Israel says no proof it carried out Hamas Dubai killing

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said there is no proof the Mossad spy agency carried out the killing of a Hamas commander in Dubai.

But he did not fully deny that Israel carried out the killing, citing its "policy of ambiguity" on such matters.
Dubai believes 11 "agents with European passports" killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
Seven foreign-born Israelis named as suspects say their identities were stolen and they were not involved. UK passports used were said to be fake.
France, Germany and the Irish Republic also said they believed the passports from their countries used by the alleged killers were false.
'Israel never confirms'
Hamas has accused Israeli agents of murdering their operative - a view shared by many commentators because Mossad has in the past used forged foreign passports in its operations.
But in Israel's first official comments on the affair, Mr Lieberman said there was no reason to blame Israel and Mossad.

ANALYSIS Katya Adler, BBC Middle East correspondent Israel is alive with rumour as to whether Israel's intelligence service, Mossad, murdered Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Mossad has used fraudulent foreign passports and stolen identities to carry out its missions in the past, provoking diplomatic rows with a number of friendly countries. Former Israeli secret service officer, Gad Shimron, says agents steal identities to escape tougher security checks. But would Mossad want to point the finger at innocent Israeli citizens? At least five of the names listed by Dubai match those of Israeli dual nationals. Maybe Mossad thought this was a clear way, without making a public declaration, of letting the world know it organised the murder - thereby sending a warning to Israel's enemies abroad. It is possible another country masterminded the attack, designing it to look like a clumsy Mossad operation. Or maybe Israel co-operated with others.

"I don't know why we are assuming that Israel, or the Mossad, used those passports," he told Army Radio.
"There is no reason to think that it was the Israeli Mossad, and not some other intelligence service or country up to some mischief."
He did not outright deny Israeli involvement.
"Israel never responds, never confirms and never denies," he said. "There is no reason for Israel to change this policy."
Mr Mabhouh was murdered in his hotel room in Dubai on 20 January.
Reports have suggested he was in Dubai to buy weapons for the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas.
Two Palestinian suspects were being questioned about the murder. Police said they had "fled to Jordan" after the killing, without releasing their names.
Officials in Dubai, who have issued arrest warrants, said the team appeared to be a professional hit squad, probably sponsored by a foreign power.
They released CCTV footage which they said showed some of the suspects in disguises, including wigs and false beards, in the hotel near Dubai's international airport.
The suspects allegedly trailed Mr Mabhouh when he arrived in Dubai from Syria, paid for everything in cash and used various mobile phones.
Some of the British-born Israelis whose names were on the passports used by the suspects have said they are shocked by the discovery.
"I don't know how they got my details, who took them," said Stephen Daniel Hodes, 37.
"I haven't left the country, I think, for two years and I've never been to Dubai ever. I don't know who's behind this. I am just scared, these are major forces," he said.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has called for a "full investigation" into what happened.

Does gay sex cause earthquakes?

According to the Talmud, it does. About which Tzvee, from Tzvee's Talmudic Blog, writes, "That must be some awesome gay sex."

He goes on to explain:

According to the Talmud text, earthquakes are caused by any one of a number of acts: yes by gay sex, but also by disputes, and also by not taking heave offering and tithes from your produce, and also because God is just upset that the Temple is in ruins and there are theaters and circuses in Israel. Rabbis ought to know better than to cherry pick among the reasons for earthquakes.

 This rather absurd discussion has been prompted by reports that a group of fundamentalist rabbis has blamed the Haiti earthquake on the end of "don't ask, don't tell." Seriously. This is from one of those rabbis:

 Thirteen months before 9/11, on the day New York City passed homosexual domestic partnership regulations, I joined a group of Rabbis at a City Hall prayer service, pleading with G-d not to visit disaster on the city of N.Y. We have seen the underground earthquake, tsunami, Katrina, and now Haiti. All this is in sync with a two thousand year old teaching in the Talmud that the practice of homosexuality is a spiritual cause of earthquakes. Once a disaster is unleashed, innocents are also victims just like in Chernobyl. We plead with saner heads in Congress and the Pentagon to stop sodomization of our military and our society. Enough is enough."

My Jewish God, on the other hand, loves all people, who are created in His image. Even gays. And even Haitians. And certainly gay Haitians. And most definitely gay Haitians who live near Chernobyl.

@'Jeffrey Goldberg'

Guilty plea in UK Chinese herbal 'cancer' case

A practitioner of Chinese medicine has pleaded guilty to selling a banned substance to a woman who went on to develop kidney failure and cancer.

Ying "Susan" Wu, 48, of Holland-on-Sea in Essex, has been on trial at the Old Bailey for selling pills containing aristolochic acid to a civil servant.

The judge said the case had highlighted an "unfortunate" lack of regulation for traditional Chinese medicine in the UK.

Ms Wu has now been given a conditional discharge.

Patricia Booth, 58, took the pills, bought at Chelmsford's Chinese Herbal Medical Centre, for over five years. She was in her mid-40s when she first sought help from the centre in 1997 for stubborn patches of spots on her face.

The Old Bailey heard the products had been advertised as "safe and natural".

But they contained a substance - aristolochic acid - which when she was first sold them, should only have been given under prescription, and which was later banned...

@'BBC'

Television Chef In A Stew Over Cat Casserole

Cat meat is illegal in Italy

An Italian television chef has been suspended after he horrified animal lovers and TV station managers by praising the delights of cat meat during a show.

Bigazzi: suspended after cat comments (Pic: La Prova del Cuoco / Rai Uno)

Beppe Bigazzi enraged animal rights experts around the country when he gave advice on preparing ''tender, white cat meat'' in a portion of the programme usually reserved for advice about nutrition.

The 77-year-old is a co-presenter on Italy's version of Ready Steady Cook called La Prova del Cuoco (The Cooks' Challenge).

Previous guests have also included I'm A Celebrity... winner Italian-born chef Gino D'Campo.

During the show Mr Bigazzi said he had often eaten cat meat and found it ''tastier than other animals'', adding: ''I can assure you it's a delicacy, now I am going to get lots of letters.''

His remarks resulted in a deluge of calls to the switchboard of RAI TV's HQ in Rome, with thousands also complaining on websites and in letters.

Comments described him as ''completely mad'' and some demanded that he be fired for saying ''such a stupid thing'' on the popular lunchtime show.

Animal campaigners as well as politicians also reacted angrily.

"I was just trying to explain a saying from where I come from about the eating of cats. In the 30s and 40s they were very popular."

Beppe Bigazzi

Italy's health under-secretary and vocal animal rights activist Francesca Martini slammed Mr Bigazzi's comments as ''offensive to the growing number of people who care about the way we treat animals".

She added that it was ''shameful'' for a state television employee to recommend a notion as ''despicable'' as eating cats on national TV and that killing and cooking cats was illegal under a 1991 law and punishable by up to 18 months in jail.

RAI TV deputy director Gianvito Lomaglio said he was suspending Mr Bigazzi until further notice and that he had also launched an investigation into the episode.

Mr Bigazzi, who has been on the show for more than ten years, said it had all been a ''misunderstanding'' and that he would be more than happy to explain to TV bosses what had happened.

He said: ''It's all a big mix-up. Once they see the video they will see that there is nothing untoward, it's just a misunderstanding and I don't really want to say anything else.''

Mr Bigazzi, who is from Tuscany and who has written several cook books, said: ''I was just trying to explain a saying from where I come from about the eating of cats. In the 30s and 40s they were very popular.''

According to a recent report, there are an estimated 44 million pets living in Italy, 7.5 million of them cats.

Despite their popularity, however, around 150,000 animals are abandoned each year by their owners and there are at least 73,000 annual reports of mistreatment or abuse.

Italy's Cats Protection League welcomed the fact that Mr Bigazzi was suspended ahead of today's World Cat Day.

@'Sky News'

Is a cup of tea really the answer to everything – even anthrax?

English Breakfast, must be black...

Basic Channel man launches new reggae reissue label

This week sees the first release on Dug Out, a new reggae reissue label founded by Mark Ernestus and Mark Ainley.

Ernestus is founder of Berlin’s Hardwax record store and, along with Moritz Von Oswald, the man behind Basic Channel, Main Street, Maurizio and Rhythm & Sound. A renowned reggae enthusiast, he co-managed the recent Wackies reissue program, and the excellent Basic Replay series, and through Rhythm & Sound has collaborated with reggae legends like Sugar Minott, Paul St Hilaire and Cornel Campbell.

Ainley is co-owner of Honest Jon’s and another expert in the JA music field. He curated the majority of Soul Jazz’s Studio One series, as well Blood And Fire’s Darker Than Blue compilation. In addition to operating Honest Jon’s eponymous label, he has managed the fantastic PK and (with Ernestus) Basic Replay imprints.

Dug Out will be dedicated to high-quality vinyl reissues, with special focus on the digital era (though they will touch on roots and other reggae genres, and release CDs and downloads). Restoration will be done at Abbey Road Studio; mastering at Dubplates, by co-owner CGB; the records will be manufactured at Pallas.

The first Dug Out 12″ is King Kong’s ‘He Was A Friend’. “Originally released in 1988 as a tribute to Tenor Saw,” say the label, “This is the dancehall singer [pictured above] at his most powerful. His grieving, heartfelt vocal is woven through with the haunted quotation of his friend’s finest moments. The rhythm is driving, hard and sombre, with nervous, grubbing synths and ringing claps, and a lethal bass-line. Both vocals come with dubs…a stone classic.”

@'FACT'

Somebody Think of the Children

Un - fugn - believable!!!

By posting this video (which won a Polk Award a couple of days ago) here at this blog, I could face an $11,000 fine!!!

WHY?

 

"...Because this video was submitted to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) who requested a determination from the Classification Board.

Based on the Board's decision, ACMA declared the video to be "prohibited content" under clause 20(1)(b) of Schedule 7 to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.'  This means that all known links to the video will find their way onto the Internet Filter blacklist...

...This is a crucially important piece of video which will be seen and recognised as such throughout the world, but (officially) not in Australia.  Perhaps we should go out on a limb and praise this instead.  After-all, soon it will be the toughest material we'll be permitted to see.

Our Federal Government must be made to understand the foolishness of their Internet Filter proposal...

"All censorships exist to prevent any one from challenging current conceptions and existing institutions. All progress is initiated by challenging current conceptions, and executed by supplanting existing institutions. Consequently the first condition of progress is the removal of censorships." - George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950)

"Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself." - Potter Stewart (1915 - 1985)

"We are willing enough to praise freedom when she is safely tucked away in the past and cannot be a nuisance. In the present, amidst dangers whose outcome we cannot foresee, we get nervous about her, and admit censorship." - E. M. Forster (1879 - 1970)"

@'iTWire' 

The video was acually blacklisted late last August...

ACMA blacklists Iran protest video

Bernard Fowler & Steve Salas - Little Red Rooster

Addiction researcher hired actors to falsely clear name

BUFFALO, NY (February 16, 2010) 

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced criminal charges against a former University at Buffalo researcher who allegedly hired professional actors to portray real people who were familiar with his projects to testify on his behalf during a formal misconduct hearing. The researcher, who was exonerated of the misconduct because of the false testimonies, then attempted to seek $4 million from the state for monetary damages.

“The charges in this case allege a pattern of lies and deceit that a public employee used to attempt to defraud New York’s taxpayers of millions of dollars,” said Attorney General Cuomo. ‘The brazen crimes allegedly committed by this individual outline a series of frauds that could have damaged our outstanding SUNY system. New Yorkers demand and deserve integrity from State employees and with this prosecution we will work to restore that trust in public service.”

In September 2004, William Fals-Stewart, 48, of Eden, was accused of scientific misconduct for allegedly fabricating data in federally funded studies he was undertaking as an employee at the University at Buffalo and Research Institute on Addictions. According to court papers, the allegations were based upon discrepancies between the number of volunteers he reported to the National Institute for Drug Addiction relating to grants for which Fals-Stewart was the Principal Investigator, and the actual number of volunteers who participated in his studies.

According to the felony complaint, during a subsequent formal investigation launched by the University, three witnesses testified by telephone because Fals-Stewart claimed they were out of town. In reality, they were actors who thought they were taking part in a mock-trial. Fals-Stewart paid the actors to testify. He also provided them with scripts to use during the proceedings that were riddled with inaccuracies regarding his research. Fals-Stewart told the three actors, who he had hired before for legitimate training videos, that they would be performing in a mock trial training exercise. They were not aware that they were testifying at a real administrative hearing, nor did they know they were impersonating real people. Because of these false testimonies, Fals-Stewart was exonerated at the administrative hearing.

Claiming that the misconduct allegations tarnished his reputation, Fals-Stewart sued the University, seeking $4 million from the state in damages. The Office of the Attorney General, in its role of defending the University and the state in the court action, conducted a thorough investigation of the claims against the University. It was during this investigation that Cuomo’s office discovered the alleged fraud, forced Fals-Stewart to withdraw his lawsuit and initiated a criminal investigation.

Fals-Stewart was arrested today and charged in Buffalo City Court with Attempted Grand Larceny in the First Degree (class C felony); three counts of Perjury in the First Degree (class D felony); three counts of Identity Theft in the First Degree (class D felony); two counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (class E felony); and three counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree (class E felony). The maximum permissible sentence for a class C felony is 15 years in prison.

Attorney General Cuomo thanked Dr. Nancy L. Zimpher, Chancellor of the State University of New York and her staff for assisting in the investigation.

The criminal case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General-in-Charge of the Buffalo Regional Office Russell T. Ippolito, Jr. under the supervision of Deputy Attorney General for Regional Affairs J. David Sampson and Deputy Bureau Chief of the Criminal Prosecutions Bureau Richard Ernst. The investigation was handled by Investigator Paul R. Scherf under the supervision of Deputy Chief Investigator James Domres.

The charges against Fals-Stewart are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

@'NY Attorney General's Office'

Dubai murder: fake identities, disguised faces and a clinical assassination

Images released by the authorities in Dubai showing seven of the 11 suspects wanted in connection with the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Photograph: AP

As soon as Mahmoud al-Mabhouh walked out into the foyer of Dubai International Airport at 3:17pm, the foreign assassins had latched on to his tail.

Within five hours, the Palestinian militant would be dead, the apparent victim of a sophisticated team of killers dispatched to end his life in what officials in Dubai have suggested is an extraordinary tale of modern-day espionage.

Mabhouh was so closely shadowed that, within seconds of passing immigration control, he was forced to manoeuvre his baggage trolley around one of his would-be assassins, a man in a white baseball cap and T-shirt talking casually on a mobile phone.

Tonight Dubai confirmed it had instigated an international manhunt after law enforcement officials issued formal arrest warrants for 11 individuals accused of the "premeditated murder" of Mabhouh, 49, a senior figure from the militant group Hamas, in a case that could have a profound impact on Middle East diplomacy.

Hamas has blamed the Israeli foreign intelligence agency the Mossad for the killing and reports emerged tonight that at least three of the European identities used by the killers were stolen from Britons living in Israel. Israel has refused to comment on the allegations.

Dubai police said they could not rule out Israel's involvement, and hinted at the involvement of spies. "If the law of the jungle is the system for some countries, in the UAE it is rule of law that governs us, and if leaders of some countries give orders to their intelligence services to kill, this practice is rejected and is a crime in our laws, religion and Islamic traditions," said Lieutenant General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Dubai's chief of police.

The allegations were met with some scepticism in Israel, where at least one former high-ranking Mossad official, Rami Yigal, said the operation did not "look professional".

According to the detailed but unverified account given on Monday by Dubai police, the killers began arriving in Dubai shortly after midnight on 19 January. Their movement across the city was captured on CCTV footage, much of it released by the Dubai authorities, along with hotel records and flight data they said supports their allegations.

When Mabhouh arrived in Dubai 15 hours later, police believe his assassins, who were using forged European identities, tracked him to room 230 of the luxury Al-Bustan Rotana hotel, in the heart of the city, killed him, and then departed the country. The entire operation was completed in just 19 hours, they said.

The first two suspected assassins used the names Michael Bodenheimer and James Clarke, and respectively carried German and British passports. They were followed 30 minutes later by the only female member, Gail Folliard, and Kevin Daveron. Both carried Irish passports and arrived on a flight from Paris.

The pair were said to have taken separate taxis to the same hotel, in what appears to have been the first in a series of repeated, meticulous decoys and counter-espionage techniques. Throughout their 19 hours in the emirate, members of the gang used cash rather than credit cards for their transactions and almost continuously changed their identities, switching outfits and wearing wigs and glasses as disguises, Dubai police said.

The CCTV footage showed Daveron appeared to have undergone the most extreme transformation, disappearing from the view of a CCTV camera in a hotel lobby as a bald man in a suit, before reappearing with thick black hair and glasses.

Dubai police said the team used international calls to communicate and "special communication devices" to relay encrypted messages. Austria was identified as a possible "command centre" by police, who claimed to have tracked a series of calls to the country from numbers used by the assassins.

By the time Mabhouh arrived in Dubai, all 11 members of the team – including the alleged ringleader, a French passport holder who used the name Peter Elvinger – were in the country and preparing for his murder, police said. They included a man using an Irish passport and the name Evan Dennings, as well as five other British passport holders; Paul John Keely, Stephan Daniel Hodes, Melvyn Adam Mildiner, Jonathan Louis Graham and Michael Lawrence Barney.

Two Palestinians believed to have been involved in the operation are in UAE custody after being handed over by Jordan.

It is still not known why Mabhouh, who was involved in killing two Israeli soldiers during the first Palestinian uprising in 1989 and, according to Hamas, was still active in the Palestinian militant group, travelled to Dubai. Senior Hamas figures have denied reports that the commander was en route to Iran, which is a major Hamas backer.

However, if the evidence presented by Dubai police is believed, Mabhouh's fate was sealed the moment he touched down on UAE territory. After his assassins made an initial sighting at the airport, Dubai police said he was followed to the taxi rank and, later, to the Al-Bustan Rotana hotel.

Footage from the reception desk showed Mabhouh checking in at 3.25pm, as two individuals in tennis outfits – identified by Dubai police as "surveillance" operatives – stood nearby.

As a member of staff showed Mabhouh to his room, the assassins dressed as tennis players quickly followed him into the elevator, in what police said was an attempt to note down his room number. Half an hour later, in another part of the city, it was claimed that Elvinger called Al-Bustan Rotana to book room 237 – which was opposite Mabhouh's room.

Mabhouh returned to his room from a walk around the city at around 8.30pm. He is thought to have been suffocated. Dubai police suggested four assassins may have entered his room while he was out and ambushed him on his return.

Dubai police said all 11 alleged killers flew out of the emirate shortly after. One of the final clips showed Elvinger and Folliard casually leaving the hotel at 8:52pm. She was wearing a stripy sunhat, while his head was hidden beneath a white trilby.

@'The Guardian' 

Sa'sha Gr'ey

@'Buzzfeed'

Take the Trans-Siberian Express

Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Andrew Bird, Tom Waits, Jim James, Paolo Nutini, and Ani DiFranco are among the diverse artists who joined the Preservation Hall Jazz Band in New Orleans for this album benefiting the group’s time-honored home.
Proceeds from the project — which finds its cast of legendary and contemporary musicians tackling New Orleans classics — go toward Preservation Hall’s music-outreach program and upkeep. Also among the contributors are such established forces as Richie Havens, Dr. John, Pete Seeger, and the Blind Boys of Alabama.

A Call for a Moratorium on Cranky Old Writers Complaining about the Internet

@'Gawker'