A prisoner number was tattooed on Albert Veissid’s arm in Auschwitz Auschwitz survivor Albert Veissid does not know who put his name on a list that remained hidden inside a bottle for more than 60 years. Builders working near the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp found the bottle recently. It had been left in [...]
Archive for April, 2009
Auschwitz note leads to survivor
Posted in Conflicts and wars, History, tagged Auschwitz on April 29, 2009 | Comments Off
Russian navy seizes 29 pirates off Somalia
Posted in Law, tagged Piracy, Russia on April 29, 2009 | Comments Off
The Russian destroyer Admiral Panteleyev A Russian warship captured a suspected pirate vessel with 29 people on board off the coast of Somalia, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday, citing defense ministry sources. Russia’s Admiral Panteleyev anti-submarine ship seized the vessel 15 miles off the coast of Somalia at 1212 GMT on Tuesday, the Interfax [...]
The Liberal Hour
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Dick Cheney is often critical of President Obama, but on one issue we suspect the former Vice President has a grudging admiration: In a mere 100 days, the Democrat has silenced eight years of criticism about the Imperial Presidency. It is once again the liberal hour in American politics, and the media and political classes [...]
The Politics of Liberal Amnesia
Posted in Conflicts and wars, Politics, tagged Pelosi, Torture memos on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Nancy Pelosi is “pushing back” against charges that she was aware of — and acquiesced in — the CIA’s harsh interrogations of terrorist detainees nearly from the moment the practice began, reports the Politico Web site. Maybe she’s suffering from amnesia. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Maybe, for instance, [...]
A ‘Classified’ Photo Op Turns Into a Soaring Blunder for the White House
Posted in Politics on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Mission to Get Beauty Shots of Presidential Jet at Statue of Liberty Panics 9/11-Wary New York In this image taken with a cell phone by Jason McLane, the primary presidential aircraft, a Boeing 747 known as Air Force One when the president is aboard, flies low over New York Harbor, followed by an F-16 chase [...]
Mission accomplished
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Imagine if this had happened when George W. Bush was president. From The Wall Street Journal: On Monday morning, one of the 747s used to ferry around the U.S. president was dispatched to the Statue of Liberty, escorted by a fighter jet. Assignment: Get some fresh glamour shots of the plane. The Air Force said [...]
Let’s Hold Obama to His Promise of Transparency
Posted in Economy and business, Editorials and opinion, Politics on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
So far, taxpayers can’t see the fine print of stimulus spending. President Barack Obama has promised a full accounting online of where his $787 stimulus package is spent and to expose to public ridicule anyone caught wasting taxpayer money. At a White House news conference in March, the president put it this way: “If we [...]
Specter’s Switcheroo
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
When principled politics gets too tough. In his 1970 book “From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor,” advertising legend Jerry Della Femina tells the story of trying to see Philadelphia District Attorney Arlen Specter: “‘Are you crazy?’ his people said. ‘Nobody gets to meet Arlen Spector [misspelling in original]. We can’t even see [...]
What Specter’s Defection Means
Posted in Editorials and opinion, Politics on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Republican ability to block the Obama agenda is crippled, at least until 2010. My one rule of politics is that the future is never a straight line projection of the present. Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter’s unexpected decision to switch parties and run for re-election in 2010 as a Democrat proves the rule. Mr. Specter often [...]
China’s version of ‘American Idol’ gets green light
Posted in Popular culture, tagged China on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
A spokesman for China’s Hunan Satellite Television said Tuesday that “Happy Girls”, its proposed version of “American Idol”, had won conditional approval from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television. Li Chao told Xinhua the singing contest would last no more than two months and must be aired after 10:30 p.m.. The TV anchors [...]
Literary cat makes library visits
Posted in Living on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Fidel the cat spends his days at Deal library while his owners are at work A Kent library has been visited almost every day for two years by its own “puss in books”, the council has said. Fidel, an eight-year-old black cat, turns up at Deal library almost every day while his owners are at [...]
Medvedev sacks Moscow police head
Posted in Law, Politics, tagged Russia on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Mr Medvedev has also dismissed several other senior officers Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has sacked Moscow’s police chief a day after a senior officer opened fire in a supermarket, killing three people. A Kremlin statement said General Vladimir Pronin had been “relieved of his duties”, but gave no reasons for the move. It came after [...]
Court Allows Civil Torture Case to Proceed
Posted in Conflicts and wars, Law, tagged Byniam Mohamed on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a lawsuit brought by five men who say they had been tortured as part of the Central Intelligence Agency’s “extraordinary rendition” program could proceed, dealing a blow to efforts by both the Bush and Obama administrations to claim sweeping executive secrecy powers. In a 26-page ruling, the court [...]
Justice Dept. Opens Antitrust Inquiry Into Google Books Deal
Posted in Computers, Economy and business, Law on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
The Justice Department has begun an inquiry into the antitrust implications of Google’s settlement with authors and publishers over its Google Book Search service, two people briefed on the matter said Tuesday. Lawyers for the Justice Department have been in conversations in recent weeks with various groups opposed to the settlement, including the Internet Archive [...]
Specter Survives, at Least for Now
Posted in Arts, Editorials and opinion, Politics, Popular culture, tagged Snow White, Specter on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
David Brooks: Gail, so there I was standing by the elevators in the U.S. Capitol this morning, and along come a posse of Democratic senators, each of them smiling from ear to ear. It looked like the Seven Dwarfs singing “Whistle While You Work” only taller, quieter and, if you can believe it, happier. One of [...]
Run Away to the Circus? No Need. It’s Staying Here.
Posted in Arts, Living, tagged Cirque du Soleil on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Jamie Adkins, left, in Cirque du Soleil’s “Wintuk” show at the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in 2007. Not content with performing in 271 cities in 32 countries and attracting 11 million customers last year, Cirque du Soleil, the Montreal-based circus empire, will establish a permanent presence in New York City next year. In [...]
No, You Can’t Get an Upgrade
Posted in Economy and business, Living on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Left stranded by the economic slump, fewer Americans are moving, according to the Census Bureau. We are not going anywhere. That is what we learned from a report last week by the Census Bureau which found that fewer Americans are changing residences than at any time since 1962, back when there were 120 million fewer [...]
Intimate images of Carla Bruni stolen from ex-lover
Posted in Media, Photo galleries, Politics, tagged Carla Bruni on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Up to a hundred intimate family photos of Carla Bruni and an ex-lover have been stolen from a Paris apartment. Carla Bruni: This is the third time this year that those linked to President Nicolas Sarkozy have been burgled in Paris. Burglars stole a laptop containing photos of Mrs Bruni-Sarkozy, a digital camera and video [...]
Judge Says Asbestos Case Can Proceed
Posted in Law on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
A federal judge on Tuesday said that despite “the failings” of federal prosecutors, he would not dismiss criminal charges against the big chemical products company, W.R. Grace, over the asbestos poisoning of the small town of Libby, Mont. Judge Donald W. Molloy also said he would not throw out the testimony of the prosecution’s star [...]
MSC Melody Passengers Fought Pirates with Tables and Deck Chairs
Posted in Law, Living, Photo galleries, tagged Piracy on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Passengers on the MSC Melody are provided with protection by a patrol helicopter. When pirates attacked the cruise ship MSC Melody on Saturday,the captain was making small talk at the bar. Passengers have given a version of events that is more dramatic than the crew’s accounts. They were the first to defend the [...]
Swine flu fears may hammer travel industry
Posted in Economy and business, Health on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
A mask-wearing couple at Sao Paulo’s airport wait Monday for relatives arriving from Mexico. The U.S. advises Americans to avoid travel to Mexico. ___________ For an ailing global travel industry, swine flu couldn’t have erupted at a worse time. “It has the potential to paralyze travel,” says Roger Dow, president and CEO of the U.S. [...]
Lacy Threads and Leather Straps Bind a Business
Posted in Economy and business, Living on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
In Pakistan’s commercial capital, Karachi, a company that makes 2,000 fetish and bondage products operates next to a mosque. In Pakistan, a flogger is known only as the Taliban’s choice whip for beating those who defy their strict codes of Islam. But deep in the nation’s commercial capital, just next door to a mosque and [...]
Eighteen years out of training, and I still find myself struggling to understand the moral imperatives of medical practice. Not long ago, as part of my hospital duties, I cared for a man who could no longer swallow. This dysphagia was his only medical complaint, one that had sneaked up on him over the course [...]
Telescope Snaps Most Distant Object
Posted in Physical sciences on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Cosmic blast sets distance mark The colossal star probably gave way to a black hole, scientists say. The cataclysmic explosion of a giant star early in the history of the Universe is the most distant single object ever detected by telescopes. The colossal blast was picked up first by Nasa’s Swift space observatory which is [...]
Signs G.O.P. Is Rethinking Stance on Gay Marriage
Posted in Politics, tagged GOP, Same-sex unions on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
It was only five years ago that opposition to gay marriage was so strong that Republicans explicitly turned to the issue as a way to energize conservative voters. Yet today, as the party contemplates the task of rebuilding itself, some Republicans say the issue of gay marriage may be turning into more of a hindrance [...]
Pakistan launches air and tank attacks to halt march of Taliban
Posted in Conflicts and wars, tagged Pakistan on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
A Pakistani army soldier with heavy artillery at a post on the outskirts of Timargarh. Fighter jets and helicopter gunships launched attacks on Taliban positions in Buner today in a dramatic expansion of a military operation to halt the march of extremists out of the Taliban-controlled Swat valley. The army sealed off roads leading to [...]
Specter To Switch Parties
Posted in Politics, tagged Specter on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Senator Arlen Specter was surrounded by reporters on Tuesday after it was announced that he will switch parties. Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania said on Tuesday he would switch to the Democratic party, presenting Democrats with a possible 60th vote and the power to break Senate filibusters as they try to advance the Obama administration’s [...]
High court backs FCC airwave policing rule, punts on whether it violates free speech clause. The Edge, left, and Bono of the rock band U2 at the 2003 Golden Globe Awards, where Bono’s use of an expletive on live TV drew FCC action. The Supreme Court ruled narrowly Tuesday in favor of a [...]
Rod Blagojevich defense lawyers ask judge to tap campaign fund
Posted in Law, tagged Blagojevich on April 28, 2009 | Comments Off
Prosecutors object, want them paid at public defender rate, around $115 an hour Lawyers for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his brother are asking a federal judge to lift a restraining order that’s been put on a $2.3 million campaign fund to help pay for legal fees. Attorney for Robert Blagojevich, Michael Ettinger, said of [...]
Sheer Extent of Attention Implies Full-Blown Crisis New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was among many government officials addressing the flu scare yesterday. The story spread rapidly in the news vacuum of Sunday afternoon, when federal officials declared a health emergency, and by yesterday the coverage of a swine flu outbreak had reached fever pitch. With [...]
