Mediawatch World Apr 04: Queen's English, Bush's Wastes, Al Qaeda's "Collateral", George Soros, Turkey Courts, Arakawa, Pregnant Man

People like me, native English speakers, are heading to the ashcan of history. By 2010, estimates language researcher David Graddol, 2 billion people on the planet will be communicating in English -- but only 350 million will be native speakers. By 2020, native speakers will have diminished to 300 million. My American English, which I grew up speaking in an accent that matched what I heard on National Public Radio and 60 Minutes, is already difficult for many English-speakers to understand. The Queen's English Is Dead By Annalee Newitz


A trillion dollars here, a trillion dollars there, and soon you're talking real money. But when it comes to reporting on what the Bush war legacy has cost American taxpayers, the media have been shockingly indifferent to the highest run-up in military spending since World War II. Even the devastating defense spending audit released Monday by the Government Accountability Office documenting the enormous waste in every single U.S. advanced weapons system failed to provoke the outrage it, and five equally scathing previous annual audits, deserved. Bush Administration Wastes Trillions in Worthless Weapons By Robert Scheer

What Robert fails to explain here is this is the down side of what Ike termed the MIC - military-industrial-complex. MIC earns most of this "wasted" money - they call it R&D (research and development) - we can call it gouging and defrauding the taxpayer.


Al-Zawahiri, who led an Egyptian Islamic militant group that joined forces with bin Laden in the 1990s, said innocents who have been killed in attacks by al Qaeda or affiliated groups died as a result of "unintentional error" or because they were used as "human shields" by "the enemy." AlQaeda's Collateral Damage (Yeah, right!)

Croatia and Albania, in Orange, are the newest members of Nato Nato has rejected the US president's push for former Soviet republics Ukraine and Georgia to join the alliance. But George Bush did win support for his controversial missile shield to be based in Europe despite Russian objections, as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation began its summit in Bucharest on Thursday. Nato said Georgia and Ukraine were not ready to join the alliance. But it left the door open for them to join later, saying it would review the decision in December, a move Russia said would be "a huge strategic mistake, which would have the most serious consequences for pan-European security". Humari Billi Hum Hee Say Miyaoun?

George Soros, who is famously known for "breaking the Bank of England" by shorting the British Pound, on Black Wednesday in 1992 and earning $2 billion for himself, now says that "We are in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the 1930s." Soros knows about declining societies. He also predicted, and help bring about, the collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe in the 1990s. With an estimated current net worth of more than $8.5 billion, Soros is ranked by Forbes as the 80th-richest person in the world. He has given away more than $4 billion dollars to various political causes. His new book was released today exclusively as an e-Book (the hardcover will be available mid-May). The book is called The New Paradigm for Financial Markets: The Credit Crisis of 2008 and What It Means. George Soros "We Are in the Midst Of The Worst Financial Crisis Since the 1930s." Blake Fleetwood


Eight months ago the AK Party (AKP) was returned to power in Turkey with 47% of the vote. Now that same party is to go on trial, accused of aiming to transform this strictly secular country into an Islamic state. "This risk has been increasing every day" states the 162-page petition submitted to the constitutional court by Turkey's chief prosecutor. "The danger is clear and concrete. There is no other way to protect society than to close the party down," it reads. 'Judicial coup' On Monday, 11 judges voted unanimously to hear the case - which also calls for the prime minister, president and 69 other party members to be banned from politics. Turks fear political turmoil By Sarah Rainsford


THE house is off-limits to children, and adults are asked to sign a waiver when they enter. The main concern is the concrete floor, which rises and falls like the surface of a vast, bumpy chocolate chip cookie. But, for Arakawa, 71, an artist who designed the house with his wife, Madeline Gins, the floor is a delight, as well as a proving ground. As he scampered across it with youthful enthusiasm on a Friday evening in March, he compared himself to the first man to walk on the moon. “If Neil Armstrong were here, he would say, ‘This is even better!’ ” A House Not for Mere Mortals Eric Striffler for The New York Times


Pregnant man Thomas Beatie has revealed his unborn child to the world after having a scan on the Oprah Winfrey show. The 34-year-old transsexual set out to prove that he really is six months pregnant with a baby girl. Born Tracy Lagondino, Beatie was filmed looking proudly at his scan and the blurry image of the baby he is going to have with wife Nancy Roberts.
Pregnant man bares his baby bump on TV for Oprah ultrasound scan Aankh jO dekhti hay lub per aasakhta nahin....