Tel Aviv - The worst week of internal Palestinian conflict since Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip last year ended with fresh escalation as the Islamic militants on Friday arrested senior political leaders of the secular Fatah party in the coastal enclave.
A Hamas spokesperson said the arrests were a retaliation for round-ups of its political figures in the West Bank by officers of the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority.
Amid the tit-for-tat detentions, spokesmen for the rival parties stepped up their rhetorical attacks on one another, with Hamas spokespeople making open threats to repeat their Gaza takeover in the West Bank. The acrimony is complicating recent attempts by Arab mediators to convene Hamas-Fatah talks aimed at reconciling the 13-month rift.
"It will continue to escalate. Maybe they are negotiating by arresting each other before the real talks,'' says Hissam Jaberi, a Gaza-based reporter for the Al-Ayyam newspaper. "As long as we don't have a national program accepted by all the parties, we will continue to fight.'' - Christian Science Monitor
TAMPA, Fla. - Chip Witte doesn't consider himself a Rebel. He doesn't hang Dixie battle flags in his living room, nor does he wear one on the back of his leather jacket.
Yet when the Tampa motorcycle mechanic saw the world's largest Confederate battle flag unfurl above the intersection of I-10 and I-4 in June, he felt a jolt of solidarity with the lost cause and lost rights that he says the battle flag represents. "I think it's great that they're allowed to fly it," says Mr. Witte.
Despite years of boycotts, schoolyard bans, and banishment from capitol domes, the Southern battle colors are flying, higher than ever.
Indeed, the Tampa Confederate Veterans Memorial and its 139-foot flagpole features one of at least four giant "soldier's flags" flying over bumper-to-bumper interstates in Florida and Alabama. With more planned in Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky, and possibly South Carolina, the interstate show of force, experts say, highlights the potential backlash from banning nostalgic symbols from the public square. - Christian Science Monitor
Today's Highlight in History: On Aug. 3, 1958, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Nautilus became the first vessel to cross the North Pole underwater.
On this date: In 1492, Christopher Columbus set sail from Palos, Spain, on a voyage that took him to the present-day Americas.
In 1807, former Vice President Aaron Burr went on trial before a federal court in Richmond, Va., charged with treason. (He was acquitted less than a month later.)
In 1914, Germany declared war on France at the onset of World War I.
In 1923, Calvin Coolidge was sworn in as the 30th president of the United States, following the death of Warren G. Harding.
In 1943, Gen. George S. Patton slapped a private at an army hospital in Sicily, accusing him of cowardice. (Patton was later ordered by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to apologize for this and a second, similar episode.)
In 1948, former Communist Whittaker Chambers, testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee, accused former State Department official Alger Hiss of having been part of a Communist cell, a charge Hiss denied.
In 1949, the National Basketball Association was formed as a merger of the Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League.
In 1980, closing ceremonies were held in Moscow for the Summer Olympic Games, which had been boycotted by dozens of countries, including the United States.
In 1981, U.S. air traffic controllers went on strike, despite a warning from President Reagan they would be fired, which they were.
In 1988, the Soviet Union released Mathias Rust, the young West German pilot who had landed a light plane near Moscow's Red Square in May 1987.
Ten years ago: The White House played down the possibility that President Clinton would reverse previous statements and admit to a sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky when he testified before a grand jury.
Five years ago: The Episcopal Church's House of Deputies further paved the way for the Rev. V. Gene Robinson to become the church's first openly gay elected bishop, approving him on a 128-63 vote. Annika Sorenstam completed a career Grand Slam at the Women's British Open, beating Se Ri Pak by a stroke in a thrilling head-to-head showdown. Hank Stram, Marcus Allen, James Lofton, Elvin Bethea and Joe DeLamielleure were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
One year ago: A jury at Camp Pendleton, Calif., sentenced Marine Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III to 15 years in prison for the murder of an Iraqi civilian during a fruitless search for an insurgent. Iraqis welcomed home their soccer team, which had won the Asian Cup.
Today's Birthdays: Author P.D. James is 88. Broadway composer Richard Adler is 87. Singer Gordon Stoker (The Jordanaires) is 84. Singer Tony Bennett is 82. Actor Martin Sheen is 68. Lifestyle guru Martha Stewart is 67. Singer Beverly Lee (The Shirelles) is 67. Rock musician B.B. Dickerson is 59. Movie director John Landis is 58. Actress JoMarie Payton is 58. Actor Jay North ("Dennis the Menace") is 57. Country musician Randy Scruggs is 55. Actor John C. McGinley is 49. Rock singer-musician Lee Rocker (The Stray Cats) is 47. Rock singer James Hetfield (Metallica) is 45. Rock singer-musician Ed Roland (Collective Soul) is 45. Actor Isaiah Washington is 45. Country musician Dean Sams (Lonestar) is 42. Rock musician Stephen Carpenter (Deftones) is 38. Hip-hop artist Spinderella (Salt-N-Pepa) is 37. Actress Brigid Brannagh is 36. Actress Evangeline Lilly is 29. Singer Holly Arnstein (Dream) is 23.
Thought for Today:"The soul of a civilization is its religion, and it dies with its faith." Will (1885-1981) and Ariel Durant (1898-1981), American historians
1) Drive My Car
2) Norwegian Wood
3) You Won't See Me
4) Nowhere Man
5) Think For Yourself
6) The Word
7) Michelle
8) What Goes On
9) Girl
10) I'm Looking Through You
11) In My Life
12) Wait
13) If I Needed Someone
14) Run For Your Life The Fab Four still had its mop tops and clean-shaved faces, but had become more adventurous than they were in the Please Please Me days. They had a little more experience and maturity in writing and performing, and started to take inspiration from things other than love - like drugs! Many tracks still have that early 60s feel, and some are the filler common to early Beatles albums, but the good outweighs the bad more than enough. Paul had just broken out with "Yesterday", and was slowly becoming the band's second leader. His songwriting and vocals shine on the groovy "You Won't See Me", the English-French amalgam of "Michelle", and the riff-driven rocker "I'm Looking Through You". Meanwhile, George began to grow as well, with the funky "Think For Yourself" and folk-y "If I Needed Someone", not to mention his sitar's debut on "Norwegian Wood", while Ringo bangs the drums, shakes the tambourine, and continues to bring the country with "What Goes On". John was still the star, but earned his spotlight by giving the disc its best moments. He mixed the Beatles' style with those of Indian musicians and Bob Dylan to create "Norwegian Wood" and proved that Beatles songs didn't have to be about love with "Nowhere Man". Not to mention one of the greatest songs of all time - the introspective and retrospective "In My Life".
Tracks like "Drive My Car" illustrate the teamwork that became rare in later albums - that song and "Wait" can't be easily labeled as "a John song" or "a Paul song". The latter track is a hidden gem - John initially sings lead, with Paul taking over in the middle, then they alternate. It's a collaboration in the style of the later "A Day in the Life", with a more explicit theme. Rubber Soul is, arguably, the band's first truly great album - the earliest work that some could seriously consider their best. After quite a few previous albums, the guys had developed into more mature musicians. The disc showcased more creativity than ever before, and the next fewalbums just got even better.
****1/2 out of five
A new every day feature is a countdown...a Radiohead countdown. I will be attending the concert at the Comcast Center (formerly the Tweeter Center) on August 13. In preparation, I will be posting one Radiohead song each day.
4 Minute Warning
This is just a nightmare Soon I'm going to wake up Someone's going to bring me around Running from the bombers Hiding in the forest Running through the field Laying flat on the ground Just like everybody Stepping over heads Running through the underground
This is your warning Four minute warning
I don't want to hear it I don't want to know I just want to run and hide This is just a nightmare Soon I'm going to wake up Someone's going to bring me around
After the California legislature managed to pass the strictest emissions standards--zero emissions--on automobiles in America, intrepid Californians have started to “Bike Pool” to work. “It’s a real challenge keeping your balance when the rest of traffic slows. I tend to fall over several times during a commute, breaking all my stuff or like losing my cell phone, but it’s worth it because we’re saving the environment and really sticking it to the Oil companies. Although, it does take me three hours to get to work now,” says newly minted bike commuter Mark Anderson. California highway patrol reports an increase in people pulled over due to exhaustion, flat tires, and heart attacks. But there is some good news according to California highway Patrolman Chris Meyer, “speeding is down, way down.” - Vulcan's Hammer
Credit to VH for producing an Onion-esque headline.
Atlanta, GA -- “’September 11’ has become the catch-all excuse for virtually every proposed expansion of government power,” notes Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party nominee for president. “One example is a national identification card and data base, long desired by some in government, and which was mandated by legislation passed by the Congress in 2005 with the support of both Senators McCain and Obama. Although I was no longer in the Congress when this bad legislation was passed, I had vigorously opposed it in the years since it became law, just as I led the successful effort to rescind a previous mandate for a national ID card.”
Unfortunately, he explains, “the Real ID Act establishes a new and privacy-invasive national ID card program. By forcing states to standardize their driver’s licenses and creating a vast national data base of private information on the citizenry, the law establishes through the back door something Americans would never have accepted directly—a National Identification Card.” In fact, “there was no open and honest vote on Real ID. The mandate was slipped into a supplemental appropriations bill, discouraging any real debate over the issue.” - Preserving Freedom
As the blog author says, an ID is a feature of a police state.
Either the planets have aligned, the world is coming to an end, or God just picked this week to toy with us. Whatever the cause, this was a very strange, though very enjoyable, week. In fact, instead of the usual This Week in É format, I've put together a post of the ten weirdest moments of the past few days. 10) Confirming a few of the rumors, the Boston Red Soxtraded one of their stars, Manny Ramirez, to the Dodgers. The weird thing is all the former Red Sox stars are becoming Dodgers - Manny joins Nomar and Derek Lowe! Four years ago, that was OUR lineup! 9) As you should know, I'll be leaving this site when I move in to Emerson. Subsequently, Glen dared me to reach 1, 000 posts before I depart - and I did, by tagging older, previously untagged updates. Hooray for tags! 8) On this blog, you hear a lot about a famous linguistics professor/author/political aficionado named Noam Chomsky. This week, Professor Chomsky became aware of our little site AND had a little talk with our own Glen Maganzini. Good work, Glen. 7) Chris Mogni...yes, THAT Chris Mogni...made a splash, as he tends to do, with his first work as an Étudiant - twoposts about his summer homework. Don't worry, incoming juniors - the required reading doesn't get worse than Walden. You'll like some of your required reading. You really will.[/foreshadowing] 6) Chris DeCarlo makes this list not for any post he made this week, but for any post he didn't. After a couple Daily Recommendations, he disappeared from the blog to focus on his homework. Congratulations to Chris for getting a life!
5) Glen's been posting videos for a while now, but the content of those clips has gone in a direction far from the daily newscast format. This week saw the darkest, most personal, most introspective video yet, besides, of course, Rex Lam's return to Wakefield. Joking aside, check out Glen's look back on the last three years, in a video that just might destroy any chance he might have had of getting a girlfriend THIS year. 4) New Étudiants aren't too unusual. This week, we welcomed a few new additions, Mike Brisbon, Brian Hickey, Rob Reinold, Petar Todorov and...Chris Mogni. Yes, THAT Chris Mogni. 3) The other co-founder, Chris Morrill, is a bit of an insomniac. It's not weird for him to be out somewhere in another town long past midnight - but for me? Anyway, I had plenty of fun hanging with Chris and Brian Hickey on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning - and the strangest moment had to be when we were approached by the most insane stranger we've ever encountered. She spent about ten minutes talking to us - each sentence having nothing to do with the last. It sounded something like this... "Excuse me, but would you happen to know a restroom I could use? I like your haircut. You don't put sea kelp in your hair, do you? Because I do, and it costs 83 cents!" I could go on, but any more would drive YOU insane. 2) Liz, Glenna Regan, and I danced the samba. This story began when Liz posted about a dance class at MIT and invited her fellow Étudiants to it. Unfortunately, only two of them went, because only two of them aren't pussies. 1) I went to a George Michael concert. I've always thought he was talented, and liked a few songs, but I never thought I'd actually go to see him at the TD Banknorth Garden. But when my cousin invited me to go, I asked, "Why not?" And you know what? It was a good show.
The roughly 1 billion chickens killed each year for KFC's buckets are crammed by the tens of thousands into excrement-filled sheds that stink of ammonia fumes.
The birds’ legs and wings often break because they’re bred to be too top-heavy and because workers carelessly shove them into transport crates and shackles.
Chickens’ throats are slit and the animals are dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water to remove their feathers, often while they are still conscious and able to feel pain.
KFC lets frustrated factory-farm and slaughterhouse workers handle live birds, so many of the animals end up being sadistically abused. At a KFC “Supplier of the Year” slaughterhouse in West Virginia, workers were documented tearing the heads off live birds, spitting tobacco into their eyes, spray-painting their faces, and violently stomping on them. This was discovered more than two years after KFC promised PETA that it was taking animal welfare seriously.
KFC hides behind its Animal Welfare Advisory Council, even though five members of the council have resigned in frustration. One of them, Adele Douglass, told the Chicago Tribune that KFC “never had any meetings. They never asked any advice, and then they touted to the press that they had this animal-welfare advisory committee. I felt like I was being used.” - Courtesy of Kentucky Fried Cruelty
Fall Out Boy is a part of the celebrity haters of K.F.C.. What do I say to that? Eat more KFC!
Here I am going to give you a brief profile of the different types of customers I encounter as a cashier at a local supermarket. Johnnies Foodmaster, to be specific.
Asshole Youngster - Age Group: Under 13 - These are the kids who put their money inside of their sweaty socks and expect me not to care. They just put their food and drink on the counter, reach for the wet cash, hand it to me, and leave because $.25 doesn't mean a whole lot to them.
Innocent Youngster - Age Group: Under 13 - These are the kids who respond to you when you say "How are you doing?" and say "You too" after wishing them a good day. They take the money out of their WALLET and hand it to me.
High Schoolers - Age Group: Age 14 to 18 - They are generally pretty nice unlike their younger counterparts. They don't buy too many items and usually leave their change behind. If "they" consist of attractive females, then that too makes me very happy.
Young Adults - Age Group: Age 19 to 24 - These college age persons are also pretty nice and have a pretty good hang of how to complete a credit/debit transaction unlike older people.
"All Business" Customer - These people want to leave the store ASAP. They want their change and receipt as quickly as humanly possible. They usually don't say hi or bye.
Cell Phon(y) - These people suck -- they think that they can somehow talk on their cell phone and still complete their transaction in one try. Unless they are seasoned veterans, they typically fuck up at least twice. Of course, the one time they get the hang of it is once they shut off the phone.
Slightly Interested - These people don't make conversation except for saying hi and thank you at the beginning and end of the order, respectively. They usually stare off into space as I ring the items through. Ideally, all customers should hold at least a slight interest in being at the store.
Friendly - These people go above and beyond just saying "hi"; they might make a semi-humorous remark during the order. They usually are very appreciative and apropos say a decent word or two at the end.
Too Much - These people talk on and on about stuff that I couldn't care less about. They might say something as simple as a random comment or as deep as a laundry list of their problems. I appreciate their trying to make conversation, but it's just too much!
