Friday, March 28

:
U WANT TO BE SEDATED - (4#) -
... cuba phones in except y ...

Phil Peters reports that Cubans will now be allowed to have cell phones legally. Previously, they had them more covertly, he explains.

This past week, Yoani Sanchez complained that her Generacion Y blog was being strained through a slow-motion filter to make it prohibitive for indigenous Cubans on the imprisoned island to read. Some say the blog is hosted on a German server. Let's hope this snafu clears up soon.

::error messages:: ... and ... ::tech tricks::

...

Thursday, March 27

:
SoFlo: CORKSCREW -
Melissa Lewis Murder Case -

Was this a fairytale murder story?

Lawyer Melissa Britt Lewis was reported missing March 7th; a highly detailed BOLO was issued; her cadaver was subsequently pulled out of a canal and identified.

The story emerging from this chain of events has contained seeming anomalies, improbabilities, and even outright contradictions.

And then, instead of naming Lewis' ex-husband as a person-of-interest, which is the usual pattern for this genre of cases, the police arrested her friend's ex-husband, while sealing all the legal papers.

"The South Florida Sun-Sentinel along with the The Miami Herald, is suing to open the records for public access."

+ Good idea!

:: Brian Haas :: SF Sun-Sentinel ::

...
:
MEZ CASE: MORE BLOODY FOOTPRINTS -
Meredith Kercher Murder Case -

Richard Owen in Rome for The Times of London has a late report posted online which includes the following tidbit:

*Panorama news magazine, in its edition to be published tomorrow, reports that police have found seven new bloodstains at the crime scene, "which could prove crucial." The stains - revealed by the chemical luminol and now being tested to identify them - included bloody footprints in both Ms Knox's and Ms Kercher's bedrooms as well as in the corridor, the report said.*

One expects more revelations
to come out of the Italian Panorama article.

:: Owen - Times ::

...
:
THE X-FILES PANEL -
Movie Info & Strange 9/11 Connection -

Kristin Sample reports about
The X-Files Panel at The Paley Festival.

There's a new X-Files movie scheduled to debut this coming summer. It just finished filming ten days ago and will be released in theaters on July 25th, according to Chris Carter.

"Littleton asked about the freakish coincidence between The Lone Gunmen pilot and 9/11. In the pilot, which aired only eight months before the real attacks, the characters have to stop a plane from flying into the World Trade Center."

Dean Hagland, who has cut his hair, said that he met an FBI agent who told him that he joined the Bureau because of the show.

The title of the new film is still under debate. Carter has given it a working title, but Fox may change it, so it isn't firm yet.

Sample did a terrific job on this piece.
Fans will want to go read all of it.

:: Sample at TV Squad ::

...
:
MEZ CASE BREAKTHROUGH - (4#) -
Meredith Kercher Murder -

Ansa, an Italian wire service,
is reporting a major breakthrough:

For the first time, Rudy Guede has placed Amanda Knox and her boyfriend Sollecito at the scene of the crime. Guede claims he saw Sollecito with a knife in his hand and heard Knox's voice.

"It was a row over money that sparked it off."

Allison Martin is reporting at the UK Mirror that Meredith Kercher accused Amanda Knox of stealing 250 euros from a drawer, which was to be used for Kercher's rent payment. And this started a row.

According to the UK Telegraph, after three hours of questioning, Rudy Guede broke down, but stills insists that he did not commit the murder.

The Telegraph reports that Kercher was supposedly on her hands and knees when she was stabbed and that she was being "held from behind," which seems rather strange.

The UK Press Association reports:

*Ansa said that Guede was much more forthcoming in his three hour interview with the lead investigator in the case, Giuliano Mignini, than he was when questioned by the authorities in December.

His decision to speak out was as a result of the attitude of the defenders of the two other suspects, who had more or less explicitly accused Guede of being behind the killing, the agency reported.*


The UK Mail reports that Guede was questioned for six hours, not three, and quotes Chief Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini:

"All I will say is that we were very
pleased with what Guede had to say."


...

Wednesday, March 26

:
IN OUR TIMES (3#) -

Drone Debut: A small pilotless drone manufactured by Honeywell International, if approved by the FAA, will be used by the Miami-Dade Police Department.

I thought I saw it up here in Broward last weekend.

:: Dispatch by Tom Brown - Reuters.

* * * * *
Islam and Free Speech: "Western governments and media outlets cannot allow themselves to be bullied into giving up this precious right due to threats of violence."

For those of you who, alas, have lost the plot, I suggest you read this Op-Ed piece by Rep Peter Hoekstra of Michigan.

...

Tuesday, March 25

:
HOT SPOTS (7#) -

# Basra Erupts: Heavy fighting to crackdown on Shiite militia. Since the police have been infiltrated by the militia, the Iraqi Army has been assigned this mission in the southern Iraqi oil port. [sky]

"The radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr today called for "civil revolt" after a crackdown on Shia factions in Basra killed 22 people."

::Q&A:: Battle for Basra.

* * * * *
# Tibet: protests spread ::5 good photos::

"The Chinese authorities have made it nearly impossible for independent journalists to cover the protests in Tibet and in neighbouring provinces by imposing "suffocating restrictions" on the press, from expelling foreign reporters to censoring news coverage."

* * * * *
# Geert Wilders:

:: Op-Ed in Defense of
Free Speech by Peter Van Ham.

"By now the idea is spreading all over the place that there is no movie Fitna, and never will be - that Geert Wilders simply announced that there would be to expose Islamic intolerance."

...

Monday, March 24

:
SoFlo: BOMB THREAT vs MOVIE (2#) -
Coincidence or Conspiracy? You Make The Call -

We had a bomb threat here in the Broward Combat Zone today around noontime. At the same time, the local newspaper's office was allegedly being occupied for use as a movie set in the process of filming Marley and Me.

"If big news breaks today, we're screwed."

The helicopters were very noisy.

A bomb threat was telephoned in twice to the local Transit Authority HQ, claiming that a bomb had been planted on a specific bus. Young Circle in Hollywood, where that bus was located, was completely shut down during the busy lunch hour, and nearby buildings were evacuated. Bomb-sniffing dogs were brought to the scene, but found nothing. And the threat was eventually deemed a hoax.

But not to worry, because it was all caught on Live TV.

...
:
Bookish: FROM A GHOST'S WIFE -

This past week in Paris, Aleida March, 71,
widow of Dr Che Guevara, introduced her
book of memoirs, Evocacion, about her six
years living with the guerrilla fighter, who
was also the father of her four children.

:: France 24 - AFP ::

...