Daily Rotten Archives January 31, 2004 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 Perle furnishes expert advice, assistance to terror group Washington Times | Submitted by: santorum from Frothy, PA "Richard Perle - who as chairman of the Pentagon's civilian Defense Policy Board advocated the invasion of Iraq - spoke at Saturday's fundraiser for the Iranian-American Community of Northern Virginia. That group is thought by U.S. intelligence agencies to have ties to Mujahedin-e Khalq and has been listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department since 1997. The group was supported by Saddam Hussein's Baath Party regime in Iraq for its efforts to overthrow the current regime in Iran. Perle has said in media reports that he only spoke at the event because he believed it was raising money for Iranian victims of the recent earthquake that killed tens of thousands." Read article... Who do you want to oppress today? Observer | Submitted by: Jonny Plasma "Technology sold by Microsoft to the Chinese government has been used by Beijing to censor the internet, and resulted in the jailing of its political opponents. An Amnesty International report has cited Microsoft among a clutch of leading computer firms heavily criticised for helping to fuel 'a dramatic rise in the number of people detained or sentenced for internet-related offences.' ... Microsoft told The Observer: 'We are focused on delivering the best technology to people throughout the world. However, how that technology is used is with the individual and ultimately not in the company's control.' ... Cisco Systems, which has also been named in the Amnesty report, has in the past denied that it tailors products for the Chinese market and has said: 'If the government of China wants to monitor the internet, that's their business. We are politically neutral.'" [Well good for you, fuckwads.] Read article... Georgia curriculum proposal angers Jimmy Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Submitted by: Reid Fleming "Former President Jimmy Carter said the state school superintendent's efforts to remove references to evolution from science curriculum standards will handicap students and damage Georgia's reputation. 'As a Christian, a trained engineer and scientist, and a professor at Emory University, I am embarrassed by Superintendent Kathy Cox's attempt to censor and distort the education of Georgia's students.' ... Cox, who could not be reached for comment on the issue Friday, proposed editing out the word 'evolution' as part of a massive revision of the state teaching curriculum. The teaching plans for high school biology and sixth-grade Earth science would replace references to 'evolution' with 'biological changes over time,' a phrase that scientists describe as meaningless." Read article... Man arrested over alleged Christian-themed Ponzi scheme roanoke.com | Submitted by: zooded420 "When federal agents entered William Thomas Warren's home Wednesday, the Troutville man was hiding in a crawl space in his basement, according to a federal affidavit. In his office, Warren had a sketch pad listing plans to escape and new places to live, according to court documents. One heading said, 'Where to Move Right Now'... Under that heading is the word 'reason,' under which the following appears: 'Indictment papers plus arrest avoid,' according to the affidavit. On Wednesday, federal authorities arrested Warren, who has advertised himself on his Web site as a 'financial pastor' on charges of mail and wire fraud... Warren collected about $3 million from investors, the affidavit alleges. He never invested the money, but would use most of the money from newer investors to pay off the older investors." [Classic.] Read article... Drama geeks thrown out for cutting up American flag South Florida Sun-Sentinel | Submitted by: ringo "The play praises patriotism, but the judges only saw teens cutting up an American flag. It was enough to disqualify Archbishop McCarthy High students from a competition early this week for their performance of The Children's Story. In the play, first published in 1963 by Shogun author James Clavell, third-graders in a classroom in a United States that has been defeated by a powerful enemy, presumably Communist, cut the flag into pieces. Their new teacher tells them if the flag is so good, everyone should get a piece and tells them to hand out the shreds. It's a message about the dangers of mindless political indoctrination... 'What's especially ironic is that this is a pro-democracy, anti-totalitarianism play, and yet they're punished for using the flag as an example of what shouldn't be done in a totalitarian society.'" Read article... Trebek falls asleep at wheel, catches air E! | Submitted by: hamster "Alex Trebek escaped some real-life jeopardy Friday after falling asleep behind the wheel of his truck and going airborne. The 63-year-old know-it-all was piloting his pickup on a rural road near Templeton, a town on the central California coast, when he apparently nodded off, plowed into a bunch of mailboxes and then made like the Dukes of Hazzard, taking flight over an embankment and landing in a ditch some 40 feet away, according to the California Highway Patrol. Trebek, who was making his way to his horse farm outside Templeton, managed to walk away from the accident unhurt." Read article... 38 Papuans killed, 1857 sickened by bad pork Pacific Islands Report | Submitted by: Reid Fleming "In Indonesia's Papua province, 38 people have died after eating contaminated pork. Officials say some 1,857 Papuans suffered diarrhea after eating the leftover pork. An official says residents in Pegunungan Bintang district in the Central Highlands had eaten roast pork left over from a traditional Christmas feast." Read article... Scientists support Martian microbe fossils Australian IT | Submitted by: Reid Fleming "The Martians are not coming - they've probably already arrived on earth. And we could be their descendants. Two Australian scientists have developed new technology to confirm claims by NASA that a meteorite from Mars found in Antarctica in 1984 contained microscopic fossils from the red planet... biophysicist Dr Tony Taylor from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) in Sydney and the University of Queensland's Professor John Barry devised a new technique which they say affirms the Martian microbe theory 'beyond reasonable doubt.' ... The findings were published in the latest edition of the Journal of Microscopy." Read article...