- Priests were defrocked in two years
- UN ambassador faces questioning in Geneva

A document obtained by the Associated Press shows that Pope Benedict XVI defrocked nearly 400 priests in just two years, for molesting children.

The statistics for 2011-12 represent the first time that the Vatican has provided details on the number of priests who have been defrocked. Prior to that, it had only revealed the number of alleged cases of sexual abuse it had received.

The document was prepared from data the Vatican had been collecting to help the Holy See defend itself before a UN committee this week in Geneva.

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican's UN ambassador in Geneva, referred to just one of the statistics in the course of eight hours of often pointed criticism and questioning from the UN human rights committee. The AP obtained the document on Friday.

Source: AP

President Obama called Friday for significant changes to the way the National Security Agency collects and uses telephone records of U.S. citizens, moving to transition away from government control of the information and immediately require authorities to obtain a court order to access it.

After more than six months of controversy over U.S. surveillance policies, Obama said that - barring a specific threat - he has ordered an end to eavesdropping on dozens of foreign leaders and governments who are friends or allies, a move the White Hope hopes will restore trust in the intelligence community and in the government's ability to balance national security and privacy interests.

Obama also said he is taking steps to protect the privacy of foreigners by extending to them some of the protections currently given to Americans.

Caller, purported to be Lanza, likened 'Travis' to a 'teenage mall shooter'

Adam Lanza left behind no clues as to why he killed 26 children and staff at Sandy Hook Elementary, but the New York Daily News claims it has accessed audio of a seven-minute call he made to an Oregon radio station that gives a little more insight into his dark mind. The attorney at the helm of the investigation into the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting did confirm to the Daily News that authorities were aware of the call, but said, "I do not specifically know whether or not that is Adam Lanza" on the tape. Two former friends of Lanza's, however, say it's him, though they say he may have attempted to alter his voice. So what does the caller, who went by the name of "Greg," discuss during his Dec. 11, 2011, call to "Anarchy Radio" host John Zerzan? Travis, the Connecticut chimp who mauled Charla Nash's face in 2009 - and mass shootings.

The fundamental issue is to address the nature of the conflict.

'Is this a civil war between opposing factions within Syrian society or is it in fact a war of aggression?'

I think at the moment what is striking is the fact that there is a merger of the insurgency in Iraq and Syria: it's the same Al-Qaeda-affiliated organizations, Al-Qaeda in Iraq, and the Levant, which are waging war against both countries. And the question is who is behind them?

We know that there are intelligence operations, we know that Saudi Arabia is supporting the rebels and we also know that the United States is now supporting the New Islamic front which was created back in November, which is considered to be some kind of moderate grouping of Islamic organizations. In effect there's ample evidence to the efect that the Western military Alliance is supporting various Islamic rebel forces.

Sergey Lavrov made the statement back in November that the Geneva-2 peace talks should focus on counterterrorism. That raises an issue - because they'll be sitting at the table together - and then the question is: 'Who is behind the terrorists?'

We must understand that the western military alliance also has blood on their hands. It's not simply an issue of identifying the terrorists, we have to identify the people who are behind them.

I am not sure what it says about our culture when six figure speaker fees are awarded to War Criminals, but that is what happened in New York City on Monday, January 13 when George W. Bush took a break from his retirement and rigorous painting schedule and took his Texas swagger on stage as the keynote speaker at the National Retail Federation's Big Show.


Outside, about 30 protesters, armed with art from We Will Not Be Silent's word project tried to draw attention to the fact one of the worlds most infamous war criminals was inside, plying his Texas charm instead of spending time in a jail cell where he belongs.

The small number of protesters was disappointing and begs the question, she we simply let bygones be bygones?

We do, after all, have a new President who has, in many ways, escalated the blow back inducing homicidal bull in a cultural, religious and geopolitical china shop of a foreign policy pursued under Bush. In light of this fact, we would do well to ask ourselves if the limited resources of the greater activist community would be better spent on activities other than trying to hold W to account. I feel strongly that we should continue to hold Bush accountable, and 4 reasons why are outlined in this video.

I'm sure you could help me add to this list.

Copyright Dennis Trainor, Jr
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A six year struggle by a group of IDF soldiers and officers for justice has ended with the State agreeing to pay them $6-million (Yossi Melman's Hebrew story and the English version, which has been replaced on the Jerusalem Post site by a far more IDF-friendly story by Yaakov Lapin) for their participation in a medical experiment conducted under false pretenses.

Between 1999-2005, the ministry of defense, IDF, and the Israeli chemical and biological weapons institute at Nes Ziona collaborated with their American counterparts in research to find a suitable anthrax vaccine. This was the period just after the U.S. "white powder" letter scare in which several Americans were infected with anthrax and died. There was a huge furor and hysteria in this country over the potential terror threat.

Presumably, U.S. medical authorities either wouldn't test human subjects with an untested vaccine or couldn't get approval to do so (remember the notorious Tuskegee experiment?). But their Israeli colleagues were more than happy to bend medical and ethical rules, especially in return for the hundreds of millions of shekels in research funding that flowed into Nes Ziona as a result.

Because the subject of the experiment (anthrax that might be used as part of a terror attack) was so sensitive, those who conducted the Israeli experiment refused to tell the IDF "volunteers" (some of whom reported being pressured by their superiors to participate) the purpose of the project. They would not tell them with what they were being injected or why. They weren't warned of possible side effects (of which there were many subsequently). Further, they threatened that if participants spoke of the project they would be punished.

The Air Force says 34 nuclear missile launch officers have now been implicated in a cheating scandal and have been stripped of their security clearance, the AP reports.

The allegations come after some of the officers texted each other the answers to a monthly test gauging their understanding of how nuclear missiles are operated. Some may have known about the cheating, but failed to report it.

"There was cheating that took place with respect to this particular test. Some officers did it. Others apparently knew about it, and it appears that they did nothing, or at least not enough, to stop it or to report it," Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said at a news conference.

The cheating was found during an investigation into drug use involving 11 Air Force officers across six bases in the US and England. Of the three missile launch officers associated with the drug scandal, two serve at the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana and one at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming. The two officers at Malmstrom are also being investigated in the cheating scandal.

"This is absolutely unacceptable behavior and it is completely contrary to our core values in the Air Force and as everybody here knows the Number One core value for us is integrity," Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told reporters.

Approximately 190 officers oversee preparedness of US nuclear weapons systems, meaning the cheating scandal touches almost 20 percent of that force.

The strategic nuclear arsenal of the United States has been compromised at least twice this year. Air force officials admitted that two US missile technicians assigned with launch keys were discovered repeatedly leaving a blast door open while sleeping.

The Associated Press has learned that in both episodes a concrete-and-steel door to the underground launch control center was left open. However the US air force maintains security has not been compromised "due to the multiple safeguards and other protections in place."

The blast doors to US nuclear munitions are never to be left open if one of the officers inside is asleep as an intruder can compromise the secret launch codes. The officers inside the bunker, known as missileers, are part of the last line of defense for launching US ICBMs.

The Air Force instruction on ICBM weapon safety says, "One crewmember at a time may sleep on duty, but both must be awake and capable of detecting an unauthorized act if ... the Launch Control Center blast door is open."

The AP learned that the two incidents occurred in April and May at two different US air force bases in North Dakota and Montana. The AP confirmed both incidents with several other Air Force officials.

Two United States Air Force officers involved in the nation's nuclear missile program have been stripped of their security clearances and temporarily suspended while the military investigates allegations involving illegal drugs.

The two men - both officers at a Montana facility where the Pentagon's Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missiles are controlled from - are
suspected of possessing narcotics, representatives for the military admitted to reporters late Thursday. The Air Force Office of Special Investigations has opened a probe into the allegations, and both unnamed officers have in the interim been relieved of their access to classified information.

News of the investigation broke on Thursday moments before Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was set to deliver what the Associated Press considered a "carefully planned pep talk" to missilers at one of the two other facilities in the country that hosts ICBM forces amid reports of low morale within their ranks.

Speaking directly to the troops at the F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Nebraska , Hagel told the missilers, "We depend on your professionalism."

"You are doing something of great importance to the world," the AP quoted Hagel as saying. "You have chosen a profession where there is no room for error - none."

"They do feel unappreciated many times," he told members of the press after the engagement, the Los Angeles Times reported. "They are stuck out in areas where not a lot of attention is paid. And I know they wonder more than occasionally if anybody's paying attention."

Europe's antitrust chief says Google has one "last opportunity" to settle allegations it is abusing its dominant position in web search before he pursues legal action.

Joaquin Almunia, the head of the European Commission's competition unit, has been pursuing an antitrust complaint against the US search giant since 2010. Google has provided two proposals to settle the complaint, but seen both rejected. It is now believed to be preparing another proposal.

Almunia told reporters on Wednesday: "let's see if Google can improve their proposal or we go the traditional route." That route would involve a formal Statement of Objections which could then see a protracted court case, and potentially fines of up to 10% of Google's global revenues - which would amount to billions of dollars. The EC has previously pursued and won such cases against Microsoft and chipmaker Intel.

"We need more, not during the next year but during the next weeks," Almunia said. Google's next proposal is its "last opportunity" for reaching a negotiated settlement, he said.

Feedback from rivals and complainants to the two proposals from Google had been clearly negative, Almunia added. Google declined on Wednesday evening to comment on Almunia's remarks.

The EC's antitrust unit began investigating Google in 2010 following complaints from a number of smaller companies, which alleged that it was demoting them in search results while displaying similar services of its own prominently on its first search results page.