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Eleanor Brockel
Sott.net 2012-12-24 07:54:00
My partner and I started to 'wake up' about two years ago, after mercilessly repressing doubts and general feelings of unease for years. There was abundant evidence that something was wrong but like most we largely ignored it. With hindsight it's easy to see that despite our ignorance, we were still dealing with the consequences of objective reality. My partner would regale me later with the details of how he felt like he'd gone completely bonkers when he started storing cans of food in an upstairs cupboard. Eventually, when the cupboard door didn't close anymore, he decided that he'd have to let me in on his insanity. I was initiated and the rest, as they say, is history. After that, we crammed as much information into our heads as we could fit and admittedly became somewhat obsessed; total annihilation was lurking around every corner. We can laugh now but the resulting stress, hopelessness and despondency took its toll on both of us and led us into intermittent periods of depression and anger. I had a series of personal wake up calls shortly thereafter, though of a more spiritual nature. I started to ask myself, in desperation, if the gift of the present was to prepare for Armageddon. Getting my inspiration from nature and human tribes through the ages the resounding answer was no. I found myself immersed in mind-boggling and spirit-lifting stuff, nothing the like of which I'd ever encountered before and I started to enjoy myself. Luckily, I'm not one to strongly believe or discard anything without good cause; something that I think has stood me in good stead so far. I've been lucky to avoid a whole lot of tripe over the years and managed to skip most of the usual disinformation traps. Things started to make sense when I got with the program of open minded enquiry and logical reasoning i.e. sorting the wheat from the chaff. |
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Denise B
The Daily Paul 2012-12-22 22:27:00
As many of you know, this entire event at Sandy Hook, CT leaves a lot more questions than answers, and with each passing day the story seems to get more convoluted and irrational. I decided to do some of my own digging into Adam Lanza's background, and so far I have been unable to even confirm that this person actually even exists. I did two separate searches on Intelius and Spokeo and each of them resulted in the same baffling results. Both Nancy and Peter Lanza are listed in Sandy Brook, CT and their family tree shows Nancy and Peter Lanza with only one child....Ryan Lanza. Adam Lanza does not show up in the family tree at either website and searches for Adam Lanza from CT, yield only two results, which are clearly not him. The search results are posted below. If you scroll down you will see that on each of Nancy, Peter's and Ryan's searches a family tree is given of all known members: | |||
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Comment: Here are two other versions circulating in the
media of the same original photo as above, but do you notice anything
funny about the background in each of these? They appear to have been
photoshopped.
Remind you of anything?
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Abby Martin, 'Breaking The Set'
Abby Martin takes a look at the US government's morbid history of
mind-control, MKULTRA, and the testing of deadly chemicals on US
citizens.Russia Today, US Edition 2012-12-20 05:49:00
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Agence France-Presse
2012-12-21 21:25:00
A vicious cold snap across Russia and eastern Europe has claimed nearly 200 lives, officials figures showed Friday, as forecasters warned it would last until Christmas Eve. In Russia, the cold has killed two people in the past 24 hours, the Ria-Novosti agency reported, citing medical sources, bringing the total number of deaths over the past week to 56. The freeze had also left 371 people in hospital. Thermometers have been stuck below minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) in Moscow -- and below minus 50 degrees (minus 58 F) in some parts of Siberia -- for a week. Russian weather forecasters said temperature in the Khabarovsk region in eastern Russia had dropped to minus 43 Celsius, while Krasnoyarsk in Siberia reported minus 47. This "abnormal" frost would last till Monday because of a persistent anticyclone, they added. In Russia's European region, meanwhile, the mercury is expected to fall to minus 31 degrees Celsius on Christmas Eve before rising rapidly afterwards. Other European countries hit hard by the extreme temperatures were counting the toll as temperatures gradually started to return to normal. |
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Humberto Braga
From the perspective of being the manager at a spiritual bookstore
witnessing the New Age 2012 craze at ground zero in West Los Angeles, I
feel it incumbent to take the opportunity to lay out some observations
regarding this period in time because all too often, I meet people like
this:humbertolvx.wordpress.com 2012-12-22 12:07:00
Hello and Namasté dear New Agers, Well... Here we are. Dec 21st, 2012 has come and gone. Are you "enlightened" yet? Was there a "global awakening"? Are you still in a human suit, marooned in Monkey Land, where governments kill, steal, and oppress? Where cultures distract and ensnare you with lies and myths to coerce your obedience through empty promises, convolution, illusory Left/Right paradigms, and fear? Yep. So, do you realize what it means? It means these MANY YEARS of flashy "You Create Your Own Reality" and New Age marketing leading up to the "Awakening/ Ascension of 2012″ was a MANUFACTURED LIE. The planets were never going to "align" and there was never going to be a worldwide global enlightenment on Dec 21, 2012. "Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It's seeing through the facade of pretence. It's the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true." |
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Tom Philpott
Mother Jones 2012-12-20 15:34:00
When Monsanto revolutionized agriculture with a line of genetically engineered seeds, the promise was that the technology would lower herbicide use - because farmers would have to spray less. In fact, as Washington State University researcher Chuch Benbrook has shown, just the opposite happened. Sixteen years on, Roundup (Monsanto's tradename for its glyphosate herbicide) has certainly killed lots of weeds. But the ones it has left standing are about as resistant to herbicide as the company's Roundup Ready crops, which are designed to survive repeated applications of the agribusiness giant's own Roundup herbicide. For just one example, turn to Mississippi, where cotton, corn, and soy farmers have been using Roundup Ready seeds for years - and are now struggling to contain a new generation of super weeds, including a scourge of Italian ryegrass. "Fight resistant weeds with fall, spring attack," declares a headline in Delta Farm Press, a farming trade magazine serving the Mississippi River Delta. The article's author, a Mississippi State University employee, lays out the challenge: |
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WIVB.com
2012-12-24 14:06:00
Webster - The police chief in Webster, N.Y., says that four firefighters were shot while responding to a blaze in the town near Rochester and that two are dead. Chief Gerald Pickering says "one or more shooters" fired at the firefighters Monday morning. Officials say they had arrived at the scene of the blaze near the Lake Ontario shore around 6 a.m. Officials say a fire started in one home and spread to two others and a car. Officials say there is no active shooter at the scene. Source: Associated Press |
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Nicholas West
Activist Post 2012-11-14 11:31:00
One of the most difficult things to convey to people who are relatively new to information that appears in the so-called alternative media is just how diabolical the controlling elite really are. People can seem to accept that the world is run by a bunch of ruthless bankers, or perhaps they realize that presidents and national leaders are puppets to corporate interests, or perhaps they even have come to grips with the fact that "The Elite" are willing to destroy nations and people to consolidate power and form a one-world government. Poison the planet with depleted uranium? Yes. Poison the food supply with GMO's? Definitely. But one topic that has been routinely shrugged off as manifestly impossible is that those at the very top of the pyramid, including well-known politicians and public figures, have engaged consistently -- and on a widespread basis -- in the organized sale, rape, torture and murder of children. Frankly, we had a hard time fully believing it ourselves until recently. But the evidence has become so overwhelming that we must have the courage to look into the very worst cesspit; one which better belongs in paintings of Hell's torments, not on the evening news. According to Missingkids.com, 800,000 children under the age of 18 go missing each year globally -- 2,185 per day. Their hotline received an average of 580 calls per day to this point in the last quarter of 2012 -- 3.5 million calls since the organization's inception in 1984. It is clearly an epidemic of staggering proportions. |
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Yahoo! Canada News
Kabul - An Afghan police official says an Afghan policewoman has killed an American adviser at the Kabul police headquarters.2012-12-24 00:00:00 Kabul's Deputy Police Chief Mohammad Daoud Amin says an investigation is underway to determine whether the killing today was intentional or accidental. It was not known whether the victim was a military or civilian adviser. The NATO military command says it's looking into reports of the shooting but had no independent information. At least 53 international troops have been killed by Afghan soldiers or police this year, and a number of other assaults are still under investigations. NATO forces, due to mostly withdraw from the country by 2014, have speeded up efforts to train and advise Afghan military and police units before the pullout. Source: The Associated Press and The Canadian Press |
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Roger Friedman
Showbizz 411 2012-12-22 00:00:00
The Central Intelligence Agency has issued a statement about Kathryn Bigelow's film Zero Dark Thirty. This must be a first. I can't remember a time the austere CIA said anything about a Hollywood film. But they are not happy. Of course this will probably create more interest in Bigelow's film about the hunt for and killing of Osama Bin Laden. Acting Director Michael Morell's statement follows. He also calls the deceased crazed killer "Usama." We like "Osama." (Tomato, Tomatto, let's call the whole thing off!) Statement: I would not normally comment on a Hollywood film, but I think it important to put Zero Dark Thirty, which deals with one of the most significant achievements in our history, into some context. The film, which premiered this week, addresses the successful hunt for Osama Bin Ladin that was the focus of incredibly dedicated men and women across our Agency, Intelligence Community, and military partners for many years. But in doing so, the film takes significant artistic license, while portraying itself as being historically accurate. |
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CBS New York
2012-12-21 02:48:00
In the wake of the Newtown massacre, the NYPD is examining ways to search the internet for potential "deranged" gunmen. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said that their searches would be similar to those being used to spot terrorist chatter online. "And what we're talking about is publicly available websites, chatrooms, that sort of thing," Kelly said, adding that algorithms could be used. That will enable us to use, perhaps, commonly used terms that are used by people engaged in this sort of activity," he said. "The techniques would include cyber-searches of language that mass-casualty shooters have used in e-mails and Internet postings," Kelly said. Kelly said intelligence is most helpful in these cases since shooters can cause multiple deaths in seconds regardless of how deft the police response. The NYPD's counter-terrorism division released a 182-page report last year after studying 202 mass shooting incidents. "So, we think this is another logical step," Kelly said. |
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Guardian, UK
2012-12-23 00:00:00
US military officials are investigating the apparent suicide of a Navy Seal commander in Afghanistan. Navy Seal Commander Job W Price, 42, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania, died on Saturday from a non-combat-related injury while supporting stability operations in Uruzgan province, Afghanistan. A US military official said the death "appears to be the result of suicide". The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the death is still being investigated. "The Naval Special Warfare family is deeply saddened by the loss of our teammate," said Captain Robert Smith, commander of Naval Special Warfare Group Two, which manages all Virginia-based Navy Seal teams. "We extend our condolences, thoughts and prayers to the family, friends, and NSW community during this time of grieving." Smith added: "As we mourn the loss and honour the memory of our fallen teammate, those he served with will continue to carry out the mission.". A US military official confirmed Price was from Virginia Beach, Virginia-based Seal Team 4, which is part of the mission to train Afghan local police to fend off the Taliban in remote parts of Afghanistan. Price is survived by a wife and a daughter. |
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Chris Hughes
Now they'll try even harder: Prince Harry and his comrades are said
to have unleashed a Hellfire missile to eliminate terror chief after
tracking him in war-torn Helmand provinceMirror News 2012-12-23 00:00:00
The warlords of Afghanistan had already put a £25,000 price on Prince Harry's head. And last night military experts feared the bounty for assassinating him may have increased dramatically. It follows unofficial reports yesterday that co-pilot Harry, 28 , had killed his first Taliban commander as he flew a mission as part of an Apache gunship crew. He and his comrades are said to have unleashed a Hellfire missile to eliminate the terror chief after tracking him in war-torn Helmand province. But there were growing fears yesterday that the story, which was reported worldwide, will only increase the danger facing the prince - and those around him. A Western intelligence source said: "There is no doubt that chatter between jihadists in Afghanistan will increase in relation to intensifying attempts to harm the prince. The trouble is any increased threat against a member of UK forces directly threatens all those on the front line." |
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Adam Clark Estes
The Atlantic Wire 2012-12-23 20:45:00
Now that it's been over a year since the Occupy movement swept across the country, FOIA requests are being fulfilled, revealing uncomfortable details about how authorities viewed the protestors. One such request by the Partnership for Civil Justice came through this weekend, and the 112 heavily redacted pages reveal that the FBI approached the Occupy Wall Street protests as "criminal activity" -- which is not terribly surprising -- and investigated the groups as perpetrators of "domestic terrorism" -- which is fairly unsettling. More specifically, the Feds enlisted its own as well as local terrorism task forces in nine different cities across the country to investigate Occupy. In Memphis, the group was lumped together with Anonymous and the Aryan Nation in discussing the threat of "domestic terrorism." White supremacists and 99 Percenters aren't really two groups that we think about hand-in-hand but whatever. This isn't the first time that a FOIA request has shown the FBI to have engaged in some suspicious activity around the Occupy movement. In September, a FOIA request from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) showed extensive surveillance of the movement's prominent players, leading ACLU attorney Linda Lye to ask, "Why does a political protest amount to a national security threat?" The FBI denied the surveillance accusations by saying that its investigation did not include "unnecessary intrusions into the lives of law-abiding people" and that its prohibited from investigating Americans "solely for the purpose of monitoring activities protected by the First Amendment or the lawful exercise of other rights." Of course, if you classify the actions as "domestic terrorism," other rules apply. That in mind, we still don't really have any idea how far the FBI went in chasing the Occupiers. At the time of this latest disclosure over two-thirds of the bureau's records on the movement have been made public. As the Partnership for Civil Justice said in a press release, this latest batch of documents is only "the tip of the iceberg." | |
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PressTV
2012-12-23 20:37:00
Jason Leopold, an investigative journalist for Truth-Out, has obtained FBI documents - through the Freedom of Information Act - relating to Occupy Wall Street. Most of the pages in the documents are redacted, and show concerns of cyber threats against the financial sector. However, there are questions of assassination plots against Occupy activists in Houston, Texas. Because the documents have redactions, it is not clear who or what group was planning the assassinations. On page 61, the section reads: "An identified [redacted] of October planned to engage in sniper attacks against protesters in Houston, Texas, if deemed necessary. An identified [redacted] had received intelligence that indicated the protesters in New York and Seattle planned similar protests in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin, Texas. [Redacted] planned to gather intelligence against the leaders of the protest groups and obtain photographs, then formulate a plan to kill the leadership via suppressed sniper rifles." The bottom of page 68 and the top of page 69 reads: "On October 13, 2011, writer sent via email an excerpt [redacted] regarding FBI Houston's [redacted] to all IA's, SSRA's and SSA [redacted]. This [redacted] identified the exploitation of the Occupy Movement by [redacted] interested in developing a long-term plan to kill local Occupy leaders via sniper fire." ragingchickenpress.org |
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Declan McCullagh
CNet 2012-12-23 18:16:00
Newly released files show a secret National Security Agency program is targeting the computerized systems that control utilities to discover security vulnerabilities, which can be used to defend the United States or disrupt the infrastructure of other nations. The NSA's so-called Perfect Citizen program conducts "vulnerability exploration and research" against the computerized controllers that control "large-scale" utilities including power grids and natural gas pipelines, the documents show. The program is scheduled to continue through at least September 2014. The Perfect Citizen files obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center and provided to CNET shed more light on how the agency aims to defend -- and attack -- embedded controllers. The NSA is reported to have developed Stuxnet, which President Obama secretly ordered to be used against Iran's nuclear program, with the help of Israel. U.S. officials have warned for years, privately and publicly, about the vulnerability of the electrical grid to cyberattacks. Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a congressional committee in February: "I know what we [the U.S.] can do and therefore I am extraordinarily concerned about the cyber capabilities of other nations." If a nation gave such software to a fringe group, Dempsey said, "the next thing you know could be into our electrical grid." |
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RT
2012-12-23 05:52:00
The Israeli prime minister has vowed to continue building settlements in the "Israeli capital of Jerusalem," defying near-unanimous international criticism of the illegal activity in retaliation for Palestine's upgraded UN status. In an interview with Israeli Channel 2, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threw internationally-recognized boundaries to the wind, saying that the Western Wall, which lies in a part of UN-administered Jerusalem occupied by Israel in 1967, "is not occupied territory" - and that he "does not care" what the United Nations has to say about it. Netanyahu added that all Israeli citizens live "in the Jewish state," and that "the capital of the Jewish state, for 3,000 years, has been Jerusalem," as cited by the Jerusalem Post. He went on to defend the planned construction of settlements near Jerusalem - in Gilo, formerly West Bank land occupied by Israel in 1967, and Ramat Shlomo, which was taken from Jordan the same year. "What future awaits Israel if we cannot build in Gilo and Ramat Shlomo?" he said. |
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The Real News
Last week, in one of the first actions of its kind, activists released
the names of Israeli soldiers involved in the killing of a Palestinian
protester. Mustafa Tamimi, a 28 year-old demonstrator from the village
of Nabi Saleh, was killed when a soldier shot a tear gas canister at his
face in December last year. Attorney Emily Schaeffer of Yesh Din spoke
with The Real News' Lia Tarachansky about why IDF investigations lead to
little justice. Maj. Avital Liebovitch, the IDF Spokeswoman questioned
why the army is even required to investigate crimes by soldiers, and
Abir Kopty of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Coordination Committee
spoke about the dozens of protesters who have been killed in recent
years in demonstrations.
2012-12-19 16:32:00 |
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The Telegraph, UK
Pope Benedict XVI has weighed in on a heated debate over gay
marriage, criticising new concepts of the traditional family and warning
that mankind itself was at stake. 2012-12-22 05:06:00
"In the fight for the family, the very notion of being - of what being human really means - is being called into question," the Pope said in Italian during an end-of-year speech. "The question of the family ... is the question of what it means to be a man, and what it is necessary to do to be true men," he said. The Pope spoke of the "falseness" of gender theories and cited at length France's chief Rabbi Gilles Bernheim, who has spoken out against gay marriage. "Bernheim has shown in a very detailed and profoundly moving study that the attack we are currently experiencing on the true structure of the family, made up of father, mother, and child, goes much deeper," he said. He cited feminist gender theorist Simone de Beauvoir's view to the effect that one is not born a woman, but one becomes so - that sex was no longer an element of nature but a social role people chose for themselves. |
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Fox News
2012-12-22 00:00:00
Rome - Italy's president is meeting with political leaders to set the stage for general elections early next year as Premier Mario Monti weighs whether to run for office after having handed in his resignation. Monti, appointed 13 months ago to steer Italy away from a Greek-style debt crisis, stepped down Friday after ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi's party yanked its support for his technical government. His resignation sets the stage for President Giorgio Napolitano to dissolve parliament and set a date for elections, expected in February, after consulting Saturday with leaders of Italy's political parties. More eagerly anticipated though is Monti's decision, expected Sunday, as to whether he will run. Small centrist parties have been courting Monti, but Italian newspapers said Saturday he was inclined to refuse. The center-left Democratic Party is expected to win. Source: The Associated Press |
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Jonathan Cook
Mondoweiss 2012-12-24 16:35:00
Israel's large Palestinian minority is often spoken of in terms of the threat it poses to the Jewish majority. Palestinian citizens' reproductive rate constitutes a "demographic timebomb", while their main political program - Israel's reform into "a state of all its citizens" - is proof for most Israeli Jews that their compatriots are really a "fifth column". But who would imagine that Israeli Jews could be so intimidated by the innocuous Christmas tree? This issue first came to public attention two years ago when it was revealed that Shimon Gapso, the mayor of Upper Nazareth, had banned Christmas trees from all public buildings in his northern Israeli city. "Upper Nazareth is a Jewish town and all its symbols are Jewish," Gapso said. "As long as I hold office, no non-Jewish symbol will be presented in the city." The decision reflected in part his concern that Upper Nazareth, built in the 1950s as the centrepiece of the Israeli government's "Judaisation of the Galilee" programme, was failing dismally in its mission. Far from "swallowing up" the historic Palestinian city of Nazareth next door, as officials had intended, Upper Nazareth became over time a magnet for wealthier Nazarenes who could no longer find a place to build a home in their own city. That was because almost all Nazareth's available green space had been confiscated for the benefit of Upper Nazareth. Instead Nazarenes, many of them Palestinian Christians, have been buying homes in Upper Nazareth from Jews - often immigrants from the former Soviet Union - desperate to leave the Arab-dominated Galilee and head to the country's centre, to be nearer Tel Aviv. The exodus of Jews and influx of Palestinians have led the government to secretly designate Upper Nazareth as a "mixed city", much to the embarrassment of Gapso. The mayor is a stalwart ally of far-right politician Avigdor Lieberman and regularly expresses virulently anti-Arab views, including recently calling Nazarenes "Israel-hating residents whose place is in Gaza" and their city "a nest of terror in the heart of the Galilee". Although neither Gapso nor the government has published census figures to clarify the city's current demographic balance, most estimates suggest that at least a fifth of Upper Nazareth's residents are Palestinian. The city's council chamber also now includes Palestinian representatives. |
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RT
2012-10-01 16:03:00
A TSA agent convicted of stealing more than $800,000 worth of goods from travelers said this type of theft is "commonplace" among airport security. Almost 400 TSA officers have been fired for stealing from passengers since 2003. Pythias Brown, a former Transportation Security Administration officer at Newark Liberty International Airport, spent four years stealing everything he could from luggage and security checkpoints, including clothing, laptops, cameras, Nintendo Wiis, video games and cash. Speaking publicly for the first time after being released after three years in prison, Brown told ABC News that he used the X-ray scanners to locate the most valuable items to snatch. "I could tell whether it was cameras or laptops or portable cameras or whatever kind of electronic was in the bag," he said. Brown often worked alone, screening luggage behind the ticket counters. He was frequently told the overhead surveillance cameras, installed to prevent theft, were not working. "It was so easy," he said. "I walked right out of the checkpoint with a Nintendo Wii in my hand. Nobody said a word." With more electronics than any one individual could need, Brown began to sell the stolen items on eBay. At the time of his arrest, he was selling 80 cameras, video games and computers online. Brown said the theft was comparable to an addiction. |
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Naomi Klein
Common Dreams 2012-12-24 15:45:00
I woke up just past midnight with a bolt. My six-month-old son was crying. He has a cold - the second of his short life - and his blocked nose frightens him. I was about to get up when he started snoring again. I, on the other hand, was wide awake. A single thought entered my head: Chief Theresa Spence is hungry. Actually it wasn't a thought. It was a feeling. The feeling of hunger. Lying in my dark room, I pictured the chief of the Attawapiskat First Nation lying on a pile of blankets in her teepee across from Parliament Hill, entering day 14 of her hunger strike. I had of course been following Chief Spence's protest and her demand to meet with Prime Minister Stephen Harper to discuss the plight of her people and his demolition of treaty rights through omnibus legislation. I had worried about her. Supported her. Helped circulate the petitions. But now, before the distancing filters of light and reason had a chance to intervene, I felt her. The determination behind her hunger. The radicality of choosing this time of year, a time of so much stuffing - mouths, birds, stockings - to say: I am hungry. My people are hungry. So many people are hungry and homeless. Your new laws will only lead to more of this misery. Can we talk about it like human beings? |
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Lee Rannals
RedOrbit 2012-12-24 15:32:00
According to a report by the New York Times, Amazon has started to crack down on thousands of fake book reviews that have popped up on the site in recent years. Some writers on the online retailer rely on fake reviews to help sell copies of their books, but Amazon is laying down the hammer in an attempt to stop this. The New York Times reports Amazon will not say how many reviews it has erased so far, and it has also declined to offer any public explanation. Several writers have sounded off to express their frustrations with the move, some saying the reviews cause zero harm. "Over the last few days, quite a few reviews have disappeared from books on Amazon," blogger Ed Robertson wrote in October. "I was alerted to this by someone who had reviewed Breakers and was upset to see their review had been pulled. This is a fellow KB author, but I don't know them. I'm not sure we've ever spoken directly before." |
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Joseph Cotto
The Washington Times Communities 2012-12-23 15:07:00
Florida - Many Americans think that their culture is on a downward spiral; Morris Berman thinks that Americans can't think. Our economy is weak, our education system is failing, and we've substituted the internet for real social interraction and real thought. We live in an ocean of information and have lost the capacity to pull knowledge from it, the critical capacity to test information for truth. Morris Berman is a prominent cultural and scientific historian, and also a well-known social critic. He's written extensively about everything from the values of Western civilization to our country's financial woes. His work challenges us to look at facts from a far more comprehensive perspective. In this first part of our discussion, Dr. Berman shares his views about contemporary American thought - or lack thereof - as well as the relationship between personal responsibility and individualism. |
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James Nye
Two brave volunteer firefighters were shot dead today and two injured
when a lone gunman started a blaze as a trap to lure the men and opened
fire on Christmas Eve.In addition a single police officer from the West
Webster police force in New York was hit by shrapnel during the shooting
which comes just ten days after the Sandy Hook Elementary School
massacre rocked the nation.Daily Mail 2012-12-24 09:36:00 The firefighters were called out to the fire on the shores of Lake Ontario at around 5.35 a.m. and the unidentified shooter immediately opened fire and initial reports claimed he was using an assault rifle - before a police SWAT team arrived and soon after the gunman died from a gunshot would. It is unclear if the wound was self-inflicted. The unidentified man opened fire as soon as the firefighters arrived, killing police lieutenant Mike Chiapperini and Tomasz Kaczowka, a 911 dispatcher, who had both volunteered with the West Webster fire department. In addition, two full time fire men, Joseph Hofsetter and Theodore Scardino were shot and injured by the gunman and are currently in nearby Strong hospital along with John Ritter, an off duty police officer who was hit by shrapnel from the volley of bullets. All three men are in a guarded condition according to West Webster fire Chief Gerald Pickering, who confirmed that there was only one gunman and that it appears the fire was started as a trap.'It does appear it was a trap set for first responders,' said a visibly emotional Pickering at a press conference this morning. 'These people wake up in the middle of the night to fight fires , they don't expect to get shot.' After the firefighters were shot police SWAT teams were called to the scene and they engaged managed to recover the dead and injured firefighters who had been shot.They then engaged in a pursuit of the unidentified suspect which ended in the shooter losing his life near to the home which he had set ablaze.
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France 24
At least two people were killed and dozens of others injured on
Friday as looters targeted supermarkets and petrol stations across
Argentina, including the capital Buenos Aires. The looting began on
Thursday and has led to at least 500 arrests. 2012-12-22 00:00:00
Looters ransacked supermarkets in several Argentine cities Friday, causing two deaths and evoking memories of widespread theft and riots that killed dozens during the country's worst economic crisis a decade ago. Santa Fe Province Security Minister Raul Lamberto described the attacks on stores as simple acts of vandalism and not social protests. Lamberto said two people were killed by a sharp object and gunfire after attacks early Friday on about 20 supermarkets in the cities of Rosario and Villa Gobernador Galvez. He declined to identify the victims or the attackers, but said 25 people were injured and 130 arrested during the looting about 190 miles northeast of Buenos Aires. Closer to the capital, riot police fired rubber bullets to drive off a mob that was trying to break into a supermarket in San Fernando, a town in Buenos Aires province. A police lieutenant was hit on the head with a crowbar and suffered severe injuries during the clashes in San Fernando, authorities said. Officials said 378 people had been arrested in those confrontations. Some shops closed in several cities despite the busy Christmas shopping season, worrying that the looting might spread. The troubles followed a wave of sporadic looting that began Thursday when dozens of people broke into a supermarket and carried away televisions and other electronics in the Patagonian ski resort of Bariloche. The government responded by deploying 400 military police to that southern city. |
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CBC News
2012-12-23 03:07:00
Deacon was 'a big part of the church,' parishioner says. Some parishioners at a Montreal Catholic church were shocked to learn Sunday that a deacon is being charged with producing and distributing child pornography. William Kokesch, 65, was arrested Friday morning and charged on Saturday via video link at the Montreal courthouse. Police said they found more than 2,000 images of children on a computer. His bail hearing will be held Monday at the Montreal courthouse. Kokesch, who lives in Pointe-Claire, was a deacon for the St-Edmund of Canterbury parish in Beaconsfield on Montreal's West Island. Carmella Guerriero told CBC News she was mortified by the news. "I'm here this morning without my kids," Guerriero said on her way into the church. "I just want to see if they have anything to say about what's happened. It's horrible," she said, adding that she is no longer comfortable having her children attend the church. |
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Misha Dzhindzhikashili
The Sacramento Bee 2012-12-21 00:00:00
Tbilisi, Georgia - People across the vast territory where Josef Stalin once imposed his terror have marked the 133rd anniversary of the dictator's birth, some in hatred but others in reverence. In Moscow, several hundred Russian Communists led by their leader Gennady Zuyganov laid flowers at Stalin's grave at the Red Square Friday, while smaller rallies were held across Russia and several former Soviet republics. Leftists in neighboring Belarus said they found a Stalin statue that was buried after denunciation of his personality cult in 1956, but refused to specify its whereabouts because they fear authorities will order its destruction. Authorities in Stalin's hometown of Gori, Georgia, they will reinstall his statue that was removed in 2010. In southern Ukraine, several ethnic Crimean Tatars trashed a small street exhibition on Stalin. The entire Crimean Tatar population of Ukraine was hastily deported in cattle trains on Stalin's orders in 1944 for their alleged collaboration with Nazi Germans during World War II. Of the 200,000 Crimean Tatars, almost a fifth died of starvation and diseases, and the survivors were allowed to return only in the late 1980s. |
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CBS Los Angeles
San Bernardino, California - Authorities Saturday continued to
investigate the circumstances surrounding a fight at an "End of the
World" party in San Bernardino that turned deadly.2012-12-22 03:13:00 A statement by the San Bernardino Police Department says as many as 100 people had attended the party at a home on 7th Street on Friday evening. At some point during the party, a 29-year-old man was stabbed and police were called to the scene to investigate. Upon arriving on scene, authorities say a shooting occurred nearby. The shooting victim, identified as 20-year-old Felipe Jason Moreno, suffered fatal injuries. His 22-year-old cousin was also wounded in the shooting, authorities said. "The reason for the shooting appears to have stemmed from a fight that had occurred at the party location," the statement said. The man, who was stabbed, is expected to survive. Anyone with more information about the incident is asked to contact Detective John Munoz at (909) 384-5630 or Sergeant Gary Robertson at (909) 841-5361. |
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Andrew Siff
The mayor of Marlboro Township in New Jersey said Friday there
would be armed security guards at the district's nine schools starting
in January.NBC 4 New York 2012-12-22 10:02:00
On the same day the National Rifle Association spoke publicly for the first time since last week's elementary school massacre in Connecticut, one local school district announced plans to place armed police officers in every school. The mayor of Marlboro Township in New Jersey said Friday there would be armed security guards at the district's nine schools starting in January. "This is not such a major change-- we're not putting in SWAT teams," said Mayor Jon Hornik. Hornik, who has three school-aged children, told NBC 4 New York he was still shaken from the Newtown shooting, and he "hasn't stopped hugging" his five-year-old. He statements about safety and protecting children echoed those made by the NRA earlier in the day. |
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RT
2012-12-23 00:00:00
A reporter was killed in eastern India as police fired on a violent rally which called for the arrest of a man accused of molesting a film star. In New Delhi, police used tear gas to disperse thousands of protesters angered over a recent gang-rape. For a second consecutive day, India was gripped by protests over widespread violence and abuse against women in the country. The rallies continued despite a government-imposed ban on gatherings of five or more people in areas of unrest. In India's eastern state of Manipur, local reporter Nanao Singh, 26, died at a hospital after sustaining deadly wounds from police gunfire. Security forces fired tear gas and rifles to break up a strike called by a film union, India's NDTV reported. The strikers torched a police car, lit tires on fire, hurled stones at police and obstructed roads in a popular Christmas shopping area. News of the death sparked further unrest across the state, and more vehicles were set ablaze. Authorities responded by re-imposing a just-lifted curfew.
Demonstrators in Manipur called for the arrest of militant Livingstone Anal, who allegedly molested local film star Momoko right on the stage as she performed at a concert on Tuesday. The strike began on Saturday and resulted in a curfew being imposed until Sunday morning. In the capital New Delhi, thousands gathered for a second day of protest after police arrested six men who brutally beat and gang-raped a 23-year-old student. Police used tear gas, water cannons and batons to hold back the swelling crowds, which consisted mostly of students and women. Around 35 people were injured in the New Delhi protests on Sunday, including several police officers. |
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Sky News
Police say a TV reporter has been killed during protests over sexual attacks in India as a public outcry continues.2012-12-23 00:00:00
A journalist has been killed in violent demonstrations against sex attacks in India as police failed to contain fresh violence. A television reporter, 36, was reportedly shot dead when officers opened fire on a protest in Imphal, the capital of Manipur state, over an attack on a film actress. The star, known as Momoko, was dragged from stage in full public view last week by an armed militant who tried to rape her. She managed to fight him off and fled. Momoko, also a popular model, has waived her right to anonymity to make a public appeal for her attacker's arrest. Crowds in Manipur pelted police with stones on Saturday, prompting a curfew to be imposed for parts of the state. This was relaxed on Sunday but soon a huge crowd assembled again to confront police who opened fire in retaliation, according to police spokesman A. Singh. A women's rights activist Bala Bedi said: "We want a strong message to be sent that perpetrators of such crimes have no place in our society." |
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John M. Glionna
A New Mexico man sues the USDA, saying politics has blocked permits to slaughter horses for food.Los Angeles Times 2012-12-22 07:48:00
Rick de los Santos wants to reopen an animal slaughter business that's been banned in the U.S. for years. Along the way, he's also opened a can of worms. The Roswell, N.M., meat company owner sued the federal government last week, alleging that officials ignored his application to resume domestic horse slaughter for food because the practice had become an emotional political issue throughout the West. After waiting a year for permits, De los Santos, 52, says he's using the courts to force the U.S. Department of Agriculture to resume inspections necessary to open what would be the nation's first new horse slaughterhouse since 2007. "I've submitted all the paperwork and have been told all along 'Oh, it won't be long now,'" said De los Santos, who owns Valley Meat Co. "I followed all their guidelines. I put more than $100,000 in upgrades and additions on my facilities to handle equine slaughter. And then the government comes back and tells me, 'We can't give you the permits. This horse issue has turned into a political game.' "So what else do you do? I figured it was time to go to court." |
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France 24
2012-12-23 00:00:00
Tourists flocking to Guatemala for "end of the world" parties have damaged an ancient stone temple at Tikal, the largest archeological site and urban center of the Mayan civilization. "Sadly, many tourists climbed Temple II and caused damage," said Osvaldo Gomez, a technical adviser at the site, which is located some 550 kilometers (340 miles) north of Guatemala City. "We are fine with the celebration, but (the tourists) should be more aware because this is a (UNESCO) World Heritage Site," he told local media. Gomez did not specify what was done, although he did say it was forbidden to climb the stairs at the site and indicated that the damage was irreparable. Temple II, which is about 38 meters (125 feet) high and faces the central Tikal plaza, is one of the site's best known structures. |
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| Secret History |
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Sci-News.com
The finds, reported in a paper in the journal PLoS ONE,
contradict the common belief that metal tools were required to make
complex wooden structures. The wooden water wells discovered in Germany
by the team led by Dr Willy Tegel of the University of Freiburg are over
7,000 years old, and suggest that early farmers had unexpectedly
refined carpentry skills. "This early Neolithic craftsmanship now
suggests that the first farmers were also the first carpenters," the
archeologists said.2012-12-24 12:41:00 These first Central European farmers migrated from the Great Hungarian Plain approximately 7,500 years ago, and left an archeological trail of settlements, ceramics and stone tools across the fertile regions of the continent, a record named Linear Pottery Culture.
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Douglas Main
LiveScience 2012-12-21 11:41:00
Shamans in the Siberian and Arctic regions used to give dried Amanita muscaria mushroom as gifts on the winter solstice. This Christmas, like many before it and many yet to come, the story of Santa and his flying reindeer will be told, including how the "jolly old elf" flies on his sleigh throughout the entire world in one night, giving gifts to all the good children. But according to one theory, the story of Santa and his flying reindeer can be traced to an unlikely source: hallucinogenic or "magic" mushrooms. "Santa is a modern counterpart of a shaman, who consumed mind-altering plants and fungi to commune with the spirit world," said John Rush, an anthropologist and instructor at Sierra College in Rocklin, Calif. According to the theory, the legend of Santa derives from shamans in the Siberian and Arctic regions who dropped into locals' teepeelike homes with a bag full of hallucinatory mushrooms as presents in late December, Rush said. "As the story goes, up until a few hundred years ago these practicing shamans or priests connected to the older traditions would collect Amanita muscaria (the Holy Mushroom), dry them, and then give them as gifts on the winter solstice," Rush told LiveScience. "Because snow is usually blocking doors, there was an opening in the roof through which people entered and exited, thus the chimney story." But that's just the beginning of the symbolic connections between the Amanita muscaria mushroom (at right) and the iconography of Christmas, according to several historians and ethnomycologists, or people who study the influence fungi has had on human societies. Of course, not all scientists agree that the Santa story is tied to a hallucinogen. |
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| Science & Technology |
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Seiichi Yoshida
Discovery Date: December 18, 2012Aerith Net 2012-12-23 12:04:00 Magnitude: 19.1 mag Discoverer: Lincoln Laboratory Near-Earth Asteroid Research project
The orbital elements are published on M.P.E.C. 2012-Y18. |
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Seiichi Yoshida
Discovery Date: December 12, 2012Aerith Net 2012-12-23 12:10:00 Magnitude: 20.0 mag Discoverer: Pan-STARRS 1 telescope (Haleakala)
The orbital elements are published on M.P.E.C. 2012-Y01. |
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Science Daily
2012-12-23 06:12:00
Bats are amazing creatures. They've been around for at least 65 million years, and in that time have become one of the most abundant and widespread mammals on Earth. The Bat Pack, a team of researchers at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) in Geelong, conduct a wide range of research into bats and bat borne viruses, and their potential effects on the human population, as part of the effort to safeguard Australia from exotic and emerging pests and diseases. Their paper, published today in the journal Science, provides an insight into the evolution of the bat's flight, resistance to viruses, and relatively long life. The Bat Pack, in collaboration with the Beijing Genome Institute, led a team that sequenced the genomes of two bat species -- the Black Flying Fox, an Australian mega bat, and the David's Myotis, a Chinese micro bat. |
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| Earth Changes |
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Source
2012-12-23 16:52:00
An unusual epidemic of coral disease has been killing a large number of corals on the north shore of the Hawaiian island, Kunai, according to researchers at the University of Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology. Examination of the diseased areas, called lesions, suggests a mysterious cyanobacterial infection. Known for causing blooms in freshwater lakes, some species of Cyanobacteria, a type of blue-green algae, produce toxins that can sicken aquatic life, animals and even humans. However, the researchers said the current outbreak appear limited to corals. The coral disease outbreak is said to be the first such cynobacterial infection documented in Hawaii on such a large scale. The university researchers are collaborating with USGS scientists to identify the cause of infection and what is promoting the outbreak. |
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Times Leader
2012-12-24 15:38:00
Fly over northeastern Minnesota with "Sky Dan" and you'd see a moose. One time, he spotted 15 of them during an hour flight. The pilot was so confident, he even offered those on his aerial tours a money-back guarantee. "If you didn't see a moose, you didn't pay," Dan Anderson, 49, said. No longer. Anderson stopped providing refunds to customers in 2008. He was handing back too much money. The state's iconic moose population has been mysteriously declining for years, a drop-off that pushed the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources this month to propose labeling moose a species of "special concern." "It's a classification that means we need to pay attention to this species," said Richard J. Baker, endangered species coordinator for the department. |
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WickedLocal.com
2012-12-24 09:54:00
Hypothermic sea turtles continue to wash up in record numbers on Cape Cod but in an unusual twist, two large loggerhead sea turtles have stranded on South Shore beaches since Monday. On Tuesday, Hull animal control officer Casey Fredette retrieved a live loggerhead from Nantasket Beach while on Monday another 40-pounder was rescued in the Humarock section of Scituate. Cold-stunned sea turtles strand annually on Cape Cod but almost always on the southern and eastern beaches of Cape Cod Bay from Sandwich to Truro. Typically, the northwest and northeast winds of late autumn create enough wave activity to drive the floating, nearly immobile marine reptiles ashore on those windward towns. Strandings on the South Shore are very rare events, and normally are confined to the discovery of long dead, smaller turtles early in the winter. |
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Daily Mail
More than 150million Americans are dreaming of a white Christmas.
Meteorologists predict snowfall could blanket nearly half the nation on
Tuesday - from Dallas to Maine - as a massive snowstorm moves from the
Great Plains and up into the Northeast. Accuweather
is now predicting that 'significant' snow will fall in Oklahoma and
Arkansas, potentially giving Oklahoma City its first Christmas snowfall
since 1914.2012-12-24 07:56:00 Little Rock Arkansas could get up to three inches. That last time more than an inch fell on Christmas Day was 1926.
Even Dallas, Texas, could see flurries for Christmas - though likely no accumulation. The last time Dallas saw snowfall on Christmas Day was 1997 - though a 2009 blizzard left several inches behind on Christmas Eve. 'Southern Oklahoma and Arkansas look like they're going to get slammed with some serious snow, strong winds -- four to eight inches in some places. It's a pretty powerful storm system,' Ted Ryan, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Fort Worth, Texas, told MailOnline. |
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CBC News
2012-12-22 08:39:00
Canada - Thousands of clients are without power across Quebec after a winter storm dumped 60 to 100 centimetres of snow in the Lanaudière and Laurentian regions. Approximately 130,000 households were without electricity this morning, according to Sophie Lamoureux, director of regional affairs at Hydro Québec. Lamoureux said that many Hydro Québec clients will have to wait until tomorrow evening before their power is restored. The Laurentians is one of the most affected areas, where close to 77,000 people are without power. Many in the Lanaudière and Outaouais regions were also left in the dark. Yesterday's heavy, wet snowfall was the main cause of the power outages, according to Lamoureux. She said the snow, combined with strong winds, brought down trees in heavily wooded areas in the Lanaudière region and the Laurentians. She said Hydro Québec crews are working to restore electricity. They have also asked for extra assistance from other regions of the province that were less affected. |
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Kristina Pydynowski
Not often does Dallas, Oklahoma City and Little Rock see snow on
Christmas, but Mother Nature is ready to defy those odds this year.Accuweather.com 2012-12-23 03:07:00 Residents of Dallas, Oklahoma City and Little Rock may find it hard to believe snow is on the way for Christmas with temperatures set to warm into the 40s and 50s on Christmas Eve. In addition, the chance of a white Christmas in all three cities is less than five percent. However, kids and those young at heart will be happy to learn that snow will indeed fall on Christmas thanks to the arrival of a strengthening winter storm and noticeably colder air. On the other hand, travelers both on the ground and in the air are likely to greet that news with jeers. Snow from the Rockies will reach western Kansas, western Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle during the predawn hours of Christmas. At the same time, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes will start erupting across southeastern Texas. Oklahoma City will also see a few snowflakes (and ice pellets) fly before sunrise on Christmas, but the daytime is when heavier snow will fall and accumulate around three inches.
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RT.com
2012-12-23 19:05:00
A top level "red" alert has been issued by the Chilean authorities as Copahue volcano began spewing ash raising fears of an imminent eruption. No evacuation has been ordered by the National Emergency office as there are no big towns are in the current risk area. About 500 people live in Copahue, a village famous for its spa waters, and there are about 900 in the town of Caviahue and an estimated 800 more in local indigenous Mapuche communities. "The intensity of seismic signals suggests the eruption in progress is on the smaller side (but) we are not ruling out the possibility that the activity could turn into a larger-scale eruption," the Geology and Mining Service said in a statement. |
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BBC
2012-12-23 06:27:00
Homes have been evacuated after landslips due to flooding in a Swansea valley village and in Pontypridd. Residents in Ystalyfera spent the night in a leisure centre after 11 homes were affected. Meanwhile, a wall collapsed at the back of cottages in Berw Road, Pontypridd. Flooding was causing disruption on rail lines between Cardiff and Bridgend and near Caersws in Powys. There are seven flood warnings by the Environment Agency in Wales. Some residents have also had to leave their homes in Berw Road, Pontypridd, after a retaining wall collapsed with a "loud bang" overnight. |
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BBC
2012-12-22 06:23:00
Part of a second cliff fall on the Dorset coast has been captured by a member of the Portland Coastguard rescue team. Walkers in the area are being urged to heed warning signs and stay away from the edges and undersides of the cliffs. The landslip, near the Grand Hotel at Burlington Chine in Swanage was first reported on Friday afternoon. |
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Daily Telegraph
The Copahue volcano in Argentina's Neuquen province and Chile's Biobio
region began spewing ash and gas early on Saturday, but officials say
it's still in an early eruption stage. Chile's Mining Minister Hernan de
Solminihac says the volcano's smoke plume led Argentine emergency
officials to issue a yellow alert and constantly monitor its activity in
case of a full eruption.2012-12-22 21:01:00
Flights expected to pass by the area around the volcano have been warned.Officials say there's no need yet to evacuate people near the volcano, which is part of the Andes mountain chain. |
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Doyle Rice
Detroit Free Press 2012-12-20 00:00:00
A major snowstorm that was sweeping across the Midwest and beyond on Thursday left at least seven people dead, clogged highways and forced hundreds of flight delays and cancellations at airports already bracing for the holiday rush. The deaths included a woman in Utah who died trying to walk for help after her car became stuck in the blizzard. Storm-related traffic deaths also were reported in Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Blizzard warnings were in effect in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois, according to the National Weather Service. The Weather Channel reported that parts of 17 states are under winter weather advisories -- as far west as Washington state and as far east as Maine. The southern edge of the storm system brought winds and damaged homes in Arkansas, the National Weather Service said. Alabama has confirmed that a tornado hit Mobile on Thursday morning, but the tornado's length and intensity were still being assessed. Tornado watches remained in place in Georgia and Florida. The storm brought much-needed precipitation for drought-plagued regions but was bad news for holiday travelers. Most of the nation's big airlines responded to the storm's threat by enacting flexible rebooking policies for passengers scheduled to fly into the storm's path. As of 5 p.m. ET Thursday, more than 1,000 flights had been canceled at airports across the Midwest, according to flight-tracking service FlightStats.com. More than 600 flights were canceled at Chicago's two airports, O'Hare and Midway. Other flights at O'Hare were delayed between 30 and 90 minutes, the city's Department of Aviation reported at 3:30 p.m. CT. FlightAware reported inbound delays averaging 2½ hours because of high winds. American Airlines announced that it was canceling flights scheduled to depart after 8 p.m. CT and that flights delayed earlier might leave after 8 p.m. O'Hare is a major hub for both United and American, meaning the disruption could ripple out and affect fliers at other airports. |
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| Fire in the Sky |
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lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com
Colorado, Utah Daytime Meteor, ~17:15 MST, 21 December 20122012-12-23 06:07:00 21 December 2012 - Linda Mossman. Eagle, Colorado @ 17:30 ish? 21 December 2012 - Jerry Hernandez. Monticello, Utah, USA @ 17:19 MST 21 December 2012 - John Hill. Nederland, Colorado ,USA @ 17:17 Mountain Standard Time 21 December 2012 - Kathy Treanor. Salem, Utah, USA @ 17:15:00 |
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| Health & Wellness |
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Lisa Garber
Natural Society 2012-12-22 17:37:00
According to the Food and Drug Administration, a major drug research contractor has been found faking documents and manipulating samples. The firm, Cetero Research, has tested medicines for major drug companies that are now being forced to reevaluate their products in response to warnings issued by US regulators. The news may be from 2010, but is an example of pharma corruption nonetheless. Absentee Lab Technicians, Fixed Studies North Carolina-based Cetero performs early-phase clinical research and bioanalytics for many pharmaceutical companies, which use the results to receive FDA approval for drugs. Exactly which companies used Cetero's services for FDA drug approval remains unclear, though such companies are being asked by the FDA to come forward. |
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Sayer Ji
Greenmedinfo.com 2012-12-19 17:27:00
Millions take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) daily for arthritis and related inflammatory conditions, but are completely unaware that far safer, and at least as effective, natural alternatives already exist -- and are as easily accessible and inexpensive as the spices found in your kitchen cupboard. Human research on the health benefits of turmeric is sparse, mainly due to the lack of capital available to fund expensive clinical trials.[i] Despite many decades of investigation as a lead drug compound, and the availability of thousands of preclinical studies indicating turmeric's therapeutic value, few yet realize that this common kitchen spice may provide a suitable drug alternative for common health conditions. The latest human study to clinically confirm turmeric's medicinal value was published in the Indonesian Journal of Internal Medicine in April, 2012 and found the curcuminoid extract of turmeric was able to reduce inflammation in patients suffering from knee osteoarthritis. |
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Karolinska Institutet
Scientists at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have identified two
molecules that play an important role in the survival and production of
nerve cells in the brain, including nerve cells that produce dopamine.
The discovery, which is published in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, may be significant in the long term for the treatment of several diseases, such as Parkinson's disease.2012-12-23 15:33:00 The same scientists have previously shown that receptors known as "liver X receptors" or LXR, are necessary for the production of different types of nerve cells, or neurons, in the developing ventral midbrain. One these types, the midbrain dopamine-producing neurons play an important role in a number of diseases, such as Parkinson's disease. What was not known, however, was which molecules stimulate LXR in the midbrain, such that the production of new nerve cells could be initiated. The scientists have used mass spectrometry and systematic experiments on zebrafish and mice to identify two molecules that bind to LXR and activate it. These two molecules are named cholic acid and 24,25-EC, and are bile acid and a derivate of cholesterol, respectively. The first molecule, cholic acid, influences the production and survival of neurons in what is known as the "red nucleus", which is important for incoming signals from other parts of the brain. The other molecule, 24,25-EC, influences the generation of new dopamine-producing nerve cells, which are important in controlling movement. |
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Source
2012-12-24 15:25:00
Current thinking on how the Toxoplasma gondii parasite invades its host is incorrect, according to a study published today in Nature Methods describing a new technique to knock out genes. The findings could have implications for other parasites from the same family, including malaria, and suggest that drugs that are currently being developed to block this invasion pathway may be unsuccessful. Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite that commonly infects cats but is also carried by other warm-blooded animals, including humans. Up to a third of the UK population are chronically infected with the parasite. In most cases the acute infection causes only flu-like symptoms. However, women who become infected during pregnancy can pass the parasite to their unborn child which can result in serious health problems for the baby such as blindness and brain damage. People who have compromised immunity, such as individuals infected with HIV, are also at risk of serious complication due to reactivation of dormant cysts found in the brain.. Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology at the University of Glasgow made the discovery using a new technique to knock out specific genes in the parasite's genome. They specifically looked at three genes that are considered to be essential for the parasite to invade cells within its host to establish an infection. |
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Damien Gayle
Genetically modified salmon could soon be found on supermarket fish
counters after the U.S. food safety watchdog ruled it posed no
environmental risks, it emerged today. The Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) said it could find no valid scientific reasons to ban production
of Atlantic salmon engineered with extra genes from two other fish
species.Daily Mail 2012-12-24 10:18:00
If it is now given final approval, the fish will be the first GM animal to hit supermarket shelves anywhere in the world - and in the U.S. they may not even be labelled as modified. The FDA has already indicated the AquAdvantage salmon was safe for human consumption, but published a draft ruling on Friday declaring it unlikely to damage the environment. Their two extra genes make the fish grow twice as fast as normal Atlantic salmon and supporters say it could make land-based fish farms much easier and cheaper to run. But opponents of the 'Frankenfish' technology warn it could escape and interbreed with wild fish, undermining the genetics of the already-endangered Atlantic salmon - known as the 'king of fishes'. They also argue that commercial production of the salmon could be beginning of concerted efforts to concoct other GM animals for human consumption, raising concerns about animal welfare and human health. |
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You Tube
2012-12-15 00:00:00
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Dr.Barry Groves
Barry Groves Blogspot 2012-12-22 11:31:00
Everyone (in the UK at least) must know of Neon, the seven-year-old boy who has a brain tumour, medulloblastoma, and of Neon's mother, Sally Roberts, who is fighting for her son not to have radiotherapy and chemotherapy because of the danger, she says, of adverse side effects which could damage his brain and destroy his quality of life. The Daily Mail, today, put it this way: Cancer boy Neon WILL have radiotherapy against his mother's wishes after High Court ruling.
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Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo 2012-12-22 05:00:00
Could bacteria and related microbes, widely believed to be a primary cause of disease, explain how we are capable of surviving through the self-created chemical nightmare of industrialized society? Environmental chemical exposures number in the tens of thousands among industrialized populations. Our water, air, food, and now bodies, are saturated through with xenobiotic chemicals (compounds foreign to our biochemistry) most of which did not even exist on the planet before the industrial revolution of the late 19th century. Remarkably, our bodies are equipped with detoxification systems (such as the cytochrome P450 superfamily of enzymes), whose intelligent design makes it possible to degrade chemicals that did not even exist at the time in the distant past that these elaborate enzyme systems evolved - almost as if we were predesigned to be able to survive the burgeoning, geometrically expanding chemical onslaught of the past century. Eventually, however, our elaborate detoxification systems become overloaded, which naturally leads to the emergence of acute and chronic diseases - diseases that the conventional medical establishment often pretends do not have an environmental origin, and therefore are treated by suppressing symptoms of poisoning with new, patented poisons known as pharmaceuticals. This approach has resulted in our becoming the sickest organism ever known to inhabit the Earth. Thankfully, we are not alone. We have helpers all around and within us. Friendly bacteria (and beneficial yeast), with which we co-evolved, and have formed symbiotic alliances with, outnumber our own cells 10 to 1, numbering in the trillions. It has been proposed that our very definition of self should be updated to include these "others," and that humans are truly a "meta-organism." This is no metaphor, because if you take away these bacteria, we die. |
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Yahoo! News
2012-12-22 00:00:00
A mother in Britain, who was so desperate to stop her cancer-stricken son having to undergo conventional medical treatment that she went into hiding with him, lost a court battle on Friday to prevent him receiving radiotherapy. The case of Sally Roberts, 37, a New Zealander living in Brighton, southern England, and the plight of her seven-year-old son has made headlines in Britain. Roberts wants to try alternative treatments first, including immunotherapy and photodynamic therapy for her son Neon. She has been told the boy needs treatment fast but fears the side-effects of conventional medicine. Doctors treating the boy had warned that without radiotherapy he could die within three months Judge David Bodey told the High Court in London the life-saving radiotherapy treatment could start against the mother's wishes, the Press Association reported. "The mother has been through a terrible time. This sort of thing is every parent's nightmare," the judge said. "But I am worried that her judgment has gone awry on the question of the seriousness of the threat which Neon faces." The story of the sick blue-eyed blonde boy came to public attention earlier this month when Roberts prompted a nationwide police hunt by going into hiding with Neon for four days to stop him from undergoing the treatment. The mother's relentless battle in court also cast a light on the dilemmas parents can face when dealing with the illness of a loved one, considering the short-term and long-term risks of a treatment and handling conflicting medical information available at the click of a mouse. Roberts said in court she had researched on the Internet her son's condition - a fast-growing, high-grade brain tumor called medulloblastoma - and sought advice from specialists around the world because she did not trust British experts. |
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Jenny Hope
Daily Mail, UK 2012-12-21 00:00:00
The Health Service must learn to listen to its patients and be more caring, Prince Charles said yesterday. Modern medicine and technology are putting the 'human touch' at risk, according to the heir to the throne. In a heartfelt plea, he said medical schools should try to foster a climate of care and compassion among doctors. Charles's intervention follows a series of reports of appalling treatment by NHS staff, including dying patients left screaming for water. He called on doctors and nurses to heed what patients say so they can develop the 'healing empathy' so badly needed. Writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, the prince set out a vision apparently in response to studies showing many patients feel ignored. He said: 'In the individual encounter between patient and clinician, we are led to believe that there is currently a "crisis in caring". I am sure that this is not the case in many or most such encounters. 'Nevertheless, I am equally sure that there is much more that can be done to foster and enhance those age-old qualities of human kindness and compassion. 'The media is full of instances where these have been palpably lacking, and I have heard of others speaking of the need to restore urgently a climate of care and compassion at the heart of our health services.' Last month, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said there was a 'kind of normalisation of cruelty' in the worst hospitals, with patients too often subjected to coldness, resentment, indifference and even contempt. Ann Clwyd, Labour MP for Cynon Valley, broke down when describing how her husband of 49 years, Owen Roberts, 'died like a battery hen' in October after being admitted to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff. |
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| Science of the Spirit |
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Karl Leif Bates
Duke University 2012-12-23 14:49:00
A monkey would probably never agree that it is better to give than to receive, but they do apparently get some reward from giving to another monkey. During a task in which rhesus macaques had control over whether they or another monkey would receive a squirt of fruit juice, three distinct areas of the brain were found to be involved in weighing benefits to oneself against benefits to the other, according to new research by Duke University researchers. The team used sensitive electrodes to detect the activity of individual neurons as the animals weighed different scenarios, such as whether to reward themselves, the other monkey or nobody at all. Three areas of the brain were seen to weigh the problem differently depending on the social context of the reward. The research appears Dec. 24 in the journal Nature Neuroscience. Using a computer screen to allocate juice rewards, the monkeys preferred to reward themselves first and foremost. But they also chose to reward the other monkey when it was either that or nothing for either of them. They also were more likely to give the reward to a monkey they knew over one they didn't, preferred to give to lower status than higher status monkeys, and had almost no interest in giving the juice to an inanimate object. Calculating the social aspects of the reward system seems to be a combination of action by two centers involved in calculating all sorts of rewards and a third center that adds the social dimension, according to lead researcher Michael Platt, director of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. The orbital frontal cortex, right above the eyes, was activated when calculating rewards to the self. The anterior cingulate sulcus in the middle of the top of the brain seemed to calculate giving up a reward. But both centers appear "divorced from social context," Platt said. A third area, the anterior cingulate gyrus (ACCg), seemed to "care a lot about what happened to the other monkey," Platt said. |
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Ed Hayward
The clock is ticking and you still haven't decided what to get that
special someone in your life for the holidays. When it comes to those
last-minute gift-buying decisions for family and close friends,
intuition may be the best way to think your way through to that perfect
gift.Boston College 2012-12-20 09:50:00 When faced with tough decisions, some people like to "trust their gut" and go with their intuition. Others prefer to take an analytical approach. Boston College Professor Michael G. Pratt, an expert in organizational psychology, says new research shows intuition can help people make fast and effective decisions, particularly in areas where they have expertise in the subject at hand. When it comes to holiday shopping, it might help to draw on the expertise you've accumulated about your family, and friends. "We often ask ourselves, 'What does that special someone want for Christmas?' Maybe the better question to ask is 'What do I know about this person?" said Pratt, a professor in the Carroll School of Management. "The chances are you know a lot. You know a lot about your parents and your children, and your close friends. What we've found is that kind of deep expertise helps to support decisions we make when we trust our gut." |
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| High Strangeness |
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Julia Bayly
Local lore has long held that monsters are gliding in the depths of Lac Pohenegamook near the Maine-Quebec border.Aroostook 2012-12-22 16:45:00 Now it appears strange things may be in the skies, as well. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian military are investigating two metal objects discovered earlier this month by a St. Francis woodsman about 20 miles from the border crossing between Estcourt Station, Maine and Pohenegamook, Quebec. "I was cutting wood with a tree harvester when I saw something that looked like a white GPS bubble," Mitch Pelletier, who cuts for Allagash Enterprises, said Sunday morning. "I got out to look because we are always finding stuff out there in the woods along the Quebec border and I saw a metal frame sticking out." The metal frame, Pelletier said, was covered by a synthetic camouflage "moss" he described as four inches thick. He said he was cutting timber on Landry Road around Mile 6 at the time. "I pulled that 'moss' off and saw there were numbers on the side and it said 'Property of the Canadian government. Do not touch,' and there was a phone number to call." |
