Clipmarks | deadcowkid's clips

Guantanamo agents 'used torture'

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:32:47 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid
clipper's remarks: "Some of the aggressive questioning techniques used on Qahtani, although permissible at the time, are no longer allowed"

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Guantanamo agents 'used torture'

US agents at Guantanamo Bay tortured a Saudi man suspected of involvement in the 11 September attacks, the official overseeing trials at the camp has said.

Susan Crawford told the Washington Post newspaper that Mohammad al-Qahtani had been left in a "life-threatening condition" after being interrogated.

The Pentagon said their methods were legal in 2002, when the interviews took place - though some were now banned.

Mr Qahtani remains at Guantanamo, but all charges against him were dropped.

Some of the aggressive questioning techniques used on Qahtani, although permissible at the time, are no longer allowed

'Overly aggressive'

Although officials gave no reason for halting the prosecution in May 2008, Ms Crawford said in her interview that the decision had been taken because of the methods used by US agents.

She said Mr Qahtani had been subjected to sustained periods of cold, isolation and sleep deprivation.

Tags: torture

Power goes wireless

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:08:48 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid

Clip Source: money.cnn.com

Power goes wireless 1:22

A new device will be able to charge and power small electronics by simply touching them.

• CES gadget grab

Power goes wireless 1:22

Tags: wireless power

Bart Shooting - Mehserle Arrested, Protests Continue

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:51:45 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid
clipper's remarks: A rally planned for Wednesday, January 14th from 4pm to 7pm in front of Oakland City Hall (Frank Ogawa Plaza

Clip Source: www.indybay.org

Mehserle Arrested, Protests Continue

The BART police officer filmed shooting Oscar Grant on New Year's Day has been arrested, one day before a planned protest in Oakland. Update

A rally planned for Wednesday, January 14th from 4pm to 7pm in front of Oakland City Hall (Frank Ogawa Plaza) will proceed as planned, according to rally organizers. Christina Gomez from the Coalition Against Police Execution (CAPE) stated, "Tomorrow will definitely be a day for us to share this good news with folks. The job is not done. He has been arrested but he has not yet been prosecuted. We have to put pressure on DA Orloff… The fight is definitely not over.” More Details

There have been protests and meetings nearly every day since last Wednesday, when downtown Oakland erupted with social unrest, including one Monday night in San Francisco.

Photo s

Israeli forces storm Gaza City neighborhood

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:09:33 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid
clipper's remarks: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. " Mahatma Gandhi

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Terrified residents ran for cover Tuesday in a densely populated neighborhood of Gaza City as Israeli troops backed by tanks thrust deeper into the city and sought Hamas fighters in alleyways and cellars.

Israeli troops now have the coastal city of 400,000 virtually surrounded as part of an offensive launched Dec. 27 to end years of Palestinian rocket attacks on its southern towns.

Palestinian medical officials reported at least 42 deaths from the conflict on Tuesday throughout Gaza.

Early Wednesday an Israeli warplane fired a missile at the former Gaza city hall, used as a court building in recent years, witnesses said. The 1910 structure was destroyed and many stores in the market around it were badly damaged

European Union's aid chief said Israel has not respected international humanitarian aid during the war.

940 Palestinians, half of them civilians, have been killed in the fighting. A total of 13 Israelis, 10 of them soldiers, have died.

Tags: war, terror, middle east, israel, palestine

On the Street Poetry from Julia Vinograd

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:42:07 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid
clipper's remarks: Berkeley street poet Julia Vinograd read from her latest book "America is Hiding Under My Bed" on free radio Santa Cruz Dec, 18th 2008. Here is one of her poems. I will post a link to the archived show in a comment for those who would like to listen.

Clip Source: www.indybay.org

An example of her poetry:

On the Street

I'm not here, don't look at me.
Don't scream when your children look atme.
do you think bad dreams are contagious?
Do you think I'll breathe bad luck on your children?
Supose you'd spent the afternoon
shining in our lover's bed
and then brought him home to meet your parents
and they screamed
"Don't touch that, you don't know where it's been!"
You can't see me.
I'm just a crack in your contact lens.
I'm just a crack in your mirror.
My hands are dirty.
I've got your shadow under my fingernails.
I can't wash it out. I've got the shakes.
my own skin isn't speaking to me
and I'm not speaking to you.
I'm not here. I have no past.
no memories, no name, not allowed.
So I eat your memories like garbage,
all your buried broken promises
and the bad dreams you forget
till you see me. Till you don't see me.

I'm not here.

Tags: poverty, poetry, julia vinograd, homelessness

Yet another taser death SJ California

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:11:07 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid
clipper's remarks: "The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office is conducting an investigation to be monitored by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. Taser stun-guns are largely unregulated and police departments don't mandate strict controls on their use. In 2005 the ACLU of Northern California released a critical report after studying Taser use at 50 police departments. Their findings indicate that since 1999 at least 148 people in the United States and Canada have died after police shocked them with Tasers."

Activists in San Jose are calling for an immediate end to the use of taser stun-guns in that city. "

Clip Source: www.indybay.org

26-year-old San Jose Man Killed by Police Taser

26-year-old Edwin Rodriguez was killed by a Campbell city policeman who responded to a report of a disturbance from the Valley Medical Center in San Jose on Thursday. Rodriguez died after the officer used a taser on him, even though the family issue that resulted in a 911 call from the hospital had apparently been resolved. The news of this latest taser death in the city comes within two days of the revelation that San Jose officials have agreed to an unprecedented settlement in a previous taser related killing.

Thursday marked the death of the seventh victim of police tasering in San Jose, California since the deadly weapons were introduced as a police tool in 2004.

The news of this latest taser death in the city comes within two days of the revelation that San Jose officials have agreed to pay $70,000 to the wife and child of a man who died in 2005 after city police jolted him with tasers.

Tags: taser guns, taser deaths, police abuse

Sacramento Safe Ground Homeless March

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 18:35:25 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid

Clip Source: www.indybay.org

On December 23rd, homeless people and supporters took to the streets of Sacramento to protest oppressive laws and discrimination. Marching through the cold streets of Sacramento they demanded safe ground, the right to live without being arrested, fined, and their property being confiscated.

Sacramento lacks affordable housing and places to rent often require high deposits and credit checks. There are not enough shelters, and a "anti-camping" ordinance is used to harass the homeless, despite the fact that they have nowhere to sleep. This law allows the police to arrest and fine people who are sleeping in the streets and to seize their personal belongings (blankets, personal documents, camping gear) making their survival even harder.

A leaflet distributed

reads "the powers that be have ordained that rich and poor alike are forbidden to sleep under a bridge. The problem is that only the poor need a bridge to sleep under on a rainy night."

Photos: 1 | 2

Tags: poverty, homeless, homelessness

Obama looking at $850 billion jolt to the economy

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:33:07 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid

Clip Source: www.santacruzsentinel.com

Obama looking at $850 billion jolt to the economy

WASHINGTON—Anxious to jolt the economy back to life, President-elect Barack Obama appears to be zeroing in on a stimulus package of about $850 billion, dwarfing last spring's tax rebates and rivaling drastic government actions to fight the Great Depression.

Obama is promoting a recovery plan that would feature spending on roads and other infrastructure projects, energy-efficient government buildings, new and renovated schools and environmentally friendly technologies.

tax cuts would be aimed at middle- and lower-income taxpayers, and aides have said there would be no tax increases for wealthy Americans.

Obama is expected to seek additional funds for

nutrition programs, health insurance, unemployment insurance and job training programs.

Tags: obama, bailout

IG report says Blackwater may lose license in Iraq

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 02:26:00 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid

Clip Source: www.santacruzsentinel.com

WASHINGTON—An internal State Department report says Blackwater Worldwide may lose its license to work in Iraq and recommends that the agency prepare alternative means to protect its diplomats there.

The 42-page draft report by the State Department's Inspector General says the department faces "numerous challenges" in dealing with the security situation in Iraq, including the prospect that Blackwater may be barred from the country.

It is not clear how the State Department would replace Blackwater. It relies heavily on private contractors

"The department faces the real possibility that one of its primary Worldwide Personal Protective Services contractors in Iraq—Blackwater (Worldwide)—will not receive a license to continue operating in Iraq," says the recently completely report.

The report is labeled

"sensitive but unclassified."

Blackwater has won more than $1 billion in government contracts under the Bush administration, a large portion of which has been for work in Iraq

Tags: blackwater, iraq, privatization, war on terror. bush

Most Americans Prefer Internet to Sex

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 16:31:00 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid

Clip Source: www.pcmag.com

Most Americans Prefer Internet to Sex

Would you rather give up sex or the Internet for two weeks?

For 46 percent of women and 30 percent of men, the answer is sex, according to a study conducted by Harris Interactive and sponsored by Intel.

Among women ages 18 to 34, about 49 percent opted to forgo sex for two weeks, while 52 percent of women ages 35 to 44 made the same choice. Among men ages 18 to 34, about 39 percent selected Internet time over sex.

The test was conducted online in late November with 2,119 participants age 18 and over.

The Internet is indispensable, whereas discretionary items like dining out, shopping, and gym memberships were not as valuable as the Web, the study said. Participants were asked to rank these items based on how important they are to daily life: 39 percent could not go without cable TV; 20 percent had to dine out; 18 percent needed to shop for clothes; but just 10 percent were lost without a gym membership.

Poetic Universe

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:44:58 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid

Clip Source: www.nasa.gov

Poetic Universe

A Perfect Storm of Turbulent Gases

Ocean of colors
Gases and heat

Beautiful stars are made

Melissa, age 8, Illinois

Hubble image of a small region within M17, also known as Omega or Swan Nebula.

1-10

Tags: nasa, universe, children, poems

Sun Induces Strange 'Breathing' of Earth's Atmosphere

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:41:26 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid

Clip Source: blog.wired.com

Sun Induces Strange 'Breathing' of Earth's Atmosphere

SAN FRANCISCO, California — New satellite observations have revealed a previously unknown rhythmic expansion and contraction of Earth's atmosphere on a nine-day cycle.

This "breathing" corresponds to changes in the sun's magnetic fields as it completes rotations once every 27 days, NASA and University of Colorado, Boulder, scientists said Monday at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting.

The sun's coronal holes, seen as dark regions in the image above, direct plasma away from the sun and out into the solar system. When these particles get to the Earth, they heat the upper atmosphere, causing the outer atmosphere to expand and contract.

"What's going on in the solar side is indeed mysterious and challenges the solar physics understanding," said Stan Solomon, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research who was not involved in the research.

Tags: sun

Shakespeare Santa Cruz to close its door forever on December 22nd

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:09:16 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid

Clip Source: www.indybay.org

I received some unsettling news yesterday that Shakespeare Santa Cruz - the country's fifth largest Shakespeare festival - will close its door forever on December 22nd unless they raise $300,000. If this sounds last minute, it is because they themselves found out only a couple of days ago that UC Santa Cruz will take away their place on campus unless they can come up with those funds. SSC has been a part of the Santa Cruz and Theatre communities for 28 years during which time it has not only produced some magnificent work, but it has also helped to enrich the education of many of UC Santa Cruz's theatre students by casting them in their Holiday shows, their traveling shows called Shakes-To-Go (in which they take abridged plays into underfunded elementary and high schools), and by giving them a place in SSC's coveted summer season as one of twelve students from across the nation.

make a donation

http://www.shakespearesantacruz.org

Final Press Conference for Science Hill Tree Sit

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:05:48 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid
clipper's remarks: More audio and coverage at source

Clip Source: www.indybay.org

Final Press Conference for Science Hill Tree Sit

On December 13th, tree-sit spokespersyn Jennifer Charles, tree-sit supporter Dani Drake, and tree-sitter Sorrel, held a press conference at the base of UC Santa Cruz to read an official tree-sit statement. They also spoke personally about the tree-sit, ongoing struggle against UCSC's expansion into Upper Campus and answered questions from the media, supporters and others in attendance.

The tree-sit drew to a close that morning when UC police seized control of Science Hill and arrested the last remaining tree-sitter. William's Tree Service, protected by fences and UC police, proceeded to cut down Redwoods and Oak Trees to make way for construction of a Biomedical building.

Audio: 26:13

audio: tree-sit-press-conference_12-13-08.mp3
MPEG audio at 12.0 MB

You can read the final tree-sit statement at the link below:

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/12/13/18554714.php

Tags: tree sit, ucsc

Stealing Baby Jesus: Churches install GPS

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 20:14:07 GMT

clipped by: deadcowkid

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Play Video Finding Jesus With a GPS ABC News