2008-11-20T17:18:49Z Signs of the Times tag:sott.net,2008-11-20:/:signsofthetimes tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169434 2008-11-20T22:18:18Z

Jerusalem - Leaders of the world's biggest media organizations filed a protest with Israel's prime minister Wednesday criticizing the government's decision to ban journalists from entering the Gaza Strip for the last two weeks. The protest was the latest in a chorus of international criticism of Israel's Gaza closure, tightened after a five-month truce began unraveling about two weeks ago in a flurry of Israeli airstrikes against militants and Palestinian rocket barrages targeting Israeli towns. Those signing the letter included Associated Press Chief Executive and President Tom Curley, Reuters Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger, New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller, ABC News President David Westin, BBC News Director Helen Boaden and other top executives from CNN, the Canadian TV network CTV, the German broadcaster ZDF, and the French news service Agence France Presse.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169433 2008-11-20T22:06:08Z

Matter is built on flaky foundations. Physicists have now confirmed that the apparently substantial stuff is actually no more than fluctuations in the quantum vacuum. The researchers simulated the frantic activity that goes on inside protons and neutrons. These particles provide almost all the mass of ordinary matter. Each proton (or neutron) is made of three quarks - but the individual masses of these quarks only add up to about 1% of the proton's mass. So what accounts for the rest of it? Theory says it is created by the force that binds quarks together, called the strong nuclear force. In quantum terms, the strong force is carried by a field of virtual particles called gluons, randomly popping into existence and disappearing again. The energy of these vacuum fluctuations has to be included in the total mass of the proton and neutron.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169432 2008-11-20T21:58:42Z

For a company whose business is rocket science Lockheed Martin has been paying unusual attention to plumbing of late. The aerospace giant has kept its engineers occupied for the past 12 months poring over designs for what amounts to a very long fibreglass pipe. It is, of course, no ordinary pipe but an integral part of the technology behind Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), a clean, renewable energy source that has the potential to free many economies from their dependence on oil. "This has the potential to become the biggest source of renewable energy in the world," says Robert Cohen, who headed the US federal ocean thermal energy programme in the early 1970s. This has the potential to become the biggest source of renewable energy in the world. As the price of fossil fuels soars, private companies from Hawaii to Japan are racing to build commercial OTEC plants. The trick is to exploit the difference in temperature between seawater near the surface and deep down.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169431 2008-11-20T21:54:01Z

On November 12, 2008, another strange manifestation occurred in this locality, which evidently remains the area for deep mysteries. This occasion involved the mutilation of a small rabbit, which shows us the impunity with which such deeds are committed. The animal's owner says that at 8 pm on the previous evening, she fed the animal for the night and awoke to find it in the condition displayed in the photographs. Brick walls on all sides enclose the site: the only open area is the roof. It is divided by another wall, with the rabbits (3 of them) on one side and hens and chickens on the other.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169430 2008-11-20T21:53:42Z

Mercedes Casas is one of Inexplicata's most respected contributors and is known to our long-time readers for her reports on the cattle mutilation wave of 2002 and other high-strangeness situations that have transpired in Argentina's northwestern corner. Read on! Residents of the town of Metán also witnessed strange lights with zigzagging movements at low altitude late into the night. These lights disappeared into the fields, and occurred at the same time as the Chicoana events. What is remarkable is that the predominant direction of movement is toward the NW, which dovetails with the statements made by the people of Chicoana, who see the movements predominantly toward the SE. In both cases, the trajectory suggests the Cabra Corral Resevoir, an immense body of water. The reason that I'm highlighting this fact is because the disappearance of large quantities of water is often associated with this phenomenon.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169429 2008-11-20T21:38:59Z

Jerusalem -- Jordan's King Abdullah II has urged Israel to stop its raids on the Gaza Strip and prevent a escalating military operation, local daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday. Abdullah made the call in a secret meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Amman on Tuesday, according to the report. Abdullah is concerned that a large-scale action in Gaza might have serious impact on his country as well, said the report, adding despite Abdullah's request, the Israeli side made it clear that if the rocket attacks on the Gaza-vicinity communities continue, Israel would be forced to respond.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169428 2008-11-20T21:35:17Z

The joint declaration signed between the presidents of Cyprus and Russia yesterday reiterated the common position of the two countries on Cyprus issue. The move, even before an official declaration was signed, has angered the Turkish Cypriot side. Hasan Ercakica, the spokesman for Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat said Christofias was trying to change the principles agreed by the two leaders. "We want to remind to Mr Christofias that his interlocutor in the Cyprus problem is not in Moscow but in Lefkosia," he said. "We also want to warn the officials of the Russian Federation on the issue," he added.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169427 2008-11-20T21:31:46Z

Ice glaciers hundreds of metres deep are lurking just underneath the Martian surface around the planet's mid-latitudes, new radar measurements suggest. The discovery represents the largest cache of ice yet found beyond Mars's polar regions and bolsters the case that the planet's tilt changes periodically. The ice could also be an ideal place to study the ancient Martian climate and look for evidence of life. The glaciers, found at latitudes between 30 and 60° in both the northern and southern hemispheres, sit underneath fields of rocky debris. The appearance of the landscape suggests the debris flowed from hills lying up to 20 kilometres away. Mars researchers have debated the origins of these rocky fields, which are called 'lobate debris aprons.' Some suspected that small particles of ice condensed from atmospheric water vapour between rocks and dust; this ice could lubricate the material, allowing it to flow down slopes. Others suggested the rocky aprons actually hid large glaciers.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169426 2008-11-20T21:30:41Z

The fleecing knows no end. Take a look at GM's 8.375 percent bond due in July 2033, and feast your eyes on the new world of American capitalism. Yesterday's price, at about 15 cents on the dollar, tells you the market believes GM will last long enough to make a little less than two years' worth of interest payments. Were it not for the chance of a government bailout, in lieu of an imminent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, the bonds would trade for much less. And there lies the truth about what America's capital markets have become: a rigged game.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169425 2008-11-20T21:25:16Z

Human aerial bombardments might have pushed Neanderthals to extinction, suggests new research. Changes in bone shape left by a life of overhand throwing hint that Stone Age humans regularly threw heavy objects, such as stones or spears, while Neanderthals did not. "The anatomically modern humans would have this more effective and efficient form of hunting," says Jill Rhodes, a biological anthropologist at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, who led the new study. A warmer Europe would have opened up forests, enabling longer range hunting, she says. Rhodes and a colleague studied changes to the arm bone that connects the shoulder to the elbow - the humerus - to determine when humans may have begun using projectile weapons.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169424 2008-11-20T21:22:52Z

The explosion of a binary star inside a planetary nebula has been captured by a team led by UCL (University College London) researchers - an event that has not been witnessed for more than 100 years. The study, published in Astrophysical Journal Letters, predicts that the combined mass of the two stars in the system may be high enough for the stars to eventually spiral into each other, triggering a much bigger supernova explosion. A planetary nebula is an astronomical object consisting of a glowing shell of gas and plasma formed by many stars as they approach the end of their lives, while a nova is a cataclysmic nuclear explosion caused by the accretion of hydrogen onto the surface of a nearly-dead white dwarf star in a close binary.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169423 2008-11-20T21:15:24Z

Distance crushes perspective. Objects hurtle through space at mind-numbing speeds, some moving so quickly they could cross the United States in just seconds; yet, due to their distance, we could wait thousands of years to be able to perceive their motion at all. Unless, that is, they leave behind some tell-tale sign of their rapid movement. Space is not empty, and a star plowing through this ethereally thin gas at dozens of kilometers per second reveals itself. The gas gets compressed ahead of the star, and flows around it in graceful arcs. Like water flowing around the bow of a ship, such a formation is called a bow shock. This shock wave can be invisible to the unaided eye, but when we train infrared telescopes on them they leap out of the picture. Behold the bow shock of Betelgeuse:

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169422 2008-11-20T19:38:26Z

On the day that Americans turned out in near record numbers to vote, a record was set halfway around the world. In Afghanistan, a U.S. Air Force strike wiped out about 40 people in a wedding party. This represented at least the sixth wedding party eradicated by American air power in Afghanistan and Iraq since December 2001.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169421 2008-11-20T19:05:59Z

Chicago -- More than 36 million Americans, including 12.4 million children, are food insecure, officials of a U.S. non-profit group said. Feeding America, a U.S. hunger-relief organization, said the actual number of Americans forced to skip meals and survive without adequate nutrition is even greater than the report indicates because it is based on statistics from 2007. "It is important to note that the U.S. Department of Agriculture numbers released today are 2007 figures and do not take into account the unprecedented economic crisis that our country is currently facing," Vicki Escarra, president of Feeding America said in a statement.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169420 2008-11-20T18:57:11Z

Taxpayers will pay $300,000 to a man who lost his penis and a testicle after doctors misdiagnosed a case of flesh-eating bacteria while he was being held in a Washington state prison, local news organizations report. The Seattle Times says Charlie Manning, 61, reached a settlement with the state four years after he fell ill while serving a 13-month sentence for stealing a neighbor's gun and threatening him. "After he developed an infected hemorrhoid and his symptoms worsened, including a fever, swollen genitals, bleeding from the rectum and a rash on his torso, prison medical staff diagnosed him as having an allergic reaction to cold medicine," the Times reports. "By the time a doctor at Grays Harbor Community Hospital in Aberdeen found Manning had necrotizing fasciitis, or flesh-eating bacteria, and he was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, the bacteria had spread to his pelvic area."

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169419 2008-11-20T18:54:05Z

Prosecutors Say Lori Drew Used MySpace to Prey on Insecure Teen Neighbor

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169418 2008-11-20T18:23:44Z

Washington -- Animals and plants in danger of becoming extinct could lose the protection of government experts who make sure that dams, highways and other projects don't pose a threat, under regulations the Bush administration is set to put in place before President-elect Obama can reverse them. The rules must be published Friday to take effect before Obama is sworn in Jan. 20. Otherwise, he can undo them with the stroke of a pen. The Interior Department rushed to complete the rules in three months over the objections of lawmakers and environmentalists who argued that they would weaken how a landmark conservation law is applied.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169417 2008-11-20T18:09:04Z

Warsaw, Poland -- Researchers said Thursday they had identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus by comparing DNA from a skeleton and hair retrieved from one of the 16th-century astronomer's books. The findings could put an end to centuries of speculation about the exact resting spot of Copernicus, a priest and astronomer whose theories identified the Sun, not the Earth, as the center of the solar system. Polish archaeologist Jerzy Gassowski told a news conference that forensic facial reconstruction of the skull that his team found in 2005 buried in a Roman Catholic Cathedral in Frombork, Poland, bears striking resemblance to existing portraits of Copernicus.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169416 2008-11-20T18:04:12Z

Citigroup Inc faced a crisis of confidence on Wednesday as investors questioned the survival prospects of the U.S. banking giant, and its shares tumbled 23 percent to a 13-year low. The second-largest U.S. bank by assets has been reeling on concerns that mounting losses from credit cards, mortgages and toxic debt could overwhelm its efforts to slash costs and add deposits. Last month, Wells Fargo & Co dealt a blow by derailing Citigroup's bid to buy Wachovia Corp. Citigroup shares closed down $1.96 at $6.40 on the New York Stock Exchange and have fallen 33 percent this week as some investors concluded that Chief Executive Vikram Pandit's plan to shed 52,000 jobs and cut expenses by one-fifth won't restore the bank to health.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169415 2008-11-20T17:50:38Z

Global stock markets were down across the board and oil sank below $50 a barrel Thursday as concerns over the ailing U.S. auto industry, a 16-year high in U.S. unemployment and the Dow Jones' lowest closing price since 2003 weighed on investors' minds. The benchmark Dow -- which finished the previous session below 8,000 points for the first time in five years -- slipped further in early trading Thursday, shedding 128 points in early trading before recovering a little, down 55 at 12.20 p.m. ET (1720 GMT). The Nasdaq and S&P were also down. Gloomy economic forecasts and market misery have impacted heavily on oil since it reached an alltime high of $147.27 a barrel in mid-July.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169413 2008-11-20T16:26:01Z

Archaeology is flourishing in Jerusalem as never before. If you want to get a sense of the intensity of work, check out the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) Web site.1 There will always be something about Jerusalem on the homepage, and a search under the word "Jerusalem" will bring up tens of entries about various sites excavated over the last few years. A good proportion of the IAA's press releases concern Jerusalem (e.g., the recent press release concerning the rediscovered Hasmonean fortification wall; see Strata story). If Jerusalem were a normal city, all those who love archaeology and history would applaud the myriad fascinating discoveries and keep coming back for more. But Jerusalem is not a normal city. And archaeology in Jerusalem is not only academic; it is a highly political enterprise with major economic implications. The current activity in the City of David is a case in point.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169412 2008-11-20T16:18:49Z

The world geological community is warning that today's seismic activity on our planet is nothing compared with what's to come. Over the past three years, Pakistan, for example, has been hit by dozens of earthquakes. In March 2005, 80,000 people died under the rubble there. On October 30, the last time nature went on the rampage, there were hundreds of victims. Tens of thousands of people drowned during an overwhelming Asian tsunami at the end of 2004. China and Afghanistan have been rocked by quakes again more recently. These natural disasters, which have swept our planet in recent years, indicate that the world has entered an era not only of a political, but also of climatic instability. Most scientists - biologists and environmentalists - tend to blame the human race for the catastrophic climate change on the Earth. No doubt, the greenhouse effect due to industrial activity plays a considerable role in global warming, but there are other reasons worth considering. The Earth is rotating around its own axis slower. The International Earth Rotation Service has regularly added a second or two to the length of a 24-hour day in recent years.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169411 2008-11-20T16:13:59Z

The G20-meeting held in Washington on November 14/15, 2008, is in its essence a historical indicator that the Western - above all Anglo-Saxon - monopoly on global economic and financial governance, is coming to an end. Nevertheless, according to LEAP/E2020, this meeting also clearly demonstrated that this kind of summits is doomed to inefficiency because they concentrate on curing the symptoms (banks' and hedge funds' financial difficulties, derivative markets' explosion, financial and currency markets' dramatic volatility, ...) rather than the fundamental root of the current crisis, i.e. the collapse of the Bretton Woods system based on the US Dollar as sole pillar of the global monetary system. Without a complete overhaul of the system inherited from 1944 by summer 2009, the failing of the current system and that of the United States at the center, will lead the whole planet to an unprecedented economic, social, political and strategic instability, and more specifically to a breakdown of the global monetary system by summer 2009. In light of the technocratic jargon and calendar of the declaration released after this first G20-meeting (totally disconnected from the speed and scope of the unfolding crisis (1)), it is more than likely that the disaster will have to happen for the fundamental problems to be seriously addressed and for the beginning of a reply to be initiated.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169410 2008-11-20T16:01:00Z

A major road in Cambridgeshire has reopened after a lorry shed its load of toxic chemical waste, in the form of a yellow powder, on Wednesday lunchtime. Police reopened the road just before the morning rush hour, although there is some congestion. Emergency services closed the road in both directions between Haddon and Wansford and advised residents to keep windows and doors closed. Firefighters and the Environment Agency worked all night on a clean-up.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169409 2008-11-20T15:52:06Z

The U.S. Defense Department told Congress it could ill-afford more top-of-the-line F-22 fighter aircraft than now in the pipeline, partly to protect another Lockheed Martin Corp fighter, the multinational F-35. Continued purchases of the radar-evading F-22 could "jeopardize the Department's ability to procure the F-35 in the quantities required to maintain affordability," John Young, the Pentagon's chief arms buyer, told a House of Representatives Armed Services panel on Wednesday. The Pentagon last week released $50 million in bridge funds to preserve a decision on future F-22 production for the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama. That amount was $140 million less than provided by Congress. The $50 million would serve as a kind of downpayment on four more F-22s. The Pentagon plans to seek these planes in a supplemental war budget to offset combat losses, keeping Lockheed's production line from starting to shut.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169408 2008-11-20T15:44:33Z

Mexico arrested its head of Interpol on Tuesday for allegedly working for a powerful drug cartel and sent the military to take over police duties in the city of Tijuana in another step to flush out corrupt law enforcement. Ricardo Gutierrez was Mexico's representative to Interpol, the world's largest international police force, and the latest top police officer to be locked up on suspicion of working for drug traffickers. In October, two leading anti-drug agents were jailed for taking bribes of "up to $450,000 a month" from the Beltran Leyva crime group to leak intelligence about police operations. The Beltran Leyva brothers recently split from the Sinaloa drug cartel run by Mexico's most wanted man, Joaquin "Shorty" Guzman, and also were bribing Gutierrez, prosecutors said. Widespread corruption among Mexico's badly paid police is undermining President Felipe Calderon's army-backed war on drug gangs, which has claimed more than 4,300 lives this year.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169407 2008-11-20T15:42:37Z

Israeli leaders made a secret journey to neighboring Jordan earlier this week, listening to pleas from King Abdullah II to avert a large-scale military operation in the Gaza Strip, Israeli and Jordan officials confirmed Thursday. The Israeli officials said the king told Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak that military action would threaten regional stability, the Israeli officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the secrecy of Tuesday's meeting. Israel and Palestinian militants have been locked in a cycle of cross-border violence for the past two weeks, with militants firing rockets into Israel and Israel responding with limited airstrikes. The fighting has threatened a five-month-old cease-fire. Both sides say they want to restore the calm, but the Israeli leaders have threatened to strike hard if the rocket fire persists. Israel has also responded by shuttering its cargo crossings with Gaza, causing shortages of food, fuel and basic goods.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169406 2008-11-20T15:39:54Z

Chinese carmakers SAIC and Dongfeng have plans to acquire GM and Chrysler, China's 21st Century Business Herald reports. LINK A National Enquirer the paper is not. It is one of China's leading business newspapers, with a daily readership over three million]. This newspaper cites a senior official of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology - the state regulator of China's auto industry - who dropped the hint that "the auto manufacturing giants in China, such as Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) and Dongfeng Motor Corporation, have the capability and intention to buy some assets of the two crisis-plagued American automakers." These hints are very often followed with quick action in the Middle Kingdom. The hints were dropped just a few days after the same Chinese government gave its auto makers the go-ahead to invest abroad. And why would they do that? A take-over of a large overseas auto maker would fit perfectly into China's plans. As reported before, China has realized that its export chances are slim without unfettered access to foreign technology. The brand cachet of Chinese cars abroad is, shall we say, challenged. The Chinese could easily export Made-in-China VWs, Toyotas, Buicks. If their joint venture partner would let them. The solution: Buy the joint venture partner. Especially, when he's in deep trouble.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169405 2008-11-20T14:56:20Z

An air hostess helped land a jet carrying 146 passengers after the co-pilot had an apparent mental breakdown over the Atlantic Ocean, investigators revealed today. The UK-bound plane made an emergency diversion to Shannon Airport, in Ireland, last January after the Air Canada flight officer began a 'rambling and disjointed' conversation, said an official report. Another attendant suffered wrist injuries as the crew forcibly removed the co-pilot from the cockpit controls and restrained him in a seat in the cabin.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169404 2008-11-20T14:52:53Z

A text message identifying those responsible for the death of Baby P has been sent to thousands of people across the country. An unidentified sender names the toddler's mother and her boyfriend. The publication of their names is not allowed for legal reasons but the pair have also been identified on social networking websites. The text messages urges people to pass it on to "name and shame" the couple, who it brands "the cruel vile killers of baby p". It also names the street where the 17-month-old was subjected to the months of abuse that eventually killed him. The message urges people to sign a national newspaper's petition demanding "justice for that poor little boy". It says: "The papers may be banned from naming and shaming the cruel vile killers of baby p but I aint.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169403 2008-11-20T14:45:34Z

President-elect Barack Obama's top choice to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, two Democratic sources confirmed to FOX News on Thursday. According to other reports, Obama has also selected billionaire Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker as commerce secretary. She was his campaign finance chairwoman, and is credited with Obama's breaking all political fundraising records. Gov. Napolitano, whose handling of immigration issues brought her praise from fellow governors, was an early supporter and campaigner for Obama's presidential campaign and was reported to be on a short list of people to fill cabinet posts in the new administration. Napolitano, 50, was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2006 as governor of Arizona, the home state of

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169402 2008-11-20T14:42:07Z

The clock is ticking on the shadow government's tracking of your every move with the so-called National ID. For those who might not be familiar with this Nazi style snooping and forced production of "Show your papers," Rep. Sam E. Rohrer, has very thoroughly and succinctly explained it in this column. It is a must read for all Americans (perhaps this weekend) to fully understand they may soon be forced to accept the loss of their rights or lose their job: "A few weeks ago we introduced Lowell Rogers to you. He's a tugboat engineer. His employer is about to be brought under a security/identity scheme -- a Real ID card of sorts for maritime employees. It's called the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC). Apparently, since the Department of Homeland Security can't get Real ID implemented, due to the largest state rebellion since the Civil War, they've decided to pick us off -- one occupation at a time."[1] Congressman Ron Paul explains the real issue here: "National ID cards are not proper in a free society," Paul stated. "This is America, not Soviet Russia. The federal government should never be allowed to demand papers from American citizens, and it certainly has no constitutional authority to do so."[2]

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169401 2008-11-20T14:26:12Z

The American people have spoken and Barack Obama, their new president-elect has been given a national mandate. However, now that the euphoria of the win has died down, the placards tossed into the trash bins and the confetti swept up, it is time for a reality check. Never in living memory has the nation been in such a deplorable state. With a staggering national deficit edging towards a trillion dollars, unemployment soaring to a fourteen-year high and a costly, drawn-out, seemingly unwinnable war being fought on two fronts, the next president of the United States will have his hands full. The question is: can Barack Obama handle it? For that matter, could anyone handle it? In his first press conference after victory at the polls, Mr. Obama announced that he would make the ailing national economy his first priority. Foremost among his remedies for the crisis, which he has called the "greatest economic challenge of our lifetime", is an economic stimulus package. This package would immediately inject $75 billion into the economy in the form of tax cuts and direct spending targeted to working families, seniors, homeowners and the unemployed.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169342 2008-11-20T13:58:01Z

Will The US Government And Media Finally Report The Slaughter Of Iraqis By The US Military? I recently received a set of questions from Le Monde Diplomatique reporter Kim Bredesen about the 2007 Project Censored story about 1,000,000 Iraqi deaths due to the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. The questions and answers are, I think, useful in framing both the untold story of the slaughter in Iraq and the failure of the U.S. media to report on its extent or on U.S. culpability for the deaths of 4% of the Iraqi population. Bredeson : I observed recently that your story on Iraqi deaths caused by US occupation became story no. 1 in this year's listing by Project Censored. I wondered if I could ask you a few questions on e-mail regarding this issue? Regards, Kim Bredesen, Le Monde diplomatiqe (Norway) These are my questions.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169348 2008-11-20T13:57:44Z

According to all accounts the US faces its worse economic crisis since the Great Depression with $2 trillion in near-term financing needs for bailouts and economic stimulus. This is an enormous sum for any country, especially for one that is so heavily indebted that it is close to bankruptcy. If the money can't be borrowed abroad, it will have to be printed--a policy that carries the implication of hyper-inflation. In normal life a borrower who must appeal to creditors makes every effort to bring order to his financial affairs. But not the Bush regime. The out-of-pocket costs of Bush's Iraq war are about $600 billion at the present moment, a figure that increases by millions of dollars every hour. In addition, there are the much larger future costs that have already been incurred, such as long-term care for the wounded and disabled US soldiers, the replacement costs of the used up equipment, interest payments on the war debt, and the lost economic use of the resources and manpower squandered in war. Experts estimate that the already incurred out-of-pocket and future costs of Bush's Iraq war to be $3 trillion and rising. Even these costs might be small if an article by Richard LaMountain in the November 2008 Middle American News is accurate. According to LaMountain, US refugee programs for Iraqis displaced by the US invasion and occupation could result in a large and growing Muslim US population. These would be people whose lives were adversely impacted by the US invasion of Iraq.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/124997 2008-11-20T13:52:13Z

Comment: This is the tenth in a series of articles written in 2006 commemorating the 43rd anniversary of the assassination of JFK that we are carrying every weekday as we approach the 45th Anniversary of that tragedy for mankind. The rapidly deteriorating global economy and distractions generated by the election circus has taken front page news away from those pesky Islamic extremists who 'hate us for our freedoms'. So now the media has been busy reminding us that the fake 'war of terror' is still going on. Barack Obama is now the target of insults of the creativity department of the Intelligence Agencies - Uhhm aka, "Al - Qaeda": The second-in-command of Islamic militant network al-Qaeda has called on Muslims to harm "criminal" America. In a message purportedly from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda deputy accused US President-elect Barack Obama of betraying his Muslim roots. He likened him to a "house slave" - who had chosen to align himself with the "enemies" of Islam. Mr Obama has said stamping out al-Qaeda "once and for all" will be a top priority during his administration. On Sunday, he said capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden was "critical" to US security. He has also promised to bolster the US presence in Afghanistan - a policy that would fail, said the al-Qaeda deputy. The US said the message did not signal any increased threat against America. As we commented in response to this latest propaganda, yes, Obama has proven his loyalty to Israel in more than one way. It follows that if certain parties intend to do President Elect Obama harm, and thus further destabilize the U.S., then the groundwork must be, at least, flimsily established. Unfortunately, the creativity on the part of those who lay that groundwork is, as usual, sorely lacking. During the G20 summit, the intelligence services themselves recently admitted who the real enemies of the State are: law enforcement officials said they were more concerned about angry protesters, such as people left jobless by the financial meltdown, than they were about terrorists. Barack Obama's top choice to lead the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano. Encouragingly, as Govenor, she signed a bill that prohibited the implementation of the REAL ID in Arizona: "Everyone thinks that the REAL ID is just about protecting us against terrorism," said co-sponsor Senator Karen Johnson (R-18). "But it really represents a cash cow for technology companies as well as the birth of the National ID card, complete with all the biometric information that technology can handle - face recognition, fingerprints, etc." Maybe this appointment signifies a more realistic approach to domestic policy? US foreign policy, however, is shaping up to look uncannily similar: Bush's 'War of Terror' allowed the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan and plundering of rich Oil resources. Obama is in favor of moving US 'combat' troops out of Iraq and over to Afghanistan (to protect Oil pipelines and the lucrative drug trade). A change of graveyard maybe, but the absurd 'hunt for dead Osama' looks set to continue. John F. Kennedy, Oil, and the War on Terror On November 20th, 1963, between 11:30 - 11:40 a.m., President John F. Kennedy met with Lena Horne, Carol Lawrence, DNC chairman John M. Bailey, and others. Later that day, he issued a statement on the Extraordinary Administrative Radio Conference to Allocate Frequency Bands for Space Radio Communication Purposes, held in Geneva, Switzerland from October 7 to November 8, 1963. He invited other nations to participate in setting up a global communication satellite system. He spoke of "a peace system worldwide in scope." Following that, John Kennedy sent to the Congress the 17th annual report on U.S. participation in the United Nations, and then he signed into law bill (HR2073) to allow the conveyance of submerged and tidal lands to Guam, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa if they are needed for economic development or other compelling reason. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Archives At the end of the day, he had less than two days left...

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169400 2008-11-20T12:04:43Z

Your gut is the tropical rainforest of your body, at least in terms of bacterial diversity. A new study, detailed online Nov. 18 in the journal Public Library of Science-Biology, found that the bacterial community in the human bowel is 10 times more diverse than previously thought. In sheer numbers, the mammalian colon harbors one of the densest microbial communities found on Earth. For every human cell in your body, there are roughly 10 single-celled microbes, most of which live in your digestive tract.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169399 2008-11-20T12:02:27Z

The United States, the world's largest international aid donor, is among the worst at promoting the independence, impartiality and neutrality of humanitarian aid deliveries to needy populations, according to a survey by a Madrid-based nonprofit group that monitors donors' performance.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169398 2008-11-20T05:49:52Z

Several wards and medical equipment in the compound of Shifa hospital, one of the biggest medical institutions in the Gaza Strip, have stopped operating as a result of power outages and the depletion of fuel. Dr. Hussein Ashour, the director of Al-Shifa hospital, told Tuesday Al-Quds satellite channel that the oxygen supply system which feeds the units of heart and internal diseases in the compound in addition to physiotherapy stopped working. Dr. Ashour pointed out that the main generator in the compound broke down because of the lack of spare parts necessary to maintain it. He appealed to the humanitarian organizations to urgently intervene to save Gaza patients.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169397 2008-11-20T05:09:56Z

The former news director of WTMJ reveals how talk show hosts like Charlie Sykes and Jeff Wagner work to get us angry. I first got into journalism because I thought I could make a difference. I wrote for the school newspaper and did "news" reports on a radio station a friend and I started at my high school in Springfield, Mo. I got my first professional job at age 20, while still in college, at a local radio station's news department. Three years later, I became a news director, and 12 years after that, in 1995, I was recruited to move to Milwaukee to become news director at WTMJ, one of the largest and most successful news/talk radio stations in America. That was where my real education occurred. I worked for three years as news director, and then, in 1998, gained the additional title of assistant program director, a role I held until leaving the station in July 2006. From that position, I worked closely with our talk show hosts and became intimately familiar with how they appeal to listeners and shape their vision of the world. Let me tell you some of the lessons I learned.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169396 2008-11-20T03:51:19Z

The second-in-command of Islamic militant network al-Qaeda has called on Muslims to harm "criminal" America. In a message purportedly from Ayman al-Zawahiri, the al-Qaeda deputy accused US President-elect Barack Obama of betraying his Muslim roots. He likened him to a "house slave" - who had chosen to align himself with the "enemies" of Islam. Mr Obama has said stamping out al-Qaeda "once and for all" will be a top priority during his administration. On Sunday, he said capturing or killing Osama Bin Laden was "critical" to US security. He has also promised to bolster the US presence in Afghanistan - a policy that would fail, said the al-Qaeda deputy. The US said the message did not signal any increased threat against America.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169395 2008-11-20T02:17:44Z

Miami girl was kept alive by a blood-pumping device until her transplant MIAMI - D'Zhana Simmons says she felt like a "fake person" for 118 days when she had no heart beating in her chest. "But I know that I really was here," the 14-year-old said, "and I did live without a heart." As she was being released Wednesday from a Miami hospital, the shy teen seemed in awe of what she's endured. Since July, she's had two heart transplants and survived with artificial heart pumps - but no heart - for four months between the transplants.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169394 2008-11-20T02:03:12Z

Katy Phiri, who is in her 70s, picks up single corn kernels spilled from trucks that ferry the harvest to market. She says she hasn't eaten for three days. Rebecca Chipika, a child of 9, prods a stick into a termite mound to draw out insects. She sweeps them into a bag for her family's evening meal. These scenes from a food catastrophe are unfolding in Doma, a district of rural Zimbabwe where journalists rarely venture. It's a stronghold of President Robert Mugabe's party and his enforcers and informants are everywhere.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169393 2008-11-20T01:43:00Z

Undercover PETA workers have once again caught a meat-breeding company viciously abusing animals. This time, it's a turkey farm called Aviagen, a supplier of millions of turkeys for holiday meals. In the videos, Aviagen workers murder turkeys with 2-by-4s, they drown turkeys to death by shoving their heads under water, and they punch them, stomp on their heads and shove broomsticks down their throats. These are the actions of American workers in an American meat factory. This holiday season, don't eat animal meat! If you do, you're promoting animal cruelty and rewarding animal meat factories that provide the bulk of the turkey meat sold during the holiday season.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169392 2008-11-20T01:41:26Z

The promise of quantum computing is that it will dramatically outshine traditional computers in tackling certain key problems: searching large databases, factoring large numbers, creating uncrackable codes and simulating the atomic structure of materials.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169391 2008-11-20T01:27:26Z

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has exposed a U.S. Army practice of shooting live pigs so that soldiers can treat their gunshot wounds. "Shooting and maiming pigs is as outdated as Civil War rifles," said Kathy Guillermo, director of PETA's Laboratory Investigations Department. The Army says that it needs to maintain the practice in order to train soldiers to treat battlefield wounds in conditions where access to doctors or medical facilities is limited. Comment: It's one way to enable the soldiers to kill more efficiently and desensitize their emotions.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169390 2008-11-20T01:05:21Z

Study finds gut germ in 40 percent of grocery meats; CDC says not to worry An Arizona researcher found 40 percent of meat products tested from three national chain stores were contaminated with bacteria normally associated with severe hospital infections. Federal health officials, however, say more study is needed to determine whether C. diff is transmitted through food. A potentially deadly intestinal germ increasingly found in hospitals is also showing up in a more unsavory setting: grocery store meats. More than 40 percent of packaged meats sampled from three Arizona chain stores tested positive for Clostridium difficile, a gut bug known as C. diff., according to newly complete analysis of 2006 data collected by a University of Arizona scientist.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169389 2008-11-20T00:50:20Z

RAYMONDVILLE, Texas - A Texas judge has set an arraignment for Vice President Dick Cheney, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and other officials accused of involvement in prisoner abuse. Presiding Judge Manuel Banales (buh-NAHL'-ehs) said Wednesday he will allow them to waive arraignment or have attorneys present rather than appear in person Friday. Banales also said he would issue summonses, not warrants. That allows them to avoid arrest and the need to post bond.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-20:/articles/show/169388 2008-11-20T00:35:48Z

NewsChannel 5 investigates one inmate's treatment inside the walls of a local prison. He spent nine months in solitary confinement -- without getting exercise, taking a bath or seeing a doctor. Word of what happened in the prison leaked out a few months ago. But, until now, we could only imagine how horrible it must have been. Our chief investigative reporter Phil Williams obtained video from inside the walls. And you can decide for yourself: was it punishment -- or was it torture? It occurred at the Metro Nashville Detention Facility. Operated by the for-profit Corrections Corporation of America, it's home to some 1,100 inmates.

tag:www.sott.net,2008-11-19:/articles/show/169387 2008-11-19T23:48:26Z

The ship, operating off the coast of Oman in the lawless waters of the Gulf of Aden, was crewed by heavily armed men, some carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers. Behind it were a pair of speedboats - the sort pirates often use when they launch attacks on merchant ships in these violent seas. What followed, officials said Wednesday, was a rare victory in a sea war against Somalia-based piracy that has become increasingly more violent, and where the pirates are ever more bold. A patrolling Indian navy frigate quickly identified the vessel as a "mother ship" - a mobile attack base used to take gangs of pirates and smaller speedboats into deep water - and ordered it to stop and be searched.