| ||||||||||
|
By Luke Salkeld Daily Mail 01st June 2009  Whipped into fantastical shapes, these clouds hang over the darkening landscape like the harbingers of a mighty storm But despite their stunning and frequent appearances, the formations have yet to be officially recognised with a name. They have been seen all over Britain in different forms - from Snowdonia to the Scottish Highlands - and in other parts of the world such as New Zealand, but usually break up without producing a storm. And some experts believe the stormy weather phenomenon deserves its very own classification. Experts at the Royal Meteorological Society are now attempting to make it official by naming it 'Asperatus' after the Latin word for 'rough'. If they are successful, it would be the first variety of cloud formation to be given a new label in over half a century 'It is a bit like looking at the surface of a choppy sea from below,' said Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the Cloud Appreciation Society, who identified the cloud from photographs sent in by members. 'We try to identify and classify all of the images of clouds we get in, but there were some that just didn't seem to fit in any of the other categories, so I began to think it might be a unique type of cloud.' He added: 'The underside of the clouds are quite rough and choppy. It looks very stormy, but some of the reports we have been getting suggest that they tend to break up without actually turning into a storm.'  The Royal Meteorological Society is now gathering detailed information for the days and locations where the asperatus clouds have been seen in an attempt to understand exactly what is causing them. Officials will then apply to the UN's World Meteorological Organisation in Geneva to have the new cloud type considered for addition into the International Cloud Atlas, the system used by meteorologists across the globe. Professor Paul Hardaker, Chief Executive of the RMS, said: 'There would probably need to be quite a lot of heat around to produce the energy needed to generate such dramatic cloud formations. 'They are quite dark structures so there must be a lot of water vapour condensing in the cloud.'  Skies over Scotland: This scene from Perthshire could help confirm the new 'Asperatus' classification _____  To see more examples of unusual types of clouds, including a section on cloud art and music to watch clouds by, visit: cloudappreciationsociety.org | ||||||||||
| Speak to me | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
|
**People in this country often do not know about the history of mine. They wonder why I say that it is safer for someone with my past to stay here rather than to go back home. This is a story from the recent news which I have added the pertinent pictures to in order to show you that the North of Ireland's past is not quite dead and buried. It returns often to torture innocent people who only want to live in peace. Kevin McDaid was a Catholic, married to a Protestant woman. He was also a community worker and was trying to save a man's life at the time of his horrific beating by a loyalist mob. The killing of Kevin McDaid and the brutal beating of Damien Fleming during an attack by a loyalist gang last Sunday expose the bitter sectarianism that still scars Northern Ireland Caroline Davies and Henry McDonald The Observer Sunday 31 May 2009 Silence fell as the hearse bearing Kevin McDaid's coffin stopped at the exact spot he was murdered, yards from his Coleraine home.  Then, just as his son Ryan, 22, helped by pallbearers, hoisted his father's body on to his shoulders and began the slow march along the narrow walkway to his front door, music could be heard. Strains from the flutes of loyalist marching bands floated across the River Bann, wafting over the mourning party. Photo: Kevin McDaid, brutally murderedIt was too cruel a coincidence. On one side of the river, Catholic grief. On the other, the ritualistic show of Protestant pageantry. On the day Kevin McDaid's corpse was brought home, a victim of the violent sectarianism Northern Ireland is supposed to have laid to rest, Coleraine amply demonstrated just how fractured is the thin veneer of the peace that exists in the province today. It has been one week since Mr McDaid, 49, a father of four, a volunteer cross-community youth worker, a Catholic married to a Protestant, died of a heart attack, having been brutally beaten by a loyalist mob. He and his wife, Evelyn, had come to the aid of their neighbour, Damien Fleming, 46, who, having been beaten and kicked, is clinging to life in a Belfast hospital. Evelyn's badly bruised face is testimony to the sickening violence that even a woman has been subjected to.  Evelyn McDaid - she is Protestant and her husband was Catholic "They came here to kill and they did, they killed my Kevin," Evelyn said. "They killed him because of his religion, that's what it was all about, they would have killed me, too, if I hadn't have been pulled to safety. "I don't know how I am going to let him go, I have just got him back after five days and that was agony. I just don't know how I am going to cope when they go to take him, but I will, I have to for my boys. "Kevin dying is so unfair because he was always the peacemaker, he was a community worker, involved in cross-community work and everything. If he was alive today he would have been disgusted at what has happened." Standing with a knot of locals paying their respects outside the McDaids' neat, pebble-dashed terrace home, Sinn Féin councillor Billy Leonard said: "The impact of this last week has been really, really terrible. Really traumatic." Surveying The Heights, the Catholic enclave where last Sunday bare hatred, hammers, clubs and cudgels demonstrated how far from real grassroots unity Northern Ireland remains, he added: "There's such a lot of anger here. A lot." There was anger and shame, too, on the other side of the river, where the Protestant marching season was under way with the Pride of the Bann march. Long planned, the march route had been voluntarily shortened out of deference to the McDaid and Fleming families. So it did not cross the Bann bridge, which leads to The Heights . The pipes, flutes, drums and banners of some 40 bands paraded in the town's main streets, watched by a thin line of spectators. But the occasion seemed subdued. "It's a disgrace," said one Protestant. "Everyone is ashamed. People just daren't talk about it in case they get tarred themselves, you know. But Coleraine isn't really like that. It's just gangs, on both sides," he insisted. Perhaps. But this is where sectarianism is at its most potent, among the young and dispossessed and disillusioned. There is no greater metaphor for sectarian division in Ulster than the Protestant Rangers versus Catholic Celtic rivalry. It is tribalism in the raw. And statistics prove that sectarian incidents in Northern Ireland spike during the Scottish soccer season. McDaid and Fleming appear to have been picked at random by the mob, who rampaged through this Catholic district after Rangers won the Scottish premiership. Witnesses have spoken of more than 30 drink-fuelled loyalists piling out of "Scott's" bar looking to "teach the Fenians a lesson". On The Heights estate they spilled out of cars, chanting: "We are the UDA." They found Fleming, a disabled man who had lost his job in a meat factory. They had got their "taig". Whether or not this was a UDA attack, it is a disturbing illustration of the sectarian hatred that still lurks, especially in diehard loyalist areas, of which Coleraine certainly has its share. "This has been bubbling away for years now," said Leonard, as both families appealed for no reprisals.  Damien Fleming critically ill on life support "Look at him," declared Fleming's brother, Bobby, as the family released photographs of his horrific injuries. "Would you like your brother, sister, mother, father, lying like that? No, you wouldn't. Is it worthwhile? We're human. Hurt nobody else," he urged. Many of those gathered at The Heights on Friday bore the scars of former battles. Last August, 100 loyalists descended on the enclave. Six people were injured. Some spoke of beatings, of daily having to run the gauntlet in their own estate. "That's what it's like here. All the time," said Ryan McDaid, 22, who cradled his father as he died. It was concern over the young man's safety that prompted his father to leave the house on that fateful evening. Ryan says he has since received a loyalist death threat. "Oh, they're here now," he muttered as two uniformed police officers patrolled the end of the road at a discreet distance. "Where were they on Sunday?" McDaid's family is said to believe the Police Service of Northern Ireland did not do enough to curb loyalist violence and accuse officers of negotiating with loyalists on the day of the murder. Rangers were expected to win and the Coleraine Catholics had discussed the consequences - band marches, gloating gangs, union flags thrust aloft - and the inevitable raid into their neighbourhood. But prior to the game, a group of defiant teenagers did string a line of green, white and gold pennants across the street. The fact that there is now a cross-party appeal for witnesses to help the police is because all are desperate to keep a lid on this type of violence. Despite being a university town, Coleraine remains one of those places in Northern Ireland where ancient hatred regularly bubbles to the surface . Fifty years ago some shopkeepers and businesses put up job advertisements in their windows advising that "Only Protestants need apply". Although such advertisements were made illegal decades ago, the town remains a hotbed of extreme loyalism, which is sullenly opposed to the Belfast-based leaderships of the Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Volunteer Force, both of which have tried to move loyalism in a more political direction. Those accused of murder, attempted murder, assault and affray last Thursday in Ballymena magistrates' court clearly have some support within the Protestant and loyalist community. Seventeen armed police officers, some in riot gear, had to form a human barrier in court around 70 supporters of the defendants and the victims' families and friends. The tension in the court-house and the palpable fear back in Coleraine illuminate a wider problem facing Ulster loyalism as it tries to cope with the changing Northern Ireland. While the majority of the UDA's six brigades contemplate giving up arms - one in particular, South East Antrim, has confirmed to the Observer it is poised to decommission weapons - one of its units remains opposed to handing over guns. That unit is the so-called North West Brigade led by a notorious loyalist terrorist known as The Mexican and which includes Coleraine. Nationalists who have lived in the town all their life are sceptical about moves by the Northern Ireland Office to try to bring the Coleraine loyalists in from the cold. John Dallat, an SDLP member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, criticised both Shaun Woodward, the Northern Ireland secretary, and the security minister Paul Goggins this weekend over what he called their "pussyfooting" with local loyalist terrorists. "The ministers were reluctant to say that any members of the local UDA may have been involved in the attacks last Sunday," said Dallat. "Everyone in Coleraine knows otherwise." He added: "This was an organised invasion of a vulnerable area, and not a whim among a couple of guys watching football in a pub. You do not go to watch a Rangers match with a hammer or a cudgel." About 58,000 people live in Coleraine borough, of which Catholics make up 20%. For decades during the Troubles the Catholic community kept its head down, fearful of demonstrating any aspect of Irish nationalist culture. At the start of the Troubles, with thousands of Protestants fleeing from nearby Derry city into Coleraine, the town's only Hibernian band folded and from 1969 onwards there was no celebration of Irish culture. The loyalists claim it as their town, now. But the rest of Coleraine just wants peace. On the white railings outside McDaid's home, green and white Celtic shirts are tied, alongside bouquets, and verses. One reads: "Peace is the destination and the way. Love is the path we must take." It is signed "A Protestant". | ||||||||||
| Speak to me | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
|
Belfast Telegraph Monday, 11 May 2009  Prolific US screen and television writer John Furia Jr, who penned popular series including Bonanza, The Waltons and Hawaii Five-O among many others, has died at 79. The Writers Guild of America West disclosed Furia’s death in a statement. Furia, a former president of the WGAW, was a longtime advocate for Hollywood writers. He was also a founding chairman of the Writing for Screen and Television Division at the University of Southern California’s film school and was a full professor there teaching screen and television writing. “John’s character and dignity touched and influenced generations of writers from the founders of the Guild itself to the newest of student-associates,” said WGAW president Patric M Verrone. Image source | ||||||||||
| Speak to me | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
|
By LYNN ELBER Associated Press 25 April 2009 LOS ANGELES (AP) — Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows "Maude" and "The Golden Girls" and who won a Tony Award for the musical "Mame," died Saturday. She was 86.  Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family at her side, family spokesman Dan Watt said. She had cancer, Watt said, declining to give further details.This Aug. 29, 1988 file photo shows actress Beatrice Arthur accepting her Emmy award at the 40th annual Emmy Awards ceremony in Pasadena, Ca. "She was a brilliant and witty woman," said Watt, who was Arthur's personal assistant for six years. "Bea will always have a special place in my heart." Arthur first appeared in the landmark comedy series "All in the Family" as Edith Bunker's loudly outspoken, liberal cousin, Maude Finley. She proved a perfect foil for blue-collar bigot Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), and their blistering exchanges were so entertaining that producer Norman Lear fashioned Arthur's own series. In a 2008 interview with The Associated Press, Arthur said she was lucky to be discovered by TV after a long stage career, recalling with bemusement CBS executives asking about the new "girl." "I was already 50 years old. I had done so much off-Broadway, on Broadway, but they said, `Who is that girl? Let's give her her own series,'" Arthur said. "Maude" scored with television viewers immediately on its CBS debut in September 1972, and Arthur won an Emmy Award for the role in 1977. The comedy flowed from Maude's efforts to cast off the traditional restraints that women faced, but the series often had a serious base. Her husband Walter (Bill Macy) became an alcoholic, and she underwent an abortion, which drew a torrent of viewer protests. Maude became a standard bearer for the growing feminist movement in America. The ratings of "Maude" in the early years approached those of its parent, "All in the Family," but by 1977 the audience started to dwindle. A major format change was planned, but in early 1978 Arthur announced she was quitting the show. "It's been absolutely glorious; I've loved every minute of it," she said. "But it's been six years, and I think it's time to leave." "Golden Girls" (1985-1992) was another groundbreaking comedy, finding surprising success in a television market increasingly skewed toward a younger, product-buying audience. The series concerned three retirees — Arthur, Betty White and Rue McClanahan — and the mother of Arthur's character, Estelle Getty, who lived together in a Miami apartment. In contrast to the violent "Miami Vice," the comedy was nicknamed "Miami Nice." As Dorothy Zbornak, Arthur seemed as caustic and domineering as Maude. She was unconcerned about the similarity of the two roles. "Look — I'm 5-feet-9, I have a deep voice and I have a way with a line," she told an interviewer. "What can I do about it? I can't stay home waiting for something different. I think it's a total waste of energy worrying about typecasting." The interplay among the four women and their relations with men fueled the comedy, and the show amassed a big audience and 10 Emmys, including two as best comedy series and individual awards for each of the stars. In 1992, Arthur announced she was leaving "Golden Girls." The three other stars returned in "The Golden Palace," but it lasted only one season. Arthur was born Bernice Frankel in New York City in 1922. When she was 11, her family moved to Cambridge, Md., where her father opened a clothing store. At 12 she had grown to full height, and she dreamed of being a petite blond movie star like June Allyson. There was one advantage of being tall and deep-voiced: She was chosen for the male roles in school plays. Bernice — she hated the name and adopted her mother's nickname of Bea — overcame shyness about her size by winning over her classmates with wisecracks. She was elected the wittiest girl in her class. After two years at a junior college in Virginia, she earned a degree as a medical lab technician, but she "loathed" doing lab work at a hospital. Acting held more appeal, and she enrolled in a drama course at the New School of Social Research in New York City. To support herself, she sang in a night spot that required her to push drinks on customers. During this time she had a brief marriage that provided her stage name of Beatrice Arthur. In 1950, she married again, to Broadway actor and future Tony-winning director Gene Saks. After a few years in off-Broadway and stock company plays and television dramas, Arthur's career gathered momentum with her role as Lucy Brown in the 1955 production of "The Threepenny Opera." In 2008, when Arthur was inducted in the TV Academy Hall of Fame, Arthur pointed to the role as the highlight of her long career. "A lot of that had to do with the fact that I felt, `Ah, yes, I belong here,'" Arthur said. More plays and musicals followed, and she also sang in nightclubs and played small roles in TV comedy shows. Then, in 1964, Harold Prince cast her as Yente the Matchmaker in the original company of "Fiddler on the Roof." Arthur's biggest Broadway triumph came in 1966 as Vera Charles, Angela Lansbury's acerbic friend in the musical "Mame," directed by Saks. Richard Watts of the New York Post called her performance "a portrait in acid of a savagely witty, cynical and serpent-tongued woman." She won the Tony as best supporting actress and repeated the role in the unsuccessful film version that also was directed by Saks, starring Lucille Ball as Mame. Arthur would play a variation of Vera Charles in "Maude" and "The Golden Girls." In 1983, Arthur attempted another series, "Amanda's," an Americanized version of John Cleese's hilarious "Fawlty Towers." She was cast as owner of a small seaside hotel with a staff of eccentrics. It lasted a mere nine episodes. Between series, Arthur remained active in films and theater. Among the movies: "That Kind of Woman" (1959), "Lovers and Other Strangers" (1970), Mel Brooks' "The History of the World: Part I" (1981), "For Better or Worse" (1995). The plays included Woody Allen's "The Floating Light Bulb" and "The Bermuda Avenue Triangle," written by and costarring Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna. During 2001 and 2002 she toured the country in a one-woman show of songs and stories, "... And Then There's Bea." Arthur and Saks divorced in 1978 after 28 years. They had two sons, Matthew and Daniel. In his long career, Saks won Tonys for "I Love My Wife," "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "Biloxi Blues." One of his Tony nominations was for "Mame." In 1999, Arthur told an interviewer of the three influences in her career: "Sid Caesar taught me the outrageous; (method acting guru) Lee Strasberg taught me what I call reality; and ('Threepenny Opera' star) Lotte Lenya, whom I adored, taught me economy." In recent years, Arthur made guest appearances on shows including "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "Malcolm in the Middle." She was chairwoman of the Art Attack Foundation, a non-profit performing arts scholarship organization. Arthur is survived by her sons and two granddaughters. No funeral services are planned. Associated Press writer Bob Thomas contributed to this report. | ||||||||||
| Speak to me | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
|
By James Bone in New York Independent.ie Saturday February 14 2009 Her husband died in the attack on the World Trade Centre after phoning to say that he loved her. Yesterday, as she flew to commemorate his 58th birthday and to establish a scholarship in his name at the high school where they met, Beverly Eckert also met her death in a fiery plane crash. The outspoken September 11 widow was among 50 people who died when a Continental Connection commuter plane nosedived into a house in upstate New York, killing everyone on board and one person on the ground. ( >>Read on ) | ||||||||||
| Speak to me | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
|
By Brenda Norrell narcosphere January 22, 2009  CANAAN, Penn. -- Leonard Peltier was jumped and severely beaten by a gang after being transferred from a prison in Lewisburg to Canaan on January 13. The family, however, was not notified by the prison and received the information by way of a letter from Peltier. Peltier, 64, was placed in solitary confinement. "Once Mr. Peltier arrived at the Canaan prison facility, he was jumped by younger inmates, severely beaten, put in solitary confinement and placed upon meal restrictions despite his having diabetes and other medical conditions," the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee said in a statement. "The family has requested copies of the video tapes of that incident to no avail. It is as if the whole scenario was contrived to detract from the fact that Mr. Peltier has been a model prisoner having more than enough points to qualify for parole," LPDOC said. Peltier called his neice, Kari Ann Cowan, from the prison on Jan. 22. During the live online NAMAPAHH Blog Talk Radio hosted by Robin Carneen, Cowan relayed the information. It was Peltier's first phone call since the transfer and prison beating. During the call, Peltier said he will not be allowed "out of the hole" and in the general population. Peltier said Canaan is a tough place, where gangs are being brought in. "He is one of the oldest ones there," Cowan said. "He will not be allowed back in the general population or he will be jumped." Cowan said the FBI did tell Peltier that he was the victim in the attack, which she said was filmed on camera. Peltier said he was set up in the attack. "It was a cold blooded setup," Cowan said. She said he did not know his attackers. "He has never seen his attackers before." Peltier said he will be allowed only one phone call every 30 days. Cowan said she is hopeful that President Obama will work "nation to nation" with the Turtle Mountain Chippewas to bring Peltier home to North Dakota. "We have to push for his transfer, he is not safe there." During the NAMAPAHH Radio program tonight, Peltier's attorney was called by the prison. The prison will not allow his attorney to speak to him tomorrow. "It is outrageous," said attorney Michael Kuzma of Buffalo, N.Y, concerning the co-counsel the prison has denied entry to speak with Peltier. "What are they hiding?" Kuzma said they have hidden documents before, but not Leonard. "Now they are hiding Leonard Peltier." Earlier, the report of the beating came by way of a letter from Peltier. "Once Mr. Peltier arrived at the Canaan prison facility, he was jumped by younger inmates, severely beaten, put in solitary confinement and placed upon meal restrictions despite his having diabetes and other medical conditions," the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee said in a statement ."The family has requested copies of the video tapes of that incident to no avail. It is as if the whole scenario was contrived to detract from the fact that Mr. Peltier has been a model prisoner having more than enough points to qualify for parole," LPDOC said. Recently, the amount of hate mail circulated on the Internet regarding Peltier and appeals for his release has increased and could have played a role in the attack on Peltier. The LPDOC said, "Retired, former and actively employed FBI agents have taken action against the release and parole of Leonard Peltier time and again. While it is their right to speak their opinion, it is not right to do so on federal time and at the taxpayer's expense. Their letters, writings, articles, books, protests, outcries and interviews concerning Mr. Peltier are a conflict of interest and tip the scales against him unfairly. In addition, it is certainly questionable as to the timing of a letter written by a former FBI Agent to Representative John Conyers and the beating Mr. Peltier received at Canaan." The LPDOC said the attack on Peltier comes on the heels of the FBI's recent letter, prompting this attack by FBI supporters as an attempt to discredit Peltier as a model prisoner. "Anyone who has been in the prison system knows well that if you refuse to name your attackers or file charges against them, then you lose your status as a victim and/or given points against your possible parole and labeled as a perpetrator. It is not uncommon, in fact is quite common for the government to use Indian against Indian and they still operate under the old adage "it takes an Indian to catch an Indian," LPDOC said. In 1978, the US government made an attempt to assassinate Peltier, offering another Indian inmate at Marion prison with Leonard Peltier a chance at freedom. The man was Standing Deer. Standing Deer befriended Peltier in prison and exposed the plot to assassinate him. Standing Deer was murdered in Houston after his release from prison. LPDOC said, "Standing Deer chose to reveal the plot to Leonard instead of taking his life in exchange for a chance at freedom. When Standing Deer was released in 2001, he joined the former Leonard Peltier Defense Committee as a board member. He also began to speak on Leonard's behalf until his murder six years ago today. Prior to his murder, Standing Deer confided with close friends and associates that the same man who visited him in Marion to assassinate Peltier, had come to Houston and told him that he had better stay away from Peltier and anything to do with him," the LDPOC said. (An interview with Ben Carnes on Standing Deer and Peltier can be heard at Censored News Blog Radio or at Earthcycles on Longest Walk.) As of December, Peltier is eligible for a full parole hearing. The hearing will likely occur this year, but no date has been announced. Micheal Kuzma, an attorney for Leonard Peltier's defense, described the attack on Peltier in prison during an interview with American Indian Airwaves on Wednesday, Jan. 21. Kuzma said Peltier's sister Betty Peltier-Solano, executive coordinator of the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee, received a letter from Peltier, but was never notified by prison officials of the attack. Peltier was transferred from Lewisburg to Canaan prison during the week of Jan. 12th and attacked on the 13th, by other inmates. Kuzma said, "According to the letter, he thinks he might have a concussion. His middle finger on his left hand is either broken or badly injured. He has a large bump near his right wrist. The right side of his rib cage and chest are in pain. He also has a bruise on the right side of his chest. He also has a bruise on his left knee, and is suffering from headaches. These headaches are a direct result of the Jan. 13 beating." Listen to Robin Carneen's NAMAPAHH First People's Radio on Blog Talk Radio: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/NAMAPAHH_Ra Listen to American Indian Airwaves (last 20 minutes of program) on Jan. 21 at: http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/xml/ame AIM West plans a protest in solidarity with Peltier to draw attention to the attack and call for his release on Friday in San Francisco. http://www.aimwest.info/ For more information: LPDOC: http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info/ Updates at Censored News: http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com ---------------------------------------- President Obama must free Leonard Peltier By Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman freepress.org January 23, 2009 The welcome news that President Obama is taking steps to shut Guantanamo and right other Bush-era human rights abuses must quickly be joined by a proclamation of freedom for Leonard Peltier. Peltier is the nation's best-known native activist and has become a global symbol of abject injustice and prison abuse. Imprisoned in the late 1970s for allegedly murdering two FBI agents, Peltier has never been given a fair trial. Federal authorities have quashed or destroyed thousands of pages of evidence that might have freed Peltier decades ago. The Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee points out that "Amnesty International considers Leonard Peltier to be a political prisoner whose avenues of redress have long been exhausted. ... Amnesty International recognizes that a retrial is no longer a feasible option and believes that Leonard Peltier should be immediately and unconditionally released." The committee adds that "Documents show that although the prosecution and government pointed the finger at Peltier for shooting FBI agents at close range during the trial in 1976, for three years the prosecution withheld critical ballistic test results proving that the fatal bullets could not have come from the gun tied to Leonard Peltier. This trial also denied evidence of self defense." The committee further states that: "the U.S. Prosecutor, during subsequent oral arguments, stated: "we can't prove who shot those agents." And that the Eighth Circuit found that "There is a possibility that the jury would have acquitted Leonard Peltier had the records and data improperly withheld from the defense been available to them in order to better exploit and reinforce the inconsistencies casting strong doubts upon the government's case." The committee also says that "Judge Heaney, who authored the denial, now supports Mr. Peltier's release, stating that the FBI used improper tactics to gain Mr. Peltier's conviction." Now 64 years old, Peltier is suffering from diabetes and a series of other serious ailments brought on by his decades in prison. He has great grandchildren he has never seen. His case is the centerpiece of the book IN THE SPIRIT OF CRAZY HORSE by Peter Matthiessen. Reports from Betty Peltier-Solano, Leonard's sister, now assert that Peltier was severely beaten during a recent transfer to the Canaan Federal Penitentiary. According to Peltier-Solano, he has been held in solitary confinement and limited to a single meal a day, a serious threat to his health due to his diabetes. Over the decades, Peltier has been a model prisoner, concentrating on his art and writing. His commitment to Native American rights has been consistent throughout the years, though he's been repeatedly denied media access. Peltier is eligible for parole in the near future. His supporters fear this latest round of abuse may be designed to discredit him. The FBI recently sent a letter accusing Peltier of prompting this latest attack. Given Peltier's age, poor health, imminent parole status and long-standing political commitments, this can be viewed as a calculated absurdity. His sister writes that "currently, the FBI is actively seeking support for his continued imprisonment." The political involvement of the FBI is itself an issue the President must address. At very least Peltier should be freed on bail pending a new trial, with a concerted effort on the part of the new Department of Justice to unearth all suppressed evidence in this case. Leonard Peltier has languished unjustly in prison far longer than those held in Guantanamo. It is time to set him free! To find out more, contact the Leonard Peltier Defense Offense Committee at http://www.whoisleonardpeltier.info. -- Bob Fitrakis & Harvey Wasserman have co-authored four books on election protection, which appear at http://freepress.org, along with Bob's FITRAKIS FILES. Harvey's HISTORY OF THE U.S. is at http://harveywasserman.com. This article was originally published by http://freepress.org. | ||||||||||
| Speak to me | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
|
**'We are witnessing genocide in Gaza' By Ewa Jasiewicz in Gaza Independent.ie Tuesday December 30 2008 Inside the mourning tent in Jabalya refugee camp, a group of men sat in stricken silence as they sought to comfort Anwar Balosha.  Hours earlier, five of his daughters had been killed by an Israeli air strike. Apache helicopter gunships fired missiles at a mosque in Jabalya in the early hours yesterday. The blast destroyed Mr Balosha's home beside the mosque.A heartbroken father cradles the body of his four-year old daughter who was killed along with four of her young sisters in an Israeli air strike on Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza Of his nine children, four escaped. But the strikes killed Dena (4), Samar (6), Jawaher (8) Akram, (14), and Tahrir (17), who were all crushed as they slept. "Where is respect for our lives?" asked Mr Balosha. "They are killing us and no one is stopping it." In all, five missiles were fired into Jabalya before dawn. Most hit empty buildings, although one attack wounded a young boy, and a middle aged man and woman. At Gaza's Islamic University, bombed at around midnight on Sunday, the destruction was total. A five-storey building, with administration, engineering and science departments, had been reduced to a pile of smouldering rubble. Torn textbooks lay amongst slabs of concrete, twisted wires and shattered glass. The university's destruction happened during the final exams of its students -- which they might now be unable to complete. Elsewhere, two Apache gunships fired missiles at a paint factory on Jaffa Street and a steel works in Abu Shebak Street. All night, unmanned Israeli drones circled overhead. Generally used for reconnaissance to identify targets for attack, but some of these aircraft can fire missiles. Maysara Mohammed Adwan, a mother of 10 children, and Ibrahim Shafiq Chebat, a 24-year-old man, were killed by a drone two days ago in the town of Beit Hanoun.  Yesterday, a mosque opposite Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City lay in ruins. Local journalists say a doctor and a passer-by were killed.Palestinian mourners carry five members of the Balosha family, including three children and two teenagers, who were killed in an Israeli missile strikein the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday The blast broke windows, downed power lines serving Shifa Hospital and blew out the windows and wrecked the interiors of adjoining shops and a kindergarten. Local hospitals, including Al-Shifa, have been overwhelmed by the flood of casualties. Their wards are filled with people suffering head, facial and spinal injuries, mostly caused by flying shrapnel. One baby girl suffered shrapnel injuries to her face and leg while another woman was brought in with multiple injuries she sustained in a blast as she sat in her office -- a charity based near a police station. Gaza's hospitals are short of basic medical supplies and kept alive by electricity generators, many of which lack spare parts that the Israeli blockade has not permitted to enter. People in Gaza fear the worst is still to come. Drones continue to whine overhead and many expect a ground attack by Israeli troops. - Ewa Jasiewicz in Gaza - Daily Telegraph, London) | ||||||||||
| 1 comment | Speak to me | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
 In the U.S., where bee colonies are dying off and demand for imported honey is soaring, traders of the thick amber liquid are resorting to elaborate schemes to dodge tariffs and health safeguards in order to dump cheap honey on the market, a five-month Seattle P-I investigation has found.The business is plagued by foreign hucksters and shady importers who rip off conscientious U.S. packers with honey diluted with sugar water or corn syrup--or worse, tainted with pesticides or antibiotics. >>Continued | ||||||||||
| Speak to me | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
|
By JENNY HAWORTH Scotsman 29 December 2008 A BAN on the "abhorrent" trade in cat and dog fur comes into force in the UK this week. From Thursday, it will be illegal to import, export or sell the fur harvested from millions of cats and dogs slaughtered each year in the Far East. The fur is used for products ranging from children's soft toys, to coats, trims on clothes, linings in boots, pet toys and rugs. It has been found for sale across Europe, including the UK. The majority of the cats and dogs are killed in China, where they are kept in cruel conditions and sometimes skinned alive. ( Continued ) | ||||||||||
| Speak to me | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
|
Breaking News.ie 28/12/2008 **How can you shoot someone who is fleeing bombs? Israeli jets pound Gaza tunnels Egyptian border guards opened fire today on Palestinians who breached the border to escape Israel‘s assault on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. An Egyptian security official said there were at least five breaches along the 9 mile border and hundreds of Palestinian residents were pouring in. At least 300 Egyptian border guards have been rushed to the area to reseal the border, the official added on condition on anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press. A resident of the Gaza Strip side of the border, Fida Kishta, said that Egyptian border guards opened fire to drive back the Palestinians. Residents have also commandeered a bulldozer to open new breaches. Palestinians reported several people were wounded by the gunfire. Israeli aircraft earlier bombed the border area in an apparent attempt to destroy cross border tunnels used to smuggle weapons and contraband into the Gaza Strip. Dr Abdel Qader Higazi, a representative of the Egyptian Doctor’s Syndicate in Rafah, said Egyptian authorities closed the border crossing after allowing several trucks of medical supplies into Gaza. | ||||||||||
| 1 comment | Speak to me | ||||||||||
Powered by DeadJournal.com