Jon Thompson, owner of Free Republic - a site last seen slandering the Obama daughters as ghetto trash - is upset that his website and he is being painted as racist. So how da fuck do he s'pose to keep peace? Here is his well-thought out, racially neutral response.
( What's all on a FReeper's miii-iiiind... )
Oh, America. Why won't you leave the poor, white males alone?
source comes straight from the horse's ass
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Please forgive me in advance for this. I believe it may have been discussed before but I can no longer remember if it was, or what was said.
The dummies guide to lines
Please enlighten me as to how the sheraton will be more beneficial this year for the con registration. We (myself and wife) were there last year and we swore never to use it again- multiple issues. The brochure speaks of a shorter line .. but there are still going to be masses of people attempting to register.
I'm not an idiot, I'm just trying to see this with logical clarity. The Sheraton is a block or so away from the other host hotels and the means of travel is difficult if you are using a motorised device or aid due to disability. The 'security' they have at this hotel were in need of training, directing the crowd rather than asking questions. I don't want to be directed down to the lower level of the sheraton when I need to go through the lobby to the elevator. I'm sure the staff and volunteers have good reasoning, I just can't *see* it.
I don't see the benefits, would somebody kindly enlighten me.
Most sincerely
(Droogy) Rob
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My niece sent this old shot of me at Easter one year during my "pervy antique collector who knew a guy who knew a guy who once bought Terry Thomas a drink" phase. As you can see, I was wearing an ascot. And a pocketsquare. And ankleboots. AND a waxed moustache. Not altogether convincing of course, but I might revisit this look when I'm old enough to pull it off. I'll say it was damn fun putting it through its paces at the time, though. Even grocery shopping was an adventure.
Another reason that I tried this look so prematurely is that it seemed a shame that my nieces didn't have a "funny" uncle around, so I decided to step in as a proxy. Seemed the decent thing to do.
When or if I do revisit this "look," I might rent myself out as the gay relation's "friend" at people's family holiday gatherings.
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Public Enemies is not overtly bad, just boring. There was no sense of urgency or drama thru the entire 2 and a half hours. The movie just sputters along like a forced conversation you might have with an old acquaintance of your parents as you two wait for them in the living room. You try to be pleasant, but the whole scene is uncomfortable and you both are eager to get away. That is Public Enemies. The movie tries to be kind to the audience, but neither party wants to be there and both are too polite to admit it.
I expected a lot more from Michael Mann. He's normally such an efficient and expressive director. This time, he was just going thru the motions, or worse yet, trying too hard to make a particular type of film fused with what he is good at. He tells crime stories well, but despite being about a bank robber, this movie wanted to be a historical document and he tried to force it into that role, but failed.
Johnny Depp gave a brilliant performance, as he is wont to do, but he was acting apart from everyone else. It was as if everyone else had filmed a quaint little period piece for the Hallmark Channel and then Johhny Depp filmed some related scenes that were spliced into the film. There was no chemistry between him and Christian Bale, his nemesis, nor between him and his ad hoc girlfriend. She casually appeared into the story and then gracefully, but dully went away. In between, they kissed and spoke and we assume they were in love though you never would have known had she not cried when he was killed. As for Bale, playing the FBI agent charged with finding John Dillinger, he has no relationship to his quarry. Sure, he looks upset when John gets away or kills someone, but he doesn't seem to actually care about it nor does the script truly pit the two characters against each other. Bale could be any random agent looking for Depp and Depp truly has no clue or interest in who Bale is.
One weird thing is that nothing seemed rushed or slap dashed together. Quite the opposite, the movie is put together well, but just plods along with barely any intensity at all. The tiny bit there is is wasted on pointless gunfights that lack any suspense or integrity. They were just thrown in for kicks, it seems. The movie has coherency and a little charm, but it is all so lackluster and uninspired. It's as if your mother brings home some candy, but you have already eaten, so the treat just sits on the table and no one really cares if it gets eaten or not. Public Enemies is a movie that doesn't care if you watch it or not nor did the director and actors seem to care if they made it or not.
Now, though I don't really want to since everyone I know who likes the books likes the new movie, here is a review of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
( I won't bother to explain what I disliked adaptation wise b/c I am sure anyone who has read the books knows what was done wrong. )
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Below from Jewish Voices for Peace. URL at end is to PDF of the full report. URL above that is to write to your congress critters.
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The Israeli group Breaking the Silence has just released a collection of testimonies (1) by Israeli soldiers that took part in the Gaza attack last December and January.
This is not the first report documenting the horrors inflicted on the civilian population in Gaza. Less than two weeks ago, for example, Amnesty International produced a report documenting Israel's use of battlefield weapons against the civilian population trapped in Gaza. (2)
Today Israeli soldiers corroborate charges that the military repeatedly violated international law.
You know what? You feel like a child playing around with a magnifying glass, burning up ants. Really. A 20-year-old kid should not be doing such things to people.
The soldiers testify about their use of human shields (3), their use of phosphorus over civilian populations, and about the sheer magnitude of the destruction.
Why fire phosphorus? Because it's fun. Cool.
It looked awful, like in those World War II films where nothing remained. A totally destroyed city.
The soldiers also relate efforts of the military rabbinate unit to make the attack a holy war between "the sons of darkness" and "the sons of light."
[They told us] No pity, God protects you, everything you do is sanctified.
The list goes on.
Now we have heard from both Gazans and Israeli soldiers, all telling a similar story.
Generous US aid - American tax dollars - made this possible.
American-made weapons were used to attack Gazan civilians, productive factories, schools and administrative buildings.
The British government has canceled a number of weapons contracts with Israel.
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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) alobar |
| 2009-07-15 20:18 |
| muscle and head report |
| Public |
| Elemental - Faerie Magick (Space Station Soma: Tune in, turn on, space out. Ambient and mid-tempo el |
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Today has been very cool. Temp in my sleeping nook peaked at 81F, rather than the 90+ temps of the past few days, so muscles complained less than when I sleep in the heat.
Mike called me this evening to attempt to impress on me the need to get checked out by a doctor. Mike is a worry-wort with a severe doctor addiction. I have known Mike since 1993 & he still does not understand how much I loathe and despise the medical profession. Now that there is no Charity hospital, I would be charges up the wazoo for a checkup & there is not much good would come of it, other than some doc who expected to get paid then had his little greedy heart broken when I refused.
I feel more pain in my butt where I bounced off the flagstones. Chest pains under collarbones have increased some, but my body is much more aware that some sleeping positions just do not work.
I got a good night's sleep last night. Only 2 breaks in sleep to go pee, so I am sleeping much deeper than the previous 2 days.
I discovered a nifty trick. My shoulders burn when my undershirt drags on them when I move my body. It feels like a sunburn. So I now spend my waking hours shirtless, thus decreasing my discomfort.
In thinking back over the incident, I have some insights I wish I would have had back then. ( Read more... )
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On Transformers 2: Why Hollywood movies are racist Tolu Olorunda | Posted June 30, 2009 2:09 AM  |
"Hollywood threw acid in both your eyes before you were seven years old. You're blind, that's the first thing you realize is that you're blind. Later on, you begin to see-- something. And, then, you begin to see why you couldn't see." --Baldwin, James. Just Above My Head. New York: Dell Publishing, 1978, p. 529.
Hollywood movies are as racist as they come. The recently released Transformers sequel (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen) is no different. In the last week or so, as many have approached theaters where it was being shown, the consensus has been unifying--historical Black stereotypes are evoked in this blockbuster action thriller. Last week, on his site, "Media Assassin" Harry Allen served up an anatomy of the film's racist features: That Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen... is a narrative and conceptual mess is neither surprising nor the greatest of its blames.... That it endorses crude racism, however, serving up, not one, but two near-buckdancing, shiftless Black stereotypes--the sambots, as one reviewer adeptly punned, Skids... and his twin (get this), Mudflap--reveals not only how clearly insulated the white people who work at Paramount and for director Michael Bay appear to be in their racial supremacy... The only thing they [Skids and Mudflap] don't do is shoot craps and eat chicken with watermelon. At one moment, even, LaBeouf's character asks the two if they can read a robotic script that will reveal crucial information. "Uh, we don't do too much readin'," one drawls. Nail. Coffin.
And all this--compliments of a White voice-over actor. ( Read more... )
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I would begin at the beguin, but would be boring. Instead, I shall begin at the awesome.
My friggin' new girlfriend gave me kick ass, old school Return of the Jedi bed sheets for my nondescript birthday! This is just too cool. I came home from the movies, ate some KFC grilled chicken, watched my soap, then opened the box I wasn't expecting till tomorrow. I had no idea what to expect, but I totally never expected anything this brilliant. I totally LOVE Return of the Jedi and I love this gift.
We were talking on the phone back in June and I told her how my ghetto ass mother had given away my Return of the Jedi sheets to one of my brother's EX girlfriend's newborn son. (how gay is that?) I wasn't even in the same state when she did cos she knew I would have stopped her. So, my g/f totally went to eBay and surprised my ass out the door. Cos seriously, how boss is it that someone gives you RETURN OF THE FRIGGIN' JEDI BED SHEETS!?
12 parsecs of boss, that's how much. Le contented sigh. And here I am in Detroit w/o a twin sized bed anymore. But damn this rocks.
Ok, in other news, I saw Public Enemies today. I was sort of disappointed. I'll post more later.
As I left the theater, I was stopped by a kid who asked me to buy him and his friends tickets to see The Hangover. Seriously? What happened to the good ole days when kids asked strangers to buy them beer or cigarettes? You want me to buy you tickets to an R-rated film? dude. That's gay. I bought them, though, since it was The Hangover, and everyone should see it. After I gave him the tickets and his change, he asked me what I was into cos he is "always looking for new connections."
Yes, folks, that is the excitement of my life. I get propositioned to be an errand boy by underage drug dealers. Yeah, buddy, I am in the fast lane...
Did I mention I got Return of the Jedi bed sheets for my birthday from my girlfriend? Cos I did. That's pretty damn cool, let me tell you.
I think I shall go now to call her and thank her and bask in the awesomeness of Darth Vader, Royal Guards, and Tatoonie air skiffs. Peace out.
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One of the reasons I bought my Dell Studio 17 laptop was because it supposedly would be very good with graphics.
Back on my ancient desktop machine, I used to use Winamp for music. Winamp has visualization plug-ins to make computer animated graphics in synch with the music. Spiffy! But on my old system, it slowed down my system to a crawl.
Now I can run full screen animated graphics on my laptop screen, while working on my second monitor. CPU usage remains below 25%. Reloading 9 tabs on my Firefox browser takes no longer than it does w/o visualization running.
I can't capture animations (yet) but here is one frame of animation I am running now in winamp. ( Read more... )
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The Onion this month told staff that resisting advertiser pressure is a "losing game." But it seems the humor publication isn't just keen to sell its soul to sponsors; we hear The Onion is talking about selling everything.
A tipster says word out out of the publication is that it's in negotiations to sell to a large media company. It's not clear how far apart the two sides are; we're not assuming any deal is imminent.
The Onion has been down this road before. The last business team, led by Peter Haise, bought the paper for a song in 1989 but got whipsawed in 2001 amid the dot-com downturn. There was an abortive effort to sell to Comedy Central before New York money manager David Schafer and his partners took over and installed PR man Steve Hannah as CEO.
Now Hannah, who just cut $6 million in costs, is said to be out seeking buyers. We're guessing he's having an easier time than his predecessor; the Daily Show and Colbert Report rocketed to real prominence in the past eight years, making the satire business more attractive, and the Onion has developed an impressive video operation. The trick is to keep the lights on — without tarnishing the publication's image or integrity — until a deal closes.
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Below from Grackle list. URL at end.
Hmmmm. From what Obama supporters tell me, Obama is supposed to be a big fan of Civil Liberties and Privacy oversight. I guess he is just getting more with the program his ruling class masters feel is more in their best interest.
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"The White House has erased all mention of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board from its Web site. The removal, which was done with no public notice, has underlined questions about the Obama administration's commitment to the board, which was created on the recommendation of the 9/11 Commission to oversee the federal government's actions on civil liberties and privacy."
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Family sues school after arrest of autistic girl
Staffers accuse third-grader of spitting, inappropriately touching instructors
SANDPOINT, Idaho - The family of an 8-year-old autistic girl who was arrested at school wants the school district and county to pay more than $500,000 in damages.
Charles and Spring Towry's third-grade daughter, Evelyn, has Asperger's syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. She was arrested in January on suspicion of battery at Kootenai Elementary School after staffers said she spit on and inappropriately touched two instructors.
The child was handcuffed and taken to the county's juvenile lockup, where she was released to her parents. The county prosecutor later dropped the charge against the girl.
The family filed a tort claim against Lake Pend Oreille School District and Bonner County, according to the Bonner Daily Bee newspaper. They have 180 days to settle the claim, or reject it and risk a lawsuit.
source
Excuse me while I go off to my little corner to RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE.
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Candy giant Pez takes aim at Peninsula museum
By Bruce Newman  Houston tourists: Picture 4 in Gallery It took more than 30 years for the creators of Pez candy dispensers to give the little plastic figurines feet, and they never did get hands. But now the long arm of the Pez Candy Co. has reached all the way from Linz, Austria, into U.S. District Court, where it has slapped the tiny faces that fill Burlingame's Museum of Pez Memorabilia with a lawsuit.
The legal broadside, which was filed in San Francisco last month, singles out a 7-foot-10 snowman, built especially for the museum, that has been recognized by the Guinness record keepers as the world's largest Pez dispenser. Pez seeks to have the snowman melted down. And, says the museum's newly hired lawyer, the company is demanding that the museum's "curators," Gary Doss and wife Nancy Yarbrough Doss, turn over all profits from the Pez shrine's 14 years in business. "From a branding perspective, I think Pez should embrace the Dosses and the museum, instead of trying to attack them," said Rodger Cole, the Mountain View-based trademark attorney from Fenwick & West LLP. Fat chance.  Gary Doss, owner of Pez Museum: Picture 1 in Gallery Pez is the only candy that you load like the clip of a gun and eat after performing a toy tracheotomy. Candy for the American market is manufactured in Connecticut, but the fountainhead of Pezdom is in Linz, also notable for having produced the Linzer torte.
The Burlingame museum features every one of the more than 550 Pez dispensers created over the years. If the company made Biblical characters, the museum would be David and the Teutonic tort-slinging confectioner would be Goliath.
The candy company is represented in its lawsuit by Palo Alto-based attorney Larry Johnson of Alston & Bird LLP, who did not return calls seeking comment.
The Dosses opened the place in 1995 as a small computer shop, but soon they began displaying their Pez collection on the hulking Ataris and Commodores, and within a year the miniature figures had taken over. Gary Doss added the only rarity missing from his collection — a Pineapple Pez worth $3,500 — in 2005, but his biggest prize is the Make-a-Face Mr. Potato Head Pez, worth an estimated $5,000.
The museum is packed with battalions of five-inch tall cartoon characters, Jedi knights and other objects of fantasy. The displays are neatly displayed and remarkably dust-free — no small feat considering the number of small feet.
Richard Greene of Redwood City, who says he has a collection of 10,000 Pez dispensers, buys them from the Dosses and at flea markets. "I don't know what kid didn't have a Pez dispenser," Greene said while browsing last week at the museum. "I have yet to meet one."
Still, it's the Sasquatch-sized snowman that Pez-ophiles see first when they enter the museum's "gift shop" (which is actually as big as the museum itself) and which Pez began protesting almost as soon as it went on display in 2007. When the Dosses got letters from the company objecting to it being called "the world's biggest Pez dispenser," they changed its billing to the "world's biggest dispenser of Pez."
This distinction apparently was lost on Pez, who insist upon killing the counterfeit candy-coughing contraption.
"My feeling is that it's a piece of art," says Gary Doss, sounding frankly a bit huffy. "It is one of a kind. It is not for sale. And one of its main purposes as a piece of art is that it draws people into our store so we can sell Pez."
To qualify for the Guinness record, the snowman had to be made out of the same material as one of the Pez dispensers you can buy for $1.89, and it had to work like the original. For $14.95 a pop, the head tilts back and out slides a box with a regulation-size Snowman Pez dispenser inside.
Within each box is a certificate of authenticity stating that the box came from the world's biggest Pez dispenser. Sorry, the world's biggest dispenser of Pez.
So, to boil it down — and we are talking here about the legal case, not the giant Pez dispenser — if there is any justice in a company from a cold-weather country telling some Californians that they can't build a huge plastic snowman, Gary Doss doesn't see it.
"I'm going to do everything in my power not to let them get away with this," he says. "Because I don't like people telling artists to destroy their art. I mean, it's a toy that gives you candy. What could be more perfect than that?"
source Text emphasis all mine. They can't get rid of that awesome ginormous Pez dispenser. I didn't even know we HAD a museum like this w/in driving distance, wtf. I have to make time to visit. Also, what does a place need to have to be considered a 'museum'? Should they melt the awesome snowman? Does anyone still collect Pez dispensers? Who else loves candy?
Brought to you by the frustrations of being a college student in California (curse you, fiscal budget and Ahhhnold) and a helping of giant Pocky. Also, if this gets approved and the HTML fail is present, I will fix it. Switching from Rich-text editor to HTML is so frustrating sometimes.
Glitch hits Visa users with more than
$23 quadrillion chargeBy Jason Kessler
CNN Story Highlights - $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge is about 2,007 times the size of the national debt
- Visa customer in New Hampshire, also hit with $15 overdraft fee, finds out online
- Statement said he'd spent the big sum at gas station where he buys cigarettes
- Card issuer strikes charge and fee, blames "temporary programming error"
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A technical snafu left some Visa prepaid cardholders stunned and horrified Monday to see a $23,148,855,308,184,500 charge on their statements. That's about 2,007 times the size of the national debt. ( Seriously... suicide would be a good option... )Source
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Philip went from pulling up to proto-cruising in the last week. He can ooch over a little bit while standing, but he's not exceptionally good at it. He pretty much always crawls off of his tummy now. Mobility seems to be suiting him well. It's getting him in a ton of situations, though. He's bumped himself hard enough to get really upset at lease once a day over the last week. During a bath a few nights ago he pulled himself up on the side of the tub and then just pulled himself over. Fortunately we always give baths with two adults, so we caught him before he hit floor, but it was sobering. If he can do that in the bath, over the edge of the crib isn't that far a stretch. I'm going to have to let his crib down to the final (and only remaining) notch this weekend. I don't know what I do when he can do a chin up and over from that far. I don't really want to transition his crib to a toddler bed so soon, but I'm starting to see that that might happen by the time he's 1, and maybe before.
Jilly is appreciating her mobility a lot. She follows Philip everywhere he goes, usually. Sometimes she investigates things on her own, but she's a sociable girl, and really generally wants to be around people. Her top choice is usually Daddy, but Mommy and Philip are pretty exciting choices for her also. She's pulling up on her own, but I haven't caught her cruising yet. She's gone back to being verbal again after taking some time off to perfect her crawling, no real words. Though Xia, Heather and Russell all think she said "Ash" at our cat (his name) on Saturday. I'm hesitant to say it was a word she was making as she hasn't repeated it.
They've been holding hands a lot lately.
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Just (finally!!!) finished the promotional trailer for our Fringe Festival show. It's not only a pretty sweet trailer (if I do say so myself) but if you vote, we can win bucks!!!
Check it out at the voting site! http://www.fringeyawards.com/view-trailer/?v_id=43
***
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Anyone know of a place that makes custom eye frames? Anywhere in louisiana.. I'm willing to travel!
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Picture of Sohrab Aarabi. It says, "We will never forget you."
Things are quiet in Iran in the sense that major demostrations and clashes with the government forces have not taken place for about a week now. But there is great movement taking place below the surface. It is confirmed that ex-President Ayatollah Rafsanjani is now taking up the mantle of Friday prayers in Tehnran University once more. What is not know is whether Mousavi and Khatami will attending them as well. There are arugements going back and forth here and here on the iran.whyweprotest forum about whether or not this could be a trap (for the protesters) and what Rafsanjani will do or say.
It is unknown if he will side with the government, the people, Mousavi, plead for consolidation, or if it will be a harsh criticism of the government and its treatment of its people. It is unknown how this will effect the movement, whether this be a bolster for the people and something good will happen or whether this might lead the Iranians into a civil war.
So many uncertainties surround this event. All that is known is that all eyes will be upon the happenings of the Friday prayers and that this might be a great turning point in the movement. It must also be taken into consideration that what Rafsanjani does may not sit well with the people. 18 Tir was planned completely by the people and no one from Mousavi's camp had a directly influence on the organization or in the participation of the protests. In fact, they were the ones who were asked to join. And there are newspaper articles examining this, like the one the LA Times or Tehran Bereau that examines how the leaders of this movment, Mousavi and Khatami, have been left behind by the momentum of the people. Case in point is 18 Tir and also a plan to have mass protests every Thursday.
There is also reports that Ahmedi will not be in Tehran and will be in Mashaad (Iran's Holiest City)...which is very interesting.Especially, since a few weeks ago he couldn't go because they couldn't guarantee his safety. There is also a movement going on to discredit Rafsanjani as is reported by the NIAC blog.
After a long absence, Hashemi Rafsanjani is going to lead the upcoming Friday sermon. Rafsanjani is a very powerful member of the Iranian establishment who was a major supporter of Mir-Hossein Mousavi and opponent of Ahmadinejad before the election. However, state media, including IRNA, Raja, and Iran newspaper are portraying this as an insignificant event and are even making arguments that he be striped of at least one of his government positions.
Raja news, which belongs to hardliner Fatemeh Rajabi (the wife of the government spokesperson), claims that the reformist movement is “worried about the prayer attendees protesting against Hashemi Rafsanjani.” “Because of Hashemi Rafsanjani’s positions during the presidential elections and his inappropriate letter to the Supreme Leader, a widespread wave of criticism has formed against him among the people…,” says the report.
Also, the state run media appear to be trying to lay the groundwork for removing of Rafsanjani from at least one of his government posts. Raja, Iran newspaper, and IRNA have all published articles in support of article 141 of Iran’s constitution being applied to the Expediency Council. Article 141 of the constitution forbids government employees from holding “more than one Government position [or] any kind of additional post in institutions of which all or a part of the capital belongs to the government or public institutions, or [being] a member of the Islamic Consultative Assembly.” Currently, article 141 does not apply to the Expediency Council, which is headed by Rafsanjani. Rafsanjani is also head of the powerful Assembly of Experts, which is officially tasked with supervising and selecting the supreme leader.
While looking to use and expand this constitutional provision, there are extensive reports of Iranian hardliners violating other constitutional protections, such as Articles 27 (freedom of assembly), 35 (right to legal counsel), 38 (ban on torture), and 168 (the right to jury trial in an open court). Also, there is reports now that a plane crashed and all 168 on board are dead. It is unknown who was on the flight and whether not important leaders were on there or if this might have been done on purpose or like usual because of bad maintance that the Iranian government blames on U.S. sanctions. The Russian-made Caspian Airlines jet was heading from Tehran to the Armenian capital Yerevan when it crashed near the village of Jannatabad outside the city of Qazvin, around 75 miles northwest of Tehran, state television said.
The Qazvin emergency services director Hossein Bahzadpour told the IRNA news agency that the plane was completely destroyed and shattered to pieces, and the wreckage was in flames. "It his highly likely that all the passengers on the flight were killed," Bahzadpour said.
He did not give a number, but Iranian Civil Aviation Organization spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh told state television that 153 passengers and 15 crewmembers were on board. State TV said all were killed.
A Caspian Airlines representative told AP in Yerevan that most of the passengers were Armenians, and that some Georgian citizen and other nationalities were on board. The representative spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to talk to the press. On iran.whyweprotest it is being said that that the Junior Judo team, 8 athletes and 2 coaches, were on board and that it was mainly Armenians and Georgians and the plane was Russian made. Nico has changed from having separate postings for each day and now has a weekly one...for the moment. Also, yesterday I posted a blog post about a young woman protester, Taraneh Mousavi (28), who disappeared on June 19th when Mousavi was supposed to appear at the Ghoba Mosque, and that her family was informed through unnamed sources that she died due to trauma to the womb and anus suggesting gang rape...well today there is more information. On Bistoon's blog (look below) he has a new post Mother's Nightmare that details that the govt is saying that the woman committed suicide...this is after they were told she was killed in an auto accident (it seems that this is most common report given to missing protesters). Another thing in regards to the young woman and the new face of the protesters martyrs, Sohrab Aarabi, when his mother went to claim his body...it is stated that the morgue was stacked with hundreds of dead bodies. Some good news for once (this happened on the 9th of July (18 Tir)...but I didn't check it out). Austin Heap's Haystack is working! It's not fully functional for use yet because they need to build the network that will support the Iranian's use. But here are some screenshots of it working in Iran Twitter and FB. Since there are no new posts on the blog I'm sure it's still being tested out. Haystack Network wesbite Haystack Twitter page Haystack needs help! I think he needs to register Haystack as a non-profit organization or foundation. It should help bring in funds (as it would be tax deductable) and it will help with the legitimacy of the organization and be able to get big name companies to help out. I tweeted him but *shrugs* July 14, 2009 post | July 13, 2009 post | July 12, 2009 post | July 11, 2009 post | July 10, 2009 post | July 9, 2009 posts | July 8, 2009 post | July 7, 2009 post | July 6, 2009 post | July 5, 2009 post | July 4, 2009 post Update: Holy smokes, it's confirmed. Mousavi will attend the Friday morning prayers. Nico is also reporting that he will be up all night to cover this. This is major. The Iranian govt is seeking to undermine Rafsanjani's authority. Eyes peeled people, Friday morning will be a gamer changer. ( I need a new catch phrase...troll )
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Fox News Legitimizes Birthers
Perhaps desperate for new ways to undermine Barack Obama’s presidency, Fox News has joined forces with the “birthers,” the fringe who irrationally claim that Obama’s presidency is illegitimate because he was not born in the U.S. As Think Progress has reported, Obama’s Hawaii birth certificate is widely available on the internet. FactCheck.org has also extensively researched the subject. Their conclusion: Born in the U.S.A. But Fox News has started reporting on birthers without noting the baselessness of their claims, and in ways that lend legitimacy to their efforts. With video.
During Special Report’s Political Grapevine segment tonight (7/14/09), Bret Baier announced (at about 40 seconds into the first video below), “A U.S. soldier who has been ordered to Afghanistan is refusing to go… (saying) President Obama was not born in the United States and therefore is ineligible to be Commander-in-Chief. A Columbus, Georgia newspaper reports (the soldier) has filed a request in federal court seeking a temporary restraining order on his deployment. (His) attorney is involved in a second case that challenges the legitimacy of the Obama presidency. The Los Angeles Times reports a California judge has agreed to hear the merits of that case.” As a banner on the screen read, “PERSISTENT PROBLEM” next to a photo of Obama and the U.S. Supreme Court, Baier added, “It is just one of dozens of legal challenges to the president’s nationality.”
But rather than inform his viewers that those “challenges” have been thoroughly debunked, Baier presented the issue as a he said/she said, adding, “At least two of them have already been dismissed by the Supreme Court. The White House press secretary again Monday brushed aside the matter, saying, quote, ‘The noble truth is that the president was born in Hawaii, a state of the United States of America.’” Baier never pointed out that Obama's American birth certificate has been produced and authenticated.
Sean Hannity presented the same story during his Hannity’s America segment. He likewise failed to note in any way the illegitimacy of the claim, or the availability of Obama's birth certificate. Instead, Hannity characterized the case as “controversial." He said, (at a little more than two minutes into the second video below), “At least one soldier is now refusing to go (to Afghanistan, as part of President Obama’s surge). Now, according to Georgia’s Ledger-Enquirer newspaper, (the soldier) doesn’t believe that President Obama can send troops overseas because (the soldier) says that Mr. Obama was not born in the U.S.A. Now, (the soldier) plans to argue that controversial claim in a federal courtroom in Georgia on Thursday, just one day after he was ordered to report for duty.”
In fact, the Ledger-Enquirer had already reported that the Army has revoked the soldier’s deployment orders, although the reason has not been released.
But the most egregious example is on Fox’s “fair and balanced” website, Fox Nation. There a headline a reads, “Obama Birth Certificate Challenge Wins Small Court Victory,” once again implying that the claim may have at least some merit. Even worse, above the headline is a large photo of Obama in a turban. It’s hard to believe that the photo and headline were chosen for any other reason than to raise the suggestion that Obama is, in fact, foreign. The article that the headline links to, from the Los Angeles Times, makes it clear that the “court victory” is a procedural one. The Times noted that there are reasons to doubt the case will ever be fully aired, that similar claims have fared poorly in court. But there is no mention of that on Fox Nation, itself, and no mention that the “controversy” over Obama’s birth certificate has been completely investigated and put to rest by rational people. There was also no mention that one of the plaintiffs in this California case is Pastor Wiley Drake, who has admitted to praying for the death of President Obama. Baier similarly failed to point that out to the "we report, you decide" network's viewers.
In May, Fox Nation "asked" if Obama should release his birth certificate.
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rushed
