Privacy International, a UK privacy group, and the U.S.-based Electronic Privacy Information Center have put together a world map of surveillance societies, rating various nations for their civil liberties records.Both the U.S. and the UK are colored black for "endemic surveillance," as are Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Russia, China and Malaysia. - Wired
Here, check out the map (click it to enlarge):
NEW DELHI: This law, some judges have held, was already being abused. Now the government is considering a proposal to make it harsher. If the proposal goes through, the stiff anti-dowry laws, which seek to protect brides against greedy husbands and in-laws, will extend the current seven-year window for registration of a "dowry death" case to lifetime — this means that an offence against the husband or in-laws can be made out at any point during married life.
NEW DELHI: India has asked Myanmar, a country with which it has forged deep links in recent years to counter China's influence as well as seek its help to flush out Indian insurgent groups operating from its soil, to hasten political reforms and bring about national reconciliation.
KHARTOUM (AFP) — Darfur rebels in Sudan said they had taken a town Wednesday around Geneina, the main city of west Darfur which they claim to have surrounded.
As Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Kimmel plan their return to late-night, their respective networks mostly were keeping mum on plans for the hosts' three shows as they tape their first new episodes Wednesday without their writing staffs.
Meanwhile, the WGA told its membership during the weekend that it was planning to picket all three shows, as well as Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report," both of which return with new episodes Monday.
DES MOINES, Iowa—Presidential candidates are making a final plea to Iowans: turn out for tomorrow's caucuses.
We've brought back the old layout that everyone loves. 'Nuff said.
Posted by The Associated Press 6 hrs ago | via The Associated Press
“The meeting with a delegation of some of the 138 Muslims, planned for Rome next spring, is in a certain sense historic”
A meeting between Catholics and Muslims is planned in Rome this spring to start a dialogue between the faiths after relations were soured by Pope Benedict XVI's 2006 comments about Islam and holy war, Vatican officials said.
Benedict proposed the encounter as his official response to an open letter addressed to him and other Christian leaders in October by 138 Muslim scholars from around the world. The letter urged Christians and Muslims to develop their common ground of belief in one God.
The head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano over the weekend that three representatives of the scholars would come to Rome in February or March to prepare for the meeting. He did not give a date for the meeting, other than say it would take place in the spring.
HOUSTON—Two Baylor College of Medicine researchers in Houston are working on a cocaine vaccine they hope will become the first-ever medication to treat people hooked on the drug. "For people who have a desire to stop using, the vaccine should be very useful," said Dr. Tom Kosten, a psychiatry professor who is being assisted in the research by his wife, Therese, a psychologist and neuroscientist. "At some point, most users will give in to temptation and relapse, but those for whom the vaccine is effective won't get high and will lose interest."
A silicon chip the size of a business card could soon speed cancer diagnoses, track treatment more closely, and discover earlier signs of recurrences.
Researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a better technique for collecting and measuring the cells that escape from tumors and travel through the bloodstream, spreading cancer from one part of the body to another.
These so-called circulating tumor cells have been difficult to study, and little is known about them - but tracking them down has been a major goal of scientific research for decades.
Ron Paul, where are you? Run independent man. If Hillary wins the election, I don't think conservatives will have too much of a problem with her moderate views.THE RACE: The national presidential race for Democrats, Republicans
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THE NUMBERS - DEMOCRATS
Hillary Rodham Clinton, 46 percent
Barack Obama, 26 percent
John Edwards, 14 percent
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THE NUMBERS - REPUBLICANS
John McCain, 22 percent
Rudy Giuliani, 20 percent
Mike Huckabee, 17 percent
Mitt Romney, 12 percent
Fred Thompson, 9 percent
Source: Recent Poll; Boston Globe
JOHNSTON, Iowa -- As a new Des Moines Register poll showed him trailing Mike Huckabee in Iowa, Mitt Romney also launched a fresh attack, criticizing the former Arkansas governor for suggesting that President Bush did not read the National Intelligence Estimate for four years.
"That's obviously completely inaccurate and wrong.," Romney said, unprompted by a question from reporters. "The president has kept us safe over these last six years and is extraordinarily well-versed in matters of foreign policy. I'm not sure whether Governor Huckabee did the attack as a joke, but this is not a time to be mocking our president. And it was, I think, in bad taste. I think we should come together and recognize the great work our president is doing and not take on our rhetoric or our plays from the Democratic playbook." - Boston Globe
Oh come on, Mitt.
Happy new year, everyone. Here's a weather report from the Item.
WAKEFIELD - With yet another winter storm that closed out 2007 and a predicted
two to four inches on the way, the Department of Public Works was out since
midnight dealing with snowfall that delivered less than predicted.Department of
Public Works Director Richard Stinson said sanding and salting operations began
around midnight, about three hours after the snow started. During the night the
snow switched to rain and Stinson said at 2 a.m. the streets were starting to
get down to bare pavement due to the earlier work. By 4 a.m. the streets were
clear due to rain but dropping temperatures about a half hour later brought
snow-covered streets by rush-hour - for the relatively few vehicles that were
actually on the roadway. Plowing began around 6 a.m. with a full complement of
DPW vehicles on the roadways plowing the snow and slush by 7 a.m. Stinson
estimated that operations should be complete by noon to 1 p.m.“Our forecast was
for three to six inches, so you gear up for that,” Stinson noted. “You don’t
treat the roads the same if you’re figuring your not going to plow. It does make
it more costly, fortunately this one wasn’t,” said Stinson, due to the
relatively quick duration of the switch from rain to snow and the fact that the
storm was winding down by sunrise.The DPW director said that as late as last
evening, at least one Boston television station was predicting eight inches of
snow in Saugus, with another giving a five to seven inch prediction for the
area. Stinson estimated that about an inch and a half of wet snow fell on
Wakefield.
These are the greatest albums of all time, in my opinion of course. Here you will see albums by artists as diverse as the famous Beatles and Beach Boys to the relatively obscure Fugazi and Beat Happening. For the first few, I will provide a mini a review. Here's the first 50, enjoy!
1) Pink Floyd- Darkside of the Moon (1973) : This is the greatest album of all time! If you have yet to listen to this progressive masterpiece, then immediately go out and buy it or download all the songs, or whatever you can do to obtain all the songs! Top Songs: All (9)
2) Rage Against the Machine- Rage Against the Machine (1992) : In terms of political rock music, this is the best you will find. This is the album that exploded RAGE into the limelight. Whether you agree or disagree with their political views, either way you are screaming at the top of your lungs. The album was one of the first to inject rap and hip hop into heavy metal (which has been horribly simulated over the years), but don't be fooled by the retarded imitators. On a final note, if you hate the establishment, listen to this and I guarantee you that you will be chanting "Fuck You I Won't Do What You Tell Me!" Top Songs: Bombtrack, Killing in the Name, Bullet in the Head, Know Your Enemy, and Freedom.
3) The Beatles- The White Album (1968): This is without a doubt the Fab Four at their darkest and most experimental. With this album they abandoned their psychedelia and embraced more diverse genres such as avant- garde, clasical, and dance hall music. "Helter Skelter" is the Beatles at their heaviest and many crtics would go on to claim that it was the first heavy metal song (eh, one question for those critics: MC5?). It should be noted that this is the band's best selling album and the best selling album of the 1960's (19X Platinum), however it is still debated amongst fans, whether it is the finest. You can be the judge. Top Songs: Dear Prudence, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La- Da, The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Happiness is a Warm Gun, I'm So Tired, Piggies, Julia, Helter Skelter, and Revoultion (1 and 9).
4) The Velvet Underground- Velvet Underground and Nico ( 1967)
5) The Clash- London Calling (1980)
6) Glassjaw- Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence (2000)
7) Tool- AEnima (1996)
8) Radiohead- Ok Computer (1997)
9) Pixies- Doolittle (1989)
10) Ramones- Rocket to Russia (1977)
11) Nirvana- In Utero (1993)
12) The Replacements- Let It Be (1984)
13) System Of A Down- Mezmerize/ Hypnotize (2005)
14) The Who- Tommy (1969)
15) Sonic Youth- Goo (1990)
16) The Doors- The Doors (1967)
17) Johnny Cash- At Folsom Prison (1968)
18) Black Flag- My War (1984)
19) Animal Collective- Strawberry Jam (2007)
20) N.W. A.- Straight Outta Compton (1988)
21) Descendents- Liveage (1987)
22) Fugazi - Steady Diet of Nothing- (1991)
23) Bad Brains- Rock For Light (1983)
24) Minor Threat- Complete Disography (1989)
25) Against Me!- Reinventing Axl Rose (2002)
26) Simon and Garfunkel- Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme (1966)
27) Incubus- S.C. I. E.N.C.E. (1997)
28) Page France- Hello, Dear Wind (2005)
29) David Bowie- Ziggy Stardust (1972)
30) Lou Reed- Transformer (1972)
31) The Stooges- Funhouse (1970)
32) The Mabuses- Mabused (2007)
33) Wu-Tang Clan- Enter the Wu-Tang (The 36 Chambers) (1993)
34) Beach Boys- Pet Sounds (1966)
35) The Jesus and Mary Chain- Pshycho Candy (1985)
36) Minutemen- Double Nickels on the Dime (1984)
37) Arctic Monkeys- Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I am Not (2006)
38) Alice in Chains- Dirt (1992)
39) Black Sabbath- Paranoid (1971)
40) Led Zeppelin- Houses of the Holy (1973)
41) Metalica- Master of Puppets (1986)
42) The Misfits- Walk Among Us (1983)
43) Sex Pistols- Nevermind the Bollocks... (1977)
44) Anti-Flag- Die For The Government (1996)
45) Dead Kennedys- Give Me Convience or Give Me Death (1987)
46) Deftones- White Pony (2000)
47) A Tribe Called Quest- The Low End Theory (1991)
48) Ween- Chocolate and Cheese (1994)
49) X- Los Angeles (1980)
50) Elliot Smith- Either/ Or (1997)
Genre: Alternative Rock; Experimental Rock; Spoken Word
History: Formed by Glen Maganzini in late December 2007
Musical Style: As the band name indicates, Glen and his associated acts will be playing from their hearts, an ode to Bill Hicks and to Chris DeCarlo. With no respect to artistic guitar play or correct guitar play, Glen plays whatever he feels is right. The end product sounds similar to Sonic Youth, Radiohead, and Daniel Johnston.
Top Songs:
1) Willowing
2) Specialization
3) High Speed Internet Connection
Best Album: Click the three songs above for a small demo
Why You Should Listen To The PFYFH: "Screw tablature," says Glen "all of my songs come from impulse and most of all from the heart. If you want to know the absolute truth, I forget what chords, frets, and strings I used to record those songs. And you know what? I don't really care." I guess you guys will not be seeing The PFYFH in concert anytime soon.
