madness mayhem and soap

Good evening children of the orb and welcome to another installment of RPI news....tonite's first story has to do with the recent takeover of youtube by google.....as a heavy youtuber.....as well as a youtube artist I must admit that I too express fear at what the future of my online work will be.....this article centers on the youtube terms of service and although I have seen these things at work myself I will leave it to you to render judgment.......here is the article from msn.......

What we might lose from YouTube to GooTube
The Web should always be the place for challenging, disturbing material

The YouTube party might just be over.
For about a year we have enjoyed the weird and terribly fun video culture if offers. The ease with which people could post, watch, embed and link to videos created a phenomenon that certainly ranks among the top Internet experiences of all time
YouTube was more fun than chat, more creative than Napster, and more energized than just about any Web-based application out there............(full story)


who can say what the future holds for youtubers.......only time will tell......and now finishing first in our primitive ape quote of the week.....Taj the dummie squares off with women around the globe......uncovered meat that they are.........c'mon girls your drawing flies....

Australia's Muslims fear backlash

A few weeks ago, I happened to interview Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali outside the Lakemba Mosque in Sydney where he delivered his controversial sermon.
A softly-spoken man, who clearly commands both enormous respect and affection within his community, the Egyptian-born cleric discussed the government's recent proposals for an Australian citizenship test - an examination which many Muslim immigrants believe is targeted at them.
His English is poor, and it was difficult at times to make out precisely what he was saying.
But he told me he was keen to encourage the greater use of English in mosques and for Imams to gain a much greater understanding of Australian history and culture.
'Aussie imam'
Though he did not agree with Prime Minister John Howard's contentious view that sections of the 300,000-strong Muslim community are not doing enough to integrate themselves into the mainstream of Australian society, he seemed prepared at least to address the criticism in a constructive way.
Sheikh Hilali referred more than once to the idea of "the Aussie imam", as he called it - model clerics with a broad knowledge of Australian culture and history. ...............(full story)

this is as stupid as saying....."yes honey you do look fat in that"

on the local circuit we find this little gem.....i was through thatway today.......would have liked to of seen that.........POP

Gas Leak Causes Manhole Covers To Pop Off, Traffic Congestion

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Firefighters blocked off several blocks of busy downtown Baltimore streets on Thursday after two manhole covers blew off, and crews worked to find the source of an underground natural gas leak that caused headaches for rush-hour commuters.
Baltimore Gas and Electric crews were drilling holes in the ground above a 20-inch medium pressure main to find the location of the leak, but they still had not found it early Thursday evening.
"At this point, no idea how long that process is going to take," .............(full story w/video)


alright children of the orb.......thats another installment of RPI news.......see you again when we return again with madness mayhem and soap.........did i say soap??......wheres my mind?

Billy's Dinosaurs and George's Clarity

Good evening children of the orb, and welcome to another fun filled addition of the RPI news network.............you will undoubtedly notice that I am sporting new looks all around the web and above you see the new RPI banner in all it's glory...........I've been quite busy this weekend so I will make this edition fast and to the point........with clarity.......speaking of which I heard a great talk on NPR on Orwell and an essay of his I had never read before.....here it is for your reading and listening pleasure......



You Must Read This
By Lawrence Wright

Orwell on Writing: 'Clarity Is the Remedy'



Read Orwell's Essay



“Over the years, I've gone back to [Orwell's essay] repeatedly, like a student visiting an old professor who always has something new to reveal.”




Lawrence Wright is an author and screenwriter, and a staff writer for The New Yorker magazine. His most recent book is The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11.



Wright Appearances on NPR
July 27, 2004Al Qaeda Using Internet to Spread Terrorist Message
Aug. 15, 2006Building a Terror Network: 'The Road to 9/11'
Sep. 5, 2006Book Explores Latest Jihadi Thinking


All Things Considered, September 22, 2006 · Call them buttonhole books, the ones you urge passionately on friends, colleagues and passersby. All readers have them -- and so do writers. All Things Considered talks with writers about their favorite buttonhole books. And the series continues all summer long on NPR.org.
Most people these days think of George Orwell as a writer for high-school students, since his reputation rests mostly on two late novels -- Animal Farm and 1984 -- that are seldom read outside the classroom. But through most of his career, Orwell was known for his journalism and his rigorous, unsparing essays, which documented a time that seems in some ways so much like our own.
At the end of World War II, one form of totalitarianism -- fascism -- had been defeated; but another -- communism -- was spreading across Europe and Asia. Orwell's own country, England, was suffering through a political crisis, as it struggled to find the will to resist the new threat. It was then, in 1946, that Orwell wrote his great essay, "Politics and the English Language," which I first read as a freshman at Tulane University and immediately adopted as my guide. Over the years, I've gone back to it repeatedly, like a student visiting an old professor who always has something new to reveal.
Orwell's proposition is that modern English, especially written English, is so corrupted by bad habits that it has become impossible to think clearly. The main enemy, he believed, was insincerity, which hides behind the long words and empty phrases that stand between what is said and what is really meant.
A scrupulous writer, Orwell notes, will ask himself: What am I trying to say? What words will express it? What fresh image will make it clearer? Could I put it more shortly? Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly? The alternative is simply "throwing your mind open and letting the ready-made phrases come crowding in. They will construct your sentences for you -- even think your thoughts for you -- concealing your meaning even from yourself. It is at this point that the special connection between politics and the debasement of language becomes clear."
Orwell was a supremely political writer himself, having waged a lifelong campaign against totalitarianism; and indeed, for him, all issues were political issues, "and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia."
Orwell's candor, his steadiness, his stern and scrupulous impartiality are qualities that make this essay still sound contemporary and urgent, at a time when the reputation of so many of his contemporaries has faded. I think the secret of Orwell's timelessness is that he doesn't seek to please or entertain; instead, he captures the reader with a style as intimate and frank as a handshake. It is that quality of common humanity that makes his essay so luminous and his voice so familiar.
Orwell optimistically sets forward six simple rules to improve the state of the English language: guidelines that anyone, not just professional writers, can follow.
But I'm not going to tell you what they are. You'll have to re-read the essay yourself. I'm only going to speak about Rule No. 1, which is never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech that you are used to seeing in print.
For me, that's the hardest rule and no doubt the reason that it's No. 1. Cliches, like cockroaches in the cupboard, quickly infest a careless mind. I constantly struggle with the prefabricated phrases that substitute for simple, clear prose. We are still plagued by toe the line, stand shoulder to shoulder with, no axe to grind -- meaningless images that every reader subconsciously acknowledges represent the opposite of real thought -- but it is dismaying to read that two exhausted metaphors, leave no stone unturned and explore every avenue, had been jeered out of common usage in Orwell's day by journalists who took the trouble to dismiss them.
"Political language," Orwell reminds us, "is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. One cannot change this all in a moment, but one can at least change one's own habits."
Orwell wasn't interested in decorative writing, but his straightforward, declarative style has a snap in it that few other writers have ever approached. In a time when politics and the English language once again seem to be at odds, perhaps his essay can make us remember that clarity is the remedy.
NPR's Ellen Silva produced and edited this series.


All of that being said ......I did spend the entire weekend working on the Harold script......and I did a little work on my character for DarkFang's "of tooth and claw" project.........I made this logo today and he has not seen it yet.....but I will divulge it anyway.......I worked hard this weekend.......
I know it doesn't seem like much but I also did these today as well......



I also made yet another RanxidFilm's logo....vidi it below if you are so inclined.....



  


well....enough of the fun stuff......I was horrified when I read our next tale.....what is going on is there some kind of female epidemic of madness going around??....I never cease to be astounded by people's inhumane treatment of people........how could anyone hurt a child......it is the worst kind of crime I can think of and it makes my insides bubble with anger.........I hate to say it but once again I will.......this person deserves to die...........


Coroner: Children were drowned, put in washer, dryer
Preliminary autopsies performed on three young children whose bodies were found in the washer and dryer in their apartment indicate they were drowned. Authorities had searched for the children after finding their mother cut open and her fetus missing. Police say the woman charged in the mother's death told them how she killed the children and where to find them.
FULL STORY
Police: Emotional time for everyone
Authorities make grim discovery

It is when I hear of things like this that I question our right to exist on this world.........and I question the big guy over how he could let this stuff happen......I have to believe he is not paying attention to us.......that is the only answer that I can swallow.......or he just ain't there......and all this is just matter swirling in a vacuum.......and if thats the case it is up to us to change it all....set it right......so that things like this don't happen anymore.........you can't just throw fate into the path of God..........he will trip over it........

.......and as if my stomach hasn't been turned enough tonite..........there is this.......hey.....don't we have the death penalty in MD.......what the hell..........excuse my candidness.......but I remember when this happened.......and we put other people to death for lesser crimes than this..............children get the back seat don't they.......in MD child abuse is only a misdemeanor crime.....and that my friends.....is a felony in my book.........



Murderers Of Three Children Sentenced To Life
BALTIMORE, Md. -- A judge sentenced two Mexican immigrants to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of three children who were found nearly decapitated in their family's Baltimore apartment more than two years ago.
Twenty-four-year-old Policarpio Espinoza and 19-year-old Adan Canela were convicted last month of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the deaths of 8-year-old Lucero Espinoza and her 10-year-old male cousin, Alexis Espejo Quezada.
They also were convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Lucero's 9-year-old brother, Ricardo Espinoza Jr
Judge David Mitchell said the murders were done in a manner to send a message, but he said authorities still do not know all the details surrounding their deaths.
Some family members spoke in support of the two men, saying they didn't think they did it.
But the mother of one of the children asked the men to explain why they did it.



I have a hard time with all of this.............The poor kids in this world depend on us to keep them safe..........with all the sick cases running around it's an impossible task...........but we should do SOMETHING............child abuse and crime should pull the highest form of punishment.......the worst kind of execution..........instead it is on the back burner.......now go kill yourself a rich person and see what happens to you........but the killers of children walk free every day........I spit on the system that makes this possible........and the rich who foster it's unevenness.......how's that for fucking clarity, George.....

We don't call this RPI for nothing.........

......time for a better subject........here is a nice video on the Drake equation to take our minds off the planet of the apes for a minute

VIDEO: Figure the Odds of E.T.!
How many extra-terrestrial civilizations exist in our Galaxy?

.....so.....if there are 50,000 civilizations out there I wish they would get their butts down here and help us fix this stuff......we here at RPI are making the plea for extraterrestrial intervention ..............can anybody hear me??..........anybody besides ENIAC........I'd like to think he isn't the only one listening...........


Cydonia - the face on Mars


'Face on Mars' in Cydonia region 21 September 2006ESA's Mars Express has obtained images of the Cydonia region, site of the famous 'Face on Mars.' The High Resolution Stereo Camera photos include some of the most spectacular views of the Red Planet ever.

Cydonia region context mapAfter multiple attempts to image the Cydonia region from April 2004 until July 2006 were frustrated by altitude and atmospheric dust and haze, the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board Mars Express finally obtained, on 22 July, a series of images that show the famous 'face' on Mars in unprecedented detail.
The data were gathered during orbit 3253 over the Cydonia region, with a ground resolution of approximately 13.7 metres per pixel. Cydonia lies at approximately 40.75° North and 350.54° East.
"These images of the Cydonia region on Mars are truly spectacular," said Dr Agustin Chicarro, ESA Mars Express Project Scientist. "They not only provide a completely fresh and detailed view of an area famous to fans of space myths worldwide, but also provide an impressive close-up over an area of great interest for planetary geologists, and show once more the high capability of the Mars Express camera."
Cydonia is located in the Arabia Terra region on Mars and belongs to the transition zone between the southern highlands and the northern plains of Mars. This transition is characterized by wide, debris-filled valleys and isolated remnant mounds of various shapes and sizes. ....................(full story) ........*note*.there are great pictures here....



We did so want to beleive in a great civilization right next door.........but alas.......these pictures do show the region in crisp detail........of course they could be doctored ............

And that should absolutely be enough to keep you busy a little while.....dinosaurs,......kool!!
Good evening to you all.....children of the orb.........RPI will return again at it's regularly scheduled time zone......good nite!

Dee~groovey Diana and friends

Good evening all children of the orb and welcome to another edition of RPI news....
Tonight we bring a special edition we would like to call....Mrs. Peel Monday Maddness..
to give a little background I happened to meet increadable acting sensation John Aston
now I won't tell you how or why cause I think I would like to respect the man's privacy.......no one else does so I must as a ranxid point..........but he is a great guy and a wonderful person.........but I'm sorry....I just wanted to hear Morticia say something in french..... I grew up longing for someone like this....and I do beleive that is where it all began......and there is nothing like the original show....without question......although I must say.......I was a sucker for Angelica Huston as well..........and it would be wrong to not include all the beautiful "Morticia's" here for mention........and I was also a mamushka fan....sorry John....

............That's the Greek coming out in me...........

............so that started this all on friday and I fell headlong into fantasy land once again........of course I did like cat woman.........but there was something about her that was too much like my mom........that didn't work out for me..........so on PBS late on saturday nights my mom would find me watching "The Avengers".........oh my god I was in love with Mrs Peel.......still am really.....so here is another little vidi........vidi well brothers.....




.................ok......ok.....I'll stop..........you get the idea though......hmmmmm?...........oh...one more for me...................





well children of the orb I am sorry to say that there aren't many Mrs. peel's around anymore.........at least not in my part of the world.......

there were a few though.......and since this is like my memory lane night here is one more for good measure........love to all....Diana I still love ya......and to all children of the orb....goodnight......



DEEE~GROOOOVEY!!!

Bloody Sunday

Good evening all children of the orb and welcome to another installment of RPI news...
Tonite we will visit on a few relevent subjects and few that simply ramble into incohearant babble..........such is the nature of this great planet we call earth..........first on our morose hate your planet meter is this little jewel we should all bookmark....or better yet print out onto lead sheets so we have it on hand when the inevitable occurs......

from: David Shenk
How To Survive a Nuclear BombPosted Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006, at 6:22 PM ET
How does one rank hypothetical catastrophes? Which would be worse—another Katrina or another 9/11? It seems fitting to begin with the cataclysm we've all been worrying about for more than half a century: a nuclear attack on a major city. With some 27,000 nuclear warheads scattered around the world, and with, shall we say, less-than-ideal safeguards in Russia, Pakistan, and North Korea, some experts predict it is bound to happen sooner or later. They don't keep shuttling Dick Cheney to his undisclosed location (deep under Pennsylvania's Raven Rock Mountains) just for show. Shortly after 9/11, the White House was on high alert in response to a CIA report than an errant Soviet "suitcase nuke" was being smuggled into the United States. That report was eventually discredited, but given the current availability of fissile material and the shocking dearth of effort being spent to reduce it, such an alarm may eventually prove true. "If we continue along our present course," warns Harvard's Graham Allison, "nuclear terrorism is inevitable."
Here's the worst part: You will survive. Get those images of Jason Robards in The Day After out of your head. This is not that. We're not talking here about multiple-entry 20-megaton warheads wiping whole cities off the map in seconds. A single terrorist nuke, more likely in the 5- to 10-kiloton range (Hiroshima was 12 kilotons), will kill tens or hundreds of thousands of people in any big city but spare the rest. In New York, that will leave about 7.5 million of us to sort through the carnage.
Let's consider what would happen. The first 30 seconds or so will unfold like this:
........................(full story)


..................Does that sound "evil and inhuman" to you?.....well it does to us here at RPI as well......and as you all are well aware we are no great bible thumpers.........but we have to take our hats off to the pope for saying it as he sees it.....although he is backsliding a bit............

Pope ‘sincerely regrets’ he offended Muslims
Vatican stops short of apologizing for remarks Benedict made during trip
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI “sincerely regrets” offending Muslims with his reference to an obscure medieval text that characterizes some of the teachings of Islam’s founder as “evil and inhuman,” the Vatican said Saturday.
But the statement stopped short of the apology demanded by Islamic leaders around the globe, and anger among Muslims remained intense. Palestinians attacked five churches in the West Bank and Gaza over the pope’s remarks Tuesday in a speech to university professors in his native Germany.
An Iraqi insurgent group threatened the Vatican with a suicide attack over the pope’s remarks on Islam, according to a statement posted Saturday on the Web..........(full story)

.............we here at RPI were more interested with the statements about science and religion but I guess that zoomed over somebodies turban.....so, for all the people who didn't get the picture in it's contextual entireity........................READ THE WHOLE SPEECH
Read the Pope's entire speech [37KB]
Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader
Download the reader here ........we are so techno....are we not......

.......Now to show we here at RPI are aware that terrorists come in all shapes and all places we present to "Hold your hometown hostage dot com"............

City told to pay up or face shootings, police say
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (AP) -- Police warned Las Cruces residents that they've received two letters threatening random shootings if city leaders fail to hand over a "substantial" ransom.
Police had received some information from the public Saturday but there had been no break in the case, Lt. Randy Lara said.
"Someone knows something out there, and hopefully this will generate more information for the case," he said.
The city received the second of two threatening letters Friday, but police remained tightlipped about details of the demand, including how much money was involved. They did say the demand called for a "substantial amount."
At a news conference late Friday, Lara said he didn't want to alarm residents but he urged them to watch for any suspicious activity.
"The letter did reference that Las Cruces residents will be shot at random if the city didn't comply with the extortion," Lara said.........(full story)

........At RPI we totally understand the fear and anger that goes along with this as we are veterens of the DC sniper slayings.......and this smacks of copy cat, red neck non-intelligence......lets hope we don't have to continue this story beyond this......but as always we will be watching as inhumanity unfolds and stupidity reigns in the sands of new mexico.......speaking of mexico..............


Mexican political crisis deepens

Protesters will "swear in" Mr Lopez Obrador on 20 November
A mass rally of supporters of defeated Mexican presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has "elected" him head of a parallel government.
Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered in Mexico City's main square, the Zocalo for the show of hands.

Mr Lopez Obrador and his supporters have said his defeat by less than 1% of the vote was fraudulent.

However, the highest electoral court has backed the result, giving power to conservative candidate Felipe Calderon..............(full story)

Ok.........does parralel government sound like civil war to anyone but us........if me and poor janet set up camp on the white house lawn I'm sure old Bushy would be out to mow the grass with the military the first night........first night........where is this other guy?.......are we really the only ones who smell civil war?....are we always alone here at RPI while the world is flying apart at the seams........does anybody read?........well get your hinys over here and take a course......we will not tolerate illiterates on our watch.......besides......we need readers.....many more readers.....

alright children of the great orb....we promised you incohearance and ...well........goodnight.....

mother hubbards recipe for green tea and slander suits

Evening, evening children,
ranxid here.....and this is the politically incorrect news service coming directly to you from a dark bunker in far east baltimore....
well it was election day around here so I guess my laughing fits are over for a little while....
I am speaking of the ongoing saga between old Don Schaefer and little mother hubbard.....I mean Janet Owens......who by the way is on my friends list on myspace........(you heard it here)
well we dont know the outcome as yet........but we all know one thing Janet.......we can't help the way you look............
and of course......let the political whining begin.......who's got the snot rags....we're going to need them......


Polling-Place Glitches Mar Primary Day
Polls are now closed in most of Maryland, but not in Montgomery County and Baltimore City, where polls are open one extra hour after some precincts opened late.
Maryland Republicans and Democrats chose nominees for hundreds of federal, state and local offices with much of the attention focused on whether voters would put an end to Comptroller William Donald Schaefer's political career..........(full story)


now you all know me.......know how I make a livin'...............Janet baby.....I think your time has come..........but be warned........Baltimore's other name is beirut........ In other news today.......who would beleive the Syrians would actually stand up for us.......what were they thinking?........I bet it was a mistake............or should I be thankful along with every other American that humanity does cross all borders.....and that there are always signs of hope.........

Gunmen attack U.S. Embassy in Damascus
4 killed, including 3 assailants, in gunbattle; guards foil broader attack

DAMASCUS, Syria - Syrian guards foiled an attempt by suspected al-Qaida-linked militants to blow up the U.S. Embassy on Tuesday, exchanging fire outside the compound’s walls with gunmen who shouted “God is great” and tried to storm in with automatic weapons and hand grenades.
The brazen, midmorning assault in a heavily guarded neighborhood of the capital could highlight the Syrian regime’s weakening grip on militants, who have battled Syrian security forces repeatedly in recent years.
The attack, which left at least 10 civilians and a Chinese diplomat wounded, also quickly brought to the surface entrenched differences between the United States and Syria, such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Damascus’ ties with Iran and Hezbollah and the war in neighboring Iraq.............(full story)


let us examine the true debauckeled nature of these inept terror dudes for a moment.....not only did they fail to detonate the crudest type of explosive......I mean a car stuffed with cans and barrels of GASOLINE........how hard is that to ignite....seems to me it would be harder NOT to ignite this.......but then again I am a product of one of these backward infidel schools were we never learn physics.............BUT.....they miss the golden 9/11 date by just a sliver of a day.......now i'm no terror dude but it would seem to me that was a better day for jihading then the day after.......what do we call this......a belated bombing??...........what ....did they wake up late yesterday?...........in all truth though my heart to all the people killed and thier familys.......

..........In health news.....

Green tea cuts fatal illness risk

Green tea is a favourite drink in Japan
Drinking green tea can substantially cut the risk of dying from a range of illnesses, a Japanese study has found.
The research, which looked at over 40,000 people, found the risk of fatal cardiovascular disease was cut by more than a quarter.

But British heart experts said the benefits may be linked to the whole Japanese diet, which is healthier than that eaten in the west.

The work is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

It is questionable whether drinking the same amount of green tea a day in the UK would have a significant impact on levels of heart disease

Ellen Mason, British Heart Foundation

Tea is the most consumed beverage in the world, aside from water.

Three billion kilograms of tea are produced each year worldwide.

Studies carried out in laboratories and on animals have suggested green tea in particular has extensive health benefits.

Women 'greater benefit'

In this study, which began in 1994, researchers from Tohoku University, looked at how humans could benefit.

They examined data on 40,530 healthy adults aged 40 to 79 in north-eastern Japan, where green tea is widely consumed.

Around 80% of people in the region drink green tea, with more than half consuming three or more cups each day.

The people in the study were followed for up to 11 years (1995-2005), when 4,209 people died from all causes. .................(the rest.....of the story....)

Like we didn't know that asians knew all along how to live longer....and better........and the ladies age so fine..........oops........I apologise.........
on that note I leave on this day after days........but not without a sweet parting note........


well thats all for tonite, children of the orb..........please join us again here at RPI news when we take a close look and ask the age old question.................where's the nearest golden arches.....and why is there always a 7/11 directly oppisite??......is there a conspiracy?
until then here is a new site for all the sonic-hungry fans I hope I have somewhere....



This is your heavily biased reporter ........ranxid.....signing off.....

brats, fats, and lunar splats.......

Good evening children
ranxid's back from a slight hiatus and would like all of you to know that for the first time in a long while the birthday went off smashingly well.....thanks to the little ones marching down his steps with the cutest lopsided little cake, singing merrily to the old grinch in classic who fashion.......well....(sniff)......they made the old heart grow a few beats I can effectivly report to you......on that note we will dispense with the world destruction news this go round and find a few fun little tid-bits to keep us from seeing the true nature of the planet's doom......first off it's that cerebral superstar Paris again...........now I just have to say the dog head thing is a little mean.......and we all would hate to have our hard worked on creations tampered with in such a heinious manner...(choke)...........art is one thing that should be considered hallowed and untouchable....(snort)......and this is very.....(chough)......very...(mwwnwn).......wrong!!(BWAHAHAHA......)

Paris Hilton targeted in CD prank

Paris Hilton's album entered the UK chart at number 29 last weekHundreds of Paris Hilton albums have been tampered with in the latest stunt by "guerrilla artist" Banksy.
Banksy has replaced Hilton's CD with his own remixes and given them titles such as Why am I Famous?, What Have I Done? and What Am I For?
He has also changed pictures of her on the CD sleeve to show the US socialite topless and with a dog's head.
A spokeswoman for Banksy said he had doctored 500 copies of her debut album Paris in 48 record shops across the UK.
She told the BBC News website: "He switched the CDs in store, so he took the old ones out and put his version in."
It might be that there will be some people who agree with his views on the Paris Hilton album
HMV spokesmanBut he left the original barcode so people could buy the CD without realising it had been interfered with.
Banksy is notorious for his secretive and subversive stunts such as sneaking doctored versions of classic paintings into major art galleries.
His spokeswoman said he had tampered with the CDs in branches of HMV and Virgin as well as independent record stores.
He visited cities including Bristol, Brighton, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and London, she added.
A spokesman for HMV said the chain had recovered seven CDs from two Brighton shops but was unaware that other locations were affected.
Artistic leeway
No customers had complained or returned a doctored version, he said.
"It's not the type of behaviour you'd want to see happening very often," he said.
"I guess you can give an individual such as Banksy a little bit of leeway for his own particular brand of artistic engagement.
"Often people might have a view on something but feel they can't always express it, but it's down to the likes of Banksy to say often what people think about things.
"And it might be that there will be some people who agree with his views on the Paris Hilton album."
A spokesman for Virgin Megastores said staff were searching for affected CDs but it was proving hard to find them all.
"I have to take my hat off - it's a very good stunt," he added



..........Yes ....a very good stunt indeed....artistic engagment.....hmmmmmm
in other news it's a whoopsie on the lunar surface.....

DARMSTADT, Germany (AP) -- Europe's first spacecraft to the moon ended its three-year mission Sunday by crashing into the lunar surface in a volcanic plane called the Lake of Excellence, to a round of applause in the mission control room in Germany.
Hitting at 2 kilometers per second, the impact of the SMART-1 spacecraft was expected to leave a 3-meter-by-10-meter crater and send dust kilometers above the surface.
Observatories watched the event from Earth and scientists hoped the cloud of dust and debris would provide clues to the geological composition of the site.
"That's it -- we are in the Lake of Excellence," said spacecraft operations chief Octavio Camino as applause broke out in mission control in Darmstadt, Germany. "We have landed."
Minutes later, officials showed off a picture captured by an observatory in Hawaii displaying a bright flash from the impact.
The spacecraft is at the end of a three-year mission that scanned the lunar surface from orbit and tested a new, efficient, ion-propulsion system that officials hope to use on future interplanetary missions.
Launched into Earth's orbit by an Ariane-5 booster rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, in September 2003, SMART-1 used its ion engine to slowly raise its orbit over 14 months until the moon's gravity grabbed it.
The engine, which uses electricity from the craft's solar panels to produce a stream of charged particles called ions, generates only small amounts of thrust but only needed 80 kilograms of xenon fuel.
The craft's X-ray and infrared spectrometers have gathered information about the moon's geology that scientists hope will advance their knowledge about how the moon's surface evolved and test theories about how the moon came into being.
In a scare on Saturday, mission officials said they had to raise the low point of the spacecraft's orbit by 600 meters by using its positioning thrusters to avoid the 1.5 kilometer-high rim of a lunar crater.
Had the orbit not been raised the craft would have crashed one orbit too soon, making the impact difficult or impossible to observe.
SMART-1, a cube measuring roughly a meter on each side, took the long way to the moon -- more than 100 million kilometers instead of the direct route of 350,000 to 400,000 kilometers.
But the European Space Agency did it for a relatively cheap €110 million ($140 million).
The spacecraft has also been taking high-resolution pictures of the surface with a miniaturized camera.



yeah.......we meant to do that.......to study.....the cloud of dust.....yeah....thats it.......
in more planet shaking headlines there is a new global pandemic sweeping the population.......thats right......you guessed it........obeasity.....

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) — An obesity pandemic threatens to overwhelm health systems around the globe with illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease, experts at an international conference warned Sunday.
"This insidious, creeping pandemic of obesity is now engulfing the entire world," Paul Zimmet, chairman of the meeting of more than 2,500 experts and health officials, said in a speech opening the weeklong International Congress on Obesity. "It's as big a threat as global warming and bird flu."
The World Health Organization says more than 1 billion adults are overweight and 300 million of them are obese, putting them at much higher risk of diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure, stroke and some forms of cancer.
Zimmet, a diabetes expert at Australia's Monash University, said there are now more overweight people in the world than the undernourished, who number about 600 million.
People in wealthy countries lead in overeating and not doing enough physical activity, but those in the poorer nations of Asia, Africa and Latin America are quickly learning bad habits, experts said.
Thailand's Public Health Ministry, for instance, announced Sunday that nearly one in three Thais over age 35 is at risk of obesity-related diseases.
"We are not dealing with a scientific or medical problem. We're dealing with an enormous economic problem that, it is already accepted, is going to overwhelm every medical system in the world," said Dr. Philip James, the British chairman of the International Obesity Task Force.
The task force is a section of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, a professional organization of scientists and health workers in some 50 countries that deal with the issue.
James said the cost of treating obesity-related health problems was immeasurable on a global scale, but the group estimated it at billions of dollars a year in countries such as Australia, Britain and the United States.
Among the most worrying problems are skyrocketing rates of obesity among children, which make them much more prone to chronic diseases as they grow older and could shave years off their lives, experts said.
The children in this generation may be the first in history to die before their parents because of health problems related to weight, Kate Steinbeck, an expert in children's health at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, said in a statement.
Experts at the conference said governments should impose bans on junk food advertising aimed directly at children, although they acknowledged such restrictions were unlikely to come about soon because the food industry would lobby hard against them.
"There is going to be a political bun fight over this for some time, but of course we shouldn't advertise junk food to children that makes them fat," said Dr. Boyd Swinburn, a member of the International Obesity Task Force.
Dr. Claude Bouchard, president of the International Association for the Study of Obesity, an umbrella group for medical organizations dealing with weight-related and children's health issues, said the group supported advertising bans as official policy.
But the policy position is unlikely to have any immediate effect on influencing governments to introduce such bans, said Bouchard, head of the Pennington Research Center at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge.

insidious, creeping pandemic of obeasity......oh my..........
speaking of ............here is one of the victims of this global tragedy caught earlier and interviewed by msn on what life has taught him.......



What I've Learned: Homer Simpson
Nuclear-power-plant safety inspector, 39, SpringfieldInterviewed by John Frink and Don Payne

When someone tells you your butt is on fire, you should take them at their word.
There is no such thing as a bad doughnut.
Kids are like monkeys, only louder.
If you want results, press the red button. The rest are useless.
There are many different religions in this world, but if you look at them carefully, you'll see that they all have one thing in common: They were invented by a giant, superintelligent slug named Dennis.
You should just name your third kid Baby. Trust me -- it'll save you a lot of hassle.
You can have many different jobs and still be lazy.
I enjoy the great taste of Duff. Yes, Duff is the only beer for me. Smooth, creamy Duff . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzz.
You can get free stuff if you mention a product in a magazine interview. Like Chips Ahoy! cookies.
You may think it's easier to de-ice your windshield with a flamethrower, but there are repercussions. Serious repercussions.
There are some things that just aren't meant to be eaten.
The intelligent man wins his battles with pointed words. I'm sorry -- I meant sticks. Pointed sticks.
There are way too many numbers. The world would be a better place if we lost half of them -- starting with 8. I've always hated 8.
If I had a dollar for every time I heard "My God! He's covered in some sort of goo," I'd be a rich man.
Be generous in the bedroom -- share your sandwich.
I've climbed the highest mountains . . . fallen down the deepest valleys . . . I've been to Japan and Africa . . . and I've even gone into space. But I'd trade it all for a piece of candy right now.
Every creature on God's earth has a right to exist. Except for that damn ruby-throated South American warbler.
I don't need a surgeon telling me how to operate on myself.
Sometimes I think there's no reason to get out of bed . . . then I feel wet, and I realize there is.
Let me just say, Winnie the Pooh getting his head caught in a honey pot? It's not funny. It can really happen.
Even though it is awesome and powerful, I don't take no guff from the ocean.
I never ate an animal I didn't like.
A fool and his money are soon parted. I would pay anyone a lot of money to explain that to me.
Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll get a hook caught on his eyelid or something.
I made a deal with myself ten years ago . . . and got ripped off.
Never leave your car keys in a reactor core.
Always trust your first instinct -- unless it tells you to use your life savings to develop a Destructo Ray.
When you borrow something from your neighbor, always do it under the cover of darkness.
If a spaceship landed and aliens took me back to their planet and made me their leader, and I got to spend the rest of my life eating doughnuts and watching alien dancing girls and ruling with a swift and merciless hand? That would be sweet.
I may not be the richest man on earth. Or the smartest. Or the handsomest.
Never throw a butcher knife in anger.
The office is no place for off-color remarks or offensive jokes. That's why I never go there.
My favorite color is chocolate.
Always feel with your heart, although it's better with your hands.
The hardest thing I've had to face as a father was burying my own child. He climbed back out, but it still hurts.
If doctors are so right, why am I still alive?
I'm not afraid to say the word racism, or the words doormat and bee stinger.
Always have plenty of clean white shirts and blue pants.
When that guy turned water into wine, he obviously wasn't thinking of us Duff drinkers.
I love natural disasters because we're allowed to get out of work.
When I'm dead, I'm going to sleep. Oh, man, am I going to sleep.
What kind of fool would leave a pie on a windowsill, anyway?
More on Men's Lifestyle:
What I've learned: Ozzy Osbourne
What I've learned: Pamela Anderson
What I've learned: Tom Petty



Homer was unavailable to politiclly inncorrect for fruther comment...........our calls went strangely ......unreturned........

ok kiddies that is about it for our labor day installment......we part now with a shameless plug for the new video on the block.........watersign.........by that flashing warning light of flashing warning lights......ranxid.........enjoy......

Flutes, Falls and facades....

Good afternoon children,
First off lets pay respects to a great musician and
honored soul.
It is too bad and a statement of reality on our part that
this is only
a back page story here in the US........so I am starting
my top story off with it tonight
and will wish my fellow musical shaman a safe trip to the
other side..... and in other news closer to home I must also wish a fellow climber a salute as well.........breakaway wall is a difficult passage ......and although I am not sure it was a climber and that it occured on this face I have a feeling about it as I have climbed these rocks myself many times.........usually with minimal gear.........in a way I hope it was a climber and not a poor wayward child..........I included a passage from Indy's guide to hidden sites to give you some idea of the terrain and it's a site worth reading into if you plan to climb any formations.....we must always be on our guard in the outdoors.........be it a family outing or a spontainious climb..........mountians, boulders and caves are wonderous marvels of nature.....but they must be treated with respect and care.......life can be lost so quickly.....

India mourns legendary musician

Relatives pay respects to Khan before he was buriedThe funeral has been held for one of India's most famous musicians, Ustad Bismillah Khan, who has died aged 91.
He was buried with full state honours in his home town of Varanasi after suffering a heart attack on Monday.
The body of India's best-known player of the shehnai wind instrument lay in state in a city park throughout the day. Thousands paid their respects.
India's government has declared a day of national mourning. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led tributes to Khan.
"This is a truly sad day in the world of music," Mr Singh said, calling Khan "one of our greatest living musicians".
He treated everyone as equal. He never believed in any casteism
Music student Gurpreet Singh
"Legendary personality Ustad Bismillah Khan is no more with us. His passing away brings an era to an end."
Bismillah Khan is credited with popularising the shehnai, a wind instrument which can be loosely compared to an oboe, and elevating its status in India.
He had the rare distinction of performing as the Indian flag was unfurled at the historic Red Fort in Delhi to mark the country's independence from Britain in 1947.
Jewel of India
Fans flocked to pay homage to Khan in Varanasi before he was laid to rest under a neem tree in a burial ground in the old city.

Bismillah Khan's career spanned eight decades
"It's a loss to the nation," said one, music student Gurpreet Singh. "He treated everyone as equal. He never believed in any casteism."
Bismillah Khan was admitted to hospital last week after he complained of weakness.
A practising Muslim, he made the Hindu holy town of Varanasi (also known as Benares) his home and could often be seen playing by the banks of the holy river Ganges, offering prayers to the Hindu goddess of learning, Saraswati.
Khan often played shehnai in the local temples too.
He was seen as a symbol of India's religious pluralism and harmony for people of different faiths, and was awarded the country's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna (Jewel of India), in 2001.
Born on 21 March, 1916, into a family of court musicians, Khan started training at the young age of six and was soon regarded as a master in his own right.
He was known for living a simple and austere life at his home in a narrow alleyway of Varanasi and cycle-rickshaw was his favourite mode of transport.


ROCKS, Md. -- A person is dead after a fall from a rock formation at Rocks State Park in Harford County.
Sgt. Ken Turner of the Department of Natural Resources police said the incident occurred sometime between 1 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
Turner said someone fell from the King and Queen Seat, a rock formation popular with climbers.
The incident remains under investigation, and no information about the victim has been released. Turner said the body is on the way to the State Medical Examiner's office in Baltimore for an autopsy.


BREAKAWAY WALL:
Vertical ascends the crack/flake just right of center through the small roof, then angles up and left to the top. Piney is the roof in the upper right skyline of the photo. Mike's Finger Buckets follows the line just left of center.
This is the 'main wall' of Rocks State Park, accessible only by an exposed 5.1 downclimb scramble down past the Pinnacle. Please be very careful when going down/up this area (especially when it's wet). A fall could be terminal (see earlier note about body recoveries). Rope up if you have to, okay?
The wall is south-facing, and rises 65-80' high. There is a lower platform and an upper platform (which also serves as the base for Epitaph Wall), a height difference of 15'. The lower platform offers a tree and some cracks (finger-sized to fist-sized) for pro. The upper platform houses a nice column tucked in a corner, which most people use as a primary anchor for Breakaway Right, Superbulge, and Mike's.... You'll want gear, though for a backup anchor, or for setting up Breakaway Left and other routes to the left of that.
The Breakaway Wall hosts the longest top-rope routes in this guide, pushing 80+ feet in length. Be sure your rope ends reach the ground before trying these climbs!
There are a number of other routes, lead only, exist between Green Subtrafuge and the King/Queen's Seat area, varying difficulty levels, from moderate to hard. Some are top-rope problems, but a handful two-pitch leads, or 120+ foot top-ropes are piled inbetween.
The following routes do not appear in the current edition of the book. The first is located on the lower broad ledge at the top of Vertical. The second next to Shark Tooth. The third is a new route put up by Nick Crowhurst of England.
Blister 5.10c - Mainly a boulder problem, but you'll want a spotter in case you slip and stumble - it's a hell of a drop off the edge down Vertical! So please take care. From the broad ledge at the top of Vertical, below the Epitaph Wall ledge at the top of Breakaway, find the large vertical crack in the corner. Climb up the thin face immediately left of the crack. Using the edge of the crack for your right hand is considered "on". The name derives itself from a crystal about 8-9' up on the right that you lock your thumb onto as you are making the upper moves on the problem.
Jumpin' Jack Flash 5.11a/5.11c - Climb the short and fairly blank face just right of Shark Tooth. If you do not throw for the right edge arete at the crux, the climbing stays at 11c. If you use the right edge before the undercling (beware that wasps use this as their home, too), the climbing is 11a. Be sure you're up for some seriously sharp holds.
Horizontal 5.8 (G/PG) - ~100'. In fine British tradition, a horizontal traverse route! This was a vision of Nick Crowhurst, and put up by he and Indy. While you could top-rope most of this from one anchor point above Superbulge, this is probably best done on lead. Begin by climbing up the gully/chimney of Green Subtrafuge until you are beneath the roof. Begin traversing out right (there is no real good place to put gear in until you are under the Green Subtrafuge roof). Hand-traverse the ledge of Breakaway Left to the formidable Breakaway Block (protection here is good), then stem/bridge beneath the Breakaway Block roof to gain the bomber bucket hold on Breakaway Right. Continue following the horizontal line of weakness right to another, smaller ledge that ends 20 or so feet above Mike's Finger Buckets. Step up onto this ledge and traverse right another 6-8' to the parallel Vertical cracks. Climb up another 4-5' to the thin horizontal crack at the top of the parallel Vertical cracks. Delicately continue the traverse right, following this seam around to the slab face beneath the Piney roof. Just as things get really thin, there is a large bucket hold you can reach blindly just past the corner. Continue traversing right until you can step off onto blocks near The Pinnacle. If you are leading you might consider setting up a (hanging) belay either at the end of the ledge above Mike's or in the Vertical cracks.
Breakaway Direct - this was noted as 5.11 in the guide; it is more correctly rated 5.12-.
Breakaway Bulge 5.13 (R/X) - this is a slightly contrived route. Climb Super Bulge until you are through the crux. Now, instead of continuing on up, traverse left until under the Breakaway block roof, and finish by climbing Breakaway Direct.

The cigarette post

Tonight I wont talk about poor Jonbenet Ramsey.....we
don't know enough yet to effectively comment on anything.....

we can hope this is the right guy.......and if it is not then it sounds to me like he needs to be stoped anyway so it is a good thing we got him..........although if he is the guy can you remember how we treated her mother.......The Big guy will look after her and little Jon for Dad and us all........

one thing I can
say something about though is Tobacco...... I know....what has that got to do with anything?...well......let me be the first to tell you.......
Yes children.....if you didn't already know ranxid is
officially among the quitters......and in tribute to my own success I post this
article for all smokers and quitters alike......lets go reclaim our souls from
the glass jars they are being kept in down at the tobacco
factory........

Big Tobacco lied but need not pay, judge rules
Industry must make 'corrective statements' but cannot be further penalized

WASHINGTON - Cigarette makers escaped major financial penalties Thursday, even though a federal judge found them liable for violating racketeering laws in a decades-long conspiracy to hide the dangers of smoking.
U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ruled that a group of tobacco companies had broken the law, but could not be forced to pay monetary penalties such as funding a large anti-smoking campaign, as the government had sought.
“Cigarette smoking causes disease, suffering, and death. Despite internal recognition of this fact, defendants have publicly denied, distorted, and minimized the hazards of smoking for decades,” she said in the 1,653-page opinion.

Kessler said the companies suppressed research, destroyed documents and manipulated nicotine levels to perpetuate addiction, but an appeals court ruling prevented her from slapping the companies with costly remedies.
She did impose some remedies, including ordering the companies to make “corrective” public statements about the health effects and addictiveness of smoking, and banning them from describing cigarettes in ways that convey health claims such as “low tar” and “light.”
Targeted in the 1999 lawsuit were Altria Group Inc. and its Philip Morris USA unit; Loews Corp.’s Lorillard Tobacco unit; Vector Group Ltd.’s Liggett Group; Reynolds American Inc.’s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco unit and British American Tobacco Plc unit British American Tobacco Investments Ltd.
getCSS("3053751")
MORE ON THE TOBACCO RULING
• Judge: Big Tobacco lied for decades
• Ruling sends tobacco stocks up
• Sound off: What's your take on the decision?
• Live Vote: Do you agree with the ruling?
• Read the full text of the opinion (.pdf file)
• MSN Health guide to stop smokingAs public health groups expressed disappointment in the outcome, tobacco stocks rose. Altria gained over 3 percent in extended trading after the ruling, Reynolds rose over 2 percent, Carolina Group, a tracking stock for Lorillard, was up over 1 percent.
“Although they lost, they won. It’s a victory for the tobacco companies,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management.
A spokesman for Reynolds Tobacco said the company was disappointed that Kessler ruled in favor of the government, but "certainly we’re pleased that the court did not award unjustified and extraordinary expensive monetary penalties."
The ruling was also seen as the last major hurdle to be cleared before Altria decides when it will spin off its Kraft Foods Inc. business.
Kessler ordered each company to post on its Web site all documents it submitted to prosecutors in the case and transcripts of letters and depositions of former employees about the health impacts of cigarette smoking or research. The material must remain on their Web sites until 2016.
The corrective statements would have to appear on Web sites, in full-page advertisements in major newspapers, on three major television networks and on cigarette packaging.
Little regard for sufferingShe also ruled that the tobacco companies will have to pay for the government’s court costs. Current figures are not available, but the government has previously said it spent more than $130 million on the case.
The companies pursued profits “with little, if any, regard for individual illness and suffering, soaring health costs, or the integrity of the legal system,” Kessler said.
Kessler exempted Liggett from the remedies, saying the company “does not have a reasonable likelihood of future (racketeering) violations” because it withdrew from the conspiracy in the mid-1990s.
The judge said she was barred from imposing stricter penalties against the tobacco companies by a February 2005 ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
That opinion, written by appellate Judge David Sentelle, barred the government from seeking $280 billion in past industry profits, depriving the government of its biggest potential weapon in the case.
Lawyers for the Justice Department eventually asked the judge to instead require tobacco companies to fund a 10-year, $14 billion anti-smoking program.
But in Thursday’s opinion, Kessler said that remedy was also out of step with the appeals court ruling, which dictated that civil racketeering remedies focus on the prevention of future misconduct, not punishment of past misdeeds.
Public health groups applauded Kessler for holding the tobacco companies liable but expressed disappointment in the remedies .
“It’s ... worthy of a life sentence but instead they got a slap on the wrist,” Cass Wheeler, the chief executive of the American Heart Association, said in a statement.
The Justice Department applauded Kessler’s finding of liability, and while disappointed with the remedies, was hopeful they could have “a significant, positive impact on the health of the American public.”
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KEY TOBACCO RULINGS
A federal district court judge ruled on Thursday that cigarette makers conspired for years to hide smoking dangers but declined to impose major monetary penalties.
The decision came in the government’s 1999 lawsuit against Altria Group Inc. and its Philip Morris USA unit; Loews Corp.’s Lorillard Tobacco unit, which has a tracking stock, Carolina Group; Vector Group Ltd.’s Liggett Group; Reynolds American Inc.’s R.J. Reynolds Tobacco unit and British American Tobacco Plc unit British American Tobacco Investments Ltd.
Other key rulings involving the tobacco industry include the following:
— July 2006: Florida Supreme Court refused to reinstate a $145 billion punitive damages award against major cigarette makers found liable for selling a dangerous product. It ruled that the punitive award was “clearly excessive” and said it would “result in an unlawful crippling of the defendant companies.”
— May 2006: Illinois Supreme Court said it would not reconsider its earlier reversal of a $10.1 billion damage award against Philip Morris USA over the marketing of “light” cigarettes. The court in December ordered a lower court to dismiss a class-action case in which the company was accused of defrauding customers into thinking “light” cigarettes were safer than regular ones.
— February 2005: U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit barred the government from seeking $280 billion in past industry profits in the racketeering case decided on Thursday. The appeals court decision deprived the government of its biggest potential weapon. The court said any remedies must focus on the prevention of future misconduct, not punishment of past misdeeds.


I hope this lasts for me....I am tired of 32 years of servitude to the tobacco companies...........the horror to my own health and the health of those around me

Good evening all children,
tonight I am learning all about something I had never
heard of before
something called "white phosphorus"
WP is an incendiary device used by the military for
illumination. At least
that is the common use we are given.....now to be forward
and truthful these
articles and reports are mostly from 2005 and it may well
be said I am a little
behind here and that there is no great news here........I
was still a little incensed
when I read these so I am passing these along to keep the
story floating and not
let it drift away in our memories.........something we
Americans do with regularity
I am afraid........After reading these reports I must say
I am against the use of this
"chemical weapon" and I am angered that my govt still
considers this a "useful" tool.
First off lets start with a little lesson on what it is
and how it is used. Following is Wikipedia's
definition of white phosphorus........

White phosphorus is a common allotrope of the chemical element phosphorus which has found extensive military application as an incendiary agent [1], smoke-screening agent, and as an antipersonnel flame compound capable of causing serious burns[2]. White Phosphorus (WP) bombs and shells are essentially incendiary devices, and can be used in an offensive anti-personnel role against enemy troop concentrations. It is used in bombs, artillery shells, and mortar shells which burst into burning flakes of phosphorus upon impact. White phosphorus has been called a chemical weapon by many people and organizations, including members of the United Nations, but it has a long history of use in warfare for both offensive and target-marketing purposes. It is commonly referred to in military jargon as "WP". The Vietnam War era slang "Willy(ie) Pete" or "Willy(ie) Peter" is still occasionally heard.
Contents[hide]
1 History
2 Applications
2.1 Smoke-screening agent
3 Effects on humans
3.1 Effects of exposure to WP weapons
3.2 Exposure and inhalation of smoke
3.3 Oral ingestion
4 Arms control status
4.1 Military regulations
4.2 Disposal at sea
4.3 Use in Iraq
5 See also
6 External links
7 Notes

Here is an article on our use of the agent in Falluga in
2004 from the BBC

White phosphorus: weapon on the edge
The Pentagon's admission - despite earlier denials - that US troops used white phosphorus as a weapon in Falluja last year is more than a public relations issue - it has opened up a debate about the use of this weapon in modern warfare.
The admission contradicted a statement this week from the new and clearly under-briefed US ambassador in London Robert Holmes Tuttle that US forces "do not use napalm or white phosphorus as weapons".
The official line to that point had been that WP, or Willie Pete to use its old name from Vietnam, was used only to illuminate the battlefield and to provide smoke for camouflage.
'Shake 'n Bake'
This line however crumbled when bloggers (whose influence must not be under-estimated these days) ferreted out an article published by the US Army's Field Artillery Magazine in its issue of March/April this year.
The article, written by a captain, a first lieutenant and a sergeant, was a review of the attack on Falluja in November 2004 and in particular of the use of indirect fire, mainly mortars.
It makes quite clear that WP was used as a weapon not just as illumination or camouflage.
It's [WP] not forbidden if it is used within the context of a military application which does not require or does not intend to use the toxic properties
Peter Kaiser
"WP proved to be an effective and versatile munition. We used it for screening missions at two breeches and, later in the fight, as a potent psychological weapon against the insurgents in trench lines and spider holes where we could not get effects on them with HE [High Explosive]. We fired "shake and bake" missions at the insurgents, using WP to flush them out and HE to take them out," the article said.
In another passage the authors noted that they could have used other smoke munitions and "saved our WP for lethal missions".
A word about the term "shake and bake." Anyone with a family to feed in the US knows what this term, properly "Shake 'n Bake, means. Made by Kraft, it is a seasoning which is put into a plastic bag with chicken and shaken before before baking. Its use gives the article the smack of reality. It's the kind of thing US soldiers would say. .............(full article)

Shake and bake indeed....

is there no end to the insensitive nature of young american soldiers or have we de-humanized the Iraqi people so much that this would be commonplace?

Here also is a report I was able to locate on Youtube that
speaks to the same issue.....

reading the article is one thing.....actually seeing the weapon and
it's effect is another entirely.
I know that there are terrorists out there who would do that and worse
to us if given the chance.
but the use of this weapon, especially where it may land on civilian
targets, is morally reprehensible......I must add however, that it is heartening
to see the effect of bloggers felt in such a way as to give the super-powers a
wake-up call that propaganda will not so easily be fetted out in the age of
technology.........now if only the bloggers could unite to bring about the end
of the use of this agent. ........and now to bring us up to the present I would like to throw out yet another BBC story....

Leaders agree to UN truce timing
An estimated 30,000 Israeli troops are now in LebanonA ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah will come into force at 0500 GMT on Monday, the UN Secretary General has said.
Kofi Annan announced the timing after discussions with the prime ministers of Lebanon and Israel.
However, Israel is likely to continue operations in Lebanon on Sunday in an effort to clear the south of Hezbollah.
Nineteen Israeli soldiers were killed on Saturday, and five on a helicopter shot down by Hezbollah are missing.
Hezbollah's leader has said his group would abide by the ceasefire plan agreed unanimously at the UN Security Council on Friday.
However, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said on TV that Hezbollah would continue fighting as long as Israeli soldiers remained in Lebanon.
HAVE YOUR SAY
The UN needs to be firm but fair in its handling of the emerging situation
Peter Hewitt, Borehamwood, UK
Send us your views Lebanon has now also approved the UN resolution, which calls for a "full cessation of hostilities", although Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the government had "some reservations".
Lebanese officials said that after the truce only Lebanese forces would be authorised to carry weapons in southern Lebanon.
Mr Siniora said the area south of the Litani River, beyond which Hezbollah is expected to withdraw under the terms of the agreement, should be demilitarised. ....(full story)

....sounds good........but I kind of hear little red flags in there like...."isreal will stay to clear remaining forces".......and that "lebonon will still continue to fight as long as Israel stays".....so it sounds like another empty platitude for the war torn middle east.

Ok thats it for another saturday

Prince Ranxid.......signing off....

I'll be back!....

Thursday plots and the terrorist in the back yard

Good Evening Children,
I am not even going to post this evening about the plot
thwarted
by the British today.....simply because there are too many
online right now
and I am sure I won't choose the correct one.......so instead
let me
simply say Go Britain......absolutely smashing!! We owe you
guys a pint of Guinness!!
Wash DC was a little busy and a little tense
today..........your first impression is that
there is nothing to worry about......the war is far from here
and there is nothing to fear......unless you are attempting to fly
somewhere........the lines at BWI airport were
3/4 of a mile long at one point today and large trash cans
were set out for passengers
to discard their liquids before checking in and boarding
their planes.........
Upon arriving home this evening I ran across this t5hough and
all that talk of a safe
city went right out the window.........

Two Missing Egyptian Students Arrested In Dundalk

WASHINGTON -- Six of the 11 Egyptian exchange students who failed to show up for their college program are now in custody after three additional students were arrested Thursday, the FBI said.
El Sayed Ahmed Elsayed Ibrahim, 20, and Alaa Abd El Fattah Ali El Bahnasawi, 20, were arrested at a residence in Dundalk, Md., outside Baltimore, by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Chicago police detained Ahmed Mohamed Mohamed Abou El Ela, 22, at OHare International Airport as he was attempting to book a flight to Montana, the FBI said. Immigration agents later took El Ela into custody.
All are being held on administrative immigration violations because they did not report on time to their monthlong program at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont.
None of the students is considered a terrorism risk and FBI officials stressed that there are no ties between the Egyptians and the alleged terror plot broken up by British authorities.
Three students were arrested Wednesday. The other five Egyptians still are being sought.


That's right........right here in Dundalk............if these guys were a terrorist cell that is a little frightening to me as I have little ones to look out for and it is true that you can't trust your neighbors any longer............I will reserve judgement until more facts surface.........

Then as if to rub salt into the wounds this little back page story floated to the surface......as if we are not supposed to be paying attention..............


Israel approves deeper offensive
Up to 10,000 Israeli soldiers are already fighting in LebanonThe Israeli cabinet has approved an army plan to push deeper into Lebanon, to try to take control of areas used by Hezbollah to launch rockets on Israel.
Up to 30,000 troops could take part, aiming to reach the Litani River, up to 30km (18 miles) inside Lebanon.
After nightfall, armoured columns begun moving into southern Lebanon under cover of intense artillery fire.
An Israeli military spokesman said the armed forces were operating according to the earlier political decisions.
Amid continuing attacks by Israel and Hezbollah, ceasefire moves were in jeopardy as US and France rowed over changes to a draft UN resolution.
Hezbollah's leader also attacked the current draft as "unjust".
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, in a television broadcast, said: "At the very least this resolution can be described as unfair and unjust. It gives Israel more than it wanted and more than it was seeking."



Latest Mid-East crisis map
Press sceptical on diplomacy
Excerpts: Council speeches
Attempts to reword the resolution, to take in Lebanese and Arab League demands for an immediate Israeli withdrawal, have so far proved impossible.
The BBC's Bridget Kendall says the mood at the UN is downcast, amid possible signs that both the French and Americans are beginning to worry the fragile diplomacy could collapse.
After Israel's decision to approve the new offensive, an Israeli spokesman told the BBC that Israel was waiting to see what progress, if any, was being made at the UN towards a ceasefire.
But our correspondent says the cabinet decision further darkened the mood at the UN.
The likely timetable for a vote - first mooted for Tuesday - appears to be slipping, possibly into next week. The White House said it had no idea when the Security Council would vote, AFP news agency said.
More than 1,000 people, most of them civilians, have now been killed in the conflict, the Lebanese government has said. More than 100 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed.

Every time I read an article on this conflict I am presented with new death toll numbers.....
and although the numbers are growing every day it is hard to disseminate the truth.....
these are days of rampant propaganda and double-speak rhetoric.......of a million ideas and
a million blogs.......here in the present issues are cloudy and complex........and those who
speak out are sometimes silenced......

Banned, Blocked Tibetan Writer Vows to Speak Out in China
2006.08.01

WASHINGTON—A well-known Tibetan writer whose blogs have now been closed by the Chinese authorities vowed Tuesday to keep speaking out and raising awareness in China of Tibetan culture.
“Though my blogs are shut down, they cannot stop my speech and my writing,” Woeser said during an 80-minute call-in program on RFA’s Tibetan service. She joined the program by phone from her home in Beijing.
“I will be writing and speaking. Since I am writer in Chinese, I want to make more people know reality of Tibetan culture, history, and traditions. I especially want the Chinese people to learn the truth about Tibetan history, culture, religion, and traditions.”
Woeser, 40, who writes primarily in Chinese and is married to the Chinese writer Wang Lixiong, said she believed that Chinese authorities had closed her blogs because she had recently published a photo of Tibet’s exiled leader, the Dalai Lama, on one of them.
Woeser is a well-known writer of Tibetan origin. She is the author of 10 volumes, including one book of collected poems, a prose volume titled Tibet Journal, and two books on the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution. Most of her work is banned inside China. ............(full story)

We often think of tyranny to only exist in far away lands......
Elizabeth Ritter found out that is not the case........here is proof
that
oppression exists even here in our docile little part of the world.......and
how those who speak out and stand up for their beliefs are persecuted
and
ignored

Fla. Police Tape Is No Laughing Matter to Protester

By ARASH GHADISHAH
MIAMI, Aug. 10, 2006 — Call it unusual optimism, but Elizabeth Ritter counted herself lucky by day's end on Nov. 20, 2003.
On that day, the South Florida lawyer says, she was shot with rubber bullets at least four times by Miami-area law enforcement officers who were out in force to control protesters demonstrating against a free trade summit.
One bullet struck Ritter in the face.
"I felt there had been angels sitting on my shoulders because I had not been blinded by that shot," she said to ABC News.
She was demonstrating against law enforcement's handling of the protests.
A newly surfaced videotape that shows Broward Sheriff's Office officials laughing over footage of Ritter being shot by rubber bullets and calling protesters "cockroaches" has sparked outrage and prompted an apology from law enforcement.
"The Dade County Courthouse had been essentially closed by the police and essentially downtown Miami had been turned into what I perceived to be a police state," she said.
Apparently No Warning
Still dressed for work in a red blazer, Ritter took to the streets with a homemade sign that read "Fear Totalitarianism."
Before long, she was caught in a barrage of rubber-bullet fire.
Ritter said police offered no warning before firing on protesters.
"There was absolutely no indication either orally or by gesture that they wanted anyone to disperse or leave," she said. "Had the police given such an order, I would have obeyed it immediately."
Videotaped footage of the protests shows Ritter standing next to a police officer using a bullhorn to announce that the protests would be permitted to continue as long as they remained peaceful.
Ritter is later seen on the tape walking away from a line of officers when she is apparently shot in the leg with a rubber bullet.
She then turns toward the officers and asks, "Did you shoot me? A lady in a suit? Who has been walking peaceably in front of you for half an hour and you shot me when my back was turned?"
(full story)

.......And then just when you thought it was safe to go into
the park..

Squirrel Attacks People in Fla. Park
Angry squirrel attacks several people in Florida park before being capturedWINTER PARK, Fla., Aug. 10, 2006
(AP) Several people attacked by a squirrel at Central Park said they had one word for the animal: nuts. On Wednesday some expressed frustration that the animal was not caught sooner, the Orlando Sentinel reported.Alisa Cox's son Carson, 3, was bitten by a squirrel several times and had a 2-inch wound on his leg after the incident, Cox said.James Klute said his 3-year-old son was also bitten on the calf while they were kicking a soccer ball at the park. Jim Hindman, meanwhile, said a squirrel bit and scratched both arms while he was sitting on a park bench.Longwood resident Dylan Osborne, 19, said that after the squirrel attacked the leg and shoe of a friend he trapped it under a bucket but released it two hours later when county animal-services workers didn't arrive.An official with animal-services said he was not aware of that incident but would check the records.City employees captured the animal with a litter grabber Tuesday. It died and is being tested for rabies. Officers had previously tried to subdue the animal with pepper spray.

I think Foamy just had a bad day..........

Ok children.....that is all from your prince
this evening........take care and hug your kids!!

I'll be back.....