Society's Child
Thirteen percent of the corn in the top 18 producing states has been planted according to the USDA's Crop Progress report released May 2. Although it is a four-percent improvement from last week, nationally the 2011 corn planting is 27 percent behind the five-year average and 53 percent behind 2010's progress.
North Carolina (88 percent) and Texas (79 percent) continue to lead the states in planting. Colorado (18 percent), Kansas (41 percent), Kentucky (17 percent), Missouri (32 percent), Nebraska (15 percent) and Tennessee (38 percent) reported percentages above the national average. Nine states fall below the national average of 13 percent. North Dakota is the only state to have yet to begin planting. More than half of the reporting states indicated less than 1 percent improvement from last week's report. Planting is more than 70 percent behind last year's pace in Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois.
Corn has emerged in five percent of the states, which is four percent behind the five-year average and 13 percent behind 2010's pace. North Carolina (59 percent) and Texas (57 percent) reported the highest percentages of emerged corn. North Carolina is the only state to report a higher percentage of corn emerged than both its state's 2010 report and five-year average. Of the nine states reporting emerged corn, just three - Illinois (3 percent), Nebraska (1 percent) and Ohio (1 percent) - fell below the national average.
An imam from the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem vowed to take revenge over "the western dogs" for killing Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on Sunday.
In a Youtube video uploaded by the imam he said: "The western dogs are rejoicing after killing one of our Islamic lions. From Al-Aqsa Mosque, where the future caliphate will originate with the help of God, we say to them - the dogs will not rejoice too much for killing the lions. The dogs will remain dogs and the lion, even if he is dead, will remain a lion."
The imam then verbally attacked US President Barack Obama saying: "You personally instructed to kill Muslims. You should know that soon you'll hang together with Bush Junior."
"We are a nation of billions, a good nation. We'll teach you about politics and military ways very soon, with god's help," he vowed.
The announcement came as a response to an appeal by Bout's defense lodged on April 19. Among many other provisions, the 50-page document asks the court to end Bout's case as the U.S. government does not have jurisdiction to consider criminal cases over the offenses that have been committed outside the United States.
In their 60-page response to the appeal, prosecutors said they were ready to avoid labeling Bout as "the Merchant of Death" as a compromise, but demanded the court turn down all other requests by the defense.
The national average price of self-serve regular today is $3.967 a gallon, according to AAA's Fuel Gauge Survey. That's nearly a dime a gallon more than seven days ago.
Already, motorists in many parts of the country are paying well in excess of $4 a gallon. For example, the average price of gas has hit an all time high in Chicago, $4.39 a gallon. The average price is over $4 a gallon now in 14 states; Alaska, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
In an email to The Daily Caller, Gina Channell-Allen, president of the Pleasanton Weekly in Pleasanton, California, said that her paper "received a call from the White House asking us to take out part of the story because it reflected poorly on the First Lady."
The story in question was a soft feature about Marine One titled, "Inside Marine One, President Obama's helicopter," that ran in the paper on April 20. Pleasanton staffer Amory Gutierrez "didn't get to ride in 'Marine One,'" she wrote in her story, "but I did get the VIP tour and took photographs of the otherwise unseen aircraft."
She also wrote a sentence that the White House thought made FLOTUS look snooty.

The Pleasant Grover looting suspects are, from top left, Anthony Haislip and Christopher Elmore, from bottom left, Christopher Ramsey and Jon Berube.
Shortly before noon today, a person in Pleasant Grove alerted Jefferson County Sheriff deputies after seeing the men taking property from houses and loading it into a truck. The witness gave the deputies a description of the suspects and their vehicle.
Jefferson County deputies, along with Baldwin County deputies, went to the area where the suspects were reported to be in the 800 block of 5th Street in Pleasant Grove.
Taken into custody were: Anthony Dale Haislip , 31, Sarasota, Fla.; Christopher Don Elmore, 36, Bradenton, Fla.; Jon Robert Berube, 24, Sarasota, Fla.; and Christopher Bryant Ramsey, 21, Sarasota, Fla.
Circulation fell at most of the largest U.S. newspapers compared with a year ago, despite new rules that give publishers more flexibility to boost their totals.
The figures released Tuesday, for the six months ending in March, mark the first time that newspapers have calculated circulation under the looser guidelines from the Audit Bureau of Circulations.
Among other things, the changes allow publishers to include free copies given to newspaper employees and local schools; before copies had to be bought to be counted. The changes also make it easier for newspapers to lump separate editions under different titles into one total.
Newspaper circulation has been falling as readers shift from the printed newspaper to free websites and mobile services. The electronic alternatives have become even more tempting as newspapers charge more for their print editions. Some of the falling circulation stemmed from publishers' decisions to shrink their delivery areas to save money.
Circulation is important because it affects advertising rates. Print advertising has long been the main source of revenue for newspapers, but it has been falling because of the uncertain economy and a shift by advertisers to free and cheaper options on the Internet.

Former South Korean president Roh Tae-woo steps out of a limousine to talk to the press at the gate of the Seoul Detention House in Seoul December 22 shortly after being released from serving a prison sentence. Roh was originally sentenced to 22 1/2 years but was given a special government pardon after serving a little over a year of a sentence for mutiny, treason and corruption.
Local media reports said Roh, 78, was released from Seoul National University Hospital on Monday after surgery to remove the 6.5 cm needle.
Doctors are puzzled how the needle ended up in his lung, and acupuncturists say that none of their procedures involved penetrating the lung.
"I can't figure out how the needle got into there," Dr Sung Myung-whun was quoted as telling reporters at the hospital after the operation. "It is a mystery for me, too."
Roh, who served as president from 1988 to 1993, has been in poor health since 2002 when he received surgery for prostate cancer.
Source: Reuters
Yesterday, long-time activist and professional thorn-in-the-side-of-the-establishment Chris Knight was pre-emptively arrested by the police (video below).
The crime? Planning a 'zombie wedding' stunt that featured a mock execution of Prince Andrew with a guillotine. Not the nicest of stunts, I'll grant you, but an arrestable offence?
Keep in mind that a Channel 4 film crew were with the trio who got arrested, filming for the 'Unofficial Royal Wedding' Some of their equipment was also confiscated.
The 'Zombie Wedding' was billed as a "right royal orgy" with "rumpy pumpy and guillotines" and explicitly stated, "this is a totally non-terrorist event". What did the police say? This:
This evening, 28 April, officers arrested three people - two males aged 68 and 45, and a 60-year-old woman - in Wickham Road, SE4 on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance and breach of the peace.Unbelievable. Watch the video:
A Texas high school teacher has been placed on administrative leave following an incident where he allegedly told a 9th grade Muslim girl in his algebra class "I bet that you're grieving" on Monday following the death of Osama bin Laden.
According to one parent at Clear Brook High School in Houston who spoke about the incident to a local ABC affiliate, the teacher also said, "I heard about your uncle's death."
The parent said the student "understood that he was referring about Osama bin Laden being killed and was racially profiling her."
Comment: Viktor Bout is an interesting character that may have witnessed, or may have knowledge about quite a few true key players in the 9/11 tragedy.
From The Real Bogeyman: To What Extent Was Mossad Involved in the Events Leading to 9/11?: Also read Is this really what happened? Arms Trafficking, Stolen Missiles, Soviet Submarines, Nuclear Detonations and 9/11: Interview with Dimitri Khalezov to learn more about the real reason for Viktor Bout's arrest: