More legal action in Olympia Food Co-op boycott - NEWS UPDATES ...

BY JEREMY PAWLOSKI | Staff writer ? Published November 02, 2011 Modified November 02, 2011

OLYMPIA ? Lawyers have moved to strike a lawsuit that alleges the Olympia Food Co-op?s boycott of Israeli goods was unfair and violated the co-op?s rules and bylaws.

A motion filed by attorneys with Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle and by attorneys with the Center for Constitutional Rights asserts that the lawsuit is a ?Strategic Lawsuit Against Pubic Participation.? So-called SLAPP lawsuits are illegal under Washington statute.

?We hope the court will strike down this effort to silence the co-op?s principled stand on Israel?s human rights violations,? said Maria LaHood, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, in a news release. ?Allegations that the co-op?s board acted beyond its power are a thinly veiled attempt to stop concerned citizens from using a nonviolent and historical tool for social change.?

The lawsuit, filed in September, is aimed at nullifying the co-op?s July 2010 boycott of Israeli goods and ordering ?the OFC board to follow OFC?s governing rules, procedures and principles in the future,? according to the suit.

Robert Sulkin, one of the attorneys who filed the suit, said Wednesday it is ?absolutely, positively not? a SLAPP suit. A hearing on the motion to strike the lawsuit is tentatively set for Jan. 13 before Thurston County Superior Court Judge Paula Casey.

Gov. Chris Gregoire signed an enhanced anti-SLAPP statute in 2010, according to a news release from Davis Wright Tremaine. Attorneys at Davis Wright Tremaine drafted the bill she signed.

The law now provides ?important procedural safeguards against unwarranted defamation suits and similar claims based on news content and other speech,? according to Davis Wright Tremaine. It also protects ?any lawful conduct in furtherance of the exercise of the constitutional right to free speech.?

Olympia Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or Olympia BDS, opposes the lawsuit. According to a news release from that group, SLAPP lawsuits are ?a form of legal and financial intimidation, popularly dubbed ?lawfare,? which has long been used to undermine social and environmental justice movements by penalizing political participation and free speech.?

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are five people who are or were co-op members at the time the boycott was enacted: Kent and Linda Davis; Jeffrey and Susan Trinin; and Susan Mayer.

Three of the five ran for election to become co-op board members in November 2010. Those three ?lost by large margins in what was a record voter turnout? against candidates who support the boycott, David Langstaff, Olympia BDS and Olympia Food Co-op member, said Wednesday.

According to Olympia BDS?s news release, the lawsuit aimed at nullifying the boycott is part of a ?fierce response? to the BDS movement.

?This backlash is coming from pro-Israel groups as well as directly from the Israeli government, which recently passed a law that criminalizes advocating for boycotts of Israel,? the news release states.

The release cites StandWithUs Northwest, ?an international pro-Israel and anti-boycott lobby group,? as being affiliated with the lawsuit. It also alleges that in March, Akiva Tor, the Israeli Consul General for the Pacific Northwest, met with the plaintiffs? attorney, along with a StandWithUs official, and ?unnamed Olympia residents.?

Langstaff said Wednesday that the participation of national pro-Israel groups and the Israeli Consul General for the Pacific Northwest in the lawsuit is significant in that it shows that the suit is part of a broader global attempt to curb the growing strength of the BDS movement.

Sulkin said Wednesday that neither StandWithUs nor the Israeli Consul General for the Pacific Northwest is part of the suit.

?My clients are the people named in the complaint,? Sulkin said. ?They are not StandWithUs and they?re not the government of Israel. We have no problem with the co-op taking positions, as long as it follows its own policies. Here the board ignored its own policies, and it wishes to use the co-op in a way that violates its own bylaws.?

The BDS movement seeks to support boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel ?until its ends its occupation of Palestine, respects the right of return of Palestinian refugees, and gives equal rights to Palestinians living inside of Israel.?

Jeremy Pawloski: 360-754-5445

jpawloski@theolympian.com

Source: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/11/02/1861745/more-legal-action-in-olympia-food.html

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Apple Says Kindle Fire Is a Great Thing for Apple. Naturally. [Apple]

The Kindle Fire's almost here, and a lot of folks are excited about what they think will be the iPad's first true challenger. Except that Apple execs say the $200 Fire might actually benefit the iPad. Holdonwhatnow? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/AesJwqJPe-o/apple-says-kindle-fire-is-a-great-thing-for-apple-naturally

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Apple: Battery life fix coming for new iPhone (AP)

CUPERTINO, Calif. ? Apple Inc. says there is a problem with its latest mobile operating system that is shortening the battery life of iPhones, iPads and iPods that use the software.

Spokeswoman Natalie Harrison said Wednesday that a small number of customers have reported lower-than-expected battery life on devices running on the company's iOS 5 operating system.

She said Apple has found bugs in the program and will release a software update to address them in a few weeks.

The latest iPhone, the 4S, comes with iOS 5.

Other devices can be upgraded to run the software: The iPhone 3GS or 4, iPads and an iPod Touch released in September 2009 or later.

Apple shares added $1.59 to $399 in aftermarket trading. Shares ended the regular session up 41 cents at $397.41.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111102/ap_on_hi_te/us_apple_battery_life

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Police investigate Texas judge over video beating (AP)

PORTLAND, Texas ? Police launched an investigation Wednesday into a Texas family law judge whose daughter posted a YouTube video of him savagely beating her with a belt during a tirade several years ago when she was a teenager.

The nearly 8-minute video, which had been viewed more than 600,000 times since it was uploaded last week, shows Aransas County Court-at-Law Judge William Adams lashing his then-16-year-old daughter in the legs more than a dozen times and growing increasingly irate while she screams and refuses to turn over on a bed to be beaten.

"Lay down or I'll spank you in your (expletive) face," Adams screams. His daughter, Hillary, wails and pleads for him to stop.

Tim Jayroe, the police chief in William Adams' hometown of Rockport, a Gulf Coast community about 200 miles south of Houston, said Wednesday that he's asked the Texas Rangers to assist in investigating whether the video shows anything criminal happened. He said his department began investigating after receiving phone calls from several concerned people who watched the secretly recorded 2004 video.

No one answered the door at William Adams' home in Rockport on Wednesday, and repeated calls to his office rang unanswered. However, the 51-year-old judge told Corpus Christi television station KZTV on Wednesday that the video "looks worse than it is," and that he doesn't expect to be disciplined or punished because of it.

"In my mind, I haven't done anything wrong other than discipline my child after she was caught stealing," Adams said. "And I did lose my temper, but I've since apologized."

Reached at her mother's home in Portland, Texas, Hillary Adams told The Associated Press that her father became irate after she was caught illegally downloading media files she hadn't paid for. She said she feels some regret over posting the video because she said she doesn't want to see her father punished, but that she hopes it will spur him to seek help.

"He's supposed to be a judge who exercises fit judgment," she said.

Aransas County Sheriff Bill Mills said that since the video was posted, William Adams has received threatening phone calls and faxes at the courthouse.

"People are upset, understandably upset. But emotions can't really run this thing," Mills said.

On Wednesday, a neighbor said she saw Adams packing up to leave with bags, a briefcase, clothes and rifles, which his girlfriend carried to the truck.

"He looked like he was here for a purpose," said Stephanie Perry, who lives across the street.

A secretary for the William Adams' attorney, William Dudley, said Wednesday that Dudley was unavailable to comment.

In the video, Adams is apparently unaware the camera is on when he enters the room, turns off the light and tries forcing his daughter onto the bed to be beaten.

"Go get the belt. The big one. I'm going to spank her now," Adams is heard saying in the clip's opening seconds.

A few minutes into the video, a woman appears and barks at the girl to "turn over like a 16-year-old and take it! Like a grown woman!" For about a minute, the ordeal appears to have ended after both adults leave the room and shut the door. But the judge then storms back into the room and the beating resumes.

Hillary Adams said she set up the camera because she knew "something was about to happen." Toward the end of the video, her father shouts that he plans to beat the girl "into submission" and rants about having a computer in the house and the problems it causes. The video ends with the adult woman telling her to leave the room and sleep on the sofa.

Elected in 2001, Adams draws an annual salary of $138,055 as Aransas County's top judge. He dealt with at least 349 family law cases in the past year, nearly 50 of which involved state caseworkers seeking to determine whether parents were fit to raise their children.

Texas' Department of Family and Protective Services is aware of the video and "will take the appropriate steps in this matter," agency spokesman Patrick Crimmins said in an email. He said the agency would have no further comment.

Steve Fischer, a longtime attorney in Rockport, called Adams fair and a "better than average" judge. He said Adams sometimes shows anger, but not in a way that would be considered unusual.

Children's advocates roundly condemned the beating as abuse. However, investigators may decide that the judge's actions, while shocking to many, weren't criminal.

The lines between what's deemed child abuse and what's considered an acceptable level of discipline differ in various parts of the country and among various social groups, though the use of objects such as belts and sticks is usually seen as beyond any normal physical punishment, said David Finkelhor, a University of New Hampshire sociology professor who heads the school's Crimes against Children Research Center.

Jim Hopper, a clinical instructor in psychology at Harvard Medical School and a child abuse expert, said there is no doubt that the judge's actions crossed the line.

"This is an act of brutal violence," Hopper said.

"To beat someone into submission is not discipline. To beat a child into submission makes it harder for that child to take in rules and the values that the parent believes they are imposing on the child."

Hillary Adams' parents divorced in 2007 after 22 years of marriage, according to court records. The divorce petition states that "the marriage has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities," but a counter-petition filed by Adams' ex-wife states that the divorce was filed under grounds of "mental cruelty."

Court records show that the couple had another daughter who was 6 at the time.

___

Heidgerd reported from Dallas. Associated Press Writers Danny Robbins and Linda Stewart Ball in Dallas and Paul J. Weber in San Antonio contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111102/ap_on_re_us/us_videotaped_beating_texas

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Fast new method for mapping blood vessels may aid cancer research

ScienceDaily (Oct. 31, 2011) ? Like normal tissue, tumors thrive on nutrients carried to them by the blood stream. The rapid growth of new blood vessels is a hallmark of cancer, and studies have shown that preventing blood vessel growth can keep tumors from growing, too. To better understand the relationship between cancer and the vascular system, researchers would like to make detailed maps of the complete network of blood vessels in organs.

Unfortunately, the current mapping process is time-consuming: using conventional methods, mapping a one-centimeter block of tissue can take months. In a paper published in the October issue of the Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Biomedical Optics Express, computational neuroscientists at Texas A&M University, along with collaborators at the University of Illinois and Kettering University, describe a new system, tested in mouse brain samples, that substantially reduces that time.

The method uses a technique called knife-edge scanning microscopy (KESM). First, blood vessels are filled with ink, and the whole brain sample is embedded in plastic. Next, the plastic block is placed onto an automated vertically moving stage. A diamond knife shaves a very thin slice -- one micrometer or less -- off the top of the block, imaging the sample line by line at the tip of the knife. Each tiny movement of the stage triggers the camera to take a picture. In this way, the researchers can get the full 3-D structure of the mouse brain's vascular network -- from arteries and veins down to the smallest capillaries -- in less than two days at full production speed. In the future the team plans to augment the process with fluorescence imaging, which will allow researchers to link brain structure to function.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Optical Society of America.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. David Mayerich, Jaerock Kwon, Chul Sung, Louise Abbott, John Keyser, Yoonsuck Choe. Fast macro-scale transmission imaging of microvascular networks using KESM. Biomedical Optics Express, 2011; 2 (10): 2888 DOI: 10.1364/BOE.2.002888

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111031120255.htm

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China-friendly hopeful to run for Taiwan president (AP)

TAIPEI, Taiwan ? A second China-friendly candidate announced his intention Tuesday to run for president of Taiwan, a move that could undermine the re-election chances of the incumbent.

The announcement by veteran politician James Soong raises the prospects that enough partisans of President Ma Ying-jeou could defect to Soong to push China skeptic Tsai Ing-wen over the top in the tightly contested Jan. 14 election.

That would be a big blow to Beijing, which is quietly supporting Ma's candidacy, because it sees the Harvard-educated jurist as the best bet to create conditions for Taiwan's eventual return to the mainland.

China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949, and Beijing continues to claim the island is part of its territory, to be brought back in the fold by persuasion if possible, or by force if necessary.

A defeat for Ma might also concern the United States, Taiwan's most important security partner. Washington has lauded Ma's attempts to lower tensions across the 100-mile-wide (160-kilometer-wide) Taiwan Strait ? mostly through a series of ambitious commercial initiatives ? and some Obama administration officials are believed to be concerned that a victory by Tsai could reverse that process, raising the prospect of renewed instability in the volatile western Pacific.

Speaking before supporters in Taipei on Tuesday, Soong said he had collected some 350,000 signatures to back his presidential bid ? 100,000 more than necessary. Despite polls showing his support levels at less than 15 percent, he insisted he was running to win.

"We can take down two people, not just one," Soong said, an obvious reference to concerns that his participation would work against Ma, and directly to Tsai's advantage.

At the forefront of those concerns is the precedent of Soong's role in Taiwan's 2000 presidential elections, when he and Lien Chan split the vote of Ma's Nationalist Party, handing victory to Chen Shui-bian of Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party.

The 2000 precedent appears to be very much on China's mind. In late September, a Soong spokesman confirmed that Beijing "disagreed" with Soong's then-prospective candidacy, after Taiwan's Next Magazine quoted Soong as saying that that Beijing thought it could dig into support for Ma.

But in his remarks Tuesday, Soong denied that relations with China were the main issue in the current campaign, insisting that economic matters were far more important.

"We've heard the people's voice that they want long-term jobs and a government capable of taking care of their needs," he said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111101/ap_on_re_as/as_taiwan_election

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Plane from US lands on belly in Poland, none hurt (AP)

WARSAW, Poland ? A Boeing airliner carrying 231 people from the U.S. landed on its belly Tuesday in Warsaw after its landing gear failed to open, triggering sparks and small fires. No one was hurt, but passengers described feeling severe stress as they prayed for a safe landing.

Capt. Tadeusz Wrona, who handled the descent so smoothly that many on board thought the plane landed on its wheels, was instantly hailed a hero in Poland and online, where within hours he was the focus of several Facebook fanpages.

The successful landing of the Polish LOT airlines flight, which came from Newark, New Jersey, also was a huge relief for a country that has suffered multiple aviation disasters in recent years, including the April 2010 crash that killed President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others.

"I was praying for the pilot not to lose control because we started to make circles over the airport. It was terrible," passenger Teresa Kowalik told reporters at the airport. "We owe everything to the pilot. He really did a great job."

LOT said the plane suffered "a central hydraulic system failure," indicating that the hydraulics used to extend the landing gear failed.

The pilots discovered there was a problem before touching ground. They circled the 767 above the airport for about one hour before descending without lowering the wheels, said Przemyslaw Przybylski, a spokesman for the Warsaw airport.

The plane, escorted by two F-16 fighter jets, landed with nearly empty fuel tanks after dumping fuel in preparation for the emergency landing, LOT spokesman Leszek Chorzewski said.

A fire brigade laid out special flame retardant foam for the plane to land on. On landing, sparks flew from the engine and small fires erupted under the plane but were immediately put out by firefighters. The passengers evacuated the plane using an emergency slide.

The pilot told passengers four hours into the flight that the plane faced technical problems, said a passenger who would only give her first name, Malgorzata.

"The pilot addressed us a number of times and said we should follow instructions. Later, a flight attendant said there might be a fire, and at that point people began to get nervous and uncertain," she said.

The landing was not hard, but the situation became alarming when sparks and black smoke rose from the plane, said Krzysztof Rozycki, a 17-year-old passenger who spoke to reporters.

"This is the moment where we realized this was not a normal landing," added Andrzej Pinno, a 68-year-old who divides his time between Poland and the U.S. "The attendants then directed us to the slides and helped us evacuate."

Relatives of passengers waiting at the airport sought information as the emergency unfolded.

Joanna Dabrowska, 29, managed to speak to her mother-in-law, a passenger, via mobile phone after she evacuated the flight. Dabrowska said some of the passengers apparently feared the worst.

"People were saying their final farewells to each other and some were sobbing," Dabrowska told The Associated Press. She added that her mother-in-law "was in shock, but she was fine."

Passengers were taken to a medical center where they were kept several hours before being released.

Meanwhile, Polish officials and media declared the pilots and crew heroes. LOT said there were 11 crew and 220 passengers on the LO 016 flight.

LOT airlines president, Marcin Pirog, told reporters that Captain Tadeusz Wrona and co-pilot Jerzy Szwartz carried out a "perfect emergency landing," which prevented anyone from being injured.

"It is the first time a LOT plane had to land without the landing gear out," Pirog said, noting that such landings do not always end well.

Poland's President Bronislaw Komorowski congratulated and thanked the crew and emergency workers for ensuring no one was hurt.

"I thank everyone with my whole heart in the name of Poland," Komorowski said.

Within hours, at least six Facebook fanpages devoted to Capt. Wrona had appeared. On Twitter, admiration was profuse. One Tweeter insisted, "Give that pilot a medal!" Others drew comparisons to Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who became a national hero in the U.S. when he landed a crippled US Airways jet in the Hudson River and saved 155 lives.

Warsaw's Frederic Chopin International airport has been closed until 8 a.m. on Wednesday. Flights which had been scheduled to land in Warsaw have been diverted to Lodz, Gdansk and Krakow. The airport has two intersecting runways. The accident occurred at the intersection, leaving both unusable temporarily.

____

Associated Press writer Slobodan Lekic in Brussels contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111101/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_poland_crash_landing

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