Uncle Fats' Tasty Meal of the Week Uncle Fat's Note: Liberal usage of bourbon above the 2 tablespoons is encouraged... http://floras-hideout.com/recipes/recipes.php?page=recipes&data=b/Bourbon_Pecan_Pie_-_NY_Times Bourbon Pecan Pie - NY Times Servings: 8 Categories: Alcohol / Crust-Pie / Desserts / Pies & Pastries Ingredients: Crust 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons sugar 1 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons sweet butter; cold, cut up 3 tablespoons shortening, cold 3 tablespoons water, iced Filling 3 eggs, beaten 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup light corn syrup 1/2 cup dark corn syrup 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted 2 tablespoons bourbon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup pecans, chopped Directions: 1. Crust Place flour, sugar, and salt in bowl of food processor. Pulse just to combine. Add butter and shortening. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. With machine running, slowly pour in water. Process just until mixture begins to come together. Gently press dough into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to fit a 9 in. plate. Place dough in plate and trim, crimp edges. 3. Preheat oven 375 degrees. 4. Filling Whisk together the eggs, sugar, light and dark corn syrups, butter, bourbon and salt. Place the pecans in the bottom of the pie plate. Pour the filling over the pecans. Bake until set, about 35-40 minutes. ***** War Paint and Lawyers: Rainforest Indians versus Big Oil Greg Palast investigates for BBC Newsnight - TONIGHT Chevron: "Nobody has proved that crude causes cancer." Tuesday, November 27, 10:30pm GMT [5:30pm New York Time] - live on BBC2 TV or on the net at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/default.stm BBC Television Newsnight has been able to get close-in film of a new Cofan Indian ritual deep in the heart of the Amazonian rainforest. Known as "The Filing of the Law Suit," natives of Ecuador's jungle, decked in feathers and war paint and heavily armed with lawyers, are filmed presenting a new complaint in their litigation seeking $12 billion from Chevron Inc., the international oil goliath. It would all be a poignant joke - except that the indigenous tribe is suddenly the odds-on favorite to defeat the oil company known for naming its largest tanker, "Condoleezza," after former Chevron director, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. For Newsnight, reporter Greg Palast, steps (somewhat inelegantly) into a dug-out log canoe to seek out the Cofan in their rainforest village to investigate their allegations. Palast discovers stinking pits of old oil drilling residue leaking into drinking water - and meets farmers whose limbs are covered in pustules. The Cofan's leader, Emergildo Criollo, tells Palast that when Texaco Oil, now part of Chevron, came to the village in 1972, it obtained permission to drill by offering the Indians candy and cheese. The indigenous folk threw the funny-selling cheese into the jungle. Criollo says his three-year son died from oil contamination after, "He went swimming, then began vomiting blood." Flying out of the rainforest, past the Andes volcanoes, Palast gets the other side of the story in Ecuador's capitol, Quito. "It's the largest fraud in history!" asserts Chevron lawyer Jaime Varela reacting to the Cofan law suits against his company. Chevron-Texaco, Varela insists, cleaned up all its contaminated oil pits when it abandoned the country nearly 15 years ago - except those pits it left in the hands of Ecuador's own state oil company. What about the Indian kids dying of cancer? Texaco lawyer Rodrigo Perez asks, "And it’s the only case of cancer in the world? How many cases of children with cancer do you have in the States, in Europe, in Quito? If there is somebody with cancer there, [the Cofan parents] must prove [the deaths were] caused by crude or by petroleum industry. And, second, they have to prove that it is OUR crude – which is absolutely impossible." The Texaco man stated, "Scientifically, nobody has proved that crude causes cancer." Even if the Indians can prove their case and win billions to clean up the jungle, collecting the cash is another matter. Chevron has removed all its assets from Ecuador. But, this week, the political planet tilts toward the natives as Alberto Acosta takes office as President of Ecuador's new Constitutional Assembly. Newsnight catches up with Acosta - who gives Chevron a tongue-lashing. "Chevron is responsible for environmental and social destruction in the Amazon. And that’s why they’re on trial." "He LOVES Chavez" Little Ecuador does not seem like much of a match against big Chevron - whose revenue exceeds the entire GDP of the Andean nation. However, behind Little Ecuador is Huge Venezuela - and its larger-than-life leader, Hugo Chavez. "Acosta," complains one local pundit to the BBC, "loves - LOVES - Chavez." And apparently, the feeling is mutual. That is, Chavez sees in Ecuador's new government, which won election campaigning to the tune of the Twisted Sister hit, We're Not Gonna Take it Anymore, a new ally in his fight with George Bush over control of Latin hearts and minds - and energy. Chevron-Texaco's largest new oil reserves are in Venezuela; Venezuela stands with Ecuador; and Ecuador now stands with its "affectados," the Indians and farmers claiming the poisons in their bodies trace right back to the Texaco star. Suddenly, the David-versus-Goliath story of Little Indians versus Big Oil is becoming part of the larger conflict between Uncle Sam and Uncle Hugo. The outcome is now a cliff-hanger. Indeed, Newsnight has learned that this month, Chevron will face a new legal challenge by Cofan attorneys before US securities regulators to investigate whether the company has fully disclosed to shareholders the massive potential legal liability from the equatorial Rumble in the Jungle. Watch the story live on BBC2 or, in the US, on the net at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/default.stm after broadcast - or via a link from www.GregPalast.com. WARNING: The day's news events may require Newsnight to delay broadcast to another evening. And this weekend, catch Palast discussing the BBC Report with environmental crusader Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on RFK's Air America Radio program, Ring of Fire. And pick of a copy of "Ecuador: Oiled and Despoiled," one of the documentary shorts on Palast's DVD film collection, The Assassination of Hugo Chavez, released this week. Available only by making a tax-deductible donation to The Palast Investigative Fund at www.PalastInvestigativeFund.org BBC Television Newsnight story filmed in Ecuador by Rick Rowley, edited by Jacquie Shoohen in New York, produced in London by Meirion Jones, written and reported from Ecuador by Greg Palast. www.GregPalast.com Widely Reported ***** New Rense.com advertiser site: Psi-Lord http://www.psi-lord.com/ Psi-Lord.com - The Hypersite - the only scientific explorer, developer, creator of new psychic discoveries in every field of Psi, exposing the pitfalls and the rewards of Psi-technology. 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The guide has click ons to relevant sections in the Hypersite that are good starting points for your search through the largest psychic resource on the Internet. ***** http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071128/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/blackwater_prosecutions Witnesses testify in Blackwater lawsuit By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer Wed Nov 28, 2007 A federal grand jury investigating Blackwater Worldwide heard witnesses Tuesday as a private lawsuit accused the government contractor's bodyguards of ignoring orders and abandoning their posts shortly before taking part in a Baghdad shooting that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead. Filed this week in U.S. District Court in Washington, the civil complaint also accuses North Carolina-based Blackwater of failing to give drug tests to its guards in Baghdad — even though an estimated one in four of them was using steroids or other "judgment altering substances." A Blackwater spokeswoman said Tuesday its employees are banned from using steroids or other enhancement drugs but declined to comment on the other charges detailed in the 18-page lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed Monday on behalf of five Iraqis who were killed and two who were injured during the Sept. 16 shooting in Baghdad's Nisoor Square. The shootings enraged the Iraqi government, and the Justice Department is investigating whether it can bring criminal charges in the case, even though the State Department promised limited immunity to the Blackwater guards. Justice Department national security prosecutors Kenneth Kohl and Stephen Ponticiello, both of whom are handling the Blackwater case, spent much of Tuesday afternoon in the grand jury room, which is off limits to the public. Two witnesses also spent hours behind closed doors in the District of Columbia's federal courthouse. One of them emerged sporadically to speak with an attorney, who refused to identify himself, his law firm or his client. When the grand jury was dismissed for the day, the men left without commenting, as did Kohl. Before the shootings in Baghdad last September, the three teams of an estimated dozen Blackwater bodyguards had already dropped off the State Department official they were tasked with protecting when they headed to Nisoor Square, according to the lawsuit filed by lawyers working with the Center for Constitutional Rights. Blackwater and State Department personnel staffing a tactical operations center "expressly directed the Blackwater shooters to stay with the official and refrain from leaving the secure area," the complaint says. "Reasonable discovery will establish that the Blackwater shooters ignored those directives." Additionally, the lawsuit notes: "One of Blackwater's own shooters tried to stop his colleagues from indiscriminately firing upon the crowd of innocent civilians but he was unsuccessful in his efforts." The civil complaint offers new details of the incident that has strained relations between the United States and Iraq, which is demanding the right to launch its own prosecution of the Blackwater bodyguards. The Justice Department says it likely will be months before it decides whether it can prosecute the guards, and it is trying now to pinpoint how many shooters in the Blackwater convoy could face charges. A senior U.S. law enforcement official confirmed Tuesday that government investigators are looking at whether the Blackwater guards were authorized to be in the square at the time of the shooting. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation. In an interview, lead plaintiff attorney Susan L. Burke said private investigators turned up the new evidence through interviews with people in Iraq and the United States "who would have reason to know." Those people do not include government officials, Burke said, and she declined to comment when asked if they include Blackwater employees. The civil lawsuit does not specify how much money the victims and their families are seeking from Blackwater, its 11 subsidiaries and founder, Erik Prince, all of whom are named as defendants. "We're looking for compensatory (damages) because the people who were killed were the breadwinners in their families," Burke said. "And we're looking for punitive in a manner that suffices to change the corporation's conduct. We have a real interest in holding them accountable for what were completely avoidable deaths." The lawsuit also accuses Blackwater of routinely sending its guards into Baghdad despite knowing that at least 25 percent of them were using steroids or other "judgment-altering substances." Attorneys estimated that Blackwater employs about 600 guards in Iraq. The company "did not conduct drug-testing of any of its shooters before sending them equipped with heavy weapons into the streets of Baghdad," the lawsuit states. Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said Blackwater employees are tested for drug use before they are hired and later given random quarterly tests. She said use of steroids and other performance enhancement drugs "are absolutely in violation of our policy." "Blackwater has very strict policies concerning drug use, and if anyone were known to be in violation of them they would be immediately fired," Tyrrell said. She declined comment on whether the bodyguards ignored their orders and abandoned their posts, or on other details outlined in the lawsuit. Blackwater's contract with the State Department to protect diplomats in Iraq expires in May, and there are questions whether it will remain as the primary contractor for diplomatic bodyguards. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said his Cabinet is drafting legislation that would force the State Department to replace Blackwater with another security company. The State Department declined to comment on the case Tuesday, citing standard policy on pending legal matters. Deputy spokesman Tom Casey referred questions on the matter "to those involved in the lawsuit." ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Matt Apuzzo contributed to this report. ***** Carson Daly, Entertainment Douchebag of the Month http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8T6F7HO0&show_article=1 Carson Daly About to Defy Writers Strike Nov 28, 2007 By FRAZIER MOORE AP Television Writer NEW YORK (AP) - NBC's "Last Call with Carson Daly" is about to become the first late- night talk show to defy the writers strike and resume production. Daly, who is not a member of the Writers Guild, will begin taping new episodes of his Burbank-based show this week for airing next week, an NBC spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. The half-hour "Last Call" airs at 1:35 a.m. EST weeknights, but whether Daly's first new episode would air next Monday or Tuesday was initially unclear. No guests were disclosed. "The Writers Guild of America, East joins our colleagues of the Writers Guild of America, West in expressing our profound disappointment with Carson Daly's decision to return to work," the guild said in a statement that also commended other late-night talk show hosts for showing solidarity with their writers. "We thank them and hope that Mr. Daly will reconsider his decision, including the soliciting of scab writers to provide material for his program." Daly is not the first talk-show host to go back into production. Ellen DeGeneres, who is a member of the union, has continued taping her daytime syndicated talk show after shutting down the first day of the strike. But "Last Call" becomes the first to break ranks among the late-night shows, which all had chosen to air repeats rather than tape new shows without their striking writers. It was unclear what effect, if any, the return of "Last Call" would have on other late-night talk shows, which include NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," CBS' "Late Show with David Letterman" and "Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson," and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Comedy Central's late-night news-and- commentary spoofs, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" with Stephen Colbert, have also been in reruns. There was no immediate word on when any of those shows might follow suit and return with new episodes. On Monday, contract talks with the studios resumed for the first time since movie and TV writers went on strike Nov. 5. The Writers Guild is seeking more money for material distributed over the Internet and cell phones. ___ NBC is owned by General Electric Co. ___ On the Net: http://www.nbc.com ***** http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=303 November 26, 2007 Jen Howard, Free Press, (202) 265-1490, x22 FCC Chairman’s Big Media Giveaway Exposed Free Press report outlines 10 facts Kevin Martin ‘doesn’t want you to know’ about cross-ownership proposal WASHINGTON — Today, Free Press released Devil in the Details, a report exposing 10 key facts that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is hiding from the public about his recent proposal to lift the longstanding ban on “newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership.” Using a carefully crafted PR campaign — including an op-ed in the New York Times — Chairman Martin has portrayed his proposal as a “moderate compromise” that would only allow one company to own both a daily newspaper and a broadcast TV or radio station in the 20 largest media markets. But Devil in the Details exposes how the loose and ambiguous “waiver” standard proposed by Martin creates a giant loophole for big media companies to sidestep the ban in any market and for any station. “Chairman Martin’s double-speak can’t disguise the fact that his proposal would gut the cross-ownership ban everywhere,” said Derek Turner, research director of Free Press and co-author of the report. “The reality is that Martin’s plan is no moderate compromise. If passed, the new rules would unleash unprecedented consolidation across the country.” To stop a merger in the top 20 markets, the burden of proof would rest with average citizens and public interest groups opposing the deal. Outside the top 20 markets, the burden of proof would rest with media companies — the same companies that control all the information and could make promises that would be almost impossible to enforce. “Martin’s proposal stacks the decks against the public interest,” said Marvin Ammori, general counsel of Free Press and co-author of the report. “The expensive and bureaucratic waiver process would pit the limited resources of average American citizens against giant media companies with the money and time to game the system.” As this new report illustrates, Martin’s rhetoric can’t match the reality that his plan is a massive giveaway to the largest media companies. The 10 facts about the proposal include: FACT #1: Martin’s “modest” proposal is corporate welfare for Big Media. Martin’s plan would unleash a buying spree in the top 20 markets, making it easier for companies like Belo, News Corp. and Tribune Co. to push out independent, local owners. FACT #2: Loopholes open the door to cross-ownership in any market. Under Martin’s loose standards, cross-ownership waivers could be approved in hundreds of smaller cities and towns. FACT #3: Loopholes allow newspapers to own TV stations of any size. The same technicalities could permit top-rated stations in any market to combine with major newspapers. FACT #4: FCC history shows weak standards won’t protect the public. The current rules forbid cross-ownership, but the FCC hasn’t denied any temporary waiver request in years. FACT #5: Cross-ownership doesn’t create more local news. The latest studies — using the FCC’s own data — show that markets with cross-ownership produce less total local news, as one dominant company crowds out the competition. FACT #6: Cross-ownership won’t solve newspapers’ financial woes. Claims that the newspaper industry is about to “wither and die” are greatly exaggerated, and no evidence shows that cross-ownership would make things better. FACT # 7: The Internet is an opportunity, not a death sentence. Mergers and consolidation are not the answer to the financial problems of the traditional media. FACT #8: Martin’s plan would harm minority media owners. Nearly half of the nation’s minority-owned TV stations are lower-rated outlets in the top 20 markets, making them a target for Big Media takeovers. FACT # 9: A broken and corrupt process creates bad policies. The FCC’s lack of transparency, flawed research and secret timetable have tossed aside basic fairness and accountability in the rush to change media ownership rules. FACT # 10: The public doesn’t want more media consolidation. Martin’s actions ignore the millions of Americans — and 99 percent of the comments in the FCC docket — who oppose letting a few media giants swallow up more local media. “Chairman Martin has demonstrated an unyielding determination to ignore the public will and any evidence that challenges his predetermined conclusions,” said Craig Aaron, communications director of Free Press and co-author of the report. “His proposal undermines the FCC’s fundamental responsibility to protect competition, localism and diversity over the public airwaves. It’s now up to Congress to put the brakes on runaway media consolidation.” Read Devil in the Details: http://www.stopbigmedia.com/files/devil_in_the_details.pdf