HellBroadCast: Welcome To The World!

Moving Blog...

2007-06-03T18:21:00.001+03:00

For no apparent reason, really, I've began moving this blog, HellBroadCast, to Wordpress. In the transition, the name of the blog has also changed.

HellBroadCast will henceforth be known as Hellipsis. The new blog is available at http://hellipsis.wordpress.com.

The RSS feed address has also changed, and will (very soon) be at http://hellipsis.wordpress.com/feed/

See you there for more social and political stupidity!

Mad Cow Antics: Bush Administration vs Consumer Health

2007-06-03T17:07:00.001+03:00

"The Bush Administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease."

Um, what?

So, the U.S. Government is willingly and publicly hindering, even banning, the testing of cows for a disease which is accountable for over 150 deaths, mostly in Britain?

Yes, that mad cow disease. The same one that forced British officials to slaughter and burn numerous cows in fear of human casulties. The same disease that practically halted all exports of British beef, notably to France.

So not exactly the bovine version of the common cold.

With a disease such as mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), one would assume that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) would be rigorously testing American cows for the disease, right?

Wrong. The USDA only tests a mere 1 percent of slaughtered cows for the disease (by comparison, Japan tests 100% of its cattle). Did I happen to mention that the disease may be fatal to humans who consume tainted beef, or to those who handle the tainted beef? Surely the low percentage of testing is an indication of no worry of BSE in America, a mere precaution?

Wrong again. There have been three confirmed cases of BSE withing the United States; a cow imported from Canada to Washington state (2003), a cow born in Texas (2005), and an Alabama cow(2006).

Then what on earth could be the reasoning behind the Bush Administration's fight to keep the cows untested? Money, plain and simple.

A beef produces in Kansas, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wanted to test all its cows, using the same test that the USDA relies on. Great! Don't you want your beef tested for a potentially fatal disease?

The Bush Administration and large meat companies don't want your steak tested. Were the beef producer in Kansas to be allowed to test its meat and advertise is as safe, the large meat companies would have to follow suit, performing expensive tests on their much much larger herds.

In addition, according to the USDA, which regulates the testing, widespread testing could lead to a false positive that would harm the meat industry.

Um, Washington state, Texas, Alabama...?

So a false positive may hurt the meat industry, but a positive hit doesn't? I don't understand... Japan is the number one importer of U.S. beef, and after the 2003 finding of BSE in America, Japan seized imports of U.S. beef for two years, until giving in to political pressure from the U.S..

Is the USDA thinking that a mere 3 cases of BSE within the continental United States (compared to over 180,000 cases in the United Kingdom) is not substantial enough to warrant the initiation of necessary precautions to counter even the possibility of an outbreak of BSE in the American meat industry? An outbreak, mind you, that would cost the American meat industry substantially more than the testing of cows for the disease. This is America we're talking about, the land of lawsuits. Upon the first death of a meateater, and subsequent lawsuit, due to variant Creuztfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), a fatal disease in humans which BSE is noted to cause in humans, the American meat industry stands to lose quite a bit of money and business. There has already been one death linked to BSE-related vCJD in the United States, but that victim had acquired the disease upon living or visiting the United Kingdom. As a simpler description, vCJD is a brain-wasting disease, and a nasty one at that.

To add to the head-scratching here, keep in mind that in March 2007, a federal judge ruled that such tests must be allowed. The law was to take effect a few days ago, on June 1st, but the USDA appealed.

Is the Bush Administration and the USDA looking out for your best interest and health, or are they leaning towards the companies, the money contributors?

Read more about bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_cow_disease

Sources:
Daily Kos http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/5/30/143539/136
.commonsense http://commonsense.ourfuture.org/e_coli_conservatism_19_ne_plus_ultra
International Herald Tribune http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/05/29/america/NA-GEN-US-Mad-Cow.php

Effective At Midnight: Smoking Barred In Bars In Finland

2007-05-31T22:13:00.000+03:00

2007 is the year of social change in Finland.

Smokers: have you ever sat at a bar with a bunch of friends, beer in one hand, a cigarette in the other? Of course you have. It seems so natural to have something in each hand, doesn't it?

Some places around the world have already banned smoking in bars and such, notably Ireland, a country known for its pub culture. Finland is now on that list, effective June 1st, 2007.

That's why I'm sitting at a bar right now, chain smoking for the last few hours before midnight, when the comes into effect. Foolish? Yes. Addicted? Yes.

More than a physical addiction, the new law destroys a part of my social interaction. Beer in one hand, a cigarette in the other. Spending hours at a bar with friends, playing cards, smoking, drinking, getting up only to get more to drink or to go to the bathroom. No more.

Once the day changes into Friday June 1st at midnight, things change. To be precise, the law states that:
-Smoking is banned in all licensed premises (bars, restaurants, cafes, clubs, etc...);
-The law affects all licensed premises, regardless of size of type of license;
-Smoking within such establishments is only allowed if the said establishment has built a smoking "box", an enclosed, well ventilated room, for the sole purpose of being a room in which customers can smoke;
-The smoking room is off-limits to all drink and food, as well as all other kinds of entertainment;
-Workers are not allowed into the box, except in emergencies (fire, medical assistance to customer), or for security reasons (fight erupts in box, or customer is consuming alcohol or food in the smoking box;
-Cleaners are only allowed into the box after it has been thoroughly ventilated;
-The law does not apply to terraces or patios of establishments, but owners and workers of said establishments must make sure that no second-hand smoke enters the establishment through open windows or doors, or ventilation ducts.

The purpose of this law is to protect restaurant and bar workers from being exposed to second-hand smoke at work. The law also protects non-smoking customers from the same exposure.

70 establishments have filed for a two-year transfer period to the smoking ban, whilst a mere 20 establishments have filed for the permit to build the smoking room. The two-year transfer period is only granted to establishments which fill the requirements of the law, such as having a low level of nicotine and other chemicals in the air, hand in hand with proper ventilation, in accordance with city building laws and health laws.

It's an established fact that smoking increases the risk of cancer. Common knowledge.
Now that countries are rushing to enact anti-smoking laws, it's ironic timing for the IARC, a part of the World Health Organization to release a study stating that alcohol is a category 1 cancer risk substance. (Read the study at http://www.iarc.fr/ENG/Press_Releases/pr175a.html). Great timing...

So, how will this affect the Finns? Remember that we're big drinkers, and bars are a packed on the weekends, as well as on wednesdays.

Here's what I see happening: Bars and clubs will lose business initially. Smokers will move their drinking to their homes, as well as parks and forests. Supermarkets and breweries will see their profits rise from the sale of alcohol. Bars will start to increase the comfortability of terraces, a huge venue of profit for any bar with one. As terraces are always packed during the summer months, bars will look to increasing them in capacity and entertainment. Small neighbourhood bars will start to face bankruptcy. Going clubbing will be chaos. (If you have to leave your jacket at the cloakroom during the colder months, and you can only smoke outside, how is that supposed to work out?)

Although the smoking ban makes life a little more difficult for smokers, eventually the whole bar life should become more enjoyable for all, as bars will have to come up with ingenious ways of drawing in the missing customers.

Personally, as a smoker, I half welcome this new law for health reasons, half denounce it as government interference into personal life choices of people.

Then again, I'm leaning towards the positive look on the issue... One, it'll save me money. Less smoking, less drinking. Two, quitting smoking will become easier. Three, new possibilities. And finally, for now, my social repertoire will expand beyond sitting at bars, drinking and playing cards...

A free table on the smoking side at a bar is usually the number one requirement for me entering the establishment. Now, with this new law, I'll be able to go to bars I've never gone to before, because they didn't have a smoking side, or no space at such area. Things will be different now.

It'll be interesting to see in this country which will come out on top: the bar atmosphere or the smoking. On one hand, smokers can now abide by the new law and conform to not smoking in the bar, or they'll stay at home, buying their beer from the supermarkets.

As irony, now that consumption of store-purchased alcohol will be on the rise, especially that of beer, the price of beer will go up soon, and the sale of alcohol in quantity will cease (no more 12packs... See my earlier post about the new alcohol laws in Finland...)

So, how will this really affect us? That remains to be seen... This will be a summer of packed terraces and empty bars... Which makes this summer interesting, seeing as the terraces are always full every summer. Maybe the terrace season will expand to cover the entire year, including the rainy fall days and the -30 degree winter days... Heated, covered terraces in December, complete with live music? Who knows? Maybe my promise of quitting smoking by the year's end will actually happen...

FEMA: Lessons Not Learned From Katrina

2007-05-30T23:11:00.001+03:00

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) turned away willing volunteer workers.

The (botched) rescue operation managed by FEMA exposed the inadequasies of the agency. Lesson learned?

On Friday, May 4, an F5 tornado wiped the town of Greensburg, Kansas, almost entirely off the map.

Naturally, FEMA arrived at the scene of the disaster, to take control of the situation. So did willing volunteers, ready to assist in the rescue and recovery operation. So, had FEMA learned from Katrina? Hardly.

FEMA demanded that Greensburg needed to be "secured" before the area could be opened to real recovery efforts.

As hundreds of volunteers waited for over a week to be allowed to assist at the disaster area, hundreds of police from dozens of Kansas jurisdictions entered the city to establish a virtual police state.

In the immediate rescue and recovery, FEMA and local police worked to find survivors and the dead, as well as all and any firearms in the city.

Take into account that this is central Kansas, a region with extremely high legal gun ownership. Of the over 350 firearms confiscated by police immediately after the storm, only a third have been returned to their owners, leaving the firepower squarely in control of the state. And the Second Amendment is supposed to allow people to carry arms, protecting themselves from the government...

FEMA's mission was to safeguard the property of businesses in the area (I can see it now: bureaucrats in suits and National Guardsmen standing next to a pile of rubble, scratching their heads) and offer "low interest" loans to property owners affected. The National Guard was on hand as well to act as the enforcement mechanism for FEMA, while occasionally hauling debris and garbage out of the city.

FEMA eventually let the rescue volunteers into the town, all the while keeping a close eye and a tight leash on them.

So yet again, FEMA botched a rescue operation with its ineptitude. The most mind-boggling stupidity from FEMA came in the distribution of information to the affected residents. After a week at the scene, all that FEMA could offer them was a packet of information. The packet, however, had to be mailed to the recipients, and they had no mailing address, let alone a mailbox...

So, in short:
-A massive tornado wipes out your home and town;
-The government sends in the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to provide relief and assistance;
-Hundreds of volunteers offer their assistance;
-The rescue and recovery work begins immediately, and the rebuilding gets underway as soon as the danger is over and the rubble cleared.

Looks good in writing, doesn't it? Let's look at what happened instead:
-A massive tornado wipes out your home and town;
-The government sends in a headless chicken, to provide relief and assistance;
-Hundreds of volunteers offer their assistance;
-FEMA rejects the offers of help, asking instead for money;
-Local law enforcement and the National Guard gather up all firearms they can find;
-After a week or so since the tornado visited town, FEMA, after a long period of silence, mails you an information package;
-The package never reaches you, as the mailman is searching the fields in the next county, looking for your mailbox;
-Finally, the volunteers are let in, yet aren't really allowed to do much, and are closely supervised;
-Your town is a pile of rubble, and you now live in a mold-infested trailer, courtesy of FEMA (if they have any to spare, seeing as most of them are in the South, populated by the former citizens of New Orleans). Maybe you get a tent;
-The government grants you a "low interest" loan, when you have just lost everything. Hence, the government is making money off of your loss, all the while making your financial and personal recovery slower. This way the government gets you at your weakest and makes you pay more interest on the loan as it takes you longer to get back on your feet;
-After a short while, you're on your own, rebuilding with the help of the volunteers who were kept away from you in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. FEMA, local authorities, the National Guard, and the Government have forgotten you...

How many mishandled rescue and recovery missions can FEMA be allowed to maintain like this? Why can't willing volunteers be allowed to assist when they are needed the most?
Hurricane Season is just around the corner...

Sources:
http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2007/05/18/after-tornado-fema-disarms-town-turns-away-help/trackback/
http://www.reason.com/blog/show/120276.html

Study Suggests Executing Illegals

2007-05-30T19:40:00.001+03:00

America's fight with the illegal immigrant problem continues. On one hand, the illegals could be granted amnesty, led on the path to citizenship, or they could all be deported to their individual county of origin. A new study suggests a third way. Execution.

Marty Kaplan at The Huffington Post reports on a new study by The Institute for Human Dignity, a Washington-based research center (not associated with the Institute for Human Dignity). The report, titled 'A Modest Proposal', suggests that executing illegal immigrants would have a significantly positive input on the American economy.

Providing amnesty for the estimated 12 million illegal immigrants would cost billions of dollars in lost jobs for American citizens, the study found. Which in itself isn't a big shocker, as thousands of American jobs are already being moved out of the country in search of cheap labor. With amnesty for illegals, those jobs would also be lost within the country.

With time, the hiring of cheap, legal, labor within America would cease to be profitable, and you'd see former illegals complaining that they are losing their jobs to their cousins and brothers back home in Mexico, who'll do the job for less.

Would that make the former illegals, now citizens or prospective citizens, want to run back home to more jobs? 12 million new workers in America would raise the level of unemployment, forcing some of the workers to leave their new home to fly back to where they came from for the job they just had.

Executions, on the other game, would create am estimated 1.2 million new jobs in the penal sector, as well as reducing the tax burden on Americans who provide schooling and other services for there former aliens.

The figure of 1.2 million new jobs does not take into account the additional stimulus to the news and entertainment sector. We'd be talking executions no primetime television, sponsored by the leading tobacco companies as well as funeral home operators. Maybe even Taco Bell...
Read the original post from Marty Kaplan at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marty-kaplan/kill-illegals-study_b_48788.html

Note: You might also be interested in Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" from 1729, an educational tale of how the poor children of Ireland could seize to be a burden to their parents and become beneficial to the community. The story suggests that the parents should eat their own children...

TSA Humor

2007-05-30T18:21:00.001+03:00

Here's a few laughs at the expense of the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), courtesy of Schneier On Security (http://www.schneier.com/blog/).

TSA Cartoon:
http://www.clarionledger.com/misc/blogs/mramsey/uploaded_images/bilde-2-780665.jpg

Saturday Night Live TSA skit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykzqFz_nHZE

Global Warming Hits Finland

2007-05-29T18:14:00.000+03:00

Tuesday, May 29th, 2007, 4pm.
30.4 degrees Celcius in the shade.
Location: Espoo, Finland.

No, this is not a joke.
This is global warming.

It is NEVER this hot in May in Finland. And not just hot. It's really humid too. The weather forecast for this week is rain and thunder, between 12 and 23 degrees centigrade. Every day. Instead, I'm sweating like a pig on a large open flame.

We're used to two kinds of summer here in Finland: wet and cold, or hot and dry. Usually both during the same summer months.

This year, the summer started early. It feels like the hottest days of summer. In May. The only exception is the unforeseen humidity. The unbearable humidity. We're used to dry heat.

As for the rain and thunder, the forecast wasn't completely off the mark. True, on mention of the burning sun and sweltering heat, but there's pain almost every day. Yet, it's not the summer rain that we're used to. It's tropical.

Take the last few days for example. It has been unbearably humid since about Friday. Yet sunny and warm every day.

Truth be told, the weather has been quite peculiar for the last week or so.

Friday evening and night was really misty in Espoo.

Saturday it rained in the morning, while late evening brought with it a severe thunderstorm that cut power and TV transmissions around Finland. Initially, it was thunder without rain. Then came the rain, pouring down on us. Hard. During the day was sunny.

Sunday was hot, with a cool breeze at most times. The papers were predicting that the heat (helle in Finnish...) was coming soon. More rain.

Monday was another got day, hitting some 27ish degrees at best. The late afternoon brought a few surprises with it. A rolling clap thunder which lasted some 10 seconds. Then five minutes of silence from above. Then another rolling clap of thunder, accompanied with 5 minutes of rain. Naturally, we we're outside at Seurasaari at the time, looking for squirrels to feed. After the rain, the rest of the day was nice and sunny, slightly cloudy. Ok weather for sitting at a terrace drinking a beer.

Today, Tuesday has been tropical. The kind of weather when you'd rather sit inside at home or an air-conditioned bar than be outside, with the exception of being at the beach...

The summer has started with a bang, a flash of heat that doesn't seem to go away. And it's only the end of May. Warn your grandparents, it's going to be a hot summer. In the mean time, it's time to bring out the shorts and bikinis, and enjoy this unusual weather.

Don't forget the suntan lotion!

(My prediction for the summer, all over Europe: death from heat exhaustion. The summer of 2003 was hot, and thousands of old people perished, especially in France. No need to travel to the tropics, because the tropics are coming to us this summer. And America, prepare for Katrina The Sequel... This might really be the summer when everyone realizes that global warming is not a myth...)

Technical Difficulties

2007-04-17T20:26:00.001+02:00

There haven't been any updates or new posts recently on my blogs, due to techical difficulties. Namely, I can't fully access the internet through my phone because the screen is messed up and I can't see what I'm doing. The reason I'm not using a computer is because I don't have one. My cell phone is my computer, and a crappy one at that too...

I do most of my blogging from my phone, only using a computer to do finishing touches to the posts, whenever I can. Thanks to Opera Mini and RSS feeds, I'm able to follow the news all the time, yet recently it's been difficult to do so as my phone is slowly but surely breathing it's last breaths.

Things will change soon, as I'm finally getting a new phone, the Nokia N95, sometime next week. Hopefully. Well, according to Nokia, it's not a cell phone. It's a multimedia computer. Which is just fine with me, because for me my phone is my computer. And this phone has it all.

So, my blogging will continue at the beginning of May. Stay tuned...

"Warning: Flying Causes Climate Change"

2007-04-06T12:26:00.000+02:00

Health warning labels, much like those on cigarette packs in various countries around the world, may eventually be attached to advertisements for flights or holidays that include air travel, to remind passengers of the global warming crisis.

A leading British think-tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), suggested over the Easter holidays that such warnings would make people think twice about the impact their holiday has on the environment.

According to the IPPR, "the evidence that aviation damages the atmosphere is just as clear as the evidence that smoking kills...we know that smokers notice health warnings on cigarettes, and we have to tackle our addiction to flying in the same way."

True, smokers notice the warning labels, initially finding them annoying, then getting accustomed to them. They really have little effect on a smoker. Sure, it 'might' deter a few people from starting to smoke in the first place, but for people who have smoked for some time, they have little effect. (Some cigarette packs in Finland state "Smoking is addictive. Don't start", which is a bit too late for the majority of smokers who see the warning. In addition, some of the duty-free cigarette cartons on sale around Europe are contradicting. At a duty-free shop on a cruise ship from Finland to Sweden, I say two different makes of cigarettes, next to each other, one saying "Smoking Can Kill", while the other said "Smoking Kills".)

The warning labels on holiday ads will have a similar, yet profoundly lesser of an effect on flyers. With smoking, you have a choice of smoking or not smoking. With flying, there are instances when you have really have little choice.

Smoking is (usually) a personal choice, whereas flying is at times a necessity, or atleast an cheaper and easier alternative to expensive and slower means of travel, such as cars, buses and boats.

While it's well known that smoking has ill effects on a smoker's health, and health warning labels may be in the right place on cigarette packs, slapping a warning label on ads for holidays seems to be slight overkill.

If the only reason for these warnings is merely to raise public consciousness about the correlation between flying and global warning, a little sticker on a large poster of bikini-clad girls on a beach in Tahiti will not be noticed by most people.

It seems that this whole issue of warning labels on ads for holidays is just a continuation of the global warning awareness craze that seems to be gripping the western world right now. (Now we just need people to get with the program and actually start doing something about the issue, more than just banning incandescent light bulbs and plastic grocery bags...)

If this health-conscious and global warming-scared society really wants to get real on the health warning labels, why not slap those things on everything that actually is bad for humans and the environment. How's about these ideas?:

CARS: "Driving fast might cause you to wrap your car around a tree." (Placed on the inside of the front windshield.)

GUNS: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people. With guns. And bullets. So guns are bad."

KNIVES: "Caution: Inserting the sharp end in another human being might be fatal."

ALCOHOL: "Drinking alcohol may cause you do something stupidly fatal." (Actually, a law requiring health warning labels on all alcoholic beverages will come into effect in Finland by January 2008. Check out this blog post for more info on the issue)

RAZOR BLADES: "Shaving too close to the jugular is not suggested. Also, do not digest."

PLAYING CARDS: "Gambling May Damage Your Bank Account."

DONKEYS: "More people are killed annually by donkeys than die in airplane crashes."

The point here is that slapping a sticker/label on something detrimental to one's health is not always the best way to go about saving humanity. Are we just waiting for a warning ticket to show up plastered on the side of the 747 you were supposed to fly to Tahiti with? Slapping a sticker on harmful items doesn't save the world...

Source:

UK policy body wants health warnings on flights - Yahoo! News

Hurricane Katrina v.2.0 Could Be On It's Way This Summer

2007-04-02T15:19:00.001+02:00

The U.S. Gulf Coast could be facing Katrina-esque Hurricanes this coming Hurricane Season, which lasts from June to November.

Although the 2006 season was distinctly milder than previously predicted, the coming 2007 season could threaten the Gulf with several high intensity storms.

Even a single high intensity storm hitting the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, which is still rebuilding after almost two years Katrina, could have devastating effects, reaching beyond the damage brought on by the 2005 storm season.

Although this year's predictions suggest fewer storms than during the active 2005 season, the forecast for the region will pack a punch. In other words, fewer storms but stronger in intensity.

British forecasting group Tropical Storm Risk predicted up to four "intense" hurricanes during the 2007 season.

Hurricane Katrina killed about 1,500 people along the Gulf Coast in 2005, displaced tens of thousands more and caused billions of dollars in damage.

The issue that could strike every American, as well as the rest of the world, is that if the U.S. Gulf Coast is hit again by severe storms, they could once again disrupt oil and natural gas operations along the Gulf, driving up energy prices for consumers.

U.S. gasoline prices reached a record high of $3.057 per gallon after Katrina.

Aside from the Gulf Coast, AccuWeather also predicted that the U.S. Northeast would likely be a target for strong storms for the next 10 years.

With several months left before the start of this year's hurricane season, it's about time the Bush Administration listens to the warnings and gets to work preparing for the coming hurricanes.

The aftermath of (as well as the preparation for) Hurricane Katrina showed the inefficiency of the Bush Administration and FEMA to deal with impending natural disasters.

Truth of the matter is, the American people are at a greater risk from the forces of nature than from anything terrorists can throw at the United States.

New Orleans and other affected places are still in shatters, the population still spread around the States, with little incentive from the Government to return home and start their lives over. If any of Hurricane Katrina's relatives decide to visit New Orleans this summer, and the Bush Administration hasn't learnt it's lessons, heads will roll. And it won't only be some pencil pushers at FEMA this time, but rather in the White House. Time will tell...

I'll leave you with a quote from Joe Bastardi, chief hurricane forecaster for AccuWeather.com:
"We are living in a time of climatic hardship. We're in a cycle where weather extremes are more the norm and not the exception."

Sources:
Strong hurricanes to hit U.S. Gulf in 07: AccuWeather - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070327/ts_nm/usa_weather_forecast_accuweather_dc

Fighting Global Warming, One Cow At A Time

2007-04-02T14:11:00.001+02:00

Global warming is beginning to be in the news everyday, but rarely do people attach the blame to anyone else other than human causes. Now, the Germans are focusing on cows.

According to scientific estimates, cows are responsible for 4% of greenhouse gas emissions with the methane gas they produce.

Because of the threat to the environment, German scientists have invented a pill to cut down on cow burping.

Their plan consists of a fist-sized plant-based pill, combined with a special diet and strict feeding times.

So cows are going to be medicated and put on a strict diet. Good for them!

The German scientists behind this plan have stated that "our aim is to increase the wellbeing of the cow, to reduce the greenhouse gases produced and to increase agricultural production all at once... It is an effective way of fighting global warming."

I'd love to use a saying that had something to do with cows flying, but I guess scientists haven't gotten that far yet...

Sources:
Pill stops cow burps and helps save the planet Climate change Guardian Unlimited Environment
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,2040615,00.html

Walter Reed Not The Only Place With Problems

2007-04-02T13:10:00.001+02:00

Last month I wrote about news coming about squalid conditions and ill-treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. [ http://hellbroadcast.blogspot.com/2007/03/bush-administration-is-beginning-to.html ] In that post I mentioned that VA Secretary Jim Nicholson had ordered full report of conditions from all 1,400 VA health clinics and hospitals.

The reports are now in, and apparently the problem of squalid conditions is not exclusive to Walter Reed, according to the reports.

Associated Press detailed the problems found at many other locations, stating that the report found that 90 percent of the 1,100 problems cited were routine wear and tear, such as worn-out carpets, peeling paint, mice sightings, and dead bugs.

The other 10 percent of problems were serious in nature.

Here's a quick run-down of some of the other problems:

<*>Mold spreading in patient case areas, serious enough to require immediate action in eight cases;

<*>Roof leaks thought a facility in White City, Oregon, requiring them to "continuously repair via leaks upon occurrence, clean up any mold presence if any exists, spray or remove ceiling tiles";

<*>Also at White City, large colonies of bats residing outside the facility, occasionally finding their way into the building;

<*>Secondhand smoke from an outside smoking shelter sometimes seeped into the building in Oklahoma City;

<*>Deteriorating walls and hallways in patient areas in Little Rock, Arkansas;

<*>Numerous "environmental conditions" as well as roof leaks and mold in New York's Hudson Valley, with the private landlord repeatedly refusing to fix problems;

<*>Roof leaks and mold in North Chicago, Illinois;

<*>Roof leaks and mold in Indianapolis, Indiana;

<*>Roof leaks and mold in Puget Sound, Washington;

<*>Roof leaks and mold in Portland, Oregon;

<*>Roof leaks and mold in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

In some cases the staff at the affected facilities are either constantly patching up the problems, or moving to new facilities.

Veteran's associations state that these problems are to be corrected immediately and should not be shelved due to insufficient funding, or lack of interest from the national media.

The disclosures from Walter Reed lead to three high-level Pentagon officials stepping down.

A separate review of the Veteran's Affairs system is underway to determine the previously stated problems of dealing with disability claims, in an attempt to cut through the bureaucratic delays, confusing paper work and the long appeals process.

This whole thing seems to be merely a problem arising from too much bureaucracy in the system. It's doubtful that this issue will solve itself quickly, even as the number of injured soldiers returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan is rising and will continue to rise as the surge on Baghdad gains momentum.

Change in the system is slow. In the end, it's America's soldiers who will draw the short stick, yet again, if the problems aren't fixed soon, or if this issue gets stuck in the bureaucratic wishy-washy nature of government. A fraction of the money the United States spends daily fighting wars in far off lands could easily grease the machine and work miracles back in the States. It's ridiculous that so much money is being spent sending the soldiers into harms way, yet once they return from a tour in battle, they're practically on their own.

I refer you once again to a soldier inside Walter Reed: http://walterreed.blogspot.com

Sources:
AP: Mold, Leaky Roofs Beset VA Clinics - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070321/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/veterans_care

Victims Of Terrorism Hit The Road

2007-04-02T12:09:00.001+02:00

New York City has found an inventive way to honor the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks; by using their bones to fill potholes and pave city roads.

Court papers filed a few weeks ago stated that the city of New York hadn't done enough to search for remains at Ground Zero, denying victims a proper burial.

The lawsuit filed for proper burial states that the remains of about 40 percent of the victims were never recovered, and hundreds of bone fragments have been discovered in and around Ground Zero in the last six months.

Don't think it would be too difficult to find the remains of the victims, seeing as the crime scene was pretty well localized, but leave it to city bureaucracy to mess that up.

Construction employees at the Fresh Kills (love that name) landfill, where the rubble was taken to from Ground Zero, say that the process of sifting through the debris was rushed, and the debris (with a side dish of human bones) were subsequently moved onto tractors and trucks to use for road construction.

Some relatives of the 2,749 people who died in the attacks on the Twin Towers have opposed any effort to rebuild on Ground Zero, calling it "sacred ground" and that it would "disrespect those who perished there."

Sure, because a big gaping hole in the middle of Manhattan is the perfect memorial for people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time, as they went about their lives.

Not to say that the world doesn't feel sorry for those who died there (I do, and I'm not an American), but wouldn't leaving Ground Zero as a heap of nothing be the best way to show those responsible for the attacks that they are winning.

One would think that moving on and showing them that they can't hurt America is the best way for the general population to go about supporting the War on Terrorism...

Leaving Ground Zero as it is today would send a message that the United States is permanently crippled by the attacks, possibly initiating more such attacks.

Instead of being the big tough guy at school who starts to cry once someone punches them in the face, America needs to be the the solid fortress that doesn't crumble as soon as the first crack appears in the wall.

Then again, maybe putting the bones of the victims of the attacks in to the city's roads maybe isn't the best way to go about honoring those who died...

Sources:
9/11 remains possibly used on roads: court papers - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070323/ts_nm/sept11_remains_dc

Terrorist School Bus Drivers

2007-04-02T11:27:00.001+02:00

The FBI has issued an "informational bulletin" to state and local officials, warning them to watch out for terrorists trying to earn licences to drive school buses.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, "some school districts have reported an increased number of foreign nationals seeking school bus driver positions and a number of other unusual events."

"...a number of other unusual events."? That passage seems to indicate that foreign nationals seeking school bus licences in an "unusual event". In that phrase seems to lie an underlying assumption that whenever a foreign national seeks a job that brings them close to the American people, they are suspect in having evil deeds.

The FBI memo did suggest that "most attempts by foreign nationals in the United States to acquire school bus licences to drive them are legitimate." in addition, a FBI spokesman told FOXNews: "There is no plot. There is no threat. And parents and children can feel perfectly safe."

So, um, why the warning if there is "no threat"? Did the American people begin to seem like they felt safer, and the FBI just had to up the ante and give a bogus "warning"?

"Warning, your kids could be the next target of terrorists. We have no leads on the matter, and we're just making this up to give you a little scare. Don't worry, we're just incapable of making logical conclusions from random data. We just like to keep you on your toes at all times. Stay tuned for the next installment of Things To (Not) Worry About, courtesy of yours truly, the FBI. Now go back to your bomb shelters to wait for whatever we come up with next."

Cory Doctorow at BoingBoing went a bit further on the "threat" and suggested several other "threats" and how the American population should prepare for them. [link: http://www.boingboing.net/2007/03/19/fbi_terrorists_might.html ]It's quite an interesting read, not just for the entertainment, but it also gives a slightly frightening unspoken suggestion of how deeply the "terrorist scare" could scar the civil liberties and social framework of the United States. In the worst case scenario, of course.

Sources:
Boing Boing: FBI: terrorists might drive school-buses, but they probably won't
http://www.boingboing.net/2007/03/19/fbi_terrorists_might.html
Schneier on Security: Terrorist Bus Drivers
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/03/terrorist_bus_d.html
FOXNews.com - FBI Puts Local Officials on Notice About Extremists Trying to Sign Up to Be School Bus Drivers
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,259168,00.html

Reuters: A Look Back After 4 Years Of Iraq Invasion

2007-03-21T01:05:00.000+02:00

Found a Reuters clip online at YouTube where Paul Chapman looks back at some of the key moments of the past four years in Iraq. Notably uncontroversial in the speech, very unbiased. Except for one thing: when exactly did everyone begin to call the ordeal an "invasion"? Now that I've noticed it, every bit of news I read refers to the last four years as the "invasion of Iraq", or the "U.S.-led invasion".

The Saints Are Coming

2007-03-21T00:48:00.000+02:00

You've probably seen this video before, but I just have to post it. U2 and Green Day really hit the spot with this (anti-war) music video. Any responsible government should ALWAYS first take care of its own before anything else. Lessons to be learned here for the Bush Administration... The President should ask himself this one question: who matters more, the Iraqi people or the Americans in New Orleans. Hurricane season comes every year. Last year was a quiet one, let's see this coming summer if the White House has learned anything...

4 Years In Iraq And Going Weak

2007-03-20T21:23:00.000+02:00

Today, Tuesday 20th March marks the 4th Anniversary of the Iraq War. All over the world, people have been celebrating the anniversary, albeit with very little festive mood. Surprisingly enough, there weren't any balloons, confetti or even cake... (I apologize for the sarcastic tone...)

In the United States, thousands marched to the Pentagon over the weekend, some calling for withdrawal from Iraq, some for the impeachment of President George W. Bush, some even for closing down the Pentagon. In Los Angeles, some 6,000 people rallied with flag-draped coffins through the streets of Hollywood. Bush warned the American people of "dire consequences" in Iraq were the U.S. troops to be withdrawn from Iraq prematurely. With his approval rating nearing his personal low, Bush called for patience, more time for 30,000 extra troops for his plan on Iraq, mainly to stabilize Baghdad. Several counter demonstrations in support of the war also took place in the States.

"It can be tempting to look at the challenges in Iraq and conclude our best option is to pack up and go home. That may be satisfying in the short run, but I believe the consequences for American security would be devastating." Bush remarked in his speech. Nevermind the fact that having a substantial slice of the American infantry tied down in a relentless battlefield has decreased America's rapid deployment readiness to bare bones. There's only so much that the Navy and the Air Force can do in the instance of a crisis breaking out somewhere in the world right now (think Iran, North Korea, etc...).

The latest polls are showing that only 32% of the American public think the war in Iraq is going well, while 63% oppose the war. (Wait, what? 32% of Americans think things are fine and dandy in Iraq? Have these people been living under a rock for the last 4 years?) Another poll showed that four out of five Iraqis have little or no trust in U.S. led forces. So why are the troops still there, "protecting" people who don't even trust them?

How did the Iraqis celebrate the anniversary? By hanging Saddam Hussein's former Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan for crimes against humanity and with a few more car bombs and clashes with insurgents.

And let's not forget the rest of the world. In Spain, an estimated 100,000 people took to the streets, denouncing Bush for war crimes. Demonstrations took place in Madrid, Seville, Cadiz and Granada. In Istanbul, Turkey, more than 3,000 took part in protests, carrying placards saying "Bush Go Home" (?) and "We Are All Iraqis". Demonstrations also place, among other places, in Athens, Copenhagen, Rome, Helsinki, Sydney and Melbourne.

Oh, and as a final note, a study has found that the war in Iraq has increased terrorism around the globe seven-fold...

So, anyone for four more years of the same? I didn't think so...

Sources:
BBC NEWS Americas Protesters march against Iraq war
Saddam VP hanged on 4th anniversary of invasion - Yahoo! News
Iraq 101: The Iraq Effect - The War in Iraq and Its Impact on the War on Terrorism

Lockheed Martin's $27 Million Oops!

2007-03-20T16:10:00.000+02:00

Lockheed Martin finally admitted that their almost $30 million unmanned prototype aerial vehicle (UAV) P-175 Polecat crashed at the Nevade Test and Training Range in December. And they only had one prototype...

Lockheed Martin disclosed that the cause of the crash was "an irreversable unintentional failure in the flight termination ground equipment, which caused the aircraft's automatic fail-safe flight termination mode to activate." Translated (loosely) into layman's terms: "some jackass on the ground pressed the wrong button. Oops!" Lockheed Martin also said that the flight termination system performed exactly as expected, causing the crash. Um, really, Captain Obvious?

So it's back to square one for the Polecat program...

[Check out the Danger Room post for their hilarious take on the matter...]

Sources:
WIRED Blogs: Danger Room [Oops! I Blew up the Secret Drone!]
Aviation Week: Polecat Crash Sets Back LM UAV efforts

Terrorist Bananas

2007-03-20T15:04:00.000+02:00

Chiquita has admitted in court paying terrorist organizations in Colombia to protect one of their most profitable banana-growing operations. Between 1997-2004 Chiquita paid the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) $1.7 million for protection.

Representatives of Chiquita told the court that the company was forced to make the payments and was acting only to ensure the safety of its workers. Sure, yet between 2001 (when the U.S. Government designated AUC as a terrorist organization) and 2004 (when Chiquita sold the plantation for $43.5 million), Chiquita paid $825,000 in illegal protection payments, whilst earning $49.4 million in profits from the operation, making it the company's most profitable unit.

Chiquita also paid the National Liberation Army (ELN) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), as control of the company's banana-growing area shifted. Both groups have also been designated as terrorist organizations by the U.S..

Chiquita looks to get away from the ordeal with a fine of $25 million in a plea deal with prosecutors.

No word on the possibility of Chiquita working with terrorist organizations to build Banana Bombs, as of yet...

Source:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070319/ap_on_bi_ge/terrorism_bananas

Impeaching President Bush and Co.

2007-03-19T14:22:00.000+02:00

United States Constitution, Article II, Section 4

"The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

The movement to impeach President George W. Bush has been around for a while now, but this is the beginning of the end, as prominent lawmakers and politicians are taking an interest in the issue.

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, before a Washington state Senate panel, called on Congress to restore the country's moral standing and commitment to democracy by ousting President Bush. Anderson spoke on the issue by saying "never before has there been such a compelling case for impeachment and removal from office of the President of the United States."Anderson was one of four people invited to testify for an impeachment resolution sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Eric Oemig. The nestse calls for Congress to investigate whether Bush and Vice President Dick Agendy should be removed from office. Democrats in Congress have said they are not interested in pursuing impeachment. U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash) commented on the issue by saying "I have two words for anyone who want to impeach the President: Dick Cheney."

According to a new report in Esquire Magazine, Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) has suggested that Congress may consider the impeachment of President Bush before his term ends. Hagel stated that the President is "not accountable anymore". Hagel is not the first Senator to call for or suggest Bush's impeachment, but this is coming from a conservative Republican from a safe Senate seat in a reddish state.
In his speech, Rocky Anderson listed some of Bush's alleged crimes, such as lying about the nuclear threat posed by Iraq; misleading Americans into believing Iraq tried to buy uranium from Africa; falsely claiming that Saddam Hussein bought aluminum tubes to gain weapons-grade uranium; launching an illegal was against Iraq; violating human rights, committing was crimes and undercutting U.S. Moral standing by condoning torture, kidnapping and incarceration without charges; authorizing unconditional warrantless wiretapping of U.S. citizens.

It has thoroughly been noted that the single biggest disadvantage of impeaching Bush is his successor, Vice President Dick Cheney. Thus, it would make sense to impeach both of the for the same crimes, possibly throwing in a few other prominent White House officials, notably Karl Rove. One must keep in mind that Dick Cheney might actually be the biggest evil of all the White House officials. If Bush were to be impeached before his term is over, the Order of Presidential Succession decrees that The Vice President (Dick Cheney) is next in line, followed by The Speaker of the House (Nancy Pelosi),
The President pro tempore of the Senate (Robert Byrd),
The Secretary of State (Condoleezza Rice),
The Secretary of the Treasury (Henry Paulson),
The Secretary of Defence (Robert Gates),
The Attorney General (Alberto Gonzales).
This scenario would bring the United States to an unprecedented situation where the United States would see it's first female Head of State, even before the possibility of Hillary Clinton being the Democratic frontrunner in the 2008 Presidential Elections: Nancy Pelosi, the first female Speaker of the House, a Democrat.

ImpeachForPeace.org lists a comprehensive list of President George W. Bush's crimes and abuses of the law.

ILLEGAL WAR

Bush intentionally misled the Congress and the public regarding the threat from Iraq in order to justify a war against Iraq, intentionally conspired with others to defraud the United States in connection with the was against Iraq in violation of title 18 United States Code, Section 371 [EVIDENCE]

ILLEGAL SPYING

Bush has admitted to ordering the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct electronic surveillance of American civilians without seeking warrants from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, in violation of Title 50 United States Code, Section 1805. [EVIDENCE]

GENEVA CONVENTION VIOLATIONS

Bush comprised to commit the torture of prisoners in violation of the "Federal Torture Act" Title 18 United States Code, Section 113C, the UN Torture Convention and the Geneva Convention, which under Article VI of the Constitution are part of the supreme Law of the Land.Bush also comprised to deny due process to prisoners of war, indiscriminantly bomb cities, transfer prisoners of war from an occupied territory, and planned, prepared, initiated and waged a war of aggression in violation of U.S. military Code Section 2441, Geneva Convention (I Article 3, II Article 18, Article 19, III Article 13, Article 17, Article 33, Article 34, Article 49, VI Article 3), and the 1945 Nuremberg Principles Articles 6(a) and (b). [EVIDENCE]

ILLEGAL DETENTION

Bush acted to strip Americans of their constitutional rights by ordering indefinite detention of citizens, without access to legal counsel, without charge and without opportunity to appear before a civil judicial officer to challenge the detention, based solely on the discretionary designation by the Presiden of a U.S. citizen as an "enemy combatant", all in subversion of law. [EVIDENCE]

ILLEGAL RELEASE OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION

Bush authorized the leaking of classified national secrets to further a political agenda, exposing an unknown number of covert U.S. intelligence agents to potential harm and retribution while simultaneously refusing to investigate the matter. [EVIDENCE]

ILLEGAL FREEZING OF ACCOUNTS AND RESTRICTION TO FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY

Bush ordered the freezing of financial accounts without limit to how groups were chosen to be on such a list, and also ordered himself the power to create blacklists of any indivi he felt was associated with the aforementioned groups. Thereby creating a system of "guilt by association." [EVIDENCE]

ILLEGAL USE OF SIGNING STATEMENTS

Bush attached signing statements to more that one hundred bills before signing them, within which he has made over eleven hundre challenges to provisions of laws passed by Congress, a figure that exceeds the total number of such challenges by all previous presidents combined, and has used this practice to exempt himself, as President of the United States, from enforcing or from being held accountable to provisions of said laws. By declining to veto even bills, and instead attaching signing statements challenging hundreds of laws passed by Congress, he has sought to exempt the executive branch from accountability to said laws, thereby violating Article I, Section 7 and Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution. There articles of the Constitution dictate that the President has the option of signing or vetoing a bill, and upon signing the bill to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." [EVIDENCE]

Which brings up to the million-dollar question: why has America waited this long, and why is Bush still in office? Bill Clinton was impeached by the House (but acquitted by the Senate) for perjury and obstruction of justice arising from the Lewinsky scandal; Richard Nixon left office (while still pardonable) after the House Judiciary Committee had reported articles of impeachment to the floor, as a result of the Watergate scandal which would have led to him being impeachment and conviction. Even a casual glance at Bush's and the Administration's growing list of infractions, offences, and other abuses of the law committed since taking office clearly brings to light the massive injustices of the Bush Administration. (I'll get to that soon...) And let's not forget the gross mistakes and bad political decisions, such as the Abu Ghraib, the handling of the aftermath of Katrina, the horrible treatment of injured soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical, and the purging of U.S. Attorneys who wouldn't play ball, among many many others. (Let's not forget about the federal deficit which stands at 221 trillion, or making life worse for the poor in America by cutting funding for Medicare...)

Compare Nixon, Clinton, and Bush. Which one has done more harm for the United States, better yet, the world? Nixon had his Vietnam, Clinton had Kosovo, and Bush has Afghanistan, Iraq, and the whole War on Terror, which may possibly include Iran and North Korea. Right now, the economy is in a bad state, the average American is witnessing a decline in services and even personal rights, domestic catastrophies such as Katrina are being left behind foreign policy agendas, Bush has brought Iraq to the brink of a civil war (you might as well argue that the situation in Iraq is already a fullblown civil war), and to top it off, think about the American troops who are probably the ones getting the short end of the shrinking stick. They are doing their jobs, to the best of their abilities, yet they are overstretched and underpaid, forced to fight for a political (failing) agenda. Instead of defending a nation or even a principle, there men and women in uniform are sent straight to a place with thousands of insurgents who are only there to do one thing: kill Americans. The Bush Administration has made the U.S. Armed Forces a mere political tool. They aren't in Iraq or Afghanistan to protect America. They're there to manifest Bush's grandiose political plans and pursue an unachievable goal. All this while risking their lifes, not for Bush, but for America. See the conflicting ideals? And how does the Administration and Bush show their appreciation and support for these troops? By sending the injured to roach-infested hospital wards, and deploying the injured back to Iraq.
George W. Bush has repeatedly proved himself to be incapable of leading a nation. His actions have exposed his abuses of power and gross infractions of U.S. and International laws. Bush is unfit to lead

The can only be one conclusion: the American citizens and Congress must exercise their constitutional right to impeach and convict each and every incompetent member of the Bush Administration, while the people still possess some rights.

Sources:
Salt Lake Tribune - Send Bush packing, says Rocky
Think Progress » Hagel Suggests Possibility Of Bush Impeachment: 'He's Not Accountable Anymore'
Impeach Bush for Peace
Impeach Bush
Impeachment in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Order of Presidential Succession - Infoplease.com
Constitutional Basis For Impeachment
Charges and Evidence regarding the Impeachment

Inside Walter Reed Hospital: A Patient's View

2007-03-14T18:35:00.000+02:00

We've heard about the conditions and neglect at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the news lately. The media has only so and so dug into the issue and what it's like to be a patient there. Now, here is a personal blog from within, written by a patient. The blog is really worth reading.

http://walterreed.blogspot.com

Enlisting Bugs To The War On Terror

2007-03-14T11:30:00.000+02:00

First it was dolphins and sea lions protecting the United States, now it's bugs.

The Pentagon and its Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), as well as several other companies, are planning to employ the help of bees, fish and cockroaches to sniff out chemical toxins and biohazards in buildings and subways, to decrease the risk to humans doing the same job. This is because nature's sensors and tools are more finely tuned than anything humans have engineered. I wonder what kind of work benefits there bugs will get? Oh, and the next time you step on a cockroach in the subways, you might be killing an employee of the Department of Homeland Security.

Source:
Bugging Out on Homeland Security - Popular Science
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/technology/243434a70e131110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html

Tolerance Takes A Step Back: Gays In The Military

2007-03-14T11:12:00.000+02:00

At a time when the U.S. Armed Forces needs every soldier in its inventory fit to fight, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace said on Monday that he considers homosexuality to be immoral and that the military should not condone it by allowing gay personnel to serve openly.

This comes as the Bush Administration is searching the thinning ranks of the military for extra troops to send into Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gen. Pace stated that "I do not believe the United States is well served by a policy that says it is OK to be immoral in any way", referring to the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy which allows for homosexuals to serve in the military as long as they keep their sexual orientation private.

Regardless of the policy, a 2005 government audit found that some 10,000 troops, including 50 specialists in Arabic, have been discharged because of the policy.

If the military needs more men and women in service, what's the point of discharging or banning thousands solely on grounds of their sexuality? No, they'd rather send in injured troops, because that's not immoral...

Gen. Pace calls homosexuality immoral - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070313/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/military_gays

Running Out Of Troops, The Army Is Ordering Injured Troops To Iraq

2007-03-14T11:09:00.000+02:00

It's bad enough that American troops returning home injured face neglect and horrid conditions at Walter Reed, now the U.S. Army is ordering injured troops to deploy to Iraq with their unit. Does the Bush Administration really support the troops, or are they merely an expendable resource?

A unit of the Army's 3rd Division stationed at Fort Benning, Georgia, is slated to be deployed to Iraq this as we speak, serving their third tour in a steady stream. Of the 3,900-strong 3rd Brigade, 75 soldiers have been previously deemed unfit to deploy, yet are now being deployed regardless.

The injuries of the soldiers to be redeployed root from injuries sustained during previous combat tours, training accidents and fatigue. Some have back injuries which makes it impossible for them to carry full gear or move effectively while under fire. Some can't wear protective armor due to its weight, while others have difficulty operating weapons.

The true scandal here is not the actual deployment of there injured troops, but the fact that there 75 soldiers were ushered into a meeting with an army surgeon on February 15th, and saw their medical profiles systematically downgraded to deem them fit to deploy. Even soldiers with degenerative back problems which root from injuries sustained on the last tour and are at a great risk of reinjury if sent to a war zone were told to pack and prepare to deploy.

(Author's note: I feel for there soldiers because two days ago I was exempted from mandatory military service in Finland due to back problems. I've had this problem for years, yet 2 years ago I entered the service only to reinjure my back and was unable to perform training exercises, nor could I carry gear on my back. I was heavily medicated which impaired my ability to fire a weapon and my ability to operate in the field. I was discharged for 2 years after 45 days of service, and was now deemed unfit to serve in times of peace.)

Sending these troops to a war zone is a great risk to themselves and to those they serve with. The Bush Administration's wars are stretching to U.S. Military to bare bones, putting their lives at unnecessary risk, merely to satisfy a political need. This has gone too far. Soldiers are one most important resources the United States has, and right now they are being treated like dirt. The men and women in uniform have made America the superpower it is today, not the politicians. Instead of spending billions to send more troops to Iraq and Afghanistan to fix the Administration's policy catastrophies, how's about spending some money to ensure these soldiers fair treatment and care, as well as the respect they deserve?

Source:
The Army is ordering injured troops to go to Iraq | Salon News
http://www.salon.com/news/2007/03/11/fort_benning/

The Bush Administration Is Beginning To Crumble

2007-03-14T02:09:00.000+02:00

The Bush Administration has been rattled by three scandals lately; the I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby trial, ill-treatment of returning wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital, and the firing of 8 U.S. Attorneys. All three cases have been in the news lately, and continue to be, so I'll just touch upon them ever so slightly, in an effort to side light on what is going on and what it means for the Bush Administration.

Covering Up Lies In The White House: United States vs. Lewis Libby

The Scooter Libby Trial, or Plame Affair as it's also known as, is a long and arduous case. Long story cut short: Members of the Bush Administration leaked the covert identity of a CIA operative, an act which is allegedly a political retribution to the agent's husband's (Joseph Wilson) criticisms of the Bush Administration's reasons for going to war in Iraq. Namely, Wilson declared the Administration's evidence, connecting Saddam Hussein to weapons of mass destruction, fraudulent.

Before resigning from office as a result of being indicted, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was the Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, assistant to the VP on national security affairs, and an assistant to President Bush between 2001 and 2005.

The crucial issue in the Libby conviction in relation to the Bush Administration is not what he did, but rather why he did it.

Originally, Libby was indicted not only for perjury, obstruction and lying, but also for the act he was covering up.

Libby confirmed the identity of Valerie Plame, a CIA operative to a reporter, Robert Novak, then denied it, proceeding to cover up the leak.

Several months before the start of the Libby trial, Richard Armitage, former Deputy Secretary of State, admitted to being the source of the leak. He wasn't charged with anything. He wasn't even tried in court.

Karl Rove and Lewis Libby were originally both be indicted and prosecuted for the cover up. Rove managed to avoid the same fate as Libby by changing his grand jury testimony. He walked and is free to continue his job as senior policy advisor to Bush. Karl Rove has also admitted his involvement in the leak, having spread the word about former Ambassador Joseph Wilson being sent by his CIA wife on a mission to Africa. He hasn't been indicted on the matter.

On March 6th, 2007, Libby was convicted on two counts of perjury, one count of obstruction, and one false statement count. He was acquitted on a second false statement count. Libby is the highest-ranking white house official convicted in a government scandal since the Iran-Contra Affair.

The issue continues as Valerie Plame, the CIA operative who's identity was outed, has filed a civil lawsuit against Dick Cheney, stating that he allegedly "illegally conspired to reveal her identity". Also named in the lawsuit are Lewis Libby, Karl Rove and ten yet unnamed administration officials.

When The Support Ends: The Walter Reed Hospital Scandal

As the verdict in the Liaby trial was being read, reports of squalid conditions and ill-treatment of returning soldiers began to emerge from Walter Reed Hospital.

Injured soldiers returning from duty in Afghanistan and Iraq have stated many problems at the hospital. These include: cockroach and rodent infestations, mold-covered walls, neglect of soldiers, bureaucratic delays, stained carpets, cheap mattresses, no heat or water, even reports of drug dealers at the hospital entrance, among other problems. In addition, some injured soldiers tell of been forced to pull guard duty to better the law security present at the hospital. Democratic congressmen have been quick to point the finger directly at the Bush Administration, stating "catastrophic failure of leadership". It has also come out that reports of outpatient neglect have been reported as early as 2004.

The poor treatment of injured soldier is reported to be due to poor training, lack of staff, underfunding, and conflicting policies among the Army, the Veterans Affairs, and the Defence Department.

Since the initial reports, three high-level Pentagon officials have been forced to step down over the poor treatment and horrid conditions. All three have at a time overseen Walter Reed Hospital, and must have been aware of the situations within.

Responding to the reports coming from Walter Reed, Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson is ordering all 1,400 hospitals and clinics under the supervision of the VA to report on the quality of their facilities in order to determine whether conditions similar to those at Walter Reed exist elsewhere.

Margaret Carlson at Bloomberg (via Huffington Post) summarized the sentiment with the scandal:
"Say a word about bringing them home and you're a traitor who wants to abandon the troop. Send them off without training or armor, and bring them back to poorly staffed, decrepit and vermin-infested Walter Reed Hospital, the brown jewel of the military, and you're a patriot."

The President Doesn't Like You Anymore: The Purging Of U.S. Attorneys

In the past few months, eight U.S. Attorneys have been fired. The roots of the removals extend all the way to the White House.

According to the Congressional Research Service, there have been a mere five instances in the past 25 years in which U.S. Attorneys were fired by the President or resigned following reports of questionable conduct. This figure doesn't include U.S. Attorneys fired by an incoming president, such as in the case of Bill Clinton firing all republican Attorneys upon taking office.

As the firings began in December, it seemed that Bush's Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and the Bush Administration was getting off with simply explaining that it was time for a change. Nevertheless, once the number of fired U.S. Attorneys reached eight, questions had been raised. Possibly feeling pressured, Justice Department officials began to to blame the attorneys, stating poor performance as grounds for dismissal. Never mind that all of the pushed attorneys had previously received very favorable reviews and performance reviews. Fact of the matter is, there attorneys were fired surely for political reasons, because of their unwillingness to go along with the abuse of the judicial system being imposed from the top. Keep in mind that Bush wasn't firing people appointed by someone else as Clinton did. U.S. Attorneys serve for up to 4 years at a time, meaning that each of the fired attorneys were actually appointed by Bush himself.

Karl Rove, upon being asked for the reasons for the firings, stated that the attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President and that there eight were removed for cause, over performance issues. Six of the lawyers told House and Senate committees they were dismissed without explanation.

From Libby to Walter to Attorney, these three cases are a mere continuation of the scandals that have happened, are happening and are itching to happen under the watch of the Bush Administration. Several heads have fallen already, unimportant enough to save the Administration from crumbling by sacrificing their careers. With the exception of Libby, no other White House official has been dragged to the chopping block as of yet, even though evidence is piling up on the crimes of the Bush Administration. There are many people in seats of power, walking free, "immune" to the scandals. Or is this just the beginning of the end for the Bush Administration? Guess we'll find out soon enough... Did someone say "impeachment"?

Sources:
The Blog Margaret Carlson: Libby Is Guilty, Yet Bush's Lies Are Exposed The Huffington Post
Lewis Libby - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Plame affair - Wikipedia, the free

Plame v. Cheney - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Army surgeon general ousted amid Walter Reed scandal - CNN.com

Walter Reed Army Medical Center neglect scandal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Q&A: Hiring and firing of U.S. attorneys - Yahoo! News

Gonzales: Prosecutors firings mishandled - Yahoo! News

100 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Year

2007-03-11T16:01:00.000+02:00

Here's a link to an interesting list of 100 things we didn't know this time last year, from BBC.co.uk

BBC NEWS UK Magazine 100 things we didn't know this time last year
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4566526.stm

Bush Stresses Quiet Diplomacy in Latin America, Bombs Other Parts Of The World

2007-03-11T15:52:00.000+02:00

In Uruguay, the second stop of his five-nation tour of Latin America, George W. Bush ignored the anti-American protests and remarks by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, personal jabs at Bush. Instead, Bush made some interesting remarks himself.

The whole tour of Latin America is characterized by soft, generous and understanding mood by Bush, coming bearing promises of gifts. Bush said that he was conducting "quiet and effective diplomacy". He also remarked that Americans "care about the human condition and that we believe the human condition can be improved in a variety of ways, [such as] investment." "And so the question is, how can we have constructive dialogue with our neighbors as to how to spread the benefits of investment." In addition, Bush said that "I happen to believe a world that trades freely and fairly is a world that is more likely to be able to address poverty."

Sure, these remarks were in the spirit of goodwill towards a region which is experiencing a rise of leftist leaders and anti-American sentiment. Yet, these traits are present in numerous other parts of the world, and instead of goodwill and aid, Bush bombs these countries. There's poverty in a lot of parts of the world, many which the Bush Administration completely avoids. Soft diplomacy is really not Bush's number one method of engaging countries. Are there words merely because the Latin American countries are just south of the United States and are big economic partners? This might be the case, seeing as a large portion of the tour deals with economic relationship and trade. Then why the talk of "the human condition" and poverty which Americans apparently care so much about? The Bush Administration doesn't seem to care so much about the human condition in Iraq.

Which brings us to the conclusion. Let's see now...

Diplomacy is the way to go when people close to you make bad remarks about you, whilst sending in troops and bombs works better when the people who insult you are far away. The price of human condition depends on where you are, and who your leader is. In one part of the world the US will send you aid, in another they'll send you bombs. And believing in a world that trades freely? Everything Bush has said in Latin America is just words. You can't have a double standard. In one part of the world you act generous and friendly, talking of good things for the world, using so-called soft diplomacy, all the while you threaten and bomb other countries, not really caring about the human condition, the state of which you have directly contributed to.

This is a Public Relations tour. It's a simple case of say one thing, do another. There would be bombs raining on Latin America if the rest of the world cared as little about the region as they do about Iraq.

Source:
In Uruguay Bush ignores Chavez, stresses quiet diplomacy - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070310/wl_afp/uslatambush

New Theme To My Opera Blog

2007-03-10T21:55:00.000+02:00

Initially, I planned for my Opera Community blog (http://my.opera.com/janihelle/blog) to be merely photos and links to interesting things. These things happen when you have 5 different blogs, covering 5 different themes. I have practically forgotten about all my other blogs, and focused on HellBroadCast (http://hellbroadcast.blogspot.com), covering news articles, politics, and human interest issues. With this in mind, I am transforming my Opera blog into a duplicate of HellBroadCast, posting all articles on both blogs, mainly to attain a larger reader base, having realized that the Opera Community is expanding daily. So stay posted, because I have a lot of material in the works...

Transportation Problems in Indonesia

2007-03-07T11:53:00.000+02:00

Note to self: avoid travel to Indonesia. Can't fly a plane there because they either go missing, crash into the sea or mountains, or burst into flames on landing. Can't travel by boat because they sink or burst into flames, nevermind the overcrowding... How else does one travel to and around country composed of thousands of islands?

US Intelligence Hot On Bin Laden's Trail, Again/Still...

2007-03-06T22:15:00.000+02:00

Armed with fresh intelligence, the CIA is moving additional troops and equipment into Afghanistan and Pakistan in an effort to find Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al Zawahri, playing down doubts that the trail for bin Laden has gone cold.

Wait, haven't they been "hot" on his trail for over 5 years now?

It seems that concerning Bush's War on Terror, a bin Laden, alive and well, taunting the United States from some cave in a far off land is more beneficial to the terror doctrine than a bin Laden rotting in jail or six feet under. It's the classic comic book superhero/archnemesis scenario: On one hand you have the superhero, protecting society from evil; on the other hand you have the supervillain, the superhero's archnemesis, who the superhero persistantly engages in battle, fending off his minions all the time; at times the archnemesis sits back to plan his next move, whilst the superhero spends everyday fighting evil, be it small crooks or other supervillains; the archnemesis strikes at those closest to the superhero, which makes the public beg for the superhero to come and save the day; before the final battle, the public loses love for the superhero for his methods and behavior; the superhero can't attain victory over his archnemesis and the public until the very end of the saga.

Now let's translate that into today's world: Bush is the superhero, Osama is Bush's archnemesis; The War on Terror drags on relentlesly; The United States and Bush battles Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups all the time; Osama has been in hiding for years; The Bush Administration engages in battle everyday against insurgents, terrorists, as well as rogue states and their leaders such as Iran and Ahmadijaned, and North Korea and Kim Il Jon; Osama attacks American soil, American troops around the world as well as American targets, not forgetting Bush's allies; the public rallies behind Bush, sending his approval rating up after the 9/11 terrorist attacks; the ensuing and faltering wars in Afghanistan and Iraq pull Bush's approval rating way down; the hunt for Osama bin Laden continues as time begins to run out before Bush's tenure in office is over.

With Bush's second and final term in the White House drawing to an end, it's time for the superhero to catch his archnemesis. With the known capabilities of the US intelligence agencies and military forces (in addition to the capabilities the public isn't aware of), one would have thought that finding one man wouldn't be too difficult. Maybe it's not time to find him yet. Maybe the Bush Administration has a really good, solid idea of where Osama is at any given moment. Catching Osama right before the 2008 Presidential Elections would be a giant victory for the Republicans, rallying more support and votes, as well as saving Bush's legacy, making him forever the man who caught Osama bin Laden, the devil himself. If Osama is caught by US forces within the next few years, especially around the summer of 2008, the long and arduous hunt for Osama bin Laden will have been a mere political game. Think about it. It makes sense.

By the way, although Osama bin Laden might really be a supervillain, Bush's archnemesis, I am not suggesting George W Bush is a superhero in any sense of the term.

Sources:
CIA Rushing Resources to Bin Laden Hunt - The Blotter
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/03/cia_rushing_res.html (via Digg)

http://digg.com/world_news/USA_hot_on_Bin_Laden_s_Trail

Bush Announces New Aid To Latin America - What About America?

2007-03-06T18:00:00.000+02:00

Just days prior to his five-nation tour of Latin America, US President George W Bush announced that the United States will expand U.S. aid for education, health care and housing in the region. His "message is simple: the United States has not forgotten its neighbours to the south." Bush said that "the working poor of Latin America need change and the United States is committed to that change."

If you've been following the news in the past weeks, these issues have truly been in the news lately. Not concerning Latin America, but in the United States.

A great percentage of the American public want change in the American health care system, many wishing for universal health care. Medicare and Medicaid saw their budgets cut for the 2008 fiscal year. Wounded soldiers returning from overseas duty in Iraq and Afghanistan have been ill-treated, poorly compensated for injuries suffered in the line of duty protecting the nation and patriotically following the Bush Administration's agenda in Iraq. The poor received a break from the Democrat-led Congress in the form of higher minimum wage, which sceptics say will possibly lead to more layoffs and unemployment, as small businesses see their profits fall. The American education system needs more funding to educate to future of the United States to the best of their abilities. All this while the United States spends some $100 million every 12 hours in Iraq. (Newsweek) On top of it all, the surge on Baghdad isn't producing results, but rather more American casualties (9 US soldiers killed today in Baghdad).

At the very least the Bush Administration and the republicans are showing a humanitarian side, although one could argue that this is mainly concerning the legacy of the dwindling Administration, as it seems almost certain the next Administration will be led by the Democrats.

One would think that issues at home would be more important in securing America's stance in the world's eyes in the coming years, as the current administration's foreign policies have significantly increased the anti-American sentiment all over the world.

Bush's trip to Latin America comes at a time when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is stirring up more anti-American sentiment in the region. So is Bush's announcement and trip to Latin America merely a PR stunt, trying to keep key allies favourable to the U.S.? Do keep in mind that many of these nations Bush plans to visit are oil-producing nations, as well as hosts to many American corporations and vital economic partners.

PR, legacy, oil, money and such aside, the aid to Latin America, although a relatively noble thing for the world's wealthiest nation (a gesture which should be taken for granted), the announcement comes at a time when there are numerous other problems at home and in other parts of the world where the United States continues to battle. I am not saying the US should shun it's neighbours to the south, but rather also, in addition to extending a helping hand to those less prosperous in other countries, the United States should shift its primary aid focus on its own people, making the lifes of those who the President represents easier and more align with the image of American prosperity. Keep in mind that this is the man who the rest of the world considers America's representative. What he does, people think this is the mood and beliefs of the entire nation. There's still a long time until November 2008...

Source:
VOA News - Bush Announces New Aid for Latin America
http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-03-05-voa51.cfm

Congress To-Do List, Courtesity of New York Times

2007-03-06T15:58:00.000+02:00

The New York Times published a list of tasks to Congress of things that need to be done to overthrow the damages done by the Bush Administration. The list isn't really exhaustive. The bullet points on the list are:

Restore Habeas Corpus

Stop Illegal Spying

Ban Torture, Really

Close the C.I.A. Prisons

Account for ‘Ghost Prisoners’

Ban Extraordinary Rendition

Tighten the Definition of Combatant

Screen Prisoners Fairly and Effectively

Ban Tainted Evidence

Ban Secret Evidence

Better Define ‘Classified’ Evidence

Respect the Right to Counsel

Close the Guantánamo camp

Read the full text here, with explanations to the points.

Sources:
New York Times Editorial: The Must-Do List (March 4, 2007) [via Digg]

Test Your Geography Knowledge

2007-03-06T15:25:00.000+02:00

The first site has the well known test where one must name all 50 States in 10 minutes.
http://www.ironicsans.com/statequiz.html

The second site is map based. The objective is to find the country/state in question by clicking on the correct part of the map. (Unless you're Russian, don't even attempt to do the Russian map quiz...)
http://www.lizardpoint.com/fun/geoquiz/

George The Jaguar And His Mean Twin Osama

2007-03-06T15:04:00.000+02:00

You might have heard of the sad events at the Denver Zoo in Colorado last week, where a zookeeper was killed by a jaguar at the zoo. But it was an article on Yahoo! News which caught my eye.

The article was titled 'Killer jaguar had mean twin named Osama', which I though was somewhat entertaining that someone would name a jaguar after Osama Bin Laden. Reading on I noticed that the killer jaguar in this case was called Jorge, or George in spanish, and was actually named after President George W Bush.

Here are some quotes about the jaguars from the article:

"...[Jorge] was well-behaved as a young cat but his twin was so mean that his handlers named him Osama..."

"A zoo employee shot and killed Jorge when he approached emergency workers..."

"Jorge — Spanish for George — had been named after President Bush"

"Osama was always the more dominant of the two. He was always rough with Jorge. That was the relationship we saw between them."

"Jorge wasn't bad, really... I don't know what could have happened. Perhaps because he was so well-behaved, the trainer thought she could trust him. But you never know with wild animals."

Can you see the similarities between these jaguars and the human world? Osama is mean-spirited, rough with George and dominant, whilst George is well-behaved, submissive, and the one the zookeeper seemed to trust. With these descriptions in mind, which would you expect to kill someone, George or Osama? And which one did actually kill someone?

Source:
Killer jaguar had mean twin named Osama - Yahoo! News

Beer Consumption Rankings

2007-03-06T12:45:00.000+02:00

Found this list of countries organized by beer consumption per capita on Wikipedia. I'm actually surprised that Finland is as low as number 9 on the list...

This is a list of countries ordered by annual per capita consumption of beer, as of 2004.

Rank	Country	Consumption (L/yr)
1	Czech Republic	156.9
2	Ireland	131.1
3	Germany	115.8
4	Australia	109.9
5	Austria	108.3
6	United Kingdom	99.0
7	Belgium	93.0
8	Denmark	89.9
9	Finland	85.0
10	Luxembourg	84.4
11	Slovakia	84.1
12	Spain	83.8
13	United States	81.6
14	Croatia	81.2
15	Netherlands	79.0
16	New Zealand	77.0
17	Hungary	75.3
18	Poland	69.1
19	Canada	68.3
20	Portugal	59.6
21	Bulgaria	59.5
22	South Africa	59.2
23	Russia	58.9
24	Venezuela	58.6
25	Romania	58.2
26	Cyprus	58.1
27	Switzerland	57.3
28	Gabon	55.8
29	Norway	55.5
30	Mexico	51.8
31	Sweden	51.5
32	Japan	51.3
33	Brazil	47.6
34	South Korea	38.5
35	Colombia	36.8

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beer_consumption_by_country
http://www.kirin.co.jp/english/ir/news_release051215_4.html

Switzerland Accidently Invades Liechtenstein

2007-03-06T12:44:00.000+02:00

Were countries involved something like China and India, Russia and Finland or maybe even Germany and France (again...), we'd possibly have a huge political and diplomatic crisis on our hands. But, alas, it's just a two small countries, one which is neutral all the way and the other which doesn't have an army.

On a routine training exercise, a company of Swiss soldiers got lost at night and marched into neighboring Liechtenstein. (Oops!) According to Swiss daily Blick, the 170 infantry soldiers wandered just over a mile across an unmarked border into the tiny principality early Thursday before realizing their mistake and turning back.

A spokesman for the Swiss army confirmed the story but said that there were unlikely to be any serious repercussions for the mistaken invasion. Liechtenstein, which has about 34,000 inhabitants and is slightly smaller than Washington DC, doesn't have an army.

Both parties played down the event and let it slip. Shit happens...

Military Ebay

2007-03-02T18:37:00.000+02:00

Ebay has a militaristic competitor: eDisposals. The British Ministry of Defense is auctoning off its surplus and replaced equiptment. This includes boats, truck, Land Rovers, boots, camouflage gear, etcetera, etcetera. Guns and ammo aren't for sale yet...

http://www.edisposals.com

Beware Of Terrorists On BICYCLES!

2007-02-24T14:22:00.000+02:00

The newest and hottest this spring in the terrorist gadget line, all the way from Pakistan: Bicycle Bombs! What next, terrorist teenagers with skateboard bombs?!

Biking militants die when bomb explodes prematurely - CNN.com ( http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/02/24/pakistan.bomb.ap/index.html )

UK: We're Pulling Out Troops From Iraq; But Don't Worry, We're Sending In Prince Harry

2007-02-22T02:15:00.000+02:00

The same day that British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced the 'withdrawal' of 1,600 British troops from the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the deployment of Prince Harry's regiment, the Blues and Royals (apt name...) is said to be 'almost certain'.

If deployed, Prince Harry, or Troop Commander Wales as he is known to his colleagues, will be in charge of an 11 man reconnaissance team equipped with 4 light armoured Scimitar tanks. So not exactly a desk job to keep him out of harms way, but rather to throw him right in the middle of it...

The last time that a senior Royal Family member has seen military action was in 1982, when Prince Andrew, Harry's uncle, was a helicopter pilot in the Falklands conflict. When's the last time any member of congress or the White House administration picked up a gun and headed of to war, and not speaking figuratively? We are talking about the grandson of the Queen of England here... When's the last time a child or grandchild of a US President head off to war?

The United Kingdom has some 7,100 troops in the southern part of Iraq, and is hoping to cut that number down to 5,500 'within the next few months', with an additional 500 hopefully called home by the end of the summer. The UK military presence in Iraq will continue into 2008, 'for as long as [they're] wanted and have a job to do.'

Although the number of British forces to be withdrawn seems small, one must remember that initially the UK sent in some 45,000 soldiers in April 2003, and has gradually lowered the number of UK forces in Iraq.

So, on one had you have the UK, who, to some extent, is succeeding in its mission in securing Basra (again, to a degree), withdrawing troops and relinquishing control of the area to the Iraqis. On the other hand you have the US, who still maintain a force of some 132,000 soldiers in Iraq, and are now sending in an additional 21,500 troops, all the while (atleast seemingly) failing in their mission. It seems that the methods of operating in Iraq between the US and the UK are complete opposites. Lessons to be learned here, perhaps?

I'm not implying that the American troops are not pulling their weight in Iraq or are otherwise doing a lousy job. Those 132,000 US troops are doing the best they can under the circumstances, and probably could do a better job, if their job wasn't hampered by political mishandlings and other such burdens, both from the American generals and politicians in Iraq and Washington, and the Iraqi powers in charge over there. Someone in charge needs to get a clue, and fast. Sure, Baghdad is a whole different ballgame compared to Basra, but apparently things aren't working out too well in the capital...

On a final note, let's theorize about the deployment of Prince Harry to Iraq, and let's try to look at the pessimistic aspects of what could happen to him over there. Let's say he dies or is wounded in the line of duty by a) the insurgents, b) an accident c) friendly-fire:
a) an IED blows up his Scimitar tank and him with it. What would the British reaction in relation to the war in Iraq be? I could see it three ways. One, the remaining troops are withdrawn hastily, due to immense uproar back in the UK over the war. Two, the British parliament sends in hundreds, if not thousands, of extra troops to finally eradicate all insurgency in the south. Three, the nation mourns but the soldiers in Iraq stay the course and finish the job.
b) same as part three of the above
c) US war planes shot up a regiment of British soldiers travelling in Scimitar tanks in 2003, killing one soldier. What if it happened again? How would the cooperation between the UK and the US change if it happened to Prince Harry's regiment? Would the UK immediately pull all its troops from Iraq? Politically, it's hard to say, but you know how the British public would react to it...

In any case, worst-case scenario for southern Iraq is that the presence of a very valuable target in Basra could bring more insurgent attacks on the city, undermining the efforts and results the British have undergone in recent months in trying to bring peace to the area. Let's hope for the best. Not just for England and Prince Harry, but also for the peaceful civilians of Basra...

Sources:
BBC NEWS UK Prince Harry 'to be sent to Iraq'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6383747.stm
BBC NEWS Politics Blair announces Iraq troops cut
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6380933.stm

Citizens Catch Cop Speeding, Face Arrest

2007-02-20T15:25:00.000+02:00

A Bartow County, Georgia, couple had installed $1,200 worth of video cameras and a radar gun outside their home to catch speeders in their neighborhood and convince people to slow down for safety. It's good to see people take a genuine interest in the safety of their neighborhood, and things were rolling on smoothly until their surveillance system tagged a cop driving part at 17 mph over the posted speed limit.

The officer was able to come up with an excuse to dodge the penalty for speeding, and is now planning on pressing charges against the couple for stalking. Yes, stalking.

The couple were "allegedly stalking a Kennesaw police officer by installing cameras to track neighborhood speeders." I'm sorry, but if the cameras were installed to track neighbourhood speeders, how exactly are they stalking someone who happens to speed by?

Source:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/19/citizens-catch-cop-speeding-with-cameras-radars-face-arrest/

UK To Start Interviews For Passports

2007-02-20T15:23:00.000+02:00

As of this April, first-time adult passport applicants will be called to face-to-face, 10-20 minute interviews, which "will be "vital" in helping crack identity fraud." (Identity fraud costs the UK an estimated £1.7bn a year.)

The interviews will affect some 600,000 people each year, and from 2009, interviews will also be compulsory for the millions more people who apply to renew lost, stolen or expired passports each year.

Now for the math portion: there'll be 610,000 first-time applicants each year, some 10% of the total applicants. There were 1,700 confirmed frauds detected last year.
74% of fraudulent cases were first-time adult applications. And here's the final math:
Approx. 6 million applicants each year.
Out of all 1700 confirmed cases, 1258 were new applicants, 442 renewals etc.
One confirmed fraud for every 3530 applicants.
Out of first-time applicants, who the new system targets, one confirmed fraud in 477 cases.
Out of other applicants, one confirmed fraud in 12217 cases.

So we're talking about inconveniencing a lot of people, some who'll have travel up to two hours for a short interview. Sure, its obvious that this new system is targeting the right demographic, but in doing so is adding unnecessary bureaucracy to the system, and added burden on the people.

The new system is being compared to the added airport security which people face each time they travel by air, an inconvenience which the people are expected to endure (and we do, because there's no alternative), just to get to travel. And we do so to feel safer. It's a good comparison, since the new system will really just be another hindrance to smooth travelling. The new system will cut down on 'chancers', but won't deter professional fraudsters.

So how's about these (theoretical) solutions?

Create a quick, efficient and secure system to verify identity;
Train security personnel better, especially in identifying fake identification cards and passports;
Train current and future airline crews, airport personnel and ground crews better, as well as conducting FULL background checks on all personnel;
Update security screening at all ports of entry/exit with high-tech, AVAILABLE, technologies;
Increase funding for future technologies in relation to security measures;
Review current safety procedures to weed out redundancies;
Put together an independent, international commission to study all possible threats to mass transportation;
And finally, listen to the people, the 99.999999999% of travellers who just want a smooth, pleasant trip from point A to point B, and beyond.

Pretty soon all the fun has been sucked out of air travel... Adding more inconvenience to cover up outdated methods and equipment and goverment agency mishandlings is getting out of hand. The people can't be made to live in fear and submission forever...

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6370627.stm

Science vs Animals: Feathers on a Salamander

2007-02-19T15:00:00.000+02:00

It wasn't really the article which interested me, but the picture that came with it. That has to be one of the ugliest creatures I've seen in a while. The story was entitled "Science finds new ways to regrow fingers", which in itself is a pretty interesting read, but the more and more I look at that picture, I feel slightly sickened, yet oddly captivated by it. It's always interesting to think what these scientists think in the morning when they wake up. "Today, I'm going to grow feathers on a salamander." Atleast they didn't have a picture of a salamander with five fingers growing out of its back... Click on the image to see it larger.

Sources:
The article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070219/ap_on_sc/regrowing_fingers
The photo: http://news.yahoo.com/photo/070215/480/ny49202151651;_ylt=AsYale7IWZ5Efrzn.n36nrVxieAA

McDonald's Bombing: Terrorists or Hooligans?

2007-02-19T14:31:00.001+02:00

By now everyone's probably heard that a bomb went off in a McDonald's in St. Petersburg, Russia yesterday. Sure, this happens every now and then, what with McDonald's being a symbol of American capitalism and all. There was one thing in the news reports which I've read online that caught my attention. In today's world, the word "Bomb" is always coupled with the word "Terrorism" or "Terrorist", unless used in the sense of military bombs. For example, "the bomb that killed x number of people in the market square was believed to be the work of so and so terrorists", or "the bombing of the train is being investigated as an act of terrorism". In this bit of news, the Russian Police are investigating the bombing of the St. Petersburg McDonald's as "an act of hooliganism" and have opened a criminal case "under the article of the Criminal Code of attempted murder of two and more persons" and the police doubt that this was an act of terrorism. They're not looking for terrorists, but young vandals and hooligans, in other words, criminals. Had this bomb gone off in a McDonald's in let's say France or the UK, the police would most likely be treating it as an act of terrorism. What if it had happened in America?

The only reason I can think of in this difference of thinking and labelling is that maybe the Russians can differentiate between a strong criminal act and an act of terrorism, something that the western world is having problems with. One has to take into consideration that Russia is better aware of terrorism than the western world, especially America, and has dealt with it in the past on numerous occasions. Maybe America and it's allies don't yet know what the true definition of terrorism is...

Sources:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/02/19/russia.blast/
http://www.hs.fi/ulkomaat/artikkeli/1135225215438

What Happened on September 11th, 2001: Videos of Alternate 9/11 Theories

2007-02-19T11:45:00.000+02:00

Some time ago I heard of a documentary that someone was making, demonstrating evidence that 9/11 was an inside job, among others discrepancies within the events, undermining their validity. I finally found the video on YouTube and DailyMotion. (not that I've really been looking that hard.) The documentary makes a lot of good, solid, and absolutely valid points, provoking one to actually think "what if?" There are plenty of these videos, short clips and full feature documentaries. "Loose Change" is the one I've heard most about, but there are several other really interesting ones. "9-11 Mysteries-Demolitions" and "Improbable Collapse : The Demolition of our Republic" both focus on the collapse of the World Trade Centers. The reason I preferred "Loose Change" is because of it's entertainment factor. I will not state whether or not I believe in the 9/11 conspiracy theories, or if I believe that the US Governement was behind the acts of terrorism. The reason I'm posting these videos is to provide another side of the news. Which one is the correct interpretation of the events of September 11th, 2001, that's for you decide on your own. You know the official story, here's another version or two.

I've embedded the three parts of the documentary "Loose Change, 2nd Edition" in this post. Alternately, you can watch them on YouTube, (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3), or watch the entire video on Google Video or on DivX Stage 6 (download available).

Loose Change, Second Edition, Part 1

Loose Change, Second Edition, Part 2

Loose Change, Second Edition, Part 3

There are MANY MANY websites devoted to September 11, 2001, hundreds of which are devoted to trying to uncover the truth behind 9-11. I'm only listing the ones which I browsed through whilst looking at these few videos.

Videos:
Loose Change, Part 1 (YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGEb40o17yE
Loose Change, Part 2 (YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOVWBQKUpsU
Loose Change, Part 3 (YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtV1uxYnu0w
Loose Change, Full (Google Video)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7866929448192753501&q=loose+change+recut
Loose Change, Full, High Quality (DivX Stage 6)
http://stage6.divx.com/Louder_Than_Words/show_video/1005782
9/11 Mysteries - Demolitions (Google Video)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6708190071483512003
Improbable Collapse : The Demolition of our Republic (Google Video)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4026073566596731782

Websites:
http://www.truth911.net/
http://www.improbablecollapse.com/
http://www.loosechange911.com/
http://www.physics911.net/

Let's File It Under "Oops"; FBI Misplaces Laptops

2007-02-14T18:46:00.000+02:00

Several days ago it was reported that the FBI had lost 160 laptops in the last four years, some 51 of them containing sensitive information. Before that, the FBI had misplaced over 300 laptops in a space of just over a few years. Every newspaper article in print and online that I've come across this story in (and that's not too many), not a single one mentions any kind of punishments for those responsible for the losses or thefts. Better yet, the situations where the agents have lost these laptops as well as weapons are in a few cases ridiculous; unlocked cars, leaving them behind at restaurants, grocery stores, restrooms, etc... With reports of identity thefts in the news frequently due to mishandling of laptops, data, or just plain human stupidity, I haven't heard of any punishments for those responsible. It's always either an announcement of the fact that they've been lost, with little or no information or apology, or in some cases just a simple "oops, we were stupid. Sorry, we'll try not to do it again" statement.

In England, on the other hand, The Nationwide Building Society was fined £980,000 (€1,464,000/$1,922,000) for the theft of ONE laptop from an employee's house, a laptop which contained banking information from some 11 million of the corporation's clients. Now how many people have the FBI and other institutions, universities and corporations compromised due to their "mishaps"? The BBC article mentions that it is not known whether Nationwide fined, fired or disciplined the employee in question or not, but one would think the company might wanna do that, considering the cost of the ordeal to the company, in terms of money and image. Guess the FBI didn't feel the need to, seeing as people's view of the bureau is already tarnished, and it's just another instance of a big OOPS!

[Note: The BBC website has some pretty good information to turn to in case of Identity Theft. CNN, not so much...]

Sources:
FBI loses laptops with classified information - CNN.com ( http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/12/fbi.laptops/index.html )
FBI still losing laptops, weapons - Homeland Stupidity ( http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2007/02/13/fbi-still-losing-laptops-weapons/ )
BBC NEWS Business Nationwide fined for stolen laptop ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6360715.stm )

They REALLY Can Read Your Mind Now!

2007-02-14T14:44:00.000+02:00

Hello Minority Report! Welcome 1984! With all the possibilities of science, why exactly are scientists focusing on building scanners that can read your intentions? Anyhow, the story here is that a team of world-leading scientists have developed a powerful technique which enables the user to read another person's intentions before they commit an act. Sure, this will become handy when paroling inmates, or checking suspects and other possible evil-doers. In theory.

What about the implications to the rest of us? The new technique can read your intentions. But what about the difference between passing thoughts and real intentions? That's deeper than just reading what's on your mind right now. And, moving on deeper, secrets, fantasies, passwords, etc... If this technique is ever completed and perfected, what's to stop it from becoming mandatory in everyday life? Sure, the scientists working on this are equally concerned of the possible implications of the mind-reading technique, but say that they are minimizing the risks. Um, sure, in the right hands there are little or no risks. What about in the hands of someone with the desire to rule and control? Show me one future leader portrayed in futuristic movies in a controlled, minimal privacy society who actually cared for his or her people and made life enjoyable for them...

Thankfully, this is all still a long long way from actually becoming a useful, everyday practise, but it's on it's way. Slowly but surely...

Sources:
Neuroscientists read people's intentions with brain scan - Engadget
Slashdot | Brain Scanner Can Read People's Intentions
The brain scan that can read people's intentions | Science | Guardian Unlimited

Town Asks For Firetruck, Gets $665,962 Homeland Security Grant; Not Allowed To Buy Firetruck

2007-02-13T23:28:00.000+02:00

Here's a lovely example of idiotic budgeting, decision making, and bureaucracy. With billions going into Homeland Security spending each year in America, why exactly can't the money be put to good use throughout the system, instead of throwing it to communities in ridiculous quantaties, whilst stipulating what they can and cannot use the moeny for? Here's a perfect example of money thrown into the wrong jar:

The fire departmentof Cheshire, Massachusetts, needed a new fire truck, and turned to the government to lend a hand, and ended up getting a lot more than what they expected: a $665,962 homeland security grant. That amount is 26 times the annual budget of the volunteer fire department in the town of 3,500. And here's the best part: Under the terms of the grant, the department is not allowed to spend it on a fire truck.

So, instead of getting a bit of money to buy a new firetruck or refurbish an old one, the town of Cheshire won a grant to fortify the ranks of its volunteer brigade. I guess one can see this from the bureacraut's point of view: more men equals more carriers of water. No need for a truck, especially as it's a small town and all...

But wait a minute, how does a small town in Massachusetts receive such a sizable amount of money out of the budget of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)? Their website, (www.dhs.gov) gives little answer to the question.

Maybe the Department of Homeland Security can better explain why. A spokeswoman for the DHS said that the money comes from the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response grants, a program that was absorbed into the DHS after the agency was established follow Sept. 11th. The spokeswoman said that the town "presented a multifaceted project proposal", and that the grant could be spent over four years. How it will be spent, there was no elaboration. Except, that they can't buy the truck firetruck.

The Cheshire Fire Department wrote two grant requests, one for the $175,000 fire truck and the other for upping the ranks of its 29-member volunteer force. Still, $665,962 sounds a little too much. And, wasn't this supposed to be about National Security? The town does have the Cheshire Cheese Monument, a sizable concrete sculpture of a cheese press commemorating a 1,450-pound cheese hunk given by town elders to Thomas Jefferson in 1801. But I doubt anyone has yet studied its value as a terrorist target yet, or is there something we don't know?

And why exactly is more and more money going into the mainland and small towns, whilst the towns which might need it, such as Boston, New York, and Washington. These cities complained last year that their homeland security grants were lowered, whilst the small town got more than they bargained for. Cheshire, the smallest town in Massachusetts to get a grant (it also ranks 266th in the state in terms of population), but received the largest grant in Massachusetts. And the story continues all around the country...

The money will now be put to use to hire more volunteer fire fighters, especially from amongst high schoolers, and to reimburse the volunteers lost wages whilst on duty. The town council is to meet to decide just where the money will end up. Still, even with all that excess money and possibilities, there are still pressing matters in Cheshire, according to the firechief;

"We really needed the truck."

Sources:
Homeland Security spending: idiotic pork - Boing Boing
Firefighters' windfall comes with a catch - The Boston Globe
U.S. Department of Homeland Security | Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program |

Hiking On The Red Planet, Anyone?

2007-02-13T22:17:00.000+02:00

BBC News reported that scientists have created topographical maps of the Red Planet, using data from a European space probe that's been orbiting Mars since December 2003. These maps are very similar to those which planning authorities and hikers use back here on Earth. In addition, they've also turned the data into a 3D models of Mars.

I was going to poke fun at this by saying that next Google is going to release a Google Earth-type program called Google Mars, but in typing that keyword into the Google search engine, I found out that I really wasn't the first to think of this, as Google already has a site called Google Mars...

I was also thinking that next travel agencies are going to start offering commercial hiking trips on the Red Planet for millionaires, seeing as Earth's orbit is no longer a stranger to them. Then again, they've still gotta get through the Moon first, and seeing as the next race for the Moon is getting underway, that'll probably happen within a decade or so...

The European Space Agency (ESA), which comiled the maps, said it hoped the maps would become a standard reference for future research on Mars, so the maps weren't just produced to provide hours of entertainment for geeks searching for signs of life (and so on) on the Red Planet... (I was kinda looking forward to that...)

Anyhow, check out ESA's website for more topographical maps of Mars, if you're interested... (link)

Sources:
BBC News Article
The European Space Agency - Mars Express website

King Alcohol Takes A Hit; Alcohol Laws Tightened In Finland

2007-02-11T18:00:00.000+02:00

The Finnish Government tightened the Alcohol Laws in Finland on Wednesday (Feb 02, 2007). The focus of the new bill is on demanding visible warning labels on all alcoholic bottles and cans, much like the inefficient warning labels which decorate our cigarette packs. But that's not all. The new alcohol bill, which passed 104-71 in the Parliament, calls for the following:

-Warning labels on all containers of alcohol (bottles and cans, every alcoholic drink over 2.8% ABV), stating the imminent health risks and the possibility of damage to the embryo resulting from consumption of alcohol.
-Limiting of advertisement of alcohol on television and in movies.
-Banning all advertisement of alcohol on television between the hours of 7am and 9pm.
-Banning advertisement of alcohol during all movies suitable for under 18yr olds on television at all times of the day.
-Banning advertisement of discount prices of alcohol outside supermarkets.
-Banning advertisement of Happy Hour sales outside bars, restaurants and clubs.
-Banning of sales of alcohol at supermarkets between 9pm and 9am.
-Regulating the pricing of alcohol when bought in bulk.

The MPs aren't really convinced that the warning labels will have much effect, which kinda makes that part of the law somewhat redundant. The labels will be pretty much the exact same as are on packs of cigarettes in Finland right now, which has hap little or no effect on the numbers of smokers in Finland since they first arrived on the cigarette packs. A member of the Green Party noted that the only meaningful way the labels could reduce the consumption of alcohol would be if they read "Did you notice that the tax on this bottle has increased by 50 per cent? Watch your wallet!" Compared to the chilly response to the warning labels, the Government's plan on banning all bulk discounts on alcohol purchases received fairly unanimous approval. (Unanimous in parliament, but did anyone ask the populace?)

The banning of alcohol advertisement is really a continuation of what's already in effect, as advertisement of strong alcohol (above 22% ABV) has been completely banned in Finland for a while now. What this new addition means is that mild alcoholic drinks can only be advertised during late evenings and at night on television, in order to protect youths from exposure to alcohol. (Youths, who frequently stay up in front of the television way past 9pm...) Shame really, because Finnish TV commercials suck, as a rule, with beer and cider commercials usually being an exception to the rule. (Note: The Christian Democratic Party wanted to ban ALL advertisement of alcohol)

The banning of sales of alcohol at supermarkets between 9pm and 9am is not really anything new. They've just pushed the starting time ahead by a few hours, as it used to be that one could buy morning beer at 7am, as soon as most stores opened their doors.

The last part of the new law is the most important one, and the one which most people will complain about. Regulating the pricing of alcohol when bought in bulk. Bulk refers to the sale of 6-packs and 12-packs of bottled beer at stores, as well as similar bulk items of canned beer and cider. A couple of years ago the 6-pack and the 12-pack took over the position of the packet of coffee as the product of choice to lure in customers. (Finns still drink more coffee than any other nation in the world, some 11.2kgs per person annually. For comparison, Italians drink 5.4kgs, and the Japanese drink some 3.3kgs of coffee per person annually.) Due to this, the price of beer (in bulk) in supermarkets has declined rapidly in recent years, hitting as low as 6.40euros for the 12-pack. (For comparison, one bottle of beer bought separately costs some 1.25euros right now, equaling 15euros for 12 of them.) Breweries have stated that in order to make a profit off the sale of 12-packs, they should be priced at no less than 10euros. Breweries foresee an imminent price increase in the prices of 12-packs due to this new law, which is quite a redundant statement. One worry (and a good one at that too, especially in this country) is that the 12-packs end up in the possession of young drinkers (underage kids) who are likely to consume the entire contents of the 12-pack (typically outdoors, even when the thermometer hits -25 degrees Celsius) because there's no going home with alcohol.

The banning of bulk sales also applies to the sale of bottles of wine in restaurants, bars and clubs. Typically, a bottle of wine can be purchased cheaper than the same amount of wine when bought in glasses of 12cl or 24cl. No more, as now the bottle must cost the exact same as the corresponding amount of wine would in glasses.

According to several studies (which a lot of Finns are peculiarly proud of), the Finns drink to get intoxicated more than any other nation in the world. Whereas most countries have a drinking culture which involves use of alcohol in moderation in many parts of the daily schedule and social events, the Finns, who drink on less occasions, when they do, it's with a clear goal in mid; getting really wasted. Finnish youths start drinking at a very early age, typically between 12 and 15 as I've witnessed myself, with generally girls starting slightly earlier than boys.

Consider it a rule. Finns love to drink. many of the secular and traditional holiday celebrations in Finland are very fluid in nature. The two holidays on which Finns LOVE to drink are Vappu (last day of April, regardless of the day of the week, because the next day is a public holiday (read: national hangover day), and Juhannus (midsummer's eve, Friday 20something in June, always a Friday). These are the two worst days for tourists to come to Finland on vacation. On Vappu, EVERYBODY looses their mind and gets completely wasted, acting as stupid as they really can. On Juhannus, Helsinki and all other metropolitan areas are practically deserted of people, as everyone has retreated to the countryside to, well, drink insane amounts of alcohol, going as far in some cases as to take the boat out on the lake or the sea and drown, or manage to burn your cottage down to the ground. The student culture in universities and polytechnics consists of many, many alcohol-related extracurricular activities. Think American universities and their alcohol-related parties. Finnish higher education parties are school wide, an actual part of the schedule. (Of course, the schools don't endorse these parties, but they allow them to take place, and allow for gaps in the school schedule for them to take place.)

A part of the Finnish drinking culture is getting somewhat wasted before one heads out the the bars and clubs and a weekend night. This usually takes place at someone's house, or at a bar that has Happy Hour and cheap drinks. (A lot of bars have Happy hour from 6pm to 9pm, and a lot of clubs have Happy Hour from 9pm to 11pm). Club and bar owners and staff have noted that since the Finnish Government lowered the tax on alcohol in early 2004 (which only really affected the prices of alcohol in stores, not in bars and clubs), the amount of people getting some drink in the their system before heading out has increased. And not just the amount of people who do this, but also the amount of drink they consume prior to heading out on the town.

Finland is a traditional beer nation. The Finnish folklore, Kalevala, contains instructions of making beer within it's prose and poetry. During the Swedish Occupation of Finland, the Finnish Government paid the nations taxes in beer, and soldiers at the time received a salary of beer. Unfortunately, this practice has fallen out of use. Finnish beer was considered the best in the Kingdom of Sweden during the occupation, and ask any Finn, it's still better than anything the Swedes have attempted to brew.

Although Finland, per capita, consumed the least alcohol in Europe at the beginning of the 20th Century, a prohibition was imposed upon the populace from 1919 to 1932. The end of the prohibition came with the regulation of all alcohol under a single State institution, Alko. The end of prohibition came, not because of changes in tolerance to alcohol culture, but to bring an end to the smuggling if alcohol, which was thriving from day one of the prohibition.

Since 1932, mild alcoholic drinks, such as beer, cider, and long drinks, have also moved to the supermarket shelves and kiosks. All wine and spirits are still to this day only available in Alko, as well as restaurants, bars and clubs (but only for consumption within the premises, naturally). it's worth noting that this didn't occur until 1969. There's been talk of allowing for the sale of wines in supermarkets, but with the passing of this new law, that seems very unlikely to take place in the coming years.

Alcohol is now the leading killer of Finnish adults, with consumption reaching an all-time high last year, when Finns drank the equivalent of 55.2 million liters (14.5 million gallons) of pure grain alcohol — a 14 percent increase from 2003. Talking percentages, since 2003, the cost of treating alcohol-related illnesses has grown by 14 percent, peaking at $1.1 billion last year. See a pattern evolving? Here's a bit of statistical data to support the last few sentences.
In 2003, the top two leading causes of death for men in Finland between the ages of 15 and 64 were 1.) Coronary Heart Disease (1356 deaths, 18,5% of the total) 2.) Alcohol-Related (1016 deaths, 13,8% of the total). For women between the ages of 15 and 64, the two leading causes of death were 1.) Breast Cancer (325 deaths, 10,6% of the total) 2.) Alcohol-Related (267 deaths, 8,7% of the total).
In 2005, the top two leading causes of death for men were 1.) Alcohol-Related (1309 deaths, 17,1 of the total) 2.) Coronary Heart Disease (1268 deaths, 16,6% of the total), and for women 1.) Breast Cancer (355 deaths, 10,7% of the total) 2.) Alcohol-Related (354 deaths, 10,6% of the total). Out of a population of some 5.3 million people, 12% of Finns are absolutists, and 5-10% are heavy users of alcohol. In addition, a third of all suicides in Finland are committed whilst drunk.

Beer has never really been considered strictly alcohol in Finland, but rather a grocery item. Us Finns have a special love for the 12-pack, which we invented, and now cherish. The mäyräkoira (dachshund), as we generally call it, is a pillar of the drinking culture nowadays. Although all it is is 12 0.33litre bottles of beer, wrapped in cardboard, with a carrying handle. It's one of the top items which people steal/attempt to steal from grocery stores (something I've witnessed several times at work), and is also one of the, if not the, top selling item in grocery stores in Finland. It's the number one product with which stores try to lure in customers. Long story cut short, it's a special thing to us. 12 beers in a handy carry case for half the price. Well, that'll be no more, one this new law eventually goes into effect. The warning labels on the containers of alcoholic beverages will be coming within a year, but the other parts of the new law will come into effect as soon as this April. So, a month and a half to enjoy cheaper by the dozen. The labels won't have any effect; the advertisement ban will just make alcohol more of a "banned, so I must have" item for youths; the ban on Happy Hour advertisement outside licensed premises will annoy the consumer who'll now have to start barhopping or peeking into places to see where the cheap beer is; and the ban on bulk sales will annoy the living shit out of the consumer, atleast in the first months until we get used to it; and it'll change the way supermarkets battle between each other for the customers. Price of beer when sold individually at supermarkets might fall to an all time low to make up for the loss of the 12-pack.

I can't really decide if all this is a good thing or not. Sure, it's being done to control youth drinking and unhealthy binge drinking/alcoholism and cut the growing trend of alcohol-related deaths, as well as protect the young from the dangers of alcohol. But seriously, not much is likely to change. This is what I foresee happening:
The youths will still drink, they'll just drink less beer and cider and more hard liquor. As the drinking age in Finland is 18 for all alcohol under 22% ABV and 20 for anything above that (Everything else besides alcoholic beverages under 5% ABV can only be purchased at Alko), kids get their older brothers/sisters/parents friends etc to buy the alcohol for them, as is typically the case pretty much everywhere else in the world where the minimum drinking age is enforced. (In Finland, if a clerk at a supermarket or such sells an underage kid alcohol or cigarette without IDing them and is caught, they face a fine and possibly even lose their job. Same applies to selling to already grossly intoxicated individuals.)
Alcohol will become more and more the Forbidden Fruit. Youths, preteens, and so on will still be equally fascinated by alcohol, and will continue to start drinking at an early age.
Supermarkets, restaurants, bars and clubs might eventually see a slight drop in sales, but it'll be very short lived. Breweries, on the other hand, will be making more money.
Your average Joe, who drinks one to two 12-packs on Friday and Saturday evenings, will at first bitch and whine about the price increase (mostly likely to the person sitting at the cash register, who already gets enough of that shit everyday), and then will accept the fact that this is the way it'll be from now on.
Oh, and alcohol will remain the leading cause of death in Finland for years.

On paper, this new law might be a really good idea, with good intentions. In theory, um, not so. People will bitch and whine about it for a while and then calmly accept the fact. They're also talking of hiking up the tax on alcohol again, seeing as the tax deduction in 2004 was quite literally a miserable failure (it was done to control the flow of cheap alcohol from the former Soviet states, especially Estonia where Finns love to go on booze cruises. That and taking the cruise boat to Sweden to get absolutely wasted for two days in a row and purchasing cheap alcohol, namely beer). That'll be the next thing to whine about and then swallow the reality quietly and get on with life with a bottle in your hand. Hell, what can you say, us Finns love to drink...
UPDATED 5 MARCH 2007
The price of wine bottles will rise due to the new alcohol warning labels. The price of imported wine could rise by as much as 1 euro (a good, cheap wine goes for 6-8ish euros here), whilst local wines would see a mere 10 cent increase in price. Worst case scenario, the variety and availability of foreign wines (and beer) could diminish as expenses grow...

Sources:

Eduskunta hyväksyi varoitustarrat viina- ja olutpulloihin - HS.fi - Kotimaa (In Finnish)
FINLEX ® - Alkoholilainsäädäntö (In Finnish)
STTV Alkoholi (In Finnish)
Tiede.fi: Keskustelu - Alkoholilaki tiukentuu (In Finnish)
Tilastokeskus - Alkoholikuolemat lisääntyivät edelleen vuonna 2005 (In Finnish)
Tilastokeskus - Tilastouutisia (In Finnish)
Alkoholivero - Wikipedia (In Finnish)
Suomalainen alkoholikulttuuri - Wikipedia (In Finnish)
Booze Taking A Heavy Toll On Finland, Alcohol Now Leading Killer Of Finnish Adults; Consumption At All-Time High - CBS News (In English)
Helsingin Sanomat International Edition - No Plans To Regulate Price Of Beer In Licenced Premises (In English)
Alcohol becomes leading killer of Finns - Europe - International Herald Tribune (In English)
Helsingin Sanomat International Edition - Warning Labels Coming On Containers Of Alcoholic Beverages (In English)
Kansanterveyslaitos Alkoholi, huumeet ja muut päihteet (In Finnish)

Massachusetts Calls For The Arrest Of Verizon

2007-02-11T02:54:00.000+02:00

This is the first instance I've ever heard of when a State has called for the arrest of an entire company. The news here is that after Verizon double billed one of their customers, the person in question sued them for ruining his credit and won. When Verizon still wouldn't pay up, the court ordered a bench warrant for Verizon's arrest. The whole company. Unfortunately, Verizon finally sent a check to the customer they screwed over, before the warrant could be put into effect. Now that would have been a bit of news I would have loved to see in the news. Police Officers arresting an entire company, confiscating all their possession... Anyhow, score one for the little guy!

Sources: State of MA to Verizon: You're Under Arrest - Gizmodo
Warrant Issued For Verizon's Arrest - Consumerist

This Is How The Grossly Deviant Should Be Prosecuted!

2007-02-10T22:42:00.000+02:00

Fred Everts, a convicted child molester was sentenced to 800 years in prison in San Jose, California yesterday for sexually abusing three boys, aged 3, 9 and 11. Steve Fein, who prosecuted Everts, asked for the maximum sentence of 1,175 years to life. Due to California's three-strikes law, Everts is going away for a LONG time, having already been convicted in 1993 for a similar offense, twice.

Now, why can't other law systems around the world adopt the same kind of thinking? Ok, truth be told, the three-strikes rule is ridiculous when it comes to lesser crimes such as burglary, theft, and vandalism. Well, lesser when you compare it to say rape, murder, etc. So here's my suggestion: for serious crimes, put these people away after their second conviction. Why would you wait for someone to murder another person, serve a few years in prison, get out on "good behavior", then kill another person within a short period of time, and then send him back to jail, only to be released so he'll do it again. After the second time, one would notice that the perp hasn't learned he's lesson, and should be put away for good. Or does it really take three times before those in charge realize that maybe this person shouldn't be out walking the streets, free to do anything he wishes?

Then again, 800 years is slight overkill, but the guy molested his 3-month old biological son! Now you'd think that would be enough on the first time... Now, let's all sit down and think about this. Why is it that someone who smokes a joint at a party and gets caught can go to jail for decades, whilst a man who rapes a young girl gets off with a few years on a first offense? How's about a murderer who slaughters a family of four gets off with like 10 years, whilst a middle school teacher gets 40 years in jail for having porn on her work computer, which her students happened to see? Do I make my point clear? Who would you rather have walking amongst us? The guy who smokes a joint every now and then, the teacher who likes lesbian porn, the child rapist, or the maniac murderer? Think about. (If you study or practice law, or happen to have connections higher places, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!)

Source: Yahoo! News

Evil Marijuana In The News Again! Be Scared! Be Dumbfounded! Do What You're Told!

2007-02-08T22:12:00.000+02:00

This one's gonna be a quickie, because you'll just have to read the article yourselves. USA Today had an article a few days ago about the harmful effects of marijuana. It just seems so biased, using examples of only one side of the argument. Just read the damn thing. I might add something later, once my sense of logic returns from the coffee break it went on after reading the article... Be sure to check out the Reason Magazine Hit & Run piece in response to the USA Today article, as well as the comments with it.

USA Today: Caution: Marijuana may not be lesser evil

Reason Magazine: USA Today's Self-Refuting Anti-Pot Propaganda

And just for kicks, here's a page called "2005 National Survey on Drug Use & Health: National Results", which will make your eyes go around in circles, but as soon as your brain unfreezes, the statistics do seem to make more sense and give you a more realistic viewpoint on the matter, as opposed to the USA Today article's point of view.

Peace

2007-02-08T20:47:00.000+02:00

This is an essay I wrote several years ago as a high school assignment. I kinda like it.

Peace

With the enormous diversity of the world, is peaceful co-existence achievable? This world is not built on one idea, on one belief, or on one view on anything. There are over six billion individuals on this planet, following many different beliefs and ideals, everyone with their own idea of the world. With this in mind, how can two people, let alone six billion live together in peace, be able to co-exist without quarrel, to the end of time? As humans, can we achieve world peace?

Peace is a concept that everyone has an image of in his or her head, shaped as everyone themselves sees it. Is peace a world of butterflies and green pastures that some people may see it as? Or is it to be able to wake up in the morning with a smile on your face and at night go to sleep with the very same smile, undeterred? Or is it something more political, such as the elimination of border disputes, armed conflicts, and going to war over menial issues such as religion, race, or personal grudges of political leaders?

As humans and as nations, we’re never completely satisfied. Humans always want more, want the best, want everything better and more expensive that our neighbors. Countries always want more land, more money, more resources, more markets, more of everything good. The world is greedy. Human and national differences will always get in the way of achieving peace. As humans we bicker and quarrel over menial things such as money, jobs, fame, looks, even the fact that our neighbor’s apple tree is dropping it’s leaves on our yard. And those are the smallest of things we fight about. Caucasians, consciously or unconsciously, see themselves as the main race, the main skin color. It’s the White Man’s World. Everyone else is lower on the list. Doesn’t fit everyone’s view of a peaceful world, does it?

Earth is a melting pot of a great number of religions and beliefs, one major reason for the fact that people still quarrel and wage war on each other. Take the world today. Islamic fundamentalists are waging war on the West, on America in what they call Jihad, the holy war. For those participating in Jihad, their cause is to hate and destroy something they do not believe in, something that goes against their beliefs. For them, peace cannot be achieved before the “infidels” are destroyed or converted, before everyone believes in Allah and adheres to His rules. That’s not most of the world’s view on peace. Western thinking is more liberal in defining peace so it involves all religions. Freedom. Freedom to do, say and believe in whatever one says. Looks good on paper. In reality, someone or something must always be at the top. One or a few religions or beliefs are above most. To say that one may believe and live without being prejudiced doesn’t ring true in reality.

“Nothing is impossible, just improbable,” someone once said. The quest for peace, for peaceful co-existence fits this quote quite well. We don’t all think alike, believe alike, nor do we all dream alike. There is no one definition of peace on this planet. We all want something different. Sure, it’s easy to say that we should all stop fighting and arguing, but we’re humans. There’s always something nagging us. Even as nations we can’t just drop everything and begin to live happily with everyone else. It’s a good idea, but all nations are run by individuals or groups of individuals. There’s always something in the way. Such as religion and beliefs. We don’t agree with everything in this world, especially with everyone else’s opinions, beliefs nor looks. One quote we have all heard at one point in our lives is ”Can’t we all just get along?” When is this day coming? When we stop being humans.

Jani Helle
08.09.02
English Lang. 1

Sanitizing High In Prison

2007-02-08T16:21:00.000+02:00

I'm actually surprised this case came from an inmate within prison walls, rather than from a 13-year old kid in Suburbia.

The story here is that a 49-year old inmate in Maryland was submitted to the hospital in a drunken and delirious state. Seeing as the prison bars don't serve alcohol (I appologise for the ridiculous play on words...), this inmate had assumed that drinking alcohol-based hand sanitizer would do the trick. Well, it is 70% alcohol (some sources say it's "only" 62% alcohol, can't confirm, mainly cuz I don't have a bottle of Purell in my possession...), and alcohol gets you drunk. Really drunk, in this case, as the typically calm inmate was described as "loony", "red-eyed", and "combative", like your average "garden-variety drunk". His blood alcohol level was 0.33, so I guess we're not talking about just a slight buzz... By the way, this is not an isolated incidence. There are more medically documented instances of this happening. And who hasn't as a joke suggested drinking, say, cologne, cuz it contains alcohol. Here in Finland, there are many instances of people drinking something with an alcohol content that isn't meant for drinking. I guess the number one source of a "cheap buzz" in Finland amongst the common sense-deprived alcoholics is Lasol, a window washing liquid for cars. I hope this is a joke, or then just a horribly ironic case, but Lasol has just come out with a Lasol Six-Pack, a great gift!!! See the picture for yourselves... Can't wait to come across a hobo in Finland carrying one of these babies around!!!

Oh, and going back to the original story, Meghan Marschall, a spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson, the maker of Purell, said: "When used as directed, Purell is safe and effective." (source) I guess there's a reason no bartender has created a cocktail with Purell as an ingredient...

I've added the picture to give you visual aid in avoiding a repeat of this stupidity. It works well as it is intended, as a Hand Sanitizer, just don't try to sanitize your innards...

Read the Washington Post and BodyHack articles on the matter for further information.

Sources:
Washington Post Article
Wired.Com Bodyhack Article

Zappa's Law

2007-02-05T23:20:00.000+02:00

There are two things on Earth that are universal: hydrogen and stupidity.

Michigan Wants To Declare Disaster Areas Due To Lack Of Snow!

2007-02-04T20:46:00.000+02:00

I guess the headline is funnier than the actual story, but it the headline covers the story pretty well. The reason for the call for designating parts of the Upper Peninsula disaster areas is to save small local business from going under, as they rely on snow to bring in the customers... For further information, read the articles from the sources below...

Sources:

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-41/1170287046325250.xml&storylist=newsmichigan

http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=9545

$500 Fine To Miss Parent-Teacher Meeting

2007-02-03T20:52:00.000+02:00

Texas State Legislature has introduced a bill that will fine parents $500 if they miss of choose not to attend a meeting with their child's teacher. I could leave it at that, but it's just so ridiculous that it needs clarification...

The bill was introduced by Republican Wayne Smith, stating that the law would help in creating better bonds between teachers and parents, which in turn would be beneficial for the kids. But threatening parents with a 500 dollar fine AND a criminal record? First California introduces a bill to ban the spanking of kids, now Texas wants to continue the Goverment trend of telling parents how to bring up their kids... I'd love to see what's next in line... A bill making parents accountable for their children's bad grades? Or forcing parents to attend their child's Little League game and cheer with genuine enthusiasm, or face time in jail?

Naturally, there are people contesting this bill, including teachers who see it as telling parents that the schools are out to get them, putting extra, unnecessary pressure on the parents. The law would also be difficult to enforce, suggesting that the bill would not pass. But, you never know anymore. We'll see what happens...

Source: http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2007/02/03/skip-a-parent-teacher-meeting-get-a-fine/

2006 Darwin Awards Winner(s)

2007-02-03T20:04:00.000+02:00

Two 21 year old Florida residents, Jason and Sara took themselves out of the gene pool this summer with the aid of helium. Who of us hasn't inhaled helium from a balloon for a few kicks...? Breathing helium can be lethal as it depraves the bloodstream of oxygen, leading rapidly to a loss of consciousness. These two brainiacs pulled down an 8 foot advertisement balloon and climbed inside, ending their existence on this earth with presumed hilarity and giggles... See the Darwin Awards website for more information, along with the 2006 Darwin Award Runner-ups.

Source: http://darwinawards.com/

Welcome To The World!

2007-02-03T19:15:00.000+02:00

And here we are, Blog number 5... This new one is themed around news, with extra attention paid to stupid and ridiculous news. I follow current events every day, from newspapers, online feeds, and tv, regularly coming across articles which are filled with human stupidity, which I shall share my views on right here.

Being news-related, this blog will mainly, but not exclusively, be centered around articles which spark a reaction from me. Such genres include National Security and Terrorism, Politics, National Crises, and of course, Human Stupidity. In an effort to be unbiased, I must note that although it might seem that many of the articles to come will be based on American people, events and institutions, the only reason for the lobsided coverage is the amount of attention such issues receive from the mass media. I do not consider Americans to be at all dumber than the rest of the world, as stupidity is not a characteristic which can only be attached to one race or culture. There are stupid people everywhere, in even quantities. It's just that the Americans are the ones we keep hearing about the most.

That been said, here you will find opinions on current events, humorous or not, opinions which are my personal feeling on the matter at hand, and not designed to injure anyone nor to instigate hate or retribution towards any one person or institution.

Don't forget about my other blogs:

HellEnvisioned: The Full Story (http://janihelle.blogspot.com)(RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/janihelle)
-My main blog, composed of pretty much everything I write online, be it my writings, essays, opinions, events, etc...

HellEnvisioned: The Lighter Side of Life (http://www.bloglines.com/blog/janihelle)(RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/bloglines/janihelle)
-A summary of the most interesting things I publish, mainly a tool to publish on Facebook with.

HellEnvisioned: The World Around Us (http://my.opera.com/janihelle/blog)(RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/opera/janihelle)
-Random photos of things that pop up around me, as well as links to great sites which I come across online

HellEnvisioned: The MySpace Generation (http://blog.myspace.com/janihelle)(RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/myspace/janihelle)
-We belong to the generation that has their life online, so a MySpace page has become sort of a must have thing. Rarely use it though, but it's still there.

By the way, the RSS/Atom feed for this blog is http://feeds.feedburner.com/HellBroadcast.

Human Stupidity is limitless, so let's get started! Stay tuned!