FURTHERMORE. . .

DEFENSE TECH - Score one for the good guys. In a shockingly sane move,
the Bush Administration -- widely considered to be the most secretive in
recent history -- is going to let hundreds of millions of
once-classified documents enter into the public sphere. Secret documents
25 years old or older will lose their classified status without so much
as the stroke of a pen, unless agencies have sought exemptions on the
ground that the material remains secret. And every year from now on,
millions of additional documents will be automatically declassified as
they reach the 25-year limit, reversing the traditional practice of
releasing just what scholars request. Gearing up to review aging records
to meet the deadline, agencies have declassified more than one billion
pages, shedding light on the Cuban missile crisis, the Vietnam War and
the network of Soviet agents in the American government. Earlier this
year, the Administration was scrambling to make secret again already
declassified papers, like the CIA's 1948 plan to drop leaflets behind
the Iron Curtain. Good for them for having the sense to switch course.

http://www.defensetech.org/

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AP - About three-fourths of people in the United States, Australia,
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea and the United Kingdom say
they experience stress on a daily basis, according to AP-Ipsos polling.
Those anxious feelings are even more intense during the holidays.
Spaniards, 61 percent, were not as wound up as those in most other
countries polled. And they could all take a lesson from Mexico, where
more than half of Mexicans said they rarely or never experience stress
in their daily lives. . . Germans feel stress more intensely than those
in other countries polled. People in the United States cite financial
pressures as the top worry. About half the people in Britain said they
frequently or sometimes felt life was beyond their control, the highest
level in the 10 countries surveyed. In most of those countries, men were
more likely to say their lives were never out of control. . . In the
United States, Britain and Mexico, finances were cited most frequently
as the top source of stress. Jobs were the top source of stress in
Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, South Korea and Spain. The French
viewed jobs and finances equally as top sources of stress.

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WOMEN'S WEAR DALY - As the body mass index of runway walkers continues
to make headlines, skinny models just might present a whole new problem
for editors. Everyone has a story of a celebrity cover slimmed by
Photoshop, but several editors have been quietly ordering the retouching
of gaunt model shots to make them look, well, a little fatter. 'A model
shows up and you realize she's too thin and has lost weight since the
booking, but the show must go on,' said Allure editor in chief Linda
Wells. 'When the film comes to me, I realize I don't want to see hip
bones and ribs in the magazine.'

http://www.wwd.com/issue/article/111517

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REUTERS - U.S. Hispanic groups and activists called for a moratorium on
workplace raids to round up illegal immigrants, saying they were
reminiscent of Nazi crackdowns on Jews in the 1930s. They accused the
Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement of "racial profiling,"
or selective enforcement against Hispanics, for arresting 1,300 workers
on immigration violations in December 12 raids at meatpacking plants in
six states. "We are demanding an end to these immigration raids, where
they are targeting brown faces. That is major, major racial profiling,
and that cannot be tolerated," said Rosa Rosales, president of the
League of United Latin American Citizens, at a news conference. "This
unfortunately reminds me of when Hitler began rounding up the Jews for
no reason and locking them up," Democratic Party activist Carla Vela
said. "Now they're coming for the Latinos, who will they come for next?"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061221/us_nm/immigration_raids_dc

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ROMA LUCIW, GLOBE & MAIL, CA - An unprecedented number of Americans
avoided the hassle and cost of a same-day cross-border car trip in
October, as overall U.S. travel to Canada dropped to its lowest level
since record-keeping began in 1972. In all, Americans made 2.29 million
trips to Canada in October, according to a report from Statistics
Canada. That marks a 2.2-per-cent drop from September and a
12.1-per-cent tumble from a year ago. . . Although Statscan does not
track the reasons for shifts in travel, economists and experts believe
the drop is being driven by the weaker U.S and stronger Canadian
dollars, the high cost of gasoline, and the U.S. push to tighten
security.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061221.RTOURISM21/
EmailTPStory/Business

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LISA DE MORAES, WASHINGTON POST - Looking forward to the "Kennedy Center
Honors" broadcast the day after Christmas just to see Jessica Simpson's
redo performance of "9 to 5" during the tribute to Dolly Parton? Ha!
It's gone, show producer George Stevens announced yesterday. At the
Kennedy Center, Simpson clutched during her tribute to Dolly Parton. Her
performance was cut from CBS's Honors special, airing Dec. 26. CBS has
agreed to expunge Simpson entirely from the broadcast; through the
miracle of modern technology, it will appear as though she was never
there. The decision to yank the performance was made Wednesday night, a
Simpson rep told The TV Column yesterday. Her client had been sent an
advance copy of what would be broadcast and "she didn't like what she
saw," the rep said. Apparently it wasn't up to the standards of, say,
that Directv ad, a Daisy Dukes homage in which Simpson, playing a
waitress dressed in a Hooters-tight T-shirt and teensy shorts, saunters
up to a table of guys, one of whom slaps her on her butt and is kicked
out of his chair and onto the floor by Simpson, who, putting her
stilettoed foot firmly on his throat, drawls, "Hey -- 253 straight days
at the gym to get this body and you're not gonna watch me on Directv HD?
You're just not gonna get the best picture."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/21/
AR2006122101824.html?nav=rss_print/style

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SLASHDOT - The RIAA, in an expected motion, has recently dismissed the
case against Patti Santangelo, one of the most famous targets of the
RIAA lawsuits. The mother of five was described by the judge presiding
as an 'internet-illiterate parent, who does not know Kazaa from kazoo.'
While this is good news, the RIAA is still pursuing its case against two
of Mrs. Santangelo's children. To make matters worse, the RIAA has also
dismissed the case 'without prejudice', meaning that they could, in
theory, take action against her again later on. The RIAA alleges that
Santangelo's children downloaded and subsequently distributed more than
1,000 songs. The damages they seek are presently unknown"

http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/64818330/article.pl

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JUDICIAL WATCH has released a list of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted
Corrupt Politicians." The list includes Jack Abramoff, Senator Hillary
Clinton, Tom Delay and Mark Foley. Clinton makes the list because her
fundraising operation was fined $35,000 by the Federal Election
Commission for failing to accurately report more than $700,000 in
contributions to Clinton's Senate 2000 campaign. With that little a
fine, it's hardly worth bothering to report any contributions.

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GALLERY OF INSCRIBED NAPKINS PUT IN A DAUGHTER'S LUNCH BAG BY HER FATHER
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digioreo/140418788/in/set-1494002/

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THE 4862 NAMES OF GOD
http://folk.ntnu.no/wiborg/tableofgods/index.php?sort=name

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PR WATCH - A full-page ad in Variety magazine calls attention to the
odd, front-and-center placement of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes in the
movie "Bobby," a fictionalized account of the 1968 assassination of U.S.
Senator Robert F. Kennedy. At a time when cigarette brand identification
in movies is finally getting rarer, the Marlboros are displayed
prominently in the hand of an actress in a long, 30-second, two-angle,
center-screen shot. The placement is even weirder considering that Bobby
Kennedy's leadership helped finally push cigarette ads off the airwaves
for good over 35 years ago. Real-world smoking rates have declined
tremendously in the last 40 years, but smoking in the movies has
mysteriously skyrocketed back to levels not seen since the 1950s, when
smoking was considered alluring. Nothing happens by accident in the
production of a high-dollar motion picture, which leads us to believe we
smell the stench of product placement.

http://www.prwatch.org/spin/

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BOSTON GLOBE - A member of the Portland School Committee failed to set a
good example for students following an arrest that capped a night out on
the town, but he hopes he'll able to keep his seat on the board. Jason
Toothaker, 24, was charged with misdemeanor theft after he allegedly
failed to pay a $4.65 taxi fare and then ran from police officers early
Saturday. Toothaker, who was arrested after he was found hiding under a
deck, said he was so drunk he doesn't remember the cab ride or running
from police. "I'm sorry about what happened. I feel stupid for what
happened," said Toothaker, who had no money in his wallet at the time of
the cab ride. Toothaker, who is one of four Green Independent Party
members on the nine-member school committee, said he plans to seek
counseling for stress-related issues at the University of Southern
Maine, where he is a student.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/articles/2006/12/19/
portland_school_committee_member_charged_with_theft?rss_id=
Boston.com+--+Maine+news

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THE HIGHWAYMEN: Why you could soon be paying Wall Street investors,
Australian bankers, and Spanish builders for the privilege of driving on
American roads.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2007/01/highwaymen.html

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STUPID NEWSPAPER PUBLISHER TRICKS; SUING OVER CRITICAL ARTICLE IN
JOURNALISM REVIEW
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/19/business/
NA_FIN_US_Newsroom_Turmoil.php

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U.S. BACKS DOWN ON SUBPOENA OF ACLU
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/18/
AR2006121801094.html?nav=rss_nation

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BEAUTIFUL LANDING OF PLANE WITHOUT LANDING GEAR
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/345693/emergency_landing_without_gear/

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A MY SPACE FOR STUDENT ARTISTS
http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/stuart/FullSizeArt/ast_id/21187/image_id/
150201/imageno/2

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