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The most convincing figures for Iraqi deaths by violence come from Iraqi Body Count (IBC) which looks at the number of people killed in verifiable incidents. In an analysis of over 31,500 incidents in the ten years up to Marc 2013 says that between 112,017 and 122,438 civilians died in addition to the death of 39,000 c...
The height of the slaughter was during the sectarian civil war between March 2006 and March 2008 when 52,000 people were killed. The distinction between civilian and military casualties is blurred since the US forces often recorded the Iraqi dead – such as the journalists and others machine gunned from a helicopter as ...
PATRICK COCKBURN is the author of “Muqtada: Muqtada Al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq.
My story of the vacuum exploding in flames might yet have a happy ending.
Dryers that don't dry, air conditioners that last a year, toasters that burn up.
"About 2 years ago, I bought a Procter-Silex toaster with white plastic outside — plugged it in, and the outside melted in a lump.
"So, I bought a Betty Crocker white toaster. Same thing; melted into a lump. One I believe was made in Mexico; one in China.
"Then I bought a Russell Hobbs toaster from the Vermont Country Store, made in China for the United Kingdom — works wonderful, best toaster I ever had.
"Question?!? Why is China making better products for England than for the USA?!?"
"Three years ago we bought a Maytag washer and dryer.
"The dryer locked up and never worked again after about a year and half. (It never worked right.) The washing machine, a high-capacity one, goes off-balance, even with one or two pieces of clothes.
"We called Maytag and their repairman said the washer can't handle very many clothes, even though it is a high-capacity washer.
"After all this, my Maytag dishwasher was recalled. Their repairman came and replaced the linings of the door. After that, the door never closed right and, last Sunday, the machine fell over and the door won't close at all."
Friends, true stories from the front lines of toasting, washing clothes and doing dishes. At this rate of regression, we'll soon be back to beating clothes on rocks in the stream and spreading them out over bushes to dry.
I would note that it's not just low-end products, and not just those made in China, that fail at alarming rates. My family has an ASKO washer and dryer, with Swedish technology. The machines are now sitting in the garage after a long, miserable decline and untold repair visits. They were supposed to last 20, 25 years w...
Meanwhile, the vacuum story might yet turn out well. Customer service representative Juanita and I have spoken at length, discussing the flames that nearly singed my wife as well as how long we've had the vacuum. Without making us dig through years of receipts, she is sending a preaddressed label for us to return the v...
Then, they'll send us a replacement "bagged vacuum."
We don't get to pick the model, but hey, it's still cause for optimism.
So far as I know, by the way, last week's column and my position here at the paper did not influence that decision. I followed the normal customer-service channels.
Douglas Cunningham is business editor; his column on businesspeople, trends and issues appears weekly. Reach him at dcunningham@th-record.com, or 346-3202. Past columns can be found at recordonline.com; click on news, then columns.
One of 10 defendants initially charged with the October 1994 slaying of College of DuPage student Armando Mendez was acquitted Friday.
Jason T. Foster, 24, was found not guilty after the jury deliberated less than four hours. Foster, who police had identified as a gang associate, was accused of driving the alleged gunman to the scene of the murder.
But two men who stopped at Harper's Gas at East New York and Loucks Streets to try to help Mendez said they did not see Foster's car at the scene.
Their testimony conflicted with that of Darryl B. Bailey, 17, and Kevin C. Scott, 18, who both testified in exchange for entering pleas to lesser crimes than murder.
Mendez, who was on his way home from a part-time job at a Naperville restaurant, ran out of gas and was attacked by a mob of gang members in a case of mistaken identity, police said. After beating Mendez, one of the men shot him in the head.
In addition to the acquittal of Foster and the plea bargains for the other two men, Patrick O. Kirkwood, 17, has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge than murder in Juvenile Court.
That leaves six defendants scheduled to be tried for murder: Priest E. Pryor, 22; Taurus B. House, 19; Bonzell L. Joyner, 19; Eric R. Mott, 18; Latrone Kirkwood, 18; and Gabriel T. Robinson, 20.
(CNN) -- A new Web site promises to "bring capitalism and democracy closer together" by auctioning votes in the 2000 presidential election.
But the political protest scheme could also bring forth criminal charges, officials said.
"The election industry is spending hundreds of millions of dollars in an attempt to influence the presidential election," reads voteauction.com, which launched in August. "This system is an inefficient waste of money for the candidates and their supporters. Voteauction.com is committed to improving this system by bring...
The August startup purports to give voters the ability to place their ballots on the auction block, state by state. The highest bidder determines which White House candidate the voteauction.com participants in each state will select en masse.
"I'm not being cynical," said founder James Baumgartner, a political science graduate student in New York. "I'm being realistic. Most people have an honest view of how the candidates are selling themselves. Voters should be included in the situation and get some of the windfall."
At least one political observer praised the message delivered by the site.
"It's really a great way to bring home to voters how much others (big donors) are gaining from the system and how little voters are getting in comparison," said Sheila Krumholz, research director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan organization that studies the influence of money in politics.
"You have to give this guy credit, bringing this to people's attention in a provocative way," she said.
"It needs to be shut down," said Deborah Phillips, president of the Voting Integrity Project, a non-profit public interest group that often deals with Internet issues. "It's cynicism raised to a new art form. It's destructive to the democratic process. If 50 state prosecutors don't jump on this guy's back and every vot...
Legal authorities have taken notice of similar escapades. The U.S. Justice Department contacted eBay this week after a handful of users offered their votes for sale on the Internet auction site.
When eBay learned of the questionable sale items, it removed them from the site immediately, spokesman Kevin Pursglove said.
"The reality is, even if people think it's a prank, we take it very seriously," said Pursglove. "This is an act that could bring along felony charges."
Vote sellers and buyers violate both state and federal laws and could face thousands of dollars in fines or years in prison, authorities say.
Baumgartner said he is not directly selling or buying votes, only providing a forum where others can do so, provided he takes a percentage of the transaction money.
He also argues that he is protected by recent Supreme Court decisions that equate money with free speech, including one in the 1970s that sanctioned the use of soft money in political campaigns.
But even his sympathizers are not so sure. Krumholz anticipates that the site could face serious legal challenges.
"I worry for the author of the site," she said.
Baumgartner, for his part, remains optimistic.
"I hope to get investors and advertisements soon," he said.
Philips thinks he should look for something else.
"This is real vote fraud taking place on the Internet. I don't care how you couch it. I hope this guy has some good pro bono lawyers backing him up."
Will Internet voting be good news for American democracy?
Middlesbrough and their Championship foes continued to be linked with a host of players as the new season approaches.
Today's reports offer an update on the future of an in-demand Middlesbrough man, while Leeds and Aston Villa are linked with a Premier League youngster.
MORE RUMOURS: Leeds keen on international striker?
Founded by the Spanos family in 1995 to supplement the efforts of the team’s Community Relations Department, the Chargers Community Foundation has led the way in honoring volunteers, assisting youth sports, and helping critical causes important to the region.
Since its inception, the Foundation has provided more than $11 million in direct community assistance. The Chargers Community Foundation has been providing funds to educational institutions for more than two decades. This passion for schools also led to the creation of the Chargers signature program, Chargers Champions...
100% of the net proceeds from the auction benefit the Chargers Community Foundation.
The Australian's US correspondent Cameron Stewart highlights Boeing's recent stock market turbulence as one of 'Wall Street's darling companies' take a hit following the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday. Opening at about 10 per cent lower, Mr Stewart says Boeing's shares were 'savaged' in the biggest fall the a...
In 1998, Tom Baker made a commercial touting Charlottesville’s Guaranty Bank, of which he was president. In a cozy living room setting, Baker said community was as important to him as shareholders.
Flash forward to 2002. Community is still important to Baker, but he’s no longer with Guaranty, and he refuses to discuss his departure from the bank last year. Baker must not be too radioactive. He’s opened a new bank in town, and four of its seven employees have come from– you guessed it– Guaranty.
Southern Financial Bank opened without the hoopla of other home-grown financial institutions such as Albemarle First, Virginia National, or the UVA Community Credit Union. Yet long before its grand opening on Thursday, April 11, Southern Financial had already garnered such heavy-hitter customers as Glenmore Associates ...
Based in Warrenton, Southern Financial is the fifth largest bank headquartered in Virginia, and the new Charlottesville branch is number 21. Its assets of $785 million dwarf Guaranty’s $225 million.
“Southern Financial is not a real large bank, but it’s not a real small bank, either, so we can make larger loans,” explains Baker.
And making the loans from Charlottesville rather than Richmond or Charlotte is a big advantage to customers like Bob Hauser.
That so many of Southern Financial’s employees came from Guaranty adds to Hauser’s comfort level. “Tom has helped fill a void here,” he says.
While Baker is focusing on commercial loans, he’s also interested in individual accounts. And from his corner location on Market and Third Street NE, he’s got everything to service those accounts– except for a drive-up window.
OLEAN, N.Y. >> The U.S. Postal Service has apologized to residents along an upstate New York mail route who received mail stained with blood.
A Postal Service spokeswoman for the agency’s western New York district tells the Olean Times Herald that the blood was from a mail carrier whose finger was cut after a vehicle accident Tuesday.
The official says the carrier’s vehicle was sideswiped, damaging the side mirror. The worker cut his finger when he tried to adjust the mirror.
The official says the carrier believed the bleeding had stopped and wasn’t aware blood was smudging the mail he was dropping off along a delivery route near the city of Olean, 60 miles south of Buffalo.
As the holiday season approaches, the staff at the Shook Home, a continuing care retirement community in Chambersburg, Pa., is starting to decorate. A holiday bear barn was created by maintenance assistant Larry Briggs. Residents delight in the more than 35 decorative bears that are strategically placed throughout the ...
The winners are shown at Neiman Marcus in the Galleria on Jan. 27.
The honorees hold flowers at the announcement.
Honoree Susan Sarofim gets a kiss as she heads to the stage in the Galleria.
Yvonne Cormier shows off a glamorous handbag.
Honoree Sippi Khurana steps out in Christian Louboutin.
A Goanese priest, Apostle of Ceylon [ Sri Lanka ], b. at Goa, 21 April, 1651; d. at Kandy, 16 Jan., 1711. His parents were Christians of the Konkani Brahmin caste. He learned Portuguese in Sancoale, his father's village, and Latin in Baulim, his mother's village, studied rhetoric at the Jesuit college and philosophy an...
About 1699 several Oratorians and other priests were sent to help him in his labours. The news of his success having reached Rome, Mgr de Tournon, the papal legate, was directed to enter into communication with him. The legate conceived the idea of erecting Ceylon into a diocese with Father Vaz as first bishop, but the...
The entrepreneur, television personality and former Victoria's Secret Angel said the theme park is meant to be a "place where everyone can be a model; a place where all beauty is celebrated."
Tyra Banks is strutting into a theme park for her latest venture. The former America’s Next Top Model host and producer (and former Victoria's Secret Angel) has revealed plans, on Instagram, to open Modelland, an amusement park set to be located in L.A.'s Santa Monica neighborhood.
Banks posted an image of her face (surrounded by flowers, two flamingos and three small colorful birds) to mark the announcement, "My dream for you will soon be a reality. #Modelland. A place where everyone can be a model. A place where all beauty is celebrated," she wrote.
"I can't wait for you to Step Into Your Light. Head over to Model-Land.com to sign up for more information," she continued in her post.
The 21,000-square-foot, experiential attraction will be located at the Santa Monica Place shopping and dining destination, and it is set to open in late 2019. The park is meant to be a fantasy version of the modeling world, set to include state-of-the-art interactive entertainment, creative collaborations, dining and s...
"Modelland has been 10 intense years in the making," said Banks, referencing the development of the park. "It has been my ultimate dream and I have worked tirelessly with laser-focus tunnel vision to bring it to function."
The park will be a multilevel ticketed experience and will serve as an outlet for visitors to redefine what a model really is and to create a fun, make-believe or aspirational experience.
According to WWD, the entrepreneur said that the park is not a pop-up and that her inspiration came from Disneyland, a place that Banks, who hails from Southern California, frequented as a child.
"Modelland will awaken your childlike glee by entertaining and educating in unexpected ways that will make learning about oneself fierce and fun," continued Banks, "Modelland is all about celebrating your flawsome self. We are fun. We are fierce. We are fantasy. And, we are for real."
Mr. Gordon is a shareholder in and founder and chairman of the firm’s Business Restructuring & Bankruptcy Department. As one of the most influential and accomplished attorneys in Nevada, Mr. Gordon remains a prominent figure in the courtroom and business community. Throughout his four decades of legal service, the firm...
Mr. Gordon has been integrally involved in all aspects of the firm’s complex insolvency practice. Mr. Gordon and the Business Restructuring & Bankruptcy Department have acted as lead counsel, representing debtors, committees, trustees, and creditors on many significant representations.
A certified specialist in business bankruptcy law by the American Board of Certification, Mr. Gordon has lectured extensively on both gaming and non-gaming related bankruptcy issues, including before the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges.
Mr. Gordon has either been lead counsel or integrally involved in all aspects of the firm’s complex insolvency practice. Mr. Gordon and the Business Restructuring & Bankruptcy Department have acted as lead debtor's counsel for several major resort properties including the Herbst Gaming Group, Black Gaming Group, Strato...
SOMETHING rare is going on this week. For the first time in years, a putrid gigantic “corpse-like” object that stinks of rotting flesh is emerging.
Floral fans in France flock to get a glimpse and a sniff of the Titan Arum flower.
SOMETHING rare and magnificent is taking place at LA’s Huntington Gardens this week. For the first time in four years, a Titan Arum flower in the Conservatory will bloom, reaching around 1.8 metres in height and perfuming the air with the scent of rotting meat.
Titan Arum, or Amorphophallus titanum, is also known as the corpse flower. Native to the equatorial rainforests of western Indonesia, it is known for its enormous proportions and its off-putting odor, which attracts flies for pollination.
This will be the fifth time that Huntington’s Titan Arum has bloomed since its initial flowering in 1999. The species requires about seven to 10 years of growth before it will first bloom, and can go for many years without flowering again.
The flower, which reaches a diameter of up to 1.2 metres, lasts a mere day or two. Titan Arum enthusiasts must be prepared to mobilize at short notice to catch a glimpse and a whiff of the majestic bloom.
Though the Titan Arum is widely thought of as the corpse flower, there is another group of plants that goes by that nickname — and they are even more elusive. The Rafflesia is a stinky parasitic plant native to southeastern Asia that produces the largest flowers in the world. Unlike the Titan Arum, the blooms are not t...
Rafflesia flowers bloom for three to four days before shriveling and decaying. As with the Titan Arum, the rotting-meat scent that wafts from each inch-thick petal attracts pollinating insects.
The flowers of the largest Rafflesia species, Rafflesia arnoldii, can reach a diameter of three-foot-four. Though the Titan Arum’s proportions are occasionally larger, that plant is technically an inflorescence (a cluster of blooms) rather than a single flower, giving Rafflesia arnoldii the title of world’s largest ind...
Unlike the Titan Arum, which is found in botanic gardens worldwide, attempts at cultivating the Rafflesia have achieved limited success. To see and smell the flowers in the wild, your best bet is to travel to Gunung Gading National Park in Sarawak on the island of Borneo. You may need to hang around for a bit, though: ...
Visit Atlas Obscura for more on the Titan Arum and the Rafflesia.

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