Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Friday, 10 May 2013

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American political refugee: Musician Lauryn Hill imprisoned for not paying taxes to corrupt Feds, ordered to undergo therapy for 'conspiracy thinking' Dominic Gover International Business Times 2013-05-10 15:42:00 Reclusive soul superstar Lauryn Hill has been jailed over an enormous unpaid tax bill. Fugees singer Hill, 37, was sentenced to three months' jail followed by three months' home confinement for failing to pay $500,000 to the taxman in the United States. Hill claimed the sum was outstanding because she had "withdrawn from society" after alleged threats against her family. She was imprisoned after failing to pay the amount within the stipulated two-week timeframe. During her trial, Hill was ordered by the judge in Newark, New Jersey to undergo counselling because of her conspiracy theories - including that artists are being oppressed by a plot involving the military and media. Hill pleaded guilty to charges of tax evasion last year. Her lawyers said she had paid more than $970,000 of an outstanding tax bill which amounted to more than $2m.

Comment: 'Correctional' psychotherapy for 'conspiracy thinking'? It rather sounds like the judge needs to go back to law school... The Secret Meeting that Changed Rap Music and Destroyed a Generation Hill's sentencing comes a week after she signed a new contract with Sony in order to pay the taxes. So it seems like the 'justice system' sought to make an example of her one way or another... Here is a statement Hill made last week concerning her new record deal: It has been reported that I signed a new record deal, and that I did this to pay taxes. Yes, I have recently entered into an agreement with Sony Worldwide Entertainment, to launch a new label, on which my new music will be released. And yes, I am working on new music. I've remained silent, after an extensive healing process. This has been a 10+ year battle, for a long time played out behind closed doors, but now in front of the public eye. This is an old conflict between art and commerce... free minds, and minds that are perhaps overly tethered to structure. This is about inequity, and the resulting disenfranchisement caused by it. I've been fighting for existential and economic freedom, which means the freedom to create and live without someone threatening, controlling, and/or manipulating the art and the artist, by tying the purse strings. It took years for me to get out of the 'parasitic' dynamic of my youth, and into a deal that better reflects my true contribution as an artist, and (purportedly) gives me the control necessary to create a paradigm suitable for my needs. I have been working towards this for a long time, not just because of my current legal situation, but because I am an artist, I love to create, and I need the proper platform to do so. The nature of my new business venture, as well as the dollar amount reported, was inaccurate, only a portion of the overall deal. Keep in mind, my past recordings have sold over 50,000,000 units worldwide, earning the label a tremendous amount of money (a fraction of which actually came to me). Only a completely complicated set of traps, manipulations, and inequitable business arrangements could put someone who has accomplished the things that I have, financially in need of anything. I am one artist who finds value in openly discussing the dynamics within this industry that force artists to compromise or distort themselves and what they do, rather than allowing them to make the music that people need. There are volumes that could (and will) be said. MLH When new first broke that the Feds were going after Hill, she issued this statement: "For the past several years, I have remained what others would consider underground. I did this in order to build a community of people, like-minded in their desire for freedom and the right to pursue their goals and lives without being manipulated and controlled by a media protected military industrial complex with a completely different agenda. Having put the lives and needs of other people before my own for multiple years, and having made hundreds of millions of dollars for certain institutions, under complex and sometimes severe circumstances, I began to require growth and more equitable treatment, but was met with resistance. I entered into my craft full of optimism (which I still possess), but immediately saw the suppressive force with which the system attempts to maintain it's control over a given paradigm. I've seen people promote addiction, use sabotage, black listing, media bullying and any other coercion technique they could, to prevent artists from knowing their true value, or exercising their full power. These devices of control, no matter how well intentioned (or not), can have a devastating outcome on the lives of people, especially creative types who must grow and exist within a certain environment and according to a certain pace, in order to live and create optimally. I kept my life relatively simple, even after huge successes, but it became increasingly obvious that certain indulgences and privileges were expected to come at the expense of my free soul, free mind, and therefore my health and integrity. So I left a more mainstream and public life, in order to wean both myself, and my family, away from a lifestyle that required distortion and compromise as a means for maintaining it. During this critical healing time, there were very few people accessible to me who had not already been seduced or affected by this machine, and therefore who could be trusted to not try and influence or coerce me back into a dynamic of compromise. Individual growth was expected to take place unnaturally, or stagnated outright, subject to marketing and politics. Addressing critical issues like pop culture cannibalism or its manipulation of the young at the expense of everything, was frowned upon and discouraged by limiting funding, or denying it outright. When one has a prolific creative output like I did/do, and is then forced to stop, the effects can be dangerous both emotionally and psychologically, both for the artist and those in need of that resource. It was critically important that I find a suitable pathway within which to exist, without being distorted or economically strong-armed. During this period of crisis, much was said about me, both slanted and inaccurate, by those who had become dependent on my creative force, yet unwilling to fully acknowledge the importance of my contribution, nor compensate me equitably for it. This was done in an effort to smear my public image, in order to directly affect my ability to earn independently of this system. It took a long time to locate and nurture a community of people strong enough to resist the incredibly unhealthy tide, and more importantly see through it. If I had not been able to make contact with, and establish this community, my life, safety and freedom, would have been directly affected as well as the lives, safety and freedom of my family. Failure to create a non toxic, non exploitative environment was not an option. As my potential to work, and therefore earn freely, was being threatened, I did whatever needed to be done in order to insulate my family from the climate of hostility, false entitlement, manipulation, racial prejudice, sexism and ageism that I was surrounded by. This was absolutely critical while trying to find and establish a new and very necessary community of healthy people, and also heal and detoxify myself and my family while raising my young children. There were no exotic trips, no fleet of cars, just an all out war for safety, integrity, wholeness and health, without mistreatment denial, and/or exploitation. In order to liberate myself from those who found it ok to oppose my wholeness, free speech and integral growth by inflicting different forms of punitive action against it, I used my resources to sustain our safety and survival until I was able to restore my ability to earn outside of it! When artists experience danger and crisis under the effects of this kind of insidious manipulation, everyone easily accepts that there was something either dysfunctional or defective with the artist, rather than look at, and fully examine, the system and its means and policies of exploiting/'doing business'. Not only is this unrealistic, it is very dark in its motivation, conveniently targeting the object of their hero worship by removing any evidence that they 'needed' or celebrated this very same resource just years, months or moments before. Since those who believe they need a hero/celebrity outnumber the actual heroes/celebrities, people feel safe and comfortably justified in numbers, committing egregious crimes in the name of the greater social ego. Ironically diminishing their own true hero-celebrity nature in the process. It was this schism and the hypocrisy, violence and social cannibalism it enabled, that I wanted and needed to be freed from, not from art or music, but the suppression/repression and reduction of that art and music to a bottom line alone, without regard for anything else. Over-commercialization and its resulting restrictions and limitations can be very damaging and distorting to the inherent nature of the individual. I Love making art, I Love making music, these are as natural and necessary for me almost as breathing or talking. To be denied the right to pursue it according to my ability, as well as be properly acknowledged and compensated for it, in an attempt to control, is manipulation directed at my most basic rights! These forms of expression, along with others, effectively comprise my free speech! Defending, preserving, and protecting these rights are critically important, especially in a paradigm where veiled racism, sexism, ageism, nepotism, and deliberate economic control are still blatant realities!!! Learning from the past, insulating friends and family from the influence of external manipulation and corruption, is far more important to me than being misunderstood for a season! I did not deliberately abandon my fans, nor did I deliberately abandon any responsibilities, but I did however put my safety, health and freedom and the freedom, safety and health of my family first over all other material concerns! I also embraced my right to resist a system intentionally opposing my right to whole and integral survival. I conveyed all of this when questioned as to why I did not file taxes during this time period. Obviously, the danger I faced was not accepted as reasonable grounds for deferring my tax payments, as authorities, who despite being told all of this, still chose to pursue action against me, as opposed to finding an alternative solution. My intention has always been to get this situation rectified. When I was working consistently without being affected by the interferences mentioned above, I filed and paid my taxes. This only stopped when it was necessary to withdraw from society, in order to guarantee the safety and well-being of myself and my family. As this, and other areas of issue are resolved and set straight, I am able to get back to doing what I should be doing, the way it should be done. This is part of that process. To those supporters who were told that I abandoned them, that is untrue. I abandoned greed, corruption, and compromise, never you, and never the artistic gifts and abilities that sustained me." What are creative people to do in a world run by, for and of psychopaths? Mother of five and hip-hop artist Lauryn Hill gets 3 months and the humiliation of being told she's crazy for using art to point out that U.S. society is toxic beyond repair... while Wall Street critters remain free to pillage and plunder at will... Hill released this single the day before she was sent down:

Puppet Masters

California deputies seize phones after beating man to death Carlos Miller Photography is Not a crime 2013-05-10 15:00:00 Law enforcement authorities in California beat a man to death with their batons before seizing at least two cell phones from witnesses who captured the incident on video. One of the phones was seized without a warrant. The second phone was seized with a warrant but only because a family lawyer had arrived on the scene. It doesn't appear as if the lawyer had any sense to download the video before the phone was seized. Or more likely, Kern County sheriff deputies would not allow it.

Roger Stone: LBJ had Kennedy killed Patrick Howley The Daily Caller 2013-05-10 03:39:00 Legendary Republican operative Roger Stone claims in his new book that Lyndon Johnson arranged John F. Kennedy's assassination, and that Richard Nixon and Johnson had a documented relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald's killer, Jack Ruby, years before Ruby shot Oswald in the basement of Dallas police headquarters in 1963. Stone, who worked for Richard Nixon's Committee to Re-elect the President in 1972 and later served in the Nixon administration, claims in his forthcoming book that Johnson, then a congressman, instructed Richard Nixon, then a congressman, to hire Ruby on the House of Representatives payroll in 1947. Stone also claimed that Johnson "micro-managed" Kennedy's Dallas motorcade, demanding that it pass through Dealy Plaza on November 22, 1963, when Oswald, from his perch in an overlooking book depository building, shot Kennedy.

Unstoppable greed: Shell presses ahead with world's deepest offshore oil well Simon Goodley The Guardian 2013-05-08 16:01:00 Company will drill almost two miles underwater in Gulf of Mexico as part of next generation of deep-water developments Royal Dutch Shell is pressing ahead with the world's deepest offshore oil and gas production facility by drilling almost two miles underwater in the politically sensitive Gulf of Mexico. The move is being viewed in the oil industry as a demonstration of Shell's confidence that its technology can deliver returns on expensive and risky offshore projects, despite a recent downturn in oil prices. It comes a day after ExxonMobil said it would start work on a $4bn (£2.6bn) project to develop the Julia oilfield, also in the North American ocean basin, and weeks after BP delayed development of its biggest Gulf of Mexico project - Mad Dog Phase 2 - citing rising costs. John Hollowell, a Shell executive vice-president, said: "This important investment demonstrates our ongoing commitment to usher in the next generation of deepwater developments, which will deliver more production growth in the Americas. We will continue our leadership in safe, innovative deepwater operations to help meet the growing demand for energy in the US." The move comes despite ongoing controversy over offshore exploration - especially in the Gulf of Mexico, where in April 2010 a fire and explosion on the BP Deepwater Horizon rig killed 11 workers and started a leak that took three months to cap. Last month BP said it had paid $25bn (£16bn) of the $42bn it has set aside to cover the damage caused by the spill.

Society's Child

Two busted in attack on gay men near Madison Square Garden; second assault on homosexuals this week Phillip Messing New York Post 2013-05-10 15:46:00 Two Manhattan men have been arrested and at least three others are being sought for badly beating two gays near Madison Square Garden earlier Friday morning. The assault, which led to one of the men undergoing eye surgery at Bellevue Hospital, occurred just five days after a gay couple were beaten near the Garden following Sunday's New York Knick's game. In this morning's incident, the victims, age 27 and 37 who live on the west side of Manhattan, were set upon by a pack of five to six individuals shortly before 5 a.m. near West 32d Street, after they tried to get into a billiard parlor.

Cleveland hero was a repeat domestic abuser The Smoking Gun 2013-05-08 14:42:00 Charles Ramsey battered his wife, did prison time The Cleveland man credited with helping free female captives from a house of horrors is a convicted felon whose rap sheet includes three separate domestic violence convictions that resulted in prison terms, court records show. Charles Ramsey, whose 911 call and subsequent TV interviews have made him a microcelebrity, was once a repeat spousal abuser whose marriage ended in divorce following a 2003 felony conviction for battering his wife. Ramsey, 43, has said that when he heard captive Amanda Berry screaming and trying to escape from neighbor Ariel Castro's home on Monday, "I figured it's a domestic violence dispute." Ramsey has also reportedly said that he went to help Berry because he "was raised to help women in distress."

'I helped her first': Cleveland man says he, not Charles Ramsey, came to Amanda Berry's aid before others Phillip Caulfield New York Daily News 2013-05-08 14:30:00 Neighbor Angel Cordero says that he, not overnight media sensation Charles Ramsey, first helped Amanda Berry break out of the West Cleveland home where she and 3 others were being held captive. A second neighbor of the West Cleveland home where three captive women were freed Monday says he, not Charles Ramsey, was the one who helped the trio break out of the ramshackle house of horrors. "I helped her and I was first," neighbor Angel Cordero told local NewsChannel5, referring to Amanda Berry, the 27-year-old hostage who signaled for help. "Ramsey arrived after she was outside with the girl," Cordero told the reporter in Spanish. "But the truth who arrived there, who crossed the street, who came and broke the door, it was me." Cordero said he and other neighbors helped Ramsey break down the door of the Seymore Ave. home.

Taco Fusion may keep controversial lion tacos on menu Richard Mullins The Tampa Tribune 2013-05-09 13:55:00 Tampa - Bomb threats, fistfights and TV news vans outside. It's just another day for a taco joint serving tacos made with real lion meat. We're getting all kinds of threats over it, said Ryan Gougeon, owner of Taco Fusion on Bay to Bay Boulevard in Tampa that put lion meat on their taco menu this week. Controversy soon erupted and social media exploded with criticism that anyone would serve lion meat. Now we're getting bomb threats, and everything else. Some guy just called and said he'd kidnap me and grind me up for a taco. There are so many coming in we aren't counting. Besides serving the standard chicken tacos and a giant nacho platter, the Taco Fusion restaurant specializes in all sorts of exotic meats: Gator, elk, bear, zebra and kangaroo. The lion meat taco is priced at $35 apiece, and has been selling well. The lion meat is authentic, Gougeon said, and comes from a farm that raises the animals for meat. Such a practice is legal in the United States because lions are only considered threatened, and not endangered.

Psychics on hot seat after false claim that Cleveland kidnapping victim was dead Erik Ortiz New York Daily News 2013-05-08 14:29:00 Police departments across the country routinely get tips from self-professed mediums, particularly in high-profile cases. The claims don't always pan out, as was the case with psychic Sylvia Browne. Another psychic says, 'I don't claim to solve the crimes. Police do. I give information.' In 2004, self-proclaimed psychic Sylvia Browne had a heartbreaking message for the mother of Amanda Berry, one of the three Cleveland kidnapping victims. "She's not alive, honey," Browne told mom Louwanna Miller on The Montel Williams Show. Miller, who died two years later, would never know that Berry was in fact alive - she and two other women were discovered Monday after police say they were held captive in a home for about a decade. Browne was blasted on social media for her dead-wrong declaration, with some calling her a "filthy, exploitative, greedy liar." She didn't return a call for comment Wednesday. Meanwhile, Browne's baseless claim in the shocking Cleveland case has put a spotlight on how law enforcement uses clairvoyants, and whether they're helpful crime solvers - or opportunistic crackpots. Noreen Renier, who calls herself a "psychic detective," defended her profession from skeptics. "I don't claim to solve the crimes. Police do," Renier, of Orlando, Fla., told the Daily News. "I give information." Renier, 76, said she's worked on more than 600 cases across the country and is currently helping to crack a homicide case in Mozambique.

Reinaldo Diaz Camacho charged: Pfizer executive faces child pornography allegations The Huffington Post 2013-05-09 16:24:00 San Jaun, Puerto Rico -- Federal authorities in Puerto Rico have arrested an executive at Pfizer Pharmaceutical for allegedly producing child pornography. Officials say 48-year-old Reinaldo Diaz Camacho was charged after Puerto Rico police received information that he was having sexually explicit conversations with a 16-year-old boy on Facebook. U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez said Thursday that the boy's mother told authorities she had seen the conversations on her son's cellphone.

Malcolm Shabazz dead: Grandson of Malcolm X killed in Mexico Jermaine Spradley The Huffington Post 2013-05-09 21:36:00 Malcolm Shabazz, the grandson of civil rights icon Malcolm X, has been killed in Mexico according to The Amsterdam News. Shabazz's death was also confirmed on Twitter and Facebook by Terrie Williams, a friend of the Shabazz family. While details of his death are still unclear, there are unconfirmed reports that Shabazz died of injuries sustained during a robbery. Shabazz is the son of Qubilah Shabazz, who was the second daughter of Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz. In his youth, he set a fire that caused the death of his grandmother. For that crime, he plead plead guilty to manslaughter, was found guilty of arson, and was sentenced to 18 months in a juvenile detention facility. As an adult, Shabazz continued to have trouble with the law, The New York Times reported. He plead guilty to attempted robbery in 2002 and was sentenced to three and a half years in prison. Just months after his release in 2006, he was arrested again, this time for punching a hole in a store window. At the time of his death, Shabazz was attending John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and working on two books.

More Victims: Bikram Yoga founder accused of rape in two new lawsuits YogaDork 2013-05-08 00:00:00 T his just in...Two women filed separate lawsuits earlier this week claiming they were raped by Bikram Choudhury and that Bikram's inside circle actively recruits women for him. We know, there are so many Bikram-related lawsuits it's hard to keep track. This is where it gets real. "Jane Doe No. 2 sued Choudhury and Bikram Yoga College of India in Superior Court on Monday, alleging sexual battery, false imprisonment, discrimination, harassment and seven other counts. Jane Doe No. 1 filed a similar complaint Tuesday against the same defendants in the same court," Courthouse News Service reported earlier today. Note, this is in addition to the lawsuit from March that rocked the house that Bikram built filed by former student and Bikram Yoga teacher Sarah Baughn alleging sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination, all of which Bikram denied. We thought there might be more. This time, it's rape. And it is incredibly ugly, contemptible and beyond disturbing. This is the information we have so far. Via courthousenews.com, a nationwide news service specializing in civil litigation: In her complaint, Jane Doe No. 2 claims that Choudhury raped her in November 2010 after her boyfriend gave her a gift to be trained as a teacher at Choudhury's Bikram Yoga studio in San Diego. Doe No. 2 says in the complaint that defendant Does 1-25, "other persons in defendant Bikram Choudhury's inner circle, were aware of defendant Bikram Choudhury's pattern and practice of causing, inducing or persuading young women to enroll in teacher training classes to become yoga instructors only so he can sexually assault and/or rape them." She claims the Doe defendants knew this was in the cards, but "did nothing to prevent this from happening to plaintiff or to protect her." Her 36-page complaint claims there is a disturbing cult-like environment in the studios, where studio owners and instructors enroll attractive, vulnerable young women for Choudhury to sexually assault or rape.

Secret History

Plague helped bring down Roman Empire, graveyard suggests Charles Choi LiveScience 2013-05-10 06:26:00 Plague may have helped finish off the Roman Empire, researchers now reveal. Plague is a fatal disease so infamous that it has become synonymous with any dangerous, widespread contagion. It was linked to one of the first known examples of biological warfare, when Mongols catapulted plague victims into cities. The bacterium that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, has been linked with at least two of the most devastating pandemics in recorded history. One, the Great Plague, which lasted from the 14th to 17th centuries, included the infamous epidemic known as the Black Death, which may have killed nearly two-thirds of Europe in the mid-1300s. Another, the Modern Plague, struck around the world in the 19th and 20th centuries, beginning in China in the mid-1800s and spreading to Africa, the Americas, Australia, Europe and other parts of Asia. Although past studies confirmed this germ was linked with both of these catastrophes, much controversy existed as to whether it also caused the Justinianic Plague of the sixth to eighth centuries. This pandemic, named after the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, killed more than 100 million people. Some historians have suggested it contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire. To help solve this mystery, scientists investigated ancient DNA from the teeth of 19 different sixth-century skeletons from a medieval graveyard in Bavaria, Germany, of people who apparently succumbed to the Justinianic Plague.

Comment: For more in-depth reading about the Black Death read Laura Knight-Jadczyk's latest new book Comets and the Horns of Moses.

The streets of 'Britain's Atlantis' seen for the first time in centuries: 3D scans reveal the 'drowned' medieval town of Dunwich Mark Prigg The Daily Mail, UK 2013-05-10 12:11:00 Town was once a thriving port similar in size to 14th Century London Coastal erosion left it 10M underwater in process than began in 1286 British researchers have revealed the street of a lost medieval town dubbed 'Britain's Atlantis', for the first time. The team from the University of Southampton used advanced 3D scanning to reveal the port town of Dunwich. Present day Dunwich is a village 14 miles south of Lowestoft in Suffolk, but it was once a thriving port - similar in size to 14th Century London until coastal erosion left it 10M underwater. Funded and supported by English Heritage, the project led by Professor David Sear has produced the most accurate map to date of the town's streets, boundaries and major buildings, and revealed new ruins on the seabed. 'Visibility under the water at Dunwich is very poor due to the muddy water. 'This has limited the exploration of the site.

Science & Technology

Mystery of moon's magnetic field deepens Charles Q. Choi SPACE.com 2013-05-10 06:01:00 The moon generated a surprisingly intense magnetic field until at least 3.56 billion years ago, 160 million years longer than previously thought, a new study reports. These findings could shed light not just on the magnetic field of the moon, which is now extremely weak, but on that of asteroids and other distant worlds, investigators added. Earth's magnetic field is created by its internal dynamo, which itself is generated by the planet's churning molten metal core. Research increasingly suggests that the moon once had a dynamo as well, with evidence of magnetism found in lunar rocks returned by Apollo astronauts. Models of the moon's core suggest its dynamo should have lasted only until about 4.1 billion years ago. However, last year, scientists revealed that the moon possessed a magnetic field for much longer than previously thought, with a powerful dynamo in its core from 4.2 billion years ago to at least 3.72 billion years ago. Researchers have proposed two possibilities to explain why the moon's dynamo lasted so long. One possible explanation is that giant cosmic impacts set the moon lurching enough to drive its dynamo. Another explanation has to do with how the moon's core spins around a slightly different axis than its surrounding mantle layer, generating wobbles - known as precession - that could dramatically stir its core. The cosmic-impact idea is supported by the fact that the moon experienced massive collisions until around 3.7 billion years ago, such as the one that created the 715-mile-wide (1,150 kilometers) Mare Imbrium, among other craters.

The moth that developed the sharpest hearing in the animal world - so it can hear bats coming Mark Prigg The Daily Mail 2013-05-08 15:09:00 A humble moth has been identified as having the sharpest hearing in the animal kingdom - up to 150 times more sensitive than a human's. The greater wax moth (Galleria mellonella) lays its eggs in beehives, where the larvae feed on the wax and debris of the honeycombs. Now, new research published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters has shown it has extremely high frequency sensitivity in its simply constructed ear. It is capable of sensing sound frequencies up to 300 kHz, the highest recorded in any creature in the natural world. Humans hear in the 2 to 5 kHz range. The researchers said it is an example of a well-known animal with a newly discovered, extraordinary, sensory characteristic. It also reflects on the 'co-evolution' of animals, as the moth's development is intertwined with that of their predators, bats. The furry mammals find their way in complete darkness using a biological sonar system called echolation.

Is man descended from the king of the swimmers? Forget about swinging in trees. Experts now say our earliest ancestors were apes who loved to monkey around in the water John Naish The Daily Mail, UK 2013-05-10 11:05:00 When we think of our early human ancestors, we typically picture them roaming as hunter-gatherers across wide African grasslands or arid dusty plains. But according to a highly controversial scientific theory being debated in London this week, we should abandon this conventional scene and instead imagine our ancestors up to their necks in water, splashing after fish and clams, their primitive lives spent entirely amid wetlands, lakes and rivers. So says the 'aquatic ape' theory which puts forward the idea that our distant ancestors spent a million years swimming and paddling in water. It argues that this perpetually damp experience shaped us into the hugely successful species that we are today. The theory also claims to explain many of our most puzzling human quirks - such as why we have evolved as naked primates who walk on two legs rather than four; why we are prone to obesity; and why we have unusually big brains and noses. This idea, that our forebears evolved during a prolonged period of aquatic living, has resurfaced this week after years of being drowned out by scornful academic laughter. It was first proposed in England by the eminent zoologist Sir Alister Hardy in 1960. He suggested that around seven million years ago our ancestors lived in an area of Ethiopia that became flooded. To survive they foraged for food in shallow waters. After about a million years the flood waters receded.

NASA confirms 'serious' leak from International Space Station but says crew are safe Rob Williams The Independent 2013-05-10 06:09:00 Nasa said in a bulletin on its website that while the rate of ammonia leaking from the section of the cooling system has increased the crew were in no danger. Nasa has insisted that the crew of the International Space Station are safe despite a radiator leak in its power system. The six-member crew of the space station, which is in orbit 370 km above the earth, reported seeing small white flakes floating away from an area outside the craft yesterday. Mission Control used external cameras along with images captured by crew members to narrow down the leak's location. Nasa said in a bulletin on its website that while the rate of ammonia leaking from the section of the cooling system has increased the crew were in no danger. Ammonia runs through multiple radiator loops to cool the station's power system. NASA said the leak is increasing from one previously leaking loop that can be bypassed if needed.

Water on moon, Earth came from same primitive meteorites Kevin Mayhood Case Western Reserve University 2013-05-09 04:59:00 The water found on the moon, like that on Earth, came from small meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites in the first 100 million years or so after the solar system formed, researchers from Brown and Case Western Reserve universities and Carnegie Institution of Washington have found. Evidence discovered within samples of moon dust returned by lunar crews of Apollo 15 and 17 dispels the theory that comets delivered the molecules. The research is published online in Science Express today. The discovery's telltale sign is found in the ratio of an isotopic form of hydrogen, called deuterium, to standard hydrogen. The ratio in the Earth's water and in water from specks of volcanic glass trapped in crystals within moon dust match the ratio found in the chondrites. The proportions are far different from those in comet water. The moon is thought to have formed from a disc of debris left when a giant object hit the Earth 4.5 billion years ago, very early in Earth's history. Scientists have long assumed that the heat from an impact of that size would cause hydrogen and other volatile elements to boil off into space, meaning the moon must have started off completely dry. But recently, NASA spacecraft and new research on samples from the Apollo missions have shown that the moon actually has water, both on and beneath its surface.

"Ring of Fire" solar eclipse SpaceWeather 2013-05-10 00:13:00 As the sun rose over Australia on Friday morning, May 10th, the solar disk turned into a ring of fire. The day began with an annular solar eclipse: Nicole Hollenbeck took the picture from inside the narrow path of annularity about 70km south of Newman, Australia. At the time, more than 95% of the sun's diameter was covered by the Moon. In an annular eclipse the Moon is not quite big enough to cover the entire solar disk. A blinding ring of solar fire juts out around the Moon, overwhelming the sun's delicate corona. It may not be the same as totality, but annularity has a charm and beauty all its own. Browse the gallery for more images from the eclipse zone.

Closest star system found in nearly a century Space Coast Daily 2013-05-09 21:31:00 Brevard County - Kennedy Space Center, Florida - NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer spacecraft has discovered a pair of stars that have taken over the title for the third-closest star system to the sun. The duo is the closest star system discovered since 1916. Both stars in the new binary system are "brown dwarfs," which are stars that are too small in mass to ever become hot enough to ignite hydrogen fusion. As a result, they are very cool and dim, resembling a giant planet like Jupiter more than a bright star like the sun. "The distance to this brown dwarf pair is 6.5 light-years - so close that Earth's television transmissions from 2006 are now arriving there," said Kevin Luhman, an associate professor of astronomy and astrophysics at Penn State University and a researcher in Penn State's Center for Exoplanets and Habitable Worlds. "It will be an excellent hunting ground for planets because the system is very close to Earth, which makes it a lot easier to see any planets orbiting either of the brown dwarfs." The results will be published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

Earth Changes

Incurable disease threatens US citrus crop Marc Lallanilla LiveScience 2013-05-10 15:59:00 Florida's $9 billion orange crop, the largest in the world after Brazil's, may not survive an incurable disease that threatens to wipe out citrus groves throughout the United States. The disease, known as "citrus greening" or huanglongbing, is caused by a bacterium, Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus. The bacteria are spread from tree to tree by a tiny insect called the Asian citrus psyllid, The New York Times reports. A tree affected by citrus greening may not show symptoms for years. Eventually, however, the leaves turn yellow and fall, while the tree's fruit fails to mature, falling to the ground prematurely before the tree slowly dies. "We have got a real big problem," Vic Story, a lifelong Florida citrus grower, told The Times. "It's definitely the biggest threat in my lifetime, and I'm 68. This is a tree killer." There is no known cure for citrus greening (which also affects grapefruit, lemons and other citrus crops), despite the best efforts of numerous research labs. The Candidatus bacteria is so devastating to citrus crops that it was classified as a bioterror weapon in 2003, The New Yorker reports.

27,000 Dead goats. Is it Pashminas turn next? Baba Umar tehelka.com 2013-05-10 14:53:00 Since January, 13 percent of the Changra goats has been wiped out, threatening the lucrative Pashmina industry in the Kashmir Valley This summer, Pashmina shawl weavers like Ashiq Ahmed have a tough choice to make. They can either buy raw wool at inflated rates or abandon the 600-year-old weaving craft. In 2006, the ban on Shahtoosh (woven with the hair of the Tibetan antelope) left 50,000 weavers and an equal number of traders in the lurch in the Kashmir Valley. Now, the rise in the price of Pashmina wool after the death of 27,000 goats is threatening the industry's very existence. "The price of 1 kg of Pashmina wool has gone up from Rs 9,000 to Rs 12,500. It will continue to rise. Thousands of shawl weavers, who earn just Rs 5,000 a month, will think twice before buying raw material at such prices," says Ahmed. The crisis started in January when heavy snowfall in the Changthang hills of the Ladakh region in Jammu & Kashmir killed nearly 27,000 goats (13 percent of the total population), threatening supplies of silky Pashmina wool used to make fine and expensive shawls and scarves. Changthang is located 175 km to the east of Leh on the border with China. The average altitude of the area is 14,600 ft above sea level. This area is also known as Rupsho Valley where the main occupation of the nomads is rearing yaks and Changra goats. The unforgiving winter makes the goats grow extremely warm and soft veneer, which is six times finer than human hair and is used to make Pashmina wool. Usually, Changthang receives only 5 cm of snow in winters when temperatures dip to as low as -35°C. This year, it witnessed 121 cm of snowfall, which many say is a direct result of climate change.

Drought worsens in New Mexico; no relief in sight Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press 2013-05-10 10:32:00 As drought worsens, NM stretches lead over other states struggling with dry conditions Major stretches of river have already gone dry, farmers are leaving their land fallow, and cities are clamping down on water use, but things in New Mexico just went from bad to worse Thursday. The latest map from federal forecasters shows exceptional drought has spread from a quarter of New Mexico to nearly 40 percent in just one week. At this time last year, less than one-tenth of the state was affected by what is considered the worst category of drought. New Mexico - the nation's fifth largest state - is in the worst shape of any state, and conditions have only intensified over the past seven days. This week's U.S. Drought Monitor shows a swath of red and dark red across New Mexico, indicating extreme and exceptional drought conditions. The ominous colors stretch up through the Midwest, showing conditions have also worsened over the past year in parts of Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

Flashback: Fish kill reported on beaches of Ascension Island The Islander 2011-02-27 11:24:00 Ascension Island - Over the last few weeks we have been recording high numbers of dead fish washing up onto the beaches around the Island. The same thing happened, at the same time of year, in 2008. A report was published recently, called 'Reef fish mass mortality event in an isolated island off Brazil, with notes on recent similar events at Ascension, St Helena and Maldives' by Hudson Pinheiro, Joao Gasparini and Jean-Christophe Joyeux. The report states that 'it is possible that blooms of toxic algae, under certain conditions, caused cascading intoxication along the trophic web. Toxic algae occur in other Atlantic oceanic islands and there are reports of algal blooms occurring in remote areas that suffer low human impact. A second hypothesis is that seasonal upwelling events of anoxic or hypoxic waters may be involved (the low oxygen content would be due to the resuspension of sediment and organic matter deposited at geological scales) often heavily loaded with hydrogen sulphide. Oxygen-poor waters of the Benguela upwelling have been reported to affect the southeastern Atlantic continental shelf and these waters, in years of strong Benguela upwelling, can even reach the Mid-Atlantic Ridge island of St Helena.' The full report is available to download from our website. We are currently consulting with contacts in the UK and Falklands. I have sent them as much information as I have, including species affected, numbers, symptoms and photographs. They will be able to offer advice on the best course of action. I have also been in touch with one of the authors of 2010 report, this was his response.

Fire in the Sky

Video of huge meteor over England and Wales Harry Haydon The Sun 2013-05-09 08:30:00 A fireball streaking across Britain left stargazers stunned last night. The green-tinged meteor shot over England and Wales in a northerly direction at around 9.45pm. Experts believe the meteor might have formed from debris from Halley's Comet. Many observers took to Twitter to report the phenomenon with sightings apparently recorded in Cornwall, Hampshire, Lancashire, South Wales and Worcestershire. Suzy Buttress, of Basingstoke in Hampshire, said she spotted the celestial body while driving along the M3. She wrote on Twitter: "I have just seen the biggest meteor in my life! It was also noticeably green, and appeared very large compared to regular meteors I've seen." Louise Darnell also reported the unusual event on the social networking site. She wrote: "Seen the brightest and lowest shooting star ever! It was definitely a UFO..??" Reports suggested the meteor crossed Britain from the South East towards the North West. Space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock said the meteor's size was unusual. She said: "It seems that this one was particularly large and particularly bright, which is why it's caught so much attention." "It's quite likely to be part of the Eta Aquarids, which is the debris left by Halley's Comet. And twice a year we pass through the debris left behind by the comet and when this happens we see more of these shooting stars, but there must have been a large lump left behind which is what caused such a bright meteor to be seen."

Fallen meteorite discovered in Connecticut for second time in a month New Haven Register 2013-05-09 21:12:00 The Yale Peabody Museum said a second meteorite has been found in a Connecticut building, 19 days after one hit a home in Wolcott. This second meteorite was found in a Waterbury home Thursday, according to a press release. This object was not seen or heard as it fell, but Dr. Stefan Nicolescu, mineralogy collections manager at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, said in the release that he believes "it is highly likely the Waterbury meteorite is related to the April 19 fall in Wolcott." The Waterbury meteorite is about 4 inches long and weighs 1.6 pounds. It had the same type of dark crust, magnetism, and interior color as the Wolcott meteorite. Nicolescu said the museum hopes to confirm whether or not the meteorites are related with further testing.

Health & Wellness

FDA admits chicken meat contains arsenic EcoWatch.com 2013-05-07 17:06:00 Attorneys at Center for Food Safety (CFS) filed a lawsuit on behalf of CFS, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and seven other U.S. food safety, agriculture, public health and environmental groups to compel the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to respond to the groups' three year-old petition which calls for immediate withdrawal of FDA's approval of arsenic-containing compounds as feed additives for food animals. Filed the same day Consumer Reports released an alarming study on antibiotic resistance in turkey, the lawsuit highlights yet another gaping hole in FDA oversight of animal feed additives. Arsenic is commonly added to poultry feed for the FDA-approved purposes of inducing faster weight gain on less feed, and creating the perceived appearance of a healthy color in meat from chickens, turkeys and hogs. Yet new studies increasingly link these practices to serious human health problems. The lawsuit filed last week seeks to force the FDA to fulfill its mandate to better protect the public from arsenic. The 2009 petition presented abundant science to FDA that organic arsenic compounds - like those added to animal feed - are directly toxic to animals and humans, but also that they convert to cancer-causing, inorganic arsenic inside of chickens, in manure-treated soil and in humans. Additional testing since submission of the 2009 petition demonstrates even greater cause for public concern and therefore greater urgency meriting FDA's prompt attention.

Science of the Spirit

Experience leads to the growth of new brain cells Dr. Dirk Förger Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres 2013-05-09 06:51:00 A new study examines how individuality develops. The DFG-Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden - Cluster of Excellence at the TU Dresden (CRTD), the Dresden site of the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin played a pivotal role in the study. The adult brain continues to grow with the challenges that it faces; its changes are linked to the development of personality and behavior. But what is the link between individual experience and brain structure? Why do identical twins not resemble each other perfectly even when they grew up together? To shed light on these questions, the scientists observed forty genetically identical mice that were kept in an enclosure offering a large variety of activity and exploration options. "The animals were not only genetically identical, they were also living in the same environment," explains principal investigator Gerd Kempermann, Professor for Genomics of Regeneration, CRTD, and Site Speaker of the DZNE in Dresden. "However, this environment was so rich that each mouse gathered its own individual experiences in it. Over time, the animals therefore increasingly differed in their realm of experience and behavior." New neurons for individualized brains Each of the mice was equipped with a special micro-chip emitting electromagnetic signals. This allowed the scientists to construct the mice's movement profiles and to quantify their exploratory behavior. The result: Despite a common environment and identical genes the mice showed highly individualized behavioral patterns. They reacted to their environment differently. In the course of the three-month experiment these differences increased in size.

Social connections drive the 'upward spiral' of positive emotions and health: People who have higher vagal tone tend to be better at regulating their emotions Anna Mikulak Association for Psychological Science 2013-05-09 06:26:00 People who experience warmer, more upbeat emotions may have better physical health because they make more social connections, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. The research, led by Barbara Fredrickson of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Bethany Kok of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences also found it is possible for a person to self-generate positive emotions in ways that make him or her physically healthier. "People tend to liken their emotions to the weather, viewing them as uncontrollable," says Fredrickson. "This research shows not only that our emotions are controllable, but also that we can take the reins of our daily emotions and steer ourselves toward better physical health." To study the bodily effects of up-regulating positive emotions, the researchers zeroed in on vagal tone, an indicator of how a person's vagus nerve is functioning. The vagus nerve helps regulate heart rate and is also a central component of a person's social-engagement system.

Comment: Learn more about the many benefits of stimulating the Vagus Nerve: Brain, heart and gut minds Vagus Nerve Controls Intestinal Inflammation Stimulating the vagus nerve: Memories are made of this Polyvagal Theory, Sensory Challenge and Gut Emotions Research Shows Vagus Nerve Stimulation Can Help Reorganize Brain The Neurobiology of Grace Under Pressure: 7 habits that stimulate your vagus nerve and keep you calm, cool, and collected Also, to accrue the benefits of vagus nerve stimulation, try out the exercises of the Éiriú Eolas breathing and meditation program.

High Strangeness

Graveyard's ghosts stir pet walkers Leigh van den Broeke The Daily Telegraph, Australia 2013-05-10 14:10:00 Dog walkers are demanding floodlights be installed at a local cemetery because it can be "spooky" at night - and their fears were confirmed by an expert in paranormal activity. Sue Hamparsum is one of many pet owners who walk their dogs among gravestones that date back hundreds of years at the oldest cemetery on the north shore, Saint Thomas Rest Park, in Crows Nest. Dozens of pet owners visit the park during the daytime but most are quick to scurry home at sundown, when the area becomes a bit eerie. "There are rumours the park is haunted," Ms Hamparsum said. "(Over the years) some of the headstones have been removed but the people are still buried there." In response to these tales, The Daily Telegraph invited Janine Donnellan, from Soul Searches Paranormal Investigations, to test if the park was haunted. Ms Donnellan has been investigating spirits for more than 15 years and has a certificate of Advanced Achievement in Parapsychology from the Australian Academy of Applied Parapsychology.

Loch Ness Monster Discovered - In Antarctica? youtube.com 2013-04-29 11:53:00 Global mapping platforms like Google Earth, WikiSky and other contenders offer hours, even days of amusement. Some pretty freaky things have been found, including dead bodies, criminal activity, UFOs and even, ahem, couples enjoying intimate moments together. Anomaly hunters pore over published maps, looking for weird things and, naturally, some of the attention is drawn to myths out of the pre-digital world. Is there a bigger, unsolved mystery than the Loch Ness Monster? Mappers have studied Loch Ness inch by inch because finding "Nessie" would be the scoop of the century. But, maybe, they're looking in the wrong place? A video on YouTube comes close to making the assertion that the Loch Ness Monster has been found. Not in Scotland, but near the bottom of the globe in Antarctica. The screenshot above is a still frame from a YouTube video postulating that a mysterious, long-necked, hump-backed shape lying frozen in a vast expanse of the South Pole may actually be a fossilized Plesiosaurus, an extinct, reptilian dinosaur long suspected of having just one descendant left on Earth and plying her trade in the deep lakes of Scotland. The object certainly resembles the classic shape. But is it the "Nessie" of legend? If so, she's a long way from home. Check it out:

Don't Panic! Lighten Up!

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