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Jon Rappoport
jonrappoport.wordpress.com 2013-07-08 15:35:00
This article is a compilation of a number of pieces I've written about Ed Snowden and the NSA. It doesn't replace them, but it hits the high points... Let's begin here: If you absolutely must have a hero, watch Superman movies. If your need for a hero is so great, so cloying, so heavy, so juicy that it swamps your curiosity, don't read this. If you can't separate Snowden's minor revelations from the question of who he is, if you can't entertain the notion that covert ops and intelligence-agency games are reeking with cover stories, false trails, and limited hangouts, you need more fun in your life. NSA? CIA? These guys live for high-level bullshit. They get down on their knees and worship it. They fall into a suicidal funk if they aren't lying on at least three or four levels at once. Okay. Let's look at Snowden's brief history as reported by The Guardian. Are there any holes? Is the Pope Catholic? |
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| Puppet Masters |
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Nikhil Kumar
The Independent, UK 2013-07-09 07:36:00 BP sought the intervention of federal judges in New Orleans yesterday in the way a court-appointed administrator is assessing and approving claims for payments from a partial settlement over the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, calling on them correct what it termed "irreparable injustices". Billions of dollars of settlement payments are at stake for the oil giant, which initially estimated that it would have to pay just under $8bn (£5.4bn) to resolve claims by affected residents and business in the Gulf coast. Concerned that the final figure could far exceed its estimate, BP's lawyer attacked the process being followed by Patrick Juneau, the court-appointed administrator. "Irreparable injustices are taking place and money is being dispensed to parties from whom it may not be recoverable," Ted Olson, a former US solicitor general, said in his opening argument before a panel of three federal judges. But a lawyer representing local businesses and residents, Samuel Issacharoff, said that BP was well aware of the terms of the settlement. "There is no order of the lower court that is capable of being reviewed by this court," he said, questioning the appeals panel's authority to amend the settlement deal. |
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Dannika Lewis
Channal3000.com 2013-07-08 19:29:00
Visitors uneasy about new security measures Madison, Wisconsin -Two lawmakers are asking a mining company to remove armed security guards at a proposed mining site in northern Wisconsin. In a letter to the president of the Gogebic Taconite, State Sen. Bob Jauch and state Rep. Janet Bewley call the images of the armed guards "horrifying" and say the decision to hire the security firm is appalling. "While no one can argue that your company does not have the right to protect your private property, these armed guards serve no purpose other than to intimidate local citizens and increase local tensions," Photos taken by visitors to the site in the Penokee Hills show guards dressed in camouflage uniforms with masks covering most of their faces. They are also armed with rifles, and some appear to have multiple weapons. A Gogebic Taconite spokesperson said they are employing the armed guards for the safety of their employees after drilling opponents allegedly attacked the drill site a few weeks ago. The lawmakers question why the guards are carrying assault weapons because they don't have the legal right to use them to protect property. The letter also states that the property is open to the public and not owned by the mining company. "Not only does this decision reflect bad judgment, it is unfortunate that you don't understand how damaging an image it creates of Northern Wisconsin. Those who live here and work here hardly want to spend their time explaining that our forests are not filled with mercenaries from third world countries." Gogebic Taconite officials said they will keep the armed guards on duty for the foreseeable future. |
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Jacob G. Hornberger
The Future of Freedom Foundation 2013-07-09 20:21:00
An interesting aspect of the military coup in Egypt has been the attitude of American mainstream commentators who suggest that unlike Egypt and other countries, the chances of a military coup in the United States are virtually nil. See, for example, "America the Coupless" by Rosa Brooks and "Could a Military Coup Happen in America?" by Paul Greenberg. Really? What about November 22, 1963? "Oh, Jacob, don't be silly. President Kennedy's assassination couldn't have been orchestrated by the U.S. national-security state, notwithstanding the overwhelming amount of evidence pointing in that direction, because it's just inconceivable that such a thing could happen here in our country. That's just a conspiracy theory. Such things only happen in places like Egypt ... or Chile ... or Iran ... or Guatemala ... or South Vietnam and, yes, oftentimes with the support and participation of the U.S. military and the CIA, but such a thing could never happen here in our country." Oh, really? So, what you're saying, Mr. Statist, is that if the democratically elected president of the United States is engaged in policies and actions that are leading to the nation's destruction, the U.S. national-security state apparatus - i.e., the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA - will simply stand aside and let it happen - despite the fact that the U.S. military and the CIA have supported and even participated in military coups that purportedly save foreign countries from their rulers. Consider Chile. The Chilean people elect a communist, Salvador Allende, in a democratic election at the height of the Cold War. U.S. officials say that this cannot stand. So, President Nixon orders the CIA to foment a massive economic crisis within the country, much like the economic crisis leading up to the military coup in Egypt. "Make the economy scream" are Nixon's exact words. The CIA faithfully obeys his orders notwithstanding the fact that the Constitution does not authorize any such action. The Chilean military, with the support of the U.S. national-security state, ousts Allende in a coup and imposes brutal military rule under Army General Augusto Pinochet. | |
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Comment: Also read Laura Knight-Jadczyk's JFK: The Debris of History series.
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| Society's Child |
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Veronica Linares
Former Southern Baptist minister Pat Robertson, 83, said during his "700
Club" show that liking same sex couples' photos on Facebook is
considered condoning behavior and added that he'd prefer to punch the "vomit" button to describe how he feels about the images.United Press International 2013-07-10 17:05:00 Robertson's comments came as a response to an online question posed by a confused fan: "When we 'like' things on Facebook, if it's something that goes against what is written in the Bible -- such as pictures of same sex couples -- is that considered condoning behavior? How do you explain this to new Christians or youth?" "You've got a couple of same-sex guys kissing. Do you like that?" Robertson answered. "Well, that makes me want to throw up. To me, I would punch 'vomit,' not 'like,' but they don't give you that option on Facebook."
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Michael Trei
DVice 2013-07-10 11:29:00
If you're determined to live through any possible doomsday scenario, the thought of climbing into one of those deep underground shelters might give you pause. After all, who wants to live dormitory style with a bunch of strangers when you've become accustomed to the comforts of your own double-wide at the RV park? Dug over 100 years ago as part of a limestone mining operation, this bunker in Kansas covers 45 acres sitting 100-150 feet below ground. Developer Robert Vicino says that the structure can withstand a 1 megaton nuclear blast just 10 miles away, but there's no word on how many apocalyptic zombies the doors can hold back. The temperature inside hangs constantly in the low 70s, so it should be fairly comfortable as you wait for things to settle down up on the surface. |
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Mari Yamaguchi
Associated Press via Yahoo News 2013-07-10 11:51:00
Japan's nuclear watchdog said Wednesday that the crippled Fukushima power plant is probably leaking contaminated water into the ocean, a problem long suspected by experts but denied by the plant's operator. Officials from the Nuclear Regulation Authority said a leak is "strongly suspected" and urged plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. to determine where the water may be leaking from and assess the environmental and other risks, including the impact on the food chain. The watchdog said it would form a panel of experts to look into ways to contain the problem. The watchdog's findings underscore TEPCO's delayed response in dealing with a problem that experts have long said existed. On Wednesday, the company continued to raise doubts about whether a leak exists. TEPCO spokesman Noriyuki Imaizumi said the increase in cesium levels in monitoring well water samples does not necessarily mean contaminated water from the plant is leaking to the ocean. TEPCO was running another test on water samples and suspects earlier spikes might have been caused by cesium-laced dust slipping into the samples, he said. But he said TEPCO is open to the watchdog's suggestions to take safety steps. |
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ClarionLedger.com
More than 20 people were taken to hospitals after a second-story deck on
a condominium in Ocean isle Beach collapsed onto a patio below.2013-07-10 11:36:00 Brunswick County emergency officials say the deck collapsed about 8:15 p.m. Tuesday. Emergency services director Anthony Marzano says the injuries included cuts and broken bones but none of the injuries was life-threatening. Thirteen people were taken to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where 11 were treated and released. One person was admitted to the hospital with a broken leg and a second with a broken ankle. Seven were taken to Brunswick Novant Medical Center in Supply and one was flown to New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington. |
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Mari Yamaguchi
Associated Press 2013-07-09 11:09:00
Tokyo, Japan -- Masao Yoshida, the man who led the life-risking battle at Japan's crippled nuclear power plant when it was spiraling into meltdowns, died Tuesday of cancer of the esophagus. He was 58. Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Yoshimi Hitosugi said Yoshida died at a Tokyo hospital. TEPCO officials said his illness was not related to radiation exposure. Comment: LIE! Yoshida led efforts to stabilize the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant after the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami knocked out its power and cooling systems, causing triple meltdowns and massive radiation leaks. Recalling the first few days when the three reactors suffered meltdowns in succession, Yoshida later said: "There were several instances when I thought we were all going to die here. I feared the plant was getting out of control and we would be finished." Yoshida was an outspoken, tall man with a loud voice who wasn't afraid of talking back to higher-ups and was known to his workers as a caring figure. Even then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who was extremely frustrated by TEPCO's initial lack of information and slow handling, said after meeting him that Yoshida could be trusted. On March 12, after Unit 1 reactor building exploded following a meltdown, Yoshida kept pumping in sea water into the reactor to cool it, ignoring an order from the TEPCO headquarters to stop doing so as Kan feared a possibility of sea water triggering a fission chain reaction. Yoshida was initially reprimanded for disobeying the order from above, but later praised for his judgment that eventually helped keep the reactor from turning worse. "I bow deeply in respect to his leadership and decisiveness," Kan said in his Twitter entry Tuesday. |
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| Secret History |
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The Guardian
2013-07-10 14:15:00
Primitive inscriptions dating back about 5,000 years - and believed to be 1,400 years older than the most ancient written Chinese language - have been discovered in Shanghai, archaeologists report. Chinese scholars are divided over whether the markings, found on artefacts at the Zhuangqiao relics site south of the modern city, are words or something simpler. But they believe the discovery will shed light on the origins of Chinese language and culture. The oldest writing in the world is believed to be from Mesopotamia (now Iraq), dating back slightly more than 5,000 years. Chinese characters are believed to have been developed independently. The Chinese inscriptions were found on more than 200 pieces dug out from the neolithic Liangzhu relics site. The pieces are among thousands of fragments of ceramic, stone, jade, wood, ivory and bone excavated from the site between 2003 and 2006, Xu Xinmin, the lead archaeologist, said. |
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Sarah Griffiths
Mexican archeologists have found 500 carved rocks on a mountain that was inhabited by stone age tribesThe Daily Mail, UK 2013-07-10 08:54:00 The etchings, known as petroglyphs are generally patterns made up of concentric circles and wavy lines - there even seems to be a fish Scientists think that the carvings could have been made as part of hunting initiation rites or even represent the stars. Symbols of fish and the sun, as well as intricate pattens of concentric circles and lines drawn by our ancestors, have been found etched into stones on a remote mountain in Mexico. Archeologists have discovered thousands of stunning stone-age carvings etched into rocks. They believe that they were made by our hunter-gatherer ancestors more than 6,000 years ago. The etchings are known as petroglyphs and are generally patterns made up of concentric circles and wavy lines, although there are also more representative images of deer tracks.
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Dan Dediu
A recent study suggests that Neandertals shared speech and language with modern humans.The Max Planck Institute 2013-07-09 18:06:00 Fast-accumulating data seem to indicate that our close cousins, the Neandertals, were much more similar to us than imagined even a decade ago. But did they have anything like modern speech and language? And if so, what are the implications for understanding present-day linguistic diversity? The Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen researchers Dan Dediu and Stephen C. Levinson argue in their paper in Frontiers in Language Sciences that modern language and speech can be traced back to the last common ancestor we shared with the Neandertals roughly half a million years ago. The Neandertals have fascinated both the academic world and the general public ever since their discovery almost 200 years ago. Initially thought to be subhuman brutes incapable of anything but the most primitive of grunts, they were a successful form of humanity inhabiting vast swathes of western Eurasia for several hundreds of thousands of years, during harsh ages and milder interglacial periods. We knew that they were our closest cousins, sharing a common ancestor with us around half a million years ago (probably Homo heidelbergensis), but it was unclear what their cognitive capacities were like, or why modern humans succeeded in replacing them after thousands of years of cohabitation. Recently, due to new palaeoanthropological and archaeological discoveries and the reassessment of older data, but especially to the availability of ancient DNA, we have started to realise that their fate was much more intertwined with ours and that, far from being slow brutes, their cognitive capacities and culture were comparable to ours. |
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| Science & Technology |
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Tanya Lewis
LiveScience 2013-07-10 13:11:00
Using echolocation, dolphins might be able to detect a pregnant woman's developing fetus, some experts say. Dolphins emit sounds in their environment and listen to the echoes that return - a process that helps them identify the shapes and locations of objects. Doctors use a similar technique to image a developing human baby. Both involve ultrasound - high-pitched pulses of sound above the range of human hearing. "I think it's extremely plausible [dolphins] would be able to detect a fetus," said Lori Marino, a neuroscientist at Emory University in Atlanta who studies cetacean intelligence. However, "you'd have to really do a well-controlled study to make a definitive statement," she cautioned. |
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Sara E. Pratt
EarthMagazine 2013-07-07 14:23:00
An airborne geophysical survey mapping mineral resources in the Midwest has confirmed that a 470-million-year-old impact crater nearly five times the size of Barringer (Meteor) Crater in Arizona lies buried several hundred meters beneath the town of Decorah, Iowa. The crater's existence was first hypothesized in 2008 when geologists examining cuttings from water wells drilled near the town were surprised to find evidence of a previously unknown shale deposit. When geologist Robert McKay from the Iowa Geological Survey investigated further, he found something even more surprising: The shale deposit was nearly a perfect circle, roughly 5.5 kilometers across. Further analysis of sub-shale breccias by Bevan French, a geologist at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, revealed shocked quartz - a telltale sign of an impact. Together, the evidence added up to an exciting possibility: the existence of a previously unknown impact crater in the Midwest. Earlier this year, more evidence accumulated when scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Iowa and Minnesota Geological Surveys conducted a high-resolution geophysical survey of the region to assess water resources and mineral resources. They were specifically mapping the Northeast Iowa Igneous Intrusive complex, which lies in the Midcontinent Rift System that formed about 1.1 billion years ago, and may contain valuable copper, nickel and platinum group metal resources. |
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Becky Oskin
OurAmazingPlanet 2013-07-10 12:00:00
Periodic wobbles in Earth's core change the length of a day every 5.9 years, according to a study published today (July 10) in the journal Nature. Teasing out this subtle cycle, which subtracts and adds mere milliseconds to each day, also revealed a match between abrupt changes in the length of day and Earth's magnetic field. During these short-lived lurches in the magnetic field intensity, events called geomagnetic jerks, Earth's day also shifts by 0.1 millisecond, the researchers report. Since 1969, scientists have detected 10 geomagnetic jerks lasting less than a year. Seemingly negligible, these fleeting variations are mighty to those who study the planet and its core. All of a sudden, a planet changes its spin like a figure skater open or closing her arms. The rotational effect helps scientists understand what's happening inside the Earth's core. Shifts in the magnetic field also provide clues to the inaccessible iron core. But their source remains a mystery. Lead study author Richard Holme suspects a shimmy in the solid inner core that drives the 5.9-year cycle, transferring angular momentum to the outer core. But no one knows what causes geomagnetic jerks. "I have no clue," said Holme, lead study author and a geophysicist at the University of Liverpool in the U.K. "Something is happening at the core-mantle boundary, because you're seeing the geomagnetic and the rotational effect at the same time, but we don't know what's going on," Holme told LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet. |
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Nick Mcdermott
US researchers test brains of male and female rats in stressful situationsThe Daily Mail, UK 2013-07-10 08:27:00 Females showed no impairment - males struggled with short-term memory Study finds oestrogen can help block the detrimental effects of stress
Multi-tasking mothers have known it for years - women are better at coping with stress than men. Now scientists believe they can tell them why. It's all down to the protective effect of oestrogen, which appears to 'block' the negative effects of stress on the brain. In a US study, scientists put male and female rats through tasks that mimicked challenging experiences humans often face, such as those causing frustration and feelings of being under pressure. The female rats showed no impairment in their ability to recognise objects they had previously been shown, said study leader Dr Zhen Yan, while the male rats struggled with their short-term memory. An inability to remember a familiar object indicates a disturbance in the part of the brain that controls working memory, attention, decision-making and other high-level 'executive' processes. |
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Sheryl Weinstein
New Jersey Institute of Technology 2013-07-08 22:43:00
Antimatter has been detected in solar flares via microwave and magnetic-field data, according to a presentation by NJIT Research Professor of Physics Gregory D. Fleishman and two co-researchers at the 44th meeting of the American Astronomical Society's Solar Physics Division. This research sheds light on the puzzling strong asymmetry between matter and antimatter by gathering data on a very large scale using the Sun as a laboratory. While antiparticles can be created and then detected with costly and complex particle-accelerator experiments, such particles are otherwise very difficult to study. However, Fleishman and the two co-researchers have reported the first remote detection of relativistic antiparticles - positrons - produced in nuclear interactions of accelerated ions in solar flares through the analysis of readily available microwave and magnetic-field data obtained from solar-dedicated facilities and spacecraft. That such particles are created in solar flares is not a surprise, but this is the first time their immediate effects have been detected. The results of this research have far-reaching implications for gaining valuable knowledge through remote detection of relativistic antiparticles at the Sun and, potentially, other astrophysical objects by means of radio-telescope observations. The ability to detect these antiparticles in an astrophysical source promises to enhance our understanding of the basic structure of matter and high-energy processes such as solar flares, which regularly have a widespread and disruptive terrestrial impact, but also offer a natural laboratory to address the most fundamental mysteries of the universe we live in. |
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| Earth Changes |
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strangesounds.org
In this post you get a compilation of these weird noises from the sky
that we were used to listen in 2012 just before the Maya calender ended!
Are they back now?
2013-07-10 14:54:00
Strange Sounds from the sky in Curitiba Brazil - July 9 2013 The recorder of the video had always a foot back from videos of strange sounds coming from the sky as they seemed to be haoxes. This until he witnesses the phenomenon on July 9 2013. The metallic echoeing and rumbling noise started around 3 am and lasted intermittently for approximately one hour. At the beginning, it sound very similar to a bell. He has never listened to something like this since he is around (lots of years). Sometimes, the sound was very loud and scary, without any specific direction, but coming from above, from the sky. The sky is very frightning, is terrible!
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Mike Benzie
Yahoo News 2013-07-10 12:29:00
Thanks to an especially wet Fourth of July, rain has remained a topic of conversation in the Atlanta area, where we don't seem to be getting a break. But there's always a question of perception vs. truth when it comes to weather. Has it really rained as much as it has seemed here? In the case of 2013 weather, the truth is this: It has rained in near record volumes in the metro Atlanta area, according to the National Weather Service. We had more rain through July 8 this year than we had in all of 2012. Same is true for all of 2011. Let's look at the stats, courtesy of Keith Stellman, meteorologist in charge at the Peachtree City-based weather service. Atlanta is on pace to have its wettest year ever. These records, by the way, extend back to 1879. Through July 8, the official site at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport recorded 41.28 inches of rain. At that pace, Atlanta would reach 79.72 inches by December 31, eclipsing the highest marks to date -- 71.18 in 1948 and 69.43 in 2009. The 2009 year was pushed by a "once in 500 years flood" that crippled the city for a week in September. But of course, that's only pace and assumes rain at the same frequency and volume, which may be unlikely. Because the pace and volume have indeed been extraordinary. "If we simply get average rainfall the remainder of the year and no more rain in July, we will get into the top 10 wettest years on record with 61 inches of rain," said Stellman. In addition, there are only seven years on record that have had more rain through July than we have had in Atlanta, and that's with 2013 records only through July 8. |
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Source
2013-07-09 11:59:00
A violent electrical storm was the cause of a bush fire this morning in the province of Almeria. Fire planes have been working since dawn to extinguish six points of fire that are still burning being fanned by strong winds in the area. The zone affected is scrubland with little vegetation and quite a distance from the nearest populated area in the Huercal-Overa region. Javier Madrid who is co-ordinating the work by INFOCA said that there was no risk to homes or people but that some families had been evacuated as a safety precaution. According to the authorities, last night's storm caused over 2,000 lightening strikes which set off three major fires in Turre, Mojacar and Huercal Overa. |
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Associated Press via Yahoo News
2013-07-10 11:47:00
Toronto-area residents mopped up Tuesday after a record-breaking storm and driving wind caused flash floods which set cars afloat, stranded rail commuters and caused widespread power outages in Canada's largest city. "It is really, probably the most intense, wettest moment in Toronto's history," Environment Canada senior climatologist David Philips said. Phillips said two separate storm cells moved over the city at the same time, and then stalled over Toronto for hours. "It's almost like Toronto was a target with a bull's eye," he said. Pearson International Airport reported 12.6 centimeters (4.96 inches) of rain throughout Monday, breaking the previous single-day rainfall record for the city set back on Oct. 15, 1954, when Hurricane Hazel dumped 121 millimeters (4.76 inches) of rain. Gallery |
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Associated Press via Yahoo News
Flooding in western China, the worst in 50 years for some areas,
triggered a landslide Wednesday that buried about 30 people, trapped
hundreds in a highway tunnel and destroyed a high-profile memorial to a
devastating 2008 earthquake.2013-07-10 11:44:00
Meanwhile, to the northeast, at least 12 workers were killed when a violent rainstorm caused the collapse of an unfinished coal mine workshop they were building, said a statement from the city government of Jinzhong, where the accident occurred. The accident Tuesday night came amid heavy rain and high winds across a swath of northern China, including the capital, Beijing. There was no immediate word on the chances of survival for the 30 or so people buried in the landslide in the city of Dujiangyan in Sichuan province, but rescue workers with search dogs rushed to the area, the official Xinhua News Agency said. State-run China Central Television said hundreds of people were trapped in a highway tunnel between Dujiangyan and Wenchuan - the epicenter of the earthquake five years ago that left 90,000 people dead or missing. Authorities were not able to make contact with the people, the report said. |
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The Daily Telegraph, UK
A large waterspout has come ashore over the coastline of Oldsmar in
Florida, to the amazement of onlookers who captured the phenomenon on
video. 2013-07-10 09:24:00
Residents of the Tampa Bay area of Florida were amazed to see a huge column of water hovering over their homes on Monday. The waterspout came over the coastline of Oldsmar before hitting land and becoming a tornado. Cleanup crews worked quickly and, by Tuesday afternoon the only signs of damage were an uprooted mailbox, and knocked down tree branches. No injuries were reported. "I was so excited, I just wanted to see this thing," said David Necker, who recorded video on his mobile phone before and after driving away from his house in case the waterspout caused significant damage. "I couldn't believe it. Fifteen years living here, and it's the first time I've ever seen anything so incredible." Abram Carawan was also mesmerised by the sight and posted this video clip of it on YouTube. The National Weather Service has confirmed that isolated thunderstorms in the Tampa Bay area produced the waterspout. Generally, waterspouts are tornados that occur over water in which a continuous vortex, sometimes hundreds of metres high, extends from a cloud to the water surface. |
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| Fire in the Sky |
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No new articles. |
| Health & Wellness |
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Richard Gray
Small increases in air pollution that are well below current safety
limits can raise the risk of lung cancer and heart attacks, according to
two new studies. The Telegraph, UK 2013-07-09 10:30:00
Researchers found that long term exposure to microscopic particles of soot at levels similar to those found in suburban areas of Britain can increase the risk of lung cancer by up to 36 per cent. The short term impact of the same levels of these sooty particles, which are produced by diesel exhausts, also increased the risk of being admitted to hospital or dying from heart failure by two per cent. The particles, which are more than 100 times small than a human hair, can become lodged in the lungs and pass through into the blood stream, causing inflammation. The scientists behind the two studies say that their findings indicate that current safety limits on air pollution are still too high and need to be lowered. "Everybody is exposed to air pollution and it is difficult to escape," said Dr Anoop Shah. "Our results indicate that the lower the levels, the better it is. |
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| Science of the Spirit |
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Sarah Rainey
The Daily Telegraph 2013-07-10 12:36:00
After years of singing in the shower and warbling my way through karaoke duets, 18 months ago I finally joined a choir. Every Thursday evening, I head to a church hall in Marylebone, central London, where, along with 30 others - mostly women, the occasional bloke - I spend 90 minutes belting out Motown, gospel and pop classics, from Abba to Bon Jovi. I'm more of a keen amateur than a wannabe soloist, but even the odd off-key note or wrong lyric can't detract from how good singing makes me feel. I leave every session uplifted, buoyed by a flurry of endorphins flooding through my body. So it comes as no surprise that scientists have shown that not only does singing in a choir make you feel good, it's got health benefits, too. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, found that choristers' heartbeats synchronize when they sing together, bringing about a calming effect that is as beneficial to our health as yoga. | |
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Comment: Beside singing, there is another proven
technique that can assist with reducing stress, calming and focusing the
mind, creating better links between body and mind and thus improving
quality of life, including increasing sense of connection with others in
the community. It will help to have improved overall health, a stronger
immune system, better impulse control, reduced inflammation, etc. It
will also help to heal emotional wounds; anything that may hinder or
prevent from leading a healthy and fulfilling life.
To learn more about Vagus Nerve Stimulation, through breathing exercises, and naturally producing the stress reducing and mood enhancing hormone Oxytocin in the brain, visit the Éiriú Eolas Stress Control, Healing and Rejuvenation Program here. |
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Lisa M.P. Munoz
If you see your partner flirt with someone else, you may feel hurt,
angry, and jealous. The last thing you might expect is to start thinking
of yourself more like your rival. New research suggests just that: that
jealousy can prompt people to change how they view themselves relative
to competitors for their partners' attention.Society for Personality and Social Psychology 2013-07-10 12:17:00 Previous research has shown that individuals often will change their self-views to be more similar to someone to whom they want to get closer, such as a romantic partner. "However, a rival isn't someone that individuals should like, let alone want to affiliate with," Erica Slotter of Villanova University. "This work was really novel in that we were looking at whether individuals would be willing to shift their self-views to be more similar to a romantic rival." Across three studies published online today in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Slotter and colleagues tested what happens to people when in a jealous state. They predicted that individuals would only change their self-views if they thought their partner was interested in someone else. "This meant that individuals should not change their self-views if someone flirts with their partner, but the partner doesn't respond with interest," Slotter says. In one of the studies, 144 romantically involved men and women completed an online survey about personal attributes, such as artistic, musical, or athletic ability . The researchers then asked the participants to imagine either that their partner expressed romantic interest in someone else or not. In some of the scenarios, the other person expressed romantic interest in their partner, but the partner did not respond. |
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Mark Wheeler
In May, the Los Angeles school board voted to ban suspensions of
students for "willful defiance" and directed school officials to use
alternative disciplinary practices. The decision was controversial, and
the question remains: How do you discipline rowdy students and keep them
in the classroom while still being fair to other kids who want to
learn?University of California - Los Angeles 2013-07-09 18:14:00 A team led by Dara Ghahremani, an assistant researcher in the department of psychiatry at UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior conducted a study on the Youth Empower Seminar, or YES!, a workshop for adolescents that teaches them to manage stress, regulate their emotions, resolve conflicts and control impulsive behavior. Impulsive behavior, in particular - including acting out in class, engaging in drug or alcohol abuse, and risky sexual behaviors - is something that gets adolescents in trouble. The YES! program, run by the nonprofit International Association for Human Values, includes yoga-based breathing practices, among other techniques, and the research findings show that a little bit of breathing can go a long way. The scientists report that students who went through the four-week YES! for Schools program felt less impulsive, while students in a control group that didn't participate in the program showed no change. The study appears in the the July issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. "The program helps teens to gain greater control over their actions by giving them tools to respond to challenging situations in constructive and mindful ways, rather than impulsively," said Ghahremani, who conducted the study at the UCLA Center for Addictive Behaviors and UCLA's Laboratory for Molecular Neuroimaging. "The program uses a variety of techniques, ranging from a powerful yoga-based breathing program called Sudarshan Kriya to decision-making and leadership skills that are taught via interactive group games. We found it to be a simple yet powerful approach that could potentially reduce impulsive behavior." |
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Comment: Actually, educating teens about the disadventages and dangers of eating gluten and sugar is far more important than preventing them from smoking, when smoking boosts brain activity
and helps with self-control. As for the stress relief, there is one
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the community. It will help to have improved overall health, a stronger
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To learn more about Vagus Nerve Stimulation, through breathing exercises, and naturally producing the stress reducing and mood enhancing hormone Oxytocin in the brain, visit the Éiriú Eolas Stress Control, Healing and Rejuvenation Program here. |
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Terry Goodrich
Baylor University 2013-07-08 17:37:00
The most common thing that couples want from each other during a conflict is not an apology, but a willingness to relinquish power, according to a new Baylor University study. Giving up power comes in many forms, among them giving a partner more independence, admitting faults, showing respect and being willing to compromise. The study is published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. "It's common for partners to be sensitive to how to share power and control when making decisions in their relationship," said researcher Keith Sanford, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience in Baylor University's College of Arts & Sciences. Following closely behind the desire for shared control was the wish for the partner to show more of an investment in the relationship through such ways as sharing intimate thoughts or feelings, listening, and sharing chores and activities, Sanford said. The research results are based on two studies of married or cohabitating people and build upon previous research by Sanford. Earlier studies of more than 3,500 married people found that there are just two basic types of underlying concerns that couples experience during conflicts: "perceived threat," in which a person thinks that his or her status is threatened by a critical or demanding partner; and "perceived neglect," in which an individual sees a partner as being disloyal or inattentive and showing a lack of investment in the relationship. |
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| High Strangeness |
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Greg Newkirk
WhoForted? 2013-07-10 13:22:00
Has the site of one of cryptozoology's most famous tales of Bigfoot-related violence finally been rediscovered? After years of expeditions, one paranormal investigation group thinks they've located the Ape Canyon Cabin, and they've provided evidence to back it up. In July of 1924, four prospectors on Mt. St. Helens gold claim told journalists that they had endured a night from hell when numerous boulder-tossing, hairy "Mountain Devils" descended upon their cabin. The attack resulted in a one-sided gun fight, and one man, Fred Beck, claims to have shot one of the creatures, watching it tumble some 400 feet into the canyon, presumably to its demise. The story spread like wildfire, and found itself the subject of newspaper articles, books, and several televised recreationsof the incident. The tale has remained one of the most curious tales of Sasquatch-related violence, and its prominence has even earned the gorge an official name: Ape Canyon. |
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| Don't Panic! Lighten Up! |
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Metro.co.uk
2013-07-05 15:06:00
A pig with a furrowed brow that resembles Yoda has become the delight of Star Wars fans and pork connoisseurs. Two-year-old pot belly pig Ramona Flowers takes regular strolls around her neighbourhood and is said to enjoy the reaction her unique forehead gets from local residents. Proud owner Luis Bojorquez, 34, from Tijuana, Mexico said: 'It was my wife's cousin that first noticed her head after she took a few pictures of Ramona. 'It looks just like Yoda's face and I was really surprised that I had never noticed it before. 'I'm not so sure she would like the comparison as we've always thought of her as a spoilt princess and if she found out it might make her have one of her infamous temper tantrums. 'We called her Ramona Flowers because she reminds us of the character from the Scott Pilgrim graphic novels and has a feisty but fun nature, just like in the comics. 'She attracts a lot of attention from neighbours and as she roams around freely and she is often brought back home by the local kid in the area.' |
