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Film of Zimbabwe 'vote-rigging'
"New evidence of vote-rigging in last month's presidential election in Zimbabwe has emerged in the form of a secret film made by a prison guard. The guard, Shepherd Yuda, filmed the vote-rigging at his jail in a production for Guardian Films.
Prison officers, including Mr Yuda, who has now fled Zimbabwe, were forced to vote for President Robert Mugabe by superior officers. The officers organised a postal ballot and stood over them as they cast votes.
Mr Yuda decided to speak out after the murder of his uncle, an opposition activist, two months ago. He knew he and his family would have to leave Zimbabwe as a result.
"This election: I have never seen that type of violence," he says in the film. "The impact has left a lot of orphans; it has left a lot of people displaced. You cannot expect that from your government."
He secretly filmed a war veteran, Superintendent Shambira, watching as prison officers voted. Supt Shambira ensured they marked their ballots for Robert Mugabe, and not the opposition candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai. Supt Shambira then logged each vote against an identification number. There was no secrecy.
All those voting knew Supt Shambira had the power to condemn them as MDC supporters. Mr Yuda says he had no choice but to vote for Robert Mugabe. Mr Yuda also spoke to voters on the streets of Harare.
"They're standing right in front of you when you cast your vote," one voter told Mr Yuda. "They watch." The voter went on: "Shambira definitely sees you vote - there's no way of hiding it. I was thinking I could vote when he wasn't looking, but he was watching like a hawk."
Among the prisoners is Tendai Biti, a prominent opposition MP and human-rights lawyer. Mr Yuda filmed him having his leg-irons removed for a court hearing. Mr Biti, who is awaiting trial on treason charges, was released on bail, but could still face execution.
"You know, I was so touched: for a man of his status to be reduced to such levels, to be put in a criminal institution," Mr Yuda says in the film. "It's very, very sad."
Mr Yuda also captured conversations between prison guards in the run-up to the 27 June run-off election, as tension was increasing.
"In my area, there's a lot of tension," one guard tells him. "Zanu-PF (ruling party) thugs came to my house as soon as I left for work today. They abducted my wife. They took her to the base."
These "bases" are springing up in private houses all over Harare. Previously they were a feature of rural Zimbabwe; now they have reached the capital. Ordinary people are abducted and compelled to attend Zanu-PF re-education rallies.
"I am forced to go and guard these bases all through the night, after my shift here," another prison officer says. "They cordon off the whole street: it becomes a no-go area. These people are killers, the thugs that Zanu-PF are using."
And another guard says the rest of the world should do more to help Zimbabwe.
"It's in the hands of the international community now," he says. "[South African President] Thabo Mbeki has betrayed us. He didn't want to come down hard on Mugabe. Instead, he kept going on and on about pan-Africanism."
On election day itself, Mr Yuda films a woman who is so fearful that she has pretended to have voted. She colours her little finger with a pink marker, hoping to simulate the ink used to identify those who have already cast their ballots.
The day after Robert Mugabe's election, Shepherd Yuda and his family began packing, preparing to leave Zimbabwe. Their lives would have been in danger if they had stayed. They can only begin to think about returning once Mr Mugabe has gone." "New evidence of vote-rigging in last month's presidential election in Zimbabwe has emerged in the form of a secret film made by a pri... more -
Man rips off Hitler's head
A man tore the head from a controversial waxwork figure of Adolf Hitler on the opening day of Berlin's Madame Tussauds museum on Saturday, police said.
The 41-year-old man was arrested, the police added in a statement. A police spokesman said that the man ripped off the head in protest at the exhibit.
Only one ball and now headless. A man tore the head from a controversial waxwork figure of Adolf Hitler on the opening day of Berlin's Madame Tussauds museum on Satur... more -
The floating cities that could one day house climate refugees
At first glance, they look like a couple of giant inflatable garden chairs that have washed out to sea
But they are, apparently, the ultimate solution to rapidly rising sea levels.
This computer-generated image shows two floating cities, each with enough room for 50,000 inhabitants.
Based on the design of a lilypad, they could be used as a permanent refuge for those whose homes have been covered in water. Major cities including London, New York and Tokyo are seen as being at huge risk from oceans which could rise by as much as 3ft by the end of this century.
This solution, by the award-winning Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut, is designed to be a new place to live for those whose homelands have been wiped out.
The 'Lilypad City' would float around the world as an independent and fully self-sustainable home. With a lake at its centre to collect and purify rainwater, it would be accessed by three separate marinas and feature artificial mountains to offer the inhabitants a change of scenery from the seascape.
Power for the central accommodation hub is provided through a series of renewable energy sources including solar panels on the mountain sides, wind turbines and a power station to harness the energy of the waves.
Mr Callebaut said: 'The design of the city is inspired by the shape of the great Amazonia Victoria Regia lilypad. Some countries spend billions of pounds working on making their beaches and dams bigger and stronger.
'But the lilypad project is actually a long-term solution to the problem of the water rising.'
The architect, who has yet to estimate a cost for his design, added: 'It's an amphibious city without any roads or any cars. The whole city is covered by plants housed in suspended gardens.
'The goal is to create a harmonious coexistence of humans and nature.'
'And it has the other objective of providing housing for refugees from islands that have been submerged.'
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Well, it certainly is innovative, but I would have many questions about them if it ever came to be. Firstly, only holding 50,000 people, who would get picked to go on them? Also, what about security and provisions? Let us hope it doesn't get this far, although islands like Kiribati, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and islands near Bangladesh are already dangerously close to getting there. Would you live on one?
At first glance, they look like a couple of giant inflatable garden chairs that have washed out to sea ... more -
Human-pig hybrid embryos given go ahead
A licence to create human-pig embryos to study heart disease has been issued by the fertility watchdog.
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World Health Organization documents failure of US drug policies
The release of this article is telling. Many of the United States news organizations are spinning the data in the report to say that drug use is up across the world. The truth that is revealed in the article is simple. Countries with the strictest drug laws are also the countries with the highest drug use. Those countries with more tolerant drug laws show astonishingly lower rates of drug use.
"The numbers are startling. In the United States, 42.4 percent admitted having used marijuana. The only other nation that came close was New Zealand, another bastion of get-tough policies, at 41.9 percent. No one else was even close. The results for cocaine use were similar, with the United States leading the world by a large margin."
Our government officials are trying to play the report off by discrediting the World Health Organization.
Bloomberg News reported:
"The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy tried to dismiss the study.
Trying to find a link between drug use and drug enforcement doesn't make sense, said Tom Riley, spokesman for the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington. "The U.S. has high crime rates but we spend a lot on law enforcement and prison,'' Riley said yesterday in a telephone interview. "Should we spend less? We're just a different kind of country. We have higher drug use rates, a higher crime rate, many things that go with a highly free and mobile society."
It's about time Americans and the rest of the world wise up. Adults are smart. They can and should be allowed to pick and choose what they do with their lives and bodies. The things they consume and activities pursued in the privacy of the home are beyond the reach of law or government. The release of this article is telling. Many of the United States news organizations are spinning the data in the report to say that d... more -
Dollar has dropped 41% since Bush elected
The biggest concern at the G8 Meeting was that the dollar has dropped 41% since Bush stepped foot into office. The dollar’s decline, the housing crisis and high gas prices were also discussed and the effects on the world economy.
“Bush represents the worst-performing economy in the G-8 after Italy, with growth of 0.5 percent this year set to lag behind 1.6 percent in the UK, 1.4 percent in the Euro area, 1.4 percent in Japan and 1.3 percent in Canada, according to International Monetary Fund forecasts.” The biggest concern at the G8 Meeting was that the dollar has dropped 41% since Bush stepped foot into office. The dollar’s decline, t... more -
Bush speech interrupted
A speech given by President Bush today at Monticello was interrupted by protestors.
As he is interrupted, Bush ad-libs "We believe in free speech in the United States of America."
To me, this comes off as sarcastic. You know he really just wants them to sit down and shut up.
What brave people and what a good day to exercise free speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEFISpoeGSs A speech given by President Bush today at Monticello was interrupted by protestors. ... more -
A national speed limit of 55 MPH?
An influential Republican senator suggested Thursday that Congress might want to consider reimposing a national speed limit to save gasoline and possibly ease fuel prices.
Sen. John Warner, R-Va., asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to look into what speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology. He said he wants to know if the administration might support efforts in Congress to require a lower speed limit.
Congress in 1974 set a national 55 mph speed limit because of energy shortages caused by the Arab oil embargo. The speed limit was repealed in 1995 when crude oil dipped to $17 a barrel and gasoline cost $1.10 a gallon.
As motorists headed on trips for this Fourth of July weekend, gasoline averaged $4.10 a gallon nationwide with oil hovering around $145 a barrel.
Warner cited studies that showed the 55 mph speed limit saved 167,000 barrels of oil a day, or 2 percent of the country's highway fuel consumption, while avoiding up to 4,000 traffic deaths a year. An influential Republican senator suggested Thursday that Congress might want to consider reimposing a national speed limit to save ga... more -
How a giant solar tower could power the future
A new energy concept called a solar tower could generate enough electricity for 200,000 homes. Looking like a giant smokestack, it would release no noxious fumes — just sun-heated air.
Demonstrated more than 20 years ago, the basic design calls for solar collectors to warm the air near Earth's surface and then channel it up the tall central tower. Turbines placed at the bottom make electricity from the updraft.
"It's a combination chimney, windmill, greenhouse," said Kim Forté of EnviroMission Limited in South Melbourne, Australia.
EnviroMission has designed a kilometer-high solar tower (0.62 miles) and is now looking at possible sites in the southwestern United States.
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Click on the tower for the full article. A new energy concept called a solar tower could generate enough electricity for 200,000 homes. Looking like a giant smokestack, it wou... more -
Bozo the clown dead at 83
Larry Harmon, who turned the character Bozo the Clown into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century, died Thursday of congestive heart failure. He was 83.
Although not the original Bozo, Harmon portrayed the popular frizzy-haired clown in countless appearances.
His publicist, Jerry Digney, told The Associated Press he died at his home.
Although not the original Bozo, Harmon portrayed the popular frizzy-haired clown in countless appearances and, as an entrepreneur, he licensed the character to others, particularly dozens of TV stations around the country. The stations in turn hired actors to be their local Bozos.
"You might say, in a way, I was cloning BTC (Bozo the Clown) before anybody else out there got around to cloning DNA," Harmon told the AP in a 1996 interview.
"Bozo is a combination of the wonderful wisdom of the adult and the childlike ways in all of us," Harmon said.
Pinto Colvig, who also provided the voice for Walt Disney's Goofy, originated Bozo the Clown when Capitol Records introduced a series of children's records in 1946. Harmon would later meet his alter ego while answering a casting call to make personal appearances as a clown to promote the records.
He got that job and eventually bought the rights to Bozo. Along the way, he embellished Bozo's distinctive look: the orange-tufted hair, the bulbous nose, the outlandish red, white and blue costume.
"I felt if I could plant my size 83AAA shoes on this planet, (people) would never be able to forget those footprints," he said.
The business -- combining animation, licensing of the character, and personal appearances -- made millions, as Harmon trained more than 200 Bozos over the years to represent him in local markets.
"I'm looking for that sparkle in the eyes, that emotion, feeling, directness, warmth. That is so important," he said of his criteria for becoming a Bozo
Larry Harmon, who turned the character Bozo the Clown into a show business staple that delighted children for more than a half-century... more -
Judge rejects Bush’s view on wiretaps
By: Eric Lichtblau
A federal judge in California said Wednesday that the wiretapping law established by Congress was the “exclusive” means for the president to eavesdrop on Americans, and he rejected the government’s claim that the president’s constitutional authority as commander in chief trumped that law.
The judge, Vaughn R. Walker, the chief judge for the Northern District of California, made his findings in a ruling on a lawsuit brought by an Oregon charity. The group says it has evidence of an illegal wiretap used against it by the National Security Agency under the secret surveillance program established by President Bush after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The Justice Department has tried for more than two years to kill the lawsuit, saying any surveillance of the charity or other entities was a “state secret” and citing the president’s constitutional power as commander in chief to order wiretaps without a warrant from a court under the agency’s program.
But Judge Walker, who was appointed to the bench by former President George Bush, rejected those central claims in his 56-page ruling. He said the rules for surveillance were clearly established by Congress in 1978 under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which requires the government to get a warrant from a secret court.
“Congress appears clearly to have intended to — and did — establish the exclusive means for foreign intelligence activities to be conducted,” the judge wrote. “Whatever power the executive may otherwise have had in this regard, FISA limits the power of the executive branch to conduct such activities and it limits the executive branch’s authority to assert the state secrets privilege in response to challenges to the legality of its foreign intelligence surveillance activities.”
Judge Walker’s voice carries extra weight because all the lawsuits involving telephone companies that took part in the N.S.A. program have been consolidated and are being heard in his court.
Jon Eisenberg, a lawyer for Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, the plaintiff in the case, said the legal issues Judge Walker’s ruling raised were significant. “He’s saying FISA makes the rules and the president is bound by those rules,” Mr. Eisenberg said.
A Justice Department official said the department was reviewing the opinion late Wednesday and would consider its options.
Officials at Al-Haramain say they were mistakenly given a government document revealing the N.S.A. operation. The Federal Bureau of Investigation demanded the document back, and Judge Walker’s ruling made it more difficult for Al-Haramain to use what it claims to have seen . But he refused to throw out the lawsuit, giving the charity’s lawyers 30 days to restructure their claim. “We still have our foot in the door,” Mr. Eisenberg said. “The clock is a minute to midnight, but we’ve been there before and survived.”
The ruling comes as the Senate is overhauling the foreign intelligence law. The measure would reaffirm FISA as the exclusive means for the president to order wiretaps through court warrants, but it would also provide legal immunity to phone companies involved in the eavesdropping program. A vote could come Tuesday.
The immunity issue would not directly affect this lawsuit because Al-Haramain is suing the government, not the phone companies. But the nearly 40 other lawsuits against phone companies that Judge Walker is overseeing would almost certainly have to be dismissed if immunity is signed into law, legal analysts say.
By: Eric Lichtblau ... more -
Barack Obama: My Position On FISA
Senator Obama explains why he is supporting the FISA compromise.
"...I also believe that the compromise bill is far better than the Protect America Act that I voted against last year. The exclusivity provision makes it clear to any president or telecommunications company that no law supersedes the authority of the FISA court. In a dangerous world, government must have the authority to collect the intelligence we need to protect the American people. But in a free society, that authority cannot be unlimited."
"Democracy cannot exist without strong differences. And going forward, some of you may decide that my FISA position is a deal breaker. That's ok. But I think it is worth pointing out that our agreement on the vast majority of issues that matter outweighs the differences we may have. After all, the choice in this election could not be clearer. Whether it is the economy, foreign policy, or the Supreme Court, my opponent has embraced the failed course of the last eight years, while I want to take this country in a new direction. Make no mistake: if John McCain is elected, the fundamental direction of this country that we love will not change."
Link above for the whole article. Senator Obama explains why he is supporting the FISA compromise. ... more -
Species extinction underestimated: species could be wiped out 100 times faster
Endangered species could become extinct 100 times faster than estimated. According to scientists, methods previously used to predict when species will die out are not accurate and dramatically underestimate the speed at which species become extinct.
Species such as the western gorilla, the Sumatran tiger and the Malayan sun bear may become extinct much sooner than feared. According to ecologist Brett Melbourne, "some species could have months instead of years left, while other species that haven't even been identified as under threat yet should be listed as endangered."
One of the factors overlooked in previous attempts to predict extinction risks is the proportion of males compared with females in a population and the differences in reproductive success between individuals in a group. As soon as these factors were included by scientists, it emerged that the threat of extinction could be imminent. "The older models could be severely overestimating the time to extinction. Some species could go extinct 100 times sooner than we expect," Melbourne said.
According to a 200y IUCN report, more than 16,000 species worldwide are threatened with extinction. An updated list will be published in October. Endangered species could become extinct 100 times faster than estimated. According to scientists, methods previously used to predict w... more -
Wisconsin gays face jail if they marry in California
If same-sex couples from Wisconsin go to California to get married, they may face a $10,000 fine, 9 months in jail, or both.
"Wisconsin law makes it a criminal offense to enter into a marriage outside the state if that marriage were illegal in Wisconsin. The law was passed decades ago to prevent underage couples from crossing state lines to marry, but it could be used against same-sex couples, Glenn Carlson of Fair Wisconsin told The Capital Times newspaper in Madison."
Wisconsin voters approved a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in 2006.
While no one has been prosecuted under the law, Lambda Legal (the gay and lesbian legal association that fights for equal rights) posted a warning to Wisconsin residents on their website http://www.lambdalegal.org/publications/factsheets/fs_m...
Other states, including Delaware have laws prohibiting residents from circumventing state law by traveling to another state, but Wisconsin's punishment is the harshest. If same-sex couples from Wisconsin go to California to get married, they may face a $10,000 fine, 9 months in jail, or both. ... more -
Pregnant man gives birth to baby girl
Infamous pregnant transgender man Thomas Beatie, 34, gave birth to a health baby girl on Sunday. According to a source, Beatie gave birth naturally and reports that he had a caesarean section are false.
Beatie was born female, but has been living as a man for several years and has legally changed his gender from female to male. He has also had his breasts surgically removed and has taken hormones in order to aid the transition process. However, having kept his female reproductive organs, he decided to give birth after it became evident that his wife, Nancy, was not able to have any more biological children. He was impregnated with sperm from an anonymous donor.
Beatie made headlines when first pictures of the 'pregnant man' appeared in April. In a controversial interview with Oprah, he famously declared that he thinks it is his 'right' to have a biological child even though he is a man. Infamous pregnant transgender man Thomas Beatie, 34, gave birth to a health baby girl on Sunday. According to a source, Beatie gave bi... more -
Women 'can't have casual sex like men': Daily Mail joins the women-bashing
Lock up your daughters, sisters, mums and mates! Casual sex can finally be revealed in all it's destructive glory by (wait for it...) The Daily Mail. Women, be warned.
Last week a report was unveiled that claimed women 'feel bad' after casual sex and are emotionally damaged by one-night stands, so they'd damn well better stop doing it. http://www.metro.co.uk/metrosexual/article.html?in_arti...
And now the Daily Mail has wheeled out some poor damaged girls to share their sob stories, and ram that moral lesson a little further down our throats. That's right people: the DM has Proved The Scientists Right.
One of the Mail's doe-eyed victims of the sexual revolution was apparently left feeling "worthless" and "emotionally destroyed" after a one-night stand, but it's ok, cos she understands now that men and women are *just different* and she's taken a vow of celibacy as a result.
And - how convenient! - the researcher cites basic, evolutionary biology as the reason that women just can't handle a one-nighter.
The DM can confirm that - lucky old things! - men are no more than their basic biological impulse to get down and dirty with anything that moves in order to spread their seed while women are better suited to... Well, staying at home, taking care of the kids, enjoying the odd monogamous shag when him indoors fancies meting it out, and seeming more attractive to said promiscuous male as a result.
Now, I *know* the Daily Mail's advice is in my best interests, but I just can't get my head around the idea (perhaps I need to think about it over the ironing) that because I'm a woman I'll naturally respond like the 'majority' of women to a one night stand (and 58% isn't much of a majority). Perhaps it's buried in my subconscious and I'm just too irrational to recognise it but, unless I'm confusing myself, I don't recall having responded to many experiences like *every other woman* in the world, just as I can't quite remember having responded to any given scenario like every other brunette, or every other bisexual woman, or every other deaf person.
The Mail's totally unbiased reporting tips the balance in this argument though - not only will putting it about with a number of 'Mr Wrongs' make you feel like crap, but it'll decrease your chances of ever meeting 'Mr Right' too! It's clearly not worth the risk. Thank you Daily Mail, for showing me the error of my ways.
Now where's that chastity belt... Oh yes. It's in the BIN. Along with any copies of the Daily Mail ever to have existed.
Lock up your daughters, sisters, mums and mates! Casual sex can finally be revealed in all it's destructive glory by (wait for it...) ... more -
Best evidence yet that being gay is not a choice
Brain scans show that homosexuality is a biologically fixed trait with the brains of lesbians resembling straight men and gay male brains resembling those of straight women.
As reported by New Scientist:
The scans reveal that in gay people, key structures of the brain governing emotion, mood, anxiety and aggressiveness resemble those in straight people of the opposite sex.
The differences are likely to have been forged in the womb or in early infancy, says Ivanka Savic, who conducted the study at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
"This is the most robust measure so far of cerebral differences between homosexual and heterosexual subjects," she says.
The results showed that straight men had asymmetric brains, with the right hemisphere slightly larger – and the gay women also had this asymmetry. Gay men, meanwhile, had symmetrical brains like those of straight women.
(Check out the full article on newscientist.com after the link. Fascinating stuff) Brain scans show that homosexuality is a biologically fixed trait with the brains of lesbians resembling straight men and gay male bra... more -
Need to spruce up your ladyparts? Worry not - the vagina spa is here
A New York gynaecologist has opened the world's first va-jay-jay spa, a "uniquely feminine MedSpa destination" that offers vaginal workouts (with your own *private* exercise coach), pelvic fitness assessments, labial contouring, and the obligatory vaginal rejuvenation surgery that will help women tighten it all up down there.
“If you can vote and you have a vagina, you should do these [exercises],” says Dr Lauri J Romanzi, the founder of Phit (they called it Phit!?). “It’s the dental floss of feminine fitness,” apparently.
Now, I'm not quite sure how political engagement and pumping internal muscles go together (nor vaginas and dental floss, frankly), but it's a nice idea, and I bet women are flocking to the 'spa' like droopy-muffed moths to a flame.
Like there aren't enough things wrong with us that we need to fix already.
A New York gynaecologist has opened the world's first va-jay-jay spa, a "uniquely feminine MedSpa destination" that offers vaginal wor... more -
Judge orders YouTube to give all user histories to Viacom
Google will have to turn over every record of every video watched by YouTube users, including users' names and IP addresses, to Viacom, which is suing Google for allowing clips of its copyright videos to appear on YouTube, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Viacom wants the data to prove that infringing material is more popular than user-created videos, which could be used to increase Google's liability if it is found guilty of contributory infringement.
Viacom filed suit against Google in March 2007, seeking more than $1 billion in damages for allowing users to upload clips of Viacom's copyright material. Google argues that the law provides a safe harbor for online services so long as they comply with copyright takedown requests.
Although Google argued that turning over the data would invade its users' privacy, the judge's ruling (.pdf) described that argument as "speculative" and ordered Google to turn over the logs on a set of four tera-byte hard drives.
The judge also turned Google's own defense of its data retention policies -- that IP addresses of computers aren't personally revealing in and of themselves, against it to justify the log dump.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has already reacted, calling the order a violation of the Video Privacy Protection act that "threatens to expose deeply private information."
The order also requires Google to turn over copies of all videos that it has taken down for any reason.
Viacom also requested YouTube's source code, the code for identifying repeat copyright infringement uploads, copies of all videos marked private, and Google's advertising database schema.
Those requests were denied in whole, except that Google will have to turn over data about how often each private video has been watched and by how many persons. Google will have to turn over every record of every video watched by YouTube users, including users' names and IP addresses, to Viaco... more -
Wal-Mart faces $2 billion in labor law violations
"A Minnesota judge has ruled that Wal-Mart Stores Inc violated state wage and hour laws, requiring employees to work off the clock, and the discount retailer could now face more than $2 billion in possible fines."
Another example of Big Business breaking the law. I have a feeling Wal-Mart won[t get away with this one, however, I also have a feeling they won't see a drop in profits as a result of these criminal acts "A Minnesota judge has ruled that Wal-Mart Stores Inc violated state wage and hour laws, requiring employees to work off the clock, an... more
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