Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Friday, 01 February 2013

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Report: Border guards made wrongful arrests for rewards Michael McLaughlin Huffington Post 2013-02-01 17:25:00 The lure of bonus pay and extra vacation time perhaps drove border patrol agents in western New York to arrest hundreds of people that were in the country legally, a new report finds. Over five years, Border guards patrolling Rochester's bus and train stations arrested about 300 people who weren't suspected of any other crime, but weren't carrying complete citizenship or immigration papers, according to a report released this week by the immigrant rights group Families for Freedom and the New York University School of Law Immigrant Rights Clinic. "The border patrol thinks that you can be expected to carry your passport at all times," said NYU School of Law Professor Nancy Morawetz, a co-author of the report. "You can put the pieces together and see the encouragement of reckless arrests -- arresting first and asking questions later." The Rochester agents reported to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol sector in Buffalo, where the workplace culture emphasized making high numbers of arrests, researchers said.

'America's Nazi scientists fulfilling dream of ruling the world' - Bruce Gagnon John Robles Voice of Russia 2013-02-01 17:18:00 In an exclusive interview with the Voice of Russia, Bruce Gagnon shares little known facts about the militarization of space by the United States, the development of first strike space drones and the foundation of the US Military Industrial Complex by Nazi scientists bent on victory in World War III. If you thought missile defense and drones were bad, you haven't heard anything yet. Robles: According to your organization the US Space Command has publicly stated they intent to control space in order to protect US interests and investments. Is space now US territory? Gagnon: Well, indeed the United States likes to believe that it is its own space, and particularly the Space Command, who on their headquarters building in Colorado Springs, just above the doorway they have their logo that reads "Master of Space". So, I think that it is quite evident that the Space Command does indeed view space as US territory that must be controlled because they clearly understand that all warfare on the earth today is coordinated by space technology and that whoever essentially controls space will control the planet below, in this case on behalf I believe of corporate globalization. And so the Space Command in our thinking has become the military arm of corporate globalization. And so today the US is developing a whole host of technologies to allow it to fight war from space, through space and in space, controlling not only the Earth but also the pathway on and off the planet Earth, the pathway to other planetary bodies as resources are discovered on other planets: magnesium, cobalt, uranium, gold, water etc. In a congressional study done back in the 1980s, the Congress gave the Pentagon the mandate to develop the technologies to control the pathway on and off the planet Earth. So, the Space Command sees its role in a very-very robust kind of way.

The ominous U.S. presence in northwest Africa Sheldon Richman Information Clearing House 2013-02-01 17:01:00 Ominously but unsurprisingly, the U.S. military's Africa Command wants to increase its footprint in northwest Africa. What began as low-profile assistance to France's campaign to wrest control of northern Mali (a former colony) from unwelcome jihadists could end up becoming something more. The Washington Post reports that Africom "is preparing to establish a drone base in northwest Africa [probably Niger] so that it can increase surveillance missions on the local affiliate of Al Qaeda and other Islamist extremist groups that American and other Western officials say pose a growing menace to the region." But before that word "surveillance" can bring a sigh of relief, the Post adds, "For now, officials say they envision flying only unarmed surveillance drones from the base, though they have not ruled out conducting missile strikes at some point if the threat worsens." Meanwhile Bloomberg, citing American military officials, says Niger and the U.S. government have "reached an agreement allowing American military personnel to be stationed in the West African country and enabling them to take on Islamist militants in neighboring Mali, according to U.S. officials.... No decision has been made to station the drones." The irony is that surveillance drones could become the reason the "threat worsens," and could provide the pretext to use drones armed with Hellfire missiles - the same kind used over 400 times in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia, killing hundreds of noncombatants. Moving from surveillance to lethal strikes would be a boost for jihadist recruiters.

Chameleon Chuck: How Hagel's views have changed Eli Lake The Daily Beast 2013-01-31 16:56:00 They say there are no atheists in foxholes, and while the Senate Armed Services Committee is hardly a war zone, it is proving to be the scene of a battlefield conversion for Chuck Hagel. Obama's nominee for secretary of defense, who has spent the past eight years an avowed critic of what he saw as the wasteful militarism of the last Republican president, sounded at his confirmation hearing in Thursday like a tried-and-true neoconservative. He assured his former Senate colleagues that when it comes to Iran, "all options are on the table." "My policy is one of prevention, and not containment," Hagel said. This is quite a different tone for a man who said only a few years ago that he supported "unconditional and comprehensive talks" with the Islamic Republic.

Obama on track to deport a record 2 million people by 2014 Natasha Lennard AlterNet 2013-02-01 15:58:00 If this rate continues, this administration will deport as many people as were from 1892 to 1997 combined. At current rates, deportations enforced under the Obama presidency are set to hit 2 million by 2014 according to a new report from the University of California-Merced. Findings highlight that, if current deportation rates continue, nearly as many people will have been deported under this administration than during the entirety of years between 1892 and 1997. These are striking statistics to consider while Congress debates the president's commitment to immigration enforcement. The report notes that under Obama, the deportation of convicted criminals has been a focus and a point of pride for the administration. However, as immigrant justice advocates have often stressed, the report points out that "many of these criminal deportees are deported after a minor criminal conviction": In 2011, 188,382 people were deported on criminal grounds. Nearly a quarter were deported after a drug conviction, another 23% for traffic crimes, and one in five for immigration crimes. The DHS does not get very specific about these convictions, but we do know that drug crimes include marijuana possession; traffic crimes include speeding; and immigration crimes include illegal entry and re-entry. It is likely that large numbers of people apprehended through the Criminal Alien Program are minor drug offenders and immigration offenders. Additionally, it is likely that the Criminal Alien Program is tearing apart families. One study found that, on average, people deported after being convicted of a crime had lived 14 years in the United States.

Senator Menendez accused of soliciting underage prostitutes RT.com 2013-02-01 15:37:00 A letter allegedly written by a Dominican woman claims that Sen. Bob Menendez had sexual relations with prostitutes, attended sex parties, and may have even slept with minors. In an e-mail written nine months ago but published Jan. 31 by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a young Dominican woman claims she slept with 59-year-old Menendez at a number of sex parties organized in the Dominican Republic by his campaign donor, Dr. Salomon Melgen. She claims she had sex with the senator "three times at least" in 2009. "The first one in February, and then in May and June. I recall his visit in June so well because that month was my 17th birthday," allegedly wrote the prostitute. "That senator also likes the youngest and newest girls," the woman added. "In the beginning he seemed so serious, because he never spoke to anyone, but he is just like the others and has just about the same tastes as the doctor, very refined. I think they were taking us more often to get us checked [medically] because of him." Those who translated the letter from Spanish to English say the writing indicates that the woman could be very young and unsophisticated and may indeed have been a minor when she started engaging in sexual intercourse with Menendez.

Report: Oakland PD pointed firearms at a sleeping baby Arturo Garcia Raw Story 2013-02-01 15:33:00 A new report by the federal monitor overseeing the Oakland Police Department officers pointed their weapons at a sleeping baby while executing a search warrant. "Two officers pointed their firearms at a sleeping 19-month-old child who, of course, posed no immediate threat to the officers or others," said the Jan. 30 report by Robert Warsaw. "The crime being investigated, according to the reports, involved a misdemeanor offense." The report marked a decrease in the level of compliance with the department's Negotiated Settlement Agreement for the second consecutive quarter, the East Bay Express reported, and it came a week after Mayor Jean Quan touted the hiring of former New York and Los Angeles Police Commissioner William Bratton as a consultant, an expenditure of $250,000 by saying, "Sometimes, you need an outside eye."

Military expands mental health counseling in Afghanistan to soldiers over 'classified Skype' Emma Graham-Harrison Raw Story 2013-02-01 15:29:00 Bagram airbase has 40-strong team of psychologists and others on hand, though stigma of such care in the military remains The US military in Afghanistan has slowly been building up ways to help troops who are scattered across a harsh, hostile country which is almost as big as Texas, with little privacy and poor communications. The network ranges from a basic "classified Skype" videophone system that gives all but the most isolated soldiers access to a psychologist at any time, to the last-ditch option for extreme cases, a Medevac plane to take any soldier assessed as suicidal or homicidal straight out of the country. In between is a network of professionals and support centres that aim to stop troops needing to take that flight, or - even worse - never making it. "I was at the point of blowing my head off," said 23-year-old Sidney in a "war fighter restoration centre" on the sprawling Bagram airbase, 30 miles north of Kabul, where he spent several days after a near breakdown that was sparked by his wife asking for a divorce. "I lost 30lb in three weeks, I wasn't sleeping, I was ringing my wife five times a day," he said.

Catholic League's Bill Donohue: 'Being gay' actually 'a bonus for humans' Stephen C. Webster Raw Story 2013-02-01 15:26:00 Catholic League President Bill Donohue saw something in the news this week that tweaked him a little, and in response he ended up writing something rather odd: "Being gay is not only a bonus for humans these days, it is a definite plus for dogs as well." The head-turning sentence came at the end of his reaction to a story about a dog who was abandoned in Tennessee because his owner said he was "gay." As the animal waited to be euthanized, a third party group called Jackson TN Euthanasia published an online ad that explained why the dog was dropped off. It went viral in the media, and a woman named Stephanie Fryns decided to adopt the dog and name him "Elton," according to ABC News. What would otherwise be an uplifting story about a dog's redemption after being tossed aside by an intolerant human struck Donohue as a sort of "moral of the story" moment.

Will Israel's attack on Syria trigger a retaliation from Assad and Hezbollah? Gilbert Mercier News Junkie Post 2013-01-31 15:02:00 Israel conducted an airstrike in the outskirts of Damascus, deep into Syria's territory on Wednesday, January 30. The attack is in violation of Syria's sovereignty, and it was confirmed by an anonymous source in the United States government. There are conflicting reports concerning the target of the strike. According to the US source, it was a military convoy on its way to Lebanon with anti-aircraft weapons; but according to the Syrian army, the target of the Israeli attack was a "weapons research center." On Thursday, Israel's government remained silent on the attack, neither denying nor confirming it. Israel's actions, however, could have some grave consequences in expanding Syria's civil war into a regional conflict involving at first Lebanon, but also potentially Iraq. Could this be a way for the Jewish state to provoke Assad, and Iran's ally Hezbollah, into a retaliation to justify another invasion of Lebanon?

Poverty and progress: Comparing the U.S. and Venezuela Eric Draitser stopimperialism.com 2013-02-01 14:45:00 What does it mean to be "Third World" in 2013? If we are to take the traditional definition of the term, then "Third World" refers to those (non-white) countries that struggle to attain high levels of economic development and which, for the most part, are reduced to the periphery of the global economy. However, since the onset of the economic crisis beginning in 2007-2008, many of the economic problems of those traditionally poor countries have become ever more apparent in the so-called developed world. Socio-economic maladies such as extreme poverty, hunger, and unemployment have skyrocketed in advanced capitalist countries like the United States, while politicians and the media continue to trumpet the mirage of an economic recovery. Naturally, one must ask for whom this is a recovery...for the poor or for Wall St? Moreover, it has forced the world to examine what progress looks like. One way of doing so is to analyze what the statistics tell us about the United States versus Venezuela. In so doing, one begins to get a much clearer picture, free from the distortions of media and politicians alike, of just how much progress has been made in the Bolivarian Revolution while the situation of the poor and working classes in the US continues to deteriorate. What Is Poverty? Before one can reach any definitive conclusions about poverty in the US and Venezuela, it is essential to first establish the stark difference in the way in which poverty is measured in the two countries. With respect to the US, poverty is measured purely by household income, with a certain threshold known as the "poverty line" determined by the Census Bureau. This measurement, based on a purely arbitrary delineation between poverty and "non-poverty", is the one by which many make determinations about the state of the poor in the US. As should be self-evident, this system of analyzing poverty ignores the obvious fact that there is little tangible difference between the lives of those slightly over and slightly under the poverty line in that both live in a constant state of privation. Moreover, as increasing inflation, decreasing wages and other factors continue to impact the purchasing power and actual lives of the poor, the poverty line becomes even more problematic. In contrast, the Venezuelan government has a distinctly different set of measurements to determine true poverty including: access to education, access to clean drinking water, access to adequate housing, and other factors.[i] Essentially then, in Venezuela, poverty is not a measure of income, but of quality of life. By measuring poverty in this way, the Venezuelan government provides a far more comprehensive picture of the socio-economic situation in the country. It is important to note also that, unlike in the United States, poverty statistics in Venezuela are one of the primary driving forces behind the formation of government policy. While in the US, poverty has become a dirty word (as evidenced by the subject's total absence from last year's presidential debates), Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution have made it the centerpiece of public policy in all aspects.

Washington State Representative introduces groundbreaking GMO bill Mikael Thalen Activist Post 2013-02-01 14:38:00 Washington state recently made national news after the "Label It Wa" grassroots campaign successfully collected and submitted over 350,000 signatures in order to get "I-522 The People's Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act" on the 2013 ballot. This bill would require genetically engineered food in the state to be labeled. Also in Washington, San Juan County residents and farmers passed Initiative Measure No. 2012-4 to ban the growth of genetically modified organisms. Now, Republican Representative Cary Condotta has stepped up and introduced House Bill 1407, which aims to remove the bureaucratic red tape, allowing local legislative authorities to regulategenetically modified organisms from foods to seeds as they see fit, instead of relying on the state to take action. "When we saw San Juan do this, we thought it was great, so we see this on a different path than I-522 but we made sure to put a provision in HB 1407 that none of it would override I-522, so if the labeling bill passes all food will still be labeled state wide still, this just gives the local level even more control," explained Rep Condotta.

Against philanthropy: As hurricane victims freeze, billionaire mayor gives away $1 billion to wealthy med school Ted Rall Information Clearing House 2013-01-31 14:38:00 New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made headlines over the weekend with his announcement that he has donated $345 million to Johns Hopkins University. Added to his previous donations, the media baron has given his alma mater over $1 billion - the largest charitable contribution to an educational institution in US history. Bloomberg received plaudits for his generosity by the usual media sycophants. Along with death and taxes, another thing you can count on is being told to be grateful when masters of the universe give away some of their loot (even if none of it goes to you.) As pundits fawned, thousands of New Yorkers - residents of Queens whose homes got damaged by superstorm Sandy - were shivering under blankets in heatless homes in 15° weather because restoring electricity and housing storm victims isn't one of the mayor's top priorities. Disgusting. This was a man, New Yorkers remember, who wanted the mayoralty so badly that he subverted the people's will, bribing and bullying the City Council into overturning term limits passed by an overwhelming majority so that he could keep the job a third term. No one should claim that he didn't want responsibility for those poor cold slobs out in the Rockaways.

Hey, hey, Barack! What do you say? How many kids have you killed today? Dave Lindorff thiscantbehappening.net 2013-01-27 14:33:00 I personally found the president's inaugural speech not just insipid, but disgusting. It reached its gut-churning nadir near the end where he said: "We, the people, still believe that enduring security and lasting peace do not require perpetual war...We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully - not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear...And we must be a source of hope to the poor, the sick, the marginalized, the victims of prejudice - not out of mere charity, but because peace in our time requires the constant advance of those principles that our common creed describes: tolerance and opportunity; human dignity and justice." As he spoke these uplifting phrases, US factories were cranking out, under the terms of billion-dollar Pentagon contracts (in a small part of the staggering annual $1.6 trillion the US actually spends under Obama on its military), fleets of drone aircraft that daily are raining explosives down on innocent men, women and children in countries that the US is not even at war with. Most of those drone attacks are personally approved by our Nobel Peace Laureate president, who has claimed the right -- unchallenged by either Congress or the Judiciary -- to order the liquidation of anyone he deems to be a terrorist (including American citizens), as well as those, even children, who happen to be in the vicinity of such a person. Of the 362 drone strikes in Pakistan to date, 310 were launched during the period Obama has been commander in chief.

In Mali, forces backed by UN, France, and Obama slaughter civilians Alex Newman The New American 2013-02-01 14:25:00 Summary executions and mass human rights abuses targeting innocent civilians in Mali are being perpetrated by soldiers loyal to the dubious Malian regime in a campaign supported by the United Nations, the new socialist French government, and the Obama administration. According to human rights groups and witnesses on the ground, the atrocities are increasing as the number of murdered victims continues to rise - eerily reminiscent of similar tragic interventions in Libya, Syria, and the Ivory Coast. The regime ruling southern Mali out of the capital city of Bamako, which seized power in a military coup last year led by a U.S. government-trained officer, is currently attempting to recapture the northern regions of the country. The vast swath of territory in the north was declared independent last year by a group of historically oppressed nomadic Tuareg rebels armed with weapons obtained from the recent Western-backed war on Libya. Islamic fighters with various loyalties joined the fight against the corrupt central government, too - providing a half-baked excuse for the UN, the French government, Obama, and various African despots to enter the fray on behalf of the illegitimate regime in the south. After the UN Security Council purported to "authorize" an international invasion on behalf of the coup-installed regime, forces from France openly began their military campaign earlier this month under the guise of fighting "Islamic extremism."

Society's Child

Elyse Cromwell, New Jersey teacher, accused of having sex with 14-year-0ld student Andres Jauregui Huffington Post 2013-02-01 17:31:00 A 27-year-old Newark, N.J., English teacher has been arrested and charged with aggravated sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child in an allegedly ongoing sexual relationship with a 14-year-old student. Elyse Cromwell is accused of having sex with the boy on multiple occasions over last summer in Jersey City, Hudson County Assistant Prosecutor Gene Rubino told the New Jersey Star-Ledger. According to a criminal complaint obtained by the Jersey Journal, Cromwell "performed prohibited sexual acts" on the male student, who is now 15, "while acting in the position of said victim's homeroom and English teacher."

Oregon Walmart worker disciplined for attempting to help distraught puppy Evan Bleier Opposing Views 2013-02-01 15:52:00 Reports have surfaced that a worker at an Oregon Walmart was sent home and possibly even terminated after attempting to care for a puppy that had wandered into the store. The female worker apparently tried to help the puppy, who was reported to be "obviously scared and hungry and cold" after it walked into Walmart Supercenter Store #1817. Unfortuntaely, the worker's actions didn't fly with her manager, Ken. According to The Examiner, Ken told her she needed to "put the puppy back outside." When the woman attempted to call a rescue group to pick the dog up, the manager "told her she was 'disgusting' for holding the puppy in a check stand." Ken then allegedly told the employee to "get out."

Indiana murderer mistakenly released by Chicago authorities Matthew Jaffe ABC News 2013-02-01 15:04:00 A dragnet has been launched for a convicted murderer serving a 60 year prison term who was mistakenly released from a Chicago jail this week. Steven Robbins, 44, was convicted of shooting a man in 2002 in Indiana when the man tried to intervene in a fight Robbins was having with his wife. The dead man, Rutland Melton, scolded Robbins telling him he should not hit a woman. Robbins shot Melton in the chest.

Dog sentenced to death because he is 'gay' is saved at last minute Daniel Miller and James Nye DailyMAil 2013-01-31 14:54:00 The dog dumped at a Tennessee animal shelter to be destroyed because his owner thought it was gay has been saved at the last minute by a kindhearted animal lover. After the the plight of the American Bulldog mix was seen by millions online, Stephanie Fryns, a veterinary technician from Jackson, stepped up this afternoon and adopted him from Jackson TN Euthanasia. Naming him Elton, Fryns, who already owns four dogs said that she had planned to rescue him even before his story had traveled around the Internet. Describing the 50 pound dog as 'pretty friendly', Fryn said, 'He's pretty scared of everything, which is understandable. But he loved the car ride.' She said she suspected that Elton had been involved in illegal dog-fights, but that it was impossible to confirm. However he did have some redness on his ears. Fryn doubted he had been used routinely in dog fights because of his 'submissive' nature. The last minute reprieve for Elton came with only hours to go until he was scheduled to be euthanized at the Tennessee animal shelter.

Chinese highway collapses after fireworks truck explodes, 9 killed RT.com 2013-02-01 12:09:00 A truck laden with fireworks exploded on an elevated highway in central China, killing at least nine people and injuring 13. The force of the blast sent several vehicles plummeting off the road, destroying an 80-meter section of the highway. Salvage teams are currently at the scene of the incident on the G30 expressway in China's Henan province. The blast took place at 8:52am local time (00:52 GMT), Chinese state news outlet Xinhua reported, citing local officials. The massive explosion threw six vehicles into a ravine 30 meters below the raised highway; the survivors were retrieved by emergency teams.

Ft. Hood Soldier gets 3 years for shooting friend in head to cure hiccups David Edwards Raw Story 2013-02-01 11:33:00 A 27-year-old Fort Hood soldier on Thursday pleaded guilty to accidentally killing his friend while trying to cure a case of the hiccups. Spc. Patrick Edward Myers' rank was reduced to private and he was sentenced to three and a half years in military prison, according to NBC News.

Oregon Internet cafe customer shoots himself with holstered gun David Edwards Raw Story 2013-02-01 11:13:00 An Oregon man who was said to be "familiar with guns" accidentally shot himself with a holstered weapon that he was openly carrying at an Internet cafe in Eugene on Thursday. Eugene Police said that a 26-year-old man was in the Indras Internet Lounge restroom at around 3 p.m. when his holstered gun discharged and hit him in the thigh. Five people were in the business at the time of the shooting.

Alaska Airlines makes emergency landing after pilot loses consciousness Anthony Castellano ABC News 2013-02-01 10:32:00 An Alaska Airlines plane made an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon, after the pilot lost consciousness Thursday night. The co-pilot on Flight 473 from Los Angeles to Seattle made an emergency landing at Portland International Airport a little after 9 p.m. local time, according to Paul McElroy, spokesman for Alaska Airlines. McElroy said the pilot suffered from a medical condition, but declined to name specifics, citing company policy. The Boeing 737-700 carrying 116 passengers and five crew members landed safely. It is unclear whether the passengers were told of the pilot's condition. A doctor on board tended to the doctor after he passed out as the co-pilot took control of the plane, McElroy said.

IRS: Cheapest Obamacare plan will be $20,000 per family Matt Cover CNS News 2013-01-31 10:03:00 In a final regulation issued Wednesday, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) assumed that under Obamacare the cheapest health insurance plan available in 2016 for a family will cost $20,000 for the year. Under Obamacare, Americans will be required to buy health insurance or pay a penalty to the IRS. The IRS's assumption that the cheapest plan for a family will cost $20,000 per year is found in examples the IRS gives to help people understand how to calculate the penalty they will need to pay the government if they do not buy a mandated health plan. The examples point to families of four and families of five, both of which the IRS expects in its assumptions to pay a minimum of $20,000 per year for a bronze plan.

Explosion at Mexican state oil company kills at least 25, injures hundreds Dave Graham Yahoo News / Reuters 2013-02-01 09:17:00 Emergency services worked into the early hours of Friday to find people trapped in rubble under state oil company Pemex's headquarters in Mexico City after an explosion that killed at least 25 people and injured more than 100. Scenes of confusion and chaos at the downtown tower dealt yet another blow to Pemex's image as Mexico's new president courts outside investment for the 75-year-old monopoly. Search and rescue workers picked through debris, and investigators sifted through shattered glass and concrete at the bottom of the building to try to find what caused the blast. It was not clear how many might still be trapped inside. Pemex, a symbol of Mexican self-sufficiency as well as a byword in Mexico for security glitches, oil theft and frequent accidents, has been hamstrung by inefficiency, union corruption and a series of safety failures costing hundreds of lives. Thursday's blast at the more than 50-storey skyscraper that houses administrative offices followed a September fire at a Pemex gas facility near the northern city of Reynosa which killed 30 people. More than 300 were killed when a Pemex natural gas plant on the outskirts of Mexico City blew up in 1984.

Suicide blast outside Hangu mosque in Pakistan claims 22 lives Dawn.com 2013-02-01 09:01:00 A suicide bomber blew himself up outside two neighbouring mosques in the town of Hangu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing at least 22 people and wounding over 40 others, officials said. According to police, the bomber detonated his explosives as worshippers poured out after Friday (Jummah) prayers in the crowded Pat Bazaar area. "Most of the dead were coming out of a mosque in the marketplace after Friday prayers when the bomb went off," a senior police officer said. District Police officer (DPO) Dr Muhammed Saeed said the bomber blew himself up near one of the mosques' exits leading to a crowded market.

14 dead, 80 injured in Mexico oil company blast NY Times 2013-01-31 08:38:00 An explosion at the main headquarters of Mexico's state-owned oil company in the capital killed 14 people and injured 80 on Thursday as it heavily damaged three floors of the building, sending hundreds into the streets and a large plume of smoke over the skyline. There were reports that people remained trapped in the debris - as many as 30 according to civil protection and local media - from the explosion, which occurred in the basement of an administrative building next to the iconic, 52-story tower of Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex. Ana Vargas Palacio was distraught as she searched for her missing husband, Daniel Garcia Garcia, 36, who works in the building. She last heard from him at 1 p.m. "I called his phone many times, but a young man answered and told me he found the phone in the debris," Vargas. The two have an 11-year-old daughter. His mother, Gloria Garcia Castaneda, collapsed on a friend's arm, crying "My son. My son."

Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt spent fortune ahead of Mayan apocalypse prophecy Daily Dish SFGate 2013-01-31 21:35:00 Reality TV stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt frittered away their $10 million fortune because they believed the world would end in 2012. In 2010, Pratt revealed the couple was broke and on the verge of bankruptcy, and they even gave up their luxury home and moved in with his father to save money. He has now admitted they deliberately spent all their cash before December 21, 2012 - the day the world was set to end, according to a prophesy based on the Mayan calendar. He tells Britain's OK! magazine, "We made and spent at least 10 million dollars. The thing is, we heard that the planet was going to end in 2012. We thought, we have got to spend this money before the asteroid hits. "Here's some advice, definitely do not spend your money thinking asteroids are coming. But the world didn't end." Opening up about his extravagant lifestyle, Pratt adds, "I would give my friends $15,000 for their birthday. Just cash. I would buy people cars. Every valet I met got a couple of hundred pounds tip. I would pay people $200 just to open doors for us."

5-year-old boy threatened with suspension for making "Lego gun" at school Activist Post 2013-01-31 20:11:00 A boy playing in a Massachusetts after school program found himself in hot water this week after creating an allegedly threatening object using LEGO blocks. Joseph Cardosa, 5 years old, was participating in an after-school program at Hyannis West Elementary School on Cape Cod when school officials say he created a gun out of LEGOs, reports Fox25 Boston. The boy's parents told the station that the school issued Joseph an official warning, and said a second warning would lead to suspension.

Mexican officials: Sex-slavery cult broken up, leader claimed to be Christ Fox News Latino 2013-01-31 19:24:00 Mexico City - Mexican officials broke up a bizarre cult that allegedly ran a sex-slavery ring in which members had sex with the cult leader -- who claimed to be the reincarnation of Christ. The cult was operating in Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Texas, Mexican immigration authorities said Tuesday. The "Defensores de Cristo" or "Defenders of Christ" allegedly recruited women to have sex with a Spanish man who claimed he was the reincarnation of Christ, according to an official of a victims' advocacy group, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak publicly about the case. Followers were subjected to forced labor or sexual services, including prostitution, according to the National Immigration Institute that said it filed a complaint more than a year ago about the cult. Federal police, agents of Mexico's National Immigration Institute and prosecutors raided a house earlier this week and found cult members, including children, living in filthy conditions, according to the institute official. The agency said in a statement that 14 foreigners were detained in the raid and have been turned over to prosecutors, pending possible charges. Those detained include six Spaniards, and two people each from Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela. One person from Argentina and one from Ecuador were also detained. Spain's Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed its citizens were among those arrested. The institute said 10 Mexicans were also found at the house, mainly women, and are presumably among the victims of the cult.

Secret History

Aztec conquerors reshaped genetic landscape of Mexico Tia Ghose LiveScience 2013-01-31 13:20:00 The Aztecs who conquered the city of Xaltocan in ancient Mexico around 1435 may have fundamentally changed the genetic makeup of the people who lived there, new research suggests. The study, published in the December issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology, showed that maternal DNA from 25 residents of Xaltocan prior to the conquest did not match that found after. The findings may help shed light on a long-standing debate over whether the original Otomi people who lived in Xaltocan before the conquest either abandoned the site or were assimilated into Aztec life. "We're telling a story that's more complicated and nuanced," said study author Lisa Overholtzer, an archaeologist at Wichita State University in Kansas. "We don't think there was a population replacement but we do think there was a demographic shift associated with the Aztec conquest."

Human sacrificial skull mound in Mexico puzzles experts Mark Stevenson Phys.org 2013-01-31 00:00:00 Archaeologists say they have turned up about 150 skulls of human sacrifice victims in a field in central Mexico, one of the first times that such a large accumulation of severed heads has been found outside of a major pyramid or temple complex in Mexico. Experts are puzzled by the unexpected find of such a large number of skulls at what appears to have been a small, unremarkable shrine. The heads were carefully deposited in rows or in small mounds, mostly facing east toward the rising sun, sometime between 660 and 860 A.D., a period when the nearby city-state of Teotihuacan had already declined but the Aztec empire, founded in 1325, was still centuries in the future. Georgia State University archaeologist Christopher Morehart, who found the skulls last year in Xaltocan, a farming village just north of Mexico City, said that between 150 and 200 adult skulls or their equivalent in bone parts have been excavated so far from fields that stand on a former lake bed. Experts weren't expecting to find anything of this kind in the flat, undistinguished pasture land and corn fields. The site is near, but not immediately adjacent to, Teotihuacan, one of the biggest pre-Hispanic cities. It reached its height between 100 B.C. and A.D. 750 and was abandoned by the time the Aztecs arrived in the area in the 1300s.

Film has unique view of Oak Island Beverley Ware South Shore Bureau 2013-01-28 04:15:00 Bridgewater - Petter Amundsen looks upon the beautiful fresh snow that has blanketed the world around the Evangelical Lutheran chapel, where he plays the organ. It's an incongruous setting, given the conversation in which he is engrossed. Amundsen is in Norway, where his day job as chapel organist means he has played for King Harald V and Queen Sonja. But he's talking about what has gripped his heart for the last 10 years - uncovering the secrets of Oak Island in Mahone Bay. His efforts culminated in a film released in Norway last year that will be shown in London this spring, but the amateur cryptologist is making plans to show it beforehand in Nova Scotia. The film will debut in 40 theatres in England beginning April 23, though Amundsen would like a screening in Chester on April 13, a year to the day after its release in Norway. Amundsen has made three trips to film on Oak Island since 2003, the most recent in 2011. He believes the movie will generate interest in Oak Island and boost tourism in the region.

Science & Technology

Humans killed off the Tasmanian Tiger: study Australian Associated Press 2013-02-01 12:52:00 Humans alone were responsible for the demise of Australia's extinct native predator, the Tasmanian Tiger, or thylacine, a new study has found. Led by the University of Adelaide, the study has used new modelling to contradict a widespread belief that disease must have been a factor in the thylacine's demise. The thylacine was a unique marsupial found throughout most of Tasmania before European settlement in 1803. Between 1886 and 1909, the Tasmanian government encouraged people to hunt the carnivores and paid bounties on over 2000 thylacine carcasses. Only a handful of animals were located after the bounty was lifted and the last known thylacine was captured in 1933. "Many people believe that bounty hunting alone could not have driven the thylacine extinct and therefore claim that an unknown disease epidemic must have been responsible," study leader Thomas Prowse said in a statement on Thursday.

Researchers decode rock pigeon genome Raw Story 2013-02-01 11:04:00 A team of international researchers has decoded the genome of the pigeon, 5,000 years after it was first domesticated, according to a study published Thursday. Known as Columba livia, the rock pigeon is considered among the most common and varied species on the planet, consisting of 350 breeds with a slew of different features, and is among just a few bird genomes sequenced so far. "Birds are a huge part of life on Earth, and we know surprisingly little about their genetics," said study co-author Michael Shapiro, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Utah. "This will give us new insights into bird evolution." Researchers found that a single mutation in the EphB2 gene, or Ephrin receptor B2, causes head and neck feathers to grow upward instead of downward, creating so-called head crests that help attract mates in many bird species.

Cassini watches storm on Saturn choke on its own tail Phys.org 2013-01-31 00:00:00 Call it a Saturnian version of the Ouroboros, the mythical serpent that bites its own tail. In a new paper that provides the most detail yet about the life and death of a monstrous thunder-and-lightning storm on Saturn, scientists from NASA's Cassini mission describe how the massive storm churned around the planet until it encountered its own tail and sputtered out. It is the first time scientists have observed a storm consume itself in this way anywhere in the solar system. "This Saturn storm behaved like a terrestrial hurricane - but with a twist unique to Saturn," said Andrew Ingersoll, a Cassini imaging team member based at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, who is a co-author on the new paper in the journal Icarus. "Even the giant storms at Jupiter don't consume themselves like this, which goes to show that nature can play many awe-inspiring variations on a theme and surprise us again and again." Earth's hurricanes feed off the energy of warm water and leave a cold-water wake. This storm in Saturn's northern hemisphere also feasted off warm "air" in the gas giant's atmosphere. The storm, first detected on Dec. 5, 2010, and tracked by Cassini's radio and plasma wave subsystem and imaging cameras, erupted around 33 degrees north latitude. Shortly after the bright, turbulent head of the storm emerged and started moving west, it spawned a clockwise-spinning vortex that drifted much more slowly. Within months, the storm wrapped around the planet at that latitude, stretching about 190,000 miles (300,000 kilometers) in circumference, thundering and throwing lightning along the way.

Cloaked nanoparticles that look, act like cells Phys.org 2013-01-31 00:00:00 By cloaking nanoparticles in the membranes of white blood cells, scientists at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute may have found a way to prevent the body from recognizing and destroying them before they deliver their drug payloads. The group describes its "LeukoLike Vectors", or LLVs, in the January issue of Nature Nanotechnology. Our goal was to make a particle that is camouflaged within our bodies and escapes the surveillance of the immune system to reach its target undiscovered," said Department of Medicine Co-Chair Ennio Tasciotti, Ph.D., the study's principal investigator. "We accomplished this with the lipids and proteins present on the membrane of the very same cells of the immune system. We transferred the cell membranes to the surfaces of the particles and the result is that the body now recognizes these particles as its own and does not readily remove them." Nanoparticles can deliver different types of drugs to specific cell types, for example, chemotherapy to cancer cells. But for all the benefits they offer and to get to where they need to go and deliver the needed drug, nanoparticles must somehow evade the body's immune system that recognizes them as intruders. The ability of the body's defenses to destroy nanoparticles is a major barrier to the use of nanotechnology in medicine. Systemically administered nanoparticles are captured and removed from the body within few minutes. With the membrane coating, they can survive for hours unharmed. "Our cloaking strategy prevents the binding of opsonins - signaling proteins that activate the immune system," Tasciotti said. "We compared the absorption of proteins onto the surface of uncoated and coated particles to see how the particles might evade the immune system response."

Owl mystery unravelled: Scientists explain how bird can rotate its head without cutting off blood David March Johns Hopkins Medicine 2013-01-31 18:46:00 Lack of such adaptations could explain why humans are more vulnerable to neck injury. Medical illustrators and neurological imaging experts at Johns Hopkins have figured out how night-hunting owls can almost fully rotate their heads - by as much as 270 degrees in either direction - without damaging the delicate blood vessels in their necks and heads, and without cutting off blood supply to their brains. In what may be the first use of angiography, CT scans and medical illustrations to examine the anatomy of a dozen of the big-eyed birds, the Johns Hopkins team, led by medical illustrator Fabian de Kok-Mercado, M.A., a recent graduate student in the Department of Art as Applied to Medicine, found four major biological adaptations designed to prevent injury from rotational head movements. The variations are all to the strigid animals' bone structure and vascular network needed to support its top-heavy head. The team's findings are acknowledged in the Feb.1 issue of the journal Science, as first-place prize winners in the posters and graphics category of the National Science Foundation's 2012 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge. "Until now, brain imaging specialists like me who deal with human injuries caused by trauma to arteries in the head and neck have always been puzzled as to why rapid, twisting head movements did not leave thousands of owls lying dead on the forest floor from stroke," says study senior investigator and interventional neuroradiologist Philippe Gailloud, M.D. "The carotid and vertebral arteries in the neck of most animals - including owls and humans - are very fragile and highly susceptible to even minor tears of the vessel lining," adds Gailloud, an associate professor in the Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Molecular fountain of youth discovered Nic Halverson Discovery News 2013-01-31 11:51:00 Four thousands of years, our thirst for the legendary Fountain of Youth has been nearly as strong as our propensity for perpetuating the myth. However, over the last 20 years, the fertile headwaters of molecular biology have been pumping out anything but folklore. Not only have these waters yielded a precipitous stretch in understanding the aging process, they're potentially guiding us closer to the source of everlasting youth. From this flow now comes word that biologists from the University of California, Berkeley have tapped an influential longevity gene that can reverse cell degeneration associated with aging. That's right, they're not just offering a sip from the fountain, they're turning back the clock at the molecular level. The new study, published in Cell Reports, represents a major discovery and offers new hope for development of targeted treatments for a long list of age-related degenerative diseases, such as heart disease, Alzheimer's and arthritis, just to name a few. The biologists, lead by UC Berkeley assistant professor of nutritional science and toxicology Danica Chen, focused their attention on one protein in particular: SIRT3. It's one in a class of proteins called surtuins, long known to regulate aging. Biologists found that SIRT3 plays a significant role in helping aged blood stem cells cope with the oxidative stress of the aging process. When the blood stem cells of aged mice were infused with SIRT3, it regenerated new blood cells, providing evidence of a reversal in the age-related degeneration of the cells' function. "This is really the first demonstration that sirtuins may be able to actually reverse aging-associated degeneration," Chen told Discovery News.

Earth Changes

U.S. wildlife officials propose endangered status for wolverines Guardian 2013-02-01 15:50:00 Only 250 to 300 wolverines roam the US, but the species' habitats are threatened by climate change The tenacious wolverine, a snow-loving carnivore sometimes called the "mountain devil," is being added to the list of species threatened by climate change, a dubious distinction that puts it in the ranks of the polar bear and several other animals that could see their habitats shrink drastically due to warming temperatures. US wildlife officials on Friday will propose Endangered Species Act protections for the wolverine in the contiguous 48 states, a step denied under the Bush administration. The Associated Press obtained details of the government's long-awaited ruling on the rare, elusive animal in advance of the announcement.

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.0 - 52km SW of Lata, Solomon Islands US Geological Survey 2013-02-01 13:22:00 Event Time 2013-02-01 05:36:40 UTC 2013-02-01 16:36:40 UTC+11:00 at epicenter Location 11.090°S 165.538°E depth=9.3km (5.8mi) Nearby Cities 52km (32mi) SW of Lata, Solomon Islands 522km (324mi) NNW of Luganville, Vanuatu 638km (396mi) ESE of Honiara, Solomon Islands 793km (493mi) NNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu 1103km (685mi) N of We, New Caledonia

Mystery deepens as increasing numbers of stricken birds wash up on Dorset coast John Fahey, Ryan Hooper The Independent, UK 2013-02-01 12:48:00 Increasing numbers of stricken birds are washing up on the south coast after being covered in a mysterious substance. Wildlife experts are no closer to discovering the cause of the environmental damage, which has seen more than 100 seabirds taken into care at the RSPCA West Hatch wildlife centre in Taunton, Somerset, since yesterday. Most of the birds, guillemots, were found at Chesil Beach, near Portland in Dorset. One bird was found alive as far as Worthing in west Sussex, and is now being cared for at a veterinary surgery. Another, found in the Isle of Wight, is now at a local animal rescue centre. Around 200 miles of the English coastline is being investigated. The Environment Agency has taken samples of the water for testing. RSPCA deputy chief inspector John Pollock, who has been leading the rescue mission in Dorset, said: "We just do not know what this substance is. "It is white, odourless and globular, like a silicone sealer. The best way I can think to describe it is 'sticky Vaseline'. "The numbers of the birds coming in have been growing and sadly there were quite a few dead birds this morning."

Aftershocks may portend major Philippine earthquake Crystal Gammon OurAmazingPlanet 2013-02-01 10:23:00 Aftershocks shook the Philippines for more than two weeks after a magnitude-7.6 quake rocked the region on Aug. 31, 2012. A team of seismologists monitoring the aftershocks and plotting their whereabouts noticed an odd pattern. "Typically, if you locate aftershocks they sort of outline the fault that ruptures. This time they didn't," said Thorne Lay, a geophysicist at the University of California, Santa Cruz who was part of the team. "Instead they were shallower and had very different fault geometries." The 7.6 quake happened at a fault within the Philippine Sea Plate, which is subducting beneath the Philippine Microplate. Some of the unusual aftershocks were so called "intraplate" ruptures, like the original quake, but happened at a shallower depth. And others of the unusual aftershocks were located west of the epicenter, within the Philippine Trench itself, where the plate is subducting. These are called interplate aftershocks because they happen at the boundary between two plates. That segment of the trench hasn't seen a major earthquake in at least 400 years, but the shocks may be a sign that the plate boundary is linked to the intraplate rupture and that it is building up strain in preparation for a big one. No one will know until GPS equipment is installed and scientists collect more data, Lay said.

Seabirds wash up on English coast covered in sticky substance Steven Morris Guardian 2013-02-01 10:39:00 Conservationists mount rescue operation after birds found on beaches coated in waxy oil Conservationists are becoming increasingly alarmed by the number of seabirds being washed on to the south coast of England covered in a sticky, waxy substance. Around 200 birds have been found alive, but by Friday morning 20 dead birds had also been discovered and the RSPB was receiving many reports of distressed birds being spotted out at sea. Scientists from the Environment Agency and Maritime Coastguard Agency have taken samples to establish what the substance is, which will help efforts to clean the surviving birds. One theory being examined is that it could be palm oil. Most of the birds affected are guillemots, which spend most of their life out at sea and are more vulnerable to oil spills. But there are growing concerns that rarer birds may also have been affected.

Nine people killed as freak hailstorm rains massive boulders down on Indian villages Jill Reilly Daily Mail, UK 2013-01-31 11:25:00 Hailstones the size of boulders have rained down on villages in southern India.At least nine people were killed when the violent weather hit several villages in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The hailstorm which lasted for almost 20 minutes, destroyed crops, houses and live stock, causing devastating financial implications for residents.

What's the deal with Arkansas' radioactive snow? Greg Newkirk WhoForted? 2013-01-31 13:32:00 On January 15, White County, Arkansas resident Daren Foraday walked outside to play in the fresh snow. No, not with his sled.. but with his geiger counter. What he found, levels of radiation comparable to the kind exposed to workers in a radioactive plant, disturbed him. Foraday, a self proclaimed "science nerd", wonders why the citizens exposed to the snowfall weren't warned of it's levels. According to Daren, the area around White County generally clocks in at 35cpm in background radiation, but after the snowfall that number was much higher. "The sleet and snow was showing an alert level above 100cpm," he wrote. "The high levels only lasted about 24 hours indicating a short half life of the hot particles. This kind of exposure can reduce the immune system and may be the cause for recent spikes in flu and illness in this area and others. Read article here

Mysterious, purple spheres found in the desert Liz Kotalik KGUN9 2013-01-30 19:02:00 It was a normal Sunday in Vail for Geradine Vargas. Normal, until she and her husband stumbled upon something kind of weird."We were taking photos around the area and we just.... I mean, how could you miss this?" Geradine said. "It was just like glittering in the sun."Thousands of tiny, purple-hued spheres piled in the middle of nowhere. "It's just one of those things that you've never seen before."They were watery, some where translucent, and the pile was completely isolated. Gerardine was amazed, and she wanted answers."We did email a friend of ours who's a zoologist, but she didn't know. I mean, she didn't seem to recognize what it was."

Satellite image shows Eastern U.S. severe weather system Rob Gutro NASA 2013-01-30 18:19:00 A powerful cold front moving from the central United States to the East Coast is wiping out spring-like temperatures and replacing them with winter-time temperatures with powerful storms in between. An image released from NASA using data from NOAA's GOES-13 satellite provides a stunning look at the powerful system that brings a return to winter weather in its wake. On Jan. 30 at 1825 UTC (1:25 p.m. EST), NOAA's GOES-13 satellite captured an image of clouds associated with the strong cold front. The visible GOES-13 image shows a line of clouds that stretch from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast and contain powerful thunderstorms with the potential to be severe. The front is moving east to the Atlantic Ocean. NOAA's GOES-13 satellite continually provides real-time visible and infrared imagery of weather over the eastern United States. The NASA GOES Project, located at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., created the image from GOES data. The colorized image uses GOES-13 satellite visible data of clouds, and is overlaid on a U.S. map created by imagery from the Moderate Resolution Spectroradiometer instrument (MODIS), an instrument that flies aboard both the NASA Aqua and Terra satellites.

Fire in the Sky

Incoming meteor filmed near Birmingham Airport, England BBC News 2013-01-31 19:13:00 A taxi driver has captured film of a suspected meteor over Birmingham Airport.Paul Duggan filmed the object on a dashboard camera he uses to record bad driving, at 21:05 GMT on Wednesday. Mr Duggan said he initially thought it might be an aircraft crashing.Gary Fildes, from the Kielder Observatory in Northumberland, said the meteor was visible for 10 to 15 seconds - 10 times longer than usual - and was "quite a sight".

Green fireball flashes across night sky in Lincolnshire, England PWhitelam_LE ThisIsLincolnshire 2013-01-31 20:28:00 Sightings have been reported of a green 'fireball' flashing across the sky over Lincolnshire last night. Lincoln City goalkeeper Paul Farman was among those who saw the phenomenon and wrote on Twitter at about 9pm that he'd seen a meteoroid or a shooting star. RAF Waddington spokesman Lindsey Askin said no flights from the base were in the air over Lincoln. Astronomer Paul Money, who lives in Horncastle, caught a glimpse of the spectacle out the corner of his eye as it disappeared to the north.

Health & Wellness

First genetically engineered flu vaccine now on the market Dr. Mercola Mercola.com 2013-01-29 16:24:00 As recently reported, a hardier than normal type of flu has spread around the US, and much earlier than normal, causing some states to declare public health emergencies. To speed up flu vaccine production, the US FDA has approved a new insect-based, genetically engineered flu vaccine, as well as vaccines grown in cultures of dog kidney cells rather than eggs. And while mainstream media claims the flu vaccine is working well this year, a recent review of published research shows flu vaccines are ineffective at best, and produce neurological complications at worst, while having no effect at all on hospitalizations or working days lost.

Lifestyle changes beat Statins for boosting heart health Elizabeth Renter Natural Society 2013-01-30 16:05:00 An estimated one-in-four Americans over the age of 45 is currently taking cholesterol-reducing medication known as statin drugs. These drugs are doled out by physicians who believe their patients need nothing more than a "magic pill" to reduce their big bad cholesterol. But with frightening and potentially deadly side effects, one has to wonder how many of these doctors truly have their patients best interests in mind - particularly when you learn that lifestyle changes can bring "bad" cholesterol down to acceptable levels possibly even better than statins. Statins have been linked to over 300 different adverse effects. You know those commercials for prescription drugs, where the voice-over reads off dozens of side-effects? If it were for statins (and if it were truly honest), the commercial would have to be about 5 minutes long to account for all the dangers. Possible negative side effects of statins include: Liver damage Cancer Diabetes Kidney failure Myopathy And much more...

Comment: Read the following articles for more information about the 'cholesterol scam' the author mentions above: Dispel the Myths: Why You Should Eat Cholesterol Why You Should Eat More (not less) Cholesterol LOW Cholesterol: The Risks, Dangers & The Reality Cholesterol - The good, the bad, and the ugly The Cholesterol Myth that is Harming Your Health Dangers Of Lowering Cholesterol Dates Back 20 Years Bad Cholesterol Does Not Exist: Time to Put The Myth To Rest How Standard Dietary Advice To Avoid Cholesterol-Rich Foods Is Misguided Cholesterol Is Your Body's Most Powerful Defense Against Toxins & Free Radicals The cholesterol - heart disease scam: How the medical-industrial complex is raking in billions at our expense

Popular plastic chemical BPA linked to wheezing in children Susan Patterson Natural Society 2013-02-01 15:42:00 Bisphenol A, also known as BPA is a chemical that is commonly found in a large number of consumer products including water bottles and food containers. In fact, in the United States, this dangerous chemical is found in more than 90% of the population, which points to widespread exposure. While the chemical is linked to numerous health issues, research out of Penn State College of Medicine found that early exposure to BPA while pregnant may lead to wheezing in children. The studies followed 367 children whose mothers all had traceable levels of BPA in their urine during pregnancy. Parents monitored and reported on wheezing episodes twice yearly for a period of three years. The results indicated that children at six months were twice as likely to have a wheezing episode if their mothers had elevated levels of BPA during pregnancy as those children whose mothers levels were lower. As the children aged, the effects seemed to diminish.

Comment: Read the following articles for the facts about Bisphenol A: President's Cancer Panel Warns of Toxic Effects of BPA BPA Report Details Chemical's Hazards Prenatal BPA Exposure Linked to Behavioral Issues BPA Exposure Worse Than Previously Estimated Consumer Reports Studies BPA in the Food Supply Scientists Believe BPA is Risky - it's Just a Matter of Agreeing on How Much Now That the FDA Itself has Found BPA in Canned Foods, Will it Regulate the Poison?

Yoga to reduce inflammation Dr. Weil drweilblog.com 2013-01-16 15:09:00 For caregivers of family members with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia, setting aside just 12 minutes a day for yoga can reduce stress - and possibly even decrease inflammation that could impair health. A newly published study from UCLA shows that just eight weeks of practicing Kirtan Kriya Meditation, a yogic chant, resulted in a reduction in inflammation. Of particular interest is that this response was apparently achieved at the level of 68 genes that influence inflammation. The research team leader noted that chronic stress raises the risk for depression, that the incidence of depression among caregivers is approaching 50 percent, and that caregivers are also twice as likely to report high levels of emotional stress.

Comment: Proper breathing techniques are the foundation of all yoga practices. Practicing proper breathing techniques on a regular basis can instantaneously 'better your mood, tame your stress and reduce inflammation'. For more information about easy to use breathing techniques that can help reduce stress in the body, mind and spirit visit theÉiriú Eolas Stress Control, Healing and Rejuvenation Program website. Yoga Reduces Cytokine Levels Known to Promote Inflammation, Study Shows Yoga Relieves Depression by Boosting Calming Neurotransmitter Levels Study: Yoga Improves Sleep, Quality of Life for Cancer Survivors Yoga Can Ease the Chronic Pain of Fibromyalgia Tame Your Stress With Yoga

GMO food labeling comes into force amid fears of 'lack of planning' Dinesh C Sharma Daily Mail 2013-01-01 14:54:00 On New Year's day, India joined a select band of countries where food containing genetically modified (GM) content must be labelled as such. But it has done so without any preparation. The labelling of foods with GM ingredients has been a long-held demand of consumer groups, but the way it has been done in India has left them disappointed. The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011, which came into effect on January 1, say "every package containing the genetically modified food shall bear at the top of its principal display panel the letters 'GM'." Consumer rights activist Bejon Misra said of the move: "It is a good step, but it is being done without any preparation at all. We don't know how this rule will be implemented or how it will be applied to products with GM content that are being imported or how the violators be prosecuted." Moreover, merely printing the word GM on labels is not going to serve any purpose. "People may confuse it as an acronym for 'gram'. The label should explicitly say 'this product contains genetically modified ingredients'," he said.

Triaminic, Theraflu recalled after children accidentally ingested the medication Sydney Lupkin ABC News 2013-02-01 08:18:00 The pharmaceutical company that makes Triaminic and Theraflu recalled 2.3 million units of cold and cough syrups after four children opened the child-resistant caps and accidentally ingested the medication themselves. The child-resistant caps don't work in some cases, and a child can remove them even with the tamper-evident plastic seal still in place, according to a statement from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the federal agency charged with protecting consumers against accident-causing products. Novartis Consumer Health Inc., the pharmaceutical company, recalled six kinds of Theraflu Warming Relief syrups and 18 kinds of Triaminic syrups. For a full list, click here. Of the four affected children, one needed medical attention. Eight other children could open the caps but did not ingest the syrup, according to the commission. "It's really common," said Dr. Donna Seger, the executive director of the Tennessee Poison Center and a professor at Vanderbilt University. "Cold and flu medicine are one of the top exposures that children have in the U.S."

More links found between schizophrenia and cardiovascular disease Scott LaFee University of California - San Diego 2013-01-31 18:31:00 A new study, to be published in the Feb. 7, 2013 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, expands and deepens the biological and genetic links between cardiovascular disease and schizophrenia. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of premature death among schizophrenia patients, who die from heart and blood vessel disorders at a rate double that of persons without the mental disorder. "These results have important clinical implications, adding to our growing awareness that cardiovascular disease is under-recognized and under-treated in mentally ill individuals," said study first author Ole Andreassen, MD, PhD, an adjunct professor at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and professor of psychiatry at the University of Oslo. "Its presence in schizophrenia is not solely due to lifestyle or medication side effects. Clinicians must recognize that individuals with schizophrenia are at risk for cardiovascular disease independent of these factors." Led by principal investigator Anders M. Dale, PhD, professor of radiology, neurosciences, psychiatry and cognitive science at UC San Diego School of Medicine, an international team of researchers used a novel statistical model to magnify the analytical powers of genome-wide association studies or GWAS.

Science of the Spirit

Empathy and age: Middle-aged most likely to feel your pain Diane Swanbrow University of Michigan 2013-01-30 18:23:00 According to a new study of more than 75,000 adults, women in that age group are more empathic than men of the same age and than younger or older people. "Overall, late middle-aged adults were higher in both of the aspects of empathy that we measured," says Sara Konrath, co-author of an article on age and empathy forthcoming in the Journals of Gerontology: Psychological and Social Sciences. "They reported that they were more likely to react emotionally to the experiences of others, and they were also more likely to try to understand how things looked from the perspective of others." For the study, researchers Ed O'Brien, Konrath and Linda Hagen at the University of Michigan and Daniel Grühn at North Carolina State University analyzed data on empathy from three separate large samples of American adults, two of which were taken from the nationally representative General Social Survey. They found consistent evidence of an inverted U-shaped pattern of empathy across the adult life span, with younger and older adults reporting less empathy and middle-aged adults reporting more. According to O'Brien, this pattern may result because increasing levels of cognitive abilities and experience improve emotional functioning during the first part of the adult life span, while cognitive declines diminish emotional functioning in the second half.

High Strangeness

UFO alert sparked by strange lights in sky over York York Press 2013-02-01 15:23:00 Dozens of people reported seeing a UFO in the sky over York with police investigating claims space debris crashed into the ground at New Earswick. North Yorkshire Police said a member of the public contacted the force to report a hole in a grass verge in Hazel Close at 1am yesterday. A spokeswoman said the caller thought the small crater was caused by space debris. "An officer attended the scene and found a hole in a grass verge approximately 1ft deep," she said. "There was no debris inside the hole and we are not in a position to confirm how or when the hole was made. City of York Council will be made aware of the hole."

Who you gonna call? No one, thanks to the iPhone ghost of New Talbot pub Dana Newkirk WhoForted? 2013-01-31 15:50:00 New Talbot Pub manager Ajay Cohan thought he had misplaced his phone in the wee hours of the morning as he cleaned. Cohan check the CCTV cameras later, astonished to see his phone disappear from a chair sometime around 2:30 in the morning. Locals are saying it's the work of former landlord Gary Stephens, who died of a heart attack in 1993. Regulars have reported the chair in question also happened to be the late Stephens' favorite. The video of the phone in question is a 13 second clip of a black blob scooting across a bench and disappearing under the table with a thud. Cohan and his family who live on the property, are frightened by the recent CCTV video. "It was crazy when I watched back the footage, no one was near it and then it just flies off the seat and across the pub," Cohan told The Sun. "There is no explanation. The vibration function on my phone is broken; there is no draft inside the pub."

Don't Panic! Lighten Up!

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