- Signs of the Times Archive for Wed, 03 Sep 2008 -



Sections on today's Signs Page:

SOTT Focus

No new articles.


Best of the Web
"The Wandering Who?"

Gilad Atzmon
palestinethinktank.com
2008-09-02 19:02:00

Image


Tel Aviv University historian, Professor Shlomo Sand, opens his remarkable study of Jewish nationalism quoting Karl W. Deutsch:



A nation is a group of people united by a common mistake regarding its origin and a collective hostility towards its neighbours" [1]



As simple or even simplistic as it may sound, the quote above eloquently summarises the figment of reality entangled with modern Jewish nationalism and especially within the concept of Jewish identity. It obviously points the finger at the collective mistake Jews tend to make whenever referring to their 'illusionary collective past' and 'collective origin'. Yet, in the same breath, Deutsch's reading of nationalism throws light upon the hostility that is unfortunately coupled with almost every Jewish group towards its surrounding reality, whether it is human or takes the shape of land. While the brutality of the Israelis towards the Palestinians has already become rather common knowledge, the rough treatment Israelis reserve for their 'promised soil' and landscape is just starting to reveal itself. The ecological disaster the Israelis are going to leave behind them will be the cause of suffering for many generations to come. Leave aside the megalomaniac wall that shreds the Holy land into enclaves of depravation and starvation, Israel has managed to pollute its main rivers and streams with nuclear and chemical waste.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

One Year After the Publication of The Shock Doctrine, A Response to the Attacks

Naomi Klein
Common Dreams
2008-09-02 17:55:00

Exactly one year ago, I set off on a book tour to promote The Shock Doctrine. The plan was for it to last three months, quite long by publishing standards. Twelve months later, it is still going. But this has been no ordinary book tour. Everywhere I have traveled- from Calgary, Alberta to Cochabamba, Bolivia - I have heard more stories about how shock strategies have been used to impose unwanted pro-corporate policies. I have also been part of stimulating debates and discussions about how the current round of crises - oil, food, financial markets, heavy weather -- can be transformed into opportunities for progressive change.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


U.S. News
Sarah Palin Wikipedia entry gets glowing make-over from mysterious user 'Young Trigg'

Mike Harvey
The Times
2008-09-01 17:33:00

The Wikipedia entry for Sarah Palin was overhauled substantially for the better in the 24 hours before the surprise announcement of her selection as Republican vice-presidential nominee.

A mystery Wikipedia user - under the name Young Trigg - put in about 30 edits to the biographical article on the website.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

McCain fought money on teen pregnancy programs

Sharon Theimer
Associated Press
2008-09-02 17:22:00

Republican John McCain, whose running mate disclosed that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, has opposed proposals to spend federal money on teen-pregnancy prevention programs and voted to require poor teen mothers to stay in school or lose their benefits.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Palin's Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview

Nico Pitney and Sam Stein
The Huffington Post
2008-09-02 12:19:00

Three months before she was thrust into the national political spotlight, Gov. Sarah Palin was asked to handle a much smaller task: addressing the graduating class of commission students at her one-time church, Wasilla Assembly of God.

Her speech in June provides as much insight into her policy leanings as anything uncovered since she was asked to be John McCain's running mate.

Speaking before the Pentecostal church, Palin painted the current war in Iraq as a messianic affair in which the United States could act out the will of the Lord.

"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," she exhorted the congregants. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Palin Laughs As Opponent Is Called "Bitch," "Cancer," Mocked For Her Weight

Nico Pitney
The Huffington Post
2008-08-31 11:59:00

Early this year, an op-ed in the Anchorage Daily News ripped into Gov. Sarah Palin's appearance on a morning "shock jock" radio show as "plain and simple one of the most unprofessional, childish and inexcusable performances I've ever seen from a politician."

So what happened? Palin has repeatedly feuded with the state's Senate president, Lyda Green, over a wide range of legislation. Last January, Palin appeared on "The Bob and Mark Show," whose host Bob Lester despises Green. That's when the trouble started:

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Flashback: The Hallucinations of Joe Lieberman

Kevin Zeese
Counterpunch
2005-12-01 12:00:00

In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on November 28, Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) put forward an argument for staying the course in Iraq. Of course, his argument in "Our Troops Must Stay" was filled with false information.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

6 dead, 2 wounded in Wash. state shooting spree


Associated Press
2008-09-02 23:01:00

ALGER - A man fatally shot a sheriff's deputy responding to a call Tuesday in northwestern Washington state, then led authorities on a car chase and killed five other people before turning himself in, officials said. Two others were wounded.

A state trooper was among those injured in Skagit County, north of Seattle, authorities said. The dead were found at multiple scenes, state trooper Keith Leary said at a news conference.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Defense seeks new trial in baby microwave death


Associated Press
2008-09-02 22:47:00

DAYTON, Ohio - A former cellmate who said a woman convicted of microwaving her baby daughter confessed to the crime has changed her story, the mother's attorneys said Tuesday as they asked for a new trial.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

'October Surprise' Over Palin Investigation?

Brian Ross and Len Tepper
ABC News
2008-09-11 05:14:00

"Likely Damaging" Report on Governor Scheduled for Release Days Before November Election


Is the McCain campaign afraid of an 'October surprise' involving vice-presidential pick Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska?

The Alaska state senator running an investigation of Gov. Palin says the McCain campaign is using stall tactics to prevent him from releasing his final report by Oct. 31, four days before the November election.

"It's likely to be damaging to the Governor," said Senator Hollis French, a Democrat, appointed the project manager for a bi-partisan State Senate Legislative Counsel Committee investigation of claims that Palin abused her office to get the Alaska public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, fired.

Palin, who has denied any wrongdoing and has said she has nothing to hide, hired private lawyers on Saturday, the day after Sen. McCain announced her as his running mate.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


UK & Euro-Asian News
Vatican says not questioning moment of death

Philip Pullella and Tom Heneghan in Paris
Reuters
2008-09-03 14:47:00

Vatican City - The Vatican distanced itself on Wednesday from an article in its newspaper that suggested re-opening the debate on when a person can be considered dead for reasons of transplants.

Saint Peters Square
©REUTERS/Max Rossi
The 33 new recruits of the Vatican's elite Swiss Guard stand at attention during the swearing in ceremony at Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican May 6, 2008.


The front-page article said new questions were being raised about whether the cessation of brain function -- so-called brain death -- could still be considered valid determination of death as opposed to cardio-circulatory arrest.

"The scientific justification of (the brain death standard) rests on a peculiar definition of the nervous system that is now being questioned by new research, which casts doubt on the fact that brain death leads to the disintegration of the body," the article by Italian history professor Lucetta Scaraffia said.

Titled "The Signs of Death," it caused a storm of reaction from the Italian medical community, which said any change in the Church's position could jeopardize the harvesting of transplant organs.

"This is not a Vatican document," the Vatican's chief spokesman, Rev. Federico Lombardi, said. "It is an article by a historian that takes some considerations into account but it is not part of Church teaching."

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Collapse of railway bridge kills worker in Germany


Associated Press
2008-09-02 13:04:00

Police say the partial collapse of a railway bridge in central Germany has left one construction worker dead and three others injured.

Police spokesman Detlef Kasch says the accident involved a new railway bridge being built near the city of Gotha on a high-speed line between Munich and Berlin. The line is an expansion of the InterCity Express network.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Russia's Gazprom Suspends Gas Deliveries to Europe 'Due to Repairs'


RIA Novosti
2008-09-01 09:50:00

Moscow: Gas transportation through the Yamal-Europe pipeline will be suspended as of 1600 on 2 September until 2200 on 3 September due to repairs, a Gazprom report reads.

"Following requests from the EuRoPol GAZ and Wingas companies for planned repairs in Poland and Germany, gas transportation through the Yamal-Europe pipeline will be suspended from 1600 on 2 September until 2200 on 3 September. As of 2200 on 3 September until 2200 on 4 September gas deliveries will amount to 50m cu.m. a day," the report said.

The rated capacity of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline is 100m cu.m. a day. "Gas deliveries to European consumers will be compensated by increased transit volumes via alternative routes," Gazprom said.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

U.S. warship leaves Ukranian port after protests


RIA Novosti
2008-09-03 08:36:00

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Dallas left Sevastopol Tuesday morning after anti-NATO protests in Ukraine's Crimean port. (U.S. Coastguard cutter Dallas enters Sevastopol Harbor - video)

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Rights group wants Sarkozy pressure on Assad


Agence France-Presse
2008-09-02 23:57:00

Paris - Human Rights Watch Tuesday urged French President Nicolas Sarkozy to raise the plight of jailed activists and demand a probe into a deadly prison riot when he meets his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad in Damascus this week.

Sarkozy
©Unknown
Sarkozy's visit is aimed at normalising diplomatic relations with Damascus


In a statement issued in Paris, the rights group said Sarkozy should use his visit on Wednesday and Thursday to demand the release of "activists detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression and association."

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Around the World
Snipers fire at Pakistan PM car but he's not in it

Nahal Toosi
Associated Press
2008-09-03 09:19:00

Pakistan - Snipers fired on the motorcade for Pakistan's prime minister on Wednesday as it drove to the airport to pick up the prime minister, striking his car window at least twice, officials said.

Neither the prime minister nor his staff were in the vehicles, but the assassination attempt comes as Pakistan's new civilian government - under pressure from American officials - is cracking down on Islamist militants after ousting U.S. ally Pervez Musharraf from the presidency.

At least two bullets hit the front window on the driver's side of Yousuf Raza Gilani's limousine on the main highway linking Islamabad with the nearby city of Rawalpindi, officials said.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

US forces slaughter 15 Pakistani civilians, including women and children

Ishtiaq Mahsud
Associated Press
2008-09-03 07:44:00

At least 15 people, including women and children, were killed in an attack involving U.S.-led forces in a remote Pakistani village near the border with Afghanistan, intelligence officials and a witness said Wednesday.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Balochistan: Human Rights Abuses Continue


The Guardian
2008-09-01 23:49:00

Even after the resignation of Pervez Musharraf, egregious human rights violations continue.

Four Baloch prisoners have been burned alive in hot coal tar by the Pakistan army during military operations in annexed and occupied Balochistan, according to the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC).

Last week the AHRC received confirmation that Pakistani soldiers arrested four people on April 5 2008, in the Dera Bugti district of Balochistan, and subjected them to torture. They were asked to identify local supporters of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). After failing to get any names from them, the victims were immersed in scolding hot coal tar. Three of the men were literally boiled and burned to death. A fourth died later from his injuries.

Villagers in the area also claim the Pakistan army used a form of chemical gas against them and that some of the gassed survivors were later shot. Their bodies have not been handed over to relatives for burial.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Rights body says more civilians dead in Philippines unrest


Agence France-Presse
2008-08-27 23:34:00

Filipino children
©Unknown
Displaced Filipino children at a temporary housing centre as the rising human cost of an army offensive is being counted


Manila - The top rights official in the Philippines on Wednesday raised alarm over the rising human cost of an army offensive against Muslim rebels in the south, saying civilian deaths had gone unreported.

Monitors on the ground have confirmed that 20 civilians were killed when troops overran rebel positions on Sunday in Lanao del Norte province, Commission on Human Rights chair Leila de Lima said.

"The fighting resulted in the killings of almost 20 civilians that had not been covered by the media," De Lima said, stopping short of accusing the military of a cover-up.

She told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines that rights monitors were now gathering the names of the civilians killed.

"Civilians are suffering immensely," she said.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Venezuelan cargo plane crashes in Ecuador Andes


Associated Press
2008-08-31 18:28:00

A Venezuela cargo plane crashed in Ecuador's central Andes mountains shortly before it was to land, killing the three crew members on board, officials said Sunday.

The Boeing 737-200, operated by state-owned Venezuelan carrier Conviasa, lost contact with air traffic controllers late Saturday night five minutes before it was to land in the town of Latacunga, where it was scheduled to undergo maintenance, Ecuador's Civil Aviation Director Gen. Jorge Zurita told reporters.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Big Brother
Police State: Youth in iconic RNC protest photo was later beaten by police

Paul Schmelzer
Minnesota Independent
2008-09-02 17:40:00

Keith Smith 1
©Paul Demko
17-year-old Keith Smith at Monday's RNC protest,
hours before his mother says he was beaten by police.


The following is a comment left at the Minnesota Independent by Melissa Smith-Tourville, who is the mother of 17-year-old Keith Smith, shown above in a photograph taken yesterday by MnIndy's Paul Demko and published later in the day. The comment came this afternoon in response to Demko's story from earlier today, "St. Paul Police Chief Harrington: Cops 'did heroic work yesterday'.

My seventeen-year-old son is the young man in the photo, peacefully sitting in the street in front of an entire force of swat officers. He was later brutally beaten by five St. Paul police officers. Police Chief Harrington, your officers beat my son instead of protecting him when he was apart from the protesters and doing nothing illegal, dangerous or inappropriate. If this was not an overreaction on the part of your officers, I fail to know what would be defined as an overreaction! This is his story:

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Burned by Chrome

Chris Mellor
The Register
2008-09-03 10:01:00

Astute Reg readers have pointed out a Chrome condition of service that effectively lets Google use any of your copyrighted material posted to the web via Chrome without paying you a cent.

Here's the relevant section 11.1 of the Chrome EULA:



11. Content licence from you

11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights that you already hold in Content that you submit, post or display on or through the Services. By submitting, posting or displaying the content, you give Google a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive licence to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content that you submit, post or display on or through the Services. This licence is for the sole purpose of enabling Google to display, distribute and promote the Services and may be revoked for certain Services as defined in the Additional Terms of those Services.



Comment on this SOTT Focus

Flashback: Joe Lieberman Attacks Internet as Tool of Terror

by: Matt Renner
t r u t h o u t
2008-05-31 09:00:00

A controversial plan to study and profile domestic terrorism was scrapped after popular push back, however, the spirit of the legislation lives on in Senator Joe Lieberman's office.

HR 1955, "The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007" passed the House in October 2007 with almost unanimous support. The bill immediately came under fire from civil liberties watchdogs because of what many saw as a deliberate targeting of Muslims and Arabs and the possible chilling effect it might have on free speech.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Pepper spray again perfumes St. Paul streets

Andy Sullivan
Reuters
2008-09-03 08:48:00

The invigorating scent of pepper spray perfumed downtown St. Paul again on Tuesday.

Police used percussion grenades, tear gas and pepper spray to push protesters out of downtown at the end of an otherwise peaceful march for poor people that drew more than 1,000 participants.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Axis of Evil
Rice announces $1 billion in aid for Georgia

Sue Pleming
Reuters
2008-09-03 14:54:00

Washington - The United States on Wednesday announced at least $1 billion in aid to help U.S. ally Georgia rebuild after its conflict with Russia over the separatist enclave of South Ossetia last month.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Sections of GOP convention platform drafted by AIPAC


The Jewish Telegraph Agency
2008-09-03 13:39:00

Sources familiar with the formation of the platform say the language dealing with Israel and fighting anti-Semitism was drafted in consultation with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and other Jewish groups.



Comment on this SOTT Focus

Report: Israeli Bombers Planned to Use Georgian Airfields in Iran Strike

Jason Ditz
Antiwar.com
2008-09-02 11:24:00

In part of what was termed Georgia's "special relationship" with Israel, UPI Editor at Large Arnaud de Borchgrave reported in a commentary today that a secret agreement between Georgia and Israel had earmarked two military airfields in the south of Georgia for use by Israeli fighter-bombers in a potential pre-emptive strike against Iran.

Israel has been a close ally of the Black Sea republic, and Israeli contractors have provided the Georgian military with considerable amounts of training and armament, much to the chargrin of Russia. Russian General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said Israel provided Georgia with "eight types of military vehicles, explosives, landmines and special explosives".

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Palin meets with AIPAC, expresses 'heartfelt support for Israel'

Matthew E. Berger
MSNBC
2008-09-02 09:45:00

Minneapolis - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin today met with the board of directors of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, NBC/NJ has confirmed.

The meeting took place inside Palin's hotel, sources said.

A campaign official would not say who asked for the meeting, but said it was geared towards putting the American Jewish community at ease over her understanding of US-Middle East relations.

"That's obviously going to be an issue," the aide said. "It's not like being the senator from New York, obviously. But these aren't issues that are off her radar."

Palin, joined by Sen. Joe Lieberman, expressed her "heartfelt support for Israel" and spoke of the threats it faces from Iran and others, the campaign official said.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Flashback: Who Put the Lie in Lieberman?

Simon Floth
ICH
2007-09-03 18:04:00

On July 11 this year congress loaded and pointed a gun at Iran in the form of Lieberman's amendment to the Defense Authorization act (S.AMDT.2073, amending H.R.1585 and S.AMDT.2011). That was more than six weeks ago, yet the most pivotal feature of the amendment, and indeed of history in the making, has gone entirely unremarked: It is a demonstrable non-sequitur.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Don't Hold Your Breath - U.S. Foreign Policy unlikely to change: Thinktank

Timothy J. Lynch and Robert S. Singh
Wall Street Journal
2008-09-03 08:04:00

Want more George W. Bush foreign policy? Elect John McCain - or Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Regardless of who wins in November, the current foreign policy will live on in the next White House.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Cheney Departs on Caucasus Tour

Jason Ditz
Antiwar.com
2008-09-03 07:48:00

Vice President Dick Cheney left today on a four-nation tour focused largely around reassuring US allies in the Caucasus in the wake of this month's Georgia-Russia conflict. Cheney will be visiting Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine, and Italy.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

US says it only slaughtered 7 Afghani civilians, not 90 as uncovered by the UN - No bias here, move along


Associated Press
2008-09-03 07:43:00

The U.S. coalition says its probe into allegations of civilian deaths in western Afghanistan this month has found that 30 to 35 Taliban militants and seven civilians were killed.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Israel of the Caucasus

Arnaud de Borchgrave
United Press International
2008-09-03 07:18:00

NATO guarantees that an attack against one member country is an attack against all are no longer what they used to be. Had Georgia been inside NATO, a number of European countries would no longer be willing to consider it an attack against their own soil.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Russia and a new democratic realism

Francis Fukuyama
Financial Times
2008-09-03 01:49:00

One idea that you will never hear expressed by either Barack Obama or John McCain in this presidential race is the notion that a chief task of US foreign policy in the next administration will be to gracefully manage an adversely shifting global power balance and significantly diminished US influence. this is not a hypothetical issue, but one that stares us in the face today.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Wag The Dog: How To Conceal Massive Economic Collapse

Ellen Brown
OpEd News
2008-08-14 00:35:00

"I'm in show business, why come to me?"

"War is show business, that's why we're here."
- "Wag the Dog" (1997 film)

Last week, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had just announced record losses, and so had most reporting corporations. Unemployment was mounting, the foreclosure crisis was deepening, state budgets were in shambles, and massive bailouts were everywhere. Investors had every reason to expect the dollar and the stock market to plummet, and gold and oil to shoot up. Strangely, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 300 points, the dollar strengthened, and gold and oil were crushed. What happened?

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Israeli Mossad let Nazi Mengele get away


Associated Press
2008-09-02 23:05:00

JERUSALEM - Israeli agents who kidnapped Nazi mastermind Adolf Eichmann from Argentina in 1960 found the notorious death camp doctor Josef Mengele but let him get away, one of the operatives said Tuesday.


Comment on this SOTT Focus

What If the Israeli Lobby was the Islamic Lobby?

B.R. Gowani
CounterPunch
2008-08-31 20:13:00

What if:

Abu Faisal was White House press secretary (instead of Ari Fleischer)

Altaf Adham was deputy national security advisor (instead of Elliott Abrams)

Sofian Bishr was Supreme Court Justice instead of Stephen Breyer

Tarf Kaukab was Nightline host (instead of Ted Koppel)

Dawud Bushr was New York Times columnist (instead of David
Brooks)

Rukan Badar Ghiyath was Supreme Court Justice (instead of Ruth Bader Ginsburg)

Thamer Furud was New York Times columnist (instead of Thomas Friedman)

Laith Keid was host of Larry King show (instead of Larry King)

Yousuf "Yo" Luqman was US Senator from Connecticut (instead of Joseph "Joe" Lieberman)

Zuhaa Midlaj was New York Times reporter (instead of Judith Miller)

Dawud Fouad was Bush's speechwriter (instead of David Frum)

Lu'ay Labib was Cheney's Chief of Staff (instead of Lewis Libby)

Polat Walif-Rizk was Rumsfeld's Deputy Secretary of Defense (instead of Paul Wolfowitz)

Mahdi Parvez was editor of The New Republic magazine (instead of Martin Peretz)

Basil Kishwar was the editor of The Weekly Standard instead of (Bill Kristol)

Ali Wisam was the famous Nobel Peace laureate (instead of Elie Wiesel)

Jaafer Ghawth-Badr was a staff writer at New Yorker (instead of Jeffrey Goldberg)

Rifat Pir was the Chairman of the Defense Policy Board AdvisoryCommittee (instead of Richard Perle)

Yaman Sikandarv was the famous filmmaker (instead of Steven Spielberg)

Ibrahim Faqih-Ma'n was the head of the Anti-Defamation League (instead of Abraham Foxman)

Alam Daoud-Vida was the famous lawyer (instead of Alan Dershowitz)

...

Imagine the above Muslims in key positions. There are 2 per cent Jews in the US and the same percentage of Muslims. Now consider for a moment that both communities have exchanged places as it happens on that TV show "Wife Swap." Here not only wives but the entire community exchanges places. Or a still better example would be the 1970 film "Watermelon Man" in which a white man wakes up in the morning and discovers he has turned into a black person. Blackness becomes his fate.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

The Israeli Lobby as Juggernaut

B.R. Gowani
CounterPunch
2008-09-01 19:37:00

The Israel Lobby Juggernaut scares the hell out of people. It tries to crush those who stand up against them; some suffer but persist, and the pragmatics survive by changing their tune. Nobody is immune; reporters, editors, columnists, professors, academics, politicians.... Everyone is labeled "anti-Semite" when s/he criticizes the power of the Israel Lobby or talks about the misery of the Palestinian people. Even a greeting kiss upsets them! And enquiries are never allowed to be held into Israel's crimes.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

What If the Israel Lobby was the African-American Lobby?

B.R. Gowani
CounterPunch
2008-09-02 19:26:00

Reparations Would Have Been Paid Long Ago

Imagine if the Blacks, 13 per cent of the population, had the wealth and the power of the Lobby?

They would have got their reparations for slavery long ago, the prison population would reflect a true color spectrum, their image in the media wouldn't be a distorted one, Haitian refugees wouldn't be turned back, Africa would get some real aid and attention, Hollywood and TV networks would be churning out movies and programs on the inhumanity of the slave trade (instead of holocaust), and so on and so forth.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Middle East Madness
Refusing to Oppress: Israeli Refusniks Imprisoned

Neve Gordon
ZNet
2008-08-29 17:56:00

Eighteen-year-old Sahar Vardi is currently in an Israeli military prison. She is being punished for the crime of refusing to be conscripted into the Israeli military.

A few weeks before her imprisonment she wrote Israel's Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, explaining her decision to become a conscientious objector. "I have been to the occupied Palestinian territories many times, and even though I realize that the soldier at the checkpoint is not responsible for Israel's oppressive policies, that soldier is still responsible for his conduct..." She summed up her letter to Barak with the following words: "The bloody cycle in which I live--made up of assassinations, terrorist attacks, bombings, and shootings--has resulted in an increasing number of victims on both sides. It is a vicious circle that is sustained by the choice of both sides to engage in violence. I refuse to take part in this choice."

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Two injured in Israeli attacks on Palestinian fishermen in Gaza


Ma'an
2008-09-01 15:27:00

Bethlehem - Two Gazan fishermen were injured when Israeli naval vessels fired on Palestinian fishing boats on Monday.

Palestinian medical sources told Ma'an that 32-year-old Husam Sultan was hit in the head with shrapnel. His wounds were described as serious. Ninteen-year-old Muhammad Sultan was lacerated by shrapnel in various places on his body.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Tony Blair sister-in-law 'trapped in Gaza' by Israeli and Egyptian border guards

David Batty
The Guardian
2008-09-03 15:00:00

Lauren Booth claims Israeli and Egyptian border guards refusing to let her leave Palestinian territory

Booth
©Abid Katib / Getty
Lauren Booth makes contact with the outside world from Gaza.


The sister-in-law of the former prime minister Tony Blair said today she has been barred from leaving the Gaza Strip, more than a week after she entered the territory in defiance of an Israeli blockade.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Raid based on bad intelligence: Pakistani official

David Morgan
Reuters
2008-09-03 15:02:00

Washington - Suspected U.S. commandos blamed for killing 20 people in Pakistan were acting on faulty intelligence that was never shared with Pakistani forces inside the country, a Pakistani official said on Wednesday.

Nadeem Kiani, spokesman for the Pakistani Embassy in Washington, told Reuters the predawn raid near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan in South Waziristan was a violation of Pakistan's sovereign territory.

"The intelligence was not correct and the people who have been killed are unarmed civilians, not militants, and those include women and children," Kiani said in an interview.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Fire at Kuwait's largest oil refinery contained


Agence France-Presse
2008-09-03 13:06:00

A fire broke out at Kuwait's largest oil refinery on Wednesday but was quickly brought under control, an oil official said.

"The fire is under control and will be put out in a few minutes," said spokesman for national refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Co, Ahmad al-Muzaiel.

Muzaiel told AFP that operations at the refinery and exports of crude or petroleum products had not been affected.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Iraq to reopen Abu Ghraib prison, include museum


Reuters
2008-09-03 11:27:00

Iraq plans to renovate and reopen Abu Ghraib prison, the notorious site of executions and torture under Saddam Hussein and later of a U.S. prisoner abuse scandal.

The sprawling prison on Baghdad's western outskirts, which has not been used as a prison since 2006, will also feature a museum of crimes committed under former leader Saddam Hussein, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on Wednesday.

"Iraq's cabinet has agreed to the Defence Ministry's proposal ... to renovate Abu Ghraib prison ... with the reservation of part of the prison as a museum of crimes of the previous regime," Dabbagh said in a statement.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Hamas and Fatah agree to form committee to end political arrests


Xinhua
2008-08-31 23:44:00

Gaza - Rival Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah have finally reached a deal on forming a committee to end politically-motivated arrests.

The committee will be divided into one based in the Hamas-controlled Gaza and the other one based in the West Bank where the Fatah-dominated Palestinian National Authority (PNA) rules, said Kayed al-Ghoul, an official from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Last year, Hamas took over the Gaza Strip after routing pro-Abbas forces. As Hamas tightened its grip on Gaza, Abbas consolidated his power in West Bank and the two sides cracked down against dissidents.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Terrorism: Israeli army targets family over brutality film

Jonathan Cook
The National
2008-09-01 18:52:00

Salam Amira
©Jonathan Cook / The National
Salam Amira stands by the window where she filmed a bound and blindfolded Palestinian being shot by an Israeli soldier. The roadblock is seen at a distance.


Nilin, West Bank - The window through which Salam Amira, 16, filmed the moment when an Israeli soldier shot from close range a handcuffed and blindfolded Palestinian detainee has a large hole at its centre with cracks running in every direction.

"Since my video was shown, the soldiers shoot at our house all the time," she said. The shattered and cracked windows at the front of the building confirm her story. "When we leave the windows open, they fire tear gas inside too."

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Grand Theft Economics
Food crisis and silent famine to continue: World Bank

Rob Taylor
Reuters
2008-09-03 11:09:00

There is no end in sight to global food shortages and multiple crises from climate change and energy and water scarcity will soon intensify what is already a silent famine, the World Bank said on Wednesday.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Flashback: Biofuels are prime cause of food crisis, says leaked report

Aditya Chakrabortty
The Guardian
2008-07-03 18:11:00

Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated - according to a confidential World Bank report obtained by the Guardian. The damning unpublished assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist at global financial body.

The figure emphatically contradicts the US government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Flashback: Exposed: the great GM crops myth

Geoffrey Lean
The Independent
2008-04-20 17:55:00

Major new study shows that modified soya produces 10 per cent less food than its conventional equivalent

Genetic modification actually cuts the productivity of crops, an authoritative new study shows, undermining repeated claims that a switch to the controversial technology is needed to solve the growing world food crisis.

GM Crops - Lower yield
©The Independent
Last week the biggest study of its kind ever conducted - the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development - concluded that GM was not the answer to world hunger




Comment on this SOTT Focus

Argentina to repay 6.7 bln dollars to Paris Club countries


Agence France-Presse
2008-09-02 01:56:00

Argentine President
©Unknown
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner


Argentina announced Tuesday it will pay off its 6.7-billion-dollar debt to the Paris Club of international creditors, as the South American country slowly regains its footing following the disastrous economic crash of 2001.

"I have instructed my Economy Minister (Carlos Fernandez) to use the available Central Bank reserves to pay off the debt to the Paris Club," said President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


The Living Planet
Lebanon: Part of Sidon's trash mountain collapses into sea again

Mohammed Zaatari
The Daily Star
2008-09-03 15:20:00

sidon trash mountain
©Unknown
Sidon: Part of the mountain of waste on the Sidon seafront collapsed into the sea yet again Tuesday, sending tons of garbage into the water and the so-called "buffer zone" set up between the sea and the dump's edge. Sidon's municipality rushed to send a bulldozer to move rubbish from the buffer zone only, while great quantities of waste sank into the waters.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Flushing live goldfish now illegal in Switzerland; they must be killed first


News.com.au
2008-09-03 13:11:00

Want to get rid of your goldfish? Swiss owners who have been flushing them down the toilet - still alive - must now find other methods since strict, new animal protection laws took effect today.

Instead, a fish must be first knocked out and then killed before its body can be disposed of, the law stipulates.

The new legislation spells out in exhaustive detail how all domestic animals are to be treated, whether they be pets, farm animals or destined for scientific experiments.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Massive Canadian Arctic ice shelf breaks away


New Scientist
2008-09-03 12:37:00

A huge 55-square-kilometre ice shelf in Canada's northern Arctic broke away last month and the remaining shelves have shrunk at a "massive and disturbing" rate. These are the latest signs of accelerating climate change in the remote region, scientists said on Tuesday.

They said the Markham Ice Shelf, one of just five remaining ice shelves in the Canadian Arctic, split away from Ellesmere Island in early August. They also said two large chunks totalling 120 square km had broken off the nearby Serson Ice Shelf, reducing it in size by 60%.

"The changes ... were massive and disturbing," says Warwick Vincent, director of the Centre for Northern Studies at Laval University in Quebec.

Temperatures in large parts of the Arctic have risen far faster than the global average in recent decades, a development that experts say is linked to global warming.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Health & Wellness
Pesticide or genocide? Human experimentation on U.S. citizens

Keith Howe
OpEdNews
2008-09-02 16:48:00

"Dr. Jeffrey W. Runge, chief medical officer at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, told a congressional subcommittee on July 22 that the risk of a large-scale biological attack on the nation is significant. Runge used the terrifying example of a terrorist flying over Providence with an aerosolized sprayer releasing air-borne anthrax over the metropolitan area." (1)

I don't recall any terrorist's flying over America with an aerosolized sprayer releasing airborne weapons of mass destruction on her citizens. I am aware, however, of the U.S. government spraying weapons of mass destruction on us, in the form of toxic nerve agents (malathion, pyrenone 5,25, Checkmate OLR-F, Checkmate LBAM-F) with the excuse of protecting us from non-threatening fruit flies, light brown apple moths, and mosquitoes allegedly carrying the West Nile Virus (which is almost no threat to humans).

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Teen Suicide Spike Was No Fluke


Science Daily
2008-09-03 14:34:00

A troubling new study raises new concerns about kids committing suicide in the U.S.

After a one year spike in the number of suicides, doctors were hoping to see more normal numbers in the latest study, but they didn't. The number of kids committing suicide in the U.S. remains higher than expected, and that has doctors and parents looking for answers.

A sudden and dramatic increase in pediatric suicides may reflect an emerging trend rather than a single-year anomaly. That's the conclusion of new suicide research, conducted at The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, which looked at pediatric suicide trends over a 10-year period.

Following a decade of steady decline, the suicide rate among U.S. youth younger than 20 years of age increased by 18 percent from 2003-2004 - the largest single-year change in the pediatric suicide rate over the past 15 years. Although worrisome, the one-year spike observed in 2003-2004 does not necessarily reflect a changing trend. Therefore, researchers examined national data on youth suicide from 1996-2005 in order to determine whether the increase persisted from 2004-2005, the latest year for which data are available.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Loss of sleep, even for a single night, increases inflammation in the body


Elsevier
2008-09-02 12:51:00

Loss of sleep, even for a few short hours during the night, can prompt one's immune system to turn against healthy tissue and organs. A new article in the September 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry, by the UCLA Cousins Center research team, reports that losing sleep for even part of one night can trigger the key cellular pathway that produces tissue-damaging inflammation. The findings suggest a good night's sleep can ease the risk of both heart disease and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Ridiculous! Sudden death after arrest may be new syndrome

Ben Hirschler
Reuters
2008-09-03 09:54:00

Munich: Young men who die suddenly after being arrested by the police may be victims of a new syndrome similar to one that kills some wild animals when they are captured, Spanish researchers said on Tuesday.

Manuel Martinez Selles of Madrid's Hospital Gregorio Maranon reached the conclusion after investigating 60 cases of sudden unexplained deaths in Spain following police detention.

In one third of the cases, death occurred at the point of arrest, while in the remainder death was within 24 hours, Selles told the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology.

All but one of the casualties were male and their average age was just 33 years, with no previous history of cardiovascular disease.

"Something unusual is going on," Sells said.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Regular Exercise Improves Memory, May Delay The Onset Of Dementia

Alice Carver
eFluxMedia
2008-09-03 09:06:00

Physical exercise may help improve memory in older people and delay the onset of dementia, a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows.

A University of Western Australia study has found that walking for 50 minutes three times a week can lessen memory problems for older people. The study involved 170 volunteers aged 50 and over who reported some memory trouble but who did not have dementia.

The number of people with Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia, is predicted to quadruple worldwide over the next half century. Alzheimer's is a terminal and degenerative disease for which there is known no cure. In its common form, it affects people over 65 years old. The most commonly symptom is memory loss, as well as the difficulty to remember recently learned facts. Studies have shown that 700,000 in the UK live with dementia and the number may increase over the next two decades.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Researchers use virtual reality to study complexities of dizziness

Don Sapatkin
Physorg.com
2008-09-01 08:59:00

Think back to when you slipped on the ice or in the shower: the ground rushing up, your feet shooting out, terror building even as your mind is working a mile a second to plot a soft landing.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Children tested in Belgium after radioactive leak


Physorg.com
2008-09-01 08:48:00

Hundreds of Belgian children underwent thyroid gland tests on their first day back at school after a radioactive leak in the vicinity of Charleroi city a week ago, the government said Monday.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Study Links Spanking to Physical Abuse

Robert Preidt
Live Science
2008-08-27 08:45:00

Compared to mothers who don't spank their children, mothers who've spanked their child in the past year are three times more likely to use harsher forms of punishment.

That's the conclusion of a new study from the Injury Prevention Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

'Ayurvedic' Medicines May Contain Lead, Mercury or Arsenic

Serena Gordon
Live Science
2008-08-26 08:40:00

About one in five ayurvedic medicine products purchased on the Internet contain significant levels of lead, mercury or arsenic, a new study finds.

The researchers found that products manufactured in the United States were even more likely to contain the metals than those made in India, where the ayurvedic approach was first developed centuries ago. Furthermore, 75 percent of the products containing lead, mercury or arsenic advertised that they were manufactured using "Good Manufacturing Practices," which is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation meant to ensure quality.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Drug companies: Big Pharma besieged from all sides

Julia Kollewe
The Guardian
2008-08-30 22:52:00

Blockbusters are expiring, pipelines are emptying and watchdogs are growling

The pharmaceutical industry is under siege with the looming end of blockbuster drugs, imminent patent expiries on top-selling medicines and government pressure to lower prices amid accusations of profiteering.

GlaxoSmithKline's new boss, Andrew Witty, has likened discovering a blockbuster - with annual revenues of at least $1bn - to finding a needle in a haystack. Many of the big-selling medicines launched in the 1990s are about to come off patent, allowing generic drugmakers to make cheaper versions. Only four of the 10 major companies have enough products in their pipeline to plug the looming revenue shortfall.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

High levels of uric acid may be associated with high blood pressure


Baylor College of Medicine
2008-09-26 18:22:00

Reducing levels of uric acid in blood lowered blood pressure to normal in most teens in a study designed to investigate a possible link between blood pressure and the chemical, a waste product of the body's normal metabolism, said researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"If you reduce uric acid, at least in some patients, you may be able to reduce blood pressure," said Dr. Daniel Feig, associate professor of pediatrics-renal at BCM and chief of the pediatric hypertension clinics at Texas Children's Hospital. "This could be one way people develop hypertension and may allow us to develop new therapies."

Understanding how people develop high blood pressure gives scientists new tools for understanding the disorder and developing drugs to prevent and treat it.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Science & Technology
Physicists Rule Out the Production of Dangerous Black Holes at the LHC

Laura Mgrdichian
Physorg.com
2008-09-01 08:50:00

On August 8, the world's largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland, began the process of slowly throttling to full power. When its proton beams are circling at full speed and collisions begin, scientists from around the world will finally be able to start collecting data.

LHC
©Maximilien Brice, CERN


Comment on this SOTT Focus

'Autonomous' Helicopters Teach Themselves To Fly


Science Daily
2008-09-03 14:17:00

Stanford computer scientists have developed an artificial intelligence system that enables robotic helicopters to teach themselves to fly difficult stunts by watching other helicopters perform the same maneuvers.

autonomous helicopters
©Stanford University
Computer Science Professor Andrew Ng (center) and his graduate students Pieter Abbeel (left) and Adam Coates.


The result is an autonomous helicopter than can perform a complete airshow of complex tricks on its own.

The stunts are "by far the most difficult aerobatic maneuvers flown by any computer controlled helicopter," said Andrew Ng, the professor directing the research of graduate students Pieter Abbeel, Adam Coates, Timothy Hunter and Morgan Quigley.

The dazzling airshow is an important demonstration of "apprenticeship learning," in which robots learn by observing an expert, rather than by having software engineers peck away at their keyboards in an attempt to write instructions from scratch.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Oldest Gecko Fossil Ever Found, Entombed In Amber


Science Daily
2008-09-03 14:14:00

Scientists from Oregon State University and the Natural History Museum in London have announced the discovery of the oldest known fossil of a gecko, with body parts that are forever preserved in life-like form after 100 million years of being entombed in amber.

amber fossil
©OSU
Digital images of the amber fossil discovered by OSU researchers, containing the foot and partial tail.


Due to the remarkable preservative power of being embalmed in amber, the tiny foot of this ancient lizard still shows the tiny "lamellae," or sticky toe hairs, that to this day give modern geckos their unusual ability to cling to surfaces or run across a ceiling. Research programs around the world have tried to mimic this bizarre adhesive capability, with limited success.

This gecko's running days are over, however, as only the foot, toes and part of a tail are left in the stone. The rest might have become lunch for a small dinosaur or other predator during an ancient fight in the tropical forests of Myanmar during the Lower Cretaceous Period, from 97 million to 110 million years ago.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Researchers to examine gas trapped in Lake Baikal's depths


RIA Novosti
2008-09-02 13:01:00

Researchers studying Siberia's Lake Baikal have said they plan to use the lake to test the potential use of methane clathrates as an energy source, but that the lake itself would not be tapped for the fuel.

Methane clathrates, which look like ice and are found mainly in Antarctic ice cores and ocean beds, are composed of crystallized water molecules trapping methane and other gases. Baikal, the world's deepest lake, holds large volumes of clathrates in its sediment.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Does Memory Reside Outside the Brain?

Leonardo Vintiñi
Epoch Times
2008-08-29 10:11:00

brain
©Photos.com
While many believe that memory resides inside the brain, evidence suggests that our minds might actually exist within a morphogenic field.

After decades of investigation, scientists are still unable to explain why no part of the brain seems responsible for storing memories.

Most people assume that our memories must exist somewhere inside our heads. But try as they might, medical investigators have been unable to determine which cerebral region actually stores what we remember. Could it be that our memories actually dwell in a space outside our physical structure?

Biologist, author, and investigator Dr. Rupert Sheldrake notes that the search for the mind has gone in two opposite directions. While a majority of scientists have been searching inside the skull, he looks outside.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Tutankhamen fathered twins


Physorg.com
2008-09-01 08:56:00

Two foetuses found in the tomb of Tutankhamen may have been twins and were very likely to have been the children of the teenage Pharaoh, according to the anatomist who first studied the mummified remains of the young King in the 1960s.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Ice Age Ivory Carving Discovered in Germany

Silke Jeklic
The Epoch Times
2008-08-18 23:02:00

Ivory Mastodon
©Joself Jelkic/The Epoch Times
The mastodon was found immediately outside the cave during a 2006 dig. The dig continues into 2009; who knows what other treasures might be unearthed.


It was a cool afternoon. A small gathering of people assembled at the Swabian village Stetten ob Lontal, in Germany. They waited for a guided trip to Vogelherd Cave.

It cannot be called a real cave, like one that allows you to descend deeply into the earth and that might feature artfully dripping stalactite and stalagmite sculptures, perhaps like the Charlotte Cave and other natural caves found in the Swabian Alps.

Excursion leader Brigitta Roeck led the group in stages up a soft, rain-soaked footpath. Ms. Roeck gave out snippets of information about climate and vegetation in the Aurignacia of 30,000 years ago.

What were people's days like back then? What did they eat? What thoughts did they have? We have only partial answers to our questions. Our limited knowledge is based on archeological discoveries. Aided by modern carbon-dating techniques, we may arrive at new interpretations.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Amateur Astronomers See Perseids Hit the Moon


NASA
2008-09-02 19:12:00

There's more than one way to watch a meteor shower.

One, the old-fashioned way: Find a dark place with starry skies and count the meteors streaking overhead. Two, the new way: Find a dark place with starry skies and then completely ignore the meteors. Instead, watch the Moon. That's where the explosions are.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Our Haunted Planet
Argentina: Mutilated Cow Discovered East of Santa Rosa

Raul Oscar Chaves
Inexplicata
2008-09-02 22:49:00

A dead and mutilated red Hereford cow was discovered some 45 km to the east of Santa Rosa on August 25, 2008, in the locality of Uriburu.

The owner of the rural propert indicated that the cow was in its last months of pregnancy. The animal was missing all of its udders and half of the cow's unborn calf was still inside the cow, adding that the calf's ears showed signs of having been mutilated.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Argentina: Mutilated Dog in Cordoba

Pachi LaFata
Inexplicata
2008-09-01 20:58:00

The case was qualified as a true "oddity" by the foremost experts in cattle mutilation cases, on account of the "neatness of the incision." This is a case that occurred in late July, but which remained unknown until now, involving a dog from the locality of Villa Giardino, Cordoba. The animal's carcass presented strange claw-marks and surgical manipulation. The mysterious event can be linked to dozens of similar situations recorded in several provinces over the past few months, resulting in a permanent state of alert within the UFO community.

Comment on this SOTT Focus


Don't Panic! Lighten Up!
Wisconsin couple each hit lottery - twice


Associated Press
2008-08-22 17:37:00

Madison, Wis. - A woman and her accountant husband who claims he's developed a formula for lottery picks have each claimed $350,000 jackpots - twice.

Verlyn and Judith Adamson claimed two $350,000 jackpots on Monday because each held a winning ticket in the state SuperCash drawing last Saturday. They didn't mention at the time that they also held two more of the winning tickets.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

US: Iowa man accused of offering bribe with sandwich


Associated Press
2008-09-03 13:09:00

Iowa City police said a man who was driving drunk tried to bribe a police officer - with a sandwich. Police said a 25-year-old man was charged with drunken driving early Sunday morning after an officer saw him driving with his headlights off and pulled him over.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Cat survives 70-mile trip under owner's truck


Associated Press
2008-09-03 08:16:00

A cat survived a 2 1/2-hour trip on a spare tire under her owner's truck. Gil Smith recently drove from his Gilbert home 70 miles away for a business meeting in Kearny. When he got out of the truck, he heard a cat in distress and realized it was his.

Comment on this SOTT Focus

Lightning strikes as man takes oath

Yang Jie
CCTV
2008-09-02 22:42:00

In a bizarre incident, a man in eastern China was struck by lightning just as he lifted an iron bar over his head to swear that god would punish him if he had taken money from his friend.

The man, who was identified as Xu, had borrowed 500 yuan (US$73.21) from a close friend surnamed Huang three years ago. Xu, who lived in Fuqing City, Fujian Province, later forgot all about it, according to a news Web portal in Fujian.

Comment on this SOTT Focus



Remember, we need your help to collect information on what is going on in your part of the world!
Send your article suggestions to: sott(at)signs-of-the-times.org

Click here to return to the Signs of the Times Archive

Click here for today's Signs Page