The Nightowl Newswrap

by: BG & YD bring you the news

Thu May 05, 2011 at 00:00:00 AM CDT

• Classy A Texas High School teacher has been suspended after taunting an American-born Muslim student with "I bet you're grieving" and "I heard your Uncle died." When he later saw her crying and asked what was wrong another student told him that it was what he said earlier. Reportedly, he smirked and walked off. Presumably he felt especially proud of himself. We hope he loses his license and is never allowed to teach again.

• Assad moves on to collective punishment, arresting hundreds in an effort to crush protests. "A human rights groups say hundreds of ordinary Syrians have been jailed for "degrading the prestige of the state" amid an intensifying crackdown on anti-government protests. ... Hundreds of detainees received a three-year prison sentence on Tuesday, while mass arrests continue to pre-empt further unrest on the Muslim day of prayer on Friday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. ... Demonstrations in the region are typically at their biggest on Fridays after midday prayers. ... "Mass arrests are continuing across Syria in another violation of human rights and international conventions," Rami Abdelrahman of the rights body told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday."

• One of those detained in Syria is Al Jazeera journalist Dorothy Parvaz "Al Jazeera journalist Dorothy Parvaz disappeared six days ago, when she arrived in Syria to cover the protests. Todd Barker, her fiancé, gave this statement [video at the link] on behalf of her family. ... Parvaz is an American, Canadian and Iranian citizen. Syria has confirmed that they have detained Parvaz. Her family and employer demand her release. ... A Facebook page campaigning for her release has attracted more than 4,000 fans, while on Twitter many people around the world are using the hastag #FreeDorothy to call for her release."

• Remove the god-damned Fifth Fleet from Bahrain, and do it now. We don't give a fuck about strategic importance when physicians and nurses are brutally punished for the crime of treating the injured. We're America, god-damnit, and we're supposed to stand for something. Aren't we? Time to prove it. "As Saudi-backed Bahraini authorities prepared to carry out death sentences against four anti-government protesters for the murder of two security officers, forces loyal to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa continued their campaign of arresting physicians and nurses to make it impossible for them see and treat wounds allegedly inflicted by government gunmen. ... Twenty-three doctors and 24 nurses were arrested yesterday and charged with a laundry list of crimes including, embezzlement of public funds, physical assault on civilians, assault leading to death, possession of unlicensed weapons and ammunition, failure to carry out their employment duties, in aims of hindering medical work, consequently endangering people's health and lives, attempting to forcefully occupying a public building, efforts to bring down and change the regime by illegal means, inciting hatred against the governing regime, promoting sectarian hate, spreading false news and rumors that harm public interest, and participating in unlicensed protests and rallies. ... The arrests included Dr. Ahmed Jamal, president of the Bahrain Medical Society."

• Saudi government arrests bloggers as part of crackdown. "Two Shiite bloggers were detained by authorities in Saudi Arabia last week, reportedly for taking part in the demonstrations in the repressive regime's oil-rich Eastern Province. The kingdom's Sunni royal family is notorious for barring any form of public dissent against its governance. But the Shiites in the restive Eastern Province, who have long squirmed under the thumb of the House of Saud, recently launched a series of small demonstrations. According to Human Rights Watch, Saudi authorities have arrested more than 160 activists in the past few months."

• Gaddafi forces attack aid ship "An aid ship has been attacked by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi while rescuing African and Asian migrant workers from the besieged port of Misurata, forcing it to leave behind hundreds of Libyans desperate to flee the fighting. ... Aid workers had earlier scrambled to embark the migrants, along with journalists and the wounded, on the ship bound for rebel-held Benghazi as the port came under bombardment on Wednesday. ... "The bombing has caused so many casualties among Libyans and people of other nationalities waiting for evacuation," Gemal Salem, a rebel spokesman, told Reuters news agency. ... "So far we have five killed and ambulances are rushing to the scene." ... The MV Red Star One, sent by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), picked up 800 people caught up in the civil war who had been waiting for days to escape Misurata's worsening humanitarian crisis. ... It had hoped to take 1,000 people."

• As UN looks to war crimes trials, warrant for Gaddafi likely "The next step along the road to war crimes prosecutions in Libya will come in about a fortnight's time, when prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo will submit his request for three arrest warrants to one of the International Criminal Court's two pre-trial chambers for approval. ... The Libyan case is being handled by Chamber I, made up of three judges, from Brazil, Italy and Botswana, who in March 2009 approved an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for crimes against humanity and war crimes. The chamber originally rejected the prosecutor's call for an additional charge of genocide, but that was overturned on appeal. ... Legal observers said in the Gaddafi case, they expected the judges to uphold the central charges outlined in Moreno-Ocampo's report. ... The question then arises as to which organisation should carry out the arrest. Under the 1998 Rome Statute on which the ICC was built, that duty falls first to the national government in question, and there is at least a faint hope among western governments that the issuing of ICC arrest warrants would provide a trigger and a legal justification for any remaining waverers in the Gaddafi camp to move against him."

• Rwandan rebels face war crimes charges for massacres and mass rapes in the Congo. "Two alleged Rwandan rebel leaders accused of ordering massacres and mass rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo have gone on trial in Germany. ... The alleged head of the Hutu guerrilla group, Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), Ignace Murwanashyaka, and the man accused of being his deputy, Straton Musoni, face 39 charges of war crimes and 26 of crimes against humanity committed in eastern Congo between 2008 and 2009. ... Murwanashyaka is charged with commanding or endorsing atrocities such as the murder of more than 200 people, recruitment of child soldiers, arson, and looting while he was living in the southwest German city of Mannheim. ... On the first day of the trial on Wednesday in Stuttgart, the defence demanded a dismissal of the proceedings, alleging bias on the part of state prosecutors - who rejected such charges, a court spokesman told Reuters news agency."

• Amnesty International estimates North Korea holds 200,000 in forced labor camps. "Amnesty International says new satellite images and testimony from a former inmate show North Korea is holding about 200,000 people in its huge network of political prison camps where torture is rampant and conditions near slavery. ... The human rights group based in London released on Wednesday recent satellite photos which show four of six camps located in the impoverished country's South Pyongan, South Hamkyung and North Hamkyung provinces. ... North Korea has long been regarded as having one of the world's worst human rights records, but it rejects outside criticism and denies the existence of prison camps. ... "North Korea can no longer deny the undeniable," Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International Asia Pacific director, said in a statement. ... "Hundreds of thousands of people exist with virtually no rights, treated essentially as slaves, in some of the worst circumstances we've documented in the last 50 years," Zarifi said."

• He isn't who we would pick to be and ethics officer, but then, we aren't Blackwater. "The consortium in charge of restructuring the world's most infamous private security firm just added a new chief in charge of keeping the company on the straight and narrow. Yes, John Ashcroft, the former attorney general, is now an "independent director" of Xe Services, formerly known as Blackwater. ... Ashcroft will head Xe's new "subcommittee on governance," its backers announced early Wednesday in a statement, an entity designed to "maximize governance, compliance and accountability" and "promote the highest degrees of ethics and professionalism within the private security industry." ... In other words, no more shooting civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan; no more signing for weapons its guards aren't authorized to carry in warzones; no more impersonations of cartoon characters to acquire said weaponry; and no more 'roids and coke on the job. ... Ashcroft's arrival at Xe is yet another clear signal it's not giving up the quest for lucrative government security contracts now that it's no longer owned by founder Erik Prince, even as it emphasizes the side of its business that trains law enforcement officers. In September, it won part of a $10 billion State Department contract to protect diplomats, starting with the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem. Ashcroft, a U.S. senator before becoming attorney general in the Bush administration, is a very known quantity to the federal officials that Xe will pitch. Even if he's not lobbying for Blackwater, Ashcroft's addition on the board is meant to inspire confidence in government officials of its newfound rectitude." (You want to know what really pisses us off? It'll fucking work.)

• Well, his candidacy is going nowhere -- not that it ever was --but this assures it. "As candidates begin to campaign for the 2012 Republican primary for president, media attention has centered on establishment favorites like former Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) and former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MN), as well as conspiracy-minded Obama-bashers like Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Donald Trump. However, there is a candidate who has distinguished himself not by promoting vicious smears, but by actually proposing fundamental reforms. Former Gov. Buddy Roemer (R-LA) is running in the Republican primary with a promise to clean the influence of big money out of government. ... Roemer, who is leading by example by accepting a maximum of $100 dollars in disclosed contributions, was at a Tea Party rally in New Hampshire earlier this month. We spoke to Roemer about his platform. He had tough words for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other corporate lobbyists responsible for killing The DISCLOSE Act, a legislative fix to allow transparency in federal elections. "It's disastrous, its dysfunctional, to their shame," Roemer said. The phenomenon of big corporations using their influence to skirt paying any taxes at all, like GE, is "what's wrong with America," Roemer explained."

• GOP's war on women and children continues apace. "The 2010 conservative tidal wave has thrust the nation into an open era of anti-choice zealotry. Nearly 1,000 anti-choice bills are advancing through GOP-led state houses nationwide - their absurdity matched only by the House GOP's No Taxpayer Funding For Abortion bill which will be voted on later today. At the epicenter of this anti-choice maelstrom is Planned Parenthood, a women's health organization that provides vital services like STD tests and treatment, cancer screenings, and contraception to low-income women. Only 3 percent of their work is abortion services and, per federal law, no public funds go towards that service. ... But the mere idea of abortions has been enough to spur an all out campaign to gut the organization by any means necessary. Indeed, picking up where the House GOP left off, Indiana is set to become the first state to defund Planned Parenthood with Kansas and several other states not too far behind. But, in their crusade to eviscerate Planned Parenthood, states like Indiana, Texas, and Oklahoma are willing to accept a great number of low-income women and children as collateral damage."

• Good enough for us. When the Dalai freakin' Llama comes right out and says that a killing was justified -- that was an evil motherfucker who needed a good killin.'

• Sarah Palin and biblical delusions of grandeur In the New Testament of the bible that Sarah Palin likes to pretend means so very, very much to her, there is a story in the New Testament about the daughter of Herod and Herodius demanding the head of John the Baptist on a platter. That was the first thing we thought of when we heard Palin's petulant and bloodthirsty demand that the death-mask photo of bin Laden be released "as a warning" to others who would seek America's destruction. Because madmen are so prone to heeding warnings, you know...

• Six in ten oppose Privatizing Ryan's scheme to destroy Medicare. "In a Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday, a robust majority of registered voters disapproved of Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-WI) proposal to privatize Medicare and cap spending on the program that provides health care assistance to the elderly. And further, a strong majority said they supported an alternate path toward deficit reduction: raising taxes on top income earners, a proposal the GOP leadership has said is a non-starter."

• Man killed in shootout with FBI in Oklahoma was wanted in a Florida mosque bombing. "A man killed in a shoot-out with FBI agents and other law enforcement officers Wednesday afternoon was wanted in connection with the 2010 bombing of a Florida mosque, according to the FBI. ... Sandlin Matthews Smith, 46, of Gainesville, Fla., was shot and killed during a confrontation with agents who were serving a warrant for his arrest at Gloss Mountain State Park. ...
  Jacksonville FBI Special Agent Jeff Westcott said the warrant for Smith was issued Monday by a Jacksonville federal court. ... He was wanted in connection with the May 10, 2010, bombing of the Islamic Center of Northeast Florida in Jacksonville. The attack occurred at night prior to evening prayers. No one was injured in that explosion."

• We smell big pharma's checkbook and what that means for 2012 here. "A recent letter from the Department of Justice (DOJ), threatening state employees in charge of implmenting medical marijuana laws with prosecution, has forced some governors to re-evaluate and even veto popular legislation -- all seemingly in violation of what the medical marijauana community thought was a cease-fire with the federal government. ... Facing the threat of seeing otherwise innocent state employees thrown in jail, lawmakers are responding in an entirely human fashion: what Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), called "the old need to CYA -- cover your ass." ... Ultimately, the administration's confusing legal position has led to a stagnation of medical marijuana reform efforts, with some states simply deciding it's not worth the risk. ... It also represents a significant change in momentum for the prohibition reform movement as a whole, and one that's taken them almost entirely by surprise. ... In 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder's Justice Department issued a memo stating that it would not prosecute medical marijuana patients, suppliers or caregivers in states that have passed voter initiatives to legalize the drug's use -- so long as they were all abiding by that state's laws. ... Earlier this month, however, the Justice Department sent a letter to the governor of Washington, warning that state employees may be prosecuted if they are in any way involved in the licensing of production or distribution of marijuana."

• They're stone fucking racists. That's the only explanation that's left. "Even after the release of his long-form birth certificate last week, a substantial amount of Republicans still do not believe President Barack Obama has proven he was born in the United States. ... A new Zogby interactive poll conducted April 29 to May 2 of 2,020 likely voters found that 30 percent of Republicans and 21 percent of those without a college degree did not believe Obama was born in the U.S. Sixteen percent of all voters said they did not believe Obama has proven he was born in America. ... Many so-called "birthers" believe there is persuasive evidence that Obama was born in Kenya in 1961 and that his birth certificate was faked in order to make him eligible for the Presidency. The conspiracy was first conceived during the 2008 campaign."

And finally...

• Gravity Probe B starts measuring space and time "The beleaguered Gravity Probe B mission has finally measured a subtle effect of general relativity called frame dragging. The result comes nearly six years after it finished making measurements and years after other experiments measured the effect to greater precision. ... NASA launched the $750 million mission in 2004 and it finished collecting data in September 2005. Its goal was to test Einstein's general theory of relativity, the currently accepted theory of gravity, by measuring subtle distortions in the fabric of space-time due to the Earth's gravitational field. ... To achieve this, the Gravity Probe B spacecraft contained four superconducting niobium spheres about the size of ping pong balls. They were set spinning, and it was expected that their spin axis would change slightly over time as a result of these distortions. ... But the data was much noisier than expected, making it initially difficult to detect these effects. ... In April 2007, after more than a year of data analysis, the team reported detecting one such phenomenon, called the geodetic effect, which is due to the dent the Earth's gravity makes in space-time."