Month: November 2006

Fish And Seafood Population On The Brink Of Extinction

A new study funded by the National Science Foundation and the University of California predicts we have only forty-two more years until the bulk of the world’s fish and seafood populations are largely wiped out. That’s from here to the year 2048.

The researchers, who called their findings uniformly disturbing, based their fish population study on data from nearly 50 marine locations under protection, as well as U.N. data.

The cause? Overfishing, for one, as well as climate change. But the study notes that oceans already have lost so many species that it’s hard for other species to thrive. Species loss disrupts food chains, which, in turn, disrupts the fragile balance of complex systems, both on land and in the water.

There is still time to reverse the trend, the researchers say, but only if quick action protects depleted fisheries more effectively and saves ocean habitats by creating new marine reserves.

[Sources: Sci-Tech, SFGate]

Saddam Hussein Sentenced To Death By Hanging

Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, was pronounced guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging earlier today by the Iraqi High Tribunal.

The charges against him were related to the ordering of the killing of 148 Shia civilians in the town of Dujail in 1982.

Saddam’s sentence will be automatically appealed and reviewed by a panel of nine appeal judges, who will decide whether or not to allow a retrial.

If the judgement stands, however, Saddam must be executed within 30 days of the appeals panel delivering its verdict, which has to be ratified by Jalal Talibani, the Iraqi president.

Saddam, 69, said that he wants to be executed by firing squad. However Iraqi law states that he will be executed by hanging.

Saddam’s reaction to the verdict was to shout: “Long live the Iraqi people, damnation for the damned. You are the servants of the colonizers, Long live the people, long live the Arab nation! Down with the agents. Down with the occupier.”

Reactions are mixed to this verdict in Iraq, the Arab countries and around the world; with some people expressing joy, others anger and some others disagreement.

US president George W. Bush calls the verdict “a major achievement for Iraq’s young democracy”.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said: “The Saddam Hussein era is in the past now, as was the era of Hitler and Mussolini,” calling Hussein the worst ruler ever in Iraq. He also said he hoped that the verdict would help bring about reconciliation.

There’s also some buzz going on about how this verdict was announced just a couple of days before the US mid-term elections, and that it maybe an attempt to tip the scale towards the republicans.

Anyway, personally, I think it was very clear from the beginning that a death sentence awaited Saddam at the end of the line, and that this eleven month trial was more or less an act.
Saddam is a criminal, and many innocent lives were lost at his orders, so he deserves whatever he gets, but let’s not forget that much more innocent Iraqi people died because of George W. Bush’s orders than his.

[Sources: CNN, Al Jazeera, Chicago Tribune]

Six Arab States Join Nuclear Race?

Just came across this piece of news that some people are portraying as such a big catastrophe…

The spectre of a nuclear race in the Middle East was raised yesterday when six Arab states announced that they were embarking on programmes to master atomic technology.

The move, which follows the failure by the West to curb Iran

Poll: America, A Threat To World Peace…

That’s what the results of an ICM poll say…

America is now seen as a threat to world peace by its closest neighbours and allies, according to an international survey of public opinion published today that reveals just how far the country’s reputation has fallen among former supporters since the invasion of Iraq.

Carried out as US voters prepare to go to the polls next week in an election dominated by the war, the research also shows that British voters see George Bush as a greater danger to world peace than either the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, or the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both countries were once cited by the US president as part of an “axis of evil”, but it is Mr Bush who now alarms voters in countries with traditionally strong links to the US.

[Source: The Guardian]

world10a.jpg

[Via: Justice For All]

links for 2006-11-03

Snakes On A Plane

You know how when you hear about how bad a movie is, and how much it sucks, and it gets you curious to see how bad it could really be?
Well that’s what happened to me; I was at the DVD rental shop and among the available movies I found “Snakes On A Plane” featuring Samuel L. Jackson, and I simply got curious.

To say the truth, I’ve seen movies that were worse than this one, but still it doesn’t really make it any better. It’s B-movie, straight to television material at best.

It’s true there are some ok sequences of this snake or another killing a person, but other than that, this movie is basically a waste of time.
What’s weird is that NewLine actually went back to film more footage for this film upon recommendation of the fans, and I suspect those were actually the ok scenes, so I don’t even want to imagine what the movie was like before that.

I don’t get it why really good actors like Samuel L. Jackson agree to work on such bad movies sometimes, it’s a waste of talent, and an act of disrespect towards themselves.
I know everyone needs money, but when you’ve built a name for yourself, you should be a bit more selective when it comes to what movies you stick your name on.

Anyway, if I were to rate this movie, I think I’d give it a: 3/10.

Still, if you want, for some weird reason, such as owning a piece of cinematic history crap, you can buy the “Snakes On A Plane” DVD here.