Top rebel leader in South Sudan killed by army (AP)

JUBA, South Sudan ? South Sudan's military forces killed the country's highest-profile rebel leader, a man who posed a significant security threat to peace inside the world's newest country, an official said Tuesday.

Rebel leader George Athor was a former lieutenant general in South Sudan's military during the 1983-2005 civil war with Sudan. But Athor launched a rebellion after losing an April 2010 election for governor of Jonglei state, a vote he maintained was rigged.

Troops loyal to Athor fought repeatedly with South Sudanese forces over the last year, resulting in hundreds of deaths.

South Sudanese officials on Tuesday leveled serious charges against Athor, saying he had been making contacts with the region's most insidious rebel group ? the Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA ? and that officials in Sudan's capital Khartoum had been financing him.

South Sudan has repeatedly accused its northern neighbor, Sudan, with providing support and assistance to Athor and other rebel groups. Sudan has denied those accusations.

South Sudanese Vice President Riek Machar, in announcing Athor's death on Tuesday, said Athor had been in Rwanda, Congo and Uganda recently in a drive to recruit fighters. Col. Philip Aguer, South Sudan's military spokesman, said Athor was making militant contacts in preparation for a Christmastime attack.

Aguer said one South Sudanese soldier and one of Athor's men were also killed during the exchange on Monday evening.

Aguer said Athor's death was a major victory for the people of South Sudan which "has deprived Khartoum of an important tool."

Athor was the last major rebel leader still active in South Sudan.

South Sudan has tried repeatedly to broker peace with Athor. During South Sudan's independence ceremony from Sudan in July, President Salva Kiir offered amnesty to all rebels fighting in the country, including Athor.

Machar said Tuesday that the deal still stands.

"I call on all who rebelled against the government to lay down their arms and join the process of peace and development," he said.

Even as South Sudan faces the threat of military action from its northern neighbor, John Prendergast, co-founder of the Enough Project, an advocacy group that does work in Sudan, said Athor's death highlights the urgent need to address divisions within South Sudan.

"Another Athor will emerge tomorrow unless real progress is made in providing political and economic opportunities that feel marginalized in the process of independence," Prendergast said.

Athor's death will likely be seen as a victory for South Sudan, which has been plagued by rebel movements for years. But Jonah Leff, a Researcher for the Small Arms Survey, a security analysis group working in South Sudan, said he does not believe Athor's death will solve the rebel problem.

"I do not believe that an SPLA policy of assassinating rebel militia leaders is an effective one," said Leff. "The killing of Athor is likely to embolden many of his followers as well as other militias, including the SSLA and the Shilluk rebels in Unity and Upper Nile, respectively."

The South Sudan Liberation Army, or SSLA, is comprised of forces formerly loyal to rebel leader Gatluak Gai, who was killed in July by his own men, weeks after accepting South Sudan's offer of amnesty.

The SSLA operates in South Sudan's oil-rich Unity State, and could become a major problem for the government.

"In fact," said Leff, "the SSLA has been in serious unification talks with Athor, whose death is certain to create a vacuum of power in Jonglei, allowing the SSLA to rise to prominence."

Athor's death comes just days after the SSDM and SSLA issued a joint statement accusing South Sudan of attempting to assassinate him. The statement ? issued Dec. 13 ? said a man dressed as a priest and a woman were found carrying guns as they attempted to meet Athor. According to the statement, the two alleged assassins claimed to represent the Anglican Church, which has attempted to broker peace between Athor and the government of South Sudan.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111220/ap_on_re_af/af_south_sudan_rebel_leader

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Divine Writers ? Selecting The Proper Automotive Seat For Your Child

The numerous automobile accidents each year which are ensuing to deaths and injuries of younger kids necessitated the usage of one other automobile safety device: child automobile seat.

The most common dilemma of most dad and mom is selecting the perfect baby automotive seat from among the many so many variations (each with its personal safety feature) that?s being bought within the market. The answer to this is no matter suits the infant comfortable, fits in your automotive snugly and is within the budget is the most effective child automobile seat that anybody can find.

All child automotive seats, and for that matter all the things that has to do with vehicular safety, has to pass. The same federal crash testing and security measures. Child automotive seats that are accepted by the federal government has the peace of mind of security, the requirements is about has to be passed by all manufacturers. For sure, even the most cost effective baby car seat sold out there has gone by way of the identical crash checks and can always protect the young against crashes supplied these are correctly installed.

Further options are nice but these add as much as the price of the child car seat. Higher prices don?t at all times mean the best, as there are no ?finest? automotive baby seats. Some extra options will solely be significant if it can be used but the car seat must fit the infant first.

After you have chosen a baby car seat that you like, the next item on your checklist is to read the producer instruction manual. The most expensive and multiple featured child car seat will not be of any use if the manufacturers guide is read thoroughly as these might have special necessities about special becoming and use.

In any occasion, the same rule will apply. Children and infants that weigh under 20 lbs. ought to be seated dealing with the rear of the car. If the kid is already one yr outdated and still beneath the required weight limits the appropriate automotive child seat have to be the convertible type however the little one still must be seated facing the rear. The convertibles could be fitted to face the front, which might be a great preparation when he/she exceeds the weight limit.

Toddler-solely seats are small transportable seats that often are a part of a stroller system. It has three to 5 point harnesses and can be used for children as much as 22 lbs. The seat normally comes with a detachable base for convenience because it means that you do not need to install the seat each time it?s used.

Larger baby automotive seats are used for older and larger babies and are forward facing. Just like the infant solely car child seat, this additionally comes with a five-point harness. Added characteristic is a padded T-Shield that?s connected to the shoulder straps and a padded tray like overhead shields that that swing down around the child.

Child car seats, it doesn?t matter what the kind is have one thing in common: they?re all designed to guard the baby from any untoward accidents that may happen in the course of the trip. And like security belt which are attached on the seat of the automobiles to harness adult passengers, baby car seats present security to the little ones on board.

A great brands of play centers for children is the Little Tikes Playhouse The quality of these great little play gyms is unsurpassed. Visit us today to get your own discount on your next playhouse.

Source: http://www.divinewriters.com/2011/12/selecting-the-proper-automotive-seat-for-your-child/

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NBC to Air Betty White 90th Birthday Tribute (omg!)

NBC is celebrating Betty White's big 9-0 with a tribute and a sneak peek of her upcoming hidden camera series Betty White's Off Their Rockers, the network announced.

Betty White's 90th Birthday: A Tribute to America's Golden Girl will tape live in Los Angeles and include special music performances, surprise appearances and birthday wishes from White's past and present co-stars.

Check out more photos, news and videos of Betty White

Following the tribute, NBC will show a preview of White's new series where she sends senior citizens to pull pranks on younger generations.

The Betty White birthday block will air on Monday, Jan 16 at 8/7c on NBC.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_nbc_air_betty_white90th_birthday_tribute_225000635/43939191/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/nbc-air-betty-white-90th-birthday-tribute-225000635.html

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Iraq ledger: War by the numbers

Reckoning the costs of war in Iraq will take years. Using federal government and other sources, analysts at the Center for American Progress have calculated an 'Iraq War Ledger.'

Reckoning the costs of war in Iraq will take years, especially the impact on US prestige and power in the world. Historians, political scientists, and economists will write doctoral dissertations on the subject, and some will devote careers to calculating and analyzing the data and each others? conclusions ? as continues to be the case with the Vietnam War.

Skip to next paragraph

Analysts Matthew Duss and Peter Juul of the Center for American Progress have taken a first cut at calculating the costs of the American war in Iraq.

The center is a progressive, nonprofit think tank and advocacy organization in Washington, founded in 2003 by former Clinton administration chief of staff John Podesta.

The organization's inclinations are clearly left-of-center, but the figures in its ?Iraq War Ledger? are taken from nonpartisan sources, including the Congressional Research Service, icasualties.org, the Defense Department, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, the Centers for Disease Control, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

IN PICTURES:?Leaving Iraq

Here are some of the main points:

Human Costs

Coalition deaths totaled 4,803, of which 4,484 (93 percent) were American. The number of Americans wounded was 32,200. At least 463 non-Iraqi contractors were killed.

Iraqi civilian deaths are estimated to total between 103,674 and 113,265.

The UNHCR says the war resulted in 1.24 million internally displaced persons and more than 1.6 million refugees.

Financial costs

The Congressional Research Service puts the dollar cost of Operation Iraqi Freedom at $806 billion.

In their book ?The Three Trillion Dollar War,? Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes estimate the projected total cost of veterans? health care and disability payments to be between $422 billion and $717 billion.

Veterans

More than 2 million US service members have served in Iraq or Afghanistan (many in both wars).

The total number of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans eligible for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care is 1,250,663, half of whom (625,384) have used VA health care since 2002.

The number of Iraq/Afghanistan veterans diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is at least 168,854 ? more than a quarter of those who have used VA health care.

The suicide rate for Iraq/Afghanistan veterans using VA health care in FY 2008 was 38 suicides per 100,000 veterans ? more than three times the national suicide rate for the previous year.

Iraq reconstruction

Total funding: $182.27 billion.

Iraqi government funds (including Coalition Provisional Authority funding): $107.41 billion.

International funds: $13.03 billion.

US funds (2003-2011): $61.83 billion. As a basis for comparison, the US after World War II spent $34.3 billion in Germany and $17.6 billion in Japan on post-war reconstruction. (All figures in 2011 dollars.)

The cost of war is more than numbers, of course. Losing a family member or a lifetime of disability are?incalculable.

?The end of former Iraq President Saddam Hussein?s brutal regime represents a considerable global good, and a nascent democratic Iraqi republic partnered with the United States could potentially yield benefits in the future,? Duss and Juul of the Center for American Progress write. ?But when weighing those possible benefits against the costs of the Iraq intervention, there is simply no conceivable calculus by which Operation Iraqi Freedom can be judged to have been a successful or worthwhile policy.?

That?s a political and historical judgment that no doubt will be debated for years.

IN PICTURES:?Leaving Iraq

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/V6t6YpJO-eU/Iraq-ledger-War-by-the-numbers

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France Sarkozy's popularity remains stable: poll (Reuters)

PARIS (Reuters) ? French President Nicolas Sarkozy's popularity has remained stable but most voters continue to be unimpressed by his policies, a poll to be published in weekly newspaper Journal du Dimanche Sunday showed.

The IFOP-JDD poll indicated 34 percent of respondents were satisfied with Sarkozy's policies - unchanged from November, when the president's popularity showed a three percent rise after three months of consecutive falls.

The poll only showed approval ratings for Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon, whose popularity inched up four percent in the last month.

As the euro zone debt crisis has continued to deepen, Sarkozy has sought to show voters he is a safe pair of hands, casting himself as a dynamic crisis fighter alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

But 66 percent of respondents said they remained unhappy with his performance.

Separate polls have shown Sarkozy trailing in approval ratings behind his Socialist rival Francois Hollande, who is consistently tipped to beat him in the runoff for the presidential election that will take place in two rounds next April 22 and May 6.

(Reporting by Elena Berton; Additional reporting by Leigh Thomas and Brian Love; Editing by Sophie Hares)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111217/wl_nm/us_france_sarkozy_poll

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Palm-sized baby among the world's smallest

14-week-old Melinda Star Guido holds her mother's little finger while lying in an incubator at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. At birth, Melinda Star Guido tipped the scales at only 9 1/2 ounces, a tad less than the weight of two iPhone 4S. Melinda is believed to be the second smallest baby to survive in the United States and the third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

14-week-old Melinda Star Guido holds her mother's little finger while lying in an incubator at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. At birth, Melinda Star Guido tipped the scales at only 9 1/2 ounces, a tad less than the weight of two iPhone 4S. Melinda is believed to be the second smallest baby to survive in the United States and the third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Haydee Ibarra, looks at her 14-week-old daughter, Melinda Star Guido, at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011. At birth, Melinda Star Guido tipped the scales at only 9 1/2 ounces, a tad less than the weight of two iPhone 4S. Most babies her size don?t survive, but doctors are preparing to send her home as soon as the end of the month. Melinda is believed to be the second smallest baby to survive in the United States and the third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

This undated photo provided by Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center shows shows Melinda Guido shortly after her birth in late August with the hand of Dr. Rangasamy Ramanathan as a comparison. Melinda was born premature at 24 weeks weighing only 9.5 ounces. She's believed to be the second smallest baby to survive in the United States and third in the world. (AP Photo/Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center )

This undated photo provided by Melinda Guido?s family shows Melinda, with her mother's fingers in the scene, in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. Melinda was born premature at 24 weeks weighing 9.5 ounces. She?s believed to be the second smallest surviving baby in the United States and third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Haydee Ibarra)

This undated photo provided by Melinda Guido?s family shows Melinda in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center. Melinda was born premature at 24 weeks weighing 9.5 ounces. She?s believed to be the second smallest surviving baby in the United States and third smallest in the world. (AP Photo/Haydee Ibarra)

(AP) ? At birth, Melinda Star Guido was so tiny she could fit into the palm of her doctor's hand. Weighing just 9 1/2 ounces ? less than a can of soda ? she is among the smallest babies ever born in the world.

Most infants her size don't survive, but doctors are preparing to send her home by New Year's.

Melinda was born premature at 24 weeks in late August and is believed to be the second-smallest baby to survive in the U.S. and third smallest in the world. She spent the early months cocooned in an incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit in Los Angeles.

Despite hurdles, Melinda lived to her original Thursday due date. Doctors say it is too early to say how she will fare developmentally and physically when she grows up.

For now, her 22-year-old mother sits at her bedside almost every day and stays overnight whenever she can.

On Wednesday, Haydee Ibarra caressed Melinda through the portholes of the incubator where nurses pinned up a homemade sign bearing her name. Now 3 ? months old and weighing 4 pounds, Melinda gripped Ibarra's pinky finger and yawned.

"Melinda, Melinda," she cooed at her daughter dressed in a polka dot onesie. "You're awake today."

During her pregnancy, Ibarra suffered from high blood pressure, which can be dangerous for mother and fetus. She was transferred from a hospital near her San Fernando Valley home to the county's flagship hospital, which was better equipped to handle high-risk pregnancies.

There was a problem with the placenta, the organ that nourishes the developing fetus. The fetus, however, was not getting proper nutrition, blood and oxygen. Doctors knew Melinda would weigh less than a pound, but they were surprised at how small and fragile she was.

"The first few weeks, it was touch and go. None of us thought the baby was going to make it," said Dr. Rangasamy Ramanathan, who oversees premature infants at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.

Even if she survived, doctors told Ibarra and her husband Yovani Guido, children born this extremely premature can have developmental delays and impairments such as blindness, deafness or cerebral palsy.

Ibarra, who previously had a stillborn, told doctors to do whatever necessary to help her baby.

"They said, 'We'll take the chance. Please try.' So we said. 'OK we'll try,'" Ramanathan recalled.

Melinda was delivered by cesarean section at 24 weeks and was immediately transferred to the NICU where a team of doctors and nurses kept watch around the clock. Infants born before 37 weeks are considered premature.

Melinda was kept insulated in an incubator and was hooked up to a machine to aid her breathing. She got nutrition through a feeding tube. Her mother said her skin felt like plastic because it was so thin.

"It takes a lot of good care and a lot of good luck. Most of them don't survive," said pediatrician Dr. Edward Bell of the University of Iowa who keeps an online database of the world's smallest surviving babies who were less than a pound at birth.

The list currently contains 126 babies dating back to 1936. Since submission is voluntary, it does not represent all survivors.

Ten babies weighing less than a pound were born last year and survived. Melinda joins three other tiny survivors delivered this year in Berkeley; Seoul, South Korea; and Iowa City, Iowa. All are bigger than Melinda, who is not eligible to be listed until she gets discharged.

Most tiny babies who survive tend to be female. That's because female fetuses mature faster than males of the same gestational age. Having more developed lungs and other vital organs increases odds of survival.

Bell published a study last year that found many survivors struggle with health and learning problems. For those for whom growth data are available, many are short and underweight for their age.

There are some success stories.

The smallest surviving baby born weighing 9.2 ounces is now a healthy 7-year-old and another who weighed 9.9 ounces at birth is an honors college student studying psychology. Their progress was detailed in a study published this week in the journal Pediatrics by doctors at Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois where the girls were born.

In the past three years, Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center cared for two other babies with extremely low birth weight who survived, but Melinda holds the record at the hospital.

Prematurity comes with high costs. Ramanathan estimates it costs $3,000 to $5,000 a day to care for a premature infant.

A month after birth, Melinda was treated for an eye disorder that's common in premature babies. She faced her biggest test last month when she underwent surgery to close an artery that usually seals after birth.

Ybarra held her daughter for the first time after the surgery. Before that, she could only touch her through the incubator.

The next challenge is learning to bottle feed before discharge. Ramanathan predicted at least another two-week stay, dashing her parents' hopes of taking her home by Christmas.

Ramanathan said doctors don't know how Melinda will fare when she's older. Since she did not have major complications such as bleeding in the brain, he held out hope.

Melinda can breathe by herself, but still uses an oxygen tube as a precaution. On Wednesday, an ophthalmologist checked out her eyes and said everything looked good.

After the checkup, Ibarra lifted Melinda out of the incubator and sat in a rocking chair, cradling her.

___

Follow Alicia Chang's coverage at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

___

Online:

Tiniest Babies Registry: http://bit.ly/rvglZQ

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2011-12-15-Tiny%20Baby/id-cc7037860a1a448b926f669ee98a55dc

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SOPA hearings underway, tech policy wonks can stream it live

IPRLike any good tech geek you're probably at least interested in, if not a little concerned by SOPA -- the Stop Online Piracy Act. Well, today is its day in front of the House Judiciary committee. While this is hardly the last stop on the road towards becoming a law for the bill it is one that will be crucial in deciding its fate. Will it be toothless and unenforceable? Simply die in committee? Or will this become a powerful new tool in the battle against piracy? If you're the really wonky type hit up the source link to watch a live stream of the debate.

[Thanks, Tyler]

SOPA hearings underway, tech policy wonks can stream it live originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Obama marking end of Iraq war (AP)

FORT BRAGG, N.C. ? President Barack Obama saluted returning troops returning from Iraq Wednesday, declaring that the nearly nine-year conflict is ending honorably, "not with a final battle, but with a final march toward home."

Marking the conclusion of the war at this military base that's seen more than 200 deaths over nearly nine years of fighting in Iraq, Obama never tried to declare victory. It was a war that he opposed from the start, inherited as president and is now bringing to a close, leaving behind an Iraq still struggling.

But he sought to declare a noble end to a fight that has cost nearly 4,500 American lives and left about 32,000 wounded.

"The war in Iraq will soon belong to history, and your service belongs to the ages," he said, applauding their "extraordinary achievement."

All U.S. troops are to be out of Iraq Dec. 31, though Obama has pledged the U.S. will continue civilian assistance for Iraq as it faces an uncertain future in a volatile region of the world. Even as majorities in the U.S. public favor ending the war, some Republicans have criticized Obama's withdrawal, arguing he's leaving behind an unstable Iraq that could hurt U.S. interests and fall subject to influence from neighboring Iran.

Obama, appearing with first lady Michelle Obama, highlighted the human side of the war, reflecting on the bravery and sacrifices of U.S. forces now on their way back home. He recalled the start of the war, a time when he was only an Illinois state senator and many of the warriors before him were in grade school.

"We knew this day would come. We have known it for some time now," he said. "But still, there is something profound about the end of a war that has lasted so long."

Obama, who became president in part because of his opposition to the Iraq war, said the war faced twists and turns amid one constant: the patriotism and commitment of U.S. troops.

"It is harder to end a war, than to begin one," he said.

Still, he made only passing mention of the enormous soul-searching the war caused in America, saying it "was a source of great controversy here at home, with patriots on both sides of the debate." He did not mention that he had opposed it.

He noted the early battles that defeated and deposed Saddam Hussein and what he called "the grind of insurgency" -- roadside bombs, snipers and suicide attacks.

"Your will proved stronger than the terror of those who tried to break it," he said.

Upon his arrival in Fort Bragg Wednesday, Obama met with five enlisted service members who had recently returned from combat. He also met with the family of a soldier killed overseas.

Obama has on several occasions addressed his reasons for ending the war, casting it as a promise kept after he ran for president as an anti-war candidate and speaking of the need to refocus U.S. attention on rebuilding the troubled economy at home.

Obama's approval rating on handling the situation in Iraq has been above 50 percent since last fall, and in a new Associated Press-GfK poll, has ticked up four points since October to 55 percent. Among independents, his approval rating tops 50 percent for the first time since this spring.

With the economy foremost on people's minds, fewer now consider the war a top issue. Fifty-one percent said it was extremely or very important to them personally, down from 58 percent in October, placing it behind 13 of 14 issues tested in the poll.

It's the president's first visit to Fort Bragg, which is home to Army Special Operations, the 18th Airborne Corps and the 82nd Airborne, among others. Special Forces troops from Fort Bragg were among the first soldiers in Iraq during the 2003 invasion and its paratroopers helped lead the 2007 troop increase.

North Carolina, which Obama narrowly won in 2008, also is an important state for the 2012 presidential election and will host the Democratic convention.

To underscore the political significance, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, one of the leading GOP presidential contenders, addressed an open letter to Obama and sent it to the Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer decrying the unemployment rate for veterans.

Unemployment for veterans who served after Sept. 11, 2001, was 11.1 percent in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Romney called such a statistic a "disgrace."

"In the face of such economic hardship, fine words welcoming veterans home are insufficient," he wrote. "It is time for a fundamental change of direction. If you won't or can't lead our country out of the economic morass you've deepened, then I would suggest that it's time for you to go."

In his speech, Obama said that Iraq "is not a perfect place."

But he added that "we are leaving behind a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant Iraq, with a representative government that was elected by its people. We are building a new partnership between our nations."

Brig Gen Norman Ham, commander of the 440th Airlift Wing, said in an interview that the end of the Iraq war "means a lot of things."

"For me personally, I served my country and I'm proud of what we've done, what we've accomplished," Ham said. "We set out on a mission and we accomplished that mission."

Ham reflected on the mixed outcome in Iraq.

"The world isn't a perfect place. We try to help where we can and do the best we can," Ham said. "We have limited resources to go everywhere and do everything for everyone, but we do the very best we can and that's what we've done in Iraq ? the very best we can."

___

Associated Press writer Martha Waggoner in Raleigh, N.C., and AP Deputy Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111214/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama

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Could Robert F. Kennedy's Assassin Have Been 'Hypno-Programmed'? (LiveScience.com)

This past March, 42 years into his life prison sentence for assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, Sirhan Sirhan stood in front of a parole board and repeated the same thing he had been saying at parole hearings for decades: that he had no memory of the shooting or his subsequent trial and confession of guilt. For the 14th time, his application was denied. Two weeks ago, Sirhan's attorneys filed the latest in a series of appeals that aim to get Sirhan back in front of a judge to correct what they call "an egregious miscarriage of justice."

Sirhan, they argued, had been hypnotized to carry out the crime.

In addition to presenting expert audio analysis indicating that there were two guns fired from different directions and a claim that a bullet from Kennedy's neck was switched out to match Sirhan's gun, the filings bolster a long-repeated conspiracy theory asserting that Sirhan was a victim of hypnosis, an unwitting shill whose Arab name made him an easy scapegoat and drew attention from the true architects of the assassination. According to the new pleadings, "[Sirhan] was an involuntary participant in the crimes being committed because he was subjected to sophisticated hypno-programing and memory implantation techniques which rendered him unable to consciously control his thoughts and actions at the time the crimes were being committed." [Where Do Murderous Tendencies Come From?]

Anticipating the skeptical firewall that the phrase "hypno-programming" raises in many inquiring minds, the filings also maintain that, "The public has been shielded from the darker side of the practice. The average person is unaware that hypnosis can and is used to induct antisocial conduct in humans."

If nothing else, Sirhan's lawyers may be right about a general lack of public awareness on the true potential of hypnosis. According to Dr. Richard Kluft, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Temple University and the past-president of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, the scenario that Sirhan's legal team advances is "certainly within the realm of plausibility."

To put the seemingly far-fetched theory into context, Kluft notes that it is undisputed and freely available information that U.S. government security agencies have extensively researched the possibility of creating so-called "hypnotic assassins" and "hypnotic couriers." (A hypnotic courier would theoretically memorize a classified message while under hypnosis and then only be able to retrieve that information if provided with the proper post-hypnotic cue by the message's intended recipient, thus eliminating the possibility that the agent could divulge the information if captured and tortured.) Information on whether and how covert organizations have put the findings of their hypnosis research ? such as that conducted in the CIA's allegedly discontinued human experimentation program MKULTRA ? to use, however, is harder to obtain.

According to Kluft, it is not possible to hypnotize someone to do something that obviously violates their beliefs or desires. In hypnosis, though, context is everything. Say, for example, an unethical hypnotist wanted to hypnotize a suggestible vegetarian to eat a steak. If the hypnotist simply put the vegetarian into a state of hypnosis and then presented him or her with a steak, identified it as a steak, and told the person to eat it, the hypnotized vegetarian would almost certainly refuse.

But if the hypnotist put a vegetarian into a state of hypnosis and then made repeated misleading suggestions that in a short period of time a waiter would deliver a mouth-watering, mock-meat, soy-based protein slab that would be both delicious and meat-free, and then proceeded to order genuine filet mignon, the vegetarian would probably be more amenable to taking a bite.

The very uncomfortable and very serious question, then, is whether an exceptionally suggestible human brain, manipulated in just the right way, might be seduced by its delusions into committing an act far beyond the violation of a dietary code ? namely, gunning down a gifted politician in the early stages of an auspicious bid for the American presidency. Could a hypno-programmed Sirhan Sirhan really have fired on Kennedy if he didn't actually want to?

There is not a simple answer. It is all but inconceivable that Sirhan could have been picked up off the street and then successfully hypnotized to kill against his will after one session with a master hypnotist, but if hypnosis is combined with brainwashing regimens and used to make persistent suggestions that a subject misperceive external circumstances and re-contextualize personal beliefs, its limits are not well defined, Kluft said.

"Post-hypnotic subjects can be induced to misunderstand their circumstances and, as a result of them misunderstanding their circumstances, do and say some things that are very likely to be potentially detrimental and injurious," said Kluft, careful to note that he cannot speculate on Sirhan's past or present mental state specifically, as he has not personally evaluated him. "In the most general sense, you can't make a person do something against their principles with hypnosis, but you can deceive them as to what's truly the case so that they may wind up doing something that they themselves regard as reprehensible but that they did under circumstances of not really getting the whole picture."

It would be very unlikely for an appeal be granted based solely on new evidence of hypnosis in a crime that occurred more than 40 years ago, said Stephen J. Morse, a professor of law and psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. But if Sirhan's attorneys do manage to win their client a re-trial based on any of their latest allegations, proof that he was in a state of hypnosis at the time of Kennedy's assassination would absolve him of responsibility. "All crimes require some prohibited act as one of the elements," Morse explained. "In most American jurisdictions, an act performed under hypnosis is not considered an 'act' and thus the defendant would simply be acquitted of the crime charged."

This story was provided by Life's Little Mysteries, a sister site to LiveScience. Follow Life's Little Mysteries on Twitter @llmysteries, then join us on?Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111216/sc_livescience/couldrobertfkennedysassassinhavebeenhypnoprogrammed

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