Interesting news thread

[13]

Quote:VATICAN CITY -- Lawyers for Pope Benedict XVI have asked President Bush to declare the pontiff immune from liability in a lawsuit that accuses him of conspiring to cover up the molestation of three boys by a seminarian in Texas, court records show.

The Vatican's embassy in Washington sent a diplomatic memo to the State Department on May 20 requesting the U.S. government grant the pope immunity because he is a head of state, according to a May 26 motion submitted by the pope's lawyers in U.S. District Court for the Southern Division of Texas in Houston.

Joseph Ratzinger is named as a defendant in the civil lawsuit. Now Benedict XVI, he's accused of conspiring with the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston to cover up the abuse during the mid-1990s.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Gerry Keener, said Tuesday that the pope is considered a head of state and automatically has diplomatic immunity.

Lawyers for abuse victims say the case is significant because previous attempts to implicate the Vatican, the pope or other church officials in U.S. sex abuse proceedings have failed -- primarily because of immunity claims and the difficulty serving Vatican officials with U.S. lawsuits.

[13]

Iraq War Surpasses Vietnam in Number of Reporters Killed


More broadcast and print journalists have been killed during the Iraq war than during the entire 20 years of the Vietnam War, according to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders. The latest casualty, it said, was a soundman for Reuters TV News, who was shot by U.S. soldiers in Baghdad on Sunday, bringing to 66 the number of journalists and their assistants who have been killed since 2003. (A Reuters cameraman accompanying the soundman was wounded in the incident.) Sixty-three journalists were killed in Vietnam between 1955 and 1975.

[PvtDeth]

That's truly fascinating. My take on these statistics (my bias is that of a U.S. citizen and Marine Corps veteran) is that they indicate a complete change from U.S. Vietnam Era policies concerning journalists, i.e. "You'll see what we want you to see, when we want you to see it. Oh, on second thought, just take this wire from our internal Public Affairs Office."

Not commenting on the war at all, just media coverage of it. Only a free press can hold a true democracy accountable.

[12345]

Interesting news... stupid news... whatever.

http://www.nworbcire.com/jablowme.gif

[13]

Katrina Debit Cards Spent On "Essentials": Strip Clubs, $800 Handbags
link

On the heels of a report earlier this week that Atlanta area Katrina victims were using $2,000 debit cards to purchase luxury items like Louis Vuitton handbags, Houston police yesterday discovered the cards, provided by FEMA and the Red Cross, being used at local strip clubs.

The Houston Police Department just formed a task force to investigate the abuse of the cards, which were distributed to thousands of Katrina hurricane victims to provide for necessities, such as food, clothing and toiletries. On the first day, the police found the cards being used to buy beer while ogling exotic dancers.

According to a report by KPRC, Channel 2, in Houston, a manager at Caligula XXI Gentlemen's Club said he has seen at least one debit card used at his club. A bartender at Baby Dolls, identified only as "Abby," said she has seen many of the cards used at her establishment.

"A lot of customers have been coming in from Louisiana and they've been real happy about the $1.75 beers and they're really nice," she said.

She couldn't say for sure whether the cards she has seen were from the Red Cross or from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but she found no fault in using federal dollars to guzzle beer at a strip club.

"You lost your whole house, then, why not?" she said "You might want some beer in a strip club. There are a lot of guys out there that like to do that."

The wife of the manager of another strip club told KPRC that her husband has seen patrons from Louisiana offering Red Cross and FEMA debit cards, but she declined to reveal the club's name.

The FEMA and Red Cross cards have few restrictions, but some evacuees have gotten into trouble when they tried to get additional cards.

Meanwhile, Houston police are going undercover as evacuees to keep their eyes on those who get in line more than once.

"There may be some individuals who use some false identifications or providing false information on the forms, so we're targeting those persons also," said Lt. Robert Manzo.

Officers handed out a warning that falsifying government documents could result in a 20-year prison sentence.

Earlier this week, the New York Daily News reported that "profiteering ghouls" were using the debit cards in luxury-goods stores as far away as Atlanta.

"We've seen three of the cards," said a senior employee of the Louis Vuitton store at the Lenox Square Mall in affluent Buckhead. "Two I'm certain have purchased; one actually asked if she could use it in the store. This has been since Saturday."

Restrictions on the cards say they can't be used to purchase alcohol, tobacco or firearms.

The clerk at the Louis Vuitton store said: "There's nothing legally that prevents us from taking it, unfortunately – other than morally, it's wrong." The unnamed employee told the Daily News two women who had made purchases with the card each bought a signature monogrammed Louis Vuitton handbag in the $800 range.

Meanwhile, in Memphis, Tenn., residents told News Channel 3 they saw Hurricane Katrina survivors purchase designer jeans, high heels and purses with their $2,000 emergency debit cards. According to the report, one Katrina victim was spotted at a Cordova clothier buying stacks of $65 designer jeans. Another viewer reported spotting a survivor buying "over $700 in high heel shoes and purses" at a Memphis department store "while (her) younger children, most of them looked under the age of 3, looked like they haven't showered in weeks."

"If they make an inappropriate decision as to what to purchase, the whole issue of victims' rights comes into play," said Bill Hildebrandt, chief executive officer of the Mid-South chapter of the Red Cross. "They have a right, I guess, to be inappropriate."

Hildebrandt conceded that the purchases could be traced, but he said if the receipts just said "shirt" or "jeans" or "clothes," there would be nothing the Red Cross could do. He said the Mid-South chapter stopped using the cards because the process became too cumbersome.

FEMA reportedly issued about 10,500 cards in the pilot program, with a total value of $20.6 million. Hildebrandt said some Red Cross chapters are still using the cards.

The cards have been a major source of confusion – and resentment – throughout the country.

On Sept. 7, after criticism about the federal government's slow response to helping the Katrina victims, the Bush administration announced that displaced families of the hurricane would receive the debit cards to spend on clothing and other immediate needs.

Two days later, FEMA scrapped the program after distributing the cards at shelters in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, where many of the evacuees were moved. FEMA said then that no cards will be issued to victims in other states.

FEMA Director Mike Brown resigned a few days later after being sent back to Washington, D.C., and relieved of his duty as head of the federal government's hurricane efforts.

Since then, FEMA has stopped handing out the cash cards, but is now requiring evacuees in other states outside Texas to apply for cash assistance.

FEMA is still distributing $2,000 per household to victims of the hurricane, but the process has been slow. After a brief experiment with the debit cards, the agency is now directly depositing the money in bank accounts.

Hurricane victims have to register with the agency by calling an 800 number that is almost always busy. The same goes for a Red Cross fund, which has distributed $140 million thus far, determining the amount per family based on need.




Red Cross debit cards used at Victoria's Secret
link

LOUISVILLE - Some people who have received Red Cross debit cards meant to help victims of Hurricane Katrina have been using the funds at Victoria's Secret, Circuit City and Hooters, among other locations, officials said.

Phyllis Wilkins, executive director of the agency's Clark County, Ind., chapter, said her staff received tips that some card users were actually local residents with few or no links to areas damaged by Katrina.

Some people who received debit cards in Jeffersonville, Ind., across the Ohio River from Louisville, during the last two weeks have used them at stores that are "not typical" for disaster victims, Wilkins said.

"It's broken my heart to see that happen," she said of the suspected fraud. "It's definitely affected our staff."

Wilkins said three Louisville women came to her office Tuesday but did not receive money. According to a Jeffersonville Police Department report, the women said they were from Louisiana and asked for clothes and money. They later admitted that the stories weren't true, the report said.

Red Cross officials said they think the case may be part of a pattern that could include at least seven other individuals and families. One person has been arrested in Louisville in a similar case involving a Red Cross debit card worth $360.

Jan Walther, spokeswoman for the Louisville Area chapter of the Red Cross, said one other suspect is being pursued. She said many more people have walked away from Red Cross relief sites after they failed to produce valid identification.

Walther also said the number of suspicious hurricane claims, two as of Wednesday, was low compared with the more than 2,300 people receiving aid.


FEMA/Red Cross Kill Katrina Debit Card Program; Cite Red Tape & Abuse

link

MEMPHIS -- Designer jeans, high heels and purses -- not exactly what the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross had in mind.

But that's what a few News Channel 3 viewers claim they saw Hurricane Katrina survivors purchase with their $2,000 emergency debit cards. One Katrina victim was spotted at a Cordova clothier buying stacks of $65 designer jeans. Another viewer reported spotting a survivor buying "over $700 in high heel shoes and purses" at a Memphis department store "while (her) younger children, most of them looked under the age of 3, looked like they haven't showered in weeks."
So FEMA officially killed the debit card program Sunday, Sept. 11.

"The debit card was a pilot program intended just for the sheltered victims in Texas and only for a limited duration," said FEMA spokesperson Barbara Ellis. "It was implemented to address the evacuees' immediate emergency needs -- food, clothing, shelter."

Bill Hildebrandt, CEO of the Mid-South chapter of the American Red Cross, said the cards were coded to block purchases of alcohol or guns. But when it came to clothes, anything goes.

"If they make an inappropriate decision as to what to purchase, the whole issue of victims' rights comes into play," said Hildebrandt. "They have a right, I guess, to be inappropriate."

Hildebrandt conceded that the purchases could be traced, but he said if the receipts just said "shirt" or "jeans" or "clothes," there would be nothing the Red Cross could do. He said the Mid-South chapter stopped using the cards because the process became too cumbersome.

Katrina victims still seeking financial assistance at chapter headquarters, 1400 Central Avenue in Midtown Memphis, were waiting on checks or direct deposit instead of debit cards. Victims like Katrina McDowell of Folsom, Louisiana -- who said she lost everything in the hurricane that bears her name -- said there's really no stopping someone who wants to abuse the generosity of Red Cross donors.

"If they are still getting the cash, they're going to spend the money on whatever they want anyway still, so how would you stop it?" she asked.

Ellis said FEMA issued about 10,500 cards in the pilot program, with a total value of $20,598,000. Hildebrandt said some Red Cross chapters are still using the cards.

[13]

WE KNOW. You've done some stupid things while drunk. You may have slept with somebody you shouldn't have. Maybe you got into a fistfight, or drove, or fired a gun into the side of a house. If you've got a real drinking problem, maybe alcohol has destroyed your family, lost you jobs, even come close to killing you.

Forget it. You're an amateur. You can tear your clothes off in public, pee on national monuments, and tattoo death threats against the president on your forehead, and you'll still be nowhere near the level of misbehavior some drunks demonstrate. Don't believe us? Then read the following list for just a sampling of the sorts of outrageous evil achieved by really bad drunks. Next time you wake up in a puddle of your own sick next to an ugly stranger, you'll have some perspective. Things could be worse. Much, much worse. At least you didn't:

1. Trash an entire town: Forget your drunken movie stars and their trashed hotel rooms -- in 1946 a group of motorcyclists actually trashed an entire town. The location was Hollister, California, a nondescript farming town that was the site of a road rally that attracted 4,000 cyclists. Many of these bikers got drunk and disorderly, according to witnesses. Some rode their motorcycles directly into bars, some spun doughnuts on the pavement, some engaged in impromptu drag races down the city's main street. Time ran a posed photo from the weekend showing a burly, almost bare-chested man with a sideways-turned cap sitting astride a stripped down Harley while holding a bottle of beer in each hand. "There were a bunch of guys up on the Elks Lodge Balcony dropping full highball glasses on the sidewalk below," one witness reminisced in the Bay Area's Metroactive Magazine. Such reports, along with the presence of thousands of leather-clad motorcyclists, made the local police nervous. They jailed several of the motorcyclists, hassled others, and called in the State police as reinforcements. A riot followed, during which the police resorted to tear gas. Come morning, the town's chief of police would survey the damage and declare: "It's just one hell of a mess." The Hollister riot inspired the development of the American outlaw biker, as well as inspiring one famous film: Marlon Brando's The Wild One.

2. Eat another person: A popular story on the Internet a few years ago was that of F.A. Boldyshev and N.V. Ostanin of Berezniki, Russia, who got drunk with a third man and then decided to eat him. They had their mother cook the tastier bits and then sold the remainder on the streets, but for the victim's head, hands, and feet, which they hid in an attic. Unfortunately, a customer became suspicious when she discovered skin on one of the cuts of meat she purchased from the men. Suspecting that she was in possession of human flesh, she turned the men in. They later confessed that their cannibalism was inspired by rising costs of non-human meat.

3. Have sex with family members: According to the account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah found in Genesis, upon escaping the burning of the Bible's famously wicked pair of cities and subsequently watching their mother turn into a pillar of salt, Lot's daughters believed that the world was ending. So they did what any reasonable person would do: They attempted to single-handedly repopulate the earth with the only remaining living male. Unfortunately, the only living male they knew about was their father. So they got him drunk on wine and slept with him.

4. Kill a princess: Conspiracy theorists dream up complicated causes for the untimely death of Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Princess of Wales. However, her 1997 car crash in Parisian tunnel (which also killed her then-lover, Dodi Fayed, a film producer whose credits included Chariots of Fire) had a quotidian cause: a drunk driver. Blood tests in Henri Paul, Dodi Fayed's limo driver, found that he had a blood-alcohol content three times the legal limit. Paul had attempted to elude nine pursuing French photographers looking to snap pictures of Diana and Dodi. He smashed the limo into a support pillar in an underpass, killing himself and Fayed immediately. Diana died two hours later of massive internal injuries.

5. Execute Che Guevara: Revolutionary leader Dr. Ernesto Rafael Guevara de la Serna, popularly known as Che Guevara, who had helped lead the revolution in Cuba, met a violent death in 1967. The handsome guerilla theorist had left Cuba to train a revolutionary army in Bolivia, where he was captured and executed. According to one account, the Bolivian sergeant who had been assigned the task of shooting the revolutionary was so nervous about the prospect that he got himself drunk in advance: Witnesses describe him stumbling and vomiting outside the schoolhouse where guevara was being held. This may help explain why the Guevara killing was so grotesque: the best account has Guevara shot repeatedly in the legs and his throat before a bullet to his lungs ended his life. The Bolivian government then claimed that Guevara had been killed in a gunfight with local authorities.

6. Burn down a national forest: Country singer Johnny Cash had trouble with pills and alcohol. The recently deceased Man in Black was legendarily wild on the road, and was once arrested in Texas for attempting to smuggle amphetamines in from Mexico in his guitar case. In 1964, Johnny Cash drunkenly set fire to the Los Padres National Wildlife Refuge in California, burning the foliage off three mountains, destroying 500 acres, and killing 49 of the refuge's 53 endangered condors. Cash was unrepentant -- "I don't care about your damn yellow buzzards," he sneered at his judge. The judge responded by fining Cash $85,000. Cash's explanation as to the cause of the fire? "I was high." (Max Sparber)

[Alberich]

[quote:30hwlije]Protecting the Presidential Seal. No Joke.

KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
Published: October 24, 2005

You might have thought that the White House had enough on its plate late last month, what with its search for a new Supreme Court nominee, the continuing war in Iraq and the C.I.A. leak investigation. But it found time to add another item to its agenda - stopping The Onion, the satirical newspaper, from using the presidential seal.

The newspaper regularly produces a parody of President Bush's weekly radio address on its Web site (www.theonion.com/content/node/40121), where it has a picture of President Bush and the official insignia.

"It has come to my attention that The Onion is using the presidential seal on its Web site," Grant M. Dixton, associate counsel to the president, wrote to The Onion on Sept. 28. (At the time, Mr. Dixton's office was also helping Mr. Bush find a Supreme Court nominee; days later his boss, Harriet E. Miers, was nominated.)

Citing the United States Code, Mr. Dixton wrote that the seal "is not to be used in connection with commercial ventures or products in any way that suggests presidential support or endorsement." Exceptions may be made, he noted, but The Onion had never applied for such an exception.

The Onion was amused. "I'm surprised the president deems it wise to spend taxpayer money for his lawyer to write letters to The Onion," Scott Dikkers, editor in chief, wrote to Mr. Dixton. He suggested the money be used instead for tax breaks for satirists.

More formally, The Onion's lawyers responded that the paper's readers - it prints about 500,000 copies weekly, and three million people read it online - are well aware that The Onion is a joke.

"It is inconceivable that anyone would think that, by using the seal, The Onion intends to 'convey... sponsorship or approval' by the president," wrote Rochelle H. Klaskin, the paper's lawyer, who went on to note that a headline in the current issue made the point: "Bush to Appoint Someone to Be in Charge of Country."

Moreover, she wrote, The Onion and its Web site are free, so the seal is not being used for commercial purposes. That said, The Onion asked that its letter be considered a formal application to use the seal.

No answer yet. But Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman, said that "you can't pick and choose where you want to enforce the rules surrounding the use of official government insignia, whether it's for humor or fraud."

O.K. But just between us, Mr. Duffy, how did they find out about it?

"Despite the seriousness of the Bush White House, more than one Bush staffer reads The Onion and enjoys it thoroughly," he said. "We do have a sense of humor, believe it or not."[/quote:30hwlije]


so, have you paid your taxes this year? You know, it's very important, so whatever is leftover from paying for the war can go to banning pron and those nasty humorists[/quote]

[13]

I love the Onion.

[Weasel]

dailyrotten.com is good too

[13]

steakandcheese.com too

[Shazuko]

****.com

<~Chaos~>

--

When caught between two evils, I choose the one I've never tried.

[13]

Bud Light presents "Real Men of Genius"

Today, we salute you, Mr. Cub Fan-Bandwagon Jumper White Sox fan. As you
drive like a nervous wreck down the Dan Ryan in the Mercedes that your
parents bought for you, you wonder, "Will the South Side Faithful accept me
and my sweater-vest and Heineken-drinking ways?"

You arrive at the ballpark only to realize that "Hey, there's no
Ronnie-Woo-Woo here, but only countless look-alikes selling shirts that say,
"Cubs Suck", and "Cuck Da Fubs." But this doesn't offend you. Why? Because
now you're a Sox fan, dammit, and to prove it you put on your newly
purchased White Sox cap, only to be ridiculed by a real Sox fan, who says to
his buddies, "Wow, look at that douchebag."

So crack open an ice cold Bud Light oh Fairest of the Fairweather Fairies,
because if it's the Blue Jays that make the playoffs next year, you might
have to carry around a new pet bird like the little fairy that you are.

[13]

Ms Miers, who has served as White House counsel for Mr Bush but has no judicial experience, has come in for criticism from both Democrats and Republicans.

She was reprimanded by Senators for giving "incomplete to insulting" answers to written questions.

The withdrawal of Ms Miers is seen as a significant blow to Mr Bush.

Her decision comes amid tense times for the White House, which is currently waiting for news on possible indictments of senior administration figures in connection with a CIA leak case.

Mr Bush's approval ratings have meanwhile been plummeting, and his apparent inability to push his choice through is thought likely to raise fresh concerns as to what he can achieve in his second term.

Bipartisan opposition

Ms Miers' nomination had drawn criticism from both sides of the political divide.
Harriet Miers' decision... confirms my deep respect and admiration for her
US President George W Bush

Conservative Republicans were sceptical of Ms Miers' suitability for the court on ideological grounds.

Several questioned her attitudes on the touchstone issue of abortion, while others doubted her understanding of constitutional law.

Democrat opponents accused the president of cronyism, pointing to personal memos sent during Mr Bush's days as governor of Texas as evidence that her friendship with the president was her chief qualification for the job.

Clashing interests

In a letter confirming her decision to withdraw from the nomination process, Ms Miers wrote that continuing to seek Senate approval would prove to be a burden on the White House.

It would not be in the interests of the US to reveal details of her work within the White House, she added.

Mr Bush praised Ms Miers for her decision, which he said was motivated by a desire not to allow Senators access to confidential White House documents.

"Harriet Miers' decision demonstrates her deep respect for this essential aspect of the constitutional separation of powers - and confirms my deep respect and admiration for her," Mr Bush said.

The president said he would fill the Supreme Court seat, due to be vacated by Sandra Day O'Connor, in "a timely manner".

Story from BBC NEWS:

[Weasel]

"In a letter confirming her decision to withdraw from the nomination process, Ms Miers wrote that continuing to seek Senate approval would prove to be a burden on the White House.
It would not be in the interests of the US to reveal details of her work within the White House, she added. "

Pfft, yeah right. The reason she withdrew is that she didn't know squat about the job or have any relevant experience, but more than anything else, she withdrew to avoid even further embarrassment regarding her lack of knowledge.

The senate called her bluff. Game Over.

[Alberich]

Hanging Mistaken for Halloween Decoration

Thursday, October 27, 2005


(10-27) 10:55 PDT Frederica, Del. (AP) --

The apparent suicide of a woman found hanging from a tree went unreported for hours because passers-by thought the body was a Halloween decoration, authorities said.

The 42-year-old woman used rope to hang herself across the street from some homes on a moderately busy road late Tuesday or early Wednesday, state police said.

The body, suspended about 15 feet above the ground, could be easily seen from passing vehicles.

State police spokesman Cpl. Jeff Oldham and neighbors said people noticed the body at breakfast time Wednesday but dismissed it as a holiday prank. Authorities were called to the scene more than three hours later.

"They thought it was a Halloween decoration," Fay Glanden, wife of Mayor William Glanden, told The (Wilmington) News Journal.

"It looked like something somebody would have rigged up," she said.