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"I don't think the report is true, but these crises work for those who want to make fights between people." Kulam Dastagir, 28, a bird seller in Afghanistan
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Topic: Arts |
9:58 am EDT, Sep 13, 2007 |
Every soviet poster no matter the date of creation bears a stamp of expressiveness and graphical quality. The attention to details is awesome. The scope of techniques is endless. Soviet posters are a treasure chest with inspiration for any graphical designer, not to mention the seeing pleasure itself. And what's important, every Soviet Poster has a historical reference essential for understanding the layers of meanings it carries through time.
Fantastic! Get your authoritarian propaganda on. Prints are available for many of these. FYI there is a metric ton of Chinese posters at this link. A Soviet Poster A Day |
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Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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Topic: War on Terrorism |
1:50 am EDT, Sep 13, 2007 |
The Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq (released Sept 10, 2007) was the two-part report released by U.S. Army general David Petraeus and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker on progress by the Iraqi government in the ongoing Iraq War.
Report to Congress on the Situation in Iraq - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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UCLA Taser Final Report [PDF] |
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Topic: Civil Liberties |
7:11 pm EDT, Sep 12, 2007 |
While we're on the subject of using force as a legitimate part of your job vs. using force because you like hurting people and now you've got a job that gives you a passable explanation for having done so, the final public report on the UCLA taser incident from last November is available. The conclusions of this report are that the officer's actions were completely outside of UCLA policy and that the policy is also too liberal. This is obviously unwelcome news to various commentators who supported this incident as model police behavior. However, for their benefit it there is also a second "internal" report that you and I are not allowed to read which concludes that there was absolutely nothing wrong with what happened. This enables UCLA management to change their policies without admitting that anyone has done anything wrong. Which report is correct? Such questions completely miss the point. Its not about right or wrong. If you want to really understand all of this please refer to my previous post on how everything everywhere actually works. At the behest of acting UCLA Chancellor Norman Abrams, the Police Assessment Resource Center (PARC) conducted a seven- month, independent investigation of a November 14, 2006 incident at UCLA’s Powell Library in which the UCLA Police Department (UCLAPD ) arrested UCLA student Mostafa Tabatabainejad. This report sets forth our factual findings and conclusions. This story has no heroes. The event triggering the repeated electrical shocking of Tabatabainejad was a declination by the UCLA student to produce a BruinCard identification in the Powell Library computer lab after hours. While the student should have simply obeyed the order to produce the card, and by not doing so brought trouble upon himself, the police response was substantially out of proportion to the provocation. There were many ways in which the UCLAPD officers involved could have handled this incident competently, professionally, and with minimal force. We find that one UCLAPD officer violated UCLA use of force policies in the incident. We further conclude that UCLAPD’s current policies are, in any event, unduly permissive, giving the police unnecessary latitude, and are inconsistent with the policies of other universities and leading police departments across the country, including other University of California campuses, the LAPD, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD). The UCLAPD policy stands alone in its legitimization of the Taser as a pain compliance device against passive resisters. The current UCLA policy is more permissive than the Sacramento Police Department policy on which it was based and the Taser policy recommended by its chosen outside expert on the question.
UCLA Taser Final Report [PDF] |
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AlterNet: Blogs: Video: Anti-War Minister Is Attacked, Gets Leg Broken for Trying to Enter Petraeus Hearing |
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Topic: Politics and Law |
4:59 pm EDT, Sep 12, 2007 |
Watch the cops beat this guy down and then charge him with assault! After waiting in line throughout the morning for the hearing that was scheduled to start at 12:30pm, Rev. Yearwood was stopped from entering the room, while others behind him were allowed to enter. He told the officers blocking his ability to enter the room, that he was waiting in line with everyone else and had the right to enter as well. When they threatened him with arrest he responded with "I will not be arrested today." According to witnesses, six capitol police, without warning, "football tackled him. He was carried off in a wheel chair by DC Fire and Emergency to George Washington Hospital. Rev. Yearwood was examined for possible head and leg injuries then transferred to Central Processing. He has been charged with "assaulting a police officer."
He obviously made a sudden move which provoked the police to tackle him. Its not clear why the police decided to order him to the back of the line. Its not clear that it took 6 cops to subdue him. What is clear is that he did not assault a police officer. He was arrested for failing to comply with an order, and he resisted arrest. If this video did not exist he probably would, however, be convicted of assault, because the police would all testify that he had done so, and the counter testimony would all come from a bunch of nutty protesters. The charge is clearly a dishonest attempt to inflict harm on him because he refused to do what he was told to, and the charge is at the heart of why this will be controversial. The bottom line is that many police officers believe that there is no limit to the level of force that they may employ to obtain compliance from people who refuse to follow their orders, no matter how unreasonable their orders may be or how passive the resistance to them is. Its clear from the video that the police are not at all interested in discussing whether or not their order that he move to the back of the line was or was not reasonable. They were simply focused on the fact that they had issued an order and that order was not complied with. Its not about protecting the hearing from unruly people. Its not about right or wrong. Its about power. They could have let him walk away. They tackled him because they wanted to tackle him. The dishonest charge is the evidence that is impossible to explain another way. AlterNet: Blogs: Video: Anti-War Minister Is Attacked, Gets Leg Broken for Trying to Enter Petraeus Hearing |
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Topic: Technology |
2:12 pm EDT, Sep 12, 2007 |
By building a reputation with TrustPlus, members can use it anywhere on the Web. Now online sellers can aggregate their reputations in one place and leverage them everywhere they sell online. This allows online sellers to sell more, faster and at higher prices
TrustPlus Inc. |
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Leck mich im Arsch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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Topic: Arts |
11:50 am EDT, Sep 12, 2007 |
Leck mich im Arsch (English: Lick My Ass) is a canon in B-flat major composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, K. 231 (K382c), with lyrics in German. It was one of a set of at least six canons probably written in Vienna in 1782. Sung by six voices as a three-part round, it is thought to be a party piece for his friends. The song's title and lyrics are a reference to anal-oral contact, and may be more idiomatically translated as "kiss my ass" or "get stuffed". They have been used as evidence to support the contention that Mozart had Tourette syndrome.
Leck mich im Arsch - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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French art from 1910 depicting the year 2000 - Boing Boing |
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Topic: Arts |
9:23 am EDT, Sep 12, 2007 |
The Bibliotheque nationale de France has a wonderful gallery of illustrations by Villemard from 1910 imagining what life would be like in the year 2000. It's part of a larger exhibition titled Utopia: The Quest for the Ideal Society in the Western World.
French art from 1910 depicting the year 2000 - Boing Boing |
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