UPPS

[nodice]

Suspected Nazi guard charged over 430,000 killings

BERLIN (Reuters) – Prosecutors in Germany have charged a suspected Nazi camp guard with helping to kill 430,000 Jews in the Holocaust and personally shooting 10 others.

State prosecutors in the western city of Dortmund said on Thursday charges had been filed against Samuel Kunz, 88, for assisting in the murder of Jews at Nazi death camp Belzec near the Polish city of Lublin between January 1942 and July 1943.

Kunz is also accused of shooting 10 Jews in two separate incidents, prosecutors' spokesman Christoph Goeke said.

Because Kunz was under 21 at the start of the period under investigation, the trial will probably be held in the youth chamber of a court in nearby Bonn, prosecutors said. No date has been set for the trial.

Kunz's case came to light during investigations into Ukrainian-born John Demjanjuk, who went on trial in Munich last year, charged with helping to kill 27,900 Jews in the Holocaust.

Like Demjanjuk, Kunz was born in what became the Soviet Union and served in the Red Army, becoming a camp guard after his capture by the Germans, prosecutors said.

Kunz is number three on the Simon Wiesenthal Center's list of most wanted Nazi war criminals. The charges against him sent out a powerful signal that perpetrators would be brought to justice, said the Center's chief Nazi-hunter Efraim Zuroff.

"We have an obligation to the victims of the Holocaust to prosecute the people who turned them into victims," Zuroff told Reuters. "And Kunz is one of those people."

Kunz appears to have remained unknown until recently because he was not an officer -- previously the focus of German investigators, said Zuroff, who has just written a book on the subject.

"He was totally under the radar screen in Germany. The good news is that prosecutors have become more proactive," he said.

After the war Kunz became a civil servant, Zuroff said.

Belzec was one of the camps created for Operation Reinhard, one of the most ruthless phases in the mass killing of Jews.

Kunz's trial would help to shed light on Belzec, which had remained relatively obscure because so few people survived the camps used for Operation Reinhard, said Zuroff.

"The only purpose of the camps was extermination," he said. "For anyone who arrived there in the morning it was 99.9 percent sure they'd be dead in the evening."
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Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

NM governor considers pardon for Billy the Kid

SANTA FE, N.M. – The showdown between Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid has fascinated the American public for nearly 130 years with its classic, Old West storyline of the frontier lawman hunting down the notorious gunslinger.

As it turns out, the feud isn't completely over.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson is considering granting a posthumous pardon to Billy the Kid, angering descendants of Garrett who call it an insult to recognize such a violent outlaw.

Three of the late lawman's grandchildren sent a letter to Richardson this week that asked him not to pardon the outlaw, saying such an act would represent an "inexcusable defamation" of Garrett.

"If Billy the Kid was living amongst us now, would you issue a pardon for someone who made his living as a thief and, more egregiously, who killed four law enforcement officers and numerous others?" the Garrett family wrote.

The issue has resurfaced because Richardson asked a New Mexico columnist earlier this year to check with historians to measure their support for issuing a pardon. The governor plans to meet with Garrett family members next week to discuss the issue.
Billy the Kid, his hunter, his hideout, his mom's grave: Click photo to see more

Garrett shot Billy the Kid down on July 14, 1881. Garrett tracked him after the outlaw escaped from the Lincoln County jail in a famous gunbattle that left two deputies dead.

The Kid's status as an Old West folk hero grew as countless books, films and songs were written about the gunslinger and his exploits. According to legend, he killed 21 people, one for each year of his life, but the New Mexico Tourism Department puts the total closer to nine.

The pardon dispute is the latest in a long-running fight over whether Garrett shot the real Kid or someone else and then lied about it. Some history buffs claim Billy the Kid didn't die in the shootout with Garrett and landed in Texas, where he went by "Brushy Bill" Roberts and died of a heart attack at age 90 in 1950.

Richardson joined the tussle in 2003 by supporting a plan by then-Lincoln County Sheriff Tom Sullivan to reinvestigate the century-old case.

The governor said he was willing to consider a pardon for the Kid — something the outlaw hoped for but never received from New Mexico territorial Gov. Lew Wallace.

"Governor Richardson has always said that he would consider making good on Governor Wallace's promise to Billy the Kid for a pardon," Richardson spokeswoman Alarie Ray-Garcia said Thursday. "He is aware of the Garrett family's concerns and will be meeting with them next week."

Susan Floyd Garrett of Santa Fe is one of the grandchildren who signed the letter to Richardson. She said the family decided to speak out because a pardon represents a "defamation of character" to their grandfather. She described the Kid as a "gangster."

"Everybody wants to mythologize Billy the Kid," she said.

Garrett and her brother, Jarvis Patrick Garrett, met Thursday with descendants of another key figure in the Kid's story — John Henry Tunstall, a rancher whose murder in 1878 triggered a bloody feud known as the Lincoln County War. Billy the Kid, also known as William Bonney, worked as a ranch hand for Tunstall.

Hilary Tunstall-Behrens of London, a great-nephew of Tunstall, said he's not backing a modern-day pardon for the Kid.

"I wouldn't join the cause," said Tunstall-Behrens, 83. "There is so much strong feelings."

Gale Cooper, an amateur historian who lives near Albuquerque, said a pardon by Richardson would be the "culmination of the hoax that contended Pat Garrett was a nefarious killer and Billy was not buried in his grave."

Cooper has written a book, "MegaHoax," to debunk claims that Garrett killed someone other than the Kid.

After serving as Lincoln County sheriff, Garrett's career soured. He ran unsuccessfully for higher political office, served as a customs collector, but ran into financial problems as a rancher.

He was shot and killed in 1908 in a dispute over his land.
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Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

Tokyo's oldest listed person, age 113, is missing

TOKYO – A 113-year-old woman listed as Tokyo's oldest person is missing, officials said Tuesday, days after the city's oldest man was found dead and mummified.

Fusa Furuya, born in July 1897, does not live at the address in the Japanese capital where she is registered and her whereabouts are unknown, Tokyo Suginami ward official Hiroshi Sugimoto said.

Her disappearance surfaced just days after the shocking discovery last week that Tokyo's oldest man, who would have been 111 years old, had actually been dead for decades.

Officials said that they had not personally contacted the two oldest people for decades, despite their listing as the longest-living in the city. They apparently found out that the man was dead, and Furuya missing, when they began updating their records ahead of a holiday in honor of the elderly that is to be observed next month.

Officials visited Furuya's apartment last Friday, but her 79-year-old daughter said she has never lived there.

The daughter, whose name was not disclosed, told officials she was not aware of her mother's registration at that address and said she thought her mother was just outside Tokyo with her younger brother, with whom she has lost touch.

But when officials checked that address they found a vacant lot.

Officials are also looking for a 106-year-old man who is missing in Nagoya, central Japan, Kyodo News agency reported. The Asahi newspaper said three more centenarians were unaccounted for.

The number of centenarians in Japan has been rising for decades.

Japan has 40,399 people aged 100 or older, including 4,800 in Tokyo, according to an annual health ministry report last year marking a Sept. 21 holiday honoring the elderly. Each centenarian receives a letter and a gift from a local government office — usually by mail.

In the earlier case, police are investigating the family of the man found dead and mummified on suspicion of abandonment and swindling his pension money. Sogen Kato is believed to have died 32 years ago after he had retreated to his bedroom, saying he wanted to be a living Buddha.

Health and Welfare Minister Akira Nagatsuma has urged officials to find a better way to monitor centenarians, but local officials say it is hard to keep track because their families are often reluctant to receive official visits.

Many also send their elderly relatives to nursing homes without doing the proper paperwork.
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Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

Haitian-born singer Wyclef Jean officially launched his bid to run Haiti only a day ago, but he's already facing criticism from a fellow celebrity-activist — and he's facing a onetime bandmate's embarrassing endorsement of Jean's chief rival, too.

Actor Sean Penn, whose charity has been running a Haitian survivor camp of 50,000 since the killer earthquake, said on CNN that he's "suspicious" of Jean's bid.

"This is somebody who's going to receive an enormous amount of support from the United States, and I have to say I'm very suspicious of it, simply because he, as an ambassador at large, has been virtually silent. For those of us in Haiti, he has been a nonpresence," he said. You can watch Penn's comments below:

Penn also brought up allegations that Jean mishandled $400,000 of the $9 million he raised for his charity, Yele Haiti, after the quake, and mentioned the "vulgar entourage of vehicles" in which Jean traveled in the country.

[Photos: See a slideshow of Wyclef Jean, in Haiti and onstage]

Jean stepped down from the foundation before announcing his run in a glitch-filled interview Thursday night with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. He told CNN the youth of Haiti want him to run.

"I just want Sean Penn to fully understand that I am a Haitian, born in Haiti, and I've been coming to my country ever since a child," Jean told the Associated Press in an interview (the Penn section comes about half a minute in, at the 0:36 mark):

According to the AP story, Jean continued: "He might just want to pick up the phone and meet, so he fully understands the man."

The Smoking Gun uncovered this week that Jean owes over $2 million in back taxes to the IRS. (The Upshot has a guide to the many financial scandals dogging Jean.)

Meanwhile, Jean's own former bandmate Pras, who was in the Fugees with Jean and Lauryn Hill, endorsed Jean's opponent in a stone-cold statement. "I endorse Michel Martell as the next president of Haiti because he is the most competent candidate for the job," Pras said.

But before voters weigh in on questions of relative competence, Haiti's election board will have to decide whether Jean qualifies for the job. To run for president, you must have lived in Haiti for the five consecutive years before the election and never have held foreign citizenship. Jean moved to the United States when he was 9, and the AP says that by most accounts he has not fulfilled the residency requirement.

Jean's wealth — regardless of any financial improprieties — could either be a boon for his campaign in the poverty-stricken country or a reminder of how different, and possibly out of touch, he is compared with the average Haitian. "His estimated annual income of up to $18 million is more than 13,000 times more than the average Haitian sees in a year — assuming that person even has a job," the Associated Press points out.

The election is scheduled for November.
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Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

'Star Trek' Actress Says Martin Luther King Jr. Influenced the Show

Nichelle Nichols, who famously played Lt. Uhura on the original "Star Trek," credits Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for persuading her to stay on the TV show.

At a television press tour panel for the second season of PBS's "Pioneers of Television" series, which will air in 2011, Nichols shared that she had wanted to leave the show after the first season. Not because she didn't like Gene Roddenberry's visionary show, but because her heart belonged to Broadway: "I took 'Star Trek' because I thought it might be a nice adjunct to my resume and I'd get to Broadway faster. ... I thought it was going nowhere for me."

But then Nichols met King at a NAACP dinner, where he was introduced as her "biggest fan." King urged her to continue her role. "He said what Gene Roddenberry had done was to establish who we were in the 23rd century," she said. Nichols' role as Uhura, first a bridge officer and later promoted to lieutenant, was one of the first non-servant roles played by an African-American woman on TV.



King told Nichols that not only was he an admirer of Roddenberry's groundbreaking show, but it was the only show he and his wife would allow their three young children to watch. And more important, it was helping to change the world. Nichols says he told her: "You are part of history, and it's your responsibility, even though it wasn't your career choice."



After taking King's advice and staying on the show, Nichols was part of another TV first. On the Nov. 22, 1968, episode, "Plato's Stepchildren," Nichols' Lt. Uhura famously kissed Capt. James T. Kirk, played by William Shatner. It was the first interracial kiss to be shown on a scripted TV show in the U.S.



The kiss had both fans and critics. In Nichols' 1994 autobiography, "Beyond Uhura: 'Star Trek' and Other Memories," she quotes from a letter she says she got from a white Southern man, who wrote: "I am totally opposed to the mixing of the races. However, anytime a red-blooded American boy like Captain Kirk gets a beautiful dame in his arms that looks like Uhura, he ain't gonna fight it."

Other notable people who've called Nichols a role model include NASA's Dr. Mae Jemison, who credits Nichols with inspiring her to become an astronaut, and Whoopi Goldberg, who played Guinan on "Star Trek: The Next Generation."

"Star Trek" holds a place in history as a progressive influence on the civil rights struggle in the 1960s. Roddenberry has long been credited with creating one of the first mainstream TV shows that envisioned a diverse world where all people were treated as equals.
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Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

The top story so far during the week-long Hawaiian International Billfish Tournament is the enormous marlin that got away, but not before a wild struggle that included an attack on the press boat, providing the event photographer with the photo opportunity of a lifetime.

Jon Schwartz was aboard the Chiripa off Kailua-Kona, waiting for one of the teams to hookup, when the marlin struck one of two lures his crew was trolling behind the boat.

It was late afternoon and tournament action had slowed. Schwartz, according to his blog, "was sacked out on the couch, my four cameras strewn across the floor of the salon," when he awoke to the sound of line screaming from the reel.

"We'd been pulling those things for the past two days with no hits, and I basically forgot they were there," he wrote, in reference to the lures.

What he thought might be a tuna turned out to be a Pacific blue marlin estimated to weigh more than 550 pounds. It leaped and started "careening through the air in every conceivable direction, throwing massive walls of water with every move of its huge tail, and leaving car-size holes in the water when it came crashing down," Schwartz recalled.

Crewman K.J. Robinson had taken the rod and was fighting the billfish. Schwartz clutched his cameras and ran out and began to shoot.

Not long afterward, the marlin charged the boat. "Now mind you, I am watching all of this through my 300-millimeter telephoto lens. I was so focused on getting the shot that I probably lost sense of what was really happening in terms of how the fish was behaving," Schwartz wrote.

The photo at the top of this post was the last image Schwartz captured before impact. The marlin slammed with a thud into the side of the boat, but sped off and continued to fight for its freedom.

Robinson, however, seemed close to winning the battle 20 minutes later. He had reeled the magnificent fish close enough to yell for the tagging stick, so the marlin could be tagged and released. But just then the line went slack. Robinson reeled in the lure and found that the hook had broken under the weight of the struggle.

[Photos:Flashback photo: Massive whale crushes yacht]

The fight was over, but Schwartz had chronicled an episode that astonished even longtime HIBT veterans who were nearby in other boats.

"Many of them have been fishing for giant marlin their whole lives and said that they had never seen anything like it, and they'd never seen a fish act like that or move that fast," Schwartz wrote. "They also said they were worried about the guys in the boat!"
_________________
Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

Kad profesori bacaju knjige

Ljubiša Rajić, profesor Filološkog fakulteta, kaže za "Politiku" da ta institucija kuburi s prostorom za knjige, pa je čak odbio poklon iz Osla od 6.000 knjiga.

Svake godine sam prinuđen da izbacim jedan broj časopisa i knjiga, čak odbijamo i poklone, kaže Rajić.

"Da to nismo radili do sada bismo imali preko 22.000 knjiga i bili jedna od najvećih skandinavističkih biblioteka u Evropi. Mislim da smo po broju studenata trenutno drugi po veličini", kaže profesor na grupi za skandinavistiku na Filološkom fakultetu.

"Prošle godine sam prvi put onima koji su želeli da nam poklone knjige napisao da to ne rade. Urednik univerzitetskog izdavačkog preduzeća u Oslu, koji je inače izuzetno veliki specijalizovani izdavač, ponudio je recimo da iznajmi kombi i pokloni nam 6.000 knjiga iz svoje privatne biblioteke, sada je u penziji i ja sam morao da se zahvalim i da ga odbijem. Jer ako donesem 30 knjiga, 30 moram da izbacim, a ako donesem 6.000, onda moram da izbacim nas. Sličan problem imaju i druge biblioteke na fakultetu. Takav je odnos države prem državnim fakultetima. Imaju za dekorativno osvetljenje Hrama, a štede na knjigama", kaže profesor Rajić.

On je jedan od najodlikovanijih profesora u Srbiji, član Akademije nauka Norveške. Ovu biblioteku osnovao je 1977. godine. Kaže da poslednjih godina deo knjiga bukvalno završi u kontejneru, a deo spasu studenti na početku godine. Profesor ima običaj da ostavi knjige u čitaonici, pa većinu uzmu studenti koji su gladni literature koja je izuzetno skupa i ne nalazi se na svakom koraku poput engleske. On dodaje i da mu nije pravo što se na uštrb knjiga na fakultetu širi nekoliko studentskih klubova, kojima, prema njegovom mišljenju, tu nije mesto.

"Pokušali smo sa pismima, apelima, ali znate već kako to ide – mi pišemo upravi, oni Rektoratu, Rektorat Ministarstvu i tako ukrug, već decenijama... Nemamo ni dovoljno učionica, držimo nastavu od osam ujutro do 10 uveče i subotom i nedeljom. I ne znam ko je smislio da se pređe na šest ispitnih rokova. Sad ćemo biti u situaciji da u svakom roku organizujemo dupli rok, za jesenje i za prolećne predmete jer su uglavnom svi jednosemestralni, pa će studenti polagati i po dva ispita u istom danu, što nije po zakonu", kaže on.

Profesor kaže da bi prvo morala da se uradi drastična racionalizacija univerzitetske mreže, "jer je besmisleno to što imamo oko 20 univerziteta, a dobrog nastavnog kadra za najviše 2,5 državna univerziteta, jedan univerzitet umetnosti i možda za četvrtinu privatnog".
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Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

Advertisers Asked to Flee From '(Bleep)'

NEW YORK — William Shatner, of all people, stands at the center of television's latest moral battleground.

He's the cantankerous lead character in a new CBS sitcom, "(Bleep) My Dad Says," that is scheduled to air on Thursday nights. Rather than "bleep," the title uses a series of symbols that suggest the expletive included in the book title on which the series is based.

The Parents Television Council last week sent letters to 340 companies that advertise frequently on TV urging them to stay away from the show unless the name is changed. The group argues that the title is indecent.

"Parents really do care about profanity when their kids are watching TV," said PTC President Tim Winter. "All parents? No, but something like 80 or 90 percent of parents. Putting an expletive in the title of a show is crossing new territory, and we can't allow that to happen on our watch."

Winter's letter to companies asks bluntly: "When you advertise on television, do you want your customers to associate your product with (bleep)?"

His letter uses the expletive, not the word "bleep." Winter uses the real word 10 times in two pages.

But how much do parents care?

Parental concern about profane language on TV is clearly waning, according to the Rasmussen Reports pollsters. Rasmussen's survey of 1,000 American adults taken July 27-28 found that 57 percent said there was too much inappropriate content on television and radio. Sex and violence is the main concern; only 9 percent of those polled pointed to profanity as the biggest problem area.

Top CBS entertainment executive Nina Tassler said the network really hasn't gotten any push-back from anyone besides the PTC about the title, although the complaints have "created a lot of buzz" about the series.

Translation: Any attention is good attention, when you're trying to sell something new.

To many people, it's not a big deal.

Shatner is among them.

"Do you know what I wish?" he said. "I wish they would call it (bleep). ...

"I've got grandchildren. I brought up three girls. They've all got kids. OK? And you say, 'Boopy-doo-doo, you've got to make poo-poo. Come on. Make poo-poo in the toilet.' Eventually, poo-poo becomes (bleep). 'Go take a (bleep), you'll feel better.' You say that to your kids. The word (bleep) is around us. It isn't a terrible term. It's a natural function. Why are we pussyfooting?"

Shatner didn't say "bleep," by the way.

To little notice, the Investigation Discovery network said last week it would premiere a new series — "Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?" — on Aug. 25. The nonfiction series follows couples in which one spouse has a shocking secret, such as being a robber or bigamist. The actual word "bleep" is used.

Network President Henry Schleiff said the title fit the series' irreverent tone. Being a small network, Investigation Discovery needs to do things that will attract audiences, he said. "Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry?" will air at 10 p.m. ET and its target audience is women 25 to 54.

Shortly after the CBS series was announced in May, the PTC threatened to challenge the broadcast license of CBS stations that air "(Bleep) My Dad Says." The show hasn't aired yet, so there have been no challenges.

The council increasingly believes that advertiser boycotts are an attractive approach to seeking changes, Winter said.

"It's follow the money," he said. "Even though we are absolutely fighting with every ounce of power, we have to preserve the broadcast decency laws, we don't know if they're going to be good anymore. We don't know if they're going to be around much longer."

He said he's heard from a dozen or so advertisers that agree with his "(Bleep) My Dad Says" plea. All requested anonymity, he said.

Gauging the effectiveness of such campaigns is difficult. Winter cited the 2008 CBS series "Swing Town," featuring spouse-swapping couples, where mainstream advertisers began slipping away after the council pointed out the content. The series died. But it's almost impossible to really tell if advertisers fled because of the show's content, because it was doing poorly in the ratings or because of other reasons.

Most prime-time commercial time is bought in blocks, where an advertiser's products will appear within many different shows; a company would need to specifically request that its ads not appear within a specific show. CBS would not discuss what its advertisers have been saying about Shatner's series.

"We're hoping that the egos in the corporate suite at CBS will recognize that they did make a mistake and will change the name," Winter said. "I spent 15 years at NBC. If there's a show that comes in with no advertisers, there would be a change. If the show comes in with advertising, then I think it's appropriate for the public to know who's associated with (bleep)."

In these days of video games, movies and dozens of television networks, policing language for children has become a very difficult prospect for parents.

"They may be unrealistic in the world we live in today," Schleiff said.
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Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

Teen pageant winner decrowned after dyeing hair brown

Olivia O'Neil holds up a photo of her short reign as a blond Miss Teen Wanganui (center). Photo courtesy of New Zealand Herald
Fifteen-year-old Olivia O’Neil recently won the title of Miss Teen Wanganui, but her reign was short-lived. According to The New Zealand Herald, Facebook photos surfaced of her newly dyed brown hair (she was blond when she was crowned), and pageant organizer Barbara Osborne was incensed. "Is that a wig?" Osborne wrote. "I hope it is, don’t give me heart failure."

• Photos: See Olivia with her blond hair and crown

Olivia admitted that she had in fact dyed her blond hair dark, and said that if she wasn't allowed to dye her hair, then maybe pageant life wasn't for her. “Well you better decide, miss. Hand over your crown with an attitude like that. I’m sure someone will step into your place with manners," said Osborne, adding that O'Neil "would not go far in this world."

• Flashback: Miss USA contestants create controversy

Olivia O'Neil pre-dye. Photo courtesy of Miss Wanganui

Olivia O'Neil pre-dye. Photo courtesy of Miss Wanganui
Olivia gave up her crown and went straight to the Herald. "I don’t think you can tell a 15-year-old that they aren’t going to go very far in life," she said. "It’s hurtful. She was always really harsh on the girls. And when she says things like 'present yourself better,' 'wear lots of makeup,' 'do 20 sit-ups,' it gets to you after a while."

Pageant spokesman Jevan Goulter confirmed with The Herald that her crown was stripped because of the hair dye. "The expectation in holding the crown [was] that she maintain the image she had when she won it," said Goulter. But is that an expectation or a clearly stated rule? He insisted that O'Neil's claims of harsh treatment behind the scenes are an exaggeration. "In a beauty pageant, it’s not about sugar coating and providing lip service to the girls. They should be treated the same way as in any other beauty pageant in the world."

We reached out to Jevan Goulter ourselves for a comment on O'Neil's standing. He responded, "I would like to make very clear that Olivia never had her crown taken off--she gave it back. The organization never removed it from her." Goulter continued, "It was never about her changing her hair color. It was about the attitude and the communication breakdown." He said the pageant has offered Olivia and her father the opportunity for a live television debate to discuss the matter. "We would like to see them accept this offer if they are completely confident about everything that they have said."
_________________
Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

Smile! Aerial images being used to enforce laws

RIVERHEAD, N.Y. – On New York's Long Island, it's used to prevent drownings. In Greece, it's a tool to help solve a financial crisis. Municipalities update property assessment rolls and other government data with it. Some in law enforcement use it to supplement reconnaissance of crime suspects.

High-tech eyes in the sky — from satellite imagery to sophisticated aerial photography that maps entire communities — are being employed in creative new ways by government officials, a trend that civil libertarians and others fear are eroding privacy rights.

"As technology advances, we have to revisit questions about what is and what is not private information," said Gregory Nojeim, senior counsel at the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Democracy and Technology.

Online services like Google and Bing give users very detailed images of practically any location on the planet. Though some images are months old, they make it possible for someone sitting in a living room in Brooklyn to look in on folks in Dublin or Prague, or even down the street in Flatbush.

Sean Walter, an attorney and first-term town supervisor in Riverhead, N.Y., insists he is a staunch defender of privacy rights and the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure.

But Walter supported using Google Earth images to help identify about 250 Riverhead homes where residents failed to get building permits certifying their swimming pools complied with safety regulations. All but about 10 eventually came to town hall.

Walter said the focus was safety, not filling town coffers with permit money, which averaged about $150 depending on the size of the pool. A 4-foot fence is required, gates have to be self-closing and padlocked. All pools must have an alarm that sounds when sensors are activated indicating someone is in the pool.

"We have a town employee who is a personal friend of mine whose son was found face-down in a swimming pool," Walter said. "He's OK, but I don't want to be the supervisor that attends the funeral of a child that drowns in a swimming pool."

Lillie Coney, associate director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C., fears that while Walter's focus was safety, other municipalities may use the images to check for other transgressions.

"It's only a matter of time," Coney said. "There are lots of ordinances where this can be used. In California, where they deal with brush fires, could a satellite image show if a homeowner has brush growing too close to his home? What if someone has junk cars on their lot in violation of ordinances?"

Riverhead resident Tony Villar said the town's action "could be considered Big Brother looking down at you."

"But at the same time, if the government can listen to your telephone conversations in the name of terrorism," he said.

Standing outside the Riverhead Public Library, Walter Casey of Flanders agreed. "I think it's a great intrusion on people's privacy; they should use it on the politicians' backyards."

The New York Civil Liberties Union's Donna Lieberman said there are ways to enforce requirements "without this sort of engaging in Big Brother on high. Technically, it may be lawful, but in the gut it does not feel like a free society kind of operation."

In Greece, officials are struggling with a debt crisis and have sought to catch tax-evaders by using satellite photos to spot undeclared swimming pools — indicators of taxable wealth.

Google spokeswoman Kate Hurowitz said in a statement that Google Earth acquires its information from a broad range of commercial and public sources.

"The same information is available to anyone who buys it from these widely available public sources," she said. "Google's freely available technology has been used for a variety of purposes, ranging from travel planning to scientific research to emergency response, rescue and relief in natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the Haiti earthquake."

At least nine lawsuits seeking class-action status have been filed in the United States, contending that Google collected fragments of e-mails, Web-surfing data and other information from unencrypted wireless networks as it photographed neighborhoods for its "Street View" feature. Google is also facing investigations or inquiries in 38 states as well as in several countries, including Germany, Spain and Australia.

The Mountain View, Calif., company said in May it had inadvertently collected the data from public Wi-Fi networks in more than 30 countries, but maintains it never used the data and hasn't broken any laws.

Google Earth posts updates about every two weeks on selected images from its providers, with images ranging from a few weeks to a few years old.

For big cities like Chicago, tracking illegal pools, porches and decks through Google Earth requires frequent imaging updates, so the Chicago buildings department uses it as a reference tool on a case-by-case scenario, said spokesman Bill McCaffrey.

"We're not opposed to adopting new technology, but until it advances where we can get photos of more recent updates, we don't have any plans to implement it," he said.

Smaller towns such as Champaign and Naperville, Ill. opted to use satellite images as reference only.

"Mostly it's so we can see that we're going to the right building when we go to do inspections," said Ann Michalsen, lead inspector for code enforcement in Naperville.

It's also important for police officers to know they have the right destination when executing search warrants, said Joe Pollini, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. "Most departments would use it as a preliminary step, but they would also use active surveillance with their own aircraft," he said.

The nonprofit group Consumer Watchdog is seeking to determine the extent of the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration's use of Google Earth in its investigations, spokesman John M. Simpson said last week.

Federal contracting records reviewed by Consumer Watchdog show that the FBI has spent more than $600,000 on Google Earth since 2007. The Drug Enforcement Administration, meanwhile, has spent more than $67,000.

Simpson has called on Congress to investigate how U.S. law enforcement and intelligence communities are using Google technologies. The group says it has concerns that data could be used for racial profiling.

The New York Police Department's Real Time Crime Center uses satellite imaging and computerized mapping systems to identify geographic patterns of crimes and to pinpoint possible addresses where suspects might flee — information relayed to investigators on the street. The NYPD also has two major security initiatives where a network of public and private cameras will eventually link and be searchable.

The NYCLU has filed lawsuits in opposition.

"We live in an environment where we are told that if it's on camera, if you have a video record, that will make us safer," Lieberman said. "That may be appealing, but it is an unproven assertion. There's no evidence of that. Yet we see millions, if not billions, of post-9/11 money has gone to law enforcement for installing cameras in every conceivable nook and cranny."
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Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

BiH: Nećemo vratiti stanove Srbima

Banja Luka -- Odluka Suda u Strazburu u "slučaju Đokić" ne može primeniti na hiljade stanova koji su pre rata bili u vlasništvu Srba, kaže premijer FBIH Mustafa Mujezinović.

"Ne pada nam na pamet da uzimamo od onih koji su branili BiH i dajemo onima koji su je napadali, po cenu bilo čega", rekao je Mujezinović.

On je kazao da je vlada FBiH dobila pismo u kojem se navodi da su, što se tiče predstavnice Saveta ministara BiH pred Sudom u Strazburu, iscrpljene sve mogućnosti, te da bi njen kredibilitet bio ugrožen ako bi Vlada FBiH podnela žalbu na presudu ovog suda u predmetu "Branimir Đokić protiv BiH".

"Međutim, treba sesti i razgovarati, treba sve argumente pokupiti, jer ovo nije presuda za 60.000 ili 100.000 evra. Ovo je presuda za nekoliko stotina hiljada, možda i miliona evra i za jedan mir onih koji su najviše dali za ovu zemlju", kazao je Mujezinović.

On je ranije kazao da FBiH može doživeti finansijski kolaps ako odluka Suda u Strazburu u "slučaju Đokić" bude primenjena na više od 20.000 vojnih stanova koji su pre rata bili u vlasništvu Srba.

Vlada FBiH zadužila je na prošloj sednici predstavnicu Saveta ministara BiH pred Evropskim sudom za ljudska prava da podnese zahtev za preispitivanje presude u predmetu "Branimir đokić protiv BiH".

Sud za ljudska prava u Strazburu u maju je odlučio da BiH Đokiću, bivšem oficiru JNA, u roku tri meseca od dana kada presuda postane konačna, isplatiti 60.000 evra na ime materijalne i 5.000 evra nematerijalne štete, kao i 200 evra za troškove.

Nemogućnost da se Đokiću vrati predratni stan u Sarajevu, prema odluci Suda u Strazburu, predstavlja kršenje odredaba Evropske konvencije o zaštiti ljudskih prava i osnovnih sloboda, odnosno kršenje člana koji se odnosi na pravo na imovinu.
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Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

Tužilaštvo (ne) zna latinicu

Zaječar -- Zamenik osnovnog tužioca u Zaječaru odbio da odgovori na zahtev novinarke B92 napisan latinicom, jer "ne razume jezik" i "čita samo ćirilicu".

U Republičkom javnom tužilaštvu kažu da je reč o nesporazumu, dok poverenik za informacije od javnog značaja upozorava da je takav stav neprihvatljiv u demokratskom društvu.

Kako je tužilac bio na godišnjem odmoru, njegov zamenik Dejan Stojanović, inače diplomirani pravnik, rekao je da ne zna latinicu.

Zahtev novinarke Sonje Kamenković da joj se odgovori na pitanje dokle se stiglo sa slučajem pucnjave u kafiću "Plus" u Zaječaru kada je pripadnik policije koji nije bio na dužnosti ranio Aleksandra Marića, ostao je bez odgovora Osnovnog tužilaštva u tom gradu.

"Moram da priznam da sam se malo zbunila i pitala ga na kom sam jeziku poslala prvi zahtev, na šta je on odgovorio da ne zna koji je jezik u pitanju, jer je napisan latinicom i ponovio da, ukoliko želim da mi odgovori, prekucam na ćirilicu i pošaljem ponovo faksom", kaže Sonja Kamenković, novinarka B92.

"Mene je to zbunilo, pošto sam do sada više desetina ili stotina puta slala zahteve raznim državnim institucijama i Višem tužilaštvu u Zaječaru i svi su uglavnom bili na latinici, jer je to osnovna opcija kad otvorite dokument za kucanje", navodi ona.

Republičko tužilaštvo već je stupilo u kontakt s Osnovnim tužilaštvom u Zaječaru. Portparol Tomo Zorić kaže da je reč o nesporazumu.

"Mogu da izjavim da mi je žao ako se novinarka vaše televizije uvredila. Mislim da kolega nije imao tu nameru i da je u pitanju nesporazum", kaže Tomo Zorić, portparol Republičkog javnog tužilaštva.

"Kao što vam je poznato, Tužilaštvo sva novinarska pitanja, krivične prijave i druge podneske prima i na ćiriličnom i na latiničnom pismu kao i na jeziku nacionalnih manjina. Ali, shodno Zakonu o upotrebi jezika i pisma u službenoj upotrebi je ćirilica i sva korespondencija između državnih organa odvija se ćirilicom", rekao je on.

Poverenik za informacije od javnog značaja Rodoljub Šabić kaže da je reakcija zamenika osnovnog tužioca u Zaječaru nepojmljiva za demokratsko društvo.

"Takva jedna reakcija je paradoks. Nije valjda da bi gospodin tužilac odbio da primi prijavu za višestruko ubistvo samo zato što je pisana latinicom? To je jedan nonsens", kaže Šabić.

"S druge strane, Srbija ima razloga da se ponosi Zakonom o slobodnom pristupu informacijama, na koji se i novinarka B92 verovatno pozivala kad je tražila informacije. Taj zakon jemči pravo svima, ne samo građanima Srbije nego i strancima da traže pristup informacijama. Postoje ljudi koji objektivno ne mogu komunicirati sa organima vlasti na ćirilici", kaže on.

Sonja Kamenković je naknadno zameniku tužioca poslala novi zahtev sa pitanjima šta se dešava sa krivičnim prijavama ukoliko su napisane latinicom i s pitanjem da li on ne zna ili neće da čita latinicu, ali odgovora do danas nema.
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Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

Miners' deep motivation: Stay slim or stay in mine

COPIAPO, Chile – Put on a show. Play cards. Sing. Get exercise. And whatever you do, don't get too fat to squeeze through the escape tunnel.

Chilean officials are offering lots of advice to help 33 miners trapped underground keep their health and sanity as they wait to be rescued. One thing they're not sharing with the men is their estimate that it could take four months to drill them out of an emergency shelter nearly half a mile below the surface.

"I hope that nobody commits the imprudence of telling them something like this. We have asked the families to be careful in the letters they write," Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter said Wednesday. "It's going to be very hard. We're going to have to give them a great deal of attention, care and psychological support."

The miners were trapped by an Aug. 5 collapse, and rescuers established contact with them Sunday by drilling a 6-inch-wide hole to the shelter. That hole and two others are now lifelines, delivering supplies, communications and fresh air to the miners while they wait for the escape tunnel to be drilled.

The miners have a general idea that their rescue will take time but haven't been given the details, Hinzpeter said.

Some mining experts believe it will take far less than four months to dig the tunnel.

Larry Grayson, a professor of mining engineering at Penn State University, said it could take just 25 to 30 days to reach the miners. Gustavo Lagos, a professor at the Catholic University of Chile's Center for Mining, estimated the job could be done in two months if all goes well and four months if it all bogs down.

Lilianett Gomez, whose father, Mario, is trapped in the mine, said she thinks the miners know their rescue won't be quick. "They know how long it will take for them to be rescued. As miners they know the work very well," she said.

The rescue team isn't ready to let families talk directly with the miners yet, but Chilean President Sebastian Pinera asked their leader, Luis Urzua, in a call Tuesday what they needed.

"That you rescue us as quickly as possible, and that you don't abandon us," the shift foreman responded. "Don't leave us alone. ... We hope that all of Chile shows its strength to help us get out of this hell.

"You will not be left alone. You have not been alone. The government is with you all. The entire country is with you all," Pinera said.

Urzua, 54, also described the collapse.

"It was frightening. We felt like the mountain was coming down on us, without knowing what happened. Thanks to God, we still hadn't gathered together to go out to have lunch. ... At 20 minutes before 2 (their usual lunch hour), the mountain came down on top of us."

"For about four or five hours, we couldn't see a thing. After that we saw that we were trapped by an enormous rock that filled the entire passage of the tunnel."

The miners made a two-day emergency food supply last more than two weeks as they waited for contact from the outside world, and also conserved power from their headlamps before rescuers sent them LED lights.

They remain days away from being able to eat solid food because they went hungry for so long. Rescuers have sent down a high-energy glucose gel, and on Wednesday they gave the miners cans of a milk-like drink enriched with calories and protein.

Even though the miners have undoubtedly lost a significant amount of weight, Chilean officials are trying to ensure they don't bulk up before their rescue. They say the miners will have to be no more than 35 inches (90 centimeters) around the waist to make it out of the tunnel.

The escape tunnel will be about 26 inches (66 centimeters) wide — the diameter of a typical bike tire — and stretch for more than 2,200 feet (688 meters) through solid rock. That's more than 80 inches (207 centimeters) in circumference, but rescuers also have to account for the space of the basket that will be used to pull the miners to safety.

Most Americans couldn't meet the 35-inch limit. The average U.S. waistline is 39.7 inches for men and 37 inches for women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Chile's health minister, Dr. Jaime Manalich, said officials are planning exercise and other activities to keep the miners healthy and trim, using some of the passages that remain accessible to the miners.

"We hope to define a secure area where they can establish various places — one for resting and sleeping, one for diversion, one for food, another for work," Manalich said.

Establishing a daily and nightly routine is important, the minister said, adding that having fun also will be critical. The rescue team is creating an entertainment program "that includes singing, games of movement, playing cards. We want them to record songs, to make videos, to create works of theater for the family."

The Chilean government has asked NASA for advice on "life sciences" issues and technology that can help the miners, and the space agency will do what it can, said NASA spokesman Mike Curie.

The gold and copper mine runs like a corkscrew for more than 4 miles (7 kilometers) under a barren mountain in northern Chile's Atacama Desert.

Outside, Chilean flags are everywhere — including the torn one that became a symbol of Chile's resistance when a young man was photographed holding it just after a massive earthquake rocked the South American nation last year. That flag was raised above 33 others that sit on a hill over the mine, each representing one of the trapped men.

The mood is optimistic among family members, many of whom are camped at the mine site.

"All the guys with him have an experience of surviving. Their work is survival," Urzua's cousin, Jorge Barahona, said Wednesday as he warmed his hands at a campfire.

Some family members filed suit Wednesday against the mine's owner, Compania Minera San Esteban. Attorney Remberto Valdes, representing the miner Raul Bustos, accused the company of fraud and serious injury based on the lack of safety measures like the escape tunnel that the state-owned Codelco copper company is now preparing to dig. Four municipal governments in the area are preparing a similar claim.

On Aug. 31, the men will have been trapped underground longer than any other miners in history. Last year, three miners survived 25 days trapped in a flooded mine in southern China. Few other rescues have taken more than two weeks.
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Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

Facebook post gets Detroit-area juror in hot water

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. – A judge removed a juror from a trial in suburban Detroit after the young woman wrote on Facebook that the defendant was guilty. The problem? The trial wasn't over. Hadley Jons, of Warren just north of Detroit, could be found in contempt when she returns to the Macomb County circuit court Thursday.

Jons, 20, was a juror in a case of resisting arrest. On Aug. 11, a day off from the trial and before the prosecution finished its case, she wrote on Facebook that it was "gonna be fun to tell the defendant they're guilty."

[Photos: Latest Facebook updates]

The post was discovered by defense lawyer Saleema Sheikh's son.

Circuit Judge Diane Druzinski confronted Jons the next day and replaced her with an alternate.

"You don't know how disturbing this is," Druzinski said, according to The Macomb Daily.

A message seeking comment was left for Jons on Monday.

"I would like to see her get some jail time, nothing major, a few hours or overnight," Sheikh said. "This is the jury system. People need to know how important it is."

Sheikh's son, Jaxon Goodman, discovered the comment while checking jurors' names on the Internet. He works in his mother's law office.

"I'm really proud of him," Sheikh said.

Without Jons, the jury convicted Sheikh's client of a felony but couldn't agree on a separate misdemeanor charge.
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Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining

[nodice]

Devet miliona dolara u rezervoaru

Policija u Salvadoru pronašla je devet miliona dolara u gotovini u rezervoaru za naftu zakopanom na ranču blizu glavnog grada San Salvadora.

Prebrojavanje novčanica od 100, 50 i 20 američkih dolara, kojima je bio napunjen rezervoar, trajalo je puna tri dana, navela je policija.

Policija dodaje da se novac može dovesti u vezu sa trgovcima drogom. Ovo "brdo" dolara nađeno je noću na ranču u gradu Penitente Abaho, oko 62 kilometra od metropole, dodaje AP.

Američka ambasada je navela da je novac otkriven uz pomoć Uprave za suzbijanje droge.

Salvador koristi američki dolar kao svoju nacionalnu valutu.
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Don't piss down my back and tell me it's raining