what the ?

The head of the Greater Toronto Hockey League said he was 'aghast' at the actions by the mother of one of the players.

on a remote Australian coast.

3 weeks after abusing a Las Vegas audience. "According to media accounts of the incident, Carlin's bit about "moronic" Vegas tourists touched off a bitter, profane exchange with members of the audience, including one woman who shouted 'Stop degrading us.'"

Snow white lost three dwarves due to cost cutting measures

Its really not an offence police said.

Ear bags are a hot fashion accessory.

Elton John said the Alps remind him of his cocaine days.

The report demonstrated a scandalous lack of coordination among federal agencies.

"I have entered the bowels of hell and I'm going to be here forever. And I've only been married seven months. I've got a terrorist in my house."

Holiday shoppers vent Christmas rage over a parking spot. Santa attacks an elderly woman with a 2 by 4 in Atlanta.

A pregnant 27 year old woman killed her boyfriend's 22 month old daughter by scalding her to death, ignoring her suffering for several hours.

South African farmers who bared all for a calendar to raise money for their association and local charities have proved to be popular pin-ups. Within a day of publication 1000 copies were sold out, mainly to women.

Because her prom dress was a Confederate Battle Flag.

"We've had really good results for the holiday season" said Duct Tape Creations founder Scott Howard, who said his products are sold out until the new year.

Brandon Moon 43, was released after nearly 17 years in prison, after DNA tests determined that he was not responsible for the crime for which he was imprisoned.

I hope he's being watched.

Why don't we put em in camps like we did to loyal Japanese Americans during WWII. Or on reservations like we did the Native Americans.

What the ? ???

And if you didn't know, the cougar, or mountain lion, has been well established in the western states since the 1960s. http://www.easterncougarnet.org/bigpicture.html

What the ? Gross, just gross.

what would Walt think?

Casino regulators fined a Casino for focusing its security cameras on females

From the what the ? dude:

With all due respect, maybe there should be an independent audit on where all that insurance money is going?

If doctors didn't mess up, there wouldn't be any lawsuits. What do you do when the lawsuit is not frivolous and there is a real need to remedy a wrong?

As for taxes, a tax cut would not help me much. Would it help you?

A Taxi driver in San Jose Costa Rica shot a man who was wearing a bin Laden mask.

A man surrounded by women and says students have the opportunity to "play the field".

If the company is so good, why are the executives selling their stocks?

He even has a chapter entitled "Hacking, Why Not?", and how to do it.

An 81 year old retiree was duped by two young women who invited him to a nude photoshoot with them. They took his money when he dropped his pants.

A man has been charged with animal cruelty after biting his dog as a form of punishment police in Gainesville, Florida said.

Attorneys say the number of defamation suits against people who speak out is growing.

The EFF filed an amicus brief in the case of Barrett v. Rosenthal 2004 Cal. Lexis 9291, California Supreme Court Case No. S122953. The Court of Appeal decision is Barrett v. Rosenthal (2004) 114 Cal. App. 4th 1379, a copy of which can be accessed at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/9105/BarrettvRosenthalCourtofAppealDecision.htm

For Bloggers, reviewing the various issues raised and the laws that apply to them is important.

Japan advised to increase its Gross National Cool as a tool in its foreign policy, using its cultural strengths to promote Japanese thinking abroad.

Britney Spears caused a stink, when her smelly feet gassed a plane full of people.

The prose was ghastly and boring the judges said.

Single Japanese men find the foam lap comforting.

Senator John McCain stated that he had no confidence in Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and that more troops were needed in Iraq.

Definitely deserves a what the ? posting.

It is a difficult task balancing the necessity of waging war against the enemy and the need for accuracy and credibility in the age of the internet.

CNN reports the fingerprints of Michael Jackson, and his accuser were found on porn magazines during the execution of a search warrant at his residence.

Oh, he's in trouble now.

When will the violence stop?

U.S. Pores Over Transcripts to Try to Oust Nuclear Chief
By Dafna LinzerWashington Post Staff WriterSunday, December 12, 2004; Page A01

The Bush administration has dozens of intercepts of Mohamed ElBaradei's phone calls with Iranian diplomats and is scrutinizing them in search of ammunition to oust him as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to three U.S. government officials.
But the diplomatic offensive will not be easy. The administration has failed to come up with a candidate willing to oppose ElBaradei, who has run the agency since 1997, and there is disagreement among some senior officials over how hard to push for his removal, and what the diplomatic costs of a public campaign against him could be.

Although eavesdropping, even on allies, is considered a well-worn tool of national security and diplomacy, the efforts against ElBaradei demonstrate the lengths some within the administration are willing to go to replace a top international diplomat who questioned U.S. intelligence on Iraq and is now taking a cautious approach on Iran.

The intercepted calls have not produced any evidence of nefarious conduct by ElBaradei, according to three officials who have read them. But some within the administration believe they show ElBaradei lacks impartiality because he tried to help Iran navigate a diplomatic crisis over its nuclear programs. Others argue the transcripts demonstrate nothing more than standard telephone diplomacy.

"Some people think he sounds way too soft on the Iranians, but that's about it," said one official with access to the intercepts.

In Vienna, where the IAEA is headquartered, officials said they were not surprised about the eavesdropping.

"We've always assumed that this kind of thing goes on," said IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky. "We wish it were otherwise, but we know the reality."

The IAEA, often called the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency, coordinates nuclear safety around the world and monitors materials that could be diverted for weapons use. It has played pivotal investigative roles in four major crises in recent years: Iran, Iraq, North Korea and the nuclear black market run by one of Pakistan's top scientists.

Each issue has produced some tension between the agency and the White House, and this is not the first time that ElBaradei or other U.N. officials have been the targets of a spy campaign. Three weeks before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the Observer newspaper in Britain published a secret directive from the National Security Agency ordering increased eavesdropping on U.N. diplomats.

Earlier this year, Clare Short, who served in British Prime Minister Tony Blair's cabinet, said British spies had eavesdropped on U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's calls during that period and that she had read transcripts of the intercepts.

The NSA, which is responsible for collecting and decoding electronic communications for the U.S. government, had no information to provide on the ElBaradei intercepts. The CIA refused comment.

ElBaradei, 62, an Egyptian diplomat who taught international law at New York University, is well-respected inside the United Nations, and many of the countries that sit on the IAEA board have asked him to stay for a third term beginning next summer.

To block that, Washington would need to persuade a little more than one-third of the IAEA's 35-member board to vote against his reappointment.

But even some of the administration's closest friends, including Britain, appear to be reluctant to join a fight they believe is motivated by a desire to pay back ElBaradei for Iraq. Without clear support and no candidate, the White House began searching for material to strengthen its argument that ElBaradei should be retired next summer, according to several senior policymakers who would discuss strategy only on the condition of anonymity.

The officials said anonymous accusations against ElBaradei made by U.S. officials in recent weeks are part of an orchestrated campaign. One of the most commonly cited accusations is that ElBaradei has purposely concealed damning details of Iran's program from the IAEA board. The charges are unproven and have been staunchly denied by the agency.

"The plan is to keep the spotlight on ElBaradei and raise the heat," another U.S. official said.

But another official said there is disagreement within the administration, chiefly between Undersecretary of State for Arms Control John R. Bolton, whom aides say is eager to see ElBaradei go, and outgoing Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, over whether it would be worth diverting diplomatic capital that could be better spent on lobbying the board to get tougher with Iran.

In September, Powell said ElBaradei should step aside, citing a term limit policy adopted several years ago in Geneva by the top 10 contributors to international organizations.

"We think the Geneva rule is a good rule: two terms," Powell told Agence France-Presse. "It's not been followed in the past on many occasions, more often than not, but we still think it's a good, useful rule." Powell said he discussed it personally with ElBaradei, who decided he would stay on if the board wanted him.

"However this effort is justified by the administration, the assumption internationally will be that the United States was blackballing ElBaradei because of Iraq and Iran," said Robert Einhorn, who was assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation until 2001.

Several months ago, the State Department began canvassing potential candidates, including Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, two Japanese diplomats, two South Koreans officials and a Brazilian disarmament expert.

But the South Koreans and Brazil's Sergio Duarte are now considered to be problematic candidates because both countries are under IAEA investigation for suspect nuclear work. Downer, who is not willing to challenge ElBaradei, still remains the administration's top choice. The deadline for submitting alternative candidates to ElBaradei is Dec. 31.

"Our original strategy was to get Alex Downer to throw his hat in the ring, but we couldn't," said one U.S. policymaker. "Anyone in politics will tell you that you can't beat somebody with nobody, but we're going to try to disprove that."

That strategy worked once before when the administration orchestrated the 2002 removal of Jose M. Bustani, who ran the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), a U.N. organization based in The Hague. Bustani drew the administration's ire when he tried to involve his organization in the search for suspected chemical weapons in Iraq.

The administration canvassed the organization's board and then forced a narrow vote for his ouster. A successor was found three months later, and there was little diplomatic fallout from the administration's maneuver, mostly because the OPCW has a fairly low-profile and its members wanted to avoid being drawn into the diplomatic row leading up to the Iraq war.
But John S. Wolf, who was assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation until June, said such action comes at a cost and makes it harder for the United States to keep the world's attention focused on pressing threats.

"The net result of campaigns that others saw as spiteful was that even where the U.S. had quite legitimate and proven concerns, the atmosphere had been so soured that it wasn't possible to recoup," Wolf said.

Gareth Evans, a former Australian foreign minister who now heads a high-level panel on U.N. reform, said ElBaradei has been excellent in his job and that Washington would be making a mistake to challenge him:

"If they think they can get anyone who could have better handled the complex and difficult issues surroundings North Korea, Iran and other controversies, they are not understanding the world right now."

By Glenn KesslerWashington Post Staff WriterSaturday, December 11, 2004; 11:59 AM

RABAT, Morocco, Dec. 11 -- Senior Arab officials attending a U.S.-sponsored conference in the Middle East rejected the Bush administration's assertion that greater democracy would help end terrorism, arguing that the administration's strong support of Israel made it difficult to undertake political reforms or halt extremists driven by hatred of U.S. policies.

"Let us face it: Our differences are neither religious nor cultural," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Faisal said. "We perceive no clashes of civilization or competing value systems. The real bone of contention is the longest conflict in modern history."

President Bush has said the push to bring greater democracy in the Middle East is one of the central goals of his second term. But after an Arab backlash earlier this year, the focus of the conference -- dubbed the "Forum on the Future" -- had already been watered down to mostly focus on economic liberalization.

The tough comments from Arab leaders further illustrate how the initiative may be undermined by other policies of the Bush administration. U.S. officials in the past have rejected a link between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and political reform in the Middle East

We can't keep pointing to the Middle East peace process as the reason we don't undertake reform efforts that are needed by these nations," Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told reporters traveling with him as he flew here Friday.

But other Arab officials echoed Saud's tough remarks, or brought up the impact of the Iraq conflict. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit attributed instability and insecurity in the region to the stagnation of the peace process. Libya's representative, deputy foreign minister Hassouna Shawish, said "continued bloodshed makes it difficult for us all. I'm talking about bloodshed in Iraq."

European officials attending the session also saw a link between reform and the Palestinian issue. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said progress on that front "will lend all reform and modernization efforts in the Arab world unprecedented momentum."

Moreover, the closing statement issued by the chair of the meeting, Moroccan Foreign Minister Mohamed Benaissa, pointedly noted that support for reform in the region "will go hand in hand" with support for a just peace for Palestinians.

Powell, speaking at a news conference later, acknowledged that if progress is made on Middle East peace "and if we start moving down that track, then I think conditions are created for faster reform. But we not sitting here today saying no reform until that is resolved."

Reflecting the tension over the conflict, Morocco did not invite Israel, a thriving democracy, to the event. Officials from some 20 Arab and Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa attended, along members of the Group of Eight industrialized nations and representatives business and civil society groups. Iran was expected to attend but withdrew from the conference shortly before it began.

In his remarks, Saud said Arabs recognized the United States has a "bias toward Israel" but "the Arab peoples cannot fathom why these guarantees are transformed into unrestricted backing of unrestrained Israeli policies contrary to international legality."

Arguing the conflict was responsible for the "seeds of terrorism" in the region, he said "it remains to be seen whether for the first time we can be honest with each other and commit ourselves to settling the Arab-Israeli conflict."

At one point, Saud recited a long list of Western and Arab philosophers that he said had shaped common values of Western and Arab nations. "These principles are far more powerful in their sublime inspiration than any weapons of war in inflicting fear and intimidation," he said, alluding to the invasion of Iraq. "By returning to these values, you can win the hearts and minds of the Arab and Muslim peoples."

The State Department had said the session at which Saud spoke was intended to be closed. But Moroccan authorities inadvertently broadcast it to journalists covering the event.

Before the invasion of Iraq, Bush had signaled he hoped the fall of Saddam Hussein would help usher in democracy across the Middle East, and he has repeatedly pressed this idea in the past year. Earlier this month in Canada, the president framed the democracy initiative as one of three "great commitments" to enhancing U.S. security, along with promoting effective multilateral institutions and fighting global terrorism. "By taking the side of reformers and democrats in the Middle East, we will gain allies in the war on terror, and isolate the ideology of murder and help defeat the despair and hopelessness that feeds terror," Bush said in Halifax on Dec. 1.

But the grand concept elucidated by Bush in practice mostly has evolved in a discussion of economic issues, not political reform. The meeting included a fledging effort by Italy, Turkey and Yemen to discuss democracy assistance, but much of the one-day conference centered on such issues as financing for small entrepreneurs and literacy. A planned $100 million fund for small and mid-sized business fell short, raising $60 million from donors.

During the public session, Powell said countries could attempt economic reforms first, but ultimately success was linked to increasingly open societies. "Now is not the time to argue about the pace of democratic reform, or whether economic reform must precede political reform," he said. But he noted: "Countries with active political participation by all people tend to enjoy greater investment, economic growth and educational excellence. In short, political and economic freedom go hand-in-hand."

Gheit said in an interview that he resisted the notion that "reform" was necessary in the Arab world. "I prefer the word 'modernity,'" he said, saying that reform means something is wrong and need to be fixed.

The conference also has been controversial in Morocco, where human rights groups have demonstrated against hosting it while the United States continues to occupy Iraq. The day before the conference started, L'Economiste, a leading conservative business publication here, published a front page editorial cartoon on the conference depicting a U.S. soldier, in full military gear, pointing a machine gun at a Arab man on the ground. In a quote the cartoon attributes to Powell, the soldier sneers: "I hope we can come to an understanding of the need for reform and modernization of the Broader Middle East and North Africa region."

Before arriving here, Powell appeared to set a low standard for success at the meeting. He said the very fact that the Arab and Muslim nations had agreed to attend and speak about these issues was a "significant achievement."

DALLAS, Dec. 11, 2004 -- There are silent nights — and days — outside several stores this holiday season, but no more bells.

Several stores have decided to ban Salvation Army's fund-raising bell-ringers. The stores say shoppers shouldn't be bothered by requests for charity. Others wonder what's happened to the holiday spirit.

Long Tradition
The Salvation Army's red kettle and bell are symbols of Christmas, dating back to the early 1890s, when the first kettle was set out in the streets of San Francisco.

Since then, the Salvation Army has provided a range of charitable services — from food and clothing for the needy to emergency assistance. It may have started as just spare change, but the kettles now raise $93 million annually. During the Great Depression, the U.S. government sought the charity's expertise when millions were in need.

Recently, when four hurricanes slashed Florida this summer, the Salvation Army was among the first to help.

But this holiday season, Target, the nation's second-largest retailer, decided to strictly enforce a ban on soliciting: The Salvation Army is being turned away.

"This year, Target has been named as our Ebenezer Scrooge," says Randy Sharp of the American Family Association, a Christian activist group. "But I believe the ghost of Christmas future is going to catch up to Target if they don't reverse that policy."

The American Family Association has e-mailed its 2 million members encouraging them to shop elsewhere.

In a statement, Target says it contributes more than $2 million a week to charities — but declined to discuss its no-solicitation policy on camera. The company says it needs to be consistent, sparing its customers a gauntlet of groups looking for a handout.

But shoppers who spoke to ABC News had no problem with Salvation Army bell ringers.

Contributions Continue
Even though Target, Toys "R" Us, Barnes and Noble, and others are blocking solicitation, this year the Salvation Army is actually raising more money than ever.

"When people see a Salvation Army kettle, for whatever reason, they are dropping more into the kettle compared to the prior year," Salvation Army Maj. Bill Mockabee says.
According to the Salvation Army, it may be a bit tougher to find one of their kettles, but the generosity of Christmas shoppers is still easy to spot.

"NEW YORK - "I was just in the editing room, working on the last piece," Bill Moyers says. "I thought: `I've done this so many times, and each one is as difficult as the last one.' Maybe finally I've broken the habit."

It hasn't been so much a habit for Moyers as a truth-telling mission during his three decades as a TV journalist. But come next week, he will sign off from "Now," the weekly PBS newsmagazine he began in 2002, as, at age 70, he retires from television.

"I'm going out telling the story that I think is the biggest story of our time: how the right-wing media has become a partisan propaganda arm of the Republican National Committee," says Moyers. "We have an ideological press that's interested in the election of Republicans, and a mainstream press that's interested in the bottom line. Therefore, we don't have a vigilant, independent press whose interest is the American people."

For that, his absence after the Dec. 17 "Now" will be all the more keenly felt: Moyers' interest has always been the American people.

A humanist who's at home with subjects ranging from the power of myth to media consolidation, from drug addiction to modern dance, from religion to environmental abuse, Moyers has produced hundreds of hours of diverse programming on issues that others shortchange, sidestep or simply fail to notice. And through it all, he has looked upon his audience not as targeted consumers, or as voters split along a Red State-Blue State divide, but as his fellow citizens.

He's a citizen-journalist with a robust background, this Texas native who, early on, earned a divinity degree (he's an ordained Baptist minister) then served as special assistant to President Johnson, and for several years was publisher of the Long Island newspaper Newsday.

In 1971, he came to public television as host of "This Week" and "Bill Moyers' Journal," and, next, joined CBS News to do similarly civic-minded programming.

Then in 1986 he and his wife, Judith Davidson Moyers, became their own bosses by forming Public Affairs Television, an independent shop that has not only produced documentaries such as "A Walk Through the 20th Century," "Healing and the Mind" and "A Gathering of Men with Robert Bly," but also paid for them through its own fund-raising efforts.

"Judith and I will take several months to catch our breath," says Moyers during a recent conversation at the soon-to-be-vacated office he rents at Thirteen/WNET's Manhattan headquarters. "Then I will think about the Last Act - capital L, capital A - of my life."

He does have one immediate project: a book he will write about his years with Johnson. But he has no TV ventures in mind.

With his days at "Now" ticking down, Moyers voices pride in that series, which, upon its premiere three years ago, he envisioned as "a flexible format for ideas and conversation, reportage and debate." Now reaching 2.4 million viewers weekly with its breaking-news currency and contemplative pace, "Now" will continue with his worthy co-host, David Brancaccio, taking over. (It airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. EST; check local listings.)

"It has gained traction," says Moyers - if only by default, in an era where most TV journalism gravitates toward the sensational or trivial. "As the networks have raced to the bottom, it is very easy to stand out if you just do good journalism. We've been trying to do good journalism, and it filled a real void."

One example of typically good journalism on "Now" not long ago: an in-depth look at the record of President Bush's nominee for secretary of state, Condoleeza Rice, who in her current post as national security adviser "dreadfully misjudged the terrorist threat leading up to 9/11, and then misled America and the world about the case for invading Iraq," as Moyers concluded.

It was the sort of report unlikely to be found on most newscasts, and even less likely to endear a reporter to the powers-that-be, on whose good graces the media has grown all too reliant. But Moyers believes that challenging those in power is a journalist's duty - and, consequently, his.
"What they're really objecting to is not my ideology," he says in his thoughtful, almost pastoral manner. "I'd be doing this if the Democrats were in power. It's not that I'm a liberal, it really isn't. It's the fact that I'm doing journalism that isn't determined by the establishment.

"You don't get rewarded in commercial broadcasting for trying to tell the truth about the institutions of power in this country," he goes on. "I think my peers in commercial television are talented and devoted journalists, but they've chosen to work in a corporate mainstream that trims their talent to fit the corporate nature of American life. And you do not get rewarded for telling the hard truths about America in a profit-seeking environment."

Through his own devices, Moyers has been the journalist he wanted to be, while honored for it with more than 30 Emmys and 10 Peabody awards.

"I've just been doing the kind of journalism that ought to be done, IF you had the opportunity to do it," he insists. "The fight has been to create that opportunity and that independence."

It's been a fight he fought well. But where will tomorrow's Bill Moyers come from?

"We have got to nurture the spirit of independent journalism in this country," he warns in reply, "or we'll not save capitalism from its own excesses, and we'll not save democracy from its own inertia." "

The washington post writes at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53452-2004Dec9.html
that the intelligence package that Congress approved this week
includes little noticed measures that would broaden the government's power
by loosening the standards for FBI surveillance warrants and allow
the DOJ to more easily detain suspects without bail.

The article goes on to say that civil liberties groups voice their
concern about the measures.

At the present time, the Supreme Court's ruling in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
124 S.Ct. 2633 (2004) would prevent suspects from being held without a
hearing concerning the veracity of the charges. The Court has held that
"...although Congress authorized the detention of combatants in the
narrow circumstances alleged here, due process demands that a citizen
held in the United States as an enemy combatant be given a meaningful
opportunity to contest the factual basis for that detention before a
neutral decisionmaker." at p. 2635.

Justices Scalia, Stevens, and Thomas dissented, Justices Ginsberg
with Justices Souter and Ginzburg concurring and dissenting.

It would appear that the right to have a factual determination
of whether the charges are true in a hearing may be upheld.
However, this may change, if the make up of the Supreme
Court changes. The question would be, what would the Supreme
Court do, say if Justice Scalia becomes the Chief Justice?

Matua105 Here. Loggin on for the first time. We're in for a rough but interesting ride.
Late.