the/diseased/republik

according to a recent study, Biologists have found that plants are able to recognize their own relatives. "Researchers at McMaster University have found that plants get fiercely competitive when forced to share their pot with strangers of the same species, but they're accommodating when potted with their siblings. [...] Though they lack cognition and memory, the study shows plants are capable of complex social behaviours such as altruism towards relatives, says Dudley. Like humans, the most interesting behaviours occur beneath the surface."

A gigantic bird-like dinosaur weighing as much as a car towered over its relatives about 70 million years ago, a new finding suggests. The unearthed beaked dinosaur was not full-grown, yet it tipped the scales at more than 3,000 pounds. Paleontologists who discovered its remains estimate the behemoth was just 11 years old when it perished. Chinese scientists unearthed the skeletal remains of the dinosaur, now named Gigantoraptor erlianensis, in the Erlian Basin of Inner Mongolia, China. Gigantoraptor was also much ganglier than other dinosaurs. Typically, larger dinosaurs had proportionally stouter limbs and shorter lower legs than their smaller relatives. Relative to its size, Gigantoraptor had unusually slender limbs and lengthy legs.

if you know me you know i love cats. i love dogs too, they just wont fit in my tiny apartment. i need a house for more critters. anyway, just wanted to share a couple of funny cat piks i had found...

Zenith , n. The point in the heavens directly overhead to a man standing or a growing cabbage. A man in bed or a cabbage in the pot is not considered as having a zenith, though from this view of the matter there was once a considerably dissent among the learned, some holding that the posture of the body was immaterial. These were called Horizontalists, their opponents, Verticalists. The Horizontalist heresy was finally extinguished by Xanobus, the philosopher-king of Abara, a zealous Verticalist. Entering an assembly of philosophers who were debating the matter, he cast a severed human head at the feet of his opponents and asked them to determine its zenith, explaining that its body was hanging by the heels outside. Observing that it was the head of their leader, the Horizontalists hastened to profess themselves converted to whatever opinion the Crown might be pleased to hold, and Horizontalism took its place among fides defuncti .

Several thousand Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq early Wednesday to chase Kurdish guerrillas who operate from bases there, Turkish security officials told The Associated Press. Now what about that bunker you were digging? The reports came amid worries Turkey might launch an offensive against the rebel bases, touching off a conflict with U.S.-backed Iraqi Kurds in one of Iraq's most stable regions. The U.S. is urging itsNATO ally not to strike, and Turkey's foreign minister denied any incursion occurred. read more | digg story

Oetzi, the 5,100-year old mummified iceman found in a Tyrolean glacier in 1991, bled to death after being hit in the back by an arrow, Swiss scientists said Wednesday following X-ray. "A lesion of a close-to-the-shoulder artery has been found thanks to a CT scan," read more | digg story

Neighbors of convicted tax evaders Ed and Elaine Brown reported police SWAT teams and at least one armored vehicle converging on a field near their Plainfield home this morning. An Associated Press photographer in a plane over the Browns’ property this morning was told to leave the airspace. On the ground, state police set up a checkpoint at Stage Road and Route 12A and would not let reporters pass.The Browns insist federal income tax laws are invalid and have holed up in their hilltop home on 110 acres in Plainfield, which has a watchtower, concrete walls and the ability to run on wind and solar power. Brown said he has stockpiled food and supplies.They were convicted in January of scheming to hide $1.9 million of income between 1996 and 2003. They also were convicted of using $215,890 in postal money orders to pay for their residence and for Elaine Brown’s dental office. The money orders were broken into increments just below the tax-reporting threshold.U.S. District Judge Steven Mc...

"Fortunately, I'm adhering to a very strict drug regimen to keep my mind limber..."

In a move that has executives from movie studios and record labels grinning from ear to ear, AT&T has announced that it will develop and deploy technology that will attempt to keep pirated content off its network. The move is spurred in part by the company's decision to offer IPTV television service as part of its U-Verse package , AT&T senior VP James W. Cicconi told the Los Angeles Times . Despite the major technical problems inherent in such a program, AT&T is moving ahead. By making themselves into the arbiters of copyright law, the company risks being drawn into a costly "arms race" with programmers who don't like the idea of a massive corporation (and one which appears to have turned over information to the NSA ) peeking into their packets and deciding which ones go through. This is exactly the situation that Dr. Greg Jackson, CIO of the University of Chicago, warned Congress about last week . "The only successful, robust way to address probl...

"You want a toe? I can get you a toe. Believe me. There are ways, Dude. You don't want to know about it, believe me. Hell, I can get you a toe by 3 o'clock this afternoon. With nail polish."

Mr. Gates our present Sec of Defence cut his teeth on this little number -- it was called the -- Iran-Contra Affair . Arms transaction The Iran-Contra report found that the sales of arms to Iran violated United States Government policy; it also violated the Arms Export Control Act . [2] Overall, if the releasing of hostages was the purpose of arms sales to Iran, the plan was a failure as only three of the 30 hostages were released. [9] First arms sale Michael Ledeen , a consultant of Robert McFarlane , asked Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres for help in the sale of arms to Iran. [11] The general idea behind the plan was for Israel to ship weapons to Iran, then the US would reimburse Israel with the same weapons. The Israeli government required that the sale of arms meet high level approval from the United States government, and when Robert McFarlane convinced them that the U.S. government approved the sale, Israel obliged by agreeing to sell the arms. [11] Reagan approved M...

looks like 'Spam King' Adam Vitale has finally plead guilty to violation of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 in federal court in New York City. 'The indictment said that in less than a week in August 2005, Vitale and Moeller sent e-mails on behalf of the informant to more than 1,277,000 addresses of subscribers at AOL, the online division of Time Warner Inc. Vitale will be sentenced on September 13 when he faces a maximum sentence of 11 years in prison.

AP via Yahoo: The 53-38 vote to move the resolution to full debate fell seven short of the 60 required. In bringing the matter up, Democrats dared Republicans to vote their true feelings about an attorney general who has alienated even the White House’s strongest defenders by bungling the firings of federal prosecutors and claiming not to recall the details. Republicans did not defend him, but most voted against moving the resolution ahead. Monday’s vote was not the end of scrutiny for Gonzales and his management of the Justice Department—more congressional hearings are scheduled and an internal department investigation continues. Read more

Democrats Monday aim to stick the knife into President George W. Bush's besieged Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, with a rare Senate "no confidence" vote sparked by a row over fired federal prosecutors. The debate is the culmination of an intense Democratic campaign for the scalp of Gonzales, one of Bush's closest political allies, who has also faced calls to resign from some senior Republicans. Bush Monday vigorously defended Gonzales, following up White House accusations that the symbolic and non-binding Senate vote is simply political mischief drummed up by Democrats to appease grass roots supporters. "They can try to have their votes of no confidence, but it's not going to determine who serves in my government," Bush told reporters in Bulgaria before flying back to Washington after a tour of Europe. An afternoon of debate was scheduled on a simple resolution stating that Gonzales "no longer holds the confidence of the Senate and of the America...

June 11 ( Bloomberg ) -- A divided federal appeals court, in a rebuke to the Bush administration, ruled that an alleged al-Qaeda agent held for four years in U.S. military custody can't be detained indefinitely without being charged. The 2-1 decision by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia said accused terrorist Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri can instead be given a criminal trial in a civilian court. The judges said the U.S. can no longer hold him in a Navy brig in South Carolina. ``The president cannot eliminate constitutional protections (even more details of US Constitution and State's Rights ) with the stroke of a pen by proclaiming a civilian, even a criminal civilian, an enemy combatant subject to indefinite military detention,'' the court said. Al-Marri ``can be returned to civilian prosecutors, tried on criminal charges, and, if convicted, punished severely.'' Al-Marri was in the U.S. ...

JERUSALEM, June 11 ( Reuters ) Israel is also monitoring neighbouring Syria for signs of a military build-up following last year's war against the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group, an ally of Damascus.) - Israel launched a new spy satellite on Monday and said it would provide high-quality surveillance over enemies such as Syria and Iran, rivalling the capabilities of the United States. Rocketed into orbit from a coastal Israeli air base, the Ofek 7 was expected to begin relaying high-resolution ground photographs from an altitude of 200-500 km (125-315 miles) by the end of the week. "The successful launch adds an important layer to Israel's defence capabilities and it is a testament to Israel's technological strength," Defence Minister Amir Peretz said in a statement. Haim Eshed, head of the Defence Ministry's space directorate, told Army Radio that Ofek 7 would help Israel "deal with the Iranian issue". Iran's nuclear programme has raised fear...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - With the 4-month-old "surge" in U.S. troops showing only modest success in curbing insurgent attacks, U.S. commanders are turning to another strategy they acknowledge is fraught with risk: arming Sunni Arab groups that have promised to fight Al-Qaida-linked militants who have been their allies in the past. U.S. officials who have engaged in what they call "outreach" to the Sunni groups say the groups are mostly ones with links to Al-Qaida, but disillusioned with Al-Qaida's extremist tactics, particularly suicide bombings that have killed thousands of Iraqi civilians. In exchange for U.S. backing, these officials say, the Sunni groups have agreed to fight Al-Qaida and halt attacks on U.S. units. Commanders who have undertaken these negotiations say that in some cases Sunni groups have agreed to alert U.S. troops to the location of roadside bombs and other lethal booby traps. U.S. commanders have successfully tested the strategy in Al-Anbar pro...

"At every point, there was part of me resisting, part of me enjoying," Lagouranis said. "Using dogs on someone, there was a tingling throughout my body. If you saw the reaction in the prisoner, it's thrilling." --washingtonpost -- read more | digg story

Lobbyists for the popular fast food chain want to redefine a word (McJob) in the dictionary. They want to change the definition of McJob from "a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement," to "a job that is stimulating, rewarding, and offers skills that last a lifetime." read more | digg story

Ex-Taleban media leader defects By Charles Haviland BBC News , Kabul The former head of broadcast media for the Taleban has arrived in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and is likely to join the Western-backed government there. There has been no immediate comment from the government. The Taleban and a former mujahideen commander who brokered the deal have confirmed the defection. ...

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The defendant in a Tampa, Florida, case, UMG v. Del Cid, has filed counterclaims accusing the RIAA record labels of conspiracy and extortion . The counterclaims (pdf) are for Trespass, Computer Fraud and Abuse (18 USC 1030), Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices (Fla. Stat. 501.201), Civil Extortion (CA Penal Code 519 & 523), and Civil Conspiracy involving (a) use of private investigators without license in violation of Fla. Stat. Chapter 493; (b) unauthorized access to a protected computer system, in interstate commerce, for the purpose of obtaining information in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1030 (a)(2)(C); (c) extortion in violation of Ca. Penal Code 519 and 523; and (d) knowingly collecting an unlawful consumer debt, and using abus[ive] means to do so, in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692a et seq. and Fla. Stat. 559.72 et seq."

It looks like Bush is abandoning what's left of his conservative base before they abandon him. Bush told the group, "This is a fine organization and it's an important organization. It's rallying businesses and non-governmental organizations and faith-based and community and civic organizations across our country to advance a noble cause, ensuring that the United States leads the world in spreading hope and opportunity." Another part of this " legacy building " is his decision to seek ratification of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a dangerous document that transfers control of the oceans and much of the land area of the world as well to a U.N. bureaucracy. It finances its activities with a global tax. The pact is endorsed by some of the same groups and individuals involved in the Global Leadership Campaign. UNCLOS charges American corporations a "fee" for exploiting ocean resources for the benefit of America and threatens...

(APN) ATLANTA — US Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) became the sixth and seventh total cosponsors of US Rep. Dennis Kucinich's (D-OH) bill to impeach Vice President of the United States Dick Cheney, Atlanta Progressive News has learned. In addition to Kucinich, the additional four Members of Congress who have signed on to H. Res 333 are US Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), William Lacy Clay (D-MO), and Albert Wynn (D-MD). "It's their prerogative to represent their constituents," Drew Hammill, spokesperson for US House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), told Atlanta Progressive News, adding the intrepid seven do not face retribution from Pelosi. US Reps. Lee and Woolseys’ cosponsorships are quite significant, as they are the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, and their leadership may pave the way for other Members of Congress to feel it is safe to sign on. (More) —————————- Keep the ball rolling by sending your Re...

it is about time Congress has started using the 'no-confidence' vote. better yet, the people of this Republik should rise up and start using it... "The Senate plans to take up a no-confidence vote against Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on Monday, a sponsor of the measure announced Friday. "If all senators who have actually lost confidence in Attorney General Gonzales voted their conscience, this vote would be unanimous," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement announcing the vote. "However, the President will certainly exert pressure to support the Attorney General, his longtime friend. We will soon see where people's loyalties lie." Gonzales has faced myriad calls for his resignation from lawmakers in both parties, but Republicans have so far been hesitant to endorse the no confidence vote. The measure would be non-binding and would not force Gonzales to leave his post as the nation's top law enforcement officer. But the politi...

October 13, 2005 MEMORANDUM TO: OPINION LEADERS FROM: GARY SCHMITT SUBJECT: Therapy as Policy: CIA and Clandestine Ops In today’s Washington Post, Walter Pincus reports (“CIA to Remain Coordinator of Overseas Spying”) that the Agency’s operations directorate will continue in its senior intelligence community role for coordinating and overseeing all other clandestine human intelligence collection activities of the U.S. Government. This will include the overseas activities of both the FBI and various Defense Department Agencies. As Pincus notes, this “keeps the CIA’s traditional position as leader” of U.S. human collection intact. Approved by the White House, the plan ignores the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s recommendation that – given the CIA’s failures to penetrate Saddam’s Iraq or Bin Laden’s al Qaeda – the task of coordinating the overall management of human intelligence be moved to the office of the director of national intelligence, now headed by Amb. John Negroponte. ...

The first criminal trial over the CIA's " extraordinary rendition " of terror suspects has opened in Italy. Twenty-six Americans and six Italians are accused of kidnapping a Muslim cleric from Italy and sending him to Egypt, where he was allegedly tortured. The American CIA agents and military personnel will be tried in absentia. Italy has not announced if it will seek their extradition to the Milan trial. US President George W Bush arrived in Italy hours after the trial began. Mr Bush will have his first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Saturday and will later hold talks with Italy's prime minister, Romano Prodi. Mr Prodi has already said that the extraordinary rendition case will not be on the agenda.

Iraq has made an official protest to Turkey, accusing it of shelling Kurdish areas in northern Iraq this week. A protest letter by the Iraqi foreign ministry said the shelling caused widespread damage in northern Iraq. Turkey has not confirmed any such shelling but it has been building up forces along the border with Iraq. Speculation grows that Ankara could mount a raid in Iraq on PKK rebels sheltering there who it blames for recent attacks in Turkey. The Iraqi foreign ministry summoned Turkey's charge d'affaires to voice its protest. The letter said that said the shelling took place over several hours on Wednesday and early Thursday, starting large fires and causing serious damage. It said such actions "undermine confidence between the two nations and negatively affect their friendship". However, it added that Iraq would not allow its territory to be used as a base or a springboard for action against neighbours and any PKK (the Kurdistan Workers' Party) presence...

The CIA has dismissed a Council of Europe report alleging that it ran secret jails for terror suspects in Europe after the 11 September attacks. A CIA spokesman said the report was biased and distorted, and that the agency had operated lawfully. Swiss Senator Dick Marty, who wrote the report, said secret CIA prisons "did exist in Europe from 2003 to 2005, in particular in Poland and Romania". The charge was denied by both Polish and Romanian officials. Former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who served from 1995 to 2005, said on Friday: "There were no secret prisons in Poland." Romanian senator Norica Nicolai, who headed an investigation into the allegations, also denied his country's involvement. The report says Romania "was developed into a site to which more detainees were transferred only as the HVD programme expanded". "The secret detention facilities in Europe were run directly and exclusively by the CIA," the report says. But i...

JON BOYLE IN PARIS A EUROPEAN investigator said yesterday he had proof Poland and Romania hosted secret prisons for the US Central Intelligence Agency in which it interrogated top al-Qaeda suspects using methods akin to torture. Swiss senator Dick Marty said Poland housed some of the CIA's most sensitive prisoners, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who says he masterminded the 11 September, 2001, attacks on the US that killed 3,000 people. "There is now enough evidence to state that secret detention facilities run by the CIA did exist in Europe from 2003 to 2005, in particular in Poland and Romania," Mr Marty said in a report for the Council of Europe human rights watchdog. He said US intelligence told him the two EU members hosted the secret jails under a special CIA programme, created by George Bush's administration after 9/11 "to kill, capture and detain terrorist suspects deemed of 'high value". Mr Marty said the former president of Poland and the cu...

The groups that fought against NAFTA particularly the citizens' coalitions formed by labor, environmental, consumer, family farm and other groups are proud that they took on practically the entire Fortune 500 and nearly won. (The vote was 234 to 200 in the House). At the same time, the experience was a chilling reminder of how things work in Washington. USA NAFTA representing more economic clout than many nation- states wrapped its self-serving lobbying campaign in an American flag. During the past two years, that flag has proved to have an exceptionally slick Teflon coating. The group has suffered neither negative publicity nor political disfavor, despite NAFTA's miserable results so far. Nor have USA NAFTA members drawn fire for the way they contributed to and benefited from the failure of NAFTA to fulfill its stated promises. Their star-spangled report, NAFTA: It's Working for America, opens with a quote from USA NAFTA Chair and AlliedSignal CEO Lawrence Bossidy. Today...

in an about face of typical French non-involvement- Sarkozy urges tough sanctions message for Iran- HEILIGENDAMM, Germany, June 8 ( PDF ) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Friday the international community needed to signal tougher sanctions to Iran over its disputed nuclear programme. The U.N. Security Council has imposed two rounds of sanctions against Tehran since December and the Group of Eight industrialised nations said on Friday it would back "further measures" against Iran if it did not comply with U.N. demands that it suspend its uranium enrichment programme. "On Iran, it seems to me that there is a large community of views of China, of Russia and of the United States of America to push the Iranian leaders to return to the negotiating table," Sarkozy told a news conference at an annual G8 summit in Germany. "I think we will have to send a message of firmness, certainly of toughening sanctions," Sarkozy said. The existing sanctions were im...

via Technology News -- Taking into consideration a decision reached last year by the U.S. Supreme Court, the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers have issued new guidelines for the protection of wetlands and bodies of water under the Clean Water Act. Critics charge that the new rules impede the organizations' ability to look at the big picture when considering how to protect wetlands. "We're really disappointed with the new guidelines," Julie Sibbing, senior program manager for wetlands and agriculture policy for the National Wildlife Federation, told TechNewsWorld. "The court decision itself left some opening for interpretation, but it seems like the [Bush] administration took every opportunity to retreat from protection in any possible way they could, and we think they retreated unacceptably, even according to what the Rapanos decision said." Furthermore, the new guidance leads to new procedures where individual streams or ponds would be isolated in the de...

Canadian Omar Khadr was accused of killing a US soldier The Pentagon is to ask US military judges to reconsider a decision earlier this week to throw out charges against two Guantanamo Bay detainees. This week charges against Canadian Omar Khadr and Yemeni Salim Ahmed Hamdan, were dropped, casting fresh doubt on efforts to try foreign terror suspects. Both cases collapsed because military authorities had failed to designate the men as "unlawful" enemy combatants. The Pentagon will be filing a motion for reconsideration, a spokesman said. Salim Ahmed Hamdan has been accused of being al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's driver and bodyguard. Canadian Omar Khadr was accused of killing a US soldier in Afghanistan with a grenade.

The alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, has admitted his role in them, and 30 other terror plots around the world, in a hearing at Guantanamo Bay, the Pentagon has said. According to partial transcript of the closed-door hearing, released by the US defence department, the suspect confessed to the following attacks or plots. 1. The 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City that killed six people and injured more than 1,000. 2. The 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington using four hijacked commercial airliners. Nearly 3,000 people were killed. Full transcript [1.3MB] PDF_DOCUMENT 3. A failed "shoe bomber" operation to bring down two US commercial airliners. 4. The October 2002 attack in Kuwait that killed two US soldiers. 5. The nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia that killed 202 people. 6. A plan for a "second wave" of attacks on major US landmarks after 9/11 attacks. Alleged ta...

The Articles of Confederation Agreed to by Congress November 15, 1777; ratified and in force, March 1, 1781. Preamble To all to whom these Presents shall come, we the undersigned Delegates of the States affixed to our Names send greeting. Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the States of New Hampshire, Massachusetts bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Article I. The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States of America." Article II. Each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States, in Congress assembled. Article III. The said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defense, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and gene...

When the State of Illinois was tardy in paying its legal bills after attempting to defend a law that regulated the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games, the Entertainment Software Association wondered about the reasons for the delay. Now they know: the state was scouring department budgets, looking for the $1 million it cost to defend the unconstitutional legislation in court. Yes, you read that right—the State of Illinois spent one meeeellion dollars of taxpayer money on the litigation even as the state budget was starved for cash in other, more pressing areas. And worse yet, they spent it on a bill which, when introduced, was plainly unconstitutional. Related Stories * Online dating bill squashed in Illinois House * Chicago mayor opposes video franchising in Illinois The grand total was reported this week in a Quad Cities Online article which revealed that "the governor raided funds throughout state government to pay for the litigation. Some of the areas mon...

In a move that stunned most of the world, Putin proffered want amounts to a NATO/EASTERN-BLOC Defence Force! FTA: Putin proposes joint US-Russian base to overcome missile crisis Published: 6/7/2007 HEILIGENDAMM - President Vladimir Putin on Thursday offered to set up a joint Russian-US anti-missile base to end a crisis between the two countries as Group of Eight leaders agreed a face-saving compromise on climate change. Putin made the startling proposal for a base to be located in Azerbaijan during talks with US President George W. Bush aimed at rescuing relations between the two countries from a post-Cold War low. The two met on the sidelines of the G8 summit in the German resort of Heiligendamm where police arrested another 300 demonstrators and police vessels rammed two Greenpeace boats that entered a maritime exclusion zone around the summit venue. Russia angrily opposes a US proposal to set up a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic and Putin had previously threa...

Mr Bush, en route to the G8 summit in Germany, is visiting the Czech Republic and then Poland - two countries where the US seeks to build a missile shield. Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to aim weapons at Europe if the US sets up a missile shield. Correspondents say the rhetoric has echoes of Cold War rivalry. White House officials insist that President Bush's speech is not about Russia but rather renewing his commitment to spreading freedom and democracy. See map of US missile defence bases However, the BBC's Jonathan Beale , who is travelling with Mr Bush, says the president is expected to talk about the difficulties of promoting democracy in countries such as Russia and highlight concerns about the Kremlin's tightening grip on power. Washington has dismissed talk of a new Cold War but says the rhetoric coming out of the Kremlin has worrying echoes belonging to that era and wants the words toned down. Any criticism will not be welcomed by Moscow and can o...