Journalist risks life to report from Myanmar
Current mood: awake
Category: News and Politics

It takes a very brave journalist to travel into Myanmar.

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Narrow escapes for CNN reporter in Myanmar

May 10, 12:20 AM (ET)

By DAVID BAUDER

NEW YORK (AP) - A CNN reporter who left Myanmar Friday was chased by authorities as he reported on the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis but escaped primarily because of the incompetence of the people after him.

Dan Rivers hid under a blanket at one police checkpoint and casually covered up his name on a passport to avoid detection another time. He may ultimately have gotten out of the country due to a stewardess' impatience.

"I was amazed at the lengths they apparently went just to catch me," Rivers told The Associated Press by telephone from Thailand on Saturday.

Rivers' story illustrates the preoccupation of Myanmar's military government with things other than helping the country recover from a storm that killed thousands and left many survivors homeless. Aid groups have reported difficulties in getting badly needed supplies and relief workers into the secretive country.

Rivers sneaked into the country on Monday - he wouldn't say how - and for a day reported the story without saying his name or showing his face onscreen.

CNN, owned by Time Warner Inc. (TWX), and Rivers then quickly agreed to drop the mask.

"We decided it would have much more impact if I could communicate more directly, if I could look down the barrel of a camera and tell people precisely how bad it was," he said. "I think that type of personal reporting is much more effective than a voiceover on a picture."

But it made him a marked man. A local contact told Rivers' crew the government was looking for him by contacting all hotels where foreigners stayed.

During reporting on Thursday, an immigration official stopped Rivers' group. He took the passports of two crew members and compared them to a picture of Rivers taken from a CNN screen. During the two hours before they were waved on, Rivers said he went to a restaurant and walked the streets, "trying not to look like a white guy with long hair, which was difficult."

The authorities didn't discover the men were from CNN. Knowing his picture was being circulated, Rivers hid under a blanket in the van the next time police checked.

He later resumed reporting away from their van until an official told them to return to their van, where police would be waiting. It was a tough walk.

"There were a lot of things going through our minds then about what we would find at the end of that journey," he said. "At one point I was thinking, 'what if they just shot us and threw us into the river and said it was an accident?'"

There were only two policemen waiting. They asked to see Rivers' passport and he casually covered up his first and last names with his thumbs. They radioed Rivers' two middle names back to their bosses.

They were passed on to another government official, who let them go after being convinced they were part of a relief group. Strategic offerings of cigarettes, water and a candy bar helped.

The crew rushed back to the capital city of Yangon.

"I kind of felt that I'd used my nine lives up and it was time to get out of the country," Rivers said. He was afraid for the safety of his Burmese contacts if he were found out and, frankly, didn't want officials spending time searching for him when they had more important things to do.

While on a plane to get out of the country, Rivers was called back to the gate to be searched. He'd been found out. He was thoroughly searched, but fortunately had no pictures with him.

"I thought I was going to get hauled off to some fetid prison for a week," he said.

Eventually, an impatient stewardess demanded authorities make a decision on what to do with Rivers and, thus challenged, put him back on the plane.

Rivers said he hoped to get back in to Myanmar at some point but given the sensitivities it's not likely to be anytime soon.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080510/D90II6G80.html

8:30 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

FBI Targets Internet Archive With Secret ’National Security Letter’, Loses
Current mood: creative
Category: News and Politics

This is what the horrible "Patriot Act" is causing. There's nothing patriotic about this kind of action by the Feds.

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FBI Targets Internet Archive With Secret 'National Security Letter', Loses
By Ryan Singel
May 07, 2008 | 1:22:28 PM

The Internet Archive, a project to create a digital library of the web for posterity, successfully fought a secret government Patriot Act order for records about one of its patrons and won the right to make the order public, civil liberties groups announced Wednesday morning.

On November 26, 2007, the FBI served a controversial National Security Letter on the Internet Archive's founder Brewster Kahle, asking for records about one of the library's registered users, asking for the user's name, address and activity on the site.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet Archive's lawyers, fought the NSL, challenging its constitutionality in a December 14 complaint to a federal court in San Francisco. The FBI agreed on April 21 to withdraw the letter and unseal the court case, making some of the documents available to the public.

The Patriot Act greatly expanded the reach of NSLs, which are subpoenas for documents such as billing records and telephone records that the FBI can issue in terrorism investigations without a judge's approval. Nearly all NSLs come with gag orders forbidding the recipient from ever speaking of the subpoena, except to a lawyer.

Brewster Kahle called the gag order "horrendous," saying he couldn't talk about the case with his board members, wife or staff, but said that his stand was part of a time-honored tradition of librarians protecting the rights of their patrons.

"This is an unqualified success that will help other recipients understand that you can push back on these," Kahle said in a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning.

Though FBI guidelines on using NSLs warned of overusing them, two Congressionally ordered audits revealed that the FBI had issued hundreds of illegal requests for student health records, telephone records and credit reports. The reports also found that the FBI had issued hundreds of thousands of NSLs since 2001, but failed to track their use. In a letter to Congress last week, the FBI admitted it can only estimate how many NSLs it has issued.

The Internet Archive's case is only the third known court challenge to an NSL, all of which ended with the FBI rescinding the NSL, according to the ACLU's Melissa Goodman.

"That makes you wonder about the the hundreds of thousands of NSLs that haven't been challenged," Goodman said, suggesting that the FBI had collected sensitive information on innocent Americans.

The EFF, joined by the ACLU, initially used the letter to challenge the constitutionality of NSLs generally, saying the gag order violates the First Amendment. They also argued that the specific NSL used was illegal since the Internet Archive is a library, not a communications provider.

The settlement with the government puts an end to that challenge and still keeps Kahle and his lawyers from discussing -- even in the most general terms -- what the FBI was after and what public information the Internet Archive turned over to the FBI. For instance, the lawyers declined to say what kind of information the target was looking at or uploading -- such as animal rights information or Muslim literature.

The ACLU has successfully quashed two other NSLs, including one request to a library system asking for web surfing histories of patrons and another to a small New York hosting provider asking for data about a website it hosted. The Internet Archive case is only the second time the courts allowed the recipient of a Patriot Act National Security Letter to reveal his or her identity.

In the case of a NSL sent to a small ISP in New York, a judge ruled that the entire NSL statute is unconstitutional because of the gag order, but that ruling is under appeal. Though the FBI withdrew the request for information on one of the websites the ISP hosted, the target of that letter is still bound by a gag order, though he did write an op-ed for the Washington Post about the experience.

Though Kahle wouldn't say what the feds were after, he stressed that the Internet Archive stores very little non-public information -- only an unverified email address for those who choose to provide it -- and does not log IP addresses.

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/05/internet-archiv.html

9:12 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Identifying a pathological liar
Current mood: indignant
Category: Life

My sister posted this earlier, but I figured it applied for a few situations I've witnessed recently.

Identifying a Pathological Liar

Pathological liars, or "mythomaniacs," may be suffering from histrionic personality disorder or narcissistic personality disorder. The following comments basically reflect a pathological liar who has the characteristics of histrionic personality disorder.

Some characteristics:

1. Exaggerates things that are ridiculous.

2. One-upping. Whatever you do, this person can do it better. You will never top them in their own mind, because they have a concerted need to be better than everyone else. This also applies to being right. If you try to confront an individual like this, no matter how lovingly and well-intentioned you might be - this will probably not be effective. It's threatening their fantasy of themselves, so they would rather argue with you and bring out the sharp knives than admit that there's anything wrong with them.

3. They "construct" a reality around themselves. They don't value the truth, especially if they don't see it as hurting anyone. If you call them on a lie and they are backed into a corner, they will act very defensively and say ugly things (most likely but depends on personality), but they may eventually start to act like, "Well, what's the difference? You're making a big deal out of nothing!" (again, to refocus the conversation to your wrongdoing instead of theirs).

4. Because these people don't value honesty, a lot of times they will not value loyalty. So watch what you tell them. They will not only tell others, but they will embellish to make you look worse. Their loyalty is fleeting, and because they are insecure people, they will find solace in confiding to whomever is in their favor at the moment.

5. They may be somewhat of a hypochondriac. This can come in especially useful when caught in a lie, for example, they can claim that they have been sick, or that there's some mysteriously "illness" that has them all stressed out. It's another excuse tool for their behavior.

6. Obviously, they will contradict what they say. This will become very clear over time. They usually aren't smart enough to keep track of so many lies (who would be?).

Here are some ways to tell someone is a pathological liar contributed by another WikiAnswers Contributor:

• They lie about even the smallest things. For example, saying "I brushed my teeth today," when they didn't.

• They add exaggerations to every sentence.

• They change their story all the time.

• They act very defensively when you question their statements.

• They believe what they say is true, when everyone else knows it isn't.

Here's an alternate "checklist":

• Lies when it is very easy to tell the truth.

• Lies to get sympathy, to look beter, to save their butt, etc.

• Fools people at first but once they get to know him, no one believes anything they ever say.

• May have a personality disorder.

• Extremely manipulative.

• Has been caught in lies repeatedly.

• Never fesses up to the lies.

• Is a legend in their own mind.

Here are more opinions and other input from WikiAnswers Contributors:

• I have found a few differences in pathological liar and a "slime ball" liar. Pathological liars cannot tell that they are lying they actually believe the lie as soon as it comes out of their mouth. They lie about unimportant things that don't really matter to anyone. This can be caused by mental defect but isn't always. Slime-ball liars lie about things that make them look better or embellish to get attention. They also lie to keep their butts out of trouble and to get what they want.

• Here are things to ask yourself: How could this many things happen to one person? Would believe these stories if someone else told you? Think back to the beginning: you had red flags and alarms going off in you head. Learn to trust your instincts.

• It is very hard to tell when one is a pathological liar. Some people just are liars and lie to lie because they can and they don't care about getting caught and aware that you know they have lied. These people care not about lying, it's no big deal. It's like "ok, so what? I lied". The pathological liar on the other hand, IS aware that they are lying BUT will go to extremes to make you believe that they are truthful. They appear to believe their own lies BUT in truth, they know their lies are just that, lies. But because their efforts are constantly backing up their lies, it appears to us that they actually believe their lies, when we eventually do find out about them and then we tend to feel sorry for these people. Then they have an excuse, "I am sick, I don't know why I lie, I believed what I was saying etc." The only truth was the fact that they don't know why they lie. Other than that it's crap. It is true that most of them have an extremely low sense of self worth and are continuously trying to make themselves feel better about THEMSELVES and this is one reason they lie. It is about them but the lies are not always set up with the purpose to hurt some one else; it's that these people feel so low about themselves they need to create ANYTHING different from the ugly reality they feel about themselves so they lie about even the most tiniest little thing. The people closest to them get sucked into these lies which sometimes start as something very trivial and then turn into something that can turn everyone involved worlds upside down and inside out.

• Unmasking the pathological liar is an easier task when the pathological liar is no more than a casual acquaintence to the "un-masker." Close relationships provide camouflage for the pathological liar, and intimacy provides a heavily-fortressed breeding ground.

• Other indicators: 1) Rage attacks after they realize you're questioning their lies. 2) Distraction techniques, e.g. hanging up the phone when you catch them in lie, playing word games, or even just running out of the room. After using the distraction technique, or rage attack, or sometimes both, they will pretend that nothing ever happened. They re-write history, so it never did happen in their minds. Normal people do it too, but these people take it to the extreme.

• From "Go Ask Alice": Lies are unplanned and impulsive. Behavior is repeated over a long period of time. Lies don't seem to exist for any external reason. Behavior may not always be a conscious act. Lies are admitted, changed, and/or adapted if a false story is challenged.

• From Andrea Broadbent "The Truth about Truman": To begin, the definition of pathological actually means abnormal or grossly atypical. Therefore, a pathological liar prevaricates more frequently than the average person or tells more abnormal lies. In most cases, pathological liars tell lies that are "unplanned and impulsive" (Hausman). These lies are usually very emotional stories that tend to serve no purpose except to impress people (Ford 133). As of now, psychiatrists are unsure whether or not pathological liars are fully capable of realizing if and when they are lying, so detecting whether or not a person is a pathological liar is a very difficult task (Hausman). By looking at the list of conditions commonly connected with people considered to be pathological liars, psychiatrists are better able to determine whether or not a person might actually have the disorder. Some main qualities linked with pathological liars include dysfunctional family origin, family lying patterns, anomalies of sexual life, frequent substance abuse, and a great capacity for language.

• From Raymond Lloyd Richmond, Ph.D. "Psychological Honesty": Even a pathological liar carries deep in his heart a desire for goodness and honesty and yet, because of painful emotional wounds, believes that the world never has, and never will, recognize his pain. And so, to hide that pain from himself, he uses all the lies he can concoct to hurl at the world as he runs in fear from his own goodness.

9:17 PM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Bubba beat MJ, now MJ might quit mornings!
Current mood: amused
Category: News and Politics

My old boss Bubba the Love Sponge kicked MJ's ass in the most recent Tampa arbitrons, and now it appears that MJ might be on his way out from mornings on WFLZ-FM. Clear Channel made the mistake of firing BTLS four years ago (when he was 1 across the board in Tampa), and now they're paying the price.

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From AllAccess.com:

WFLZ/TAMPA morning star MJ (aka TODD SCHNITT) caused quite a stir with his audience today (5/6), hinting that when his contract at 'FLZ is up at the end of AUGUST, that he might not re-up and instead focus on his JONES RADIO NETWORK nationally syndicated "THE SCHNITT SHOW," also heard on sister WFLA-A.

Tuning in on WFLZ.com, ALL ACCESS heard MJ remark, "I've been doing mornings and afternoons for seven years now, and while I've made no decision about this, nothing is set in stone, I'm going to keep my options open. We've been talking about spending more time with the kids and taking them to school in the morning. Got like 80 emails on this -- a lotta calls on my cell too. Again, I've made no decision about this. Don't flip out over this folks."

3:55 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Never mix oxycodone and alcohol
Current mood: tired
Category: Blogging

As drugs.com says, "Dangerous side effects or death can occur when alcohol is combined with oxycodone."

I saw the dangerous side effects first-hand this weekend when a person I thought I knew (but obviously didn't) mixed oxycodone with heavy drinking and went berserk.

If you know of anyone making the horrible mistake of mixing the two, please do what you can to make them stop.

9:58 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Online music sources hurt by court ruling
Current mood: contemplative
Category: News and Politics

May 1, 4:39 AM EDT

Federal judge sets formula for Internet music royalties

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal court on Wednesday established a formula for determining the Internet royalties owed to thousands of music composers, writers and publishers by three major online services - Yahoo Inc., AOL and RealNetworks Inc.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers hailed the decision, estimating the guidelines could yield as much as $100 million in payments covering a seven-year period ending in 2009.

The trade group, known as ASCAP, had contended that its 320,000 members weren't being properly compensated for musical works that helped drive traffic and increase revenue for Yahoo, Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and RealNetworks.

Wednesday's ruling, issued by a federal judge in New York, doesn't affect the royalties owed to record companies.

A representative for the Digital Media Association, a trade group representing the Internet services, declined to comment on the ruling late Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge William Conner's 153-page decision didn't specify the total amount owed to the ASCAP members, but he provided an example on how the formula would apply to the music royalties owed by AOL and Yahoo for 2006. Under the formula endorsed by Conner, AOL owed 2006 fees of $5.95 million and Yahoo owed $6.76 million.

That's far more than AOL and Yahoo envisioned. New York-based AOL had proposed paying just $632,879 in 2006 royalties while Sunnyvale-based Yahoo had proposed paying $889,402 in 2006 licensing fees, according to court documents.

Conner's 2006 estimates were slightly less than what ASCAP had sought from the Internet services. The group wanted $7.83 million from AOL and $7.38 million from Yahoo to cover the 2006 royalties, according to court documents.

Yahoo must pay royalties dating back to 2002 while AOL must cover fees going back to 2005. RealNetworks' unpaid bill goes back to 2004. The amount for each year will vary widely, depending on the amount of music streamed over their Internet services and the usage of their sites.

The new formula will also be used to determine the online royalties owed by all three companies 2007 through 2009.

"This historic decision, for the first time, provides a clear framework for how the online use of musical works should be appropriately valued," said John LoFrumento, ASCAP's chief executive.

Link to the story

9:56 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Further proof that Karl Malone is an asshole
Current mood: excited
Category: Sports

Dad Karl Malone a footnote in Demetrius Bell's life
Allen Wilson
Updated: 04/29/08 3:54 PM

If you're a fan of NBA great Karl Malone, you might change your mind when you start reading this column.

If you never heard of Buffalo Bills rookie offensive tackle Demetrius Bell, you'll be rooting for him when I tell you his story.

Bell was a seventh-round draft pick and two-year starter at Northwestern State, the same Louisiana school that produced cornerback Terrence McGee.

Bell is the son of Malone, but the Mailman had no role in Bell's success except passing along athletic genes.

The two have had very little contact during Bell's life. His mother, Gloria Bell, reportedly was only 13 years old and Malone a college sophomore at Louisiana Tech when Demetrius was born. Malone might have served jail time had her family asked the district attorney to file criminal charges.

Bell didn't even know Malone was his father until after graduating from high school. When they finally met, Malone told the 18-year-old Bell it was too late to be his father, and that Bell would have to "earn his money on his own."

In a 1998 story in the Salt Lake (Utah) Tribune, Gloria Bell said, "Demetrius is ashamed that his dad doesn't claim him. But I've told him it is not his fault."

Malone also fathered twins while in high school. One of them is WNBA star Cheryl Ford. It took years to claim the twins, and now he and his wife, Kay, fully accept them as part of their family.

But what about Demetrius? Doesn't he deserve the same measure of love and recognition?

I can certainly relate to Bell's experience. I didn't meet my father until after my 40th birthday. Our separation was under different circumstances, but I can imagine how difficult it must have been for Bell not having a connection with the man partly responsible for his existence. At least my father and I have a relationship now.

As a first-time father, I can't understand how any man could turn his back on his own blood. There's a word for that, and it's appropriate: Deadbeat.

Fortunately for Bell, he's doing just fine without Malone. Bell has clearly moved on with his life.

"All of that's behind me right now," Bell said during a conference call Sunday. "I feel good I made it this far. Nothing against him, but I feel good at this time. If he would've been there, yeah, it would've been good. But if not, it's even better. Everything is a plus right now."

Bell has come a long way as a football player in a short time. His high school didn't have a football team, so he focused on basketball and was good enough to earn a scholarship to Northwestern State. He played in 88 games, with six starts, and was one of four Division I athletes to play basketball and football last season.

Bell didn't play offensive tackle until three weeks before the 2006 season opener at Kansas. That was the first of his 22 consecutive starts over the last two years.

Whether Bell will stick with the Bills remains to be seen. Seventh-round picks are the long shots on a preseason roster. But a player of his athletic ability deserves a good look.

"I've still got room for everything," Bell said. "I think my strongest part is pass blocking. But I'm getting stronger by the moment. That's a plus on my stopping the bull rush. Run-blocking is always getting better when I'm adding bulk and getting stronger. And technique- wise, it's all about the coach teaching me his technique or what technique he wants. I think it's all on the upside."

Here's hoping Bell has a long and prosperous NFL career. He might never be as great in his sport as Malone was in his, but Bell has already surpassed his father as a man.

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/story/334471.html

9:36 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

911 operator falls asleep during a call
Current mood: calm
Category: News and Politics

When you call 911, you expect help immediately. Lisa, a Memphis resident, got anything but.

"Our lives were in danger," she said. "Our lives were at stake, and our lifeline was severed."

Severed, she said, because during a recent call to 911, the operator fell asleep while she was on the line.

[The call] begins as Lisa calls 911 and a Memphis operator comes on the line. Lisa tells the operator she was robbed at gunpoint earlier in the evening, and that she now hears someone trying to break into our home.

"I just heard tapping on my window," she tells the operator. "I need somebody over here."

The line goes silent. As Lisa continues to explain her situation, the dispatcher does not respond - not for just 15 or 30 seconds, but for one full minute.

Then, sounds of snoring can be heard on the line.

"Are you there?" Lisa asks.

"Yes ma'am," the operator replies. "What is the, um, what's your address?"

Lisa can then be heard hanging up the phone.

Lisa eventually got help, but only after she called another 911 agency. Because she works for another 911 agency in the Mid-South, and does not want to create conflicts with her employer, she asked that her name and appearance not be revealed in this story.

Since the incident described in this story, Lisa has moved outside the city limits of Memphis.

UPDATE: Late Monday afternoon, a Memphis Police Department spokesperson said the dispatcher and supervisor on duty the night of the call have been relieved of duty. The supervisor was relieved for 20 days, and the dispatcher for 7 days. Neither have yet returned to work.

11:33 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Supreme Court harms 4th Amendment
Current mood: disgusted
Category: News and Politics

So much for this:

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

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Court broadens police power in searches

April 24, 2008

By Pete Yost - WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court affirmed yesterday that police have the power to conduct searches and seize evidence, even when done during an arrest that turns out to have violated state law.

The unanimous decision comes in a case from Portsmouth, Va., where city detectives seized crack cocaine from a motorist after arresting him on a traffic-ticket offense.

David Lee Moore was pulled over for driving on a suspended license. The violation is a minor crime in Virginia and calls for police to issue a court summons and let the driver go.

Instead, city detectives arrested Moore and prosecutors said drugs taken from him in a subsequent search can be used against him as evidence.

"We reaffirm against a novel challenge what we have signaled for half a century," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote.

Justice Scalia said that when officers have probable cause to think a person has committed a crime in their presence, the Fourth Amendment permits them to make an arrest and to search the suspect in order to safeguard evidence and ensure their own safety.

Moore was convicted on a drug charge and sentenced to 3½ years in prison.

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled that police should have released Moore and could not lawfully conduct a search.

The state's high court said state law restricted officers to issuing a ticket in exchange for a promise to appear later in court. Virginia courts dismissed the indictment against Moore.

Moore argued that the Fourth Amendment permits a search only following a lawful state arrest.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she finds more support for Moore's position in previous court cases than the rest of the court does. But she said she agrees that the arrest and search of Moore was constitutional, even though it violated Virginia law.

The Bush administration and attorneys general from 18 states lined up in support of Virginia prosecutors.

The federal government said Moore's case had the potential to greatly increase the class of unconstitutional arrests, resulting in evidence seized during searches being excluded with increasing frequency.

Looking to state laws to provide the basis for searches would introduce uncertainty into the legal system, the 18 states said in court papers.

9:28 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Paris Hilton doesn’t like large breasts
Current mood: confident
Category: Movies, TV, Celebrities

I normally hate Hollywood gossip, but this was rather intriguing...

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Paris Hilton has declared that small boobs are best.

The heiress has had a pop at busty rival Jessica Simpson, claiming the Dukes Of Hazzard star's assets are "too big".

She said: "I like how mine are, I don't like big boobs.

"I think they're too ... big."

And as if to prove a point, Paris arrived at The Sanderson Hotel in London yesterday in a see-through top that made a point or two.

Paris was also clearly in the mood for more bitching - Kim Kardashian, and her "gross" bum, being the next target.

She added: "It's disgusting. It reminds me of cottage cheese inside a big trash bag."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/article1043625.ece

3:53 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment