Top News Article | Reuters.comHardly news worthy but I am very interested in the Korean Peninsula so I always add my two cents. North Korea is riding this "war exercise" horse until it dies -- it is bogus, these exercises have been going on, in the same time-frame for decades -- if anything they have shortened in length and dwindled in size.
SEOUL (Reuters) - The United States has brought six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear programs to a collapse, the chief of the general staff of the North Korean army said on Sunday.
Vice Marshal Kim Yong-chun, a member of the North's powerful National Defense Commission, told a national meeting his country would steadily bolster its nuclear capability to counter an invasion by the United States.
'The U.S. brought the six-party talks to a collapse and has staged large-scale madcap war exercises targeted against the DPRK after massively shipping ultra-modern war equipment and a nuclear strike group into South Korea in a bid to bring down our system,' Kim was quoted as saying by the official KCNA news agency.
Weather info could go darkThis is just stupid -- unfortunately I believe a Republican is repaying someone here... The commercial sites new NOAA existed when they started their business so this is a non factor or should be. Come on guys there are more important things to occupy your time and 'weather' is a public concern and should be available to the public -- if the 'pay' sites want more revenue provide the best service... You want to cancel a public service lets talk about 'public television':-).
Do you want a seven-day weather forecast for your ZIP code? Or hour-by-hour predictions of the temperature, wind speed, humidity and chance of rain? Or weather data beamed to your cellphone?
That information is available for free from the National Weather Service.
But under a bill pending in the U.S. Senate, it might all disappear.
The bill, introduced last week by Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., would prohibit federal meteorologists from competing with companies such as AccuWeather and The Weather Channel, which offer their own forecasts through paid services and free ad-supported Web sites.
Supporters say the bill wouldn't hamper the weather service or the National Hurricane Center from alerting the public to hazards — in fact, it exempts forecasts meant to protect "life and property."
But critics say the bill's wording is so vague they can't tell exactly what it would ban.
"I believe I've paid for that data once. ... I don't want to have to pay for it again," said Scott Bradner, a technical consultant at Harvard University.
He says that as he reads the bill, a vast amount of federal weather data would be forced offline.
CNN.com - Woman who claimed to find finger in chili arrestedWell looks like there is something fishing in the chili besides a fingertip.
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- The woman who claimed she found a well-manicured finger in her bowl of Wendy's chili last month was arrested Thursday night in Las Vegas, police said.
Anna Ayala was taken into custody at her home, San Jose police spokesman Enrique Garcia said. He said police would not give any details until a news conference Friday afternoon. Las Vegas police also refused to comment.
You can read previous post
here,
here, and
here.
UPDATE: Read more
here.
CNN.com - Japanese PM apologizes for warInteresting - although I do not know how the South Korean government will respond but have it on good authority the populous will not be satisfied.
JAKARTA, Indonesia -- Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has apologized for Japan's wartime activities in Asia during his speech at a summit in Jakarta on Friday.
Koizumi expressed Japan's ''deep remorse'' and ''heartfelt apology'' for its wartime past when he addressed the Asia-Africa conference, which was opened on Friday by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Koizumi's remarks appear to be aimed at smoothing relations with China and South Korea in particular, where there have been anti-Japan demonstrations recently.
Daylight saving push could save on oil, too
I really do dislike Daylight Savings time -- maybe because my grandfather did. Granddad called it 'man's time' and of course the other 'God's time' -- his contention was if you want more daylight get up earlier in the morning.
WASHINGTON -- When people go through the ritual of moving their clocks forward each spring ushering in daylight-saving time, they're also saving energy -- the equivalent of thousands of barrels of oil, in fact.
Congress says a good thing can be made better.
The House, in approving a massive energy bill, would extend daylight saving to the first Sunday in March and to the last Sunday in November. It now starts in early April and ends in late October.
USATODAY.com - Yahoo will give family slain Marine's e-mail account
I am not sure how I feel about this -- really what if the guy had skeletons he really did not want his family, especially his Mom and Dad to know about? This is a slippery slope in my opinion. Of course, your sentimentally for the parents - but what if?
WIXOM, Mich. (AP) - E-mail provider Yahoo has pledged to give the family of a Marine killed in Iraq full access to their son's e-mail account, ending a court battle that began after his parents sought messages he wrote before his death.
An Oakland County probate judge signed an order Wednesday directing Yahoo Inc. to provide the contents of the e-mail account used by Lance Cpl. Justin M. Ellsworth, 20, who was killed Nov. 13 while inspecting a bomb in Al Anbar province.
Sergeant convicted of attack on fellow soldiers
Is there a question weather this should call for the death penalty -- my opinion if any case deserved a death sentence this one does.
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - An Army sergeant was convicted Thursday by a military jury of premeditated murder and attempted murder in a grenade and rifle attack that killed two of his comrades and wounded 14 others in Kuwait during the opening days of the Iraq war.
Hasan Akbar, 34, now faces a possible death penalty, which the 15-member jury will consider at a hearing that begins Monday.
Prosecutors say Akbar told investigators he launched the attack because he was concerned U.S. troops would kill fellow Muslims in Iraq. They said he coolly carried out the attack to achieve “maximum carnage” on his comrades in the 101st Airborne Division.
Top News Article | Reuters.com
Little surprised at the ease of defeating this -- it's a good think
GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States comfortably defeated a call to the U.N.'s top human rights body on Thursday to launch a probe into alleged violations at Guantanamo Bay.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights rejected by 22 votes to 8, with 23 abstentions, a resolution brought by Cuba calling for the setting up of a special U.N. investigator for the detention center at a U.S. naval base on its territory.
European Union states on the 53-state commission sided with the United States in rejecting the resolution, saying that Washington was already in discussions with existing U.N. investigators about possible visits to the prison.
USATODAY.com - U.S. military: More than 12 rebels die in Afghan battleKABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - U.S. forces killed more than 12 insurgents in a clash in southeastern Afghanistan, the military said Thursday, while two former Taliban leaders joined a reconciliation drive that American commanders hope will undermine a three-year-old insurgency.
UPDATE: More information
here.
USATODAY.com - Allawi escapes car bombing; Al-Qaeda in Iraq claims blastFailed attempt -- is this good or bad? I see both pros and cons. It is bad that violence is escalating but not surprising with the governmental announcement that was due today (see story
here). Nonetheless, they failed proving yet again their lack of military skill and basic incompetence which leads to needless death (the insurgents overall goal I think) -- good, even better if he was guarded solely by Iraqi security.
BAGHDAD (AP) - Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the country's most feared terror group, claimed responsibility Thursday for a suicide car bombing that targeted interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's convoy but did not harm the Iraqi leader.
In a separate attack, a roadside bomb exploded on the highway leading to Baghdad's airport Thursday, heavily damaging three SUVs carrying civilians. Police Capt. Hamid Ali said two foreigners were killed and three wounded in the burning vehicles. But U.S. Embassy and military officials could not confirm the casualties.
Top News Article | Reuters.com
Well this is bad news although not tragic if you actually look realistically at developing a completely new government and use history as a lesson. Nonetheless, I am sure Democrats will be cheerfully displaying their gloom and doom theme today
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Last-minute disagreements appeared to have derailed Iraq's hopes of unveiling a government on Thursday, nearly three months after elections, with negotiations also strained by a surge in violence.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani told Turkish television he did not think a deal could be reached, reversing hopes he expressed on Wednesday. Disagreement remained evident among the main factions -- Shi'ite Muslims, Kurds and Sunnis.
'I think the government will not be announced today ... We want to see the Sunni Arabs represented as well ... Negotiations also continue over the allocation of some posts,' the Kurdish leader told Turkey's CNN Turk television in an interview.
CNN.com - Ethics chairman offers investigation of DeLay Is anyone surprised by this? Whine - whine - whine; all the way to at lest 2006 is the Democratic strategy I suppose or they simply know they have nothing that will hold up to scrutiny -- mind you I am nether a supporter or opposer of Delay - still making up my mind.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Republican chairman of the House ethics committee offered on Wednesday to begin an investigation of Majority Leader Tom DeLay to end a stalemate that has kept the panel from functioning this year.
Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Washington, made the proposal at a news conference flanked by three of the four other Republicans on the ethics panel. The evenly divided committee also has five Democrats.
Senior committee Democrat Alan Mollohan of West Virginia quickly rejected the offer, saying his party would continue blocking the panel from operating unless investigative rules imposed by Republicans were changed.
This is the second time in two weeks that Republicans tried to break the deadlock, while Democrats have held their ground and criticized the GOP-written rules for investigating lawmakers, passed in January without Democratic support. Democrats have accused the majority party of writing the rules to protect DeLay.
BBC NEWS | Americas | Judge to allow 9/11 guilty pleaHave not decided how I feel about this yet -- has there been an agreement, will details be publicly shared as part of the agreement, will he get the death penalty; questions that need to be answered... He should get the death penalty.
A judge has ruled that Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person in the US charged over the 11 September 2001 terror attacks, can plead guilty.
Judge Leonie Brinkema has scheduled a Friday hearing at Alexandria district court, in the state of Virginia, a statement by the court said.
USATODAY.com - Kuwaiti parliament takes step toward women's voting rightsNote really a bad think but I am sure some will spin it that way.
KUWAIT CITY (AP) - In a major step toward granting political rights to women in Kuwait, lawmakers agreed Tuesday to permit them to vote and run in local council elections, although the measure requires more legislative action before it becomes law.
CNN.com - Report: Moussaoui to plead guilty - Apr 19, 2005WASHINGTON (AP) -- Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person in the United States charged in connection with the September 11 terrorist attacks, says he plans to plead guilty, The Washington Post reported.
If a judge finds Moussaoui mentally competent, he could enter the plea as early as this week, the Post reported in Tuesday's editions, citing sources familiar with the case.
The government accused Moussaoui of participating in an al Qaeda conspiracy to commit terrorism that included the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington.
Fox's Sandstorm (washingtonpost.com)
Well Mr. William Raspberry’s theory of "foxidation" is all wrong - of course... People already were aware of the MSM's left-of-center spin before Fox News started, hence it's success. Blinded by loyalty are you?
For the Foxidation process to work, it isn't necessary to convince Americans that the verbal ruffians who give FNC its crackle have a corner on the truth -- only that all of us in the news business are grinding our partisan axes all the time and that none of us deserves to be taken seriously as seekers of truth.
This is huge. As a friend remarked recently, time was when if you found it in the New York Times, that settled the bar bet and the other guy paid off. But if the Times and The Post or any other mainstream news outlet -- including the major networks -- come to be seen as the left-of-center counterparts of Fox News Channel, why would anyone accept them as authoritative sources of truth?
What is at risk is not a reputation for infallibility; everyone knows that even the best newspapers and most careful broadcasters make mistakes. But it has been generally accepted that the mainstream media at least try to get it right -- even when they too grudgingly acknowledge their errors after the fact.
CNN.com - Student gets 8 years for SUV vandalism - Apr 18, 2005
Interesting sentence for the SUV terrorist from the California court system -- I am sure it was not the personal property destroyed that got the sentence after all we know how vehicles are status symbols in LA... Don't mess with their status symbols (LOL). No matter the reason, I am glad and believe it sends a single to the ecoTerrorist.
LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- An aspiring physicist was sentenced Monday to more than eight years in prison and ordered to pay $3.5 million for his role in a spree of arson and vandalism that targeted gas-guzzling Hummers and other sports utility vehicles.
Illegal Workers Raise Security Concerns - Yahoo! News
This story should give you a "warm fuzzy feeling" about how serious airlines and airports are taking your security -- actually NOT! At least Homeland Security did catch them, but what will happen to the companies that hired them and gave them access to secured areas and aircraft? That is the question -- it should cost them and cost them big and drives them to practice proper hiring procedures; unfortunately what do you bet the ACLU will be screaming rights violation if and when the proper practices actually are followed?
The Homeland Security Department arrested 57 illegal immigrants last month working at airports and other risk-sensitive facilities around the country, underscoring concerns that lax employment background checks are leaving a security breach for terrorists to exploit.
In one example, a Peruvian was hired as an airplane mechanic in Greensboro, N.C., using a fake Social Security card he bought for $70 on a soccer field, according to court documents. In another, a Florida power plant was alerted to a Mexican working at its nuclear facility only after being tipped off by labor union employees, company officials said.
Guardian Unlimited | World Latest | South Korea: North Shuts Down Nuke Reactor
Unlike the "slow news" articles I have been reading regarding North Korea’s nuclear program -- this article is actually interesting and should provoke some kind of movement from the US and South Korea... You would hope the UN would get involved, but it is dreaming to believe that would happen before America makes a statement.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - South Korea said Monday it believes a reactor at North Korea's main nuclear complex has been shut down, a possible sign the communist state could be moving to harvest more weapons-grade plutonium.
Kim Sook, director-general of North American affairs at South Korea's Foreign Ministry, told KBS Radio that a shutdown of a nuclear reactor at the North's main Yongbyon nuclear complex had been confirmed.
Yongbyon houses a 5-megawatt reactor that generates spent fuel rods laced with plutonium, but they must be removed and reprocessed to extract the plutonium for use in an atomic weapon. They can be removed only if the reactor has been shut down.
