The Whole Delivery

(Photo from NASA) The sad report of the Columbia Space shuttle Crew Other news coming out from the world on the penultimate day of the year: Ukraine has finally played off its gas debt to Russia. The BBC unearths the chilling NASA report details of the the crew onboard the disintegrated space shuttle Columbia and their final minutes. The report includes grim details of the crew's final moments as the shuttle broke up over the state of Texas. It also concluded that the astronaut's seat restraints, suits and helmets did not work well, leading to "lethal trauma". "This report confirms that although the valiant Columbia crew tried every possible way to maintain control of their vehicle, the accident was not ultimately survivable," said Nasa's deputy associate administrator, Wayne Hale. And this may make you more sad and angry at the same time after reading this: Nasa also found that the astronauts did not have the necessary training that may have increased ...

Photo from the BBC No one in the American corporate media (outside of probably Olbermann and Maddow, though I'm not even sure if they have reported followups on this) has even bothered on updating on the status of Montather Al-Ziedi ever since he released his second shoe at our lame duck joke of a President. Unfortunately, initial reports indicated that Al-Zeidi was getting tortured severely. And even more devastating to read is the fact that the infliction he is reporting taken has continued. From Siun at Firedoglake , who has been following the journalist's condition, it seems Nouri al-Maliki continues to show signs that lead some to believe he could be the country's next dictator. As Laura Doty mentioned over at Oxdown , more accounts of the abusive treatment of Al Zaida are appearing at the same time that Prime Minister Maliki is attempting to slander the shoe thrower with claims that: Mr. Al-Zeidi "revealed the name of the person who instigated this act". ...

Photo from the BBC So much for being an advocate of free speech. Instead of giving his blessings that Muntader al-Zaidi be released after throwing a shoe at him, the lame duck George W.Bush has not said a word about that. And because of his, in my mind, chilling silence, al-Zaidi is getting tortured and beaten, badly . This is scary. The brother of the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush has said that the reporter has been beaten in custody. Muntadar al-Zaidi has allegedly suffered a broken arm, broken ribs and internal bleeding, his older brother, Dargham, told the BBC. Mr Zaidi threw his shoes at Mr Bush at a news conference, calling him "a dog". The government however said that's not the case: A spokesperson for the Iraqi military says the journalist is in good health and said the allegations were untrue. But other reports say the opposite : Raed in the Middle reports: Albaghdadia, the TV channel where the Iraqi Journalist Montather ...