DAILY NEWSLINKS

5/22
Skylines:
Morning concert. . .
THE BASTARD FAIRIES SING ‘GUNS AND DOLLS’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLG2B_o9xss&mode=related&search=

OH, NO---CELL PHONE ON MT. EVEREST
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/No_escape_as_mobile_phone_reaches_E_05222007.html

HONG KONG ACTOR INSULTS MALAYSIAN STEAMBOAT
(Now there’s a headline!)
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/5/22/nation/17793907&sec=nation

Yes, it’s old news, but it’s too good
PAUL ABDUL TRIPS OVER CHIHUAHUA, BREAKS NOSE
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=3199455

KATIE HOLMES FUMING OVER ‘KATEE HOLMES’ THE PORN STAR
http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_21282160.shtml

DIDDLEY LEAVES INTENSIVE CARE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6679661.stm

WOMEN FIRED FOR GOSSIPING
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3199506

MAN SHOT IN HEAD, SLEEPS THROUGH IT
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=50086&in_page_id=2

MUST WATCH: DAILY SHOW---‘NEWS I’D LIKE TO F---!”
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Samantha_Bee_defines_N.I.L.F._as_News_0517.html
‘SIMPSONS’ EXPLAINS WHY FOX GETS AWAY WITH RAUNCH
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Homer_Simpson_brainwashed_by_Fox_programming_0521.html

And on to news and comment. . .

Son of the surge
CRAZY DESPOT BUSH WILL DOUBLE TROOPS BY XMAS!
But gee, don’t protest or anything, USA. . .
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/22/MNG7QPV65N1.DTL

PENTAGON CONSIDERS STAYING IN IRAQ ‘FOR DECADES’
The Rip Post told you and told you and told you---this is a permanent occupation
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Pentagon_considers_staying_in_Iraq_for_0521.html

IRAQ PARLIAMENT MIGHT CALL FOR U.S. TROOP WITHDRAWAL
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0507/4045.html

U.S. CLAIMS IRAN WORKS WITH AL-QAEDA TO DRIVE TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ
Er. . .but U.S. officials offer no proof (of course)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2085192,00.html

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER 24 SHOPPERS SLAUGHTERED
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Women_children_among_dead_in_Baghda_05222007.html

DEMOCRAPS DROP CALL FOR WITHDRAWAL DEADLINE
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/052207J.shtml

WHAT MORE REASON TO END THE WAR THAN THIS?
http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182

OH, YEAH, IRAQ IS A COUNTRY WORTH SAVING. . .
Girl is stoned to death for falling love with boy from another religion
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/22/MNG7QPUVPJ1.DTL

KAMIYA: WHY BUSH HAS NOT BEEN IMPEACHED
http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2007/05/22/impeachment/
But there's a deeper reason why the popular impeachment movement has never taken off -- and it has to do not with Bush but with the American people. Bush's warmongering spoke to something deep in our national psyche. The emotional force behind America's support for the Iraq war, the molten core of an angry, resentful patriotism, is still too hot for Congress, the media and even many Americans who oppose the war, to confront directly. It's a national myth. It's John Wayne. To impeach Bush would force us to directly confront our national core of violent self-righteousness -- come to terms with it, understand it and reject it. And we're not ready to do that. (Rip Post note: speak for yourself, Mr. Kamiya.)

Duhhhhhhh
BUSH CAUGHT DRIVING WITHOUT A SEATBELT---
DURING NATIONAL SEATBELT WEEK
http://www.rawstory.com/showoutarticle.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.abcnews.com%2Fpoliticalradar%2F2007%2F05%2Fbush_drives_wit.html

Israelity
ISRAEL (YAWN) POUNDS GAZA
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/5/21/worldupdates/2007-05-21T210222Z_01_NOOTR_RTRMDNC_0_-299284-1&sec=Worldupdates

Electile Dysfunction
BILLARY DODGES, FEINTS, LIES AGAIN
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/22/1360/
Instead of honestly explaining her transformation from pro-war supporter to cheerleader of the war’s progress to tentative opponent of the war to her current incarnation as long-term opponent of the war, Hillary skipped right over the unpleasant past and tried to talk only about the future

Mashed Media
EDITOR WHO INTERVIEWED CARTER DID SO ‘FAIRLY AND ACCURATELY’
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003588283
SALON.COM FOUNDER BLASTS NEWSPAPERS
http://daily.stanford.edu/article/2007/5/22/panelistsThinkAboutFutureOfPrintEdition
“You can’t have a shriveled product with cutbacks and cutbacks and cutbacks and still expect people to read,” he said. “The newspaper industry is still in a death spiral. It’s not investing enough in the future.”
FIRST ‘TEST TUBE BABY’ IS NOW A REPORTER
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003588364

Hot in here
SCIENTISTS WILL TRACK MANHATTAN-SIZED BLOCK OF ICE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6679321.stm

(Lack of) Health
DRUG COMPANIES SECRETLY TRACK PRESCRIPTIONS
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/21/AR2007052101701.html
Proponents say using such detailed data for drug marketing serves mainly to influence physicians to prescribe more expensive medicines, not necessarily to provide the best treatment.
IF YOU’RE USING ‘AVANDIA,’ DIABETICS, YOU’D BETTER GET OFF IT
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1623580,00.html
DEATH BY VEGANISM
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/21/opinion/21planck.html?em&ex=1179979200&en=7823d2bbcad13583&ei=5087%0A
I was once a vegan. But well before I became pregnant, I concluded that a vegan pregnancy was irresponsible. You cannot create and nourish a robust baby merely on foods from plants.
DEMENTED? HAVE A DRINK!
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1623739,00.html

Animals in the news. . .
MEXICO BORDER FENCE WILL KILL ENDANGERED SPECIES
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18788333/
WHALES PUSHED BACK TO SEA BY A WALL OF NOISE
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/22/BAG0NPV5P01.DTL
ESTROGEN FROM BIRTH CONTROL PILLS IS WIPING OUT FISH
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070521-sex-fish.html

Oh, by the way. . .
FORMER KGB AGENT TO BE CHARGED IN LITVINENKO DEATH
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6678887.stm
FIVE YEARS LATER, NO ONE CHARGED IN CHANDRA LEVY DEATH---
AND THE CONDITS ARE SCOOPING ICE CREAM
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/22/MNG7QPV6631.DTL
AUSTRALIA TO LEAVE BODIES OF JAPANESE SUBMARINERS ON SUNKEN SHIP
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6679393.stm
RECORD-SETTING AVIATOR DIES AT 93
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/20/us/20buck.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

And in more important matters. . .

JOEL SELVIN: SUMMER OF LOVE, 40 YEARS LATER---PART 3
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/22/DDGMRPU5ED1.DTL
They were heading west 40 years ago, an army of young men and women, and they even had their own marching music, Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco (Be Sure and Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)." The headline in The Chronicle called it "The Invasion of the Flower Children." As many as 100,000 youths were said to be coming for the Summer of Love as soon as the school year was over. As early as Easter, the streets of the city started to fill up with kids from all across the country.

WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT WORKING?
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/05/21/onthejob.DTL
Two mysteries have followed me well into adulthood: Does soaping yourself work underwater, and how come there are so many people out on the street all day, seemingly not working? Having pitched a work, and not a soap, column, I recently attempted to answer the latter.

Light reading
GOODBYE TO LA BELLE FRANCE?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianweekly/story/0,,2080879,00.html

A RAYMOND CHANDLER BUFF’S TOUR OF L.A.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0522/p20s01-litr.html

MYSTERIES OF THE DEEP: SEA DEVILS AND SPECIES UNKNOWN
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/22/science/22deep.html?em&ex=1179979200&en=2ab9c94fa432ad36&ei=5087%0A

‘POTTER’ WILL OPEN IN JAPAN
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6679263.stm

SO YOU NEED THAT HARD DRIVE DATA RECOVERED?
HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED TO ME. . .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6677235.stm

Books
A HISTORY OF CLEANLINESS
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/history/article1798958.ece

And in the end. . .
WATCH: COP STEALS POT, MAKES BROWNIES, CALLS 9/11 FOR O.D.!
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=1f4_1179038976

5/21
Skylines:
Morning concert. . .
THE BASTARD FAIRIES SING ‘WHATEVER’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edloQNR6-TQ

FATS DOMINO SINGS AGAIN
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6675649.stm

THE GAY CABALLEROS OF DALLAS!
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1622593,00.html

MOMS WINDING DOWN WITH A LITTLE TOKE
http://www.nbc4.com/family/13347772/detail.html
Hide it in a hiding place/ Where no one ever goes/ Put it in you pantry with your cupcakes/ It's a little secret, just the Robinsons' affair/ Most of all, you've got to hide it from the kids. . .

JAPANESE STORING DATA ON GERMS
http://au.news.yahoo.com/070519/2/13iba.html

X-RAY VANS PROWL THE STREETS
http://www.vloggingtheapocalypse.com/view_video.php?viewkey=19d22b51c68001e7e0e5&page=1&viewtype=&category=mr

PESSIMISM SWEEPS THE COUNTRY!
As The Rip Post’s neighbor, Mike, says: “If you’re not depressed, you’re psychotic.”
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/2537

USA! WE’RE NUMBER ONE---IN SO MANY THINGS!
Take pride, citizens! Weapons sales, oil consumption, Co2 emissions---we’re the best!
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=196017

And on to news and comment. . .

NEW GORE BOOK BLASTS BUSH
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3195676&page=1
In the book, Gore is accusatory, passionate, and angry. He begins discussing the president by accusing him of sharing President Richard Nixon's unprincipled hunger for power -- and the book proceeds to get less complimentary from there. While Gore stops short of flatly calling for the impeachment of Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, he certainly gives the impression that in his view such a move would be well deserved. He calls the president a lawbreaker, a liar and a man with the blood of thousands of innocent lives on his hands.
By the way, Gore Never Said That Stuff About “Inventing the Internet”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-boyce/al-gore-never-said-i-inv_b_48946.html
Mention Al Gore to any right wing spokesperson and on cue, they spit out: The guy who claimed he invented the Internet! They snicker, they chuckle, they high five themselves into happiness, but there's one little problem. Al Gore never said that.

WIMPY JIMMY BACKS OFF ANTI-BUSH STATEMENT!
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003588061
CARTER: BUSH ADMINISTRATION IS WORST IN HISTORY
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2084310,00.html
WHITE HOUSE CALLS CARTER ‘IRRELEVANT’
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2007/05/20/white-house-calls-one-for_n_48926.html

Moore Trouble
RICHARD CORLISS REVIEW: ‘SICKO’ IS SOCKO
http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1623337,00.html
THE ‘SICKO’ TRUTH ABOUT HEALTH CARE
http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,2084372,00.html
Act two: when did it all start going wrong, asks Moore. The answer: in August 1971. President Richard Nixon and his adviser Edgar Kaiser plot to break the system. "The less care they give, the more money they make," says Nixon, caught on tape. They? Their friends, the health industry moguls, the same ones who fund the political campaigns of US congressmen. Moore shows us the price tag on every single one of them. One in particular, Billy Tauzin, leaves Congress to become CEO of the drug industry's top lobbying group, PhRMA, with a $2m a year salary.
‘SICKO’ DIAGNOSES HEALTH CARE CURE
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9818

Iraq and Roll
U.S. TO SELL OUT IRAQI PM?
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/US_officials_acknowledge_they_may_have_0520.html
HOW THE WAR HELPS BIN-LADEN (LET ME COUNT THE WAYS)
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003587942

Queen Condi

PAKI PM TRIED TO SEDUCE CONDI!
He doesn’t know our little queen of state!
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Rice_resists_Pakistani_PM_s_gigolo__05212007.html

Electile Dysfunction
BILLARY ASKS SUPPORTERS TO PICK CAMPAIGN SONG---
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003587946
---AND HERE’S THE RIP POST SUGGESTION
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/r/reba+mcentire/im+a+woman_20114507.html
BROWN: IS MCCAIN OUT OF HIS FUCKING MIND? FUCK YES!
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/2534

Jesus H. Christ!
GINGRICH: NOW IS TIME CONVERT
WHOLE COUNTRY TO FUNDAMENTALISM
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/21/gingrich-convert-america/
THOMPSON:
GINGRICH IS STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/2542
During that stint, I came to know Gingrich and saw first hand how he operated. Once I did I quit and walked away from politics for good and returned to journalism. His demagoguery, immorality and radical, dangerous ideas both disgusted and scared me. He was, and still is, a deranged, dangerous man.

Mashed Media
SCIENTOLOGISTS HARASS DAILY MAIL REPORTER
http://www.alternet.org/story/52121/
By the time you read this article, the Church of Scientology will no doubt be unleashing their attack dogs - sorry, officials from the Office of Special Affairs - on me again.The founder of the "religion" - science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard - himself issued directives on how "to handle the press", including tips on how to get a reporter "fired and discredited".
‘BAD BUNNY’ SEX VIRUS HITS COMPUTERS
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=49877&in_page_id=34

Your Corporatocracy at Work
TROUBLE IN STARBUCKS PARADISE
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/52146/
Meanwhile, baristas in Grand Rapids, Michigan announced that they were filing a legal complaint against the company for violating their organizing rights through unlawful surveillance and other questionable tactics. All over the world -- Austria, England, Spain and Australia, as well as the United States -- Starbucks workers demonstrated in front of stores to protest the company's union-busting practices.
CHINA BUYS $3 BILLION IN U.S. EQUITY FIRM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6675453.stm
DOLLAR BUYING EVER LESS OF THE WORLD’S GOODS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0521/p01s03-usec.html

Lost Angeles
EX-GANG MEMBERS FLOOD L.A. UNIONS
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-union21may21,0,5456740.story?coll=la-home-center

Animals in the news
LORD HOWE ISLAND: STRANGE BIRDS IN PARADISE
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0521/p20s01-litr.html
DISASTROUS CONDITIONS AT TAIWAN ZOO
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070518-crocodile-zoo.html
HAND-REARED GORILLAS TO BE RELEASED INTO THE WILD
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=49748&in_page_id=34

Enviro Wacko
DISPOSE OF ENERGY-SAVING BULBS SAFELY---THEY CONTAIN MERCURY
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070518-cfls-bulbs.html

Oh, by the way. . .
CALIFORNIA SPENDS MORE ON PRISONS THAN SCHOOLS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/21/MNG4KPUKV51.DTL&feed=rss.news
MAN FINISHES BAY TO BREAKERS, LIFE
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/21/BAG7RPUKRC1.DTL
FIRE ENGULFS THE CUTTY SARK
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2084503,00.html
‘CAVEMAN’ KEEPS RAMSHACKLE BEACH HOME
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6676267.stm

And in more important matters. . .

REMEMBERING THE ‘SUMMER OF LOVE’---40 YEARS LATER
http://www.sfgate.com/summeroflove/
COUNTRY JOE REMEMBERS. . .
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/20/MNSOLCOUNTRY20.DTL
How did it change all of us?That's the question that everybody asks all the time. It's really such a ridiculous question to ask. When the changes of another generation or a person, the inventions have been adapted and ingrained so much that they're taken for common in a future generation, then the reason that it happened in the time before is just forgotten.
WATCH: BOB WEIR REMEMBERS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2007/05/20/MNG2NPUD1C1.DTL&o=0

JON CARROLL HOUSESITS
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/21/DDGITP17061.DTL

Hey, Be-attle
NOW POOR PAUL IS BEING HIT UP FOR DOUGH BY ALLEGED GERMAN DAUGHTER
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,483950,00.html
ITUNES DEAL FOR BEATLES WON’T BOOST APPLE PROFITS
http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk4NDImZmdiZWw3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTcxMzIwODQmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXky

And in the end. . .
WONDERMARK
http://www.wondermark.com/d/291.html

5/18
Skylines:
Morning concert. . .
THE GREAT BASTARD FAIRIES SING ‘APPLE PIE’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnVMTs0Stq4

‘STAR TREK’ FAN SELLS ‘ENTERPRISE’
APARTMENT FOR A MILLION BUCKS
Made his home look like the flight deck
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=49211&in_page_id=34

NOTHING SEXY ABOUT NUDE AIRPORT SCANS
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/05/17/1178995296128.html

BO DIDDLEY STRUGGLING TO RESPOND
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6668597.stm

DAUGHTER SELLS MOTHER---TO RAISE MONEY FOR CANCER TREATMENT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6665457.stm

CRAZY BRIT POWERGLIDES OVER EVEREST
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Briton_first_to_fly_over_Everest_in_05172007.html

PAMELA ANDERSON BOOED BY CANNES PAPARAZZI
Will wonders never cease?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/18/entertainment/e081038D65.DTL&type=entertainment

MORFORD: IN MEMORIAM, JERRY FALWELL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/05/18/notes051807.DTL
"If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being."
"Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions."
“God doesn’t listen to Jews.”

And on to news and comment. . .

Wolf-man II
RUDY THE CREEP PAYS WIFE $125K TO ‘HELP WITH SPEECHES’
Yeah, go ahead and elect this jerk, America
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/05/18/2007-05-18_in_rudys_heart__on_payroll-2.html
THE CREEP SLIPS IN THE POLLS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0518/p01s02-uspo.html

Your corporatocracy at work!
BILLARY: CANDIDATE OF THE CORPSE-ORATIONS?
http://www.alternet.org/story/51619/
If Hillary Clinton really wanted to curtail the influence of the powerful as she says in her speeches, she might start with the advisers to her own campaign, who represent some of the weightiest interests in corporate America.
BERMAN: HILLARY INC.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/18/1281/
The conservative caricature that Hillary is to the left of her husband is a myth. She, like Bill, talks a good game. She’s aggressively courted organized labor and distanced herself from policies like NAFTA. She privately tells public-interest groups and liberal commentators that she’s on their side. At the same time, she’s premised her presidential campaign on a restoration of the Clinton era, frequently invoking “Bill and I” on the stump as a way of claiming credit for the perceived successes of the 1990s. She’s expressed no qualms about her closest advisers’ forays into the corporate world. Courting elements of the Democratic base while signaling to the corporate right that she won’t shake up the system is a tricky juggling act. Even the First Lady of triangulation may not be able to pull it off.

Electile Dysfunction
OBAMA SAYS HIS IRAQ POLICY DIFFERS FROM BILLARY
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/18/1302/

YOUTUBE PIONEERS CHALLENGE PENTAGON
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051807M.shtml
YouTube's co-founders on Thursday challenged the Pentagon's assertion that soldiers overseas were sapping too much bandwidth by watching online videos, the military's principal rationale for blocking popular Web sites from Defense Department computers.

Wolf-Man

Guess he won’t be licking his comb for the cameras anytime soon. . .
A WOLFOWITZ IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING
http://www.theage.com.au/news/in-depth/sheep-in-wolfowitzs-clothing/2007/05/18/1178995415328.html?page=5
Many of his opponents consider him to have been not just plain wrong in his advocacy of the Iraq venture, but evil to boot, serving an agenda that is closer to the interests of Jerusalem than Washington.
REMEMBER WHEN THE WOLF-MAN CALLED REPORTERS ‘SISSIES?’
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003587426
REMEMBERING THE WOLF-MAN: A PHOTO GALLERY
Be sure and see # 6!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/gallery/2007/may/14/1?picture=329846049

THOMPSON: ANOTHER ONE DOWN, TOO MANY MORE TO GO
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/2528
That's the problem with Bush. He's a flawed, ethically-lapsed man who surrounds himself with corrupt men and women who share his absence of morality and lust for power. It may be someone with absolutely no qualifications for a job (like former and failed FEMA director Michael Brown), a criminal who bilks a store with a phony refund scheme (like former domestic policy advisor Claude Allen) or power-mad despots like Dick Cheney who trample the Constitution into the dirt.

Iraq and Roll
UH. . .WHO IS STEALING IRAQ’S OIL?
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1622785,00.html
BIG TROOP PAY RAISE---SIX BUCKS A MONTH!
And Bush might veto, anyhow
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/18/bush-opposes-six-bucks/
OH, NO---RUMSFELD TO START FOUNDATION TO TEACH WORLD AFFAIRS
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/18/rumsfeld-foundation/

Rerun
INTERVIEW: MICHAEL MOORE ON ‘SICKO’
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1622178,00.html

Bring me the head of Alberto Gonzales
DEMS WANT NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE IN GONZALES
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/2521
MR. GONZALES’S INCREDIBLE ADVENTURE!
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/051707C.shtml

Bordering on madness
EXPLAINING THE IMMIGRATION AMNESTY PROPOSAL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/18/MNGR2PTFP51.DTL

Mashed Media
SF CHRON TO LOSE 100 NEWSROOM JOBS
Hey, why not just outsource reporting to India, like that Pasadena paper?
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003587534
TWO IRAQI ABC NEWS JOURNALISTS AMBUSHED, KILLED
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070518/iraq-journalists-killed
ANONYMOUS PULITZER WINNER FINALLY GETS HIS AWARD
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003586844

Cold in here
LANTOS RATTLES SABER AT PUTIN
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Putin_s_skewed_vision_threatens_fre_05172007.html

DOES NEW BRIT PM MEAN ANY REAL CHANGE?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,483555,00.html

Religion
BOMB KILLS SEVEN IN INDIA MOSQUE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6668695.stm
BRAVO! ACLU SUES SCHOOL FOR DISTRIBUTING BIBLES
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1622903,00.html

Oh, by the way. . .
8,000-YEAR-OLD CHINESE SCRIPT DISCOVERED
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6669569.stm
DROUGHT DRIVES AUSTRALIANS TO NUDE CAR WASH
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,483545,00.html
CRAZY LAWYER: RAPE VICTIM SHOULD HAVE BEEN GLAD FOR THE ATTENTION
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=49517&in_page_id=34

And in more important matters. . .

R.I.P. URBAN PRESERVATIONIST CAVAGLIERI
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/18/arts/design/18cavaglieri.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

THE BIG BUSINESS OF TRIBUTE BANDS
Old rockers never die, they just come back as fakes
http://music.guardian.co.uk/rock/story/0,,2081786,00.html

KELSEY GRAMMAR TO MAKE NEW SITCOM
Yes, this will effect peace on earth
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6668997.stm

Musique
STARBUCKS TO GO ALL-MCCARTNEY JUNE 5
http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2007/05/14/daily24.html

Film
RAINER ON ‘SHREK 3’
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0518/p11s03-almo.html
RAINER ON ‘FAY GRIM’
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0518/p14s02-almo.html
THE 25 TOP GREATEST MOVIE VILLAINS
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/villains/article/0,28804,1614710_1614709,00.html

And in the end. . .
WATCH: MOVIES BY THE NUMBERS
http://www.metro.co.uk/yourmetro/article.html?in_article_id=49660&in_page_id=6

 

5/17
Skylines:
Morning concert. . .
WE’RE ALL GOING TO HELL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcARWCMpBb4&mode=related&search=

REST IN PEACE, NAPOLEON’S PENIS
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/17/opinion/17pascoe.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

BO DIDDLEY HAS STROKE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6664525.stm

AUSSIE MAKES VIDEO GAME BASED ON VA. TECH SHOOTING
When is the last time you heard of something sane coming from Australia?
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Internet_game_of_Virginia_massacre__05162007.html

WEREWOLF SENTENCED TO SIX MONTHS IN JAIL
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/16/national/a143034D08.DTL&type=bondage

TRAIN STALLS, PASSENGERS GET OUT AND PUSH
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/16/international/i114203D01.DTL&type=bondage

In Memoriam: Jerry Falwell


And on to news and comment. . .

CHALMERS JOHNSON:
END AMERICAN EMPIRE BEFORE IT ENDS US
http://www.alternet.org/story/51975/
When Ronald Reagan coined the phrase "evil empire," he was referring to the Soviet Union, and I basically agreed with him that the USSR needed to be contained and checkmated. But today it is the U.S. that is widely perceived as an evil empire and world forces are gathering to stop us. The Bush administration insists that if we leave Iraq our enemies will "win" or -- even more improbably -- "follow us home." I believe that, if we leave Iraq and our other imperial enclaves, we can regain the moral high ground and disavow the need for a foreign policy based on preventive war. I also believe that unless we follow this path, we will lose our democracy and then it will not matter much what else we lose. In the immortal words of Pogo, "We have met the enemy and he is us."

Bring us the head of Alberto Gonzales
MORE SENATORS CALL FOR MONTEBANK LIGHTWEIGHT CROOK
LIAR PHONEY CREEP FASCIST GONZALES TO QUIT
(Why aren’t the “Gran Marcha” people gran-marching for Gonzales to be fired?)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070516/gonzales-prosecutors
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/2515
WATCH: STEWART ON GONZALES
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/15/jon-stewart-exposes-the-bullht-ongoing-investigation-excuse/

COCCO: ATTY SCANDAL FAR OUT-NIXONS NIXON
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070516_watergate_without_the_break_in/
It is time to stop referring to the “fired U.S attorneys scandal” by that misnomer, and call it what it is: a White House-coordinated effort to use the vast powers of the Justice Department to swing elections to Republicans.

Moore Trouble
INTERVIEW: TIME TALKS TO MOORE ABOUT 'SICKO,' FED PROBE
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1622178,00.html
"As for Cuba, yes, when I’ve got a film crew there, they’re going to show us their best. But there’s a reason the World Health Organization ranks their health-care system [among] the best in the Third World and that people from Latin America come there for their health care. There’s also a reason Cubans live on average a month longer than we do. I’m not trumpeting Castro or his regime. I just want to say to fellow Americans, “C’mon, we’re the United States! If they can do this, we can do it.”
MOORE WANTS TO INVESTIGATE FEDS INVESTIGATING HIM
http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE420070517065209&Page=4&Title=Features+-+People+%26+Lifestyle&Topic=0
MOORE/FRED THOMPSON SMACKDOWN!
Mike takes on the Actor/Senator for his Cuban cigars
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=208
http://themoderatevoice.com/entertainment/movies/12875/its-fred-thompson-versus-michael-moore/
"While I will leave it up to the conservatives to debate your hypocrisy and the Treasury Department to determine whether the “box upon box of cigars” violates the trade embargo, I hereby challenge you to a health care debate."
MOORE HIDING NEW FILM FROM U.S. AUTHORITIES
What a stupid country this has become
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/entertainment/view/276729/1/.html

Vote for Mike!
FORMER SEN. GRAVEL:
BUSH SHOULD BE JAILED, DRUGS MADE LEGAL
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Democratic_presidential_longshot_Gravel_talks_to_0516.html
"The drug problem is a public health problem. It's not a criminal problem. We make it a criminal problem because we treat people like criminals."

Electile Dysfunction
GIULIANI, EDWARDS RAKE IN THE DOUGH
If Giuliani is elected, it’s really, really time to leave the country
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/2518
THE LAST TEMPTATION OF AL GORE
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1622009,00.html
He dedicated himself to a larger cause, doing everything in his power to sound the alarm about the climate crisis, and that decision helped transform the way Americans think about global warming and carried Gore to a new state of grace. So now the question becomes, How will he choose to spend all the capital he has accumulated? No wonder friends, party elders, moneymen and green leaders are still trying to talk him into running. "We have dug ourselves into a 20-ft. hole, and we need somebody who knows how to build a ladder. Al's the guy," says Steve Jobs of Apple. "Like many others, I have tried my best to convince him. So far, no luck."
MORMON MITT’S TOP TEN GAFFES (SO FAR)
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/romney_gaffes/article/0,28804,1621231_1621230,00.html

Scandal a day
FORMER BUSH ‘BIRTH CONTROL CZAR’ HAD RECORD OF MEDICAID FRAUD
Administration apparently “overlooked” this
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Heckuva_job_Bush_Administration_vaunted_bogus_0515.html

The Wolf-Man
WOLF-MAN NEGOTIATING FACE-SAVING EXIT?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/17/MNG4VPSACE1.DTL
WOLF-MAN ORDERED PENTAGON TO HIRE HIS GIRLFRIEND
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7e72b456-0404-11dc-a931-000b5df10621.html

Iraq and Roll
19,000 IRAQIS DISAPPEAR INTO U.S.-RUN PRISONS!
http://harpers.org/archive/2007/05/hbc-90000064
THERE IS NO INSURGENCY IN IRAQ---THERE IS CIVIL WAR
Interview with Stephen Biddle
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,483396,00.html
UK THINK TANK: IRAQ ‘FACING COLLAPSE’
Mission accomplished!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6663935.stm
DUMB PRINCE HARRY COULD STILL GO TO IRAQ
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2082022,00.html

Mashed Media
RUSSIA IN CYBER-WAR WITH ESTONIA
http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,,2081438,00.html

Enviro Wacko
MURDOCH GOING GREEN? THAT’S A LAUGH
Will reduce News Corp.’s cabon emission by ten percent by 2012---oh, that’s real progress!
http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2081468,00.html
WHAT IS WITH THE DESECRATION OF THE SKY?
http://www.carnicom.com/corepulse.htm

Animals in the news!
RARE GIANT TURTLE FOUND IN FORMER KHYER ROUGE STRONGHOLD
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6662589.stm
Tiger top of most threatened species
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=J2P1PZIKPJWXRQFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/05/17/wspecies116.xml

Spaced out
EARTH WILL EVENTUALLY WIND UP IN A LONELY REGION OF SPACE
What---as opposed to where it is now?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070516-galaxies-collide.html

Oh, by the way. . .
JAPANESE-AMERICAN REP. HONDA
TAKES ON JAPAN OVER DENIAL OF SEX SLAVERY
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/11/news/profile.php
Honda, a Democratic congressman and third-generation Japanese-American, was wrapping up a weekend visit to his district here in Silicon Valley. After attending an event at a local high school, he would fly back to Washington where his resolution - calling on the Japanese government to unequivocally acknowledge its history of wartime sex slavery and apologize for it - was steadily gaining co-sponsors.
SCIENTISTS FIND CURE FOR BALDNESS?
Why bother? Most macho jackasses shave their heads
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6661849.stm

And in more important matters. . .

JON CARROLL, CHAMPION CAT-WATCHER!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/05/17/DDGH3P1B291.DTL
Cat watching is among the most inexpensive of all sports. The equipment outlay is minimal, and the kibble expenses are modest until the cat enters middle age, at which time it needs Medi-Special Organic Urethra-Enhancing Venison and Potato Fancy Mix. I ask you: Nordic combined, or cat watching? It isn't even a choice.

Light reading
MICHAELSON: OF RAGE IN AMERICA
http://www.forward.com/articles/judaism-and-the-culture-of-outburst/
Juxtaposed with this infuriating cocktail of rage and repression is a pervasive culture of B.S., surrounding us with meaningless nonspeech and pointless legalism. By now we’re all used to endless phone trees (“To ensure customer service, this call may be recorded”); operators in Bangalore pretending to be from Topeka; divesting ourselves of shoes and fluids at the airport; flight attendants reciting legal formulae from rote and ubiquitous “customer service” initiatives. Enter the outburst. Again, the press tends to treat these explosions as if they’re offenses against the American way, but really they’re expressions of it.

Musique and Books
PLEASE, SIR PAUL---SAVE ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tim-riley/sir-paul-save-abbey-road_b_48439.html?view=print
This uncertainty about EMI's future presents you, Sir Paul, with an unprecedented opportunity: to reclaim control of the Beatles' recording catalog and save EMI from the corporate raiders. In one swoop you could not only acquire a stake in EMI's legacy but help preserve it for future generations of music lovers.
PATTI BOYD HARRISON CLAPTON’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY COMING
http://www.hodderheadline.co.uk/index.asp?url=bookdetails.asp&book=105720&best
JAGGER DENIES BEING TIGHT WITH MONEY
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6665551.stm

For Art’s Sake
WARHOL’S ‘GREEN CAR BURNING” SETS RECORD
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/news/story/0,,2081570,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6664623.stm
 
And in the end. . .
WATCH: NASA FOOTAGE OF ANCIENT CRAFT ON THE MOON?
http://www.neilslade.com/Papers/bulbs.html

5/16
Skylines:
Morning concert. . .
BABY’S REQUEST
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypu6olvFlU8

TEN MONTHS OLD, AND CARRYIN’
Illinois baby gets gun permit
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6662213.stm
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=455248&in_page_id=1811

TONY BLAIR CRACKS DOWN ON CRIMINAL BABIES
Actually, this is a pretty good idea
http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,,2080331,00.html

JAPAN RETHINKS BABY ‘DROP BOXES’
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1621633,00.html

WHICH BOTTLE IS BEST FOR BABY?
http://www.tulsaworld.com/lifestyle/article.aspx?articleID=070514_238_D1_Somer24770

WHERE HAVE ALL THE BABYSITTERS GONE?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0516/p13s02-lifp.html
 
And on to news and comment. . .

MORFORD: OH, RIGHT, WE’RE STILL AT WAR. . .
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2007/05/16/notes051607.DTL
And then there's the horrible feeling, that deeper understanding that no one really wants to acknowledge but which everyone knows to be true: The terrorists have already won. Oh my good Allah, yes they have. Bush has seen to it that America has become, post-Sept. 11, a reactionary, rogue, knee-jerk, hateful outpost of isolationism and thuggishness that no self-respecting developed nation really wants to deal with anymore. Just like the terrorists wanted. Disrupt America and make us paranoid and implosive and openly loathed by the few remaining shreds of the Middle East that didn't mistrust us already? Hey, mission accomplished.

Recommended Reading
EDWARD LUTTWAK: WHY NOT JUST IGNORE THE MIDDLE EAST?
Good idea!
http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=9302
The middle east was once the world's most advanced region, but these days its biggest industries are extravagant consumption and the venting of resentment. According to the UN's 2004 Arab human development report, the region boasts the second lowest adult literacy rate in the world (after sub-Saharan Africa) at just 63 per cent. Its dependence on oil means that manufactured goods account for just 17 per cent of exports, compared to a global average of 78 per cent. Moreover, despite its oil wealth, the entire middle east generated under 4 per cent of global GDP in 2006—less than Germany.

USA’S CHILD SOLDIER PROBLEM
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3199/
Almost 600,000 of America’s 1 million active and reserve soldiers enlisted as teens. The military lures these physiologically immature kids with a PR machine that would make Joe Camel proud.

McKAY: THE INTELLIGENT WAY TO FIGHT TERRORISM
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2003708111_floyd16.html
If the purpose of Homeland Security grants is really to fight terrorism and not to reward military contractors, the million dollars or thereabouts that has made Lexington’s police awesome and intimidating might be better spent training FBI agents in the customs and culture of the Islamic community and beefing up foreign-language programs in our colleges and universities, with an eye toward recruiting the best and brightest.

Iraq and Roll
OOPS! U.S. FORGOT TO PUT HOUSING IN WORLD’S BIGGEST EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502027.html
EMBASSY IS BIGGER THAN VATICAN, COSTS A BILLION BUCKS
http://www.buzzflash.com/contributors/06/04/con06157.html
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/32927/

BUSH SELLS OUT THE WOLF-MAN
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/16/MNGGTPRJTJ1.DTL

PREZBOY GETS HIS ‘WAR CZAR’
Gee, it’s fun to play soldier, isn’t it, George!
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/16/gwot_goes_digital_under_war_czar/

Electile Dysfunction
MITT THE MORMON: ‘WE OUGHT TO DOUBLE GUANTANAMO’
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/16/romney-guantanamo/

Freedom of what?
HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETLY USES DATA ON PASSENGERS
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051502037.html?hpid=sec-tech

Your corporatocracy at work!
RISE IN GAS PRICES FAILS TO CURB DRIVING
It never does
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8P5ERCO0.htm

Mashed Media
SHOCK JOCKS HAVE ONE THING IN COMMON---
A SALARY FROM CBS
http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/51927/
DEAF PHOTOG AND BLIND EDITOR OVERCOME ODDS TOGETHER
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003585581
CHENEY IS NOW PART OF AN X-BOX GAME
“Cheneymania” award given for wiping out people with a shotgun
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Cheneymania_award_nixed_from_videogame_0515.html
FASHION WRITER’S PLOT TO KILL VOGUE EDITOR
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=49233&in_page_id=34
CONGRESS INVITES RUSH LIMBAUGH AS GUEST LECTURER
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/16/congress-invites-rush-limbaugh-to-speak/

Iraq and Roll Again
SON OF PROMINENT WAR CRITIC KILLED IN IRAQ
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003585063
WAR PULLOUT BILL FAILS
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Majority_of_Democrats_support_war_pullout_0516.html
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO CHALABI, ANYWAY?
He’s biding his time, still running his games. . .
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2548752.ece

Israelity
YAWN---ISRAEL STRIKES GAZA
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2080756,00.html

Spaced out
HUBBLE FINDS DARK MATTER
But does it matter?
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070515-dark-matter.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0516/p02s01-stss.html

(Lack of) Health
MULTI-VITAMINS LINKED TO PROSTATE CANCER
Oh, joy
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6657795.stm
 
MARTIN LUTHER KING’S ELDEST DAUGHTER DIES
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070516/obit-king

Oh, by the way. . .
CRAZY SCIENTOLGISTS’ ‘LANDING STRIP’ FROM SPACE FOUND IN DESERT?
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=49245&in_page_id=34
BRIT’S 17 YEARS OF HELL IN A THAI JAIL ARE OVER
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/6662065.stm

And in more important matters. . .

VONNEGUT’S LAST INTERVIEW
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3178/kurt_vonneguts_last_interview/

DARWIN’S LETTERS DEBUT ON THE WEB
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6657237.stm

ODE TO A BRITISH GARDENER
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2080516,00.html

A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF INDIA FINGER GOOD
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0516/p13s01-lifo.html

For Art’s Sake
'Cataracts the key to Monet's blurry style'
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=M2BJCG0JH1TVPQFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/05/16/nmonet16.xml

And in the end. . .
THAT WACKY COQUETTE, CONDI RICE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt2yLk20Wrk&mode=related&search=

5/15
Skylines:
Quotatious: “Truth remains a novelty and disposable for opportunists.”---Drew Harrison.

WONDERFUL YOUNG PIANIST LIVED AND DIED A PERFORMER
http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/young-pianist-who-lived-and-died-a-performer/2007/05/14/1178995077232.html

FEELING LIFE TREATS YOU UNFAIRLY RAISES HEART ATTACK RISK
Enjoy The Rip Post while you can!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=G3IR4SE42COVVQFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/05/15/nheart15.xml

SLY STONE TOURS AGAIN
Believe it when he sets foot on stage
http://music.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2080154,00.html

MIDGET DOES BRITNEY SPEARS TRIBUTE
Now that sounds about right, doesn’t it?
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=49062&in_page_id=7

SHOPLIFTER STICKS PROJECTER DOWN HIS PANTS
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=47906&in_page_id=2

WATCH: LAT’S STEVE LOPEZ’S COMMENCEMENT SPEECH
http://www.laist.com/2007/05/14/steve_lopezs_co.php

And on to news and comment

MADMAN BUSH MET WITH DOBSON,
‘CHRISTIAN’ LEADER OVER IRAN
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Bush_meets_with_Dobson_Christian_right_0514.html

GRESH: BUSH WANTS TO ATTACK IRAN
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2079828,00.html
The demonisation of Iran, aggravated by the attitude of its president, is part of this strategy and may well culminate in yet another military venture. That would be a disaster, not only for Iran and the Arab world, but for western, and especially European, relations with the Middle East. Europe's newest leaders - Nicolas Sarkozy and Brown - would do well to remember that.

The Wolf-Man
HAHA---WOLF-MAN GOES CRAZY,
THREATENS TO ‘FUCK’ WORLD BANK
We are not making this stuff up, folks. . .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2079878,00.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/14/AR2007051401624_pf.html
Sounding more like a cast member of the Sopranos than an international leader, in testimony by one key witness Mr Wolfowitz declares: "If they fuck with me or Shaha, I have enough on them to fuck them too."
BUSH STANDS BY THE WOLF-MAN, OF COURSE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6658551.stm
CRONYISM IS THE WOLF-MAN’S ACHILLES HEEL
Not to mention comb-licking
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,482945,00.html

Freedom of what?
WHITE HOUSE PUSHED ASHCROFT ON WIRETAPS
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/15/AR2007051500864.html
President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program was so questionable that a top Justice Department official refused for a time to reauthorize it, sparking a battle with top White House officials at the bedside of an ailing attorney general, a Senate panel was told Tuesday.

CONDI-PUTIN SMACKDOWN!
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Rice_Putin_hold_tense_Moscow_talks_05152007.html
NOT GUNNA LET OL’ VLAD PUSH US AROUN’---CONDI
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6658633.stm

SCHWARZENEGGER WANTS TO CUT MONEY
FOR POOR, DISABLED, ELDERLY
Now that's compassionate conservatism!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/15/MNGMOPR2H21.DTL

We’ll meet again. . .
PENTAGON SIMULATES MASSIVE NUKE BLAST EXERCISE
http://www.alternet.org/story/51893/

Electile Dysfunction
BLOOMBERG SET TO RUN ‘LIKE PEROT ON STEROIDS’
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Bloomberg_Like_Ross_Perot_on_steroids_0515.html
CANDIDATES WILL NOT RELEASE TAX STATEMENTS!
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/ABC_08_candidates_break_tradition_wont_0515.html
CREEP GIULIANI’S CLIENTS: MURDOCH, SAUDIS, TOBACCO
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070515/giulianis-business
OBAMA’S SANE PLAN TO FIX STUDENT LOANS
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1620965,00.html

Iraq and Roll
SOLDIER WINS PRIZE FOR IRAQ BOOK
Book was based on his blog, which the U.S. Army shut down---and the late Kurt Vonnegut complimented
http://www.smh.com.au/news/books/soldier-blogger-wins-blooker-prize/2007/05/14/1178995124802.html
The late Kurt Vonnegut wrote to Buzzell praising the book and US blogging queen Arianna Huffington, a Blooker judge, called it "an unfiltered, often ferocious expression of his boots-on-the-ground view of the Iraq war".
THREE MILLION UNEMPLOYED IN IRAN
Mission accomplished!
http://rawstory.com/news/dpa/Three_million_people_unemployed_in__05152007.html
‘SURGE’ RESULTS IN THOUSANDS MORE PRISONERS
If you can’t beat ‘em, jail ‘em
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/14/AR2007051402265.html?hpid=artslot

Mashed Media
R.I.P. WAR CORRESPONDENT KATE WEBB
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/15/world/asia/15webb.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin
REUTERS MERGER
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003585181

Animals in the news!
FEMALE CHIMPS WILL ALSO MURDER
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6656661.stm
HUMPBACK WHALES HEAD UP THE SACRAMENTO RIVER
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/15/BAGQKPR2AE1.DTL

(Lack of) Health
HYPERTENSION---A GLOBAL PROBLEM
Starting at the Rip Post!
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1620991,00.html

Enviro Wacko
GLOBAL WARMING CHANGING LIFE OF THE INUIT
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070515-inuit-arctic.html

Oh, by the way. . .
BOY TAKES MOM’S HEAD TO POLICE STATION
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/05/15/1178995117788.html
BRITAIN NAMES SUSPECT IN MISSING 4-YEAR-OLD CASE
http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2079872,00.html
COPS CLASH WITH ‘CHRISTIANA’ PEOPLE IN COPENHAGEN
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/15/international/i043703D17.DTL
VILLAGERS LOOT CAMBODIAN KILLING FIELD
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/15/news/cambo.php

And in more important matters. . .

Light reading
ATHEISM---THE WORLD’S FOURTH LEADING ‘RELIGION’
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2007/05/21/070521crbo_books_gottlieb?currentPage=all
REMEMBERING MANIAC MAO’S ‘CULTURAL REVOLUTION’ BUTCHERY
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,483023,00.html
Mao's call to violence fell on willing ears among many young people. Thirteen days earlier Song, 19 at the time, was presumably present when the female students at her school, which was part of the Beijing Teachers University, killed their teacher, Bian Zhongyun. The girls brutally beat the 50-year-old woman to death using wooden sticks spiked with nails.

WILL ‘MUDPACK’ STOP TAJ MAHAL FROM TURNING YELLOW?
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=49036&in_page_id=34

STALLONE ADMITS USING HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6656407.stm

SPIELBERG TO RUIN, ER, DIRECT, ‘TINTIN’
Will team up with Peter Jackson
http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,2079926,00.html

Hey, Be-attle!
A BEATLE FAN’S ENDURING
CORRESPONDENCE WITH GEORGE’S MUM
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2042737,00.html
In 1963, like many girls, Lilie Ferrari had a crush on George Harrison. When she wrote to him, she scarcely expected a reply, but an admiring letter did come back - from his mother. It was the start of an extraordinary, enduring correspondence.
MCCARTNEY SOLO CATALOGUE GOES DIGITAL
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6655453.stm
JULIAN LENNON’S PICS OF SEAN LENNON TOUR
http://seanonolennon.com/photos/tour/julian/gallery.htm

And in the end. . .
GOLDEN GATE QUARTET
(wait till Dick and Mary stop singing)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfXYRBQyDlQ

5/14
Skylines:
L.A. ZOO’S RUBY THE ELEPHANT RETIRES
http://www.dailynews.com/ci_5890006?source=most_viewed

WANT A MARS BAR? NOT IF YOU’RE A VEGETARIAN
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,2079045,00.html

TRAVEL: THE NEW TOBACCO
“Binge flying” is killing the planet
http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2007/may/06/travelnews.climatechange

ROWLING: BEWARE OF ‘POTTER’ SPOILERS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6653693.stm

FOX MAD AT ‘THE O.J. SIMPSONS’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6654087.stm

CAT SURVIVES TRIP IN CRATE---FROM CHINA TO USA
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6651219.stm

And on to news and comment. . .

Lost Angeles
POLICE CHIEF’S JOB IS ON THE LINE---
It’s about time this phoney, crackpot self-promoter was sent packing
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bratton12may12,1,6225983.story?ctrack=1&cset=true
---AND, ONE HOPES, SO IS THE IMPERIOUS LITTLE ANTHONY’S
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/05/villaraigosa_in_the_new_y.php

PIGBOY ROVE FINGERED FIVE U.S. ATTYS FOR FIRING
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Rove_fingered_five_of_US_Attorneys_0514.html

Queen Condi

BREATHE EASY---CONDI SAYS THERE IS NO NEW COLD WAR
Never mind that Putin likened the Bush Administration to the Third Reich!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6652747.stm

TENET TO COOPERATE IN CONGRESS ‘YELLOWCAKE’ PROBE
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/14/tenet-niger/

We’ll meet again. . .
TEXAS NUKE BOMB FACTORY POORLY GUARDED
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Nuke_bomb_factory_poorly_guarded_group_0514.html

Iraq and Roll
IRAQ PARLIAMENT REJECTS U.S.-WRITTEN OIL “LAW”
The law would grease the way for more corporate rape
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fg-oil13may13,1,2313008.story?track=rss&ctrack=2&cset=true
The problems of the oil bill bode poorly for the other so-called benchmarks that the Bush administration has been pressuring Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's government to meet. Those include provincial elections, reversing a prohibition against former Baath Party members holding government and military positions and revision of Iraq's constitution.
AL-QAEDA CLAIMS CAPTURE OF THREE SOLDIERS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2078966,00.html
PENTAGON BLOCKS SOLDIERS’ ACCESS TO MYSPACE, YOUTUBE
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/14/tech/main2798132.shtml
Related:
MORE GRIM REAPERS OF THE SKY ON THE WAY
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/10/the_flying_hk_are_coming_aiee/
CLELAND: BUSH, CHENEY SEE IRAQ AS 51ST STATE
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Max_Cleland_Bush_Cheney_see_Iraq_0514.html

RAIMUNDO: BENCHMARKS AND BULLSH*T
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10963
The news I have for "netroots" types and Huffington Post liberals who see the Democratic Party as the major if not only hope for the antiwar movement can be summed up in two words: forget it. Majority leader Sen. Harry Reid recently let the cat out of the bag when he said, "There is new reason this week to believe that a bipartisan consensus on Iraq is emerging." Translation: the sellout is coming, if it isn't already here.

Mashed Media
HEARD OF THE BROOWAHA? YOU WILL
The “on-line newspaper” is now in NY, SF, Atlanta, Houston, Miama---and L.A.
http://losangeles.broowaha.com/article.php?id=1415
TRIB CO. AD REVENUE PLUNGES
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003584724
ANGRY JOURNALISTS RAKE PASADENA PAPER FOR OUTSOURCING TO INDIA
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18619929/site/newsweek/
FEDERAL PROBE COULD BOOST MOORE MOVIE
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1620212,00.html

Electile Dysfunction
BLOOMBERG BEATS GIULIANI IN PREZ POLL
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/05/14/2007-05-14_bloomy_tops_rudy_in_battle_of_the_titans-2.html

HUGE ANTI-MUSLIM DEMONSTRATIONS IN TURKEY
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,482742,00.html
The tug-o'-war between Turkey's Islamic-shaded government and the country's secularist continued on Sunday with a massive opposition rally in the west-coast city of Izmir. As many as 1.5 million people gathered in an effort to organize Turkey's fragmented secularist parties ahead of July 22 general elections. It may have been the largest show of opposition yet to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government.

FEWER FATHERS SUPPORT MILITARY SERVICE FOR SONS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0514/p01s03-usmi.html

Gun control
FOUR-YEAR-OLD SHOOTS AND KILLS FATHER
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/14/BAGNHPQEEJ1.DTL

Enviro Wacko
WANT TO STOP GLOBAL WARMING? STOP CUTTING DOWN TREES!
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12753

Animals in the news
ASIAN GANGSTERS BEHIND ELEPHANT SLAUGHTER
Love to see the bastards caught in a stampede
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070511-elephants-ivory.html

Oh, by the way
PART OF CANADA HAS LESS GRAVITY!
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070511-weird-gravity.html

And in more important matters. . .

LESS SEX LEADS TO MORE WORK
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,482761,00.html

Musique
PROFILE: THE GREAT ALLEN TOUSSAINT
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/14/DDGI9PPJ751.DTL
THE MUGWUMPS’ ONLY ALBUM TO BE REISSUED
With Cass Elliot, they were part Spoonful, part Mamas and Papas
http://home.nestor.minsk.by/jazz/news/2007/05/1001.html
‘PEPPER’ BEATLES PHOTOS GOING ON DISPLAY
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=48831&in_page_id=7
 
VITAMIN DRINK BETTER THAN COCAINE?
http://losangeles.broowaha.com/article.php?id=1488

CANNES PREVIEW
http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,2078292,00.html
Russian cinema rises from ashes as Siberians go to Cannes
http://jurnalo.com/jurnalo/storyPage.do?story_id=34146

‘UGLY BETTY’S’ SMILE INSURED
The only thing ugly about this actress is her putrid show
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6653047.stm

And in the end
CELTIC MOUTH MUSIC
http://www.ubu.com/ethno/soundings/celtic.html

5/11
Skylines:
‘SCOTTY’ IS LOST IN THE MOUNTAINS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6646837.stm

SPERM DONOR LIABLE FOR CHILD SUPPORT
http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/7435387.html

DEATH ROW INMATE EXECUTED WITHOUT LAST MEAL REQUEST
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=48612&in_page_id=34

GIRL’S NINTENDO GAME SWORE AT HER
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=48579&in_page_id=34

HAHAHAHA---PASADENA PAPER OUTSOURCES TO INDIA!
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/05/pasadena_news_site_outsou.php

DO BIG BUILDINGS GET YOU HOT? YOU’RE AN OBJECTOPHILIAC!
http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,482192,00.html

MORFORD TALKS TO HIS STEERING WHEEL
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2007/05/11/notes051107.DTL
Is this not astounding? Is this not as dazzling as gods on fire? Is this not something over which to pause and into which to peer and say, Oh my God would you look, just look at what we have wrought? As the saying goes, sometimes you just gotta stop and smell the tech evolution.

And on to news and comment. . .

HORRIFIC BROAD DAYLIGHT SHOOTING ON DOWNTOWN SF OFFRAMP
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/11/BAG3TPP6201.DTL

CINDY SHEEHAN MIGHT RUN FOR CONGRESS
http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com/news/0156.html

GASP! RUPERT MURDOCH GOING GREEN?
http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2007/05/09/murdoch/index.html?source=daily

Impeachy-Keen
POWELL AIDE: BUSH IS GUILTY OF CRIMES
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Former_Powell_aide_says_Bush_Cheney_0510.html
LINDORFF:
IMPEACH BUSH OR GET RID OF IMPEACHMENT CLAUSE
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/
There are many impeachable crimes by this president (and vice president), such as obstruction of justice in the Valeria Plame outing case, conspiracy (or treason) in the Niger “yellowcake” document forgery scandal, conspiracy to engage in election fraud, lying to Congress, criminal negligence in responding to the Katrina disaster, bribery and war profiteering, etc., which would require Judiciary Committee investigations.

Iraq and Roll
EMBEDDED PHOTOG TELLS THE TRUTH ABOUT IRAQ
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2077241,00.html
But what I can do is show the gap between the rhetoric of the government in Baghdad and the reality on the ground. There is no effective administration here and the Iraqi army is a fiction. There are Iraqi soldiers alongside the Americans, but they owe their allegiance to a unit commander who is usually someone known to them previously. They are small bands or gangs of soldiers, not a national force.
FORMER LAT BAGHDAD CHIEF: IRAQIS ARE HUMILIATED
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003583815

What is the law?
GONZALES CONTRADICTS WHITE HOUSE---
SAYS BUSH DISCUSSED ATTORNEY FIRINGS
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Gonzales_contradicts_White_House_on_Presidents_0510.html

The Wolf-Man
EUROPEAN LEADERS: THE WOLF-MAN MUST QUIT
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/washington/11wolfowitz.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

WATCH: PUNK REPUGNICAN REP. CALLS REP. ELLEN TAUSCHER A ‘MAN’
http://digg.com/politics/Peeved_Congressman_Refers_To_Rep_Ellen_Tauscher_As_A_Man_Video

The Torture Never Stops
‘TORTURE ARCHITECT’ FEELS BAD ABOUT ABU GHRAIB
That makes it okay. . .
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Report_Torture_architect_feels_guilt_for_0510.html
Guys like [John] Yoo and Timothy Flanagan, who was deputy White House counsel under Alberto R. Gonzales, discussed techniques like stress positions and sleep deprivation that were approved for high-level Al Qaeda suspects—and those techniques were used on Iraqi civilians. I had a heartfelt conversation with Flanagan and told him what I had heard from Iraqis: that these techniques had been used on men, women and children in Iraq. He feels bad about it; I know he does," McKelvey said.

Israelity
ISRAEL STYMIES PALESTINIAN ECONOMY---WORLD BANK. . .
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=44953
. . .ISRAEL LASHES OUT AT WORLD BANK CRITICISM
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/858038.html

POSSIBLE NEW BRIT PM TAKES SWIPE AT BLAIR
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Britain_s_Brown_launches_PM_bid_vow_05112007.html

Good news!
WAL-MART HAS WORST SALES IN 28 YEARS
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117880185064598518.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Bad news!
COULTER-BEAST CLEARED OF VOTE FRAUD
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003584194

Enviro Wacko
NASA: EASTERN U.S. TO GET MUCH HOTTER
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1619704,00.html
INTRODUCING. . .THE ZERO-EMISSIONS OFFICE BUILDING?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,481938,00.html
WWF SLAMS GERMANY’S ADDICTION TO COAL
And so does The Rip Post
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,482113,00.html
A report released Thursday by the environmental group WWF names and shames the 30 power plants in Europe that emit the most CO2 per hour of energy produced, and it makes for sober reading. Six of the 10 German plants that make the list are in the top 10.

Mashed Media
GOOGLE GOES AFTER FAKE GOOGLES
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=48641&in_page_id=34

Animals in the news!
CRAZY CHINA IS EATING ALL THE WORLD’S TURTLES
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1618565,00.html
BATS ARE BETTER FLYERS THAN BIRDS
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070510-bat-wings.html

Oh, by the way. . .
SF KIDS TAKING CARE OF CHINATOWN
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/11/BAG3TPP8FV1.DTL&nl=top
THE UNCREDITED ARCHITECT OF THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/11/MNGRIPPB271.DTL
THE INCREDIBLE FLYING GRANNY NANNY!
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/fashion/10granny.html?em&ex=1179028800&en=9b416874774be811&ei=5087%0A
PUFF OF WIND BLOWS DOWN BUILDING IN INDIA
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=48650&in_page_id=34

And in more important matters. . .

BEST FOREIGN FILMS OF ALL TIME? WHADDYA THINK?
The Rip Post agrees with the number-one pick here. . .
http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,2076596,00.html

THE BODHI TREE MIGHT BE DYING
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=I0YUZPX4U5CCLQFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/05/11/wbuddha11.xml

WELCOME TO CARTOON COLLEGE!
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0511/p11s01-algn.html

FORGET THE FIVE-SECOND RULE
Drop something on the floor, don’t eat it
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09curi.html?em&ex=1179028800&en=184a263cf80df9a7&ei=5087%0A
On surfaces that had been contaminated eight hours earlier, slices of bologna and bread left for five seconds took up from 150 to 8,000 bacteria. Left for a full minute, slices collected about 10 times more than that from the tile and carpet, though a lower number from the wood.

Musique
SIMON RATTLE AFTER FIVE YEARS WITH THE BERLIN PHIL
http://music.guardian.co.uk/classical/tomservice/story/0,,2076510,00.html
SURVIVING PINK FLOYD MEMBERS PLAY TRIBUTE GIG FOR FALLEN BANDMATE
But Gilmour and Waters do not appear together
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6643779.stm

Film
RAINER ON ‘GEORGIA’
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0511/p11s03-almo.html
18 MINI-MOVIES ABOUT PARIS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0511/p14s02-almo.html
AUSTIN POWERS 4 ON THE WAY?
http://www.bloggernews.net/16675
http://www.moviehole.net/news/20070508_myers_confirms_austin_powers_4.html
EDDIE MURPHY SINKS LOWER---WILL REMAKE ‘FANTASY ISLAND’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6646053.stm

For Art’s Sake
GIANT NAKED MAN HOVERS OVER MILAN
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=48607&in_page_id=34
GERMANY/EGYPT SMACKDOWN OVER NEFERTITI!
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,482217,00.html

And in the end. . .
ANNA MAY WONG PLANTS A TREE
http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/dlib/lat/display.cfm?ms=uclalat_1429_b3120_14240-1

5/10
Skylines:
WATCH: IRAQ GENERAL TELLS OFF BUSH
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMPIi03wSfY

GAS STATION JACKS UP PRICES---TO MAKE SHELL LOOK BAD
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/10/MNGUKPOGKJ1.DTL

TOMBSTONE FALLS ON GRAVEYARD VANDAL, BREAKS HIS LEGS
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/08/national/a055642D17.DTL&type=bondage

MUSIC TEACHER MAKES PUPIL DRUM HIS OWN HEAD
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/04/national/a082203D03.DTL&type=bondage

Uhh. . .What is Bush doing with his left hand?


And on to news and comment. . .

U.S. GOVERNMENT GOES AFTER MICHAEL MOORE
Gee, you don’t suppose this is political, do you?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article1772247.ece
http://film.guardian.co.uk/apnews/story/0,,-6622362,00.html
In February, Moore took a group of around 10 former rescue workers still suffering from breathing problems caused by the September 11 attacks for health treatment in Cuba — the idea being to expose America's healthcare system for his latest documentary SiCKO. But the Associated Press reported today that the trip attracted the attention of the US Treasury's Department of Office of Foreign Assets Control, which monitors the trade embargo imposed on Cuba by John F. Kennedy in 1963.
MOORE.COM RESPONDS
http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mikeinthenews/index.php?id=9780

WHY IS LIMBAUGH STILL ON THE AIR?
HE IS PLAYING SONG CALLED, “BARACK, THE MAGIC NEGRO”
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6642029.stm

ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT CHALLENGES DEMOCRAPS’
COMMITMENT TO STOPPING IRAQ DEBACLE
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/51687/

PUTIN COMPARES U.S. TO THIRD REICH
If the USA does not stop its current insanity, the world is going to take action against us. . .
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/world/europe/10russia.html?ex=1179374400&en=7ba489b2458dc591&ei=5065&partner=MYWAY

BLAIR RESIGNATION: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/tonyblair/story/0,,2076482,00.html

Iraq and Roll
SOLUTION TO INSURGENCY? “MADE IN IRAQ”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=QRINGEARKASRDQFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/05/10/wiraq10.xml
High-quality clothes and leather goods, all made in factories in some of the most dangerous areas of Iraq, will soon arrive in shops across the world.

Enviro Wacko
NASA DISCOVERS STRANGE NEW ‘PARTICLES’ IN THE AIR
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2007/twilightzone_particles.html

Animals in the new!
ORGANIC BEES PROTECTED FROM THE BIG BEE DIE-OFF?
http://www.redicecreations.com/article.php?id=974

Lost Angeles
ONE-FIFTH OF GRIFFITH PARK IS GONE
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070510/ap_on_re_us/la_fire_3

Mashed Media
RODERICK TO FURTHER EXPAND LAOBSERVED.COM
http://www.laweekly.com/la-people-2007/kevin-roderick/16323/
HUGE VIEWING DROP IN TV!
http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/09/tv.missingviewers.ap/index.html
NEW NEWS SATIRE SONG EVERY DAY AT BOSTON.COM
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003583620
GIRLS THINK THEY ‘LOOK FAT’ IN COLLEGE PAPER---STEAL 1000 COPIES
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003583604

(Lack of) Health
UCSF DOCTORS WARN OF WIDE USE OF CERVICAL CANCER VACCINE
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/10/MNGAMPO48N1.DTL
ORAL SEX LINKED TO THROAT CANCER
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6639461.stm
CRAZY VEGANS JAILED IN DEATH OF BABY
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6642543.stm

Jesus H. Christ!
‘CHRISTIAN’/ATHEIST SMACKDOWN!
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0510/p13s02-lire.html

Oh, by the way
INDIA WOMEN TAKING CONTROL OF THEIR LIVES, VILLAGES
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0510/p01s04-wosc.html
When Ms. Yadav learned to ride a bicycle, traveling between villages to set up health clinics and offer hot meals for children, her husband threw her out of the house, saying she was ignoring her duties at home. And when she and her colleagues won the contract to run the local market, the businessman who lost the bid promised to kill them. Business in Sukuldhain had always been a man's world. But today, Yadav is president of a districtwide network of women's groups with businesses ranging from mines to concrete works – totaling half a million dollars in assets. And, sometimes, when she comes home from hard day at work, her husband has tea and a hot meal ready for her.
WOMAN RECALLS SHARK ATTACK
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/10/BAGIFPOG9B1.DTL
OKAY, JUST HOW DO ASTRONAUTS GO TO THE BATHROOM?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6640035.stm
THE GREAT SUSHI SWITCHEROO
You aren’t getting what you are ordering
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003583597

And in more important matters. . .

KCET TO RADICALLY CHANGE PROGRAMMING?
But will they dump all the geezer music reunions?
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/05/kcet_gets_more_local.php

Books
LIBRIVOX---
AMATEUR BOOKS-ON-TAPE WEBSITE TAKES OFF, AND IT’S FREE
http://www.reason.com/news/show/119240.html
AND HERE IS THE SITE:
http://librivox.org/
SARAH BERNHARDT---THE MOST FAMOUS ACTRESS IN HISTORY
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/20151

For Art’s Sake
IS THAT VAN GOGH REAL? ASK A MATHEMATICIAN
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0510/p15s02-stss.html

And in the end
MAYBE---JANIS JOPLIN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMN-I8kERdY

5/9
Skylines:
THE COULTER BEAST: NEWSWEEK WORKS FOR AL-QAEDA
Obama poll lead cited as Al-Qaeda boosting
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6619291,00.html

MICKEY MOUSE LEADS HAMAS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2075845,00.html
See video here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZEGsnWZKh8

HAHAHAHAHA---HILTON BACKS PETITION FOR AVOIDING JAIL---
IT SAYS SHE ‘ENLIVENS MUNDANE LIVES’
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6637855.stm
PARIS IS DRIVING AGAIN
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=48339&in_page_id=7

$312,000 FOR JERRY G.’S GUITAR
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/09/BAGGJPNHGL1.DTL

MORFORD: APOCALYPSE OF THE HONEYBEES
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2007/05/09/notes050907.DTL
It makes perfect poetic sense, don't you think? After all, are we not long overdue for such a fatal environmental karmic bitch-slap? Has Mother Nature not had just about enough of our arrogant invasiveness? Don't you already know the answer? These are (some) of the facts: It appears the honeybee hives are collapsing. And the wild honeybee population is down a staggering 90 percent. In the past few months alone, U.S. beekeepers have lost one quarter of their 2.4 million colonies (five times the normal rate) to what's been deemed Colony Collapse Disorder (also the perfect nickname for Bush's America, n'est-ce pas?), and this very serious, inexplicable problem has already spread to 27 states and parts of Brazil, Canada and Europe.

EMILY YOFFEE FOLLOWED ‘THE SECRET’ FOR TWO MONTHS---
AND THIS IS WHAT SHE FOUND
http://www.slate.com/id/2165746/pagenum/all/
Following The Secret's precepts, I stopped wasting my time looking for it and instead expressed my gratitude for its arrival. I've now spent six weeks visualizing this desk to no effect. Perhaps the problem is signal interference from my husband, who keeps suggesting I manifest the word Ikea into my search engine and just order a damn desk.

And on to news and comment. . .

IDIOT BUSH SAYS QUEEN WAS HERE IN 1776
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070509/ap_on_go_pr_wh/royal_visit_75
At one point in the South Lawn ceremony, Bush noted that the queen had dined with 10 U.S. presidents and had helped the United States "celebrate its bicentennial in 17 ... ." Bush caught himself and corrected the date to 1976." This brought loud laughter from many in the invited audience of thousands.
WATCH: PRESIDENT BONEHEAD WINKS AT QUEENIE
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=49750&cl=2636846&ch=61492&src=
BUSH ‘TERRIFIED’ BY QUEEN
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6637429.stm
This week an elderly lady, who is at least a head smaller than the president and who, by all accounts, has never harmed a fly, achieved - unwittingly - what Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Nancy Pelosi have all tried and failed to do: reduce George Walker Bush to a quivering mass, make his lower lip tremble and - I promise you I saw it with my own eyes - make him blush to the roots of his Texan rind.
QUEEN/PREZ SMACKDOWN! AN ANALYSIS
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/cont/node/2461
The BBC had a go at our George noting his 1776 almost-slip and, in my professional opinion, his Oedipally inspired winking follow-up about the queen giving him a cutting Barbara Bush look.

Not in Kansas anymore. . .
OBAMA SCREW-UP WORTHY OF BUSH
Did he really think that 10,000 died in Kansas tornados?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6638207.stm
Watch:
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Obama_Ten_thousand_in_Kansas_0509.html
KANSAS GOV SAYS MOST NAT’L GUARD IN IRAQ
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/09/MNGUSPNM2O1.DTL

PELOSI THREATENS TO SUE BUSH OVER IRAQ BILL
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/pelosi-threat-to-sue-bush-over-iraq-bill-2007-05-08.html
LINDORFF:
PELOSI’S TOOTHLESS THREAT COULD BACKFIRE
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/
Suing Bush over a signing statement, given the number of Federalist judges that this administration has named to the federal district and appellate courts, and to the US Supreme Court, is not just an exercise in futility; it is a dangerous tactic which could backfire disastrously by leading to a ruling that it’s perfectly constitutional for a president to ignore laws passed by the Congress. Does Pelosi really want to risk such a catastrophe?

Queen Condi
CONDI EMBRACES MANIAC KILLER DICTATOR
You don’t read this stuff in newspapers, folks. . .
http://www.motherjones.com/news/outfront/2007/05/extreme_makeover.html?welcome=true
The man with her—Teodoro Obiang, president of the tiny, oil-rich nation of Equatorial Guinea—seemed less comfortable. As the journalists peppered Rice with questions, he clenched his hands against his suit coat and stared at her with a tight, puzzled grin. During his two-decade reign of torture and terror, Obiang has never faced such meddlesome media; Equatoguinean radio has declared that Obiang has "permanent contact with the Almighty" and therefore can "kill anyone without being called to account." Rice turned to Obiang. "Thank you very much for your presence here," she cooed. "You are a good friend, and we welcome you."

Impeachy-keen
39 PERCENT OF U.S. SUPPORTS IMPEACHMENT
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Deployment_orders_announced_for_10__05082007.html

Iraq and Roll
U.S. ASSAULT KILLS SIX IRAQI CHILDREN
Mission accomplished!
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=9185&sectionid=351020201
OR SEVEN. . .
http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B4259512E-0D99-4F6D-908A-95792F01AECC%7D)&language=EN
35,000 MORE TROOPS TO HELL
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Deployment_orders_announced_for_10__05082007.html

The Other War
U.S. ATTACK KILLS 21 AFGHAN CIVILIANS---
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-afghanistan0509,0,5970937.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines
---THEN APOLOGIZES, SO THAT MAKES IT ALL RIGHT
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7007282440

Electile Dysfunction
SHARPTON/ROMNEY GOD SMACKDOWN
Wow. Can presidential races get more pathetic than this?
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Romney_cites_bigotry_of_Sharpton_jab_0509.html

HUFFINGTON: AT LAST SOME ACCOUNTABILITY
http://www.alternet.org/story/51620/
Paris Hilton drove while drunk, was given every opportunity to correct course, and is now being punished for her recklessness. George Bush, while dry drunk, drove our country into a disastrous war, has been given every opportunity to correct course, but seems determined to keep his foot on the pedal.

Mashed Media
MILITANTS CLAIM TO HOLD BBC REPORTER
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/09/international/i070232D76.DTL
OLBERMANN TO GET FIRST MOLLY IVINS AWARD
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003582707
RICH: I’M NOT A LEFTIST
Take a lesson, all you label-happy jerks
http://www.sdcitybeat.com/article.php?id=5711

Jesus H. Christ!
GOOD NEWS! POPE FOLLOWING DECLINES IN LATIN AMERICA
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0509/p01s02-woam.html

Lost Angeles
FIRE ROUNDUP
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-zoo9may09,0,6222392.story?coll=la-home-center
24 CIVILIANS INJURED IN LAPD IDIOCY, INCLUDING 11 REPORTERS
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lapd9may09,1,6922597.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=2&cset=true

Enviro Wacko
ENVIRO GROUPS DEMAND STOP TO DECAPITATION OF APPALACHIA
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12731
AUSSIES TURN TO ABORIGINES TO COPE WITH WARMING, DROUGHT
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0509/p01s04-woap.html

Oh, by the way. . .
GIRLS KILLED FRIEND OUT OF CURIOSITY
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6639027.stm

And in more important matters. . .

Animals in the news!
WONDERFUL WOMAN RUNS ORPHANAGE FOR APES IN AFRICA
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0509/p20s01-lign.html
Claudine André shields her eyes from the Kinshasa glare, peering toward the thick jungle beyond the perimeter fence and the telltale scraps of banana leaves. "Où êtes-vous?" she calls out. Where are you? From the canopy of trees comes excited screeching. Ms. André smiles. Her bonobos – 50 or so orphans rescued from pet cages and bush-meat markets – always respond. "On y va!" she yells. Let's go.

Oh, no! Miniskirt ban in Poland?
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,481907,00.html

NEW WEBSITE FEATURES PORNO FOR THE BLIND
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=48266&in_page_id=2

INTERVIEW: ISABELLA ROSSELLINI
http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2074958,00.html

Books
WAGNER AND THE ART OF THEATER---BOOK WAS 40 YEARS IN THE MAKING
http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/artsandentertainment/story/0,,2075247,00.html
To do battle with Wagner, you must have a taste for the epic. This, after all, is a composer who spent more than a quarter of a century composing the Ring, a mighty four-nighter that deals with no less a subject than the very creation of humankind. But music and theatre critic Patrick Carnegy has managed to out-Wagner Wagner - spending 40 years writing a book about a century of Wagnerian productions, and not just the Ring, but the rest of the oeuvre, too.

For Arts Sake
CEZANNE GOES FOR $25 MILLION
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6637925.stm

And in the end. . .
MAYBE
One of the most heartfelt vocals ever recorded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxqCymrm1i8

5/8
Skylines:
OH, WHAT WILL ELLIOT MINTZ DO WITHOUT HER!
Plenty---lots of employment in Hollywood for a professional obfuscator
http://glosslip.com/2007/05/07/paris-hilton-fires-spokesperson-elliot-mintz-after-court-fiasco/
In fact, if you were to judge Mr. Mintz solely on his job requirements and commitment to his clients, he’s a hero; a prince among men. Mintz is more than willing to tell flat out lies to the media to protect his client>

L.A.(me) TIMES EDITS BY COMPUTER---
PUTS FASHION STORY ON RELIGION PAGE
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/05/why_editors_always_beat_r.php

MISS LIBERTY WALKS AWAY IN PROTEST OF LAPD BRUTALITY
http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i18427

NEW GUINEA CARS RUN ON COCONUT OIL
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6634221.stm

PHOTO OF MIKE PENNER/CHRISTINE DANIELS
http://sportsbybrooks.com/christine-daniels-first-photo-posted-on-los-angeles-times-transsexual-sportswriter-formerly-mike-penner-12741.php
‘HE AND SHE’ OPENING CREDITS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HihE7FMiwKA

19TH CENTURY SHIP POKES THROUGH SAND ON SF BEACH
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/08/BAGS0PMLPB15.DTL

WATCH: TAIWAN DEMOCRACY IN ACTION!
http://www.metro.co.uk/video/videoPlayer.html?inMediaId=1247&in_page_id=1

And on to news and comment. . .

TENET EARNS BIG MONEY
FROM CORPORATIONS PROFITING IN IRAQ
You won’t read that in his book, though
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,481674,00.html
Tenet did not mention that he is a director and advisor to four corporations that earn millions of dollars in revenue from contracts with US intelligence agencies and the Department of Defense. Nor is it ever mentioned in his book. But according to public records, Tenet has received at least $2.3 million from those corporations in stock and other compensation. Meanwhile, one of the CIA's largest contractors gave Tenet access to a highly secured room where he could work on classified material for his book.

Electile Dysfunction
OBAMA: AGE OF OIL MUST END IN OUR TIME
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Obama_skewers_US_carmakers_on_gas_g_05072007.html

LINDORFF: THE GREAT OIL ROBBERY
http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/2007.05.01_arch.html#1178561749671
In case you’re wondering why crude oil prices are down from last year, hanging around at about $60 a barrel, while gasoline prices have soared past $3.10/gallon nationwide, just check out the latest profit reports from the oil companies.

Enviro Wacko
JATOPHRA WEED IS PROMISING NEW SOURCE OF ENERGY
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0508/p01s03-wosc.html
ENVIRO GROUPS CALL FOR REDUCING WORLD POPULATION
Good idea!
http://prisonplanet.com/articles/may2007/070507depopulation.htm

Freedom of what?
HOMELAND SECURITY DRUGS, TRIES TO DEPORT TWO
One had legal right to stay here
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/05/drugging_and_deportation.php
VERIZON SAYS PHONE RECORD DISCLOSURE IS FREE SPEECH! HAHAHAHAHAHA
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070507-verizon-says-phone-record-disclosure-is-protected-free-speech.html

GALLAGHER: BUSH SEES WHAT ISN’T THERE
http://niagarafallsreporter.com/gallagher313.html
”I’m the commander guy,” President George W. Bush declared at a news conference last week, using the same cocky tone he used when he said “Bring ‘em on.” Tragically, this commander is a delusional narcissist and megalomaniac; thus, the disaster and endless agony in Iraq.

DOES BUSH SEE HIMSELF AS ANOTHER LINCOLN?
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070506/14bush.htm
In a recent meeting at the White House, Bush told visitors how Lincoln (whose portrait he has installed in the Oval Office) persevered in the Civil War despite many defeats on the battlefield, tens of thousands of casualties, and doubts among Northern voters that the conflict could ever be won. . .The visitors came away with the conviction that Bush sees himself in Lincoln's mold more deeply than ever.

Not my Uncle
ANTI-U.S. UPROAR SWEEPS ITALY
http://www.alternet.org/audits/51576/
The U.S. government has proposed to make Vicenza, Italy, the largest U.S. military site in Europe, but the people of Vicenza, and all of Italy, have sworn it will never happen.

U.S. REP. QUOTES KKK FOUNDER/
CONFEDERATE GEN. FORREST ON HOUSE FLOOR
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/08/poe-kkk/

CHINA, RUSSIA, SUPPLYING ARMS TO DARFUR?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6632959.stm

‘ISLAMIC MILITANTS’ ARRESTED IN N.J. ARMY BASE PLOT
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/08/national/a061524D20.DTL

SWAT KILLS CSU FRESNO STUDENT, WOUNDS TWO OTHERS
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/08/AR2007050800633.html

BOMB BLAST HITS PHILLIPINE MARKET
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6634629.stm

Mashed Media
‘MINI-MURDOCH’ SINGLETON TAKES OVER ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003582205
MPLS STAR-TRIBUNE TO CUT 145 JOBS
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003581809

Lost Angeles
TWO LAPD BRASS REASSIGNED IN WAKE OF MAY DAY BRUTALITY
http://www.star-telegram.com/462/story/94834.html

Iraq and Roll
ONE IN 8 IRAQI KIDS DEAD BY AGE 5
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117859459453795495.html?mod=hpp_us_at_glance_health
YAWN. . .SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 16
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2074649,00.html

The Wolf-Man
WORLD BANK: WOLF-MAN IS GUILTY
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/World_Bank_panel_finds_Wolfowitz_guilty_0507.html
WHY DOES THE WOLF-MAN STILL HAVE A JOB?
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2074592,00.html
WOLF-MAN ADVISOR QUITS WORLD BANK
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1618309,00.html

Jesus H. Christ!
HEROD’S GRAVE FOUND
http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,2074822,00.html
Flashback: Grave of Jesus and Son Found
Guess the kid didn't rate---he was just the grandson of god
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/26/cameron_grave/

Blowin’ that boo
GEORGE MICHAEL BUSTED FOR DRUG-DRIVING
Says of pot, “You can't afford to smoke it if you've got anything else to do."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6634607.stm

Spaced out
MONSTER STAR EXPLODES
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6633609.stm

Animals in the news
WHALES, BIRDS CONFUSED BY GLOBAL WARMING
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12727
ARCTIC SEAL CAUGHT IN FT. LAUDERDALE
That’s one way to beat the seal-killers
http://www.miamiherald.com/466/story/99017.html

Oh, by the way. . .
WALLET RETURNED AFTER 55 YEARS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6634215.stm
TURNING SHANGHAI INTO A GLOBAL CITY
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6618163.stm
In the last 15 years, the city has been transformed into a glittering metropolis of 21 million people, with more skyscrapers than New York and a public transport system that will soon overtake London's in size.
NATIONAL PARKS TO INCREASE ENTRANCE FEES
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/washington/07parks.html

And in more important matters. . .

MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ATTENDANCE WAY UP
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/07/sports/s164044D70.DTL

FASHION EDITOR ISABELLA BLOW DEAD AT 48
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/08/world/europe/08blow.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

R.I.P. CAREY BELL, MASTER OF BLUES HARMONICA
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/08/arts/08bell.html?ref=obituaries

ABORIGINES, EUROPEANS SHARE AFRICAN ROOTS
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070507-aborigines-dna.html
Aboriginal Romeo and Juliet survive 40 years in the bush
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/australasia/article2521646.ece

Musique
NOW RECORD INDUSTRY WANTS TO STOP SALE OF USED CD’S!
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i9ebf2d8ce6fd1e267bac18d43959ac24

And in the end. . .
KOREA TIGHTROPE WALKERS
http://www.metro.co.uk/video/videoPlayer.html?inMediaId=1229&in_page_id=1

5/7
Skylines:
STOP THE PRESSES! PARIS HILTON FIRES ELLIOT MINTZ
Boy, if two people ever deserved each other more. . .
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN0339694420070507
“I told the truth. I feel that I was treated unfairly and that the sentence is both cruel and unwarranted. I don't deserve this.”---Paris Hilton.
“Oh yes you do.”---The Rip Post

HITLER WAS ORDERED TO TRIM HIS MOUSTACHE
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=OTZMCN41VL3XLQFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/05/06/whitler06.xml

DRUNK HASSELHOFF EATS BURGER OFF THE FLOOR
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=47883&in_page_id=7

KOREAN WOMAN WINS SUIT OVER FORCED BOOZING
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6631615.stm

WATCH: 18,000 MEN AND WOMEN STRIP IN MEXICO CITY
http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6630000/newsid_6631200/6631267.stm?bw=nb&mp=rm
LOTS OF PICTURES HERE!
http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/0,5538,21411,00.html

And on to news and comment. . .

Your Corporatocracy at Work!
BLAME THE EVIL OF HIP-HOP ON THE MANUFACTURERS
http://www.alternet.org/rights/51543/
On a Spring day at McDonald's fast food restaurants all across Black America, counter clerks welcome female customers with the greeting, "What you want, bitch?" Female employees flip burgers in see-through outfits and make lewd sexual remarks to pre-teen boys while bussing tables. McDonald's managers position themselves near the exits, arms folded, Glocks protruding from their waistbands, nodding to departing customers, "Have a good day, motherf**kers. Y'all my niggas."

JACOBY: THE WRECKAGE OF CAPITALISM
http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20070521&s=jacoby
Once upon a time capitalism, driven by a Protestant spirit, "shaped a culture conducive to work and investment," serving nations and citizens, but today a consumerist capitalism, driven by an "infantilist ethos," "shapes a culture conducive to laxity, shopping, and spending," turning us into hapless shoppers and in the process gutting democracy. Not only have children and teens become a vast consuming market but adults no longer grow up: "Aging adults remain youth consumers throughout their lives."

The American Reem
HOUSING MARKET COLLAPSING
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=I4LRCNDQRDMSHQFIQMFSFF4AVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2007/05/06/whouse06.xml
Up to two million people with so-called subprime, or high risk, -mortgages have already had their homes repossessed, or will default on their loans in the coming months, according to industry estimates.

Mission Accomplished!
HORRIBLE PARASITIC DISEASE HITS 2,500 U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/05/07/spread_of_disease_tied_to_us_combat_deployments/
YAWN! ANOTHER 12 SOLDIERS, DOZENS OF CIVILIANS SLAUGHTERED---INCLUDING JOURNALIST
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20070506_iraq_violence_claims_12_us_soldiers_and_dozens_of_civilians/
AL-ZAWAHIRI WANTS U.S. TO STAY IN IRAQ
Gee, this guy has more videos than VH-1. . .wonder why nobody can find him. . .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6630421.stm
SPINNING AL’S LATEST RANT
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/07/spinning-al-zawahiri%e2%80%99s-latest-rant/
L.A. TIMES: END THE WAR
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050707N.shtml
The $564 BILLION WAR FOR PROFIT
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2007/708/36771
This year’s proposed US spending on the Iraq war is larger than the military budgets of China and Russia combined. The combined spending requests would push the total for Iraq to US$564 billion, according to the non-partisan Congressional Research Service (CRS).
Bush's approval rate falls to 28 percent
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0527787120070506

Iran from the truth
SAUDIS, U.S. CONSPIRING AGAINST IRAN
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Report_Saudis_US_sponsoring_covert_action_0507.html

We’ll meet again. . .
RUSSIA WILL RESPOND TO U.S. MISSILE ESCALATION
Cold war, anyone?
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Russia_to_respond_to_threats_from_U_05072007.html

RAIMUNDO:
THE FAILURE OF ‘MAINSTREAM’ IN STARTING IRAQ WAR
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10924
The first pillar to fall – the "mainstream" media – crumbled almost immediately. Hours after the World Trade Center came crashing down, reporters had already pinned on their flag lapels and started parroting the government line. Bill Moyers, in his comprehensive look at how and why the "major" media melted down in the heat of the moment, chronicles the sorry story but doesn't really come to any firm conclusions about why that moment of utter capitulation lasted for years – and has only worn off just recently (which accounts for the fact that the Moyers documentary was made at all). In any case, Moyers details the pathetic story of how professional journalists abdicated their responsibilities to their readers and themselves – but doesn't readily explain why.

World gone mad
CHILDREN: THE SOLDIERS OF CHOICE
http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/1265/2007/04/2-160449-1.htm

DOBBS: WE CAN DEPORT ALL UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/07/dobbs-mass-deportation/

Blowing that boo
20,000 CANADIANS MARCH FOR LEGAL POT
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20070506_iraq_violence_claims_12_us_soldiers_and_dozens_of_civilians/
VAPORIZED POT SAFER THAN SMOKING
http://www.reuters.com/article/wtMostRead/idUSCOL46069720070504

Mardis Grave
NEW ORLEANS LEVEE ‘REPAIRS’ ARE A JOKE
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/us/07levees.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070506-orleans-levees.html

Mashed Media
EEK! IT’S RUPERT MURDOCH!
by Alec Dubro
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/05/04/eek_its_rupert_murdoch.php
So, again, what passes for the news is mere jousting among the already-rich, and is probably not nearly as threatening as pundits say. If I really want to scare myself, I’ll watch re-runs of the "X-Files."
HUCKSTER WOODWARD REVIEWS TENET BOOK---
AND ADMITS HE HAD A HAND IN WRITING IT
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003581413
A.P. CORRESPONDENT DIED IN AFRICA CRASH
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003581411

Enviro Wacko
HARNESSING THE JET STREAM FOR ENERGY
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/07/MNGNEPMD801.DTL
DISEASE-CARRYING TICKS SPREAD IN GERMANY AS CLIMATE WARMS
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,481040,00.html

Animals in the news!
STRANGE FACIAL CANCER THREATENS TASMANIAN DEVIL
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,481065,00.html
Since the discovery of the first sick animal 11 years ago, the strange tumors have grown rampant in and killed more than 75,000 of the jet-black carrion eaters, or about half of all "Tassie Devils," as the raccoon-sized creatures are affectionately called by Tasmanians.

Oh, by the way. . .
FRANCE LURCHES TO THE RIGHT
The French, they are a funny race. . .
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,481349,00.html
TAIWAN INDEPENDENCE CANDIDATE FAVORS TIES WITH BEIJING
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6632375.stm
CHINA “RESETTLES” 250,000 TIBETANS
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/050707P.shtml

And in more important matters. . .

R.I.P. NEW ORLEANS CLARINETIST ALVIN BATISTE
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/07/arts/07batiste.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries&oref=slogin

Nice read
TIM MCGARRY ON THE CAMELIAS OF DESCANSO GARDENS
http://angelsandvagabonds.blogspot.com/2007/01/camellia-forest_21.html
MEET THE OLDEST BASEBALL COACH IN THE WORLD
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0507/p20s01-alsp.html
Short and sinewy, his skin tanned and creased like a well-worn leather glove, Winkin is a legend in collegiate baseball circles. He coached the University of Maine's Black Bears for 22 years, leading the team to six NCAA Division I College World Series appearances, and at Colby College for 20 years before that. He was tapped as an assistant coach at Husson in 1996, at age 76, after UMaine chose not to renew his contract.

Books
‘god is Not Great’---reviewed
http://www.calendarlive.com/books/bookreview/cl-bk-miles29apr29,0,3451699.story?coll=cl-bookreview
"By all means let an observant Jewish adult male have his raw-cut penis placed in the mouth of a rabbi. (That would be legal, at least in New York.) By all means let grown women who distrust their clitoris or their labia have them sawn away by some other wretched adult female. By all means let Abraham offer to commit suicide to prove his devotion to the Lord or his belief in the voices he was hearing in his head. By all means let devout parents deny themselves the succor of medicine when in acute pain and distress. By all means — for all I care — let a priest sworn to celibacy be a promiscuous homosexual. By all means let a congregation that believes in whipping out the devil choose a new grown-up sinner each week and lash him until he or she bleeds. By all means let anyone who believes in creationism instruct his fellows during lunch breaks. But the conscription of the unprotected child for these purposes is something that even the most dedicated secularist can safely describe as a sin."

For Art’s Sake
INDIA COPS GRAB ARTIST’S ‘OBSCENE’ DEPICTION OF GODS
http://rawstory.com/news/dpa/Indian_police_seize_property_of_fam_05072007.html
NORWAY’S INCREDIBLY DURABLE ARCHITECTURE
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/architecture/story/0,,2074145,00.html

Musique
MAY 8 WAS ‘GRATEFUL DEAD DAY’ IN ITHACA, N.Y.
http://cornellsun.com/node/23383
DARK STAR ORCHESTRA KEEPS GRATEFUL DEAD MUSIC ALIVE
http://www.darkstarorchestra.net/homeframe.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Star_Orchestra
DSO PERFORMS ‘TERRAPIN STATION’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyyDnhJj6F8

And in the end. . .
MIRACLE MIKE, THE HEADLESS ROOSTER
http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/headless_chicken/

5/4
Skylines:
QUOTES FROM THE LATE WALLY SCHIRRA
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/4772514.html
“I left Earth three times. I found no place else to go. Please take care of Spaceship Earth.”

‘BABEL’ MAKES JAPANESE THROW UP
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/02/entertainment/e092254D48.DTL&type=bondage

737 ABANDONED ON BOMBAY STREET DISAPPEARS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6623901.stm

DRAUGHT DRIVES AUSSIES TO NUDE CARWASH
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Drought_drives_Aussies_to_nude_carw_05042007.html

CANADA UNVEILS MILLION-DOLLAR COIN
Flip you for it. . .
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/Canadian_mint_unveils_first_million_05032007.html

MORFORD: AL QAEDA HATES YOUR COMMUTE
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/gate/a/2007/05/04/notes050407.DTL

YOW! OKAY, BABY, NOW I'M READY!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6625397.stm

And on to news and comment. . .

Impeachy Keen
FORMER U.S. IRAQ COMMANDER BLASTS BUSH IN LETTER
http://www.opednews.com/articles/1/opedne_len_hart_070503_the_movement_to_impe.htm
Today, in your veto message regarding the bipartisan legislation just passed on Operation Iraqi Freedom, you asserted that you so decided because you listen to your commanders on the ground. Respectfully, as your former commander on the ground, your administration did not listen to our best advice. In fact, a number of my fellow Generals were forced out of their jobs, because they did not tell you what you wanted to hear -- most notably General Eric Shinseki, whose foresight regarding troop levels was advice you rejected, at our troops' peril.
CONSERVATIVES CRACKING ON IRAQ
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/03/conservatives-iraq/

ARMOR-PIERCING WEAPONS KILLING MORE U.S. TROOPS
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/03/AR2007050302530.html?hpid=topnews

Lost Angeles
NEO NAZIS DEFACE L.A. CITY COUNCILMAN WEISS’S OFFICE
http://scholarsandrogues.wordpress.com/2007/05/04/neo-nazis-deface-los-angeles-city-councilmans-office/
MORE FALLOUT OVER LAPD’S STUPID USE OF FORCE
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/05/villaraigosa_returning_ea.php

Queen Condi

IRANIAN WALKS OUT ON CONDI DINNER---FRIGHTENED BY BREASTS
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/05/04/iraq/main2760338.shtml

Jesus H. Christ!
MILBANK: WELCOME TO THE HOTMILITARYSTUD
BIBLE READING MARATHON AT THE WHITE HOUSE!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/03/AR2007050302170.html?referrer=emailarticle

Electile Dysfunction
OBAMA GETS SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION EARLY
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2072594,00.html
IDIOT REPUGNICANS INVOKE ST. RONNIE---OVER AND OVER
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/04/MNGUJPKEFF24.DTL
REPUGS PROCLAIM END OF ROE V. WADE A ‘GLORIOUS DAY’ FOR AMERICA
Right---there will be millions more unwanted humans!
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/05/04/gop-debate-the-end-of-roe-v-wade-a-great-day-for-america/

Mass Murdoch
RUPERT DOESN’T LIKE THOSE DARN LONG WSJ STORIES
(Like the king in “Amadeus” said, there must be “too many notes”)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/business/media/04murdoch.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
REUTERS FACES TAKEOVER BID
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003580996
BRITISH LIBRARY LOOKS TO PRESERVE E-MAIL
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,481017,00.html

(Lack of) Health
SENATE TO BACK CHEAPER IMPORTED DRUGS
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/03/AR2007050301161.html
SICK GULF WAR VETS HAVE SHRUNKEN BRAINS
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-05/aaon-bso041007.php
HEY, WANT A LITTLE LEMON, MAPLE SYRUP AND CAYENNE?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/health/chi-0705021182may03,1,1154244.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

World gone mad
CHILDREN OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS TO SUE GERMANY
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,480901,00.html
NEED A JOB PAST 45? GET A FACELIFT---
http://www.alternet.org/workplace/51366/
---YOU KNOW, LIKE THIS. . .
http://www.peteranthonyholder.com/images/facelift.jpg

Enviro Wacko
BY THE WAY, THAT WAS THE WARMEST APRIL---EVER
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weather/Story/0,,2070830,00.html
LATEST ENVIRO CRIME: STEALING WIND
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,480327,00.html
INDONESIA SLAUGHTERING ITS OWN RAINFOREST
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=47801&in_page_id=34

Spaced out
WEIRD NEW PLANET WEIGHS AS MUCH AS 2,500 EARTHS
It’s a “gassy giant,” you know, like Karl Rove
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070503-new-planet.html

Oh, by the way. . .
TESTS SHOW SEX OF BABIES AFTER SIX WEEKS
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=47826&in_page_id=34
DIFFERENT RELIGIONS WORK TOGETHER FOR ‘HABITAT FOR HUMANITY’
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0503/p13s02-lire.html
50 DAYS TO REBUILD SF FREEWAY
Isn't that a Paul Simon song?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/04/MNGH5PL5471.DTL

And in more important matters. . .

R.I.P. WALLY SCHIRRA
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/04/us/04schirra.html?ref=obituaries
R.I.P. GORDON ‘TARZAN’ SCOTT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6623597.stm
R.I.P. HOWARD LARMAN, ‘FOLK SCENE’ RADIO HOST
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-larman26apr26,1,173961.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-california&ctrack=1&cset=true
The night after his death, co-host Roz Larman — his wife of 50 years — returned to the airwaves at KPFK-FM (90.7) and served as the show's interviewer, a job her husband had done with low-key aplomb since 1970.

WHEN THE MCCARTNEYS CAME TO LUNCH
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,2065214,00.html

Books
L.A.'S DUTTON'S TO GO FOR HISTORIC LANDMARK STATUS
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-duttons4may04,1,4580715.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=2&cset=true
THE NON-FICTION BOOK PRIZES
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2072166,00.html
THE MAN VS. NATURE TOP FIVE
http://www.opinionjournal.com/weekend/fivebest/?id=110010003

Film
RAINER: OVERTANGLED WEB IN ‘SPIDERMAN 3’
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0504/p11s02-almo.html
RAINER: ‘LUCKY YOU’ NOT SO LUCKY
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0504/p14s02-almo.html

For Art’s Sake
12TH CENTURY BUDDHA PAINTINGS FOUND BY SHEEPHERDER
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1617585,00.html

And in the end. . .
ELVIS ALL-STARS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA-aEqbU6jE

5/3
Skylines:
BUSH: “I’M THE COMMANDER GUY”
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/The_presidents_new_nickname_Im_commander_0502.html
VIDEO:
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/03/video-im-the-commander-guy/
WATCH: WHAT THE HELL IS BUSH LAUGHING AT?
Just his usual “can’t you see, stupid?” guffaw, or something new?
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/President_Bush_Defines_Iraq_Success_in_0502.html

Quotatious:  “Success is not no violence”---George W. Bush.

BONDS CLOSES IN ON AARON
It couldn’t happen to a bigger jerk
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/05/03/SPGC9PK2BL1.DTL

MAN DIES OF THIRST ON SURVIVAL TEST
Guides had water, didn’t tell him
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/02/national/a104415D54.DTL

BAEZ BANNED FROM SINGING FOR TROOPS
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6618441.stm
JOAN WRITES: WHY WAS I BANNED?
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003579791

WEIRD BROOK SHIELDS GRAFFITO OF LONDON
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_article_id=47622&in_page_id=2

DOONESBURY KNEW---SO WHY DIDN’T WHITE HOUSE?
http://ucomics.aolsvc.aol.com/news/doonesbury/2007/05/02/

And on to news and comment. . .

HONEYBEE DIE-OFF THREATENS U.S. FOOD SUPPLY
http://news.aol.com/topnews/articles/_a/honeybee-die-off-threatens-us-food/20070502195509990001?cid=2194
PLEASE, LORD, NOT THE BEES!
http://www.raidersnewsnetwork.com/full.php?news=5139

MILLIONS OF U.S. BROILER CHICKENS ATE TOXIC PET FOOD
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/01/AR2007050102071.html

Enviro Wacko
U.S. ‘BIGGEST CULPRIT’ IN CLIMATE CHANGE
http://rawstory.com/news/afp/US_biggest_culprit_of_climate_chang_05032007.html
EARTH COULD BE UP 2.7 DEGREES BY 2100
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0503/p01s02-wogi.html
THE SALTY TASTE OF GLOBAL WARMING
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,480847,00.html
Gradually rising sea levels are forcing saltwater from the Bay of Bengal into the lowland, delta region of south-western Bangladesh, and into the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, an area crisscrossed by countless rivers and canals. Salt from the sea is slowly seeping into the groundwater, contaminating drinking water and fields, steadily working its way farther and farther north.

Lost Angeles
LAPD ASSAULT ROUND-UP
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/05/morning_buzz_thursday_530.php
WATCH: LAPD ASSAULTS FOX NEWS CREW
http://www.myfoxla.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=3086223&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

Queen Condi

RICE IN TALKS WITH SYRIA---WEEKS AFTER CHENEY TRASHED PELOSI FOR SAME
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6620205.stm

JILL CARROLL KIDNAPPER KILLED---U.S.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003580365

DRIVER WHO HIT HALBERSTAM CLAIMS HAD GREEN LIGHT
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003579779

Electile Dysfunction
LISTEN: CRAZY RUDY RANTS AT MAN FOR OWNING FERRETS
http://www.oliverwillis.com/2007/02/audio_rudy_giul.html
OBAMA CAREFULLY COURTS JEWISH VOTE---
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0503/p01s03-uspo.html
---AND AIMS BROADSIDES AT THE BLACK COMMUNITY
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050202813_pf.html
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is delivering pointed critiques of the African American community as he campaigns for its votes, lamenting that many of his generation are "disenfranchising" themselves because they don't vote, taking rappers to task for their language, and decrying "anti-intellectualism" in the black community, including black children telling peers who get good grades that they are "acting white."

Impeachy Keen
KUCINICH BILL TO IMPEACH CHENEY GETS CO-SPONSOR
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0705021185may03,1,7098537.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true

Jesus H. Christ!
WOULD JESUS WEAR A ROLEX?
http://www.counterpunch.org/landau05022007.html
THE ANTI-SEMITE PROF OF CAL STATE LONG BEACH
http://www.alternet.org/story/51338/

Mashed Media
BUSH LEFT OFF THE TIME TOP 100
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/time100

Animals in the news!
GERMAN VETS TRY TO RESTORE SIGHT TO BLIND BABY RHINO
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,480720,00.html
KILLER WHALES BLASTED BY NAVY SONAR, RACE FOR COVER
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070502-whales-video.html

(Lack of) Health
Experts warn against reliance on sunscreen
Damned if you do. . .
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=NNWSNBYEZ1QQLQFIQMFCFFWAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2007/05/03/nhols103.xml

Spaced out
FRANCE FINDS NEW PLANET
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6611557.stm
GIANT FLAME BLASTS FROM JUPITER MOON
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070502-volcano-io.html
MARS WATER CYCLE IS QUITE ACTIVE
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070502-mars-ice.html

And in more important matters. . .

TEENAGE BOY PASSES SELF OFF AS TYCOON
http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=47715&in_page_id=34

QUEEN ARRIVES IN VIRGINIA
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6618135.stm

Musique
DON MCCLEAN STILL AT IT
http://www.masslive.com/living/republican/index.ssf?/base/living-1/1175498730235900.xml&coll=1
AND SO IS OLD MCCARTNEY
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyid=2007-05-01T195443Z_01_N30421623_RTRUKOC_0_US-MCCARTNEY.xml
Happy 88th Birthday to Pete Seeger
"Pete Seeger: The Power of Song"
http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/tixSYS/2007/filmguide/eventnote.php?EventNumber=2235#
Help Nominate Pete Seeger for Nobel Prize
http://www.petitionthem.com/default.asp?sect=detail&pet=3774
Listen: The Original "Seeger Sessions"
http://www.peteseeger.net/origina%20seeger%20sessions.htm

And in the end. . .
WWII AIRPLANE NOSE ART
http://www.ww2planenoseart.com/Images/index.htm

5/2
SKYLINES:

NBA REFS CALL MORE FOULS AGAINST BLACK PLAYERS THAN WHITE
Racism? Well. . .first, there are very few white players in the game. . .second, black players have ruined the game with street physicality (ask John Wooden)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/02/sports/basketball/02refs.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

4,000 FILIPINAS SET WORLD BREAST-FEEDING RECORD
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6614987.stm

NAKED STATUES POP UP AROUND LONDON
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/6614487.stm

MORFORD: THE HIPPIES WERE RIGHT!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/05/02/notes050207.DTL
You know it's true. All this hot enthusiasm for healing the planet and eating whole foods and avoiding chemicals and working with nature and developing the self? Came from the hippies. Alternative health? Hippies. Green cotton? Hippies. Reclaimed wood? Recycling? Humane treatment of animals? Medical pot? Alternative energy? Natural childbirth? Non-GMA seeds? It came from the granola types (who, of course, absorbed much of it from ancient cultures), from the alternative worldviews, from the underground and the sidelines and from far off the goddamn grid and it's about time the media, the politicians, the culture as a whole sent out a big, wet, hemp-covered apology.

Quotatious: Bob Dylan on Lennon and McCartney---“Both, really, fantastic singers. Lennon, to this day, it’s hard to find a better singer than Lennon was, or than McCartney was and still is. I’m in awe of McCartney. He’s about the only one that I am in awe of. He can do it all. And he’s never let up.”

And on to news and comment. . .

Mashed Media
CHICKENS—T EDITORS AFRAID OF PRINTING
D.C. MADAM’S CLIENT LIST
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003578776
MILITARY OPENS YOUTUBE PROPAGANDA SITE---
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/02/MNGTCPJAFR1.DTL&feed=rss.news
---AND ORDERS SOLDIERS TO STOP BLOGGING
http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2007/05/army_bloggers

COMING SOON TO A U.S. CITY NEAR YOU---CAR-FREE ZONES
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0502/p01s03-ussc.html

POTTER BOOKS HAVE MASSIVE POSITIVE IMPACT ON STUDENT READING HABITS
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0502/p13s01-legn.html

Mass Murdoch
MURDOCH TRIES TO BUY WALL STREET JOURNAL---
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzmurd025194720may02,0,4213709.story?coll=ny-top-headlines
---BIDS $5 BILLION FOR DOW JONES
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/02/business/dow.php

Mission Accomplished!
HOW THE NYT COVERED ‘MISSION ACCOMPLISHED’
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003578624
With that in mind, here are excerpts revealing how one newspaper, The New York Times, covered the event and aftermath four years ago. They include this nugget: "The Bush administration is planning to withdraw most United States combat forces from Iraq over the next several months and wants to shrink the American military presence to less than two divisions by the fall, senior allied officials said today."
ENGLEHARDT: MISSION UNACCOMPLISHED
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=191466
Four years later, casualty figures are so terrible in Iraq that the government, locked inside the Green Zone in the capital, has, for the first time, refused to reveal the monthly figures to the United Nations, though figures do show a continuing epidemic of assassinations of Iraqi academics and of torture of prisoners, a steep rise in deaths among policemen, and a rise in "honor killings" of women by their own families.

Big Dick
CHENEY CALLED SHOTS IN IRAQ---BRIT DEFENSE SEC’Y
http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/britain-missed-cheney-influence/2007/05/02/1177788225105.html
IMPEACHMENT CASE AGAINST CHENEY IS STRONG
http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/OPINION/705020325

U.S. WANTS BRIT PAKIS TO HAVE ENTRY VISAS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/terrorism/story/0,,2070680,00.html

Lost Angeles
LAPD FIRES RUBBER BULLETS, TEAR GAS INTO ‘GRAN MARCHA’
Claim crowd pelted cops with bottles
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2007/05/scuffles_at_macarthur_par.php
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=4498
ASK A MEXICAN
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070501/od_nm/usa_mexico_columnist_dc

Enviro Wacko
THE FIRST REFUGEES OF GLOBAL WARMING
Bangladeshis flee as their country disappears underwater
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0705010817may02,1,7033000.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true
MONBIOT:
YES, THERE IS A WAY TO STOP THE PLANET FROM BURNING
http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/51006/
But tackling climate change, like dieting, is as much about what you don't do as what you do. Developing low carbon technologies without cutting your emissions is like eating two Big Macs, four donuts and an ice cream sundae and then, to be healthy, also eating a salad. Unless the new technologies replace fossil fuel burning-rather than simply supplementing it-they cannot reduce a nation's emissions.
GIULIANI TIED TO BIG $$ ENVIRO RAPISTS
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/02/us/politics/02giuliani.html?_r=1&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print
U.S. CITIZEN HEADS BRIT CONSERVATION EFFORT
http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2070287,00.html
ARCTIC ICE MELTING FASTER THAN EXPECTED
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/05/070501-arctic-ice.html

Iraq and Roll
AL-QAEDA LEADER STILL ALIVE AFTER ALL?
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1616742,00.html
4,000 TROOPS ARRIVE IN BAGHDAD
http://keyetv.com/topstories/topstories_story_122091504.html
104 DEAD AMERICANS THIS MONTH
http://keyetv.com/national/topstories_story_120055556.html

RAIMUNDO: IN DEFENSE OF TENET
http://antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=10902
Now that it's time to fix the blame for a perfectly predictable failure, the real authors of this catastrophe – the neoconservative clique that hijacked American foreign policy in the wake of 9/11 – are eager to pin responsibility on the CIA.

Spaced out
PLUTO CRAFT MAKES AMAZING DISCOVERIES ABOUT JUPITER
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/02/MNGTCPJ95C1.DTL

(Lack of) Health
MEDICAL POT USER’S CONVICTION IS REVERSED
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/05/02/national/a074520D33.DTL

Oh, by the way
MILITARY TO MERGE BINOCULARS, SOLDIERS’ BRAINS
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2007/05/binoculars
HOW VIDEO GAMES ARE REALLY LINKED TO VIOLENCE (DUHH. . .)
http://www.slate.com/id/2164065/
THE BELOVED, VAUNTED RONNIE THOUGHT “ARMAGEDDON IS NEAR”
Yes, this is the kind of guy you want in the White House
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/MidEast_tension_raised_fears_of_armageddon_0501.html

And in more important matters. . .

R.I.P. TOM POSTON
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/02/obituaries/02poston.html?ref=obituaries

Light reading
INVASION OF THE PENIS SNATCHERS!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/04/28/bomcl28.xml

JON CARROLL ON MIRACLES
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/05/01/DDGITP17QG1.DTL
Lots of stuff is inexplicable. People used electricity before they knew what it was. Hell, people used gravity before they knew what it was -- not that they exactly know what it is even now. We accept the reality of sperm whales because we've seen them, but we don't know where they breed or why they go where they go or what they do when they get there.

ZEN MEDITATION CAN ATROPHY MONKS’ BODIES
So they do Kung-Fu
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/04/29/MNG22PBS151.DTL

GLADIATOR GRAVEYARD FOUND
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6614479.stm

STALLONE BANS AUSSIE PRESS FROM ‘BALBOA’ DVD PRESS CONFERENCE
http://www.metro.co.uk/fame/article.html?in_article_id=47590&in_page_id=7

And in the end. . .
STORYCORPS
http://www.storycorps.net/listen/