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War Torn
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 charged with them, after coming home. ... more -
McCain video: still against gay marriage
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 she plans to take advantage of the California Supr... more -
Ugandan rebels taken 130 kids
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 official said Tuesday. ... more -
France to push UN for decriminalization of gays
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 bans on homosexuality the country's minister for ... more -
Cutting carbon is the only thing that matters
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 spaces, cleaning up the oceans, protecting watersheds,... more -
Hezbollah gunmen take Beirut neighborhoods
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 to the U.S.-backed government Friday, in a drama... more -
Make Fuel at Home With Portable DIY Refinery
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 moonshine. With gas prices going through the roof and e... more -
How to survive a nuclear blast
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 Energy Agency (IAEA) sniffing around the Middle... more -
Ex-Guantanamo prisoner ID'd as Iraq bomber
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 a recent suicide attack in Iraq, the U.S. milita... more -
Death toll in Burma could hit 100,000
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 blankets as sails, while the top U.S. diplomat i... more -
Saddam Scared of Getting AIDS from US Troops
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 captivity, a leading Arab newspaper said in publishin... more -
Archbishop Tutu Helps Launch Music Label
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 winner archbishop Desmond Tutu helped launch a new mu... more -
Army's Familiar 'Future'
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 feature whole new families of manned vehicles and ... more
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As Gas Costs Soar, Buyers Flock to Small Cars
Soaring gas prices have turned the steady migration by Americans to smaller cars into a stampede.
In what industry analysts are calling a first, about one in five vehicles sold in the United States was a compact or subcompact car during April, based on monthly sales data released Thursday. Almost a decade ago, when sport utility vehicles were at their peak of popularity, only one in every eight vehicles sold was a small car.
The switch to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles has been building in recent years, but has accelerated recently with the advent of $3.50-a-gallon gas. At the same time, sales of pickup trucks and large sport utility vehicles have dropped sharply.
In another first, fuel-sipping four-cylinder engines surpassed six-cylinder models in popularity in April.
“It’s easily the most dramatic segment shift I have witnessed in the market in my 31 years here,” said George Pipas, chief sales analyst for the Ford Motor Company.
The trend toward smaller and lighter vehicles with better mileage is a blow to Detroit automakers, which offer fewer such models than Asian carmakers like Toyota and Honda. Moreover, the decline of S.U.V.’s and pickups has curtailed the biggest source of profits for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. Soaring gas prices have turned the steady migration by Americans to smaller cars into a stampede. ... more -
Plane crash kills Sudan leader
South Sudan's defence minister has been killed in a plane crash involving about 20 people, according to officials in Khartoum and the south.
Defence Minister Dominic Dim was aboard the plane with other passengers returning from a conference, said a source in the southern capital, Juba.
South Sudan's defence minister has been killed in a plane crash involving about 20 people, according to officials in Khartoum and the ... more -
Secret Service probes alleged noose incident
The Secret Service is investigating whether the racially-charged symbol of a noose was displayed in its Maryland training facility.
An instructor "observed a rope tied in a loop, which was interpreted as a noose, in one of the training buildings" at the James J. Rowley Training Center in Beltsville, Maryland, on April 16, the Secret Service said.
The instructor is a 38-year-old African American member of the Secret Service's Uniformed Division.
A white agent admits leaving it, but it is unclear if the rope was intended to be a noose or was tied in a loop for some other reason. The white agent is currently on administrative leave while the Service's Office of Professional Responsibility investigates.
The rope was found tied to a building where agents do tactical training. In a statement to CNN, the Secret Service said "There has been no indication of racial intent on the part of the employee who has claimed responsibility."
The officer who found the rope reported the incident to management at the site later that same day, but it wasn't until eight days later that the Office of Professional Responsibility, the service's internal affairs branch, were brought in to do a formal investigation. The Secret Service is investigating whether the racially-charged symbol of a noose was displayed in its Maryland training facility. ... more -
Principal tries to bar lesbian couple
Magola Franco Pérez, principal of Leonardo da Vinci High School in Colombia allowed 700 students to jeer in unison, "We Don't Want You" at a lesbian student couple being allowed to register for classes under a court order. According to a blog by Andres Duque, "She had threatened to resign if the two young women were ever allowed to return to school," but she did not. She is now trying to stop the girls from attending by saying they signed incorrect registration forms. Magola Franco Pérez, principal of Leonardo da Vinci High School in Colombia allowed 700 students to jeer in unison, "We Don't Want You... more
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Clinton Takes on O'Reilly
Hillary Clinton appeared on FOX's The O'Reilly Factor for the first time last night.
O'Reilly started out the discussion by focusing on the Rev. Wright controversy. Said Clinton: "“Well, I take offense at it. I think it's offensive and outrageous. And, you know, I'm going to express my opinion, others can express theirs. But, you know, it is -- it is part of, you know, just an atmosphere that we're in today where all kinds of things are being said...And people have to, you know, decide what they believe. And I sure don't believe the United States government was behind AIDS." Hillary Clinton appeared on FOX's The O'Reilly Factor for the first time last night. ... more -
Prostitute linked to Washington elite found Dead
The woman dubbed the DC Madam killed herself yesterday, police said, just weeks after she was convicted of running a prostitution ring that catered to highly placed US government officials.
Deborah Jeane Palfrey, 52, became a tabloid celebrity in the US after her escort ring led to criminal charges and she threatened to reveal the names of the men who patronised her "erotic fantasy" service.
Police yesterday said Palfrey hanged herself at her mother's home in the town of Tarpon Springs, Florida. Her mother, 76, discovered the body in a shed on the property and remained "very distraught", a police spokesman said. Police said there were a number of suicide notes, but did not disclose the contents.
"Handwritten notes were found on scene that describes the victim's intention to take her life, and foul play does not appear to be involved," said Captain Jeffrey Young in a statement. The woman dubbed the DC Madam killed herself yesterday, police said, just weeks after she was convicted of running a prostitution ring... more -
No money left for Mexico
As he fixes a broken sliding glass door at an apartment in Anaheim, California, Eduardo Gutierrez worries about his parents in Mexico.
He can no longer afford to send the $200 to $300 a month he had been sending back home to support his ailing father.
"I kind of feel bad that I can't help my parents," said Gutierrez, a legal immigrant who has worked in the United States for 20 years. "I try. But I can't these days, and it's a tough situation."
Gutierrez said he earns $18.50 an hour as a glazier, installer and fixer of glass in all shapes and sizes.
But with the U.S. economy sagging, his hours have shrunk, even as his gas and grocery bills have skyrocketed along with other expenses. He's struggling just to support his wife and three children. As he fixes a broken sliding glass door at an apartment in Anaheim, California, Eduardo Gutierrez worries about his parents in Mexico.... more
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