All Salon
- Do graphic abortion ads belong on TV? Whether you like it or not, D.C. congressional candidate Missy Smith wants you to see images of dead and dismembered fetuses. It doesn't really matter much whether "you" are a 5-year-old child or a 50-year-old mother. Her spots have aired this week during the day and early-evening, and despite legion complaints, broadcasters say they are required by federal law to air the 30-second spots in full.
- Wednesday link dump: Let that tea be Shocker: An anti-Seals campaign ad actually features sea lions! Carl Paladino is apparently calling Park Slope lesbians and asking for their votes. New York assemblyman deliers ill-advised impression at campaign appearance. (Watch the whole thing.) "Tea is the Republican party's cocaine: thrilling for a moment, but ruinous over time."
- The new barbarism: Keeping science out of politics Joe Romm, climate activist extraordinaire, is upset at Scientific American for featuring a dumb online poll on global warming.
- O'Donnell threatens to sue station over video Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell's campaign threatened to crush a radio station with a lawsuit if it posted video of an interview with the tea party favorite on the Internet.
- How to understand Fox News This originally appeared at Jonathan Bernstein's blog
- No, Matt Bai, Americans aren't yearning for daddy Generally, I'm happy to leave it to Jonathan Bernstein, whose blogging is often cross-posted here, to point out the inanity of Matt Bai's political analysis. But after reading Bai's latest effort in the New York Times, I can't resist.
- Our taste test of the finest and foulest Halloween candies My fingers literally trembled, as I tried to tear open the massive bag of mini Snickers I just bought. Which was a surprise to me, because when I decided to do a taste-test of everyone's favorite Halloween candies, I thought I'd be in for a test of culinary endurance. I mean, my taste for chocolate at this point runs toward bars that proclaim, proudly, howlittle sugar they contain, and I reserve my superfluous calories for, say, an extra taco. What I'm saying is that I grew out of this stuff.
- The Year in Sanity: Sid Lerner If you ever want to see a food fight, post something on the internet suggesting that we should stop or keep eating meat. Vegan warriors will line up on the one side, Ted Nugent marshals his band of meat eaters on the other, and peaceful vegetarians, pescatarians, and confused omnivores all get sucked into The Great Battle to Defend The Natural Order of Things. It's a subject that inflames passions first, inspires insults next, and leads to rational conversation about forty-third.
- Marie Claire's size-ism controversy Maura Kelly does not want to look at overweight people getting their mack on. In fact, as the 30-someting writer and recovering anorexic revealed in a Marie Claire blog about the sitcom "Mike and Molly" Monday, titled "Should 'Fatties' Get a Room?," "I think I'd be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other ... because I'd be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything." For someone who insists she's "not some size-ist jerk," her blithe comparison of the "very very fat" to "a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine [sic] addict slumping in a chair" sure set off size-ist jerk alarms across the land. And because Kelly herself opened up the floor when she ended her post with, "What do you guys think? Fat people making out on TV -- are you cool with it? Do you think I'm being an insensitive jerk?" a rousing chorus of "Since you asked ..." went up in response. "Size-ist? Check. Jerk? Check," wrote a typical commenter. "You have some major issues, a startling lack of humanity, and very poor professional judgment."
- Al Franken presents the "ditch" speech Sen. Al Franken stopped being funny once he began his campaign for the U.S. Senate, but since taking office he has, every now and then, allowed himself to crack a joke. At a Mark Dayton rally in Minnesota recently, he performed his own version of Barack Obama's now-tiresome "ditch" routine. His lengthier, funnier version.
The Guardian
- Sun journalists and police officer arrested in corruption... Met police search News International's headquarters in Wapping as four current and former Sun employees are arrestedFour current and former senior Sun journalists and one serving police officer have been arrested as part of Scotland Yard's investigation into police corruption.The Metropolitan police have also launched a search at News International's headquarters in Wapping, east London, in an attempt to secure any potential evidence relating to alleged payments to police by journalists.Officers were accompanied by lawyers who arrived at the Sun's offices between 6am and 8am on Saturday morning. They are there to ensure that "journalist privilege" in relation to sources is not compromised.It is the first time since the phone-hacking scandal erupted that the Sun has been targeted in such a major way, but sources stressed the dawn raid had nothing to do with voicemail interception and was solely related to paying police for stories.The four Sun employees arrested are understood to be Mike Sullivan, the Sun's crime editor, the former managing editor Graham Dudman, the executive editor, Fergus Shanahan, and Chris Pharo, a newsdesk executive.The arrests came after information was passed to the police by News Corporation's internal investigations unit, the Management and Standards Committee. It was set up by Rupert Murdoch in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal, which erupted last July, and operates independently of News International.It is understood that staff and management at the Sun had no warning of the police plans to make arrests or conduct a search of the paper's newsroom.A statement from News Corp in New York said: "Metropolitan police service (MPS) officers from Operation Elveden today arrested four current and former employees from the Sun newspaper. Searches have also taken place at the homes and offices of those arrested."News Corporation made a commitment last summer that unacceptable news gathering practices by individuals in the past would not be repeated."It commissioned the Management and Standards Committee to undertake a review of all News International titles, regardless of cost, and to proactively co-operate with law enforcement and other authorities if potentially relevant information arose at those titles."As a result of that review, which is ongoing, the MSC provided information to the Elveden investigation which led to today's arrests."No comment can be made on the nature of that information to avoid prejudicing the investigation and the rights of individuals."The Management and Standards Committee has been charged with ridding the company of old practices and illegal activities such as phone hacking which led to the abrupt closure of the News of the World in July after 168 years. One source said. "They are there to drain the swamp."In his witness statement to the Leveson inquiry earlier this month, the Sun's editor, Dominic Mohan, said: "To the best of my knowledge, the Sun has never knowingly paid or made payments in kind to police … for information."Scotland Yard confirmed in a statement that the investigation "relates to suspected payments to police officers and is not about seeking journalists to reveal confidential sources in relation to information that has been obtained legitimately."It is understood that three of the four journalists were arrested before 8am on Saturday while the fourth was arrested in mid-morning."Home addresses of those arrested are currently being searched and officers are also carrying out a number of searches at the offices of News International in Wapping. These searches are expected to conclude this afternoon," the Met said in an earlier statement.A source said police were interested in everything from "notepads, emails, Post-it notes".All four men were being questioned at police stations in Essex and London, police said. Fourteen people have so far been arrested under Operation Elveden – 13 by the Metropolitan police and one by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.The operation is being run in conjunction with Operation Weeting, the Met inquiry into the phone hacking of voicemail boxes.It was launched after officers were handed documents suggesting that News International journalists made illegal payments to police officers.Others questioned as part of the inquiry include the former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks, the ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson, the former News of the World managing editor Stuart Kuttner, the paper's former royal editor Clive Goodman, the former News of the World crime editor Lucy Panton and the Sun district editor, Jamie Pyatt.Brooks and Coulson are both former editors of the News of the World, which was closed in July at the height of the hacking scandal following revelations that the murdered teenager Milly Dowler's phone had been hacked.Deborah Glass, the deputy chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission, said: "It will be clear from today's events that this investigation is following the evidence."I am satisfied with the strenuous efforts being made by this investigation to identify police officers who may have taken corrupt payments, and I believe the results will speak for themselves."The SunNews InternationalNews of the WorldNewspapersNational newspapersNewspapers & magazinesPolicePhone hackingMetropolitan policeLondonJosh HallidayLisa O'Carrollguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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- RBS chairman gives up £1.4m bonus Bank announces that Sir Philip Hampton will not receive bonus amid controversy over decision to award RBS chief executive Stephen Hester £963,000Royal Bank of Scotland chairman Sir Philip Hampton will not receive a £1.4m share award because he had not meet the performance criteria attached to them when he was first awarded them when he joined the bank in 2009.Amid the controvery over a near £1m bonus for chief executive Stephen Hester, it had been reported that the controversial share award would not pay out and on Saturday: "Sir Philip Hampton will not receive the 5.17m shares he was awarded in 2009 when he joined RBS."While Hampton had decided not to accept the award of 5.2m shares – which was handed to him when he joined the bank in 2009 – it is understood that the conditions attached to the potential pay out had not been achieved.Hester is receiving 3.6m in shares – worth just under £1m – but the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, urged the government to block the bonus for Hester. David Cameron said the contract was arranged by the previous Labour government and should be honoured.Hampton is thought to have told the bank's remuneration committee it would not be appropriate for him to take the shares to which he is entitled. He was given the scheme when he was appointed at the 83% state-owned bank as part of a three-year long-term incentive deal.It is understood RBS were not due to offer Hampton the share bonus, based on a variety of factors, until next month, but he chose to waive the entitlement earlier.His decision is likely to put more pressure on Hester, who has faced calls from unions, politicians and the public to turn down his award of almost £1m.Speaking at Chequers on Saturday, the prime minister said it was up to the chief executive to decide whether to give up his bonus. "It's obviously his decision," Cameron said. "My decision is to make sure the team at RBS get on with the job of turning the bank round, and we made our views very clear on the bonus and that's why it was cut in half compared to last year."In a statement on Saturday, Miliband encouraged the government to vote against the bonus at the RBS annual general meeting in April."Freezing the pay of a nurse or hospital porter while allowing a publicly owned bank to pay million-pound bonuses, is the last nail in the coffin of this prime minister's claim that we're all in it together," he said."Having spent weeks boasting he would block bonuses, David Cameron refuses to explain why he has changed his mind."Executive pay and bonusesRoyal Bank of ScotlandStephen HesterBankingDavid CameronEd MilibandLabourLiberal-Conservative coalitionConal Urquhartguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Arab League suspends Syria monitoring mission Around 100 observers will remain in country but will not undertake new missions, statement saysThe Arab League has suspended its monitoring mission in Syria and criticised President Bashar al-Assad's regime for the escalating violence that has claimed the lives of at least 80 people in recent days.In a statement, Nabil el-Araby, the league's secretary general, said around 100 observers would remain in the country but would not undertake new missions."Given the critical deterioration of the situation in Syria and the continued use of violence … it has been decided to immediately stop the work of the Arab League's mission to Syria pending presentation of the issue to the league's council," he said.The league's mission in Syria has faced widespread criticism for failing to bring a halt to the regime's crackdown on protests. Gulf states, led by Saudi Arabia, pulled out of the mission on Tuesday.The secretary-general and Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, the prime minister of Qatar, are set to leave for New York to seek UN support for the latest Arab plan to end the Syrian crisis on Sunday.The plan calls for a two-month transition to a unity government, with Assad giving his vice president full powers to work with the proposed government.Syria has rejected the proposal, saying it violates its sovereignty. The UN security council began closed-door negotiations on a new Arab-European draft resolution on Friday, but Russia's envoy said he could not back the language as it stands.In the bloodiest incident reported on Saturday, Syria's state-run Sana news agency said "terrorists" ambushed a bus carrying army officers near the tense Damascus suburb of Douma, killing seven people.SyriaMiddle East and North AfricaUnited NationsConal Urquhartguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Disability campaigners stage central London protest again... Members of Disabled People Against Cuts and UK Uncut demonstrate against government cutsDisability campaigners have blocked one of central London's busiest road junctions with a line of wheelchair users chained together in the first of a series of protests against government welfare cuts.The demonstration – which brought much of Oxford Circus to a standstill for more than two hours – was the result of an alliance between disabled groups and UK Uncut, which has staged similar protests against corporations accused of avoiding tax.The protest was organised by Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC), while UK Uncut provided advice on how to stage an eyecatching, media-friendly event and brought along several of its own supporters.The direct action began just before midday when a group of wheelchair users lined themselves along the northern edge of Regent Street, blocking traffic in both directions. The wheelchairs were chained together, and then chained to railings on either side of the road.Within about 20 minutes, with traffic stationary and congestion spilling over into other streets, around 300 people were standing at the junction, chanting, playing drums and waving placards against the welfare reform bill, which is currently going through parliament.After the road had been blocked for just over an hour, police asked over a loudhailer that the protesters move, which they refused to do. Eventually, at around 2pm, they unchained themselves and left voluntarily.Planned cuts to the disability living allowance under the bill could see 500,000 disabled people losing money, the charity Mencap said.Many of the disabled people taking part said they had never before joined a demonstration but felt angry at both the proposed cuts and the associated rhetoric from both ministers and the media."The tabloids have created this idea that we're scroungers or fakers," said Steven Sumpter, a 33-year-old who left his home in Evesham, Worcestershire, at 6.30am to join the line of chained-up wheelchair users. "This has allowed the government to do this – I think disabled people are seen as a good scapegoat."Merry Cross, from Reading, Berkshire, said disabled people needed to work together to get their voices heard. She said: "We're seen as quite an easy target. We're not a natural community – we don't necessarily live in the same places, and we can find it hard to get together. That makes it easy for the government to think they can target us."Changes to the disability living allowance were likely mean her losing care assistance at home, Cross said, adding: "I've had it continuously for 20 years and now, when I'm 61, apparently I can cope fine without it. It doesn't make any sense."Josie, 52, from Hampshire, who asked not to give her full name, said her disablity, which has left her with limited mobility and near-constant pain, was caused by a fall onto a concrete floor at work 10 years ago."I was doing three jobs until my accident and I was a keen hill walker," she said. "But with the injuries from the fall I can only work part time. I'm probably going to have to give them up now because the cuts will mean I get less help."I've never been on a protest before, but the government's plans make me so angry."A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said the government remained "absolutely committed to supporting disabled people", spending more than £40bn a year on support.He said: "Households where someone receives disability living allowance will be exempt from the benefit cap, and we are giving local authorities an additional £190m over four years to ensure vulnerable people are supported through the housing benefit reform, so we are not expecting people to become homeless."The introduction of the universal credit, from 2013, will see a simpler and fairer system of support for disabled people."More importantly, there will be no cash losers at the point of transition to universal credit, and disabled adults in greatest need and severely disabled children will receive more support than now."UK UncutLondonDisabilityWelfareLiberal-Conservative coalitionPeter Walkerguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Archbishop of York: don't legalise gay marriage Dr John Sentamu says government should not alter centuries-old social structures, but rights campaigner accuses him of being 'religious authoritarian'The government should not overturn centuries of tradition by legalising gay marriage, the archbishop of York has said.Dr John Sentamu, the second most senior bishop in the Church of England, said the church did not object to the introduction of civil partnerships in 2004, but that marriage should only be between men and women."If you genuinely would like the registration of civil partnerships to happen in a more general way, most people will say they can see the drift," he said. "But if you begin to call those marriage, you're trying to change the English language."The archbishop's comments, which were denounced by the gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, precede the start of the government's consultation on gay marriage in March.Sentamu said it was not the role of the government to alter social structures that had been in place for centuries."I don't think it is the role of the state to define what marriage is. It is set in tradition and history and you can't just [change it] overnight, no matter how powerful you are," he told the Daily Telegraph."We've seen dictators do it in different contexts, and I don't want to redefine very clear social structures that have been in existence for a long time and then overnight the state believes it could go in a particular way."Tatchell, the co-ordinator of the Equal Love campaign, said: "Archbishop Sentamu is a religious authoritarian who wants to impose his personal opposition to same-sex marriage on the rest of society."It is not a Christian value to demand legal discrimination against gay couples and to treat them as inferior, second-class citizens with fewer rights than everyone else."The issue of homosexuality is divisive in the Church of England. Sentamu expressed concern over the "gay marriage" of homosexual clergy after two ministers exchanged rings and vows at a service in London in 2008.In a joint statement with the archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, he said: "Those clergy who disagree with the church's teaching are at liberty to seek to persuade others within the church of the reasons why they believe, in the light of scripture, tradition and reason, that it should be changed. But they are not at liberty simply to disregard it."Sentamu, who fled Uganda in 1974, also said the church was failing to represent black and working-class Britons. He said: "The church should be a sign of the kingdom of heaven and should be telling us what it will look like."Heaven is not going to be full of just black people, just working-class people, just middle-class people – it's going to be, in the words of Desmond Tutu, a rainbow people of God in all its diversity."The murder of Stephen Lawrence in London in 1993 had forced many organisations to address institutional racism, Sentamu said, but others – such as media and football – had failed to be so effective, he added."Football never did it, so I'm not surprised [by allegations of racism on the pitch]," he said. "I didn't hear that the media ever said: 'Let's put a mirror to ourselves and see whether there isn't this tendency of stereotyping, or being prejudiced, of advantaging people because they went to the same school.'"John SentamuGay rightsChristianityPeter TatchellAnglicanismReligionConal Urquhartguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Costa Concordia divers find 17th body Spokesman for Italian civil defence organisation says woman's body was found on submerged sixth deck of cruise shipDivers have found a 17th body on the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia, the Italian authorities have said.A spokesman for the Italian civil defence organisation said the body of a woman was found on the submerged sixth deck. Fourteen of the 17 bodies have been identified, and a further 15 people are still missing.Around 4,200 people were on board the Costa Concordia when it ran aground off the Tuscan island of Giglio on 13 January.Salvage workers have also postponed attempts to extract fuel from the wreck, which is lying on its side. Efforts to pump around half a million gallons from the liner were shelved when high seas partially dislodged a barge hitched to the hull to serve as a staging platform for removing fuel.The Dutch salvage firm Smit had intended to start pumping fuel out on Saturday to prevent it from leaking and polluting the coastline.Costa ConcordiaItalyWater transportConal Urquhartguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- NHS 'faces peril' if reform plans are derailed Group of 50 GPs managing health services through clinical commissioning groups say they are 'already improving services'The NHS could be "in peril" if the government's plans to overhaul it are derailed by doctors and nurses' organisations, a group of GPs piloting the reforms has warned.The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, has proposed that the management of hospitals and budgets in England is reformed by allowing doctors rather than managers to control health services and budgets.The British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nurses and the Royal College of Midwives oppose the reform, describing it as a covert privatisation of the NHS. David Cameron agreed to "pause" the reforms last year as a result of the opposition.But more than 50 doctors who are already managing health services through clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), have backed the government's reforms, saying the professional bodies did not represent their views."Blanket opposition to the NHS reforms by the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nurses is not representative of the views of GPs … and nurses who support us," they said in a letter.The doctors wrote that CCGs were already improving services in the areas of England in which they are established."The risks of derailing the development of clinical commissioning must not be underestimated," they wrote. "Without strong clinical leadership and the co-ordinated efforts of local clinicians, the NHS itself may be in peril – local services can only be improved if we all pull together."NHSGPsDoctorsHealthPublic services policyAndrew LansleyHealth policyConal Urquhartguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Decapitated body case: brothers remanded in custody Body of victim John Grainger was discovered by firefighters extinguishing blaze in Stockport, Greater ManchesterTwo brothers have appeared in court charged with the murder of a man whose decapitated body was found on fire.The body of 32-year-old John Grainger was discovered by firefighters in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in the early hours of Thursday when they extinguished a blaze on a verge opposite the Gala Casino in Wellington Street.Anthony Jenkins, 31, of no fixed address, and 29-year-old Joseph Jenkins, of Stockport, were remanded in custody until Tuesday, when they will appear at Manchester crown court.They were brought separately up to the dock to appear before Stockport magistrates, and spoke only to confirm their personal details.Both men were arrested on suspicion of possessing shotgun cartridges prior to the discovery of the body. The victim's head was located nearby.A post mortem examination concluded that Grainger had died from a blunt force head injury and a shotgun wound to the head.In a tribute to Grainger, his family said: "John was a cheeky and lovable character who was a fantastic brother and uncle to his niece and nephews."He wanted to become a dad one day, and was looking forward to what the future held. John loved football and was an avid fan of Manchester United."Crimeguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
- Stephen Lawrence's mother says No 10 must do more on race • Cameron 'not doing enough to tackle racial prejudice'• Murdered boy's brother stopped and searched 20 times• Trust set up to help deprived youth has money problemsDoreen Lawrence has said David Cameron's government is not doing enough to tackle racial prejudice, which continues to blight society, and has warned that spending cuts will hit working-class and black Britons the hardest.In a Guardian interview, Lawrence says the government has huge powers to make a difference in leading the fight against racism, but says: "I've not heard them talk about race."Earlier this month her 18-year battle for justice saw Gary Dobson and David Norris convicted of the 1993 racist murder of her son Stephen by a white gang in south London. The murder led to a public inquiry that exposed police failings and prejudice in the ranks and in wider society.In the interview, she reveals:• While the police were failing to catch her son's murderers, they managed to stop his brother 20 times as a criminal suspect.• Police also managed to stop Mrs Lawrence the year after the murder and told her she was suspected of driving a stolen car. She says continuing racist stereotyping by officers explains why African-Caribbeans are more likely to be stopped.• She was told she should be "ashamed to show our faces" by a police employee, during a visit to Scotland Yard in 2009 to discuss her son's murder.• The trust she set up in Stephen's name to help youngsters from deprived backgrounds to realise their ambitions is in financial trouble.Lawrence criticises the government's record on race, saying they are squandering the opportunity to restart the war against prejudice presented by the conviction of two men for her son's murder.She says the convictions have at least temporarily put the battle against racial discrimination back on the agenda, after years of the fight having stalled. "There is a lot they can do. People take their lead from the government. If the prime minister said 'this is what I'd like to see happen in our society' ... people will try to work towards that. At the moment, I'm not sure exactly what they are doing around race."Cameron has tried to cleanse the Tories of their "nasty party" image, but the criticism from one of the leading black figures in Britain raises questions about that. Cameron, Lawrence says, was wrong to attack multiculturalism in a speech last year. "Sometimes people misinterpret what the word means," she says.Recalling longstanding Conservative hostility – the party opposed the setting up of the Macpherson inquiry, and attacked its findings – she notes some top Tories have changed their tune, such as Boris Johnson, who once attacked the Macpherson reforms but of whom she quips: "He's changed completely. He's my best friend now."She says she regrets that after the guilty verdicts no minister sent a letter "in recognition of what has been denied for so long". Her surviving son, Stuart, said: "David Cameron has not sent my mum a letter saying sorry it has taken so long. It shows the stance of the Conservative government. I don't think they care at all."Mrs Lawrence said the government may be preoccupied with the economy, but warned that spending cuts would hurt those who have least. "It is the working class and black people who are going to suffer the most – they are at the bottom of the ladder."She said some of the reforms proposed by Macpherson had made Britain less racially prejudiced, but much more could have been done: "It's like a missed opportunity. For so long the perception is we've dealt with race, so we can move on. Under the surface they have not dealt with race – it is still there."People suffering discrimination contact Mrs Lawrence for help – "families feel there is a lot of discrimination happening" – and she believes black Britons have to be four times better than their white counterparts to get as far. Stop and search, which she says police use disproportionately against African-Caribbeans, "has a great effect on their lives" and racist stereotyping is to blame: "Because in their mindset they still believe that they are criminals."Despite the fact that the Lawrences have been praised by prime ministers and police chiefs as a model law-abiding family, Mrs Lawrence, Stuart and her former husband, Neville, have all been stopped under stop-and-search powers. Stuart has been stopped more than 20 times: "He will be on the phone saying 'mum I can't believe they have stopped me again'."Once, after she complained, a police chief suggested an officer who had stopped Stuart should meet him and discuss why. The officer refused to do so. Stuart said: "There is no reason I can give, other than I am a young black man, who usually wears a baseball cap in my car, which is my God-given right." Asked if it is possible police were targeting her son because of any suggestion of criminality, she said: "He's a teacher for goodness sake."Mrs Lawrence reveals she was stopped in 1994, a year after Stephen's murder, by police who first said she might have been drinking. When she pressed them to breathalyse her, they suggested she had been driving erractically, then that it was possible she was driving a stolen car.She says the police were wrong to claim they were no longer institutionally racist, as Macpherson had found, and said in September 2009, on a visit to Scotland Yard, one staff member had said "we should be ashamed to show our face in the building".The Metropolitan police said: "The incident that Mrs Lawrence referred to was completely unacceptable and the individual was immediately dealt with by their line manager." The force added it is "immeasurably different to 1993" and that the Lawrence case had "contributed to major changes within policing".Lawrence described Norris and Dobson as "pure evil". Asked if she, a churchgoing Christian, could see herself forgiving the racists who killed her son, she said: "You can only forgive somebody, something, who asks for forgiveness, who admits their wrongs and they have never done that."She believes there is very little chance of the other men suspected of her son's murder standing trial. She will now focus her efforts on the Stephen Lawrence trust which gives young people opportunities.She met Cameron once, when he was in opposition: he came to a memorial service to mark the 15th anniversary of Stephen's death. Cameron and Nick Clegg sent a letter in support of a fundraising dinner for the trust, and the home secretary had visited its south London base, which Lawrence appreciated.A Downing Street spokesperson said the PM admired Lawrence for her "great bravery" and her family's "tireless fight for justice" and added: "He also recently made clear that he believes that although things have changed for the better, there is still a problem with racism in this country and more work to be done to tackle it."No 10 added that "a new action plan to tackle hate crime" would be unveiled soon, building on "one of the strongest legislative frameworks anywhere in the world", as would "a new approach to the integration of local communities".Lawrence said the trust was facing a cash crisis and needs to plug a £150,000 shortfall by the end of March.• Donations to the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust can be given:• By credit card or paypal at the trust's JustGiving web page click here justgiving.com/slct/donate• By texting SLCT18 followed by the £ symbol, then the amount to 70070• By bank deposit to the following account: sort code 30-94-08 account number 02963035• By cheque, made payable to Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust and sent to 39 Brookmill Road, Deptford, London SE8 4HU.Stephen LawrenceRace issuesLiberal-Conservative coalitionPoliceConservativesVikram Doddguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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- Boko Haram vows to fight until Nigeria establishes sharia... Exclusive: Spokesman for Islamist group says it will not stop deadly attacks until country is ruled according to dictates of AllahThe Islamist group Boko Haram, which has killed almost 1,000 people in Nigeria, will continue its campaign of violence until the country is ruled by sharia law, a senior member has told the Guardian."We will consider negotiation only when we have brought the government to their knees," the spokesman, Abu Qaqa, said in the group's first major interview with a western newspaper. "Once we see that things are being done according to the dictates of Allah, and our members are released [from prison], we will only put aside our arms – but we will not lay them down. You don't put down your arms in Islam, you only put them aside."Qaqa, whose name is a pseudonym, said the group's members were spiritual followers of al-Qaida, and claimed they had met senior figures in the network founded by Osama bin Laden during visits to Saudia Arabia.The interview comes a week after Boko Haram claimed responsibility for Nigeria's single deadliest terrorist attack, which killed 186 people in the northern city of Kano.In an audio message posted on YouTube on Friday, the group's current leader, Abubakar Shekau, threatened to bomb schools and kidnap family members of government officials."If [security forces] are going to places of worship and destroying them, like mosques and Quranic schools, you have primary schools as well, you have secondary schools and universities, and we will start bombing them."Shekau rejected calls for a negotiated peace from President Goodluck Jonathan, who on Thursday called for the shadowy sect to step out of the shadows and engage in dialogue.Nigerian officials have voiced hopes for a negotiated settlement with "moderate elements" of the group. "Under the circumstances, if you look hard enough, you can find moderate elements you can communicate with," General Andrew Azazi, the national security adviser to the president, told the Wall Street Journal on Friday.Western diplomats say Boko Haram has splintered and the hardliners leading the factions responsible for the wave of violence that has killed some 250 people this year appear to have rejected any suggestion of dialogue.The Guardian was able to contact Abu Qaqa through an intermediary from the group's home state. The go-between has been in contact with the group since its inception, and met with its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, several times before he was killed in 2009. For most of the interview he used a voice modulator, but local journalists confirmed that his undisguised voice matched recordings of previous interviews.Qaqa said Shekau and others had travelled to Saudi Arabia for training and funding. "Al-Qaida are our elder brothers. During the lesser Hajj [last August], our leader travelled to Saudi Arabia and met al-Qaida there. We enjoy financial and technical support from them. Anything we want from them we ask them."He said recruits from neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger had joined the group. A recent UN report said weapons from Libya may have been smuggled to Boko Haram and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb via Chad, Niger and Nigeria.Security officials and diplomats in Abuja said they had no evidence of a link with al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia, but an official confirmed that "elements of Boko Haram have made contact with external groups". The extent and frequency of that contact was unknown, the official said.In the decade since it first appeared, Boko Haram has graduated from crude driveby attacks on beer parlours to bombing security buildings in the northern Muslim heartland. Its most audacious attack targeted the United Nations building in the capital, Abuja, killing 25 in August. In recent weeks, Christians institutions have increasingly come under fire. A Christmas Day bomb attack on a packed church just outside the capital claimed almost 40 lives.But Qaqa said the rights of the country's 70 million Christians, who represent half of Nigeria's population, "would be protected" under the group's envisioned Islamic state. "Even the prophet Mohammed lived with non-Muslims and he gave them their dues." But he said everyone must abide by sharia law: "There are no exceptions. Even if you are a Muslim and you don't abide by sharia, we will kill you. Even if you are my own father, we will kill you."Speaking fluent but non-native Hausa, the lingua franca across the Sahelian belt on the cusp of the Sahara desert, he said: "It's the secular state that is responsible for the woes we are seeing today. People should understand that we are not saying we have to rule Nigeria, but we have been motivated by the stark injustice in the land. People underrate us but we have our sights set on [bringing sharia to] the whole world, not just Nigeria."Sharia law is already in place across 12 states in the Muslim-majority north. Few believe the group's radical ideology has traction in Nigeria's mainly Christian south, which is also home to millions of Muslims and has so far been out of the group's reach.Raising his voice for the only time during the interview, Qaqa denied reports that some governors in northern Nigeria paid the group monthly allowances in exchange for immunity from attacks. "May God punish anyone that said so," he said, before adding that the group has popular support in the north."Poor people are tired of the injustice, people are crying for saviours and they know the messiahs are Boko Haram."People were singing songs in [northern cities] Kano and Kaduna saying: 'We want Boko Haram'," Qaqa said, describing how the group can blend into the communities in which it operates. "If the masses don't like us they would have exposed us by now. When Islam comes everyone would be happy," he said.Diplomats say Nigeria's security services are belatedly attempting to gain control of the situation, which was previously dismissed as an internal, northern squabble often fuelled by politicians with personal grievances."There is an ongoing review of all security agencies," the presidential aide Ken Wiwa said. "This is a relatively new phenomenon in Nigeria and the administration is working hard to improve its capacity to respond. There are various other initiatives which will be implemented but this is as much a political as a security issue."An official said Nigeria's central bank was involved in measures aimed at strangling the group's external funding sources, including speeding up a cashless economy.Boko HaramNigeriaMonica Markguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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- Bisping Brings Two 'Birds' to UFC on Fox Weigh-In Michael Bisping broke out the double-bird salute for his 'fans' at the UFC on Fox weigh-ins. Bisping was announced by UFC commentator Joe Rogan, and he
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- The baby born with no blood MIRACLE baby Oliver Morgan saved after his blood drained away while in the womb http://digg.com/news/worldnews/the_baby_born_with_no_blood
- Sneak Peek at the Five Techiest Super Bowl XLVI Commercia... Advertisers beat the rush by posting Super Bowl XLVI commercials on the Web. Here's a sneak peek at the techiest from the bunch.
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- China: The gates are open There is a wealth of fellowships and postdoctoral openings in China for foreign researchers who aren't afraid of culture shock. Jacob Wickham knew just a few words of Chinese and still struggled to use chopsticks when he first set foot in Qingtongxia, a remote village in western China. In 2008, Wickham, then a PhD student studying insect biology at the State University of New York in Syracuse, had a fellowship from the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes (EAPSI), part of the US National Science Foundation (NSF). http://digg.com/news/science/china_the_gates_are_open
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Yahoo!
- Washington state abandons all tourism marketing (AP) AP - Washington state is shuttering the official tourism agency that unifies its marketing message and abandoning all public support for one of its largest industries.
- TSA re-inspects elderly woman over wet diaper (AP) AP - The family of a gravely ill 95-year-old woman says federal inspectors wouldn't let her mother board a plane because her adult diaper was wet, setting off alarms.
ESPN.com
- Thompson: Jay Paterno finds comfort Joe Paterno's son soaks in the surroundings of grief and finds comfort
- Azarenka rolls to Aussie title, ascends to No. 1 Victoria Azarenka started celebrating, then suddenly did a double-take to ask her coach, "What happened?"
- Tiger seizes share of lead at Abu Dhabi with 66 Tiger Woods moved to the top of the leaderboard Saturday at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, a position that once was taken for granted but now marks his first third-round lead in an official tournament in more than two years.
- LeBron, Wade help Heat take down Knicks LeBron James scored 31 points, Dwyane Wade scored 28 in his return from a sprained right ankle, and the Miami Heat beat the 3-point-obsessed New York Knicks 99-89 on Friday night.
- Manning, Irsay seek to 'dispel misperception' Peyton Manning and Jim Irsay "had a long talk" Friday, coming to terms with comments made to the media this week, first by the Colts quarterback and then by the team's owner two days later.
- Hornets actively trying to trade center Kaman The New Orleans Hornets are actively trying to trade center Chris Kaman, according to sources close to the process.
- U.S. blanks Costa Rica; qualifies for Olympics The U.S. women's soccer team qualified for the London Olympics on Friday night with a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica.
- Source: Oswalt likely to sign with Cards 'soon' It seems free-agent pitcher Roy Oswalt has elected to remain in the National League and is likely to sign with the St. Louis Cardinals "soon," a major league source said late Friday night.
- White Sox's Williams shares pain, proud of son White Sox general manager Ken Williams is still feeling his son's pain.
- Thomas: White House flap 'all media-driven' Boston Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas, who has become something of a political lightning rod lately, weighed in Friday on his beliefs that the federal government is "out of control."
BBC News
- RBS chairman rejects £1.4m bonus The Royal Bank of Scotland chairman, Sir Philip Hampton, has given up a £1.4m shares reward he was due later this year.
- Sun staff among five men arrested Four current and former Sun journalists and a police officer have been arrested by detectives investigating alleged corrupt payments.
- Pakistan humiliate abject England England are bowled out for only 72 to crumble to a 72-run defeat in the second Test against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and lose the three-match series.
- Arab League halts Syria mission The Arab League says it is suspending its controversial monitoring mission in Syria because of the upsurge in violence.
- IMF issues austerity cuts warning Inappropriate spending cuts could "strangle" growth, so austerity measures should be tailor-made by each country, the head of the IMF warns.
- US fears for Bin Laden 'informer' The US defence secretary says he is concerned about a Pakistani doctor arrested for providing intelligence for the US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden.
- FA cancels QPR-Chelsea handshake The FA confirms it cancelled the traditional handshake before the FA Cup fourth-round tie between Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea on Saturday.
- Karzai thanks UK for 'sacrifice' Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai thanks the British people for sacrificing "blood and treasure" for the future of his country.
- Anger at Sheridan 'gagging order' Tommy Sheridan's lawyer accuses prison authorities of trying to ban him from speaking in public on his release from jail on Monday.
- Cruise ship fuel pumping delayed Preparations to pump fuel from the wreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia are suspended, as divers find a 17th body.
New York Times
- In Davos, Europe Is Pressed for Debt Crisis Solution Echoing comments by American officials, leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos said that aid to the euro zone from the rest of the world would be contingent on a larger commitment by Europe.
- Greece Inches Toward Deal in Talks With Its Creditors The latest progress comes in the wake of two days of talks in Athens between the bankers lobby representing most investors, and Greece’s political leadership.
- Close Ties to Goldman Enrich Romney’s Public and Privat... Goldman Sachs, which manages Mitt Romney’s family’s fortune, is also his largest source of campaign contributions.
- Twitter Is a Critical Tool in Republican Campaigns The candidates’ teams can reach voters, gather data and respond to charges immediately, but the brief posts also carry danger.
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- Many Pardon Applicants Stressed Connection to Mississippi... A look at the clemency applications of felons who were pardoned reveal that many contained personal appeals from friends of Gov. Haley Barbour and major Republican donors.
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- Syria Armed Force Helps Rebels Gain Ground The growing assertiveness of a loosely organized force in Syria hinted at the expanding role of the armed opposition in a movement that began peacefully more than 10 months ago.
- A Rally for Putin, Enthusiasm Optional Teams of mechanics, welders and heavy-machinery operators gathered Saturday in support of Vladimir V. Putin. But that does not mean they were happy about it.
- Rabbi’s Followers Say Money Given to Grimm’s House Ra... A former aide to a prominent rabbi helped raise money from the rabbi’s followers for the 2010 campaign of Michael G. Grimm, according to interviews and records.
Wall Street Journal
- As Economy Posts Growth, Worry Lingers The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in 18 months in the fourth quarter, but underlying weak demand pointed to slower growth in coming months.
- Greece Edges Toward Debt Deal Greece and its private-sector creditors appeared to edge closer to a long-awaited agreement over a €100 billion debt write-down on government bonds.
- Spanair Shutdown Sparks Disruptions The Spanish airline canceled all of its flights Friday night and prepared to file for bankruptcy protection.
- Dow Snaps 3-Week Win Streak Blue-chip stocks finished in the red, pushing the Dow to its first losing week this year, after a reading on domestic economic growth fell short of expectations.
- Investors Abandon Copper, Cotton, Crude Amid plunging prices and soaring volatility, investors and traders reduced bets on 13 key commodity contracts by 19% in 2011.
- Delta Weighs a US Air Deal Delta Air Lines is studying US Airways as a possible acquisition target as U.S. carriers prepare for a new round of consolidation.
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- Home-Aid Program Expanded The Obama administration said it would give troubled homeowners another year to enroll in its signature mortgage-assistance program and increase payments to banks.
- Bidders for Los Angeles Dodgers Narrowed The Los Angeles Dodgers said its advisers have approved about 10 groups of bidders who will be asked to move on to a second round of offers for the team.
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CNN.com
- Arab League suspends observer mission in Syria The Arab League has suspended its monitoring mission in Syria due to the dramatic spike in violence and mounting fatalities, the group said Saturday.
- Woods grabs share of lead in Abu Dhabi Tiger Woods will take a share of the lead into the final round of the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship after posting a faultless six-under par round of 66 on Saturday.
- Panetta concerned about doctor who helped in bin Laden raid U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is acknowledging publicly the key role a Pakistani doctor who assisted the United States ahead of the strike on Osama bin Laden's compound last May that killed the terrorism mastermind.
- Former ECB head: Eurozone part of 'global crisis' The former head of the European Central Bank says the eurozone's woes must not be taken in isolation, but viewed as part of a global crisis.
- Spanish airline Spanair goes bust, strands passengers Spanish airline Spanair went bust early Saturday, forcing many passengers to find seats on flights with other airlines at short notice.
- Woman's body found in wrecked Italy cruise ship A woman's body was found Saturday in the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship, Italian officials said, taking the number of people confirmed dead to 17.
- Police make arrests, raid offices of News International Four current and former employees of Britain's Sun newspaper have been arrested by authorities investigating claims of inappropriate payments to police, News Corp. said Saturday.
- The hypocrisy of America's Cuba policy For more than 50 years, the United States has had an embargo against the island of Cuba, all because we supposedly hate communism and believe the nation 90 miles from our borders should institute democracy.
- England collapse hands Pakistan victory Pakistan left English heads spinning once again on Saturday as they completed a stunning 72-run victory in the second Test at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
- Karzai and Cameron pledge to work toward Afghan future Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to work toward lasting stability in Afghanistan in talks Saturday in the United Kingdom.
Sydney Morning Herald
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- Tackling taboos Australian filmmakers cannot handle sexual intimacy, let alone portray it honestly, according to Josh Winter.
- Queen Victoria The Australian Open has a first-time champion, and women's tennis a brand new queen.
- Property to die for In real estate there is a market for everything, even accommodation for those who have passed on.
- Until a wave does us part Getting drenched in water, rolling in mud or spilling paint over one's wedding gown is all the rage these days.
- 'We're on the way up' Michael Clarke says his team’s 4-0 series sweep of India has sent a message to the superpowers of world cricket.
- Demi 'smoked something' Actress Demi Moore suffered convulsions after smoking an undisclosed substance, 911 tape reveals.
- Wife killer's tangled web Discreetly hiring a hitman was beyond Andrew Kalajzich, who soon walks free, writes Malcolm Brown.
- PM's staffer set off protest PM's official admits disclosing the whereabouts of Tony Abbott prior to protest incident in Canberra.
CNET News
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- Can an MP3 sound better than a Blu-ray? High-resolution formats define the upper limit of quality, but if the recording's mix was overcompressed and processed, a lossless file won't sound great.
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- For Apple, best numbers yet, mixed press on how it got there We talk record breaking earnings, and reports of trouble in Apple's supply chain that made that possible in this week's edition of Apple Talk Weekly.
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- Anonymous takes aim over Europe's SOPA Hackers are attacking sites and looking to expose information on European officials in response to the signing of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. ACTA critics say it's even worse than the Stop Online Piracy Act floated in the U.S.
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- Stickman games that shine on iOS This week's collection of games relies less on graphics and more on solid gameplay. If you don't mind simple graphics and just want a good pick-up-and-play game, this is your collection.
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Techmeme
- Macworld finds its footing as a "hardcore consumer lifest... Heather Kelly / VentureBeat: Macworld finds its footing as a “hardcore consumer lifestyle event” — Macworld Expo, a once powerful Mac tradeshow, is getting new life as smaller event for Apple consumers and fans. The revamped three-day event, now called Macworld | iWorld, is taking place this week in San Francisco.
- Bill Gates: 'I wrote Steve Jobs a letter as he was dying.... Mary Riddell / Telegraph: Bill Gates: ‘I wrote Steve Jobs a letter as he was dying. He kept it by his bed’ — People's plutocrat Bill Gates talks about friendly rivalry, and how to get bankers to part with their money. — Change the world: 'If you have a dream and it comes true, it's a very cool thing,' says Bill Gates
- Mega Aftermath: Upheaval In Pirate Warez Land (Enigmax/To... Enigmax / TorrentFreak: Mega Aftermath: Upheaval In Pirate Warez Land — Despite its “rogue site” status and various other warnings, when MegaUpload went down last week it still came as a shock. — But what came next was unprecedented, a dramatic reaction in cyberlocker land that took out vast libraries of digital content and capacity.
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- The ACTA Fight Returns: What Is at Stake and What You Can... Michael Geist Blog: The ACTA Fight Returns: What Is at Stake and What You Can Do — The reverberations from the SOPA fight continue to be felt in the U.S. (excellent analysis from Benkler and Downes) and elsewhere (mounting Canadian concern that Bill C-11 could be amended to adopt SOPA-like rules) …
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- Israel sets sights on next-generation Internet (Josef Fed... Josef Federman / Associated Press: Israel sets sights on next-generation Internet … JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is often referred to as “Startup Nation,” thanks to its long history of high-tech breakthroughs produced by scrappy little companies. But in one critical area, the speed of Internet connections, Israel has fallen behind other tech-savvy countries.
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Slashdot
- Super Wi-Fi Isn't Really Wi-Fi adeelarshad82 writes "As reported yesterday lucky residents of Wilmington, N.C., will be the first in the nation to have access to a 'Super Wi-Fi' network. However, the only issue is that Super Wi-Fi isn't really Wi-Fi: Mobile analyst Sascha Segan explains the difference and also gets into why it's incorrectly being dubbed as Super Wi-Fi." Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Ask Slashdot: Money-Making Home-Based Tech Skills? New submitter ThatGamerChick writes "I'm a stay-at-home mom, but I'd like to be a work-at-home mom. I've done a few writing gigs, but I'm not a really good writer and cannot charge the fees needed for it to be worth my time. I'm just looking for something that I can teach myself in a few months and start taking small projects and working my way up from there. I've found that PHP, HTML and CSS to be the most demanded skills on sites like Elance, but the talent pool is flooded with overseas workers and Americans with so much more experience than me. Even when I was offering writing and virtual admin services on Elance I was having a hard time against them. So I'm asking here, because I think most of you may have a good insight on this type of thing as an employer of freelancers or as the freelancer themselves." What success have you had, either working from home, or employing those who do? Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Stealing Smartphone Crypto Keys Using Radio Waves coondoggie writes "Encryption keys on smartphones can be stolen via a technique using radio waves, says one of the world's foremost crypto experts, Paul Kocher, whose firm Cryptography Research will demonstrate the hacking stunt with several types of smartphones at the upcoming RSA Conference in San Francisco next month." Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Google+ Officially Open To Teens hypnosec writes "Google+ made a landmark move and opened itself to users who are over the age of 13. Google+ did not initially target the younger crowd and kept itself available only for users above the age of 18. Besides, opening up to youngsters over the age of 13 the social network also added improved safety features to keep the younger crowd protected. Now it features more rigid default settings for privacy but, they can be overridden none the less. Vice president Product management at Google+, Bradley Horowitz, in a Google+ post stated, 'With Google+, we want to help teens build meaningful connections online. We also want to provide features that foster safety alongside self-expression. Today we're doing both, for everyone who's old enough for a Google Account.'" Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Monty Python Crew To Reunite For Movie dutchwhizzman writes "The surviving members of Monty Python have announced they will make a new movie. It will be titled Absolutely Anything. Graham Chapman won't be there to join them anymore, but they think the movie will still be in the spirit of Life of Brian, The Meaning of Life and other movies they made in the past." Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Deathmatch On Mars: an Interview With Warren Ellis pigrabbitbear writes "Iconic comic book writer (Transmetropolitan, Planetary, Red), cult novelist (Crooked Little Vein), futurist intellectual, and beloved Internet curmudgeon, Warren Ellis, known for his impassioned arguments for space travel, talks to Motherboard about Newt Gingrich's presidential plans for lunar colonies and conquering Mars." Warren Ellis does not mince words. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- New Privacy Laws Could Boost EU Cloud Industry sweetpea86 writes "Cloud providers based in the European market could turn the fear, uncertainty and doubt around data protection and the U.S. Patriot Act to their advantage, according to Andy Burton, chairman of the Cloud Industry Forum. The only way that European companies can absolutely guarantee that their data doesn't end up in the hands of U.S. authorities is by choosing a provider that not only has a data centre within their jurisdiction, but is also owned by an organisation based in that jurisdiction." Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- iPhone 4S's Siri Is a Bandwidth Guzzler Frankie70 writes "'Siri's dirty little secret is that she's a bandwidth guzzler, the digital equivalent of a 10-miles-per-gallon Hummer H1.' A study by Arieso shows that users of the iPhone 4S demand three times as much data as iPhone 3G users and twice as much as iPhone 4 users, who were identified as the most demanding in a 2010 study. 'In all, Arieso says that the Siri-equipped iPhone 4S "appears to unleash data consumption behaviors that have no precedent."'" Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Android Malware May Have Infected 5 Million Users bonch writes "A massive Android malware campaign may be responsible for duping as many as 5 million users into downloading the Android.Counterclan infection from the Google Android Market. The trojan collects the user's personal information, modifies the home page, and displays unwanted advertisements. It is packaged in 13 different applications, some of which have been on the store for at least a month. Several of the malicious apps are still available on the Android Market as of 3 P.M. ET. Symantec has posted the full list of infected applications." Read more of this story at Slashdot.
- Sea Water Could Cause Uranium Pollution From Nuclear Fuel... New submitter Required Snark writes "UC Davis researchers have found a mechanism where the sodium in sea water can cause uranium nano-particles to be released from nuclear reactor fuel rods. Normally the uranium oxide compounds composing the rods are very resistant to leaching into water. This could have serious consequences for the Fukushima disaster, since sea water was used for emergency cooling." Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Scientific American
- Can fMRI Really Tell if You're Lying?
- Minding Mistakes: How the Brain Monitors Errors and Learn...
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- What is sarcoidosis?
- Hacking Memory to Break Drug Addiction
- ADV: Le PCC: Podcast de la Cabane au Canada Le PCC vous emmène en balade dans Montréal et parfois un peu plus loin...
- The Science of Star Wars
- Poisoned Pot Roast?: Plastic Storage Containers Also Cont...
- Tone Deafness and Bad Singing May Not Go Hand in Hand
- Cancer Drug Costs May Help Doctors Select a Treatment
Wired
- How Amazon Could Split Netflix and iTunes to Win Streamin... Everyone knows that Amazon wants to extend its digital media offerings. Its executives know the long-term trends for sales of DVDs, Blu-Rays and their players. The company that dominates e-book and e-reader sales was already ?beaten first to digital music by Apple. Jeff Bezos never wants that to happen again.
- Theophilus London Brings His Unique Style to Sundance
- A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Jan. 28
- Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry Documents Artist's Social...
- SEC Goes After Online Trading Firms That Unwittingly Help... In an effort to crack down on hacker/stock traders who hijack brokerage accounts and exploit the stock market for gain, the Securities and Exchange Commission has, in a novel move, gone after four online trading companies and eight executives who they say helped a Latvian hacker make more than $850,000 from fraudulent trades.
- Apple's New iBooks Won't School College Bookstores Any Ti... On its face, matching iPad textbooks with college students seems almost perfect. But Apple's plans for its new iBookstore, from the way it's structured book purchases to its development strategy for multimedia e-books, doesn't seem like it's well suited for the college textbook market at all ? if it even has that target in mind.
- Solar-Storm-Fueled Auroras Make for Awesome Backyard Phot... The sun is waking up. After several quiet years, it bombarded the Earth with a one-two punch of solar storms this week, which generated consecutive nights of spectacular auroras.
- Twitter Censorship Move Sparks Backlash: Is It Justified? Internet scorn for Twitter's announcement that it would censor tweets was swift and unforgiving. But even free-speech and other experts were divided on the service's move that it might censor tweets if required by law in "countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression."
- Simulate Daylight to Combat SAD
- Pentagon Confused by Its Own 'Subs vs. Terrorists' Plan It's the Pentagon dream that won't die: hitting enemy targets with missiles anywhere around the world within mere hours. (Too bad it could trigger a nuclear war.) Now that the brass swears it's got a technological fix for the ambitious missile project, it's got a bigger problem: the Pentagon can't seem to decide how it should actually work.
The Independent
- RBS chairman declines £1.4m bonus The chairman of the taxpayer-funded Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will not receive a shares bonus worth £1.4 million, the bank said today. Related StoriesTycoon to clear his debts – by selling freeholds on 1 per cent of UK homesWinter returns – and it could stay cold for a monthJuliet Lyon: The current prison population is neither justifiable nor sustainableJuliet Lyon: The prison population is neither justifiable nor sustainableKey step in fight for right to die
- Two remanded over decapitated body Two brothers have appeared in court charged with the murder of a man whose decapitated body was found on fire.Related Stories'I wouldn't ruin my life to nick a couple of quid'Pensioner 'killed' boy in BulgariaEscaped prisoner back in custodyPoliceman arrested in hacking probeOperation Elveden: Arrests made in police payment probe
- Operation Elveden: Arrests made in police payment probe A serving police officer and three men have been arrested over payments to police officers.Related Stories'I wouldn't ruin my life to nick a couple of quid'Pensioner 'killed' boy in BulgariaEscaped prisoner back in custodyPoliceman arrested in hacking probeTwo remanded over decapitated body
- Policeman arrested in hacking probe A serving police officer and three men have been arrested over payments to police officers in the phone-hacking inquiry.Related Stories'I wouldn't ruin my life to nick a couple of quid'Pensioner 'killed' boy in BulgariaEscaped prisoner back in custodyTwo remanded over decapitated bodyOperation Elveden: Arrests made in police payment probe
- Archbishop warns against gay marriage Ministers should not overrule the Bible by allowing same-sex marriage and David Cameron would be like a "dictator" if he lets homosexual couples get married, the Archbishop of York has said.
- Escaped prisoner back in custody A prisoner who went on the run after being sprung from the clutches of prison officers as they escorted him to hospital has been arrested, police said today.Related Stories'I wouldn't ruin my life to nick a couple of quid'Pensioner 'killed' boy in BulgariaPoliceman arrested in hacking probeTwo remanded over decapitated bodyOperation Elveden: Arrests made in police payment probe
- Juliet Lyon: The current prison population is neither jus... With numbers rocketing at the rate of a small jail a week, the Ministry of Justice has a straight choice: hold its nerve and redouble its efforts to cut any unnecessary use of imprisonment or cave in and go cap in hand to the Treasury for more money to pour down the prisons drain. Related StoriesTycoon to clear his debts – by selling freeholds on 1 per cent of UK homesWinter returns – and it could stay cold for a monthJuliet Lyon: The prison population is neither justifiable nor sustainableKey step in fight for right to dieRBS chairman declines £1.4m bonus
- Juliet Lyon: The prison population is neither justifiable... With numbers rocketing at the rate of a small jail a week, the Ministry of Justice has a straight choice: hold its nerve and redouble its efforts to cut any unnecessary use of imprisonment or cave in and go cap in hand to the Treasury for more money to pour down the prisons drain.Related StoriesTycoon to clear his debts – by selling freeholds on 1 per cent of UK homesWinter returns – and it could stay cold for a monthJuliet Lyon: The current prison population is neither justifiable nor sustainableKey step in fight for right to dieRBS chairman declines £1.4m bonus
- Pensioner 'killed' boy in Bulgaria A British pensioner has been charged with murder after strangling an 11-year-old boy he believed had tortured one of his dogs, Bulgarian police say.Related Stories'I wouldn't ruin my life to nick a couple of quid'Escaped prisoner back in custodyPoliceman arrested in hacking probeTwo remanded over decapitated bodyOperation Elveden: Arrests made in police payment probe
- Key step in fight for right to die Lawyers for a stroke victim who wants help to end his "intolerable" life can continue to act on his behalf without fear of prosecution or disciplinary action after a High Court ruling today.Related StoriesTycoon to clear his debts – by selling freeholds on 1 per cent of UK homesWinter returns – and it could stay cold for a monthJuliet Lyon: The current prison population is neither justifiable nor sustainableJuliet Lyon: The prison population is neither justifiable nor sustainableRBS chairman declines £1.4m bonus
South China Morning Post
- Third Tibetan protester shot dead by police Police shot dead another Tibetan protester and wounded several others in the Tibetan-dominated Aba refecture in Sichuan , rights groups said, bringing to at least three the number killed in deadly clashes this week.
- Briefs German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be in Beijing next week for talks with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao and to give a key speech on the euro crisis. Merkel will meet Wen and Hu in Beijing on Thursday before addressing the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on "finance and currency issues", a spokesman said. Wen would then accompany her on a trip to Guangzhou, where they will participate in an economic forum and meet German and Chinese business leaders. AFP
- Delegates edge closer to crossing the political lines People are expecting more from representatives at sessions of people's congresses and CPCC branches, says Sally Wang.
- Annual rural-policy ritual goes nowhere The central government's policies on rural development are not being implemented effectively, say scholars. Every October since 2004, officials and researchers have gathered behind closed doors at a Beijing hotel to start drafting a lengthy document for release during Lunar New Year.
- China Digest At least 473 property developers in Beijing cancelled their registration last year after policy tightening by the central government to curb the booming real estate market, the Mirror reports. There are now about 3,000 registered developers in the capital. In 2010, only 185 developers cancelled their registration.
- Twitter may target mainland tweets Twitter's announcement that it has developed technology that can censor messages on a country-by-country basis has prompted speculation that the popular short-messaging service might have an eye on the mainland market.
- U.S. military focus on Asia to stir hawks The Pentagon's decision to increase its military presence in Asia gives Chinese hawks reason to urge Beijing to increase the People's Liberation Army's budget this year, Chinese military analysts say.
- Helicopters keep an eye on holiday revellers Beijing police have been monitoring holiday crowds from helicopters, a moved meant to curb stampedes in the city's busiest areas during the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.
Washington Post Front Page
- FBI links shots fired at Pentagon, Marine museum Two shootings that targeted U.S. military buildings in Northern Virginia have been conclusively linked to the same weapon, and law enforcement officials think a third attack on a Marine Corps recruiting office this week could be part of the same unexplained spree.
- The new game plan boosting colleges' odds IN STEVENSON, MD. -- Stevenson University was another small liberal arts school with a surplus of female students. Women outnumbered men 2 to 1, an extreme example of the imbalance that pervades higher education.
- The rise, fall and rise of John Boehner Just before Thanksgiving 1998, John A. Boehner hit bottom. The Ohio congressman, once a comer in the Republican Party, was unceremoniously removed from his post in the House leadership. Boehner's colleagues had a win-at-all-costs mind-set; he saw no point in antagonizing the Democratic minority j...
- Taliban unscathed by U.S. strikes An intense military campaign aimed at crippling the Taliban has so far failed to inflict more than fleeting setbacks on the insurgency or put meaningful pressure on its leaders to seek peace, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials citing the latest assessments of the war in...
- Groups meet at White House on gay ban President Obama met briefly on Tuesday with gay rights groups pushing to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, according to people familiar with the meeting.
- Corrections The Washington Post is committed to correcting errors that appear in the newspaper. Those interested in contacting the paper for that purpose can:
- Party intensifies fears about alcohol energy drinks The revelation this week that sugary, high-alcohol energy drinks helped send nine Washington state college freshmen to the hospital after an off-campus party has renewed public concern about the hazards of the beverages.
- Digest A jury has been chosen in Texas for the trial of former U.S. House majority leader Tom DeLay, who is accused of illegally funneling corporate money to help Republicans in Texas legislative races in 2002.
- Global extinction crisis looms, study says A growing number of creatures could disappear from the Earth, with one-fifth of all vertebrates and as many as a third of all sharks and rays now facing the threat of extinction, according to a new survey assessing nearly 26,000 species around the world.
- Chris Cillizza: The Fix on the campaign trail With conventional wisdom congealing around the idea that Democrats are likely to lose the House and narrowly hold onto their majority in the Senate, plenty of people are talking about what the midterm election results might mean for President Obama ' s 2012 reelection race.
Washingtonpost.com
- Japan begins grim relief mission with towns flooded, thou... Rescue teams searched through matchstick rubble Saturday for thousands of people missing in flooded areas of northeastern Japan, beginning one of the most complex relief efforts in history.
- Japanese nuclear plants' operator scrambles to avert melt... Japanese authorities said Sunday that efforts to restart the cooling system at one of the reactors damaged by Friday's earthquake had failed, a major setback in the struggle to contain what has become the most serious nuclear power crisis in a quarter century.
- For autistic kids' parents, trial hits home
- Subterranean jail a sign of Gaddafi's grip
- Who will reach the Final Four?
New Matilda
- The Mob Violence That Wasn't Somehow, with the strange alchemy that the media seems to summon, the dominant angle of reporting about yesterday’s Australia Day kerfuffle involving the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition has been to condemn it as a violent protest. "Indigenous leaders condemn ‘disgraceful’ protesters" is how the ABC has been describing it and much of the Fairfax press has carried similar stories. The television networks have, of course, reveled in the dramatic footage. Channel 9’s news report from last night, which carried the inside-the-restaurant footage of the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader conferring on whether to evacuate, repeatedly framed the protest in emotive terms like "violent", "raging", "angry mob", under siege" and so on. Few media outlets seem to have asked whether there was in fact any violence from protesters. The available video and eyewitness evidence suggests that the violence came mainly from police and security staff. Yes, there was chanting, Yes, there was banging on the windows of local restaurant The Lobby. But were the protesters really "violent"? What exactly would this "violence" have consisted of? Police have laid no charges. No-one appears to have been hurt through the actions of protesters. The available footage, particularly from Channel 9, which can be seen here on the 3AW site, shows no violence from protesters. What it shows is confusion and panic from police and security, protestors milling about shouting, and rough handling of protesters by police. In response to a question about yesterday’s violence from a journalist at today’s tent embassy press conference, a spokeswoman for the embassy, Selina Davey-Newry, said: "There was no violence, we had the AFP and riot squad pushing at us in a line, and invited the politicians to come out and speak. The AFP came out against us with force, and we did not retaliatie with force, we did not instigate any wrong-doing or any violence". 3AW’s Michael Pachi’s account of the affair, broadcast yesterday, appears to confirm this. "In terms of violence, if you call it violence … it was basically the protesters banging on the Commonwealth car once they were escorted from the car … but from the most part it was really just loud chanting," he said. This report by Wil Wallace is the best available eyewitness account of the protest. Wallace spoke to Sam Castro, who was at the tent embassy. Wallace writes that "a contingent of about 100 protesters made their way up the road to The Lobby and surrounded it. Though they were loud and noisy they were non-violent." New Matilda has spoken to one protester who attended yesterday’s march to the tent embassy, Jennifer Killen, a high school teacher from Sydney. "I got up early yesterday and went to the ANU at 9am for the start of the march," she said. "There were a couple of police on bikes either looking amused or bored, it was well marshalled. We walked over to parliament and back to the embassy. The camp kitchen was feeding everyone. I met people aged three to 80. It was a family occasion." "There were — at a guess — around 2000 people on the big march. Why was that all ignored? The Sydney Morning Herald headline was ‘Australia day turns ugly’, but I saw a peaceful march by people who had been neglected for generations." "Why was it that our politicians are completely unable to cope with meeting constituents unless it’s on an orchestrated basis where they can look good? Why couldn’t they just come out and talk?" she asks. The Canberra Times’ Jack Waterford argues that the security forces panicked and over-reacted, and the politicians were never in danger. "At no stage did it appear that Gillard made contact with any protester, or that any lunged towards her. The stumble was a function of the extrication, not crowd pressure." New Matilda contacted the Australian Federal Police for comment. They confirmed that no arrests had been made, though added that "investigations were ongoing". The AFP will issue a formal statement later this afternoon, we were told. Despite no arrests being made, no physical harm coming to any of the guests of the ceremony, indeed, no real threat to the Prime Minister or the Leader of the Opposition at all, through lazy reporting and the distorting lens of the television footage, the protests have been reported as though a group of violent protesters took Australia’s two most senior politicians hostage. It hasn’t taken long for the usual suspects to rear their heads and issue forth with pompous outrage. "The Aboriginal tent embassy has never engendered public respect," thundered News Limited’s David Penberthy. "It has never done anything to bring black and white Australia together." Penberthy also made wild claims about an "illegal assortment of galvanised humpies" and an "unprecedented outburst of violence that saw our Prime Minister being dragged along the ground and our Opposition Leader cowering behind a riot shield." The Herald-Sun’s Andrew Bolt went one step further, calling the protest a "riot", writing of "Gillard, fear on her face, being monstered" and calling the end of the reconciliation movement. "It’s just too dangerous," he averred. It’s easy to see why Indigenous leaders such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Mick Gooda were so exasperated by the events yesterday, and the inevitable backlash they will provoke. "An aggressive, divisive and frightening protest such as this, has no place in debates about the affairs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples or in any circumstances," he has been reported as saying, and it is true that the protest will not advance the cause of reconciliation. But Tent Embassy spokesman Pal Coe made a point largely lost in the media coverage today, which is that Warren Mundine and Mick Gooda don’t speak for those involved, much less for Aboriginal Australia as a whole. "You cannot work a peaceful way when governments rely upon certain Aboriginal people to justify a position, a political position, a policy position that they take and they conveniently choose to ignore the rest of Aboriginal people because they have one or two convenient spokespeople," he told the ABC’s George Roberts. And there should be no doubt as to whether this was a "violent" protest, and what the real cause of the dramatic pictures of Gillard and Abbott being bundled to their cars really was. The blame for yesterday’s dramatic scenes should lie principally with the politicians and police. First and foremost, it should lie with Tony Abbott, for the cynically provocative comments he made about the value of the tent embassy, despite his mild-mannered protestations today. Secondly, questions must be asked about why Gillard and Abbott both refused to interrupt their Australia Day ceremony to walk outside the restaurant and speak to the protestors. Finally, and, most seriously, significant questions must be raised about the Australian Federal Police and their cack-handed overreaction to this non-riot.
- Australia Day
- Occupying Wall Street - Stories from the 99 Per Cent Occupying Wall Street: the inside story of an action that changed America. For two months this Autumn, Zuccotti Park, squeezed deep in a canyon between bankers’ skyscrapers in lower Manhattan, was the site of an extraordinary political action. Home to the hundreds of anti-capitalist protestors who camped there overnight, and the thousands who visited to join the protest, the park became a magical place: a communion of sharing and consensus in the heart of a citadel defined by greed and oligarchy. Now, in a new book assembled by a group of writers active in support of the occupation, the story of Occupy Wall Street is being told. Occupying Wall Street draws on extensive interviews with those who took part in the action to bring an authentic, inside-the-square history to life. In these pages you will discover in rich detail how the protest was devised and planned, how its daily needs were met, and how it won overwhelming support across the nation. Published by Scribe.
- The Real Tent Embassy Story I dropped by the tent embassy after work to see what it was like. I fully intended to go to an Australia Day barbecue piss-up that had already been raging for eight hours but I was quickly transported by the wonderful events at the tents. The lawn in front of Old Parliament House had been transformed by an assortment of tents, marquees and people. A large marquee was serving delicious food and chai. I gravitated towards the food tent with a work colleague, and then bumped into some other friends, and then other friends, as is typical in Canberra. We sat ourselves down on overlapping oriental rugs spread across the grass underneath a rainbow coloured circus shaped tent. A succession of bands played into the night on a stage, and when they stopped, people with own drums and guitars and didgeridoos took their place. We watched the fireworks explode over Lake Burley Griffin for Australia Day and what with all the mirth, it wasn’t too much of a stretch to imagine that the display was all for us, and that the whole town was celebrating the 40th anniversary of the founding of the tent embassy. At the end of the night, close to 11pm, a phone receiver was put to the microphone on stage. Someone was reading the hot-off-the-press article on the day’s events published in the Herald Sun. David Penberthy’s words reverberated across the hushed audience, "… this illegal assortment of galvanised humpies… This was a new low in the four-decade history of this politically useless eyesore". The crowd shook with anger and sadness and the cheerful atmosphere was transformed. Siege and riot were the words used to describe the scuffle that interrupted what had previously been, and continued after to be, a peaceful and cheerful celebration. The usual small handful of nutters who made the scene go wild for the cameras projected Aboriginal Australia to the heart of Australia Day — but in the wrong way. Julia Gillard tripped in her high heels in the commotion and was seized by her security personnel. This generated into a series of snapshots of an enfeebled woman in the arms of protective service men. The Prime Minister and Opposition leader went to the Lobby restaurant, near the tent embassy, for the National Emergency Medal ceremony. Journalists had asked Tony Abbott earlier that morning whether the tent embassy was still relevant. He had replied "I think the Indigenous people of Australia can be very proud of the respect in which they are held by every Australian and yes, I think a lot has changed since then and I think it probably is time to move on from that". Fred Hooper, chairman of the Northern Basin Aboriginal Nations, summed up the outrage: "We were peacefully celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal tent embassy. The Opposition Leader on national television made a comment to tear down something that we have built over 40 years, which is sacred to us. So what do you expect us to do when we are 200 yards away from the person that makes that comment?" They had no issue with the Prime Minister, Fred Hooper and Michael Andersen, co-founder of the tent embassy, later said. They were furious at that "foolish man", Tony Abbott. Comments in the media abound that Abbott, while insensitive, was right to say that issues have changed, to say that we can move on. As we today commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day, will anyone ask or affirm that it is time to move on? It is unfortunate that the 40th anniversary of the tent embassy was overshadowed by an outbreak of violence. It is unfortunate too that this cheerful celebration was only noted for the rage that was unleased by Tony Abbott’s comments. And it is unfortunate that on their way to the Lobby restaurant neither the Prime Minister nor the Opposition leader, nor the Minister for Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin took time to acknowledge the celebration. The occasion didn’t necessarily need another speech, but a few warm words and handshakes and a bit of listening would have been gracious and prime ministerial — even if it wouldn’t have won any votes.
- Copies of the Griffith Review 35 "Tales of extraordinary battles and random brushes with fate, and hard-won lessons on how to be better prepared, and adopt, survive and even thrive after disaster." In an ever more populous, urbanised and media-saturated world, the rate and scale of disasters sometimes feels straight out of a doomsday movie. Yet behind the official inquiries and memorials of natural catastrophes, war, economic collapse and personal traumas, there are tales of renewal and hope, of those rebuilding lives and communities. Surviving reveals the inspiration, myths and beliefs that sustain hope in the wake of crisis. Griffith Review
- In-Season Passes to 'A Separation' A Separation is an utterly compelling and profound film that focuses on a contemporary Iranian middle-class couple who separate, and the intrigues which follow. The film received the Golden Bear for Best Film and the Silver Bears for Best Actress and Best Actor at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival. Propelled by an acute attention to class, religious and gender differences, Farhadi’s meticulous script questions the very basis of truth and ethics, and explores the cultural, social and judical minefield that plagues contemporary Iran. At its heart a gripping, humane drama that recalls classic Hitchcock in its twists and turns, A Separation puts director Asghar Farhadi at the front rank of contemporary world directors. In cinemas March 1, 2012 Director: Asghar Farhadi Featuring: Leila Hatami, Peyman Moadi, Shahab Hosseini, Sareh Bayat, Sarina Farhadi
- Preview performances at Red Stitch in Melbourne Good People previews on the 1st and 2nd of February. What makes a good person? Is it possible to start life over? When Mike Dillon reconnects with his one time girlfriend from high school, a friendship is rekindled. Lindsay-Abaire’s thoughtful new play explores class distinctions and the decisions we make that affect our entire lives. Visit Red Stitch for more information.
- Egyptians Call For 'Bread, Freedom And Justice' One year on Egypt’s revolution is stronger than ever. The turn out for the 25 January rally to commemorate the beginning of Egypt’s revolution has surpassed the most optimistic expectations. It was even larger than those that took place during the 18 days of the initial uprising last year. That makes it probably the largest in Egypt’s history. One year on, the hunger for change in Egypt remains. It also showed that a huge number of Egyptians still see the street politics, rather than the recently elected parliament, as the main tool for change. This will be a concern for both the generals of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces, who currently occupy the position of president, and the Islamist parties who have come to dominate the newly formed parliament. By the evening of 24 January, despite cold winds and constant drizzle, the numbers in the square had begun to grow as thousands of people joined those permanently camped there. A contingent from the Muslim Brotherhood also arrived, and begun to set up a stage. Aware that many of the mostly young activists who have firmly established Tahrir as their turf, might react angrily to this, their supporters formed a human chain as the construction took place. Some believe the Brotherhood, in their hunger for power, to have sold out on the demands of the revolution and the memory of its martyrs by avoiding conflict with the SCAF and other remnants of the Mubarak era. By the pre-dawn hours, when I arrived in the square, hoping to take some photos of the Fajr (dawn) prayers, this situation had become quite tense. A few dozen of the thousands of protesters had gathered and were chanting angrily at the cohort from the Brotherhood, who stared back at them, disciplined and steely faced. This wasn’t the only pre-event tension. When the prayers did start, I was busy, elsewhere in the square where I had discovered a makeshift prison, in which three young men were being held. Those holding them claimed, and I came also to suspect after speaking with them, that they were "baltagiya". These are thugs — usually registered offenders — who are corralled by the security forces to do the dirty work of Egypt’s ruling elite. Around these points of friction however, the crowd was generally positive and it continued to grow steadily. By midday the sun was shining and numbers were easily in the hundreds of thousands, but the majority of demonstrators were still yet to arrive. After the Dhuhr (midday) prayers, marches began in in various suburbs around Cairo. I joined one of the larger marches as it passed through the suburb of Mohandaseen. People waved flags and chanted against the SCAF. They called for the punishment of those who had stolen from and murdered the people of Egypt, and for "bread, freedom and social justice". Masks were common — though many wore them on the back of their head to leave their faces visible. Some of them were the Guy Fawkes masks often seen at Occupy protests, and associated with the hacktivist group Anonymous, but many more were the faces of those martyred by forces under the control of the SCAF since the fall of Mubarak. A large papier-mâché effigy of Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak’s defence minister and head of the SCAF, bobbed above the crowd. That the march was huge was obvious, however the true scale was only revealed when, while still more than a kilometre from the square, I ran into an Egyptian journalist friend of mine who told me that the front of the march — which completely filled the four lane road — had already reached Tahrir Square. I couldn’t tell how far behind us the march stretched. As we crossed a bridge over the Nile, leading into the Square, the march began to compress and slow. The Square was already at capacity and newcomers could only enter as others left. What’s more, the Cairo protest was only one of many across Egypt. As we approached the threshhold of the square a new chant, "This is a revolution, not a party" — it rhymes in Arabic — broke out. This was a sideways jab at the Brotherhood, who had tried to frame their participation in the day as a celebration of the victory of the revolution rather than part of an ongoing struggle for it. Indeed the overall tone of the day was confrontational rather than conciliatory toward the country’s military rulers. This was a clear sign that while the Islamist forces might have the most support at the ballot box, the loose networks of activists centred around the "revolutionary youth" of Tahrir can still bring greater numbers into the streets. The euphoria of the day was marred, however, first by the upsetting discovery that the hastily erected Tahrir prison was still in operation, with one of the morning’s inmates still held along with two fresh ones, then later by reports on Twitter of a sexual assault in Tahrir similar to that suffered by journalist Lara Logan and many other women during the initial uprising. Despite the intrusions of mob justice and sexual violence, two of Egypt’s most endemic social problems, the overwhelming impression of the day was optimism. For all the failures of Egypt’s transitional military rulers, and the apparent unsuitability of the victors of the first post-Mubarak vote, the future of Egypt remains in safe hands: those of the people.
- Special preview screening of Man On A Ledge in Sydney "Tough and tender…Tremendous appeal." - Variety Ten double passes up for grabs for the preview screening in Sydney: Hoyts Broadway, 6.30pm, Tuesday 31 January. DIRECTED BY Asger Leth STARRING Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris, Ed Burns and Kyra Sedgwick. An ex-cop and now wanted fugitive (Sam Worthington) stands on the ledge of a high-rise building while a hard-living New York Police Department negotiator (Elizabeth Banks) tries to talk him down. The longer they are on the ledge, the more she realises that he might have an ulterior motive. Opens nationally on 2 February.
- It's Early Days In Egypt - But There Is Hope I met Hassan on Grindr. Egypt has a chequered and complicated past when it comes to the persecution of the LGBTI community. Homosexuality is not an offence but practicing gay men are subjected to state-sanctioned harassment and face prosecution for a range of related offences, including debauchery and contempt of religion. This makes online forums and social media tools such as Grindr essential devices for gay men to meet each other and form the semblances of a community. It was a cold and wet day in Sydney when I sat down in front of my computer to talk to Hassan on Skype. Hassan — and no, that isn’t his real name — is a gay activist who has been involved in the protest movement in Egypt over the past year. The miserable weather in Sydney stood in stark contrast to the blisteringly hot days I had experienced just a few weeks back in Egypt. The weather was not the only point of difference between Sydney and Cairo. Hassan’s moving account of living as a closeted gay man in Egypt made clear that the freedoms enjoyed by gays and lesbians in Sydney are not yet a reality in much of the world. I asked Hassan to tell me how he had become involved in the 25 January protests. He said that he had not previously been involved in any political groups or movements. He had gone along to the protests with a group of friends after being galvanised into action by the protesters’ demand for "bread, freedom and dignity". It proved to be a portentous decision: the protests at Tahrir Square marked the moment when a young generation of activists confronted the fear that had paralysed those fighting for a future free from authoritarianism. Wasn’t he afraid, given the Mubarak regime’s propensity to head off dissent with brutal displays of force? After pausing for a moment, Hassan replied: "I wasn’t afraid; that’s why I joined. I believe that if you have no dignity and no freedom then there is no need for life." The protests did not quite turn out as Hassan had expected. Shortly after he arrived, he was arrested. He spent 30 wretched hours in one of the police force’s holding cells. The initial euphoria that greeted the news that Mubarak was stepping down gave way to anger as the protesters realised that the military establishment had served up Mubarak as a sacrificial lamb in order to maintain its hold on power. Any concessions that have been made, such as the promise to hold presidential elections by the middle of 2012, have been made grudgingly in response to continuing protests. Although the number of protesters out on the streets has decreased since the height of the revolution, a resolute minority has continued to meet the Supreme Council of Armed Forces’ intransigence and fatal violence with dogged determination and hope. I asked Hassan what he thought about the resounding victory of Islamist parties in the elections. Although the participation of some of these groups in the 25 January protests were limited, they have reaped most of the benefits of the revolution. "I don’t like the Muslim Brotherhood at all. They give Islam a bad name because most of what they want to do doesn’t come from Islam at all. All they are interested in is money and influence," Hassan responded. I could discern the steely look in his eye even from the pixelated image on my laptop screen. Hassan went on: "They were hardly involved in the protest. They also thought that the protesters were a bunch of kids like the government thought. But then once they saw that things were changing, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood told their members to go to Tahrir Square. They joined the protest like cows, but it wasn’t because they believed in the revolution." This provided a partial explanation as to why the Muslim Brotherhood’s political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, had done so well in the first two rounds of elections, receiving about 40 per cent of the vote. It seemed that Egyptians who were not directly involved in the protests attributed the success of the revolution to the Muslim Brotherhood who had long been the public face of opposition to Mubarak and his cronies. The Salafist’s El Nour party, which advocated a state run according to the strict dictates of Islam had also performed quite well. El Nour had won about 20 per cent of the vote. It was this result which was causing the most consternation overseas. According to Hassan, the Salafists had no public presence before the 25 January revolution; existing only behind closed doors. Hassan’s analysis of El Nour’s solid showing in the polls was that the party had capitalised on its association with Islam. A personal anecdote that Hassan recounted brought home the fact that even the hyper-religious weren’t immune from political opportunism. "I knew some Salafists before the revolution. They were not organised into a political party and they told me that they were not involved in any political activities. I got this same answer from the many Salafists I spoke to. But before the elections I found out that they had created a party called El Nour, and were demanding their rights and asking for the mixing of religion and politics." Hassan was particularly scathing about the Salafist’s prescription for Egypt’s political and economic development. Egypt faces a number of very significant challenges, including a moribund economy, low levels of education and the fact that its tourism industry, its largest export, has ground to a virtual standstill. Some of the Salafist’s early public pronouncements, such as their wish to cover the pyramids and ancient archaeological ruins depicting "idolatrous" gods in wax struck me as plain bizzare. "If the Salafists really care about Egypt, they will wait until Egypt is more stable before they start demanding that religion should be brought into politics. There are more important things, like education. Most people in Egypt have very low levels of education and can’t think for themselves. This is a real problem and one which should be addressed first." The military’s unwillingness to play a diminished role in the Egyptian polity and the success of political parties which advocate a fairly rigid and inflexible application of Islamic law did not fill me with confidence about the prospects for sexual freedom in Egypt. It was with some trepidation that I posed my next question to Hassan: "Do you think the lives of gay men and women will become easier now that Mubarak is gone?" Hassan paused for what seemed like a long time. I wasn’t sure if this was the result of thoughtful contemplation or due to my Skype connection dropping out. "I have hope that things will change because people are now freer to talk about a range of issues, including sexuality. It’s early days yet, but there is hope. It’s my life and I won’t allow anyone to control it." "Is this what you meant when you said that you went to Tahrir Square to fight for dignity and freedom?" I asked. "Exactly," Hassan replied, "There are more protests planned for 25 January 2012. This will be the second revolution, when we, inshallah, will get what we originally fought for."
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