New Spore Games Target Kids, Wii Players

http://blog.wired.com/games/2009/01/electronic-arts.html

New Spore Games Target Kids, Wii Players
By Nate Ralph
January 22, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO — The long-awaited release of Will Wright's evolution game, Spore, wasn't the end of the journey. It was just the beginning.

At a chic San Francisco art gallery Wednesday evening, Electronic Arts unveiled its plans to expand on the franchise in 2009. Wright and Co. are looking to bring a wide variety of new players into the Spore universe. A new Creature Keeper game is aimed at young kids who want to play Tamagotchi with the monsters they create. Spore Hero is an action-adventure game for Wii. And a new expansion pack to the flagship PC game allows players to tweak the gameplay, creating their own adventures and challenging other players.

Spore, which was released last September, had years of hype behind it. The game promised to recreate the entire path of evolution, from cells swimming in the primordial ooze all the way to space travel. Critics were largely in agreement that while the game's creature-creation tools and procedurally-generated universes were stunning in their complexity, the gameplay laid on top of it was lacking.

Electronic Arts hopes it can evolve the series this year.

One of the most praised parts of Spore was the creature creator that allowed players to pull and prod body parts every which way to design amazing creatures, which would then animate in a lifelike fashion. Spore Creature Keeper takes those monsters and dumps them into a virtual-pet game aimed at kids.

In addition to ensuring that their little creation gets its daily exercise, players will be able to decorate their critter's living space, and invite friends over for play dates.

EA says it expects to release Creature Keeper in the summer.

Will Wright has said repeatedly that his company had planned on releasing a version of Spore for Nintendo's Wii console. EA finally made the official announcement last night: Spore Hero will be available this fall.

Spore Hero will allow players to create and interact with a fully rendered creature, and then lead them on a casual adventure to become their galaxy's champion, with a number of challenges along the way. While EA held back on the details, it said that the game will maintain the franchise's focus on creating content and interacting with friends. But the Wii format will bring new challenges — it'll use the console's motion controls — and probably a whole new audience.

A Nintendo DS version of the game, Spore Hero Arena, is also scheduled for a fall release.

The highlight of the event was Spore Galactic Adventures (pictured above), the game's first expansion pack for PC and Mac. It expands the creative pathways open to players by allowing them to create their own gameplay.

Spore allows you to play God: prodding a single-celled organism along the evolutionary road, you design entire civilizations to explore vast tracts of space, befriending (or conquering) neighbors. And with the social networking trappings of "Sporepedia," a compendium of user-created content, your universe is automatically populated by the creations of other players hooked in to the network. (EA said Wednesday that over 65 million creations are currently on the servers.)

But once you reach the final Space stage of Spore, the gameplay becomes a bit underwhelming — once countless solar systems are at your fingertips, you'll quickly realize that there isn't very much to do. Galactic Adventures seeks to flesh out the final bits of Spore by adding a potent new tool set dubbed the "Adventure Creator," which allows you to create their own challenging levels and play others.

While we weren't allowed to get hands-on with the world-shaping, the demo that EA showed us demonstrated that Adventure Creator should be just as intuitive a tool as all of Spore's others. You won't be able to alter the size or shape of a planet, but geological features like lofty volcanoes or winding lakes can be planted with a click of your mouse. You can change the temperature from a ball of magma to a frigid wasteland or anything in between.

Once you've crafted the ideal layout, the full bulk of the Sporepedia will be available, allowing you to populate your world with any number of creatures, buildings, vehicles and objects that other users have created.

Once the stage is set, it's time to start crafting an adventure. Much like Sony's creative PlayStation 3 game LittleBigPlanet, the definition of an adventure will largely be up to the individual designer. One quest I saw involved rescuing a princess from the clutches of a massive predator, while another challenged players to defend creatures from their hostile neighbors, as they migrated from one end of a planet to another.

Players will be able to create vehicle races, hedge mazes, or even platforming puzzles based on navigating a hazardous environment. The tools are fairly open-ended, and adventure-designers will have a great deal of control over how characters and objects interact with one another, including adding dialogue or controlling the feelings and reactions that a particular quest's actor has towards a player's character.

Every adventure is tied to the planet that you create. Once you've completed your opus and uploaded it to the Sporepedia, it functions much like any other user-created object will — you can search the web page for new content, or simply play the game as you normally would, and wait for the adventures to come to you. As you travel around the Spore universe, you'll occasionally encounter a player-created quest, and Galactic Adventures will allow your creature to beam down onto the surface of a planet to explore.

New equipment and abilities will be added with this expansion pack, tools of the trade that no self-respecting spacefarer should be without. These include all sorts of rocket launchers and laser blasters to ward off hostiles, in addition to jet packs and hover boots, to help space explorers navigate treacherous terrain.

Players will be able to rate the adventures they encounter, and popular levels with higher ratings will spread about the Spore-universe, while the drivel will fade into obscurity. Adventures will also have leaderboards, so that players who complete a level will be able to see how well they performed, when compared to players around the world.

When Galactic Adventures debuts later this spring, it will ship with a few dozen adventures crafted by the game's designers, but it will largely be up to players to create the universe as they see fit. If the success of the current content creators are any indication — over 200,000 new items are being uploaded every day — it's going to be an exciting time to be a Spore fan.

Nazi Josef Mengele 'created twin town in Brazil'

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/4307262/Nazi-angel-of-death-Josef-Mengele-created-twin-town-in-Brazil.html

Nazi angel of death Josef Mengele 'created twin town in Brazil'
The Nazi doctor Josef Mengele is responsible for the astonishing number of twins in a small Brazilian town, an Argentine historian has claimed.
One in five pregnancies in the small Brazilian town have resulted in twins - most of them blond haired and blue eyed.
By Nick Evans in Buenos Aires
21 Jan 2009

The steely hearted "Angel of Death", whose mission was to create a master race fit for the Third Reich, was the resident medic at Auschwitz from May 1943 until his flight in the face of the Red Army advance in January 1945.

His task was to carry out experiments to discover by what method of genetic quirk twins were produced – and then to artificially increase the Aryan birthrate for his master, Adolf Hitler.

Now, a historian claims, Mengele's notorious experiments may have borne fruit.

For years scientists have failed to discover why as many as one in five pregnancies in a small Brazilian town have resulted in twins – most of them blond haired and blue eyed.

But residents of Candido Godoi now claim that Mengele made repeated visits there in the early 1960s, posing at first as a vet but then offering medical treatment to the women of the town.

Shuttling between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, he managed to evade justice before his death in 1979, but his dreams of a Nazi master race appeared unfulfilled.

In a new book, Mengele: the Angel of Death in South America, the Argentine historian Jorge Camarasa, a specialist in the post-war Nazi flight to South America, has painstakingly pieced together the Nazi doctor's mysterious later years.

After speaking to the townspeople of Candido Godoi, he is convinced that Mengele continued his genetic experiments with twins – with startling results.

He reveals how, after working with cattle farmers in Argentina to increase their stock, Mengele fled the country after fellow Nazi, Adolf Eichmann, was kidnapped by Israeli agents.

He claims that Mengele found refuge in the German enclave of Colonias Unidas, Paraguay, and from there, in 1963, began to make regular trips to another predominantly German community just over the border in Brazil – the farming community of Candido Godoi.

And, Mr Camaras claims, it was here that soon after the birthrate of twins began to spiral.

"I think Candido Godoi may have been Mengele's laboratory, where he finally managed to fulfil his dreams of creating a master race of blond haired, blue eyed Aryans," he said.

"There is testimony that he attended women, followed their pregnancies, treated them with new types of drugs and preparations, that he talked of artificial insemination in human beings, and that he continued working with animals, proclaiming that he was capable of getting cows to produce male twins."

The urbane German who arrived in Candido Godoi was remembered with fondness by many of the townspeople.

"He told us he was a vet," said Aloisi Finkler, a local farmer interviewed by Mr Camarasa. "He asked about illnesses we had among our animals, and told us not to worry, he could cure them. He appeared a cultured and dignified man."

Another farmer, Leonardo Boufler, said: "He went from farm to farm checking the animals. He checked them for TB, and injected those that were infected. He said he could carry out artificial insemination of cows and humans, which we thought impossible as in those days it was unheard of."

But the Nazi eugenicist did not concentrate on animals alone.

A former mayor and town doctor, Anencia Flores da Silva, set out to try to solve the town's mystery. He interviewed hundreds of people, and discovered one character who crept on cropping up: an itinerant medic calling himself Rudolph Weiss.

Dr da Silva said: "In the testimonies we collected we came across women who were treated by him, he appeared to be some sort of rural medic who went from house to house. He attended women who had varicose veins and gave them a potion which he carried in a bottle, or tablets which he brought with him. Sometimes he carried out dental work, and everyone remembers he used to take blood."

The people of Candido Godoi now largely accept that a Nazi war criminal was an inadvertent guest of theirs for several years in the early 1960s. The town's official crest shows two identical profiles and a road sign welcomes visitors to a "Farming Community and Land of the Twins". There is also a museum, the House of the Twins.

While the twins birthrate varies widely in different countries, it is typically about one in 80 pregnancies – a statistic that has left Mr Camarasa certain in his claim that Mengele was successfully pursuing his dreams of creating a master race, a real-life Boys from Brazil.

"Nobody knows for sure exactly what date Mengele arrived in Candido Godoi, but the first twins were born in 1963, the year in which we first hear reports of his presence," he said.

Something fishy?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-01-19-fake-foods_N.htm

Something fishy? Counterfeit foods enter the U.S. market
1-19-9
By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

Some of your favorite foods may be fakes.

Foods masquerading as something else — a more nutritious something else — have been big news in the past two years. Chinese food companies in particular have been blamed for making deadly alterations to dairy, baby and pet foods by adding melamine. The chemical makes it appear that the food or beverage has the required level of protein.

But what about food producers in this country? What fraudulent foods do U.S. consumers have to fear from American companies?

Experts say dangerous U.S.-produced foods are comparatively few, but producers have been known to practice "economic adulteration" — adding a little to their bottom line by padding, thinning or substituting something cheap for something expensive.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration regulate the food industry, but with safety issues to deal with, economic adulteration has "really been back-burnered," says Bruce Silverglade of the non-profit Center for Science in the Public Interest. So in a caveat emptor world, what should consumers look out for?

Fish is the most frequently faked food Americans buy. In the business, it's called "species adulteration" — selling a cheaper fish such as pen-raised Atlantic salmon as wild Alaska salmon.

When Consumer Reports tested 23 supposedly wild-caught salmon fillets bought nationwide in 2005-2006, only 10 were wild salmon. The rest were farmed. In 2004, University of North Carolina scientists found 77% of fish labeled red snapper was actually something else. Last year, the Chicago Sun-Times tested fish at 17 sushi restaurants and found that fish being sold as red snapper actually was mostly tilapia.

"It's really just fraud, plain and simple," says Gavin Gibbons of the National Fisheries Institute, an industry group.

One thing consumers don't need to worry about is scallops. Tales of skate wings cut into circles and sold as scallops are common. But Randolph says the FDA has never found an actual case of it.

Salmon is tricky. Randolph does have one tip, though. Farmed salmon gets its coloring from dyes added to food pellets the fish are fed, while wild salmon gets it from the plankton they eat.

"When you cook it, the wild salmon retains its color, and in the aquaculture salmon, the color tends to leak out," she says. Suspicious consumers can call the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Nutrition hotline at 1-888-SAFEFOOD.

Olive oil

This luxury oil, touted for its heart-health properties and taste, has become a gourmet must-have. Americans consumed about 575 million pounds of the silky stuff last year, according to the North American Olive Oil Association. Sixty-three percent was the higher-grade extra virgin, which comes from the first pressing of the olives.

It's also one of the most frequently counterfeited food products, says Martin Stutsman, the FDA's consumer safety officer for edible oils.

There are no national figures on olive-oil fakery. But after complaints, Connecticut began testing two years ago. "We were coming across a lot of products labeled as extra-virgin olive oil that contained up to 90% soybean oil," says Jerry Farrell Jr., Connecticut's commissioner of consumer protection.

Most name brands were fine, Farrell says. It was often off-brands sold in discount stores that were the problem.

Connecticut was so concerned that in November, it became the first state in the nation to set standards for olive oil, enabling officials there to levy fines and pull adulterated products off store shelves. California is set to create its own standards this year. Reports from panels of testers have found as much as 60% to 70% of the olive oil sold as extra virgin in the state is a lower-quality olive oil, says Dan Flynn of the Olive Center at the University of California-Davis.

The easiest thing is for fakers to add 10% vegetable oil in extra virgin, says Stutsman. "It will still smell as it should, but you've saved 10% of the cost."

Bob Bauer, president of the North American Olive Oil Association, says it's more of a problem in restaurants than in supermarkets.

Honey

An expensive natural product that's mostly sugar, honey is easily faked. "If you can substitute a less expensive source of sugar for the expensive one, you can save some money and gain market share," says the FDA's Stutsman.

It used to be that cane sugar or high-fructose corn syrup was mostly used to thin out honey. But chemically, that was easy to spot. FDA used an isotope test that would easily identify the adulteration.

So counterfeiters got wily and started using beet sugar. Its profile is similar to honey, so the FDA had to switch to a much more complicated, multistep test comparing the sugar profiles to see if the proportions and trace materials match.

"But once we started catching people, they create a moving target. They'll switch to something more difficult (to detect)," says Stutsman.

Maple syrup

Maple syrup is another high-value item that can be adulterated. In these tough economic times, Vermont, the USA's largest supplier to flapjacks everywhere, may up its testing programs.

The boiled-down sap of the sugar maple tree can be diluted with water or sugar by sellers "trying to get more bang for the buck," says Kristin Haas, food safety director in the state's Agency for Agriculture, Food and Markets.

Vermont's testing program has found fraud only three times in the past 17 years, says Haas, but it's not taken lightly. "A couple of years back, there was a gentleman who actually went to prison because of this issue."

When times get tight, the incentive to cheat can rise like sap in the spring, so the state may have to work harder to keep its premier product pure.

Vanilla

A product of the tropics, vanilla pods can be soaked in milk or stored in sugar to impart a delicate vanilla scent to foods. More commonly, they're soaked in alcohol that is then used as a flavoring.

But vanillin (pronounced VAN-ah-lynn), a chemical copy of the richly organic vanilla flavor, was created in the laboratory in the 19th century. When used in foods, it's supposed to be labeled as an artificial flavor and usually is.

One "too good to be true" product to watch out for is really inexpensive vanilla extract sometimes sold in Mexico and Latin America, says the FDA. It's often made with coumarin, a toxic substance that has been banned in U.S. foods since 1954.

Coumarin is chemically related to warfarin, a blood thinner, and can be dangerous. It's "no bargain," the FDA says.

It’s getting warmer in Antarctica

http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/01/21/its-getting-warmer-in-antarctica/

It’s getting warmer in Antarctica
By Pete Spotts
01.21.09

For years Antarctica has been AWOL when it comes to continent-wide evidence of warming temperatures. Serious warming appeared limited to the Antarctic Peninsula, a mountainous finger of land jutting north toward South America.

No longer, if results from a new study hold up.

The continent is still bitingly frigid and largely a desert. The average annual temperature for the interior is -58 degrees Farhenheit. Along the coast, it ranges from 5 to 14 degrees F.

But over the past 50 years, the continent as a whole has warmed (or grown less cold, if you like) by an average of 0.2 degrees F. per decade, according to a team led by Eric Steig, a geochemist at the University of Washington in Seattle. The pace is comparable to the rate of warming the southern hemisphere as a whole has undergone during that time, the team notes.

Warming usually seen on the Antarctic Peninsula now appears to extend across all of West Antarctica. The team estimated that temperatures on the peninsula have risen by 0.2 degrees F. per decade. West Antarctica has warmed at a rate of 0.3 degrees F. per decade. And East Antarctica has warmed at a 0.18 degrees F. per decade pace.

The team is a reluctant to unequivocally point a finger at human-triggered global warming just yet. A 50-year record is too short to allow researchers to sort out the relative contribution of human and natural influences to the trends they see at the bottom of the world.

Still, the results “are consistent with the general warming we get from greenhouse gases,” says Drew Shindell, a climate-modeler at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York. Dr. Shindell is a member of the research team.

An understatement?

Indeed, the results may understate warming in some areas, suggests Gareth Marshall, a climatologist with the British Antarctic Survey. In an email exchange, he notes that the rate of warming as measured by stations on the Antarctic Peninsula have been somewhat higher than the rate Steig and his colleagues derived.

Still, he offers, the new results illustrate “that over the past 50 years overall, Antarctica has warmed at a similar rate to the rest of the Southern Hemisphere. This suggests that Antarctica, like the six other continents, is being affected by anthropogenic climate change.”

Portions of the new results appear to enjoy the beginnings of independent confirmation. A team of scientists from Swansea University and the British Antarctic Survey have found that temperatures at one location in West Antarctica have risen by 0.17 degrees C per decade since 1930. That’s virtually identical to the rate Steig’s team found for West Antarctica as well.

The British results are estimates based on temperature measurements the team made at various depths in a bore hole they drilled into the Rutford Ice Stream in West Antarctica. The hole is 1,000 feet deep. The results have been accepted for publication in the journal Geophysical Review Letters.

But one bore hole isn’t representative of a region, as the researchers readily acknowledge. They call on colleagues to make similar measurements to better pin down the rates and geographic reach of warming in West Antarctica.

Still, the two efforts “complement each other in a very nice way,” notes Brian Barrett, the lead author on the Geophysical Review Letters paper.

How they gathered their numbers

Steig and his colleagues had more data to work with. But they faced a problem. Of the 42 stations with records dating as far back as 1957 (the International Geophysical Year), only two sit within the continent’s interior. The rest dot the continent’s coast. So the team also tapped data from 65 temporary stations that scientists set up periodically for a few years as they conducted research away from long-established sites.

But that’s still sparse for an entire continent. So the team tapped satellite data to look at the continent as a whole. Measurements from on high only reach back 25 years. So the team used a statistical approach it developed to turn data from ground and space into a 50-year reconstruction of temperature trends.

Like Dr. Barrett, Steig encourages colleagues to begin taking more bore-hole measurements as an independent test of the results.

Even if the warming rate the team claims for East Antarctica — higher and colder than the western part of the continent — turns out to be more ify than results for other regions of the continent, the results for West Antarctica alone should be a wake-up call, researchers agree. This is the area where large ice shelves are breaking up and the region’s ice sheet is thought to be the most vulnerable to melting over the coming centuries if industrial greenhouse-gas emissions and deforestation remain unchecked.

81st Academy Awards nominations

http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117998919.html

81st Academy Awards nominations
The full list of Oscar nominees
By VARIETY STAFF
Thurs., Jan. 22, 2009

And the nominees are:

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
(Paramount and Warner Bros.) A Kennedy/Marshall Production; Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
"Frost/Nixon"
(Universal) A Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment
and Working Title Production; Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Eric Fellner, Producers
"Milk"
(Focus Features) A Groundswell and Jinks/Cohen Company Production; Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen, Producers
"The Reader"
(The Weinstein Company) A Mirage Enterprises and Neunte Babelsberg Film GmbH Production; Nominees to be determined
"Slumdog Millionaire"
(Fox Searchlight) A Celador Films Production; Christian Colson, Producer

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor" (Overture Films)
Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon" (Universal)
Sean Penn in "Milk" (Focus Features)
Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" (Fox Searchlight)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Josh Brolin in "Milk" (Focus Features)
Robert Downey Jr. in "Tropic Thunder" (DreamWorks, Distributed by DreamWorks/Paramount)
Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.)
Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Angelina Jolie in "Changeling" (Universal)
Melissa Leo in "Frozen River" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Meryl Streep in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Kate Winslet in "The Reader" (The Weinstein Company)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Penélope Cruz in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (The Weinstein Company)
Viola Davis in "Doubt" (Miramax)
Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.)
Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler" (Fox Searchlight)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
(Paramount and Warner Bros.) Screenplay by Eric Roth; Screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
"Doubt" (Miramax) Written by John Patrick Shanley
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Screenplay by Peter Morgan
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Screenplay by David Hare
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"Frozen River" (Sony Pictures Classics); Written by Courtney Hunt
"Happy-Go-Lucky" (Miramax); Written by Mike Leigh
"In Bruges" (Focus Features); Written by Martin McDonagh
"Milk" (Focus Features); Written by Dustin Lance Black
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney); Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; Original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR
"Bolt" (Walt Disney) Chris Williams and Byron Howard
"Kung Fu Panda" (DreamWorks Animation, Distributed by Paramount) John Stevenson and Mark Osborne
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Andrew Stanton

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
"Changeling" (Universal) Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
"The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films) Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
"Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
"Changeling" (Universal) Tom Stern
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Claudio Miranda
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Wally Pfister
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Anthony Dod Mantle

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
"Australia" (20th Century Fox) Catherine Martin
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Jacqueline West
"The Duchess" (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films) Michael O'Connor
"Milk" (Focus Features) Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road" (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage) Albert Wolsky

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Fincher
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Ron Howard
"Milk" (Focus Features) Gus Van Sant
"The Reader" (The Weinstein Company) Stephen Daldry
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Danny Boyle

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)" (Cinema Guild) A Pandinlao Films Production, Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
"Encounters at the End of the World" (THINKFilm and Image Entertainment) A Creative Differences Production, Werner Herzog and Henry Kaiser
"The Garden" A Black Valley Films Production, Scott Hamilton Kennedy
"Man on Wire" (Magnolia Pictures) A Wall to Wall Production, James Marsh and Simon Chinn
"Trouble the Water" (Zeitgeist Films) An Elsewhere Films Production, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"The Conscience of Nhem En" A Farallon Films Production Steven Okazaki
"The Final Inch" A Vermilion Films Production, Irene Taylor Brodsky and Tom Grant
"Smile Pinki" A Principe Production, Megan Mylan
"The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306" A Rock Paper Scissors Production, Adam Pertofsky and Margaret Hyde

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon" (Universal) Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"Milk" (Focus Features) Elliot Graham
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Chris Dickens

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
"The Baader Meinhof Complex" A Constantin Film Production; Germany
"The Class" (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haut et Court Production; France
"Departures" (Regent Releasing) A Departures Film Partners Production; Japan
"Revanche" (Janus Films) A Prisma Film/Fernseh Production; Austria
"Waltz with Bashir" (Sony Pictures Classics) A Bridgit Folman Film Gang Production; Israel

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
(Paramount and Warner Bros.) Greg Cannom
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army" (Universal) Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance" (Paramount Vantage) James Newton Howard
"Milk" (Focus Features) Danny Elfman
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Thomas Newman

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman; Lyrics by Peter Gabriel
"Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Music by A.R. Rahman; Lyrics by Gulzar
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyrics by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
"La Maison en Petits Cubes" A Robot Communications Production; Kunio Kato
"Lavatory - Lovestory" A Melnitsa Animation Studio and CTB Film Company Production; Konstantin Bronzit
"Oktapodi"(Talantis Films) A Gobelins, L'école de l'image Production; Emud Mokhberi and Thierry Marchand
"Presto" (Walt Disney) A Pixar Animation Studios Production; Doug Sweetland
"This Way Up" A Nexus Production; Alan Smith and Adam Foulkes

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)" (Hamburg Shortfilmagency); An Academy of Media Arts Cologne Production; Reto Caffi
"Manon on the Asphalt" (La Luna Productions) A La Luna Production; Elizabeth Marre and Olivier Pont
"New Boy" (Network Ireland Television) A Zanzibar Films Production; Steph Green and Tamara Anghie
"The Pig"An M & M Production; Tivi Magnusson and Dorte Høgh
"Spielzeugland (Toyland)" A Mephisto Film Production; Jochen Alexander Freydank

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Richard King
"Iron Man" (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Tom Sayers
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
"Wanted" (Universal) Wylie Stateman

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
"Slumdog Millionaire" (Fox Searchlight) Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
"WALL-E" (Walt Disney) Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
"Wanted" (Universal) Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (Paramount and Warner Bros.) Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
"The Dark Knight" (Warner Bros.) Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
"Iron Man" (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment) John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

***

'Benjamin' buttons down 13 Oscar nominations

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/movieawards/oscars/2009-01-22-oscar-nominations_N.htm


'Benjamin' buttons down 13 Oscar nominations
1-22-9
By Susan Wloszczyna, USA TODAY

Batman and Clint Eastwood? Forget about it.

The Dark Knight, the superhero thriller that was expected to make history as the first comic-book adaptation to take a best-picture nomination, and Gran Torino, which the Hollywood veteran starred in and directed, were left out of the contest for Oscar's top prize.

Instead, the far more serious Holocaust-themed The Reader took the fifth berth and its director, Stephen Daldry, also managed to slip into his category.

The other nominees announced for top prize in the 81st Academy Awards Thursday morning in Los Angeles followed the script of the prognosticators: the era-spanning fable The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which led the crowd with 13 nominations; gay-themed political biopic Milk; TV-landmark drama Frost/Nixon; and romantic crowd-pleaser Slumdog Millionaire.

As expected, Heath Ledger's vividly twisted take on the villainous Joker in The Dark Knight scored a supporting nomination for the Australian actor, who died a year ago today at age 28 after suffering an accidental prescription-drug overdose. He's the seventh actor to compete posthumously in the race, though only Peter Finch won a best-actor trophy for 1976's Network.

Going up against Ledger are Philip Seymour Hoffman as a problematic priest in Doubt, Josh Brolin as a city supervisor turned assassin in Milk, Robert Downey Jr. as the ultimate Method actor in Tropic Thunder and Michael Shannon as a perceptive mental patient in Revolutionary Road.

After her two Golden Globe wins, Kate Winslet was expected to earn a supporting nomination for her tormented concentration-camp guard in The Reader as well as a lead spot as a distraught suburban housewife in Revolutionary Road.

Instead, only her work in Reader was recognized. The British actress, 33, has been up for an Oscar five times before without a win.

Others in the lead-actress lineup are Meryl Streep as a formidable nun in Doubt, Anne Hathaway as the black-sheep sister in Rachel Getting Married, Angelinia Jolie as the troubled mother of a missing boy in The Changeling and Melissa Leo as a struggling single mom in Frozen River.

Making up the supporting-actress category: Penelope Cruz's tempestuous ex-wife in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, Viola Davis as the mother of a possible abuse victim in Doubt, Taraji P. Henson as a loving adoptive mother in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Marisa Tomei as a worn-out stripper in The Wrestler and Amy Adams as a naïve nun in Doubt.

Making it into the lead actor lineup: Sean Penn as an openly gay politician in Milk, Mickey Rourke as a washed-up grappler in The Wrestler, Frank Langella as the ever-enigmatic Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon, Brad Pitt as the foundling who ages backward in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Richard Jenkins as the burnt-out professor who gains a new lease on life in The Visitor.

Joining Daldry in the director's race: David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Gus Van Sant for Milk, Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon and Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire.

The Oscar ceremony will air Feb. 22 on ABC with Hugh Jackman stepping into the host spot for the first time.

Nominees List of the 29th Annual Razzie Awards

Complete Nominees List of the 29th Annual Razzie Awards:

Worst Picture:
"Disaster Movie" and "Meet the Spartans"
"The Happening"
"The Hottie and the Nottie"
"In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale"
"The Love Guru"

Worst Actor:
Larry the Cable Guy, "Witless Protection"
Eddie Murphy, "Meet Dave"
Mike Myers, "The Love Guru"
Al Pacino, "88 Minutes" and "Righteous Kill"
Mark Wahlberg, "The Happening" and "Max Payne"

Worst Actress:
Jessica Alba, "The Eye" and "The Love Guru"
Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith and Meg Ryan, the Cast of "The Women"
Cameron Diaz, "What Happens in Vegas..."
Paris Hilton, "The Hottie and the Nottie"
Kate Hudson, "Fool's Gold" and "My Best Friend's Girl"

Worst Supporting Actor:
Uwe Boll, "Postal"
Pierce Brosnan, "Mamma Mia!"
Ben Kingsley, "The Love Guru", "War, Inc." and "The Wackness"
Burt Reynolds, "Deal" and "In The Name of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale"
Verne Troyer, "The Love Guru" and "Postal"

Worst Supporting Actress:
Carmen Electra, "Disaster Movie" and "Meet The Spartans"
Paris Hilton, "Repo: The Genetic Opera"
Kim Kardashian, "Disaster Movie"
Jenny McCarthy, "Witless Protection"
Leelee Sobieski, "88 Minutes" and "In The Name of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale"

Worst Screen Couple:
Uwe Boll and ANY Actor, Camera or Screenplay
Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, "What Happens in Vegas..."
Paris Hilton and either Christine Lakin or Joel David Moore, "The Hottie and the Nottie"
Larry the Cable Guy and Jenny McCarthy, "Witless Protection"
Eddie Murphy IN Eddie Murphy, "Meet Dave"

Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel:
"The Day the Earth Stood Still"
"Disaster Movie" and "Meet The Spartans"
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
"Speed Racer"
"Star Wars: The Clone Wars"

Worst Director:
Uwe Boll, "Tunnel Rats", In The Name of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale" and "Postal"
Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, "Disaster Movie" and "Meet The Spartans"
Tom Putnam, "The Hottie and the Nottie"
Marco Schnabel, "The Love Guru"
M. Night Shyamalan, "The Happening"

Worst Screenplay:
"Disaster Movie" and "Meet The Spartans" - Both Written by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer
"The Happening" - Written by M. Night Shyamalan
"The Hottie And The Nottie" - Written by Heidi Ferrer
"In The Name of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale" - Screenplay by Doug Taylor
"The Love Guru" - Written by Mike Myers and Graham Gordy

Worst Career Achievement (Special Category!): Uwe Boll (Germany's Answer to Ed Wood)

2008 RAZZIE® Worsts

http://razzies.com/

Celebrating 29 years of Dis-honoring Hollywood’s Worst

Paris’ NOTTIE, Myers’ GURU, Shyamalan’s THE HAPPENING, DISASTER MOVIE and Uwe Boll Rank Among 2008 RAZZIE® Worsts

It wasn’t just the American economy that took a disastrous downturn in 2008 — so did the quality of Hollywood movie-making. Of the 573 films released last year a record 75 rated forum discussions on the official RAZZIE® Awards web site. This plethora of putrid motion pictures proved a double-edged sword — It meant Golden Raspberry Award voters had plenty to choose from — but it also made their task of culling the crud down to a mere five contenders each in nine categories berry complicated. What they selected as nominees for this year's 29th Annual RAZZIE® Awards is the subject of this press release. The eventual “winners” will be unveiled in intentionally tacky ceremonies set for the now traditional Oscar® eve, Saturday night February 21, 2009 at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre in Hollywood.

Among the contenders for the Worst Picture are several laugh-free comedies, the year's most laughable vision of the apocalypse, a pair of puerile parodies, a couple of big budget B.O. bombs, and a decidedly un-romantic “romantic comedy” co-produced by Paris Hilton. The list includes the first ever dual Worst Picture nominees, two films from the same two talent-free writer/directors, both featuring essentially the same cast — those twin towers of pop culture babble, DISASTER MOVIE (which lived up — or down — to its title) and MEET THE SPARTANS (a “parody” of THE 300 which somehow managed to work references to Britney Spears into an ancient Spartan “plot”). Other Worst Picture picks: The latest “mystery with a twist” from that self-important twit (and multiple RAZZIE® “winner”) M. Night Shyamalan, THE HAPPENING, an eco-disaster tale whose “villain” drew more guffaws than gasps; The robotic rom-com THE HOTTIE AND THE NOTTIE copping Hilton three of her four RAZZIE® nominations this year alone as the film’s producer and star; Bad Movie Uber-Meister Uwe Boll’s video-game-based fiasco IN THE NAME OF THE KING: A DUNGEON SIEGE TALE, which grossed under $5 million on a $60 million budget and was also a factor in Boll being selected to receive the first Worst Career Achievement RAZZIE® awarded since 1987. And last (and possibly least) the year’s biggest box office bomb, Mike Myers as a platitude-spouting mystic in the decidedly unloved LOVE GURU. Also singled out for dis-honor: The year’s third-highest-grossing (and most disappointing) movie, INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, as Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel, 2007 Triple Crown RAZZIE® “winner” Eddie Murphy, back for more abuse in two categories for MEET DAVE; Oscar® winner Al Pacino sporting his third RAZZIE® nomination for both 88 MINUTES and RIGHTEOUS KILL, Pierce Brosnan singing(!) in MAMMA, MIA! as Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Actor choice Larry the Cable Guy, all five top-billed stars of THE WOMEN (jointly vying as Worst Actress)...and more!

Nominees were determined by mailing ballots to 687 voters in 45 U.S. states and 19 foreign countries. The RAZZIES® were created in 1980 as a logical antidote to Tinsel Town’s annual glut of self-congratulatory awards by John Wilson, author of THE OFFICIAL RAZZIE® MOVIE GUIDE and EVERYTHING I KNOW I LEARNED AT THE MOVIES. The Barnsdall Theatre is a facility of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs. STATS on RAZZIE® WORST PICTURE NOMINEES for 2008

Disaster Movie
6 Nominations: Worst Picture, Supporting Actress (2x) Rip-Off, Director(s) and Screenplay
Released
Aug. 29, 2008 by Lionsgate
Rotten Tomatoes Rating
98% Negative
Box Office
$14,190,901
Budget
$20 million (estimated)
(Recently Ranked #2 on IMDb’s Bottom 100 Worst Movies of All Time)

The Happening
4 Nominations: Worst Picture, Actor, Director and Screenplay
Released
June 13, 2008 by 20th Century-Fox
Rotten Tomatoes Rating
81% Negative
Box Office
$64,506,874
Budget
$48 million

The Hottie And The Nottie
5 Nominations: Worst Picture, Actress, Screen Couple, Director and Screenplay
Released
Feb. 8, 2008 by Regency Releasing
Rotten Tomatoes Rating
95% Negative
Box Office
$27,696
Budget
$2 million (estimated)
(Recently Ranked #17 on IMDb’s Bottom 100 Worst Movies of All Time)

In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
5 Nominations: Worst Picture, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Director and Screenplay
Released
Jan. 11, 2008 by Boll KG
Rotten Tomatoes Rating
96% Negative
Box Office
$4,775,656
Budget
$60 million (estimated)

The Love Guru
5 Nominations: Worst Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor (2x) Director and Screenplay
Released
June 20, 2008 by Paramount
Rotten Tomatoes Rating
86% Negative
Box Office
$32,200,122
Budget
$62 million

Meet The Spartans
5 Nominations: Worst Picture, Supporting Actress, Rip-Off, Director(s) and Screenplay
Released
Jan. 25, 2008 by 20th Century-Fox
Rotten Tomatoes Rating
98% Negative
Box Office
$38,233,676
Budget
$20 million (estimated)

SOURCES: Internet Movie Database, Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office MoJo

For more information on the awards’ history, or to arrange an interview with Wilson, please visit the official RAZZIE® web site (www.razzies.com) or contact HeadRAZZberry@razzies.com.

Barky Team Already Rejects Afghan Peace Plan

http://rense.com/general84/djjwe.htm

Barky Team Already Rejects Afghan Peace Plan
From Webster Tarpley
1-21-9

The Obama transition team has already rejected out of hand a plan for a negotiated peace settlement in Afghanistan which had been approved by the Karzai government as well as by its opponents.

A leading mainstream German Afghanistan expert, Christoph Hörstel, who had attempted to play the role of a back channel between Afghan circles and the Obama team, reports that his approach with this peace plan was brusquely rejected by Obama's top Afghan advisor, who is not named in the report. This story is reported on the Swiss-German blog Alles Schall und Rauch.

According to Hörstel, Afghan mujaheddin circles also report that their efforts to negotiate with the incoming Obama regime have also been rejected, despite the fact that Kabul is now virtually surrounded and coulld fall to the Taliban at any time.

Hoerstel is the author of two recent books on Afghanistan.

The German language audio tape of the Hoerstel interview is available at the link given below:

http://alles-schallundrauch.blogspot.com/2009/01/interview-mit-christoph-r-hrstel.html

Obama pick for treasury secretary tells Senate

http://wsws.org/articles/2009/jan2009/econ-j22.shtml

Obama pick for treasury secretary tells Senate: Trillions for the banks, austerity for the people
By Patrick O’Connor
22 January 2009

President Barack Obama's nominee for treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, testified Wednesday at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. Without providing specific details, Geithner said that he and the White House economic staff were working on a plan involving a handover to the banks of enormous sums, potentially trillions of dollars, in additional public funds.

The treasury secretary-designee's performance was welcomed by Wall Street. Stock indexes closed higher yesterday, clawing back most of the value lost in Tuesday's Inauguration Day market plunge. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 3.5 percent to 8,228, the S&P 500 rose by 4.4 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 4.6 percent. Geithner's promise of further bailout measures drove banking stocks higher, with Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase all gaining more than 10 percent.

These gains represented a vote of confidence in the Obama administration's pledge to place virtually unlimited public funds at the disposal of the financial elite.

Geithner is expected to be endorsed by the Senate Finance Committee Thursday morning and the Senate proper next week, with both Democratic and Republican support. As president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Geithner was directly involved in the bailout measures taken last year, including the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Speaking before the Finance Committee, he defended the various measures taken by former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, merely suggesting that the previous bailout measures were not "aggressive" enough—that is, did not involve enough money.

Republican senators raised some questions about Geithner's failure to pay more than $30,000 in personal taxes from 2001 to 2004. But, as the New York Times noted, these were "lapses that might have doomed the nomination of a candidate less experienced and less respected among Republicans than Mr. Geithner." The nomination hearing was entirely amiable, with Geithner and the Democratic and Republican senators in agreement on all the central issues.

No one objected from either party when Geithner, in his opening statement, indicated that the Obama administration intends to deal with ballooning budget deficits resulting from government handouts to the banks by slashing bedrock social programs such as Social Security and Medicare. He told the committee, "Our program to restore economic growth has to be accompanied—and I want to emphasize this—has to be accompanied by a clear strategy to get us back as quickly as possible to a sustainable fiscal position." It was necessary to demonstrate, he added, that "we as a nation will return to living within our means."

Marketwatch noted: "He [Geithner] said the budget would have to tamed on a five-year horizon. Along these lines, Obama is looking for a ‘mechanism' to move forward on entitlement reform on a bipartisan basis."

Meanwhile, the banks are being rewarded with a new bailout package involving sums of public money substantially larger than that already committed by the Bush administration under TARP and related programs.

Paul Volcker, former Federal Reserve chief and current chairman of Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, endorsed Geithner's nomination in remarks to the Finance Committee. Volcker said that the banking system was "broken" and fixing it would require "several trillions of dollars"—an estimate that no one challenged.

Geithner refused to give details of Obama's bank bailout program, which is expected to be unveiled in the next few weeks. He admitted, however, that one plan being considered involves the creation of a "bad bank," which would use public funds to buy and quarantine subprime mortgage and other "toxic assets" currently held by the banks. Democratic Senator Charles Schumer told the hearing that economic experts had advised him that such a plan would cost more than $3 trillion.

The "bad bank" option is the preferred course of many in the financial sector because it does not involve the federal government directly purchasing large stakes of the banks' and financial institutions' stock. Fears of such a partial "nationalization," which would largely wipe out the investments of major shareholders, have contributed to driving down the share values of many major banks, compounding their solvency crisis.

An article in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, "Banks Hit By Nationalization Fears," explained: "The common stock of the major banks tracked by the Dow Jones Wilshire US Banks Index has fallen roughly $287 billion in value since Jan. 2, a 43 percent decline in just over two weeks. Banks that have sought further government aid have suffered the most, with Citigroup's market value falling 61 percent and Bank of America's 64 percent. The market value of JPMorgan Chase, which hasn't sought new government aid, has fallen 42 percent."

The accelerating American and world recession, initially triggered by the subprime mortgage market collapse, is in turn rebounding on the financial system.

The latest economic data from the US includes record low homebuilder sentiment, as recorded by the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Housing Market Index. The gauge was 8 in January, down from 9 in December—the lowest level recorded since the index began in January 1985. The NAHB added that it expected the current housing downturn—the worst in more than six decades—will further worsen this year.

General Motors has lost its status as the world's largest manufacturer, with its 8.35 million vehicles sold in 2008 falling short of Toyota's 8.97 million. GM had previously been the largest automaker in every year since 1931. President Fritz Henderson admitted yesterday that GM's January sales were looking no better than the month before, when they plummeted by 31 percent. He also warned that unless the company received the second part of the federal bridge loan next month, it would run out of cash and face bankruptcy.

Major corporate layoffs continue apace. Manufacturer and auto supplier Eaton Corp has announced 5,200 job cuts. Taken together with the 3,400 workers Eaton laid off late last year, the company has eliminated 10 percent of its total workforce. United Airlines announced that it is sacking another 1,000 workers. Mining giant BHP Billiton is to reduce its workforce by 6 percent, affecting 6,000 positions. Most of these are in Australia and Chile, while about 550 workers in Arizona will also reportedly be laid off.

Global economic activity is contracting at an accelerating rate. The International Monetary Fund has warned that it will sharply cut world growth forecasts in a new report due to be released in the next few days. "Things are not improving," IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told the BBC.

In Japan, the world's second-largest economy, the government has downgraded its assessment of the national economy for the fourth straight month. Also in Asia, Singaporean officials said yesterday they expected gross domestic product to decline this year by 2 to 5 percent, revising an earlier forecast issued just three weeks ago of growth ranging from negative 2 percent to 1 percent. In the fourth quarter of 2008, Singapore's largely export-driven economy contracted by 16.9 percent on an annualized basis.

In Europe, the German government yesterday cut its 2009 GDP forecast to negative 2.25 percent—down from the 0.2 growth predicted last October—marking the deepest recession since World War II. Portugal had its credit status downgraded by rating agency Standard and Poor's—making it the third Eurozone country, after Spain and Greece, to be hit in recent days by revised credit ratings. Other economies are expected to soon follow.

Obama inauguration got unprecedented coverage

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE50K6E320090121

Obama inauguration got unprecedented news coverage
Wed Jan 21, 2009

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's inauguration generated an unprecedented 35,000 stories in the world's major newspapers, television and radio broadcasts over the past day -- about 35 times more than the last presidential swearing-in -- a monitoring group said on Wednesday.

The Texas-based Global Language Monitor said there had also been 6 million new Obama-related mentions on the Internet since December 31.

By comparison, the last U.S. presidential inauguration, of George W. Bush in January 2005, resulted in about 1,000 stories in major media worldwide, Paul JJ Payack, president of Global Language Monitor said.

"The Obama numbers are unprecedented and speak volumes to the global fascination with the new American president, his wife and young family," Payack told Reuters. "Obama is the biggest story of the century so far."

U.S. television audience ratings for Tuesday's inauguration ceremony, which was shown live on major broadcast networks and cable news channels, are expected to show record numbers tuning in when they are released later on Wednesday.

Payack said that according to his group's monitoring, the Obama campaign and election story had generated 717,000 citations in print, television and radio across the world in 2008 and 254 million mentions on the Internet and in Web blogs.

That surpassed media interest generated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the global financial meltdown in 2008, the Iraq War in 2003 and the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, Payack said.

The tallies were calculated using the group's proprietary algorithm which tracks the frequency of words and phrases in the global print and electronic media, the Internet and major databases.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Obama's Malaise Speech?

http://blogs.abcnews.com/liveblogging/2009/01/obamas-malaise.html

Obama's Malaise Speech?
January 20, 2009

A lot of talk about Obama’s speech already; was it more like Roosevelt’s or Kennedy’s?

I have a weird one to throw out there -- how about Jimmy Carter’s "malaise" speech?

Carter never actually used that word, but back in July of 1979, with the country in crisis, President Carter spoke of the dour national mood:

"The erosion of our confidence in the future is threatening to destroy the social and the political fabric of America."

And somewhat surprisingly, to me at least, today President Obama said America is suffering from: "a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights."

Boy, sounds like he is saying America is suffering a kind of malaise. Carter was pounded in the press for his speech. Obama will not be. Perhaps it shows how times have changed.

Celebrities Compare Obama To Biblical Figures

http://www.prisonplanet.com/celebrities-onlookers-compare-obama-to-biblical-figures.html

Celebrities, Onlookers Compare Obama To Biblical Figures
Messianic symbolism pushed by corporate media
Steve Watson
Infowars.net
Wednesday, Jan 21st, 2009

In a frightening confirmation of the new president’s dangerously inflated “messianic” status, inaugural attendees yesterday described Obama as having changed their lives, comparing him to Biblical apostles.

Celebrities, including Jay-Z, Smokey Robinson, Don King, Denzel Washington, and Oprah Winfrey, spoke in the hours before the inauguration just a few feet from the rostrum where Obama was sworn-in as the nation’s 44th president, CNS News reports.

They spoke about how Obama had changed their lives and which Biblical character they think he most resembles, the report states.

“I would say that he would be Joshua going across to the Promised Land,” Boxing promoter Don King said. “Martin Luther King Jr. went to the mountaintop like Moses, and he said, ‘I might not get there with you, but I can see the Promised Land.’ But we gonna’ get to the Promised Land. So Joshua carried them across. Martin Luther King, Jr. was prevented from going into the Promised Land.”

R&B singer Smokey Robinson described Obama as a “world leader” and said that “There are so many Biblical figures who had the same task,” as the new president.

“If you are an American citizen, he has changed all of our lives.” the songwriter added, comments that were echoed by hip hopper Jay Z who said “Obama changed my life in the same way he has changed your life,”.

Lennis Washington, the mother of actor Denzel Washington described Obama as being like any of the biblical leaders. “The apostle Paul, Moses, John the Baptist – any one of them. Seriously, he is like one of those apostles for our day. He came to lead us to the original design of what we are supposed to do on this earth.” she said.

The actor himself, to his credit, refused to compare the new president to a religious icon.

Talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who has previously described Obama as having “evolved to a higher plane”, admitted Obama had changed her life and commented “He makes me want to be a better human being.”

Yesterday we reported on how flocks of celebrities are encouraging Americans to “pledge service” to Obama, a disturbing notion given the fact that Obama has promised to found a “national civilian security force” and institute forms of compulsory community service for all Americans.

The fervor with which Obama is being received by portions of the American public is reaching a frightening level. It has come to the point where the new president is literally being painted as the anointed savior of humanity.

The symbolism evident during yesterday’s Inauguration was entirely overwhelming, the desperate throngs of people, the tears, people reaching out and looking to the heavens with unremitting expressions of relief and joy.

The image of Obama as Messiah is being pushed evermore by the corporate media. The London Telegraph reports that a vast amount of pictures taken over the past few days and weeks have shown the new president and his wife with a light source behind him so that light is thrown around his head like a halo. “Obviously this plays well for the image of Obama the messiah and it can result in some stunning pictures.” the newspaper comments.

Meanwhile, headlines around the world declare “America has its messiah“, “Obama offers hope to an ailing world“, “The savior America needs?” etc etc.

Of course, the most dangerous aspect to all this is that if you treat a man like a God, he will soon come to think of himself as one.

Bowing to the right on Inauguration Day

http://wsws.org/articles/2009/jan2009/pers-j22.shtml

Bowing to the right on Inauguration Day
Bill Van Auken
22 January 2009

The inauguration speech delivered by President Barack Obama Tuesday has been the object of near-delirious praise from the mass media and the editorial pages of the major US dailies. Even those forced to acknowledge that the 18-minute address was flat in its delivery, banal in much of its content and lacking any oratory that will be long remembered insist that it mattered little what Obama actually said. The important thing was his very presence on the steps of the Capitol—and that of the massive crowd on the Washington Mall—symbolizing “change.”

Eschewing genuine analysis and dedicating its coverage instead to self-delusion and deluding others, the media almost universally fails to grasp the immense contradiction between the sentiments that brought nearly two million people to Washington for the event and the politics that underlay what Obama actually said.

Those standing in the cold came to celebrate the exit from the political stage of a hated president, George W. Bush, and what many hoped would be the beginning of fundamental change. The speech itself, however, was crafted in large measure to appease the Republican right and signal continuity with its essential policies.

Most glaring in this regard were the first substantive lines describing the crisis enveloping the United States as Obama assumes the presidency. Before even referring to the profound economic crisis that has claimed some 3 million jobs and is destroying hundreds of thousands more every month, Obama took his cue from Bush, painting terrorism as the nation’s preeminent challenge.

“Our nation is at war against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred,” he declared.

With these few words, Obama gave his assurance that the “global war on terror” will remain the lasting legacy of Bush, Cheney and Co., providing the continued pretext for aggressive war abroad and the violation of democratic rights at home.

Contained in this formulation is the continuation of all the lies and political intimidation methods utilized by the last administration to foist the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq onto the American people. Principal among them is the fraudulent claim that the American military has been sent to occupy these countries and kill large numbers of their citizens in order to fight terrorism, when, in fact, the real reason for these wars is the drive for American imperialist hegemony over the vast energy reserves of Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.

Continuity, rather than change, is the hallmark of the incoming administration’s attitude towards both of these wars. To the extent that a partial drawdown of troops is to be carried out in Iraq, it will be done under the timetable worked out by the Bush administration and for the purpose of escalating the counter-insurgency war in Afghanistan. Overseeing the process, moreover, will be Bush’s secretary of defense, Robert Gates, as well as the senior commanders picked by the Republican president.

By invoking an undefined “far-reaching network” of worldwide terror Obama kept in place the ideological pretext for wars yet to come, potentially against Iran, Pakistan or countries as yet unnamed.

This element of the speech won firm approval from the virulently right-wing editorial page of the Wall Street Journal. In its lead editorial, the Journal applauded Obama for his “clear declaration that we are indeed fighting a ‘war’” against terrorism. It continued: “Many of his supporters on the left, and around the world, have been hoping that Mr. Obama will return US national security policy to its pre-9/11 assumptions. The Democrat was warning our adversaries—and some of our allies—that his foreign policy will have as much continuity as change, and that he isn't about to jettison policies that protect Americans.”

In other words, the speech reassured the predominant sections of the American financial elite, whose interests the Journal consistently defends, that policies of militarism and aggression that it sees as vital to maintaining and advancing its global aims will continue unabated.

As for Obama’s “supporters on the left”—i.e., the majority of the American people who want an end to war and voted for him in large measure to achieve that aim—they have once again been politically disenfranchised by the two-party system.

The speech received general applause from the media pundits of the right. Former Nixon speech-writer Peggy Noonan noted that Obama used “language with which traditional Republicans would be thoroughly at home.”

Most popular among this socio-political layer were the sections of the speech suggesting that the economic collapse precipitated by Wall Street is the fault of the American people as a whole, who now must accept sacrifice in the interests of the nation. In particular, they fastened on the lines about a “new era of responsibility” and the financial meltdown being the result of “greed and irresponsibility on the part of some but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age.”

Columnist George Will, who hosted Obama at a pre-inauguration dinner with other right-wing commentators, praised in particular his use of the Biblical phrase, “The time has come to set aside childish things,” interpreting it as an admonition to the vast majority of the American people for demanding “more goods and services than they are willing to pay for.” Driven by his contempt for working people, Will happily endorses the demand that they give up such “childish things” as the belief that they have a right to a job, a home, health care and a decent income.

Similarly, the Wall Street Journal noted approvingly in its main article on the inauguration, “The implicit message is that it isn’t sufficient to blame the Bush administration, or Wall Street or the man down the street for today’s economic pain, but to accept that a whole nation is complicit in it.”

This indeed is the implication of Obama’s words. How are workers, who have faced an ever more uphill battle to make ends meet off of steadily declining real wages, “complicit” in the financial fraud and criminality that have dominated Wall Street, generating obscene fortunes for those at the top, while dragging the economy into ruin? This neither Obama nor his right-wing admirers bother to explain.

Absent from Obama’s speech was any reference to the most salient feature of modern-day American life: the uninterrupted growth in social inequality. Only by deliberately ignoring the reality of a society in which the top 1 percent controls 40 percent of the wealth and where a CEO makes 344 times the income of an average worker could the Democratic president weave into his speech the false and deeply reactionary notions of “collective failure” and “equality” of responsibility.

The meaning of these arguments is unmistakable. The advent of Obama will signal no reprise of the New Deal or the Great Society. There will be no revival of social reformism, but rather a turn to fiscal austerity and counter-reforms directed against what little remains of a social safety net in America, embodied in such programs as Social Security and Medicare.

The central political aim of the new administration, like the one that it is replacing, will be protecting the interests and wealth of a narrow financial elite, who will be bailed out at the expense of millions of American workers and their families.

As this policy unfolds—and as the economic crisis deepens—the media attempts to cast Barack Obama as the personal embodiment of change will inevitably fall flat. The reality that the new American president is an utterly conventional politician, the product of a corrupt political machine and the faithful servant of the financial and corporate interests that funded his election campaign will begin to set in.

At that point, the stark contradiction between the aspirations and objective interests of the large numbers of working people on the Washington Mall Tuesday and the class nature of the Obama administration will find its expression in the eruption of social struggles directed against this government itself.

NSA Monitored All Communications

http://www.prisonplanet.com/nsa-monitored-all-communications.html

NSA Monitored All Communications
Kurt Nimmo
Prison Planet.com
Thursday, January 22, 2009

On January 21, former National Security Agency analyst Russell Tice appeared Keith Olbermann’s MSNBC show. Tice, who helped expose the NSA’s warrantless wiretapping in December 2005, told Olbermann government programs designed to spy on the American people are more extensive and far reaching than previously admitted. “The National Security Agency had access to all Americans’ communications — faxes, phone calls, and their computer communications,” Tice said. “It didn’t matter whether you were in Kansas, in the middle of the country, and you never made foreign communications at all. They monitored all communications.”

During the Bush administration, it was claimed the intercepts involved foreign communications and the intelligence gathered was integral to the conduct of the so-called global war on terrorism. In order to get around the warrant requirements of FISA, a bill authorizing the use of United States Armed Forces against those supposedly responsible for the attacks on September 11, 2001, was passed (Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists). The authorization granted Bush the authority to use all “necessary and appropriate force” against those whom he determined “planned, authorized, committed or aided” the September 11th attacks, or those who harbored said persons or groups. AUMF allowed the Bush administration to avoid FISA and Wiretap Act restrictions.

But according to Tice, the NSA program was not limited to alleged al-Qaeda members, as Attorney General Alberto Gonzales claimed at the time, but included “news organizations and reporters and journalists” in the United States. The data “was digitized and put on databases somewhere.” It was not simply journalists, however, the NSA spied on and likely continues to spy now.

“Spying on Americans by the super-secret National Security Agency is not only more widespread than President George W. Bush admits but is part of a concentrated, government-wide effort to gather and catalog information on U.S. citizens, sources close to the administration say,” Doug Thompson wrote for Capitol Hill Blue on December 27, 2005. “Besides the NSA, the Pentagon, Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security and dozens of private contractors are spying on millions of Americans 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.”

According to Thompson and his sources in the government, the “Pentagon has built a massive database of Americans it considers threats, including members of antiwar groups, peace activists and writers opposed to the war in Iraq.” In response to publicity, the Pentagon claimed it was “reviewing the files” to determine if the information was necessary to the conduct of the putative war on terrorism. “Given the military’s legacy of privacy abuses, such vague assurances are cold comfort,” Gene Healy of the CATO Institute told Thompson. “There’s a long and troubling history of military surveillance in this country,” added Healy. “That history suggests that we should loathe allowing the Pentagon access to our personal information.”

In addition to spying by the NSA and the Pentagon, documents released in 2006 revealed the FBI and its Joint Terrorism Task Force monitored and infiltrated several nonviolent activist groups. “Labeling law abiding groups and their members ‘domestic terrorists’ is not only irresponsible, it has a chilling effect on the vibrant tradition of political dissent in this country,” Ann Beeson, Associate Legal Director of the ACLU, said at the time.

According to a Washington Post report, the NSA has turned over information to the Defense Intelligence Agency, FBI, CIA and Department of Homeland Security.

Although the NSA monitors all communications — faxes, phone calls, and computer communications — it is impossible to collect all of this data, according to Tice. “What was done was sort of an ability to look at the metadata … and ferret that information to determine what communications would ultimately be collected,” he told Olbermann.

Obviously, the NSA, FBI, CIA, DIA, and the Department of Homeland Security are not interested in “every conversation I had with my little nephew in upstate New York,” as Olbermann sarcastically put it. They are primarily interested in the communications of “domestic terrorists,” or those opposed to government policies.

Well before president Truman established the NSA in 1952, government cryptologists were spying on Americans under the Armed Forces Security Agency’s Project Shamrock, a program that worked with telegraphic companies to turn over the telegraphic correspondence of Americans to the government. “The NSA kicked its spy campaign into high gear in the 1960s,” writes Earl Ofari Hutchinson. “The FBI demanded that the NSA monitor antiwar activists, civil rights leaders, and drug peddlers. The Senate Select Committee that investigated government domestic spying in 1976 pried open a tiny public window into the scope of NSA spying,” but this window was slammed shut in the name of national security. “The few feeble Congressional attempts over the years to probe NSA domestic spying have gone nowhere. Even though rumors swirled that NSA eyes were riveted on more than a few Americans, Congressional investigators showed no stomach to fight the NSA’s entrenched code of silence.”

More recently, Congress has not only “showed no stomach” when it comes to illegal and unconstitutional spying of Americans, it has worked hand-in-hand with the executive and intelligence agencies to facilitate this process. In essence, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security serve as a domestic political police force little different than the NKVD of the former Soviet Union. The domestic political police force in the United States, like the NKVD’s Special Board, is interested in “socially dangerous” people, that is to say people opposed to the government.

Unlike Stalin’s NKVD, the FBI and Homeland Security have yet to engage in a Great Purge of arrests, interrogation, torture, imprisonment, and deportation. Bush, however, through the Military Commissions Act and other draconian legislation, has set the stage for a political purge, especially if another false flag attack occurs in the United States. Executive Orders associated with FEMA stand ready to suspend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and round up “socially dangerous” people and send them to newly constructed KBR concentration camps.

Unfortunately, far too many people naively believe all of this will change under Barack Obama. Mr. Obama, however, is merely a figurehead and window dressing packaged for public consumption, a friendly and smiling face slapped as a deceptive cover on the secret government of the bankers. If and when push comes to shove — another manufactured terrorist attack or civil disturbances related to an economic depression — Obama will pen an executive order sending “socially dangerous” people to concentration camps.

Sen. Rockefeller: NSA may have spied on me

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Rockefeller_NSA_may_have_spied_on_0122.html

Sen. Rockefeller: NSA may have spied on me
David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
Thursday January 22, 2009

Russell Tice has been heard. Loud and Clear.

Following Wednesday's revelation by the former National Security Agency analyst that President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program had spied on everyone, quite contrary to what the administration had claimed, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) told MSNBC's Chris Matthews on Thursday that he was "quite prepared to believe" the allegations.

He added: "I think they went after anyone they could get -- including me."

Tice, during an appearance on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann the prior evening, proclaimed, "The National Security Agency had access to all Americans' communications -- faxes, phone calls, and their computer communications. It didn't matter whether you were in Kansas, in the middle of the country, and you never made foreign communications at all. They monitored all communications."

"In one of the operations that I was in, we looked at organizations, just supposedly so that we would not target them," Tice told Olbermann. "What I was finding out, though, is that the collection on those organizations was 24/7 and 365 days a year -- and it made no sense. ... I started to investigate that. That's about the time when they came after me to fire me."

When Olbermann pressed him for specifics, Tice offered, "An organization that was collected on were US news organizations and reporters and journalists."

The allegation essentially changes America's debate about domestic spying by the government, from one of listening to terrorists, as the Bush administration had framed it, to that of an intelligence operation beyond President Nixon's greatest aspirations, if it's true.

It should also raise new questions about a 2004 revelation in the New York Times that the paper had withheld a story for over a year, at the administration's request, which described scant few, albeit now-known false details of the program.

"While many details about the program remain secret, officials familiar with it said the N.S.A. eavesdropped without warrants on up to 500 people in the United States at any given time," the Times wrote, shortly after the 2004 election. "The list changes as some names are added and others dropped, so the number monitored in this country may have reached into the thousands over the past three years, several officials said. Overseas, about 5,000 to 7,000 people suspected of terrorist ties are monitored at one time, according to those officials."

The paper also notes that additional information was omitted, again at the request of the Bush administration. The allegations at hand would seem to quickly dovetail into, 'Why?'

Make that, Senators too?

On July 9, 2008, the US Senate passed a bill expanding legal authority for electronic wiretaps by spy agencies, handing victory to President George W. Bush after a standoff over anti-terror strategy. Then-Senator Obama, along with newly appointed Secretary of State Clinton, said they would support Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn) in filibustering the GOP effort, specifically when it came to immunity for the private telecom companies which allowed the NSA to conduct warrantless spying.

Obama ultimately "compromised," saying: "The President's illegal program of warrantless surveillance will be over. It restores FISA and existing criminal wiretap statutes as the exclusive means to conduct surveillance – making it clear that the President cannot circumvent the law and disregard the civil liberties of the American people."

Clinton maintained her position, voting against the majority.

"I've never seen contempt for the rule of law such as this," said Sen. Dodd in Dec. 2007.

With this latest round of revelations, perhaps another new question should be, 'Has Obama?'

Tice reappeared on Countdown the following night, bearing new allegations against the NSA.

NSA even collected credit card records

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Whistleblower_NSA_collected_credit_card_records_0122.html

Whistleblower: NSA even collected credit card records
David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster
Published: Thursday January 22, 2009

Ex-analyst believes program actually the remnants of 'Total Information Awareness,' shut down by Congress in 2003

On Wednesday night, when former NSA analyst Russell Tice told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann that the Bush administration's National Security Agency spied on everyone in the United States, specifically targeting journalists, the Countdown host was so flabbergasted that Tice was invited back for a second interview.

On Thursday, he returned to the airwaves with expanded allegations against the NSA, claiming the agency collected Americans' credit card records, and adding that he believes the massive, warrantless data vacuum to be the remnants of the Total Information Awareness program, shut down by Congress in 2003.

Asked for comment by Olbermann's staff, the agency responded, "NSA considers the constitutional rights of US citizens to be sacrosanct. The intelligence community faces immense challenges in protecting our nation. No matter the challenges, NSA remains dedicated to performing its mission under the rule of law."

Olbermann ran the quote under a banner which read, "Non-denial denial."

"As far as the wiretap information that made it though NSA, there was also data-mining that was involved," Tice told Olbermann during the pair's second interview. "At some point, information from credit card records and financial transactions was married in with that information."

At this point on the audio track, Olbermann can be heard taking a deep breath.

"So, lucky American citizens, tens of thousands of whom are now on digital databases at NSA, who have no idea of this, also have that information included in those digital files that have been warehoused," said Tice.

"... Do you have any idea what all this stuff was used for?" asked the stunned host.

"The obvious explanation would be, if you did have a potential terrorist, you'd want to know where they're spending money, whether they purchased an airline ticket, that sort of thing," said Tice. "But, once again, we're talking about tens of thousands of innocent US citizens that have been caught up into this trap. They have no clue.

"This thing could sit there for 10 years, then all the sudden it marries up with something else 10 years from now, and 10 years from now they get put on a no-fly list and they of course won't have a clue why."

Tice added that "in most cases," spied-upon Americans didn't have to do anything suspicious in order to trigger the surveillance.

"This is garnered from algorithms that have been put together to try to just dream up scenarios that might be information that is associated with how a terrorist could operate," he said.

Ultimately, the technical explanation boils down to this: "If someone just talked about the daily news and mentioned something about the Middle East, they could easily be brought to the forefront of having that little flag put by their name that says potential terrorist," said Tice.

"Do you know, or do you have an educated guess, as to who authorized this? Who developed this?" asked Olbermann.

"I have a guess, where it was developed," he replied. "I think it was probably developed out of the Department of Defense, and this is probably the remnants of Total Information Awareness, that came out of DARPA. That's my guess, I don't know that for sure."

Olbermann then asked if Tice knows who had access to the data.

"I started looking into this, and that's when ultimately they came after me to fire me," said Tice. "They must have realized that I'd stumbled onto something, and after that point I of course had no ability to find anything else out."

Tice concluded that he does not know if the program, as he understands it, continues to this day, and he refused to specifically state which media organizations the Bush administration's NSA had targeted for surveillance.

NSA spied on everyone, targeted journalists

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Whistleblower_Bushs_NSA_targeted_reporters_0121.html

Whistleblower: NSA spied on everyone, targeted journalists
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Wednesday January 21, 2009

Former National Security Agency analyst Russell Tice, who helped expose the NSA's warrantless wiretapping in December 2005, has now come forward with even more startling allegations. Tice told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann on Wednesday that the programs that spied on Americans were not only much broader than previously acknowledged but specifically targeted journalists.

"The National Security Agency had access to all Americans' communications -- faxes, phone calls, and their computer communications," Tice claimed. "It didn't matter whether you were in Kansas, in the middle of the country, and you never made foreign communications at all. They monitored all communications."

Tice further explained that "even for the NSA it's impossible to literally collect all communications. ... What was done was sort of an ability to look at the metadata ... and ferret that information to determine what communications would ultimately be collected."

According to Tice, in addition to this "low-tech, dragnet" approach, the NSA also had the ability to hone in on specific groups, and that was the aspect he himself was involved with. However, even within the NSA there was a cover story meant to prevent people like Tice from realizing what they were doing.

"In one of the operations that I was in, we looked at organizations, just supposedly so that we would not target them," Tice told Olbermann. "What I was finding out, though, is that the collection on those organizations was 24/7 and 365 days a year -- and it made no sense. ... I started to investigate that. That's about the time when they came after me to fire me."

When Olbermann pressed him for specifics, Tice offered, "An organization that was collected on were US news organizations and reporters and journalists."

"To what purpose?" Olbermann asked. "I mean, is there a file somewhere full of every email sent by all the reporters at the New York Times? Is there a recording somewhere of every conversation I had with my little nephew in upstate New York?"

Tice did not answer directly, but simply stated, "If it was involved in this specific avenue of collection, it would be everything." He added, however, that he had no idea what was ultimately done with the information, except that he was sure it "was digitized and put on databases somewhere."

Tice first began alleging that there were illegal activities going on at both the NSA and the Defense Intelligence Agency in December 2005, several months after being fired by the NSA. He also served at that time as a source for the New York Times story which revealed the existence of the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program.

Over the next several months, however, Tice was frustrated in his attempts to testify before Congress, had his credibility attacked by Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, and was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury in an apparent attempt at intimidation.

Tice is now coming forward again now because George Bush is finally out of office. He told Olbermann that the Obama administration has not been in touch with him about his latest revelations, but, "I did send a letter to, I think it's [Obama intelligence adviser John] Brennan -- a handwritten letter, because I knew all my communications were tapped, my phones, my computer, and I've had the FBI on me like flies on you-know-what ... and I'm assuming that he gave the note to our current president -- that I intended to say a little bit more than I had in the past."

Obama's orders leave framework of torture

http://wsws.org/articles/2009/jan2009/guan-j23.shtml

Obama's orders leave framework of torture, indefinite detention intact
By Tom Eley
23 January 2009

On Thursday, President Barack Obama issued executive orders mandating the closure of the Guantánamo Bay prison camp in a year’s time, requiring that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and military personnel follow the Army Field Manual’s prohibitions on torture, and closing secret CIA prisons overseas.

While the media is portraying these orders as a repudiation of the detention and interrogation policies of the Bush administration, they actually change little. They essentially represent a public relations effort to refurbish the image of the United States abroad after years of torture and extralegal detentions and shield high-ranking American officials from potential criminal prosecution.

In cowardly fashion, Obama staged his signing of the orders in a manner aimed at placating the political right and defenders of Guantánamo and torture and underscoring his intention to continue the Bush administration’s “war on terror.” He was flanked by 16 retired generals and admirals who have pushed for the closure of the prison camp in Cuba on the grounds that it impedes the prosecution of the global “war” and reiterated in his own remarks his determination to continue the basic political framework of the Bush administration’s foreign policy.

The continuation of the ideological pretext for wars of aggression and attacks on democratic rights ensures that the police state infrastructure erected under the Bush administration will remain intact. This is further reinforced by Obama’s assurances that his administration will not investigate or prosecute those officials—including Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales and others—who were responsible for the policies of torture and illegal detention.

The orders signed by Obama do not undo the Bush administration’s attacks on constitutional and international law. They do not challenge the supposed right of the president to unilaterally imprison any individual, without trial and without charges, by declaring him to be an “enemy combatant.” Nor do they end the procedure known as “extraordinary rendition,” by which the United States during the Bush years kidnapped alleged terrorists and shipped them to foreign countries or secret CIA prisons outside the US, where they were subjected to torture.

They do not affect the hundreds of prisoners—600 at the Bagram prison camp in Afghanistan alone—incarcerated beyond the barbed wire of Guantánamo. If and when Guantánamo is closed, the US government will simply ship alleged terrorists caught up its international dragnet to other American-run prison camps.

On the question of so-called “harsh interrogation techniques,” i.e., torture, Obama’s orders leave room for their continuation. White House Counsel Gregory Craig told reporters the administration was prepared to take into account demands from the CIA that such methods be allowed. Obama announced the creation of a task force that will consider new interrogation methods beyond those sanctioned by the Army Field Manual, which now accepts 19 forms of interrogation, as well as the practice of extraordinary rendition.

Retired Admiral Dennis Blair, Obama’s nominee for director of national intelligence, told a Senate confirmation hearing that the Army Field Manual would itself be changed, potentially allowing new forms of harsh interrogation, but that such changes would be kept secret.

Obama also announced a second task force that is to consider the fate of the 245 detainees remaining at Guantánamo. Earlier this week he suspended the military commission procedures at the prison camp, but has not abolished the military commissions themselves.

The new administration has ruled out the only constitutional remedy for those who have been held under barbaric conditions, without due process, for years—either releasing them or giving them a speedy trial in a civilian court, with all of the accompanying legal protections and guarantees. There has been a great deal of speculation that the administration may support the establishment of a special National Security Court within the civilian court system to try Guantánamo prisoners and other alleged terrorists. This would represent yet another attack on civil liberties, setting up a drumhead court system to railroad those charged with terrorism—something that could in future be used to repress political opposition.

According to NBC Nightly News on Thursday, the administration is considering keeping some 20 Guantánamo detainees, including the five alleged 9/11 conspirators currently facing military commission trials, imprisoned indefinitely without charges in a military brig within the US.

Commentators have noted that the Obama administration wants to prevent noncitizens detained as terrorists from being able to exercise habeas corpus rights.

Two separate measures taken Tuesday and Thursday by Obama point to a further major consideration behind his moves to close Guantánamo and finesse the issue of torture. On Thursday the administration requested a stay in the habeas corpus appeal to the Supreme Court by the only alleged enemy combatant now held on US soil—Ali al-Marri, of Qatar, whom Obama has called “dangerous.” Al-Marri’s lawyers are challenging the right of the president to arrest and jail individuals by declaring them enemy combatants, and it was expected that the Supreme Court’s hearing of the appeal would force Obama to reveal his position on the issue.

This followed Tuesday’s request for a stay from the Federal District Court in Washington in similar appeals that could affect the cases of more than 200 Guantánamo prisoners.

Thus, the immediate effect of the new administration’s moves is to halt civilian trials that could prove immensely damaging to the government by revealing systematic torture of the detainees and could potentially entangle high government officials.