Eideard

Green Party supporters celebrate in Bremen
Daylife/Reuters Pictures used by permission

Angela Merkel has been dealt another blow after support for her Christian Democratic Union party plunged once again – this time at regional elections in Bremen.

For the first time in state elections, the Green party won more votes than the CDU, capturing almost 23% of the vote on Sunday, according to an exit poll from German state television ARD. The Green surge, if confirmed by final results, means the party will continue to rule in coalition with the Social Democrats (SPD), who have been in charge of the north German city for 66 years.

While the Greens’ victory in the smallest of Germany’s 16 states will not directly affect the chancellor’s hold on the federal government, it is another symbolic black eye for Merkel and her party.

In Baden-Württemberg’s state election in March, the Christian Democrats were voted out of power for the first time in five decades. The anti-nuclear Greens became the strongest party there amid concerns over Germany’s atomic future following the Fukushima plant accident in Japan. The win will mean that Germany will have its first Green governor…

Sunday’s vote in Bremen marked the first time in German history that people between 16 and 18 were allowed to vote for their state legislature. Despite that effort to boost the vote, ARD estimated a turnout of 54%, down from 57% four years earlier.

I’m not close enough the streets of Germany to hazard an educated guess on how much of the vote embraced Green ideology and platform and how much was simple rejection of what the Conservative Christians have failed to achieve, have substituted for progress. But, given the diminishing turnout, I’d tend towards the latter sociology – rather than a mandate for eco victory. Yet.

Attorney Andrew McCullough in Dr. John’s Novelty and Lingerie Shop

Two escort services have filed a federal lawsuit to halt a Utah solicitation law they fear could lead to the arrest of strippers or escorts who are simply acting sexy.

Utah defines solicitation as a person agreeing to sex in exchange for money. A new law that went into effect this month broadened the definition to include any person who indicates through lewd acts, such as exposing or touching themselves, that they intend to exchange sex for money.

It was intended to help law enforcement agents working undercover in prostitution stings, Salt Lake City Police Chief Chris Burbank said Friday. He said it would protect officers who were being asked by prostitutes to expose or touch themselves to prove they’re not police because making such requests as a precursor to offering sex for money is illegal under the new law…

Andrew McCullough, an attorney representing the escort services in the lawsuit filed May 9, said the law is so broad that it could allow police to arrest licensed employees of sexually oriented businesses, such as escort services or strip club dancers, for doing their job.

The expanded law includes language that makes a person exposing their genitals or touching themselves sexually an indication that they are offering sex. Those acts are legal in Utah for private strippers.

“Most girls who touch their breasts are not telling you they’re open for sex,” the attorney said.

Sounds like Utah lawmakers have never been to a contemporary rock’n roll concert. Which actually is no surprise.

Or someone might even be scratching – in mosquito season.

Allegations that Pakistan’s intelligence service was involved in the Mumbai terror attacks will be scrutinised in an American court case starting on Monday when the man who helped plan the 2008 strikes testifies against his alleged accomplice.

David Headley, a Pakistani-American businessman who has confessed to his involvement in the attacks, will be the star witness in the trial of Tahawwur Rana, his childhood friend, in Chicago.

Rana is charged with providing material support for terrorism in the assaults, which killed 166 people, as well as a plot in Denmark that was never carried out. Opening arguments in the case, based on the deaths of six Americans in Mumbai, will begin on Monday.

The case has drawn international attention because Headley’s testimony is expected to reinforce allegations that Pakistan plays a double game in the fight against terrorism. Its success will depend largely on how the jury views Headley, 50, who is said to have juggled relationships with multiple wives, terrorist groups and intelligence agencies.

Headley is a former informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He pleaded guilty last year to conducting reconnaissance for the Mumbai attacks and for the Danish plot. His confessions painted a devastating portrait of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI) – he says ISI officers helped the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist group plot the commando-style attacks on Mumbai…

Prosecutors recently raised the political stakes by indicting a suspected ISI officer for the murders in Mumbai. The officer, identified only as Major Iqbal, allegedly oversaw Headley’s scouting in India.

The decision to indict Iqbal was made at high levels in Washington, sending a signal from Barack Obama’s administration, which had expressed frustration about Pakistan’s reliability even before Osama bin Laden was found and killed in Abbottabad.

RTFA. Beaucoup detail. Involved, intricate, opportunist – and offering all the corruption you would expect in global politics.

The ISI is about as useful to processes dedicated to peace and security as the average teabagger is to stem cell research.

On the black sand beaches of Iwo Jima, 18-year-old Marty Connor stood over the body of a dead Japanese soldier. The young U.S. Marine figured it was only a matter of time before he suffered the same fate.

But he didn’t dwell on it and he didn’t ponder whether the enemy had a family, a hometown, or a name. Instead, he reached into the dead soldier’s pack and grabbed his diary…

Little did he know then that this was a moment that would change his life; that he would spend 40 years reuniting such war souvenirs with surviving relatives of the dead enemy soldiers…

When he returned home after the war, Connor locked up his souvenirs in a trunk and rarely thought about them again.

“Some of the Marines were getting back to have a reunion on the 25th anniversary of our landing,” said Connor. “I had a call if I’d like to go, and I thought yes, I would like to go back.”

Connor returned to Iwo Jima in 1970. On top of Mount Suribachi, he and other U.S. Marines shook hands with the Japanese veterans they had once fought against.

“They suffered, we suffered,” said Connor. “We came to tell them what brave soldiers they were… and our people, our Marines, were just as brave.”

The diary, photos and other items Connor had taken from Iwo Jima remained locked up at home. But one of his fellow Marines brought his souvenirs with him, and returned them to their owner’s grateful and tearful family.

The emotional scene stuck with Connor. A Buddhist monk named Tsunezo Wachi explained to him the deep spiritual significance these items had for the families of the dead soldiers.

As soon as Connor returned home, he opened the trunk for the first time in 25 years.

“I sent back whatever I had, and in most instances, [Wachi] found the families within two weeks after he received whatever I sent.”

Among the grateful recipients of Connor’s souvenirs was the widow of the soldier whose diary Connor had taken.

And that was the beginning of a 40-year mission to return the spoils of war to the Japanese families that survived the death of their loved ones in the Pacific Islands during World War 2.

RTFA. Please. Understand how the best of those who survived, who “won” a war – find the place in their hearts where they can replace victory with sympathy for those who fought just as bravely on the other side.

Unlike many of the concept cars we see at auto shows that are dummied up with clay, smoke and mirrors, Rolls Royce has always pursued an entirely different philosophy, building fully functioning “experimental vehicles.”

Each such car has been meticulously hand-built to investigate how a potential production model will operate in real world conditions since 1919, when the first such vehicle (1EX) was constructed, predating the 1938 Buick Y-Job (often claimed to be the world’s first concept car) by almost two decades.

The “Torpedo” styled 10EX was built in 1926 as a sports car version of the Phantom 1 and after many modifications, lapped Brooklands at an average speed of 91.2 mph. Most importantly, it stayed in the company as a staff car and occasional celebrity courtesy car for six years, being driven by many people of note, such as Lawrence of Arabia who once borrowed it for a European trip…

10EX was built in late 1925. Writing about the development of the 10EX, Henry Royce explained, “The object of preparing this chassis is that, if speed merchants in the form of English peers or Indian Rajahs or others doubt the capacity of the Rolls-Royce Phantom I, this specimen, which we should be able to repeat, can be tried by them… We have no thought of making a freak machine or to depart from the smooth and silent model, but we do think that the owners of the smooth and silent models within their large bodies capable of 80 mph will be pleased to know that the same chassis and engine when fitted to a touring car will be capable of 95-100 mph…”

So there you have it. 10EX is unquestionably exquisitely beautiful, it was one of the world’s first concept cars, has a splendorous and meticulously documented provenance, and … it’s for sale.

Lovely piece of automotive history. Too bad my wallet will never be expansive enough to afford such a lovely beastie.

Daylife/AP Photo used by permission

A destroyed helicopter lies on its side in the parking lot of the Joplin Regional Medical Center in Joplin, Mo. A large tornado moved through much of the city, damaging the hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses.

Throughout the U.S. South and as far north as Illinois and Indiana, a noisy and bizarre insect ritual is playing out for the first time since 1998. After living quietly underground for 13 years, billions of red-eyed cicadas — dubbed the “Great Southern Brood” by scientists — are emerging to mate and quickly die.

“The most common description I’ve heard is that it’s an alien invasion,” said Nancy Hinkle, a University of Georgia professor of entomology. “It sounds like the mother ship is hovering down in the woods.”

The insects are called “periodical” cicadas because they remain underground for years at a time, unlike the annual cicadas that surface each summer. There are also 17-year cicadas found largely in the Northeast and Midwest, Hinkle said.

“The periodical cicadas are about 30 percent smaller than the annual cicadas,” said Hinkle. “And periodical cicadas have bright red eyes.”

Commonly mistaken for locusts, they don’t bite and aren’t harmful to humans or crops.

The cicadas are not dormant during their long life underground. “They are actively growing,” Hinkle said. “The little nymphs are down in the ground, they’ve got their mouth parts attached to tree roots and they’re sucking the juice out of tree roots.”

When year 13 arrives, the nymphs burrow through the soil to the surface to become adults. They shed a layer of skin, leaving a shell behind. Then they inflate and dry their wings, allowing them to fly.

The roar begins as males attract females by furiously vibrating membranes in their abdomens, producing a loud drone…

But the fun, the feast and the noise will soon be over. After mating, females lay eggs on tree branches and, within a week or two, most of the adults die or get eaten. Little cicadas hatch, fall to the ground and burrow into the soil.

“We won’t see them again until 2024,” said Hinkle.

Just in case you plan on waiting.

The alert was raised by several members of the public yesterday afternoon when they spotted what they believed to be a live white tiger in a field near Hedge End, Southampton, Hampshire.

The police helicopter was scrambled and a golf course cleared after police arrived at the scene and confirmed the sighting.

Armed police were called to the scene in case the animal came too close to members of the public.

Specialist staff from nearby Marwell Zoo also attended to advise and potentially tranquilise the wild animal…Plans were put in place to close the nearby M27 motorway if necessary in case the tiger moved in that direction.

But as police officers carefully approached the ”wild animal” they realised it was not moving and the helicopter crew, using thermal imaging equipment, realised there was no heat source coming from it…

”The tiger then rolled over in the down draft from the helicopter and it was at that point it became obvious it was a stuffed life-size toy.

At this moment they’re treating as a lost-and-found event. Har!

Britain is withdrawing its troops Sunday from Iraq, ending a role that began with the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, British defense officials said…

“We now look forward to a strong, long-term defense relationship with Iraq,” Fox told the House of Commons when he announced Wednesday that British troops would leave the country.

The announcement effectively ended Britain’s role in Iraq, a role that was widely unpopular in the United Kingdom. About 179 British troops were killed during operations in Iraq.

Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in Britain when the war began, protesting the deployment of British troops to join then-President George Bush’s “Coalition of the Willing.” At the height of the war, more than 46,000 British troops were deployed primarily in and around the southern port city of Basra.

In 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered an inquiry into the UK’s participation in the war.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair testified during the inquiry that Iraq needed to be confronted over its ambitions to develop weapons of mass destruction… Supreme liar and flunky.

Britain ended its combat operations in Iraq in 2009 but maintained a small contingent, primarily members of the Royal Navy, to train Iraqi sailors and marines at the southern Iraqi port city of Umm Qasr…

Britain will leave behind a small contingent to protect its personnel at its embassy in Baghdad…

The legacy of the Brits in Iraq will always be colored by their colonial history.

Why should anyone remember us with more fondness than, say, a Ukrainian remembers the Germans?

Virtual wallet technology that lets people pay for a coffee, newspaper or sandwich by swiping a cell phone at a checkout is finally set to start rolling out, executives told the Reuters Technology Summit this week in Paris.

Retailers, fast-food chains, advertisers and banks are preparing for a sea change in electronic commerce as more smartphones capable of making financial transactions are released. Many say it will change the way they do business.

Near-field-communication (NFC), the technology most likely to be used in the West, is a wireless way to swap data at short range, which means NFC-enabled smartphones can pay for goods, store electronic tickets, collect coupons or swap photos…

On Friday, Orange and Barclaycard launched Britain’s first mobile payments service, allowing certain customers to make small payments in branches of fast-food chains including McDonald’s and Subway.

In other countries, notably Japan and South Korea, NFC technology is already well established…

Richard Clemmer said every smartphone manufacturer was looking at putting NFC in its phones. He reckons up to three-quarters of all smartphones will be NFC phones in five years and that some traditional phones will also start adding the technology, particularly for use in developing markets in Africa and Asia…

Low risk data transfers like using NFC to read tags on movie posters, connect to wifi at cafes and swap business cards will help boost acceptance and drive the first big wave of NFC rollout to the consumers.

There has been little or no problem with acceptance of the technology everywhere else in the world where it has been trialed. It has become part of normal.

Not that it means there won’t be political, legal or just plain bird-brained problems getting it up and running here.