Free Republic

RADICAL anti-whaling operation Sea Shepherd is promising dramatic attacks against Japanese whalers in coming months, with volunteers warning they're prepared to die for the cause. The group has announced "Operation Divine Wind" against the Japanese whalers, who plan to begin their annual hunt in the Southern Ocean in December. Sea Shepherd leader Paul Watson promised on the group's Facebook page a "very dramatic and adventurous three months beginning in December". The Sea Shepherd has become increasingly successful in recent years at disrupting the Japanese fleet. Angered by the campaign, which reduced the catch, the Japanese government has injected $US27 million...

The Albemarle County School Board voted Thursday night to remove Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Study in Scarlet” from sixth-grade reading lists. A parent of a Henley Middle School student originally challenged the book in May on the grounds that it is derogatory toward Mormons. Thursday’s vote was the culmination of the work of a committee commissioned to study the book and two discussions by board members. Board member Diantha McKiel, of the Jack Jouett District, said it was important to note that the school system has a history of reconsidering books. “Sometimes we have declared books age inappropriate, sometimes...

This was originally going to be titled, “Agreeing With Richard Dawkins,” because one of the world’s most notorious Darwinists has offended feminists by telling them that there are worse things than being propositioned in a hotel elevator. But then I saw the video in which the atheist chick at the epicenter of this controversy made the complaint that prompted Dawkins’ rebuke and said, “Oh, hell.” This gets funny, so keep reading. Hat-tip to Ann Althouse, and thanks to commenter Joe for pointing it out.

PROVIDENCE — House Republican Leader Robert Watson, the trenchant and bitingly acerbic leader of the tiny GOP bloc in the overwhelmingly Democratic House of Representatives in Rhode Island, is facing charges of driving under the influence of alcohol and marijuana possession after a random stop by Connecticut police as he was driving his pickup truck through a checkpoint in East Haven, Conn., Friday night. A police report said his eyes were “extremely glassy and bloodshot,” his speech slurred, and he had difficulty performing a series of sobriety tests. After handcuffing Watson and placing him under arrest, the arresting police officer...

After conquering puny humans Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter and winning a total of $77,147 over three days and two full games on Jeopardy!, IBM's know-it-all new supercomputer is going to med school. On Wednesday, IBM, along with Nuance Communications Inc. and the Columbia University and University of Maryland medical schools, announced that they are developing Watson as a diagnostic tool that can help doctors identify diseases and recommend treatments. They hope to begin lab tests as early as next year, with real world testing later in 2012. "What makes Watson unique is that it can rip through massive amounts...

Watson's just about to appear on Jeopardy for all interested!

To the United States, Julian Assange may now be Public Enemy Number One. Some American politicians have even called for his execution. But less than a year ago, the founder of WikiLeaks was officially entertained at a US Embassy cocktail party by one of the very diplomats whose secrets he would soon spill to the world. Mr Assange's site had already published dozens of leaks embarrassing to the US, including secret Guantanamo Bay detainee handling manuals and the full emails of Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential candidate. The US State Department condemned the manuals' publication as "a criminal act."

A former Sea Shepherd activist on Thursday accused the militant conservation group of deliberately sinking one of its own ships as a publicity stunt after a collision with a Japanese whaler. New Zealander Pete Bethune labelled Sea Shepherd's leadership "morally bankrupt" for allegedly ordering the hi-tech trimaran "Ady Gil" to be scuttled after it collided with a Japanese whaler last January in the Southern Ocean. Bethune, the Ady Gil's captain, said Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson ordered the ship's sinking to "garner sympathy with the public and to create better TV" in the publicity battle against Japan's Antarctic whaling program....

Startling revelations by French intelligence experts back David Shayler's alleged 'fantasy'about Gadaffi plot Martin Bright, home affairs editor Sunday November 10, 2002 The Observer British intelligence paid large sums of money to an al-Qaeda cell in Libya in a doomed attempt to assassinate Colonel Gadaffi in 1996 and thwarted early attempts to bring Osama bin Laden to justice. The latest claims of MI6 involvement with Libya's fearsome Islamic Fighting Group, which is connected to one of bin Laden's trusted lieutenants, will be embarrassing to the Government, which described similar claims by renegade MI5 officer David Shayler as 'pure fantasy'. The...

This is the quintessential sort of clue you hear on the TV game show “Jeopardy!” It’s witty (the clue’s category is “Postcards From the Edge”), demands a large store of trivia and requires contestants to make confident, split-second decisions. This particular clue appeared in a mock version of the game in December, held in Hawthorne, N.Y. at one of I.B.M.’s research labs. Two contestants — Dorothy Gilmartin, a health teacher with her hair tied back in a ponytail, and Alison Kolani, a copy editor — furrowed their brows in concentration. Who would be the first to answer?

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Tom Watson finally seems at peace. Over the years, I have probably written more than 100,000 words about Watson — the good fortune of being a sportswriter in Kansas City for a long time. I have chased him from golf course to golf course. I have seen him overjoyed and grumpy and most places in between. Anyway, I never thought of him being at peace before. No, there was always a certain restlessness about Watson. I always thought it had something to do with the strange arc of his brilliant career. Watson was a late bloomer —...

President Obama has nominated Solomon B. Watson IV to be general counsel of the Army. Mr. Watson would be coming to this slot after spending 32 years at the New York Times, including a stint as its senior vice president and chief legal officer. Near the end of Mr. Watson's tenure, the paper published a series of stories compromising two highly classified counterterrorism programs. One, in December 2005, offered crucial details of the National Security Agency's Terrorist Surveillance Program, designed to track al Qaeda communications into and out of the United States. Another, in June 2006, disclosed a secret program...

Extra funds to support ongoing project to protect the Galapagos Marine Reserve On February 4th, 2010, at the Goed Geld Gala in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the Dutch National Postcode Lottery not only donated the annual amount of half a million Euros, they also handed over an additional check worth €1 million to Geert Vons, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s General Director of the Netherlands and Alex Cornelissen, Director of Operations, Galapagos. The extra funds will support Sea Shepherd’s ongoing efforts to protect the Galapagos, a UN World Heritage Site. Despite clear rules and legislation, commercial fisheries are still exploiting the legally...

It has been two months since we began operations with Operation Waltzing Matilda. Two months ago, we began with three vessels. We now have two, having lost the Ady Gil when the Japanese whaler Shonan Maru No. 2 cut it in half and sank it on January 6th, 2010. During the last two months, the Steve Irwin has engaged the Shonan Maru No. 2 in numerous skirmishes and the Sea Shepherd ships Bob Barker and the Ady Gil engaged the main body of the whaling fleet, a day that disrupted the whaling activities and ended with the destruction of our...

Sea Shepherd Update: Valentine’s Day in the Southern Ocean The crews of the Steve Irwin and the Bob Barker celebrated Valentine's Day by painting the Research sign on the side of the Nisshan Maru with red paint. The paint represented the blood of the whales, exposing the bogus nature of so-called research by the Japanese whaling vessels. The word "research" is in English and not Japanese, because the Japanese fully understand that the whaling is a commercial operation. It is only the West that the Japanese whalers are trying to fool. The Japanese whalers have not killed a whale for...

Congresswoman Diane Watson will hold a news conference about her future plans tomorrow in Los Angeles, according to her press secretary Lois Hill Hale. Hill Hale wouldn't say explicitly that Watson would not seek reelection this fall to what's thought to be a safe Democratic seat, but she called tomorrow's news conference a "major announcement." Watson, 76, represents the 33rd congressional district located in Los Angeles. She would become the 14th Democrat to announce they will not run for reelection this fall. Watson has been a target of the right because she blamed race, in part, for opposition to health...

Diane Watson is a racist Congressional Representative from California’s 33rd District, in Los Angeles. Just over a year ago, she chastised Ward Connerly for his having the nerve to wed a white woman. She’s telling us now that the only opponents of Barack Obama and his move to socialize America are those who object to socialism because, in her words, “[Barack is] the first President who looks like me.” In the same breath, she sings the praises of Marxist murderer Che Guevara and Marxist murderer Fidel Castro (who ousted Che). Hear it for yourself: Fact of the Day: Rep. Diane...

Diane Watson is a racist Congressional Representative from California’s 33rd District, in Los Angeles. Just over a year ago, she chastised Ward Connerly for his having the nerve to wed a white woman. She’s telling us now that the only opponents of Barack Obama and his move to socialize America are those who object to socialism because, in her words, “[Barack is] the first President who looks like me.” In the same breath, she sings the praises of Marxist murderer Che Guevara and Marxist murderer Fidel Castro (who ousted Che). Hear it for yourself: Fact of the Day: Rep. Diane...

The mind of a liberal who likes to play racial politics. you start to wonder whether in fact the word socialist is becoming a code word, whether or not socialist is becoming the new N-word for frankly for some angry upset birthers and others So typical. You disagree with Obama and his SOCIALIST....yes, socialist....policies and your once again a racist. The video: (H/T HotAirPundit) [VIDEO AT SITE] Whole transcript: Carlos Watson - Today I want to talk about a word that we're hearing more and more, and that's the word socialist. You hear it from a lot of conservatives these...

Here is ESPN video with highlights from Round 2 of The British Open Golf Championship (overseas they call it The Open Championship) where the big story is 59 year-old Tom Watson is tied for the lead after two rounds at -5 under par. Watson began the day one shot behind at -5, and quickly made birdie on the 1st hole at Turnberry, Scotland. But he then bogeyed five of his next seven holes, including four straight. He stood at -1 on the 9th hole, and appeared to be on his way out of contention. But he made birdie there, sank...

An American scuba diver has been charged with murdering his wife by drowning her during their honeymoon at the Great Barrier Reef. The move allows authorities to begin the process of extraditing David Gabriel Watson, of Birmingham, Alabama, to face the charges in Australia. Watson's wife, Christina Watson, drowned on October 22, 2003, while the couple was diving at a shipwreck off Queensland's coast, eleven days after their wedding. The body of Tina Watson (circled) lies on the sea bed after her husband had swum to the surface The alleged murder only came to light after a photograph showing Mrs...

THERE was no reasonable prospect of proving a murder charge against American man Gabe Watson, the Director of Public Prosecutions said today. Tony Moynihan S.C. today said the decision to accept Watson’s plea of guilty to the manslaughter of his wife on a Queensland diving holiday "was made after a careful and thorough examination of the admissible evidence, and was not taken lightly", The Courier-Mail reported. Mr Moynihan said that "given the complex circumstantial nature of the case, Mr Watson’s admission that he breached his duty to render assistance to his wife ultimately meant there was no reasonable prospect of...

We've got some serious thoughts on the fine, fine Watson fellow who killed his bride on their honeymoon, all in front of many witnesses! Guy got manslaughter, maybe he'll serve a year. Plus the coming tax on health care benefits, selling books in beauty shops and Sonia Sotomayor, what she REALLY needs if she's going to get nominated. It will surprise you. And speaking of getting away with crime, how about those Black Panthers being let loose for voter intimidation that would have any white person thrown in jail toot de sweet?

There's an understandably growing unease about the likely prospect that the Obama administration will soon choose to regulate CO2 as a pollutant.  But that disquiet would likely turn quickly to rage if more people knew the truth about the scientific conclusions on which this unprecedented incursion on both industry and individual freedom was based.  You see, it appears that those conclusions weren't based on accepted scientific procedure at all, but were instead predetermined -- and perhaps by a single man. Our story unfolds just weeks after Barbara Boxer's pet cap-and-trade bill -- the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act of 2008 --...

A conversation between The Root Editor-in-Chief Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Nobel laureate and DNA pioneer James Watson about race and genetics, Jewish intelligence, blacks and basketball and Watson's African roots. --- HLG: Imagine if you were an African or an African-American intellectual. And it's 10 years from now. And you pick up The New York Times and some geneticist says, A) that intelligence is genetic, and B) the difference as measured on standardized tests between black people and white people, is traceable to a genetic basis. What would you, as a black intellectual, do, do you think? JW: I...

Seven thousand miles away, state Rep. Jim Watson is performing duties that exemplify his seven years in the Illinois House.And it's that legislative experience that the Jacksonville Republican draws upon in helping build the provincial government in the Anbar Province of Iraq."I can download Illinois state bylaws, show it to the (provincial council) and show them what minutes mean, show them what a (legislative) session is," Marine Corp Staff Sgt. Watson said Thursday by telephone from his camp near Ramadi.Americans need to remember, he said, that the Iraqi people are starting from scratch in building a democratic country. Jim Watson...

The captain and first officer of the anti-sealing ship the Farley Mowat were due to appear in court in Sydney, N.S., on Sunday, a day after their arrest off the west coast of Newfoundland. They have been charged with interfering with the seal hunt after a confrontation with a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker two weeks ago. Their vessel was boarded and seized Saturday in the Gulf of St. Lawrence by RCMP officers, working with officials from the federal Fisheries Department and the coast guard... Paul Watson of the international group Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which owns the vessel, said its...

Hillary backed lab of donorBy Jim McElhatton October 30, 2007 Lawmakers, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, have taken thousands in campaign cash from an embattled Nobel-prize winning scientist while earmarking federal money for his New York lab. Mrs. Clinton and Sen. Charles E. Schumer, also a New York Democrat, requested a $900,000 earmark in June for the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where James D. Watson served as chancellor before resigning last week after apologizing for comments that suggested that people descending from Africa aren't as intelligent as those from Europe. Federal campaign filings show that Mr. Watson has donated more...

James Watson, the Nobel laureate who sparked an international furor last week with comments about intelligence levels among blacks, has retired from his post at a prestigious research institution. ADVERTISEMENT Watson, 79, and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York announced his departure Thursday. Watson was chancellor of the institution, and his retirement was effective immediately.

James Watson said he will quit as chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory... ...Mr. Watson, who won the Nobel Prize in 1962 for co-discovering the structure of DNA, told the U.K.'s Sunday times that he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours -- whereas all the testing says not really." Mr. Watson later apologized for the remarks.

The successful efforts of the Human Genome Project rightfully stand amongst the greatest intellectual achievements of human history. The brilliance and diligence displayed in this research cannot be quantified or described in a way that does it all justice. However, the question now becomes what we actually do with the knowledge of the human genome? Given the previous history of human technology, the heroic industry and intelligence of the scientists who achieved this discovery will in no way guarantee that it won’t fall into the hands of evil despots or malicious haters. It becomes possible that human beings as we...

<p>No excerpting because of copyright. The essay is at http://comment.independent.co.uk/commentators/article3075642.ece .</p>

Martin Luther King's “Dream” has fallen by the wayside. His dream of having blacks judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin is no closer to being realized than it was more than 40 years ago when he first articulated his vision of a color-free future. This is not, as current black leaders assert, because racism is alive and well in America. It is because the current politically correct orthodoxy has condemned any type of judgment. Any judgment is now off limits. (Unless you're one of the lucky few who does the judging.) Judging...

Statement by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Board of Trustees and President Bruce Stillman, Ph.D. Regarding Dr. Watson’s Comments in The Sunday Times on October 14, 2007 Earlier this evening, the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Board of Trustees decided to suspend the administrative responsibilities of Chancellor James D. Watson, Ph.D., pending further deliberation by the Board. This action follows the Board’s public statement yesterday disagreeing with the comments attributed to Dr. Watson in the October 14, 2007 edition of The Sunday Times U.K.

Nobel scientist condemned for 'racist' claims By Stephen Adams Last Updated: 2:48pm BST 17/10/2007 Nobel Prize winning scientist Dr James Watson has been heavily criticised for making “racist” comments after he said Africans were not as intelligent as Europeans. Dr Watson is no stranger to controversy Dr Watson, who helped unravel the structure of DNA with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, was roundly condemned for saying he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours – whereas all the testing says not...

'Black people are less intelligent than whites', claims DNA pioneer One of the world's most eminent scientists is at the centre of a row after claiming black people are less intelligent than whites. James Watson, who won the Nobel Prize for his part in discovering the structure of DNA, has drawn condemnation for comments made ahead of his arrival in Britain tomorrow for a speaking tour. Dr Watson, who now runs one of America's leading scientific research institutions, made the controversial remarks in an interview in The Sunday Times. The 79-year-old geneticist said he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect...

Activist a 'pirate,' not eco-terrorist By ROD MCGUIRK ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER MELBOURNE, Australia -- Paul Watson flies the Jolly Roger from his ship and boasts of ramming more boats than any living seafarer, part of an anti-whaling crusade that even Greenpeace calls too radical. Watson and his group came under withering criticism this season, summer in the Antarctic, for tactics that some say put the lives of whales above the lives of people. A Japanese whaling ship caught fire after being chased and harassed by Watson's fleet, the ships and volunteers of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which not only...

Scientist James D. Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA and a Nobel Prize winner, says anti-Semitism is justified, in a recent magazine interview. The ADL called Dr. Watson's remarks about Jews "disturbing" and is asking Watson to clarify them. Watson, 78, who lives in Cold Harbor, N.Y., tells Esquire magazine in its January edition that anti-Semitism, in some circumstances, is justified. In an interview profile for the magazine Watson asks rhetorically, "Should you be allowed to make an anti-Semitic remark?" He answered: "Yes, because some anti-Semitism is justified. Just like some anti-Irish feeling is justified. If you can't be...

Canucks: Get Yank pervert out of here U.S. sex offender sparked uproar after judge gave him OK to serve his time in Ontario By NATALIE PONA AND KATHLEEN HARRIS TORONTO SUN, Friday, October 27, 2006 Canadian officials say they want to deport an American sex offender who caused an uproar when he was granted permission to serve his sentence in St. Catharines. On Wednesday, Canada Border Services Agency arrested former teacher and U.S. citizen Malcolm Watson. Watson, 35, had been sentenced Monday by a Buffalo court to serve three years of probation in St. Catharines for sex crimes. The...

U.S. sex offender serving sentence in Canada arrested at Canada-U.S. border cnews.canoe.ca October 26, 2006 ST. CATHARINES, Ont. (CP) - An American schoolteacher sentenced to three years' probation in Canada for a sex offence involving a teen was reportedly arrested Thursday when he tried to enter the country from the United States. Hamilton's CH News reported that Malcolm Watson was arrested by Canadian officials while returning from a court appearance in Buffalo, N.Y. On Monday, the 35-year-old Watson pleaded guilty in Buffalo to endangering the welfare of a child, and sexual abuse in the third degree. He was sentenced...

No sure bet for con 'No guarantee one way or the other' U.S. sex offender can stay in Canada Ottawa Sun Tuesday, October 24, 2006 By TOM GODFREY, SUN MEDIA TORONTO -- Border officers began investigating yesterday if a teacher exiled by a U.S. court to Canada for molesting a student at an all-girls' school should also be banished from Canada. U.S. citizen Malcolm Watson, 35, was sentenced by Cheektowaga town court to serve three years of probation in St. Catharines so he can be with his Canadian wife and their two children. Malcolm Watson, convicted of having sexual...

Man convicted of child abuse exiled to Canada CTV.ca News Staff Updated Sun. Oct. 22 2006 11:26 PM ET Given a choice between jail and exile to Canada, an American man chose Fort Erie, Ont. after being convicted for having sex with a 15-year-old girl. Starting Monday, Malcolm Watson will stay out of the U.S. for three years as punishment for having a sexual relationship with the Buffalo, N.Y. student. The sexual abuse sentence handed down by a New York State court only allows Watson to re-enter the U.S. to report to his probation officer. Watson, 35, lives in...

“We’re not a protest organization, we’re a policing organization,” Paul Watson...of his Sea Shepherd... A pirate organization is more like it. Sporting the skull and crossbones, his black or battleship-gray ships sail menacingly through the waves. They are painted with the names of the boats Watson has rammed and sunk. The ships are fitted with...a concrete-filled bow made for ramming, and an attachment dubbed the “can opener” that can tear open a boat’s hull. In his book Earth Warrior, David Morris writes that Watson wears a long bowie knife at his side and carries AK-47s on board. He blasts Richard...

The Democratic Party's main environmental enforcer, the Sierra Club, is having another revealing scrap over immigration. A year after losing in a rout, a group of anti-immigration insurgents is back this month making a run at five seats on the group's 15-member board. Sierrans for U.S. Population Stabilization wants the super-green club to endorse immigration limits, with a broader goal of freezing the American population. "The issue of escalating population growth in the United States is the single most important environmental issue in the nation," board member Paul Watson recently told the AP. In its wire-service deadpan, AP noted that...

This past March in Columbus Ohio a disabled 16 year old girl was sexually assulted at  Mifflin High School by a group of boys.  They beat her, stripped her naked, and video taped the incident while others watched as it happened.  This occurred while school was in session in the school's auditorium.  When the girl was finally brought to safety, a school official named Richard Watson did not want to call the authorities because it would attract unwanted media attention.  The father of the disabled girl was not called until a considerable amount of time had passed after the incident was reported.  The principle (Ms Crenshaw) has been fired for...

Wesley Clark the other day blamed the Bush administration for the intelligence failures leading to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. And Hillary Clinton said, darkly, that the administration's refusal to hand over documents to a 9/11 commission "unnecessarily raises suspicions that it has something to hide." Meanwhile, Condi Rice in a speech last week pointed to the failure to take terrorism seriously during the 1990s — in other words, she pointed to Clinton administration failures. The war over the war on terror has just begun. In this battle, it's useful to stick to specifics. Let's take,...

On September 19, 1997, the New York Times announced the discovery of a group of earthen mounds in northeastern Louisiana. The site, known as Watson Brake, includes 11 mounds 26 feet high linked by low ridges into an oval 916 feet long. What is remarkable about this massive complex is that it was built around 3400 B.C., more than 3,000 years before the development of farming communities in eastern North America, by hunter-gatherers, at least partly mobile, who visited the site each spring and summer to fish, hunt, and collect freshwater mussels... Social complexity cannot exist unless I it...

News Advisory: Diplomats and Military Commanders for Change, a group of retired ambassadors and senior military officers, will hold a Morning Newsmaker news conference Wednesday, June 16, at 8 a.m. EDT at the National Press Club (Zenger Room), 13th floor, 529 14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. The topic will be "The Need for Change in U.S. Foreign and Defense Policy." The group includes former ambassadors Jeffrey Davidow, William DePree, Charles Freeman Jr., William Harrop, Arthur Hartman, H. Allen Holmes, Samuel Lewis, Princeton Lyman, Jack Matlock Jr., Donald McHenry, Richard Murphy, David Newsom, Phyllis Oakley, John Reinhardt, Ronald Spiers, Nicholas Veliotes...

Ashcroft denied anti-terror funds on Sept. 10 Attorney general to testify today in front of 9/11 commission CURT ANDERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - The day before the Sept. 11 attacks, Attorney General John Ashcroft rejected an FBI appeal for an extra infusion of money for counterterrorism, according to a Sept. 11 commission staff statement released today. The statement, issued as the independent panel's spotlight turned to the FBI and Justice Department, said Ashcroft on Sept. 10, 2001, rejected a request made earlier by acting FBI Director Thomas Pickard for "further counterterrorism enhancements" in the 2002 budget, which already would have...

Fifty years to the day from the discovery of the structure of DNA, one of its co-discoverers has caused a storm by suggesting that stupidity is a genetic disease that should be cured. On 28 February 1953 biologists James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA - the chemical code for all life. The breakthrough revealed how genetic information is passed from one generation to the next and revolutionised biology and medicine. But in a documentary series to be screened in the UK on Channel 4, Watson says that low intelligence is an inherited disorder and that molecular...