CAIR Wants Ellison Critic Removed from Holocaust Council

Dennis Prager

This article was sent in by one of our readers. If you find any news-related articles you'd like to see posted and discussed here at FreakSpeakers, please email one of the blog admins and we'll post it!
*****

American Muslim News Briefs | Monday, December 04, 2006

ISLAMIC GROUP WANTS ELLISON CRITIC REMOVED FROM HOLOCAUST COUNCIL

WASHINGTON (AP) An Islamic civil rights group wants a columnist who criticized Rep.-elect Keith Ellison's decision to use the Quran during his ceremonial swearing-in next month removed from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said Monday that the comments by Dennis Prager, a columnist and conservative talk radio host, displayed an intolerance toward Islam that makes him an inappropriate person to serve on the memorial council.

Ellison, D-Minn., is the first Muslim elected to Congress.

In his column last week, Prager wrote: "Insofar as a member of Congress taking an oath to serve America and uphold its values is concerned, America is interested in only one book, the Bible. If you are incapable of taking an oath on that book, don't serve in Congress."

The Holocaust Memorial Council oversees the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.

"No one who holds such bigoted, intolerant and divisive views should be in a policy-making position at a taxpayer-funded institution that seeks to educate Americans about the destructive impact hatred has had, and continues to have, on every society," CAIR's executive director, Nihad Awad, wrote in a letter to the council's chairman, Fred Zeidman.

Messages left at the Holocaust Museum and at Zeidman's office were not returned Monday.

In a telephone interview Monday, Prager offered what he called "a solution to this that would satisfy me and the vast majority of Americans"--in other words, Ellison bringing a Bible with him along with his Quran.

"It's obviously up to Mr. Ellison to decide, but I don't think that forcing him to swear an oath on a book not of his faith is the answer," said [CAIR] spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper.

Hooper said that although his group supports free speech, "When you are appointed by the president to a council whose mission is to combat hatred and bigotry, and you hold views that promote hatred and bigotry, there's a problem there."

By tradition, all members of the House are sworn in together on the House floor. It's in the photo-op ceremony that a Bible is used--or in Ellison's case, the Quran.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League, which fights anti-Semitism and racism, issued a statement calling Prager's comments "intolerant, misinformed and downright un-American."
*****

Was Prager right in calling for Rep. elect Ellison to be sworn in with a Bible rather than the Quran? Or is CAIR correct in calling Prager to step down from his position at the Holocaust Council? Is America truly a "Christian" country, or should we continue to make room for all faiths and beliefs? And what about in your area--have you encountered any negative comments about Muslims or heard of any discrimination against Muslims?

Anderson Cooper's 60 Minutes Debut...

Thank God it's not Kenny Chesney!

(CBS) CNN anchor Anderson Cooper will report his first story for 60 Minutes, an interview with Joe Darby, the man who touched off one of the biggest news stories of the war in Iraq when he gave authorities pictures of U.S. soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison.

Cooper's report will be broadcast this Sunday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

His appearance is the result of a deal between CBS News and CNN announced last May that provides for the CNN anchor to report as many as five 60 Minutes stories.

Cooper, the anchor of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360˚," first reported for CBS News on 60 Minutes II — the broadcast that first reported the Abu Ghraib story.

One of his two reports during the 2004-05 television season broke the story of a doctor who prescribed steroids and human growth hormone to several players on the NFL's Carolina Panthers. The doctor subsequently was indicted on multiple counts of distributing the drugs and recently pleaded guilty to some of the charges. Congress held hearings and the NFL strengthened some of its drug policies.

©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Win Anderson Cooper! Oops...not quite, but close...

And I can't say that I'm really all that excited. For the next three Wednesdays, AC360 will be on the road, hence the location code that will appear, as part of the sweepstakes. Tonight he is in Washington D.C.

I wonder how many "dedicated" fans will be creating hundreds of new email addresses to better their chances of winning? I think there will be some very busy Anderfans today! In the end, Betty Ann or someone with the middle name of Ann will probably win anyway! Good luck to everyone who enters :)

And Anderson and David have both blogged today. I mock the blog because I love. And...okay....I find it a bit pathetic some of the responses that they post. CNN...wake up, smell the coffee, catch a clue.

Back to Cooper himself, have you seen the snazzy new commericals for 360? Wow. Talk about getting your senses worked up! That's a pretty hot advertisement for a news show...can't see Brian or Katie uttering those lines. Here are some caps of the new commercial, courtesy of liberation337. Thanks.

Damn Blogger...

I have a lovely post and pics ready to go, but there are technical problems this morning. Fan-freakin-tastic! Check back later in the day for those ;)

Oh yeah...Good Morning!

J.

AC360: The Russian Spy Death Puzzle

Thanks to Stillife for the screencap.

Last night's show was top notch in my opinion! When Anderson Cooper is really interested in a subject, the show and the broadcast are really well done and last night was a great example of an interesting two-hour show. Of course, it helps that I think this story is completely fascinating as well.

Tonight's show will feature the latest developments in this whodunit. As Cooper likes to look at things from all angles, I've posted below a story from a Russian news agency. It's interesting to get their take on the story. I fear there are more reporters, government officials who may fear for their own lives if Putin is indeed behind this and other murders.


Is anyone else into this story or is is just Anderson, CNN and I?

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Vladimir Simonov) - The stories of crime and spy writers Arthur Conan Doyle, Georges Simenon and John le Carre pale before the intricate plot of Alexander Litvinenko's death puzzle.

Russian defector Litvinenko, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin's administration and a close associate of exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky, died in a London hospital November 23. His body was found to contain a lethal dose of polonium 210, a radioactive isotope.

On Monday, a group of nine detectives from Scotland Yard arrived in Moscow to interview several people who met with Litvinenko around the time of his alleged poisoning in early November. It is the first visit by U.K. policemen to Moscow since Scotland Yard signed a cooperation memorandum with Russia's Office of the Prosecutor General, and the first chance to join forces against crime.

The three witnesses are businessman and former KGB and FSB colleague Andrei Lugovoi, and businessmen Dmitry Kovtun and Vyacheslav Sokolov, who spent several hours with Litvinenko in London's Millennium Hotel on November 1.

Lugovoi seems like the most interesting witness.

In the last month before Litvinenko's death, his former KGB and FSB colleague had met with the deceased four times in London. Lugovoi seems to be suffering from memory problems, for he told Kommersant, a Russian business daily, that he was "absolutely clean" of radiation yet admitted to The Sunday Times that traces of polonium were found on him.

At the same time, memory is playing tricks with many people around the world.

Yuri Shvets, a former senior KGB officer, who now has political asylum in the United States, claims to have solved the mystery of Litvinenko's death.

"I happen to believe I know who is behind the death of my friend Sasha (Litvinenko) and the reason for his murder," Yuri Shvets said in an exclusive interview with the AP by telephone from the United States.

Mario Scaramella, an Italian contact of the dead ex-spy, and Russian girl Svetlana, who is living in London, also claim to have relevant information. Svetlana claims Litvinenko told her of plans to earn tens of thousands of pounds by blackmailing top brass in Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). I wonder why he revealed his plans to Svetlana, for he was a trained spy and knew that sharing information led to sharing money.

The British police are fighting off the landslide effect, as more and more people who want their 15 minutes of fame are dancing on Litvinenko's open grave. They may get entangled in a net of versions the media in Moscow is producing like an out-of-control silkworm.

However, at least four of them are worthy of consideration.

Version One: Litvinenko somehow acquired smuggled polonium-210 and wanted to earn from the transaction. On November 1, he left traces of radiation everywhere he was, including the office of exiled Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky, a key wheeler and dealer of the Yeltsin era. None of the men he met that day has shown signs of illness.

Scaramella said his friend Litvinenko made a bit on the side by smuggling toxic isotopes. The future victim of polonium poisoning lived on Berezovsky's hand-me-downs and badly needed more money.

According to information leaked from the post-mortem examination, Litvinenko died from a dose that could cost 30 million euros. This seems a bit too rich for a murder.

Version Two: Litvinenko wanted to shake off Berezovsky and therefore posed a threat to the exiled oligarch, according to the popular daily Izvestia.

Shadows have been recently gathering over Berezovsky. The memorandum of cooperation, which Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Zvyagintsev has signed with Scotland Yard, did not promise a bright future to the businessman. Besides, Litvinenko, who knew too much, probably lost his nerve and said something about his spiritual tossing and turning. Unfortunately, a dead acquaintance is better than a living friend who talks too much.

Version Three: Litvinenko was connected with an underground London laboratory where a dirty nuclear bomb was being made for Chechen terrorists. Russian nuclear experts put forth this version in a Sunday Evening with Vladimir Solovyov show on the NTV channel.

Two facts corroborate this version:

One of Litvinenko's close friends was Akhmed Zakayev, the former commander of Chechen fighters, whom Russian prosecutors want to see in Moscow in connection with cases of murders and torture in Chechnya.

About two years ago, Berezovsky told the world that Chechen separatists had acquired a portable nuclear bomb and lacked only one minor detail. That "minor detail" could be polonium-210, which can be used to detonate a dirty nuclear bomb, experts say.

Maybe Litvinenko was carrying the polonium to the lab, and paid with his life for the deadly substance?

Version Four: Litvinenko was "|punished" by one of his former FSB colleagues whom the defector turned over to the British secret service. There are many books and movies about such "avengers" from the ranks of former secret officers and other "offended" masters of the cloak and dagger.

However, there is an undeniable argument against this version: Litvinenko was a minuscule target, a fly compared to such defection giants as Oleg Gordievsky and Vladimir Rezun, who writes under the name of Viktor Suvorov.

Gordievsky was reputed to be deputy chief of station in London and exposed dozens of Russian KGB officers, while Rezun threw enough mud at dozens of military intelligence (GRU) officers in his book "Aquarium", which subsequently appeared in the United States as "Inside the Aquarium."

So, why start with Litvinenko, and use a method that rules out using it for "noble revenge" against other "sinners"?

The British police would do well to listen to their minister, who said the following about Version Five on the Kremlin's responsibility for Litvinenko's death.

"The worst thing we can do is speculate. We will end up with egg on our face," Secretary of State for the Home Office John Reid told Sky News' Sunday Live program.

On the Home Front (at least for me)

195,000 still in the dark in Illinois and Missouri

ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- After spending three days at a shelter in a converted recreation center, Angela Luster hitched a ride with the National Guard to check on her apartment.

"It's terrible. You just had to uproot your life," said Luster, 28. "We have to live by other people's rules and regulations. It's difficult being around people you don't know."

People slept in shelters during their search for warm surroundings as the region entered a sixth day Tuesday of a blackout caused by the first storm of the winter season.

The Missouri National Guard was sent to the St. Louis area after Thursday's snow and ice storm to make sure people were surviving without electric light and heat.

The same was happening in neighboring Illinois, where Gov. Rod Blagojevich ordered National Guard troops to begin checking on Decatur-area residents Tuesday.

The St. Louis-based utility Ameren Corp. was reporting nearly 195,000 outages in Illinois and Missouri on its Web site early Tuesday. The bulk of the outages were in the St. Louis area.

The utility said it would be several more days before power is fully restored.

"We've had some ice storms before. This one puts them to shame," said Ron Zdellar, vice president of energy for AmerenUE, who has worked for the company for 35 years.

Utility crews were working 18-hour shifts, especially in the biggest problem areas, where ice coated roads and utility poles. Workers from 14 states were helping.

The storm also caused widespread power outages elsewhere as it blew snow and ice from Texas to Michigan last week and battered parts of the Northeast with thunderstorms and high winds.

The number of deaths blamed on the storm rose Monday to at least 23, with three more deaths reported in Missouri and one more in Illinois. The causes included weather-related traffic accidents, fires, carbon monoxide poisoning and exposure, officials said.

The combination of low temperatures, downed power lines, ice-covered poles and brittle tree limbs hampered repair efforts.

"We knew when this thing hit, it would be far different from anything we've seen before," Zdellar said.

After a run of temperatures in the teens, the St. Louis area got a break Monday afternoon with thermometers showing almost 40.

The National Weather Service did not forecast any additional snow or ice in the affected region, but high temperatures this week were expected to stay in the 30s and low 40s.
*****

The thing this story doesn't mention is that this past summer, we had a major storm that knocked out power to the exact same areas. The problem then (and now) appears to be that AmerenUE is not trimming trees like they are supposed to, and the branches grow into power lines. Then when a storm comes or the branches get coated in ice like they did this past week, the branches knock down the power lines. Also, AmerenUE was supposed to update their power grids but hasn't in a long time, making it more difficult to restore power.

So that's what we're dealing with here in this area. Missouri Governor Matt Blunt (son of soon-to-be Minority Whip Rep. Roy Blunt) called up the National Guard and they're here helping out, which is good. But a lot of people are calling for some sort of investigation into AmerenUE--especially with the number of deaths that have been caused by this latest power outage.

CNN Bids Goodbye to "Warrior One"

from Marie



The CNN Hummer will be up for auction to the highest
bidder (no reserve) on January 20, 2007.

The auction will be at:

Barrett-Jackson Classic Car
3020 N. Scottsdale Rd
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
480) 421-6694

Thanks for the heads up, Marie!

Anderson Cooper 360 Sweepstakes

Check out this link for the AC360 Sweepstakes. I hope they screen the winner. Good luck!

12/05/06 UPDATE: Gawker, Jossip, TVNewser and a host of other sites have some downright funny comments about the site...if you like to read those type of things ;)

I Want Media Person of the Year....

The votes are in: Stephen Colbert, the host of the eponymously-pronounced "The Colbert Report," is the 2006 I Want Media Person of the Year as voted in the media site's annual online poll.

Colbert has been a can't miss commentator since day one — literally, because it was on Day One that he introduced his guiding concept of "truthiness," now an ingrained part of the vernacular. In April he struck a giant nerve at the White House Correspondent's dinner, skewering President Bush in a bitingly spot-on set before all of D.C.' s heavy hitters, and then, tellingly, everyone else via YouTube (but also giving the CSPAN site more hits than it could remember).

Colbert is also a pioneer for his skillful use of the web via the havoc he played with Wikipedia, his takeover of a bridge in Hungary, and of course his "Stephen Colbert Greenscreen Challenge". At this point I think it's interesting — and fair — to note the symbiotic role Colbert and Jon Stewart, and Comedy Central, played in each other's exploding reach this year. YouTube extended Colbert and Stewart's audience by millions every day as new clips were religiously posted, giving millions of viewers a reason to go to YouTube that they might otherwise not have had (this is one of the reasons it was such big news that Comedy Central started pulling clips earlier this year).

Contenders this year included — in order of votes — Rachael Ray, Chad Hurley, Dean Baquet, and Arianna Huffington. Also in the running were Katie Couric, Tom Freston, Rupert Murdoch, Google CEO Eric Schmidt, and NBC hitmaker and NBC 2.0 architect Jeff Zucker. I repeat, Racheal Ray came in SECOND. The comments from prominent media voters are definitely worth a read (and it's interesting to note that none of the feeatured commenters voted for Eric Schmidt). Bonnie Fuller picked Chad Hurley; Keith Kelly picked Dean Baquet — " the poster boy for all the stupid moronic things some major media companies are doing"; Tina Brown chose "queen of the blogosphere" (and ETP bosslady) Arianna Huffington; AdAge's Scott Donaton pisses off Toyota. Both Kurt Andersen and Ken Auletta mentioned Lou Dobbs as representing the trend in opinionated on-air punditry (Andersen called Dobbs and Colbert "the twin avatars of Cable News 3.0...both lacking all doubt concerning their versions of the truth...both glowing with self-regard, one a parody and one not"). Write-ins included Keith Olbermann, the higher-rated not-Courics Charlie Gibson and Brian Williams, YouTube star Judson Laipply (per Bob Garfield: "He's a motivational speaker from Ohio, and you have seen him dance"), and Page Six's Richard Johnson, modestly nominated by Page Six's Richard Johnson.

Last year's winner was CNN's Anderson Cooper and prior to that Jon Stewart was the winner in 2004. — Rachel Sklar

From Another One of My Favorite Journalists...

NBC's Engel Defends Iraq Correspondents

For those of you not familiar with Richard Engel, he is the bureau chief of NBC Beirut, but his real acclaim is spending more time on the ground than any other reporter in Baghdad. Check back for more to come on this, another amazing reporter and his stories. Thanks to TVNewser for the blurb:)

On Sunday's Reliable Sources, NBC News Middle East bureau chief Richard Engel said his network's decision to call Iraq a "civil war" was "very much driven by what the reports are coming from the ground." Later in the show, Howard Kurtz asked:

KURTZ: Richard Engel, top administration officials, as you well know, have repeatedly criticized correspondents like you for painting an unnecessarily negative picture of what's going on in Iraq, staying in the Green Zone, and all of that. Now that this -- even the private doubts and reservations of the White House and the Pentagon are coming out, do you feel vindicated? ENGEL: No. It's been very frustrating all along to be at the receiving end of that criticism with acquisitions like we just spend all of our time in the Green Zone. For the record, neither your reporters, Arwa Damon right now in Baghdad, or almost any of the reporters who cover Iraq do so from the Green Zone, but go out every day either with the U.S. military or driving around the city of Baghdad. And to say that we somehow have been just lazy and picking up bad reports to try to make the American mission in Iraq somehow seem like a failure is inaccurate. It's also, in some degree, dangerous. I mean, I know reporters, colleagues of mine who have received so much criticism over the last three and a half, four years, that they felt they've had something to prove. And so they put themselves in extraordinarily dangerous situations. And I know one reporter who was kidnapped as a result of it. So it's not a sense of vindication, but it is good that people are finally starting to finally see that the situation in Iraq is tremendously difficult, and it is not just reporters who are looking for bad -- bad news stories.

Murder Mystery Worthy of Dame Agatha

Looks like an hour of Monday's 360 will be dedicated to the death of former spy Alexander Litvenenko. Here's a portion of David Doss's post from Friday, asking some questions about the case:

Any good murder mystery -- and this is a good one -- spends much time examining suspects and motives. But in this story, perhaps the strange murder weapon itself could prove to be the most fascinating angle. And that's what Sanjay, with his tremendous medical expertise, will examine. Consider some of the questions he'll explore:

1. Why use polonium as murder weapon? Clearly, there are many ways to poison or kill someone, most far less risky and perhaps even more effective, so the mystery is, why use it? Is it 100 percent effective? Does the agonizing nature of the death send a message?

2. Polonium (that concentration, anyway) is extremely rare, so perhaps they figured toxicology and pathology reports would not screen for it, would not find it?

3. How in the world did the docs figure out what it was? What kind of medical and toxicological screening would you need to ferret out the polonium?

4. What is the risk to the assassin? Today's news reports indicate there is a good chance the assassin got it on him or herself. What is the assassin's risk factor?

Great questions. I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Also, today a friend of Litvenenko's residing in the US came forward, claiming to know who is behind the death of the former spy.

Yuri Shvets, who had known Litvenenko for four years, says he spoke to Litvenenko on November 22, the day the former spy died in a London hospital. Shvets refused to name the possible suspect in an interview to the Associated Press, but stated that he did give the information to Scotland Yard.

Such an intriguing story, like something out of a Bond movie or an Agatha Christie book. Will anyone ever be charged with the death of Litvenenko? Who do you think is behind his death?

A Note from Cooper (The Blog Dog)

I just watched Part I of the Eukanuba
Tournament of Champions on Animal Planet. I saw a dog
that is the same breed as Molly and a dog that is the
same breed as me...neither of our breeds placed in the
Sporting Group Category.

Part II of the show will be on later today and I
invite you all over to my place to watch. Marie made
lots of gingerbread cookies and they are yummy! Marie
is serving hot cocoa, but she won't give me any since
chocolate is bad for dogs.

Hope to see you there!

~love
COOPER

Anderson Cooper to Co-host with Ripa this Week

Mark your calendars for Friday, December 8th as Anderson Cooper is scheduled to co-host Regis and Kelly! Let's hope it works out better for him than it did for Clay Aiken. Guests on the show include Jennifer Connelly, Brian McKnight and Kermit the Frog.

Aren't they a cute couple? I'd stop to check them out in Times Square.

To get us in the mood, here are a couple of photos I found on a blog from the May 2006 co-host appearance that Cooper made. Someone was lucky enough to be in the audience and snap a couple of photos...enjoy!

I'm Sick and Tired of All of It

Finally, someone has been asking the question that I've been wondering about for many months...what the hell is the difference between "a civil war" and "sectarian violence"? Is one a war that is being fought with manners and the other is a bunch of secretaries on a rampage? Because on the evening news or any newscast for that matter, they sure as hell don't know the difference either.

Good people are dying in Iraq everyday. Iraq is averaging a loss of over 3,000 civilians each month. The coalition forces can't control the violence and the Iraqi government doesn't seem to care, with their own police forces accused of horrible acts of violence, and the US on the ground to continue their dirty work.

I'm sick and tired of watching the news to find another car bombing, another 40 people dead is just another day in Baghdad. I'm tired of hearing about the Round Table. They aren't a bunch of knights on white horses riding in to save a village. I'm tired of the political talks between grown men and women who act as if these people and this country are nothing more than pawns on their political chessboard.

I'd like people in the news to step up and grow a pair. Call the situation what it is...an out-of-control civil war with no resolution in sight. I know guys, if you actually report the news and don't spin it just right, you'll lose that invite to the Foreign Correspondents Dinner at the White House. I forget my priorities, excuse me.

Sick and tired people, sick and tired.

From the Huffington Post:

NBC's decision on Monday to actively label the violence in Iraq a "civil war" triggered a rush by other media outlets to weigh in on the term and the relative merits of its use and non-use. Matt Lauer said that "armed militarized factions fighting for their own political agendas" fit the bill; White House spokesperson Tony Snow said that, no, it didn't, because this was "sectarian violence that seems to be less aimed at gaining full control over an area than expressing differences," which certainly helped clear things up. Since then, media organizations have rushed into the breach to furiously debate which label to use, creating the biggest story this week with the smallest amount of something actually happening.

Congratulations! Below, we look at who's using which label in this ongoing, um, "continuation of politics by other means":


* NBC: Lauer explains further: After "much careful deliberation..." Label: "Civil war," dammit. MSNBC thinks so, too!

* Fox News: "Civil war" is a euphemism for "failure of US policy." "We're unwilling to fall into that tender trap." Plus, non-Iraqis are involved — which is why there was never a Spanish Civil War, right? Label: Anything but "civil war," which wouldn't be so bad after all.

* Washington Post: "We just describe what goes on everyday. We don't have a policy about it." Though they will use the term "close to a civil war." But they don't have a policy about it! Label:"Sectarian violence," in print; "Absolutely the level of violence equals a civil war" when Dana Priest is on Chris Matthews.

* Katie Couric: "Just what makes a civil war? Scholars say...at least a thousand people must have died, at least 100 from each side." You don't need to be a scholar to know that that's the case in Iraq. Even so... Label: None. Way to straddle that fence, CBS.

* Reuters: "So whose arguments hold more weight?" Label: "Civil war," with citations.

* Financial Times: "The civil war in Iraq is likely to deteriorate..." Label: A "disingenuous" "civil war" full of "failures" with no "silver bullet." (Zagat rating: 23.5)

* USA Today op/ed: There is mayhem, therefore there is war. Label: "'Civil war' doesn't begin to describe the chaos in Iraq"

* CNN: Divided, says the Media Matters blog, quoting correspondent Michael Ware: "You dare to go out and try to go to work or, indeed, shop at a marketplace and you will know that this is civil war." Label: Ware: "Civil war." Correspondent Bob Franken: "Sectarian war." Anderson Cooper: "Sectarian violence." Chyron: "Civil War?"

* Associated Press: Still debating, says the Guardian. "There are different views in the newsroom." Label: "We don't preclude saying civil war in our copy, if a correspondent thinks it appropriate. But we don't want to go out and declare it a civil war." Yes, because whether or not its a civil war is completely up to you.

* New York Times opinion page: "At this point it is hard to tell who is more out of touch: President Bush, who continues to insist that Iraq has not descended into civil war..." Label: "Civil war." But more importantly, Bush is now "the demander."

* Thomas Friedman: "Here is the central truth about Iraq today: This country is so broken it can't even have a proper civil war." (But give it 4-6 months...) Label: "So many little pieces." All of which are flat.

* L.A. Times: "The Times was the first major news organization to formally adopt the description when it began to refer to the hostilities as a civil war in October, without public fanfare." The Times was also the first major news organization to smugly point this out. Label: "Civil war," four times a day.

* Dan Froomkin:"It's a Civil War, Stupid!" (See lede: White House, he's talkin' to you.) Label:"Civil War," stupid.

* Daily Show: "The phrase 'civil war' conjures horrible jaw-dropping images of bloodshed...no one needs that image." Label: "Ongoing scuffle between sectarian groups." No, "the internal sovereignty challenge." No, "the faith-based melee." Because why choose just one?

Bono's Message for World AIDS Day

WORLD AIDS DAY

(PRODUCT) RED^™ ENGAGES BIG BUSINESS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST AIDS

(PRODUCT) RED engages big business to raise awareness and funds for The Global Fund to help fight AIDS in Africa. We do this by teaming up with iconic brands. Launch partners are: American Express, Converse, Gap, Giorgio Armani and Motorola.

(PRODUCT) RED is a branding mechanism which companies license to sell (PRODUCT) RED branded products to raise funds for the Global Fund. Companies whose products take on the (PRODUCT) RED mark make a commitment to contribute a portion of profits from the sales of that product into Global Fund-financed AIDS programmes, with a focus on women and children in Africa.

(RED) is not a charity or "campaign". It is an economic initiative that aims to deliver a sustainable flow of private sector money to the Global Fund.

(RED) was created by Bono (U2, singer and activist) and Bobby Shriver (Chairman of DATA – Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa). Both also founded DATA in 2002, an organisation created to put political pressure on world governments to tackle the key issues surrounding debt, AIDS and trade in Africa.

A WORLDWIDE EMERGENCY

Every year 3 million people die from AIDS. Of the 40 million people infected by HIV/AIDS, Africa (which has just over 10% of the world’s population) is home to 60% (25 million). The disease is the leading cause of death in Africa.

Women comprise the fastest growing population group living with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa and the result of their illness on children is compelling. Every time a man or woman is started on anti-retroviral drugs, the survival of children becomes less precarious.

An estimated 13 million children in Africa have been orphaned because of HIV/AIDS already and this number is growing. Almost 2000 children, most of them from sub-Saharan Africa, are infected with HIV each day.

THE GLOBAL FUND TO FIGHT AIDS, TUBERCULOSIS AND MALARIA

The Global Fund is the world’s leading funder of programmes to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Created in 2002, the Global Fund has committed over $5.2 billion to life-saving programmes in 131 countries and accounts for a quarter of the world’s funding for AIDS programmes in the developing world (over half for malaria and two-thirds for tuberculosis). Global Fund-financed programmes already support nearly half a million people on AIDS treatment, provide over half a million children orphaned by AIDS with medical services, education and community care and reach tens of millions with the knowledge and tools to protect themselves against HIV infection.

The Global Fund is a public-private partnership, governed by representatives of governments, the private sector and civil society from all over the world. It enables countries to design and execute their own programmes, but provides funds only on the basis of proven results. It is a lean institution with operating costs of less than 3%, ensuring that resources go directly to where they are needed most.

The Global Fund needs additional resources from all sectors to continue scaling up the support for life-saving work around the world.

For more information, joinred.com

I Hope Anderson Cooper Didn't Read this on the Plane

LONDON, England (AP) -- First-time author Iain Hollingshead scooped a dubious literary honor Wednesday, winning the Bad Sex in Fiction Award for his novel, "Twenty Something."

Hollingshead beat established writers including Booker Prize nominee David Mitchell, best seller Mark Haddon and literary maverick Thomas Pynchon to the prize, which aims to skewer "the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel."

Judges were moved by Hollingshead's evocation of "a commotion of grunts and squeaks, flashing unconnected images and explosions of a million little particles." His description of "bulging trousers" sealed the win, the judges said.

"Because Hollingshead is a first-time writer, we wished to discourage him from further attempts," the judges -- editors of Literary Review magazine -- said in a statement. "Heavyweights like Thomas Pynchon and Will Self are beyond help at this point."

Hollingshead, 25, who received his award from rocker Courtney Love at a London ceremony, said he was delighted to become the prize's youngest winner.

"I hope to win it every year," said Hollingshead, who receives a statuette and a bottle of champagne.

Now in its 14th year, the award was established by the Literary Review to celebrate truly cringe-worthy erotic writing.

"It's mixed metaphors, embarrassing fumbling. It's the redundancy of the scene in an otherwise good novel," said assistant editor Philip Womack.

This year's runner-up was Tim Willcocks' medieval action novel, "The Religion," for a scene in which characters grapple passionately in a forge "across the cold steel face of the anvil."

"In the pit of his stomach a cauldron boiled and some seething and nameless brew rose up through his spine and filled his brain with the Devil's Fire," Willcocks writes.

Willcocks praised the Bad Sex prize as "a much better guide to a good read than those purveyors of powerful sleeping drugs, the Booker, the Pulitzer, the Goncourt et. al."

Other finalists included Mitchell's 1980s coming-of-age story, "Black Swan Green," for a passage in which one character's breasts are compared to "a pair of Danishes" and another's to "two Space Hoppers."

Pynchon's long-awaited, 1,000-page novel, "Against the Day," was nominated for a scene involving a spaniel that ends: "Reader, she bit him."

Haddon, the best-selling author of "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time," was shortlisted for his description of rapture in his latest novel, "A Spot of Bother": "Images went off in her head like little fireworks. The smell of coconut. Brass firedogs."

The other finalists were Scottish writer Irvine Welsh's "Bedroom Secrets of the Master Chefs"; Julia Glass' "The Whole World Over"; Michael Cannon's "Lachlan's War"; "Tourism" by Nirpal Singh Dhaliwal; and Self's "The Book of Dave."

Last year's winner was food critic and novelist Giles Coren for a memorable passage comparing a male character's genitalia to a shower hose. In 2004, the prize went to Tom Wolfe's novel, "I Am Charlotte Simmons," for sex scenes the judges called "ghastly ... inept ... (and) unrealistic."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

Anderson Cooper 360 Moves to Jordan

While not my favorite story or the best coverage, Anderson Cooper and 360 seemed to be in the groove tonight. For Wednesday evening's show, they move to Jordan to cover the U.S. and Iraq talks. Oh boy...That should be a not so interesting conversation as neither room has much room to negotiate in my opinion. For more indepth details, here's the story from AP:

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) -- Jordan's king said he will press President Bush to focus more attention on resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict when the two meet this week.

In a speech to Parliament Tuesday, King Abdullah II described the Israeli-Palestinian dispute as the "core" issue in the Middle East.

He indicated that when he speaks with Bush, he would underline the need for the United States to push for peace.

Bush, however, is likely to steer the meeting toward Iraq's deteriorating security when he starts a two-day visit to Jordan on Wednesday for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, hosted by Abdullah.

But Abdullah and the leaders of two other U.S. allies in the Middle East -- Egypt and Saudi Arabia -- argue the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the most pressing crisis in the region, and fear Islamic militancy will strengthen if it is not resolved.

Moderate Arabs want the Bush administration to devote more diplomatic energy on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has been stagnant since 2000.

Abdullah pledged "all possible support to the Palestinians so they can regain their rights," though he warned that his country would not accept a deal that causes an influx of Palestinians.

"Jordan will not accept an unjust settlement of the issue, nor will Jordan accept any settlement that comes at its expense," Abdullah told lawmakers, who applauded vigorously.

He was referring to fears of a settlement that would cause thousands of Palestinians to settle in the kingdom, upsetting the country's delicate demographic balance.

Roughly half of Jordan's 5.5 million population consists of Palestinian families who fled, or were driven out of, their homes in the 1948 and 1967 Arab-Israeli wars.

The king recognizes the importance of Iraq, diplomats said. Jordan and other moderate Arabs are concerned that growing Shiite influence in Iran, Syria and Lebanon will help hard-line Iran dominate the region and give rise to more extremism.

Arab diplomats said Abdullah was also expected to present Bush with a proposal to curb the war-torn country's sectarian strife before it becomes a full-blown civil war and give Iraqi security and government greater responsibilities.

Few details were available on the proposal, which envisions the possible formation of a military or new national unity government in Iraq, according to the diplomats, who asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

Thanks to Stillife and Liberation337 for the screencaps.

Sneak Preview of Anderson Cooper Reporting from Turkey

Anderson did a :60 second promo with John Roberts (subbing for Paula Zahn tonight) earlier this evening....and a change of plans for coverage this week:

CNN’s Anderson Cooper will anchor Anderson Cooper 360° live from Istanbul tonight and Tuesday, Nov. 28, to coincide with Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Turkey this week. For Wednesday, Nov. 29, and Thursday, Nov. 30, the program moves to Amman, Jordan, where it will continue to focus on the pope but also on President George W. Bush’s trip to Jordan to discuss the war in Iraq.

Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to Turkey from Tuesday, Nov. 28, through Friday, Dec. 1, marks the pope’s first trip to a predominantly Muslim nation following remarks he made about radical Islam. His comments ignited a backlash among some Muslims. His trip has been characterized as a clash of cultures: Christianity and Islam.

For the Anderson Cooper 360° special coverage, Cooper interviews Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who plans to meet privately with the pope on Wednesday, Nov. 29, in Istanbul. Rome bureau chief and correspondent Alessio Vinci will provide live reports and updates as he travels with the pope throughout his trip.

In other reports, senior international correspondent Nic Robertson examines how radical Islam has gained a foothold in Europe and created a massive terrorism threat; faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher and correspondent Randi Kaye examine the history of Christian-Muslim relations; and Jerusalem correspondent Ben Wedeman examines the events surrounding the Palestinian grandmother who blew herself up last week near Israeli soldiers operating inside Gaza.

Thanks to liberation337 for the screencap.

Anderson Cooper Blogs from Turkey

Pope's Turkey trip spotlights religious tensions

Tonight we are broadcasting from Istanbul, one stop on Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Turkey. Istanbul is a fascinating place, a city where East and West meet, literally. It's the only major city that sits on two continents. One side is in Europe, the other side Asia.

I'm sitting in a modern hotel right now listening to the call to prayer echoing from a nearby mosque. The oldest cliche in the news business is to call a place a "land of contrasts." It's a silly term, but I understand why writers fall back on it to describe this place. Ancient and modern, Islamic and Christian, democratic and autocratic -- it all exists side by side in Turkey, sometimes uneasily.

Though its track record on human rights is often criticized, Turkey is a stable, pro-western democracy that is officially secular. For some time now, the country has been trying to become part of the European Union, but it seems increasingly clear that some European countries have major concerns. Turkey is a poor nation by European standards, and it's 99 percent Muslim. Many Europeans are already concerned about assimilating their own Muslim minorities. The prospect of having some 70 million more Muslims entering the EU seems overwhelming.

Before he was Pope, then-Cardinal Ratzinger didn't support Turkey's bid for EU membership. His argument was that Europe is based on commonly held Christian beliefs, not simply geography. Combined with his recent comments about Islam, it would be easy to see why many here would be concerned about his visit. But what is actually surprising is how few people here seem disturbed by the Pope's presence.

An Islamist party called for a demonstration in Istanbul on Sunday. They expected more than 100,000 protestors, but only about 20,000 showed up. There are some extremists here to be sure. I just spent the morning with an Islamist lawyer who is defending a number of Turks accused of participating in a series of terrorist attacks in 2003 that killed more than 50 people.

As we were putting the microphone on him, I couldn't help but notice the gun he was carrying on his waist. During the interview, he called Osama bin Laden a freedom fighter and explained why suicide attacks were justified under his brand of Islam.

He and the men he represents hate the secular government of Turkey. They say the current prime minister was put in power by an alliance between the Pope and Israel, or maybe it was the Pope, Israel, and America -- I can't remember for sure (I'll have to check the tape) but you get the point.

His beliefs do not reflect the majority of Muslims in Turkey, but they do explain some of the tensions that exist here. The question is: What will the Pope try to do during his visit? Will he try to mend fences, and focus on the commonalities between Islam and Christianity, or will he respectfully talk about the differences? While many people here don't seem all that interested in his visit, they will be watching and listening closely.

What do you think the Pope should focus on while in Turkey? I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

Posted By Anderson Cooper: 10:09 AM ET

Page Six: Full of Crap?

Another round of Where in the World was Anderson Cooper as reported in today's Page Six:

November 27, 2006 -- ANDERSON Cooper was friendly at a Brazilian airport on Friday. "Hi, I'm Anderson," he said to the "attractive" man standing next to him at the flight connection monitors in the Salvador terminal, a spy told The Post's Braden Keil. The 25ish fellow was wearing a tight T-shirt, cut-off shorts and an earring. According to our witness, the unshaven, solo-traveling CNN star chatted for 20 minutes with the stranger before the fellow had to say goodbye and board his flight to Rio.

Wasn't the Brazil trip mentioned at the recent "Friend in Deed" dinner that he co-hosted? I thought the Brazil trip was part of the AnderVaction from a few weeks ago. Reports from the Post of Anderson in Brazil before his trip to Turkey, somehow just doesn't smell right to me. I've also read reports of a "sighting" on another Andersite this weekend. Supposedly, someone and their friend spotted him running in Central Park with Molly. If Anderson has a clone, send one my direction for Christmas ;)

Also, I did hear him phone in a report from Turkey with Carol Lin on CNN Sunday last night. He is indeed one BUSY reporter!

Turks Protest Pope's Visit

REALLY IMPORTANT NEWS: Thousands of Turks are on hand waiting the arrival of Anderson Cooper....oops, my bad...they are protesting the arrival of the Pope. Although they are not excited about seeing the Pope and hearing any of speeches (they don't go over so well) they are rockin' to see the Coopster (I hope). Here at FreakSpeakers, we have a large number of visitors from Eastern Europe, so we'd be interested in hearing your take on the Pope's visit and more importantly, Anderson's popularity in your country.

Here is some real news about the trip:

ISTANBUL, Turkey (Reuters) -- More than 20,000 Muslims in Istanbul on Sunday staged the biggest protest so far against Pope Benedict's trip to Turkey as Islamic opposition to this week's controversial visit gathered momentum.

Benedict, due to begin his first official visit to a Muslim country next Tuesday, angered many Muslims in September with a speech they took as an insult to Islam.

Youths wearing headbands with Islamic scripts, beating drums and waving Turkish red and white flags chanted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) in the peaceful rally.

"I cannot remain silent when the Prophet Mohammed is insulted. I love him more than myself," said Husamettin Aycan Alp, 25, a science student from Izmir in western Turkey.

He said Roman Catholic cardinals chose this pope last year "because he is against Islam and are concerned Islam is spreading in Europe."

The four-day visit is billed as an opportunity to heal wounds with the Muslim world after the pope quoted a Byzantine emperor saying Islam was violent and irrational. He has said he did not share that view.

Speaking in the Vatican on Sunday, Benedict said he wanted the visit to show his "esteem and sincere friendship" for Turkey and its people.

A visit to Istanbul's famous Blue Mosque was added to the pope's itinerary at the last minute, a move seen as an attempt at further reconciliation with the Muslim world.

His predecessor, Pope John Paul II, made the first visit by a pontiff to a mosque during a trip to Damascus in 2001. Pope John Paul paid the last papal visit to Turkey in 1979.

Protest against 'crusaders'

The Islamist Felicity party organizing the protest under the banner "against the crusader alliance" -- a reference to the crusaders who crossed Anatolia 1,000 years ago on their way to Jerusalem -- had expected an attendance of at least 75,000.

"Muslims don't want the pope in their lands. Look at the suffering which they spread in Palestine, Iraq and Chechnya. I link this to Christianity," said Ferdi Borekci, a 28-year-old architect.

Before becoming pope, Benedict annoyed Turks by speaking out against Turkey's bid to join the European Union, saying it did not belong there because of its religion and culture.

Turkey's ruling AK Party government has kept a low profile in preparations for this visit, with talks still ongoing as to whether Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a pious Muslim, will meet him before heading off to a NATO summit in Riga.

With presidential and parliamentary elections due next year the AK Party, which has roots in political Islam, must balance a rise in nationalism as well as their support base among conservative Muslims.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who will be absent during the pope's visit, played down the controversy.

"We hope this visit will help eliminate misunderstandings between Muslims and Christians," Gul told a news conference.

"His message will be very important."

Turkey plans tight security measures for the pope, whose trip takes in the capital Ankara, Istanbul -- formerly Constantinople -- and the site where the Virgin Mary is believed to have lived and died near Izmir on the Aegean coast.

Turkish 101: Some phrases Anderson Cooper might need

The language barrier is always a problem, but we know AC is smart so he might already know this ones... and I truly hope he has the opportunity of using them!


Hello! - Merhaba!

I'm pleased to meet you. - Memnun oldum.

When is the news? Haberler nasıl?

Journalist gazeteci

News haberler

You are so kind. - Çok naziksiniz.

You are so cute. - Çok şekersin.

You are so gentle. - Çok naziksin.

I fell in love with you.- Sana aşık oldum.

I can't live without you.-Sensiz yaşayamam.
Sensiz yapamam.

We feel so good together. Let's make a family. Birbirimizle çok mutluyuz. Haydi bir aile kuralım.

All I pray to God is you saying "Yes!" Allah'tan tek dileğim bana "Evet!" demen.

All About Turkey

Like the good journalist that he is, Anderson Cooper has probably been prepping for his visit to Turkey for quite some time now. Here at FreakSpeakers, we thought we'd give you the condensed version. The great part of Anderson's travels is that whenever he goes somewhere, we are bound to learn something new!


Below are images of the capital city of Ankara...





Location: Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe), bordering the Black Sea, between Bulgaria and Georgia, and bordering the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, between Greece and Syria. Slightly larger than the state of Texas.

Population: 70,413,958 (July 2006 est.)

Background: Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the Anatolian remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa KEMAL, who was later honored with the title Ataturk, or "Father of the Turks." Under his authoritarian leadership, the country adopted wide-ranging social, legal, and political reforms. After a period of one-party rule, an experiment with multi-party politics led to the 1950 election victory of the opposition Democratic Party and the peaceful transfer of power.

Since then, Turkish political parties have multiplied, but democracy has been fractured by periods of instability and intermittent military coups (1960, 1971, 1980), which in each case eventually resulted in a return of political power to civilians. In 1997, the military again helped engineer the ouster - popularly dubbed a "post-modern coup" - of the then Islamic-oriented government. Turkey intervened militarily on Cyprus in 1974 to prevent a Greek takeover of the island and has since acted as patron state to the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus," which only Turkey recognizes. A separatist insurgency begun in 1984 by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) - now known as the People's Congress of Kurdistan or Kongra-Gel (KGK) - has dominated the Turkish military's attention and claimed more than 30,000 lives. After the capture of the group's leader in 1999, the insurgents largely withdrew from Turkey, mainly to northern Iraq. In 2004, KGK announced an end to its ceasefire and attacks attributed to the KGK increased.

Turkey joined the UN in 1945 and in 1952 it became a member of NATO. In 1964, Turkey became an associate member of the European Community; over the past decade, it has undertaken many reforms to strengthen its democracy and economy, enabling it to begin accession membership talks with the European Union.

Chief of State: President Ahmet Necdet SEZER (since 16 May 2000)

Religion: Muslim 99.8% (mostly Sunni), other 0.2% (mostly Christians and Jews)

Friday Fun...

Afghan Warlord Takes Anderson Cooper As 43rd Wife

You know you've made it when The Onion spoofs you...lol.

Lou Dobbs: Champion of the Middle Class?

The rumors of bad blood between Anderson Cooper and Lou Dobbs still linger after Cooper's recent remarks at SMU (see text below). While Dobbs does come across as being arrogant, the man is, in my opinion, scary smart. I think in the end, Anderson and Lou probably get along, because I don't see Anderson as the type of person to air his dirty laundry or anyone else's in a public forum. Now how Paula and Wolf feel about Dobbs...that could be a different story!

And one more thing: JOHN ROBERTS....THE SHOW IS NOT CALLED "360". Stop trying to make us forget about Anderson....it won't happen!

CNN host Lou Dobbs says he gets to do what he calls "advocacy journalism," unlike colleagues Paula Zahn and Wolf Blitzer, because "they are quite different people than I am." Speaking to NPR's "On the Media," Dobbs adds:

"Immodestly let me say, one of the reasons would be my experience, my education, my analysis of the issues, and the empirical evidence and a demonstrated record, frankly, of knowing what I'm talking about."

The self-declared champion of the middle class (who, like Blitzer, is said to make millions) is challenged by "On the Media" co-host Bob Garfield over "inflammatory" journalism and declares: "I'm first of all an advocacy journalist, and I make no pretense of objectivity."

Meanwhile, is there bad-blood between Anderson Cooper and Dobbs? TVNewser suspects some, based on Cooper's recent speech at SMU: "I'm not like most anchors ... I don't like to hear myself speak, unlike most, like Lou Dobbs." (TVNewser)

Changes at CNN

The first of many changes happening at CNN. Here's the memo from Tony Maddox that arrived earlier in the week:

"Today I am pleased to announce a number of significant appointments within CNN's international newsgathering operations. I'm particularly delighted to have been able to make such a large number of strategically important changes from within the CNN family. This is a testament to the depth and expertise of the staff we have working at CNN.

Aneesh Raman has been appointed Middle East Correspondent and will be based in Cairo. This new title reflects his role in reporting from across the Middle East. Previously based in Baghdad, Aneesh has reported from numerous places in the past few months including Iran, Syria and Lebanon.

Also on the move is John Vause, currently in Jerusalem, who is taking on the challenging job of covering China. Based in Beijing, John will bring his extraordinary storytelling talents to this increasingly influential country. Replacing him as a Jerusalem-based correspondent is Atika Shubert, who is currently based in Tokyo. She joins the formidable team led by Bureau Chief Kevin Flower and correspondent Ben Wedeman, working in one of our most demanding news bureaus. In the coming weeks we will announce our coverage plans for Tokyo.

Joining the CNN family is Frederik Pleitgen who takes up the position as our Berlin correspondent. Some of you will know him from his time here on attachment to our international desk, or through his work with our former colleagues at n-tv. Frederik comes to CNN from German network broadcaster ZDF where he was the Political Editor.

Please join me in welcoming and congratulating our colleagues into their new positions."

Anderson Cooper, Turkey and Thanksgiving

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to my friends and family, fellow FreakSpeakers and to all of you that take time everyday to visit the blog! I hope this holiday finds you with your family or loved ones.

Not only does Anderson get to enjoy turkey (or whatever those Vanderbilts might eat) today, he'll be enjoying the sights and sounds of Turkey next week! While I'm not thrilled about having to deal with Delia (annoying) I'm happy that we'll get some face time with Nic Robertson. I'm hoping that this is as close to Iraq as he will get. No one purposely needs to be going into Iraq. And it would be nice to see people leaving instead, but that's another topic for another day.

And rumor has it that Anderson will be back in NYC to co-host Regis and Kelly on Dec. 8th. A word of advice to Anderson, as much as you're tempted, don't cover her mouth...she gets really bitchy when that happens ;)

From CNN's press release...


CNN’s Anderson Cooper will anchor Anderson Cooper 360° live from Turkey from Monday, Nov. 27, through Thursday, Nov. 30, to coincide with Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the predominately Muslim nation next week. In addition to Cooper, senior international correspondent Nic Robertson and faith and values correspondent Delia Gallagher provide live reports and taped segments for the program.

Pope Benedict XVI’s trip to Turkey from Tuesday, Nov. 28, through Friday, Dec. 1, marks the pope’s first trip into a Muslim nation following remarks he made about radical Islam. His comments ignited a backlash among some Muslims. His trip has been characterized as a clash of cultures: Christianity and Islam.

For the Anderson Cooper 360° special coverage, “Harmony or Holy War: The Pope in Turkey,” Cooper interviews Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who plans to meet privately with the pope on Wednesday, Nov. 29, in Istanbul. For other segments, Cooper, Gallagher and Robertson explore the spread of radical Islam across Europe and the growing antagonism with the West.

Anderson Cooper 360° is a wide-ranging, unconventional news program that takes a full 360-degree look at the world’s events. The program showcases CNN’s worldwide newsgathering capabilities as well as Anderson Cooper's unique sensibilities and perspective through a diverse range of live reports and interviews. Anderson Cooper 360° airs on CNN/U.S. each weekday from 10 p.m. to midnight (ET) and also airs on CNN International.

November 22, 1963

Forty-three years ago today, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. President Kennedy was riding in a motorcade through Dealey Plaza and had just passed the Texas School Book Depository when the shots began. Texas Governor John Connally and his wife, Nellie, rode with President Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy in a Lincoln Continental limousine which had been modified with a jumpseat to accomodate the extra passengers. Governor Connally was also hit, but survived.

Just a short time after the President was declared dead, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested by the Dallas police in the Texas Theater. Oswald was later charged with the murder of Dallas police officer J.D. Tippit, who'd been shot just a mile or so from Oswald's rooming house which was on the way to the theater. Witness testimony was conflicted from the start and none of the witnesses could pick Oswald out of a lineup, but Oswald was charged anyway. About four hours after being charged with Tippit's murder, Oswald was booked for murdering the President. The police had the case in the bag, so to speak. Oswald did it.

Right?

Sunday, November 24, 1963, Oswald was shot on live television while being moved to a car that was supposed to take him to the county jail (which, ironically, is located in Dealey Plaza). Oswald later died at Parkland Hospital without revealing his role in the traumatic events of that weekend.

To deter speculators, new President Lyndon Johnson got together a "blue ribbon" commission who would study the evidence and determine who was responsible for the assassination. This commission, called the "Warren Commission" because it was headed by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Earl Warren, had such esteemed members as Representative (and future President) Gerald Ford, future Senator Arlen Specter, and Representative Hale Boggs, father of journalist Cokie Roberts. The Warren Commission finished its research and interviews and released its final report in September 1964. This report said that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he assassinated President Kennedy, shot John Connally, and murdered Officer Tippit.

In the years following, public interest has waxed and waned. Conspiracy theories, both plausible and wacky, have made their way to the public consciousness. Just a couple of years after the assassination, several European authors wrote books on the President's murder, saying it was clearly a conspiracy. In 1979, the House Select Committee on Assassinations concluded that President Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy, which contradicts the Warren Report. Oliver Stone's film JFK pushed the assassination to the forefront once again, and a poll taken shortly after the release of the film showed the majority of the respondents believed the assassination was a conspiracy.

If you travel to Dallas, you can visit the Sixth Floor Museum, which is located at the former Texas School Book Depository building. The museum takes up the entire sixth floor and has a walking tour, a timeline of the weekend, and a guestbook signed by the likes of Mikhail Gorbachev. The window from which Oswald supposedly fired on the President is not accessible because it's surrounded by a glass partition, but the museum has recreated the scene as best they can. It is well worth the price of admission to visit the museum.

Here are some great links:

The Sixth Floor Museum

John McAdams's Website

John Masland's "The Nook"

National Archives Research Pages

Wikipedia's page

And links on President Kennedy:

White House biography

John F. Kennedy Library Homepage

President Kennedy's Inaugural Address


cropped from a picture I took of the back of the picket fence on the Grassy Knoll, February 1996

What Walter wrote for Anderson Cooper today

Géminis
(21-Mayo a 20-Junio )
21 de mayo - 20 de junio
The sun is in your house of marriage and unions. Discover what your partner enjoys the most. Everything that has to deal with team work will benefit you personally and economically. Keep your legal affairs updated.
Lucky Number: 10, 47, 33
Sacred word: Partner (spouse)

Anderson Cooper's Horoscope Thanks To Walter Mercado

Today you will be very cautious in order omit errors. Don't put so much pressure on yourself, it is unconvienient for your health. Enjoy the warmness of your home with your loved ones. Discussions about politics should be eliminated.
Lucky numbers: 11 (AC's Favorite), 3, 44
Holy Word: Serenity

"Overhaulin'"

Parts 3-5 of Overhaulin', as promised.







Thanks again, Marie!

Anderson Cooper explains his life while in Iraq

Cooper talks Katrina and Iraq at Tate Lecture

Mark Norris, Managing Editor, mnorris@smu.edu
Posted: 11/15/06

Anderson Cooper gave advice to young journalists and discussed current events at the Jones Day Lecture of the Tate Lecture Series.Cooper said he had no idea of what he wanted to do when he graduated with a liberal arts degree from Yale. When he asked his mom, Gloria Vanderbilt, for advice, she told him to "follow your bliss."At the time, Cooper thought the advice was too vague, but now he appreciates what she told him.After winding his way through jobs at Channel One and ABC News, Cooper was hired at CNN. He currently hosts "Anderson Cooper 360."Cooper said his show differs from other cable programs because he tries to present both sides of the story. He said almost anyone could get a cable show now if they are opinionated enough."I'm not like most anchors...I don't like to hear myself speak, unlike most, like Lou Dobbs," Cooper said.He said the cable networks should stop trying to appeal to people's partisanship and instead focus on the facts."It seems we're encouraged to see things through our own views," Cooper said.Cooper, along with NBC's Brian Williams, has become associated with coverage of Hurricane Katrina.Cooper said he tries to keep the story in the public consciousness by hosting his show from New Orleans periodically. More than a year later, he says, the Lower Ninth Ward is "like a time capsule of incompetence."Cooper discussed the saga of trying to get New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin to sit down for an interview. Nagin continued canceling on Cooper until one night when CNN found out Nagin was in a bar after telling the network he couldn't go on air due to an emergency meeting.After that incident Nagin finally sat down, but Cooper said the interview wound up not working out."I thought I got a good interview, but when I sat down to log it, it turned out I had nothing," Cooper said.The situation in Iraq took up the rest of Cooper's time, with him saying each time he goes back the scene on the ground gets worse."Iraq is the hardest story to tell right now because it's difficult to travel and get around," he said.Cooper said planes that land at the Baghdad airport must land in a corkscrew formation, in which the planes get in the airspace and make tight circles down until they land.When Cooper gets off the plane he said he is taken to a private compound outside the green zone that CNN owns. The network pays for its own guards who are former British special forces members.Reporting is difficult, Cooper said, because getting to talk to real people is nearly impossible. "If you are in a neighborhood for more than 15 minutes, the insurgents find out and word spreads and you have to get out," he said.Earlier in the day, Cooper spoke before one of the largest crowds in Student Forum history. Six hundred students were in the Hughes-Trigg Ballroom and nearly 500 were in the Hughes-Trigg Theater watching a simulcast.The final Tate Lecture of the fall semester is during final exams on Tuesday, Dec. 5. Malcolm Gladwell of The New Yorker will be speaking.
© Copyright 2006 Daily Campus

Vegas Baby!

From The Luxe Life with Robin Leach:

* PURE nightclub turned into a nightly hangout lounge for all the comics attending the Festival. AOL hosted one party with a slew of stars attending including Whoopi Goldberg racing in before doing her radio show live from the adjoining Caesars Poker Room and curvy Carmen Electra. Katt Williams showed with his entourage which included hiphop star E-40. Dane Cook arrived at midnight. Also in the crowd: CNN's Anderson Cooper and comics Dave Attell, Bill Maher, Jay Mohr, and Sarah Silverman.

Looks like Anderson spent the weekend in Vegas. And remember, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

CNN Hummer Gets "Overhauled"

Thanks to Marie, we have exclusive video footage of the Overhaulin' episode when the CNN Hummer made its appearance.

Here are the first two parts of the episode:





Enjoy, and stay tuned for parts three, four and five tomorrow!

Anderson Cooper is a "very nice man"...

Monday, November 20, 2006

By BRENDA G. ANDERSON

Correspondent

Tom Aiken is a friendly man who admits that he's a big ham.

"Put me in front of a thousand people and I'm fine," he said, smiling. But there's more to this Yale and Georgetown University graduate than just a good laugh and hamming it up.

Aiken and his family moved to Fairhope in 2001 and he started building homes. "I grew up working on my family home in New Orleans. It was an older house," said Aiken.

"When we moved to Fairhope, we bought a house that Skip Jones had just built. I asked him to be my mentor. The first house I built was in the 'fruit and nut' section of Fairhope," he said, referring to the neighborhood with streets bearing names ranging from Fig to Kumquat to Pecan. "I'm obsessive about building quality homes," said Aiken.

Aiken recruited Drew Bond, his best friend from Washington, to be his partner. "I convinced Drew that Fairhope was a great place to raise children. We have similar backgrounds in Washington, D.C.," he said.

The two men met another former Washington resident, Markus Neto, who has helped design their Web site, www.aikenbond.com.

"I met Markus at a chamber of commerce event, saw an image of the Metro in Washington, D.C., on his business card and struck up a conversation," said Aiken.

Before Aiken moved to Baldwin County and started building homes, he had an entirely different life and career.

"I was born and raised in New Orleans. During those days, we kids were allowed to roam free in the neighborhood near Tulane University. I was always riding my bike around," he said.

School work came easily for him, but he admits he could have applied himself more. Drama played a big part of his high school years. For college, Aiken headed to Yale University where his father, a physician, had also attended.

"The first year, I had a double major of pre-med and history. But my pre-med classes were in a building at the end of a long hill. That really bothered me that I had to walk up that hill. I figured if that bothered me, so would other things. I dropped the pre-med major," he said.

In addition to his studies in history, Aiken spent every day as an oarsman on a 60-foot racing shell. "We had one oar per person. Anderson Cooper, the news journalist, was my coxswain; he's a very nice man. This crew was like a fraternity that wasn't centered on drinking," he said.

Aiken also met his wife, who has a Ph.D. in psychology, at Yale. "She is my partner in my business and in my life," he said. "We got married in 1991, but I had joined the Navy in 1990. I saw 'Top Gun,' the movie about a Navy pilot, when I was a senior in college. I decided I wanted to fly jets, and that's what I did. After my discharge in 1993, I went to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., for my master's in business administration. When I graduated, I worked for Allied Capital, a large financial firm, for five years," he said.

Aiken and his family decided to make the move to Baldwin County. He now has time to play golf with his son and his daughter -- one at a time. He has bought a piano -- teaching himself to play -- plays his guitar and sings monthly at his church, St. James Episcopal.

Remember to keep your bits and pieces covered at all times...

Does Anderson Cooper have a "morals clause" in his CNN contract?

Roanoke TV station fires meteorologist over MySpace photo

ROANOKE -- A WSLS-TV meteorologist was fired because his nude photo was posted on the popular website MySpace.

The NBC affiliate dismissed Jamey Singleton on Thursday after the photo appeared on MySpace.com.

The station's interim general manager, Shane Moreland, said in a statement that Singleton broke the morals clause of his contract, which stipulates that he must not be involved in anything deemed "offensive or out of line with community standards."

"What shocks and what offends -- that's really up to them," Singleton, 28, told The Roanoke Times. "I can't blame them if . . . after everything that's happened, they said, 'That's the straw that broke the camel's back.'"

According to Singleton, the picture was taken as a joke a few months ago at a friend's home, where he was getting ready for work.

After going through treatment for heroin addiction he stopped hanging out with some friends, including the one who posted the photo on MySpace on Tuesday, Singleton said. When Singleton heard about the picture, he notified MySpace and the picture was removed within an hour.

However, the photo was e-mailed to several of Singleton's co-workers and to Moreland, Singleton said.

WSLS is owned by Media General Inc., which also owns the Richmond Times-Dispatch.