http://www.sott.net Signs of the Times, featuring news and commentary on world events. Never wavering in our unending search for the light of truth in a pathocracy driven world! en-us Original content Copyright 2009 by Signs of the Times. For other content, see our Fair Use Policy at www.sott.net Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:58:56 -0400 http://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net http://www.sott.net http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188280-Obama-reanimates-Bush-era-NSA-and-AT-T-snooping-plan The Obama administration will proceed with a Bush-era plan to use National Security Agency assistance in screening government computer traffic on private-sector networks, with AT&T as the likely test site, according to three current and former government officials. President Obama said in May that government efforts to protect computer systems from attack would not involve "monitoring private-sector networks or Internet traffic," and Department of Homeland Security officials say the new program will scrutinize only data going to or from government systems. But the program has provoked debate within DHS, the officials said, because of uncertainty about whether private data can be shielded from unauthorized scrutiny, how much of a role NSA should play and whether the agency's involvement in warrantless wiretapping during George W. Bush's presidency would draw controversy. Each time a private citizen visited a "dot-gov" Web site or sent an e-mail to a civilian government employee, that action would be screened for potential harm to the network. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188280-Obama-reanimates-Bush-era-NSA-and-AT-T-snooping-plan Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:58:33 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188279-Columnists-name-Palin-Sitting-Duck- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been selected as winner of the 2009 Sitting Duck Award, the National Society of Newspaper Columnists announced Friday. The award is given annually to the person who provides the best material for columnists facing deadlines. Palin, who became a national political figure overnight last year when Sen. John McCain selected her as his running mate, beat out former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. "Being a prominent jerk or cretin is often a thankless job," said the society's current president, Samantha Bennett of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "This is our way of saying thanks for the low-hanging fruit." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188279-Columnists-name-Palin-Sitting-Duck- Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:54:16 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188278-Palin-ethics-complaints-cost-Alaska-296-000 Ethics complaints against Gov. Sarah Palin and top members of her administration have cost the state personnel board nearly $300,000 over the past year, almost two-thirds of which appear to be from the Troopergate investigation of the governor. That's according to new figures released by the personnel board, which described them as "independent counsel expenditures." The board hires private lawyers to investigate the complaints. The expenditures were released after the personnel board expressed frustration at the costs of the complaints. Palin has said the state is wasting money trying to resolve "frivolous" complaints against her. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188278-Palin-ethics-complaints-cost-Alaska-296-000 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:33:45 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188277-Yes-we-re-still-waiting-to-read-Palin-s-e-mails State claims it has spent more than $450,000 searching for records As Gov. Sarah Palin prepares to leave office, the wait for her e-mails will outlive her. Thirteen requests for her e-mails, made under state records laws before the November 2008 presidential election, are still pending, according to the acting Alaska attorney general, Richard A. Svobodny. When it first received the requests, the office of the Republican vice-presidential nominee quoted prices as high as $15 million for copies of state e-mails - not even counting the copying cost. It since has come down, quoting costs more in the range of $5,000 to $10,000 for the larger requests. State officials said their electronic records system was too dysfunctional to allow them to search, retrieve and provide the records in electronic form. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188277-Yes-we-re-still-waiting-to-read-Palin-s-e-mails Fri, 03 Jul 2009 22:27:14 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188274-Helen-Thomas-Not-Even-Nixon-Tried-to-Control-the-Media-Like-Obama Following a testy exchange during Wednesday's briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press. "Nixon didn't try to do that," Thomas said. "They couldn't control (the media). They didn't try. "What the hell do they think we are, puppets?" Thomas said. "They're supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them." Thomas said she was especially concerned about the arrangement between the Obama Administration and a writer from the liberal Huffington Post Web site. The writer was invited by the White House to President Obama's press conference last week on the understanding that he would ask Obama a question about Iran from among questions that had been sent to him by people in Iran. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188274-Helen-Thomas-Not-Even-Nixon-Tried-to-Control-the-Media-Like-Obama Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:59:11 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188211-Connecting-the-Dots-Fireballs-mass-vaccinations-and-CIA-inspired-revolutions As the trumped up Swine Flu Threat™ is spun into the sinister scenario of mass compulsory vaccinations and the hidden hand of western intelligence agencies becomes increasingly obvious in colorful "revolutions", perhaps a quote from one of our favorite psychologists would be an appropriate introduction to this installment of Connecting the Dots: The biological, psychological, moral, and economic destruction of this majority of normal people is a "biological" necessity to the pathocrats. Many means serve this end, starting with concentration camps and including warfare with an obstinate, well-armed foe who will devastate and debilitate the human power thrown at him, namely the very power jeopardizing pathocrats rule. - Andrew M. Lobaczewski,Political Ponerology: A Science on The Nature of Evil adjusted for Political Purposes An almost-but-not-quite CIA coup in Iran, the spread of the Franken-flu, the US Empire's continued military agression in the Middle East and the courting of trouble with North Korea all should be enough to remind us that suffering is the daily bread of millions of people on our planet. As often happens in life, when it rains - it pours. The month of June was a smashing one indeed; the mysterious loss of an Air France transcontinental flight provides a clue about the stage of the cycle of history that we are in. This detail is important enough to occupy the first place in our monthly analysis. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188211-Connecting-the-Dots-Fireballs-mass-vaccinations-and-CIA-inspired-revolutions Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:40:12 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188273-You-can-really-smell-others-fear-claim-scientists Researchers have shown that we subconsciously detect whether others are scared by picking up chemicals they release from their bodies. They believe the signals can be catching and spread around a group. Dr Bettina Pause and colleagues at the University of Dusseldorf in Germany put cotton pads under the armpits of 49 student volunteers before they were due to start a university exam. She also collected sweat from the same group of students as they worked out on exercise bikes. Another group of 28 volunteer students were then asked to sniff the cotton pads while their brains were monitored with an MRI scanner. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188273-You-can-really-smell-others-fear-claim-scientists Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:30:02 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188272-Video-Military-coup-in-Honduras President Miguel Zelaya of Honduras was kidnapped at gunpoint and expelled from the country in a military coup d'état on 29th June. The following video provides coverage and background of the event. The mainstream western media has been remarkably quiet about it, especially given its exuberant display of attention towards the failed Iranian "soft revolution." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188272-Video-Military-coup-in-Honduras Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:09:00 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188271-Widely-Used-Cancer-Drug-Causes-Potentially-Deadly-Holes-in-GI-Tract Bevacizumab is the generic name for the widely used Genetech cancer drug marketed as Avastin. It inhibits tumor growth by blocking angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels. But according to an article just published in the June edition of The Lancet Oncology, cancer patients treated with Avastin in combination with chemotherapy are at a heightened risk of experiencing a potentially catastrophic side effect. In fact, it's a side effect that could kill them before their malignancy does -- a gastrointestinal (GI) perforation (a hole in the wall of the stomach, small intestine or large bowel). http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188271-Widely-Used-Cancer-Drug-Causes-Potentially-Deadly-Holes-in-GI-Tract Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:49:39 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188270-Palin-to-Resign-as-Alaska-Governor-on-July-26 Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) announced this afternoon she will resign from office on July 26 and return to private life, a stunning decision by last year's Republican vice presidential candidate to leave office before the end of her first term. "We know we can effect positive change outside government at this moment in time on another scale and actually make a difference for our priorities," Palin said in a news conference alongside a lake in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska. Using a basketball analogy, Palin said, "I know when it's time to pass the ball for victory." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188270-Palin-to-Resign-as-Alaska-Governor-on-July-26 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:37:56 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188269-SC-serial-killer-blamed-for-4-deaths-in-6-days Sheriff's deputies searched Friday for a serial killer blamed for four deaths over the past six days as terrified residents wondered who might be next. Investigators have not figured out how the victims are linked or if they knew the man who shot them. So far, all they have is a sketch of a suspect and a possible getaway vehicle, said Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton. "There's no evidence there is a hit list," Blanton said. "There's no evidence he knows the victims. There's no evidence the victims are connected." But plenty of evidence links the killings, said Blanton, who would not provide details. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188269-SC-serial-killer-blamed-for-4-deaths-in-6-days Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:53:08 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188268-Officials-17-die-in-US-missile-strike-in-Pakistan U.S. missiles struck a training facility operated by Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and a militant communication center Friday, killing 17 people and wounding 27 others, intelligence officials said. The two attacks by drone aircraft took place in South Waziristan, a Mehsud stronghold close to the Afghan border where Pakistani troops are gearing up for a military offensive, two officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Meanwhile, an army transport helicopter carrying security personnel in the northwest crashed after developing a technical fault, killing 26 people on board, military officials said. An investigation into the cause of the crash not far from the main city of Peshawar was under way, said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188268-Officials-17-die-in-US-missile-strike-in-Pakistan Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:32:21 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188267-OSCE-Vote-On-Nazism-Stalinism-Link-Angers-Russia Frosty ties between the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and member state Russia deteriorated Friday when the OSCE voted to condemn Nazism and Soviet-era Stalinism alike. A session of the 56-nation OSCE overwhelmingly approved a resolution proposed by host Lithuania and fellow ex-communist Slovenia. It acted despite stiff opposition from Russia, which resists fiercely any attempt to equate the regimes of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188267-OSCE-Vote-On-Nazism-Stalinism-Link-Angers-Russia Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:00:35 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188266-Watch-out-when-a-sociopath-gets-down-to-business Many years ago, I was good friends with a guy who, in retrospect, may have been a sociopath. The wild part is that lately I have been reminded of my former friend nearly every time I have seen a picture or TV footage of convicted Ponzi scheme perpetrator Bernard Madoff. I am not sure why. Maybe it is Madoff's disarming smirk or the odd look in his eyes. So I wondered whether the disgraced financier, who on Monday was sentenced to 150 years in prison, also is a sociopath. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188266-Watch-out-when-a-sociopath-gets-down-to-business Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:51:25 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188265-Honduras-Latin-America-s-Media-Battle-Continues Read or listen to the mainstream media these days and you get the impression that Sunday's coup in Honduras was all about a simple disagreement over the constitutionality of presidential term limits. But as the coup unfolds it's becoming clear that the authorities want something more: the restoration of Honduras's conservative political order and an end to President Manuel Zelaya's independent foreign policy which had reached out to leftist countries like Cuba and Venezuela. As part of their effort to consolidate power officials have moved quickly to restrain the free flow of information, in particular by cracking down on progressive leaning media. Only TV stations sympathetic to the newly installed coup regime have been left alone while others have been shut down. The climate of repression is similar to what we have seen elsewhere in Latin America in recent years. Specifically, there are eerie parallels to the April, 2002 coup in Venezuela when the briefly installed right wing government imposed a media blackout to further its own political ends. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188265-Honduras-Latin-America-s-Media-Battle-Continues Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:51:11 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188264-Ex-police-officer-gets-life-plus-255-years An ex-police officer in Memphis who turned down a plea deal was sentenced life in prison plus 255 years for repeated use of a gun in crimes of violence. Arthur Sease IV, who also was an aspiring rap music producer, was convicted on 44 counts of civil rights, narcotics, robbery and firearms offenses stemming from shakedowns of drug dealers for money, drugs and merchandise to finance his music dreams. He is a key defendant in a series of federal public-corruption investigations in the past six years that have netted indictments and guilty pleas from more than 48 law enforcement officers from six different agencies, The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal reported. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188264-Ex-police-officer-gets-life-plus-255-years Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:37:45 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188263-Setting-Waziristan-Ablaze We at PakNationalists.com strongly support the military operation against the terrorists in northwest Pakistan who are disguised as 'Pakistani Taliban' and are killing Pakistanis while claiming to fight American occupation of Afghanistan. The author, Mr. Roedad Khan, a former senior bureaucrat in the Pakistani government, makes a valid point here. The high standard of proficiency that the Pakistani military has shown in Swat is not matched by the elected government in Islamabad which failed miserably in handling the influx of refugees. Considering this yardstick, a military action in Waziristan to flush out foreign agent Baitullah Mehsud and his Indian/American/Afghan supported army is necessary but we might end up with a similar or probably even a worse situation. This article raises a central point: The original problem is not the sanctuaries inside Pakistan. It's the American failure to bring peace among all warring factions inside Afghanistan. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188263-Setting-Waziristan-Ablaze Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:36:08 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188262-Anti-Cancer-Properties-of-Carrots-Boosted-by-Cooking-Whole The anti-cancer properties of carrots could be increased by cooking them whole, a new study by Newcastle University suggests. Scientists at the university found that cutting a carrot after boiling could boost the amount of a natural sugar called falcarinol in the vegetables by a quarter. However, if the carrots were chopped up first they lost the extra benefit. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188262-Anti-Cancer-Properties-of-Carrots-Boosted-by-Cooking-Whole Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:28:59 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188261-Back-to-Nature-Getting-Kids-to-Rediscover-the-Great-Outdoors Sticking out of a pile of dead branches at Glenwood Children's Park is a hand-lettered sign: "These materials may be used in the park for forts and other structures." "Yeah!" Eight grade-school boys cheer as they set to work toting "materials" across the sandstone ravine in this back-to-nature park on Madison's near west side, just off Glenway Avenue, near the southwest bike path. As the walls to their rough teepee-like structure grow thicker, they thatch the openings with leaves. Nobody tells the boys what to do. They organize themselves, shouting "power!" whenever they need more hands on deck. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188261-Back-to-Nature-Getting-Kids-to-Rediscover-the-Great-Outdoors Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:54:29 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188260-Colfax-County-site-of-another-earthquake A minor earthquake was recorded in western Colfax County shortly before 1 a.m. June 27, the second such quake to be triggered in the area in the last two months. The June 25 quake of 3.0 magnitude was recorded as having its epicenter 19 miles north of Cimarron, according to the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center. The center also placed the quake as being 23 miles northeast of Eagle Nest and 30 miles southwest of Raton. On April 30, an earthquake of 3.5 magnitude was recorded 19 miles west of Raton. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188260-Colfax-County-site-of-another-earthquake Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:47:34 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188259-Earthquakes-hit-West-Sumatra-and-N-Sulawesi An earthquake measuring 5.4 on the Richter scale jolted Padang and several neighboring towns in West Sumatra at 3:51 p.m. on Thursday. The quake caused panic among residents at the affected areas, the local Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said. It said the quake was recorded around 10 kilometers (km) under the sea off Bungus Teluk Kabung district in Padang. Earlier in the day, a 5.9 earthquake rocked several parts of North Sulawesi. There were no immediate reports of casualties or material damage. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188259-Earthquakes-hit-West-Sumatra-and-N-Sulawesi Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:35:23 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188258-G8-Summit-Moved-To-Earthquake-Ravaged-City-In-Italy Italy's prime minister has moved next week's G8 summit on the global economy to an Italian city flattened by an earthquake in April. World leaders attending the three-day meeting, including President Obama, will stay in police barracks in L'Aquila. That facility is where the entire international summit on the financial crisis and climate change will take place. The April 6th earthquake killed nearly 300 people in the medieval city and left most of its population of 68-thousand homeless. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188258-G8-Summit-Moved-To-Earthquake-Ravaged-City-In-Italy Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:16:08 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188257-Staten-Island-ferry-crash-caused-by-faulty-transformer A blown transformer caused the Staten Island ferry crash that injured 15 passengers this week, officials said yesterday. "We know a transformer failed, and things went from there," said Staten Island ferry Chief Operating Officer James DeSimone. The four-year-old ferry, the John J. Marchi, struck a pier at the St. George Terminal on Wednesday evening. The vessel was taken out of service for repairs. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188257-Staten-Island-ferry-crash-caused-by-faulty-transformer Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:56:43 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188256-The-Pashtun-Way Inside the remote areas of the Hindu Kush mountain range that borders Afghanistan and Pakistan an entire group of people have carved out a way of life that is as unique as their customs. The border serves as an imaginary line designed to separate the Pashtun peoples. In their minds they do not see the line that separates the two sovereign nations. The border is as invisible to them as they are to the rest of the world. The Pashtuns are not really under the jurisdiction of either Afghanistan or Pakistan. It's a lawless area that in all reality is like a sovereign nation onto itself. Pashtunwali is literally translated as "the way of the Pashtun". It has no meaning in the West or in most other parts of the globe, but in the villages and clans along the border it means everything. It defines them from birth. It also has meaning to the foreign soldiers that have entered to tame and control this region for generations before they were pushed out of the Pashtuns homelands. Pushtunwali, a legal and moral code that determines social order and responsibilities. It contains sets of values pertaining to honor (namuz), solidarity (nang), hospitality, mutual support, shame and revenge which determines social order and individual responsibility. The defense of namuz, even unto death, is obligatory for every Pashtun. Elements in this code of behavior are often in opposition to the Shariah law, but it is their code that sets precedent over any other law. The Pashtun are an ethnic group with an estimated 15 million people located in Southeastern Afghanistan and Northwestern Pakistan.They have a complex organization of over 60 tribes broken down into clans and even into sub-clans. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188256-The-Pashtun-Way Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:06:37 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188255-Third-UFO-sighting-in-a-week A further UFO sighting has been reported in East Devon - the third in a week. The latest phenomenon was spotted over Raymonds Hill, near Axminster. Eye witness David Kenning, of Cunningham Avenue, said: "Myself, my partner and a friend saw several orange lights in the sky, which seemed to be between Axminster and Raymonds Hill looking from Millwey. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188255-Third-UFO-sighting-in-a-week Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:00:08 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188254-Prehistoric-flute-in-Germany-is-oldest-known A bird-bone flute unearthed in a German cave was carved some 35,000 years ago and is the oldest handcrafted musical instrument yet discovered, archaeologists say, offering the latest evidence that early modern humans in Europe had established a complex and creative culture. A team led by University of Tuebingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard assembled the flute from 12 pieces of griffon vulture bone scattered in a small plot of the Hohle Fels cave in southern Germany. Together, the pieces comprise a 8.6-inch (22-centimeter) instrument with five holes and a notched end. Conard said the flute was 35,000 years old. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188254-Prehistoric-flute-in-Germany-is-oldest-known Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:31:11 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188253-Update-Italian-train-derailment-death-toll-rises-to-22 The death toll from a train explosion in Tuscany rose to 22 Friday after three injured people died in hospital, Italian officials said. The Civil Protection said about a dozen of the injured remained in serious condition. A train carrying liquefied gas derailed around midnight Monday in the seaside town of Viareggio, setting off a massive explosion that consumed nearby homes. Most of the victims were severely burned and only about half of the dead have been identified. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188253-Update-Italian-train-derailment-death-toll-rises-to-22 Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:24:18 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188252-Over-70-A-H1N1-flu-cases-confirmed-in-Cyprus A total of 70 cases of Influenza A/H1N1 have been detected so far in the Republic of Cyprus, with 12 new cases confirmed in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry announced on Thursday. According to the ministry, 151 persons with flu symptoms had laboratory tests, and 70 of them have been diagnosed with A/H1N1 flu. Meanwhile, health authorities in the breakaway Turkish Cypriot north have confirmed seven cases of the flu. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188252-Over-70-A-H1N1-flu-cases-confirmed-in-Cyprus Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:24:06 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188251-US-ready-to-beef-up-UN-peacekeeping-operations-with-military-observers-officers-and-police The United States is prepared to provide more military observers, police and civilian staff to beef up the U.N.'s far-flung peacekeeping operations, the U.S. ambassador said Monday. The United Nations has nearly 115,000 troops, police and civilians deployed in 16 peacekeeping missions from Africa and the Mideast to Cyprus, Kosovo, Western Sahara and Haiti, but it has had trouble finding soldiers, helicopters and other key assets for several important operations. U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said President Barack Obama's administration will explore ways to assist peacekeeping operations including by training peacekeepers and providing equipment and transportation. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188251-US-ready-to-beef-up-UN-peacekeeping-operations-with-military-observers-officers-and-police Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:16:33 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/146437-U-S-Aid-to-Musharraf-is-Largely-Untraceable-Cash-Transfers After Pervez Musharraf declared martial law this weekend, Condoleezza Rice vowed to review U.S. assistance to Pakistan, one of the largest foreign recipients of American aid. Musharraf, of course, has been a crucial American ally since the start of the Afghanistan war in 2001, and the U.S. has rewarded him ever since with over $10 billion in civilian and (mostly) military largesse. But, perhaps unsure whether Musharraf's days might in fact be numbered, Rice contended that the explosion of money to Islamabad over the past seven years was "not to Musharraf, but to a Pakistan you could argue was making significant strides on a number of fronts." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/146437-U-S-Aid-to-Musharraf-is-Largely-Untraceable-Cash-Transfers Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:51:32 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188250-In-Search-of-the-Science-Behind-the-Healing-Powers-of-Art Julia Strecher was 9 years old when she had her second heart transplant. Her body had rejected the first heart she received with particular vehemence: She went into cardiac arrest six times in two hours. As doctors struggled to revive her, she recalls, she could hear them debating whether to give up. "I was trapped in my body," says Ms. Strecher, now 18. "I was trying to tell people I was alive and not to pull the plug." A few months after she went home with her second new heart, she began having nightmares in which she watched herself suffering cardiac arrest. But then, she began writing down her thoughts about being helpless. Eventually she turned the details into poems and stories. "It was extremely emotionally healing and freeing," she said. "It helped me relieve a lot of stress and provided a distraction from pain and depression." The nightmares went away. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188250-In-Search-of-the-Science-Behind-the-Healing-Powers-of-Art Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:20:48 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188249-Confirmed-Pakistani-Taliban-Using-Indian-US-Weapons Finally, the military admits what Pakistan's pro-U.S. government has been hiding for months. The weapons that the terrorists - the fake Pakistani Taliban - are using to kill Pakistanis are coming from the U.S. and India. Some members of the Karzai puppet regime have privately confirmed to Pakistani officials that they are incapable of stopping Indian terrorist activities on Afghan soil. To avoid embarrassment, Washington quickly 'leaked' a story that U.S. weapons given to Afghan security forces have reached insurgents. The timing of the leak conveniently coincided with the Pakistani army discovering the American double game. The Americans have been taking Pakistan for a ride for seven years. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188249-Confirmed-Pakistani-Taliban-Using-Indian-US-Weapons Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:08:19 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188248-The-elephant-in-the-room-Israel-s-nuclear-weapons At a White House press conference on 18 May 2009, US President Barack Obama expressed "deepening concern" about "the potential pursuit of a nuclear weapon by Iran." He continued: Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon would not only be a threat to Israel and a threat to the United States, but would be profoundly destabilizing in the international community as a whole and could set off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. By his side was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the room with them, there was an elephant, a large and formidably destructive elephant, which they and the assembled press pretended not to see. I am, of course, referring to Israel's actual nuclear weapons systems, with which Netanyahu is capable of doing to numerous cities in the Middle East, including Tehran, what the US did to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188248-The-elephant-in-the-room-Israel-s-nuclear-weapons Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:05:39 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188247-Illegal-Occupation-Israel-to-register-34-348-acres-near-West-Bank-settlement Israel has decided to register some 13,900 hectares of land adjacent to its largest West Bank settlement, a step that could pave the way for its expansion, a newspaper reported on Saturday. The Palestinian Al-Quds newspaper published an order on Friday from the Israeli military telling Arab residents living near the massive Maale Adumim settlement outside Jerusalem to register their land within 45 days. On Saturday the newspaper reported that the order concerns some 13,900 hectares (about 34,348 acres) of land east of Maale Adumim, near the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188247-Illegal-Occupation-Israel-to-register-34-348-acres-near-West-Bank-settlement Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:46:42 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188246-Pakistan-Tells-America-To-Stop-Supporting-Terrorists-Inside-Pakistan This report, first published in August 2008, is reproduced here to provide context to the determined Pakistani military operation against terrorists coming from Afghanistan. Pakistan's largest English-language daily, The News, ran this on its front page, written by Kamran Khan, an investigative reporter who has worked for The Washington Post. The mainstream Am-Brit media continues to ignore this story and keeps the American and the British public unaware of the double game that their governments are playing in our region. Two senior U.S. military officials who secretly visited Pakistan in July 2008 faced tense moments when former President Musharraf, Army Chief Gen. Kayani and the ISI chief at the time confronted them with evidence that portrayed a pattern of American support for separatist, sectarian and religious terrorism inside Pakistan with help from Indian intelligence operatives based in major Afghan cities. The two embarrassed Americans, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen and CIA Deputy Director Stephen R. Kappes, came to lecture Pakistanis on what role ISI should play but ended up receiving an earful. It is a rare inside story of how Islamabad confronted Washington about what appears to be a clear case of betrayal, where Washington conspired with Karzai and the Indians against its own staunch ally. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188246-Pakistan-Tells-America-To-Stop-Supporting-Terrorists-Inside-Pakistan Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:42:48 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188245-Meteor-shower-comet-highlights-in-July Summer is now upon us and this will be a good month to enjoy the sky in spite of the short nights. The bright planets are evenly split this month, with the gas giants Saturn and Jupiter visible in the evening sky and our neighboring terrestrial planets, Venus and Mars, visible in the morning sky. There will be two more very exciting celestial events taking place this month, but only one of them will be visible for us in New England. The annual Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower will peak during the morning hours of July 28. This shower actually begins around the middle of July and blends right into the famous Perseid Meteor Shower, which starts at the end of July and peaks on August 12. Caused by Comet Machholz, you can expect around 15 to 20 Delta Aquarids per hour that morning. The moon will be first quarter and will set around midnight. Meteor showers are usually better after midnight, anyway, since that is when the earth is spinning directly into the meteors, like snowflakes on the front windshield of your car during a snowstorm. The whole earth can be seen as a little spaceship continually orbiting the sun at 18.6 miles per second, or 67,000 miles per hour. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188245-Meteor-shower-comet-highlights-in-July Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:39:15 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188244-India-s-role-in-the-destabilisation-of-Pakistan-Bases-throughout-Afghanistan India now has more than a hundred "Consulates" in Afghanistan. The level of violence has exponentially increased in Pakistan as India increases her foot print in Afghanistan. What were whispers, and hush hush secret memorandum has become a casophony and a crescendo about external factors which are causing havoc in Pakistan. Malik defines this well. We have added maps to highlight the trail of terror that Malik defined. What amazes us is the dearth of voices from within Pakistan that discuss these issues. President Musharraf has not shouted from the top of the Hindu Kush that these lands are being used to transport terror into Baluchistan and other parts of Pakistan. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188244-India-s-role-in-the-destabilisation-of-Pakistan-Bases-throughout-Afghanistan Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:23:46 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188243-Is-the-U-S-Trying-To-Save-Agent-Mehsud- The Americans do not want Pakistanis to capture Baitullah Mehsud alive, and they cannot eliminate him with an air strike anymore since Pakistan Army is advancing towards him already. They will either take him out before he is captured, or he will mysteriously disappear only to re-emerge later at a different location. The U.S. military has moved troops near Mehsud's area under the pretext of finding Osama or Mullah Omar. This is a deception. They have been saying Osama is in Pakistan for years. Why haven't they acted earlier? This American move has something to do with Pakistani military's march to destroy Mehsud and his proxy militia. We already know that terrorists are using American weapons to kill us while pretending to be Taliban. The Pakistani military better watch out what our ally is up to this time. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188243-Is-the-U-S-Trying-To-Save-Agent-Mehsud- Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:57:45 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188242-Iraqi-whose-lies-made-the-case-for-war-looks-on-from-afar Uncertain future awaits CIA's most valuable source on Iraq's fictitious chemical and biological weapons programme When the Iraqi who could be considered more responsible than any other for the US invasion six years ago quietly returned last March to the land his lies helped shape, Iraq was entering one of its most stable and promising phases in six years of turmoil Rafid Ahmed Alwan - otherwise known as Curveball - slipped back into Baghdad after 10 years of exile in Germany. Before the invasion, Curveball had become the CIA's most valuable source on Iraq's fictitious chemical and biological weapons programme, a man who underscored the White House's push for war through a litany of lies that later claimed the careers of the former secretary of state Colin Powell, and CIA chief George Tenet. Both were forced to admit they had gone to war partly on the word of a collaborator whom no American agency had even debriefed until one year after Baghdad fell. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188242-Iraqi-whose-lies-made-the-case-for-war-looks-on-from-afar Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:39:43 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188241-Senior-British-commander-killed-in-Afghanistan A roadside bomb killing one of the most senior British army officers in Afghanistan has dealt a huge personal blow to the forces stationed in the troubled country. The British Ministry of Defense announced that lethal incident happened when the bomb struck the commander's Viking armored tracked vehicle in Helmand province. The Viking, which has proved vulnerable to Taliban roadside bombs, was blown up about five miles north of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, according to Times Online. Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, 40, who died alongside another British soldier, Trooper Joshua Hammond, 19, became the highest-ranking officer to die in combat since the Falkland Islands war with Argentina in 1982. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188241-Senior-British-commander-killed-in-Afghanistan Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:35:45 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188240-US-drone-attacks-kill-13-in-Pakistan Intelligence officials say a US drone has fired missiles into Pakistan's South Waziristan region on the Afghan border, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens others. The drone reportedly targeted insurgent hideouts in the troubled region where US troops are conducting a major operation against militants, Reuters reported. The missiles were fired into an area controlled by Pakistani militant leader Baitullah Mehsud, according to local intelligence officials. More than fifty insurgents and some Pakistani soldiers have been killed over the last 24 hours in northwestern Pakistan. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188240-US-drone-attacks-kill-13-in-Pakistan Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:30:02 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188239-Making-official-what-they-ve-long-been-doing-The-Launching-of-U-S-Cyber-Command-CYBERCOM- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates signed a memorandum on June 23 that announced the launch of U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM). A scheme by securocrats in the works for several years, the order specifies that the new office will be a "subordinate unified command" under U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM). According to the memorandum, CYBERCOM "will reach initial operating capability (IOC) not later than October 2009 and full operating capability (FOC) not later than October 2010." Gates has recommended that this new Pentagon domain be led by Lt. General Keith Alexander, the current Director of the ultra-spooky National Security Agency (NSA). Under the proposal, Alexander would receive a fourth star and the new agency would be based at Ft. Meade, Maryland, NSA's headquarters. Gates' memorandum specifies that CYBERCOM "must be capable of synchronizing warfighting effects across the global security environment as well as providing support to civil authorities and international partners." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188239-Making-official-what-they-ve-long-been-doing-The-Launching-of-U-S-Cyber-Command-CYBERCOM- Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:48:11 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188238-After-Iran-election-Israel-beefs-up-air-force The Israeli Air Force has launched an upgrade of its F-15 fleet, equipping the jets with complex systems that would enable them to carry out long-distance attacks. Both the Israeli F-15s and F-15Is -- another version of the F-15 developed by an American manufacturer for the IAF -- are currently being equipped with two advanced weapons systems. The IDF journal BaMahaneh described the two new systems as Barad Pelada (Steel Hail), and Lightning. A source in the IAF familiar with the Barad Pelada system explained that the advanced Israeli armament operates like a smart bomb. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188238-After-Iran-election-Israel-beefs-up-air-force Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:52:04 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188237-To-Critics-Obama-s-New-Policy-on-Terror-Looks-Old Civil libertarians recently accused President Obama of acting like former President George W. Bush, citing reports about Mr. Obama's plans to detain terrorism suspects without trials on domestic soil after he closes the Guantánamo prison. It was only the latest instance in which critics have argued that Mr. Obama has failed to live up to his campaign pledge "to restore our Constitution and the rule of law" and raised a pointed question: Has he, on issues related to fighting terrorism, turned out to be little different from his predecessor? http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188237-To-Critics-Obama-s-New-Policy-on-Terror-Looks-Old Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:39:13 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188236-Obama-To-Hold-Performance-Review-With-All-American-Workers http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188236-Obama-To-Hold-Performance-Review-With-All-American-Workers Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:37:35 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188235-Majority-of-Americans-don-t-want-to-pay-to-fight-global-warming With the climate change bill narrowly passing in the House, a new poll released by Rasmussen Reports shows that a majority of Americans - 56 percent - are unwilling to pay more to support the fight against global warming. Only 14 percent of Americans are willing to pay more than $100 a year to fund the cap and trade measure. This disinterest in broad increases in taxes and living expenses could spell trouble for President Obama and the Democratic Congress, as pushing forward on cap and trade legislation increasingly appears to be at odds with the American voting population. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188235-Majority-of-Americans-don-t-want-to-pay-to-fight-global-warming Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:24:24 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188234-South-Africa-Honey-bee-disease-may-be-countrywide-survey Preliminary survey results of bee colonies released on Tuesday point to the unabated spread of a disease, American foulbrood (AFB), throughout the Western Cape and beyond. AFB is an infectious disease found in honey bees which attacks their larvae and is capable of destroying entire colonies in a year. Early results showed that more than 80 percent of the 45 samples tested came back positive for the disease. Officials are still waiting for more than 450 samples to be tested. "It's looking increasingly unlikely that eradication and containment will be possible. It's looking increasingly likely that we have a regionwide, even countrywide, problem," said Mike Allsopp, a honeybee researcher with the Agricultural Research Centre (ARC) in Stellenbosch. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188234-South-Africa-Honey-bee-disease-may-be-countrywide-survey Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:19:25 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188233-Still-No-Justice-Today-at-Guantanamo Like his fellow prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Kuwaiti detainee Fayiz Mohammed Ahmed al-Kandari hoped that President Obama's election would finally bring justice. Judges, not political appointees, would prevail and restore the rule of law. Unfortunately, nothing seems to have changed. The Obama administration is reportedly considering an executive order that would "reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely," and the situation at the prison itself is worsening. Fayiz, who has been my client for about 10 months, has been confined at Guantanamo for more than seven years. He has been subjected to harsh treatment and "enhanced interrogation techniques," resulting in physical and psychological pain. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188233-Still-No-Justice-Today-at-Guantanamo Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:56:26 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188232-The-Washington-Post-RIP The Washington Post died today. It was five months short of its 132nd birthday. News of the demise of the once-great news gathering organization came in a story by Mike Allen at Politico.com, which reported that Post publisher Katharine Weymouth has decided to solicit payoffs of between $25,000 and $250,000 from Washington lobbyists, in return for one or more private dinners in her home, where lucky diners will receive a chance for "your organization's CEO" to interact with "Health-care reporting and editorial staff members of The Washington Post" and "key Obama administration and congressional leaders ..." The decision by the Post's publisher to sell access to government officials was the latest--and, by far, the most horrific--in a series of disastrous decisions in the last two weeks which, taken together, have destroyed what was once one of the proudest brands in American journalism. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188232-The-Washington-Post-RIP Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:48:59 +0000 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188231-England-Red-diamond-UFO-spotted-hovering-in-sky-of-North-Somercotes A red diamond shaped UFO has been spotted hovering over the skies of North Somercotes by a local woman. The 75 year-old, who asked not to be named, had the strange encounter back in early February but is only now coming forward with her sighting after reading our report on the Lincolnshire Triangle UFO mystery. She said: "I was in the car with my husband on the road to North Somercotes at around 5pm and we stopped in the road to wait for the car in front to manoeuvre round a lorry. While we were sitting there I glanced out my window to the left and saw this strange red object in the sky and thought 'what the devil is that?'" http://www.sott.net/articles/show/188231-England-Red-diamond-UFO-spotted-hovering-in-sky-of-North-Somercotes Fri, 03 Jul 2009 08:32:06 +0000