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Venting in Athens

From AEI - By Anne Applebaum Fires burned in courtyards, shops were looted and Molotov cocktails whistled through clouds of tear gas. Hundreds of schools and campuses were occupied by students and, for more than two weeks, riots brought a major European capital to a halt. The police seemed powerless, the politicians helpless, the media confused. No, I am not talking about Budapest in 1956 or Paris in 1968. I am talking about Athens over the past two weeks. Since Dec. 6, when Greek police shot and killed a 15-year-old boy, Athens, Thessaloniki and other Greek cities have been consumed by apparently unstoppable, violent demonstrations. Unlike the French riots of 2005, which were mostly led by disaffected immigrants, the participants in these Greek riots appear to be middle-class university students. They weren't smashing up shops in impoverished suburbs, either: These self-styled anarchists are based in a "bohemian" neighborhood of central Athens called Exarchia, and at a nearby university campus whose unused buildings cannot, according to a rather extraordinary Greek law, be entered by the police. So far, the rioters have done some $1.3 billion worth of damage.

Ancient cannabis stash unearthed in China

(CNN) -- An ancient race that lived 2,700 years ago in the Gobi Desert may have been among the first to use cannabis for medical or religious purposes.

Nearly two pounds of the plant was found stashed in the tomb of a Gushi shaman. It was high in the chemical compounds that provide its psychoactive properties. "It had evidence of the chemical attributes of cannabis used as a drug," said Dr. Ethan Russo, an author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Botany. "It could have been for pain control. It could have been for other medicinal properties. It could have been used as an aid to divination." The Gushi people were a Caucasian race with light hair and blue eyes who likely migrated thousands of years ago from the steppes of Russia to what is now China. A nomadic people, they were accomplished horsemen and archers. Chinese archaeologists excavating a network of 2,500 tombs near the town of Turpan in the Xinjiang-Uighur Autonomous Region unearthed the shaman's grave, which contained the cannabis, along with a trove of artifacts such as bridles, archery equipment and a rare harp.

The shaman is thought to have been about 45 years old when he died. Many of the bodies recovered in the area were found in an incredibly well-preserved, almost mummified condition. The shaman, however, was a skeleton. "The deceased was laid out on the bottom of this tomb on a little bier," Russo said. "This individual seemed to be very high status because of the variety and quality of the grave goods, including the equestrian equipment, the archery equipment and the large amount of cannabis." Russo said no pipe for smoking the cannabis was found in the shaman's tomb. Researchers think he might have eaten the cannabis or possibly put it on a burning fire to create fumes. They don't think it was used to make hemp clothing or rope, as some other early cultures did. Genetic analysis of the plant suggests it was cultivated rather than gathered from the wild. This find is not the first or the oldest example of ancient people using cannabis, but it may be the best studied. "There may have been older finds of cannabis, but not with this level of scientific investigation attached to them," Russo said.

Brevard Billionaires For Bush ejected from McCain Rally Melbourne Florida 10/08. Thank you ACLU observer Kevin A. youtube by Billionaire Phil Mcsphincter (aka Paul R). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM5PdZMt9gA

Alaskans turning against Stevens after verdict

ANCHORAGE, Alaska(AP)

Alaskans fondly call longtime Sen. Ted Stevens their "Uncle Ted" for his ability to steer gobs of federal money to his home state, but his conviction in a corruption case Monday had many residents crying: "Throw the bum out."Dave Thibault, of Wasilla, said there was no doubt that the guilty verdict will affect his vote on Nov. 4."Oh, he is guilty and it is time we change the face of Alaska's politician," he said.Thibault, who has been a North Slope oil workers for 25 years, said it is time someone new represent Alaska in the nation's capital.Stevens has represented Alaska for 40 of its 49 years since statehood in 1959."Shame, shame. Go down with the rest of them, I guess," Thibault said of Stevens, referring to the VECO Corp. scandal that so far has resulted in corruption convictions for two state lawmakers. "He's tainted now."A federal court jury in Washington, D.C., found Stevens guilty on all seven counts of lying on Senate disclosure forms to conceal $250,000 in gifts and renovations on his Girdwood home from VECO workers.

Stevens says, 'I am innocent' after corruption conviction

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens vowed to fight his Monday conviction on federal corruption charges, a verdict he attributed to "repeated instances of prosecutorial misconduct."

Sen. Ted Stevens leaves federal court Monday as the jury deliberated in his corruption trial.

"I will fight this unjust verdict with every ounce of energy I have," the 84-year-old Stevens, the Senate's longest-serving Republican, said in a written statement after the jury came back Monday afternoon. "I am innocent." Stevens was convicted of seven counts of making false statements on Senate ethics forms to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and work on his Alaska home from an oilfield contractor at the center of a corruption investigation in the state. "This verdict is the result of the unconscionable manner in which the Justice Department lawyers conducted this trial," he said. The senator's lawyers twice sought to have the charges thrown out during the month-long trial, accusing prosecutors of hiding evidence favorable to the defense. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan rejected those efforts, but blasted prosecutors for "hiding the ball."

ATF: Plan To Assassinate Obama Disrupted

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal agents have broken up a plot to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and shoot or decapitate 102 black people in a Tennessee murder spree, the ATF said Monday.In court records unsealed Monday, federal agents said they disrupted plans to rob a gun store and target a predominantly African-American high school by two neo-Nazi skinheads. Agents said the skinheads did not identify the school by name.
Read teh article at: http://www.cfnews13.com/Politics/FloridaDecides/2008/10/27/atf_plan_to_assassinate_obama_disrupted.html?refresh=1

Justice Dept. Appoints Special Prosecutor After Report Faults Gonzales for US At

Attorney General Michael Mukasey has appointed a special prosecutor to continue the probe into whether political misconduct led to the firing of nine US attorneys. The move came after Justice Department investigation singled out Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for his conduct in the firings, accusing of him of “abdicating” his responsibility and questioning his faulty and evasive public statements. We speak to Murray Waas of the National Journal. [includes rush transcript]

More: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/10/1/justice_dept_appoints_special_prosecutor_after

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Boston, MA: Bank Robber Robs 3 Banks on Bike

A bicycling bank thief has hit three banks in Boston, MA.

In each robbery - in Weymouth, Watertown and Shrewsbury - the robber wore a form-fitting bicycling outfit and covered the bridge of his nose with a “surgical bandage".

The man passed a note demanding money. He escaped on a bicycle.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view/2008_09_11_Bicycling_bank_robber_sought_by_police/srvc=home&position=2

Santa Cruz, CA: McDonalds Attacked in Solidarity to Those Resisting Olympics

In the early morning of August 25, three windows were broken and a surveillance camera knocked off the roof of the Ocean Street McDonalds in Santa Cruz, California.

The Beijing Olympics have ended, but the repressive apparatus set up for the Games remains in place: some 300,000 surveillance cameras, 400,000 informants, and a general tightening of government control. This is always the result of these multinational spectacles. McDonalds, one of the major sponsors of the Olympics, also remains omnipresent and continues to reaps its profits with four new restaurants and a large share of the advertising spectacle. This, too, is business as usual.