Labour Sweep To Power Howard To Loose Seat?

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Ain't that a shame, buh bye

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has admitted defeat in the country's general election, and looks set to lose his parliamentary seat.

Mr Howard said he had telephoned Labor leader Kevin Rudd "to congratulate him on an emphatic victory".

With 70% of votes counted, Labor were on course to win the 76 seats needed to form a government.

More than 20 constituencies from a total of 150 are still to produce a result, but Labor already has 72 seats compared with 48 for Mr Howard's Liberal-National coalition. more

On This Day November 24th

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Jack Ruby silences Lee Oswald. Freddy Mercury heads off to the great gig in the sky. "Birmingham Six" arrested, 16 years later. and other.

Camisole Day. No Male Absenteeism

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Let me finish the day on a light note.

A Taiwanese lingerie company encouraged all its female office staff to go to work in their undies for the day.

The Audrey Underwear company in Taizhong city named November 21 Camisole Day to celebrate record sales.

All 500 women working in the firm's headquarters were encouraged to wear only camisoles and knickers - much to the excitement of their male colleagues.

"We have been waiting for this day all month. Today, we are super high, and don't know where to put our eyes," salesman Cai Mingda told Straits News.

More than 90% of female workers reportedly went along with the spirit of the day and worked in their underwear.

Zhang Yufeng, 32, a mother of two, admitted: "I have been on a strict diet to get ready for the day. When I was trying on my outfit at home, my husband told me I should dress like this every day."

And Liao Wenshen, 30, added: "The men were red-faced all day, and were becoming so polite to us. It's so funny!"

Huang Bihui, PR manager of the company, explained: "We introduced eight new camisoles into market and sold more than 20,000 in less than two months so we named the 21st as Camisole Day."

Employment lawyers said there was nothing illegal in the move so long as it was voluntary but it had its critics.

Wu Juanyu complained: "Some women may feel forced to join in because of peer pressure and job competition. I don't know if the company is selling underwear or women's bodies."source

How many were blokes?

"Life Begins At Conception" Their Nose In Your Womb

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Why, without doing any research, would I feel comfortable betting the farm that ninety five percent of this "life is so precious" crowd voted for Bush, supported his war, and banged the big war drum, as did most of America. America, God bless her, doing what she is so very good at, dropping big bombs on the soft flesh of innocent children.

What a loathsome bunch of hypocritical sanctimonious arseholes.

DENVER -- Antiabortion activists in several states are promoting constitutional amendments that would define life as beginning at conception, which could effectively outlaw all abortions and some birth control methods.

The campaigns to grant "personhood" to fertilized eggs, giving them the same legal protections as human beings, come as the nation in January marks the 35th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade.......

Wouldn't it be nice if these good Christian folks campaigned for something different...say... infant mortality, children's healthcare and poverty, all at shocking levels in God blessed America.

If successful -- and upheld by the courts -- the amendments could outlaw certain forms of birth control that prevent fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus, such as the birth control pill or contraceptive sponge...........

What's next on the list, outlaw wanking?

Antiabortion activists hold out the most hope in Georgia, where the amendment has the backing of some legislative leaders. They're also optimistic in Colorado, where the campaign to collect signatures kicked off last week with a rally headlined by Alan Keyes, a Republican presidential candidate.

Ah yes Georgia, couldn't have a tale like this without Georgia being involved somewhere.
Colorado, didn't a chap named Ted live there, used to talk a lot about sin?

"It's not just Bible-thumping kooks or some Roman Catholic nuns" supporting the measure, Zastrow said. "There are a lot of moms and pops that are pro-life who are going to say, 'Why haven't we done something in our state?' More

No, of course not.
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Weak Dollar Threatens Airbus

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There will be one or two smiles at Boeing no doubt.

The weak dollar is threatening the survival of European planemaker Airbus, chief executive Tom Enders told workers in Hamburg on Thursday.

And the firm once again warned that its cost saving plan would have to cut deeper to counter the impact of the weakening US currency.

Airbus is owned by European aerospace and defence group EADS.

"The dollar's rapid decline is life-threatening for Airbus," Mr Enders said in the speech to employees.

"The dollar exchange rate has gone beyond the pain barrier," Mr Enders added.more

On This Day November 23rd

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LBJ takes command. Hijack jet crashes. Riots for beauty pageant. and other

"Roveian Tricks" In Oz Election Campaign

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Poodle gone, mongrel next?

Australia's prime minister has condemned members of his own party for distributing leaflets implying the Labor opposition supports terrorism.

John Howard, who trails Labor's Kevin Rudd in opinion polls ahead of a Saturday's general election, said the Liberal Party had not authorised them.

The flyers purported to be from an Islamic group thanking Labor for its sympathy for the Bali bombers.

Two Liberal activists have been expelled from the party. more

All The Kings Horses And All The King's Men Will Put The Cutty Back Together Again

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After they have totally dismantled her that is.

Six months ago, there were fears a ferocious blaze could have put an end to an ambitious conservation project to return the Cutty Sark to its former glory. Now a £14m funding shortfall is causing concern.

But a look behind the scenes at the famous ship's dry dock in Greenwich, south-east London, reveals work to resurrect the historic tea clipper is continuing apace - and shows no signs of slowing down.

In its heyday in the late 19th century, the Cutty Sark was crewed by hardy seamen who guided the craft halfway across the world to collect a lucrative cargo of fresh tea from China.

The good news is that the bad news relates to:

Mr Archer said three decks were reduced to ashes by the fire but two of them were not made of the original wood and one was rotten and in need of replacement anyway.
"We only lost five percent of original material. And the fire is now going to be part of its future story," he said.

More and check out the short videos in the sidebar.

Just Who Does Control Pakistan's Nukes?

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This is quite interesting, I wonder where the truth lies?

Pakistan's nuclear weapons are already under American control even as analysts are working themselves into a lather on the subject, a well-regarded intelligence journal has said.

In a stunning disclosure certain to stir up things in Washington's (and in Islamabad and New Delhi's) strategic community, the journal reported on Monday that the "United States delivered a very clear ultimatum to Musharraf in the wake of 9/11: Unless Pakistan allowed US forces to take control of Pakistani nuclear facilities, the United States would be left with no choice but to destroy those facilities, possibly with India's help."more

On This Day November 22nd

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JFK shot, start the coverup. Death resulting from INXSive drug use. Rosemary West gets life. Knives out for Thatcher, mind the door on your way out. and other

Somebody went to a deal of trouble to build that rascal.

Home Of The Brave Land Of The Taser

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I would dearly like to know what kind of psychological assessment, if any, these inadequates go through before they are let loose with a firearm and a taser.

Jared Massey, 28, posted the nearly 10-minute long clip on YouTube two months after the confrontation with police took place along a rural stretch on a state road two hours east of Salt Lake City.

In it, John Gardner, the officer, is shown on his own dashboard camera as he approaches Massey's SUV and tells him that he pulled him over for speeding in a 40 mph zone.

Massey and the officer have a brief dispute over speed limit signage before Gardner returns to his cruiser to write the ticket. He then approaches Massey and the two again engage in a dispute, with Massey claiming Gardner stopped him "blind" -- without a radar gun -- and that he had not yet passed a sign where the speed limit on the road dips to 40 miles per hour.more or video

Ga Court Tosses Domicile Restrictions On Sex Offenders

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But not for all, the new rule will apply to home owners only. My own opinion is partially included in a previous post A Hidden World Of Astonishing Violence: America's Brutal Prisons
and is reflected below.

Opponents of the residency restriction have argued it interferes with the very things a sex offender needs to stay out of trouble a stable home and job. They also contend it could push sex offenders underground, making it harder to track them because they do not register out of fear they will have to move repeatedly.

Given the American psyche and it's preoccupation with piety it would be well to consider that a goodly proportion of "sex offenders" have been placed on the register for some quite ridiculous reasons, many stemming from "offences" when they themselves were kids or teenagers and have to carry the burden of being on the register for life and in truth are no threat to anyone.

The Georgia Supreme Court Wednesday tossed out the state's restrictions on where sex offenders can live, if they own the property, saying it is unconstitutional to force them to relocate because a child care facility, school, church later opens up nearby.

The decision came on an appeal filed by a Clayton County man, who researched neighborhoods before he and his wife bought a house in Hampton. Anthony Mann, a registered sex offender for a 2002 conviction in North Carolina for "indecent liberties with children," also challenged the state law that restricts where he can work, but the court ruled against him on that issue.more

On This Day November 21st

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Birmingham pub bombs kill nineteen. Mob burns US embassy. and other.

Scott McClellan: I UnknowinglyTold Porkies

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Shurley shome mishtake!

But his press performances weren't based on the facts, McClellan continues.

"There was one problem. It was not true," he writes. "I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice President, the President's chief of staff, and the president himself."more

On This Day November 20th

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Last post for today, seems there was quite a bit happening on this day past.


Nuremburg trial begins. Franco quits this coil. Diana admits to getting laid, mother in laws castle on fire. And not least a bit of a scandal that puts the GOP in the shade, Former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe is accused in court of plotting to kill his former homosexual lover. and other

And the reason for the graphic.

A copy of Giovanni's Room appeared as a prop in the Jeremy Thorpe murder conspiracy case in 1979. Thorpe, leader of the British Liberal Party, stood accused of conspiring to have a talkative ex-boyfriend disposed of. Thorpe was acquitted, after a somewhat campy trial. His loan of a copy of Baldwin's novel to the alleged victim, and their subsequent night together, were detailed in court. Would the book gently tossed on the bed have been a dusty old hardcover without its jacket that had been hanging around Thorpe's library for years and trotted out on appropriate occasions? Or would the recently reissued Corgi edition be a more likely candidate? It shows two scantily dressed young men, one looking at the other, who is looking away. The Corgi seems somehow appropriate. How Gay Paperbacks Changed America

Ian Smith: Obituary

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Well I'll be damned, I had no idea the old bugger was still alive, it was only a couple of hours ago when I was posting about the complete fuck up that Mugabe has made of Zimbabwe that I thought old Smith must be rolling in his grave.

Ian Smith was prime minister of Rhodesia for 15 turbulent years.

During that period, his government illegally declared independence from British rule and fought a guerrilla war against factions of the majority black population.

It was a struggle he eventually lost, paving the way for the country's independence as Zimbabwe.

His supporters considered him a political visionary. His detractors called him a racist who stayed in power for too long.more

A Hidden World Of Astonishing Violence: America's Brutal Prisons

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A Hidden World Of Astonishing Violence: America's Brutal Prisons

This is not a film about prisoner on prisoner violence it's guard on prisoner abuse.
There would be those among society that would say the inmates deserve all they get but, given how easy it is to get arrested and incarcerated in America that's not an argument that holds much water.


There are segments in this Channel Four documentary that feature the testimony of ex cons regarding their brutal treatment by guards including the almost institutionalised excessive use of pepper sprays.
There are also those that cannot speak out like the inmate who died at the hands of the guards whilst serving a six month sentence for shoplifting.

It is said that the measure of a society reflects in the way it treats animals, this is patently obvious when we look say at the Japanese and the way it slaughters, to the world's horror, hundreds of whales, or the regard, or should I disregard that the Chinese treat both animals and people alike.
But another measure of that society is the way it treats those that it incarcerates.

How easy the good citizenry of America might dismiss what goes on behind bars as out of site out of mind, but given that the Prison Nation has a budget of forty billion tax payer dollars, the good citizenry should be asking their congress critters just what kind of person is the Department of Corrections putting back on the street after an inmate has served his time.


There is one thing I can say without fear of contradiction is that having suffered such systematic and institutionalised abuse over months or years the inmate on his release might just tend to be a little more anti-social than when he first entered the system, and just might be inclined to vent his anger and exact revenge on the softer target of society in general.

I have argued before about the bullshit surrounding the limitations that certain states and communities impose on sex offenders. Making a man a pariah and restricting his ability to seek employment or put a roof over his head and in some cases the heads of his family is nothing more than a recipe for disaster and if not a guarantee of re-offending then at least making the likelihood more than probable.


Yet for those that are held in the most inhumane of conditions, the Secure Housing Units or SHU's, often to include the mentally ill, banged up for twenty three hours a day, restricted severely in the kind of stimulating material that is available to them and in some institutions never seeing the light of day or being able to speak to another human being for years on end.

Statistics show that some eighty five to ninety percent of these inmates will one day be released.
Having been abused in this manner for God knows how many years they will be tossed out of the front door of the prison with no aftercare or supervision and with little or no chance of receiving any meds or anti-psychotics that they probably so desperately need, they will be left to their own devices.


Given the choice of who I would want living next door to me, the already violent con that has been incarcerated for years under such conditions or the sex offender, there's just no contest.

Torture Inc. Americas Brutal Prisons
by Deborah Davies

Savaged by dogs, Electrocuted With Cattle Prods, Burned By Toxic Chemicals, Does such barbaric abuse inside U.S. jails explain the horrors that were committed in Iraq?

They are just some of the victims of wholesale torture taking place inside the U.S. prison system that we uncovered during a four-month investigation for Channel 4 . It’s terrible to watch some of the videos and realise that you’re not only seeing torture in action but, in the most extreme cases, you are witnessing young men dying.video

Eastern State Penitentiary was the world's first true Penitentiary. In order to encourage penitence - or true regret - in the hearts of criminals, inmates would spend their entire sentence in solitary confinement. On the rare occasion when an inmate left his cell, a hood was placed over his head to ensure his identity would remain anonymous. Ideally, no inmate would ever see the face of another inmate.

Not come very far have we.

The French Are Revolting

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Sacre Bleu! it didn't take long, but then it wouldn't, I could never weigh up why a country full of left wing bolshies elected a right wing president in the first place.
I had to smile at this line, "The high stakes have led to a strange phenomenon: a largely silent president."

As happens from time to time in France, militancy is in the air again.

The resolve of the railway workers - on strike for almost a week now - seems to have encouraged others to stick up for their rights too........

All sides know that many striking rail workers have had their eyes fixed on what has been called "Black Tuesday", when many of those who have been struggling to get to work over the past week will themselves be going on strike.

Hundreds of thousands - possibly millions - of teachers, civil servants, health workers, students, banking staff, air traffic controllers, customs officials, weather forecasters, and others - will stop work for 24 hours for a variety of reasons: from pay to public sector reform.more

Zimbabwe Inflation Running At 15,000 Percent

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And what's Bobs answer to all this? give the mines to the blacks, yes that's sure to work.

Zimbabwe delayed the release of latest inflation figures amid reports it had soared to a mind-boggling 15,000 per cent.

Officials said the inflation data might not be available "for a while", which was seen as an admission that the government of President Robert Mugabe had failed in its bid to hold back runaway prices.

The announcement of a delay came on the day Mugabe's government published a draft bill that would force mining firms to transfer majority shareholdings to black Zimbabwean owners, including giving the Zimbabwe government a free 25 per cent stake.more

Sex Scandal In Atlanta Mega Church

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How juicy, thou shalt not covet thy brothers wife, begatting of children, lusting after parishioners and bearing false witness, encore!

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) -- The 80-year-old leader of a suburban Atlanta megachurch is at the center of a sex scandal of biblical dimensions: He slept with his brother's wife and fathered a child by her.

Members of Archbishop Earl Paulk's family stood at the pulpit of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill Harvester Church a few Sundays ago and revealed the secret exposed by a recent court-ordered paternity test.


In truth, this is not the first - or even the second - sex scandal to engulf Paulk and the independent, charismatic church. But this time, he could be in trouble with the law for lying under oath about the affair.

The living proof of that lie is 34-year-old D.E. Paulk, who for years was known publicly as Earl Paulk's nephew.more

Department Of Corrections "Costly Failure"

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The US prison population has risen eight-fold since 1970, with little impact on crime but at great cost to the taxpayer, researchers say.

There are more than 1.5 million people in US state and federal jails, a report by a Washington-based criminal justice research group, the JFA Institute says.......

........ It cited several examples including a Florida woman's two-year sentence for throwing a cup of coffee at another car in a traffic row. moreBBC

More Reuters

Michael Vick Begins Prison Sentence

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Hoping to convince a judge that his contrition is real, Michael Vick checked himself into jail on Monday - three weeks before he is to be sentenced for his infamous dogfighting operation.

The suspended Falcons quarterback turned himself into the U.S. Marshal's Service in Richmond, even though his sentencing in federal court is scheduled for Dec. 10.

more

Update:

For opinions of why Vick undertook this action have a look see at this article and the comments section.

Garbage In Garbage Out : Intelligent Design Dover Pa

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*Garbage in garbage out, so spake judge John Jones, a Bush appointed Republican judge after his ruling on the Dover Pennsylvania Intelligent Design trial.

Light posting on the blog today, sidetracked once again, this time by a two hour, although presented in twelve bite sized chunks, production of Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial.

Of course I'm going to recommend the program, I wouldn't be writing about it otherwise, but more importantly if you have kids of the right age or maturity it might not be a bad thing to sit down together and watch as much or as little as you wish.


*This statement was given by Jones near to the end of the film, there is however an audio of judge Jones speaking about the case after his ruling, not yet listened to it myself but here it is.


Update: The audio is but a few minutes of Jones giving the bare bones of his ruling.

h/t C&L

Basra. Brits Out Violence Down By 90%

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Interesting.

The British army says violence in Basra has fallen by 90% since it withdrew from the southern Iraqi city earlier this year.

Around 500 British soldiers left one of Saddam Hussein's palaces in the heart of the city in early September and stopped conducting regular foot patrols.

A spokesman says the Iraqi security forces still come under attack from militants in Basra, but the overall level of violence is down 90% since the British troops left.

Britain is scheduled to return control of Basra province to Iraqi officials next month, officially ending Britain's combat role in Iraq. source

Dollar Worthless : Ahmadinejad

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Mr Ahmadinejad said that all Opec countries had showed interest in converting their cash reserves into other currencies.

"They [the US] get our oil and give us a worthless piece of paper," he told reporters.

But Saudi officials were against including any such language in the declaration. One is reported to have warned that it could add to the pressure on the dollar.

However, in the communique Opec did make a reference to the debate, by committing itself to studying "ways and means of enhancing financial co-operation". more

Saudis Warn Of Dollar Collapse

The dollar could collapse if Opec officially admits considering changing the pricing of oil into alternative currencies such as the euro, the Saudi Arabian foreign minister has warned.

Prince Saud Al-Faisal was overheard ruling out a proposal from Iran and Venezuela to discuss pricing crude in a private meeting at the oil cartel's conference.

In an embarrassing blunder at the meeting in Riyadh, ministers' microphones were not cut off during a key closed meeting, and Prince Al-Faisal was heard saying: "My feeling is that the mere mention that the Opec countries are studying the issue of the dollar is itself going to have an impact that endangers the interests of the countries. "There will be journalists who will seize on this point and we don't want the dollar to collapse instead of doing something good for Opec."

After around 40 minutes press officials cut off the feed, which had been accidentally broadcast to the press room.more

On This Day November 19th

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Sadat goes to Israel. Second moon landing. and other.

Kathryn Johnston. One Year On

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Little has changed at Kathryn Johnston's yellow brick house on Neal Street since the first few days after the elderly woman was killed during a botched drug raid.
Someone regularly tends the yard and, on a recent day, was careful to rake around the pile of stuffed animals and fake flowers left on the curb a year ago — apparently undisturbed since the days they were placed there in memory of the 92-year-old's death at the hands of Atlanta police last Nov. 21.more

Snitch says he's a hero.
I get a good deal of news via email from the Atlanta Journal, whereas it's a good source for breaking news it's very poor for archiving, articles don't stay online too long.
I wrote this at the time of the killing of the unfortunate Ms Johnston.

With his identity exposed, White says he can no longer work as a snitch, which netted him up to $30,000 annually.
But if we read this from the first article:

To add credibility to their story, they (the cops) actually paid White his usual $30 fee for information and explained to him how he was to say the scenario played out if asked.

Now it's possible I suppose that for some tips White (the snitch) might receive a higher fee, but to take the figures at face value White is providing twenty tips a week.
Now this slimeball either knows an awful lot of bad dudes or the tips he comes up must be very very suspect to say the least, little wonder defence lawyers abhor the use of paid informants.

The IRA treated touts (informants) with the respect that was due to them, one in each kneecap.Touts, no lower life form on the planet.

Formaly Known As Anthony Wedgewood-Benn

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But the old bar sinister (hyphen) had to go, not terribly socialist you know.


C&L has an interesting few minutes on old Wedgewood, (Tony Benn) socialist medicine, Michael Moore and not least John Bolton. link

International Pressure Halts Iranian Hanging

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This is one scary tale if ever there was.

When an already cruel and callous society embraces homophobia as do the Iranians, couple this with a total disregard for human rights and wrap it all in the Quran the result then becomes a breeding ground for travesties such as this.

What must it be like to live in a society, whether gay or not, where a single unsubstantiated letter to the authorities can result in arrest, and without trial, end up in a death sentence.

Given that the boy was just thirteen years old when these alleged acts took place, he hadn't reached the age of majority even by Iran's archaic standards, fifteen for boys and nine for girls, yes nine years old for a girl to be held responsible as an adult for her actions, but I digress.



The article is a sorry and scary insight to "Iranian justice"
There is a video profile of Ahmadinejad accompanying the article, worthy of watching in it's own right, but equally worth watching, starting at the three minute twenty mark, a scene of Ahmadinejad explaining to the mullahs the aura that surrounded him (Ahmadinejad) when he gave his speech to the UN.


I first saw this clip a couple of years ago and no matter how I searched I could never relocate it. Well it's popped up here and you can judge for yourself if Ahmadinejad is totally insane or just a tad deluded.

Amid international criticism ignited by a crusading journalist, Iran’s chief justice has spared the life of a young man who had been sentenced to be executed as the result of a cousin’s accusations of homosexual acts years earlier.

Ayatollah Seyed Mahmoud Hashemi Sharudi nullified the imminent death sentence of Makvan Mouloodzadeh, 21, for violations of Iranian law and Islamic teachings, Saeid Eghbali, the defendant’s attorney, told msnbc.com this week.

Had Sharudi not intervened, Mouloodzadeh would have joined hundreds of his fellow Iranians, some of them just children when they committed their alleged crimes, who are hanged each year in jail yards and public squares. The executions are often carried out via a method designed to enhance and prolong their suffering: A rope is placed around the condemned person’s neck and he or she is hoisted from the ground with an industrial crane.more

Japanese Resume Whaling, Slaughter To Include Humpbacks

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The evil little shits are at it again, I suppose it would be too much to ask for divine intervention or the wrath of Neptune to visit on the fleet the fires of hell, although with better timing than last year.
There is plenty in the archive, search whales in the nav bar.

A Japanese whaling fleet has set sail aiming to harpoon humpback whales for the first time in decades.

The fleet is conducting its largest hunt in the South Pacific - it has instructions to kill up to 1,000 whales, including 50 humpbacks.

The humpback hunt is the first since a mid-1960s global ban and has drawn strong protests from environmentalists.

Commercial whaling was stopped in 1986 but Japan is permitted whaling in the name of scientific research.

Four whaling ships, including the lead craft Nisshin Maru, set off from the southern port of Shimonoseki on Sunday.

The 239-man mission plans to kill more than 900 minke whales as well as fin whales and humpbacks, in a South Pacific whale hunt that will run until mid-April. more

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Founder and President of Sea Shepherd, Captain Paul Watson, will soon embark with an international crew on the ship, the Robert Hunter, to enforce international conservation law and prevent the illegal slaughter of endangered species by an outlaw whaling fleet. As the relentless Japanese whalers seek to hunt down and kill Migaloo and his family, Sea Shepherd will be hunting the whalers with the firm objective of intervention against their illegal activities.

"I did not establish the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society as a protest organization," said Captain Watson. "I have not gone to sea over all these years to simply bear witness to the atrocities that whalers continue to inflict upon the most gentle and intelligent beings in the seas. We are sea cops-operating legally under the guidelines of the United Nation's World Charter for Nature, which allow for the enforcement of international conservation law by non-governmental organizations in international jurisdictions."Sea Shepherd Operation Migaloo

Sea Shepherd home page, these lads do a great job, they really are front line warriors.



These two photo's in response to comment. And no, they're not photoshopped, in fact there is a better image of a "we are conducting research" but it must be in a movie clip linked somewhere in the archives. Photographs from Greenpeace photo gallery.
Google result Japanese whaling

On This Day November 18th

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Koolaid in Guyana. King's Cross fire. Terry Waite freed. Bush visits London, poodle happy locals pissed. and other.