- Signs of the Times Archive for Wed, 20 Feb 2008 -




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Best of the Web
Bush's Life of Constitutional Crime; Has He Been Spying, Blackmailing Congressional Democrats?

Paul Craig Roberts
Counterpunch
2008-02-20 15:26:00

Blackmail
©Unknown
Blackmail is act of threatening to reveal information about a person unless the threatened party fulfills certain demands. This information is usually of an embarrassing or socially damaging nature.


President George W. Bush and his director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, are telling the American people that an unaccountable executive branch is necessary for their protection. Without the Protect America Act, Bush and McConnell claim, the executive branch will not be able to spy on terrorists, and we will all be blown up. Terrorists can only be stopped, Bush says, if Bush has the right to spy on everyone without any oversight by courts.

The fight over the Protect America Act has everything to do with our safety, only not in the way that Bush and McConnell assert.

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U.S. News
Jailed Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee advances through primary


Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
2008-02-20 08:46:00

Milwaukee - Jailed Milwaukee Alderman Michael McGee led eight challengers in the primary election to advance to the April 1 general election for the post.

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Concerns over Economy Push Bush's Overall Job Approval to 19%


American Research Group
2008-02-20 17:58:00

George W. Bush's overall job approval rating has dropped to a new low in American Research Group polling as 78% of Americans say that the national economy is getting worse according to the latest survey from the American Research Group.

Among all Americans, 19% approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president and 77% disapprove. When it comes to Bush's handling of the economy, 14% approve and 79% disapprove.


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Oklahoma preparing for possible satellite fallout


KSWO.com
2008-02-20 17:44:00

Oklahoma is taking steps to prepare for any fallout from the U.S. government's plan to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite, according to Gov. Brad Henry.

The governor met with state homeland security and emergency management officials Tuesday to coordinate response efforts if any of the satellite debris were to land in Oklahoma. Federal authorities have asked states to prepare response plans for locating debris and keeping the general public away from it.

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Weather likely to delay attempt at satellite shoot-down


Associated Press
2008-02-20 16:00:00

Washington - The Pentagon says bad weather at sea appears likely to put off, until at least Thursday, an attempt to shoot down the wayward U.S. spy satellite.

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Shreveport Officer fired for brutality which left woman lying in pool of her own blood


KSLA News 12
2008-02-20 15:33:00

A Shreveport Police officer at the heart of a police brutality claim was fired for "violating department policy," said the city's police chief on Wednesday.
Image
©Unknown
Angie Garbarino before meeting officer Wiley Willis


Image
©Unknown
Angie Garbarino after officer Wiley Willis


Shreveport Police Chief Henry Whitehorn would not elaborate on the specifics of the violation by Officer Wiley Wills, saying the investigation into the brutality claim remains open.

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New Jersey College Under Lockdown

David Porter
Associated Press
2008-02-20 15:37:00

St. Peter's College locked down its campus Wednesday after the discovery of a note threatening violence at the northern New Jersey school.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said the handwritten note made no mention of bombs or guns, but did threaten violence against the school.

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Kentucky: Louisville high school on lockdown after report of person with gun


The Canadian Press
2008-02-20 14:53:00

Police are searching a locked-down school in Louisville, Ky., after receiving a call that someone with a gun might be on the premises.

Police are going room to room at Fern Creek Traditional High School and interviewing potential witnesses, but police spokesman Phil Russell said by mid-morning, no gun had been found.

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Defense Contractor Sentenced to 12 Years for Bribery

Dan Eggen
Washington Post
2008-02-20 13:41:00

GOP Campaign Contributor Wilkes Linked to Former Representative Cunningham.

Brent R. Wilkes, a California defense contractor and prominent GOP campaign contributor, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison yesterday for lavishing a Republican congressman with money, prostitutes and other bribes in exchange for nearly $90 million in work from the Pentagon.

Brent R. Wilkes
©www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org
Brent R. Wilkes


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Former teacher sentenced in sex case

Katrina A. Goggins
news.yahoo.com
2008-02-20 00:37:00

A former middle school teacher was sent to prison for six years Tuesday for having sexual encounters with five teenage boys. Authorities said Allenna Ward, 24, met 14- and 15-year-old boys at the school where she taught as well as at a motel, a park and behind a restaurant.
Allena
©AP Photo/Clinton Police Department
This booking photo provided by the Clinton police department shows Allenna Ward, a middle school teacher in Clinton, S.C who was was fired Feb. 28, 2007, after she was charged with having sexual encounters with five teenage boys. Allenna, 24, was sent to prison for six years Tuesday Feb. 19, 2008.




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U.S. could shoot down satellite overnight Wednesday

David Morgan
news.yahoo.com
2008-02-20 00:25:00

The U.S. Navy may make its first attempt to shoot down an errant spy satellite loaded with toxic fuel overnight on Wednesday in an area of the Pacific Ocean west of Hawaii, according to U.S. officials and government documents.

A notice to mariners broadcast by the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency warned of "hazardous operations" in the area between 9:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday and midnight EST on Thursday.

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US warships position for satellite shoot down

Jim Mannion
news.yahoo.com
2008-02-20 00:13:00

A US warship is moving into position to try to shoot down an out-of-control US spy satellite as early as Wednesday before it tumbles into the Earth's atmosphere, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.

Armed with two specially modified interceptor missiles, the USS Lake Erie has been tasked to intercept the satellite over the Pacific and shoot it down into the ocean, the officials said, adding that a cruiser, the Aegis, is already in waters off Hawaii.
spy satellite
©AFP/Us Navy-HO/Michael Hight
This picture released by the US Navy shows Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Bates operating the radar system control during a ballistic missile defense drill on February 16 aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie. The US warship is moving into position to try to shoot down a defunct US spy satellite as early as Wednesday before it tumbles into the Earth's atmosphere, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.




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Man indicted for planning Super Bowl attack


Associated Press
2008-02-19 23:53:00

A man who planned to shoot people at the Super Bowl was indicted on six counts of sending threatening communications, according to court documents filed Tuesday in federal court.

Kurt William Havelock, 35, turned himself in to authorities after driving within sight of University of Phoenix Stadium during the Super Bowl with a rifle and 200 rounds of ammunition. He said he'd changed his mind.

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Obama and McCain score easy wins in Wisconsin

John Whitesides
Reuters
2008-02-19 22:58:00

MILWAUKEE - Democrat Barack Obama easily beat rival Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin on Tuesday, extending his U.S. presidential winning streak and putting pressure on Clinton to win next month in Ohio and Texas to salvage her campaign.

The Obama win in Wisconsin pushed his hot streak to nine straight victories in Democratic nominating contests. Democrats in Hawaii, where Obama was born and is a heavy favorite, also were voting on Tuesday.

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4 Students Die in Minnesota School Bus Crash


Associated Press
2008-02-19 22:29:00

Bus Crash
©AP Photo/ Marshall Independent, Rae Kruger
Rescue workers are seen at the site of a bus crash.

Cottonwood, Minn. - Authorities say four students have been killed in a school bus crash in southwestern Minnesota. Minnesota State Patrol Lieutenant Mark Peterson says the students died when their Lakeview School bus was hit by a van Tuesday on a highway near Cottonwood.



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UK & Euro-Asian News
Couple jailed for packing 41 pets into caravan


UK Guardian
2008-02-20 15:32:00

Image


A couple have been jailed for four months and banned from keeping pets for life after cramming 34 cats and seven dogs into a 7ft by 12ft caravan.

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UK government slips again on data security: Murderers missing after disk mistake

Iain Thomson
Vnunet
2008-02-20 15:02:00

The UK government is again in the dock over data security after losing a disk containing details of foreign criminals operating in Britain.

The disk was sent by Dutch police a year ago and contained genetic information on criminals they believed to be active in the UK.

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UK: One in four students quits university early despite the Government spending £1bn to stop drop-outs


This is London
2008-02-20 13:32:00

Nearly a quarter of university students fail to complete their degree courses, it is claimed today.

Despite an £800million scheme to curb the drop-out rate, it has remained virtually the same in the past five years, an influential committee of MPs warns.

Image
©Unknown
Demoralised: Rebecca Yardley became disillusioned with her London College of Fashion course and dropped out


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'Double life' of accused killer


BBC News
2008-02-20 12:34:00

The husband of a murdered special constable was having an affair with a prostitute and living a "double life", the Old Bailey has been told.

Fadi Nasri, 34, had a "number of motives" for the murder which he is accused of organising, jurors heard.

Nisha Patel-Nasri was stabbed to death at her home in Sudbury Avenue, Wembley, north London, in May 2006.

Mr Nasri, of Barnet, north London, denies murder along with three other men from London.

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Stop Blair: ambition to lead Europe hits fierce opposition

Ian Traynor and David Gow
The Guardian
2008-02-20 08:54:00

Tony Blair's hopes of becoming Europe's first president are running into mounting opposition across the EU, with Germany determined to stymie the former prime minister.

A "Stop Blair" website run by pro-Europeans has launched a petition against him; a transnational, cross-party caucus in the European parliament is forming to campaign against a Blair presidency; senior officials in Brussels are privately dismissive about the new post going to a Briton; and senior diplomats in European capitals also doubt that Blair is the right person for the post being created under Europe's new reform treaty.

Tony Blair in Davos, Switzerland, last month.
©Jeff J Mitchell/Getty images
A very smug war criminal and liar


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Homeless man lived at Gatwick

Cathy Heffernan
The Guardian
2008-02-20 08:20:00

A chef who has made Gatwick airport his home since losing his job in 2004 has been taken into custody after pleading guilty to breaching an asbo banning him from the airport. Anthony Delaney became homeless after losing his position as restaurant chef in Buckinghamshire.

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Greece: Drug-addicted couple die in 'double suicide'


eKathimerini
2008-02-20 07:36:00

A couple who had been drug addicts for years were yesterday found dead in a parked car in an agricultural area of Pieria, northern Greece, police said, referring to the incident as a double suicide.

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BBC: UK police feared armed clash with El Al in 2005


AFP
2008-02-20 07:16:00

BBC: UK police refrained from arresting Israeli general Doron Almog at Heathrow Airport in 2005, fearing potential clash with Israeli airline's armed security guards; El Al refused to grant police permission to board plane.

An Israeli general wanted for alleged war crimes escaped arrest at Heathrow airport in 2005 because British police feared an armed standoff, the BBC reported Tuesday.

Image
©Michael Kramer
Doron Almog - evaded arrest


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Record diamond to go under hammer


news.yahoo.com
2008-02-20 00:00:00

The biggest colourless diamond to appear at auction for 20 years will go under the hammer later this year, officials said as it was unveiled in London Tuesday.

The 101.27-carat stone, which will be sold at the Hong Kong branch of Christie's auction house on May 28, is expected to fetch in excess of six million dollars (three million pounds, four million euros).
Diamond
©AFP/Leon Neal
A 101.27 carat colourless diamond is displayed at Christie's auction house in London. It is the biggest colourless diamond to appear at auction for 20 years and it will go under the hammer later this year, officials said as it was unveiled in London.




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Liechtenstein accuses Germany of attacking its sovereignty


Agence France Presse
2008-02-19 23:27:00

VADUZ - Liechtenstein's Crown Prince Alois on Tuesday accused Germany of launching an attack on the principality's sovereignty by paying an informer for bank details in a massive tax fraud probe.

"Germany has clearly failed to understand how one behaves towards a friendly state. We are a small country and we want good relations with our neighbours but we are also a sovereign state," the prince said.

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Polls suggest Sarkozy dodged the bullet


Eursoc
2008-02-19 18:13:00

Nicolas Sarkozy poll ratings have plummeted by more than 20 points since the autumn. Commentators have placed the blame variously on his divorce and subsequent marriage to model Carla Bruni, the meagre growth in French spending power and a failure to progress as quickly with his reform program as his supporters hoped.

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French Police Round Up Suspects in November Unrest

James Kanter
The New York Times
2008-02-19 18:10:00

The French police on Monday carried out a series of high-profile raids in poor suburbs close to the capital, arresting dozens of people suspected of shooting at the police and setting fires during three days of unrest last November.

About 1,100 police officers surrounded buildings, forced open doors and searched homes in towns including Villiers-le-Bel and Sarcelles.

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Gush of Belated Book-Publishing Unearths More Carla-Sarko Gossip

Bruce Sterling
Wired
2008-02-19 05:43:00

This is all hokum, it's pure tittle-tattle, yet it's also the stuff of folk legend. "I want to have a man who has nuclear power." That is some kind of ultimate 21st-century courtesan thing to have said. I'm 95% sure that's apocryphal -- of course Carla never actually said it -- but it's the kind of thing that'll be knowingly quoted a hundred years from now. It'll be in the historical movie, the dramatic screen-play, whatever -- the gorgeous future actress playing "Carla Bruni," she stares out the window, she blows a stream of archaic cigarette smoke across the slotted shadows from the Venetian blinds... "I want a man with nuclear power!"

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Around the World
New Zealand shipping warned of satellite debris


New Zealand Herald
2008-02-21 17:52:00

Maritime New Zealand is warning ships in the Pacific that at some point today there may be falling debris from American attempts to shoot down a crippled spy satellite.

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SKorean Helicopter Crashes, Killing 7


Associated Press
2008-02-20 13:27:00

A South Korean army helicopter crashed near a mountain early Wednesday, killing seven people on board, a Defense Ministry official said.

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U.S. strikes within Pakistan - without notice

Joby Warrick and Robin Wright
Washington Post
2008-02-20 07:35:00

In the predawn hours of Jan. 29, a CIA Predator aircraft flew in a slow arc above the Pakistani town of Mir Ali. The drone's operator, relying on information secretly passed to the CIA by local informants, clicked a computer mouse and sent the first of two Hellfire missiles hurtling toward a cluster of mud-brick buildings a few miles from the town center.

Tim Gerlach
©USAF
The Predator Tier II




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Addicted to Power: Musharraf says he intends to stay


CNN
2008-02-20 06:02:00

Islamabad, Pakistan -- One day after his party was trounced in parliamentary elections, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf said he intended to remain in office and work with the new government, despite calls by the victorious opposition to step down.

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Canada to buy old German tanks as spare parts for Afghan mission.

Murray Brewster
The Canadian Press
2008-02-19 23:20:00

OTTAWA - Canada plans to buy a handful of older, surplus German tanks to cannibalize for spare parts to keep its combat forces on the move in Afghanistan.

The undisclosed purchase is apparently part of the $1.3-billion tank modernization program announced last year by former defence minister Gordon O'Connor.

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Australia says job is done for soldiers in Iraq

Rob Taylor
Reuters
2008-02-19 23:04:00

CANBERRA - Australia's top military commander said on Wednesday the job of the country's combat soldiers in southern Iraq was done, bolstering a government decision to bring them home mid-year.

Ahead of weekend talks in Canberra with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the planned withdrawal of 550 soldiers, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said Iraqi forces had not needed Australian backup for two years now.

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Kenya Crisis Talks Stall Over Power Sharing

Peter Clottey
VOA News
2008-02-19 22:54:00

In Kenya, talks between the government and the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) have reportedly hit a stalemate over disagreement about power sharing. This comes after embattled President Mwai Kibaki's government rejected calls by United States Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and talks mediator Kofi Annan to allow for a power-sharing deal or a grand coalition. The opposition is demanding a 50:50 arrangement, with ODM leader Raila Odinga as prime minister, followed by fresh elections in two years. But the government dismissed the opposition demands as untenable. Koigi Wamwere is Kenya's former deputy information minister. He tells reporter Peter Clottey from the capital, Nairobi that Kenyans want the political crisis resolved.

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Land of the Long White Lie: The New Zealand Terror Raids

Valerie Morse
CounterPunch
2008-02-19 21:15:00

On October 15 2007, the New Zealand police carried out unprecedented nation-wide raids arresting 17 indigenous rights activists and anarchists and raiding some 60 different locations. The arrests were based on surveillance and interception warrants obtained under the Terrorism Suppression Act. This was the first time that the police used this Act, a law passed immediately after 9/11 and a direct result of it.

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Big Brother
Deputy tasers high school student against direct orders

Linda So
abc2 News
2008-02-18 17:28:00

Maryland - A Queen Anne's County Sheriff's Deputy has been placed on administrative duty after he allegedly tasered a teen. The deputy is accused of using unnecessary force and going against orders when he tasered Kent Island High School basketball player Brandon Bennett.

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Late DVDs lead to criminal charge for Quebec couple


CTV.ca
2008-02-18 14:51:00

A Chateauguay, Quebec, couple can't believe they ended up being criminally charged after forgetting to return some DVDs.

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Court Rejects ACLU Challenge to Wiretaps


Associated Press
2008-02-19 17:49:00

Washington -- The Supreme Court dealt a setback Tuesday to civil rights and privacy advocates who oppose the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program. The justices, without comment, turned down an appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union to let it pursue a lawsuit against the program that began shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Supremes
©Unknown
The Supremes A' Go-Go


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Axis of Evil
Indonesia: US may turn avian flu into bioweapon

Geoff Thompson
ABC Australia
2008-02-20 14:07:00

PETER CAVE: Indonesia's Health Minister has suggested that the United States may be involved in a conspiracy to use the bird flu virus to develop biological weapons.

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Kosovo: The US and the EU support a Political Process linked to Organized Crime

Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research
2008-02-20 08:07:00



Our orientations are clear. The building of the state of Kosova, economic development, economic and social well-being and rigorous measures against corruption, organized crime and negative behavior, so we can have improved security and integrate Kosova into European Union structures.

(Hashim Thaci, chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Prime Minister of the Kosovo provisional government, former KLA leader and known criminal)

The PDK, led by Hashim Thaci, former Kosovan Liberation Army commander, took control of many municipalities after the war. The party has close links with organized crime in the province.
(The Observer, 29 October 2000)

Mr. Thaci, nicknamed "the Snake" during his KLA days, is a sharp-suited 32-year-old former rebel commander with poor oratory skills, links to organized crime and a determination to preserve relations between his party and the United States (The Scotsman, 20 October 2000)


I know a terrorist when I see one and these men are terrorists," (US Special Envoy and Ambassador Robert Gelbard)

"The KLA [formerly headed by Hashim Thaci] is tied in with every known Middle and Far Eastern drug cartel. Interpol, Europol, and nearly every European intelligence and counter-narcotics agency has files open on drug syndicates that lead right to the KLA,..."
(Michael Levine former official of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA))

Our orientations are clear. The building of the state of Kosova, economic development, economic and social well-being and rigorous measures against corruption, organized crime and negative behavior, so we can have improved security and integrate Kosova into European Union structures.

(Hashim Thaci, chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Prime Minister of the Kosovo provisional government, former KLA leader and known criminal)

The PDK, led by Hashim Thaci, former Kosovan Liberation Army commander, took control of many municipalities after the war. The party has close links with organized crime in the province.
(The Observer, 29 October 2000)

Mr. Thaci, nicknamed "the Snake" during his KLA days, is a sharp-suited 32-year-old former rebel commander with poor oratory skills, links to organized crime and a determination to preserve relations between his party and the United States (The Scotsman, 20 October 2000)

Hashim Thaci founded the "Drenica-Group" an underground organization that is estimated to have controlled between 10% and 15% of all criminal activities in Kosovo (smuggling arms, stolen cars, oil, cigarettes and prostitution). Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia



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U.S. military stretched dangerously thin by war: army poll


Reuters
2008-02-19 23:11:00

WASHINGTON - The U.S. military has been stretched dangerously thin by the Iraq war, according to almost 90 percent of retired and current military officers polled on the state of America's armed forces.

Eighty percent said it would be unreasonable to expect the U.S. military to wage another major war successfully at this time, according to the poll by the Center for a New American Security think tank and Foreign Policy magazine.

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Sarkozy: The Extraordinary Zionist

Khalid Amayreh
The Palestinian Information Center
2008-02-19 21:35:00

Sarko
©Unknown


Est-ce Sarkozy est Sioniste extraordinair? Is French President Nicolas Sarkozy an extraordinary Zionist.? Well, his behavior so far indicates that he is.

Last week, Mr. Sarkozy was quoted as saying that he wouldn't shake hands with anyone that didn't recognize Israel as a Jewish state. The gravity of his statement is very real, since accepting Israel as an exclusively Jewish state amounts to condoning and embracing racism in its most fundamentalist forms. It is very much like insisting that France should belong exclusively to the Catholics and that the non-Catholic citizens of France would have to come to terms with their inferior status as lesser citizens who eventually would have to choose between embracing Catholicism or expulsion.

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Unilateral Strike Called a Model For U.S. Operations in Pakistan

Joby Warrick and Robin Wright
The Washington Post
2008-02-19 18:16:00

In the predawn hours of Jan. 29, a CIA Predator aircraft flew in a slow arc above the Pakistani town of Mir Ali. The drone's operator, relying on information secretly passed to the CIA by local informants, clicked a computer mouse and sent the first of two Hellfire missiles hurtling toward a cluster of mud-brick buildings a few miles from the town center.

The missiles killed Abu Laith al-Libi, a senior al-Qaeda commander and a man who had repeatedly eluded the CIA's dragnet. It was the first successful strike against al-Qaeda's core leadership in two years, and it involved, U.S. officials say, an unusual degree of autonomy by the CIA inside Pakistan.

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Middle East Madness
Israeli MP blames gays for recent earthquakes


Associated Press
2008-02-21 06:04:00

An Israeli parliamentarian said that several earthquakes felt in Israel recently were a consequence of gays and the parliament's acceptance of them.

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Propaganda Alert! Iraq says mentally disabled will be removed from streets


AP
2008-02-20 16:17:00

BAGHDAD - Iraq's government is trying to get beggars and mentally disabled people off the streets of Baghdad.

The fear is that these people could be used by insurgents as suicide bombers.


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Israeli army kills a 10 year old boy in central Gaza


IMEMC
2008-02-20 12:52:00

Image
One of the many Palestinian children murdered by Israeli troops in Gaza.



A Palestinian child was shot and killed when the Israeli army opened fire at Palestinian homes located in the central Gaza strip city of Dier Al Balah on Tuesday evening.

Medical sources identified the child as Tamer Abu Sha'ar, 10 years old. Witnesses said that Israeli troops invaded the area, when confronted with local resistance men troops opened fire at nearby homes and killed the child.

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Gaza, I weep for thee

Skulz Fontaine
DesertPeace Blog
2008-02-19 23:00:00

Crying child
©Ben Heine


Gaza, I weep for thee. You see, I stand over here shackled and chained and all I can do is weep. For when I scream, my screaming falls on deaf ears. When I rant and I rave I am viewed with suspicion.

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The Loan Gunmen
Poll: Majority of Americans Expect a Recession

Emily Kaiser
Reuters
2008-02-20 15:43:00

A majority of Americans expect a recession in the next year as the housing downturn deepens, inflation rises and credit conditions tighten, a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday showed.

The survey of 1,105 likely voters found that 54 percent thought a recession was looming. It was the first time since the recession question was added to the monthly poll in September that more than half predicted such a downturn.

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Britain's richest man, Lakshmi Mittal, has just earned another £1bn

David Gow
The Guardian
2008-02-14 16:04:00

To most, it would be an unimaginable fortune. To Lakshmi Mittal, it probably feels like pocket change.

Britain's richest man, the steel magnate at the helm of ArcelorMittal, disclosed yesterday that he had made another £1bn or so during 2007; the result of returning cash to shareholders through special dividends and a share buyback. The world's leading steel group posted record earnings of almost $20bn (£10.17bn) last year. ArcelorMittal said sales rose last year to $105.2bn. Its results reflect not only the continued booming global demand for steel but an ability to pass on price increases caused by huge rises in commodity costs.



Comment: It is these "huge rises in commodity prices" that make life so incredibly expensive for ordinary people and yet so incredibly profitable for the world's elite.



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Barclays director lands £14.8m bonus


UK Guardian
2008-02-20 15:43:00

· Payout comes despite £1.6bn sub-prime hit
· Bank beats forecasts with £7bn profit

Bob Diamond, the US-born banker who is on the board of Barclays, is to receive a £14.8m bonus this year even though the investment banking division he runs has forced the group to take a £1.6bn hit from the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US.

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Consumer Prices in U.S. Increase More Than Forecast

Courtney Schlisserman
Bloomberg
2008-02-20 10:58:00

Consumer prices in the U.S. rose more than forecast in January, indicating that the faltering economy hasn't alleviated inflation pressures.

The 0.4 percent increase in the cost of living matched the gain in December, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Excluding food and energy, prices rose 0.3 percent, after a 0.2 percent climb a month earlier, leading the so-called core rate to the biggest increase since June 2006.

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Northern Rock deal could cost us each £3,500

Andrew Porter, Robert Winnett and Edmund Conway
Daily Telegraph
2008-02-20 09:24:00

The cost of the Northern Rock crisis has reached the equivalent of £3,500 for every taxpayer as experts warned that the nationalisation rescue of the bank was bound to fail.

Taxpayers' exposure to the beleaguered bank has doubled since the beginning of the year and now stands at about £110 billion - more than the annual budget of the NHS and the equivalent of 27p on the basic rate of income tax.



Comment: Insanity! Is there such a massive risk of total collapse (before the "time is right") for the UK government to be acting this way? Or might it simply be that the bankers are telling the government what to do so as to line their own pockets?



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Whistleblowing website vows to defy court gag

Jemima Kiss
The Guardian
2008-02-20 08:06:00

An international website that claims to blow the whistle on corporate and governmental fraud vowed yesterday to defy attempts by a US court to close it down. Wikileaks allows whistleblowers to anonymously post documents in an attempt to expose corruption and wrongdoing. Its owners said yesterday that a Californian judge had ordered that the site be taken offline last week, after an injunction from a Swiss bank.

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Credit squeeze's potential ripple effects

Ron Scherer
news.yahoo.com
2008-02-20 00:19:00

Americans from Main Street to Wall Street may have to live with less debt.

Despite steeply lower short-term interest rates, banks and investors are now becoming much tougher when it comes to handing out credit cards, providing home-equity lines of credit, agreeing to lend money for corporate takeovers, and even providing money for student loans.

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Wall St. Banks Confront a String of Write-Downs

Jenny Anderson
The New York Times
2008-02-19 22:09:00

Wall Street banks are bracing for another wave of multibillion-dollar losses as the crisis that began with subprime mortgages spreads through the credit markets.

In recent weeks one part of the debt market after another has buckled. High-risk loans used to finance corporate buyouts have plummeted in value. Securities backed by commercial real estate mortgages and student loans have fallen sharply. Even auction-rate securities, arcane investments usually considered as safe as cash, have stumbled.

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America's economy risks the mother of all meltdowns

Martin Wolf
The Financial Times
2008-02-19 22:02:00

"I would tell audiences that we were facing not a bubble but a froth - lots of small, local bubbles that never grew to a scale that could threaten the health of the overall economy." Alan Greenspan, The Age of Turbulence.

That used to be Mr Greenspan's view of the US housing bubble. He was wrong, alas. So how bad might this downturn get? To answer this question we should ask a true bear. My favourite one is Nouriel Roubini of New York University's Stern School of Business, founder of RGE monitor.

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CA, US: Vallejo On Brink Of Bankruptcy

John Boitnott
NBC11.com
2008-02-19 21:56:00

The city of Vallejo is on the brink of becoming the first California city ever to declare bankruptcy, City Council members said Tuesday.

Vallejo may run out of cash as early as March, council member Stephanie Gomes said.

"Not only that, but now we have 20 police and fire employees retiring because they are afraid of not getting their payouts," Gomes said. "That means we have another few million dollars in payouts that we had not expected. So the situation is quite dire."

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Oil Jumps Above $100

John Wilen, AP Business Writer
Associated Press
2008-02-19 16:29:00

New York -- Oil futures shot higher Tuesday, closing above $100 for the first time as investors bet that crude prices will keep climbing despite evidence of plentiful supplies and falling demand. At the pump, gas prices rose further above $3 a gallon.

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The Living Planet
New freezing weather hits Saudi Arabia


RIA Novosti
2008-02-20 16:33:00

Northern regions of Saudi Arabia have been hit by the second cold spell this winter, the Al-Watan daily said on Wednesday.

This winter is said to be the coldest in Saudi Arabia in 30 years.

Temperatures in northern and northwestern parts of the country plunged to -5 degrees Centigrade (23 Fahrenheit) with bitterly cold winds raging at speeds of 60 km/ph (37 m/ph). Local residents are staying indoors whenever possible amid fears of hypothermia.

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Cold spell claims over 1,100 lives in Afghanistan


RIA Novosti
2008-02-20 16:14:00

The amount of people killed by freak freezing weather in Afghanistan since December last year has risen to over 1,100, the country's Ministry for Emergency Situations said on Wednesday.

This winter is the coldest in the last 30 years in Afghanistan, with temperatures reaching lows of -30 degrees Centigrade (-22 Fahrenheit) in 17 of the country's 34 provinces, national weather authorities said.

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Major earthquake off coast of Greece


USA Today
2008-02-20 16:08:00

Greece was just hit by its second major earthquake in less than a week.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude 6.2 temblor was centered about 140 miles southwest of Athens. A quake with the same strength was recorded in that area on Valentine's Day.

Earlier today, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake shook Indonesia. Reuters says it killed at least three people and injured more than two dozen others.

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Update: Three killed by Indonesian quake


BBC News
2008-02-20 09:19:00

At least three people have been killed and 25 seriously injured by a 7.5-magnitude quake near Indonesia's western Aceh province, officials say.

Indonesia Quake
©USGS


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Strong quake strikes near Indonesia's Aceh


Reuters
2008-02-20 07:29:00

Jakarta - A 7.5 magnitude quake struck off Indonesia's Aceh province on Wednesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, but there were no reports of deaths or casualties and no local tsunami warning was issued.

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Analyzing Global-warming Science

William F. Jasper
The New American
2008-02-19 18:50:00

Dr Arthur Robinson
©The New American


Interview of Dr. Arthur Robinson by William F. Jasper

Dr. Arthur Robinson is a professor of chemistry and is cofounder of the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, which was created in 1980 to conduct basic and applied research in subjects applicable to increasing the quality, quantity, and length of human life. As part of his work, he edits the newsletter Access to Energy.

Dr. Robinson, in collaboration with other scientists, was one of the early critics of doomsday global-warming theories. He has authored articles and created video presentations demonstrating that the hypothesis of human-caused global warming is wrong, showing that the hypothesis is not supported by the observable evidence. To come to this conclusion, Professor Robinson and his colleagues brought together the findings of hundreds of peer-reviewed studies about all aspects of the global-warming hypothesis.

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Mysterious Creatures Found in Antarctica


Associated Press
2008-02-19 17:00:00

Sydney, Australia -- Scientists investigating the icy waters of Antarctica said Tuesday they have collected mysterious creatures including giant sea spiders and huge worms in the murky depths.

Antarctic Sealife
©Unknown
Antarctic sealife


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Health & Wellness
Physical abuse of children a major problem for Russia


RIA Novosti
2008-02-20 15:31:00

Domestic violence has become a major disaster for Russia, where over two million children are beaten by their parents every year, a leader of a Russian human rights movement said on Wednesday.

"According to experts, a total of 50,000 children flee home and 70,000 are abused annually," Olga Kostina, the leader of a non-governmental movement, Soprotivlenye, added.

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US: Midlife Suicide Rises, Puzzling Researchers

Patricia Cohen
The New York Times
2008-02-20 14:22:00

Shannon Neal can instantly tell you the best night of her life: Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2003, the Hinsdale Academy debutante ball. Her father, Steven Neal, a 54-year-old political columnist for The Chicago Sun-Times, was in his tux, white gloves and tie. "My dad walked me down and took a little bow," she said, and then the two of them goofed it up on the dance floor as they laughed and laughed.

Image
©Unknown
Shannon Neal says her debutante ball on Dec. 23, 2003, which she attended with her father, Steven, was the best night of her life. A few weeks later, her father, who was 54 at the time, killed himself.


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Flashback: Do Narcissists Dislike Themselves "Deep Down Inside"?

W. Keith Campbell, Jennifer K. Bosson, Thomas W. Goheen, Chad E. Lakey, Michael H. Kernis
Psychological Science 18 (3) , 227 - 229
2007-03-20 07:48:00

Narcissism is a personality trait associated with an inflated, grandiose self-concept and a lack of intimacy in interpersonal relationships. A popular assumption is that narcissists' positive explicit (conscious) self-views mask implicit (nonconscious) self-loathing. This belief is typically traced to psychodynamic theory, especially that of Kohut (1966; Morrison, 1983). Empirically, this view predicts that narcissists will reveal negative self-views when these are measured with unobtrusive instruments - such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) - that record people's automatic, uncontrolled responses. Using the IAT, however, researchers found no simple relation between narcissism and implicit self-esteem (rs = −.13 and .03; Jordan, Spencer, Zanna, Hoshino-Browne, & Correll, 2003; Zeigler-Hill, 2006).1

According to another line of thought, narcissists' explicit self-views are not uniformly positive; rather, narcissism is associated with positive self-views in agentic domains (e.g., status, intelligence), but not in communal domains (e.g., kindness, morality). Evidence for this idea comes from both explicit trait ratings, which show an association between narcissism and positive self-views only on agentic traits (Campbell, Rudich, & Sedikides, 2002), and from analyses showing that narcissism is particularly strongly associated with self-esteem measures that capture dominance (Brown & Zeigler-Hill, 2004). Bradlee and Emmons (1992) and Paulhus and Williams (2002) have also reported personality data supporting this distinction.

correlations
©Campbell, W. Keith, Bosson, Jennifer K., Goheen, Thomas W., Lakey, Chad E. & Kernis, Michael H.
Fig. 1. Correlations between narcissism (the Narcissistic Personality Inventory; Raskin & Terry, 1988) and measures of explicit and implicit self-esteem, agency, and communion in Studies 1 and 2. Asterisks indicate correlations significantly different from zero, *p < .05, prep > .875. IAT = Implicit Association Test; RSES = Rosenberg's (1965) self-esteem scale.


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Music speeds recovery from stroke

Marlowe Hood
news.yahoo.com
2008-02-20 00:06:00

A daily dose of one's favourite pop melodies, classical music or jazz can speed recovery from debilitating strokes, according to a study published Wednesday.

When stroke patients in Finland listened to music for a couple of hours each day, verbal memory and attention span improved significantly compared to patients who received no musical stimulation, or who listened only to stories read aloud,the study reported.

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US: Hospital 'Code Blue' Deadlier at Night

Carla K. Johnson
Associated Press
2008-02-19 22:37:00

Chicago, Illinois - Many hospitals call it "code blue," a signal given over the intercom when a patient's heart has stopped. When code blue works well, a team speeds to the bedside and revives the patient. The graveyard shift is the worst time to call code blue, a new study finds. Patients who go into cardiac arrest while in the hospital are more likely to die if it happens after 11 p.m., when staffing may be lower or patients watched less closely.


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Many Pharmacy Lawsuits Settled Quietly

Erik Brady and Kevin McCoy
USA Today
2008-02-14 22:22:00

Chanda Givens wanted to ensure the health of her unborn child when she became pregnant last February. Her doctor prescribed a prenatal vitamin, Materna. But instead, a Walgreens store in suburban St. Louis gave her Matulane, a chemotherapy drug that interferes with cell growth.

According to the federal lawsuit she later filed against Walgreens, Givens, then 29, suffered weeks of "nausea, vomiting, neurologic symptoms -- dizziness, lightheadedness, chills and shortness of breath." A medical exam showed her fetus was not developing normally. She miscarried in early April.

She said the loss of her baby was a direct result of Walgreens' giving her the wrong drug, and she and her husband, Courtenay, sought actual and punitive damages in excess of $75,000. Her attorneys contended Walgreens failed her on multiple levels in terms of supervising its personnel and verifying the prescription with her doctor.

Was Walgreens really to blame? What caused the error? There is no way to know: The case was settled out of court a few weeks after the lawsuit was filed. Givens, her husband and her attorneys now cannot talk about it publicly because they signed a confidentiality agreement.

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Science & Technology
Moon, satellite to put on a show tonight

Tom Spears
Canwest News Service
2008-02-20 17:48:00

OTTAWA -- If the sky is clear tonight, look up and you'll see two special shows from outer space: one out-of-control spy satellite on its way to destruction and, for good measure, a total eclipse of the moon.

Both will be visible with the naked eye, although some of Canada will miss the dying spy satellite.

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Wikileaks: Still Standing


Tech Tree
2008-02-20 11:30:00

Little affected by last week's "temporary restraining order" slapped on Wikileaks, a website that allows whistleblowers to release obscured corporate and government documents for public scrutiny, users can still access the site's documents though its IP address (88.80.13.160) as well as domain names including wikileaks.ws, wikileaks.be, and wikileaks.cx.

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MIT explains spread of 1918 flu pandemic

Anne Trafton
MIT News Office
2008-02-20 09:54:00

MIT researchers have explained why two mutations in the H1N1 avian flu virus allowed the disease to spread during the 1918 pandemic that killed at least 50 million people. The work could help scientists detect and contain a future bird flu outbreak among humans.

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Robert Jastrow, Who Made Space Understandable, Dies at 82

John Schwartz
New York Times
2008-02-20 09:09:00

Robert Jastrow, who led a major space science institution and helped to bring space down to earth for millions of Americans, died Friday at his home in Arlington, Va. He was 82.
Robert Jastrow
©George C. Marshall Institute
Robert Jastrow




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Pentagon investigated lasers that put voices in your head and mimic Schizophrenia


Wired
2008-02-20 07:45:00

A recently unclassified report from the Pentagon from 1998 has revealed an investigation into using laser beams for a few intriguing potential methods of non-lethal torture. Some of the applications the report investigated include putting voices in people's heads, using lasers to trigger uncontrolled neuron firing, and slowly heating the human body to a point of feverish confusion - all from hundreds of meters away.

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MIT to lead development of new telescopes on moon

David Chandler
MIT News
2008-02-15 00:23:00

NASA has selected a proposal by an MIT-led team to develop plans for an array of radio telescopes on the far side of the moon that would probe the earliest formation of the basic structures of the universe. The agency announced the selection and 18 others related to future observatories on Friday, Feb.15.

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The downside of a good idea

Robert Goldstone
Indiana University
2008-02-20 00:14:00

Good ideas can have drawbacks. When information is freely shared, good ideas can stunt innovation by distracting others from pursuing even better ideas, according to Indiana University cognitive scientist Robert Goldstone.

"How do you structure your community so you get the best solution out of the group?" Goldstone said. "It turns out not to be effective if different inventors and labs see exactly what everyone else is doing because of the human tendency to glom onto the current 'best' solution."

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Our Haunted Planet
UFO: "There is something there, I know it"

Neil Graham
Grantham Journal
2008-02-18 13:43:00

A UFO spotter is certain alien crafts are in the skies above Grantham- and fears they have sinister plans.

UFO over Grantham
©Grantham Journal




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Meteor Over Portland Caught on Tape


KPTV Oregon
2008-02-20 09:56:00

People across Oregon and southwest Washington spotted a fireball in the sky Tuesday morning.

Most reports of the fireball sighting came just after 5:30 a.m. A man who called 911 said "it lit up the whole sky" in the Milwaukie area.

FOX 12 meteorologist Drew Jackson said the object was likely the size of a basketball. He said that the object probably broke apart before hitting land.

Portland Meteor
©KOIN
Meteor over Portland


Video (courtesy KGW)
Video (courtesy CNN)

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Don't Panic! Lighten Up!
US: DVD in firefighter's coat blocks bullet


Associated Press
2008-02-20 15:21:00

A South Carolina man is thankful for a DVD that ended up taking a bullet for him. Colleton County Fire and Rescue Director Barry McRoy says he was leaving a Waffle House restaurant in Walterboro on Saturday morning when two men ran in fighting over a gun. Police say a bullet hit one of the struggling men, shattered a window and then hit McRoy.

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US: NBC reprimands employee for using picture of bin Laden behind Obama story


The Canadian Press
2008-02-20 14:45:00

NBC News said Tuesday it has reprimanded the employee responsible for mistakenly flashing a picture of Osama bin Laden on MSNBC as Chris Matthews talked about Barack Obama.

"This mistake was inexcusable," MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines said.

It happened during the opening of "Hardball" Monday evening. Matthews was previewing a story on the controversy over Obama's use of another politician's words, and a picture of bin Laden briefly flashed on the screen beside him with the headline "Words About Words."

Image
©youtube.com


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Flashback: Greece: Spider In Woman's Ear


Sky News
2002-06-11 14:33:00

A woman went to her doctor complaining of headaches - and was told there was a spider living her ear.

The arachnid had even spun a web in the woman's ear canal during its brief stay.

The 33-year-old, from Athens, felt a sharp pain in her ear while out riding a motorbike.

Image
©Unknown
Video footage of the spider


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Paranoid? Don't Worry; It's All Under Control

Peter Carlson
Washington Post
2008-02-20 13:55:00

Have you seen the latest issue of Paranoia magazine?

No? Well, that's not surprising, is it? There's a very good reason why you haven't seen it: They don't want you to see it. They know that Paranoia exposes them and their secret conspiracies to control every aspect of human life.

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A motorbike that will beat the traffic

Sam Wilson
Daily Telegraph
2008-02-20 08:42:00

Bikers tired of sharing the highway with inconsiderate motorists could have the ultimate revenge after an ex-stuntman put together a bike that will leave drivers in no doubt who is king of the road.

Ray Baumann spent three years building the 13.6 tonne Monster Motorbike
©Solent News
Boys and their toys


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Briton jailed for urinating on Latvian monument

Patrick Lannin and Robert Woodward
news.yahoo.com
2008-02-20 00:32:00

A British man was sentenced to five days' detention on Tuesday for urinating on one of Latvia's most treasured monuments.

A court official said the Briton, who denied the charges, would serve his detention in a police cell after being found guilty of urinating on the Freedom Monument.

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Swiss police say found 2 stolen Zurich artworks

Sven Egenter
Reuters
2008-02-19 23:21:00

ZURICH - Swiss police have found two of the four oil paintings by 19th Century masters, which were stolen from a Zurich museum earlier this month in one of Europe's biggest art thefts, they said on Tuesday.

The two paintings, by van Gogh and Monet, were found on Monday in a car parked outside a Zurich psychiatric hospital, police said and have an estimated value of 70 million Swiss francs ($64 million).

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Poland: Green Light for Boy Racers


Ananova
2008-02-19 00:00:00

Polish boy racers have been given the green light to speed through city streets by the police.

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Non-stop job of painting Forth Bridge to end

Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent
Daily Telegraph
2008-02-18 16:29:00

An end is finally in sight to the famously "never-ending" job of painting the Forth Rail Bridge.

Forth Rail Bridge
©Unknown
The 8,300ft bridge is made of 51,000 tonnes of steelwork and was completed in 1890.


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