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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*
"An international human rights lawyer says former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib has a strong case for compensation.
"Mr Habib arrived home in Sydney yesterday after more than three years in US detention.
"Although he has been released without facing any charges, the Federal Government says Mr Habib is still a person of concern.
"He will be monitored by ASIO and the police.
"The president of the Centre for Constitutional Rights in New York, Michael Ratner, says Mr Habib's case for compensation is strong.
"'You have the United States keeping him for three years - in humane treatment, sending him to Egypt where he was tortured,' he said.
"'What we should be talking about here is how we vindicate his right as a serious victim of torture."
"But Mr Ratner says it is likely to be some time before Mr Habib is ready to pursue any claim.
"'These are frequently people who are really traumatised by what happened to them,' Mr Ratner said." Source: ABC Oz
Flashback to when Australia first found out about Mr Habib's arrest, months earlier as the US Government did not inform the Australian Government.
Pictured: Welcome home: Tom Gleeson of Mount Druitt joins other supporters to sign a card for Mamdouh Habib at a ceremony in the western suburbs of Sydney. (Reuters)
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Wikipes was launched at New Year. I'm not much of a foodie myself but I know many people are, and this looks like a good initiative. They say:
"Wikipes is a community-contributed recipe database. In other words, we allow anyone to contribute recipes. Our feeling is that this will create a more diverse collection of unique and delicious recipes and in the long run you’ll be able to choose from a vast archive of drinks, appetizers, main dishes, desserts; the possibilities are endless!
"Wikipes is powered by Wiki technology ... using a modified DokuWiki software."
I don't see it plugged at Wikipedia, so I guess it's not part of its fast-growing stable of great free resources (Wikimedia Foundation), which now boasts Wikispecies.
Wikipedia Unusual Articles Speaking of Wikipedia, the Unusual Articles page is a hoot.
"Brussels (Reuters) - Mad cow disease has been found in a goat, the first time the brain-wasting affliction that ravaged European cattle herds and killed at least 100 people, has been diagnosed in another animal, the EU said on Friday ...
"Up until now, the risk of mad cow disease jumping species has focused on sheep not goats."
Madam, I object to the attempt to blacken the names of Dermot McMurrough and Strongbow by associating them with George Bush. Yours, etc., Ronan Tierney, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford
Well, apparently! This below from the Irish Times:
"Local historians and genealogists in Wexford have discovered evidence to suggest that President George W. Bush is a direct descendant of Strongbow, the nobleman who led the Norman invasion of Ireland.
"The president is also believed to be a direct descendant, through 30 generations, of Dermot McMorrough, the King of Leinster, reviled in many Irish history books as the man who betrayed his island for personal gain.
"During his first presidential election campaign in 2000, genealogists discovered a direct link between Mr Bush and prominent Norman families in medieval England.
"However, in the last month volunteers working on a tapestry of Ireland's Norman heritage discovered a further link with two of the most notorious figures in Irish history."
Excerpt: "Perhaps the most worrying question in New Ross is whether Mr Bush now has a claim on Leinster. 'Yes of course, he probably does', Ms Griffin Bernstorff said. 'But there are other families in the area who have a claim and neighbours and friends here would put up a pretty stiff fight'." [Too right. Leinster is where I live! - N]
"New York (Reuters) - A New York radio station apologized on Monday for repeatedly airing a joke song that ridiculed victims of the recent tsunami in South Asia and used racial slurs, saying the piece was in poor taste.
"New York FM radio station WQHT, or HOT 97, ran the segment on its 'Miss Jones in the Morning' show. The piece used racial slurs to describe people swept away in the disaster, made jokes about child slavery and people watching their mothers die."
I'm curious why Reuters have put this in their Oddly Enough category (from which I quoted the story of the German who was arrested for being drunk in charge of lawnmower) and not in their ordinary news section.
* Ø * Ø * Ø *
One month after the tsunami ... floating a candle in the Indian Ocean:
Senator Richard Lugar, the Republican chair of the US Foreign Relations Committee:
"Many have asked, what are the criteria on January 30th for success in this election, and I think Iraqis that I have visited with are quick to point out there really is no criteria [sic] or no set of metrics that work, aside from the fact that the election happened." Source: ABC, January 27
Another great one from Baz 'I Make Geeks Look Like Newbies' le Tuff.
You Send It lets you send files up to one gigabyte without using email. What a godsend. I don't know if this is new, but it's new to me 'n' Baz. We've tried it and there don't seem to be any drawbacks like fees or ads.
"Only a matter of time," says the laconic le Tuff in that tone of voice he reserves for speaking of Internet shysters and the religious right.
UK: Home Secretary's proposal falls short of Law Lords ruling
News Release from Amnesty International:
"The United Kingdom (UK) authorities must release immediately all those detained under Part 4 of Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (ATCSA) unless they are charged with a criminal offence and given a prompt and fair trial. Today's proposals from the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, fall short of the government's obligations under human rights law, Amnesty International said today.
"'The 12 people, charged under Part 4 of ATCSA, continue to be deprived of their liberty without being charged with any identifiable criminal offence. Today's statement by the UK Home Secretary may alleviate the conditions they are under, but it falls short of doing them justice', Nicola Duckworth, Head of Europe and Central Asia Programme at Amnesty International said.
"Charles Clarke said today that detaining foreign 'terror' suspects without trial will be replaced by restrictions on movement and communication, in some cases amounting to house arrest. He said that the UK government will be seeking to deport some of them. The proposed new measures will also apply to UK citizens.
"'The Home Secretary's proposal flies in the face of natural justice - the presumption of innocence, the right to challenge prosecutorial evidence, the right to fair trial', Nicola Duckworth said.
"Amnesty International expresses deep concern over the proposal that some of the detainees may be deported.
"'The UK government must adhere to its international obligations not to forcibly return anyone to any country where they may face serious human rights violations, including unfair trial, ill-treatment, torture, or execution'." [Emphasis mine - N]
"A granny faces jail after feeding her neighbours casseroles and cakes laced with cannabis ...
"Tabram, who was freed on bail, said: 'If they send me to jail I can finish my book — Grandma Eats Cannabis. If Jeffrey Archer can write a book in prison, so can I'."
[Pip may well comment on this one when he gets up in the morning!]
"Strewth, mate, it's enough to make a dinky di bloke choke on his pot of XXXX. The Aussie accent is losing its distinctive 'ocker' twang.
"'Strine' is in decline as Australians soften the broad, stereotyped accent epitomised by the likes of the comedian Paul Hogan and Steve Irwin, a reptile-baiting television presenter known as the Crocodile Hunter ...
"According to researchers, a broad Australian accent developed as early as the 1830s. It became more pronounced as Australia moved away from its British origins during the latter half of the 20th century but is now softening.
"The newly evolved accent is neither British-sounding nor, to the relief of the many Australians who fret about the cultural dominance of the United States, veering towards American English."
"One of the four men who returned to Britain yesterday after three years in Guantánamo Bay allegedly suffered a series of mental breakdowns and was repeatedly injected with an unknown substance by his US captors.
"A lawyer for Feroz Abbasi made the allegations as he and three other Muslim men arrived in Britain aboard an RAF plane, only to be arrested by anti-terrorism officers who took them to a top security police station for questioning ...
"Intelligence officials suggested yesterday there was no evidence to suggest any of the four presented a security threat. They expected all four to be released quickly, but insisted that the length of detention was up to the police." Full text
"The home secretary, Charles Clarke, is expected to announce today that he will accept the law lords' ruling that the indefinite detention without trial of 12 terror suspects in Britain breaches human rights laws.
"The ruling, which came just before Christmas, struck at the heart of the emergency anti-terror legislation passed in the aftermath of September 11 by the former home secretary, David Blunkett ...
" ...it is expected that today's announcement will spell the eventual end of detention without trial for those incarcerated in Belmarsh and Woodhill under part four of the 2001 act ...
"The law lords' judgment was so damning of the anti-terror legislation that one of the panel, Lord Hoffman, went as far as saying: 'The real threat to the life of the nation, in the sense of people living in accordance with its traditional laws and political values, comes not from terrorism but from laws like these'."
As my friends and regular readers know, I haven't had a TV for years. No special reason, just a funny quirk I have about having a soul. I still believe that TV is watching other people have lives.
I've hardly watched TV since Lucy had Little Ricky. I've never even seen George W Bush in moving images, except for when I went to the movies to see Fahrenheit 9-11 last year. I know quite a bit about world current events and politics, but most of the politicians I've only seen on the Net in jpegs. I don't feel any the poorer for it; quite the contrary, in fact. I love the clarity of consciousness that starts to emerge after some years away from TV watching, and I keep up with news as well as anyone, I think. Trouble is, there are incredibly few people these days who I can talk to about it because so few have tried it. One drawback is that when I go to a movie, which is once or twice a year, I can't stomach all the blood and guts that my contemporaries seem to have become inured to. Some people think I should be embarrassed by that.
Be that as it may, if I did have a TV, I would use the new Google Video Search (now in beta), which seems to be the best-kept secret on the Net. It's also useful for someone like me. I typed in Rumsfeld and got all sorts of stuff. It's bloody amazing, and obviously has applications for TV material other than all the shite that made me take up life in the first place.
"ROME (Reuters) - A forgotten workshop of Leonardo da Vinci, complete with 500-year-old frescos and a secret room to dissect human cadavers, has been discovered in Florence, Italy, researchers say.
"The find, announced on Tuesday, was made in part of the Santissima Annunziata convent, which let out rooms to artists centuries ago and where the likely muse of the Renaissance artist's masterwork, the Mona Lisa, may have worshipped.
"'It's a bit absurd to think that, in 2005, we have found the studio of one of history's greatest artists. But that is what has happened,' said Roberto Manescalchi, one of three researchers credited for this month's discovery.
Tee hee! I don't see much similarity between a hippo and a whale, but here's what they're saying:
Whale and hippo 'close cousins'
"A water-loving mammal that lived 50 to 60 million years ago was probably the 'missing link' between whales and hippos, according to a new analysis ...
"Jean-Renaud Boisserie, Michel Brunet and Fabrice Lehoreau found that the semi-aquatic ancestor of whales and hippos split into two groups: cetaceans and the anthracotheres.
"Cetaceans eventually spurned land, lost their legs and became fully aquatic.
"The pig-like anthracotheres, flourished over 40 million years and died out less than 2.5 million years ago. They left only one descendent, the hippopotamus.
"The study places whales firmly within the cloven-hoofed group of mammals known as Artiodactyla, which includes cows, pigs, sheep, antelopes, camels and giraffes."
"BAGHDAD - Twenty months after Saddam Hussein's government was toppled and its torture chambers unlocked, Iraqis are again being routinely beaten, hung by their wrists and shocked with electrical wires, according to a report by a human rights organization.
"Iraqi police, jailers and intelligence agents, many of them holding the same jobs they had under Hussein, are 'committing systematic torture and other abuses' of detainees, Human Rights Watch said in a report to be released Tuesday.
"Legal safeguards are being ignored, political opponents are targeted for arrest, and the government of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi 'appears to be actively taking part, or is at least complicit, in these grave violations of fundamental human rights', the report concludes."
Sadly I feel that Prince Harry's latest blunder in wearing a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party -- while amazing in light of his position, his education, and the number of advisors to whom he has access -- may be a reflection of the lack of awareness of the Holocaust among 20-year-olds today. If you disagree, please feel free to comment below.
"UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has urged the world to make sure evils such as those perpetrated in the Holocaust are never repeated ...
"The General Assembly gathered to mark the approaching 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp in a special session ...
"Truly it has been said: 'all that is needed for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing'."
Sounds like a neat idea if you have a laptop, Smartphone or PDA. "The virtual laser keyboard (VKB) works by using both infrared and laser technology to produce an invisible circuit and project a full-size virtual QWERTY keyboard on to any surface." Like a desk or table, I guess.
Where does Baz 'Virtue Keyboard' le Tuff find 'em?
"President Bush and some of his advisers received worst-acting nominations for their appearances in news and archival footage in Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, which assails Bush for his actions surrounding the September 11 attacks.
"Bush was nominated for worst actor, while Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice got a nomination for worst supporting actress and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld for worst supporting actor.
"Wilson said that while Fahrenheit 9/11 was a piece of anti-Bush propaganda, the president and his associates earned their Razzie nominations on their own.
"'It wasn't Mr. Moore's editing,' Wilson said. 'It's the raw footage of these people just making fools of themselves.'" Source: CNN
Heard an interview with Don Henley. It seems the Eagles don't have a clue what 'Hotel California' is about either. It's not about anything. Strike that one off the Unsolved Mysteries of Lyrics list.
"Whether the issue is divorce, materialism, sexual promiscuity, racism, physical abuse in marriage, or neglect of a biblical worldview, the polling data point to widespread, blatant disobedience of clear biblical moral demands on the part of people who allegedly are evangelical, born-again Christians. The statistics are devastating." Source: Christianity Today
"This weekend, across the world, many celebrated the January 25 birthday of Scotland's national bard at countless Burns suppers. But his birthplace at Alloway in Ayrshire and the adjoining museum that houses many of his works are in crisis." Source: Guardian
Eric Utne has a new book out: "Cosmo Doogood's Urban Almanac can help you connect to Nature and Her Rhythms wherever you are.
"Cosmo Doogood's Urban Almanac, a new publication from Utne magazine founder Eric Utne, is an urban version of the old farmer's almanacs, like Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack ..." Source: Utne
Here's the list of newsfeeds all on one page at Daily Planet News. There's a bookmark link at the top of DPN and I think it is worth adding to Favorites if you like the idea of a one-stop newsagency. Enjoy.
Newsfeeds Latest Blogmanac headlines Latest Wilson's Almanac ezine editions BBC News News Front Page UK Edition BBC News World Asia-Pacific UK Edition NPR News: World blogdex - the weblog diffusion index Blogcritics NPR News: Health & Science Salon.com NYT > International Yahoo! News: World Progressive Blog Alliance Independent Media Independent Media Oceania ZNet Moving Ideas Alternative Religions Yahoo! News: Oddly Enough Wired News MetaFilter Electronic Iraq Electronic Intifada Permaculture Development and related topics BuzzFlash del.icio.us Common Dreams Earth Times
Useful news and opinion links: Planet Directory News & Newsfeeds A-Changin' Times Independent Media Center Buzzflash Guerrilla News Network Zenzibar Mother Jones news Utne AlterNet Archaeology news Information Clearing House The Yellow Pages: current affairs and opinion ABC (Australia) News Radio Planet Ark environment news Guardian World News finder A-Infos anarchist news Deoxy News (lots of alt. newsfeeds) Environmental News Network Corporate Watch OneWorld.net Inter Press Service Peace News Earth Liberation Front Earth Times Wren's Nest Pagan News Google News
"The army faces a fresh series of serious allegations of abuse against its forces in Iraq, The Observer has learnt. The Ministry of Defence confirmed last night that army prosecution lawyers have completed investigations into nine separate incidents involving British soldiers serving in Iraq and are now actively considering bringing charges on the back of their inquiries.
"Three of the cases concern incidents in which Iraqis were detained by British forces. Four involve the fatal shooting of Iraqis during military operations and two involve non-fatal injuries. A further 48 cases are still being investigated, while 77 cases have been examined and closed by army lawyers." [My emphasis - N]
"Robert Burns: poet and balladeer, Scotland's favourite son and champion of the common people. Each year on January 25, the great man's presumed birthday, Scots everywhere take time out to honour a national icon. Whether it's a full-blown Burns Supper or a quiet night of reading poetry, Burns Night is a night for all Scots."
[And for others who enjoy the fun!]
All you need here, including a step by step guide for a traditional Burns Supper and other useful links.
"The head of Australia's Out of Country Voting Program for next weekend's Iraqi election says he understands that there is a high degree of scepticism about the process.
"Bernie Hogan says so far only about 11 per cent of the 1.2 million expatriate Iraqis eligible to vote have registered in the 14 countries where the program is operating.
"In Sydney and Melbourne, the registration period has been extended by two days in a bid to attract more voters." Source: ABC Oz
"... chapters from across the country organized a chilly welcome for attendees of the Gold and Boots Ball the night before the Coronation, greeting fur-and-heel-wearing, cowboy themed tuxedo couples and corporate gentry with Hallibacon, snout-wearing well-wishers, and stacks of cash with everyone's favorite Dick printed on them."
And
"One of the most fun and creative actions of the week might have been the Backbone Campaign's trip to the Democratic National Headquarters in Washington D.C. A huge spine wound its way to the national headquarters of the Democratic Party the day after the Unauguration, a special delivery that recieved no notice from the office-bound democrats. Activists from all over the country carried the spine, singing (to the tune of that Hip Bone song."
Rumsfeld cancels trip due to war crimes accusations
"US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cancelled a planned visit to Germany after a US human rights organisation asked German authorities to prosecute him for war crimes, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) has learned.
"Rumsfeld has informed the German government via the US embassy that he will not take part in the Munich Security Conference in February, conference head Horst Teltschik told dpa on Thursday."
"The Norwegian government has decided to kill five of the country's grey wolves -- a quarter of the entire population ...
"WWF-Norway says two wolves have been shot already, one of them from a pack which has not been targeted and which it fears may now not manage to survive.
"Wolves are protected in Norway, and are listed as critically endangered, and WWF says many people oppose the cull." Full text: BBC
"A former Jordanian government minister has told The New Yorker that an American official confirmed to him that the Iraqi interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, executed six suspected insurgents at a Baghdad police station last year.
"The claim is in an extensive profile of Dr Allawi written for this week's issue of the magazine by an American journalist, Jon Lee Anderson, the author of The Fall of Baghdad and a regular Baghdad correspondent for The New Yorker.
"Writing about his research in Jordan in December, Anderson says: 'A well-known former government minister told me that an American official had confirmed that the killings took place, saying to him, "What a mess we're in - we got rid of one son of a bitch only to get another one"'.
"The New Yorker also revealed that Anderson was present during an interview conducted by the Herald's chief correspondent, Paul McGeough, in late June, with a man who said he witnessed the executions by Dr Allawi."
Pages
of Days
Almanac
"An international human rights lawyer says former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib has a strong case for compensation.
"Local historians and genealogists in Wexford have discovered evidence to suggest that President George W. Bush is a direct descendant of Strongbow, the nobleman who led the Norman invasion of Ireland.
"ROME (Reuters) - A forgotten workshop of Leonardo da Vinci, complete with 500-year-old frescos and a secret room to dissect human cadavers, has been discovered in Florence, Italy, researchers say.
"A water-loving mammal that lived 50 to 60 million years ago was probably the 'missing link' between whales and hippos, according to a new analysis ...
"UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has urged the world to make sure evils such as those perpetrated in the Holocaust are never repeated ...
Daily Planet News: One-stop newsagency
"Robert Burns: poet and balladeer, Scotland's favourite son and champion of the common people. Each year on January 25, the great man's presumed birthday, Scots everywhere take time out to honour a national icon. Whether it's a full-blown Burns Supper or a quiet night of reading poetry, Burns Night is a night for all Scots."
"The Norwegian government has decided to kill five of the country's grey wolves -- a quarter of the entire population ...
"The claim is in an extensive profile of Dr Allawi written for 