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, 20 Nov 2009 15:59:48 -0500 http://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net http://www.sott.net http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197409-Obama-s-10-Most-Important-Faith-Leaders Introduction Even before Barack Obama was elected president, religious figures loomed large in his political career. The greatest threat to his presidential campaign came not from another candidate but from his longtime pastor, Jeremiah Wright, whose controversial sermons prompted questions about Obama's judgment in associating with him. After Election Day, the first big controversy of the Obama era was the president-elect's invitation to evangelical preacher Rick Warren, an opponent of abortion rights and gay marriage, to give the opening prayer at his inauguration. And Obama has offered religious leaders an unusually prominent role in his administration by convening an advisory council for the White House faith-based office that's dominated by clergy and heads of religious groups. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197409-Obama-s-10-Most-Important-Faith-Leaders Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:42:43 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197401-Obama-lawyers-to-Democrat-alleging-political-prosecution-Go-back-to-jail Go back to jail. That's the message from Obama administration lawyers to former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, whose case became a cause célèbre among Bush administration critics as ground zero of alleged political prosecutions. The seeming disconnect between Obama's team and numerous Democrats -- including House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr., who's investigated Siegelman's case -- may be because President George W. Bush's US Attorney in Alabama is still in office. Democrats still haven't settled on a replacement, some eleven months after Obama's inauguration. In advice to the Supreme Court made public early this week, Obama's Justice Department stood firmly behind the position of Bush US Attorneys who won Siegelman's conviction on bribery charges in 2006. The two US Attorneys connected to the case were Bush appointees -- whose numerous conflicts of interest were documented in the Raw Story series, "The Permanent Republican Majority," which received a nomination for best investigative reporting by the Online News Association in 2008. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197401-Obama-lawyers-to-Democrat-alleging-political-prosecution-Go-back-to-jail Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:33:25 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197394-Another-broken-promise-Obama-admits-Guantanamo-won-t-close-by-January-deadline President Obama directly acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay will not close by the January deadline he set, but he said he hoped to still achieve that goal sometime next year. Obama refused, however, to set a new deadline. In an interview in the Chinese capital with Major Garrett of Fox News, Obama said he was "not disappointed" that the Guantanamo deadline had slipped, saying he "knew this was going to be hard." "People, I think understandably, are fearful after a lot of years where they were told that Guantanamo was critical to keep terrorists out," Obama said. Closing the facility, he added, is "also just technically hard." Obama came to office pledging to shut a detainee facility that had become a symbol for prisoner abuse at the hands of American officials. He signed orders to shut the military prison by January 2010, but White House officials quickly encountered resistance from members of Congress opposed to moving prisoners to U.S. soil and from other countries they had hoped would accept detainees. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197394-Another-broken-promise-Obama-admits-Guantanamo-won-t-close-by-January-deadline Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:45:42 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197390-Hell-Comes-Home-Killing-is-the-ultimate-traumatic-experience There's no armor, it turns out, for conscience. So our men and women are coming home from the killing fields wounded in their heads, used up, greeted only by the military's own meat grinder of inadequate health care and intolerance for "weakness." "Frankly, in my more than 25 years of clinical practice, I've never seen such immense emotional suffering and psychological brokenness." This is what whistleblower psychiatrist Kernan Manion wrote recently to President Obama about his experience counseling Marines at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, as reported by Salon. In September, Manion, having been told to "cease and desist all further correspondence with the government," was fired by the Navy for his urgent, outspoken communiqués about the mental-health minefield the military has on its hands. Two months later, of course, the issue of PTSD was blown into the national headlines by the massacre at Fort Hood. And a day after that, according to Salon, the body of a Marine was found at Camp Lejeune and a fellow Marine was arrested for the murder. The wars we fight keep getting worse, or seem at any rate to back up on us with an ever-intensifying fury. Our war on terror is tightening the psychological vise on our collective insecurity, beginning with the soldiers who are fighting it. Salon, citing official figures, reported that 42 Marines committed suicide in 2008 and 146 attempted to do so. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197390-Hell-Comes-Home-Killing-is-the-ultimate-traumatic-experience Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:30:59 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197385-Oprah-to-Wrap-Up-the-Daytime-Conversation Oprah Winfrey, one of the most powerful people in the entertainment industry, will announce Friday that her iconic daytime talk show will wrap at the end of its 25th season. But don't panic -- her final appearance as host of The Oprah Winfrey Show is nearly two years away. And it's possible she'll move the whole shebang to the cable network she's setting up, called, naturally, the Oprah Winfrey Network. "The sun will set on the Oprah show as its 25th season draws to a close on September 9, 2011," Winfrey's Harpo Productions said in an e-mail to TV station executives Thursday evening. "As we all know, Oprah's personal comments about this on tomorrow's live show will mark a historic television moment that we will all be talking about for years to come." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197385-Oprah-to-Wrap-Up-the-Daytime-Conversation Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:51:58 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197347-Economic-Crisis-Is-Getting-Bloody-Violent-Deaths-Are-Now-Following-Evictions-Foreclosures-and-Job-Losses Despite ever rosier economic predictions and a surging stock market, the body count from the economic crisis is destined only to grow in the weeks and months ahead. In 2007, Jason Rodriguez was fired from his position at an Orlando, Florida engineering firm and ended up taking a job as a "sandwich artist" at a Subway restaurant. His salary was cut nearly in half and his debts mounted until, last May, he filed for bankruptcy, listing his assets at just over $4,600 and his liabilities at nearly $90,000. Although he lived only 30 minutes away, according to his former mother-in-law, America Holloway, Rodriguez barely saw his son. When the boy asked why his father didn't visit, Holloway said Rodriguez told him: "'Because I don't have any money. I don't have a job. I don't have anything to eat. When things get better, I'll come see you.'" Things never got better. On November 6th, the 40-year-old Rodriguez went back to the downtown high-rise office building where he had worked and reportedly opened fire, killing one person and wounding five others at his old firm. Asked to comment following the shooting, a local lawyer who represented Rodriguez in his bankruptcy proceedings, said "That's how it is right now. He's a very typical client. Of people that are suffering through the economy right now, there's nothing extraordinary about him... except that." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197347-Economic-Crisis-Is-Getting-Bloody-Violent-Deaths-Are-Now-Following-Evictions-Foreclosures-and-Job-Losses Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:49:40 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197343-Obama-campaign-promise-in-2007-The-first-thing-I-will-do-as-president-is-take-our-troops-home-you-can-take-that-to-the-bank- http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197343-Obama-campaign-promise-in-2007-The-first-thing-I-will-do-as-president-is-take-our-troops-home-you-can-take-that-to-the-bank- Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:04:01 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197340-Hungry-America-food-insecurity-state-by-state A new report from the US Department of Agriculture highlights the millions of Americans suffering from food insecurity. Find out how they compare from state to state It may be the world's richest nation, but the US is no stranger to startling poverty. A new report from the US Department of Agriculture says that food insecurity is the highest in America since the survey began. Food insecurity - defined by the USDA as when "food intake ... was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food" - afflicted 14.6% of Americans in 2008. Ie, some 50 million people were too poor to guarantee being able to put food on the table. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197340-Hungry-America-food-insecurity-state-by-state Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:35:50 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197337-Obama-popularity-below-50-percent-for-first-time-poll President Barack Obama's job approval rating has dipped below 50 percent nationally for the first time, as Americans worry about the war in Afghanistan, a new poll released Wednesday found. The Quinnipiac University poll showed 48 percent of Americans approve of the way Obama is handling his job as president, compared to 42 percent who disapprove. The president also scored low marks from Americans on his handling of the situation in Afghanistan, with just 38 percent saying they approved of his approach, but a majority did say it was the "right thing" for US troops to be in the country. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197337-Obama-popularity-below-50-percent-for-first-time-poll Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:14:25 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197325-First-Obama-Gets-a-Nobel-Peace-Prize-for-Nothing-Now-a-Tae-Kwon-Do-Black-Belt-After-Zero-Kicks Even President Obama himself during his just-concluded trip to Asia admitted that he was surprised to receive the Nobel Peace Prize earlier this year without actually producing any peace. In fact, the rookie American president ordered his own troop surge, boosting U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan to 68,000. Now, the Democrat may be preparing to send more. And a Gallup Poll showed 61% of Americans didn't think he deserved the prize either. Anyway, there he was in Seoul, the last stop of his journey. And out of the Seoul sky, President Lee Myung-bak hands over to the American leader a tae kwon do outfit. And then Lee, who practices tae kwon do himself, presents Obama with a coveted black belt. After zero long years of study. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197325-First-Obama-Gets-a-Nobel-Peace-Prize-for-Nothing-Now-a-Tae-Kwon-Do-Black-Belt-After-Zero-Kicks Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:51:48 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197322-Watergate-Gap-Mystery-to-be-Solved- A dark chapter in the history of the Watergate scandal surrounding former President Richard M. Nixon might soon be uncovered. The National Archives announced today it will use forensic documentation technology to try and uncover the contents of two pages of handwritten notes taken by Nixon's chief of staff, H.R. "Bob" Haldeman. The notes were taken June 20, 1972, during a conversation between the president and Haldeman, three days after the infamous 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee's offices in the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C. The discussion between Nixon and his chief of staff was captured by the president's secret White House recording system, except for an 18 1/2-minute gap where the tape was later erased. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197322-Watergate-Gap-Mystery-to-be-Solved- Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:21:35 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197320-US-public-backs-Obama-in-Afghan-war A poll in the US has found that the majority of Americans are confident that Barack Obama's future strategy for the war in Afghanistan will be successful. But the Washington Post-ABC News survey, which was released on Tuesday, found that the country was divided over how many extra troops should be sent to the central-Asian nation. At a time when the US president is mulling a new strategy to win the war in Afghanistan, a total of 55 per cent of those polled said they were confident that the strategy that Obama chooses will be the right one. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197320-US-public-backs-Obama-in-Afghan-war Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:25:43 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197310-California-Prosecution-outlines-lurid-murder-plot-in-El-Dorado-Hills-mom-s-stabbing It was a day for lurid details Tuesday as authorities in El Dorado County began a multi-day hearing to determine if a 14-year-old El Dorado Hills girl should stand trial as an adult in the slaying of her mother, Joanne M. Witt, 47. Tylar Marie Witt and her boyfriend, Steven Paul Colver, 19, are charged with killing Joanne Witt on June 11 or 12 after the mother filed a statutory rape report against Colver and kicked him out of her house. Testimony by investigators Tuesday depicted a tumultuous mother-daughter relationship. The saga ended, authorities allege, with the mother's stabbing death at the hands of Colver, and the teen lovers fleeing toward San Francisco with plans to carry out a suicide pact. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197310-California-Prosecution-outlines-lurid-murder-plot-in-El-Dorado-Hills-mom-s-stabbing Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:06:56 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197305-Connecticut-Screams-of-Woman-Set-on-Fire-Heard-in-911-Call A Connecticut woman who police say was set on fire by her boyfriend can be heard screaming in a 911 call tape released by authorities. In a neighbor's call to police Sunday, Christina Lee of New Haven yells "He's setting my daughter on fire!" while the neighbor pleads with a dispatcher to send help. Police released the tape Wednesday. The 35-year-old suffered burns on about 40 percent of her body and remains in critical condition at Bridgeport Hospital. Police say Lee's boyfriend, 50-year-old Howard Stewart, poured an accelerant on Lee and her 12-year-old daughter and set Lee on fire. The girl escaped unharmed and rescued Lee's 3-month-old daughter from the burning house. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197305-Connecticut-Screams-of-Woman-Set-on-Fire-Heard-in-911-Call Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:18:05 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197283-The-Afghan-Speech-Obama-Should-Give-But-Won-t- "This Administration Ended, Rather Than Extended, Two Wars" Sure, the quote is only my fantasy. No one in Washington -- no less President Obama -- ever said, "This administration ended, rather than extended, two wars," and right now, it looks as if no one in an official capacity is likely to do so any time soon. It's common knowledge that a president -- but above all a Democratic president -- who tried to de-escalate a war like the one now expanding in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan, and withdraw American troops, would be so much domestic political dead meat. This everyday bit of engrained Washington wisdom is, in fact, based on not a shred of evidence in the historical record. We do, however, know something about what could happen to a president who escalated a counterinsurgency war: Lyndon Johnson comes to mind for expanding his inherited war in Vietnam out of fear that he would be labeled the president who "lost" that country to the communists (as Harry Truman had supposedly "lost" China). And then there was Vice President Hubert Humphrey who -- incapable of rejecting Johnson's war policy -- lost the 1968 election to Richard Nixon, a candidate pushing a fraudulent "peace with honor" formula for downsizing the war. Still, we have no evidence about how American voters would deal with a president who didn't take the Johnson approach to a losing war. The only example might be John F. Kennedy, who reputedly pushed back against escalatory advice over Vietnam, and certainly did so against his military high command during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In both cases, however, he acted in private, offering quite a different face to the world. We know that there would be those on the right, and quite a few war-fightin' liberals as well, who would go nuclear over any presidential minus option in Afghanistan. Many of them will, in fact, do so over anything less than the McChrystal plan anyway. And we know that a media storm would certainly follow. But when it comes to how voters would react, especially at a moment when unhappiness with the Afghan War (as well as the president's handling of it) is on the rise, there is no historical evidence. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197283-The-Afghan-Speech-Obama-Should-Give-But-Won-t- Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:10:33 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197280-Indianapolis-Schools-Block-Atheist-Sites The Freedom From Religion Foundation has written a letter to the Indianapolis Public Schools superintendent demanding that they change a written policy (PDF) that requires all "alternative spirituality" websites to be blocked from computers in their schools. The policy includes a list of sites that must be blocked, including this: Sites that promote and provide information on religions such as Wicca, Witchcraft or Satanism. Occult practices, atheistic views, vodoo rituals or any form of mysticism are represented here. Includes sites that endorse or offer methods, means of instruction, or other resources to affect or influence real events through the use of spells, incantations, curses and magic powers. This category includes sites which discuss or deal with paranormal or unexplained events. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197280-Indianapolis-Schools-Block-Atheist-Sites Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:39:55 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197279-How-do-you-get-away-with-murder- Question: How do you get away with murder? Answer: Hire your victim. There are 16 workplace deaths in the United States every day. Most companies are never prosecuted for negligence, even after repeated warnings that their workers were in danger. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197279-How-do-you-get-away-with-murder- Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:19:14 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197274-UCLA-police-arrest-14-students Police at the University of California, Los Angeles have arrested 14 demonstrators, mostly students, and dispersed many others who were protesting to a rise in tuition fees. An estimated 500 protesters repeatedly interrupted a UC Regents board meeting deliberating a 32 percent hike in undergraduate tuition fees - a move which was ultimately approved. Some protesters planned to remain at UCLA as part of a 24-hour peaceful demonstration until the full board meeting which is scheduled to put the move to vote on Thursday. The students were holding banners protesting the increase and shouting, "Cut from the top!" Tuition at UC campuses would increase by $585 in the spring, and then another $1,344 next fall. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197274-UCLA-police-arrest-14-students Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:01:36 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197264-Militant-groups-recruiting-active-soldiers-training-them-not-to-obey-President Acosta: Obama 'inherited' civil liberties problems from Bush A quickly-growing right-wing group that recruits serving soldiers and police officers and encourages members not to obey presidential orders has some watchdogs worried. The Oath Keepers, founded earlier this year by a former staffer for congressman Ron Paul, say they aren't a militia group like the many others sprouting up around the country, because they don't need to be -- their recruits are already members of the armed forces or law enforcement agencies, says a report from CNN. CNN's Jim Acosta reports that inductees to the group swear an oath of allegiance to the US Constitution that is modeled after the oath given to military recruits, but omits one key phrase: "I will obey the orders of the president of the United States." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197264-Militant-groups-recruiting-active-soldiers-training-them-not-to-obey-President Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:33:05 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197259-Evan-Chandler-dad-of-boy-who-accused-Michael-Jackson-of-molestation-commits-suicide-in-New-Jersey The father of a boy who accused Michael Jackson of molestation in 1993 blew out his brains in his luxury New Jersey apartment, cops said Tuesday. Evan Chandler, 65, whose son received a multimillion-dollar settlement from the King of Pop, was discovered in his 16th- floor waterfront pad in Jersey City with his gun still in his hand. Chandler took his own life Nov. 5, Jersey City police spokesman Stan Eason said. The concierge of Chandler's building found the body. "He [Chandler] was on his bed still holding the weapon with a single gunshot wound to the head," Eason said. "It's straightforward. Case closed. It's suicide." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197259-Evan-Chandler-dad-of-boy-who-accused-Michael-Jackson-of-molestation-commits-suicide-in-New-Jersey Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:26:17 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197242-Racist-Bigot-Televangelist-Pat-Robertson-Islam-isn-t-a-religion-treat-Muslims-like-fascists 'Birther' lawyer: Fort Hood proves soldiers should be allowed to disobey orders Conservative commentators are ratcheting up anti-Muslim rhetoric in the wake of last week's Fort Hood massacre, with televangelist Pat Robertson leading the way with a declaration that Islam is "not a religion," but a "political system" bent on destroying all the world's governments. In a commentary on his show, The 700 Club, Robertson noted that the alleged shooter in the Fort Hood massacre, Nidal Malik Hasan, had come to the attention of authorities prior to the rampage by emailing a radical cleric and trying to contact Al Qaeda. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197242-Racist-Bigot-Televangelist-Pat-Robertson-Islam-isn-t-a-religion-treat-Muslims-like-fascists Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:46:06 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197235-Chilling-Police-Teen-dug-grave-anticipating-killing Teen accused of strangling, stabbing 9-year-old neighbor Jefferson City, Missouri. - Blessed with a Friday off school, 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante dug two holes in the ground to be used as a grave, authorities said. For the next week, she attended classes, all the while plotting the right time for a murder, they said. That time arrived the evening of Oct. 21, when Bustamante strangled 9-year-old neighbor Elizabeth Olten without provocation, cut the girl's throat and stabbed her, prosecutors said. Why? "Ultimately, she stated she wanted to know what it felt like," Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. David Rice testified Wednesday during a court hearing over the slaying. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197235-Chilling-Police-Teen-dug-grave-anticipating-killing Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:16:35 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197219-Air-Force-Adds-Kids-to-Pentagon-s-Mandatory-H1N1-Vaccine-Program About 25,000 children in on-base Air Force daycare centers will be forced to receive the H1N1 vaccine or face being barred from school, Truthout has learned following reports from concerned parents. When a number of Air Force parents opened the November Child Development Center newsletter, they were outraged to learn that their children must receive the H1N1 vaccine. The newsletter article indicates that the Air Force is considering the H1N1 vaccine as part of the required seasonal flu vaccination. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197219-Air-Force-Adds-Kids-to-Pentagon-s-Mandatory-H1N1-Vaccine-Program Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:40:41 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197217-The-American-Taliban-Religious-right-is-trawling-for-assassins- This video is from MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, broadcast Nov. 17, 2009. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197217-The-American-Taliban-Religious-right-is-trawling-for-assassins- Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:33:20 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197198-Raj-Patel-on-America-s-Growing-Hunger-Crisis-and-the-UN-Summit-to-Fight-Hunger-in-Rome AMY GOODMAN: More than 49 million Americans, or one in seven, struggled to find enough to eat last year, according to a report from the US Department of Agriculture released on Monday. That's the highest total since the federal government began keeping track of what they call food insecurity. The numbers for 2008 shot up by three-and-a-half percent, or nearly 13 million people, from 2007, marking the greatest deterioration in access to food in a single year. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called the numbers a, quote, "wake-up call," and President Obama described the report as, quote, "unsettling and troubling." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197198-Raj-Patel-on-America-s-Growing-Hunger-Crisis-and-the-UN-Summit-to-Fight-Hunger-in-Rome Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:05:35 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197196-Census-Turns-to-Kids-for-Help Los Angeles -- The U.S. Census Bureau is recruiting a new set of volunteers: kids. Seeking to ensure strong participation in the decennial population count, especially in so-called hard-to-count neighborhoods, the bureau has decided children are key. That has led it to settings like Arlene Paynes's first-grade class at Union Avenue Elementary School in this immigrant enclave on the edge of downtown. Last Thursday, the class gathered to read aloud a story titled Who Counts? They learned about a boy named Joey who helps his grandmother, an Italian immigrant, fill out the Census form that arrives in the mail. The grandmother and grandchild decide that those who "count" in their household are Grandma, Mom, Dad, Joey, little sister Mary -- and even Mr. Macintosh, who occupies a spare room "until he finds a job." The only one who doesn't count: their cat Clover. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197196-Census-Turns-to-Kids-for-Help Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:35:58 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197183-Army-Suicides-Set-to-Hit-New-High-in-2009 Suicides in the U.S. Army will hit a new high this year, a top general said on Tuesday in a disclosure likely to increase concerns about stress on U.S. forces ahead of an expected buildup in Afghanistan. The findings, released as President Barack Obama inches toward a decision to send up to 40,000 additional troops to Afghanistan, show the number of active-duty suicides so far in 2009 has already matched last year's record of 140 deaths. "We are almost certainly going to end the year higher than last year," General Peter Chiarelli, the Army's vice chief of staff, told a Pentagon briefing. "This is horrible, and I do not want to downplay the significance of these numbers in any way." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197183-Army-Suicides-Set-to-Hit-New-High-in-2009 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:33:10 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197162-Biotech-crops-cause-big-jump-in-pesticide-use-report Kansas City - The rapid adoption by U.S. farmers of genetically engineered corn, soybeans and cotton has promoted increased use of pesticides, an epidemic of herbicide-resistant weeds and more chemical residues in foods, according to a report issued Tuesday by health and environmental protection groups. The groups said research showed that herbicide use grew by 383 million pounds from 1996 to 2008, with 46 percent of the total increase occurring in 2007 and 2008. The report was released by nonprofits The Organic Center (TOC), the Union for Concerned Scientists (UCS) and the Center for Food Safety (CFS). The groups said that while herbicide use has climbed, insecticide use has dropped because of biotech crops. They said adoption of genetically engineered corn and cotton that carry traits resistant to insects has led to a reduction in insecticide use by 64 million pounds since 1996. Still, that leaves a net overall increase on U.S. farm fields of 318 million pounds of pesticides, which includes insecticides and herbicides, over the first 13 years of commercial use. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197162-Biotech-crops-cause-big-jump-in-pesticide-use-report Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:17:34 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197143-Officials-Major-Hasan-Sought-War-Crimes-Prosecution-of-U-S-Soldiers Major Nidal Malik Hasan's military superiors repeatedly ignored or rebuffed his efforts to open criminal prosecutions of soldiers he claimed had confessed to "war crimes" during psychiatric counseling, according to investigative reports circulated among federal law enforcement officials. On Nov. 4, the day after his last attempt to raise the issue, he took extra target practice at Stan's shooting range in nearby Florence, Texas and then closed a safe deposit box he had at a Bank of America branch in Killeen, according to the reports. A bank employee told investigators Hasan appeared nervous and said, "You'll never see me again." Diane Wagner, Bank of America's senior vice president of media relations, said that her company does not "comment or discuss customer relationships" but is "cooperating fully with law enforcement officials." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197143-Officials-Major-Hasan-Sought-War-Crimes-Prosecution-of-U-S-Soldiers Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:55:45 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197142-Mother-accused-in-drowning-of-her-daughter-had-financial-personal-problems The woman accused of drowning her 3-year-old daughter Sunday was a nurse and loving mother, according to some who know her, but she has suffered from financial and personal problems in recent years. Anul Malik Ram, 31, has been booked on suspicion of murder in the death of her daughter, Divya, who Sacramento police say was drowned sometime Saturday night in the Pocket-area apartment the woman shared with her two young children. Ram is scheduled to make an initial appearance in Sacramento Superior Court today on the murder charge, and also is being detained on a U.S. Border Patrol holding order, jail booking records indicate. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197142-Mother-accused-in-drowning-of-her-daughter-had-financial-personal-problems Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:50:23 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197135-US-Army-arrests-mother-who-failed-to-turn-up-for-Afghanistan-deployment-because-there-s-no-one-to-care-for-her-infant-son A 21-year-old single mother serving with the US Army's 3rd Infantry Division is facing a possible court martial because she failed to turn up for deployment to Afghanistan, saying that she could not find anyone to care for her infant son. Alexis Hutchinson, who serves as an army cook, was meant to have joined her division for a flight to Kabul on 5 November, but failed to show up. She was arrested and temporarily placed in custody while her 10-month-old child Kamani was put into a daycare scheme on her military base in Savannah, Georgia. Hutchinson denies any suggestion that she was trying to avoid deployment, insisting that she was only acting out of concern for her boy. She had placed him in the care of her mother, Angelique Hughes, in Oakland, California, but after a couple of weeks Hughes found she was overburdened and unable to commit for a whole year looking after him. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197135-US-Army-arrests-mother-who-failed-to-turn-up-for-Afghanistan-deployment-because-there-s-no-one-to-care-for-her-infant-son Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:16:39 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197131-U-S-Army-Underreporting-Suicides-Says-GI-Advocacy-Group According to a soldiers' advocacy group at Fort Hood, the U.S. base where an army psychiatrist has been charged with killing 13 people and wounding 30 in a Nov. 5 rampage, the official suicide figures provided by the Army are "definitely" too low. Chuck Luther served 12 years in the military and is a veteran of two deployments to Iraq, where he was a reconnaissance scout in the 1st Cavalry Division. The former sergeant was based at Fort Hood, where he lives today. "I see the ugly," Luther told IPS. "I see soldiers beating their wives and trying to kill themselves all the time, and most folks don't want to look at this, including the military." Luther, who in 2007 became the founder and director of the Soldier's Advocacy Group of Disposable Warriors, knows about these types of internal problems in the military because he has been through many of them himself. Luther told IPS that he believes the real number of soldiers at Fort Hood committing suicide is being dramatically underreported by the military. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197131-U-S-Army-Underreporting-Suicides-Says-GI-Advocacy-Group Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:53:50 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197112-New-York-After-Helping-Family-Escape-Fire-Man-Dies-Retrieving-his-Cell-Phone A 75-year-old man helped his family escape his burning Queens home early Monday - but died after running back into the house for his cell phone, witnesses and FDNY sources said. Nathaniel Lagree was found lifeless in the basement of his smoky St. Albans home a short time after the fire ignited at 6:20 a.m., FDNY officials said. Lagree helped pry open the front door of his Zoller Road home to free his wife, Betty, and daughter, Patricia, from the choking smoke, witnesses said. But because the cordless home phone he carried out was not working, Lagree dashed back into the dangerous home to grab his mobile phone, witnesses and the sources said. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197112-New-York-After-Helping-Family-Escape-Fire-Man-Dies-Retrieving-his-Cell-Phone Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:59:54 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197111-Navy-May-Test-Live-Bombs-in-Central-Florida Some Central Florida families could get a rude awakening from the Navy. Jets carrying live warheads could soon race right over Central Florida. The military is working on plans to expand the Avon Park bombing range, where pilots would test real bombs. The possibility leaves some residents nervous. June Felt has an excellent memory. She plays piano by ear and knows hundreds of songs, so she can easily recall every detail of the night of August 22, 1944. "Very unusual, the sound was. I can't even describe how I felt when I heard it. I knew something bad was happening," she said. Her hometown of Frostproof, Florida had been bombed by the United States Air Force. "Well, they came over to apologize when they realized what they had done. And the next week, they did it again," she said. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197111-Navy-May-Test-Live-Bombs-in-Central-Florida Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:53:59 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197086-Nidal-Malik-Hasan-allegedly-sought-prosecutions-for-war-crimes-confessions Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the Fort Hood gunman, had sought military prosecutions against soldiers he claimed confessed "war crimes" to him during counselling sessions. Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, last threatened to pursue prosecutions against other soldiers on Nov 2. Two days later he went for extra target practice at a shooting range where he bought 10 targets and fired more than 200 rounds. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197086-Nidal-Malik-Hasan-allegedly-sought-prosecutions-for-war-crimes-confessions Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:21:07 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197085-Devout-Islamic-extremist-Fort-Hood-shooter-frequented-local-strip-club-in-between-prayers-at-the-mosque- The Army psychiatrist authorities say killed 13 people and wounded 29 others at the Fort Hood Army Base Thursday was a recent and frequent customer at a local strip club, employees of the club told FoxNews.com exclusively. Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan came into the Starz strip club not far from the base at least three times in the past month, the club's general manager, Matthew Jones, told FoxNews.com. Army investigators building their case against Hasan plan to interview Jones soon. "The last time he was here, I remember checking his military ID at the door, and he paid his $15 cover and stayed for six or seven hours," Jones, 37, said. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197085-Devout-Islamic-extremist-Fort-Hood-shooter-frequented-local-strip-club-in-between-prayers-at-the-mosque- Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:15:37 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197081-Obama-s-Strongest-Supporters-Suffering-the-Most-in-Recession-While-Elites-Thrive The young, the black and the poor are among those who are being hammered unmercifully in this long and cruel economic downturn that the financial elites are telling us is over. President Obama's strongest supporters during the presidential campaign were the young, the black and the poor -- and they are among those who are being hammered unmercifully in this long and cruel economic downturn that the financial elites are telling us is over. If the elites are correct, if the Great Recession really is over, then these core supporters of the president are being left far, far behind -- as are blue-collar workers of every ethnic and political persuasion. Nobody wants to talk seriously about class in America, but the elites are smiling and perusing their stock portfolios while the checklist of Americans locked in depressionlike circumstances just grows and grows: construction and manufacturing workers, young men without college degrees (especially young black and Hispanic men), teenagers, and those who were already poor when the recession began. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197081-Obama-s-Strongest-Supporters-Suffering-the-Most-in-Recession-While-Elites-Thrive Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:14:07 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197062-100-new-militia-groups-have-formed-since-Obama-s-election In a re-run of the phenomenon seen when President Bill Clinton took office, gun-rights advocates, libertarians, survivalists and others are forming militias as a symbol of their resistance to what they see as an administration that threatens to restrict their right to bear arms and expand government control over the lives of private citizens. "The truth is that these groups are popping up like mushrooms after a spring rain," said Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, a social-justice group that has been tracking the rise of militias over the past year. Potok's group put out a report earlier this year raising the alarm about the resurgence of armed militias. Since then, he told CNN, the group has counted about 100 new groups formed across the country. "There really is this terrible fear mixed with fury about the idea that President Obama is somehow leading a socialistic takeover of America," Potok said. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197062-100-new-militia-groups-have-formed-since-Obama-s-election Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:04:10 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197054-Christian-Bootcamp-Seeks-to-Arm-Home-Schooled-Youths-for-Spiritual-Warfare- "Life is not a playground," says Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas in The Kingdom Leadership Institute Manual. "It is a war zone." Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas, Assistant Director of Operation Save America, is worried. According to studies by the Barna Research Group, California pollsters specializing in tracking religious and spiritual attitudes, only nine percent of teenaged Christians believe in moral absolutes. What's more, Barna reports that the vast majority of kids raised Christian will abandon all or part of their faith by the time they finish high school. "Assembly of God leaders estimate between 65 and 70 percent will depart, while the Southern Baptist Council on Family Life estimates roughly 88 percent will leave," Thomas writes. To remedy this, Thomas' Elijah Ministries has started the Kingdom Leadership Institute, a weeklong ideological boot camp for home-schooled Christians between the ages of 14 and 21. His recently released book, The Kingdom Leadership Institute Manual, is a roadmap for their training and a fascinating -- if twisted -- look at the concerns of far right evangelicals, complete with a game plan for action. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197054-Christian-Bootcamp-Seeks-to-Arm-Home-Schooled-Youths-for-Spiritual-Warfare- Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:36:41 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197053-Florida-Kucinich-Withdraws-as-Palm-Beach-County-Democratic-Keynoter-Amid-Uproar-over-His-Israel-Stance U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich lasted less than 24 hours as headliner for the Palm Beach County Democratic Party's annual fundraising dinner after some of the party's elected officials blasted the Ohio Democrat's stance on Israel and threatened to skip the event. Kucinich, who has a history of criticizing the actions of the Israeli government and opposing congressional resolutions in support of Israel, withdrew Friday as the keynote speaker for next week's dinner after being announced Thursday. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197053-Florida-Kucinich-Withdraws-as-Palm-Beach-County-Democratic-Keynoter-Amid-Uproar-over-His-Israel-Stance Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:22:34 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197044-North-Carolina-Searchers-Find-Body-of-Missing-5-Year-Old-Girl A missing 5-year-old whose mother was accused of offering her for sex was found dead off a heavily wooded road in a rural area Monday, ending a week-long search, police said. Searchers found Shaniya Davis' body early Monday afternoon about 100 feet off a road southeast of Sanford, in central North Carolina, Fayetteville Police spokeswoman Theresa Chance said. She declined to comment on a cause of death or the condition of Shaniya's body. "We've got a lot of people out at the scene right now that are torn up," Chance said. "Detectives have been running off adrenaline to find this little girl and to bring her home alive. You have a lot of people in shock right now." Two people have been charged in her disappearance, one of them her mother, Antoinette Davis, 25. Police charged Davis with human trafficking and felony child abuse, saying Shaniya was offered for prostitution. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197044-North-Carolina-Searchers-Find-Body-of-Missing-5-Year-Old-Girl Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:20:35 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197036-Outrage-in-Washington-over-Obama-s-Japan-Bow News photos of President Barack Obama bowing to Japan's emperor have incensed critics here, who said the US leader should stand tall when representing America overseas. Obama on Monday was in China, having wrapped up the Japan leg of his Asia trip two days earlier. But Washington's punditocracy was still weighing whether or not the US president had disgraced his country two days earlier by having taken a deep bow at the waist while meeting Japan's Emperor Akihito. Political talk shows have played and replayed the moment from the second day of Obama's week-long Asia tour, which set the blogosphere on fire and chat show tongues wagging. "I don't know why President Obama thought that was appropriate. Maybe he thought it would play well in Japan. But it's not appropriate for an American president to bow to a foreign one," said conservative pundit William Kristol speaking on the Fox News Sunday program, adding that the gesture bespoke a United States that has become weak and overly-deferential under Obama. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197036-Outrage-in-Washington-over-Obama-s-Japan-Bow Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:03:10 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197017-Senate-Bill-Would-Allow-Mentally-Incapacitated-Vets-to-Buy-Guns Major Nidal Hasan, accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood Army base, has been described by former colleagues as "psychotic." As more details emerge about Hasan's troubled state, gun safety advocates are launching fresh attacks on a Senate bill they say would make it easier for mentally unstable veterans to buy firearms. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) says his "Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act" will protect veterans' gun rights. But the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence calls it a "dangerous" proposal that could allow "over 100,000 mentally incapacitated or incompetent persons" to buy guns - people who would previously have been barred from doing so by the Veterans Administration (VA). With debate over Fort Hood still raging on cable news, one might think that Burr might try to quietly shelve the measure, whose co-sponsors include Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.). Instead, Burr fired back at the Brady Campaign in an interview with Fox News, accusing its president, Paul Helmke, of using the tragedy to "exploit the senseless murder of American soldiers in the quest to secure personal triumph." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197017-Senate-Bill-Would-Allow-Mentally-Incapacitated-Vets-to-Buy-Guns Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:22:54 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197009-Farmers-Ranchers-Fighting-Back-against-FDA-Tyranny-over-Animal-Farms A bill that would grant the FDA expanded authority to inspect farms has come under fire from ranchers and farmers concerned about increased government interference in their operations. In response to a recent series of food-borne illness outbreaks, a bill has been approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee that would allocate more money and authority to the FDA to fulfill its current food safety duties. Although technically the bill would not expand the FDA's authority to foods currently supervised by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) - meat, poultry and some egg products - many farmers and their advocates are concerned that the language of the bill is too vague to ensure against this. "Live animals are not 'food' until the point of processing, which is why this bill needs to clarify that the FDA does not have regulatory authority on our farms, ranches and feedlots," said Sam Ives of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197009-Farmers-Ranchers-Fighting-Back-against-FDA-Tyranny-over-Animal-Farms Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:47:05 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197004-Hypocrisy-Alert-In-China-Obama-calls-freedoms-universal-rights- Pressing for freedoms on China's own turf, President Barack Obama said Monday that individual expression is not an American ideal but a universal right that should be available to all. In his first presidential trip to Asia, Obama lauded cooperative relations with China but sought to send a clear message to his tightly controlled host country. Just as Obama said few problems can be solved unless U.S. and China work together, he prodded China to accept what he called "universal rights." "We do not seek to impose any system of government on any other nation," Obama said at a town hall at a museum here, believed to be the first such forum held by a U.S. president on Chinese soil. "But we also don't believe that the principles that we stand for are unique to our nation." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197004-Hypocrisy-Alert-In-China-Obama-calls-freedoms-universal-rights- Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:03:13 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197001-Yoo-Withdrew-Amidst-Growing-Call-for-Criminal-Investigation-Torture-Memos-Author-John-Yoo-Withdraws-from-Federalist-Society-Panel Amidst a growing call for a criminal investigation of the DOJ lawyers who authorized torture, John Yoo, author of the most infamous of the "torture memos" withdrew as a speaker at the conservative Federalist Society Convention where Alliance for Justice and human rights supporters are scheduled to take action. "John Yoo's withdrawal from the Federalist Society Convention shows that pressure is building to hold accountable those who provided legal cover for torture," said Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron. Yoo was scheduled to speak on the panel, "Professional Responsibility: The Role of Government Attorneys and the Global War on Terror" this Thursday, November 12. Alliance for Justice is organizing human rights supporters to rally outside the convention that day and call the Attorney General to ask for immediate release of the report by the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) on the Justice Department lawyers who wrote the "torture memos." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/197001-Yoo-Withdrew-Amidst-Growing-Call-for-Criminal-Investigation-Torture-Memos-Author-John-Yoo-Withdraws-from-Federalist-Society-Panel Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:49:10 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196988-The-Palin-Effect-How-Sarah-Palin-Made-Herself-Indispensable-While-Destroying-the-Republican-Party An Introduction by Tom Engelhardt: It can't get better than this, can it? A first printing of 1.5 million copies sent out into an otherwise dead book market. Possibly as much as $7 million dollars going to the author, who already has interviews lined up with Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters. A bus tour of the "real America" that manages to avoid such Sodom and Gomorrah-like Democratic hotspots as Los Angeles and New York. Even a collection of critical essays about the author appearing at the same moment -- with her photo on a similarly designed cover, and just two letters in the title reversed, clearly meant to confuse her fans. Then, there's even the parody coloring book. It's a "perfect storm for publishers," says the book editor for the Christian Science Monitor -- and if that's the last time the phrase "perfect storm" is used for this media extravaganza, TomDispatch will eat its baseball cap. Yes, of course, what else could I be talking about but Going Rogue, Sarah Palin's as-told-to "memoir" -- and its critical doppelganger, Going Rouge (put together by two Nation magazine editors). I wonder, by the way, if, in the uproar to follow, anyone will comment on the strangeness of Palin's book title. True, late last October, with the presidential election fast approaching, an unnamed aide to candidate McCain accused his vice-presidential partner of "going rogue." At the time, an "associate" of hers responded to the charge by claiming she was "simply trying to 'bust free' of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged [campaign] roll-out." A year later, however, she's evidently ready to make that angry intra-campaign charge proudly her own. Still, here's the thing that's so odd: since the fall of the Soviet Union, the word "rogue," as in "rogue state," has been associated with only one thing in the U.S.: enemy nations supposedly eager to enter the nuclear proliferation sweepstakes -- in particular, the crew that our previous president lumped together as the "axis of evil." We're talking about Iran, North Korea, Saddam Hussein's Iraq -- and now, evidently, former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Maybe Max Blumenthal, author of Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement That Shattered the Party, the blistering, bestselling exposé of just how the Republican Party ate itself for lunch, is right. Maybe Palin is intent on going nuclear in American politics. Unfortunately, when the fun's all over, we have no idea who is going to clean up the mess. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196988-The-Palin-Effect-How-Sarah-Palin-Made-Herself-Indispensable-While-Destroying-the-Republican-Party Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:11:44 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196985-Biden-s-Secret-Service-motorcade-involved-in-fatal-accident Two Secret Service employees driving along the Suitland Parkway struck and killed a man early Wednesday morning in the vehicles the agency uses to transport Vice President Joe Biden. Biden was not in either the armored SUV or limousine at the time of the crash. The vehicles had just been flown back to the D.C.-area from Fort Lewis, Wash., where they had driven the vice president before and after he spoke to a crowd of troops for Veterans Day. Sgt. David Schlosser, spokesman for the U.S. Park Police, said the crash happened at 2:27 a.m. on Wednesday in Temple Hills, Md., at the intersection of Suitland Parkway and Naylor Road. The victim, whose name was not released because his next of kin had not been notified, was pronounced dead at Prince George's Hospital on Wednesday morning, Schlosser said. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196985-Biden-s-Secret-Service-motorcade-involved-in-fatal-accident Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:52:43 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196984-Fox-News-Host-Falsifies-Footage-to-Make-GOP-Protest-Look-Bigger How many protesters were in attendance at Republican congresswoman Michelle Bachmann's tea party healthcare protest? "I climbed the Capitol steps just before the event started so that I could get a good view of the whole crowd," the Washington Post's one-time White House reporter and columnist Dana Milbank wrote Friday. "I divided it into sections and counted. That's where I came up with 5,000. It's possible more came after I did my count, but nothing near 10,000." A few dozen Republican House members attended, aimed at stirring up a crowd against Democrats' healthcare reform bill. Fox News' Sean Hannity interviewed Bachmann following the event. "20,000+ people showed up," Hannity said. "Were you as surprised as I was?" http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196984-Fox-News-Host-Falsifies-Footage-to-Make-GOP-Protest-Look-Bigger Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:44:25 -0500 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196980-Will-We-Ever-Stop-the-Killings- Every time the young stick-up man tugged at my companion's purse with his left hand, she would pull back, causing the muzzle of the pistol he held in his right hand to swing back and forth. Its line of fire each time was directed across my chest and if he accidentally or deliberately squeezed the trigger this piece might never have been written. "Give him your purse!" I insisted, meaning that hanging on to it wasn't worth our lives. Still, she refused and the tug-of-war in the parking lot of my apartment building continued. "Here!" I said to the gunman, pitching my wallet to him, "take this!" He caught the wallet, turned and fled across a wide, deserted ballpark. Even in the darkness, we could follow him running for a long way, silhouetted in the lights of the U.S. Capitol, lit up at night ahead of him like a giant white cake. A few days later I received a call from a Maryland department store inquiring if I had sent a young man to buy a TV set on my credit card. A store detective arrested the youth and I dutifully showed up in court on the day of the trial only to learn he had skipped. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/196980-Will-We-Ever-Stop-the-Killings- Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:50:14 -0500