Vox Publica

don't believe me? Check out:

desaparecidos.com

As eveyone knows, people trying to make a quick back often buy expired domain names as well as domain names with similar spellings or different extensions than popular websites, hoping that visitors will make a mistake and visit their websites instead. Often times they sell advertisement on these websites.

Thus someone is trying to capitalize on my website http://www.desaparecidos.org with their own desaparecidos.com. They've even scanned my site for popular words to put in their site - and they have then sold the linkage rights on those words.

E-bay is one of their clients - though why they've chosen to sponsor the word "tortura" or torture is beyond me. Is e-bay really selling torture? They must be doing pretty well if they've gotten the US costumer as their client.

Iran and the United States have more in common than one would assume at first sight. When the United States was having problems with France not supporting the Iraqi war, Congress took decisive action and re-named French fries "freedom fries". Now Iran has followed suit and is expressing its displeasure about a Danish newspaper printing cartoons of profet Mohammed by renaming Danish pastries "Roses of the Prophet Muhammad."

The BBC (really!) reports that a Sudanese man has been forced to marry a goat after being caught having sex with it. He was also ordered to pay a dowry of 15,000 Sudanese dinars ($50) to the goat's owner, Mr. Alifi.

"We have given him the goat, and as far as we know they are still together," Mr Alifi said.

I just got a flyer from the USPS inviting me to go and get my passport at a "special event". "This time, we're traveling to you" - it says (or actually, what it says is "Esta vez, nosotros vamos donde tú estás. - the English translation is below in smaller letters). What's absurd is that the address they list is the Hayward post office - we live in San Leandro, and at least last time I checked (about 6 months ago or so, when we got a passport for Camila), you can get a passport at the San Leandro post office.

So why am I getting this flyer?

The documents on the detainees at Guantanamo released by the Pentagon last week show that many prisoners were detained on extremely flimsy grounds. Some, for example, were detained because they wore a very cheap style of Casio watches that terrorist have used to detonate bombs. But the watches are extremely popular and worn by thousands of Afghanis exactly because they are very cheap. It's as if a person was arrested for having a cell phone, wearing jeans or drinking water - because terrorists do that too. If it wasn't so tragic that so many people have lost so many years of their lives, their families, their sanity, their health and so much more - not to be mentioned had to endured torture and degrading treatment, the situation would almost be funny. You have to wonder whether the US forces are really that stupid as to believe that wearing a certain type of watch means you are a terrorist - and if so, no wonder we not only lost the war in Iraq but have pushed the country into civil war - or if they are just perverse, torturing people for the hell of it.

But anyway, now you too can become an object of suspicion by the US Government. You can buy one of those watches here. But be careful, you might find yourself in Guantanamo really soon.

March 21,2006 | MONTEREY, Calif. -- A man's pantyhose led to his arrest, authorities said. An unshaven man wearing a black evening gown, fishnet stockings, calf-high boots and a black wig robbed a USA Gas station Monday morning, authorities alleged.

The armed man stuffed $290 in cash into an ensemble-matching black purse.

"I've been with the department for 22 years, and this is the first time I've heard of this happening anywhere here," police Lt. Phil Penko said.

About 35 minutes after the robbery, police Officer Chad Ventimiglia spotted a black Saab with fishnet pantyhose hanging from the front driver's side door, dragging on the ground, investigators said.

The car was pulled over and Michael Leslie Clouse, 26, was arrested and booked for investigation of armed robbery.

A plastic replica handgun allegedly was found inside his purse, Penko said.

It has taken several years and a travesty of a trial, but the truth about Zacharias Moussaoui finally seems to be out. He was a pest.

"An Al Qaeda operative known as Khallad said he cut off contact with Moussaoui when Moussaoui repeatedly called his telephone number after being instructed to use it only in an emergency." He "managed to annoy everyone he came in contact with" said Hambali, a former leader of a South Asian terrorist group. He described Moussaoui as "very troubled, not right in the head and having a bad character". Eventually he bought him a $2000 plane ticket just to get rid of him. Meanwhile, senior al-Qaeda leaders testified that Moussaoui had no involvement in the 9/11 plot.

And I, for one, am inclined to believe them. Anyone who has been involved in any kind of movement, organization or club, for that matter, has come across people like Moussaoui. At first they can appear very earnest and dedicated to whatever cause. Only later you realize that there is just something wrong with them, they come up with outlandish conspiracy theories and plots, they have to have everything done their way and have grandiose ideas of what should be accomplished. They need to be the center of attention - something which Moussaoui has shown time and again in his trial. If you have ever dealt with someone like that, you can almost feel sad for al-Qaeda. Almost.

Moussaoui was not part of 9/11 plan, ex-Al Qaeda officials say

March 31,2006 | WAYNESVILLE, N.C. -- At least six men came to western North Carolina, some from as far away as South America, to have their genitals mutilated in what police described Friday as a sadomasochistic "dungeon."

Three men have been charged with illegal castration in the case, Haywood County Sheriff Tom Alexander and District Attorney Michael Bonfoey said. The sheriff and prosecutor said the victims were willing participants in the procedures.

The men met through a Web site produced in North Carolina that published photographs of men engaging in sadomasochistic behavior at a house in Waynesville. Investigators found DVD recordings of the castrations during a search of the house Wednesday, authorities said.

"This right here beats everything I have ever seen," Alexander said.

Michael Mendez, 60, Richard Peter Sciara, 61, and Danny Carroll Reeves, 49, each are charged with castration without malice, maiming without malice and practicing medicine without a license.

--__

when I ask a colleague about the e-mail address of another colleague I haven't written to in some time, and I stop myself to first ask if he hasn't been killed yet (nope, he's alive!).

I do want a very different world for my children.

The Press Association Newswire reports:

"A row has erupted in liberal Netherlands over plans to send
prostitutes to war zones to accompany Dutch troops.

'The army must consider ways its soldiers can let off steam,''
Annemarie Jorritsma, mayor of the town of Almere. 'There was
once the suggestion that a few prostitutes should accompany
troops on missions. I think that is something we should talk
about,'' she said, adding that the prostitutes would keep
soldiers from turning to local women.

A poll worker in Louisville, Ky., allegedly choked a voter, according to the Associated Press. The dispute began when a voter said he didn't want to cast a ballot in a judicial election, because he didn't know enough about the candidates, but the poll worker insisted, and then throttled him.

Ethanol, a fuel made from corn, has been hyped as the answer to our energy problems. Unlike fosil fuels, which will be exhausted at some point, you can grow corn. It will also make us less dependent on other countries. But, as the BBC reports, the corn used for ethanol is diverted from its more typical use: food. With more demand for corn, its price has gone through the roof, making the price of corn tortillas in Mexico rise 400%. As that's the staple of the poorest of the poor, soon we can expect to see increases in hunger and malnutrition.

So I'm wondering if we should rethink this whole ethanol thing. Yes, we can grow corn, but by definition in limited amounts. We have so much land to do it. Land that, again, will have its use diverted from being used to grow food, which will make agricultural companies rich, but the poor unable to afford to eat. Even the middle classes are likely to feel the impact, so much of our food is corn dependent that higher prices in corn, will mean more expensive meat (cows are corn fed), more expensive sweets and sodas (corn syrup), more expensive baked goods (cornstarch) and so forth. Plus I wonder what does it mean to give so much power to the agricultural companies who own the land where this corn is planted. With unstoppable demand for their product, they will be able to fix its price wherever they want, and run more havoc in the US - and world - economy than expensive oil ever could.

It's also worth noting that ethanol is not a clean fuel, so it won't help our greenhouse problems. But what ethanol can do is distract us from actually looking for renewable and clean energy sources that will not starve the world's population.

This article is from January, but I just got it forwarded. It's simply amazing.

Military Builds Robotic Insects

David Hambling

If you feel something crawling on your neck, it might be a wasp or a bee. Or it might be something much more dangerous.

Israel is developing a robot the size of a hornet to attack terrorists. And although the prototype will not fly for three years, killer Micro
Air Vehicles, or MAVs, are much closer than that.

A man was arrested for beating the principal of a school in Posadas (Argentina), during a meeting to discuss the problems with violence at the school. Apparently he felt his son was discriminated against, and decided to express himself by hitting the principal with a motorcycle helmet.

In other Argentine news, two schools have been occupied by students who have problems with the administration. In one, at least, classes are going on but the principal has been prevented by the multitude from going in.

And the metro workers are protesting by allowing people to travel for free. You have to give it to them, it's much less disruptive in the economy and just as much of a loss for the parent company.

Alex Jiménez, a 25 yo Dominican-American soldier, went missing in Iraq on May 12th. His dogtags have been found, but he hasn't yet. Meanwhile, his wife could be deported. She came illegally to the US in 2001, married Jiménez in 2004 and he was in the process of requesting a Green Card for her. However, that alerted the authorities to her illegal entry and a deportation procedure was started against her.

Personally, I found horrible the idea of deporting the wife of a soldier who is fighting for the US - much less one who is probably dying for this country.

Wanna buy a country? How about Belgium? It's nice, has a great history, it's a bit cold, unable to form a government and perhaps about to partition. But it's cheap.

A Belgian teacher thought that selling the country was a good idea, so he put it up for auction on EBAY. There it stayed, until someone made a $10M bid - EBAY then pulled it out.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,506653,00.html

to whoever said that no good deed goes unpunished:

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2979874.ece

By Peter Pophamin Rome
Published: 20 September 2007

Seven Tunisian fishermen go on trial in Sicily today for the crime of rescuing 44 migrants from certain death in the sea. They are accused of aiding and abetting illegal immigration. If convicted, they face between one and 15 years in jail.

The men were arrested on 8 August after bringing the migrants ashore in Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost island. They were remanded in custody and remained in jail until 10 September, when five were released on bail and the two officers of the boat were put under house arrest.

On the morning of 7 August, Abdelkarim Bayoudh and his crew had dropped anchor on a shelf 30 miles south of the island of Lampedusa. They had just turned in for a few hours' sleep when they were woken by screams for help.

Coming out on deck they saw a rubber boat crammed with people wallowing in the rough sea, taking in water and on the point of sinking. Among them were two children and 11 women - two of them pregnant and one elderly and badly ill. In the crush to get aboard the fishing boat, two of the migrants went in the water. Two of the Tunisian crew dived in and rescued them.

Captain Bayoudh then headed for the nearest harbour. Their home port of Monastir was 90 miles away, Lampedusa only 30 miles. The best destination was obvious. Yet on arrival in Lampedusa, the seven Tunisians were arrested and thrown in jail. Experts say the charge of aiding illegal immigration is absurd.

The work of the criminals that run the migration racket finishes at the dock in Libya, where nearly all the crossings originate.

The true object of the trial, it is suspected, is to dissuade fishermen from doing their duty. If so, it is likely to be successful. The fact that the fishermen have spent more than a month in custody sends a clear message to others like them.

Laura Boldrini, of the UN High Commission for Refugees, contrasts the behaviour of the Tunisians with that of other, unnamed fishermen reported to her who recently beat migrants attempting to get into their boat with sticks, forcing them into the water where several drowned. No action was taken against them. "We only know the tip of the iceberg of what happens in the Mediterranean," she said. "We must rely on fishermen to rescue people in trouble - or at the very least alert the maritime authorities."

Crossing to Europe by boat is an increasingly desperate gamble. The man put in charge of the boat may never have seen the sea before. Boats are getting smaller and flimsier by the year, and may not even be equipped with enough fuel for the passage. Migrants can become the prey of pirates, or they may simply capsize and disappear.

A website called Fortress Europe, which monitors deaths and disappearances at Europe's borders, says that 491 people vanished in the Canale de Sicilia this year, up to 1 September. Of those, 103 are definitely dead; the other 388 are the ones that nobody saw disappear. The figure is the highest since Fortress Europe began counting in 1994, and already nearly 200 more than all of last year.

Until recently there was good reason to believe that if boats in trouble managed to attract the attention of passing fishermen, they stood a good chance of being rescued. But now the odds on that are worsening.

The attitude shift was signaled by Malta, which is struggling with an immigrant problem. In 2005, a boat packed with 200 migrants was reported by the Maltese military five miles off the island of Gozo. They were instructed to "monitor the boat and keep a distance away from them". Thirty of the migrants drowned before the rest were rescued by Italians. Earlier this year, too, the Italians came to the rescue when the Maltese refused to accept 27 migrants who had been clinging to tuna nets for three days.

But now it seems Italy has begun taking a similar hard line. Once they had taken the 44 migrants on board, the Tunisians radioed Lampedusa - but when they were 12 miles out, at the limit of Italian territorial waters, a Coast Guard vessel approached and told them to turn back.

Tana de Zulueta, a Green Party MP who interviewed the captain of the boat, said: "It seems the Italian Interior Ministry had issued a new instruction that day saying don't bring people in."

The Tunisian captain said he ignored the order because of the children and pregnant women on board, and the fact that, ravenously hungry, they had already eaten and drunk everything on the ship. "I'm happy about what I did," he told Ms de Zulueta. "If I hadn't done it they would have died."

Gustavo Villoldo, one of the CIA agents responsible for the death of the Che Guevara, shown on the left, will auction a lock of hair that he cut from the Che's head before his murder on October 9, 1967. He claims he is doing it for the good of history and to close the subject. He's also selling a scrap book that includes a map used to follow the Che. The auction will be conducted by Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas, and he expects to make around $7m

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070905/od_nm/usa_guevara_auction_odd_dc

A german legislator has proposed to have marriages last only 7 years, arguing that most marriages break up anyway and that this would eliminate the problems of going through a divorce. Alas, all she's gotten so far are criticisms and even members of her own party have recommended that she undergo psychiatric treatment.

I wonder, if marriage only lasted for 7 years, who would go through the trouble of getting married again?

I wasn't paying attention to much last month when the news came out that China had banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. The goal of the law, of course, is to make it easier for China to anoint the next Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama, in response, issued a statement saying that he won't reincarnate in Tibet.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20227400/site/newsweek/

A woman entering a federal courthouse in Idaho was ordered to remove her bra, and pass it through the metal detector. She wasn't even given a place to do it - instead told to go to her car (yeah, because that would be so private, and it'd be so easy for a woman with large breasts to walk back to the court house braless). It is unconscionable to me that such a thing would be done and that the Marshal Service would not even apologize for making her do it. I wish I had their phone number to call them and protest on her behalf. I do hope that she's able to sue them.

What follows is the story from the SpokesmanReview.com