Watch Shark Aquarium Explode In Shanghai Shopping Mall

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The Shanghai shopping mall aquarium in happier times.
Photo: Copyright © Achim Fischer, Creative Commons

Dec. 27, 2012 - Amazing videos (below) shows a 33.5 ton aquarium as is bursts in the front of a  pedestrian mall on Nanjing Road E. in Shanghai, China on Dec. 18. The animals in the tank included turtles, various fish and sharks. Sixteen people were hurt in the sudden explosion of acrylic, water and sea life. The aquarium explosion was captured by a closed circuit (CC) televsion camera. Shanghai officials believe the shattering was caused by air temperatures that made the aquarium's material "brittle" (details below first video, below).

"Three lemon sharks and dozens of turtles and small fish were killed in the incident," reports BBC News, and the "explosion destroyed a nearby cosmetics counter where one worker had to be pulled to safety."

"One male customer, in his 30s, was hit by [acrylic] and had broken bones in his leg. Others had cuts and bruises," reports Shanghai Daily.  "Three sharks raised inside the 7-meter-long, 3-meter-high aquarium, on the first floor of the Orient Shopping Center, died in the incident about 7:50pm." Shanghai Daily also noted that Mr. Chen, an official with the shopping center's management, said that the aquarium was made of acrylic that was about 15 centimeters thick. "We will not build an aquarium again in the future," said Chen.

IBTimes quotes Shen Weizhong, deputy director of the Shanghai Work Safety Administration as saying that, "According to the experts' preliminary determination, the major reason is a rupture of the aquarium [acrylic] under low temperatures after long usage," and that, "The 'brittle' temperature of the aquarium material is 9.2C. The outer side of the aquarium facing the street, especially the upper part above water, is very likely to rupture when the surrounding temperature is lower than 9.2C."

However, UV rays also may have contributed to the aquarium bursting. Shen Weizhong was quoted by Eastday.com as saying, "The wear was mainly caused by ultraviolet radiation and changing temperatures."



Next Video: A report in Chinese.


Next Video: The doomed Shanghai shopping mall aquarium in late 2011.


Related:

• Expat Views on Living and Working in Shanghai Enter Shanghai
• Survey ranks Shanghai second-safest city in China... after Lhasa Shanghaiist
• 19 Crazy Things That Only Happen In China Business Insider 
• Shanghai to enact strict new food safety law Xinhua/Yahoo
• Furnace fall in Baosteel kills 2, injures 13 China Daily
• Beijing Urges Child-Safety Push Wall Street Journal 
• Shanghai to be 2nd duty-free region People's Daily Online

Could China-Japan Dispute Over Tiny Islands Cause World War Three?

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Chinese pilots and Jian-10 fighters (photo: Xinhua)

Dec. 27, 2012 - Will the tensions between Iran and Israel trigger World War Three? Many would bet on, and it is certainly an obvious situation that is ripe for military conflict. But some experts think an argument between China and Japan is a more likely scenario, one that could trigger another world war.

The China-Japan dispute over three seemingly unimportant islands is not getting the attention it deserves. Professor Hugh White of National University in Australia, a defense expert, has made news this week by writing that the disagreement over the islands could cause Japan and China to stumble into full-blown shooting war with each other. He says the United States, and possibly other nations, would probably get sucked into the fight. (More about Prof. White below.)

Japan says "Senkaku" but China says "Diaoyu."
Both nations say "hands off."

Both Japan and China are making provocative and self-serving statements for all of the usual reasons: Propaganda, bluster, and national pride. While the Chinese government says that today's "harassment" by Japan "was meant to escalate the situation," China itself has been doing its best to rathet up the tension as well. Back in August, Chinese citizens were whipped into a frenzy of nationalistic furor over the dispute, rioting in some cities after Japanese activists landed on one of the Senkaku / Diaoyu islands claimed by both Beijing and Tokyo (see video report). A survey showed that 87 percent of Chinese citizens have a negative opinion of Japan at the end of 2012, up from 65.9% in 2011.

The disputed islands are called "Senkaku" by Japan and "Diaoyu" by China.  The islands are in the East China Sea (see map), and are also claimed by Taiwan. They are tiny, but are on a strategically important shipping route. In addition, however, the tiny islands sit atop large deposits of hydrocarbon petroleum and natural gas, discovered in the 1970s. Not surprisingly, that's when China and Taiwan began claiming the little islands.

Japan has long claimed that it has controlled the islands from 1895 until surrendered to the U.S. in 1945, at the end of World War II. The U.S. controlled the islands until 1972, when it returned them to Japan’s control. China, however, claims to have discovered the islands in the 14th century and to have controlled them since then.

Today, China is accusing Japan of deliberately trying to escalate the already tense situation:

A Chinese government spokesman Thursday [Dec. 27] said a maritime surveillance plane was harassed by Japanese military aircraft while patrolling the airspace near the disputed Diaoyu islands," reports TwoCircles.com. "Shi Qingfeng, spokesman for the State Oceanic Administration, said Japan's action was meant to escalate the situation and it should bear the consequences, Xinhua reported. Shi said the Chinese plane was conducting a routine patrol in the airspace over the East China Sea about 150 km from the Diaoyu islands. He said the flight route used by the Chinese plane has been used by Chinese surveillance aircraft since 2007. "The Japanese side's disturbance was intended to cause confusion and distort the truth," he said.

Harbin Y-12, Chinese surveillance aircraft

For months, both China and Japan have been conducting military exercises near and over the islands, often getting uncomfortably close to each other. God forbid there is an accident or misunderstanding.

Earlier this week, says International Business Times (IBT), "Japanese and Chinese military made contact near the disputed islands. The Y-12, a Chinese maritime surveillance aircraft that was cruising around the disputed territories, was intercepted by several Japanese Air Self-Defense forces."

"Up to eight F-15 jets were scramble by the JASDF (Japan Air Self Defense Force) in the morning of Dec. 13 (02.00 GMT – 11.00 LT)," reported The Aviationist, "after a Chinese Harbin Y-12 maritime surveillance aircraft skirted one of the disputed islands in the East China Sea." Japan said China was violating its airspace. China, however, considers that to be their own airspace.

PROF. HUGH WHITE, "THIS IS HOW WARS USUALLY START"

Prof. Hugh White (see bio)

"Australian National University professor Hugh White," reports The Japan Daily Press, "also a former Australian defense official, believes that the recent violation of Japanese airspace by Chinese planes and Japan’s election of a new, nationalist-leaning prime minister are sure signs that the two Asian superpowers are heading to war within the next year. In an opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald, White writes that the tensions developing now between the two countries are the among the conditions that have led to war many times in history, even when conflict is in no one’s interest."

The U.S. could become embroiled in a China-Japan war because of "America's recent pivot to Asia, which has sought to increase its military presence in various parts of Asia, posing a threat to China," says IBT. "In return, China has pushed back against U.S. pressure. China's formidable military developments, including a new fighter jet and aircraft carrier, has both Japan and the U.S. anxious."

Prof. White, says The Japan Daily Press, "feels that China is attempting to challenge the U.S. and President Barack Obama’s 'pivot to Asia,' itself a response to China’s growing power and territorial claims in the region. He believes that the tit-for-tat dispute over the uninhabited islands in the East China Sea is what inevitably leads to someone opening fire."

THE OBAMA "PIVOT"

By "Obama's pivot," Prof. White was referring to the Obama administration’s strategic “pivot” from the Middle East to East Asia.

Prof. White wrote that warning in a column that was published by The Sydney Morning Herald on Dec. 26. It's ominous title was "Caught in a bind that threatens an Asian war nobody wants." The column start with, "THIS is how wars usually start: with a steadily escalating stand-off over something intrinsically worthless. So don't be too surprised if the US and Japan go to war with China next year over the uninhabited rocks that Japan calls the Senkakus and China calls the Diaoyu islands. And don't assume the war would be contained and short."

The vision of a China-Japan shooting war is not some lone, crazy vision held only by Prof. White. Many are worried about it, actually, as indicated by a Dec. 17 article at CurrentIntelligence.net (with my emphasis added):

As tensions persist between China and Japan over the disputed islands in the East China Sea, the United States faces the almost impossible task of simultaneously reassuring and constraining its regional allies, while ensuring that it does not escalate its own tensions with Beijing. On one level it is hard to see how China and Japan could become so consumed over a small set of remote islands and it remains unclear how serious the crisis is. Yet, over the past several months, Chinese and Japanese ships have been patrolling the same waters with both laying territorial claims to the area.  And, earlier this fall, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned that the escalating tensions and close proximity of Chinese and Japanese vessels could lead to some triggering event and conflict.

Video Below: Professor Hugh White's speech entitled 'Abandon the Alliance? How China's rise will shape Australia's future'." Related articles listed below.



Related:

• Japan scrambles fighters for China plane (Dec. 13, 2012) Inquirer News
• China 1950 paper says Senkakus are Japan's Japan Times
• China Says Geology Boosts Island Claims Voice of America
• Time to teach those around South China Sea a lesson Global Times (China govt owned)
• Nuclear sparks could fly in Asia-Pacific United States Studies Centre, Univ. of Sydney
• The Obama Administration's Pivot To Asia Foreign Policy
• Obama's Asia "pivot" advances, but obstacles await Reuters
• The Problem With The Pivot Foreign Affairs
• Should Australia form an alliance with Japan? Prof. Hugh White lecture, YouTube
• ICG Says South China Sea Primed for Armed Conflict New Pacific Institute
• U.S. To Deploy Latest Battlecraft To Its Asia-Pacific Bases TodayOnline.com
• 2012: The Year of Chinese Air Power? Asia Security Watch

RIP: General Norman Schwarzkopf, Dead at 78

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General Norman Schwarzkopf

Dec. 27, 2012 - Another great American has passed away. A U.S. official says retired Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the U.S.-led international coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in 1991, has died. He was 78," reports FoxNews.

Schwarzkopf, also known as "Stormin' Norman," The "U.S. official" was not authorized to release the information publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

• Read more about Gen. Schwarzkopf, including his background, at NPR. 
• Read an excellent history of the 1991-1992 Iraq conflict by the general at Frontline's Oral History at PBS. 
• Video: Gen. Schwarzkopf describes the victory of Desert Storm with added combat footage (below).

EXCLUSIVE: Breitbart Website's Dishonest Use of Two Photos In Stories About Sidwell Friends School

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Does anyone at Brietbart know that L.A. is not in D.C.?
Click image to enlarge.

Sorry Breitbart: This is NOT Sidwell Friends School.
(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) (Damian Dovarganes)
Click image to enlarge (see original story).

Dec. 29, 2012 - BUSTED: Breitbart's "Big Government" website is using two photos that they present falsely as being taken at the exclusive Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., attended by the Obama daughters. In my opinion, they did this deliberately. Sadly, both photos are being reproduced by bloggers who don't know how, or are too lazy, to do a little basic research to confirm facts.

One of the photos in question was most certainly not taken at Sidwell. The other is highly suspicious. Let me explain, and keep in mind that I am a conservative blogger who doesn't like fellow conservative bloggers presenting lies, whether on purpose or through stupidity. We all make mistakes. I sure do, but I correct them when I become aware of them. I would never do what the Breitbart kiddies did here.

BAD PHOTO #1: On Dec. 23, Breitbart's "Big Government" website published a photo as part of a story about security guards at Sidwell Friends School, the private institution in Washington, D.C. that the Obama daughters attend. The article, written by someone who calls himself A.W.R. Hawkins, is titled "D.C. School Posts Job Opening For Police Officer." A photo at the top of that article shows four burly, armed guards. The photo has no caption, and no source is given.

Trouble is, the photo was actually taken in February, 2011 on the other side of the continent, in Los Angeles. The armed men are Los Angeles Unified School District police, and they were guarding Miramonte Elementary school during a protest in Los Angeles on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012. Sadly, hundreds of conservative bloggers are mindlessly republishing the same photos as they follow Breitbart like zombies, telling their readers that the photo is of Sidwell Friends School.

Why did Breitbart's Big Government use a  photo of a school in L.A. in a piece about a private school in D.C.? Does the Breitbart organization have nobody in the D.C. metro area that could have provided them with a photo of the school? No doubt that could have happened.... but not with armed men standing in a dramatic photo. Better to grab that L.A. school photo, don't put a caption on it, and slap it into the post about Sidwell. That's not just lazy, that's deliberately presenting disinformation. (In my opinion, of course.)

Where was this photo taken? When? By whom?
Click image to enlarge.

BAD PHOTO #2: This is another baffling Breitbart use of a photo. This one was in another post by the same A.W.R. Hawkins, titled "School Obama's Daughters Attend Has 11 Armed Guards." What a  photo! Look! Three men with binoculars! They're looking at things! But, are they really Secret Service? The photo has no caption, no attribution, no date. The name of the photo file in the story is "sidwellfriendsSecretService.jpg," but that means nothing. A photo file is easily renamed.

"Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC," wrote Hawkins, "has 11 security officers and is seeking to hire a new police officer as we speak." Really? The only substantiation of that Hawkins gives is a link to a jobs site called Job Hustler, where there is no mention of Sidwell Friends School at that link. But wait! That was just sloppy work by Hawkins: Sidwell is seeking a security guard, but the correct link is here. So Hawkins was right about the want ad, but we're still left with no documentation or substantiation of his claim that Sidwell currently has 11 armed guards. An unnamed source? He didn't say. A school official? He didn't say. Lazy journalism? Yep.

Sidwell by satellite: Where were those Secret Service guys standing?
Click image to enlarge.

THE REALLY WEIRD THING about this photo is that there does not seem to be any such place on the grounds of Sidwell Friends School. Look for yourself, at this Google satellite view of Sidwell, located at 3825 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016.

Notice the structure on which the three men are standing. It clearly has a flat roof. But try to find a structure that small with a flat roof on the Google maps satellite image below. Again, I'm not saying that these are not Secret Service guys. I just question where this photo was taken, and it's questionable because the Breitbart editors are lazy and didn't care to tell us. And how are we to know that it's three French Foreign Legion guys in Algeria? After all, Breitbart's editor had no problem using a photo of an L.A. school in the article about Sidwell Friends School in D.C.

It's garbage like this that makes me happy that I have remained an independent blogger and never sold my soul or journalistic integrity to the wannabe amateurs at Breitbart. Mind you, this is nothing against the late Andrew Breitbart. Rather, it's an indictment of the laziness of the editors and writers in that organization.

Yah, I am a conservative, but it pisses me off when my fellow conservatives act in such stupid ways that so brazenly violate the most basic rules of journalism - not to mention respect for copyrights. The folks running the Breitbart websites have been playing fast and loose with facts violating copyrights for a long time, but this is the first incident that I have taken the time to document. But it explains why I so rarely link to stories at the Breitbart sites. The vast majority of their contributors, after all, have no training or professional background in journalism. Sadly, it shows all too often. Sadder still, many conservative bloggers are happy to stick their faces into the trough and lap it up without question.

Demand A Plan? Demand Celebrities Go F--- Themselves (Extended Cut)

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Poster for "Killing Them Softly"

Jan. 1, 2013 - Hollywood is a culture of violence. Big stars make big bucks portraying psychotic killers, shooting people in orgies of bloody gore. They glorify guns and killing, but they want you to "demand a plan" to stop real-life killings. Look, we're all against stopping the violence. The issue here is the hypocrisy and stupidity of the celebrities who appeared in a video called "Demand a Plan to Gun Violence." (Watch it below.) In response to that video, a video titled "Demand a Plan? Demand Celebrities Go F*** Themselves" points out the double standard and hypocrisy of those celebrities. The response video was posted by "Mike Hunt" (yes yes, I know) on YouTube on Dec. 25, 2012.
Their plea to "demand a plan" is vague at best; they suggest no plan themselves. The video was put out by a group called "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" as a response to the Dec. 14, 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. 28 people died in that horrific attack, including gunman Adam Lanza. At the MAIG website, there is a proposal for action, but no part of their "plan" would prevent another Adam Lanza from stealing his mother's guns and going on a killing spree.

More below this video. Advisory: Language

Video: "Demand A Plan to End Gun Violence"


The hypocrisy of it all is simple enough. As mentioned above, these very same celebrities glamorize guns and killing in their films. In addition, they all put their heads in the sand when confronted with the reality that violent films and television shows influence the mentally unstable among us. For those who dispute this, please remember that many of these same celebrities insisted that "violent rhetoric" from politicians such as Sarah Palin causes violence. Hollywood is unwilling to accept their double standard, or any responsibility for their own influence on violence in America. There is no mention of mental illness in this video, as part of their "plan."

Video: "Demand A Plan? Demand Celebrities Go F*ck Themselves [Extended Version]"
Advisory: Language, Depictions of Violence


Be sure to read the description posted with this video.

A wonderful column by Mick LaSalle, movie critic for The San Francisco Gate, wrote this today:

"Just as there is profit in violence, there is enormous profit in pornography, and yet our films don't routinely depict graphic sex acts for two reasons: (1) The public wouldn't stand for it; and (2) Critics would feel on solid ground deploring it. It's time to stop behaving as if we were paralyzed. It's time to lose our squeamishness about confronting screen violence - and the monolith of profit behind it - and to start acting like a community."

Sadly, you won't see that as part of the "plan" called for by the hypocrites in "Demand A Plan to End Gun Violence."

Related:

• Violent media poisoning nation's soul SFGate
•  Demand Celebrities FishingBuddy.com
• 'Demand celebrities go f*** themselves': Video argues stars calling for gun control are hypocrites because of their violent roles in TV and movies Mail Online
• Violent movies can increase violent responses in real life Virginia Tech
• Lock & Load: A video essay about the role of guns in film Vimeo
• The Harmful Effects of Violent Movies Annenberg School for Communications, Univ. of Penn.
• Violence in the Media: Effects on Children YouTube
• When Movie Violence Helps Inspire Real Violence... Huffington Post

New White House Petition Asks Sen. Diane Feinstein Be Tried For Treason

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Dec. 28, 2012 - A new petition to the White House asks that U.S. Senatrix Diane Feinstein (D-Calif) be tried in federal court "for treason to the Constitution." 

Feinstein, says the petition, "has made it clear she does not believe in the Constitution or the inalienable rights of Americans to keep and bear arms." (See full text below.)

The petition is undoubtedly inspired by an anti-assault weapon bill that Feinstein will introduce at the start of the next Congress. Equally certain is that Feinstein is doing this to make political hay out of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14. And just how do we know an "assault weapon" ban would NOT have stopped Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza? Because it didn't, points out Reason.com.

Diane Feinstein hates
the U.S. Constitution

There is confusion over whether Lanza used a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle at the school, but a report by NBC News (watch this video) says that state and federal officials said that while four handguns were found in the school, no long gun seemed to have been used. Lanza's Bushmaster AR-15 was still in the trunk of his car, where police found it unused at the scene. By the way: The Bushmaster AR-15 is not an "assault weapon." The video even shows police removing Lanza's Bushmaster from the car trunk.

The anti-Feinstein petition was posted on Dec. 27.  As of 4:50 p.m. EST today, it had garnered 4,741 signatures, needing another 20,259 to reach the required 25,000 for the White House staff will review it, "ensure it’s sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official response." The petition is non-binding and will probably just be laughed off by anti-gun White House staffers, sympathetic to Feinstein, when they "review" it.

Peter Ferrara, contributor at Forbes, has a few words to say today about Feinstein's pending bill and the nonsensical hysteria about "assault weapons" in general.

Ferrara wrote that "assault weapon" is a term that "is just a PR stunt that fools the gullible and easily deluded. It is defined in legislation by cosmetic features that frighten white bread suburbanites, but do not involve any functionality of any gun. We tried it, conservatives said it wouldn’t work, and it didn’t work. Yet, it is the liberal answer to the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Conn." Ferrara adds, "A Connecticut state law already banned assault weapons. The difference that made in stopping the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary: zero, zilch, nada, as the saying goes."

Cunning Stunt: Feinstein and some scary props.

Jacob Sullum at RedState points out that "the term assault weapon was invented by the anti-gun lobby as a way of blurring the distinction between military-style semiautomatics, which fire once per trigger pull, and selective-fire assault rifles, which can be set to fire continuously (a distinction that President Obama, who wants to bring back the 'assault weapon' ban, either does not grasp or deliberately obscures).... Guns are not 'assault weapons' until legislators arbitrarily decide they are."

Of course, none of these inconvenient facts matter to the anti-gun folks because they want all guns to be banned. A.W.R. Hawkins, lately of Breitbart.com, would agree with me. The attack on so-called "assault weapons" is a clever emotional use of language that allows them, as Peter Ferrara wrote, to "fool the gullible and easily deluded."

Watch the video above, in which Feinstein discusses her treasonous, anti-Constitution, anti-Bill of Rights assault weapons legislation bill in a guest appearance on PBS Newshour, Dec. 17.

In a scholarly thesis titled "Rational Basis Analysis of 'Assault Weapon' Prohibition," David B. Kopel examined the constitutionality and justification for banning such guns. His conclusion, in part (with my emphasis added):

"The demand for 'assault weapon' prohibition is often accompanied by a self-righteous insistence that only a criminal or a maniac would oppose prohibiting extremely dangerous firearms which have no legitimate use and are the criminal weapon of choice. But the closer one looks at the reasons given for 'assault weapon' bans the less one sees. The prohibition is no more rational than a prohibition on beer based on legislative 'findings' that beer grows on trees, that a single sip always causes instant physical addiction, and that beer is more dangerous than other alcohol because it is stored in aluminum containers. If the rational basis test means anything, it means that an 'assault weapon' prohibition is unlawful."

The full text of the petition against Diane Feinstein:

WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:

Try Senator Dianne Feinstein in a Federal Court For Treason To The Constitution

The Constitution was written to restrain the government. No amendment is more important for this purpose than the 2nd amendment. The 2nd amendment was written so the power could be kept with the citizenry in the face of a tyrannical government. It was well understood the Constitution acknowledged certain rights that could not be limited by government.

Senator Dianne Feinstein has made it clear she does not believe in the Constitution or the inalienable rights of Americans to keep and bear arms. She is actively working to destroy the 2nd amendment with her 2013 assault weapons ban. For this reason we the people of the united States petition for her to be tried in Federal Court for treason to the Constitution.

An outline of her bill may be found here:

http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public

Created: Dec 27, 2012
Issues: Firearms

Related:

• Adam Lanza Did use the Bushmaster AR-15 RedState.com
• Confusion abounds: Just what is an ‘assault weapon’? Philly.com
• What Is An "Assault Rifle"? - You've Probably Been Lied To YouTube
• Hypocrites: Senators Schumer and Feinstein Pack Heat Federal Observer
• Sen. Feinstein's 'Assault Weapon' Ban Really Handgun Ban Breitbart.com
• Rational Basis Analysis of "Assault Weapon" Prohibition, David B. Kopel Guncite.com
• CT. COP on Sandy Hook Inconsistencies: "THINGS DON'T ADD UP" YouTube
• Chuck Woolery on Assault Weapons YouTube
• Rapper Ice T on US gun control YouTube

EXCLUSIVE: Breitbart Website's Dishonest Use of Two Photos In Stories About Sidwell Friends School

To contact us Click HERE

Does anyone at Brietbart know that L.A. is not in D.C.?
Click image to enlarge.

Sorry Breitbart: This is NOT Sidwell Friends School.
(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) (Damian Dovarganes)
Click image to enlarge (see original story).

Dec. 29, 2012 - BUSTED: Breitbart's "Big Government" website is using two photos that they present falsely as being taken at the exclusive Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., attended by the Obama daughters. In my opinion, they did this deliberately. Sadly, both photos are being reproduced by bloggers who don't know how, or are too lazy, to do a little basic research to confirm facts.

One of the photos in question was most certainly not taken at Sidwell. The other is highly suspicious. Let me explain, and keep in mind that I am a conservative blogger who doesn't like fellow conservative bloggers presenting lies, whether on purpose or through stupidity. We all make mistakes. I sure do, but I correct them when I become aware of them. I would never do what the Breitbart kiddies did here.

BAD PHOTO #1: On Dec. 23, Breitbart's "Big Government" website published a photo as part of a story about security guards at Sidwell Friends School, the private institution in Washington, D.C. that the Obama daughters attend. The article, written by someone who calls himself A.W.R. Hawkins, is titled "D.C. School Posts Job Opening For Police Officer." A photo at the top of that article shows four burly, armed guards. The photo has no caption, and no source is given.

Trouble is, the photo was actually taken in February, 2011 on the other side of the continent, in Los Angeles. The armed men are Los Angeles Unified School District police, and they were guarding Miramonte Elementary school during a protest in Los Angeles on Monday, Feb. 6, 2012. Sadly, hundreds of conservative bloggers are mindlessly republishing the same photos as they follow Breitbart like zombies, telling their readers that the photo is of Sidwell Friends School.

Why did Breitbart's Big Government use a  photo of a school in L.A. in a piece about a private school in D.C.? Does the Breitbart organization have nobody in the D.C. metro area that could have provided them with a photo of the school? No doubt that could have happened.... but not with armed men standing in a dramatic photo. Better to grab that L.A. school photo, don't put a caption on it, and slap it into the post about Sidwell. That's not just lazy, that's deliberately presenting disinformation. (In my opinion, of course.)

Where was this photo taken? When? By whom?
Click image to enlarge.

BAD PHOTO #2: This is another baffling Breitbart use of a photo. This one was in another post by the same A.W.R. Hawkins, titled "School Obama's Daughters Attend Has 11 Armed Guards." What a  photo! Look! Three men with binoculars! They're looking at things! But, are they really Secret Service? The photo has no caption, no attribution, no date. The name of the photo file in the story is "sidwellfriendsSecretService.jpg," but that means nothing. A photo file is easily renamed.

"Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC," wrote Hawkins, "has 11 security officers and is seeking to hire a new police officer as we speak." Really? The only substantiation of that Hawkins gives is a link to a jobs site called Job Hustler, where there is no mention of Sidwell Friends School at that link. But wait! That was just sloppy work by Hawkins: Sidwell is seeking a security guard, but the correct link is here. So Hawkins was right about the want ad, but we're still left with no documentation or substantiation of his claim that Sidwell currently has 11 armed guards. An unnamed source? He didn't say. A school official? He didn't say. Lazy journalism? Yep.

Sidwell by satellite: Where were those Secret Service guys standing?
Click image to enlarge.

THE REALLY WEIRD THING about this photo is that there does not seem to be any such place on the grounds of Sidwell Friends School. Look for yourself, at this Google satellite view of Sidwell, located at 3825 Wisconsin Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20016.

Notice the structure on which the three men are standing. It clearly has a flat roof. But try to find a structure that small with a flat roof on the Google maps satellite image below. Again, I'm not saying that these are not Secret Service guys. I just question where this photo was taken, and it's questionable because the Breitbart editors are lazy and didn't care to tell us. And how are we to know that it's three French Foreign Legion guys in Algeria? After all, Breitbart's editor had no problem using a photo of an L.A. school in the article about Sidwell Friends School in D.C.

It's garbage like this that makes me happy that I have remained an independent blogger and never sold my soul or journalistic integrity to the wannabe amateurs at Breitbart. Mind you, this is nothing against the late Andrew Breitbart. Rather, it's an indictment of the laziness of the editors and writers in that organization.

Yah, I am a conservative, but it pisses me off when my fellow conservatives act in such stupid ways that so brazenly violate the most basic rules of journalism - not to mention respect for copyrights. The folks running the Breitbart websites have been playing fast and loose with facts violating copyrights for a long time, but this is the first incident that I have taken the time to document. But it explains why I so rarely link to stories at the Breitbart sites. The vast majority of their contributors, after all, have no training or professional background in journalism. Sadly, it shows all too often. Sadder still, many conservative bloggers are happy to stick their faces into the trough and lap it up without question.

Injustice Delivered: Pizza Hut Demotes Delivery Guy For Defending Himself

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Dec. 30, 2012 - I don't usually go for boycotts, but Pizza Hut needs to be on the receiving end of one for this. Sam Swicegood, college student and pizza delivery man in Maryland, defended himself against attackers while delivering pizzas. His mistake: He used a "weapon." To show him their moral support and compassion, Pizza Hut demoted him.

The trouble began as Swicegood tried to deliver pizza. He said he was "sucker punched" and his glasses flew off his face. Dropping the pizzas, he swung a piece of a tent pole he had up his sleeve.

“It’s a little fiberglass [rod] I had up my sleeve not thinking I would actually have to use it but more or less having a little comfort up my sleeve,” recalled Sam. Swicegood faced five attackers and said those odds “is just not a good situation to be in.” The rod is part of a tent pole, he explained, and it might have saved him from being more seriously injured. Hat tip to Freedom Outpost.

Swicegood said he was attacked previously, "so before he got out of his car, he grabbed something to protect himself," reported Fox News Balitmore on Dec. 28. Fox News also said that one of Sam’s co-workers was held at gunpoint last month and robbed "in the same area Sam was attacked; luckily in Sam’s case police arrested 3 out of 5 of the individuals - all of which are juveniles."

Pizza Hut: Now crap in my eyes.

Pizza Hut's outrageous reaction to Swicegood protecting himself: They demoted him, making him a cook earning less money than as a driver. Why? Because he violated Pizza Hut's no-weapon policy that forbids drivers from being armed.

Comment:  Suppose, instead of the tent pole rod, Swicegood hit his attackers with a pizza box? Those boxes are stiff and have sharp corners. You could take an eye out with ont. Could a Pizza Hut box be considered a weapon? After all, any solid object could be used as a weapon. A ball point, for example, is not a "weapon" until it is intentionally plunged into somebody's throat. 

Sam Swicegood deserves to work for a better employer. Here's a link to his resume. Additionally, there is a Facebook group now called "Support Sam Swicegood," so please check it out, "Like" it and share it. And the next time you want to go out for pizza, forget about Pizza Hut. At the Facebook page, somebody wrote the following:

Keep the pressure on Pizza Hut to reverse their silly decision to demote someone for protecting their life while delivering their product. I am not saying they need to be armed, but if in the course of defending oneself they pick something up to use as a defensive instrument, they should not be demoted or fired.

Pizza Hut Corporate Office Headquarters
14841 Dallas Parkway 
Dallas TX 75254
Phone: 800-948-8488

Clinging to Guns and Religion - Like the Muslim Brotherhood?

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Taliban fighter clings to his guns and religion.
Original photo: Reuters  Wording: Unknown

Jan. 1, 2013 - Had to share this graphic with you. It's a Reuters photo of a Taliban soldier. It says, "I wonder when Obama is going to tell the Muslims to stop clinging to their guns and religion."

That's a darkly funny reference to Obama's insult to Americans who believe in God and/or own firearms as the Constitution says they can. (I don't know who added the words.) The irony in all of this, of course, is Obama's firm support for the Islamo-fascist Muslim Brotherhood, which recently came to power in Egypt with help from the Obama Administration.

Obama made his insulting comment while running for the presidency in April, 2008.  He was referring mainly to unemployed blue collar voters when he said, "They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." If that describes any group, it best describes militant Muslims. You know, such as the Taliban, al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and so many other groups.

Image by T. Mannis,
Chicago News Bench

Hillary Clinton, running against Obama at the time, said, "His remarks are elitist and out of touch." Watch a video of Hillary criticizing Obama for his "elitist" remark. A few years later, Hillary Clinton would be Obama's Secretary of State, and would help make possible the ascension of the Muslim Brotherhood. Did Clinton ever consider how "out of touch" it was to give so much assistance and political legitimacy to the terrorists of the Muslim Brotherhood?

Neither Clinton or Obama considered the opinion of the Egyptians who would fall under the oppressive rule of President Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood. They should have consulted with Egyptian democracy activist Michael Meunier, who says Obama "needs to stop supporting the Muslim Brotherhood flat out." 

Image found at 22moon.com

Meunier also said, "What we have now is a fascist, Islamist regime that has no respect human rights, no respect for international opinion. Mubarak at least respected international opinion," and "Under Mubarak there was a lot of corruption, but there was no religious fascism … [There was a] difficult life for Christians in Egypt as well, but there was law and order."

"In the absence of law and order," Meunier said, "every religious fanatic is taking the law into their own hand," he said. He might just as well have said that they are clinging to their guns and religion. (More about Meunier, with a video, at DailyCaller.com.)

Related:

• US Sends Muslim Brotherhood’s Morsi 20 F-16 Warplanes Israel Nation News
• The New World Order, Obama and The Muslim Brotherhood Guardian Express
• Inside the Muslim Brotherhood Torture Chambers Frontpage Magazine
• Egyptian Cleric Threatens Christian Copts with Genocide Middle East Forum
• Congressman blasts Obama's decision to 'arm' extremists World Net Daily
• Egyptian Liberals Say Western Media is Failing Them Cynthia Farahat
• Former Navy Seal: America Arms Its Enemies Against Its Allies Human Events

Demand A Plan? Demand Celebrities Go F*ck Themselves (Extended Cut)

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Poster for "Killing Them Softly"

Jan. 1, 2013 - Hollywood is a culture of violence. Big stars make big bucks portraying psychotic killers, shooting people in orgies of bloody gore. They glorify guns and killing, but they want you to "demand a plan" to stop real-life killings. Look, we're all against stopping the violence. The issue here is the hypocrisy and stupidity of the celebrities who appeared in a video called "Demand a Plan to Gun Violence." (Watch it below.) In response to that video, a video titled "Demand a Plan? Demand Celebrities Go F*** Themselves" points out the double standard and hypocrisy of those celebrities. The response video was posted by "Mike Hunt" (yes yes, I know) on YouTube on Dec. 25, 2012.
Their plea to "demand a plan" is vague at best; they suggest no plan themselves. The video was put out by a group called "Mayors Against Illegal Guns" as a response to the Dec. 14, 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. 28 people died in that horrific attack, including gunman Adam Lanza. At the MAIG website, there is a proposal for action, but no part of their "plan" would prevent another Adam Lanza from stealing his mother's guns and going on a killing spree.

More below this video. Advisory: Language

Video: "Demand A Plan to End Gun Violence"


The hypocrisy of it all is simple enough. As mentioned above, these very same celebrities glamorize guns and killing in their films. In addition, they all put their heads in the sand when confronted with the reality that violent films and television shows influence the mentally unstable among us. For those who dispute this, please remember that many of these same celebrities insisted that "violent rhetoric" from politicians such as Sarah Palin causes violence. Hollywood is unwilling to accept their double standard, or any responsibility for their own influence on violence in America. There is no mention of mental illness in this video, as part of their "plan."

Video: "Demand A Plan? Demand Celebrities Go F*ck Themselves [Extended Version]"
Advisory: Language, Depictions of Violence


Be sure to read the description posted with this video.

A wonderful column by Mick LaSalle, movie critic for The San Francisco Gate, wrote this today:

"Just as there is profit in violence, there is enormous profit in pornography, and yet our films don't routinely depict graphic sex acts for two reasons: (1) The public wouldn't stand for it; and (2) Critics would feel on solid ground deploring it. It's time to stop behaving as if we were paralyzed. It's time to lose our squeamishness about confronting screen violence - and the monolith of profit behind it - and to start acting like a community."

Sadly, you won't see that as part of the "plan" called for by the hypocrites in "Demand A Plan to End Gun Violence."

Related:

• Violent media poisoning nation's soul SFGate
• 'Demand celebrities go f*** themselves': Video argues stars calling for gun control are hypocrites because of their violent roles in TV and movies Mail Online
• Violent movies can increase violent responses in real life Virginia Tech
• Lock & Load: A video essay about the role of guns in film Vimeo
• The Harmful Effects of Violent Movies Annenberg School for Communications, Univ. of Penn.
• Violence in the Media: Effects on Children YouTube
• When Movie Violence Helps Inspire Real Violence... Huffington Post

Development(s)

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Friends,I’ll take theliberty of kicking off the blog for this year’s trip, though at the rate thingsare going, I will be no more qualified to write about Uganda and Lingira thananyone else on the team when we next access internet. I could not be happier withhow energetic the group has been and how poised we are to eclipse the smallwork Sam, Karla, and I did last year. When that happens it will be acredit to this group and in no way a fault of our work last year.

Speaking ofthose projects— our attempt to seed the idea of a robust school garden byworking with the school and building a fence took hold. The whole ±1 acre areais tilled and planted. That was always our first ambition for the project,reflecting an attempt to make full use of the resource. However, a fear we heldwas that monoculture, which often makes economic sense or may best fillstomachs, would dominate the garden. To my great surprise, there was not onestalk of corn at the school. Under some direction from our great friend TwaliJulius (MS in Crop Sciences) the school has been growing diverse crops,including broccoli, which is a rarity in Uganda. He has helped to keep up ourvision for the garden by encouraging this and different farming techniques. Thesecond great success that we’ve seen is that the produce of the garden is beingconsumed by students, and regularly. The productivity has been high enough tosustain the school’s interest in producing its own food. Perhaps mostamazingly, they’ve begun to pursue growing things outside the bounds of thefence as a result of their success in the garden. Shortly before we arrived,they planted the first fruits in the garden. In a few months there ought to bepassion fruit growing along the fence. In the coming weeks, we look to installa hearty human-powered pump as insurance against the times when dry season andschool holidays overlap. Another goal is to approach the school and studentsabout forming a student farmers’ association as an outlet for their interestsand an opportunity for leadership experience.
Tomorrow willconclude our first days “in town”. I imagine that being in Jinja feels verylike when Laura Ingalls Wilder would, coming in from their frontier home forsupplies and a bit of candy from the general store. Still, we are anxious to getback to the island. The whole group seems very excited to get to work afterhaving been equipped some cultural understanding of the islands and Uganda atlarge. The very theoretical experience of our work in Madison has beentransformed into projects with very real direction and targets. We will returnto the island tomorrow with the ceramic elements of the kegs, as well as thecomponents to produce a first round of the filters. While some of us pursuebuilding those, others will be working with Local Chairmen and interviewingcommunity members about existing water habits so we can tailor our approach.
Many thanksfor reading. I can pass on hellos from everyone here and even from our Ugandanfriends. We couldn’t be doing better or more charged to do awesome stuff as thegroup explores this new culture. Pictures will follow!
Paul

For your information

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We are beyondour first two weeks and staring down our last two. It’s been amazing howquickly energy and time seem to be whisked off with ever-present beads ofsweat. Our water filter project has been a vacuum for our attention anddeservedly so. Very early on, our environment here asked that we make ensureany filters distributed be tested against the especially turbid lake water,resemble something that could one day be economically viable with EDGE out ofthe picture. Much of our focus before coming was on how to make a workingfilter after getting here, as well as getting things, like the shipment ofceramic from Kenya, safely on the island. For example the container for thekegs has been a massive hang up. We require a relatively large container that alsoneeds to be around 15,000 UGS, or $6. We’ve come close and may have a suitablesolution, but it remains imperfect. We also were unable to do even presenceabsence tests for E. coli. until Joanna, a pioneer of the keg design broughther black light. Without this, we had no grounds to say that the filters wereeffective against the water pulled from the lake. Encouragingly, we found no E.coli. in samples taken from just using the ceramic element as it is designed.Come Tuesday, we will test a round of kegs, to test for and enumerate the E.coli. If all goes well, the kegs will be proven effective, though we still needto evaluate whether this design could stick long term in the islands. The worstcase scenario, worst, would be toabandon the keg design and use the ceramic filters as pots. This would behumbling, though would double the amount of filters we can get out there.
Our otherprojects have been pushing along. We are trying to foster to girls’ soccerteams. We installed a pedal powered pump in the school garden. We’re preparingan “urban gardening” workshop. We will be filling in a few gaps at the primaryschool where they recently lost three teachers. And MORE.
Last night wewere inspired to do a first-aid workshop at the secondary school throughterrible circumstances. During an intense football game, a student had his headknocked on another player and proceeded to lose consciousness. In the absenceof any nurses on the island, EDGE took control of the situation, as he remainedonly barely responsive for thirty minutes. In a show of our best teamwork yet,we dressed a head wound, monitored his vitals, checked for responsiveness, andultimately secured him to a board with full precautions as he was brought byboat to Jinja and driven to Kampala. The group was basically thefirst-responders for three-hours unconscious hours, then Kristin and Claudiawent on to channel their futures in medicine by helping all through the nightas he was moved to Kampala. Almost 24 hours after the incident, they havereturned. The student seems to have suffered a very, very severe concussion.Frustratingly, he remained unconscious for the over six hours it took to get him to a proper hospital. After theincident, we became aware of the astounding gap in medical knowledge between anAmerican high schooler and their Ugandan counter-part. In the coming weeks, wewill do a workshop to share those things like, apply pressure and elevate aftera cut, that seem common knowledge, but are unknown here.
I’ve beenpersonally awful at getting our blogmill up and running, though the volunteerqueue has been short. I hope we can ramp it up in our remaining time. Keepwriting to us!
Paulo

Eric's Poetic Probing

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[Written May 29th]
Today began inbrilliant color as David, Dennis, and I woke up early to watch the sunriseagainst the background of Buvumu Islands. The three of us made the 25-minutehike along the shore of Lake Victoria, through the village of Katonga, and upthe rocky incline to the center of Lingira Island, this time unaccompanied byJack and Simba, our canine companions who almost always follow at our feet andstubbornly refuse to ever waiver their protection. The narrow alleyways betweenthe mud huts of Katonga were already bustling with people when we passedthrough.  Both mothers and childrenpaused their chores and watched curiously as we walked, but replied and smiledwarmly when we greeted them in Luganda. Following a few young boys herdinggoats along the path outside of the village, the three of us diverted and cutthrough the thick brush that halos the island’s raised center. Contrary to ourinitial thoughts, we made it to the top of the hill with time to spare. Davidand Dennis found comfortable seats on large rocks protruding from the ocean ofoluwanyi, the tall grass that covers the top of the island. I, on the otherhand, found a seat less comfortable on a forgiving termite mound, but luckilythe termites must not have minded. Soon the painted sky gave way to amagnificent Ugandan sun, which immediately saturated the landscape around us inlight. I have never seen clouds quite like these. We sat there in a silenceaccompanied only by the hum of a lake fly cloud some ten million strong, and feltthe waves of heat begin to bake the ground.
Today alsomarks the first of our work with the Water Kegs. The first couple kegs will beless assembly and more experiment as we work together to tweak and perfect thedesign to best fit the needs of the people. We plan to build 100 filters, buthave enough that we can experiment with different local materials andtechniques. In addition to the actual filter assembly, we are preparing to goout into the camps to survey the people’s habits and understanding of humanrights and water sanitation. The results will hopefully help to illuminate thespecific needs of the community in regards to our goals for the water filters.Titus, the chairman of Lingira Village, is very excited about the project—hisopinion is crucial for its success.
Everyonesends their hellos and well wishes. Jeebale.
Eric

Eric's Poetic Probing #2

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Precedingthe numerous stories and perspectives we each intend to post in the comingweeks, I’ve taken the liberty to post one of the many poems I wrote while inUganda. Enjoy.
Eric

Untitled #1
Wood boats long line
the muddy shore,Each bow pointing regally
towards horizonless Lake Victoria.
Men called kinyamas for their strength,
in uniform blue,
carrying women and children
to and from each boat.
Even a suited businessman,
riding a kinyama’s shoulders, avoids walkingthrough the mud.But for a traveler like me,
who wouldn’t want a piece of Victoria
fastened to their feet?

Rashida Manjoo women's rights lecture

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"After the Violence: The Dream ofAnother Reality"Thursday, September 20, 6:30 pmVandeBerg Auditorium, Pyle Center, 702Langdon St.Free and open to the public
"A native of South Africa, Manjoo is an internationallyrecognized lawyer, teacher, and advocate who has worked to advance women’srights and human rights around the world. She serves as an Advocate of the HighCourt of South Africa and associate professor in the University of Cape Town’sDepartment of Public Law."
More info here:http://international.wisc.edu/blog/index.php/2012/08/24/mildred-fish-harnack-lecture-to-feature-womens-advocate-rashida-manjoo/