Then Live It Up

Asians in Media | Watermans theatre to help develop new British Asian writing

2005-05-04T01:39:00.000-07:00

Asians in Media | Watermans theatre to help develop new British Asian writing

2 rapes, 4 murders every hour in India : HindustanTimes.com

2005-03-11T07:36:00.000-08:00

2 rapes, 4 murders every hour in India : HindustanTimes.com

How crime prone is India? Every hour, 25 violent crimes take place in the country while 59 housewives commit suicide every day.

And two accidental deaths occur every two minutes across this vast country of a billion people.

The violent crimes include two rapes, four murders, 10 culpable homicides and one dowry death on an hourly basis, say figures compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

CIA 'jets detainees to torture nations' - Just another day, another life, another moment

2005-03-11T06:21:00.000-08:00

Aljazeera.Net - CIA 'jets detainees to torture nations'

The CIA uses a secret jet to ferry terror suspects for interrogation to countries known to use torture, according to a television report.
The CBS network's 60 Minutes programme, aired on Sunday, videotaped the Boeing 737 on a runway at Glasgow Airport in Scotland, saying it was able to trace it through a series of companies and executives that apparently exist only on paper.
It said the plane had made at least 600 flights to 40 countries, all after the September 11 attacks on the US, including 30 trips to Jordan, 19 to Afghanistan, 17 to Morocco, and 16 to Iraq.
The plane also went to Egypt, Libya and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to the report.
The aircraft is part of the Central Intelligence Agency's "rendition" programme, in which suspects are sent to foreign governments for interrogation.
The agency has not formally acknowledged the programme's existence.

US-run jail
----------------
A German national, which CBS identified as al-Masri, told a reporter he was on vacation in Macedonia when he was arrested by police and held for three weeks, then taken to the airport, beaten by masked men, drugged and put on board the 737.
The plane left Skopje, Macedonia, and went to Baghdad and then Kabul, with al-Masri saying he awoke in a jail cell where his captors said: "You're in a country without laws and no one knows where you are."
Al-Masri told the network: "It was very clear to me that he meant I could stay in my cell for 20 years or be buried somewhere."
He added his fellow prisoners in the American-run jail were Saudi Arabians, Tanzanians, a Yemeni and a Pakistani who had lived in the US.

Al-Masri said he was in solitary confinement for five months before being released without an explanation.
According to the report, the jet also made 10 trips to Uzbekistan, where former British ambassador Craig Murray said the jet's nominal owner, Premier Executive Transport Services, kept a small staff at the airport in Tashkent.

Suffocation and rape
-------------------------
Murray said Uzbek interrogators use unusually cruel methods, including "techniques of drowning and suffocation, rape ... and also the insertion of limbs in boiling liquid".
He said he had complained to his superiors that information was being obtained by torture and sent his deputy to the CIA station chief to inquire about the practice.
"The CIA definitely knows," he told the television programme, adding that his deputy had confirmed that evidence "probably was obtained under torture but the CIA didn't see that as a problem".
He was ordered to return to London four months ago and has since left government service, CBS News pointed out.
The American authorities have yet to respond to the CBS programme's allegations.

AFP

Asia Times Online :: Asian news and current affairs

2005-03-03T01:59:00.000-08:00

The Oil Factor in the war against Tyranny; what is driving the US to label countries as targets for possible military action?

Asia Times Online :: Asian news and current affairs

The War on Tyranny - A subtle shift from the war on terror?

2005-03-03T01:51:00.000-08:00

Clip from an Atimes' article

"Historically Washington has had no problem befriending some of the world's all-time tyrants, as long as they were "pro-Washington" tyrants, such as the military dictatorship of President General Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan, a paragon of oppression. We might name other befriended tyrants - Ilham Aliyev's Azerbaijan, or Islam Karimov's Uzbekistan, or the al-Sabahs' Kuwait, or Oman. Maybe Morocco, or Alvaro Uribe's Colombia. There is a long list of pro-Washington tyrants."

BJP offers cow urine as cure all- The Times of India

2005-03-02T07:31:00.000-08:00

BJP offers cow urine as cure all- The Times of India

NEW DELHI: You can now buy lotions, potions and pills to cure anything from cancer to hysteria to piles - all made from cow urine or dung.

A new goratna (cow products) stall at the BJP's souvenir shop is rapidly outselling dry political tracts, badges, flags and saffron-and-green plastic wall clocks with the face of former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

"You won't believe how quickly some of the products sold out," says Manoj Kumar, who runs the souvenir shop along with his brother, Sanjeev, at the BJP headquarters in a plush central New Delhi neighbourhood.

"The constipation medicine is a hot seller."

But the biggest seller is a "multi-utility pill" that claims to cure anything from diabetes to piles to "ladies' diseases".

"It's a miraculous cure" the container declares. A month's supply costs a little over $1.

Musical Condoms

2005-03-02T04:57:00.000-08:00

Strike the right note with a musical condom!:

(Thanks to the Kerala News website for this item)
[Health India]: London, Feb17 : Now, you can play it safe along with music! A scientist has come up with musical condoms that apart from being a contraceptive gives you the opportunity play you own tone that gets louder as the sex gets more vigorous.

Different lovemaking positions determine what tune is played by the condom, which also works like a normal contraceptive.The rubber has tiny sensors connected to a mini electronic device that produces the sounds.

"But there is no danger of being electrocuted," the Sun quoted Dr Chausovskiy as saying, who has teamed up with a manufacturer to export the condoms to Britain.

They will cost about 20 per cent more than normal condoms. "But people will pay for the extra stimulation," he added. (ANI)

fuego negro

2005-02-22T00:46:00.000-08:00

fuego negro, originally uploaded by selkie.

This captures the elusive nature of being; both the ephemeral and the real is presented in this stunning shot. Selkie is a genius.

Bush and the nature of terrorist security

2005-02-22T00:23:00.000-08:00

Bush is not letting the small arguments and differences between governments get in the way of US and European friendship. And the latter turn out their best mind to applaud the rhetoric of the US president as he seeks to justify an new wave of colonialism. The world is not a safe place, according the great man, and must be filled with pseudo-democratic regimes paying lip service to the west and, more importantly, feeding all their wealth into the mouths of the Americans and their 'friends'.

And the world is stupid enough to believe that this is their only salvation. Europe is expanding, the US is settling its army into every country where there is oil, energy and mineral wealth; the rest of world lies back and watches these movements as if they were dreaming. We have the creation of a feeder system, where the poor will always be the poor, and the rich will continue to be pampered by the broken hands of the children of the world' slum dwellers. Obviously the maxim 'we are all God's children' applies only within the walls of their landscaped gardens.

The world is descending in farce, dominated by political expedients, whose sugary words cannot hide their hypocrisy. Pakistan is receiving over 2.5 billion USD dollars in so-called aid; out of this half is for defence equipment; and this is a country the CIA predicts will be a failed state by 2015. And rhis is being done ostensibly to strengthen Pakistan; its borders and integrity must remain intact. Where does this leave countries like Iran and India, and the rest of South Asia?

Iran must not develop nuclear power, nor pursue nuclear weaponery. Why, because obviously the US and Europe wish to remain the arbiters of power in the world. What's the difference between one country's security and another's threat? No difference; they are all threats to the peace.

Syria out of Lebanon?

2005-02-18T01:34:00.000-08:00

What is the difference between the US occupying Afghanistan, Iraq, and through its military alliances having bases in every part of the world, and Syria being in Lebanon?

What is the difference between the US, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia being allies in the fight against terrorism, and Iran and Syria stating they will be protecting each other's interests?

How can one be termed a fight against evil and the other an axis of evil?

When they finish counting the votes

2005-02-01T14:47:00.000-08:00

perhaps they can count the number of Iraqi dead.?

What is the exact number? Does anyone care?

Burning Bush discovered on Mount Hegemon

2005-01-23T13:42:00.000-08:00

Reports coming in state that a burning bush has been discovered. Though the bush is clearly on fire witnesses say the bush seems whole, undamaged by the flames, and is cool to the touch. Some reports state that a voice has been heard in the heart of the bush, but these are unconfirmed as yet. Religious investigators are flying from the Temple of the White Mount to assess the veracity of the claims, but already large crowds have gathered to keep a vigil on what many are saying is a sign of the new millenium and a new coming. Several marching bands have also flown in and they are keeping the crowds entertained with renditions of 'And the Bushes keep marching on".

Rice lacks the basic decency to say "Sorry Iraq"

2005-01-21T08:41:00.000-08:00

Quoted from the Washington Times:

"The Iraqis lack certain capacities, and if we focus in this next period after the election on helping them to build those capacities beyond where they are now, I think we will have done a major part toward the day when less coalition help is needed."
CONDOLEEZZA RICE

What's she saying? The US has reduced Iraq to a rubble and she has the cheek to suggest this. Does she know that Iraqis are having to wait all day to get petrol for their cars, to get essential cooking oils and basics. And this in a country that has some of the largest oil reserves!

And who is she going to help? US companies or the Iraqi on the street?

Another Inauguration, another term for Mr Bush

2005-01-21T04:57:00.000-08:00

Another 4 years; listening to president Bush's speech it seemed that he was genuinely concerned with freedom around the globe, but is it not hypocrisy to suggest he is for freedom when his government is supporting regimes who are only too willing to crush the voices of their citizens. How will he push freedom into the prisons of Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and most of the Middle East where the US needs to maintain open oil routes?
And if he wants freedom then perhaps he can open the borders to Mexico, and legalise all those aliens employed in the US market. It's about time that Western leaders started to think through their words rather than employ them as headline catchers. The US is a great country, but it needs to clear it own backyard before it starts to clean up the world; perhaps signing up to the Kyoto Accord may be a start.

Japanese art of bathing

2005-01-18T04:05:00.000-08:00

Is there anyone out there who can give me some information on the art of bathing in Japan? I am writing a book in which there is a Japanese character and I want authentic background info. Thanks

Tsunami Pledges fall short

2005-01-16T11:35:00.000-08:00

Guardian Unlimited: Martin Bright, Nick Mathiason and Nico Hines
Sunday January 16, 2005
The Observer

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tsunami/story/0,15671,1391606,00.html

Intro to the article:

Western nations lauded for their generosity following the south east Asian tsunami disaster are failing to honour pledges of aid, leaving shortfalls of millions of pounds in the recovery programme.

Despite the huge response by international governments when the tidal wave hit on Boxing Day, the United Nations humanitarian appeal is still underfunded by a third, with just $723 million received out of a total of nearly $1 billion originally demanded and pledged.

According to an Oxfam report to be published this week, donations have followed the same pattern as pledges to other recent disasters such as the Bam earthquake in Iran and Hurricane Mitch in central America, where initial promises were not honoured.

//follow the link to read the full article

Tsunami or Not Tsunami.

2005-01-15T08:27:00.000-08:00

AFP | Re-posted January 7 2005
Top secret wartime experiments were conducted off the New Zealand coast to perfect a tidal wave bomb believed to be potentially as effective as the atom bomb, a report said yesterday citing declassified files.

Auckland University professor Thomas Leech set off a series of underwater explosions triggering mini-tidal waves at Whangaparaoa, just north of Auckland, in 1944 and 1945, the New Zealand Herald reported.

His work was considered so significant that US defense chiefs said if the project had been completed before the end of the war it could have played a role as effective as that of the atom bomb.

Details of the tsunami bomb, known as Project Seal, are contained in 53-year-old documents released by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Papers stamped "top secret" show the US and British military were eager for Seal to be developed in the post-war years too. They even considered sending Leech to Bikini Atoll to view the US nuclear tests and see if they had any application to his work.

He did not make the visit, although a member of the US board of assessors of atomic tests, Dr. Karl Compton, was sent to New Zealand.

"Dr. Compton is impressed with Professor Leech's deductions on the Seal project and is prepared to recommend to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that all technical data from the test relevant to the Seal project should be made available to the New Zealand Government for further study by Professor Leech," said a July 1946 letter from Washington to Wellington.

Leech, who died in his native Australia in 1973, was the university's dean of engineering from 1940 until 1950.

News of his being awarded a CBE in 1947 for research on a weapon led to speculation in newspapers around the world about what was being developed.

Though high-ranking New Zealand and US officers spoke out in support of the research, no details of it were released because the work was on-going.

A former colleague of Leech, Neil Kirton, told the New Zealand Herald that the experiments involved laying a pattern of explosives underwater to create a tsunami.

Small-scale explosions were carried out in the Pacific and off Whangaparaoa, which at the time was controlled by the army. It is unclear what happened to Project Seal once the final report was forwarded to Wellington Defense Headquarters late in the 1940s.

The bomb was never tested full scale, and Kirton doubts the public would have noticed the trials.
"Whether it could ever be resurrected ... Under some circumstances I think it could be devastating," he said.

2005-01-15T03:42:00.000-08:00

This mirrors the state of my thinking; always red, synapses aglow!

Help with Toni Morrison

2005-01-10T07:45:00.000-08:00

Have a study of Beloved to complete and barely out of the blocks!

The question is: How have the characters in the novel destroyed themselves in order to preserve themselves.

Yep, that's it. I choose it, so it's my fairly and squarely in my plate. But I need help. HELP! Are there any Morrison scholars out there?

Nothing is Free

2005-01-10T07:02:00.000-08:00

Boxing day, 2004:
One of the largest earthquakes in recorded history (measuring 8.9 on the Richter Scale), struck just off Sumatra, Indonesia, in a fault line running under the sea. The rupture caused massive waves, or tsunamis, that hurtled away from the epicenter,
reaching shores as far away as Africa. Over 150,000 people were killed (as of writing — this final figure is expected to rise further) and the livelihoods of millions were destroyed in over 10 countries. This has been one of the biggest natural disasters in recent human history.

Today’s top tsunami aid donors
Country/region Government* Private donations (Million dollars)
Australia 815.50 Asian Development Bank 675.00**
Germany 660.0 EU 529.30
Japan 500.00 USA 350.00
World Bank 250.00 Norway 181.90
Britain 96.00 Italy 95.00
China 83.00 Sweden 80.00
Canada 80.00 Denmark 76.83
Spain 68.02

UN OCHA spokesman, Robert Smith, told the Guardian:
“We should be very cautious about these figures [of massive aid pledges]. Let's put it this way. Large-scale disasters tend to result in mammoth pledges which... do not always materialise in their entirety. The figures look much higher than they really are. What will end up on the ground will be much less.”

Recent disasters
HURRICANE, Central America 1998
Pledged: £4.8bn
Delivered: £1.6bn

FLOODS, Mozambique 2000
Pledged: £214m
Delivered: £107m
EARTHQUAKE, Bam, Iran 2003
Pledged: £17.1m
Delivered: £9.5m

Some poor countries are told by the IMF and World Bank to pay around 20 to 25 percent of their export earnings towards debt repayment. Yet, “[n]o European country including Britain, France and Italy is repaying its loans at levels higher than four percent.

Relief organizations have calculated that as much as 75% of foreign aid is directly tied to trade access or other economic and political strategies. Some comes with so many strings attached, including preferential tendering on contracts and the hiring of consultants, that only 30-40% of dollar value is ever realized.

US policy dictates that much foreign aid be spent on costly imported medicines, weapons, agricultural produce or manufactured goods. Some European nations have a similar approach.

Total Third World debt continues to rise, despite ever-increasing payments, while aid is falling. The developing world now spends $13 on debt repayment for every $1 it receives.