to help them in their efforts to clarify
the fate of hundreds of missing people.<br />
<br />
<b>For further information, please contact:</b><br />Soaade Messoudi, ICRC Tripoli, tel: +218 913 066 198<br />Steven Anderson, ICRC Geneva, tel: +41 22 730 20 11 or +41 79 536 92 50</div>
<br />Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-82051942677780729832012-02-12T04:15:00.000-07:002012-02-12T04:15:11.265-07:00RUBICON CROSSINGS AND OTHER CYBERFLANEURIES (Robert Weller)<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/robertweller/rubicon-crossings">RUBICON CROSSINGS AND OTHER CYBERFLANEURIES (Robert Weller)</a>:<br /><br /><a style="font-size:13px" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk">'via Blog this'</a>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-89023159058927131292012-02-11T19:41:00.000-07:002012-02-11T19:41:51.514-07:00RUBICON CROSSINGS AND OTHER CYBERFLANEURIES (Robert Weller)<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/robertweller/rubicon-crossings">RUBICON CROSSINGS AND OTHER CYBERFLANEURIES (Robert Weller)</a>: <br><br><a style="font-size:13px" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk">'via Blog this'</a>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-6541117748851434542012-02-11T05:00:00.000-07:002012-02-11T05:00:21.118-07:00RUBICON CROSSINGS AND OTHER CYBERFLANEURIES (Robert Weller)<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/robertweller/rubicon-crossings">RUBICON CROSSINGS AND OTHER CYBERFLANEURIES (Robert Weller)</a>:<br /><br /><a style="font-size:13px" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk">'via Blog this'</a>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-48643957246291297362012-02-10T11:16:00.004-07:002012-02-11T11:01:22.101-07:00So-Called Blasphemous Tweets Could Cost Saudi Blogger His Life<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnkmEAvbCrRK60LO0yJvNgq4G-R3whXTmkQBYBTiHtbtBIU2j4_3ltLkfw1up7DClfZ0VlN-w44b7lO5D2qD9BMzdE0GGGqOxpcjaDYNd2mL6TbfqXQO6m7ZeWmEAqI3LhJBhfTZpRpy3G/s1600/hamza.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnkmEAvbCrRK60LO0yJvNgq4G-R3whXTmkQBYBTiHtbtBIU2j4_3ltLkfw1up7DClfZ0VlN-w44b7lO5D2qD9BMzdE0GGGqOxpcjaDYNd2mL6TbfqXQO6m7ZeWmEAqI3LhJBhfTZpRpy3G/s1600/hamza.jpeg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
And if that wasn’t disturbing enough, it is being reported
that Interpol was involved.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That makes Julian Assange’s complaints about Sweden wanting
to arrest him for a condom that broke look almost insignificant.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, in theory, Assange could be sent from Sweden to
the U.S. and end up at Gitmo.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now I see how inconsequential my concerns about porn and
plagiarism are.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Instead of being a method to free the hoi polloi, it will be
more like the magician on the Tosh show who couldn’t break the chain tying him
to a car in time and nearly died when it took off. Those Tweets will lead the
authorities right back to you.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here is what 23-year-old Hamza Kashgari had Tweeted last
weekend, as reported by the Christian Science Monitor:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>“On your birthday, I will say that I have loved the rebel in
you, that you've always been a source of inspiration to me, and that I do not
like the halos of divinity around you. I shall not pray for you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On your birthday, I find you wherever I turn. I will say
that I have loved aspects of you, hated others, and could not understand many
more.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On your birthday, I shall not bow to you. I shall not kiss
your hand. Rather, I shall shake it as equals do, and smile at you as you smile
at me. I shall speak to you as a friend, no more.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>The bogger is considered an apostate and infidel. He could
be executed.<br />
Human Rights Watch issued a statement urging Malaysia not to send Kashgari back to the Saudi kingdom.<br />
Users should also be careful of what they say on Facebook unless they want to risk being pulled off a plane in another country. The Saudis have a lot of power.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-55497368159092005912012-02-10T02:45:00.000-07:002012-02-10T02:45:56.724-07:00RUBICON CROSSINGS AND OTHER CYBERFLANEURIES - Robert Weller<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/robertweller/rubicon-crossings">RUBICON CROSSINGS AND OTHER CYBERFLANEURIES - Robert Weller</a>:<br /><br /><a style="font-size:13px" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk">'via Blog this'</a>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-45938527331147184662012-02-09T10:59:00.000-07:002012-02-09T10:59:36.300-07:00RUBICON CROSSINGS AND OTHER CYBERFLANEURIES - Robert Weller<a href="https://sites.google.com/site/robertweller/rubicon-crossings">RUBICON CROSSINGS AND OTHER CYBERFLANEURIES - Robert Weller</a>:<br /><br /><a style="font-size:13px" href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pengoopmcjnbflcjbmoeodbmoflcgjlk">'via Blog this'</a>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-41665053054132659082012-02-06T09:18:00.003-07:002012-02-14T00:27:35.905-07:00Should We Be Worried About Lego Movies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/YUjzbCboux0?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/vovoGMas2XA?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
While the world was watching the Social Media animate the
Arab World in real life, there was a dark side. Lego, on the other hand, seems
pretty bright.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not nearly as violent as the video games my kids play.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I was updating my Web page on the Columbine Massacre (I
was the leading AP reporter) I couldn’t resist adding the Lego Columbine piece.
It is Danish, a reflection of how Lego movies or clips or whatever they are
know no boundaries.<o:p></o:p><br />
Tim Burton developed the stop motion animation, among others.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are numerous Lego versions of 127 hours. No one makes
the joke making the rounds about how if you play it backwards it is about a
disabled man who finds an arm in the desert, attaches it, and parties on. Some
certainly are in bad taste, much like life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here is what author David Waterhouse had to say about it one
of his many pieces on the Web.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“Things would be so much better if the world was made out of
Lego. Even the worst things about life, like traffic wardens, taxes and
Lorraine Kelly, would be significantly improved if they were made out of little
yellow bricks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“… And what about terrible films? Could you actually make
something truly awful such as Tim Burton’s Planet Of The Apes remake watchable
by making it purely out of Lego bricks?”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My guess would be yes, though I don’t want to take too much
of the fun out of it by telling you much.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Check them out on the Web, especially on YouTube.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So far I haven’t been able to reach Waterhouse. I am
guessing Lorraine Kelly is a Scottish TV presenter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But you need to be careful about what you meme. For example,
some are using the word “prestitute” for female news anchors and reporters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There must be dozens on 127 Hours alone. One of my favorites
is 127 Seconds, when a student gets his arm caught under books. Check it out.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://1.gvt0.com/vi/C7alqv_m7uU/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/C7alqv_m7uU&fs=1&source=uds" />
<param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" />
<embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/C7alqv_m7uU&fs=1&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object></div>
Some of the Lego videos have great music, including from the films they are spoofing. There already are their own versions of Oscars.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Perhaps the Legos could hook up with the Occupy people and
seize power from our socalled leaders. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Several different versions of what we should do on
particular issues could be made Lego videos and then we could go online and
vote on them.<o:p></o:p><br />
In the meantime, the CDC should send haz-mat teams into the mainstream media. Viruses are brewing there faster than in designer-beer breweries.<br />
For those of a more traditionally artistic bent, trying this Web site:<br />
<br />
http://www.stylelist.com/2012/02/03/craft-of-the-day-napkin-holder_n_1253013.html?ref=stylelist-home&icid=maing-grid10%7Chtmlws-main-bb%7Cdl8%7Csec3_lnk2%26pLid%3D133285</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
MORE Robert Weller stories https://sites.google.com/site/robertweller/rubicon</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-88105972020655086432012-02-03T07:32:00.003-07:002012-02-03T08:45:05.646-07:00Colorado's busiest street, Colorado Blvd, this morning<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuEnH19uZjKpvnv3lVwc_9EOJUlOzfGBPSyFA8xHZGnFTpiIeLL-3Dmy5vduJh8LGDlodlBTR_8g0C1HhGoIr2uem5wqfNJIynfK8P1_0bF-cYydn5VGve-ZQ6MBqP2cJcp_ckIrL6mjT/s1600/camera.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuEnH19uZjKpvnv3lVwc_9EOJUlOzfGBPSyFA8xHZGnFTpiIeLL-3Dmy5vduJh8LGDlodlBTR_8g0C1HhGoIr2uem5wqfNJIynfK8P1_0bF-cYydn5VGve-ZQ6MBqP2cJcp_ckIrL6mjT/s640/camera.jpeg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrm3HVQXeNqaFEU0qisNbMMXsM_lpf7jHnAgVrL_PkDriSGP7O6hGfBmsWRajCoaBL5Znb11Uy70g5HGGYS2epXifqcF1S6X0JqzHJHDEpMbzeWKrREWXa3xp0ExrAOxrgDoSqmIs819gq/s1600/IMG_3585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrm3HVQXeNqaFEU0qisNbMMXsM_lpf7jHnAgVrL_PkDriSGP7O6hGfBmsWRajCoaBL5Znb11Uy70g5HGGYS2epXifqcF1S6X0JqzHJHDEpMbzeWKrREWXa3xp0ExrAOxrgDoSqmIs819gq/s320/IMG_3585.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Our backyard</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRjMD0AUrrwkVtWBMpQ3YGk5xcfcyMQKRuAvYF3DtY28N_6FVSDMr2xQsDxBcyesLSR38s0X4S-FykVfZzRvQnMd5XgmRsvltlmZ0Tj6NSYZ43FIv0r9EayNNZspsN0084EMr2B8lSrYgt/s1600/camera+(1).jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="481" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRjMD0AUrrwkVtWBMpQ3YGk5xcfcyMQKRuAvYF3DtY28N_6FVSDMr2xQsDxBcyesLSR38s0X4S-FykVfZzRvQnMd5XgmRsvltlmZ0Tj6NSYZ43FIv0r9EayNNZspsN0084EMr2B8lSrYgt/s640/camera+(1).jpeg" width="640" /></a>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-78606861711444929002012-02-01T16:21:00.000-07:002012-02-02T09:53:08.083-07:00Assange Extradition<br />
<div class="p1">
<br />
<div class="p1">
Experts quoted by British media are convinced Julian Assange will be extradited to Sweden in a dubious sexual assault case. Normally this paragraph would have said to face charges, but none have been filed.</div>
<div class="p2">
After several appeals of a lower court decision to grant extradition failed the case went before the U.K. Supreme Court on Wednesday. The hearing is scheduled to be completed after two days.</div>
<div class="p3">
A decision would be released later, though no time has been set.</div>
<div class="p3">
Assange could take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if he loses.</div>
<div class="p3">
The British experts quoted by the Guardian and others say to not extradite Assange would bring down the entire European justice system. </div>
<div class="p3">
<br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/feb/23/julian-assange-extradition-law">http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2011/feb/23/julian-assange-extradition-law</a></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<br /></div>
<div class="p3">
And well it might, but not necessarily for the reason they give. Most countries around the world have set up restrictions on extradition to prevent a political refugee from being dragged back to a dictatorship that will harm him, and deny a fair trial.</div>
<div class="p5">
A<span class="s2">n extradition of </span><span class="s3">Assange</span><span class="s2"> could result in a disastrous precedent for </span>the European Union by making it possible for extradition requests without the approval of anyone outside the prosecutor’s office.</div>
<div class="p5">
The process of extradition varies from country to country but a judge usually must approve, or even a high-ranking executive such as a state governor in the U.S. For instance, A prosecutor may not order an extradition in Britain. Instead, he/she would only begin the process.</div>
<div class="p2">
In the U.S., an extradition would require that a charge had been filed.<br />
To refer to such restrictions as technicalities is to demean the law. Both Britain and Sweden likely will be embarrassed.</div>
<div class="p2">
So far, more questions have been raised than answered. It is widely believed the extradition is meant to keep relations between the CIA and Swedish intelligence agency cordial.</div>
<div class="p3">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bGxRDEojjAuWJsUB1Ld8L-BA2vDFDWLdxEsJFafdzPM/edit?pli=1&hl=en_US<br />
<br />
http://justice4assange.com/Rule-of-Law.html</div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-16638971622219242022012-01-28T16:25:00.001-07:002012-01-29T21:47:30.067-07:00Hysterical Nation Calms Down<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UvcK9SOMCd-GyxOQn_CxRCux1Un4RPC0NduuX99YxoBe3XCiL3PeTjMO0sLrHgUpJsB0Eq8bbGCvg4MCszUY3nb_8wzLYBMFSwlHJNiYDCdtypi-izmMN2v2sg-mO5mF7BHUp6H78hVp/s320/feldman.jpg" width="212" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">If the nation had gone on
Freud’s couch after 9/11 he might have diagnosed it as hysterical.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Although this diagnosis
has lost favor because some deem it as anti-female, it originated with women
but was not confined to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">It concluded that
hysterical symptoms were part of an attempt to protect the patient from psychic
stress and sometimes had other motives including gain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">One might say
many in the nation suffered from PTSD, especially the editors near Ground Zero. It made them vulnerable, even
duty-bound, to support the Bush-Cheney war machine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In years past the
human cost of phony missions searching for WMDs might have been reined in by
the cost of dead soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Not an easy
problem to resolve. Certainly we could use the all-volunteer military to avoid
the Vietnam scenario. Still, frequent deployments would be required. To induce
the required enlistments expensive bonuses, health care and educational grants
would have to be promised.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">It worked well
until the PTSD and suicide rate began rising sharply among those fighting the
wars. Neither was new to war. Some said Westerners had evolved to the point
where killing at all, even in self defense, would scar them. The expanding use
of roadside explosive devices created more head injuries. And generally
speaking, most soldiers were deployed outside the wire longer than those in
World War II. Studies then, by the U.S. government, found the longer the GIs
were on the front lines the less effective they became.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Anecdotal signs
of the cost were war crimes that turned up on YouTube. Urinating on dead
Taliban was hardly the worse. There is a saying. We must remember who we are
and who we are not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Now with the date
for ending the Afghan war still not known, and Iraq still explosive, President
Obama wants to cut 100,000 soldiers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Where will they
work? What about those with PTSD or prescription drug problems? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, warned in a meeting yesterday in Davos that inappropriate spending cuts might strangle growth prospects, the BBC reported.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">What if more
wars break out, which seems likely. Will we have to bring them back, at a high
cost, or hire even more private contractors, at an even higher cost? We are
breaking our word to these people who fought dirty wars for their country.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The National
Guard will be next, at the same time its burden will grow. Iowa is already
considering how much it will pay for college for those who have served.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">That has been a
tradition in our military, especially on medical care. I know, my father, a
17-year-old machine gunner who pursued a military career for pay that amounted
to peanuts, was one of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">If they can pull
this off with the military, seniors look out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">To sum up: don’t
betray the soldiers. End the wars. Trillions will be saved because of the
collateral costs. Plus it will keep 100,000 in good jobs and off the dole.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-87073804204277113072012-01-25T12:36:00.000-07:002012-01-25T12:37:36.563-07:00Internet TV<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
No, I am not talking about an Internet ready TV that
requires an expensive wireless or HDMI cable connection. Nor the ability to have 3D or even some system that emulates the shaking of an earthquake or bomb blast.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just make the bloody TV ready to go. Keyboard and mouse. All
you need is a modem-router and an account.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are so many workarounds now it is becoming silly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For example, some devices can connect your TV to your cable
TV box.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Apple TV offers splendid connections to Netflix, YouTube and
others but will not surf the Web. Google has its version, much more expensive.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Apple only goes to certain sites.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When I brought this up with marketing reps several years ago
they told me no one wanted a computer in their living room or entertainment
room.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wonder why alternatives such as iPads have done so well.
Surely not everyone is reading it exclusively on trains, planes, and I certainly
hope not while driving an automobile.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If they ever get this done (seems likely to happen this year
actually) will there be a market for the HDMI cables.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And while we are at it, make sure it plugs right into your
home theater complex.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<o:p></o:p></div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6644569254140747602.post-11350317006544333362012-01-25T07:20:00.000-07:002012-01-25T15:25:51.707-07:00Assange Russian TV Show<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/dWIal1rakvw?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Wikileaks founder Julian
Assange plans to host a show on Russian TV in March. The show will be taped in the United
Kingdom so the long-running case of alleged sexual assault against Assange in
Sweden would not necessarily interfere.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">However, it wasn't clear how shows taped weeks in advance could be timely.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Ria Novosti, the official
Russian news agency, confirmed plans for show.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">It was an embarrassment for the U.S. media, coming on the same day that Reporters Without Borders lowered its ranking for press freedom from 20th to 47th.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Assange’s appeal of an extradition order is scheduled for a hearing in England’s
high court on Feb. 1. The authencity of the allegations have has been challenged by Wikileaks and many others. Some consider it a
U.S.-influenced attempt to discredit Wikileaks for the release of negative
inform about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Assange has been under
house arrest in England for more than a year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The show will have ten
half-hour segments with many outside guests, the channel Russia Today said. It
will be called “The World Tomorrow," the station said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">“Guests of the show’s host and creator Julian
Assange will include politicians and revolutionaries; people, who in his
opinion, will form tomorrow’s agenda,” the channel said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">“We are proud and delighted that our channel will
premiere Julian Assange’s project because the RT channel has gained a worldwide
audience that's disappointed by the mainstream and has become open to new
angles, making this show fitting for the purpose” RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita
Simonyan said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">U.S. viewers likely would have to watch the show
on the Internet or via satellite, barring a decision by commercial American
television to pick it up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Wikileaks said on its Web site that this is timely
because some in the U.S. Congress were pushing legislation which would
virtually shut down the free flow of information on the Web.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">“Upheavals and revolutions in the Middle East have
started an era of political change that is still unfolding," WikiLeaks
stated on its website. "In the West, the deterioration of the rule of law
has demonstrated the bankruptcy of once leading political institutions and
ideologies. The Internet has never been so strong, or so much under attack.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<br /></div>Robert Wellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17101568140214706498noreply@blogger.com1