The New York Times Crossword in Gothic

05.31.09 -- Nuts Over Crosswords!

Sunday, May 31, 2009

ODD ONE OUT, Puzzle by Kelsey Blakley, edited by Will Shortz

A note accompanies today’s crossword: Every letter in the answer to each asterisked clue appears an even number of times in that answer … except one. Altogether, these eight unpaired letters can be arranged to spell the answer to 68- and 70-Across.

Some people are NUTS OVER crosswords is the 68/70-Across entry/clue. Not much of a clue, but the down entries are friendly enough to yield the across answer. The second part of this crossword is an anagrammatic afterthought; the note provided is of no help with the solution of the puzzle per se, being merely instructions for anyone who is truly nuts over crosswords that there is more to do. I gathered all the stray letters and still didn’t catch on until the mavens and ravens were rolling their eyes over my denseness. On the other hand, I’m not fond of look-ma-no-hands gimmicks that are of no help in the solution and require one to further dwell upon the crossword. I’m just saying…

N is the odd one out in STRENUOUS EFFORT (46D. *Real work); U in INSUFFICIENCIES (102A. *Deficits); T in UNITARIAN CHURCH (23A. *Religious affiliation of John Adams and William Howard Taft); S in GOES UNDERGROUND (86A. * Hides out); O in TATTERED AND TORN (116A. *Ragged); V in PRIVATE PRACTICE (3D. *Not firm work?); E in ANTIPERSPIRANTS (33A. *You raise your arms for these); R in HIPPOCRATIC OATH (49A. *Physician’s promise).

Across -- 1. End of a footrace; 5. Creator of Princess Ozma; 9. Satellite org.; 13 State below Lower Saxony; 18. “The Pearl of ORRS Island” (Stowe novel); 19. Opposing;; 20. Technological debuts of 1998; 22. Mountain, in Hawaiian; 26. Cry from the bench; 27. Foe; 28. Ascension Day, e.g.: Abbr.; 29. Sword material; 31. Serve notice; 32. Manila pact grp., 1954; 36. Cultivate; 38. Men of La Mancha; 39. Big Apple subway line, with “the”; 40. Do, re, mi; 42. Sailor’s realm; 44. Business partner, sometimes; 45. French word before and after “à”; 46. Busch Stadium locale: Abbr.; 55. “Gloria PATRI” (hymn); 57. Prefix with -naut; 58. Primeval; 59. Oregon city, with “The”; 60. King of England, 946-55; 61. Challenge for H.S. juniors; 62. Film that lost the Best Picture Oscar to “Chariots of Fire”; 64. Hogwarts professor Trelawney, e.g.; 65. Montana Indians; 66. Pilot’s E; 72. Paint choice; 73. Illinois city; 74. Ring; 78. Form of acetyl acetone; 78. Corona; 80. Scenic fabric; 81. Narrow furrows; 83. Maine coon, e.g.; 84. You name it; 85. Reduces to bits; 89. Schooner’s contents; 90. Pack away; 92. Travel plan: Abbr.; 93. Trifling amount; 94. Ocean’s reflection; 95. Boston’s Liberty Tree, e.g.; 96. Lack of faith; 100. Jaw site; 107. Jack Sprat’s dietary restriction; 110. Comes out of one’s skin; 112. Quod ERAT faciendum; 113. EFFIE White, one of the girls in “Dreamgirls”; 114. Given; 119. Class; 120. Bunches; 121. Something to play; 122. Raises the hackles of; 123. Impressionist Degas; 124. Scorched; 125. SWEE’ Pea; 126. Peut-ETRE (maybe, in Marseille).

Down: 1. Hitches; 2. Golf’s Palmer, to friends; 4. Dead giveaway; 5. Honky-tonk; 6. Hill of Hill hearings; 7. The Osmonds, e.g.; 8. Least; 9. Fed. Med. Research agency; 10. Jester, e.g.; 11. Refuser of a 1964 Nobel Prize; 12. Tap into; 13. Managed care grp.; 14. Swab’s target; 15. Nubian Desert locale; 16. Comics canine; 17. Pulls in; 21. Common name for a working dog; 24. Explorer ALONSO Álvarez de Pineda, first European to see the Mississippi; 25. Sea lily, e.g.; 30. “LILI Marlene” (W.W. II love song); 34. Plains Indians; 35. 1967 #1 hit whose lyrics begin “What you want / Baby, I got it”; 37. Style of furnishing; 40. Fellow; 41. Semi fill-up; 43. Democrat Specter; 45. Beta blocker?; 47. It may be tapped; 48. Toppers; 50. Driving hazard; 51. Total; 52. Nondairy product in the dairy section; 53. Popular pain reliever; 54. Ancient playwright who originated the phrase “While there’s life, there’s hope”; 56. Italian Renaissance composer Banchieri; 63. Firewood unit; 67. Personal identity; 69. Je ne SAIS quoi; 71. Laughs one’s head off; 73. Razor brand; 75. Supermodel Hutton; 77. State V.I.P.: Abbr.; 79. Tennis’s Roddick; 81. Towser, e.g., in “Catch-22”: Abbr.; 82. Siren; 87. Those with yens; 88. Shot; 91. AMFM radio; 95. Author Welty; 96. Mercedes-Benz model; 97. Whit; 98. Prynne of “The Scarlet Letter”; 99. Lark’s home; 101. Pushover; 102. Persona; 103. Canceled; 104. Primitive weapon; 105. Whit; 106. Banal; 108. Telecaster; 109. Cliff-hanging; 115. French 42-Across; 117. She can be polled; 118. Born overseas.

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THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games

Crazed MI-5 and MI-6 Wreak Havoc for the Illuminati

by Henry Makow Ph.D.

Blogs by people claiming to be former MI-5 and MI-6 agents paint a sordid picture of state terrorism, rape, torture, mind control, murder and pedophilia in the service of the Illuminati.

The main blog is called "Richard Tomlinson and the Russians" but there are a dozen more listed. Taken together with Comments by insiders, they tell a hair-raising tale of mayhem perpetrated by these deranged Illuminati agencies. Most people will not believe it. It has taken me nearly a year to process it.

Here are some highlights:

+The world's Intelligence agencies are infiltrated and controlled by "Royal Arch" Freemasons who owe their loyalty not to the State but to Illuminati (Masonic) bankers, posing as the "Crown" or "Monarchy." Most agents are tortured, i.e. trauma brainwashed and mind controlled using trigger words from texts like "Alice in Wonderland."

MI-5 Chief Manningham-Buller told recruits they serve "the 'real' communism, ...the 'Guardianship' by those who were 'born to rule'. They were the self-elected custodians of British society who could decide what was in their people's best interests."

"This tarantula-like Masonic organization ...has been strangling the world since the last days of the British Empire. Those within British Intelligence who were not Royal Arch Freemasons, had no real idea of what was going on at all. If they did manage to catch a 'Russian spy' within their midst, it was because the Royal Arch Freemasons had deemed this person expendable and had then fed him or her to the fishes. Think Burgess, Maclean etc and you will get the picture. [Anthony] Blunt escaped such censorship and hounding. He was a 'master' of Royal Arch Freemasonry."

+"Vladimir Putin has a long history as a Royal Arch Freemason. He is "a puppet - always has been. You only have to look into his vacuous eyes to see that. - how much ECT does it take to run a Puppet-President? Quite a bit, I would imagine." He also was a cross dresser & boy toy to current MI-6 Director John Scarlett."

+"Putin was chosen as a DNA sperm donor within this Royal 'zygote' project and had then been ordered by the Masonic body to copulate with various British female agents, whilst in Berlin. The zygotes were then 'collected' and the young woman involved, was subsequently murdered. Stephen Daldry [the film Director] had organized various victims to be sent to Berlin for exactly this purpose. He has also boasted of listening to them (bugged rooms) being murdered, during this period. Cameras were also placed in the TV sets for the Royal Arch Freemasons to view afterward - in essence, 'snuff movies'. By 1993, the Royal Arch Freemasons had no further use for Mr Putin in terms of information or DNA and therefore, he was expendable - Royal Arch Freemason or not."

+"Putin's mother was Jewish but converted to Russian Orthodoxy. In Poland, he decided to go back to his roots and because his mother was Jewish he didn't have to go through a full conversion.

There is some difference among the posters about whether Putin broke from the Illuminati and deprogrammed himself when he was betrayed by MI-6.

+MI-6 "implanted a nuclear bomb (ESSO were employed to do the drilling) between the tectonic plates under the seabed - just off Aceh, Indonesia. MI5 were to send a military ship into the area after the explosion had occurred, in order to check radiation levels. They had miscalculated. The radiation levels are now affecting all of the surrounding islands, including the Arabian peninsular. The explosion occurred on the 26th December 2004." [i.e. the Tsunami]

"Indonesian Intelligence were duly warned and took action by taking out large insurance claims with British companies just before the event (mainly on the same day beforehand, in order to get the claims through without creating suspicion and UK firms backing out of the deal), in relation to the areas and buildings that the tsunami would hit."

+ On July 10, 2007 "Anonymous" posted the following: "The new date set for Royal Illuminati terrorist attacks is the 14th July 2007. They have planned a whole series of bombings all over the world. Too numerous to mention. One hopes this advance warning will put them off once again but as ever this is only an intermediary measure. British Intelligence have to sort themselves out, once and for all... The Crown has a stranglehold on BI [British Intelligence]and its not going to let go without a battle. The Royal Military will see to that." [No bombs went off on that date.]

+ "Little Madelaine's [McCann's] parents were part of the Illuminati ring - mind control slaves themselves. They know what happened to her - their subconscious minds know exactly what happened but they were powerless to stop it. J K Rowling is also an Illuminati Monarch slave - she is an actress who has hardly put pen to paper regarding the Harry Potter books. The original author of the first four books - hasn't seen a penny from it - stolen goods. Rowling was present at the rite in which Madeleine died - hence her offer of a reward in public, was all the more sickening.

"Rowling was chosen to front this series of books because she was so malleable. She wanted fame and fortune without cost. Her Ashkenazim parents had bought her out of British Illuminati slavery and had also bought her what is known in the trade as a 'Pen and Ink Stand': A ghost-writer who works as an unpaid slave - one of British Intelligence's operatives."

+ "Richard Tomlinson, an agent who publicly accused MI-6 of involvement in the murder of Princess Diana possibly took part in the crime. "Tomlinson had chipped Henri Paul in the kitchens beforehand. He had been on one of the large, black motorbikes hounding Diana's car and watched as she cried out for help after the accident without doing a thing - he was too busy securing his photographs of the ambulance as a blackmailing threat to MI6..."

Tomlinson supposedly broke with MI-6 but the posters say he is still working for them, running a pedophile ring in the south of France. For a "defector," his book "The Big Breach" (2001) is singularly unrevealing, especially in light of the material discussed here.

+ Stella Rimington, a director of MI-5 in the 1990's is a former secretary who did sexual entrapment for MI-5 before becoming a S/M lesbian. She
had her agents steal the MI-6 mind control codes and used them to break out of her own mind control and "attack the system from outside." When she started assassinating MI-6 agents who annoyed her, she was ungracefully retired. "She has been involved in child trafficking and prostitution ever since."

CONCLUSION

There is a list of the related blogs at the end of this article. Generally speaking, this incredible material is consistent with what we already know about the Illuminati. They are insane.
They are a satanic cult.

These blogs provide a rare glimpse of the seedy underside of the establishment in Britain where the Illuminati is headquartered. I doubt if the situation is very different elsewhere.

This criminality and depravity is permitted and cultivated in order to undermine democratic institutions. The Illuminati bankers want the people to cry out for their totalitarian world government.

Related Blogs (some may be defunct.)

andrewmarr.blogspot.com www.johnscarlett.blogspot.com www.elizamanninghambuller.blogspot.com www.stellarimington.blogspot.com www.seraphimraziel77.blogspot.com www.beautyandthebeastomega.blogspot.com www.fivehivealpha.blogspot.com www.rubberduckpsi.blogspot.com www.alphadeltaV.blogspot.com www.cuckoosnests.blogspot.com www.electricbluesky.blogspot.com www.alicescapesthemenagerie.blogspot.com www.royalarchcrumbles.blogspot.com
www.beautyandthebeastpower.blogspot.com
www.beautyandthebeastomega.blogspot.com
www.fivehivealpha.blogspot.com
www.rubberduckpsi.blogspot.com
www.alphadeltaV.blogspot.com
www.cuckoosnests.blogspot.com
www.electricbluesky.blogspot.com

Source: http://www.henrymakow.com/mi-5_and_mi-6_wreak_havoc_for.html

05.31.09 -- Spiral, the Diagramless

Chambered Nautilus Sea Shell

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Sunday, May 31, 2009

Diagramless Puzzle by Francis Heaney, edited by Will Shortz

This diagramless is 18 squares wide by 15 squares deep and has an asymmetrical pattern resembling a chambered nautilus shell.

Across: 1. NICK FALDO, Three-time Masters winner who’s now a TV golf analyst; 10. DANIEL BOONE, Eponym of a Kentucky national forest; 12. NAUTILUS SHELL, Source of an osmena pearl; 14. MUNRO, Short-story writer Alice; 15. SKIM, Go over quickly; 17. KUDZU, Comic strip that shares a name with an invasive plant; 18. PURGED, Got rid of; 24. ONYX, Traditional July birthstone; 26. ASIA, Where Tibet is; 27. RAGNAROK, Cataclysmic event in Norse myth that inspired Götterdämmerung”; 29. KEMP, Dole’s 1996 running mate; 31. PIS, Tecs; 32. CEPHALOPOD, Creature in a 12-Across, for one; 34. YEA; Senate affirmative; 35. PCT, %: Abbr.; 36. BAR, Prevent; 37. SERA, Hospital injections; 38. END, Wind up; 39. ABC, “All My Children” airer; 40. SPIRAL, Shape of a 12-Across; 44. FEY, Tina who played Sarah Palin; 45. SOAP, “All My Children,” e.g.; 47. SKATE, Glide (over); 48. IAN, English novelist McEwan; 49. XMAS, Big shopping season, for short; 51. APEX, Tiptop; 52. ENE, Hydrocarbon suffix; 53. PROF, T.A. someday, maybe; 55. RNS, I.C.U. workers; 56. CHAMBERED, Like a 12-Across; 61. OCTOPUS, Kind of 32-Across; 62. EVIAN, Spring water brand.

Down: 1. NAURU, Micronesian national once called Pleasant Island; 2. Call INTO question; 3. CII, Caesar’s 102; 4. KEL, Kenan’s TV pal; 5. Swine FLU; 6. ABS, Parts of a washboard; 7. LOS, The “L” in L.A.; 8. DOH, “I’m a moron!”; 9. ONES, Singles; 10. DANZA, “Taxi” co-star; 11. ELKO, Nevada city; 12. NUDIST CAMP, Vacation spot for people who like to pack light; 13. LINK, Chain part; 14. MUSIC BOX, Portable player that has only one song; 16. MY EYE, “Nonsense!”; 17. KAPPAS, Some sorority women; 18 PAPRIKA, Goulash spice; 19. UGH, “Gross!”; 20. RNA, Genetic stuff; 21. GAL, Gas station meas.; 22. EROS, Boy with a bow; 23. DOPE FIEND, Candidate for rehab; 25. XMEN, Magneto’s enemies; 27. REAPS, Harvests; 28. KOREANS, Most Hyundai employees; 30. PAD, Place to set a hot dish; 32. CBS, Radios for good buddies; 33. Singer Taylor DAYNE; 41. RAP, Grammy genre; 42. ATE, Fed.; 43. LEX, Latin law; 46. PARC, Picnicking place, in Paris; 50. SOHO, Neighborhood north of TriBeCa; 54. FACE, Confront; 55. RES, Dwelling: Abbr.; 57. MTV, Network that owns Comedy Central; 58. OutKast member Big BOI; 59. EPA, Eco-friendly org.; 60. RUN, Baseball score.

Click here to view the real thing out for a little swim!

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THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games

05.30.09 -- Zzzzzzzzzzzz!

Sleeping Beauty Thomas Ralph Spence

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Saturday, May 30, 2009

Puzzle by Matt Ginsberg, edited by Will Shortz

The letter Z gets a work-out in this Saturday crossword with an even dozen.

The Z-infected words in numerical order across -- 16. JACUZZI ,“Water that moves you” sloganeer; 17. CHORIZO, Spanish pork sausage; 19. YITZHAK, Shimon’s predecessor; 45. ZOG, Planet visited by Spaceman Spiff in “Calvin and Hobbes”; 49. OZARK, County in Missouri or county seat in Arkansas; 55. ZAG, Turn sharply; 56. GIN FIZZ, Drink with lemon juice; 58. SEIZING, Appropriation; 60. ESTEVEZ, Brat Pack member; 62. HAZED, Initiated unpleasantly.

The second-hand use of the Z (the downs) -- 5. MAZY, Tangled and interwoven; 6. ELZIE, Cartoonist Segar; 11. BAZAARS, Some charity events; 20. ZOOS, Sites of some exhibits; 35. PIZZAZZ, Flair; 41. AMAZING, Not just great; 49. OOZED, Fell though the cracks?; 57. FEZ, Casablanca wear; and last but not least, 59. ZED, Lack of organisation? (my spell-check keeps changing the "s" to a "z"!).

Z-less entries of seven and eight letters, alphabetically -- DRAGGED (43D. Never seemed to end); DRIVE-UP (10D. Convenient kind of window); HOAXING (53A. April Fools’ Day activity); JOJOBAS (1D. Southwestern shrubs yielding a cosmetic oil), word of the day; MOOCHED (23D. Sponged); ONE HALF (12A. Just over a minority); POLENTA (38D. Staple of northern Italy) and POMATUM (25D. Fragrant hair dressing); ROMANCE (42D. Court); SAMPRAS (14A. Sports star who wrote the 2008 best seller “A Champion’s Mind); SCHLOCK (14D. Junk), tempting word; SCRIMPS (32A. Is hardly extravagant); SECLUDE (3D. Screen); SLOWISH (37D. Larghetto); SPHERIC (37A. Round); TERENCE (61A. Ancient Roman writer of comedies); UNAWARE (2D. Not with it).

Five and six -- ARDOR (26A. Spirit); 29A. BAHAI (7D. Believer advocating universal brotherhood); B AND B (7A. Travel mag listing); DODGED (63A. Hemmed and hawed); ECOLI (24A. Cause of some food recalls); 13D. Clyde FITCH, “Beau Brummell” playwright, 1890; FIVER (29D. Fin); 29A. All FOURS (card game); GRIST (46D. Mill fill); JUST ME (1A. Response to “Is anyone else here?”); KNEED (50D. Hit below the belt); PETARD (40A. Gate-breaching bomb); RULES (27D. Is way cool); RUMOR (47A. It’s often unfounded); SEE OUT (30A. Complete, as a task); SLOES (44A. Sour fruit); SOCKS (15D. Belts); and because "sewage" wouldn’t fit, SWAGE (44D. Metalworking tool), word of the day runner-up.

Three and four -- AMOK (8D. Uncontrollably); AWE (52A. Floor); BAUM (22A. “Mother Goose in Prose” author, 1897) ; CLAP (34A. Summon a servant, maybe); COAX (39D. Urge); GIRO (54D. Big name in cycling helmets); HIVE (53D. Queen’s quarters); HOO (28A. Sob syllable); KAVA (36A. Polynesian libation); 51A. “MAMA Said” (1961 hit); NPR (9D. D.C.-based news org.); OWL (18A. Nighttime noisemaker); PEAK (25A. Busiest); RAP (33D. Criticize); TAR (31D. Cap’n, say); THU (4D. Day “Cheers” was on: Abbr.); VAC (21A. Sucker, quickly); and due to "world" being too long, WOLD (48A. Chain of treeless rolling hills), yet another runner-up for word of the day.

Freedom lives! We are free to Z it up in America, the letter was banned in Greece as the popular protest slogan "Ζει", meaning "he lives", the title of the film by Costa Garvas -- here’s the trailer for the film, Z.

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THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games

05.29.09 -- Nonsense!

Nipper

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Friday, May 29, 2009

Puzzle by Randolph Ross, edited by Will Shortz

Equal, essentially is the clue for ASPARTAME and likewise ARTIFICIAL. Pops is DEAR OLD DAD and beneath is INFERIOR TO… “Lost” category is PAST TENSE (verb, not TV) while from this moment on is ANY LONGER. IN ONE SENSE (29D. From a particular perspective) this crossword puzzle may appear homeostatic, e.g., IN BALANCE; however, initial STARES (44A. Some are blank) are guaranteed.

What kind of clues are those? Producers of bold words produces TYPE FACES, long while is a DOG’S AGE accompanied by WOOFING (39A. Kennel clamor); memorable is REDLETTER, while the Sir Francis Drake discovery of 1579 is not California, but the GOLDEN GATE.

Solid ground is had somewhat with RCA VICTOR (18A. Introducer of 45’s in ‘49), HENRY VIII (52A. Charlton Heston’s “The Prince and the Pauper” role), SALERNO (33A. Allied landing site of September 1943) and CONGRESSES (30D. Meetings of delegates). Throw in a SEAHORSE (24D. Cousin of a stickleback) and a few entertainment names, e.g., HEATON (36A. “Everybody Loves Raymond” Emmy winner Patricia), LIN Manuel Miranda, “In the Heights” Tony winner; TRITT (10D. Singer of the #1 country hit “Foolish Pride”), a little literature, NATE (12D. With 20-Down kiddie-lit counterpart of Sherlock Holmes) THE GREAT along with columnists Molly IVINS and Herb CAEN (26D. Columnist who wrote “Don‘t Call It Frisco,” 1953).

If one ATTUNES (37A. Gets in sync), and to be HONEST (23A. Like some opinions), CENTRE (26A. Middle of the British Isles?) is of no help in doing so, one may pass PART ONE (6D. Series kickoff) with the non-horse derby dry-goods dealer, a DRAPER, and discover ALDERS to be charcoal wood sources, smile bemusedly at ENOTE atop AFLAT (Online message / G neighbor), wince at SPARERS being those that let people off and choke on THE GO (21A. What busy people are on).

Remains of the day -- ARLES, ASCENT, DIGIT, DOER, DRYICE, EERO, ETCH, FER, FILA, ITALO, LAIC, LEAF (One that‘s stalked), LEASE, LEOS, ONBY, OREO (Ice cream mix-in), PENN, SHIA, SLATING, SMOG, SPOUT, SPUR, STYLO, TAV as in Torah, TETE, URAL, WAVER, WEEPIER (Comparatively maudlin), WISE, VAN (It‘ll help you make your move).

Nonsense!

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THE NEW YORK TIMES -- Crossword Puzzles and Games

If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery subscription.
Remaining clues: Across: 1. Place holder?; 27. Congregational; 40. Action figure; 43. Backwoods pro?; 45. Oracular; 46. Jet; 56. Flat piece of paper?; 58. Where some sunflowers were painted. Down: 4. Ethnic prefix; 5. Head of Notre Dame; 6. Series kickoff; 7. Way up; 11. Prepare a plate perhaps; 13. Cause of a bad air day?; 14. Finnish pent athlete Lehtonen; 34. Some July arrivals; 44. Parisian pen; 45. Not stick to one’s guns; 46. Ayatollah, e.g.; 47. State-founding Friend; 48. “Walk ___” (1964 hit); 49. The Ilek is one of its tributaries; 51. Adidas alternative.

World War III has started

Israeli leaders must understand broad implications of North Korean nuke test

One needs to be deaf, blind, and an idiot at this time in order not to understand that the nuclear bomb tested in North Korea two days ago also exploded in the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem.

The North Koreans blatantly disregarded the Americans and publically presented them as a meaningless power, yet officials in Jerusalem are still reciting the “Road Map” and making note of the evacuation of some minor West Bank outpost. The world is changing before our eyes, yet here we see Knesset members earnestly explaining that the Americans will agree that we stay in Judea and Samaria if we only evacuate some tin shacks.

Two days ago, in North Korea, World War III officially got underway – the war that would pit “crazy” states such as North Korea and Iran, for example, against states we shall characterize as “moderate,” including Egypt, Gulf states, and Saudi Arabia, which at this time leads the Arab initiative for peace with Israel.

Ever since Sunday, the world has gone crazy, and this crazy world is monitoring with horror the struggle between the “moderate” and “crazy” states. The problem is that some of those crazy states – Iran, Pakistan, and North Korea – already have, or will have, a nuclear button to push, while the moderates, headed by the United States, are not eager to rush into battle.

Why? Because America is already entangled in wars, and there was someone who recently won the presidential elections there, among other reasons because he pledged to remove US troops from the Iraqi and Afghani quagmire. That same president promised that we shall live in a world free of nuclear weapons. Remember that?

A Gordian knot

This is the same North Korea that spat in America’s face three years ago, and this week it did it again. Based on the reactions in Washington (unless they are part of a deception campaign,) it doesn’t appear that the great America will respond. Now all we need is for Iran to blatantly disregard America and Israel in order to prompt us to slide into real emergency turmoil (as opposed to the drill planned for the coming days.)

Iran is here already. There is a direct and intimate link between the Korean bomb and the planned Iranian bomb; between Iran’s and North Korea’s spit in America’s face, Washington’s desire and ability to lead the fight against the crazy world, and the Israeli government’s conduct.

One does not need to be a supporter or rival of the settlement enterprise in the territories to understand this Gordian knot – and the question is whether we want the American sword to undo it for us.

If the answer is positive, we need to be familiar with the Americans to realize that three tin huts removed from the Maoz Ester outpost are not good enough.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-3722339%2C00.html

Toxic link: the WHO and the IAEA

A 50-year-old agreement with the IAEA has effectively gagged the WHO from telling the truth about the health risks of radiation

Fifty years ago, on 28 May 1959, the World Health Organisation's assembly voted into force an obscure but important agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency – the United Nations "Atoms for Peace" organisation, founded just two years before in 1957. The effect of this agreement has been to give the IAEA an effective veto on any actions by the WHO that relate in any way to nuclear power – and so prevent the WHO from playing its proper role in investigating and warning of the dangers of nuclear radiation on human health.

The WHO's objective is to promote "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health", while the IAEA's mission is to "accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world". Although best known for its work to restrict nuclear proliferation, the IAEA's main role has been to promote the interests of the nuclear power industry worldwide, and it has used the agreement to suppress the growing body of scientific information on the real health risks of nuclear radiation.

Under the agreement, whenever either organisation wants to do anything in which the other may have an interest, it "shall consult the other with a view to adjusting the matter by mutual agreement". The two agencies must "keep each other fully informed concerning all projected activities and all programs of work which may be of interest to both parties". And in the realm of statistics – a key area in the epidemiology of nuclear risk – the two undertake "to consult with each other on the most efficient use of information, resources, and technical personnel in the field of statistics and in regard to all statistical projects dealing with matters of common interest".

The language appears to be evenhanded, but the effect has been one-sided. For example, investigations into the health impacts of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine on 26 April 1986 have been effectively taken over by IAEA and dissenting information has been suppressed. The health effects of the accident were the subject of two major conferences, in Geneva in 1995, and in Kiev in 2001. But the full proceedings of those conferences remain unpublished – despite claims to the contrary by a senior WHO spokesman reported in Le Monde Diplomatique.

Meanwhile, the 2005 report of the IAEA-dominated Chernobyl Forum, which estimates a total death toll from the accident of only several thousand, is widely regarded as a whitewash as it ignores a host of peer-reviewed epidemiological studies indicating far higher mortality and widespread genomic damage. Many of these studies were presented at the Geneva and Kiev conferences but they, and the ensuing learned discussions, have yet to see the light of day thanks to the non-publication of the proceedings.

The British radiation biologist Keith Baverstock is another casualty of the agreement, and of the mindset it has created in the WHO. He served as a radiation scientist and regional adviser at the WHO's European Office from 1991 to 2003, when he was sacked after expressing concern to his senior managers that new epidemiological evidence from nuclear test veterans and from soldiers exposed to depleted uranium indicated that current risk models for nuclear radiation were understating the real hazards.

Now a professor at the University of Kuopio, Finland, Baverstock finally published his paper in the peer-reviewed journal Medicine, Conflict and Survival in April 2005. He concluded by calling for "reform from within the profession" and stressing "the political imperative for freely independent scientific institutions" – a clear reference to the non-independence of his former employer, the WHO, which had so long ignored his concerns.

Since the 21st anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster in April 2007, a daily "Hippocratic vigil" has taken place at the WHO's offices in Geneva, organised by Independent WHO to persuade the WHO to abandon its the WHO-IAEA Agreement. The protest has continued through the WHO's 62nd World Health Assembly, which ended yesterday, and will endure through the executive board meeting that begins today. The group has struggled to win support from WHO's member states. But the scientific case against the agreement is building up, most recently when the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR) called for its abandonment at its conference earlier this month in Lesvos, Greece.

At the conference, research was presented indicating that as many as a million children across Europe and Asia may have died in the womb as a result of radiation from Chernobyl, as well as hundreds of thousands of others exposed to radiation fallout, backing up earlier findings published by the ECRR in Chernobyl 20 Years On: Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident. Delegates heard that the standard risk models for radiation risk published by the International Committee on Radiological Protection (ICRP), and accepted by WHO, underestimate the health impacts of low levels of internal radiation by between 100 and 1,000 times – consistent with the ECRR's own 2003 model of radiological risk (The Health Effects of Ionising Radiation Exposure at Low Doses and Low Dose Rates for Radiation Protection Purposes: Regulators' Edition). According to Chris Busby, the ECRR's scientific secretary and visiting professor at the University of Ulster's school of biomedical sciences:

"The subordination of the WHO to IAEA is a key part of the systematic falsification of nuclear risk which has been under way ever since Hiroshima, the agreement creates an unacceptable conflict of interest in which the UN organisation concerned with promoting our health has been made subservient to those whose main interest is the expansion of nuclear power. Dissolving the WHO-IAEA agreement is a necessary first step to restoring the WHO's independence to research the true health impacts of ionising radiation and publish its findings."

Some birthdays deserve celebration – but not this one. After five decades, it is time the WHO regained the freedom to impart independent, objective advice on the health risks of radiation.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/may/28/who-nuclear-power-chernobyl

05.28.09 -- GET over IT

The Crying Boy by Bruno Amadio

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Thursday, May 28, 2009

Puzzle by Gary Cee, edited by Will Shortz

GET OVER IT (36A. Advice for the brokenhearted … or one of four arrangements found literally in this puzzle) is an entry/clue that is of little or no use in the solution of this crossword -- it is more or less an afterthought. The hidden word GET lies OVER the hidden word IT in four places in the crossword.

PAGE TURNER (17A. Something that’s hard to close?) over IMITATE (20A. Mirror); ROGETS (21A. Editor’s resource) over SUITOR (26A. George Knightley, to Emma Woodhouse); BEGETS (50A. Fathers) over BITMAP (55A. Certain computer image format); SAGE TEA (57A. Herbal beverage) over INQUISITOR (60A. One in search of heretics).

Other -- ADORES (28A. Prizes); AEROSTAR (9D. Ford’s first minivan); ALAMEDA (2D. Tree-lined avenue); BRAISE (49D Cook, in a way, as beef); BRETON (49A. Dweller on the Bay of Biscay); CAPITAL (1D. Financing); ICE BEER (40D. Brew introduced in the 1990s); INWARDS (46D. Toward the center); IRREGS (38D. Discount store offerings, for short); LEG IRON (3D. Houdini escape device); 41D. MAGILLA Gorilla, 1960s cartoon title character); OUTSOLE (12D. Shoe part that touches the floor); SAUTES (5D. Browns); SERVE UP (25D. Produce and present); 45D. Gershwin’s “SOMEONE to Watch Over Me”; STUTTER (44D. Sound before “That’s all, folks!”); TALESE (18D. “The Kingdom and the Power“ author, 1969); THE SAINT (37D. 1960s Roger Moore TV series); WRITTEN (11D. Set down).

Etcetera -- ALEE and AGREE, ARUT, ASURE, BELA and BREA, BMI, BOON, CALM, EFTS, EIRE and ERES, ELI, ETATS, FEED, GUS, HOED, IRAS, LANES, LESS, LIMO, LOB, MEET and MELT, MENU, MTM, NEARS, OCA, OGRES, ONEG, OTOE, PARE, PNEU, QAT, REGO, REND, RIG, ROSSI, SEER, SOUSA, STE, TAKEI, TER, TUTEE, TWOS, UMW, URN.

Get over it!

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Remaining clues -- Across: 1. Not having big waves; 5. Bandmaster from 1880 to 1931; 10. The animals for Noah’s Ark came in these; 14. “Hard ___!” (captain’s order); 15. Match; 16. Stuck, after “in”; 19. Relative of a hawk; 23. Three times, in prescriptions; 24. Nothing ___; 30. Small amphibians; 32. ___ Broad College of Business; 33. What road hogs hog; 34. City in Orange County, Calif.; 35. Force felt on earth; 39. Wedding rental; 42. Like many a garden; 47. Mozart’s “L’___ del Cairo”; 48. It may start with “Starters”; 52. Skin; 54. Diggers’ org.; 59. Hungarian Communist leader ___ Kun; 62. Go weak at the knees; 63. Verges on; 64. Split; 65. Personal reserve funds, for short; 68. Eliza Doolittle in “Pygmalion,” e.g.; 67. “___ Tu” (1974 hit). Down: 4. Where races are run; 7. Ossuary, maybe; 8. Samuel, e.g., in the Bible; 10. George of “Star Trek”; 13. Marthe or Marie: Abbr.; 22. Director Van Sant; 27. Teamster’s transport; 29. ___ Park, N.Y.; 31. Barn sackful; 34. Blessing; 35. Tribe met by Lewis and Clark; 39. High pitch; 48. “70s TV production co.; 51. Les ___-Unis; 53. “It’s ___ bet!”; 56. French tire; 58. The Chieftains’ home; 59. Songwriters’ grp.; 61. African plant whose leaves are chewed as a stimulant.

05.27.09 -- In Other Words...

Houses of Parliament, London, Sun Breaking Through the Fog, 1904 by Claude Monet

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Wednesday,
May 27 , 2009

Puzzle by Corey Rubin, edited by Will Shortz

Four long entries are featured in this Wednesday crossword -- KEEP ON LORRYIN (20A. Words of encouragement to a Brit?), think “keep on truckin"; CONGA QUEUE (29A. Group of dancing Brits?), conga line; WISE BLOKES (48A. British smart alecks?), wise guys; CATCH SOME ZEDS (56A. Sleep like a Brit?), catch some z-z-z-z-z-z…

Mid-size entries -- ALIENS (2D. Vulcans and Romulans); BERETS (3D. Left Bank toppers); go round (7D. Bout); EKES OUT (44D. Just manages); IDEALS (50D. Worthy principles);
IN DRAG (8D. Clad like some Halloween paraders); JACK UP (1D. Hike, as a price); MEDLEY (51D. This-and-that concert performance); MIX IT UP (10D. Have a tussle); MUSIC BOX (37D. It may have a spinning ballerina) ; OCHRES (48D. Earth tones); POSITS (52D. Puts forth); TEENIEST (11D. Hardest to see, perhaps); TENABLE (43D. Like a solid argument).

Five-letter -- ALOUD, AMTOO, AROLL, BIERS, BOARD, COBOL,
CORGI, ELUTE, EUROS, EXUDE, HUBBA, ODEON, OXEYE , PIXEL, ROTOR, STONE, UNTIL, UPSET, VERSE, VIDEO.

Short stuff -- ABOY, ACE, ALE and ALIE, ALI and AMI, AXE, CIR, COP, CUED, ELIZ, HAM and HAP, HEWN, JAB, LAC, LET, LIMP, LOEB,
MOON, MUS, NEIN, ODON, OPT / OUT, ORY, OSE, OTRO, PITA, PSST, QUID , REAL, SETS, SYS, TALL, TDS, TICS, UAE, URI.

Bob's your uncle!

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Remaining clues -- Across: 1. One-two part; 4. Cattle-herding breed; 9. Playground retort; 14. Draft pick?; 15. Keats title starter; 16. Stands at wakes; 17. Diam. x pi; 18. Get on; 19. Daisy type; 23. Up to; 24. Abu Dhabi’s fed.; 25. Little jerks; 28. “Hey, over here!”; 34. Dark horse’s win; 35. Eggs Benedict need; 38. With 30-Edown, kind of clause; 39. Aramis, to Athos; 41. Causes for stadium cheers, for short; 42. Extract with a solvent; 44. Give off; 49. Favor one side perhaps; 53. Dresden denial; 54. Sail through; 55. Wedding memento; 60. When doubled, a wolf’s call; 62. Turbine part; 63. Sacha Baron Cohen character ___ G; 64. On ___ (hot); 65. Money in la banque; 66. Net judge’s call; 67. iPhone display unit; 68. Piece in the game of go; 69. Method: Abbr. Down: 5. Take too much of briefly; 6. True-to-life; 9. Bernstein/Sondheim’s “__ Like That”; 12. Direct conclusion?; 13. Sugar suffix; 21 Hummus holder; 22. “The Crying Game” Oscar nominee; 26. Like some actors going on stage; 27. Things some designers design; 29. Friday, notably; 30. See 38-Acoss; 31. British pound, informally; 33. Leopold’s partner in a sensational 1924 trial; 35. Rough-___ (unfinished); 36 Get caught in ___; 39. Pink-slip; 40. Lambda followers; 45. Monarch crowned in 1558: Abbr.; 47. Geneva’s ___ Leman; 55. Chapter’s partner; 57. Seven-foot, say; 58. Other, in Oaxaca; 59. Provide with a rear view?; 60. Chance, poetically; 61. Ocean State sch.

05.26.09 -- It's a Deal

Free Trade -- Angel Ortiz

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Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Puzzle by Mike Nothnagel, edited by Will Shortz

SWAP (1A. With 67-Across, an appropriate title for this puzzle?) and MEET (67A. See 1-Across), along with TRADE SCHOOL (17A. Where to learn a vocation), BARTER SYSTEM (28A. Basis for a moneyless economy), EXCHANGE RATE (44A. Two dollars per pound, say) and SWITCH PLATE (58A. “On/off” surrounder) are the interrelated entries of this Tuesday crossword.

DOT MATRIX (10D. Early printer type) and NANCY DREW (35D. Character who first appeared in “The Secret of the Old Clock”) are followed by eight mid-sized entries -- BILL NYE (9D. TV’s Science Guy); DECLAW (14D. Remove the nails from, as a cat); DRONER (26D. One who goes on and on); MARKS UP (42D. Annotates, as a manuscript); NEW AGE (48A. Yanni’s music genre); 24A. “Remington STEELE” of 1980s TV; STEEPS (43D. Soaks in hot water, as 19-Across); TWINGE (29D. Sudden, sharp pain).

Five-letter -- ANAME and AWAKE, LOMAN, DANZA and DIANA, DIDOK, ERASE and EGEST, GOTME, ITISI and IKNOW, MANSE, PANGS, PARTB, ROWED, SAMMS, SIXAM, SRTAS, UBOAT, WORST and WROTE and YORKE.

Short-stuff -- ACT, ANKH, AREA, ASK, ATHS, AWE, CUSS, DOR, DAM, DANK, DDAY, EBON, EDDA, HOO, ION, IOWA, ISLE, KPAX, LAN, LOAM, MAIM, MEAN, NOG (56.A. Drink with Christmas cookies), ORE, OZS, PED, PICS, RDA, RIO, SAKE (54A Drink with sushi), SPAN, STAG, TEA (19A. Earl Grey, for one), TSO, VIDI, VIEW, WBA, YAW (65A. Go off course).

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Remaining clues -- Across: 5. Second of two sections; 10. Beaver’s project; 13. Competed in a regatta; 15. Formal answer to “Who’s at the door?”; 16. Vein contents; 19. Earl Grey, for one; 20. Set as a price; 21. Ornery sort; 25. “Who’s the Boss?” co-star; 33. When repeated, exuberant student’s cry; 36. Put pen to paper; 37. Vitamin bottle info, for short; 38. Go across; 39. Artemis’ Roman counterpart; 40. “Veni, ___, vici”; 41. Intraoffice PC hookup; 42. Stately home; 43. When some morning news programs begin; 47. Radiohead singer Thom; 52. Got a C, say; 57. Palme ___ (Cannes prize); 62. Completely impress; 63. Torpedo launcher; 64. Emma of “Dynasty”; 66. Guilty feelings, e.g. Down: 1. Spanish counterparts of mlles.; 2. Beat in a match; 3. Open-eyed; 4. ___ xing; 5. Snaps; 6. Sports players: Abbr.; 7. Carnaval city; 8. General on a Chinese menu; 11. Realm; 12. Intend; 18. Plaintiff; 23. Parts of lbs.; 25. Black, in verwse; 27. Nick and Nora’s pooch; 29. Sudden, sharp pain; 30. Render blank, as a floppy disk; 31. Old Norse work; 32. Incapacitate; 33. Tropical vacation spot; 34. Title planet in a 2001 Kevin Spacey movie; 39. Like dungeons, typically; 40. Feature of a house in the hills; 45. “Yoo-___!”; 46. Egyptian cross; 49. “What’s in ___?”; 50. “Dunno”; 51. Discharge; 52. “It’s now or never” time; 53. Home of the Hawkeyes of the Big Ten; 54. How some people go to a party; 55. Romans preceder; 59. Org. for heavyweights; 60. Chloride, for one; 61. On the ___ (fleeing).

05.25.09 -- TREE

Boys Climbing a Tree, 1790-92, Francisco Jose de Goya y Lucientes

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Monday, May 25, 2009 -- Memorial Day

Puzzle by Peter A. Collins, edited by Will Shortz

Nothing special here for Memorial Day. This is an odd little puzzle shy a vertical column of squares, making it 14x15, with three movie titles each containing the name of a three-letter TREE (64A. Thing hidden in each of the movie names in this puzzle) within circles -- STEEL MAGNOLIAS (19A. 1989 Sally Field/Dolly Parton/Shirley MacLaine movie); BIG MOMMAS HOUSE (35A. 2000 Martin Lawrence movie); PRELUDE TO A KISS (50A. 1992 Alec Baldwin/Meg Ryan film). Hidden trees occurred in song titles in the New York Times crossword of Sunday, May 4, 2008.

There are a few more long entries -- BAGGY JEANS (26D. Hip-hop wear); BOOM BOOM (5D. Classic John Lee Hooker song of 1962); LOVING CUPS (10D. Some trophies); STEROIDS (37D. Shots taken by some athletes) -- but no more trees.

Mid-size -- ADAPTOR (32A. Electrical device for foreign travelers); GROPES (42A. Seeks blindly); OTELLO (44D. Verdi hero married to Desdemona); REDACT (43D. Edit); SONNET (D. One of Shakespeare’s begins “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”); STOPPER (40A. Cork); TOASTS (27A. “Here’s to you!” and others); WEIGHS (7D. Puts on a scale).

HE-MAN and SLAB share the clue of Hunk. JANET and RENO are linked with the clue John Ashcroft’s predecessor as attorney general. Other five-letter entries are ALLOT (47D. Apportion) and LOTTO (20D. Game with a $100 million prize, maybe); HOSEA (38D. Old Testament prophet); IDIOM (25D. “Knock it off” or “get it on,” e.g.); 24D. “Star Wars” villain JABBA the Hutt; OSTER (4D. Blender maker); OTERI (31D. Onetime “S.N.L.” player Cheri); SKIRT (49D. Mini or tutu); 9D. Milan’s La SCALA; TASER (30D. Police stunner).

Short stuff -- ALAI, AMY, ANNO, ARM, ARIA, ASP, AVID, AXES, BOGS and BOWS, BEDS, CLOD, CORE, EXIT, GNU, GTO, INLA and INOR, JIB, MOST, OLEO and OLLA and OLIN, OMS and PMS, PINT, PRAM, REAL, RENE and RENO, RES, ROB, ROOF, SAFE, SCAT, SLOE, SOP, SRI, TAOS and TOSS, ZAPS and ZERO.

Remember the true meaning of Memorial Day!

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Remaining clues -- Across: 1. Home (in on); 5. Arrow shooters; 13. Lumberjacks’ tools; 14. Margarine; 15. Uneaten part of an apple; 16. Small milk carton capacity; 17. Ken of “thirty something”; 18. Eager; 22. Hold up; 24. Foresail; 29. Old Pontiac; 34. “Git!”; 39. Swamps; 41. Novelist Tan; 45. ___ Lanka; 48. Legal matter; 56. Not imaginary; 57. Jai ___; 58. “To Live and Die ___”; 60. Lunkhead; 61. Santa’s landing place; 62. Part of M.V.P.; 63. Pitch. Down: 1. Microwaves; 2. Stage direction after an actor’s last line; 3. Philosopher Descartes; 6. Earthenware pot; 11. Diva’s number; 12. They have headboards and footboards; 21. Meditation syllables; 28. One of an octopus’s octet; 33. Evenings, briefly; 34. Soak (up); 36. Egyptian cobra; 42. Bearded beast; 50. Nanny’s vehicle; 52. New Mexico resort; 53. “Are you ___ out?”; 54. Gin flavoring; 55. Not out.