Here's your daily summary of legal news from Paper Chase, the real-time legal news arm of JURIST...
Pennsylvania couple files federal same-sex marriage lawsuit
[JURIST] A same-sex couple on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit in the
US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania [official
website] to receive recognition by the state of their marriage license,
which was issued by the state of Massachusetts in 2005. After Cara
Palladino and Isabelle Barker were legally married in Massachusetts,
they moved to Pennsylvania, which does not recognize same-sex marriage,
even if the marriage was legally performed in another state. The couple
claims that the state's...
[more].
Posted by Theresa Donovan on Sep 26, 2013 04:28 pm
US Senators propose overhaul of surveillance laws
[JURIST] US Senators announced new legislation on Wednesday in a
bipartisan effort to reform surveillance laws. In the wake of revealing
disclosures from the National Security Agency (NSA) [official website]
and Edward Snowden [JURIST news archive], Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR),
along with co-sponsors Mark Udall (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and
Rand Paul (R-KY), hopes to enact "real, and not just cosmetic,
intelligence reform" after outrage from the American public and
skepticism from the international community. The bill, which has not...
[more].
Posted by Samuel Franklin on Sep 26, 2013 03:28 pm
Japan court orders Apple to pay for patent infringement
[JURIST] The Tokyo District Court [official website, in Japanese] on
Thursday ordered Apple [corporate website] to pay 330 million yen, (USD
$3.35 million) for patent infringement involving the iPod music player's
click wheel controller. The patent is disputed [IANS report] by
Japanese inventor Norihiko Saito, whose company applied for the patent
in 1998. Presiding Judge Teruhisa Takano stated that the 1998 patent
covers the technology that Apple adopted for its iPod in Japan in 2004.
The money damages awarded to...
[more].
Posted by Samuel Franklin on Sep 26, 2013 02:10 pm
Charles Taylor's 50-year sentence upheld on appeal
[JURIST] The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) [official
website] on Thursday rejected an appeal [judgment] by former Liberian
president Charles Taylor [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] of his
convictions for war crimes [JURIST report] committed during the
decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone [JURIST news archive]. According
to press release [text] from the court, Taylor's lawyers appealed his
convictions on 42 grounds, arguing that the Trial Chamber erred in
evaluating evidence and that the 50-year sentence was "manifestly...
[more].
Posted by Lauren Laing on Sep 26, 2013 12:21 pm
Pennsylvania same-sex couples ask court to affirm their marriages
[JURIST] Twenty-one same-sex couples on Wednesday filed suit asking
the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court [official website] to affirm the
legality of their marriage licenses, which were issued by a county clerk
[JURIST report] who believed the state's same-sex marriage ban was
unconstitutional. The couples claim that the state's same-sex marriage
ban violates both the state and federal constitutions, and the suit
names as defendants Governor Tom Corbett, Attorney General Kathleen Kane
and Health Secretary Michael Wolf [official websites]. Earlier this
month...
[more].
Posted by Lauren Laing on Sep 26, 2013 11:29 am
US signs UN arms trade treaty
[JURIST] The US government on Wednesday signed a UN Arms Trade Treaty
[text, PDF] that regulates global trade in conventional arms. US
Secretary of State John Kerry [official website], while signing the
treaty on behalf of the US government, stated [Reuters report] that the
signature would affect US manufacturers and exports only minimally given
the already strict export controls for weapons. The treaty still has to
be presented to the Senate before it can be ratified. The National
Rifle Association...
[more].
Posted by Sung Un Kim on Sep 26, 2013 10:07 am
Sri Lanka must improve human rights record: UN rights chief
[JURIST] Sri Lanka must continue to work to improve its human rights
record, according to an oral report [text, DOC] by UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official website] filed Wednesday with the
UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) [official website]. The report noted
the large military presence in certain regions and lack of civil
administration and economic activity, despite four years having passed
since the end of the country's26-year civil war [JURIST news archive].
Although there are some...
[more].
Posted by Sung Un Kim on Sep 26, 2013 09:32 am
DRC rights abuses continue: UN report
[JURIST] UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [official
website] on Wednesday welcomed the establishment of a national human
rights commission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) [UN
materials; BBC backgrounder] but said that rights abuses continue in the
east. Pillay's report [text, PDF, in French] attributed the recent
violence in the east [press release] to state security forces, the
guerrilla group 23 March Movement (M23) [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news
archive] and other armed forces. Scott Campbell, director...
[more].
Posted by G. Redd on Sep 26, 2013 08:22 am
Friday, September 27, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Survey: 40% of LGBT young people believe they have mental health problems
Survey: 40% of LGBT young people believe they have mental health problems
LGBT Youth Scotland says it shows more needs to be done (Photo: Tumblr Theemuki)
A new report shows young LGBT people are far more likely to experience mental health problems.
In a survey of 350 LGBT respondents aged 13-25 by LGBT Youth Scotland, 56% said they felt safe and supported by the NHS in terms of their sexual orientation or gender identity; this was much lower for lesbians at 43% – for transgender young people it was 48%.
40% of LGBT young people considered themselves to have mental health problems, compared with the overall Scottish figure of one in four for the general population.
44% of LGBT young people who experienced homophobic or biphobic bullying in education considered themselves to have mental health problems. 69% of those who had experienced transphobic bullying consider themselves to have mental health problems.
Chief Executive of LGBT Youth Scotland, Fergus McMillan said: “The launch of our research today at the Scottish Learning Festival is an appeal to all teachers and other educators to support the health needs of LGBT young people in education. When LGBT young people experience discrimination in education, or when they lack the confidence, support or information to access appropriate health services, their Health and Wellbeing Outcomes are not met. Teachers have the potential to improve educational outcomes for LGBT young people through LGBT inclusion and support.”
In a survey of 350 LGBT respondents aged 13-25 by LGBT Youth Scotland, 56% said they felt safe and supported by the NHS in terms of their sexual orientation or gender identity; this was much lower for lesbians at 43% – for transgender young people it was 48%.
40% of LGBT young people considered themselves to have mental health problems, compared with the overall Scottish figure of one in four for the general population.
44% of LGBT young people who experienced homophobic or biphobic bullying in education considered themselves to have mental health problems. 69% of those who had experienced transphobic bullying consider themselves to have mental health problems.
Chief Executive of LGBT Youth Scotland, Fergus McMillan said: “The launch of our research today at the Scottish Learning Festival is an appeal to all teachers and other educators to support the health needs of LGBT young people in education. When LGBT young people experience discrimination in education, or when they lack the confidence, support or information to access appropriate health services, their Health and Wellbeing Outcomes are not met. Teachers have the potential to improve educational outcomes for LGBT young people through LGBT inclusion and support.”
Charles Taylor sentence affirmed
Charles Taylor sentence affirmed
A UN-backed appeals court affirms 50-year-jail sentence for former Liberian President Charles Taylor and affirms
For more details, see the BBC News website
Sex After Surgery Or not.........
A recent article in the Kentucky Post reported that a woman, one Anne Maynard, has sued St Luke's hospital, saying that after her husband had surgery there, he lost all interest in sex.
A hospital spokesman replied ... "Mr Maynard was admitted in Ophthalmology – all we did was corrected his vision."
A hospital spokesman replied ... "Mr Maynard was admitted in Ophthalmology – all we did was corrected his vision."
Sex After Surgery Or not.........
A recent article in the Kentucky Post reported that a woman, one Anne Maynard, has sued St Luke's hospital, saying that after her husband had surgery there, he lost all interest in sex.
A hospital spokesman replied ... "Mr Maynard was admitted in Ophthalmology – all we did was corrected his vision."
A hospital spokesman replied ... "Mr Maynard was admitted in Ophthalmology – all we did was corrected his vision."
Seeing Light in a New Light: Scientists Create Never-Before-Seen Form of Matter
Seeing Light in a New Light: Scientists Create Never-Before-Seen Form of Matter
Sep. 25, 2013 — Harvard and MIT
scientists are challenging the conventional wisdom about light, and they
didn't need to go to a galaxy far, far away to do it.
Working with colleagues at the Harvard-MIT Center for Ultracold
Atoms, a group led by Harvard Professor of Physics Mikhail Lukin and MIT
Professor of Physics Vladan Vuletic have managed to coax photons into
binding together to form molecules -- a state of matter that, until
recently, had been purely theoretical. The work is described in a
September 25 paper in Nature.
The discovery, Lukin said, runs contrary to decades of accepted wisdom about the nature of light. Photons have long been described as massless particles which don't interact with each other -- shine two laser beams at each other, he said, and they simply pass through one another.
"Photonic molecules," however, behave less like traditional lasers and more like something you might find in science fiction -- the light saber.
"Most of the properties of light we know about originate from the fact that photons are massless, and that they do not interact with each other," Lukin said. "What we have done is create a special type of medium in which photons interact with each other so strongly that they begin to act as though they have mass, and they bind together to form molecules. This type of photonic bound state has been discussed theoretically for quite a while, but until now it hadn't been observed.
"It's not an in-apt analogy to compare this to light sabers," Lukin added. "When these photons interact with each other, they're pushing against and deflect each other. The physics of what's happening in these molecules is similar to what we see in the movies."
To get the normally-massless photons to bind to each other, Lukin and colleagues, including Harvard post-doctoral fellow Ofer Fisterberg, former Harvard doctoral student Alexey Gorshkov and MIT graduate students Thibault Peyronel and Qiu Liang couldn't rely on something like the Force -- they instead turned to a set of more extreme conditions.
Researchers began by pumped rubidium atoms into a vacuum chamber, then used lasers to cool the cloud of atoms to just a few degrees above absolute zero. Using extremely weak laser pulses, they then fired single photons into the cloud of atoms.
As the photons enter the cloud of cold atoms, Lukin said, its energy excites atoms along its path, causing the photon to slow dramatically. As the photon moves through the cloud, that energy is handed off from atom to atom, and eventually exits the cloud with the photon.
"When the photon exits the medium, its identity is preserved," Lukin said. "It's the same effect we see with refraction of light in a water glass. The light enters the water, it hands off part of its energy to the medium, and inside it exists as light and matter coupled together, but when it exits, it's still light. The process that takes place is the same it's just a bit more extreme -- the light is slowed considerably, and a lot more energy is given away than during refraction."
When Lukin and colleagues fired two photons into the cloud, they were surprised to see them exit together, as a single molecule.
The reason they form the never-before-seen molecules?
An effect called a Rydberg blockade, Lukin said, which states that when an atom is excited, nearby atoms cannot be excited to the same degree. In practice, the effect means that as two photons enter the atomic cloud, the first excites an atom, but must move forward before the second photon can excite nearby atoms.
The result, he said, is that the two photons push and pull each other through the cloud as their energy is handed off from one atom to the next.
"It's a photonic interaction that's mediated by the atomic interaction," Lukin said. "That makes these two photons behave like a molecule, and when they exit the medium they're much more likely to do so together than as single photons."
While the effect is unusual, it does have some practical applications as well.
"We do this for fun, and because we're pushing the frontiers of science," Lukin said. "But it feeds into the bigger picture of what we're doing because photons remain the best possible means to carry quantum information. The handicap, though, has been that photons don't interact with each other."
To build a quantum computer, he explained, researchers need to build a system that can preserve quantum information, and process it using quantum logic operations. The challenge, however, is that quantum logic requires interactions between individual quanta so that quantum systems can be switched to perform information processing.
"What we demonstrate with this process allows us to do that," Lukin said. "Before we make a useful, practical quantum switch or photonic logic gate we have to improve the performance, so it's still at the proof-of-concept level, but this is an important step. The physical principles we've established here are important."
The system could even be useful in classical computing, Lukin said, considering the power-dissipation challenges chip-makers now face. A number of companies -- including IBM -- have worked to develop systems that rely on optical routers that convert light signals into electrical signals, but those systems face their own hurdles.
Lukin also suggested that the system might one day even be used to create complex three-dimensional structures -- such as crystals -- wholly out of light.
"What it will be useful for we don't know yet, but it's a new state of matter, so we are hopeful that new applications may emerge as we continue to investigate these photonic molecules' properties," he said.
The discovery, Lukin said, runs contrary to decades of accepted wisdom about the nature of light. Photons have long been described as massless particles which don't interact with each other -- shine two laser beams at each other, he said, and they simply pass through one another.
"Photonic molecules," however, behave less like traditional lasers and more like something you might find in science fiction -- the light saber.
"Most of the properties of light we know about originate from the fact that photons are massless, and that they do not interact with each other," Lukin said. "What we have done is create a special type of medium in which photons interact with each other so strongly that they begin to act as though they have mass, and they bind together to form molecules. This type of photonic bound state has been discussed theoretically for quite a while, but until now it hadn't been observed.
"It's not an in-apt analogy to compare this to light sabers," Lukin added. "When these photons interact with each other, they're pushing against and deflect each other. The physics of what's happening in these molecules is similar to what we see in the movies."
To get the normally-massless photons to bind to each other, Lukin and colleagues, including Harvard post-doctoral fellow Ofer Fisterberg, former Harvard doctoral student Alexey Gorshkov and MIT graduate students Thibault Peyronel and Qiu Liang couldn't rely on something like the Force -- they instead turned to a set of more extreme conditions.
Researchers began by pumped rubidium atoms into a vacuum chamber, then used lasers to cool the cloud of atoms to just a few degrees above absolute zero. Using extremely weak laser pulses, they then fired single photons into the cloud of atoms.
As the photons enter the cloud of cold atoms, Lukin said, its energy excites atoms along its path, causing the photon to slow dramatically. As the photon moves through the cloud, that energy is handed off from atom to atom, and eventually exits the cloud with the photon.
"When the photon exits the medium, its identity is preserved," Lukin said. "It's the same effect we see with refraction of light in a water glass. The light enters the water, it hands off part of its energy to the medium, and inside it exists as light and matter coupled together, but when it exits, it's still light. The process that takes place is the same it's just a bit more extreme -- the light is slowed considerably, and a lot more energy is given away than during refraction."
When Lukin and colleagues fired two photons into the cloud, they were surprised to see them exit together, as a single molecule.
The reason they form the never-before-seen molecules?
An effect called a Rydberg blockade, Lukin said, which states that when an atom is excited, nearby atoms cannot be excited to the same degree. In practice, the effect means that as two photons enter the atomic cloud, the first excites an atom, but must move forward before the second photon can excite nearby atoms.
The result, he said, is that the two photons push and pull each other through the cloud as their energy is handed off from one atom to the next.
"It's a photonic interaction that's mediated by the atomic interaction," Lukin said. "That makes these two photons behave like a molecule, and when they exit the medium they're much more likely to do so together than as single photons."
While the effect is unusual, it does have some practical applications as well.
"We do this for fun, and because we're pushing the frontiers of science," Lukin said. "But it feeds into the bigger picture of what we're doing because photons remain the best possible means to carry quantum information. The handicap, though, has been that photons don't interact with each other."
To build a quantum computer, he explained, researchers need to build a system that can preserve quantum information, and process it using quantum logic operations. The challenge, however, is that quantum logic requires interactions between individual quanta so that quantum systems can be switched to perform information processing.
"What we demonstrate with this process allows us to do that," Lukin said. "Before we make a useful, practical quantum switch or photonic logic gate we have to improve the performance, so it's still at the proof-of-concept level, but this is an important step. The physical principles we've established here are important."
The system could even be useful in classical computing, Lukin said, considering the power-dissipation challenges chip-makers now face. A number of companies -- including IBM -- have worked to develop systems that rely on optical routers that convert light signals into electrical signals, but those systems face their own hurdles.
Lukin also suggested that the system might one day even be used to create complex three-dimensional structures -- such as crystals -- wholly out of light.
"What it will be useful for we don't know yet, but it's a new state of matter, so we are hopeful that new applications may emerge as we continue to investigate these photonic molecules' properties," he said.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY SEPTEMBER 25
/ / | \ \ | / / | \ \
GAY WISDOM for Daily Living...
from White Crane
GAY WISDOM for Daily Living...
from White Crane
Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture
Share this with your friends...
\ \ | / / | \ \ | / /
THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY
SEPTEMBER 25
1828 – JEAN HENRI DUNANT, Swiss philosopher, born (d: 1910) He published his Un Souvenir de Solférnino ("A Remembrance
of Solférnino"), a description of the sufferings of the wounded at the battle of
Solférnino and a plea for organizations to care for the war wounded. There was
an immediate response, out of which grew the Red Cross. In 1901 Dunant shared
the first Nobel Peace Prize. It has long been suspected that after his death,
Dunant’s family not only bowdlerized the philanthropist’s memoirs, but outright
falsified them through the addition of material not written by Dunant himself.
He is widely believed to have been homosexual, but there is no documentary
proof.
1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor was the 102nd Justice sworn in as an Associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, the
first woman to hold the office.
1949 – PEDRO ALMODOVAR,
Spanish filmmaker, born; Almodóvar is the most
successful and internationally known Spanish filmmaker of his
generation. His
films, marked by complex narratives, and quirky stylings, employ the
codes of melodrama and use elements of pop culture, popular songs,
irreverent humor, strong colors
and glossy décor. He never judges his character's actions, whatever they
do,
but he presents them as they are in all their complexity. Desire,
passion,
family and identity are the director's favorite themes. Almodóvar is
openly –
dare we say brilliantly? -- Gay and he has incorporated elements of
underground
and gay culture into mainstream forms with wide crossover appeal,
redefining
perceptions of Spanish cinema and Spain in the process. At one time, it
is
believed, he owned the film rights to Tom Spanbauer’s mystical book, The Man Who Fell In Love With the Moon
(though we now believe Gus Van Sant has these rights.)
Around 1974, Almodóvar began making his first
short films on a Super-8 camera. By the end of the 1970s they were shown in Madrid’s night circuit and
in Barcelona. These shorts had overtly sexual narratives and no soundtrack: Dos
putas, o, Historia de amor que termina en boda (1974) (Two Whores, or, A
Love Story that Ends in Marriage); La caída de Sodoma (1975) (The
Fall of Sodom); Homenaje (1976) (Homage); La estrella
(1977) (The Star) 1977 Sexo Va: Sexo viene (Sex Comes and Goes)
(Super-8); Complementos (shorts) 1978; (16mm).
“I showed them in bars, at parties… I could
not add a soundtrack because it was very difficult. The magnetic strip was very
poor, very thin. I remember that I became very famous in Madrid because, as the
films had no sound, I took a cassette with music while I personally did the
voices of all the characters, songs and dialogues.” After four years of working
with shorts in Super-8 format, in 1978 Almodóvar made his first Super-8, full-length film: Folle, folle, fólleme, Tim (1978) (Fuck Me, Fuck
Me, Fuck Me, Tim), a magazine style melodrama. In addition, he made his
first 16 mm short, Salome. This was his first contact with the
professional world of cinema. The film's stars, Carmen Maura and Felix Rotaeta,
encouraged him to make his first feature film in 16mm and helped him
raise the money to finance what would be Pepi Luc: Bom y otras cgicas del monton.
Almodóvar's subsequent films deepened his
exploration of sexual desire and the sometimes brutal laws governing it. Matador is a dark, complex story that centers on the relationship between a former bullfighter
and a murderous female lawyer, both of whom can only experience sexual
fulfillment in conjunction with killing. The film offered up desire as a bridge
between sexual attraction and death.
Almodóvar solidified his creative independence when he started
the production company El Deseo, together with his brother Agustín, who has
also had several cameo roles in his films. From 1986 on, Pedro Almodóvar has
produced his own films.
The first movie that came out from El Deseo
was the aptly named Law of Desire (La
Ley del Deseo). The film has an operatically tragic plot line and is one of
Almodóvar’s richest and most disturbing movies. The narrative follows three
main characters: a Gay film director who embarks on a new project; his sister,
an actress who used to be his brother (played by Carmen Maura), and a repressed
murderously obsessive stalker (played by Antonio Banderas).
The film presents a gay love triangle and
drew away from most representations of Gay men in films. These characters are
neither coming out nor confront sexual guilt or homophobia; they are already
liberated, like the homosexuals in Fassbinder’s films. Almodóvar said about Law
of Desire: "It's the key film in my life and career. It deals with my
vision of desire, something that's both very hard and very human. By this I
mean the absolute necessity of being desired and the fact that in the interplay
of desires it's rare that two desires meet and correspond."
Almodóvar's films rely heavily on the
capacity of his actors to pull through difficult roles into a complex
narrative. In Law of Desire Carmen Maura plays the role of Tina, a woman
who used to be a man. Almodóvar explains: "Carmen is required to imitate a
woman, to savor the imitation, to be conscious of the kitsch part that there is
in the imitation, completely renouncing parody, but not humor".
Elements from Law of Desire grew into
the basis for two later films: Carmen Maura appears in a stage production of Cocteau’s The Human Voice, which
inspired Almodóvar’s next film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown;
and Tina's confrontation scene with an abusive priest formed a partial genesis
for Bad Education.
EU could scrap surveillance deal with US
EU could scrap surveillance deal with US
The EU might suspend an agreement to exchange banking information in order to combat terrorism, Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom implied before the European Parliament. Malmstrom said she has formally requested details on US surveillance, adding that work on a review on an intelligence deal struck between the EU and the US has been halted.
"Either way a decision to maintain the Agreement or to consider proposing its suspension is a serious matter," she said.
Malmstrom made the comments before the European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee in the wake of revelations by Germany's Spiegel magazine that the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP) agreement was being flouted by the US which was spying on SWIFT bank and credit card transactions.
Several MEPs are seeking to end the agreement that grants US authorities access to bank data for terrorism-related investigations because of Washington's surveillance programs.
"I will be seeking exhaustive explanations and comprehensive information in order to measure to which extent the implementation of the Agreement might have been impacted," Malmstrom told MEPs.
She added that in reply to her communications the US authorities have provided some written explanations that raise further questions.
"I am not satisfied with what we have received so far. Whilst from the U.S. reactions last week we now have some understanding of the situation, we need more detailed information in order to credibly assess reality and to be in a position to judge whether the obligations of US side under the TFTP Agreement have been breached," Malstrom said.
The TFTP was set up by the US Treasury Department shortly after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. According to the Home Affairs DG website, since then, the TFTP has generated significant intelligence that has been beneficial for both the US and EU States in the fight against terrorism.
An EU-US Agreement on the exchange of financial information was signed to ensure protection of EU citizens' privacy whilst this data was being collected.
The Spiegel revelations were based on information leaked by former US National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden.
The EU might suspend an agreement to exchange banking information in order to combat terrorism, Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom implied before the European Parliament. Malmstrom said she has formally requested details on US surveillance, adding that work on a review on an intelligence deal struck between the EU and the US has been halted.
"Either way a decision to maintain the Agreement or to consider proposing its suspension is a serious matter," she said.
Malmstrom made the comments before the European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) Committee in the wake of revelations by Germany's Spiegel magazine that the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP) agreement was being flouted by the US which was spying on SWIFT bank and credit card transactions.
Several MEPs are seeking to end the agreement that grants US authorities access to bank data for terrorism-related investigations because of Washington's surveillance programs.
"I will be seeking exhaustive explanations and comprehensive information in order to measure to which extent the implementation of the Agreement might have been impacted," Malmstrom told MEPs.
She added that in reply to her communications the US authorities have provided some written explanations that raise further questions.
"I am not satisfied with what we have received so far. Whilst from the U.S. reactions last week we now have some understanding of the situation, we need more detailed information in order to credibly assess reality and to be in a position to judge whether the obligations of US side under the TFTP Agreement have been breached," Malstrom said.
The TFTP was set up by the US Treasury Department shortly after the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. According to the Home Affairs DG website, since then, the TFTP has generated significant intelligence that has been beneficial for both the US and EU States in the fight against terrorism.
An EU-US Agreement on the exchange of financial information was signed to ensure protection of EU citizens' privacy whilst this data was being collected.
The Spiegel revelations were based on information leaked by former US National Security Agency employee Edward Snowden.
Rouhani has ‘American blood on his hands,’ Emergency Committee for Israel says
Rouhani has ‘American blood on his hands,’ Emergency Committee for Israel says
Sep 24, 2013 03:07 pm | Philip Weiss
This is almost entertaining. More kneejerk alarmism from Israel’s supporters; as Annie Robbins says, This is the boy who cried wolf. The Emergency Committee for Israel has launched a new website– the Real Rouhani– that features a demonic red portrait of Hassan Rouhani and seeks to paint the new Iranian president as a master manipulator and terrorist.
ECI also says that Rouhani is a Holocaust denier. It is surely an organization dedicated to a foreign government. It is led by William Kristol, who calls Israel the new leader of the West. And ECI’s line is– not surprisingly — exactly what the Israeli Embassy is saying. From ECI:
Sep 24, 2013 03:07 pm | Philip Weiss
This is almost entertaining. More kneejerk alarmism from Israel’s supporters; as Annie Robbins says, This is the boy who cried wolf. The Emergency Committee for Israel has launched a new website– the Real Rouhani– that features a demonic red portrait of Hassan Rouhani and seeks to paint the new Iranian president as a master manipulator and terrorist.
“He is a career terrorist with American blood on his hands.”What is the evidence for this claim? ECI says per the Wall Street Journal that Rouhani headed Iran’s national security agency at the time of the terrorist bombing of the Argentinian Jewish center in 1994 and the attack on the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996. I’d point out that Iranians could make a similar claim that Obama has Iranian blood on his hands.
ECI also says that Rouhani is a Holocaust denier. It is surely an organization dedicated to a foreign government. It is led by William Kristol, who calls Israel the new leader of the West. And ECI’s line is– not surprisingly — exactly what the Israeli Embassy is saying. From ECI:
As Iranian President Hassan Rouhani prepares to speak to the UN General Assembly today, the Emergency Committee for Israel launched www.RealRouhani.com, a website that contrasts Rouhani’s charm offensive with his long record of hostility toward the West.
After stepping down as Iran’s lead nuclear negotiator, Rouhani bragged that he had successfully deceived the world about Iran’s nuclear program. As head of Iran’s National Security Council, he oversaw the bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina and the Khobar Towers bombing. As a newly-elected president, he appointed as defense minister a terrorist who plotted the 1983 Marine barracks bombing that killed 241 Americans. Last week, he denied the Holocaust in an interview with NBC News.
Noah Pollak, ECI’s executive director, said: “Hassan Rouhani is trying to obscure decades of hatred, lies, and terrorism by smiling for the cameras and saying nice things at the UN. The real Rouhani is as committed to acquiring nuclear weapons as the rest of the Iranian regime.”
TRUE QUOTES ABOUT SCIENCE FROM KIDS
~ H2O is hot water, and CO2 is cold water.
~ To collect fumes of sulfur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube. When you smell an odorless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide.
~ Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water.
~ Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes and caterpillars.
~ Blood flows down one leg and up the other.
~ Respiration is composed of two acts, first inspiration, and then expectoration.
~ The moon is a planet, just like the earth, only it is even deader.
~ Dew is formed on leaves when the sun shines down on them and makes them perspire.
~ Mushrooms always grow in damp places so they look like umbrellas.
~ The pistol of a flower is its only protections against insects.
~ The skeleton is what is left after the insides have been taken out and the outsides have been taken off. The purpose of the skeleton is something to hitch meat to.
~ A permanent set of teeth consist of eight canines, eight cuspids, two molars, and eight cuspidors.
~ The tides are a fight between the earth and moon. All water tends towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.
~ A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it is.
~ Germinate: To become a naturalized German.
~ Liter: A nest of young puppies.
~ Magnet: Something you find crawling all over a dead cat.
~ Momentum: What you give a person when they are going away.
~ Planet: A body of Earth surrounded by sky.
~ Rhubarb: A kind of celery gone bloodshot.
~ Vacuum: A large, empty space where the Pope lives.
~ Before giving a blood transfusion, find out if the blood is affirmative or negative.
~ To remove dust from the eye, pull the eye down over the nose.
~ For a nosebleed, put the nose much lower than the body until the heart stops.
~ For dog bite put the dog away for several days. If he has not recovered, then kill it.
~ For head cold use an agonizer to spray the nose until it drops in your throat.
~ To keep milk from turning sour, keep it in the cow.
~ To collect fumes of sulfur, hold a deacon over a flame in a test tube. When you smell an odorless gas, it is probably carbon monoxide.
~ Water is composed of two gins, Oxygin and Hydrogin. Oxygin is pure gin. Hydrogin is gin and water.
~ Three kinds of blood vessels are arteries, vanes and caterpillars.
~ Blood flows down one leg and up the other.
~ Respiration is composed of two acts, first inspiration, and then expectoration.
~ The moon is a planet, just like the earth, only it is even deader.
~ Dew is formed on leaves when the sun shines down on them and makes them perspire.
~ Mushrooms always grow in damp places so they look like umbrellas.
~ The pistol of a flower is its only protections against insects.
~ The skeleton is what is left after the insides have been taken out and the outsides have been taken off. The purpose of the skeleton is something to hitch meat to.
~ A permanent set of teeth consist of eight canines, eight cuspids, two molars, and eight cuspidors.
~ The tides are a fight between the earth and moon. All water tends towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins in this fight.
~ A fossil is an extinct animal. The older it is, the more extinct it is.
~ Germinate: To become a naturalized German.
~ Liter: A nest of young puppies.
~ Magnet: Something you find crawling all over a dead cat.
~ Momentum: What you give a person when they are going away.
~ Planet: A body of Earth surrounded by sky.
~ Rhubarb: A kind of celery gone bloodshot.
~ Vacuum: A large, empty space where the Pope lives.
~ Before giving a blood transfusion, find out if the blood is affirmative or negative.
~ To remove dust from the eye, pull the eye down over the nose.
~ For a nosebleed, put the nose much lower than the body until the heart stops.
~ For dog bite put the dog away for several days. If he has not recovered, then kill it.
~ For head cold use an agonizer to spray the nose until it drops in your throat.
~ To keep milk from turning sour, keep it in the cow.
The Secret of Israeli Chemical Weapons
The Secret of Israeli Chemical Weapons
by Thierry Meyssan
Israeli research on chemical and biological weapons historically pushed Syria to reject the treaty banning chemical weapons. That is why the signing of this document by Damascus runs the risk of highlighting the existence and possibly the continuation of research on weapons designed to kill only Arabs.
Western media seem amazed at the turnaround of the United States with regards to Syria. Though they announced, two weeks ago, a bombing campaign and the inevitable fall of the "regime", they are speechless before the retreat of Barack Obama. Yet it was probable, as I wrote in this column, that Washington’s commitment in Syria no longer has an important strategic objective. Its current policy is primarily guided by the desire to preserve its unique superpower status.
Taking him at his word, which was originally meant by John Kerry as a joke, and proposing the accession of Syria to the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Moscow has met Washington’s rhetoric without the latter having to fight another war in times of economic crisis. The United States maintains its status in theory, even if everyone can see that Russia now calls the shots.
Chemical weapons have two purposes : either military or to exterminate a population. They were used during the trench warfare of the First World War to the Iraqi aggression against Iran, but they are useless in modern warfare, whose front is always moving. It is with relief that 189 States signed the Convention banning them in 1993: they could thus get rid of dangerous and unnecessary stockpiles, the possession of which had become onerous.
A second purpose of chemical weapons is the extermination of civilians before the colonization of their territory. Thus in 1935-36, Fascist Italy conquered a large part of Eritrea by eliminating its population through the use of mustard gas. In this colonial perspective, from 1985 to 1994, Israel secretly financed the research of Dr. Wouter Basson ’s laboratory in Roodeplaat (South Africa). Its ally, the apartheid regime, sought to develop substances, both chemical and especially biological, that would kill individuals according to their "racial characteristics " (sic), whether they be Palestinians in particular and Arabs in general, or people with black skin. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was not able to determine the results of this program, nor what had become of it. At most it revealed the involvement in this huge secret project of the United States and of Switzerland. It has been established that several thousand people died as Dr. Basson’s guinea pigs.
If one can understand why neither Syria nor Egypt signed the Convention in 1993, the opportunity offered by Moscow to Damascus to join today is a bargain: it not only puts an end to the crisis with the United States and France, but it also helps to get rid of unnecessary stockpiles become increasingly difficult to defend. For all practical purposes, President al -Assad has specified that Syria was acting at the request of Russia and not under pressure from the United States, an elegant way of stressing the responsibility of Moscow to protect the country in the future from a possible chemical attack by Israel.
Indeed, the Jewish colony of Palestine has yet to ratify the Convention. This could quickly become a political hot potato for Tel Aviv. That is why John Kerry went there today, Sunday, to discuss the issue with Benjamin Netanyahu. If the Prime Minister of the last colonial state is clever, he should jump at the opportunity to announce that his country would reconsider the matter. Unless, of course, Wouter Basson found ethnically selective gas and Israeli hawks are still considering using it.
Thierry Meyssan
by Thierry Meyssan
Israeli research on chemical and biological weapons historically pushed Syria to reject the treaty banning chemical weapons. That is why the signing of this document by Damascus runs the risk of highlighting the existence and possibly the continuation of research on weapons designed to kill only Arabs.
Western media seem amazed at the turnaround of the United States with regards to Syria. Though they announced, two weeks ago, a bombing campaign and the inevitable fall of the "regime", they are speechless before the retreat of Barack Obama. Yet it was probable, as I wrote in this column, that Washington’s commitment in Syria no longer has an important strategic objective. Its current policy is primarily guided by the desire to preserve its unique superpower status.
Taking him at his word, which was originally meant by John Kerry as a joke, and proposing the accession of Syria to the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Moscow has met Washington’s rhetoric without the latter having to fight another war in times of economic crisis. The United States maintains its status in theory, even if everyone can see that Russia now calls the shots.
Chemical weapons have two purposes : either military or to exterminate a population. They were used during the trench warfare of the First World War to the Iraqi aggression against Iran, but they are useless in modern warfare, whose front is always moving. It is with relief that 189 States signed the Convention banning them in 1993: they could thus get rid of dangerous and unnecessary stockpiles, the possession of which had become onerous.
A second purpose of chemical weapons is the extermination of civilians before the colonization of their territory. Thus in 1935-36, Fascist Italy conquered a large part of Eritrea by eliminating its population through the use of mustard gas. In this colonial perspective, from 1985 to 1994, Israel secretly financed the research of Dr. Wouter Basson ’s laboratory in Roodeplaat (South Africa). Its ally, the apartheid regime, sought to develop substances, both chemical and especially biological, that would kill individuals according to their "racial characteristics " (sic), whether they be Palestinians in particular and Arabs in general, or people with black skin. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was not able to determine the results of this program, nor what had become of it. At most it revealed the involvement in this huge secret project of the United States and of Switzerland. It has been established that several thousand people died as Dr. Basson’s guinea pigs.
If one can understand why neither Syria nor Egypt signed the Convention in 1993, the opportunity offered by Moscow to Damascus to join today is a bargain: it not only puts an end to the crisis with the United States and France, but it also helps to get rid of unnecessary stockpiles become increasingly difficult to defend. For all practical purposes, President al -Assad has specified that Syria was acting at the request of Russia and not under pressure from the United States, an elegant way of stressing the responsibility of Moscow to protect the country in the future from a possible chemical attack by Israel.
Indeed, the Jewish colony of Palestine has yet to ratify the Convention. This could quickly become a political hot potato for Tel Aviv. That is why John Kerry went there today, Sunday, to discuss the issue with Benjamin Netanyahu. If the Prime Minister of the last colonial state is clever, he should jump at the opportunity to announce that his country would reconsider the matter. Unless, of course, Wouter Basson found ethnically selective gas and Israeli hawks are still considering using it.
Thierry Meyssan
"Pumpkin ... funny story"
"Pumpkin ... funny story" !
Police work must be entertaining as well as dangerous.
Recently, a female police officer arrested Patrick Lawrence, a 22 year old white male, fornicating with a pumpkin in the middle of the night. The next day, at the Gwinntt County (GA) courthouse, Lawrence was charged with lewd and lascivious behaviour, public indecency and public intoxication.
The suspect explained that as he was passing a pumpkin patch on his way home from a drinking session when he decided to stop, 'You know how a pumpkin is soft and squishy inside, and there was no one around for miles or at least I thought there wasn't anyone around' he stated.
Lawrence went on to say that he pulled over to the side of the road, picked out a pumpkin that he felt was appropriate to his purpose, cut a hole in it, and proceeded to satisfy his pressing need. 'Guess I was really into it, you know?' he commented with evident embarrassment.
In the process of doing the deed, Lawrence failed to notice an approaching police car and was unaware of his audience until Officer Brenda Taylor approached the side of his car.
'It was an unusual situation, that's for sure,' said Officer Taylor. 'I walked up to Lawrence and he's just banging away at this pumpkin.'
Officer Taylor went on to describe what happened when she approached Lawrence.
'I said: 'Excuse me sir, but do you realize that you're having sex with a pumpkin?'
He froze and was clearly very surprised that I was there, and then he looked me straight in the face and said:'A pumpkin? Shit ... is it midnight already?'
The court (and the judge) could not contain their mirth.
The Washington Post wrote an article describing this as: 'Best come-back line ever'.
[HUMOR] Subject: Retiree Mental Fitness Evaluation
Subject: Retiree Mental
Fitness Evaluation
Retiree Mental
Fitness Evaluation And you who may
look forward to Retirement!!
This
test is to ascertain your mental state now. If
you get one right you are doing ok, if
you get none right you better go for
counseling. (I'll meet you there.)
Giraffe Test
Giraffe Test
There
are 4 questions. Don’t miss one.
1.
How
do you put a giraffe into a
refrigerator?
Stop
and think about it and decide on your answer
before you scroll down.
The
correct answer is: Open the refrigerator, put in
the giraffe, and close the door. This question
tests whether you tend to do simple things in an
overly complicated way.
2.
How
do you put an elephant into a refrigerator?
Did
you say, Open the refrigerator, put in the
elephant, and close the refrigerator? Wrong
Answer. Correct Answer: Open the refrigerator,
take out the giraffe, put in the elephant and
close the door. This tests your ability to think
through the repercussions of your previous
actions.
3.
The
Lion King is hosting
an Animal Conference.
All the animals attend ...except one. Which
animal does not
attend? 
4.
Correct Answer : The Elephant.
The elephant is in the refrigerator. You just
put him in there. This tests your
memory.
4.
Okay,
even if you did not answer the first three
questions correctly, you still have one more
chance to show your true abilities.
4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and
you do
not have a boat. How do you manage it?
Correct Answer:? You jump into
the river and swim across. Haven’t you
been lis-ten-ing?
All the crocodiles are attending the
Animal Conference.
This tests whether you learn quickly from your
mistakes.
According to Anderson
Consulting Worldwide, around 90% of
the Retirees they
tested got all questions wrong, but many
preschoolers got several correct answers.
Anderson Consulting says this conclusively
proves the theory that
most Retirees do
not have the brains of a
four-year-old.
Send this out to frustrate all
of your smart friends..
PS: Just the fact that I sent
it to you should make you feel good.
4. There is a river you must cross but it is used by crocodiles, and
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY SEPTEMBER 24
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GAY WISDOM for Daily Living...
from White Crane
GAY WISDOM for Daily Living...
from White Crane
Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture
Share this with your friends...
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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY
SEPTEMBER 24
1494 - The
Italian Renaissance classical scholar and poet ANGELO POLIZIANO died (b. 1454). Poliziano was one of the revivers of
Humanist Latin. He used his didactic poem Manto, written in the 1480s, as an
introduction to his lectures on Virgil.
He studied with Marsilio Ficino (who we've featured in Gay Wisdom) and
in 1477 became the Prior of San Paolo and proceeded to become one of the most
prolific writers of his time. His play
Orfeo is about the Greek hero Orpheus, who renounces women after the death of
Eurydice. James Wilhelm translated
Poliziano's Greek Epigrams including the one titled "One the Love of Two
Boys" in which Poliziano writers of a "double love" that
torments him. Then there's his
"Love Song for Chrysokomos" or "Goldenlocks" with its
opening lines:
Watch over me from heaven while within my
arms I hold my boy,
And don't envy me, Zeus, because I envy no other.
Be contented, Zeus, be contented with your
Ganymede, and leave to me
My
shiny Chrysokomos, who to me is sweeter than honey.
In 2007, the bodies of Poliziano and Pico
della Mirandola were exhumed from St. Mark's Basilica in Florence. Scientists
under the supervision of Giorgio Gruppioni, a professor of anthropology from
Bologna, used current testing techniques to study the men's lives and establish
the causes of their deaths. It was recently announced that these forensic tests
showed that both Poliziano and Pico della Mirandola likely died of arsenic
poisoning. The chief suspect is Piero de' Medici, the successor of Lorenzo de'
Medici and docent of Florence, but there are others.
1717 – HORACE WALPOLE, British novelist and politician born (d. 1797) A
politician, writer, architectural innovator and cousin of Lord Nelson, his
Letters are highly readable, and give a vivid picture of the more intellectual
part of the aristocracy of his period.
Walpole's sexual orientation has been the
subject of speculation. Biographers such as Lewis, Fothergill and Robert
Wyndham Ketton-Cremer have interpreted him as asexual (don't they always?). He
never married, engaging in a succession of unconsummated flirtations with
unmarriageable women, and counted among his close friends a number of women
such as Anne Seymour Damer and Mary Berry named by a number of sources as
Lesbian. Many contemporaries described him as effeminate (one political
opponent called him "a hermaphrodite horse"). The architectural
historian Timothy Mowl, in his biography Horace Walpole: The Great Outsider
offers the theory that Walpole was openly homosexual, and infers that he had an
affair with Thomas Gray, dropping him during their Grand Tour in favor of Lord
Lincoln (later the 2nd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne). His Gothic castle,
Strawberry Hill, was decorated by the tres Gay John Chute, the spiritual father
of two centuries of Gay interior designers. Walpole spent most of his life
hopelessly in love with his heterosexual friend, Henry Seymour Conway, to whom
he addressed beautiful love letters. Ironically, when he died, he left
Strawberry Hill to Conway's daughter, Mrs. Damer, without ever having known
that she was one of the most celebrated Lesbians of the 18th century.
1981 - PATSY
KELLY, American actress died (b. 1910) The
Todd-Kelly shorts cemented Patsy Kelly's image: a brash, wisecracking woman who
frequently punctured the pomposity of other characters. Later entries in the
series showcased Kelly's dancing skills. Thelma Todd died in 1935, and Kelly
finished out the series, first with Pert Kelton, then with Lyda Roberti. Patsy
Kelly then moved into the more ambitious world of feature films, often playing
working-class character roles in comedies and musicals.
Off-screen, Kelly's out-of-the-closet style
resulted in loud ejections from cocktail lounges and restaurants. On occasion
she would uninhibitedly admit, in public and with typical candor, to being a
Lesbian. By 1943 movie producers had distanced themselves from what they
considered to be a loose-cannon Kelly, and she could only find work at
Producers Releasing Corporation, smallest and cheapest of the movie studios.
Her last starring roles were in two PRC comedies, My Son, the Hero and Danger!
Women at Work.
On television she appeared on top-rated shows
like The Man From U.N.C.L.E., The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Wild Wild West, and Alfred
Hitchcock Presents, as well as many unsold pilots. Patsy also made a memorable
appearance as "Laura-Louise" in the film thriller Rosemary's Baby
(1968), directed by Roman Polanski, alongside veteran actors Sidney Blackmer,
Ruth Gordon, and Maurice Evans.
She returned to Broadway in 1971 in the
revival of No, No, Nanette with fellow Irish Catholic hoofers Ruby Keeler and
Helen Gallagher. Patsy scored a huge success as the wisecracking, tap-dancing
maid, and won Broadway's 1971 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress
for her performance in the show. She topped that success the following year
when she starred in Irene with Debbie Reynolds, and was again nominated for a
Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She died in 1981 at the age of 71
in Woodland Hills, California, of cancer.
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Today is International Celebrate Bisexuality Day
Today is International Celebrate Bisexuality Day
Since 1999, September 23 has been International Celebrate Bisexuality Day, also known as Bi Visibility Day. Even though studies show the “B” in LGBT is the largest component, bisexual people often feel ignored, and removed from the LGBT movement.
“Despite years of activism and the largest population within the LGBT community, the needs of bisexuals still go unaddressed and their very existence is still called into question. This erasure has serious consequences on bisexuals’ health, economic well-being, and funding for bi organizations and programs,” a 2011 San Francisco Human Rights Commission report states.
Often, the word “bisexual” shows up in an organization’s name or mission statement, but the group doesn’t offer programming that addresses the specific needs of bisexuals (see the chapter on organizations and programs serving bisexuals). Even when an organization is inclusive, the press and public officials often fall back on the “safety” of saying just “gay and lesbian.” There is even a growing trend of talking about the “gay, lesbian, and transgender” community or “lesbian, gay, and transgender” movement. But words matter. Invisibility matters.The San Francisco Human Rights Commission LBGT Advisory Committee has a full report here.
Source: The New Civil Rights Movement
Premier League not happy with Rainbow Laces from Stonewall
Premier League not happy with Rainbow Laces from Stonewall
by Nathan Simpson
Last
week with the help of Paddy Power, LGBT rights group Stonewall sent
rainbow laces to all 92 Premier League clubs, Football League clubs, and
the professional clubs in Scotland. Several Premier League
clubs including Manchester United, Tottenham and Norwich, aren't too
happy with how Stonewall and Paddy Power rolled out the initiative and
have refused to participate.
Monday, September 23, 2013
THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY SEPTEMBER 23
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THIS DAY IN GAY HISTORY
SEPTEMBER 23
63 BCE
– AUGUSTUS CAESAR, Roman emperor, born
(d: 14 CE) Born Octavius, of the Julii, Augustus is arguably the single most
important figure in Roman history and the two most famous of the Caesars (the
other being his uncle Julie). In the course of his long and spectacular career,
he put an end to the advancing decay of the Republic and established a new
basis for Roman government that was to stand for three centuries. This system,
termed the "Principate," was far from flawless, but it provided the
Roman Empire with a series of rulers who presided over the longest period of
unity, peace, and prosperity that Western Europe, the Middle East and the North
African seaboard have known in their entire recorded history.
Even if the rulers themselves occasionally
left much to be desired, the scale of Augustus's achievement in establishing
the system cannot be overstated. Aside from the immense importance of
Augustus's reign from the broad historical perspective, he himself is an intriguing
figure: at once tolerant and implacable, ruthless and forgiving, brazen and
tactful. Clearly a man of many facets, he underwent three major political
reinventions in his lifetime and negotiated the stormy and dangerous seas of
the last phase of the Roman Revolution with skill and foresight. With Augustus
established in power and with the Principate firmly rooted, the internal
machinations of the imperial household provide a fascinating glimpse into the
one issue that painted this otherwise gifted organizer and politician into a
corner from which he could find no easy exit: the problem of the succession.
It’s a wise child who knows his uncle, and
young Octavius regularly put out for his Uncle Julius Caesar, an investment
that paid handsomely in the end. He also lured the powerful Roman statesman
Hirtius to his bed and received 3000 pieces of gold for his trouble, a favor he
returned when he became emperor, by having Hirtius murdered to prevent him from
ever telling the tale. His efforts were, of course, futile. In Noel Garde’s
book, Jonathan to Gide, he tells how secret the Emperor’s secret really was.
Reportedly, when Augustus was attending a play, “an actor spoke a line about an
effeminate eunuch priest with a tambourine, ‘Videsne ut Cinaedus orbem digito
temperet?’ translatable as ‘Do you see that queer’s finger beating the orb?’
and ‘do you see how this queer’s finger governs the world?” The audience,
reportedly, immediately took this as a reference to Augustus and broke into
wild applause while staring at the imperial box.
1806 – On this date Meriweather
Lewis and William Clark returned to Missouri after their two year journey to
explore the Louisiana Purchase under commission from President Thomas
Jefferson.
The LEWIS AND CLARK EXPEDITION, also
known as the Corps of Discovery Expedition, was the first American expedition
to cross what is now the western portion of the United States, departing in
May, 1804 from St. Louis on the Mississippi River, making their way westward
through the continental divide to the Pacific coast.
The
expedition was commissioned by President Jefferson shortly after the Louisiana
Purchase in 1803, consisting of a select group of U.S. Army volunteers under
the command of Captain Meriwether Lewis and his close friend Second Lieeutenant
William Clark. The duration of their perilous journey lasted from May 1804 to
September 1806. The primary objective was to explore and map the newly acquired
territory, find a practical route across the Western half of the continent, and
establish an American presence in this territory before Britain and other
European powers tried to claim it.
The
campaign's secondary objectives were scientific and economic: to study the
area's plants, animal life, and geography, and establish trade with local
Indian tribes. With maps, sketches and journals in hand, the expedition
returned to St. Louis to report their findings to Jefferson.
Sacagawea,
sometimes called Sakajawea or Sakagawea (c. 1788–December 20, 1812), was a
Shoshone Indian woman who arrived with her husband Toussant Charbonneau on
the expedition to the Pacific Ocean. Though a
crucial addition to the expedition and though she has been discussed in
literature frequently, much of the information is exaggeration or fiction.
Scholars say she did notice some geographical features, but
"Sacagawea...was not the guide for the Expedition, she was important to
them as an interpreter and in other ways." The sight of a woman and
her infant son would have been reassuring to some indigenous nations, and she
played an important role in diplomatic relations by talking to chiefs, easing
tensions, and giving the impression of a peaceful mission.
On Feb.
11, 1805, a few weeks after her first contact with the expedition, Sacagawea
went into labor and gave birth to a baby boy. Her labor was slow and painful
and so the Frenchman Charbonneau, with whom she had arrived on the scene, suggested
that she be given a potion of rattlesnake's rattle to aid in her delivery.
Lewis happened to have some snakes rattle with him. A short time after
administering the potion she delivered a healthy baby boy who was given the
name JEAN BAPTISTE CHARBONNEAU.
He was
later informally adopted by Clark. In his fascinating and highly recommended history
of the same-sex activities among the early Western trappers , Men In Eden: William
Drummond Stewart and Same-Sex Desire in the Rocky Mountain Fur Trade, William
Benemann reveals that Charbonneau may well have gone on to become a very well-kept
young man:
“In 1823, when the 25 year old Duke Paul
Wilhelm of Wurtemberg first visited St. Louis, he was drawn to the young man. ‘Here
I found a youth of sixteen,’ the Duke later wrote, ‘whose mother was of the
tribe of Sho-sho-ne, or Snake Indians, and who had accompanied Mssrs. Lewis and
Clark to thePacific Ocean in the years 1804 to 1806 [as] interpretress. This
Indian woman was married to the French interpreter of the expedition, Toussaint
Charbonneau by name. Charbonneau rendered me service also, some time later in
the same capacity, and Baptiste, his son (the youth of sixteen) of whom I made
mention above, joined me on my return and followed me to Europe and has
remained with me ever since.”
Baptiste was 18, not 16 at the time but
appeared younger. Sacagawea had died
from a fever, and both Charbonneau and Clark realized that this was a
tremendous opportunity for the young man. The Duke was offering to thake the
youth under his wing, and with their blessing Baptiste sailed for Europe with
his new patron, eventually settling in the Duke’s 11th century
castle on the outskirts of Stuttgart. They traveled extensively and over the
years the Duke brought back several foreign boys from his various travels. And
though Jean Baptiste went on to marry and father a child, he never acknowledged
the woman or her child and he remained a lifelong bachelor.
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& Culture for over 20 Years!
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Jordanian Journalist Who Fabricated Syrian Rebel Chemical Weapons Story, Wrote Recent Jerusalem Post Column Lauding Israel
Jordanian Journalist Who Fabricated Syrian Rebel Chemical Weapons Story, Wrote Recent Jerusalem Post Column Lauding Israel
The quick background on this is that Gavlak, who works for a number of news organizations including AP, recommended that the Mint Press publish a story she’d received written in Arabic, purporting to describe a Syrian rebel chemical weapons attack. After the story had circulated for a week or so journalists began questioning various elements of it. Eventually, Gavlak dissociated herself from the story even though she played a critical role in getting it published. Mint Press was hung out to dry because it hadn’t done due diligence itself and couldn’t say whether the story was true or false. It had relied on Gavlak and trusted her judgment.
Antiwar.com also republished the story on its website. But it apologized to its readers within a few days of the controversy beginning. That was more than its editors offered me when they yanked my published profile of Meir Javedanfar, under the censorious direction of Justin Raimondo.
Gavlak must’ve thought she’d got hold of a great story and in her
eagerness to publish and take credit, she rushed it into print. Only
afterward, did she begin to realize she may’ve been had.
Yahya Ababneh, the journalist credited with the story seems to be a charlatan. Everything about him seems either fictional or dubious. Though he does appear to exist, nothing beyond that seems certain about him.
This intrigue would still be little more than minor skirmish in the battle for truth and credibility in the Syrian story were it not for Gavlak’s and Ababneh’s connections to Israeli journalism.
Brian Whitaker, former Comment is Free editor, writes in his blog that Ababneh and Barakat are one and the same. He also notes that Barakat published a piece in the Jerusalem Post. What, you may ask, is a reputed Jordanian journalist doing publishing in one of Israel’s most right-wing newspapers? Good question.
The column is one of those feel good stories that Israel’s media love to publish about Arabs who see the errors of their ways and liberate themselves from the anti-Israel propaganda they drank with their mother’s milk. In other words, it’s typically self-serving and propagandistic. I’m guessing that someone in the foreign ministry came across this guy on social media and contacted him and asked him if he’d expound the wonders of Israel for an Israeli audience. This isn’t a rare occurrence. There are numerous similar episodes involving people like Mark Halawa, Walid Shoebat, Tawfiq Hamid, and a host of Iranians (Reza Khalili and Amir Fakhravar). The latter have regaled Israeli audiences about their lives as Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers before they saw the light and turned against the Iranian forces of darkness.
In his article, Barakat claims to have visited Israel on his own form of personal peace mission. This beggars belief. Just as it is illegal for Israelis to visit Arab states it is similarly illegal for citizens of Arab states to do so. So how did the Jordanian journalist do this? Or perhaps more appropriately, did he?
UPDATE: I’ve just discovered an Israeli blog post written by someone who claims to have hosted a meeting with Barakat in Israel. So while some parts of his Jerusalem Post story may be true, there remains much that strains credulity. Read what follows in this context.
To all this we need to add that the Jerusalem Post has a long and checkered history of being ‘had’ by fraudulent reports and reporters. I’m going to hazard a reasonable guess that it’s happened again. Just as Yahyah Ababneh claimed to have witnessed rebels using chemical weapons inside Syria, Yan Barakat claims to have traveled to Israel to explore making peace with the Jewish enemy. We know his claims about Syria are false. I’m reasonably certain his claims about Israel are as well.
If the Jerusalem Post had any journalistic integrity it would’ve demanded that Barakat provide evidence of the meetings he claimed he had with scores of Israelis during his visit. I’m virtually certain they didn’t do that before publishing and won’t do it now that his credibility has been shot to hell. The Post wanted to believe an Arab loves Israel. But a good rule of thumb is that if a story looks too good to be true, it probably isn’t. Understanding this requires care and skepticism, something the Post lacks when it comes to publishing stories by or about “good Arabs.”
What’s clear is that Ababneh/Barakat is a petty con man. Like all good con men he knows how to tell his audience what they want to hear. He also knows how to aggrandize himself with readers and probably get paid well for his troubles. It shouldn’t surprise us that he’s also an actor and has posted pictures of his performances on his social media accounts.
I think those who speculate why he might’ve worked for either Israeli or Jordanian intelligence regarding the Syria story are missing the point. A guy like this doesn’t work for one side alone. He works for whoever pays the best and most. One day it’s the Jerusalem Post or an intelligence agency, the next its Bashar al-Assad.
Look at it this way: the Syrian government knew it had a huge scandal breathing down its neck. What better way to diminish some of the momentum of the story than to put out a fake rebel CW counter-story. Until the world discovered it was a hoax, it would help counter the damage done by the Gouta disaster. Cynical you say? What intelligence agency isn’t cynical? And there are scores of provocateurs and self-promoters eager to jump on such a gravy train.
There’s also an interesting factor in Dale Gavlak’s connection to Israeli media. Besides working for AP, she’s also a writer for The Times of Israel (TOI). Though it’s possible that in its desperation for journalistic crediblity the publication has glommed onto anyone it publishes and calls them a TOI “writer,” when they’re not. Any story she’s written there (or anywhere else for that matter) should be scrutinized carefully to ensure she didn’t take any of the same shortcuts she took in publishing Ababneh’s nonsense.
Posted: 23 Sep 2013 02:15 AM PDT
I’ve
been following the story of a few weeks ago, claiming that Prince
Bandar of Saudi Arabia was shipping chemical weapons to the Syria
rebels, which they were using on the battlefield. As so much of the
reporting on this subject, this story really stank. But I didn’t give
it much thought until I learned more about the professional histories of
both Dale Gavlak, the AP reporter who helped birth the story; and
Yahyah Ababneh (aka Yan Barakat) who allegedly “reported” it from Syria.The quick background on this is that Gavlak, who works for a number of news organizations including AP, recommended that the Mint Press publish a story she’d received written in Arabic, purporting to describe a Syrian rebel chemical weapons attack. After the story had circulated for a week or so journalists began questioning various elements of it. Eventually, Gavlak dissociated herself from the story even though she played a critical role in getting it published. Mint Press was hung out to dry because it hadn’t done due diligence itself and couldn’t say whether the story was true or false. It had relied on Gavlak and trusted her judgment.
Antiwar.com also republished the story on its website. But it apologized to its readers within a few days of the controversy beginning. That was more than its editors offered me when they yanked my published profile of Meir Javedanfar, under the censorious direction of Justin Raimondo.
What, if anything, about Yan Barakat/Yahyah Ababneh, is real?
Yahya Ababneh, the journalist credited with the story seems to be a charlatan. Everything about him seems either fictional or dubious. Though he does appear to exist, nothing beyond that seems certain about him.
This intrigue would still be little more than minor skirmish in the battle for truth and credibility in the Syrian story were it not for Gavlak’s and Ababneh’s connections to Israeli journalism.
Brian Whitaker, former Comment is Free editor, writes in his blog that Ababneh and Barakat are one and the same. He also notes that Barakat published a piece in the Jerusalem Post. What, you may ask, is a reputed Jordanian journalist doing publishing in one of Israel’s most right-wing newspapers? Good question.
The column is one of those feel good stories that Israel’s media love to publish about Arabs who see the errors of their ways and liberate themselves from the anti-Israel propaganda they drank with their mother’s milk. In other words, it’s typically self-serving and propagandistic. I’m guessing that someone in the foreign ministry came across this guy on social media and contacted him and asked him if he’d expound the wonders of Israel for an Israeli audience. This isn’t a rare occurrence. There are numerous similar episodes involving people like Mark Halawa, Walid Shoebat, Tawfiq Hamid, and a host of Iranians (Reza Khalili and Amir Fakhravar). The latter have regaled Israeli audiences about their lives as Iranian Revolutionary Guard officers before they saw the light and turned against the Iranian forces of darkness.
In his article, Barakat claims to have visited Israel on his own form of personal peace mission. This beggars belief. Just as it is illegal for Israelis to visit Arab states it is similarly illegal for citizens of Arab states to do so. So how did the Jordanian journalist do this? Or perhaps more appropriately, did he?
UPDATE: I’ve just discovered an Israeli blog post written by someone who claims to have hosted a meeting with Barakat in Israel. So while some parts of his Jerusalem Post story may be true, there remains much that strains credulity. Read what follows in this context.
To all this we need to add that the Jerusalem Post has a long and checkered history of being ‘had’ by fraudulent reports and reporters. I’m going to hazard a reasonable guess that it’s happened again. Just as Yahyah Ababneh claimed to have witnessed rebels using chemical weapons inside Syria, Yan Barakat claims to have traveled to Israel to explore making peace with the Jewish enemy. We know his claims about Syria are false. I’m reasonably certain his claims about Israel are as well.
If the Jerusalem Post had any journalistic integrity it would’ve demanded that Barakat provide evidence of the meetings he claimed he had with scores of Israelis during his visit. I’m virtually certain they didn’t do that before publishing and won’t do it now that his credibility has been shot to hell. The Post wanted to believe an Arab loves Israel. But a good rule of thumb is that if a story looks too good to be true, it probably isn’t. Understanding this requires care and skepticism, something the Post lacks when it comes to publishing stories by or about “good Arabs.”
What’s clear is that Ababneh/Barakat is a petty con man. Like all good con men he knows how to tell his audience what they want to hear. He also knows how to aggrandize himself with readers and probably get paid well for his troubles. It shouldn’t surprise us that he’s also an actor and has posted pictures of his performances on his social media accounts.
I think those who speculate why he might’ve worked for either Israeli or Jordanian intelligence regarding the Syria story are missing the point. A guy like this doesn’t work for one side alone. He works for whoever pays the best and most. One day it’s the Jerusalem Post or an intelligence agency, the next its Bashar al-Assad.
Look at it this way: the Syrian government knew it had a huge scandal breathing down its neck. What better way to diminish some of the momentum of the story than to put out a fake rebel CW counter-story. Until the world discovered it was a hoax, it would help counter the damage done by the Gouta disaster. Cynical you say? What intelligence agency isn’t cynical? And there are scores of provocateurs and self-promoters eager to jump on such a gravy train.
There’s also an interesting factor in Dale Gavlak’s connection to Israeli media. Besides working for AP, she’s also a writer for The Times of Israel (TOI). Though it’s possible that in its desperation for journalistic crediblity the publication has glommed onto anyone it publishes and calls them a TOI “writer,” when they’re not. Any story she’s written there (or anywhere else for that matter) should be scrutinized carefully to ensure she didn’t take any of the same shortcuts she took in publishing Ababneh’s nonsense.
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