Another Notice: If you don’t want to live in a police state I suggest boycott Google after calling them and telling them that until they stop the SMS verification or make it optional that you won’t ever use a Google product or else one day Google may require a Social Security Number just to use an account. WaPo: Google now openly working with the NSA. PC World: Obama’s Justice Dept. fights to keep spying on us all via cell phone / ACLU Objects to Reported Google Partnership With NSA

ah, mephistophelis: Microsoft Helped Quash Dissent Just Before Kyrgyzstan Revolution:

This is where Microsoft comes in. According to the local 24.kg news agency, agents of the State Financial Police and a representative of Microsoft arrived armed with an order from the Kyrgyzstan Prosecutor General's office to seal all the station's equipment. This included confiscating private laptops that were on the premises at the time. The justification for this action was the charge from Microsoft's agent that Stan Media LLC may be using pirated Microsoft software.

Minister: Obama Fine With Israel's 'Nuclear Ambiguity'. As with previous discussions of the possibility, Israeli officials today reacted negatively to yesterday’s comment by President Obama in support of seeing Israel join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). “There is no room to pressure Israel to join,” insisted Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who added that it was unreasonable to ask Israel to join so long as Iran, a signatory to the NPT remains a “threat.” But exactly how serious Obama’s comments even were is unclear. AWIP: Obama: Israel Should Sign NPT.

The current American imperial offensive “has all the characteristics of a race war,” and is viewed as such by much of the world. “In Muslim nations, the U.S. treats the inhabitants like roaches, stomping human beings underfoot and cursing them when they scurry to get out of the way.” The latest American atrocity in Afghanistan – the wanton slaughter of civilians on an inter-city bus near Kandahar – is yet more bloody proof that the United States military offensive in the Muslim world has all the characteristics of a race war. The men, women and children in the packed, full-size bus found themselves suddenly boxed in between two American convoys on a highway of death – a place where the natives are instantly liquidated if they are unfortunate enough to find themselves in proximity to U.S. soldiers. Such highways of death inevitably appear whenever U.S. troops are deployed among populations that Americans think of as less than human.

All flights across Britain were grounded today when an erupting volcano caused the greatest chaos to air travel since the Second World War. An estimated 3,000 flights were halted at midday by the National Air Traffic Service when a huge cloud of volcanic ash was blown south from Iceland. About one million passengers were affected across Europe, including 300,000 in Britain. Flights were expected to be suspended until at least tomorrow morning as forecasters warn it could take until next week to clear. The cloud poses a huge risk to aircraft as the glass and rock particles are difficult to pick up on radar and cause engines to fail. The Civil Aviation Authority said the shutdown was the biggest since the Second World War. Swedish Wire: Scandinavian countries shut airspace. FlightRadar.com: Watch Air Traffic Live!

ICELAND'S second volcano eruption in less than a month melted part of a glacier and caused heavy flooding today, forcing up to 800 people to evacuate, but no casualties were reported. "We have two heavy floods coming out from the melting of the Eyjafjallajokull glacier," local police spokesman Roegnvaldur Olafsson said from near the site of the eruption in the south of the country. So far, "no lives are in danger but we have evacuated the area and all roads are closed", he said, adding that the ongoing eruption was bigger than the blast at the nearby Fimmvorduhals volcano last month. Police said today that following the eruption, which began around 11am AEST yesterday, between 700 and 800 people had been evacuated from their homes in the remote, lightly populated area 125 kilometres east of Reykjavik. "There were a lot of earthquakes in the area," police spokesman Baldur Sigurdsson said. CBC.ca: Iceland volcano eruption forces evacuation. BBC: Volcano ash alert from Iceland hits UK flights. Míla: Eyjafjallajökull frá Valahnúk -WEBCAM. Plume model HERE. Aftenposten: Animated ash plume model predictions from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, through to Saturday 17th April 2010, 02:00.

21 of 44 chapters in the United Nations' Nobel-winning climate bible earned an F on a report card we are releasing today. Forty citizen auditors from 12 countries examined 18,531 sources cited in the report – finding 5,587 to be not peer-reviewed.

In a landmark ruling, Mr Justice Michael Burton said that “a belief in man-made climate change … is capable, if genuinely held, of being a philosophical belief for the purpose of the 2003 Religion and Belief Regulations”. The ruling could open the door for employees to sue their companies for failing to account for their green lifestyles, such as providing recycling facilities or offering low-carbon travel. The decision regards Tim Nicholson, former head of sustainability at property firm Grainger plc, who claims he was made redundant in July 2008 due to his “philosophical belief about climate change and the environment”. James Delingpole: 'Climategate scientists should be immediately beatified in preparation for full sainthood by 2011′ says latest official enquiry.

Districts in big cities of the Midwest and Northeast undergo the most change.. It's a trend that is occurring around the country and is even more pronounced than expected in the wake of court cases dismantling both mandated and voluntary integration programs, a new report says. The most segregated schools, according to the report, which documents desegregation trends, are in big cities of the Northeast and Midwest. The South and West – and rural areas and small towns generally – offer minority students a bit more diversity. Suburbs of large cities, meanwhile, are becoming the new frontier: areas to which many minorities are moving.

A newly-surfaced video showing US police officers brutally beating up an unarmed university student has provoked outrage across the US. John McKenna, 21, the University of Maryland student is still recovering from the physical injuries he suffered last month when he got caught up in a celebration of his school basketball team's win over Duke. The newly-released video, which has been aired extensively on US TV, shows three police officers in riot gear ramming the student and then beating him with batons. Left unconscious in the street, McKenna suffered a concussion and bruises on his arms.

The Israeli army order that permits Israel to ethnically purge the West Bank of non-Jews (Palestinians and foreigners who are not Jewish) is the next rational step in the evolution of the Jewish state. An Ha’aretz editorial calls this latest iteration of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine “a step too far.” The editors go on to state that “Israel, which justifiably prevents Palestinians from returning to where they lived before 1948… cannot expel Palestinians from the occupied territories on the basis of dubious bureaucratic claims.” The Ha’aretz editors are confused, mistaking cause with the tools of implementation. They wrongly presume that Palestine is being purged of natives because of “dubious bureaucratic claims” and not because of any racist religious mandate or racist secular dogma. AWIP/Stephen Lendman: Israel's Infiltration Prevention Bill.

Israeli forces backed by bulldozers have demolished two homes in the occupied West Bank, leaving at least nine Palestinians homeless. The building had been home to nine members of the Musa family, including a baby, according to the West Bank-based Popular Struggle Coordination Committee. IMEMC: Jerusalem Mayor Wants More Palestinian Homes Demolished.

Jordan condemned Israel on Wednesday over an Israel Defense Forces order facilitating the deportation of tens of thousands of Palestinian from the West Bank. According to the report, a military order aimed at preventing infiltration was to come into force, enabling the deportation of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank, or their indictment on charges carrying prison terms of up to seven years. Under the order, tens of thousands of Palestinians will automatically become criminal offenders liable to be severely punished. AWIP/Stephen Lendman: Israel's Infiltration Prevention Bill.

What They Don't Tell You About Israel part 1 of 4
What They Don't Tell You About Israel part 3 of 4
What They Don't Tell You About Israel part 4 of 4

US President Barack Obama, during this week's nuclear summit, put no pressure on Israel to shift away from its policy of deliberate ambiguity on its atomic programme, a minister said on Wednesday. "The policy of ambiguity is the foundation of Israel's security; it has always been and will continue to be. President Obama did not ask to change it in the current period," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told public radio. He spoke following the international nuclear summit Monday and Tuesday in Washington, which Ayalon said saw "no changes in policies towards Israel and no new demands from Israel." AWIP: Obama: Israel Should Sign NPT.

Boston hosted yet another Tea Party - but instead of revolutionaries disguised as Native Americans, this one had Sarah Palin. The former Alaska governor and soon-to-be reality TV star energized the thousands of anti-tax activists just a stone's throw from the bay where the true Boston Tea Party was held more than 200 years ago. "Let me ask you, Massachusetts: Do you love your freedom?" Palin belted out.

Senator John McCain said the United States has been backing away from a brewing fight with Iran, while that country moves ever closer to having nuclear weapons. McCain opened a Senate hearing Wednesday by saying that Iran will get the bomb unless the United States acts more boldly. Speaking figuratively, the Arizona Republican says the U.S. keeps pointing a loaded gun at Iran but failing to "pull the trigger." Military and intelligence officials testifying before Congress said Iran's accelerated nuclear program could produce one weapon in roughly a year, if the country decided to go that route.

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), the poster child of liberal bloggers' ire, has done it again. Once the darling of Democratic political heavyweights -- he campaigned in 2000 as the vice presidential running mate of then-Vice President Al Gore -- the Connecticut senator now appears to enjoying sparring his his former party at every opportunity.

Long-term Treasury prices came under pressure on Wednesday, pushing yields up slightly, after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said he continues to forecast a moderate economic recovery. Short-term notes held onto earlier gains notched after a report showing consumer prices rose 0.1%, easing concerns that inflation will force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates soon.

BEIJING: A strong earthquake hit a remote mountainous area of China yesterday, killing about 400 people and injuring thousands as it toppled mud-and-wood houses and at least one school, burying many in rubble.

About 10,000 people were injured in the quake of at least 6.9 magnitude that struck at 7.49am (9.49am AEST) and disrupted telecommunications, knocked out electricity, and triggered landslides in the northwestern province of Qinghai. Rescuers were working to clear debris and find survivors in the rubble, with children said to be among the casualties.

About 400 people had been confirmed dead, the Xinhua news agency reported, quoting Huang Limin, a top official in Yushu where the quake was centred 380km southeast of the city of Golmud, at a depth of 46km. The injured are everywhere in the street, a lot of people are bleeding from head wounds," said an official named Zhuohuaxia, from the town of Jiegu. LA Times: China quake rescue efforts hampered by epicenter's isolation.

TAMPA - A missing 11-year-old central Florida girl with an autism-related disorder was found alive by a member of her family's church four days after she disappeared into an alligator-infested swamp 800m from her home. Nadia Bloom was taken to a hospital where she was evaluated and treated for dehydration and insect bites, said Winter Springs police chief Kevin Brunelle. "If I never believed in miracles, I sure do now," Brunelle said. It took nearly two hours for rescuers to carry Nadia out of the thick brush and swamp.

Walnuts are a rich plant source of omega-3s, the fatty acids also found in cold water fish like salmon. Omega-3s are known to lower the risk of a host of health problems from depression to heart disease. Walnuts are also loaded with gamma tocopherol (a form of vitamin E), phytochemicals known as polyphenols, and antioxidants. Now, for the first time, scientists have reported that these nutrient-rich nuts have the ability to reduce the size and growth of prostate cancer.

Scientists from the University of California-Davis just reported their discovery at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), being held in San Francisco this week. "Walnuts should be part of a prostate-healthy diet," Paul Davis, Ph.D., who headed the study, said in a statement to the media. "They should be part of a balanced diet that includes lots of fruits and vegetables."