KiwiCoromandel

there`s a lot going on there.....taiwan mainly......it could get ugly later....

Just like me...paul revere & the raiders.... :)

bummer....oh well..check the pet thread....... :)

right..i`ve gone down with it a couple of times..when you least expect it too...and on dial up when i had it.. :(

Judges deny Schiavo parents again Schindlers to Governor Bush: 'Please do something' Saturday, March 26, 2005 Posted: 7:05 AM EST (1205 GMT) PINELLAS PARK, Florida (CNN) -- A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday night against the parents of Terri Schiavo, who are in a desperate race to prolong the life of their brain-damaged daughter. The judges ruled against reinserting the tube that supplies Schiavo with nutrients and hydration. The Atlanta, Georgia-based court had been asked to decide whether Schiavo's due process, religious and other rights are being violated. Schiavo's feeding tube was removed a week ago, and her parents -- Mary and Bob Schindler -- have experienced a series of legal setbacks since then. After the federal panel's decision Friday night, the Schindlers appealed to Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene, calling what happened "judicial homicide." "Governor Bush, you have the power to save my daughter," Mary Schindler said. "Please, please do something." Schiavo's father was more forceful. "[bush] has put Terri through a week of hell and our family through a week of hell by not acting," Bob Schindler said. "He has to come up to the plate." In a separate, emergency motion, on which a Florida state judge is expected to rule by noon Saturday, the Schindlers contend that their daughter has expressed the wish to live. "She managed to articulate the first two vowel sounds, first articulating AHHHHHHH and then virtually screaming WAAAAAAAA," the motion said. The incident happened in the presence of Schiavo's sister, Suzanne Vitadamo, and an aunt, according to the motion. At the emergency hearing Friday afternoon, the parents' lawyer, David Gibbs, asked 6th Circuit Judge George Greer to consider allowing Schiavo a minimal amount of intravenous fluids while new information is examined. Greer agreed to consider that request but denied Gibbs' request for a different judge. The emergency hearing was conducted via conference call. Schiavo's father said she is showing increasing signs of "starvation and dehydration." "I told her we're still fighting for her. And she shouldn't give up, because we're not. But I think the people who are anxious to let her die are getting their wish," Bob Schindler told reporters outside the hospice where Schiavo lives. Read more...... http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/26/schiavo/ story.schindler.trio

Teen accused bank robbers indicted by US grand jury 26.03.05 3.40pm Accused teenage bank robbers Luke Carroll and Anthony Prince have lost their first court battle in the United States. Carroll, a 19-year-old Australian, and Prince, also 19 from New Zealand, have been indicted by a grand jury in the US. The jury, in a secret hearing in Denver late yesterday, found there "was probable cause" the teenagers armed themselves with BB guns and robbed a bank in the Colorado ski resort town of Vail of approximately US$130,000 (NZ$183,175) Carroll and Prince, who are locked up in a federal prison in Denver, face up to 25 years in a US prison if convicted of the March 21 robbery of the Weststar Bank. The FBI has alleged Carroll and Prince confessed to the robbery after their arrest on March 22. The grand jury was the first test of the US authorities’ case against the Australasian friends, who arrived in America last November and were working in a Vail sports store. "Individuals charged with a federal offence have a constitutional right to be indicted by a grand jury," US Attorney’s Office spokesman Jeff Dorschner told AAP today. "A grand jury is nothing more than a group of citizens who sit and hear evidence presented by the government and determine whether based on the evidence presented by the government there is probable cause that the defendants committed the crime as alleged." The hearing is held in secret. Carroll and Prince are expected to make their next court appearance on Monday in the US District Court in Denver for a bail hearing. It is also possible they will be arraigned at the hearing and asked to enter a plea. The robbery has grabbed the attention of the US media as the accused robbers appeared to have made a number of bumbling mistakes. Read more...... http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10117244

Jennifer Aniston files for divorce Mar 26, 2005 Jennifer Aniston has filed for divorce from Brad Pitt, quashing hopes of a happy ending for one of Hollywood's hottest couples. The star of hit TV series "Friends" filed for divorce in the Los Angeles Superior Court, three months after she and Pitt jointly announced a separation. The filing gave no indication on how the couple plan to divide their extensive assets, which include several multimillion-dollar homes and a production company. Aniston met Hollywood leading man Pitt on a set-up dinner date in 1998 and the two were married in July 2000 in a lavish oceanside ceremony featuring fireworks and live music by passionate French band The Gipsy Kings. The terse announcement of their separation on January 7 caused speculation about the cause of the breakup. Could it have been differences over the ideal moment to have a child? Was it interference from a growing friendship between Pitt and sultry actress Angelina Jolie? The break came as Pitt, 41, reportedly wanted to start a family, while Aniston, who has since turned 36, wanted to put childbearing off to focus on her career. People west coast editor Todd Gold said that was part of the reason. She also wanted to make sure her marriage would last, he said. Then, there is speculation that Jolie, named sexiest woman by Esquire last year, caught Pitt's eye, as they worked together on "Mr and Mrs Smith." "There was no confirmation that he had an affair with Angelina Jolie," Jess Cagle, the People editor, said. "We do know that a respect developed and they became friends and I'm not sure that sat well with Jennifer Aniston." No, no and no, the couple said in a joint announcement of their separation on January 7. Read more...... http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_entertainment_...7%3fformat=html

War on the Web The control room Blaster, Sasser, Slammer, Mydoom ­ these are just of the better known and most notorious viruses and worms on the web. They spark an instant response in the Microsoft internet war room. Virus or worm outbreaks are now identified within 45 minutes, triggering a routine that includes a customer guidance notice within two hours of an emergency alert being declared. This is followed by webcasts with specific technical information within a day or two. It took 10 days for such a procedure to occur after Blaster (2003) but this was down to two days for Sasser (2004). For the latter, worm removal software and cleaning tools were released in two stages over three days compared with 38 days for Blaster. Kevin Kean, head of the centre, said the routine had become simplified because of criticism of its ad hoc nature. Security bulletins are now released on the second Tuesday of each month, with three business days' notice so IT departments are well prepared. Malicious software (malware) tools for all known viruses and worms are also available on this basis. Mr Kean said although these diagnoses and reaction times had become faster, it was difficult to predict the future. "It is very hard to speculate there will not be another Slammer. But the industry is becoming better at responses." The main aim was to ensure users were protected through the three broad solutions of anti-virus software, the security updates and always-on firewalls. "Firewalls defeated Blaster and Sasser," he said Read more....... http://nbr.co.nz/default.asp

ok...just one more closeup..... :bigsmile:

ripper the cat is back on nightshift with kiwi (11.01 PM here)..... :bigsmile:

China forgets manners as Rice visit touches nerves March 26, 2005 "How come the United States selects a female chimpanzee as Secretary of State?" "This black woman thinks rather a lot of herself." "She's so ugly she's losing face. Even a dog would be put off its dinner while she's being fed." The 5000 years of civilisation on which the Chinese pride themselves were not so evident this week in the comments on Condoleezza Rice's visit to Beijing posted on the internet site "New Tide Net". As monitored by the media analyst Liu Xiaobo, the overall tone of the 800 postings was hostile and about 10 per cent were racist, sexist or both, reflecting what Mr Liu calls a pervasive phobia here about dark-skinned races. Similar undercurrents well up in neighbouring South Korea and Japan, which Dr Rice also visited on her introductory Asian tour as Washington's foreign minister. Although Dr Rice's public comments here about the touchy subjects of Taiwan, North Korea and China's domestic freedoms were restrained, the visit capped a frustrating episode for the leadership. The "Anti-Secession Law" passed by the rubber-stamp Chinese parliament this month, designed to quelch moves towards formal independence in Taiwan, has boomeranged on Beijing. Read on....... http://smh.com.au/news/World/China-forgets...1692629223.html

pickup... :bigsmile:

Hasn't anyone noticed how much movie stars love Fidel Castro?.. ...the guy`s a flake as so many of them are....

my gawd that`s fast......

r.i.p. ...they still do reruns of beverly hillbillies on tv down here..i`ve laughed at many of them... :)

Rory Gallagher.......Taste Rory Gallagher will be remembered as an uncompromising musician and one of the finest slide guitar players in the world. In addition to his mastery of the dynamics of a Fender Stratocaster in overdrive, Gallagher excelled on the Dobro, mandolin, mandola, harmonica and saxophone. Gallagher became one of Ireland's first real rock stars while fronting the power trio Taste, a promising group that essentially imploded due to ego conflicts and internal tensions. Rising above the turmoil in 1970, Gallagher went on to launch a prolific solo career steeped in rock, jazz and blues. During the twenty or so years that followed, the guitar-slinging Irishman sold 30 million records and toured extensively worldwide. Gallagher attained fantastic commercial success in Europe and mounted no fewer than 25 full-scale United States tours over the years. Overseas, he played at numerous major blues and rock festivals, including Kempton Park, Sunbury (with Taste) in 1968, and the Reading Festival, at which he performed more times than any other act. Gallagher developed an image as an adventurous yet direct bluesman who eschewed commercialism in favor of musical integrity. "When I listen to something I like, I like to be taken out of my seat and thrown across the room," Gallagher once said. "I like guts, a good drive, which can include gentle stuff too. If it sounds good and feels good, that's it." Quotes like that, coupled with the intensity of most of his music, might lead one to think that Rory Gallagher was a fierce character, a mean ball of energy likely to explode into action at a moment's notice. Surprisingly, Gallagher was almost the complete antithesis of his aggressive music, as he was known for being quiet, friendly, soft-spoken and eager to please. Gallagher (b. March 2, 1948, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, Ir.; d. June 14, 1995) grew up in the city of Cork and, as a young boy in the 1950s, listened to skiffle musician Lonnie Donegan (who popularized folk-blues), bluesmen such as Leadbelly, and other the rock'n'roll stars of the period, including Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino and Buddy Holly. At age nine, Gallagher acquired his first acoustic guitar, which he taught himself to play using tutorial books. By the following year, the young Gallagher was performing in public, entering local talent competitions and playing at school functions and other social events. He formed a skiffle band with his brother, Donal, on washboard, and another friend on tea-chest bass. When he was 12, Rory won a talent competition at Cork City Hall and his picture was published in the local newspaper. That same year, he got his first electric guitar, a Rosetti Solid VII. He formed his first band the next year, but gigs were hard to find and they only played a couple of dates at the Cork Boat Club in Blackrock before disbanding. Gallagher tried unsuccessfully to form other bands, but at the time there was little demand for teenage rock'n'roll bands in Cork. Undaunted, he continued playing, and by the time he was 15, he purchased the famous 1961 Sunburst Fender Stratocaster that became his trademark, paying a small fortune of £100. In 1964, frustrated by his inability to get a band together, Gallagher responded to an advertisement for a guitarist in the Cork Examiner that led to his becoming a member of the Fontana Show Band. "We played all over Ireland, toured Spain and did a couple of English gigs," Gallagher once recounted. "It turned out to be great fun. We were luckier than most show bands; the drummer wanted to do Jim Reeves stuff but the rest of us wanted to play 'Nadine' and 'A Shot of Rhythm and Blues.'" While not a fan of show bands, Gallagher was attracted to the idea of performing before an audience while plugged into an amplifier. Show bands dominated the Irish concert landscape in the early 1960s. Basically Irish dance bands, show bands would perform a mixture of Irish music, country and western, comedy numbers and Top 20 hits. Gallagher was eager to perform rhythm and blues and rock numbers, but he had to cater to public expectations and perform the popular hits of the day, including some dreaded novelty numbers. He was eventually allowed to perform covers of Chuck Berry songs and other rock'n'roll numbers as well as a couple of his own compositions. The Fontana Show Band played in large dance halls a couple of nights a week around Cork, Kerry and Limerick, averaging 2,000 people at each show. They performed regularly at the Arcadia in Cork, where they would play the interval slots for headlining show bands and visiting British "beat" groups such as the Searchers and the R&B-oriented Animals. While the Fontana Show Band was touring Britain in 1964, Gallagher would spend his off-duty nights checking out the groups playing at the Marquee Club in London. Blues-driven beat music was becoming wildly popular and Gallagher was influenced by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, particularly Stones' guitarist Brian Jones-the first musician he ever saw play the slide guitar. Gallagher also liked the Big Three, a trio from Liverpool that favored obscure American R&B numbers played in a wild, raucous style. He was particularly impressed by their guitarist, Brian "Griff" Griffiths. In an attempt to shed the band's image, the Fontana Show Band changed their name to the Impact, with the intent of evolving into a beat group. In April 1965, the Impact appeared on the Irish TV show Pickin' the Pops, a program where a guest panelist predicted which records would chart. Gallagher and the Impact were expected to perform a Buddy Holly number, "Valley of Tears," which they had rehearsed. At the last minute, Gallagher decided to perform the Larry Williams rocker "Slow Down," much to the consternation of the show's producers but to the delight of an audience unaccustomed to the sight of a long-haired musician. Later that year, the group secured a six-week summer residency at an American air base located near Madrid, Spain. Although they still had to continue to perform the hits of the day, they played a lot of Chuck Berry and rock'n'roll numbers, including several originals penned by Gallagher. But by the time the group returned to London in late 1965, Gallagher was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the band. The Impact split up shortly afterward and their manager approached Gallagher about forming a new band to honor some of the Impact's dates in Hamburg, Germany. Gallagher recruited the Impact's former bassist, Oliver Tobin, along with a drummer named Johnny Campbell, to follow through on the three-week engagement. Other than the Big Three, a three-piece lineup was virtually unprecedented at the time. Since promoters expected a minimum of four musicians, the group had publicity photos taken with a friend posing with an organ. Upon arriving at the gigs, they would tell club managers that the fourth member had appendicitis and couldn't make the trip. Each night the trio performed six grueling 45-minute sets with 15-minute breaks, and it was here that Gallagher first experienced the pro guitarist's occupational hazard-getting "blisters on blisters" on his hands. After returning to Ireland in late 1965, even this hardy trio decided they'd had enough. Following the breakup of his first three-piece band, Gallagher formed another in Cork with bassist Eric Kitteringham and drummer Norman D'Amery, both formerly of the Axels Show Band. Gallagher had played with both musicians while they were still with the Axels, filling in for their guitarist on some remaining dates before they disbanded. The new band called themselves Taste. Gallagher had by now taken a strong interest in the blues, particularly the music of Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed and other American bluesmen. Early Taste played a mixture of R&B, blues and rock'n'roll. While the group continued to perform covers, such as Booker T. and the MGs' "Green Onions" and songs from the Chuck Berry catalog, they also wrote and played their own material. By 1966, beat music had found its way to Cork and a more active club scene emerged. Gallagher's new band found work at local clubs but encountered opposition to their three-piece lineup from the Federation of Irish Musicians. The Federation, whose membership was comprised largely of show band musicians, had strict rules regarding the minimum number of players required for each performance-usually seven or eight-and it actively enforced the minimum quota. The issue came to a head during Taste's first booking at the Arcadia in Cork when the Federation attempted to prevent the trio from performing. Eventually, the Federation offered a compromise: If Taste would audition for the union, the union would consider giving approval to the performance. The three members of Taste, however, were seasoned veterans of show bands and refused to subject themselves to an audition. Ultimately, Taste prevailed and the union backed down. The group proceeded with their performance, and in doing so also established a precedent for other beat groups that followed. During early 1967, the group found work in Cork and Dublin, and Gallagher also returned to Hamburg with the band. Taste relocated to Belfast and obtained a residency at the Maritime Hotel, which had a 200-capacity ballroom. Three years earlier, Van Morrison and Them had been the house band for the Maritime before the band relocated to London. Taste made a few recordings at the Maritime Hotel that were issued in 1974 as In the Beginning, 1967: Early Taste of Rory Gallagher. While in Belfast, the group supported many visiting British groups, including John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, the Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation and more significantly, Cream, the premier blues trio of the day. This led to work and a few gigs in London, particularly at the famed Marquee, where all the up-and-coming groups performed. London was a hotbed of blues-rock activity, so the group decided to move there in May 1968. Sometime during or after the move, the original Taste split up and by August, Gallagher found new supporting musicians: Richard McCracken on bass and John Wilson on drums. Both were Irish musicians who had met each other in the Derek and the Sounds Show Band, and Wilson had also briefly been a member of Them. While in London, the band performed regularly at the Speakeasy nightclub and quickly landed a weekly spot at the Marquee, playing their first gig there on February 10, 1968. "We got the residency after doing a few there and we built up a following. It gave us the chance of competition and solid work every Tuesday night-it was a real morale booster," Gallagher later recalled. Ariola issued recordings of the band's October 25, 1968, Marquee gig in 1987. Taste also generated a buzz on their first visit to Denmark in late 1968. The Danish Daily praised the band for their originality: "Taste does not belong to the purists and stylists. They do not belong to the introspective self-pawing and oh-so-emotional vegetables who torture the British blues with their despairing elegies. They belong to the few greats who have made the blues their very own-and their times'-expression." The review went on to predict that by the following year, Taste "with no difficulty whatsoever will inherit Cream [stature] and make themselves one of the biggest and best phenomenons beat music has ever experienced." Taste, along with Yes, supported Cream during Cream's farewell concert on November 25, 1968, at Royal Albert Hall. Chris Welch, reviewing the show for Melody Maker, was not particularly impressed: "The Taste proved a personal disappointment although they were well-received (apart from somebody laughing heartily during a particularly passionate blues ditty). Perhaps they were nervous, but the lead guitarist seemed to be playing a lot of dodgy chords and 'Summertime' did not convince." The group recorded their eponymous first album live on a rudimentary eight-track machine. Released in April 1969 on Polydor Records, Taste contained several strong tracks, including "Blister on the Moon," "Leaving Blues," "Born on the Wrong Side of Time" and "Same Old Story," but reviews were mixed. Melody Maker declared, "What they lack in style they make up in energy and enthusiasm," while New Musical Express stated, "This LP tends to be overbearing . . . but there's some goodness there as well." While the album went unnoticed in the U.S. and U.K., it reached the Top Ten in Holland. To coincide with the release, Major Minor Records issued an old recording (made by the previous lineup) as a single. It consisted of "Blister on the Moon" backed with "Born on the Wrong Side of Town." Both sides of the single were early versions of songs appearing on the first LP, although the B-side was re-titled "Born on the Wrong Side of Time" for the album. Taste soon became major headliners in Europe, and in the summer of 1969 they received even greater exposure when they toured the U.S. with Blind Faith. Gallagher started to incorporate jazz influences into his music and the group's live performances offered band members an opportunity to stretch out and improvise while still maintaining a blues base. Gallagher told Hit Parader, "We work things out as we go. We don't want to ever play it safe . . . it may fall really flat some nights, but you will be sure never to hear the same thing twice." He also commented on his progression to Melody Maker: "We listen to jazz but we're not wrapped up in the jazz thing. Obviously, the numbers are becoming more complex but that doesn't stop me from taking up the bottleneck and taking it back to something very traditional and simple." In January 1970, Taste released their second album, On the Boards, to unanimous critical acclaim. Beat Instrumental declared, "For sheer variety alone, the album is first class, and should make a substantial contribution towards giving Taste the success they deserve." Melody Maker commented, "Taste have matured; that is the basic difference between their debut album of last year and this collection of Rory Gallagher songs." In its review of the album, New Musical Express compared Taste to the icons of British blues: "Taste isn't quite a blues group and it wouldn't be right to describe them strictly as progressive, but they have an original bluesy style that is good and gutsy and reminiscent of the Stones or the Yardbirds circa 1964 in formation." Lester Bangs, writing for Rolling Stone, distinguished Taste from other blues bands by observing, "The band as a whole is so tight and compelling, the songs so affecting, and the experiments and improvisations so clearly thought-out, that it seems a shame to even suggest that Taste be classed in any way with that great puddle of British blues bands. Everybody else is just wood shedding, Taste have arrived." On the Boards reached #18 on the British charts and #33 in Germany. With a successful album behind them, the band's reputation spread fast and it seemed that Taste were poised for a big breakthrough. Beat Instrumental predicted, "The year of the Taste may well be 1970, on the strength both of their current album and of a return tour of the States." While the second U.S. trek in fact never came about, the band did tour Europe, including Scandinavia. However, by the time they played the Isle of Wight Festival on August 28, 1970, relations between Gallagher and the other two members of the band had become strained to the point where they refused to speak to one another. Despite this tension and lack of communication, they put on a competent performance that was captured on an album released two years later. (A film about the festival-one beset by crowd control problems-captured a shapely girl in the audience who became so moved and excited by Gallagher's Telecaster slide guitar during "Sinner Boy" that she stripped naked and then streaked in front of the stage. Nonplussed backstage security staff at once forcefully removed her as the crowd roared their displeasure at this over-zealous "police state" spectacle.) In the fall, Polydor Records sponsored Taste's first major tour of Britain, with support from Scottish group Stone the Crows and American singer Jake Holmes. During this tour, the sense of uneasiness grew among the band members with Gallagher effectively isolated from his rhythm section. Such friction inevitably affected their performances, as noted by this review in Melody Maker: "Taste swept into exciting yet totally unkempt and direction-less blues." The magazine then acknowledged, "Taste did have some good moments, but once into them, they musically took the easy way out, and for some totally inexplicable reason, for the talent IS there." While on the verge of breaking up, the band ironically saw their popularity reach massive proportions. In the article called "Is Fan Worship Coming Back?" published on September 12, 1970, Melody Maker grouped Taste with some of the biggest names of the day: "TASTE, Moody Blues, Free and Ten Years After-their musical policies may differ tremendously, but they all have something strikingly in common-they are today's hell raisers. They are today's front-line bands who are creating something we had almost forgotten existed-HYSTERIA." That same issue carried the front page headline, "Taste Fight Split," which reported, "Taste narrowly averted a split last week when disagreements between themselves threatened to wreck the group." Finally, mercifully, the group disbanded the following month. Melody Maker reported in its October 17, 1970, issue, "Taste will split on Saturday night and that's final." Taste's manager, Eddie Kennedy, explained some of the tensions to the magazine: "Gallagher was under the impression that HE employed Wilson and McCracken, and had in fact always been under this impression. They were purely working for HIS purposes." Moreover, drummer John Wilson complained in the same article, "The matter became absurd just before the start of last month's Polydor tour, when Gallagher demanded that he be given all tour earnings, so he could seemingly pay us whatever he felt like paying us. That was just going too far. We couldn't carry on." Wilson also remarked, "We wanted to be recognized as equals with Rory. But instead it was Rory this, and Rory that. I just wish someone had spoken to us about things." Melody Maker then wrote, "The tragic thing about the split is that neither Gallagher, Wilson or McCracken wanted it to happen. Already £35,000 worth of bookings have had to be canceled. The group has been causing a storm throughout Europe-and their Irish tour has brought scenes that can only be compared with Beatlemania." For his part, Gallagher refused to talk about the breakup and it remained an extremely sensitive topic throughout his life. His brother, Donal, who was his road manager at the time, blames the breakup on financial mismanagement on the part of the group's manager. Polydor released two posthumous albums in the U.K. after the group's demise, Live Taste, recorded at the Montreux Casino, and the aforementioned Isle of Wight performance. Following the breakup, Wilson and McCracken teamed up with Jim Cregan, former guitarist with Blossom Toes, to form Stud. Stud issued three albums before disbanding in 1973. Taste's disintegration and its aftermath was a traumatic period for Gallagher, but he overcame it and created another all-Irish three-piece. This time, the rhythm section consisted of drummer Wilgar Campbell and bassist Gerry McAvoy, both formerly of Deep Joy. McAvoy was a native of Belfast, Ireland, and would become a fixture in Gallagher's bands for the next 20 years. Gallagher had met McAvoy a couple of years earlier in Belfast, and Deep Joy had subsequently supported Taste on a few shows in England. Despite all his success, Gallagher had nothing to show for it and reportedly even had to borrow money from his mother to record his first solo album in the winter of 1970. The self-produced record, simply titled Rory Gallagher, was released on May 7, 1971. Consisting of ten tracks, all composed by Gallagher, the album was a varied collection highlighted by two concert favorites-"Laundromat" and "Sinner Boy." The trio was augmented by the late Vincent Crane, keyboardist in Atomic Rooster, who contributed his piano playing to two tracks. The solo release garnered favorable reactions in the U.K. Melody Maker opined, "Well, this is Rory-unabridged, downhome Rory Gallagher, doing precisely what he wants to do, and it's damned good. Gallagher has all the makings, all the trimmings, all the texture to be an absolute monster, and this first album since the fall of Taste is yet another pointer in that direction." Reaction in the U.S. was less enthusiastic, and Lester Bangs greeted the release with downright hostility. Writing for Phonograph Record, Bangs insisted, "This is one of the most positively moribund albums to come down the pike." Bangs also commented on the breakup of Taste, reminding fans, "The other cats [John Wilson and Richard McCracken] were saying things like he [Rory Gallagher] picked up the checks and paid them at rigid scale like one-nighter Chuck Berry sidemen or something. So now a little over a year later we have this album . . . [with] his fat ego flying free and it's one of the most noticeably vacuous releases of the season." Bangs's pontificating had little sway with the British record buying public, however. The album fared reasonably well, reaching #32 on the U.K. charts. In support of it, the group went on a British tour in May, followed by an Irish tour and a stint in the U.S. in October. Later that year, the band recorded their second album, Deuce. Released in November, it was another hard-edged blues collection that reached #39 on the British charts. A tour of Europe in February and March of 1972 was documented in the highly charged album, Live in Europe. A mixture of blues covers ("Bullfrog Blues," "I Could've Had Religion" and "Messin' with the Kid") with original compositions, Live in Europe was his most successful album to date, reaching #9 in the British charts and #32 in Germany. Gallagher also found time during the year to record with his hero, Muddy Waters, on the Muddy Waters-London Sessions album. In June, Gallagher formed a new lineup, retaining bassist Gerry McAvoy and adding two former members of Killing Floor, Rod De'Ath (drums) and Lou Martin (keyboards). This lineup stayed together for the next five albums spread over six years. In its September 30, 1972, issue, Melody Maker published its annual poll results. The readers selected Rory Gallagher as their top guitar player, dethroning none other than Eric Clapton in the process. But perhaps the most fitting affirmation of Gallagher's stature as a rock'n'roll musician is that when Mick Taylor left the Rolling Stones in 1974, Rory's name was on the short list of probable replacements. Throughout the rest of his career, Gallagher stayed true to his vision and released a series of solid, blues-oriented works. With supporting musicians McAvoy, De'Ath and Martin, Rory recorded Blueprint (1973, U.K. #12), Tattoo (1973, U.K. #32), and Irish Tour '74 (U.K. #36). Irish Tour '74 was undoubtedly his most significant accomplishment of this period. Recorded in early 1974, the Irish concerts documented his performances at the peak of his career. The tour was filmed and became the subject of a documentary by director Tony Palmer. In 1975, Gallagher signed to Chrysalis and recorded Against the Grain (1975) and Calling Card (1976, U.K. #32). During the sessions for Calling Card, which took place at Musicland Studios in Munich, he attended sessions for the Rolling Stones' Black and Blue album. Gallagher embarked on his tenth American tour in 1976 and had the distinction of being the first artist to perform on a Eurovision television transmission to over 100 million people. In 1977, he recorded an album in San Francisco but was dissatisfied with the results. He disbanded his four-piece band, keeping only bassist Gerry McAvoy, and added drummer Ted McKenna, formerly of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. The new group recorded the hard-driving Photo-Finish (1978) album in Europe, re-recording many of the same tracks previously attempted in San Francisco. This lineup released two more albums, Top Priority (1979, U.K. #56) and the live album Stage Struck (1980, U.K. #40), before changing drummers yet again in May 1981 when Brenden O'Neil replaced McKenna on drums. Together, they then recorded Jinx (1982, U.K. #68); Defender, which included the free 7" "Seems to Me" backed with "No Peace for the Wicked" (1987); and Fresh Evidence (1990). Following an American tour in 1991, McAvoy and O'Neil left Rory Gallagher's band to form Nine Below Zero. Gallagher recruited a new lineup and continued touring until late in 1994, when he fell seriously ill while touring in Europe. Following complications from a liver transplant, Rory Gallagher died on June 14, 1995, in King's College Hospital, London.

Bush approval hits record low 26 March 2005 WASHINGTON: US President George W Bush's approval rating has slipped to a new low in the latest national survey with pollsters suggesting federal government intervention in the Terri Schiavo controversy may have been a factor along with growing concern about the economy. The USA Today/CNN/Gallup survey found 45 per cent of the 1001 adults surveyed Monday through Wednesday thought Bush was doing a good job, compared with 52 per cent during three previous surveys in late February and early March. The president's previous low since taking office in January 2001 was 46 per cent in May 2004. Bush's involvement in the Schiavo case in Florida "may be a major cause" for the 7-point drop, the Gallup Organization said. Bush broke off his Texas vacation to sign emergency legislation on Monday that permitted federal courts to consider appeals by Schiavo's parents to force the reconnection of a feeding tube to prolong the life of the brain-damaged woman. The tube was removed on March 18 with the permission of Schiavo's husband, who has been waging a long legal battle with his wife's family over whether the 41-year-old woman should be allowed to die. So far, appeals by Schiavo's parents have failed. The US Supreme Court refused to intervene on Thursday. Separate polls by the Gallup organization, ABC News and CBS News in recent days showed large majorities of Americans were opposed to the congressional and presidential intervention in the Schiavo controversy. Also possibly weighing on Bush's ratings slide is concern about the economy with new emphasis on rising fuel costs. Read more...... http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3228976a12,00.html

Schiavo parents beg Jeb Bush to intervene 26 March 2005 PINELLAS PARK: Terri Schiavo's parents begged Florida Governor Jeb Bush to intervene as their brain-damaged daughter edged closer to death on Saturday and federal courts again rebuffed their efforts to have tube feeding resumed. "With a stroke of his pen, he could stop it immediately," said Schiavo's father, Bob Schindler, suggesting that Bush could intervene in some executive capacity, although the governor has said he cannot. "He's put Terri through a week of hell and I implore him to put a stop to this. This is judicial homicide and he has to stop it," he said. Schindler and his wife, Mary, spoke to reporters soon after the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Florida federal court's denial of the parents request to resume the feeding. That closed yet another door to the parents in a bitter seven-year legal feud with Schiavo's husband and legal guardian that has escalated into a highly politicized moral dispute over whether Schiavo should live or die. The feeding was halted a week ago under an order from a state court that has long sided with Schiavo's husband, Michael. The court found she has been in a "persistent vegetative state" since a heart attack damaged her brain 15 years ago, and would not want to live in this condition. The Schindlers have drawn passionate support from conservative Christians in their struggle to prolong their daughter's life. Their stance has drawn in the US Congress - which passed a special law to push the case into federal courts - President George W Bush, who interrupted a vacation to sign the law, and his brother, Jeb Bush. Schiavo, 41, was expected to live up to two weeks without the tube feeding, but Schindler said his daughter was fading after a week and was "down to her last hours." With few legal options open to the Schindlers, 11th hour intervention by Governor Bush also appeared unlikely. Read on........... http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3228996a10,00.html

New fossil finds and a computer skull reconstruction bolster the case that an ancient creature that grabbed headlines in 2002 really is the earliest known ancestor of modern humans, researchers say. read on........... http://newsfromrussia.com/science/2005/04/07/59033.html

Walking octopuses discovered Mar 25, 2005 Two little species of Indian Ocean octopus can tuck up six of their arms while running on the other two, US researchers have reported. They can use their other six arms to disguise themselves from predators, either as rolling coconuts or clumps of floating algae, the team at the University of California Berkeley and Universitas Sam Ratulangi in North Sulawesi, Indonesia found. The discovery, published in the journal Science, discredits theories that walking requires hard bones and skeletal muscle, as octopuses have neither. "We have observed octopuses that do indeed walk," Berkeley's Christine Huffard and colleagues write in their report. "Individuals of Octopus marginatus (from Indonesia) and Octopus (Abdopus) aculeatus (from Australia) move bipedally along sand using a rolling gait," they added. Read more....... http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_technology_sto...3%3fformat=html

Sony bets on strong US debut for PSP Mar 26, 2005 With the North American launch of the PlayStation Portable (PSP), the new management of Sony Corp. faces probably the least troubling problem on its plate: whether it can make enough to meet demand. The world's No. 2 consumer electronics maker is expecting more than a million gamers will snap up the PSP, essentially a handheld version of the PlayStation 2 console with a built-in screen. Leading US electronics retailers such as Best Buy Co. Inc. and Circuit City Stores Inc. were expecting to quickly sell out of their initial stocks of the PSP, which is launching soon after Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s dual-screen DS. "We have a million units that we have shipped into retail," said Kaz Hirai, chief executive of Sony's US games business, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "The commitment is to ship 3 million units worldwide, so between Japan and the US... all systems are go to meet that commitment," Hirai said in a telephone interview from New York City, where Sony threw a party to kick off sales at midnight. Read more..... http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_technology_sto...0%3fformat=html

it`s amazing the effect that a little cullture can have.......

good article dude...there`s no accounting for taste, as they say..... :)

3. The recording industry gets some of their package – " a making available right and a full reproduction right for performers. "...if i`m not mistaken that`s code for " lets make the shitheads pay for this product twice over "......now, that`s what i call PIRACY....

Recent News Government of Canada Unveils Plans for Copyright Reform Industry Canada and Canadian Heritage, the two departments responsible for copyright policy in Canada, this morning released a joint statement on plans for copyright reform. There is an additional FAQ that fleshes out the issues. A bill is expected this spring and the statement spells out where Canada is headed. The key points include: 1. The government will implement the WIPO Internet treaties. Note that the government now speaks of implementing, rather than formally ratifying, the treaties. They indicate that they will consider ratification after this bill is passed. 2. The package will include an anti-circumvention provision applied to copyright material. There is no mention of extending the provision to devices (as is the case in the U.S.) and the specific reference to applying the provision to copyright material suggests that the provision will limit its applicability to circumvention to commit copyright infringement. The rights management information is similarly limited to instances to “further or conceal copyright infringement.” While no anti-circumvention provision would be better, this suggests that the Canadian provision will feature some real balance. Moreover, the FAQ makes clear that “the circumvention of a TPM applied to copyright material will only be illegal if it is carried out with the objective of infringing copyright. Legitimate access, as authorized by the Copyright Act, will not be altered.” This is very different from anti-circumvention provisions found in the U.S. However, the FAQ also notes that circumvention for the purposes of private copying will not be permitted, meaning people may find themselves paying for a CD and paying a levy on blank CD yet unable to make the copy of the underlying CD. 3. The recording industry gets some of their package – a making available right and a full reproduction right for performers. 4. A “notice and notice” system for ISPs rather than notice and takedown. Canadian ISPs will only be required to notify their subscriber of an infringement claim, not take the content down as is found in the U.S. The ISP will be required to retain subscriber information, however to ensure that it is available should litigation later arise. This is a major development as it implements a much fairer system than that found in the U.S. (or even the more draconian notice and termination system that CRIA raised last spring). The FAQ argues that this system is better suited to a P2P world, since notice and takedown simply doesn’t work for P2P. 5. The photographers’ copyright issue will also be addressed. It is not entirely clear how the reform will address the commissioning of photographs issue - an exception for private or domestic commissions is contemplated, but this one that really requires the legislative language. No word either on what will happen with the stalled Senate bill on this issue. 6. As previously reported, the extended license for Internet materials has been shelved for now with a consultation on the issue planned for this year. 7. The Act will include new provisions to facilitate electronic delivery of materials within schools and libraries. This is viewed as addressing the user side of the equation. It’s a start but obviously user rights don’t command the same attention as the rights holder groups. 8. Other major issues for immediate consultation include private copying and broadcasters rights. The devil will be in the details but this represents a major shift away from the embarrassingly one-sided Canadian Heritage Standing Committee recommendations issued last May. While that report clearly pushed the agenda forward, the government’s response has certainly recognized the need for some balance. Lots more on these issues to come…