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The Blogmanac: "On This Day" ... and much more
Think universally. Act terrestrially.
For in a hard-working society, it is rare and even subversive to celebrate too much, to revel and keep on reveling: to stop whatever you're doing and rave, pray, throw things, go into trances, jump over bonfires, drape yourself in flowers, stay up all night, and scoop the froth from the sea.
Anneli Rufus*
*Ø* Dangerous Choices: Bioterrorism Vs Population Health
A stimulating Late Night Live forum on bioterrorism, public health and governmental priorities in assigning funding.
The first speaker is a bit dull, but the second, Professor Ian Lowe, is well worth hearing. Wish I had a transcript, but I memorised this bit:
"Do you think that the United States would be in Iraq if it controlled ten per cent of the world's broccoli?"
Prof Lowe has some incredible statistics to report, including one that says all the world's health needs could be met with 15 per cent of the world's military budget.
Our so-called leaders aren't listening, but I hope we are.
*Ø* Child torture in Iraq? Denmark pressed to seek probe
"The Danish-based International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) has urged the Copenhagen Government to demand an investigation by the US-led coalition forces in Iraq into allegations that children there were being imprisoned and tortured.
"The demand comes three days after a similar appeal to the Danish Government, which is part of the US-led military coalition in oil-rich Iraq, from the Danish section of the international aid agency Save the Children." Source: ABC (Oz) News
July 10, 1040 According to one tradition, Lady Godiva made her famous ride, naked on horseback, through the streets of Coventry, England. Thus, today is Lady Godiva Day in that city.
Lady Godiva – Godgyfu as her name was originally – really did exist and was a Saxon noblewoman and patron of the arts, married to Leofric, Duke of Mercia in England. The couple moved to Coventry, Warwickshire, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire (where Leofric had earned his fortune and title from the mutton trade).
It is known that Leofric began spending large amounts of taxpayers' money, as politicians are wont to do, on grandiose public works, while the people of Coventry, as people are wont to do, lived in poverty. The legend says that Godiva, generous and strong-willed, was outraged at a poll or tax that Leofric was planning to levy on the people of Coventry, and she persistently asked him to lift the imposition, or at least use the money for the provision of works of art that the peasants might enjoy. Leofric laughed so much that he injured his left wrist slightly as he fell off his stool in the hall of the village burghers. However, the nouveau-riche gentleman offered her a deal: if his wife would ride naked on horseback through the town, then he would agree to waive the tax ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
4) Why do some people say "sugar diabetes"? 5) Why haven't I been told of other varieties?
You know:
"As if I didn't have enough problems, now the quack tells me I've got sugar diabetes, an' I'd rather pull me arse up over me 'ead than 'ave sugar diabetes. An' I tell ya that fer nuthin."
Is there some other kind of diabetes I should know about? Salt diabetes? Barbecue sauce diabetes? Helium diabetes? Lou Gehrig's diabetes? George Bush's diabetes?
I'd rather pull me arse up over me head than have George Bush's diabetes.
I always asked too many questions, like "Why not?" and "Who says?" Always landing in trouble because of this affliction.
I've only been awake for twenty minutes and already I have three of those damn questions burning great potholes in my synaptic paths:
1) Why can't I stop whistling The Andy Griffiths Show this morning? Can't get that damn whistle out of my head, and I never even liked that show a real lot, except Barney was funny; 2) Those people who don't take two or three sugars in their coffee, do they realise they're missing the point? 3) Did Hamelin ever say sorry to the Stollen Generation?
If I have diabetes I'll have to concede Number 2. And it will explain why I always have to do Number 1.
The Pentagon is claiming it inadvertently destroyed military records from more than 30 years ago that could have definitively determined whether George W. Bush fulfilled his duty in the Texas Air National Guard. Questions have loomed for the past five years over whether Bush skipped out on his commitment during periods of 1972 and 1973. Yesterday in response to a Freedom of Information Request the Pentagon said for the first time that the microfilm containing Bush's payroll records from the disputed period was ruined in 1996 or 1997 during an attempt to salvage deteriorating microfilm. Some journalists expressed skepticism about the Pentagon's claim. James Moore, who wrote "Bush's War For Re-Election" said, "Those are records we've all been interested in. I think it's curious that the microfiche could resolve what days Mr. Bush worked and what days he was paid, and suddenly that is gone."
Playing With Fire: Politics, Religion And Holy War By Joe Conn
Tom Ehrich is fed up with the Religious Right's assault on American freedom. Ehrich, an Episcopal priest and columnist for the Religion News Service, tackled that topic in a July 6 RNS essay.
"In the 150 years preceding America's independence," writes Ehrich, "the religious did their best to carry on Europe's faith wars. Tensions within Protestantism and between Protestants and Roman Catholics did much to undermine American Colonial life.
"Our founding fathers," he continued, "were determined to keep holy wars from enslaving this continent. This was to be a land of freedom, not religious turf wars. The rights of citizens were to be kept separate from religion's self-serving claims of certainty and sanctity. Now it is our time to take up their noble cause.
"Christian demagogues have declared a holy war that they claim to be for the soul of America, the sanctity of life and the future of Christian faith. They badger us into fixation on two issues -- Scripture and sex -- as if those two issues would determine the future of civilization, not to mention true faith. It is nothing but a power grab. It is a violation of the Gospel. As politicians exploit this holy war for campaign funds, membership lists and votes, it is playing with the fire that nearly destroyed Europe."
Ehrich urges believers "to stop going along with religious demagogues."
Most American religious leaders don't agree with the Religious Right's self-righteous agenda, and it's refreshing to see an Episcopol priest lay out the case so forthrightly. [Emphasis added. -v]
Saturday, July 9, 1357, 5:31 am: Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor assisted laying the foundation stone of Charles Bridge in Prague.
How do we know the precise time? Because the palindromic number 135797531, carved on the Old Town bridge tower, was chosen by the royal astrologists and numerologists as the best time for starting the bridge construction.
Wilson's Webcam Watch The image at right, if it’s appearing, is generated by a live webcam. Webcam images refresh at set intervals, so if you refresh this page it might show a changed image.
Wilson's Webcam Watch is a small but growing list of live webcams you can see in various pages in the Book of Days. For example,
Old Faithful Hong Kong Harbour Niagara Falls Loch Ness and the Eiffel Tower, for starters.
Recommend a webcam Is there an online webcam you know that you'd like to see in the Book of Days? Maybe it's in a favourite city or at a tourist spot you love. Maybe a game park or an ant farm. If it relates to an item in the Book of Days, or an item that should be in the BoD, let me know.
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
"Washington should keep out of Australian politics, the Opposition Leader, Mark Latham, said yesterday, denying claims by a senior Bush Administration figure that Labor is split over its policy on Iraq.
"The former Labor prime minister Paul Keating also bought into the row over the comments by the US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, describing his intervention as 'dumb' and saying that Labor would not be 'thugged' by American officials." Source: Sydney Morning Herald
July 9, 1856 Nikola Tesla (d. January 7, 1943), the Croatian-born American electrical engineer, inventor of the alternating current (AC) motor, was born on this day at Smiljan, Lika. He was a great genius whose luck was not as great as his abilities, and for many years his name was almost completely lost to public knowledge.
The unit of magnetic flux in the metric system is the 'tesla', as another unit is the 'faraday'. His Tesla Coil supplies the high voltage for the computer monitor you are looking at. The electricity for your computer comes from a Tesla design AC generator, is sent through a Tesla transformer, and gets to your house through 3-phase Tesla power. The electric power of Niagara was harnessed through his inventions.
During Tesla's lifetime, the US Patent Office recorded 111 utility patents, one reissued patent, two utility patent corrections and one utility patent disclaimer. US patent number 613,809 described the first device anywhere for wireless remote control. "You do not see there a wireless torpedo," he angrily corrected a newspaper reporter, "you see there the first of a race of robots, mechanical men which will do the laborious work of the human race."
"When wireless is fully applied the earth will be converted into a huge brain, capable of response in every one of its parts," Tesla told Morgan. Tesla's plan for an international wireless communications system was funded for a time by the squillionaire, JP Morgan, but Morgan prematurely lost faith in the inventor and pulled the plug on the money bin – perhaps one of the worst financial decisions of the 20th century. Tesla had to abandon his ambitious project forever. The newspapers called it, "Tesla’s million dollar folly." Humiliated and defeated, Tesla suffered a nervous breakdown.
By 1890 Nikola Tesla was generating fields that would light up, without any wires, phosphorescent tubes across his laboratory. Yet for all this, his name was forgotten for decades, until recently when at long last the public has come to know of one of history’s great geniuses ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
"Washington (Reuters) - Only 90 of the more than 5,700 people in custody in Iraq as security risks are foreign fighters, defense officials said on Tuesday, a figure that suggests the Bush administration may have overstated the role of outside militants in the deadly insurgency.
"The officials, who asked not to be identified, said the U.S. military command handling security detention facilities in Iraq confirmed a report in USA Today that fewer than 2 percent of those in custody were foreigners." Full text
*Ø* Bush's man funds Nader in attempt to thwart Democrats
Irish Times:
"The last US ambassador to Ireland, Mr Richard Egan, a major backer of President Bush's re-election campaign, has made a financial contribution to independent candidate Ralph Nader, whom Republicans hope will siphon off votes from the Democratic Party.
"New figures released by the Federal Elections Commission show Mr Egan, his son and his daughter-in-law have given Nader the maximum donations allowable under US law.
"Mr Egan, a self-made billionaire through his EMC computer company in Massachusetts, was a major contributor to the Bush election campaign in 2000 and was appointed ambassador to Ireland by the Bush administration. He stayed in the job for 18 months before resigning, citing frustration with the slowness of diplomatic life." [My emphasis. I had to smile. Diplomacy was hardly high on the Bush agenda at the time. - N] Full text
Experts warn of security holes From The Independent:
"Its curved blue 'e' sits on almost every computer desktop in the world, but the global dominance of Microsoft's web browser could soon be over following a stark security warning from a senior panel of internet experts who say it opens the door to online criminals.
"They are urging all users of Internet Explorer (IE) to stop using the browser because they say it is vulnerable to hackers and credit card fraudsters.
"The alert, from the US Computer Emergency Response Team, comes as a blow to the global giant Microsoft, which has fought successfully to retain its dominance of the browser market -- 95 per cent of internet surfers currently use IE ...
"Vulnerabilities in Explorer:
• Pop-up ads can silently download software that will use your computer to send out spam or install 'Trojans' that watch your typing.
• E-mails by 'phishers' can grab bank details by using malicious internet addresses preceded by a real one. If you open it with IE, you will only be shown the first part of the address, with the rest hidden. Users may trust the address and give the criminals their details.
• Another 'phishing' attack uses the 'fake address' method above and puts a pop-up window with an image of a padlock on top of the window. This looks like a 'secure' website. IE has no built-in means to block pop-up windows.
• Some pornography websites use IE to silently download software that changes the computer's internet settings to dial a premium-rate number.
• One pop-up ad installs software that monitors whether you visit any of 50 banking sites, including Barclays and Citibank. When you do, it monitors your keystrokes and sends them to a website in San Diego."
Full text(Worth reading -- the advice is to switch to another web browser, such as the free Mozilla or commercial Opera products.)
In case you missed it, on March 23, Sun Myung Moon and his wife were crowned King and Queen of Heaven on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, USA, with congressmen in attendance. It was almost ignored by the media at the time, which is why I'm posting it now. It's covered at March 23 in the Book of Days, and I thank Almaniac Mary Ann Sabo for drawing my attention to the wondrous event.
And remember, as Messiah Moon always says,
As a man, in your right front pants pocket is a small inside watch pocket. Keep pliers there, and when you go to the bathroom, once a day, pinch your love organ. Cut the skin a little bit as a warning. If your love organ does not listen to your conscience, then you should cut off the tip.
"The worst epidemic in human history is spreading round the world at an accelerating rate and is increasingly affecting women.
"Latest figures show that 4.8 million people became infected with HIV last year -- the highest number in any year since the Aids epidemic began. The total living with HIV/Aids rose to 37.8 million and there were 2.9 million deaths.
"Peter Piot, executive director of UNAids, which published its fourth biennial report on the disease yesterday, said Aids was becoming 'more and more a disease of women'. Having largely affected men in its early stages, the proportion of women infected had risen to almost 50 per cent globally and to 57 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa."
London (Reuters) - "Two decades into the AIDS pandemic, the world has two dozen drugs to fight the virus and researchers have high hopes for new classes of medicine that block the virus before it can enter human cells.
"But an effective vaccine -- the best hope for the developing world where drugs remain out of reach for millions -- is still only a distant hope.
"Pharmaceutical makers will showcase their latest advances at the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok from July 11 to 16."
Source and full text Pictured: An AIDS patient pauses after a morning walk at the AIDS hospice in the Wat Phrabaht Nampu temple in Thailand's Lop Buri province, about 160 km (100 miles) north of Bangkok, July 3. (Reuters)
Tanabata Star Festival (Hoshi Matsuri; Weaving Loom Festival; Festival of the Seven Evenings) Japan
[Tanabata may be translated as ‘weaving with the loom (bata) placed on the shelf (tana)’.]
Tanabata is a nationwide celebration, featuring very large festivals, with streets decorated with lanterns, festooned bamboo and colourful streamers.
Tanabata, inspired by a romantic legend, is the name for Japanese version of the Chinese star festival (Qi Qiao Jie, sometimes called Chinese Valentine’s Day, which falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the Chinese calendar and thus is also known as ‘Double Seven Day’). On this day two stars (Vega, in the Lyra constellation, and Altair, in the in the Aquila constellation) that are usually separated from each other by the Milky Way, come together.
The festival celebrates the meeting of Orihime (personifying the star Vega), a skilful weaver, and Hikoboshi, or Kengyu (Altair), a herdsman and breeder of cattle, mythological lovers who were separated by the Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky. They were allowed to meet only once a year, on Double Seven Day, which the Japanese have placed at 7/7 in the Gregorian Calendar, namely, July 7.
At this time of year, Lyra and Aquila are prominent in the evening sky with their major stars, Vega and Altair, separated by the Milky Way. The seventh day of the lunar month has a waxing crescent moon reaching its first quarter, representing the boat piloted by the boatman on the sacred river of the Milky Way.
The romantic myth of Orihime and Hikoboshi There was once a beautiful Princess of Heaven named Orihime, daughter of the Emperor of Heaven (or the Jade Emperor in the Chinese tradition). Orihime loved to weave all day at her loom, creating the cloth of stars worn by her honoured father. For many year, weaving this wondrous fabric was all that her heart desired.
One day, a peasant boy named Hikoboshi passed by, leading an ox from star to star. When Orihime and Hikoboshi’s eyes met, loved suddenly filled both their hearts and from that moment on, Orihime cared no more for her weaving ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
Believe it or not, it's the first time the bloke has said it.
From BBC Breaking News:
"Tony Blair has said Iraq's weapons of mass destruction 'may never be found'.
"Mr Blair said he had 'to accept we haven't found them and we may never find them' -- but that did did not mean Saddam Hussein had not been a threat." Source
The supreme court ruling that Guantánamo Bay prisoners can challenge their detention in the US is almost certain to lead to hundreds being released, says Conor Gearty
From The Guardian:
"The US supreme court's two rulings that terrorist suspects held at Guantánamo Bay and in America must have access to the US courts are among the most remarkable in the long history of that famous institution. The positive implications for the hundreds of internees held by the US across the world have yet to be clarified but will be immense. The chance to argue their cases is almost certain to lead to the release of hundreds of detainees. Already the habeas corpus applications have started to roll in, and the Bush administration seems at a loss as to what to do.
"The rulings will go a long way towards restoring the credibility both of the judiciary in the minds of the American public and, more importantly, of the US system of government in the eyes of the world. What the supreme court justices have said will make the shallow metaphor of an unending 'war on terror' far harder to sustain, and may even hasten the end of an administration which this very same court effectively appointed nearly four years ago when it stopped the Florida vote recount." Continue here
"Phnom Penh (Reuters) - In the beginning was Angelina. Then came Minnie, Ashley, Jackie, Rupert, Roger and Cliff.
"After decades of war and the genocide of Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge, Cambodia is back on the tourist map and Hollywood is jumping on the plane -- not to mention the bandwagon.
"With a well-founded reputation for eastern mystique and a less well-founded one for danger, as well as a litany of social woes from desperate poverty to the highest AIDS infection rate in Asia, it has become a top destination for celebrities seeking heart-warming headlines ...
"On Tuesday, editors will be in something of a quandary: whether to go for Ashley Judd with child prostitutes or Rupert Everett with adult ones?"
"The senior Foreign Office lawyer who resigned after ministers ignored her advice that the war in Iraq was illegal has issued a damning legal critique of the occupation, claiming that the alleged abuse of prisoners 'could amount to war crimes'.
"In her first newspaper interview since her resignation, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, the former deputy legal adviser to the Foreign Office, said that the basis for going to war should always be based on 'facts' rather than an 'assertion' about an 'imminent threat'. Ms Wilmshurst said 'it could be alleged that the use of force in Iraq was aggression' while 'the kinds of abusive treatment of Iraqi prisoners that have been alleged could amount to war crimes'.
"Her comments came as Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Britain's former envoy to Iraq, made the clearest admission yet that intelligence that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons was wrong. He said: 'We were wrong on the stockpiles, we were right about the intention.'
"Ms Wilmshurst expressed concern about the size of the US civilian presence in Iraq. She also said she was worried about the lack of legal protection for Iraqis if they were harmed by allied troops or civilian contractors, including private security guards. She said it was 'worrying' that the occupying powers had given immunity to US and British civilians which was 'very, very wide' and 'not what you would expect'. They would be protected from prosecution even if they seriously injured Iraqi women and children.
"She said the Bush administration's 'war on terror' was legal 'nonsense' -- conferring no more powers on the US to detain prisoners than 'the war against obesity' -- and President Bush's policy of pre-emptive self-defence was illegal under international law." [emphasis mine - N]
X-Day is the name for July 5, 1998, the scheduled 'end of the world' in the Church of the SubGenius. Since its inception in 1980, the Church prophesied that an army of extraterrestrial alien invaders would land on the planet Earth and destroy the world – except for the members of the Church of the SubGenius, who would be rescued by the aliens and taken away into space.
When July 5, 1998 arrived and no alien fleet appeared in the sky, members of the Church began citing a large number of conspiracy theories to explain why the predicted end of the world did not take place ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
My First Blog Entry: July 4, 2004 By Michael Moore
Hey, my first blog entry! Welcome fellow bloggers and blog readers! Blog doggers and blog loggers. Blogging away for the common good or just to keep from watching whatever crap is on TV right now. What is on TV right now? No new 6 Feet Under tonight. The Practice has been bounced. Can't Jon Stewart do a Sunday show?
Speaking of Sunday shows, did anyone see that hilarious CNN Unreliable Sources show this morning? It's hosted by this knucklehead from the Washington Post who's been raggin' on me since "Roger & Me." I wasn't half awake while it was on but I think he had some blow-hards on who said, in no particular order of priority, that I was in cahoots with the Taliban, supported Al Qaeda, and dreamed of a day gone by when Uncle Saddam brought peace and joy to the world. This thing was so whacked, and they were trying so hard to repeat Karl Rove's talking points, I thought, "Damn -- the box office from last night must have busted through the roof if these guys are that pissed!" So I immediately called up the studio and, sure enough, in just our second weekend, "F9/11" had shot past $50 million! Whoa! More than double what it was last Sunday! No wonder foam is coming out of these guys' mouths!
I turned it off and picked up the paper. It was so funny, cause the last thing they were blabbing on about was how dare I -- HOW DARE HE! -- imply that all the loot the Saudi royals and bin Ladens have invested in the businesses of the Bush inner circle would have anything -- ANYTHING -- to do with them getting special treatment after 9/11. And then, there was today's top headline story in the NY Times -- about how five Saudi suspected terrorists in Guantanamo were given back to the Saudis in exchange for 5 Brits the Saudis were holding (and possibly torturing). So, if you are currently incarcerated in Gitmo and reading this, there's your ticket out -- just prove you are a Saudi!
July 5 | Today they will be partying off the coast of Ireland … or is it off the coast of England … or of Scotland? In the Irish Sea between Britain and Ireland lies the Isle of Man, where men are Manx and proud of it (and so are the women). Man (or Mann) is famous for Manx cats and Grand Prix motor sports, and it is a small island with a big history.
The Isle of Man is not part of the United Kingdom, but a Crown Dependency. Queen Elizabeth II is acknowledged as Lord of Mann, and in 1979 she presided over the millennial celebrations of the Tynwald, the Manx parliament, which is commemorated each year on July 5 ...
National symbol: the 3-in-1 The national flag of Man is a plain red field with the triskell (or triskelion or trinacria) emblem at its centre. This symbol dates back to the 13th century and is believed to be connected with Sicily, where a similar image was used during the Norman period.
In Emblemes et symboles des Bretons et des Celtes (Coop Breizh, 1998), Divy Kervella suggests the triskell is a pagan Celtic symbol of triplicity in unity, and probably originally a solar symbol. Other Celtic examples of the three-in-one include the shamrock; the staff of the Celtic pantheon: Lugh, Daghda (Taran) and Ogme; the triune goddess of three aspects: daughter, wife, and mother; and the three dynamic elements: water, air, and fire.
The triskell is similar to the hevoud, another Celtic symbol, and the Basque lauburu, and might even precede Celtic origins (for instance on the cairn of Bru na Boinne in Ireland).
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
" ... ** More people saw Fahrenheit 9/11 in one weekend than all the people who saw "Bowling for Columbine" in 9 months.
"** Fahrenheit 9/11 broke Rocky III’s record for the biggest box office opening weekend ever for any film that opened in less than a thousand theaters.
"** Fahrenheit 9/11 beat the opening weekend of Return of the Jedi.
"** Fahrenheit 9/11 instantly went to #2 on the all-time list for largest per-theater average ever for a film that opened in wide-release ...
"Then there was Roger Friedman from the Fox News Channel giving our film an absolutely glowing review, calling it 'a really brilliant piece of work, and a film that members of all political parties should see without fail.' Richard Goldstein of the Village Voice surmised that Bush is already considered a goner so Rupert Murdoch might be starting to curry favor with the new administration. I don't know about that, but I’ve never heard a decent word toward me from Fox ...
"Newspaper after newspaper wrote stories in tones of breathless disbelief about people who called themselves 'Independents' and 'Republicans' walking out of the movie theater shaken and in tears, proclaiming that they could not, in good conscience, vote for George W. Bush. The New York Times wrote of a conservative Republican woman in her 20s in Pensacola, Florida who cried through the film, and told the reporter: 'It really makes me question what I feel about the president... it makes me question his motives ...'" Source
* Ø * Ø * Ø *
*Ø* Fahrenheit 9/11 Breaks Records in Military Town
'Fahrenheit 9/11' sets record "'Fahrenheit 9/11,' a left-sided documentary that bashes the Bush administration's war on terrorism, wouldn't find much of an audience in a military town.
"Or so they thought.
"'This has broken all of our past records,' said Nasim Kuenzel, an owner of the Cameo Art House Theatre. 'The movie that I thought would make us hardly any money - I never thought it would break all the records.'
"Both showings sold out Friday at the Cameo, the only theater in Fayetteville to carry the Michael Moore film. A midnight showing added at the last minute Friday brought in 60 more people.
"Saturday and Sunday were just as busy, Kuenzel said, with nearly 1,000 tickets sold over the weekend. As many as 75 percent of moviegoers were soldiers or military families, Kuenzel said." Source: The Fayetteville Observer (North Carolina)
*Ø* Fahrenheit 9/11 in Top FIVE of All Movies Ever
Fahrenheit 9/11 Box Office Reaches Top FIVE of All Movies Ever; in spite of R-rating that many suggest was politically motivated and inappropriate, and storm trooper goons at the gates, with people being turned away from sold-out theaters, the movie was not only the number one documentary, but, by one major statistic, broke into the top five listing of ALL movies. By Rob Kall, editor, OpEdNews.com
Who could have imagined?
Not only is Fahrenheit 9/11 the number one documentary, ever, but based on projected ticket sales for it's first weekend, the movie was the either top 5th or sixth movie ever, in terms of average gross per theater. Boxofficemojo.com predicted weekend sales of $21,800,000 for 868 theaters, averaging $25,115 per theater.
Since it was only shown in 868 theaters, it was highly unlikely that it could reach the total sales of the top fiction-based movies that were released, in their first weekend, in 3600+ to 4100+ theaters.
The top opening movie of all time was Spiderman, with $114,844,116, opening in 3,615 theaters with an average gross per theater of $31,768.
Titanic, the world's all-time top grossing film, had an opening Weekend gross of $28,638,131, opening in 2,674 theaters with an average gross per theater of $10,709 average)
The only movie that grossed in the same $20 to $25 million opening week range, that came close to Fahrenheit 9/11, was Return of the Jeddi (1983,) with $22,973, the rest in that dollar category ranging from $6800 to $15,000.
According to Brandon Gray, writing for Box Officemojo.com, "Fahrenheit is actually the biggest opening ever for a movie playing at less than 1,000 theaters, topping Rocky III's $12.4 million at 939 venues."
"The rise in demand for air travel is one of the most serious environmental threats facing the world, a study says.
"The University of York report says [UK] government plans for airport expansion are in direct conflict with targets to reduce greenhouse gases ...
"It sets out a model for dealing with aviation over the next 30 years, recommending steps to be taken by the UK and other EU countries including an end to the tax-free status of aviation fuel.
"The report says at least 50% of visitors should access airports by public transport, and wants journeys of less than 400 miles to be undertaken by train rather than plane, eliminating 45% of flights."
*Ø* Spy chiefs to censor hard-hitting Butler report
No 10 to be rebuked over Iraq intelligence. Campbell and Scarlett may be singled out
From The Independent:
"The intelligence services are to censor Lord Butler's report into their own failures in the run-up to the Iraq war.
"The revelation, which comes from official sources, will fuel controversy over next week's report, which The Independent on Sunday has learnt will criticise Downing Street for its role in the 2002 dossier on Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Alastair Campbell, No 10's former director of communications, and John Scarlett, the dossier's author, now about to take over as head of MI6, could be singled out.
"A senior government source admitted last night that the intelligence services would be allowed to block out passages of the report before it is made public on 14 July. It is not known whether Mr Scarlett will be consulted."
Kurdish refugees I met in 1990 insisted to me that Saddam had gassed Halajba, so I've been of that persuasion since then. But this article raises some doubts.
Printed in full from Yahoo! News because it's too hard to find a boring paragraph to cut:
LONDON, Jul 2 (IPS) Evidence offered by a top CIA man could confirm the testimony given by Saddam Hussein at the opening of his trial in Baghdad Thursday that he knew of the Halabja massacre only from the newspapers.
Thousands were reported killed in the gassing of Iraqi Kurds in Halabja in the north of Iraq in March 1988 towards the end of Iraq's eight-year war with Iran. The gassing of the Kurds has long been held to be the work of Ali Hassan al-Majid, named in the West because of that association as 'Chemical Ali'. Saddam Hussein is widely alleged to have ordered Ali to carry out the chemical attack.
The Halabja massacre is now prominent among the charges read out against Saddam in the Baghdad court. When that charge was read out, Saddam replied that he had read about the massacre in a newspaper. Saddam has denied these allegations ever since they were made. But now with a trial on, he could summon a witness in his defence with the potential to blow apart the charge and create one of the greatest diplomatic disasters the United States has ever known.
A report prepared by the top CIA official handling the matter says Saddam Hussein was not responsible for the massacre, and indicates that it was the work of Iranians. Further, the Scott inquiry on the role of the British government has gathered evidence that following the massacre the United States in fact armed Saddam Hussein to counter the Iranians chemicals for chemicals.
Few believe that a CIA man would attend a court hearing in Baghdad in defence of Saddam. But in this case the CIA boss has gone public with his evidence, and this evidence has been in the public domain for more than a year.
The CIA officer Stephen C. Pelletiere was the agency's senior political analyst on Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. As professor at the Army War College from 1988 to 2000, he says he was privy to much of the classified material that flowed through Washington having to do with the Persian Gulf.
In addition, he says he headed a 1991 Army investigation into how the Iraqis would fight a war against the United States, and the classified version of the report went into great detail on the Halabja affair.
Pelletiere went public with his information on no less a platform than The New York Times in an article on January 31 last year titled 'A War Crime or an Act of War?' The article which challenged the case for war quoted U.S. President George W. Bush as saying: "The dictator who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons has already used them on whole villages, leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind or disfigured."
Pelletiere says the United States Defence Intelligence Agency investigated and produced a classified report following the Halabja gassing, which it circulated within the intelligence community on a need-to-know basis. "That study asserted that it was Iranian gas that killed the Kurds, not Iraqi gas," he wrote in The New York Times.
The agency did find that each side used gas against the other in the battle around Halabja, he said. "The condition of the dead Kurds' bodies, however, indicated they had been killed with a blood agent – that is, a cyanide-based gas – which Iran was known to use. "The Iraqis, who are thought to have used mustard gas in the battle, are not known to have possessed blood agents at the time."
Pelletiere write that these facts have "long been in the public domain but, extraordinarily, as often as the Halabja affair is cited, they are rarely mentioned."
Pelletiere wrote that Saddam Hussein has much to answer for in the area of human rights abuses. "But accusing him of gassing his own people at Halabja as an act of genocide is not correct, because as far as the information we have goes, all of the cases where gas was used involved battles. These were tragedies of war. There may be justifications for invading Iraq, but Halabja is not one of them."
Pelletiere has maintained his position. All Saddam would have to do in court now is to cite The New York Times article even if the court would not summon Pelletiere. The issues raised in the article would themselves be sufficient to raise serious questions about the charges filed against Saddam and in turn the justifications offered last year for invading Iraq.
The Halabja killings were cited not just by Bush but by British Prime Minister Tony Blair to justify his case for going along with a U.S. invasion of Iraq. A British government dossier released to justify the war on Iraq says that "Saddam has used chemical weapons, not only against an enemy state, but against his own people."
An inquiry report in 1996 by Lord Justice Scott in what came to be known as the arms-to-Iraq affair gave dramatic pointers to what followed after Halabja. After the use of poison gas in 1988 both the United States and Britain began to supply Saddam Hussein with even more chemical weapons.
The Scott inquiry had been set up in 1992 following the collapse of the trial in the case of Matrix Churchill, a British firm exporting equipment to Iraq that could be put to military use.
Three senior executives of Matrix Churchill said the government knew what Matrix Churchill was doing, and that its managing director Paul Henderson had been supplying information about Iraq to the British intelligence agencies on a regular basis.
The inquiry revealed details of the British government's secret decision to supply Saddam with even more weapons-related equipment after the Halabja killings.
Former British foreign secretary Geoffrey Howe was found to have written that the end of the Iraq-Iran war could mean "major opportunities for British industry" in military exports, but he wanted to keep that proposal quiet.
"It could look very cynical if so soon after expressing outrage about the treatment of the Kurds, we adopt a more flexible approach to arms sales," one of his officials told the Scott inquiry. Lord Scott condemned the government's decision to change its policy, while keeping MPs and the public in the dark.
Soon after the attack, the United States approved the export to Iraq of virus cultures and a billion-dollar contract to design and build a petrochemical plant the Iraqis planned to use to produce mustard gas.
Saddam Hussein has appeared so far without a lawyer to defend him. A Jordanian firm is reported to be speaking up for him. But the real defence for him could be waiting for him in Washington and London.
By googling Pelletiere I've found that since at least 1990 he's been making these claims, that Hussein didn't gas the Kurds, and I'm pretty pissed off that I've never heard them before.
In the Northumbrian village of Whalton today is traditionally the day for lighting the baal fire.
This bonfire's name comes from either the Celtic bel meaning bright, or Anglo-Saxon bael, fire. Or perhaps it comes from the old British sun god Belenus. At about 7.30 pm a bonfire is lit on the village green around which people make music, leap through the flames and perform traditional morris dancing around the fire.
In ancient times a select group of young people used to gather wood in the forest and cart it into the village to the sound of a cart horn.
The custom's ancient origins relate to the old date of midsummer, which was changed in 1752 when the English calendar was adjusted by eleven days to make up for discrepancies.
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date when you're there.
After almost a quarter of a century, it looks like the Azaria mystery that gripped Australia at the time might be laid to rest.
"I know how the baby died" says elderly man
"AZARIA Chamberlain was killed by a dingo and her body hidden by men camping rough near Ayers Rock, one of the group has sensationally claimed.
"An elderly Melbourne man says he shot the dingo that killed Azaria and then retrieved her body from its jaws.
"Frank Cole also believes Azaria's body may have been buried in a Melbourne back yard by one of his mates.
"Mr Cole, 78, told the Sunday Herald Sun he had lived with the secret of what happened to the 9 1/2-week-old girl for almost 25 years.
"The ailing Pascoe Vale pensioner, who is the last of the camping party at the rock (now Uluru), said he wanted to unburden himself before it is too late ..."
(Frank Cole must have had a very quiet .22 if not one of the many police and dozens of searchers and campers at the Rock, who were awake for most of the 48 hours following Azaria's disappearance, didn't hear a gunshot.)
Happy Independence Day to all our American readers!
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Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished.
Author unknown, sent by Almaniac Bill Donoghue, with thanx
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July 10, 1040 According to one tradition, Lady Godiva made her famous ride, naked on horseback, through the streets of Coventry, England. Thus, today is Lady Godiva Day in that city.
I always asked too many questions, like "Why not?" and "Who says?" Always landing in trouble because of this affliction.
The Pentagon is claiming it inadvertently destroyed military records from more than 30 years ago that could have definitively determined whether George W. Bush fulfilled his duty in the Texas Air National Guard. Questions have loomed for the past five years over whether Bush skipped out on his commitment during periods of 1972 and 1973. Yesterday in response to a Freedom of Information Request the Pentagon said for the first time that the microfilm containing Bush's payroll records from the disputed period was ruined in 1996 or 1997 during an attempt to salvage deteriorating microfilm. Some journalists expressed skepticism about the Pentagon's claim. James Moore, who wrote "Bush's War For Re-Election" said, "Those are records we've all been interested in. I think it's curious that the microfiche could resolve what days Mr. Bush worked and what days he was paid, and suddenly that is gone."
July 9, 1856 Nikola Tesla (d. January 7, 1943), the Croatian-born American electrical engineer, inventor of the alternating current (AC) motor, was born on this day at Smiljan, Lika. He was a great genius whose luck was not as great as his abilities, and for many years his name was almost completely lost to public knowledge. 
"Its curved blue 'e' sits on almost every computer desktop in the world, but the global dominance of Microsoft's web browser could soon be over following a stark security warning from a senior panel of internet experts who say it opens the door to online criminals.
In case you missed it, on March 23, Sun Myung Moon and his wife were crowned King and Queen of Heaven on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, USA, with congressmen in attendance. It was almost ignored by the media at the time, which is why I'm posting it now. It's covered at 
London (Reuters) - "Two decades into the AIDS pandemic, the world has two dozen drugs to fight the virus and researchers have high hopes for new classes of medicine that block the virus before it can enter human cells.
Tanabata Star Festival (Hoshi Matsuri; Weaving Loom Festival; Festival of the Seven Evenings) Japan
"Phnom Penh (Reuters) - In the beginning was Angelina. Then came Minnie, Ashley, Jackie, Rupert, Roger and Cliff. 
National symbol: the 3-in-1
Fahrenheit 9/11 largest grossing documentary ever
"The rise in demand for air travel is one of the most serious environmental threats facing the world, a study says. 
LONDON, Jul 2 (IPS) Evidence offered by a top CIA man could confirm the testimony given by Saddam Hussein at the opening of his trial in Baghdad Thursday that he knew of the Halabja massacre only from the newspapers. 
After almost a quarter of a century, it looks like the 
