AP, others censored by US military

Associated Press photographers were told they could not take pictures and had the digital photos they had taken deleted by a U.S. soldier in Kabul, Afghanistan. The photos reportedly showed three dead Afghans shot by U.S. forces.

From AP/CNN reports:

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghan journalists covering the aftermath of a suicide bomb attack and shooting in eastern Afghanistan Sunday said U.S. troops deleted their photos and video and warned them not to publish or air any images of U.S. troops or a car where three Afghans were shot to death.

Afghan witnesses and gunshot victims said U.S. forces fired on civilians in cars and on foot along at least a six-mile stretch of road in Nangarhar province following a suicide attack against the Marine convoy. The U.S. military said militants also fired on American forces during the attack.

[...]

A freelance photographer working for The Associated Press and a cameraman working for AP Television News said a U.S. soldier deleted their photos and video showing a four-wheel drive vehicle in which three people were shot to death about 100 yards from the suicide bombing. The AP plans to lodge a protest with the American military. ( Read the details behind this cut... )

Gul was not the only journalist to be treated to such limitations and deletions -- television crews also had footage wiped.

This is all foolish (and damned counter-productive) behavior. As the story concluded:

"Why did the soldiers do it if they don't have anything to hide? The situation is very tense in Afghanistan, and the media should be able to report about it freely and safely," said Jean-Francois Julliard, a spokesman for the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

Yep...nice way to ensure that the press keep digging and digging. (Which, personally, I favor.)

AP, others censored by US military

Associated Press photographers were told they could not take pictures and had the digital photos they had taken deleted by a U.S. soldier in Kabul, Afghanistan. The photos reportedly showed three dead Afghans shot by U.S. forces.

From AP/CNN reports:

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghan journalists covering the aftermath of a suicide bomb attack and shooting in eastern Afghanistan Sunday said U.S. troops deleted their photos and video and warned them not to publish or air any images of U.S. troops or a car where three Afghans were shot to death.

Afghan witnesses and gunshot victims said U.S. forces fired on civilians in cars and on foot along at least a six-mile stretch of road in Nangarhar province following a suicide attack against the Marine convoy. The U.S. military said militants also fired on American forces during the attack.

[...]

A freelance photographer working for The Associated Press and a cameraman working for AP Television News said a U.S. soldier deleted their photos and video showing a four-wheel drive vehicle in which three people were shot to death about 100 yards from the suicide bombing. The AP plans to lodge a protest with the American military. ( Read the details behind this cut... )

Gul was not the only journalist to be treated to such limitations and deletions -- television crews also had footage wiped.

This is all foolish (and damned counter-productive) behavior. As the story concluded:

"Why did the soldiers do it if they don't have anything to hide? The situation is very tense in Afghanistan, and the media should be able to report about it freely and safely," said Jean-Francois Julliard, a spokesman for the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders.

Yep...nice way to ensure that the press keep digging and digging. (Which, personally, I favor.)

Cleveland museum curator's new dinosaur

Michael Ryan, curator of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History's verterate paleontology collection, has discovered a new dinosaur.

When I heard that, I wondered if it was Mr. Kabuski, my old math teacher. (And please tell me he doesn't read my LiveJournal.)

But, no. Ryan discovered his dinosaur in Alberta, Canada, and I don't think Mr. Kabuski was from there. From The Cleveland Plain Dealer,

The horns were the first things that caught Michael Ryan's eye. They were huge, and they shouldn't have been.

It was August 2001, a scorching day in the badlands of southern Alberta, Canada. Ryan, at the time a graduate student, and a colleague were carefully digging around the edges of a dinosaur skull that lay on its left side in the hard-packed earth.

From the bony ridge above each of the creature's eye sockets jutted a gently curving horn. They were nearly a yard long and as thick as a man's arm.

The discovery of a dinosaur skeleton in that part of Canada isn't unexpected, but this one is a brand new genus of beastie. "At 78 million years old, it's the most primitive centrosaur yet found. Ryan named the creature Albertaceratops nesmoi for its home province, and for a Canadian rancher, Cecil Nesmo, who has helped dinosaur hunters over the years," notes the Plain Dealer.

Wish I had my own dinosaur.

Cleveland museum curator's new dinosaur

Michael Ryan, curator of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History's verterate paleontology collection, has discovered a new dinosaur.

When I heard that, I wondered if it was Mr. Kabuski, my old math teacher. (And please tell me he doesn't read my LiveJournal.)

But, no. Ryan discovered his dinosaur in Alberta, Canada, and I don't think Mr. Kabuski was from there. From The Cleveland Plain Dealer,

The horns were the first things that caught Michael Ryan's eye. They were huge, and they shouldn't have been.

It was August 2001, a scorching day in the badlands of southern Alberta, Canada. Ryan, at the time a graduate student, and a colleague were carefully digging around the edges of a dinosaur skull that lay on its left side in the hard-packed earth.

From the bony ridge above each of the creature's eye sockets jutted a gently curving horn. They were nearly a yard long and as thick as a man's arm.

The discovery of a dinosaur skeleton in that part of Canada isn't unexpected, but this one is a brand new genus of beastie. "At 78 million years old, it's the most primitive centrosaur yet found. Ryan named the creature Albertaceratops nesmoi for its home province, and for a Canadian rancher, Cecil Nesmo, who has helped dinosaur hunters over the years," notes the Plain Dealer.

Wish I had my own dinosaur.

Weird inventions that didn't make it...

...seem to abound. I kind of like this one (since there have been times when I've had to light a cigarette on a stove...which is tough on an electric stove, and impossible on a ceramic one).

Solar Cigarette Lighter One of a number of failed Japanese inventions.

The rest of this set of failed Japanese inventions include telescoping slippers for bug killing and another ten equally bizarre. With pictures, of course.

Weird inventions that didn't make it...

...seem to abound. I kind of like this one (since there have been times when I've had to light a cigarette on a stove...which is tough on an electric stove, and impossible on a ceramic one).

Solar Cigarette Lighter One of a number of failed Japanese inventions.

The rest of this set of failed Japanese inventions include telescoping slippers for bug killing and another ten equally bizarre. With pictures, of course.