Starting off with a speech from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian nuclear disarmament summit kicked off today with 14 foreign ministers, 10 other deputies, and an undisclosed number of other representatives. All told, some 60 nations and several international groups were represented. The conference, designed as an alternative to the Obama Administration’s summit from earlier this week, sought to focus on the dual issues of nuclear weapon disarmament and urging more international respect for the spreading of civilian nuclear technology to members of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

SEC Alleges Firm Misled Investors on Securities Linked to Subprime Mortgages; Major Escalation in Showdown With Wall Street. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.—one of the few Wall Street titans to thrive during the financial crisis—was charged with deceiving clients by selling them mortgage securities secretly designed by a hedge-fund firm run by John Paulson, who made a killing betting on the housing market's collapse. The civil charges against Goldman and one of its star traders, 31-year-old Fabrice Tourre, represent the government's strongest attack yet on the Wall Street dealmaking that preceded, and some say precipitated, the financial crisis that gripped the nation and the world. Goldman's shares fell 13%, one of the steepest slides since the firm went public in 1999, erasing some $12 billion of market capitalization. NYT: S.E.C. Accuses Goldman of Fraud in Housing Deal.

The former president of Blackwater Worldwide was charged Friday with using straw purchases to stockpile automatic weapons at the security firm and filing false documents to cover up gifts given to the King of Jordan. The federal indictment charges Gary Jackson, 52, who left the company last year in a management shakeup, along with four other former workers. The charges against Jackson include a conspiracy to violate firearms laws, false statements and possession of an unregistered firearm. Also indicted were former general counsel Andrew Howell, 44; former executive vice president Bill Mathews, 44; former procurement vice president Ana Bundy, 45; and, 65-year-old Ronald Slezak, a former weapons manager. NYT: U.S. Indicts 5 Blackwater Ex-Officials. AntiWar: Gen. McChrystal: US Wasting Money on ‘Too Many Contractors’.

The volcano erupting from beneath Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier and causing airport closures across northern Europe is a typical example of the kind of shield volcanoes that formed the island and still erupt on a regular basis. The Icelandic eruptions are much less forceful than the ones that occur regularly in Alaska and elsewhere around the Pacific Ring of Fire, but they have been active for eons and are enormous when their full size is taken into account -- from the bottom of the ocean to the top of the volcano.

"Because of where it sits, Iceland is one of the most volcanically active places in the world," said Chris Waythomas, scientist in charge of the Alaska Volcano Observatory, an arm of the U.S. Geological Survey, in conjunction with the state and the University of Alaska. "It was bad luck that the wind took the ash where it did, but this kind of thing happens all the time." Iceland has 35 active volcanoes on or around the island, which is about 100 miles long and 60 miles wide. This volcano's last eruption was in 1821 and lasted for 13 months. Míla: "Eyjafjallajökull" frá Valahnúk (WEBCAM) + "Hvolsvelli" frá Valahnúk (WEBCAM). James Delingpole: Official: Icelandic volcano was "caused by Man Made Global Warming."

Eva Joly ráðgjafi sérstaks saksóknara segir að þeir sem hafa brotið af sér ættu að stíga fram og aðstoða við rannsóknina, í stað þess að láta elta sig árum saman og engjast yfir því. Hún segir að þeir muni nást á endanum hvort sem er. Eva Joly segir að fyrstu ákærurnar verði birtar í vor, en gríðarmikið starf sé eftir. Hún átti fund með forsætisráðherra og telur sig hafa fengið vilyrði fyrir mikilli eflingu embættisins, en að hennar mati þarf að fjölga starfsmönnum þess upp í áttatíu næstu fjögur árin. Þóra Arnórsdóttir ræddi við Joly. [Interview with Eva Joly about the report into the bank fraud in Iceland. In English. Interview starts at 01:05 into the clip.]

Telegraph.co.uk has an interesting article from yesterday (4/15/10) regarding the start of more extreme winters. Yes it may be getting colder, not warmer…

Coldest weather in 30 years marks the start of a series of extreme winters: However, scientists are now warning that Britain can expect to endure a series of extreme winters - the like of which have not seen for more than 300 years. Researchers have found that low solar activity - marked by a decrease in the sun's magnetic field - influences the weather conditions across northern Europe. The last time the sun showed similar behaviour, between 1650 and 1700, temperatures dropped so low that Londoners were able to skate and hold fairs on the iced-over River Thames.

The Local: Scientists predict colder European winters to come.
Daily Mail: Climategate U-turn as scientist at centre of row admits: There has been no global warming since 1995

The authentic letter, of which we have published the unabridged version released to us by the Iranian presidency, states the following:

"Excellency, you are at least expected to appoint an independent fact-finding team which is trusted by the countries of the region, to launch a comprehensive investigation into the main culprits behind the September 11 attacks as principal excuse for attacking the Middle East, the intentions of NATO military presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, the methods used, and the outcome of their presence and engagement, with results to be presented to the General Assembly."

Documents detail the rationalization for destroying the tapes—the supposed protection of the agents doing the torturing—and instruct that future torture sessions be recorded on a single tape which can be reviewed at the end of the day’s session and then reused the next day, erasing the prior recording “for the protection and safety of officers.” The emails reveal, however, that the real reason was concern that the recordings would someday become public and reveal the war crimes being perpetrated by CIA officials. AWIP: 'The heat from destroying is nothing compared to what it would be if the tapes ever got into public domain.' 2005 destruction of interrogation tapes caused concern at CIA, e-mails show.

Noam Chomsky, the leading leftwing intellectual, warned last week that fascism may be coming to the United States. “I’m just old enough to have heard a number of Hitler’s speeches on the radio,” he said, “and I have a memory of the texture and the tone of the cheering mobs, and I have the dread sense of the dark clouds of fascism gathering” here at home.

After spending 26 hours in the Baltimore County Jail, Anthony Graber still doesn’t understand what he did wrong. Sure, the 24-year-old man admits to speeding on his motorcycle, but does that merit having a plainclothes cop pull a gun on him? Does that merit six state troopers raiding his parents’ home and seizing four computers at the crack of dawn? Does that merit getting charged with a felony and threatened with five years in prison? Of course it doesn’t

RAMALLAH, [Occupied] West Bank (AFP) – More than 7,000 Palestinians, including 270 children, are currently held in Israeli prisons, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. Three of the prisoners have been in jail for more than 30 years, and 315 for more than 15 years, PCBS said in a statement released to coincide with Prisoners Day, which Palestinians mark on Saturday. Of those currently held, 264 are under administrative detention, which means they are held without trial. Since 1967, when it occupied the Palestinian territories, Israel has detained more than 760,000 Palestinians, the statement said.

What They Don't Tell You About Israel part 1 of 4
What They Don't Tell You About Israel part 2 of 4
What They Don't Tell You About Israel part 3 of 4

An enormous volcanic ash cloud has shut down air travel in Europe, canceling flights and stranding Europe-bound passengers around the world. But thanks to the iPad, stranded Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg hasn't had any trouble. Stoltenberg, who traveled from Oslo to the U.S. to participate in President Obama's nuclear summit, is now stuck in New York City. Stoltenberg's press secretary told CNN that the prime minister has been running his government from Apple's tablet.

Last year Pope Benedict XVI repealed the excommunication of Williamson, who has been consecrated a bishop by his own Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). Williamson's anti-Holocaust remarks to a Swedish interviewer became public knowledge soon after. During the interview, Williamson alleged that the Nazi gas chambers had never existed, and "only 200,000 to 300,000 Jews" had been killed by the Nazis. He was speaking at an SSPX seminary near Regensburg.

[Editor's Comment:] This trial is disgrace. -We think Bishop Williamson is wrong. More people were killed during those years in Europe. But we do think that he has a right to speak his mind without being put on trial.

In third incident this week, Israeli settlers torch two more Palestinian vehicles. This time they left behind the words in spray-painted graffiti: "Thank you God, for not making me a Gentile."