Click here to view this media Wisconsin will be holding recall elections for six Republican state senators in July, a fact that has the Wisconsin GOP suffering a major case of heartburn . Governor Scott Walker made no bones about it: The only thing that could stop the radical Republican agenda is this recall elections. So rather than campaign to save their seats, they’re playing a little dirty politics. Via the LaCrosse Tribune : La Crosse County Republicans discussed running a spoiler candidate against Democrat Jennifer Shilling in an effort to delay the recall election of Sen. Dan Kapanke, according to a secret recording of the party’s general membership meeting last week. On the recording obtained by the Tribune, party vice chairman Julian Bradley says he just spoke with Mark Jefferson, executive director of the state GOP , and “we are actively keeping our ears to the ground and if anybody knows anybody for a candidate that would be interested on the Democratic side in running in the primary against Jennifer Shilling…. So if anybody knows any Democrats who would be interested, please let us know.” Kapanke, a second-term Republican, is expected to face a recall election July 12, unless more than one challenger comes forward. Shilling, a five-term state representative from La Crosse, is the only candidate to declare her intention to run. Should a primary be necessary, the general election would be pushed back, according to scenarios proposed by the Government Accountability Board. That, Bradley said on the tape, “would give the state senator an extra month to campaign in. The opposition would obviously have to spend more time and more money.” Mark Jefferson was just named to be the Midwest regional director for the national GOP and is a former aide to Reince Preibus , RNC Chair. Dirty politics, indeed, but not surprising. What I enjoyed about this tape was hearing just how nervous they are about these recalls. When you’re hoping that public employees — the same public employees who just turned up en masse to protest Scott Walker’s radical agenda — are sleeping through the recall elections , I’d say it’s pretty certain you know you’re toast.
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Arctic Monkeys have abandoned lurching darkness for wistful guitar pop. It suits them Listen to Suck It and See here Those looking for evidence that things are as they always were in the world of Arctic Monkeys – that the celebrity girlfriends, chumminess with P Diddy and sojourns in Hollywood mansions while recording in LA have failed to impact on what Bernard Ingham would call the Yorkshireman’s “awkward gene” – might alight on the two songs they chose to trail their fourth album. Brick By Brick was leaked by the band in March, three minutes of sludgy filler with drummer Matt Helders on vocals. “I wanna feel your love, I
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Arctic Monkeys have abandoned lurching darkness for wistful guitar pop. It suits them Listen to Suck It and See here Those looking for evidence that things are as they always were in the world of Arctic Monkeys – that the celebrity girlfriends, chumminess with P Diddy and sojourns in Hollywood mansions while recording in LA have failed to impact on what Bernard Ingham would call the Yorkshireman’s “awkward gene” – might alight on the two songs they chose to trail their fourth album. Brick By Brick was leaked by the band in March, three minutes of sludgy filler with drummer Matt Helders on vocals. “I wanna feel your love, I
Continue reading …Ratko Mladic: Hague tribunal ‘will get proof of former Serb general’s ill health’
June 2, 2011 No Comment
• Lawyer says suspected war criminal had lymph node cancer • Mladic could try to implicate Dutch in Srebrenica massacre Ratko Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb army, is due to appear in front of an international court at The Hague at 10am on Friday to answer 11 charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, amid questions over his health. His arraignment in court 1 of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague gives the families of thousands of his army’s victims their first clear look at a man who went on the run 16 years ago when he was first indicted for his alleged role in ethnic cleansing in Bosnia from 1992 to 1995: including the siege of Sarajevo, the Srebrenica massacre and the hostage-taking of UN personnel. Mladic’s long-awaited appearance in front of three judges – from the Netherlands, Germany and South Africa – promises an insight into his health problems, which are concerning prosecutors. His lawyer, Milos Saljic, on Thursday claimed to have documents proving that the former general, now 69, had suffered lymph node cancer and was treated at a Serbian hospital in 2009. Previously he had said that Mladic could die before the trial; there had also been unconfirmed reports that Mladic had had two strokes. Court officials said that since Mladic’s entry into custody on Tuesday night, following his extradition from Serbia that day, he had been communicative for long periods and co-operative. He had undergone a battery of health tests to sort fact from rumour, officials said. When faced with the charges Mladic could re-state his position that he does not respect the legitimacy of the court; he could enter a plea immediately or within 30 days, or he could refuse to respond to the charges and the court would then
Continue reading …Ratko Mladic: Hague tribunal ‘will get proof of former Serb general’s ill health’
June 2, 2011 No Comment• Lawyer says suspected war criminal had lymph node cancer • Mladic could try to implicate Dutch in Srebrenica massacre Ratko Mladic, the former commander of the Bosnian Serb army, is due to appear in front of an international court at The Hague at 10am on Friday to answer 11 charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, amid questions over his health. His arraignment in court 1 of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague gives the families of thousands of his army’s victims their first clear look at a man who went on the run 16 years ago when he was first indicted for his alleged role in ethnic cleansing in Bosnia from 1992 to 1995: including the siege of Sarajevo, the Srebrenica massacre and the hostage-taking of UN personnel. Mladic’s long-awaited appearance in front of three judges – from the Netherlands, Germany and South Africa – promises an insight into his health problems, which are concerning prosecutors. His lawyer, Milos Saljic, on Thursday claimed to have documents proving that the former general, now 69, had suffered lymph node cancer and was treated at a Serbian hospital in 2009. Previously he had said that Mladic could die before the trial; there had also been unconfirmed reports that Mladic had had two strokes. Court officials said that since Mladic’s entry into custody on Tuesday night, following his extradition from Serbia that day, he had been communicative for long periods and co-operative. He had undergone a battery of health tests to sort fact from rumour, officials said. When faced with the charges Mladic could re-state his position that he does not respect the legitimacy of the court; he could enter a plea immediately or within 30 days, or he could refuse to respond to the charges and the court would then
Continue reading …ABC’s John Berman: Sarah Palin Makes Mitt Romney Seem ‘More Reasonable’ and ‘More Secure’
June 2, 2011 No Comment
Good Morning America correspondent John Berman on Thursday offered a sarcastic take on Sarah Palin's tour, dismissing it as a “magical mystery bus.” He also spun a possible 2012 run by Palin as making fellow Republican Mitt Romney appear ” more safe, a more secure, a more reasonable candidate .” Anchor George Stephanopoulos introduced this concept by musing, “Maybe [the Romney campaign wants] her in the race after all, John. She gives Romney the perfect foil.” Berman described that as “exactly right” and added, ” And it might make the former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney, seem like a more safe, a more secure, a more reasonable candidate.” Berman speculated about the pitfalls of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie using a helicopter to attend his son's baseball game. He asserted that is was “unclear whether this might dampen calls for Christie to enter the race.” (That seems like a bit of a stretch for such a minor controversy.) A transcript of the June 02 segment, which aired at 7:15am EDT, follows: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Now, the race for the White House. Sarah Palin claims she's not campaigning. But after a busy day in New York, she is in Boston today, then New Hampshire. Already there, the early front-runner for the Republican nomination. And Mitt Romney is going to make it official today, formally launching his campaign in Stratham. John Berman joins us from there. Good morning, john. JOHN BERMAN: Good morning, George. Well, this really does feel like the biggest day of this election so far. Mitt Romney will be making his announcement a few miles down the road from here with a chili cookout. But will some of the spice in that chili be watered down by a clam bake? Because, that's right. Sarah Palin reportedly coming to New Hampshire tonight to host a clam bake on the coast. Sarah Palin's magical mystery bus continues to wind its way up the east coast and is now getting ready to go national.
Continue reading …ABC’s John Berman: Sarah Palin Makes Mitt Romney Seem ‘More Reasonable’ and ‘More Secure’
June 2, 2011 No Comment
Good Morning America correspondent John Berman on Thursday offered a sarcastic take on Sarah Palin's tour, dismissing it as a “magical mystery bus.” He also spun a possible 2012 run by Palin as making fellow Republican Mitt Romney appear ” more safe, a more secure, a more reasonable candidate .” Anchor George Stephanopoulos introduced this concept by musing, “Maybe [the Romney campaign wants] her in the race after all, John. She gives Romney the perfect foil.” Berman described that as “exactly right” and added, ” And it might make the former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney, seem like a more safe, a more secure, a more reasonable candidate.” Berman speculated about the pitfalls of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie using a helicopter to attend his son's baseball game. He asserted that is was “unclear whether this might dampen calls for Christie to enter the race.” (That seems like a bit of a stretch for such a minor controversy.) A transcript of the June 02 segment, which aired at 7:15am EDT, follows: GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Now, the race for the White House. Sarah Palin claims she's not campaigning. But after a busy day in New York, she is in Boston today, then New Hampshire. Already there, the early front-runner for the Republican nomination. And Mitt Romney is going to make it official today, formally launching his campaign in Stratham. John Berman joins us from there. Good morning, john. JOHN BERMAN: Good morning, George. Well, this really does feel like the biggest day of this election so far. Mitt Romney will be making his announcement a few miles down the road from here with a chili cookout. But will some of the spice in that chili be watered down by a clam bake? Because, that's right. Sarah Palin reportedly coming to New Hampshire tonight to host a clam bake on the coast. Sarah Palin's magical mystery bus continues to wind its way up the east coast and is now getting ready to go national.
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British oil company seeking up to $16m in damages for four-day occupation that disrupted operations on the Leiv Eiriksson rig British oil company Cairn Energy has filed legal papers with a Dutch court to claim up to $16m (£9.8m) from Greenpeace for disrupting its oil drilling operations in the Arctic. In a move that could bankrupt the environment group, the company is also seeking to have Greenpeace fined €2m (£1.76m) for every day it continues to try to prevent work. The draconian legal move comes after Danish marines boarded Cairn’s giant Leiv Eiriksson drilling platform early on Thursday. They evicted two Greenpeace climbers who had spent four days in a survival pod attached to the drilling platform. The company has claimed in interviews that the four-day Greenpeace occupation had “no impact on its schedule”, but Cairn says in the court documents: “The defendants are preventing the exploitation of the platform. All delay of the platforms during its journey to the respective drilling locations and each hindrance during the drilling activities will lead to delay of the operations. Plaintiffs estimate the damage resulting from delay to those drilling activities at least $4m (£2.5m) per day. The urgent character of the plaintiffs demand thus speaks for itself.” Greenpeace reacted with defiance, saying it would fight the case. “This oil company has been hiding behind the Greenland government and the Danish navy, and now it’s trying to use the Dutch courts. It can hire all the lawyers it likes, but it can’t hide the huge risks it’s taking with this beautiful and fragile environment. Cairn is threatening us with a huge legal hammer now, it wants to shut down our campaign to kick the oil companies out of the Arctic, but we’ll challenge them and their lawyers every step of way. The stakes are high here, the Arctic is in the front line of climate change. We won’t stop shining a light on this dangerous deep water drilling operation in the Arctic.” The legal summons, which will be heard on Monday in Amsterdam where the Greenpeace ship Esperanza is registered, asks the judge to “… order defendants to cease all unlawful activities within one hour of handing down the judgment in this matter against the platforms and to order their employees, their aids or their sympathisers to cease all unlawful activities against the platforms, to allow the safe and unhindered exploitation of the platforms, at a penalty of €2m for each day or part thereof during which defendants are not complying with this order.” Cairn is spending around $1bn over the next two years seeking oil in Arctic waters , but can only work during a short three-month window when weather conditions allow exploration. It is thought to be paying $500,000 a day to hire the Leiv Eiriksson, one of the largest oil platforms in the world. Cairn last night denied it was trying to bankrupt Greenpeace, saying that it was seeking to prevent further interference with its work in the Arctic. “Cairn respects the rights of individuals and organisations to express their views in a safe and peaceful manner but would be concerned with anything that presents a safety risk for those involved and the operations,” the company said in a statement. Oil companies have a long history of challenging protest groups in the courts but have mostly backed off after facing bad publicity. BP sued Greenpeace and four of its senior staff for $2.3m in 1997 after activists occupied an oil platform, but later dropped the case. Greenpeace Activism Oil Energy Fossil fuels Cairn Energy Oil and gas companies Oil Energy industry John Vidal guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Bill Keller Resigns as NY Times Editor, Reporter Hails His ‘Great Journalistic Distinction.’ Really?
June 2, 2011 No CommentIn a surprise announcement, Bill Keller is resigning as New York Times executive editor as of September 6. He will be replaced by Jill Abramson, the paper’s managing editor, Jeremy Peters reported on nytimes.com Thursday morning . Keller will still write for the paper: “As for Mr. Keller’s plans, he said he was still working out the details of a column he will write for the paper’s new Sunday opinion section, which will be introduced later this month.” Abramson will be the first woman to run the Times newsroom in the paper’s 160-year history. For Abramson, the Times is holy writ: Ms. Abramson said that as a born-and-raised New Yorker, she considered being named editor of The Times to be like “ascending to Valhalla.”
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Teenage mothers were allegedly forced to give up newborns to human traffickers in southern city of Aba Nigerian police have raided an alleged “baby farm” where teenage mothers were forced to give up their newborns for sale to human traffickers. Thirty-two pregnant girls were rescued from a maternity home run by a trafficking ring in the southern city of Aba, police said. The girls, mostly of school age, were allegedly locked up at the Cross Foundation clinic so they could produce babies to be sold for illegal adoption or for use in ritual witchcraft. Bala Hassan, the Abia state police commissioner, said: “We stormed the premises of the Cross Foundation in Aba three days ago following a report that pregnant girls aged between 15 and 17 are being made to make babies for the proprietor. “We rescued 32 pregnant girls and arrested the proprietor, who is undergoing interrogation over allegations that he normally sells the babies to people who may use them for rituals or other purposes.” Hassan added that four babies, already sold in an alleged deal but not yet collected, were also recovered in the raid. Estimates of the girls’ ages varied. Geoffrey Ogbonna, another police spokesman, was quoted by CNN: “There are about 30 pregnant young ladies; the eldest was 20 years old. Some belong in secondary, even in primary school.” A doctor arrested at the clinic said the babies had been handed over to social welfare for adoption. Some of the rescued girls told police that the hospital owner gave them $192 (£118) for newborn boys and $161 for newborn girls after they were sold. Dr Hyacinth Orikara, proprietor of the Cross Foundation, is likely to face charges of child abuse and human trafficking, police said. Buying or selling babies can carry a 14-year jail sentence. Orikara, reportedly a university graduate and employee of the Abia state health management board, denied the allegations, claiming the home was a foundation to help teenagers with unwanted pregnancies. Human trafficking is ranked the third most common crime in Nigeria after financial fraud and drug trafficking. At least 10 children are sold every day across the country, according to the UN. Traffickers are seldom caught. Babies are sold for up to $6,400 each, depending on the sex, the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons says. Teenagers with unplanned pregnancies are sometimes lured to clinics and then forced to hand over their babies. The children are often put up for illegal adoption or, in some parts of the country, killed as part of witchcraft rituals because they are thought to make charms more powerful. The police carried out similar raids on such clinics in neighbouring Enugu state in 2008. A Nigerian woman was jailed in Britain three years ago for trying to smuggle a baby into the country in order to get on the list for a council flat. Human trafficking Nigeria Africa Children Human rights David Smith guardian.co.uk
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