Jose Padilla Sentenced To 17 Years

The news that US citizen Jose Padilla has received a prison sentence of 17 years and four months should provoke outrage in the United States, although it is unlikely that there will be much more than a whimper of dissent.

The former gang member and convert to Islam -- whose arrest in May 2002 was trumpeted by then-Attorney General John Ashcroft as that of a "known terrorist," who was "exploring a plan" to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in a US city -- was once regarded as one of the most dangerous terrorists ever apprehended on American soil. Almost six years later, as he received his sentence, he was not actually accused of lifting a finger to harm even a single US citizen.

While this is shocking enough in and of itself, Padilla's sentence - in what at least one perceptive commentator called "the most important case of our lifetimes" - is particularly shocking because it sends a clear message to the President of the United States that he can, if he wishes (and as he did with Padilla), designate a US citizen as an "enemy combatant," hold him without charge or trial in a naval brig for 43 months, and torture him - through the use of prolonged sensory deprivation and solitary confinement - to such an extent that, as the psychiatrist Dr. Angela Hegarty explained after spending 22 hours with Padilla, "What happened at the brig was essentially the destruction of a human being's mind."

Padilla's warders had another take on his condition, describing him as "so docile and inactive that he could be mistaken for 'a piece of furniture,'" but the most detailed analysis of the effects of his torture was, again, provided by Angela Hegarty in an interview last August with Democracy Now:

Juan Gonzalez: And have you dealt with someone who had been in isolation for such a long period of time before?

Dr. Angela Hegarty: No. This was the first time I ever met anybody who had been isolated for such an extraordinarily long period of time. I mean, the sensory deprivation studies, for example, tell us that without sleep, especially, people will develop psychotic symptoms, hallucinations, panic attacks, depression, suicidality within days. And here we had a man who had been in this situation, utterly dependent on his interrogators, who didn't treat him all that nicely, for years. And apart from - the only people I ever met who had such a protracted experience were people who were in detention camps overseas, that would come close, but even then they weren't subjected to the sensory deprivation. So, yes, he was somewhat of a unique case in that regard.

As if this were not worrying enough, it was what happened after Padilla's 43-month ordeal that sealed the President's impunity to torture US citizens at will.

Source: http://www.alternet.org/rights/74590/

Oscar Nominees 2008 - No Country, Juno, There Will Be Blood

Like one of those NASA probes sending a signal into deep space, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences beamed its list of Oscar nominees into the blackness of today with no assurance a reply will ever come from the stars.

During Hollywood's annual sunrise serenade of itself, "No Country For Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" each picked up eight nominations, and "Atonement" and "Michael Clayton" received seven apiece. That means that in a year in which no clear frontrunner for Oscar supremacy had previously emerged, none did today either.

"No Country," an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's fierce novel about the truth and consequences of crime by the Coen brothers, received nominations for best picture, supporting

Source: http://origin.mercurynews.com/columns/ci_8044766?nclick_check=1

The Scoop On Yahoo Layoffs

The Scoop On Yahoo Layoffs

Sounds like it’ll be a long, grim week in the Yahoo offices, with workers exchanging tight-lipped looks of helplessness and trying to stay focused, knowing that among them are dead men walking. The details of a major layoff and reshuffling plan are expected to be revealed next week, possibly along with the latest quarterlies on Tuesday, and while the casualties aren’t expected to be as high as initially rumored — in the hundreds, not the thousands — they’ll need to be substantial enough to convince analysts and investors that the company is serious about putting up a better fight against Google.

More important than the number of layoffs, however, is how Yahoo decides to reallocate its resources. According to a company statement Monday, “Yahoo plans to invest in some areas, reduce emphasis in others, and eliminate some areas of the business that don’t support the company’s priorities.” In fact, one source told the Merc, Yahoo has hiring plans to support new initiatives and by the time things have settled, the total head count could end up roughly the same. So the question is what can Yahoo do to fulfill CEO Jerry Yang’s vision of being “the most essential starting point for your life,” and the unsolicited suggestions are rolling in.

The most optimistic is Sramana Mitra, writing at GigaOm, who believes that, despite Yahoo’s inability so far to fully capitalize on its substantial traffic, the company remains in good position to leverage its vertical channels, like news, sports, finance, jobs and photo sharing. To do this, Mitra prescribes a heavy dose of acquisitions and a reorganization that would give each vertical its own GM. On the other end of the scale is Umair Haque at Bubblegeneration, who says that Yahoo can’t win because it’s flawed to the core. “Yahoo’s problem is DNA,” writes Haque. “Yahoo, you’ve held back thousands of very talented people for the last 5 years, and prevented them from making the fullest use of their talents and insights. … The fundamental assumptions behind your thinking are deeply in error, and so your strategy is in massive decay. So please, don’t put up a fight — let these guys go build the cool startups and pioneer the radical innovation you’ve stifled and suffocated for the last half-decade.”

Might want to check with those folks to see just how eager they are to be liberated. Meantime, we wait.

source: http://svextra.com/blogs/gmsv/2008/01/think_of_your_yahoo_layoff_as_the_most_essential_starting-over_point_for_your_life.html

Diane Keaton Said The F-word While Drooling Over Diane Sawyer

By Brooks Boliek

WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) - The nation's top TV regulator said it would be difficult for the Federal Communications Commission to take action against ABC stations that aired "Good Morning America" on Tuesday when actress Diane Keaton used the f-word.

Last year's court decision that threw out the FCC's policy on "fleeting references" complicates any action the commission might want to take against the stations or the network, chairman Kevin Martin told reporters.

When asked whether the FCC would take action, Martin appeared flummoxed by the court's decision and the most recent incident of celebrity potty mouth.

"Obviously the commission's pending litigation has impacted a whole host of issues, but I don't know enough about the details of this to see how it would be impacted," he said.

On "Good Morning America" to promote her new film "Mad Money," Keaton told host Diane Sawyer that she admired her beauty, especially Sawyer's lips, saying that if she had lips like that she wouldn't have had to work on her "f---ing personality" and would be married by now.

After she spoke the word, Keaton made an offhand apology, and Sawyer warned that her mother was going to wash her mouth out with soap.

ABC News senior vp Jeffrey Schneider said the network bleeped the word for the Central, Mountain and Pacific time zone feeds and regretted the incident.

"It was obviously unfortunate, and we were quick to correct it for subsequent feeds," he said.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN1656552120080116

Scientologists Want Tom Cruise Off The Internet

Scientologists are attempting to block the spread of a video clip in which Tom Cruise zealously espouses his faith in the church.

"If you're on board, you're on board, just like the rest of us," he tells those of wavering faith. We are the authorities on getting people off drugs, we can rehabilitate criminals and unite cultures," he says.

Mr Cruise's emotional testimonial is accompanied by a guitar riff playing the theme from Mission: Impossible. Cruise, a Scientologist for 20 years, has recently emerged as one of the controversial church's most outspoken proselytisers. Some suggest that the actor, 45, has been elevated to one of the highest echelons of the secretive church, cryptically known as OT-VII.

In recent years his missionary zeal has become apparent as he put up Scientology tents on movie sets, criticised Brooke Shields for using antidepressants while promoting the church's own drug-treatment programmes, and denounced the supposed evils of psychiatry. In the video, which was recorded in 2005, he emerges as an overly enthusiastic in-house proselytiser for the church.

Apparently meant for Scientologists' eyes only, the video is a nine-minute testimonial in which Cruise, wearing a black polo neck, encourages Scientologists to practise their faith relentlessly. From time to time he erupts in bursts of hand-slapping and demented laughter. The video was made after he accepted the Freedom Medal of Valor award at an International Association of Scientologists. Infamously litigious, the Church of Scientology has been busy firing off lawsuits alleging breach of copyright wherever the video pops up, notably on YouTube and Google Video. Unfazed by potential legal issues, a number of gossip websites are busy re-posting the controversial video as soon as it disappears.

On Gawker.com, Nick Denton wrote: "It's newsworthy, and we will not be removing it."

Cruise's remarks have been feeding a media frenzy for commentators and bloggers. In his remarks, Cruise describes his own involvement with the religion and lays down the duty of its members: "I think it's a privilege to call yourself a Scientologist, and it's something that you have to earn because a Scientologist has the ability to create new and better realities and improve conditions. Being a Scientologist, when you drive past an accident... you know you have to do something about it because you know you're the only one who can help," he says.

There is no secret about Cruise's devotion to Scientology and he and his wife, Katie Holmes, 29, reportedly signed a contract to guarantee their children be raised as Scientologists.

Cruise is known for his publicity stunts, including an infamous appearance on Oprah Winfrey's show in which he jumped up on a couch. Some commentators have drawn comparisons between the video's full-throated display of faith in Scientology and his infamous Oprah episode, suggesting that he had lost his Midas touch for the movie studios.

His latest movie, Lions for Lambs, was deemed "dead on arrival" by The New York Times. The video has also popped up just as Andrew Morton's unauthorised biography of Cruise – which the church has attacked – is published in the US.

So far, the church is having little success in keeping the video off the internet, and as soon as it is taken down it pops up somewhere else. Not unlike the movie and music industries, the Church of Scientology is constantly battling with websites to prevent unauthorised distribution of its intellectual property.

Source: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3345184.ece

Morgellons Disease - C,mon, is this real?

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. health authorities on Wednesday said they will conduct an investigation to get to the bottom of an unexplained illness marked by skin lesions that do not heal and a batch of other symptoms.

The illness is called Morgellons disease, and some doctors have questioned whether it is a real medical condition. An advocacy group seeking a cure said doctors have diagnosed some people with its symptoms as delusional -- a view the group rejects.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said its investigation may take at least a year and will involve patients in northern California. The CDC said the condition's cause and prevalence are unknown. The study will be done with the Armed Forces Pathology Institute and Kaiser Permanente.

The CDC said symptoms attributed to Morgellons include non-healing skin lesions, abnormal crawling, biting and stinging skin sensations, the presence of fibers or other foreign material on or beneath the skin, fatigue, mental confusion, memory loss, joint pain and changes in vision.

During a telephone briefing with reporters, Dr. Michele Pearson, lead CDC investigator in the study, was asked whether she was prepared to call Morgellons a real medical condition.

"What I can tell you is real is the suffering that these patients are experiencing," Pearson said. "I cannot characterize this as a syndrome, as a disease. I can tell you it's an unexplained illness."

Mary Leitao, executive director of the Pittsburgh-based Morgellons Research Foundation, who said her son has the disease, called the investigation a positive step. She said Morgellons is a genuine medical condition with consistent symptoms, adding, "I think it's an infectious disease."

The study will focus on patients in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Health Plan who sought medical care during an 18-month period ending last month for symptoms consistent with those attributed to Morgellons disease, according to Dr. Joe Selby, a senior Kaiser Permanente researcher.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1610185920080116

Half Man Half Tree - How Can It Be?

Sometimes the listings for TLC read like headlines you would see in the Weekly World News tabloid.

At 8 tonight, for example, the "My Shocking Story" series has the strange, freaky tale of the "Half Man, Half Tree."

This is a profile of a 35-year-old man in Indonesia with a skin condition that has left his body covered with large warts that resemble tree roots. The growths on his hands and feet are enormous (see the video at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22041771).

Reportedly, his condition baffled doctors for years, but he may be getting treatment because of this documentary.

An American dermatology expert who examined him has prescribed a course of treatment to reduce the warts. Indonesian health officials say they will treat him but also criticized the filmmakers for exploiting the man.

Source: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jan/16/fl-reality-really-sets-in-for-couch-potatoes-as-st/

Mark Deli Siljander Indicted Terrorist Supporter

A former congressman has been indicted as part of a terrorist fundraising ring.

Mark Deli Siljander is a former Republican congressman from Michigan. He also served as delegate to the United Nations. He's accused of being involved with a ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to a supporter of al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Siljander is charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstructing justice, for allegedly lying about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity. Authorities say the charity was secretly sending money to terrorists.

The indictment accuses the charity of paying him $50,000 for the lobbying. It says the money turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Siljander served two terms in the U.S. House. He was appointed by President Reagan to serve as a U.S. delegate to the United Nations for one year in 1987.

The charges are part of a long-running case against the charity. It was formerly based in Missouri, and was designated by the Treasury Department in 2004 as a suspected fundraiser for terrorists.

Source: http://www.wcbd.com/midatlantic/cbd/news.apx.-content-articles-CBD-2008-01-16-0031.html

Popcorn Lung Condition Lawsuit

DENVER (AP) - A man in the Denver area is suing Cincinnati's Kroger Company claiming his two-bags-a-day diet of popcorn gave him a lung ailment previously seen only in popcorn factory workers.

Wayne Watson was diagnosed last year with "popcorn lung," a rare condition linked to the flavor chemical diacetyl. Hundreds of workers at microwave popcorn plants have said they have severe lung disease or other respiratory illnesses from inhaling diacetyl vapors.

Watson's federal lawsuit says Kroger and two of its divisions failed to warn that preparing microwave popcorn and smelling the buttery aroma could expose consumers to lung injuries.

From: http://www.kget.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=db27cf9f-2c1e-414b-9fab-ccaad023ea24