A great Worth1000 photoshop contest.

[Quote:]

Most police officers are a credit to the badge, serving the community and the people who pay their salary, getting criminals off the street, making the community safer for everyone.

But on occasion, a police officer and a member of the public they serve don’t see eye to eye, and the citizen feels a need to complain. In many departments around the country, the process starts out simply: a person just requests a complaint form.

Police departments around the country, like here in Tallahassee, give citizens police complaint forms all the time, no questions asked. But walk into a police station in South Florida, trying to find out how to file a complaint, and watch what happens.

And later…

[Quote:]

After CBS4′s Mike Kirsch aired a piece where several South Florida police officers were caught on camera intimidating would-be complainants against their police departments, one officer has taken action against the station in court.

Sergeant Peter Schumanich, of the Lauderhill Police Department, filed an injunction in a Broward County court to stop the airing of the story where he appears on the air and online.

[Quote:]

“It’s not the robbery that separates the amateur from the professional,” said the former armed robber-turned-author “Horace Silver” yesterday. “It’s the way you deal with the money afterwards.”

Donner is vanaf nu ook Minister van Josti-tie.

After the recent bombing of the golden shrine in Iraq, at last the Bush administration has evidence of weapons of mosque destruction in Iraq.

[Quote:]

Teenie Harris’ photographs are unsurpassed in the range of subjects they portray and for their ability to evoke the spirit of an era and to display the humanity of a people. Harris’ 40-year career with the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the largest and most influential Black newspapers in the country, began as the nation emerged from the Depression and ended with the Civil Rights Movement. Numbering upwards of 80,000 images, this archive represents the largest single collection of photographic images of any Black community in the United States—or the world, for that matter.

Harris’ photographs are finally receiving the recognition they deserve, nationally and internationally. They have been extolled by The New York Times, exhibited in a number of venues, and made the subject of a recent book and exhibition. Harris’ photographs are now taking their place alongside those of such eminent photographers as James VanDerZee of New York City’s Harlem. But the Teenie Harris collection surpasses that of any other African American photographer in its breadth and in its rich documentation of the life and community spirit of Black urban America. In the long run, his photographs may cause Pittsburgh’s Hill District to join New York City’s Harlem in forming our view of urban Black life from the 1930s to the 1960s.

[Quote:]

A new survey indicates that 21 percent of Americans consider themselves holy.

The survey, conducted by the Barna Research Group, also found that 73 percent of Americans believe that a person can become holy, regardless of his past, while half of those surveyed said they knew someone whom they considered holy.

Look at this great offer on eBay.

Could somebody please tell him the virus is called “H5N1″?

[Quote:]

An appeal from the Catholic Church for New Zealanders to boycott an episode of South Park has resulted in a record audience there for the controversial cartoon.

The “Bloody Mary” episode of South Park drew more than six times the normal audience, New Zealand broadcaster TV Works announced Thursday.

[Quote:]

Schoolboy Daniel Artingsall has been banned from class after getting spirals shaved in his hair.

Teachers decided it broke rules on extreme styles and said Daniel, 13, would have to be taught alone so he did not start a trend.

But his father Dean, 38, was astonished by the decision and withdrew his son from school.

Dean fell out with teachers last year when Daniel broke his leg — and was told he could only bring in one crutch.

[Quote:]

Enkele tientallen pluimveehouders die vertrouwen op Gods voorzienigheid zullen niet inenten, zegt secretaris Alex Spieker van de Nederlandse Organisatie van Pluimveehouders (NOP). „Het is niet zwart-wit, maar veel pluimveehouders die principieel weigeren zichzelf of familieleden te laten vaccineren, hebben ook gewetensbezwaren tegen het inenten van dieren’’, zegt Spieker.

Prima. Weten we precies wat we moeten zeggen als deze mensen bijvoorbeeld een brand komen melden: bid maar voor regen.

[Quote:]

U.S. Treasury debt prices extended losses on Thursday after an auction of five-year notes garnered surprisingly weak demand, including from indirect bidders.

That category includes customers of primary dealers but also foreign central banks, and it is therefore used as a proxy for offshore interest in U.S. government debt.

Already unnerved by a drop in jobless claims that reinforced the likelihood of further interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve, traders kept bond prices well into negative territory.

“It was a terrible auction,” summed up one trader at a U.S. primary dealer. “The bid-to-cover stank, the indirect bid was bad — I would be surprised if the market manages to rally from here.”

The long-term yield on these notes remains lower than the short-term yield on 5-year notes, known as the inverted yield curve:

Historically, inversions of the yield curve have preceded many of the U.S. recessions. Due to this historical correlation, the yield curve is often seen as an accurate forecast of the turning points of the business cycle. A recent example is when the U.S. Treasury yield curve inverted in 2000 just before the U.S. equity markets collapsed. An inverse yield curve predicts lower interest rates in the future as longer-term bonds are being demanded, sending the yields down.

[Quote:]

The bottom line on the bourse is this; the dollar is underwritten by a national debt that now exceeds $8 trillion dollars and trade deficits that surpass $600 billion per year. That means that the greenback is the greatest swindle in the history of mankind. It’s utterly worthless. The only thing that keeps the dollar afloat is that oil is traded exclusively in greenbacks rather than some other currency. If Iran is able to smash that monopoly by trading in petro-euros then the world’s central banks will dump the greenback overnight, sending markets crashing and the US economy into a downward spiral. The Bush administration has no intention of allowing that to take place. In fact, as the tax-cuts and the budget deficits indicate, the Bush cabal fully intends to perpetuate the system that trades worthless dollars for valuable commodities, labor, and resources. As long as the oil market is married to the dollar, this system of global indentured servitude will continue.

Battle Plans

The Bush administration’s attention has shifted to a small province in southwestern Iran that is unknown to most Americans. Never the less, Khuzestan will become the next front in the war on terror and the lynchpin for prevailing in the global resource war. If the Bush administration can sweep into the region (under the pretext disarming Iran’s nuclear weapons programs) and put Iran’s prodigious oil wealth under US control, the dream of monopolizing Middle East oil will have been achieved. Not surprisingly, this was Saddam Hussein’s strategy in 1980 when he initiated hostilities against Iran in a war that would last for eight years. Saddam was an American client at the time, so it is likely that he got the green-light for the invasion from the Reagan White House. Many of Reagan’s high-ranking officials currently serve in the Bush administration; notably Rumsfeld and Cheney. Khuzestan represents 90% of Iran’s oil production. The control over these massive fields will force the oil-dependent nations of China, Japan and India to continue to stockpile greenbacks despite the currency’s dubious value. The annexing of Khuzestan will prevent Iran’s bourse from opening, thereby guaranteeing that the dollar will maintain its dominant position as the world’s reserve currency. As long as the dollar reigns supreme and western elites have their hands on the Middle East oil-spigot, the current system of exploitation through debt will continue into perpetuity. The administration can confidently prolong its colossal deficits without fear of a plummeting dollar. (In fact, the American war-machine and all its various appendages, from Guantanamo to Abrams Tanks, are paid for by the myriad nations who willingly hold reserves of American currency)

[Quote:]

If an Ohio lawmaker’s proposal becomes state law, Republicans would be barred from being adoptive parents.

State Sen. Robert Hagan sent out e-mails to fellow lawmakers late Wednesday night, stating that he intends to “introduce legislation in the near future that would ban households with one or more Republican voters from adopting children or acting as foster parents.” The e-mail ended with a request for co-sponsorship.

[..]

Hagan said his legislation was written in response to a bill introduced in the Ohio House this month by state Rep. Ron Hood, R-Ashville, that is aimed at prohibiting gay adoption.

“We need to see what we are doing,” said Hagan, who called Hood’s proposed bill blatantly discriminatory and extremely divisive. Hagan called Hood and the eight other conservative House Republicans who backed the anti-gay adoption bill “homophobic.”

Hood’s bill, which does not have support of House leadership, seeks to ban children from being placed for adoption or foster care in homes where the prospective parent or a roommate is homosexual, bisexual or transgender.

To further lampoon Hood’s bill, Hagan wrote in his mock proposal that “credible research” shows that adopted children raised in Republican households are more at risk for developing “emotional problems, social stigmas, inflated egos, and alarming lack of tolerance for others they deem different than themselves and an air of overconfidence to mask their insecurities.”

However, Hagan admitted that he has no scientific evidence to support the above claims.

Just as “Hood had no scientific evidence” to back his assertion that having gay parents was detrimental to children, Hagan said.

I have one word for Senator Hagan: rider.

[Quote:]

Five European countries have failed to deliver answers to the Council of Europe, the human rights watchdog, on questions about secret CIA prisons and rendition flights on their territories.

By not replying, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Italy, San Marino and Georgia are all in breach of European human rights law, the secretary-general of the Council of Europe (CoE) Terry Davis said on Wednesday (22 February).

[..]

Last month, Mr Marty concluded in a first assessment that EU governments had silently condoned the practice of abducting and transporting prisoners from European airports to countries in which torture is used.

Mr Marty is expected to meet with a European Parliament temporary committee of inquiry into the claims that CIA espionage, abduction of prisoners and other CIA business in Europe was known to EU member state or candidate state governments.

The only conclusion anybody sensible can get from all this is that the European governments are just as dirty as the USA. Condoning and supporting rendition and torture puts them on the same level as the most corrupt and evil totalitarian states on the world. Bah.

[Quote:]

The Chair is made with drawing paper, as the paper is being “drawn upon�?, the size of the front cylinder increases and thus follows the child’s growth!- age 2-7 Years. Clean paper is transferred from the back cylinder to the front simply by rolling the front cylinder backwards. The amount of paper is approx. 500 meters, which means that the paper can be changed twice a week for 5 years.

[Quote:]

Britain could lose its ability to impose environmental taxes, restrictions and safeguards on airlines under a draft treaty between the EU and US which curtails the power of national governments. The draft treaty, meant to liberalise aviation, includes a little noticed clause requiring EU states to reach agreement with each other and with the US before taking measures to tackle noise or pollution from airlines.

The text of the draft “open skies” treaty, obtained by the Guardian, is likely to alarm environmental activists who argue that the seemingly unstoppable growth in air travel is among the main contributory factors to global warming. Aviation emissions rose by 12% last year and now account for about 11% of Britain’s total greenhouse gas emissions – the fastest growing sector. The government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir David King, has described global warming as a bigger threat to the world than global terrorism.

“Open Skies” means a US veto on European environmental regulations? Wow.
We would have to wait for the climate change deniers in the US to come around before we could do anything about airline emissions here?

[Quote:]

Is the sky falling in on our smug little Mac universe?

On Tuesday, there was news of a security hole in Apple’s Safari web browser that allows a system to be compromised by merely visiting a website. And last week, the first worm to pose a serious threat to Mac OS X, Leap-A or Oompa Loompa, raised its ugly little head.

[..]

These Mac security holes are a storm in a teacup. They’ve inspired hundreds of stories in the press and even the national network news, but if they were Windows holes, no one would have blinked.

That’s because holes in Windows are routine, business as usual, while it now appears the Mac is under attack thanks to Apple’s brand-new high profile. But this isn’t the case.

Last month, there were four “massive” virus attacks on Windows, according to Commtouch, an antispam and antivirus vendor. Indeed, viruses are now so aggressive, they routinely outpace attempts by antivirus companies to distribute protective signatures.

This state of affairs is now so common, I hadn’t noticed — and I work for a technology news site. “Virulent computer virus infects millions worldwide, other non-news at 11.”

These Mac “threats” are only news because of their novelty, not the threat level they pose.

[Quote:]

Yet why aren’t we dual booting already? Money. Most of you are undoubtedly aware of “The Contest,�? a 12,000 dollar pot that will be going to the first person to provide a viable dual booting method to the site’s owner. Also note the “onmac�? network – and advertisements – that the contest has bequeathed to the once minimalist site as well… another interesting commentary on money.

[..]

t’s all quite predictable – nothing is getting done because the sharing of information has stopped. Were there no contest, IRC channels would be full of dedicated developers sharing what they’d learned through trial and error, swapping ideas and encouraging each other. I’ve talked with some people who are very close to success… but their efforts are not public. As it stands, sharing what you’ve learned could cost you $12,000.

[Quote:]

“It’s hard for me to worry about the studios losing money. I’m not very sympathetic to their money problems, because they certainly haven’t been sympathetic to mine.

“When you look at one of their accounting sheets you realise you’re never going to see a penny, so if someone wants to rip them off that’s fine with me.

“If you’re going to pirate, though, make sure the quality’s good. Have some respect for what you’re pirating!”

– Terry Gilliam

via

[Quote:]

Swiss and Belgian police have shut down a major component of the eDonkey file-sharing network, used mainly to trade copies of copyrighted movies and music, the Motion Picture Association said on Wednesday.

Razorback 2 was the biggest server on the eDonkey peer-to-peer (P2P) network, which transfers data from user to user. Music companies have blamed P2P piracy for causing a drastic downturn in sales, and Hollywood is trying to prevent a similar impact on the movie business.

“Swiss authorities arrested the site’s operator at his residence in Switzerland this morning and searched his home,�? the MPA said in a statement. “At the same time, on the authority of a local magistrate, Belgian police seized the site’s servers located at an Internet hosting center in Zaventem near Brussels.�?

Want to know something funny? Check the MPAA press release PDF (mirror).

At the end of the press release there’s a hidden registration link. Apparently the MPAA doesn’t bother to register their free trial software when they start using it commercially. Could the BSA please tell them how much money the software industry lost this year because of piracy?

[Quote:]

Nederlandse auto’s krijgen een sticker waaraan te zien is hoe vervuilend ze zijn. Gemeenten kunnen hiermee hun parkeerbeleid wijzigen en vervuilende auto’s meer laten betalen. ‘Het labelsysteem hebben we binnen enkele maanden klaar’, zegt staatssecretaris van Milieu Pieter van Geel (CDA). Dat schrijft de Volkskrant donderdag.

Wat het verschil in vervuiling is tussen een geparkeerde auto in categorie 1 en een geparkeerde auto in categorie 2 is niet duidelijk. Met daadwerkelijke vervuiling – gereden kilometers – houdt het plan in ieder geval geen rekening. Bovendien is het niet te handhaven. Immers:

Burgers zijn volgens het ochtenblad niet verplicht de stickers te kopen. Als ze geen sticker hebben, worden ze geweerd uit gebieden waar een zogenoemd fijn stofalarm van kracht is.

Oftewel: “Maar mijnheer de rechter, toen ik er parkeerde was er nog geen stofalarm!”

Ik verwacht dat het hele plan de prullenbak in gaat zodra er iemand procedeert met als uitgangspunt dat de betreffende auto de APK gewoon gehaald heeft, en dus aan de daarin geldende roetnormen voldoet, en dus gewoon toegestaan is op de nederlandse weg. Of is het argument dat een dergelijke auto wel mag rijden, maar niet overal mag parkeren (en dus rondjes moet blijven rijden)?

[Quote:]

When you type “startkeylogger” in a populated IRC channel you will notice that many of the clients in the channel quit, with the quit message: “Read error: Connection reset by peer”.

I’m guessing Norton AV now automatically assumes any incoming cleartext ‘startkeylogger’ on any of the standard IRC ports equals commands issued to a rootkit on the local machine, and immediately closes the connection.

[Quote:]

An attack Wednesday that destroyed the soaring gold dome of one of ShiiteIslam’s holiest shrines is being interpreted by most Shiites here as a direct attack on their faith – and has sharply raised sectarian tensions.

It’s unclear if any people were killed in the massive explosion in Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad. But the destruction of the shrine may be the most emotionally charged of attacks on Shiite targets thus far in the war, and could set back already hamstrung efforts to form a government of Shiite and Sunni unity.

As citizens deserted the streets of Baghdad in the wake of the attack, many said they feared this could be a seminal moment in Iraq’s low-intensity civil war.

“The war could really be on now,” says Abu Hassan, a Shiite street peddler who declined to give his full name. “This is something greater and more symbolic than attacks on people. This is a strike at who we are.”

[..]

Samarra is not simply a Sunni city with a Shiite shrine at its heart. It hosts a confusing welter of tribal allegiances and rivalries that have left it violent and unstable since the war began. About half of its 200,000 residents have abandoned the city in the past two years, and US soldiers built a vast earthen berm around it last August in an effort to keep insurgents out.

The city’s history is also wound up with an age-old Sunni-Shiite rivalry, as well as with the apocalyptic beliefs of many Shiite clerics, like Sadr. The shrine contains the tombs of Ali al-Hadi and his son Hasan al-Askari, the 10th and 11th imams of Shiite Islam who died in the 9th century. Legend has it that Askari’s son, Muhammad al-Mahdi, was born in the city. It is one of four main Shiite pilgrimage sites in Iraq.

Mahdi was the 12th and final of the Shiite imams. Legend has it that he was “occulted” by God before his death, and will return to earth to bring an era of justice and peace, followed by the end of the world. Sadr’s militia is named for this imam.

Sadr and his followers are convinced that the time for the Mahdi’s return is close. “He disappeared into a supernatural realm from there … so this will be interpreted as an attack on the imam al-Mahdi, an attack on their guy; so for the Sadr people it’s an apocalyptic moment,” says Cole. “There will be reprisals.”

There was also outrage in Iran, the most populous Shiite state, whose president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, is a deep believer in the looming return of the Mahdi.

[Quote:]

Rug 1 appears to be dated 3/3/57. February 1, 1979 corresponds to the 3rd day of the 3rd month of 1357, which coincidently is the day Khomeini returned from France. Secondly there is the French tri-color on the plane’s tail. The preceding word is hard to read but could be related to childbirth or the making of an epoch. Between the plane and the car appears to be a rising sun, an Iranian national symbol (usually shown in rugs rising over a lion’s back). This rug most likely, commemorates Khomeini’s return to Iran.

(for more amazing rugs, visit warrug.com)

[Quote:]

Dubai will protect our ports and the Leader will crush anything that does not go his way, including his own party faithful who have scattered rose petals in his path until now.

“I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company,” said George W. Bush. “I am trying to conduct foreign policy now by saying to the people of the world, ‘We’ll treat you fairly.’ ”

“Great British�? company. If he doesn’t appreciate the difference between a Great British country and one from the Middle East that he is so mad to demonize, that is being filled with corpses, theirs and ours, then there is little hope for us. The GOP leaders see this, but they have spent so much time at the Executive’s feet that their knees creak when they try to stand up, even to make sense.

[Quote:]

Tuesday was an apocalyptic day in Iraq. I am not normally exactly sanguine about the situation there. But the atmospherics are very, very bad, in a way that most Western observers will miss.

Juan Cole is Professor of History at the University of Michigan. Read the whole thing.