Mel Gibson insults Mayan studies professor

From TMZ.com in the USA:

Mel Goes Ballistic — “Lady, F**k Off!”

Posted Mar 23rd 2007 10:40AM by TMZ Staff

TMZ has learned Mel Gibson exploded in anger last night on a college campus after an expert on Mayan culture accussed him of racially stereotyping the Mayans in the movie “Apocalypto.”

It happened last night at Cal State University at Northridge in the San Fernando Valley.

Gibson was speaking to a film class about his movies, and several members of the Mayan community came to hear the famous director.

After Gibson’s presentation, the crowd was allowed to ask questions.

Alicia Estrada, an Assistant Professor of Central American Studies at CSUN, challenged Gibson, asking him if he had read about the Mayan culture before shooting the controversial film.

Gibson said he had.

Estrada persisted, stating that representations in the movie that the Mayans engaged in [human] sacrificial ceremonies and had bloodthirsty tendencies were both wrong and racist.

Estrada and others tell TMZ that Gibson exploded in anger, responding, “Lady, F**k off.”

We’re told Gibson also became extremely angry when members of the Mayan community protested on how they were portrayed in the film.

The emotional Mayan members were escorted out of the room, and we’re told Gibson screamed a parting shot — “Make your own movie!”

Freudian slip on British soldiers detained in Iran

This video from the USA is called: Seymour Hersh on planned invasion of Iran.

On Dutch RTL4 TV News tonight, on the 15 British marines detained in Iran:

The British authorities continue to assert that their soldiers were arrested in the territorial waters of Iran … err … of Iraq.

A Freudian slip?

See also here.

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Bush on detained British soldiers: here.

US neo-conservatives on Iran war threat: here.

Early humans more ape-like than previously believed

From New York University in the USA:

Man’s earliest direct ancestors looked more apelike than previously believed

First humans retained surprisingly apelike features, NYU study reveals

Modern man”s earliest known close ancestor was significantly more apelike than previously believed, a New York University College of Dentistry professor has found.

A computer-generated reconstruction by Dr. Timothy Bromage, a paleoanthropologist and Adjunct Professor of Biomaterials and of Basic Science and Craniofacial Biology, shows a 1.9 million-year-old skull belonging to Homo rudolfensis, the earliest member of the human genus, with a surprisingly small brain and distinctly protruding jaw, features commonly associated with more apelike members of the hominid family living as much as three million years ago.

Dr. Bromage”s findings call into question the extent to which H. rudolfensis differed from earlier, more apelike hominid species.

Specifically, he is the first scientist to produce a reconstruction of the skull that questions renowned paleontologist and archeologist Richard Leakey”s depiction of modern man”s earliest direct ancestor as having a vertical facial profile and a relatively large brain – an interpretation widely accepted until now.

Dr. Bromage”s reconstruction also suggests that humans developed a larger brain and more vertical face with a less pronounced jaw and smaller teeth at least 300,000 years later than commonly believed, perhaps as recently as 1.6 million to one million years ago, when two later species, H. ergaster and H. erectus, lived.

Dr. Bromage presented his findings today at the annual scientific session of the International Association for Dental Research in New Orleans.

Women in prehistory: here.

US officers to be prosecuted for Pat Tillman’s death in Afghanistan

From CNN in the USA:

WASHINGTON — Pentagon officials say a Defense Department investigation will recommend that nine officers be held accountable for the aftermath of the friendly-fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, according to The Associated Press.

The Pentagon’s inspector general will describe errors and inappropriate conduct during the military’s investigation of the former football star’s death in Afghanistan in 2004, one defense official told AP.

The official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the investigation, told AP that military leaders may have lacked adequate information or failed to pursue it.

The U.S. Army last year launched a criminal investigation into the death of Tillman, who gave up his career with the National Football League’s Arizona Cardinals to fight terrorism after the 9/11 attacks.

Initial reports after his death said Tillman, 27, was shot and killed by Taliban forces during an ambush on April 22, 2004.

An investigation later found that fellow soldiers shot Tillman, thinking he was part of an enemy force firing at them.

Tillman’s family demanded to know why his uniform and body armor were burned a day after he was killed and why they were not immediately told he might have been killed by fellow soldiers.

See also here.

Australia and Afghanistan: here.

Related articles

• Corporal Pat Tillman, USA
• Pat Tillman Was Executed
• Gen. McChrystal was fired from job he never deserved to have due to Pat Tillman coverup

Doctors say Elsevier, cut your links to arms sales

From the blog of “GrrlScientist” in the USA, based on Associated Press:

Physicians from around the world urged Elsevier Group PLC., the publisher of The Lancet medical journal and other scientific and medical journals, to cut its links to weapons sales, calling on the editors to find another publisher if Reed Elsevier refused to stop hosting arms fairs.

“The Lancet is one of the most respected international medical journals and should not be linked to an industry involved in weapons designed to cause physical harm and death,” wrote Dr. Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians, and Dr. Michael Pelly, the association’s international adviser.

Reed Elsevier said it supported The Lancet editors’ right to free speech, but had no plans to stop its involvement with arms fairs.

The Lancet first learned of its publisher’s involvement in the arms industry in 2005.

Supported by Britain’s Ministry of Defense, Reed Elsevier hosts arms fairs around the world that have showcased weapons — including a 1,100-pound cluster bomb, one of the deadliest known bombs.

“The Lancet has a particular commitment to child survival, and cluster bombs are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children, and cause horrendous disabilities,” said editor Richard Horton.

“It is completely incompatible for Reed Elsevier to be in this business and also to be a health science publisher.”

The links of Elsevier include torture equipment.

See also here.

NATO forces shoot Afghan child, run over another

AFP reports:

A distraught Afghan father buried his 12-year-old son Friday after the boy was shot in the head by NATO troops in the latest in a series of civilian deaths involving international forces.

The NATO force admitted to the shooting late Thursday but said its soldiers had fired in self-defence after a civilian van had ignored verbal warnings to not approach a security cordon around a broken-down armoured vehicle.

Suppose for a moment this is not a propaganda lie: would a US motorist with children in his car react in any way if another motorist would give him “verbal warnings” in an Afghan language?

Confirming the killing, the Afghan interior ministry said the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops opened fire on a vehicle “which apparently tried to overtake the troops or may be the car was too close to the troops.”

But the boy’s father, named only Zemarai, denied trying to overtake the convoy while driving seven of his relatives home after visiting family.

He also said he had been several hundreds metres (yards) away and was not aware of warning shots, which troops are required to fire before taking aim.

“All of a sudden they opened fire at our vehicle,” he said angrily from his home, filled with wailing mourners for the funeral of young Zaryalai.

“The first three bullets hit my car and the fourth one hit my 12-year-old son on the side of his head,” the father said, his voice breaking with emotion.

The boy made no sound and Zemarai only realised the child was dead when he stopped the vehicle.

…

Meanwhile, ISAF said in a statement late Thursday that one of its convoys had hit and killed a child in the eastern province of Khost.

The child had darted out from the side of the road, it said.

…

In one of the worst incidents involving civilians and foreign forces this year, eight people were killed when US troops opened fire after a suicide bombing near the eastern city of Jalalabad March 4.

The US-led coalition said the civilians were killed in the attack and subsequent gunfire, but witnesses said they were all killed by the foreign forces.

The results of an investigation have yet to be announced.

Apparently, the NATO troops in the 12 year old boy case, are British soldiers.

Jalalabad masacre: here.