tagged w/ Jennifer Welker
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Mary Verne was discharged from the Army for being a Lesbian.
This is her story.
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Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have committed killings, or been charged with them, after coming home.
Most nights when Anthony Klecker, a former marine, finally slept, he found himself back on the battlefields of Iraq. He would awake in a panic, and struggle futilely to return to sleep.
Days were scarcely better. Car alarms shattered his nerves. Flashbacks came unexpectedly, at the whiff of certain cleaning chemicals. Bar fights seemed unavoidable; he nearly attacked a man for not washing his hands in the bathroom.
Desperate for sleep and relief, Mr. Klecker, 30, drank heavily. One morning, his parents found him in the driveway slumped over the wheel of his car, the door wide open, wipers scraping back and forth. Another time, they found him curled in a fetal position in his closet.
Yet only after his drunken driving caused the death of a 16-year-old cheerleader did Mr. Klecker acknowledge the depth of his problem: His eight months at war had profoundly damaged his psyche.
“I was trying to be the tough marine I was trained to be — not to talk about problems, not to cry,” said Mr. Klecker, who has since been diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder. “I imprisoned myself in my own mind.”
Mr. Klecker’s case is part of a growing body of evidence that alcohol abuse is rising among veterans of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, many of them trying to deaden the repercussions of war and disorientation of home. While the numbers remain relatively small, experts say and studies indicate that the problem is particularly prevalent among those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, as it was after Vietnam. Studies indicate that illegal drug use, much less common than heavy drinking in the military, is up slightly, too. Veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have committed killings, or been... more
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Sen. John McCain interview with Ellen DeGeneres. Ellen, who recently announced that she plans to take advantage of the California Supreme Court’s recent gay marriage ruling and wed her longtime girlfriend, actress Portia di Rossi, pressed McCain on his stance on gay marriage.
McCain said that he opposes gay marriage, but said couples should be able to allowed to enter into legal agreements:
McCAIN: Well, my thoughts are that I think people should be able to enter into legal agreements, and I think that is something that we should encourage, particularly in the case of insurance and other areas, decisions that have to be made. I just believe in the unique status of marriage between man and woman. And I know that we have a respectful disagreement on that issue.
DEGENERES: Yeah, I mean, I think that it is looked at, and some people are saying that blacks and women did not have the right to vote. Women just got the right to vote in 1920, blacks didn’t have the right to vote until 1870, and it just feels like there’s this old way of thinking that we’re not all the same. We are all the same people. All of us. You’re no different than I am. Our love is the same.”Sen. John McCain interview with Ellen DeGeneres. Ellen, who recently announced that... more
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Poisonous illegal alcohol has killed at least 87 people in two southern Indian states since the weekend, police say.
Bootleggers have been selling the drink in a district on the border between the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Sixteen more deaths were reported from the outskirts of the Karnataka capital, Bangalore, on Tuesday and police expect the number of dead to rise.
Most of the dead are poor, migrant workers. Deaths from illegally brewed alcohol are common in South Asia.Poisonous illegal alcohol has killed at least 87 people in two southern Indian states... more
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AAA's FuelGaugeReport.com — Web site tracks the daily national average price of unleaded gasoline
GasBuddy.com — Web site searches for the cheapest unleaded gas prices in your areaAAA's FuelGaugeReport.com — Web site tracks the daily national average price of... more
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A Ugandan rebel group has abducted 130 children in recent weeks, a senior military official said Tuesday.
"According to the information we have, the rebels took 100 children during a raid in the Central African Republic and another 30 from a Zandi community on the Sudan Congo border last month," Ugandan army spokesman Paddy Ankunda told the Associated Press.
He said unconfirmed reports suggested the Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA, seized smaller numbers of children as the rebels move between their bases in the Central African Republic and Congo.
The LRA and Uganda's government have engaged in peace talks for almost two years to end the conflict, which started two decades ago, and have negotiated a final peace deal.
But early last month, rebel leader Joseph Kony failed to attend a planned signing ceremony, casting doubt over his commitment to the peace process.A Ugandan rebel group has abducted 130 children in recent weeks, a senior military... more
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The French government will press the United Nations to pressure countries to abolish bans on homosexuality the country's minister for human rights has announced.
Homosexuality remains a crime in 75 countries. In many of those countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Nigeria it is punishable by death. Sentences in other countries range from public floggings to imprisonment.
Human Rights Minister Rama Yade told a meeting of French LGBT rights groups that his government would make its appeal to the UN when France assumes the rotating six-month EU presidency in July.
During that period France will speak for all EU member states at the UN General Assembly. The French government will press the United Nations to pressure countries to abolish... more
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The environmental movement has never been short on noble goals. Preserving wild spaces, cleaning up the oceans, protecting watersheds, neutralizing acid rain, saving endangered species — all laudable. But today, one ecological problem outweighs all others: global warming. Restoring the Everglades, protecting the Headwaters redwoods, or saving the Illinois mud turtle won't matter if climate change plunges the planet into chaos. It's high time for greens to unite around the urgent need to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
Just one problem. Winning the war on global warming requires slaughtering some of environmentalism's sacred cows. We can afford to ignore neither the carbon-free electricity supplied by nuclear energy nor the transformational potential of genetic engineering. We need to take advantage of the energy efficiencies offered by urban density. We must accept that the world's fastest-growing economies won't forgo a higher standard of living in the name of climate science — and that, on the way up, countries like India and China might actually help devise the solutions the planet so desperately needs.
The environmental movement has never been short on noble goals. Preserving wild... more
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Three teenagers were arrested after two of them told police they dug up a secluded grave north of Houston, removed the skull from the coffin and converted it into a marijuana bong.
Police believe the grave is that of an 11-year-old boy who died in 1921.
They found a grave in the city of Humble that had been disturbed, but were still investigating the rest of the teens' story, Houston police Sgt. John Chomiak said.
CBS affiliate KHOU-TV in Houston reports that police do not have any physical evidence yet to confirm the story, but felt confident to pursue charges based on statements from the three teens.
Kevin Wade Jones, 17, and Matthew Richard Gonzalez, 17, both of Kingwood, were arrested Wednesday night and were being held on misdemeanor charges of abuse of a corpse, Chomiak said. A 16-year-old was referred to the Harris County juvenile justice system.
Three teenagers were arrested after two of them told police they dug up a secluded... more
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Shiite Hezbollah gunmen seized control of key parts of Beirut from Sunni rivals loyal to the U.S.-backed government Friday, in a dramatic show-of-force certain to strengthen the Iranian-allied group's hand as it fights for dominance in Lebanon's political deadlock.
An ally of Hezbollah said the group intended to pull back, at least partially, from the areas its gunmen occupied overnight and Friday morning - signaling Hezbollah likely does not intend a full-scale, permanent takeover of Sunni Muslim parts of Beirut, similar to the Hamas takeover of Gaza a year ago.
The clashes eased by Friday evening as Lebanon's army began peacefully moving into some areas where Hezbollah gunmen had a presence.
But as Hezbollah gunmen celebrated in the capital's empty streets - including marching down one of its glitziest shopping lanes - it was clear that the show-of-force would have wide implications for Lebanon and the entire Mideast.
Shiite Hezbollah gunmen seized control of key parts of Beirut from Sunni rivals loyal... more
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Facebook, the world's second-largest social networking website, is adding more than 40 new safeguards to protect young users from sexual predators and cyber-bullies under an agreement with officials nationwide that was announced Thursday.
The measures include banning convicted sex offenders from the site, limiting older users' ability to contact subscribers under 18 and participating in a task force set up in January to find ways to verify users' ages and identities.
"The agreement marks another watershed step toward social networking safety, protecting kids from online predators and inappropriate content", said Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who announced the agreement Thursday with his counterparts in other states.Facebook, the world's second-largest social networking website, is adding more than 40... more
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People were making ethanol at home long before there were cars. They called it moonshine. With gas prices going through the roof and everyone worried about global warming, a California company is betting people will jump at the chance to use the same technology to turn sugar into fuel for less than a buck a gallon.
E-Fuel Corporation has unveiled its EFuel 100 MicroFueler, a device about the size of a stacking washer-dryer that uses sugar, yeast and water to make 100 percent ethanol at the push of a button.
"You just open it like a washing machine and dump in your sugar, close the door and push one button," company founder Tom Quinn told us. "A few days later, you've got ethanol."People were making ethanol at home long before there were cars. They called it... more
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People who sleep fewer than six hours a night — or more than nine — are more likely to be obese, according to a new government study that is one of the largest to show a link between irregular sleep and big bellies.
The study also linked light sleepers to higher smoking rates, less physical activity and more alcohol use.
The research adds weight to a stream of studies that have found obesity and other health problems in those who don't get proper shuteye, said Dr. Ron Kramer, a Colorado physician and a spokesman for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
"The data is all coming together that short sleepers and long sleepers don't do so well," Kramer said.
The study released Wednesday is based on door-to-door surveys of 87,000 U.S. adults from 2004 through 2006 conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.People who sleep fewer than six hours a night — or more than nine — are more... more
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It may seem like a fear rooted in Cold War paranoia, but with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sniffing around the Middle East, North Korea and other parts of the world for hidden enrichment facilities and smuggled radioactive materials, the threat of an atomic bomb hitting a major city is a harsh reality.
If your city is the target of a nuclear attack, you'll need to do more than duck and cover. Between the sheer destructive force of the blast and the horrors of fallout, the odds of survival can be depressingly slim. Here's a list of tips to beat the odds of this oft-feared doomsday scenario. It may seem like a fear rooted in Cold War paranoia, but with the International Atomic... more
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A Kuwaiti who had been imprisoned in Guantanamo for more than 3 1/2 years carried out a recent suicide attack in Iraq, the U.S. military said Wednesday.
Abdullah Saleh al-Ajmi took part in one of three suicide bomb attacks last month in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Scott Rye, a military spokesman.
It appears to be the first time someone who was held at the prison at the U.S. base in Cuba has carried out a suicide attack, said a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon.
Al-Ajmi, 29, was transferred in 2005 to Kuwait, where the government was supposed to ensure he would not pose a threat. In May 2006, a Kuwaiti court acquitted him and four other former Guantanamo prisoners of terrorism charges.
Dubai-based al-Arabiya television, citing a cousin of al-Ajmi, last week reported that he had carried out a suicide attack, but the U.S. military could not confirm it until Wednesday. A Kuwaiti who had been imprisoned in Guantanamo for more than 3 1/2 years carried out... more
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Bodies floated in flood waters and survivors tried to reach dry ground on boats using blankets as sails, while the top U.S. diplomat in Burma said today that up to 100,000 people may have died in the devastating cyclone.
Hungry crowds stormed the few shops that opened in the country's stricken Irrawaddy delta, sparking fist fights, according to Paul Risley, a spokesman for the U.N. World Food Program in neighboring Thailand.
Shari Villarosa, who heads the U.S. Embassy in Burma, said food and water are running short in the delta area and called the situation there "increasingly horrendous."
"There is a very real risk of disease outbreaks as long as this continues," Villarosa told reporters.Bodies floated in flood waters and survivors tried to reach dry ground on boats using... more
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Saddam Hussein feared catching AIDS or other diseases during his U.S.-supervised captivity, a leading Arab newspaper said in publishing excerpts of his prison writings.
The London-based Al-Hayat said the comments came in portions of Saddam's prison dairies that it obtained from U.S. authorities. The U.S. military confirmed some of the late Iraqi leader's writings had been released.
When Saddam found out his U.S. military guards were also using his laundry line to dry clothes, he wrote that he demanded they stop, according to the excerpts.
"I explained to them that they are young and they could have young people's diseases," Saddam wrote. "My main concern was to not catch a venereal disease, an HIV disease, in this place." He said some soldiers ignored his request.
A U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Maj. Matthew Morgan, declined to describe the writings as a formal diary, but said the former Iraqi president produced thousands of pages of writing while in custody.
"The select material that has been previously released was viewed here by Arabic speakers and reported on accordingly," he said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Saddam was captured by American soldiers on Dec. 13, 2003, just over eight months after his regime was toppled by a U.S.-led invasion. An Iraqi tribunal convicted him of crimes against humanity and he was hanged at the end of 2006.
In the excerpts, Saddam also described having an intimate conversation with his American doctor about women and said his English gradually improved by talking to his captors.
"I was speaking it using my hands and signs if I could not find the exact word," he wrote. "But our language (Arabic) is more beautiful and deeper."
Saddam also wrote how hard it was to have to ask for things, such as once when he requested a flower.
"It was a serious sacrifice from me to ask for the first time in my life," he wrote.
Al-Hayat also published excerpts from what it described as poetry written by Saddam in his prison.
In April 2004, the world had the first glimpses of Saddam's cell when two newspapers printed pictures of him emerging from the bathroom in his underwear after washing clothes. The Sun in London and the New York Post said the pictures were provided by U.S. military sources to "undermine the Iraqi rebellion."Saddam Hussein feared catching AIDS or other diseases during his U.S.-supervised... more
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In one of the more bizarre celebrity tie-ins in recent memory, Nobel Peace Prize winner archbishop Desmond Tutu helped launch a new music discovery service in New York on Tuesday morning. The label, SOS Records, will offer free music in the MP3 format, allowing users to function as it's A&R department by voting on which artists it should sign.
So far, only four artists are listed (Naomi Striemer, Mario Winans, Shawn King and Idrissa Diop), none of whom I've ever heard of. However, other bands and artists who are interested in a potential SOS Records deal can upload their songs.
Users will vote on the uploaded music, and winners will get to record a new album for the label with one of the site's "world-class producers." The eventual plan is "to debut one free, fully-produced song each day."In one of the more bizarre celebrity tie-ins in recent memory, Nobel Peace Prize... more
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The Army's $160 billion, network-heavy Future Combat Systems reboot was supposed to feature whole new families of manned vehicles and flying robots. But now, leading lawmakers are pushing for an early end to the program. And the best thing that may come out of FCS is an upgrade to a very familiar weapons system.The Army's $160 billion, network-heavy Future Combat Systems reboot was supposed to... more
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The Pentagon's way-out researchers don't just want to build an Internet simulator, to test out cyberwar tactics. They want the range's operators to "realistically replicate human behavior and frailties," too.
Congress has ordered the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or Darpa, to put together a National Cyber Range, as part of a massive (and massively secret) $30 billion, government-wide effort better prep for battle online. The project is now considered a top priority for the Agency. And to make sure the facility is as true-to-life as possible, Darpa wants the contractors running the Range to be able to "replicate realistic human behavior on nodes," a request for proposals, released today, reveals.The Pentagon's way-out researchers don't just want to build an Internet simulator, to... more
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