Tuesday, 07 December 2010 11:16
'What happened around 13 August this year appears about to catch up with the 39-year-old Australian who is expected to hand himself to the British authorities over allegations made by two women which have seen him charged by Swedish prosecutors of rape, sexual molestation and unlawful coercion. The claims related to two women who said they had met Assange in connection with a seminar he gave in the Swedish capital on 14 August.
The women filed their complaints together six days later, on Friday 20 August. The allegations stem from claims that Assange had sex with the two women on separate occasions and reportedly centre on his willingness or otherwise to use condoms. His lawyer, Mark Stephens, last night summed up the issue as a "dispute over consensual but unprotected sex".
Speaking anonymously, one of the two women involved told the Swedish daily newspaper, Aftonbladet, she had never intended Assange to be charged with rape and that both women had had voluntary relations with him. "He is not violent and I do not feel threatened by him," she reportedly said. "The responsibility for what happened to me and the other girl lies with a man who had attitude problems with women".'
Read more: Pressure Mounts on WikiLeaks as Net Tightens Around Founder Julian Assange
Tuesday, 07 December 2010 10:45
'Ireland was bracing itself today as the Government prepared to unveil the most feared budget in living memory. The massive six billion euro (£5 billion) cost-cutting package is expected to slash social welfare, including jobseekers and child benefit, in a bid to cut public spending.'
Tuesday, 07 December 2010 10:20
'Filmmaker Spike Jonze has collaborated with the band Arcade Fire on a short film, Scenes from the Suburbs. The video below is a music video from the film, which was shot in Austin, Texas. The short film appears to portray the country under martial law.'
Tuesday, 07 December 2010 10:01
Homeland Security to address public via telescreens at checkout lanes at Walmart.
'Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced the expansion of the Department’s national “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign to hundreds of Walmart stores across the country—launching a new partnership between DHS and Walmart to help the American public play an active role in ensuring the safety and security of our nation.'
Read more: 1984 Arrives in America
Tuesday, 07 December 2010 09:47
'Canada needs a national vaccination registry so no child misses out on being immunized, a public health group says.
The Canadian Public Health Association says a registry would help the government track how many people across the country have been vaccinated, as well as whether children who move between provinces are up to date on their shots.
There's also a need for a co-ordinated national campaign to counter anti-vaccine voices, the report says.'
Read more: Register Kids' Vaccinations: Canadian Health Experts
Tuesday, 07 December 2010 09:33
'When Wenlock and Mandeville, the official mascots of the London Olympic Games, were unveiled to the world in May, the general reaction was one of bemusement. These stumpy, one-eyed, metallic-skinned creatures, the organisers explained, had formed out of stray drops of molten steel during the construction of the Olympic stadium, but most of the public and media simply interpreted them as aliens.
What do monocular extraterrestrials have to do with the Olympics? A year earlier, the 2012 Olympic logo was greeted with a similar mix of derision and puzzlement. Jaded observers passed off these designs as sorry reflections of the state of British creativity, but a small minority had a very different answer: we were being primed for the establishment of the New World Order, by means of the greatest hoax in history.'
Read more: Are the 2012 Olympics Part of a Plot to Take Over the World?
Tuesday, 07 December 2010 09:22
'On a day when the US unemployment rate rose to 9.8%, Rush Limbaugh used his radio show to argue that poor people should not be allowed to vote.
While commenting about a piece in the Atlanta Journal Constitution about people lining up for housing assistance, Limbaugh asked, “ If people can’t even feed and clothe themselves should they be allowed to vote? Should they be voting?” '
Read more: Rush Limbaugh Claims The Poor Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Vote
Tuesday, 07 December 2010 08:57
'As a very frequent flyer, I have wanted to write about the abuses of the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) for years now. To tell the truth, since I am such a frequent flyer and often recognised by individual TSA employees, I was a little timid about this because I did not want flying to become an even bigger hassle and more invasive than it already is. But the recent brouhaha over the Chertoff-O-Scanners has given me the courage in numbers to be able to write about my experiences.
The first thing that bugs me is how complacent my fellow travellers are about the civil rights abuses we endure to be able to take the airplane seats we pay hundreds of dollars for. The second we click 'purchase' on the airline's website, we are treated as though we are guilty just for wanting to go from point A to B by plane. This goes against our constitutional right of being presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Every time a TSA operative asks me if he or she can "take a look in my bag," I say: "Sure, if you can show me a warrant." I cannot say how many times a fellow traveller has proclaimed: "It's for your own safety!" '
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