Link: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/04/12-2

If the past week was any indication, the U.S.-Israeli relationship, which could scarcely have been smoother during the eight-year presidency of George W. Bush, appears headed for choppy waters.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/apr/12/david-de-rothschild-plastiki-pacific

In a few weeks, the heir to one of the world's greatest fortunes, David de Rothschild, will set sail across the Pacific - in a boat, the Plastiki, made from plastic bottles and recycled waste. The aim of this extraordinary venture is simple: to focus attention on one of the world's strangest and most unpleasant environmental phenomena: the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a rubbish-covered region of ocean, several hundred miles in diameter.

Link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/12/russia-tajikistan-recession-guest-workers

Until last month, Zafar Kasimov was working in a cement factory in St Petersburg. Now, however, he is back home from Russia and scraping a living in Tajikistan, central Asia's most hard-up nation. "My Russian boss told me there was no more work," Zafar, 26, said. "I used to earn 10,000 roubles a month (£230). Now that's finished. I've come back because of the crisis."

Link: http://proudatheists.wordpress.com/2009/04/12/why-do-christians-insist-that-hitler-was-an-atheist/

Why do we feel the need to excuse/distance our religious affiliation from madmen like Hitler? Is it out of shame or just plain denial? There are certain facts about Adolf Hitler that simply cannot be overlooked.

Link: http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2009/04/wall-street-and-pentagon-greed-and-its.html

At the heart of both scams is the deliberate corruption of information on such a vast scale that it overwhelms the mind of the educated layman to make sense out of it.

Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=91241&sectionid=351020101

Shimon Peres warns about a possible military strike against Iran if the much talked-about US-Iran negotiations do not soften the Iranian president's approach. Israel 'will' launch its much-predicted military strike against Iran, should Washington's overture to Tehran prove to be of no avail. In an interview with Kol Hai Radio, Israeli President Shimon Peres launched into a tirade against Iran and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warning him about his stance.

Link: http://www.infowars.com/world-fluoridated-water-map/

The extent of fluoridated water usage around the world. Colors indicate the percentage of population in each country that receives fluoridated water, where the fluoridation is to levels recommended for preventing tooth decay (sic). This includes both artificially and naturally fluoridated water.