Eideard

A French judge has ordered Continental Airlines and five people to stand trial for manslaughter in connection with the 2000 crash of a Concorde jet that killed 113 people.

Two of those to be tried are employees of the US carrier. Two others were employed by Aerospatiale, the maker of Concorde and the precursor of plane-maker Airbus. One is an employee of the French civil aviation authority.

The Air France Concorde crashed shortly after takeoff from Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport in July 2000, killing 113 people.

French investigators blamed the crash on a titanium strip left on the runway by a Continental Airlines DC-10.

The metal strip caused one of the Concorde’s tyres to burst, which sent debris flying and punctured the jet’s fuel tanks.

A terrible disaster all the worse to recall for a simple cause, enhanced by carelessness.

I imagine most folks far away from South Asia never have the satisfaction of lassi – as aperitif, dessert or in the Mediterranean style of cleaning your palate between courses of an extended meal. It’s most often sweet, a little or a lot; but, it can be savory. And that’s my preference in the heart of our high desert summer.

For 2:

* 2 cups/ glasses of fresh yogurt – Trader Joe’s organic whole milk yogurt
* 2 small Persian cucumbers cut into cubes – the peel is thin and edible
* 2 small cloves garlic
* zest of a small lemon
* juice of half of that lemon
* a teaspoon of honey [if you like - I do]
* a couple of ice cubes
* no salt; but, you would add a touch in India
* mint to garnish if you have some handy

Preparation:

* Mix all the ingredients top speed in a blender till smooth. My Kitchenaid takes about a minute.
* Pour into tall, chilled glasses and garnish with mint.

It is delicious, refreshing and relaxing.

Does it look like a Cash Register – or just another Bunker?

The ferocity of the reaction in the German media to the fortress-like new U.S. embassy in Berlin, which former U.S. President George Bush will inaugurate on July 4th, strikes me as a reflection of the strains in German-U.S. relations since 2003’s Iraq conflict.

It underlines just how long gone the days of the Cold War really are. Then, when Berlin was the front line in the Cold War, America was West Germany’s best friend and U.S. soldiers were welcome across the country.

Architectural critics in Germany have slammed the boxy building with narrow windows as being reminiscent of Baghdad’s Green Zone.

The embassy is a picture of a country traumatised by 9/11 and by the consequences of globalisation, of a nation with such heavy armour that it can no longer see the world,” wrote conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung earlier this year.

Other critics have been just as hostile, deriding it as a discount supermarket, a prison, a bunker and like Fort Knox.

Once upon a time, the United States was a nation of courage and confidence. Now, led by greedy and arrogant Oil Patch Boys, no one even remembers how our nation survived the burning of the White House and the Capitol by British invaders during the war of 1812. Americans must think the Pearl Harbor Memorial just grew out of the tidal waters of Honolulu.

Whatever the case and cause, our Fearless Leaders rely nowadays on structures of state better suited to Stalin than Jefferson.

A college student claimed it was all a joke when he put his vote in this fall’s presidential election up for sale on the Web auction site eBay. But prosecutors didn’t see the humor.

University of Minnesota student Max P. Sanders, 19, was charged with a felony Thursday in Hennepin County District Court after allegedly asking for a minimum of $10 in exchange for voting for the bidder’s preferred candidate.

“Good luck!” Sanders wrote under the eBay handle zepdrummer612. “You’re (sic) country depends on You!”

The student told investigators he made the eBay posting, adding, “That was a joke. It’s no longer listed,” according to the complaint.

Having a sense of humor in Amerika has long been a criminal offense.

Buying votes has become more sophisticated over time. It’s proven more cost effective just to lie – and do a really thorough job of lying. That’s what TV commercials are for, after all.

Thanks, K B

A sculpture of the signing of the Declaration of Independence made from a one-tonne block of cheddar cheese glistens on the sidewalk of Times Square in New York as an artist’s tribute to the Fourth of July.

“It’s very patriotic, using the signing of the Declaration of Independence, bringing Americans together for the Fourth,” said Troy Landwehr, who carved the sculpture for cracker company Cheez-It to celebrate U.S. Independence Day.

He worked eight hours a day for a week in a 40-degree cooler carving the block of Wisconsin cheddar.

“The cheddar has been pasteurized and will not melt,” Landwehr said. “What I spray on it is cooking oil and that stops it from drying out and cracking,” he said. “That’s why it looks sweaty. It actually preserves the cheese.”

Enough crackers to go round, it should be a success after the holiday, as well.

Britain’s most senior judge reopened one of the most highly charged debates in Britain last night when he said he was willing to see sharia law operate in the country, so long as it did not conflict with the laws of England and Wales, or lead to the imposition of severe physical punishments…

Phillips insisted last night there was “widespread misunderstanding” of the nature of sharia law, and argued: “There is no reason why sharia principles, or any other religious code, should not be the basis for mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution [with the understanding] … that any sanctions for a failure to comply with the agreed terms of mediation would be drawn from the Laws of England and Wales.”

He also suggested sharia principles should be applied to marriage arrangements…

“So a Muslim woman who divorced according to Sharia principles would be free to marry again, but not if she only went to a civil court.

Nations with judges appointed on the basis of their commitment to politics probably get what they deserve. The man is a reactionary and a dunce.

Thomas Beatie, who was born a woman but after surgery and hormone treatment lives as a man, has given birth to a girl at an Oregon hospital.

Beatie, 34, who kept female reproductive organs after initiating a transgender transformation and legally changing his name from Tracy Lagondino in his 20s, confirmed the birth to the magazine.

The baby, conceived through artificial insemination using donor sperm and Beatie’s own eggs, was born on June 29, and Beatie and the baby are “healthy and doing well,” People reported.

He told the magazine that contrary to published reports, the baby was not delivered by Caesarean section, but no other details about the birth were given.

Phew!

Congratulations, of course.