31 January 2006

Coretta Scott King (1927 - 2006)

The faithful Keeper of the Flame until the end.
Prayers on Smoke go out for all her Relations. We thank you Creator, for letting us borrow her from you...

Mitakuye Oyasin
--ryan





Widow of Martin Luther King Dies
Coretta Scott King, the widow of US civil rights leader Martin Luther King, has died aged 78.

Mrs King had carried on her husband's work for racial equality after he was assassinated in 1968.

She fought successfully for a national holiday in memory of him and founded The King Center in Atlanta to preserve his legacy.

News of the mother of four's death was reported by former Atlanta Mayor Andrew Young to US network NBC television.

Mr Young, also a civil rights campaigner, said Mrs King had died in her sleep on Monday night. Mrs King had been in poor health in recent years.

She suffered a serious stroke and heart attack in 2005, and earlier this month missed the public marking of her husband's birthday for the first time in two decades.

'Unfinished task'

Mrs King, who met her husband in Boston and married him in 1953, supported him in his civil rights work.

After his death, she raised their four children while at the same time working to secure his legacy.

She recalled in her autobiography, My Life with Martin Luther King Jr, how she had felt compelled to carry on the civil rights movement.

"Because his task was not finished, I felt that I must re-dedicate myself to the completion of his work," she wrote.

In 1969 she founded the Martin Luther King Jr Centre for Non-violent Social Change in Atlanta and in 1986 saw the establishment of a national holiday to mark her husband's January birthday.

Speaking in 2003 on the 40th anniversary of her husband's best known speech, Mrs King urged the crowds to follow the peaceful path he preached.



Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4665820.stm

Published: 2006/01/31 14:09:50 GMT

© BBC MMVI



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26 January 2006

Christopher Penn (1965 - 2006)



Obituary: Chris Penn
Chris Penn was a highly-rated character actor who developed a tough guy image through roles in a Quentin Tarantino film.
The younger brother of acclaimed actor Sean Penn, he had built up a solid body of work since his debut in the 1983 gang movie Rumble Fish.

Born in the early 1960s in California, he was the son of television director Leo Penn and actress Eileen Ryan.

He began studying acting at age 12 at California's Loft Studio.

After Rumble Fish, Penn played the hero's best friend in 1984 hit dance movie Footloose and went on to secure further supporting roles during the 1980s.

It was, however, his roles in two Quentin Tarantino films that brought him to public prominence and cemented his image as a movie tough guy.

He delivered what The Washington Post called an "extraordinary performance" as gangster Nice Guy Eddie in Tarantino's 1992 cult drama Reservoir Dogs and followed this up with a role as a drugs officer in True Romance in 1993, which was written by Tarantino.

Success

His success continued during the 1990s with roles in films such as the Robert Altman film Shortcuts and The Funeral, for which he won a best supporting actor award at the 1996 Venice International Film Festival.

He also provided the voice of Officer Eddie Pulaski for 2004's best-selling video game, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

He was scheduled to attend the premiere of his latest film, The Darwin Awards, on Wednesday at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, in which he appears with actors Winona Ryder, Joseph Fiennes and David Arquette.



Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/entertainment/4647754.stm

Published: 2006/01/25 17:12:35 GMT

© BBC MMVI



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Cheryl Tooshkenig (Potawatomi)...



Now I have a reason to watch golf...

--ryan


Professional golf tour is Mitchell's goal
© Indian Country Today
January 18, 2006. All Rights Reserved
Posted: January 18, 2006
by: Jack McNeel / Indian Country Today



ROCHESTER, Mich. - Cheryl Tooshkenig Mitchell, Potawatomi, wants to be the first First Nations woman to play on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour: and she is on the brink of reaching that goal.

Mitchell qualified for the Futures Tour, the official developmental tour of the LPGA, during a qualifier tournament in Lakeland, Fla. in November. Playing in the Futures Tour over the next several months should provide the experience she needs.

Eighteen tournaments will be held between March 10 and Sept. 10, with a total of $1.35 million in purses - the highest ever in the Futures Tour's more than 25 years. Tournaments range from Arizona to Florida to the New England states, with 13 different states holding tournaments.

Zyra Calderon, president and CEO of the Futures Tour, is quoted on the tour's Web site as saying ''a dynamic and record-setting 2006 season'' is expected, following last year's record numbers. The top five golfers at the end of this tour will have earned LPGA cards. Mitchell hopes to be one of those five.

Mitchell is from the Walpole Island Reserve in Ontario, Canada, located on the U.S. border. ''I started playing golf when I was 10,'' she said. She would go with her parents, Bill and Shirley Tooshkenig, to a driving range to hit some balls ''and kind of [take] it from there,'' she added. There's a golf course about five minutes from the reserve and a Walpole Island League, so many people in the community are golfers. ''In high school I played golf, basketball, volleyball and badminton, but golf was always my main focus,'' she said.

Mitchell started college at Kent State University on a full scholarship and remained there for two and a half years before transferring to Oakland University in Michigan, still on a full golf scholarship. It was during this time that she met and married Robert Mitchell. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology while shooting ''about a 75 - 76 average'' in golf. She has continued toward a master's degree in counseling, but has reduced the course load in order to give more attention to golf. She'll continue with a reduced load through the spring semester and then concentrate totally on achieving a professional golf career.

Her college career is dotted with awards and recognition. She was chosen Mid-Continent Conference Golf Athlete of the Week more than once and set school records for her low averages. She led her team in scoring in five straight tournaments. She won the 2003 Ontario Ladies Amateur Championship.

''I'd definitely like to do golf as a career,'' she commented. ''I believe my game has gotten to that level with the Morgan Pressels and the Michelle Wies, but I just need the experience now. That's why I went the Futures Tour route: to get a year's experience and hopefully qualify for the LPGA Tour in September.''

The costs of travel and competing can be considerable; and she acknowledged the help she's received from the Dreamcatcher Fund. The Ohsweken, Ontario-based organization aids First Nations individuals and groups, not only in sports but also in education, health, water quality, and arts and culture. Since its inception in August 2004, almost $2 million has been given to over 500 applicants. Mitchell's older brother, Steve, serves as her manager and helps to line up sponsors as well.

Golf is going to be her main focus in the foreseeable future and, hopefully, for many years to come. But should she not be as successful as she hopes, she will have her college education to fall back on. ''I want to see how golfing goes and have counseling as a backup. If that happens, I'd want to go back to Walpole Island and help the people, the community,'' she said.







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Israel: Sh*t Does, Indeed, Roll Downhill...



Hmm, I wonder if he could already smell the coming sh*tstorm? This is going to be damned interesting to see how this plays out... ennit?

--ryan

Israel 'Has To Withdraw Further'
Israel will have to withdraw from further parts of the West Bank, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said. In his first policy speech as interim leader, he said the main challenge ahead was to shape Israel's borders for good to ensure a Jewish majority.

It could not continue to control parts with a Palestinian majority, but would keep its main settlements, he said.

Mr Olmert is also acting as chair of Kadima, a party formed by PM Ariel Sharon before he suffered a stroke.

The party intends to run in Israeli general elections on 28 March on a platform of withdrawal from occupied territory.

'Keeping Jerusalem'

Mr Olmert told a conference at Herzliya that Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank last year was a turning point.

"In order to ensure the existence of a Jewish national home, we will not be able to continue ruling over the territories in which the majority of the Palestinian population lives," he said.

However, Mr Olmert said that Israel would keep security zones, the main settlement blocs, and places important to the Jewish people, such as Jerusalem.

"There can be no Jewish state without Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty," he said.

He also hinted that Israel would act alone to set a border in the West Bank if talks failed.

In the speech, Mr Olmert urged the full implementation of a US-backed peace "road map".

He also spoke of the importance of the Palestinian poll on Wednesday.

Mr Olmert described it as a step towards their objective of reaching national independence, but said he hoped that Palestinians would not choose "extremists".

Sharon ally

Palestinians reacted with calls on Israel "to abandon the ways of unilateralism".

"The Palestinian Authority is fully committed to peacemaking," negotiator Saeb Erekat added.

Settlement supporters expressed anger at the suggestion of a further withdrawal from parts of the West Bank.

"Olmert is the beginning of the end of the state of Israel," said right-wing lawmaker Aryeh Eldad.

Correspondents say Mr Olmert's comments were in line with Mr Sharon's statements before his stroke and subsequent coma earlier this month.

Mr Olmert has been Mr Sharon's closest political ally for most of the past decade and is seen as the politician most likely to continue his legacy.

Mr Olmert has spoken previously of the need for a pullback from the West Bank that would keep major settler blocs in the Jewish state.










Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/4644950.stm

Published: 2006/01/24 20:39:21 GMT

© BBC MMVI



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Palestinean Authority: New Sheriff In Town...



Damn, there's some very serious smack-talk coming out of Ramala now!
I'll bet that somebody in the current Israel government really regrets their treatment of Yassir Arafat before his death. Funny how what goes around comes around, ennit? The 'Karma Train' does run on a circular track...

--ryan



Palestinian PM Quits After Poll

Hamas' strong showing has caused consternation in Israel and the US
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei has announced his resignation, saying Hamas must form the next government following the parliamentary elections.
It comes as the militant Islamic group appeared to be heading for a shock win.


With counting still under way, officials from the ruling Fatah party said Hamas had won a majority. Official results are due at 1900 local time.

Israel, the US and the EU consider Hamas a terrorist group and have said they do not want to deal with it.

"I am going to present my resignation to President Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] and Hamas should form the [new] government," Mr Qurei told journalists, according to AFP news agency.

Hours before official results were due to be released, Fatah officials conceded that Hamas had won the elections.

Hamas claimed it had won at least 70 seats in the 132-member parliament.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Jerusalem says a victory for Hamas would present a huge challenge for Israel and the international community and for Hamas itself.

He says many believe the militant movement would be more comfortable as the major opposition party rather than having power thrust on it at the first attempt.

With victory looming, senior Hamas official Mushir al-Masri said the group wanted to work with Fatah in a "political partnership".

But he said Hamas would not hold peace talks with Israel.

"Negotiations with Israel is not on our agenda," he said.

"Recognising Israel is not on the agenda either now."





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17 January 2006

Where's Waldo...?



"Where is Osama boys and girls? Shout if you see him!"

Please! Curious George Bu$h couldn't find his own johnson with both hands and a compass! But you just wait and watch, see how long it takes for the Bu$h Administration to announce "credible evidence" that Osama's hiding out in Iran...

--ryan


US Believes Bin Laden Still Alive
Osama Bin Laden and his deputy are thought to be living in the area of a missile strike apparently aimed at Ayman al-Zawahiri, the US says.
US counter-terrorism ambassador Henry Crumpton said the al-Qaeda leader and his number two were believed to be in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region.


Al-Qaeda retained the aim of attacking the US, UK and Europe, he said.

The US has not commented on the attack on a Pakistan village on Friday that killed 18 civilians.

US media said the attack was carried out by the CIA. Thousands of Pakistanis later staged anti-American demonstrations.

Mr Crumpton told the BBC: "I am very confident we will at some point get al-Qaeda's leadership, and we believe they are in that area.

"We have no intelligence or evidence that indicates that he [Bin Laden] is dead or incapacitated, so our working assumption is that he is still alive."
The ambassador added: "I should also note, no sign of life from Bin Laden, I think that reflects our collective success.

"I think and certainly hope that they are more concerned about staying alive than plotting the next 9/11."

But he warned: "Al-Qaeda and affiliated groups have a strategic aim of attacking the US homeland - that is their intent, we believe they are working toward that.

"I think also they intend to attack the UK again, and Europe."

Mr Crumpton also said the US did not "support, condone or engage in torture" of prisoners.

"Our efforts in counter-terrorism are complex, often secret, therefore that engenders some misunderstanding, some misperceptions, exaggerations."

But he added: "In terms of detainees and prisoners, information they provide is extraordinarily valuable - it has saved lives, it has stopped attacks in Europe and elsewhere."

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4619422.stm

Published: 2006/01/17 07:57:48 GMT

© BBC MMVI




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Arnold: Walking in Der Furher's Boots...?



Well it looks like Arnold is walking in the footsteps of another Austrian politician, ennit...?

--ryan



Elderly US Killer Is Put to Death

Allen's lawyers said it would be cruel to kill him because of his infirmity
California has carried out the execution of its oldest Death Row inmate, 76-year-old Clarence Ray Allen.


The blind wheelchair user was pronounced dead at 0038 (0838 GMT), at San Quentin prison near San Francisco.

Allen's lawyers had called for clemency because of his health and age, but their appeals were rejected.

He was sentenced to death for ordering the murder of three people in 1980 while he was serving a life sentence for another killing.

Relatives of Allen's victims said he deserved to die, despite his health problems.

Allen, whose birthday was on Monday, was the second-oldest person put to death since the US Supreme Court allowed capital punishment to resume in 1976.

US DEATH ROW
3315 inmates on Death Row
More than 10% over age of 55
Oldest is Viva Leroy Nash, 90
Source: US Dept of Justice




Because of his disabilities, prison authorities arranged for Allen to be brought to the execution chamber in a wheelchair and lifted onto the gurney for the lethal injection to be administered.

Allen was originally jailed for life for having his teenage son's 17-year-old girlfriend murdered, fearing she would go to the police over a burglary he committed.

From his prison cell, in 1980, he ordered the murder of another witness. A hit man killed the target and two bystanders at a grocery store. For that crime, Allen was sentenced to death.

Trial and appeals meant he ended up spending 23 years on Death Row.

Patricia Pendergrass, sister of victim Bryon Schletewitz, told ABC News: "His mind is still very clear. His mind is just the way it was when he was 50 years old and planned this heinous crime.

"He knows exactly why he will be taken into that execution chamber."

Death penalty debate

Late on Sunday, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Allen, saying he had "not demonstrated substantial grounds upon which relief may be granted", and the following day, the Supreme Court declined to intervene.


Allen ordered the murders of three people while he was in jail
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last week also denied Allen a clemency hearing, saying the "passage of time does not excuse Allen from the jury's punishment".

Allen's case has attracted considerably less attention than that of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, 51, executed on 13 December despite a vigorous clemency campaign by political and religious leaders.

But it is one of a number of controversial cases keeping the spotlight on the death penalty debate in the US.

Last week, DNA tests confirmed the guilt of a man who was executed in Virginia in 1992 while proclaiming his innocence, in what was seen as a blow to the campaign to abolish the death penalty.

Opinion polls suggest that while a majority of Americans are still in favour of capital punishment, the margin is far smaller than it has been in the past.

Elisabeth Semel, a professor at the University of California's Boalt Hall School of Law, says California is speeding up the pace of executions "just as public support for the death penalty is waning".

Allen is unlikely to be the last elderly person put to death, as the US prison population is ageing fast, and in California alone a third of inmates on death row are older than 50, and five are in their 70s.





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15 January 2006

"I Have A Dream..."



Not a day goes by in my life that I don't, sometimes silently, give thanks to those who, through their tireless work and sacrifice, cleared the path before me. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is one of those I thank.

We send Smoke and Prayers to thank the Creator for sending us a Peaceful Warrior...

Mitakuye Oyasin (All My Relations)
--ryan





"I Have A Dream"
by Martin Luther King, Jr,

Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Source: Martin Luther King, Jr: The Peaceful Warrior, Pocket Books, NY 1968

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free.

One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.

So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.

So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights.

The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. we must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" we can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"





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Leonard Peltier: "Warrior"



February 6, 2006 is the 30th year since Leonard Peltier's capture. To acknowledge his commitment to the people and our commitment to his release NYC-Jericho and ProLibertad will have a showing of "Warrior" by Susie Bear on February 6, 2006-- COFFEE &DESSERT 6:30 film AT 7P.M. Q&A to follow. We are expecting to have St. Mary's Church and will be back with the exact place SOON--Please stand by.Hope to see you there. For more information please call 718-220-6004

$5.00 on a sliding scale all money raised to be sent to Leonard's commissary fund.

Synopsis
"An intimate look at the circumstances surrounding the incarceration of Native American activist Leonard Peltier, convicted of murder, with commentary from those involved, including Peltier himself."

Free All Political Prisoners!

nycjericho@riseup.net www.jerichony.org




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Shelley Winters (1920 - 2006)




Oscar Winner Shelley Winters Dies

Two-time Oscar winner Shelley Winters has died of heart failure at the age of 85, her publicist Dale Olson has said.

She died at a Beverly Hills nursing home early on Saturday, having suffered a heart attack in October.

Winters, who won Oscars for The Diary of Anne Frank and A Patch of Blue, was best known for her role in 1972 disaster movie The Poseidon Adventure.

She was equally famous for her romances with some of Hollywood's leading men including Errol Flynn and Clark Gable.

Monroe's roommate
Winters' career spans six decades, beginning with an uncredited part in 1943's What a Woman!


A roommate of the young Marilyn Monroe, her ex-husbands include the actors Anthony Franciosa and Vittorio Gassman, with whom she had a daughter Vittoria.

Her other films include Stanley Kubrick's Lolita, Alfie with Michael Caine and The Night of the Hunter with Robert Mitchum.

Her last film appearance was in 1999's La Bomba.

But she continued working well into her 70s, starring as Roseanne's grandmother on the 1990s TV programme "Roseanne".

In the 1980s Winters wrote two autobiographies Shelley, Also Known as Shirley and Shelley II: The Middle of My Century in which she detailed her relationships with a string of Hollywood A-listers including, Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster and William Holden.

The books became bestsellers, but her trademark frankness meant that talk show hosts "only want to know about my love affairs," Winters later said.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4613660.stm

Published: 2006/01/14 20:51:46 GMT

© BBC MMVI

-----------------------------------------------------------------



Obituary: Shelley Winters

Most people will remember Shelley Winters playing brash and blowsy characters, but earlier in her career she was cast in more glamorous roles.

She was born Shirley Schrift in East St Louis, Illinois, one of America's most impoverished cities.

But she was brought up in New York, where her family had moved so that her father, a tailor's cutter, could be nearer to the city's garment industry.

As a teenager, she paid for acting lessons by working as a model and chorus girl before making her Broadway debut in the comedy, The Night Before Christmas, in 1941.

Film breakthrough

Two years later, having adopted her mother's maiden name, she was in Hollywood. But she played minor roles in several films before attracting attention in the 1947 production, A Double Life, in which she played a "good-time" waitress strangled by a deranged Ronald Colman.

Winters was destined to be a murder victim in many future roles. In 1951, one of them, the factory girl drowned by her seducer, Montgomery Clift, in A Place in the Sun, established her reputation and earned her an Academy Award nomination.

But although she was now given more prominent roles, they were not always satisfying ones, and in 1955 Winters went back to the Broadway stage for several years.

She returned to Hollywood three years later and, determined to realise her full potential, worked at the studio during the day and studied with one of cinema's outstanding actors, Charles Laughton, at night and at weekends.

A plumper Winters, targeting less glamorous roles, was swiftly rewarded by an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Diary of Anne Frank. She donated her Oscar to the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam.

Drowning roles

But in 1965, a second Oscar for Best Supporting Actress came her way for the film, A Patch of Blue.

A year later, Winters made her mark as one of Michael Caine's numerous liaisons in Alfie.

Winters earned another Oscar nomination in 1972 for the disaster movie, The Poseidon Adventure. Having drowned in at least two previous films, she played a former underwater swimming champion who had once held her breath for nearly three minutes.

In the 1970s, she made several appearances on Broadway, while the 1980s saw the publication of two best-selling volumes of her autobiography.

As expected, they made lively reading. As early as 1950, when she co-starred with James Stewart in Winchester '73, Shelley Winters' abrasive attitude was evident. When filming was completed, the normally mild-mannered Stewart said Winters should have been spanked.

Her television appearances spanned several decades, but her outspoken language and opinions made her a censor's nightmare on chat shows. On "The Tonight Show" in America, she responded to a sexist remark by the equally outrageous Oliver Reed by pouring a drink over his head.

Divorced four times, Shelley Winters might have ruffled a few feathers in her industry, but won plaudits as an actress and, as a long-standing member of the Actors' Studio, was one of her industry's most-respected coaches.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/4613692.stm

Published: 2006/01/14 20:15:32 GMT

© BBC MMVI





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Israel: Micro-Managing Democracy...?



Another one for the WTF file. Allow citizens of another country to vote in their own elections? How mighty white of them...

--ryan



Israel Allows Vote in Jerusalem
The Israeli cabinet has ruled that Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem can vote in Palestinian elections on 25 January.

Israel had threatened to ban voting there, and is still refusing to allow militant group Hamas to take part.

Hamas said it would find other ways of campaigning and joining the ballot.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said he would delay the poll if a vote was barred, and had Washington's support for the ballot to go ahead as planned.

Correspondents say Israel does not want to be responsible for a cancellation.

The BBC's Richard Galpin in Jerusalem says the decision is one of the most important taken by the government since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a severe stroke on 4 January.

Tests have shown activity on both sides of his brain, but he shows no sign of emerging from a medically induced coma.

His replacement, Ehud Olmert, is set to stay on as acting prime minister until Israel goes to the polls on 28 March, according to Israeli media.

Attorney General Meni Mazuz will reportedly tell Mr Olmert on Sunday that he can continue in his current capacity, because Mr Sharon remains unable to run the country.

Hamas curbs

The cabinet's final decision to allow voting comes after both Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz and Mr Olmert had said it would go ahead.

But the government has decided to ban Hamas from campaigning and to block its inclusion on ballot papers distributed in the area.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat welcomed the approval, but both he and a Hamas spokesman condemned the conditions attached.

"Hamas and other factions are able to carry out their election campaign in many ways and in different methods despite the Zionist blackmail," Mushir al-Masri said.

Our correspondent says Israel does not want to help the Islamist militant group come to power, as it has carried out many suicide bombings and calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Polls suggest the organisation could win up to a third of the Palestinian vote in the election, which it is competing in for the first time.

But Israel does not want to be held responsible for scuppering the Palestinians' first parliamentary poll in 10 years, our correspondent adds.

Israel had already softened its initial curbs on campaigning in East Jerusalem, to allow canvassing in the area.

Israel has occupied East Jerusalem since 1967. It has annexed the area and sees it as its exclusive domain.

Under international law the area is considered to be occupied territory.

The area is often called Arab East Jerusalem because the majority of its residents are Palestinian, and Palestinians hope to make it their future capital.

The 200,000-odd Palestinians living in the eastern part of East Jerusalem were allowed to vote in an election in 1996, in which Hamas did not take part.


PALESTINIAN ELECTIONS
Scheduled for 25 January; originally set for July 2005
132 members elected to Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC)
Fatah and Hamas are main contenders
First time Hamas participates in parliamentary poll
Last parliamentary elections held in 1996



<
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/4614064.stm

Published: 2006/01/15 12:15:51 GMT

© BBC MMVI




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13 January 2006

Saving Mato Paha...



INTER-TRIBAL COALITION TO DEFEND BEAR BUTTE.

Bear Butte is "Nowah'wus" to the Cheyenne Nation.

It is "Mato Paha" to the Lakota.

Across the Great Plains over thirty indigenous Nations acknowledge the sacredness of this Butte and it's surrounding area. It is a mountain inhabited by spirits and spiritual powers that are well known to our people. For this reason Bear Butte is central to our ceremonial life as native people of the Great Plains and is necessary for the continued health and well being of our people. All life on Bear Butte must be respected and defended. No people have a right to destroy or disrespect our sacred mountain.

While we all as a people hold the entire Black Hills to be sacred, Bear Butte is under direct attack at this time and we are preparing to do our best to defend the sacred mountain again. We have learned of plans to build enormous biker bars and campsites all around our sacred mountain. In addition existing beer bars and ! concert venues are expanding and edging closer and closer into sacred grounds.

Today one has dug outdoor toilets on the very slopes of the north side of our Sacred Mountain for their annual drunken binge! Over 600,000 motorcyclists are expected to attend the "Sturgis Bike Rally" in 2006 and they pay millions of dollars into the local economy of the people who claim to license and permit them on behalf of the public. Never since Custer discovered gold has our Mato Paha been threatened by such a combination of greed, government and legal adversity.

Our struggle to preserve Bear Butte has lasted for centuries. In 1876 Chief Sitting Bull of the Hunkpapa Lakota gathered over 6,000 Indian people at the Butte to urge them to defend our sacred lands. Chief Crazy Horse spoke from the mountain to remind his people that the Paha Sapa is not for sale. In each year and decade since those days our people have engaged in efforts to save and protect the sacred mountain. In the early 1980's Chief Fools Crow of the Oglala Lakota fought to save the mountain in the U.S. court system (Fools Crow vs. Gullet, 706 F.2d 856 [1983] ). He lost after taking it all the way to the Supreme Court (464 U.S. 977 [1983]). Traditional Indian people have fought to save the mountain from treaty times until now.

The "INTERTRIBAL COALITION TO DEFEND BEAR BUTTE" is a group made up of the Tribes and their "Traditional Societies" who are joining together to unite our people and our Nations to protect and defend our right to pray and have our ceremonies in peace. We are calling on all who value the heritage of our people and still practice the ancient ways of your tribes to join with us in defense of our ways. If you, your society and/or your Tribe want to join us, our invitation is open. In the traditional way of our people we know that our circle will begin small and grow as the people hear our words and respond to the threat. In the summer, at a time we will ! all decide, we will ask the people to gather in a "Great Inter-Tribal Gathering of the Nations" to sit in Council and decide what our people and their Nations can do to defend the Sacred Mountain.

Our various Nations have acquired land for the ceremonial use of their people near Bear Butte. This land is an important part of our sovereign Nations because with it we preserve a link to the sacred mountain even though it has been taken from within our borders. We bought the land with the intention and right to utilize it in peace and quiet and this right predates the city of Sturgis, Meade County, the State of South Dakota, and in particular the "Sturgis Bike Rally". We have a right to use our land for sacred purposes during the entire year without interference from the above named entities.

Therefore, we intend to ask our Nations and their Traditional Societies and People to preserve these right! s by gathering together during the summer months of July and August upon our own sovereign lands at Bear Butte to convene a Council of Nations. As a people we will gather together to form a spiritual encampment as a place for our Societies to once again sing their ancient songs and renew their vows. Within our encampment we will ask our holy men and women to bless us with their ceremonies and prayers and give us guidance in our quest to defend our sacred mountain.

In asking for the support of Tribal governments we do so with the knowledge that we the people will be the ones engaging in the effort. We ask our tribal governments to support us by passing official resolutions of support and providing material and financial support as you see fit. We also ask you to participate by naming a tribal liaison to interact with the coalition and provide input on behalf of the tribe. Each Tribe and Society will have a seat at the Council.

Both as individuals and as an organization we continue our support for environmental organizations that are working to protect Bear Butte. The efforts of the "Defenders of the Black Hills" (an Indian-led coalition of environmental groups) and the "International Alliance to Save Bear Butte" (an Indian-led alliance of local people and concerned people worldwide) have taken the lead in organizing state and national opposition to the proposed developments around Bear Butte. It is our hope that we can work in harmony and support their efforts by adding our voice to theirs. In the future it may be our privilege to join them and the Tribes in further legal actions or in providing testimony in American political subdivisions and courts.


As an inter-tribal organization we intend to concentrate on informing our own people and our Tribes about the danger infringing upon the sacred mountain and asking them and our traditional societies to use all their resources to defend Her. We believe our traditional spiritual ways can have a tremendous beneficial effect for the Sacred Mountain and we seek to help gather traditional people together to use those spiritual ways on our sovereign lands at Bear Butte. We are asking our traditional tribal societies to come add their prayers, songs and ceremonies to those of the other Nations so the powerful unity of our sacred ways can guide our steps.

We ask you all to come sit in Council with us and join our growing Circle of traditional Indian people who are determined to save the "The Mountain that Teaches."

In beginning this effort we were advised by respected Elders to construct a traditional "Staff" which is to be blessed and dedicated to defending Nowah'wus. This sacred staff will be taken to the Tribes, respected Elders, Chiefs, Society Headsmen, Headswomen and Clan leaders to explain our message and to seek their help.

In July the "Sacred Staff"! will be taken to the Sacred Mountain to be placed in a "Ceremonial Tipi" and the Societies and youth will begin to gather to prepare meeting grounds, ceremonial areas and campgrounds. Each Tribe and Society can move into camp on their own timetable during July to prepare themselves for the coming Council and Ceremonial Gathering. By the time the "Rally" begins in August we must be unified in a plan of action to peacefully and spiritually defend Nowah'wus, Mato Paha, our Sacred Mountain, BEAR BUTTE.

For all our Relations.


Carter Camp, Ponca Nation
cartercamp@yahoo.com

I have been asked to act as a coordinator along with Debra White Plume, Oglala Nation

2
"Owe Aku" a tradit! ional group working on the Oglala reservation at Pine Ridge has been given the task of preparing the "Sacred Staff" and taking it to the Tribes. "Owe Aku" means "bring back the way" in Lakota and in this beginning they will act as our contact point and fiscal agent for fund raising.

As a 501 c-3 organization, Owe Aku is able to receive tax exempt donations from individuals and Tribes and to be accountable for using it for the encampment and Council. A larger meeting of all concerned is planned for early spring, at that time a more formal organization can be formed to be more inclusive and to make the decisions necessary for the Gathering. If you or your society wishes to join with us in defending Bear Butte this summer feel free to contact us.

Contact information for Owe Aku is as follows
Debra White Plume, Director
101 Lonesome Valley Rd.
Manderson S.D. 57756
Ph # 605-455-2155

Vic Camp
P.O. Box 95
Manderson S. D. 57756
Ph# 605-455-1122






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Quote of the Day



"I will live like this!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn't serve this world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us; It is not just in some of us - it's in everyone!

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others..."

~~President Nelson Mandela, Inaugural Speech 1994



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08 January 2006

The Family That Lies, Steals and Cheats Together...



Funny how the rotted fruit always tends to land with a nasty, foul PLOP, right at the bottom of the tree, ennit...?

--ryan



Bill Berkowitz: 'The Tumultuous and Tawdry Travels of Neil Bush'
Posted on Saturday, January 07 @ 09:10:43 EST

Scandal-plagued Bush brother returns to spotlight with Russian fugitive and Rev. Sun Myung Moon

Bill Berkowitz, Working For Change

Over the past six months, Neil Bush, the son of former President George Herbert Walker Bush and Barbara Bush, and the younger brother of President George W. Bush, has been shepherded around several former Soviet republics by a man wanted for fraud by Russian authorities, and has showed up in the Philippines and Taiwan at the side of a self-styled messiah.

If people know anything at all about the star-crossed Neil Bush, it likely relates to either his role in the failed Silverado Savings and Loan scandal during the 1980s -- which cost taxpayers more than $1 billion -- or, more recently, the lurid details of his divorce from his wife of 23 years.

After a brief hiatus from the spotlight, Neil Bush is back. Within a three-month period, Bush showed up in Latvia, Ukraine and Georgia with Russian fugitive Boris Berezovsky, and appeared at the side of the Unification Church's Rev. Sun Myung Moon in Taiwan and the Philippines.

In September, Bush visited Latvia with Boris Berezovsky, described by the Washington Post as "a fugitive Russian tycoon who made millions in the violent scramble for control of Russian government assets after the fall of communism."

full story here.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=24302&mode=nested&order=0




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Leben im Amerikanischen Reich...



Living in the Amerikan Reich...

At this rate, it's just a matter of time before we see Bu$h, ¢heney and Rum$feld strutting around on TV, wearing jackboots and uniforms...

--ryan



* Action Alert: Illegal NSA Wiretapping Program Involved Data-Mining





News reports over the holidays revealed that the US National Security Agency (NSA)'s presidentially-approved domestic spying program is even broader than the White House acknowledged.

First it was revealed that the Administration has been wiretapping the international phone and email communications of people inside the US without getting search warrants.

Now we learn that, according to the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, the NSA has gained access to major telecommunications switches inside the US, giving it essentially unchecked access not only to international communications but to purely domestic emails and phone calls as well. Those newspapers, and a new book by New York Times reporter James Risen, have further revealed that the NSA has been using that access--as well as access to telecommunications companies' databases--to data-mine Internet logs and phone logs for suspicious patterns, presumably to find new targets for the wiretapping program.

The continuing revelations about the NSA's illegal surveillance activities make a mockery of the current debate over USA PATRIOT reform. The Administration has been vigorously arguing against adding any new checks and balances to its foreign intelligence capabilities in the new PATRIOT
renewal bill, yet the White House has now admitted that it authorized the NSA to bypass the few checks and balances remaining after PATRIOT. What good is legislative reform if the Administration considers itself above the law?

EFF is actively investigating all options for going to court and challenging the NSA program. However, the exact scope of the "President's Program," as it has been called, is still very unclear, and these new revelations show just how badly a Congressional inquiry is needed to get to the bottom of
things. Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) has vowed to hold hearings in the Senate Judiciary Committee, but neither the House nor Senate Intelligence Committees has announced similar plans. What is needed here is a full-court press from Congress--it appears that the facts we've gotten so far are potentially the tip of the iceberg.

Specter's hearings start this month. The debate over PATRIOT will resume, too, as the "sunsetting" provisions of the Act are now set to expire on February 3rd. Particularly in light of the NSA scandal, Congress should not even consider renewing the spying powers in the PATRIOT Act until the
public hears the full story of the President's Program.

Visit our Action Center and tell your Senators and Representative to support hearings on the NSA program and oppose PATRIOT renewal:
http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=200

New York Times, "Spy Agency Mined Vast Data Trove, Officials Report," 12/24/05:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/24/politics/24spy.html

Los Angeles Times, "U.S. Spying Is Much Wider, Some Suspect," 12/25/05:
http://www.eff.org/cgi/tiny?urlID=548

Excerpt from James Risen's "State of War," discussing "the Program":
http://cryptome.org/nsa-program.htm
http://kirkys-world.tripod.com




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