Lost in the cyberspace Google's censorship against Uruknet

June 19, 2008Google must really have a thing against Uruknet. After Google News’ censorship now Uruknet disappears even on Google’s search engine.Google stopped indexing Uruknet the middle of May. After Uruknet wrote (again!) many e-mails to Google (and again! we didn’t receive any reply) Google restarted indexing some (not all!) Uruknet’s article on June 17. However, it seems that these articles have a short life on Google since they keep disappearing immediately after they are indexed. For instance this is a Google’s page saved today, June 19, at 3pm Rome time and this is the same search Google page, the same day at 10 pm Rome time - While the first page at 3pm shows the Uruknet’s article indexed by Google, in the second page’s results the article disappeared and Google left simply the Uruknet’s homepage. Moreover Uruknet’s articles indexed by Google before the middle of May are being disappearing as if someone is manually deleting them. As odd it may seem, it’s as if someone inside Google deleted the indexed article. Google has already stopped indexing Uruknet from Google News, justifying it with lies and preposterous excuses. Now it seems Google is deleting even those Uruknet’s articles that had already been automatically indexed by the search engine. Furthermore Google search engine shows Uruknet’s results at the very last position, if at all. Google’s censorship becomes very clear if one contrasts and compares the search of the word "uruknet" on Google and Yahoo. Searching the word "uruknet" on Google this evening the results were 194,000. On Yahoo the same word shows 1,550,000 results.We don’t ask anymore our readers to write to Google since we lost even our last hopes in their fairness and good faith, but we would be grateful if our readers could post and distribute this article over the Internet; this affair goes far beyond Uruknet and Internet censorship is a real threat and is happening now. Of course we reserve the right to take legal action against Google.

Ben Laden has been found

BinLaden_ is BinLaden@americas.most.wanted.man.is.still.bin-laden.biz * BinLadenBinLaden_ on #Iraq #Iran @#YouTube @#EeePC #Afghanistan @#Uefa #DC-Spam #DC BinLaden_ using irc.wh.verio.net ooh omnipotence. mm yes gotta get me some of that.BinLaden_ actually using host 212.224.67.35BinLaden_ End of /WHOIS list

Oh I forgot to tell you guys we found this nickname on IRC :P

Living conditions worsen for US children

By Naomi Spencer16 June 2008
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For decades, measures of child well-being in the United States—infant mortality rates, the percentage of children whose parents had steady employment, and general health indicators—saw gradual improvements or stable levels for the overall population. Since 2000, however, many aspects of this trend have stalled or reversed course as millions of working class families have fallen into poverty and low-wage jobs, and basic government-funded social programs have eroded.
Data compiled in the annual Kids Count report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) emphasize this fact, noting that now “more children are living in relative poverty in the United States than in any other economically advanced nation.”
Most of the figures in the report are derived from the federal Census Bureau’s 2000-2006 American Community Surveys, Supplementary Surveys, and analysis by the Population Reference Bureau. The AECF also utilizes state-level data, which is more recent, but not consistent across the country. In the years since the bulk of the census data was compiled, the situation has undisputedly worsened for broad sections of the population. Nevertheless, the figures are revealing and worth looking into in some detail.
The AECF noted that between 2000 and 2006, the 10 indicators of child well-being—infant mortality and low-birth-weight rates, child and teen death rates, teen pregnancy and high school dropout rates, and proportions of children living in single-parent, low-income, and unemployed parent households—have overall remained flat; “improvements have stalled.”
“In fact,” the report states, “the child poverty rate has increased by 6 percent, meaning 1 million more children in poverty in 2006 than in 2000.” In 2006, 18 percent, or 13.3 million children, officially lived in poverty.
The 2006 poverty line was $20,444 for a family of two adults and two children. This is an unrealistically low government determination that has the effect of restricting aid eligibility and understating the official poverty estimates. Most advocacy organizations suggest that a more realistic poverty threshold would fall closer to twice the federal poverty line. The definition of “low-income,” which is less than twice the poverty rate, is therefore a frequent measure used for economic surveys, and one that more accurately captures the living conditions for the broad majority of working families.
In 2005, more than 14.8 million children lived in low-income working families, with the highest geographic concentrations in urban areas and in the South, and demographically among black and Hispanic populations.
Indicators varied enormously among the states. According to the AECF, “The rates of the worst states are approximately two to four times those of the best states on every indicator.” New Hampshire, Minnesota and Massachusetts ranked highest overall; Mississippi, Louisiana and New Mexico had the lowest composite index.
In 2006, 24.3 million US children—one in three—were living in families where no parent had full-time, year-round employment. In North Dakota, which fared best in the AECF ranking on this measure, 24 percent of children lived in this situation. In Louisiana, 43 percent of kids lived in households where adults did not have steady work; in Mississippi, the rate was 42 percent. Throughout the South and Southwest, virtually all state-level indicators of child well-being were at their worst.
Urban areas throughout the country registered far higher concentrations of poverty than the national average. In Detroit, Michigan, 59 percent of children had no parent at home who had a full-time, year-round job, and 16 percent of children lived in low-income households where no parents worked at all in 2006.
Although Detroit is well known as a city with deep and growing impoverishment, the AECF tabulations indicated that working class families in many other cities throughout the country were confronting economic crisis in similar numbers. In both Atlanta, Georgia, and Memphis, Tennessee, 53 percent of children lived in families in which no parent had full-time, year-round employment; 57 percent of children in New Orleans, Louisiana, and in Cleveland, Ohio, faced the same circumstances.
According to Census Bureau data, upon which the AECF tabulations are based, 64 percent of children in Hartford, Connecticut, lived with parents who did not have full-time employment through the year, but the city was not included in the rankings. Even in the better-ranked cities, Mesa, Arizona, and Virginia Beach, Virginia, one in four children lived in such circumstances.
In virtually every city for which data was provided, the majority of children lived in low-income households falling under the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development definition of “housing burdened,” wherein housing costs consumed more than 30 percent of monthly incomes. Above this level, according to HUD, families are less likely to have enough financial resources left for food, utilities, or other basic needs.
Exorbitant housing costs are a pervasive problem in the US. The District of Columbia registered the lowest proportion of low-income families in this predicament—57 percent. In Miami, Florida, 85 percent of children lived in this situation. The state-by-state data was comparable, with New Jersey ranking highest at 80 percent, and sparsely populated South Dakota ranking lowest at 38 percent. Nationwide, two in three low-income children were in housing-burdened families.
Such figures carry significant social implications. An increasing proportion of the younger generations in the US are growing up in economic straits, in families burdened by low wages, rising living expenses, and debt. For younger workers who have children at home, particularly in former industrial strongholds and manufacturing centers, steady employment is more difficult to secure. The “American dream”—finishing school, landing a good-paying job, buying a home and raising a family—is far from the reality for many working class households.
As the financial situation worsens, health, education and other indices of overall well-being also decline.
Nationwide, the number of low-birth-weight births has increased dramatically. In 2005, more than 338,500 babies were born weighing less than 5.5 pounds—putting them at higher risk for death before the age of 1 and having developmental problems. Some 8.2 percent of all births in 2005 were low birth weight, up 8 percent since 2000. The rate is the highest in 40 years.
Similarly, the infant mortality rate—the measure of infant deaths per 1,000 live births over the year—has not improved since 2000. In 2001-2002, the infant mortality rate increased for the first time in five decades. According to the AECF, in 2005, 28,440 infants died in the US, averaging to 6.9 deaths per 1,000 live births. Mississippi’s infant death rate stood at 11.3 per 1,000 births. The District of Columbia, which was not included in the AECF rankings, had an infant mortality rate of 14.1, and the overall infant mortality rate for African-American babies was 13.7 in 2005. These rates are higher than those of Serbia, Sri Lanka, Uruguay, and Bosnia, and nearly 100 other countries.
The rates of low-birth-weight births and infant mortality must be seen in the context of decades’ worth of improvements to prenatal care and medical technology. Behind the worsening health outcomes for children and their mothers is the dismantling of social programs, which began under the Clinton administration and has accelerated under Bush, along with the initiatives of reactionary state governments to gut funding and privatize healthcare for the poor.
At the same time that government assistance has been scaled back and restricted, employers have cut pensions and insurance benefits for hundreds of thousands of workers, and the costs of private insurance and medical care itself have soared to prohibitive levels. In many cases, families that can barely afford housing and food simply go without medical care.
Child and teen death rates have declined for the past several years, which the AECF attributes in part to better medical technology. The report notes that during 2005, nearly 11,400 kids between the ages of 1 and 14 died in the US, averaging 31 per day. In addition, “13,703 adolescents ages 15 to 19 died, and this is the equivalent of the number of passengers on 39 jumbo jets. Virtually all of these deaths were preventable.”
Teen pregnancy rates have also declined over the past several years, to just under 414,600 babies born to teenage girls in 2005. This is still about 1,136 births every day, making the US rate one of the highest among economically developed nations in this category. The AECF notes that “preliminary data for 2006 show the possibility of an increase in the teen birth rate for the first time in a decade.”
The high school dropout rate has also declined, to 7 percent nationally. However, in 2006, the report notes that there were 1.1 million teens between the ages of 16 and 19 who were not in school and had not graduated, and there were 1.4 million in this age group who were neither in school nor working. Reflecting economic stagnation, for the 15 states comprising virtually the entire South and Southwest of the country, 1 in 10 teens were “idle.”
Corresponding to a deterioration in the quality of education, economic opportunities and, in general, social and cultural outlets for youth, the “juvenile corrections systems” have grown larger and more draconian throughout the country. Beginning in the 1990s, many schools began adopting various so-called “zero-tolerance” policies and invasive security practices. Rather than simply working to correct behavior within the school systems, students who violated school policies were instead sent into the court systems. There, because of cuts to mental health and child welfare programs, large numbers of teens with behavioral problems or mental disabilities were shunted into juvenile detention centers.
“Each year now, as many as 200,000 youth under age 18 are tried in adult criminal courts nationwide,” according to an essay accompanying the Kids Count data book. And on any given day in the US, nearly 100,000 young people are confined by court order in prisons, “treatment” centers, or group homes. The AECF notes, “Just 24 percent of youth confined in 2003 were adjudicated for violent felonies, whereas more than 45 percent were guilty only of status offenses; probation violations; misdemeanors; or low-level felonies unrelated to violence, weapons, or drug trafficking.” In 29 states, kids are automatically transferred out of juvenile courts into the adult criminal courts for certain crimes on the reactionary notion of “adult time for adult crime.”
Teens within the adult corrections systems are subjected to horrific abuse. They are far more likely to be sexually assaulted, be beaten, and commit suicide. Their mental health and development are profoundly interrupted by incarceration. According to research from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation cited by the AECF, “Only 12 percent of formerly incarcerated youth had a high school diploma or GED by young adulthood.” And “Only about 30 percent were in either school or a job one year after their release...and they are more likely to be divorced and to bear children outside of marriage.”
Juveniles are also being subjected to long sentences, even for life terms. The AECF comments: “While the Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty for juveniles, it did not ban life sentences without the possibility of parole, a disturbingly popular alternative. Worldwide, 2,388 prisoners are currently serving life sentences for crimes they committed before age 18; all but 7 are imprisoned in the United States.”
See Also:Life expectancy declines for women in Southern US counties: a consequence of widening inequality[24 April 2008]Infant mortality rates rising in US: Southern states hardest hit[3 May 2007]More US children in poverty and poor health[13 August 2005]US child poverty on the rise—statistics mask depth of crisis[1 June 2005]

Ready To Laugh At McCain Family Debt? Not So Fast ...

Seth Colter Walls
With news of the McCain family's six-figure credit card debt cropping up today, its not too hard to imagine a little light-hearted chuckling among middle class folks getting a look at the spendthrift habits of elites. As The Hill reported this morning, based on disclosure reports released today, Sen. John McCain and his wife Cindy owe at least $100,000 to American Express, with a "dependent child" also holding a card with a balance between $15,000 and $50,000.

But not all credit card debts are created equal. In fact, according to a prior disclosure form filed in May that was provided to The Huffington Post, a significant amount of the McCains' credit card debt is being held by American Express at an interest rate of zero percent -- making their debt a lot less like the costly credit card pitfalls facing many Americans and a lot more like the big sweetheart loans that can get national political figures in hot water. (Sen. Barack Obama's first choice to head up his vice presidential search committee resigned this week after a controversy emerged over a favorable mortgage he received from Countrywide, a key player in the current housing crisis.)

Zero-percent credit card interest rates are not exclusively for the rich or well-connected, of course. But the most common offers of that kind are often capped at a few-thousand dollars and shed their zero percent rate after six to nine months.

According to the May 15, 2008 disclosure form, though, during 2007 Cindy McCain originated an individual debt of between $250,000 and $500,000 with a zero-percent interest AmEx that was still not paid off by the time of the time of that filing.

[Click here to see page 18 from May disclosure form.]

In other McCain family financial news, Megan McCain -- she of McCainBlogette.com -- has announced she'll be producing a children's picture book about her father. While the publisher, Simon & Schuster, will be donating a portion of the money it makes off the title to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, a veterans' charity, it appears Megan will not. Perhaps she has a little credit card debt to pay off. But even if that's the case, there's no need to hurry -- the "dependent child" credit card debt listed on McCain's May disclosure form is also being charged at a rate of zero percent.

The problem with computers and Gil Bates

Impeachment Happening in Congress Right Now!

I hope it will come true:

David Swanson
June 09, 2008
Congressman Dennis Kucinich is on the floor of the House of Representatives right now introducing 35 articles of impeachment against President George W. Bush.Yes, 35. He'll be reading for a while.Watch C-Span Now!If you don't have cable, go to a bar and tell them to put it on C-Span 1!Or watch at the Video/Audio tab athttp://c-span.orgTake your laptop outside and turn the volume up!
More details coming later tonight!Action in the House coming later this week!Good websites to watch for updates and actions:http://kucinich.ushttp://democrats.comhttp://afterdowningstreet.orgLet Justice roll down like waters in a mighty stream . . .There's going to be at least one article of impeachment that interests you and perhaps even mentions you. Watch for updates.

BBC uncovers lost Iraq billions

By Jane Corbin BBC News
A BBC investigation estimates that around $23bn (£11.75bn) may have been lost, stolen or just not properly accounted for in Iraq.
For the first time, the extent to which some private contractors have profited from the conflict and rebuilding has been researched by the BBC's Panorama using US and Iraqi government sources.
A US gagging order is preventing discussion of the allegations.
The order applies to 70 court cases against some of the top US companies.
War profiteering
While George Bush remains in the White House, it is unlikely the gagging orders will be lifted.
To date, no major US contractor faces trial for fraud or mismanagement in Iraq.
The president's Democrat opponents are keeping up the pressure over war profiteering in Iraq.
Henry Waxman who chairs the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said: "The money that's gone into waste, fraud and abuse under these contracts is just so outrageous, its egregious.
"It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history."
In the run-up to the invasion one of the most senior officials in charge of procurement in the Pentagon objected to a contract potentially worth seven billion that was given to Halliburton, a Texan company, which used to be run by Dick Cheney before he became vice-president.
Unusually only Halliburton got to bid - and won.
Missing billions
The search for the missing billions also led the programme to a house in Acton in West London where Hazem Shalaan lived until he was appointed to the new Iraqi government as minister of defence in 2004.

Judge Radhi al Radhi: "I believe these people are criminals."He and his associates siphoned an estimated $1.2 billion out of the ministry.
They bought old military equipment from Poland but claimed for top class weapons.
Meanwhile they diverted money into their own accounts.
Judge Radhi al-Radhi of Iraq's Commission for Public Integrity investigated.
He said: "I believe these people are criminals.
"They failed to rebuild the Ministry of Defence , and as a result the violence and the bloodshed went on and on - the murder of Iraqis and foreigners continues and they bear responsibility."
Mr Shalaan was sentenced to two jail terms but he fled the country.
He said he was innocent and that it was all a plot against him by pro-Iranian MPs in the government.
There is an Interpol arrest out for him but he is on the run - using a private jet to move around the globe.
He stills owns commercial properties in the Marble Arch area of London.
Panorama: Daylight Robbery will be on BBC One at 9pm on Tuesday 10 June 2008.

"Countdown" Beats "O'Reilly Factor" In Ratings Demo For First Time Ever

MSNBC's "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" beat Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" in the key Adults 25-54 demographic for the first time ever last week.

"Countdown" averaged 477,000 viewers (A25-54) vs. O'Reilly's 472,000 (excluding Tuesday's primary coverage). This marks the first time that MSNBC has beaten Fox News in O'Reilly's 8pm time slot since June 2001.

McCain: Vladimir Putin is the President of Germany?