February 2011 archive

African mercenaries in Libya nervously await their fate

Mercenaries captured in Libya are facing an uncertain future, writes Nick Meo in Al-Bayda.



By Nick Meo, Al-Bayda, Libya 7:30AM GMT 27 Feb 2011  

Crowded into an empty classroom which was stinking of unwashed bodies and reeking of fear, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s defeated mercenary killers awaited their fate.

A week earlier the men – Libyan loyalists of the dictator and black African recruits – had been landed at airports throughout eastern Libya and sent out into the streets to shoot protesters in a murderous rampage. They killed dozens before they were overwhelmed by anti-Gaddafi militias.

The survivors were exhausted, filthy, far from home, and fearful of execution, even though they had been assured of good treatment. Fifty of them lay on mattresses on the floor in one classroom alone, with nearly 100 more in the same school building which was being used as a temporary prison. Most looked dazed. Some were virtually children

Regular Features-

• Late Night Karaoke by mishima
• Muse in the Morning by Robyn
• Six In The Morning by mishima

Featured Essays for February 26, 2011-

• Wisconsin Schools Get Sold Out by Jack’s Smirking Revenge
• OpenThread: Changes by TheMomCat
• Impossible Dream Open Thread by Edger
• Reporting the Revolution: 26.02.2011 by TheMomCat
• Talking Union by ek hornbeck
• Video from Rally to Save the American Dream by SumofChange
• Popular Culture 20110225: Van Susteren to the Rescue! by Translator

DocuDharma

cross-posted from Sum of Change

WASHINGTON, DC: Demonstrations were planned in over 60 U.S. cities today to show solidarity with workers in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and wherever workers’ rights are under attack. I stopped in at the Rally to Save the American Dream here in DC, at Dupont Circle, where we heard from a number of speakers, including Van Jones.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive” Sir Walter Scott

The plot to undermine the Wikileaks attack on banks is certainly one of those tangled webs. The recent revelations the not only were Bank of America  and the Chamber of Commerce involved but the United States Air Force. They all had either hired or consulted a little known cyber-security firm HBgary to learn about and discredit their detractors. The plot was exposed by one of their targets, Anonymous, who hacked not just HBgary’s computers but hacked the private e-mail from its CEO,s i-phone and his Twitter account.

Another of HBgary’s targets, Salon‘s Glenn Greenwald, has been making rounds talking about the plans to discredit journalists. He has made appearances on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report and Democracy Now! discussing the implications of this plot. Mr. Greenwald also talked with Cenk Uygur specifically about this plan, the latest revelations of the use of psy-ops against American citizens, specifically, US Congress members to get them to support the Afghan war and the Obama administration’s vigorous crack down on whistle blowers.

Not so many premiers, last week’s Amazing Race (I know a fan).  Pursuit of Happyness (their spelling not mine).  Austin City Limits has Allen Toussaint.

Mets tied their first pre-season game against the Braves 5 – 5 with a 2 run homer by Willie Harris in the 10th.  Yes, they just aclled it at 10.  Lady Huskies clinched the regular season Big East title with a win at Georgetown 52 – 42 (it was closer than that).

No Fate.

• AMC– Terminator 2: Judgment Day x 2 (easily the best of all the Terminator movies because of Linda Hamilton’s performance)
• Animal Planet– Must Love Cats (premier), Pit Boss x 2 (premiers, and I know someone who’s relative appears on the show)
• Bravo– House marathon
• Comedy– Good Luck Chuck, My Best Friend’s Girl
• Disney– Wizards of Waverly Place marathon
• Discovery– When Pigs Attack!
• E!– When Harry Met Sally
• ESPN– College Hoopies, Duke @ Virginia Tech
• ESPN2– College Hoopies, UCSB @ Long Beach State, PBA Bowling
• FX– Death Race (not the better 1975 version)
• Sci Fi– Star Trek: Nemesis, Area 51 x 2
• Speed– Supercross
• Spike– A Bronx Tale, Days of Thunder (hilariously bad)
• TBS– Diary of a Mad Black Woman, The Family That Preys
• Turner Classic– It Happened One Night, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
• TNT– The Guardian
• Toon– Space Jam (not as watchable as Looney Tunes: Back in Action), God, the Devil and Bob
• TV Land– Retired at 35 marathon
• Vs.– Bullriding
• VH1– What’s Love Got to Do With It

What do you think you are, for Chrissake, crazy or somethin’? Well you’re not! You’re not! You’re no crazier than the average asshole out walkin’ around on the streets and that’s it.

Later-

We all know that the images we see can elicit strong emotional reactions. But I always wondered, can the images we see do more than hurt us emotionally? Is it possible to see something so bad that it actually hurts you physically? In other words, can too much black television kill you?

• ABC Family– O Brother, Where Art Thou?
• Comedy– Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
• FX– Rules of Engagement
• Oxygen– Just Friends
• Sci Fi– Alien Siege
• Spike– Lucky Number Slevin
• TBS– Why Did I Get Married?, College Road Trip
• Turner Classic– The Silence of the Lambs
• TNT– The Postman
• Vs.– D-League Hoopies, Jam @ Stampede

SNL from 11/20/10.

Boondocks– Riley Wuz Here.  The Venture Brothers– Return to Spider-Skull Island.

There is a television behind the El Greco. Sadly, the remote has vanished from the material sphere! So it’s stuck on Animal Planet.

…

What is…

That’s Doc’s deformed twin brother he absorbed in the womb, who’s come back for revenge. But now they’ve made up, so…

‘Kay…

Zap2it TV Listings, Yahoo TV Listings

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

Now with 42 Top Stories.

1 Terror in Tripoli as Kadhafi set for battle

by Imed Lamloum, AFP

1 hr 18 mins ago

I’m not sure about the rest of you, but I need a break from reality, at least for a few hours. The chance to sit in front of the big tube with a drink and a bowl of popcorn or other finger food and watch the glitz and glamor as the Stars walk down the red carpet and make fools of themselves bumbling the lines of acceptance speeches.

Tomorrow night at The Stars Hollow Gazette, I will be hosting a live blog of the 83rd Academy Awards starting at 7:00 PM EST when the march of celebrities in to the Kodak Theater. (yeah, I know I said I needed a break from reality but who said a blog was reality?). I haven’t seen any of these movies. If it weren’t for all the hype about a few of them, I couldn’t even tell you the plot. The hosts this year will be Anne Hathaway, the youngest host in the history of the Oscars, and James Franco, a Best Actor nominee for his tour de force in “127 Hours“.

Some folks make this show like the Super Bowl with special drinks and food. Some go for simple, while some just go all out for exotic drinks and fancy food. The fanciest I get is an extra olive in my martini and maybe some fresh grated Parmesan cheese on my popcorn. So for chuckles here are some of the more exotic drinks in honor of some of the nominees and a few recipes for nibbles to munch as you watch.

The Natalie Portman

This is quite ambitious but looked so pretty in the glass. My experience with some of these types of drinks is, Look, Don’t Drink.

Named for the best actress nominee (for “Black Swan”) and created by Eamon Rockey of  Compose.

Beforehand, chill red wine that’s been sweetened  slightly with sugar (about a tablespoon per half cup of wine) and steeped with  lemon peels.

Next, combine one and a half ounces of Brooklyn gin,  three-quarters of an ounce of lemon juice, a half-ounce of triple sec, a  quarter ounce of gum syrup and an egg white.

Shake and strain into a cocktail  glass.  Using a funnel, pour the red wine into the bottom of the  glass so it forms a deep layer of color.

Mist the top of the cocktail with  absinthe (if you don’t have a spare mister, drizzle a few  drops of absinthe) and garnish with a few dashes of Angostura bitters.

The James Franco is another ambitious cocktail that requires a lot of pre-prep. However, It was amusing that the drink is kept shilled with a chunk of frozen rock.

The  Helena Bonham Carter goes for the simple. It starts out with a chilled glass that has been rinsed with absinthe, then the absinthe is discarded. I know where it can be “discarded”. Never waste absinthe.

Here are some really tasty recipes for appetizers that are fairly simple, can be made ahead and some only take about 20 minutes to prepare.

These would not last 5 minutes in my house

Cheese Straws With Pimentón

These eggs required hot smoked paprika which I found in my local Stop ‘n Shop

Smoky Red Devil Eggs

Make this dip a day ahead

Greek Goddess Dip

For something warm and spicy, this is great. Worth the extra time but can be made ahead and reheated under the broiler

Queso Fundido With Chorizo, Jalapeño and Cilantro

Another one that wouldn’t last in my house. If you like shumai, double this

Shrimp and Cilantro Shu Mai

This would be a great brunch recipe, too

Toasts With Egg and Bacon

An Asian twist on Swedish meatballs

Scallion Meatballs With Soy-Ginger Glaze

Regular Daily Features:

• Late Night Karaoke has The Cure, mishima DJs
• Six Brilliant Articles!    from Six Different Places!!     on Six Different Topics!!!
  
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Essays Featured Saturday, February 26^th:

• Popular Culture 20110225: Van Susteren to the Rescue! from Translator aka Dr. David W. Smith
• Saturday Open Thoughts from Alma Ria: Here be Dragon, a get-well wish for Alma
• Tahoe has thoughts on Wisconsin: We have sunk to a new LOW level!
• davidseth brings more thoughts on Wisconsin in Two Birds, One Stone: Solidarity Saturday In The Dream Antilles
• A new piece from mishima‘s talented hands: Saturday Art!
• A little solidarity music
• Firefly Memories 1.0 is where  Alma  Dreamer (using Alma’s list!) takes a look back at some of the Brilliant essays of our first years posts, highlighting those which exemplify our firefly-dreaming spirit and mission.  
  
  Today:The anti-material girl

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FIGHTING CLING-ONS FOR THREE DECADES

 

Toto’s warm water-spraying Washlet toilet seats celebrated 30 years of keeping things clean down under, living up to their slogan, “Buttocks, too, want to be washed.”

Locals in Miyazaki rolled out the welcome wagon for the Yomiuri Giants as they opened “spring” camp, lavishing 20 kilos of kumquat, 20kg of mikan, 10 boxes of strawberries and 100 broiled eels on the Central League powerhouse.

But the Giants gave as good as they got, donating some ¥3 million to support local relief efforts as Miyazaki battles bird flu and a spewing volcano.

Meanwhile, the Softbank Hawks also got a welcome gift at their camp when 10kg of tuna and 10kg of shrimp were dropped off by the Miyazaki Fish Federation.

16-year-old ballet dancers Shizuru Kato and Yuko Horisawa finished fifth and seventh, respectively, at the prestigious Prix de Lausanne competition, each earning year-long scholarships to some of the top dance schools in the world.

Welcome to the Stars Hollow Health and Fitness weekly diary. It will publish on Saturday afternoon and be open for discussion about health related issues including diet, exercise, health and health care issues, as well as, tips on what you can do when there is a medical emergency. Also an opportunity to share and exchange your favorite healthy recipes.

Questions are encouraged and I will answer to the best of my ability. If I can’t, I will try to steer you in the right direction. Naturally, I cannot give individual medical advice for personal health issues. I can give you information about medical conditions and the current treatments available.

You can now find past Health and Fitness News diaries here and on the right hand side of the Front Page.

Survey Suggests Many People Call an Ambulance for Minor Medical Emergencies

Feb. 22, 2011 — One in three people don’t understand when an ambulance is not necessary to deal with common medical situations, a survey indicates.

The survey shows most people know when to call an ambulance for life-threatening medical emergencies like a heart attack, but many don’t understand when an ambulance is not needed for less urgent situations like a woman going into the early stages of labor.

Here’s a quick look at this week’s selection of grains:

LUNDBERG WEHANI This reddish-brown whole-grain rice has a slightly chewy texture and a nutty, savory flavor. To cook, combine 1 part rice with 2 parts water and salt to taste ( ½ to ¾ teaspoon per cup of rice). Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer 50 to 60 minutes until the rice has absorbed all the water. Turn off the heat, remove the lid, place a towel over the pot and return the lid to the pot. Let sit 10 minutes, and then serve.

For a nuttier taste, before adding the water sauté the rice in 1 tablespoon olive oil or canola oil until the rice smells toasty. A cup of raw rice yields about 3 1/3 cups of cooked rice.

LUNDBERG BLACK JAPONICA RICE A combination of medium-grain mahogany rice and short-grain black rice. Cook it like Wehani rice, above. A cup of raw rice yields about 3 ¾ cups cooked rice.

RUBY RED JASMINE RICE This red long-grain rice is distributed by a company that specializes in fair-trade products. The package says to cook 1 part rice in 2 ½ parts water, but I found a ratio of 1 to 2 worked better. Cook like the Wehani rice, above. A cup of raw rice yields about 3 cups of cooked rice.

PURPLE PRAIRIE BARLEY This hearty dark purple barley originated in Tibet. It takes 1 ½ hours to cook – 1 hour if you soak it overnight, which I recommend. Cook 1 part grain in 2 ½ parts water with salt to taste. Place a strainer over a bowl, and drain the soaked rice. Combine the soaking water (you don’t want to lose the pigment in it) with more water to make 2 ½ parts. Add salt to taste ( ½ to ¾ teaspoon per cup of grain), and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 1 hour or until the barley is tender and beginning to splay. A cup of cup raw rice yields just under 4 cups of cooked rice.

AMARANTH Amaranth is the tiny seed of a green native to the Americas. In Mexico, both the seeds and the greens are eaten. It’s very nutritious: high in protein, and very rich in the amino acid lysine, which most grains lack. Cook 1 part amaranth in 3 parts water, and stir often.