Another Angle 14 - May - 2007

ANOTHER ANGLE
News others won't tell you



NATIONAL:



Reminder: Monday is Wiretap the Internet Day
May 14th is the official deadline for cable modem companies, DSL providers, broadband over powerline, satellite internet companies and some universities to finish wiring up their networks with FBI-friendly surveillance gear, to comply with the FCC's expanded interpretation of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act. Congress passed CALEA in 1994 to help FBI eavesdroppers deal with digital telecom technology.



McCain: Iraqi government can't order U.S. withdrawal
The video clips are from NBC's Meet the Press.



Katrina Aid Program Is $2.9 Billion Short
More than 20 months after the Katrina catastrophe, tens of thousands of houses remain vacant, in part because of administrative delays in the aid program, the largest single source of direct federal help for homeowners. To date, only 16,000 of 130,000 applicants have received money.



The good Professor
Public Enemy's notorious loudmouth, Professor Griff, shared a few choice words about black popular culture at Shelton State on Saturday. Actually, it was more than few. He spent at least three hours -- I had to split just as the school was telling him to wrap things up, and he sounded like he was just getting started



INTERNATIONAL:



Iranian leader threatens retaliation
The Iranian president said Monday Iran will retaliate if the U.S. strikes the country — a tough response to recent comments by the Vice President Dick Cheney that Washington would prevent the Islamic republic from dominating the Middle East.
UN Watchdog Denies Iran Blocked Nuke Visit



Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: Blair's failed promise to Britain's blacks
So how is the last decade seen though black eyes? First there was the heady release after long years feeling outsiders under Mrs Thatcher. We "swamp" the country's culture, she complained; we support alien cricket teams, moaned Norman Tebbit. She didn't give a damn about discrimination and ruthlessly tried to extinguish resistance to racist policing and institutional practices. So, boy were we ready for a redeemer when Blair rode in.
Mumia: London protest at US Embassy 17 May



IRAQ:



Iraqis resist U.S. pressure to enact oil law
Some of the fiercest opposition has come from oil workers, who threatened to go on strike this week to protest the legislation. Imad Abdul Hussain, a leader of the Federation of Oil Unions, said workers want oil production to remain in government hands. "Oil is Iraq's sovereignty. It is the only wealth in Iraq. It unifies Iraqis. When we give it to a foreign investor, this means the sovereignty is taken away."



Majority of Iraq Lawmakers Seek Timetable for U.S. Exit



ECONOMY:



US Government Forces E-gold Redemptions - Seizes Gold
My advice is when you convert to gold, make sure you have physical posession of it.



OP-ED:



Benchmarks and Bullsh*t
The sellout is coming, if it isn't already here.
American voters sent a clear message to Washington last November when they voted to put an ostensibly antiwar Democratic Congress in power: they told pollsters the war was the big issue, and, furthermore, they wanted out of Iraq. They voted Democratic not because they suddenly believed that party would end "the culture of corruption" – which is a very bipartisan phenomenon, and voters aren't dumb enough to believe otherwise – but because they took seriously Democratic promises to get us out of Iraq.



That's all, folks
The only thing lacking from Dick Cheney's Persian Gulf appearance yesterday aboard the USS John C. Stennis was the Warner Bros. cartoon theme song as a musical introduction, for this pathetic blusterer has finally become the Yosemite Sam of U.S. foreign policy, if I may be so charitable as to label the hapless presentation of the Bush administration's international conduct as "policy."



Where's Spike Lee's joint about the Klu Klux Klan?
I would like to see the tables turned on white stories by black directors, with all the cliches they have had to endure over the last century turned upside-down. Picture a talented, pissed-off film-maker like Spike Lee making a multi-generational saga about a white family long active in the Ku Klux Klan and the hillbilly racist right.



HEALTH&FITNESS:



Common chemicals are linked to breast cancer
More than 200 chemicals — many found in urban air and everyday consumer products — cause breast cancer in animal tests, according to a compilation of scientific reports published today.



Proof Bees Dying From GM Crops?
Research by a leading German zoologist has shown that genes used to genetically modify crops can jump the species barrier, newspapers reported here on Sunday. A three-year study by Professor Hans-Heinrich Kaatz at the University of Jena found that the gene used to modify oil-seed rape had transferred to bacteria living inside honey bees. The findings will undermine claims by the biotech industry and supporters of GM foods that genes cannot spread.
20-40% of US bees have disappeared



FOOD&DRINK:



CARROT CAKE WITH MAPLE-CREAM CHEESE ICING
A tasty twist on a fan fav!



REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:



Benny Golson: From Jazz to Hollywood and Back
Saxophone player Benny Golson played with jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey, and wrote music for the TV shows M*A*S*H and Mission Impossible. He talks about his role in reshaping Blakey's band as well as the bit part in a Stephen Spielberg movie that helped revitalize his career.



Bob Marley Releases Exodus On USB Stick
Island records have announced plans to re-release Bob Marley’s pioneering album, ‘Exodus,’ on June 4th. The reissued to coincide with the album's 30th anniversary, amongst traditional formats, ‘Exodus,’ will be available on USB Memory Stick and Micro SD Card - the first artist-specific album to be released on both formats.



HUMOR?:



Boondocks