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Riley Waggaman
Russia Insider 2014-11-22 19:10:00 Comment: Well, it's official. The leaders of the Western world have decided to forgo all pretense and just come out with what they've been hiding for the last 2 or 3 generations. For all that time, you see, the leaders of the West (led by the Late, Great United States) have been closet fascists. First they brought over the cream of the Nazi crop during Project Paperclip, and it's been all downhill since then. But at least they had the decency to keep their anti-human, pathocratic proclivities at at least partially concealed. Not anymore. Now even that pretense has been dropped, revealing what a few of us knew all along. Russia recently proposed a resolution at the UN condemning attempts to glorify Nazi ideology and deny that the Germans did anything wrong before and during WWII. Pretty basic stuff, right? Who could disagree?! Well, now we know: the U.S., Canada and Ukraine were the only countries to vote against the bill. Facile excuses aside, it's pretty telling. But not that surprising. After all, as Riley Waggaman writes for Russia Insider below, these very countries have been actively supporting neo-Nazis in east Ukraine this whole year. What has the world come to?
The conflict in East Ukraine is "a choice between civilization and barbarism," warns Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko, obviously alluding to the Associated Press photograph of "a Ukrainian volunteer soldier, with emblems of WWII SS Galician division." What was once described as a poor choice of Halloween costume by Prince Harry is now in vogue with celebrated government forces participating in Ukraine's Anti-Terror Operation. Incredible, that only a few years ago, Nazi emblems and the people who wore them were under the cloud of critical disapproval - what is posterity? Or "civilization," for that matter? Nazi symbols representing European integration have become so trendy in West Ukraine that The Daily Beast feels the need to ask, "Why are swastikas hot in West Ukraine?" Is it because handsomepants Russell Brand has reclaimed the swastika as the ancient mascot of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir? Of course. | |
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Shaun Mullen
The Moderate Voice 2014-11-22 04:06:00
Kill the Messenger is currently playing at mostly empty theaters, which is a pity, because it's an important movie about a real-life story: A reporter who becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into Southern California. That reporter is Gary Webb, played on the big screen by Jeremy Renner of The Bourne Legacy fame. This is what I wrote in December 2007 about Webb's expose and investigative journalism in general, with a few embellishments and a new footnote added: I worked with a goodly number of great investigative journalists over the years, men and women who risk career, life and limb to get the story, and I can say with some satisfaction that this bunch usually did. But beyond the glamor of the Woodward and Bernstein portrayed by Redford and Hoffman in All the President's Men is a dark side: Investigative reporters and their editors can be an intensely jealous lot, and except for the biggest stories (like the Pentagon Papers, Watergate and the My Lai Massacre) rival papers are more apt to ignore an investigative story than mention it in their own pages, and sometimes even dump on it. | |
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Patrick Armstrong
RUSSIA ISOLATED?Russia Insider 2014-11-20 01:58:00
Not at APEC - here's the thousand word photo. And not at G20 either - BRICS had a happy meeting. The West and its tame media is seriously deluding itself with this Russia is isolated stuff.
Russia bought 55 tonnes of gold in the last quarter. What's that mean? here's a theory. (Ukraine'sgold, on the other hand, is almost all gone.) Meanwhile, an arms sale to China. Sberbank offers Yuans. Another huge gas deal. Increasing military cooperation. India-China. New financial instruments. Petrodollar. Russia-Pakistan. It marches. Who thought Ukraine would be so important? | ||
Comment: A handy collection of links! Be sure to check out Armstrong's blog here.
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RT
2014-11-24 20:59:00
Lithuania has decided to provide limited military aid to Ukraine following a meeting between Presidents Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine and Dalia Grybauskaite of Lithuania in Kiev. The move aims to bolster military cooperation between the two states. "We have agreed on the supply of armaments for the Ukrainian armed forces," Poroshenko said, after talks with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite on Monday. Poroshenko added that the aid constituted "real help," though he did not clarify if it was for lethal or non-lethal equipment. Grybauskaite said the deal would entail providing Ukraine with the necessary knowhow for building modern armed forces. More Ukrainian representatives will be invited to study at the Military Academy of Lithuania, and there will be an increase in joint exercises with the goal of completing "the formation of the trilateral Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian Brigade," the Lithuanian president said. | |
Comment: Ukraine can't join EU because Ukraine is broke and has no gold.
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William Barbe
Sott.net 2014-11-22 22:13:00
Ted Cruz (R - Texas) begins his speech delivered on the Senate floor Nov. 20th, 2014 with "The words of Cicero - powerfully relevant 2,077 years later," and then proceeds to recite Cicero's speech "In Catilinam (Against Catiline)" delivered to the Roman Senate in 63 B.C. with some modifications to fit his purpose. During this period in Roman history there was martial law, accusations of high treason, and the specter of civil war. America today is increasingly becoming like the - now lost - Roman empire. After
Lucius Sergius Catiline lost an election to Marcus Tullius Cicero for Rome's highest office of consul, Cicero claimed that Catiline conspired to murder him and attempt a coup d'état. Cicero presented to the consul a letter, allegedly written by Catiline, that was found and presented as evidence of the conspiracy. Martial law was declared, and Catiline was denounced in the Senate - a triumph about which Cicero never tired of reminding his peers and readers (Catiline went into exile and soon after died in battle with his army). This is the official version of events where Cicero is generally hailed as a remarkable orator and a model for democracy that is still widely taught to this day. There is much more to this Cicero character and how the Cataline conspiracy became Rome's 9/11. You can listen to a discussion on the subject on this SOTT Talk Radio broadcast. A more in depth analysis of the situation will be featured in the next installment of Laura Knight-Jadczyk's Secret History series. Anyway, back to Ted Cruz. Catiline, a Popularis, was an advocate for the poor. He called for the cancellation of debts and openly backed land redistribution. Cicero, on the other hand, was aligned to the Optimates ("Best Men") who wished to preserve the aristocracy's power. Cicero created a law banning such populist gestures. In Cruz's speech, he aligns himself with Cicero and paints Obama as a modern day Catiline. As if Obama was not (s)elected by, and is not working for the 1% that enjoys the fruit of the labours of the masses of ordinary humanity. Cruz delivers quite the inflammatory speech and makes sure to include the threats implied in Cicero's original speech. | ||
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J.J. Goldberg
The Jewish Daily Forward 2014-11-24 03:52:00
Three of Israel's most senior ex-defense officials came out last week, almost simultaneously, with blistering attacks on the security policies of the Netanyahu coalition. Appearing in separate forums, the three - former Mossad director Shabtai Shavit, former Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin and former IDF chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi - each charged that the government is endangering Israel's future by allowing right-wing extremists to sabotage prospects for a two-state solution, putting the country on a path toward a single, binational state that will be plagued by continuing ethnic strife. Two of the attacks appeared as op-ed essays in last Friday newspapers. One, by Diskin, appeared in the mass-circulation Yediot Ahronot. Titled "What lies ahead for Israel" (in English here), it argues that the current "Jerusalem intifada" is a "microcosm" of what awaits Israel if it does not resume serious peace negotiations with the Palestinian leadership. Diskin is particularly critical of the "inflammatory propaganda" and "brainwashing" that depicts Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas as an obstacle rather than a partner, when in fact, he writes, Abbas is strongly opposed to terrorism and maintains a "clear policy" of security cooperation with Israel. The second, by Shavit, appeared in the liberal-leaning Haaretz. Titled "Blindness, Stupidity, Cause for Concern" (here, Hebrew only), it worries about the "haughtiness and arrogance" among "central factors in religious Zionism," | |
Comment: It seems that among even the most dyed-in-the-wool Zionists, a part of Israel's intelligence-military apparatus no less, there's recognition of the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu's security policies are not only psychopathic but also suicidal for Israel, and go far beyond the pale (though there is much precedence for the Israelis acting pathologically ie. the wholesale cleansing of the Palestinians in the 30's and 40's, the attack on the U.S.S. Liberty, 911, etc). If Diskin, Ashkenazi and Sahvit's public criticisms are to be taken at face value (they are no strangers to dirty tricks after all), and they are taken to be sincere, then their words may be understood as further proof of just far gone this train wreck of a nation is - and how desperate those with inklings of good sense and sanity feel about where its going.
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Louis Charbonneau and Fredrik Dahl
Reuters 2014-11-24 16:27:00
Iran and six powers failed for a second time this year on Monday to resolve their 12-year disputeover Tehran's nuclear ambitions and gave themselves seven more months to overcome the deadlock that has prevented them from clinching an historic deal. Western officials said they were aiming to secure an agreement on the substance of a final accord by March but that more time would be needed to reach a consensus on the all-important technical details. "We have had to conclude it is not possible to get to an agreement by the deadline that was set for today and therefore we will extend the JPOA to June 30, 2015," British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond told reporters at the end of the talks. He was referring to the so-called Joint Plan of Action, an interim deal agreed between the six and Iran a year ago in Geneva, under which Tehran halted higher level uranium enrichment in exchange for a limited easing of sanctions, including access to some frozen oil revenues abroad. Hammond said the expectation was that Iran would continue to refrain from sensitive atomic activity. He added that Iran and the powers "made some significant progress" in the latest round of talks, which began last Tuesday in the Austrian capital. Hammond said that there was a clear target to reach a "headline agreement" of substance within the next three months and talks would resume next month. | |
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Jim Acosta, Barbara Starr and Alexandra Jaffe
CNN 2014-11-24 16:12:00
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will step down from his position, a senior administration official confirmed to CNN Monday. Hagel, who has served in this position since February 2013, was forced out by President Barack Obama, CNN confirmed from several sources. White House officials, however, are portraying this as a mutual decision. Administration officials said there was a series of discussions over the past several weeks with the President, initiated by Hagel. The talks covered a "broader discussion of national security for the next two years," a defense official said. The two came to realize that "a different focus was needed and a change is in order," the official added. "It is wrong to conclude that this was a protest by Hagel or it was over policy differences." Comment: Ah yes, stay calm, nothing to see here. The White House announced that Obama will make a personnel announcement from the White House State Dining Room at 11:10 a.m. The New York Times first reported Monday morning that Obama asked Hagel to step down last Friday, seeking to reassure critics of the President's foreign policy with the move. The move, White House officials told the Times, was meant to acknowledge that the new national security threats facing the nation - most notably the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria - call for a different kind of leadership in the Defense Department. "The next couple of years will demand a different kind of focus," an administration official told the paper. A critic of the Iraq war, Hagel was brought on to oversee withdrawal from Afghanistan and a smaller Pentagon budget than ever before. Hagel, a former senator of Nebraska, was the last Republican still serving in Obama's Cabinet. | |
Comment: We shall see who Obama picks as the next Defense Secretary to determine if world events and wars will be escalating.
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Phillip Butler
RT 2014-11-22 09:04:00
President Obama seems poised to declare war on the world. American policy in 2014 has taken on a "zombie-like" feverishness aimed at war. Terror has been turned into a horror gag reel these days, as Washington acts out some fetish for chaos in our world. And for those who consider Obama a Machiavellian genius, this requires a massive intellect. A modern day political Frankenstein seems more apt. America has armed and sponsored Israel so they can butcher Palestinian civilians. We're prodding NATO moves in Ukraine, right on Russia's doorstep. We've fueled a fetish to unseat Syria's Assad, and to perpetuate the Iraq war, maybe forever. Yes, Washington's gone totally biblical, and not in a good way. Meanwhile, we sit on our couches in Omaha or Orlando, reading the morning news served up to strike fear and loathing. A thousand authors, conjure for you, images of Russian bears devouring Europe, of gleaming scimitars slicing the air, and a rerun of those twin towers plummeting, down, down, down. But this is a time of WikiLeaks, the NSA spies, lies, deceit, and misdirect. You must see it, anyone surely must! While Caliphates, the Supreme Soviet, and Hamas rockets are blamed for baby killing, a crumbling western civilization is not brought about by Vladimir Putin, but by a decaying system of greed, graft, and mediocre leaders. The fact is ISIS, the Arab Spring, and Ukraine and yes, Gaza are all components of Washington policy under Obama. This cannot be repudiated, but it can be reasoned. | |
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Sputnik
2014-11-22 13:23:00
As the US is debating whether it should send lethal military aid to Ukraine, some political analysts say current claims that Washington is only providing Kiev with non-lethal military assistance are nothing more than a red herring, because that aid is also being used for lethal purposes. Former US President George W. Bush's National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley has called on the CIA to provide lethal military assistance to the Ukrainian government. So far, the White House has officially relegated support to non-lethal assistance despite Kiev's requests for lethal military aid. However, some political analysts believe that all this talk about lethal aid and non-lethal aid ignores the fact that the non-lethal aid that the US has been giving Ukraine has been used in a lethal context. "Even if the US supplies only non-lethal military equipment, what is this equipment being used for? Is it being used defensively? The word "defensively" totally disarms the cognitive ability to assess that it is being used offensively. I mean, to give armor to troops to send them into the battlefield to kill people including civilians - you can call it non-lethal aid but it is being used for lethal aims," Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, a Research Associate at the Centre for Research on Globalization and a contributor at the Strategic Culture Foundation told Radio Sputnik. | |
Comment: The following exemplifies the type of "non-lethal advice" that the U.S. psychopaths have so far given to the military forces of Kiev from: Heartbreaking video of man finding his home and family bombed by U.S.-backed Kiev army
"One of the hardest things about producing this site is watching these gut-wrenching videos coming out of East Ukraine. There are literally hundreds of them. We think of ourselves as pretty hard-boiled, but sifting through them looking for news, or even worse, having to watch sections of them over and over again as one edits and captions is sometimes too much ... Sometimes without warning, the tears well up as your soul rebels ... Watch this video, even if it hurts. After seeing this, no sane person could still believe Kiev is right in attacking East Ukraine. Western politicians are guilty of this. Obama and Merkel are guilty of this. They are funding, encouraging, and justifying a cynical, homicidal military attack against civilians, whose only sin was to exercise their right to secede from a country they no longer wanted to belong to, a basic right recognized in all democracies. The attack is being led to a large extent by psychopathic neo-nazi extremists. And the western media is complicit in the crime, by saying its not happening. It's as simple as that. Sometimes evil leaps out and rips your face off, right in the middle of civilization. That's what is going on in East Ukraine."
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Daisy Luther
The Organic Prepper 2014-11-23 12:44:00
The Environmental Protection Agency is a federal agency that is charged with the responsibility of writing and enforcing legislation to protect human health and the environment. Established under Nixon in 1970, the EPA is another one of those agencies that sounds like a good idea, until you peel off the shiny friendly top layer to discover the stench of corruption underneath. Up until now, they at least pretended to be there to serve as watchdogs, but it seems like they've decided to give up on that silly illusion. Since they are looking after all things environmental, they need unbiased specialists to advise them on policies and issues. Silly me, I always thought that sounded sort of...I dunno...science-y. Our estimable House of Representatives disagrees. | |
Comment: Welcome to the United States of Fascism where corporations and government are one.
The EPA Closes Its Libraries, Destroys Documents Judge says EPA does not have to address call to label hazardous pesticide ingredients | |
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RT
2014-11-23 23:51:00
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has warned it would be a "grave mistake" for the French parliament to follow the suit of several other European nations in recognizing a Palestinian state in a vote scheduled early December. "Recognition of a Palestinian state by France would be a grave mistake," Netanyahu told reporters in Jerusalem. "Do they have nothing better to do at a time of beheadings across the Middle East, including that of a French citizen?" apparently referring to Herve Gourdel executed by Algerian jihadists in September. "The State of Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people, the only state that we have, and the Palestinians demanding a state do not want to recognize the right to have a state for the Jewish people," Netanyahu added. Just hours before the statement, the Israeli government approved a controversial 'Jewish state bill', which the critics already called anti-democratic. If approved by the parliament on Wednesday, it will redefine Israel as the "national homeland of the Jewish people" instead of a "Jewish and Democratic State." | |
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Vladimir Putin
ITAR-TASS 2014-11-23 00:04:00
In the TASS special project Top Officials, Vladimir Putin talks about healthy lifestyle, the "fifth column" and oil prices "plot" and argues with Russian philosopher Nikolay Berdyayev. On health, wrong statement and the other side of the coin - What's your health status now, Vladimir Vladimirovich? - All worries are in foes' dreams! - The foes are making hints... - Really? It's the first time I hear about it. What are they saying? Just fantasying? - I won't retell it to you. As a matter of fact, I've come to the firsthand source. - Let them think this way. It'll make them relaxed and will bring us benefits, too. | |
Comment: As usual, Vladimir Putin shows himself to be an intelligent, humble, diplomatic, no-nonsense human being, and a force to be reckoned with. There have been very few incorruptible politicians and statesmen in the last century - Hammarskjold was one, Kennedy became another. At the very least, Putin is the best this planet has at the moment. And ordinary people realize it. See:
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Aeneas Georg
Gold has been in the news a lot in the last week. Most interesting was the fact that the Dutch government secretly got 122.5 tons of gold back from Uncle Sam.Sott.net 2014-11-23 11:04:00
Even if much of it is still owed to the Netherlands, this is a nice chunk of gold being repatriated. In contrast, consider that Germany's attempts to have its gold repatriated, which amounted to just 5 tons in 2013, have been stalled, allegedly thanks to the resumption of its suicidal confidence in Uncle Sam as 'lender of last resort'. A more realistic view is that Germany was told that there is no gold, so they can forget all about it. So why did the Dutch National Bank (DNB) bring back some of its gold? Interesting. THEN was a Cold War; not now. That's not going to go down too well in the US State Department. The Dutch didn't bother having a referendum in order to bring it back, like the Swiss. They just went ahead and did it. Other news this week included official admission from Ukraine that their gold is gone. This was first noticed back in March, just after the coup, but never verified and only mentioned on alternative news sites... which figures because only they can be relied on to tell you the news: | |
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Pepe Escobar
The Oceania Saker 2014-11-24 22:56:00
Tasnim News Agency asked me about a possible Iran - P5+1 nuclear deal as we approach crunch time. Article is in Farsi. This is what I said, in English: In these final crucial days there's a lot of Western spin about an extension of negotiations; as in an understanding reached on Monday, followed by renewed talks up to March 2015. That's NOT a good idea - in fact dangerous. All those powerful forces against a deal will work on overtime to sabotage it. Comment: The deadline was for November 24. See SOTT's coverage here: P5+1 meetings in Vienna over Iran's 'nukes' - Much ado about nothing | |
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RT
2014-11-23 17:42:00
Following heated debate, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet has voted in favor of anchoring in law the status of Israel as "the national homeland of the Jewish people," which critics fear would discriminate the Arab population. According to the draft law, Israel's Basic Laws would no longer define it as "Jewish and democratic"country, but as the Nation-State of the Jewish People. 15 Israeli ministers in the cabinet supported the 'Jewish state bill,' with only six, including Israeli Justice Minister, Tzipi Livni, saying 'no' to the initiative on Sunday. The bill now has to be approved by the country's parliament, Knesset, which is scheduled to vote on it on Wednesday. Netanyahu said that it's high time to amend the legislation as the idea of Israel being the national homeland of the Jewish people is challenged by many inside and outside the country. "The Palestinians refuse to recognize this, and there is also opposition from within - there are those who want to establish autonomy in the Galilee and the Negev, and who deny our national rights," the Prime Minister is cited by Jerusalem Post newspaper. He assured that the bill won't give Judaism precedence over democracy, with all Israeli citizens - no mater of their culture and faith - to have equal rights. "But there are national rights only for the Jewish people: a flag, anthem, the right of every Jew to immigrate to Israel, and other national symbols," Netanyahu added. However, the critics have called the proposal "anti-democratic," expressing concerns that it would legalize discrimination against 1.7 million Arabs living in Israel. | |
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Timothy Alexander Guzman
Silent Crow News 2014-11-21 00:00:00
Israel and the Third Intifada? Timothy Alexander Guzman, Silent Crow News - The Israeli government knows how to provoke a response from the Palestinians. They are repressing the Palestinians by controlling their right to enter the sacred Al-Aqsa mosque located in the Old City of Jerusalem. This action, I believe is intentional. It is to provoke a response from the Palestinians so that Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) would respond militarily. Why would the Israeli government allow right-wing Israeli extremists to continue their violent actions against Palestinian worshippers? The Israeli government knows that it would only inflame a religious hatred among Palestinians against the Jewish population. Perhaps, that is what Israel wants, a decisive war with the Palestinians to finally get their wish to have absolute control over all of East Jerusalem including Al-Aqsa and the Ibrahimi mosques. The U.S. main stream media usually blames the Palestinians for attacking Jewish worshippers as they conveniently ignore the facts that there is a collaboration of the Israeli government (IDF soldiers and police) and extremist Jewish settlers who has committed numerous attacks on Palestinian worshippers in East Jerusalem for the last 50 years. Palestinian scholar, journalist and author Ramzy Baroud points out Israel's coordinated efforts with various political parties, the military and Jewish settlers in an article he wrote in early 2014 titled 'Al-Aqsa vs. Israel: The lurking danger beneath' and declared the following: | |
Comment: Israel has recently killed and maimed thousands in Gaza, destroyed vital infrastructure there, and continues to make life in the West Bank intolerable by any standard. What left is there to do then but to attack those Palestinians who seek to pray and worship at one of their most religious sites. The psychopathic rulers of Israel know exactly what they are doing and will stop at nothing to achieve their objectives: The complete cleansing of Palestinians from what the right-wing and religious faction of Israel call 'Eretz Israel,' or Greater Israel. To fulfill this 'final solution' though, Israel will continue to arrange reasons for "cracking down" in order to further provoke and incite the Palestinians towards resistance.
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Emran Feroz
When Gaza was attacked during the summer, Angela Merkel promised to "stand by the side of Israel." The German chancellor has done much more than offer verbal support for Israel's crimes. Under her leadership, the Berlin government has been equipping Israel with submarines that reportedly carry nuclear weapons. Some German politicians have tried to muzzle debate about Israel by denouncing its critics as "anti-Semites." The American journalist Max Blumenthal - author ofGoliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel - faced such a smear on a recent speaking tour in Germany.The Electronic Intifada 2014-11-14 19:07:00 A number of elected politicians alleged that a scheduled talk by Blumenthal and his colleague David Sheen in a Berlin theater would serve "to promote anti-Semitic prejudice." This was deeply ironic: both Blumenthal and Sheen are themselves Jewish. The politicians denouncing them failed to produce any evidence that they are hostile towards fellow Jews. Comment: Whenever criticism is raised towards the aggressive behaviour of Israel the label of "anti-semitic" is immediately proclaimed. There is a clear difference between political Zionism and Judaism as a religion or ethnic group as Douglas Reed explains in his book Controversy of Zion.
Blumenthal spoke to Emran Feroz in Stuttgart. Emran Feroz: You recently witnessed the destruction caused by Israel in Gaza. What scenes had the most effect on you? Max Blumenthal: Emergency operations had to be performed in dentist chairs, while the bodies of dead children had to be laid in ice boxes, which were originally designed for ice cream. Those were probably the most shocking testimonies I heard. EF: Not long after your trip to Gaza, you started using the hashtag #JSIL (Jewish State of Israel in the Levant) on Twitter. Making this kind of comparison between the group Islamic State and Israel is taboo in Germany. Why did you dare to do this? MB: It is strange that you equate, in Germany, IS with Hamas or describe the entire Palestinian national movement as "heirs of the Nazis," while there is such an outrage regarding my comparison. It was not a direct one-to-one comparison, but I wanted to point out the hypocrisy behind supporting one religiously exclusive state that forces minorities out of its territory while attacking another. | |
Comment: Psychopathic politicians continually defend Zionist policy and vilify outspoken critics such as Max Blumenthal and David Sheen, two Jewish authors who are working hard to bring the information to the public.
It is often said that the suppression of minorities such as Jews happened during WWII because the people did not have the information back then. However, now we have access to all of the information of the atrocities towards the Palestinian people, and it is part of our collective responsibility to speak out against it.
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| Society's Child |
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RT
2014-11-24 18:38:00
Police officers have been responsible for more homicides in the state of Utah since 2010 than gangs or drug dealers, a new report has revealed. Of the nearly 300 homicides in the state in the past five years, from the beginning of 2010 through October 2014, Utah police have killed 45 of those victims, or 15 percent, according to a review of records - ranging from media reports and crime statistics to medical-examiner and court documents - by the Salt Lake Tribune. Police account for more killings than gangs, drug dealers or from child abuse, the newspaper reported, but less than spouse or dating-partner fatalities. A fatal police shooting that occurred on Saturday was not counted and remains under investigation, the Tribune reported. "The numbers reflect that there could be an issue, and it's going to take a deeper understanding of these shootings," said Chris Gebhardt, a former police lieutenant and sergeant who worked in Washington, DC and Utah. "It definitely can't be written off as citizen groups being upset with law enforcement." In addition, almost all uses of deadly force by police have gone unpunished by county prosecutors across the state. Only one fatal police shooting since 2010 was ruled unjustified - but that criminal charge was later dropped by a judge. | |
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RT
2014-11-24 15:11:00
Britain faces an "almost inevitable" terror attack by radicalized fanatics who have recently been "militarized" by the Islamic State (formerly ISIS), top security and police officials warn. In separate speeches on Monday, both Home Secretary Theresa May and senior Metropolitan Police officials said the terror threat posed by jihadists who have returned to Britain from Iraq and Syria is the most serious the nation has ever faced. Comment: Call it blowback from NATO's own terrorist activity. But the threat of terrorism is required to keep the wars going. Speaking to MPs, May warned Britain faces the most serious threat to its security from prospective terrorists since before or after the September 11 attacks on the US in 2001. Possible terror attacks could manifest as a 'lone wolf' beheading in a public street or crowded shopping center - or as a crude, homemade bomb made from fertilizer. Comment: Interesting scenarios. Could practice drills be in the planning? These most recent warnings echo the cautionary words of top security personnel, who earlier this month told parliament the state's levels of terrorist activity are so acute that a terror attack in the near future is almost certain. | |
Comment: If the increased security measures fail to be as strong as the powers-that-be want them, you can be sure there will be a "terrorist attack" to hammer home why these security measures are needed.
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RT
2014-11-24 14:44:00
The Hacktivist collective Anonymous have launched an attack on the official site for the City of Cleveland after 12-year-old Temir Rice was shot dead by local police for carrying a BB gun. In a video released on Monday, Anonymous lambasts Cleveland City Police, whose alleged inability to train their officers properly is said to have led to the tragedy. "This rookie officer apparently was not trained. The police department he works for is to blame for this lack of appropriate training. Officers are equipped with many non-lethal options such as Taser guns. Why did he not use a Taser on this child? Shooting him in cold blood was not necessary with these non-lethal options available," a statement from the collective said.
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Comment: This shooting is another tragic incident involving police use of excessive force. Will shutting down Cleveland's website change anything?
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The Associated Press
2014-11-24 11:36:00
A 30-year-old Sydney mother has been charged with trying to kill her newborn son by abandoning him in a roadside drain for five days before passers-by heard his cries, police said Monday. The week-old baby was in serious but stable condition in Westmead Children's Hospital a day after cyclists found him in a 2.5-meter (8-foot) deep drain beside the M7 Motorway in the suburb of Quakers Hill, police said in a statement. His mother, Saifale Nai, did not appear in court to answer the attempted murder charge. Her lawyer did not enter a plea and the magistrate formally refused her bail. Nai will remain in custody until her next court appearance on Friday. She would face a potential maximum sentence of 25 years in prison if convicted. "Police will allege the baby, believed to have been born on Monday (Nov. 17), was placed into the drain on Tuesday," the police statement said. Andrew Pesce, a gynecologist, obstetrician and former president of the Australian Medical Association, said such an ordeal could leave a newborn with long-term problems such as brain damage. "There would still have to be some concerns about the baby," Pesce said. | |
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Trey Sanchez
Truth revolt 2014-11-23 23:15:00
During Sunday's Meet the Press, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Georgetown Professor Michael Eric Dyson got into a racially charged shouting match over black-on-black crime statistics, culminating with charges of "white supremacy" by Dyson. The conversation centered around race relations, crime, and police officers' actions in light of the situation in Ferguson. Host Chuck Todd showed an infographic noting various U.S. cities that have a disproportionate number of white police officers to black citizens and remarked how that could lead to many of those cities becoming "future Fergusons." Giuliani took exception to the focus of this report and pointed out the pink elephant in the room. "I find it very disappointing," he said, "that you are not discussing the fact that 93 percent of blacks in America are killed by other blacks... I would like to see the attention paid to that that you are paying to this and the solutions to that." | |
Comment: Maybe not so much "white supremacy" but rather a case of psychopathic thinking by blaming the victim in order to carry out the militarization of the police force. Also notice Giuliani refuses to address the discussion topic directly but deflects the focus to a different topic.
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Mike Whitney
Counterpunch 2014-11-23 23:14:00
Anyone who follows the news regularly, knows that the media has done everything in its power to smear Vladimir Putin and to demonize him as a tyrant and a thug. Fortunately, most people aren't buying it. Yes, I've seen the polls that say that Putin and Russia are viewed "less favorably" than they were prior to the crisis in Ukraine. In fact, here's a clip from a recent PEW survey which seems to prove that I'm wrong: "Across the 44 countries surveyed, a median percentage of 43% have unfavorable opinions of Russia, compared with 34% who are positive.These results strongly suggest that the public blames Moscow for the fighting in Ukraine and (presumably) agrees with the prevailing storyline that Putin is a vicious aggressor who seized Crimea in order to rebuild the Soviet Empire. The problem with the PEW survey is that the results are based random samples of nationwide face-to-face or telephone interviews. Why is that a problem? | |
Comment: It's heartening to know that people are seeing through the anti-Putin bullshit that's everywhere these days. For people with a conscience, it's hard not to feel responsible for the dirt and slime thrown at Putin daily. So show your support: comment, write, talk. Show the lying bastards we're not going to take it anymore. And if you feel like we do, take a moment to show your support for what Putin's doing by signing: Dear Putin.
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Daniel Nussbaum
Breitbart 2014-11-20 21:00:00
Like countless artists before him, San Diego-based rapper Brandon Duncan's new album features a picture of a gun and bullets on its front cover. However Duncan, who raps under the name Tiny Doo, could be the first artist to go to jail for his choice of album art. Duncan faces 25-years-to-life on gang conspiracy charges brought against him this week, according to the Los Angeles Times. Prosecutors will reportedly look to prove that the album art "willfully promotes, furthers, or assists in any felonious criminal conduct by members of that gang." "That gang" refers to the San Diego Lincoln Park gang, of which Duncan is a member, according to San Diego police. According to the Times, at least 15 Lincoln Park gang members have been charged in a recent string of shootings in the city. Yet Duncan's attorney, Brian Watkins, told the paper that his client is innocent and the evidence against him insufficient. "It's no different than Snoop Dogg or Tupac," Watkins said. "It's telling the story of street life. If we are trying to criminalize artistic expression, what's next, Brian DePalma and Al Pacino?" | |
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Citizen warns that 12-yr-old child's toy gun on playground is FAKE, cops shoot and kill child anyway
FilmingCops.com
2014-11-23 20:49:00
The person who called 911 on the boy CLEARLY WARNED the dispatcher that the child's toy gun was "fake." Despite this warning, police shot and killed the boy. Listen to the audio below. Cleveland, Ohio - A rookie police officer has just shot a 12-yr-old child to death on a playground. The child was playing with a toy BB gun. Police claim that the toy looked real and that they were "forced" to shoot the child. However, the community and the boy's family say that the cops were trigger-happy. They believe that the cops were trigger-happy for several reasons: 1) The citizen who called 911 on the boy clearly warned the dispatcher that child's toy gun was fake(raw recording below). This means that warning was given ahead of time from which any reasonably sane and intelligent person can extract two facts: (a) we are dealing with just a child, not an adult, and (b) the child's toy is fake. 2) The boy did not act aggressively toward the police - there was no verbal or physical confrontation. He never at any time pointed the toy at officers. He was merely playing on the playground. | |
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John Vibes
The Free Thought Project 2014-11-23 20:31:00
Nodaway County, Missouri - Last week, Jason and Laura Hagan, of New Hampton, Missouri filed a lawsuit against the Nodaway County Police for a SWAT team raid against their family, where tasers and pepper spray were used by the invading officers. The lawsuit is the newest fight in the family's lengthy legal battle with the county over the raid, which took place in 2011. The case began years ago when Child Protection Services (CPS) agents were sent to the home because they were homeschooling their children and they reportedly had a "messy house." According to the complaint filed last week, the family was harassed by CPS agents on multiple occasions and one day, they refused to let the agents inside their home. The agent then called Chief Sheriff's Deputy David Glidden and Sheriff Darren White of the Nodaway County police department. When the officers arrived at the home they were told by Jason Hagan that they were not allowed to enter his property without a court order. Glidden responded by forcing his way into the home and spraying both Jason and Laura in the face with pepper spray. Next, Glidden uses his taser on Jason, shooting him in the back with the weapon. Horrified, Laura shut the door to separate herself and her husband from the officer, who triggered the taser 3 more times through the closed door, as the barbs were still stuck inside of Jason. | |
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Alex Dobuzinskis
The Raw Story 2014-11-23 18:32:00
A bighorn sheep escaped from the Los Angeles Zoo at Griffith Park on Saturday and dashed around the hills in the park for hours before it ended up on a residential street where it was struck by a car and died, a zoo spokeswoman said. The sheep got free from its enclosure and darted through an area where zoo visitors were gathered. It escaped the zoo, probably by jumping a fence, and scampered around the hills of the park, said zoo spokeswoman April Spurlock. The animal was loose for about three hours before it was struck by a car on a residential street near the Greek Theatre, she said. The concert venue is about 2 miles southwest of the zoo, on the other side of Griffith Park. | |
Comment: This is one of the unfortunate consequences of keeping animals penned up in confined spaces - it's a prison for them. Recently zoo animals are becoming rebellious and some are turning on their captors. Perhaps these incidences are symbolic of the human population that is becoming fed up with the ever spiraling control of their psychopathic masters.
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The Raw Story
2014-11-23 14:11:00
Three thousand people were evacuated from their homes in the centre of the French city of Rennes Sunday while a huge British bomb from World War II was defused. The 250-kilogramme (550-pound) bomb was found near the city's town hall during the building of a new metro line in the capital of the Brittany region of western France, mayor Nathalie Appere told AFP. She said it was packed with 70 kilos of high explosives and police bomb disposal experts faced a very "delicate operation" to disarm it. | |
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Chad Arias
Opposing Views 2014-11-23 00:00:00
Although hunting is generally thought to be a dangerous sport for the animals in the crosshairs,hunting carries with it the capacity for any number of accidental injuries while pursuing game. Throughout the month of November, firearm deer hunting season is opening up in the majority of U.S. states. The large numbers of hunters filing through the woods can only increase the likelihood of accidental shootings. According to the NY Daily News, over the weekend a New York man was shot through the hand and buttocks while dragging a tagged deer back to his car. The shooter claimed that he saw the apparently resurrected deer moving and could not make out the hunter dragging it. The victim was taken to the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. The St. Louis Post-Disbatch reports that two hunters were not so lucky as one fell from a tree to his death and the other was involved in a bizarrely fatal heater explosion. One more hunter was injured when he shot himself through the leg while trying to reload his rifle. | |
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The Local
2014-11-23 14:13:00
One of three Kalashnikov-wielding Islamists seen burning their French passports in an Islamic State propaganda video this week grew up in a small village in southern France, the mayor said Saturday. The 26-year-old, who goes by the name of Abou Ossama Al-Faranci in the Internet video, left the village of some 1,400 people five years ago, residents told the newspaper La Depeche du Midi. Serge Lafon, the mayor of Labastide-Rouairoux, told AFP that "many villagers knew and recognised him". "They are quite sure and there's been no denial by relatives or anyone so there's a 99 percent chance it is him." The bearded blue-eyed man seen in the footage urging Muslims to stage attacks in France was reported to have gone to school in the village and have converted to Islam, studying the Koran in a Muslim centre in a private home. | |
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David Ferguson
Rawstory 2014-11-22 11:11:00
A white police officer in Superior, Wisconsin who grabbed a black woman by her hair and slammed her face into the hood of a car and punched her several times has received a single day's suspension from duty. According to NorthlandNewsCenter.com, Officer George Gothner was not censured for his violent attack on Natasha Lancour, which took place on Jan. 5, but for swearing while he did it. The decision came at the end of a lengthy internal investigation by the police force. The violent arrest was caught on camera and spawned a significant outcry. Superior Police Chief Charles LaGesse said that the department has ruled that Gothner's use of force against the unarmed Lancour was consistent with his training and with the policies of the department. Comment: Beating an innocent woman is consistent with the policies of the police?! They are telling citizens point blank what their role is in our Kafkaesque society. On the night of the assault, Gothner and other officers had approached a group of people in the parking lot of a night club called the Keyport Lounge. In dashboard camera footage of the incident, Gothner can be seen shouting and Lancour and pointing into her face. Then, Gothner dragged Lancour to the squad car by her hair, bounced her face off the hood, then proceeded to punch her in the face and head. However, the Wisconsin Department of Justice investigation found, Gothner "failed to utilize proper communication skills and was vulgar and unprofessional in his initial contact with Lancour and his words were a violation of several department policies." | |
Comment: The U.S. government invades other countries steals its resources, maims and murders innocent people. They condone torture and support violence as a means to shock people into total control. A police state, and the behavior of this officer, is the result of the collapse of moral leadership. Fear mongering, dehumanizing - the citizens follow their leaders.
New Jersey cop: 'Obama decimated the Constitution, we don't have to' follow it
See also: Global Pathocracy, Authoritarian Followers and the Hope of the World | |
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Nick Squires
The Independent, UK 2014-11-21 19:12:00
Italy's culture minister gives the green light for cultural events once again being held within the historic arena Two millennia after sword-wielding gladiators fought to the death on the blood-soaked sands of the Colosseum, Italy's culture minister has given the green light to cultural events once again being held within the arena. Dario Franceschini has thrown his weight behind a proposal to rebuild the wooden floor that once covered the arena and provided the setting for wild animal hunts and gladiatorial combat. Currently only a small portion of the arena is covered by wooden boards, with the rest exposed to the elements - visitors are able to peer into the labyrinth of narrow tunnels and cramped stone cells that once housed caged animals and gladiators before they emerged into the arena via a network of lifts operated by slaves. There are no plans to recreate mock gladiatorial battles or fights with lions, leopards and bears. The minister said that only concerts and other cultural events would be held, insisting that ancient Rome's monuments should not be turned into a cultural Disneyland. Occasional concerts are held inside the Colosseum but the rebuilding of the arena's wooden flooring would allow more frequent events. "I'm convinced that with the intelligent reconstruction of the arena in the Colosseum, the monument that is a symbol of Italy could become even more attractive to tourism," Mr Franceschini said at a press conference in Rome on Friday. He knocked down previous suggestions that football matches could be held in the ancient arena. | |
Comment: See also: Rome's Colosseum: Medieval condominium
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| Secret History |
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Owen Jarus
LiveScience 2014-11-24 13:00:00
A cemetery dating back roughly 1,700 years has been discovered along part of the Silk Road, a series of ancient trade routes that once connected China to the Roman Empire. The cemetery was found in the city of Kucha, which is located in present-day northwest China. Ten tombs were excavated, seven of which turned out to be large brick structures. One tomb, dubbed "M3," contained carvings of several mythical creatures, including four that represent different seasons and parts of the heavens: the White Tiger of the West, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the Black Turtle of the North and the Azure Dragon of the East. The M3 tomb also "consists of a burial mound, ramp, sealed gate, tomb entrance, screen walls, passage, burial chamber and side chamber" the researchers wrote in a report published recently in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics. The cemetery was first found in July 2007 and was excavated by the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, with assistance from local authorities. The research team, led by Zhiyong Yu, director of the Xinjiang Archaeological Institute, published the findings in Chinese in the journalWenwu. The article was recently translated into English and published in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics. | |
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La Ciencia es Noticia
Hidden under the vegetation and crops of the Eria Valley, in León (Spain), there is a gold mining network created by the Romans two thousand years ago, as well as complex hydraulic works, such as river diversions, to divert water to the mines of the precious metal. Researchers from the University of Salamanca made the discovery from the air with an airborne laser tele-detection system.2014-11-19 16:30:00
Las Médulas in León is considered to be the largest opencast goldmine of the Roman Empire, but the search for this metal extended many kilometres further south-east to the Erica river valley. Thanks to a Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) laser system attached to an aircraft, the ancient mining works of the area and the complex hydraulics system used by the Romans in the 1st century BC to extract gold (including channels, reservoirs and a double river diversion) have been discovered. "The volume of earth exploited is much greater than previously thought and the works performed are impressive, having achieved actual river captures, which makes this valley extremely important in the context of Roman mining in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula," as Javier Fernández Lozano, geologist at the University of Salamanca and co-author of this study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, tells SINC. The specialists consider that the systems for the transport and storage of water were copied from those already existing in North Africa, where the Egyptians had been employing them for centuries. Some details of the methodology used appear in texts such as those of the Pliny the Elder, the Roman procurator in charge of overseeing mining in Hispania. | |
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Owen Jarus
LiveScience 2014-11-20 13:37:00
Researchers have deciphered an ancient Egyptian handbook, revealing a series of invocations and spells. Among other things, the Handbook of Ritual Power, as researchers call the book, tells readers how to cast love spells, exorcise evil spirits and treat "black jaundice," a bacterial infection that is still around today and can be fatal. The book is about 1,300 years old, and is written in Coptic, an Egyptian language. It is made of bound pages of parchment - a type of book that researchers call a codex. "It is a complete 20-page parchment codex, containing the handbook of a ritual practitioner," write Malcolm Choat and Iain Gardner, who are professors in Australia at Macquarie University and the University of Sydney, respectively, in their book, A Coptic Handbook of Ritual Power (Brepols, 2014). | |
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Rossella Lorenzi
Discovery News 2014-11-20 20:20:00
Remains of an ancient settlement, complete with a ruined pottery workshop, have been found on the bottom of the Aegean sea off the small island of Delos, the Greek ministry of culture has announced. Dubbed by the Greek media "a small underwater Pompeii," the structures lay at a depth of just 6 feet on the northeastern coast of Delos. "In the past these ruins were identified as port facilities," the culture ministry said. But a new investigation by the National Hellenic Research Foundation and the Ephorate of Undersea Archaeology, led to different conclusions. Rather than a dock, a pottery workshop and other buildings once stood at the site. | |
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| Science & Technology |
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Nicholas Carr
Wall Street Journal 2014-11-21 11:02:00
Artificial intelligence has arrived. Today's computers are discerning and sharp. They can sense the environment, untangle knotty problems, make subtle judgments and learn from experience. They don't think the way we think - they're still as mindless as toothpicks - but they can replicate many of our most prized intellectual talents. Dazzled by our brilliant new machines, we've been rushing to hand them all sorts of sophisticated jobs that we used to do ourselves. But our growing reliance on computer automation may be exacting a high price. Worrisome evidence suggests that our own intelligence is withering as we become more dependent on the artificial variety. Rather than lifting us up, smart software seems to be dumbing us down. | |
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Phys.org
2014-11-20 00:00:00
In a showdown of black hole versus G2 - a cloud of gas and dust - it looks like G2 won. Recent research shows that G2 came within 30 billion kilometers of the super-massive black hole at the center of our galaxy, yet managed to escape from the gravitational pull of the black hole. Initially, a supercomputer simulation prepared by two Lab physicists and a former postdoc more than two years ago suggested that some of G2 would survive, although its surviving mass would be torn apart, leaving it with a different shape and questionable fate. The findings are the work of computational physicist Peter Anninos and astrophysicist Stephen Murray, both of AX division within the Weapons and Complex Integration Directorate (WCI), along with their former postdoc Chris Fragile, now an associate professor at the College of Charleston in South Carolina, and his student, Julia Wilson. The team's simulations allowed the members to more efficiently follow the cloud's progression toward the black hole. | |
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Ernesto Guido, Martino Nicolini & Nick Howes
CBET nr. 4019, issued on 2014, November 21, announces the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~18.7) by PANSTARRS survey in four w-band CCD exposures taken with the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS1 telescope at Haleakala on Nov. 17. The new comet has been designated C/2014 W2 (PANSTARRS).Remanzacco Observatory 2014-11-21 13:49:00 We performed follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 10 unfiltered exposures, 120-sec each, obtained remotely on 2014, November 18.9 from I89 (iTelescope network - Nerpio) through a 0.43-m f/6.8 reflector + CCD, shows that this object is a comet: diffuse coma about 6" in diameter. Our confirmation image (click on it for a bigger version)
M.P.E.C. 2014-W55 (including pre-discovery Catalina Sky Survey observations, identified by T. Spahr, on Oct. 26.3, when the comet was at mag 17.7-18.0, and on Nov. 16.3 at mag 17.3-17.5) assigns the following elliptical orbital elements to comet C/2014 W2: T 2016 Mar. 19.554; e= 0.95; Peri. = 85.90; q = 2.67; Incl.= 81.04 | |
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Julian Ryall
Japanese firm devises plan for an Ocean Spiral community that descends nine miles to the seabed.The Telegraph 2014-11-21 07:33:00
With dry land increasingly at a premium, a Japanese construction company has come up with a plan to sink a spiralling city into the depths of our oceans. Each Ocean Spiral will be home to about 5,000 people, according to Shimizu Corp., with each structure also incorporating business and office facilities, hotel and entertainment facilities. A blueprint for the city of the future was unveiled in Tokyo this week, with Shimizu confidently predicting that the first of its underwater cities would be ready for residents to move in as early as 2030. At the surface, the city will have a vast floating dome that could be made watertight and retracted beneath the surface in bad weather. | |
Comment: Good luck with that.
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| Earth Changes |
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Gareth Roberts
Daily Mirror UK 2014-11-24 21:49:00
Many Brits woke up to their first winter frost this morning - as more flood warnings were issued for parts of the country. Forecasters are predicting more of the same tonight, with the mercury set to dip as low as -5C in central Scotland and gritters on alert up and down the country, compared to -4C in Moscow. Central Britain and Scotland is also braced for a blanket of freezing fog tonight before a misty and frosty start to tomorrow morning. Flash floods hit parts of the of the South East of England last night with some roads transformed into rivers by a huge downpour with many areas receiving up to an inch of rain. In London, the fire brigade tackled 34 separate flooding incidents. The River Ravensbourne in Lewisham, south-east London, burst its banks and water poured on to surrounding roads affecting an area of around 1,800 square metres, the London Fire Brigade said. | |
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Kristina Pydynowski
AccuWeather 2014-11-24 21:41:00
The welcome stretch of dry weather southeastern France and northwestern Italy has enjoyed is coming to an end with the danger of more flooding on the horizon. The same storm system that brought deadly flooding to Morocco on Sunday will return downpours and thunderstorms this week. Comment: Floods in Morocco kill 17 with dozens missing after heavy rain destroys houses, cars and roads The rain will first reach southeastern France on Tuesday before spreading to Italy late in the day. Continued wet weather is in store for both regions on Wednesday. The good news is that widespread flooding is not expected, but localized issues may arise. "Even with a week of dry weather, localized flooding is a bigger concern than normal due to the heavy rain from earlier in the month," stated AccuWeather.com Tyler Roys. So far this month, Nice, France, has already received 614 percent of its normal November rainfall. | |
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Laurel Andrews
Alaska Dispatch News 2014-11-24 21:32:00
The Aleutian Islands' Shishaldin volcano was being watched Monday morning following an increase in seismic activity overnight. The Alaska Volcano Observatory posted a "watch" alert due to the increase in activity, which suggests "that the eruption at Shishaldin has intensified," AVO wrote. Elevated surfaces temperatures were shown on satellite images near the volcano's summit. Shishaldin, elevation 9,373 feet, is located on Unimak Island on the Aleutians. The volcano has been listed as "orange" for months, coordinating scientist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory Jeff Freymueller said, as small explosions within Shishaldin's crater have been occurring "pretty much all the time." The color code "orange" indicates an ongoing level of heightened activity at a volcano. These small explosions within the volcano are likely to continue for "some time," Freymeuller said, bringing along the "potential that at any moment ... you could have a much bigger (explosion)." | |
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EarthSky.org
2014-11-24 19:29:00
Pico do Fogo - a shield volcano on the island of Fogo in the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa - began erupting on Sunday (November 23, 2014). It's the first eruption since 1995, nearly 20 years. Already, hundreds of residents living in the vicinity have been evacuated, and a local airport has been closed. Erik Klemetti wrote on his excellent Eruptions blog at Wired: The eruption has formed a small steam-and-ash plume near the flanks of Pico, a small cone inside the main caldera at Fogo. Earthquakes became noticeable to people living on the island starting Saturday night and by morning, an eruption had begun. According to volcanologists monitoring Fogo, the volcano had been showing signs of unrest "for awhile ... " Most of the activity at Fogo for the past 500 years has occurred within the main caldera of the volcano and the eruption in 1995 was centered on the flanks of Pico. The eruptions are dominantly lava flows, although unlike shield volcanoes like Kilauea, Fogo erupts both low-silica basanite (similar to basalt but higher in alkaline elements like sodium and potassium) and high-silica phonolite (similar to rhyolite but higher alkalines). That eruption in 1995 created a lava flow field that spread over 6 square kilometers of the caldera floor. | |
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AccuWeather
2014-11-24 20:20:00
Several roofs collapsed in the Great Lakes area last week as they succumbed to extreme lake-effect snow, totaling up to 7 feet. Now, even as the snow melts with warmer weather, the threat remains for more roof collapses. For flat-lying roofs, gutters could still be jammed with packed snow, which could lead to additional collapse concerns. In a snowpack as dense as what the greater Buffalo area was covered in, Spamer said there could be nearly 4 inches or water held within snow. The threat for structural damage is lower for angled roofs as the snow will melt and send water trickling down the side of the home or building. A cold rain can also lead to heavier snow and more weight on a rooftop because when the rain falls it is then absorbed by snow already on the rooftop. As a result, the snow becomes even heavier than it was before the rain. If the snow becomes too heavy, it can weaken the internal structure of a roof and cause damage or even cause the roof to collapse completely. | |
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The Guardian (Tanzania)
2014-11-24 16:32:00
In the wake of increasing attacks by wild animals especially hyenas in the Lake Zone, the Wildlife Department in Mwanza is calling on parents and guardians to be extra vigilant to the whereabouts of their children at all times. Mwanza Regional Wildlife Officer Lusajo Masinde made the call over the weekend following a fatal hyena attack on two children in Sangabuye Village, Ilemela District. One of the children died on the spot while the other passed away few hours later at the Bugando Referral Hospital. Narrating the incident, Faustine Christopher whose four year old nephew Elias Onesmo was one of mauled children, said Onesmo and three other children were playing outside their house when the stray animal struck. | |
Comment: Other recent hyena attacks on people:
Frenzied hyena attack on 5 people in Buhera, Zimbabwe Hyena kills two children and injures five people in Kenya Hyena attack leaves 3 boys injured in Kenya Yemen man killed by hyena while on phone to wife Hyena kills four people in Tana River, Kenya Night attacks by pack of hyenas results in 2 dead and 13 injured, Sudan | |
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El Comercio
2014-11-24 15:44:00
Corpses of the mammals were along the coastal strip of beach Agents of the Police Department of Tourism and Environment of Chimbote, found a total of 500 sea lions lying dead along the coastal strip of beach Anconcillo Bay Samanco province of Santa, Ancash region . As detailed by the police, the bodies of mammals were already in a state of decomposition. The inspection was conducted last Friday and had the support of representatives of the Public Ministry, Ministry of Production and Assistant Manager of Public Cleaning for the locality of Santa. It was reported that among the 500 dead sea lions were both juveniles and adults. | |
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Jessica Best
Daily Mirror, UK 2014-11-24 15:17:00
Dramatic pictures show roads turned to rivers, with army helicopters sent in to try and evacuate survivors At least 17 people have been killed and dozens more are missing after severe flooding in Morocco. Heavy rain on Saturday and Sunday destroyed houses, vehicles and roads, with dramatic pictures showing cars swept off highways and people stranded amid torrents of fast-flowing water. The army has sent helicopters to evacuate dozens of people, and the country's King Mohamed has ordered authorities to take "all necessary emergency measures to help and support victims of the floods".
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Michael Hill
The Associated Press 2014-11-24 08:14:00
Families rushed to pack up their valuables and schools closed in advance - not of snow but possible flooding. Temperatures were expected to hit nearly 60 degrees on Monday, causing Buffalo area residents to prepare for evacuations caused by runoff from melting snow, and overflowing creeks. "Hopefully the rain won't be here until later and this will be a slow thaw, but flooding is our major, major concern here," said Michelle Pikula, whose house is along the Buffalo Creek. The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for Monday and cautioned that trees weakened by heavy snowfall and saturated soil could come crashing down. High wind gusts of up to 60 mph also could topple electrical wires and trigger power outages. Forecasts call for rain showers on Monday and a chance of rain and snow showers by early Tuesday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo Sunday warned residents in flood-prone areas around Buffalo to move valuables up from the basement, pack a bag and prepare for the possibility of evacuation. | |
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Hyenas attacked 4 villages in Rumbek Central County on Thursday night, killing two people and leading to a further 13 people being admitted to Rumbek Hospital in a serious condition, suffering from bite wounds. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) confirmed the incident. An officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that 13 people had been admitted in Rumbek hospital and two people had died. He also confirmed that one hyena was killed while attacking the project development unit (PDU) on Thursday night, while another is still at large and being pursued by armed men. He said that the animals had attacked a number of villages, including Pankar, Malou-jech and Abinajok. "[these are] shameful attacks made by hyenas - we have 12 people suffering from hyena bite being admitted in Rumbek hospital and 2 elderly people are dead. Those bitten by these hyenas are women, elderly people and children", continued the officer. | |
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Paul A. Smith
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 2014-11-22 19:14:00
Several strong cold fronts in November helped deliver a wintry landscape to Wisconsin earlier than many would have liked. If you're looking for a positive, here's one: the new whiteness isn't just snow. At least 31 snowy owls have been recorded in Wisconsin this month, according to Ryan Brady, research scientist with the Department of Natural Resources and bird monitoring coordinator for the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative. Like the early snow accumulation, the number of owls is unusually high for this time of year, according to Brady. "It's probably a record," Brady said. "Thankfully, it's the kind of record that doesn't require shoveling and plowing." The number of snowies in Wisconsin this month is even more extraordinary considering last year - which featured the largest number of the birds in the U.S. in decades - only one snowy owl had been seen in the Badger State by mid-November. Snowy owls are large, charismatic birds that breed in the Arctic in summer and disperse in varying degrees to the south in winter. | |
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Jason Claffey
Brookline Patch 2014-11-21 18:12:00
The animals have reportedly attacked a group of students, a crossing guard, and residents across town in recent weeks. Thanksgiving? Not according to wild turkeys roaming Brookline. There have been more reports of turkeys attacking people in town in recent weeks - continuing what has become a semiannual tradition. WHDH reported turkeys have attacked a group of students, a crossing guard, and residents across town. "There was like six or seven of them, and as I went around the mailbox they went around and they started chasing me into the street and I screamed for help," Marilyn Carmona told WHDH. "It was very scary." | |
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A 150kg wild boar attacked four sanitation workers in a row while they were crossing a traffic junction in Hefei city of Anhui province yesterday afternoon. Among the four workers, two were wounded and had been taken to hospital for treatment, 21CN reported. Soon after its arrival, the wild animal began ramming into the police car. It subsequently fled away to a factory and got stuck in a wire fence. After an hour of "hide and seek", the police eventually shot the boar to death. | |
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This past year (December 2013 to November 2014), various media have reported 15 dog attacks throughout Ohio. There were likely many more dog bite incidents, but the ones listed below received the publicity. Four people, two of which were infants and two women in their late fifties, died from the injuries they received from the dog attacks. Of the 25 dogs identified by breed in the attacks, 9 were believed to be Pit Bulls and five were Rottweilers. A month-to-month tracking of the various dog attacks is as follows: | |
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Ken Moritsugu and Mari Yamaguchi
The Associated Press 2014-11-23 14:34:00
The damage from an overnight earthquake in a mountainous area of central Japan that hosted the 1998 winter Olympics proved more extensive than initially thought. A daylight assessment Sunday found at least 50 homes destroyed in two villages, and 41 people injured across the region, including seven seriously, mostly with broken bones, officials said. The magnitude-6.7 earthquake struck shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday west of Nagano city at a depth of 5 kilometers (3 miles), the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The agency revised the magnitude and depth from initial estimates. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a magnitude of 6.2. Since the quake occurred inland, there was no possibility of a tsunami. Ryo Nishino, a restaurant owner in Hakuba, a ski resort village west of Nagano, told Japanese broadcaster NHK that he had "never experienced a quake that shook so hard. The sideways shaking was enormous." He said he was in the restaurant's wine cellar when the quake struck, and that nothing broke there. | |
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| Fire in the Sky |
Astronomy Ireland says its received hundreds of sighting reports since Tuesday night - when what was described as a 'giant fireball' was seen blazing across Ireland's skies. From Cork and Dublin to Belfast and Donegal - the heavenly object was spotted pretty much everywhere. TheJournal.ie also had quite a few reports on the subject - as did BBC Northern Ireland and a raft of other media outlets. "Clearly seen falling right to left over the sea towards Drogheda from Balbriggan at around 5.40pm, like a falling star for about 3-4 seconds before it burned out," was how Dubliner Jim Whelan described it. "My son saw it this evening. He thought it might have been a giant shooting star, a UFO, or molten lava (he's 9 which I think explains the variety of possibilities ;-). He's hugely excited now to think it may have been part of an asteroid." | |
Comment: This is just one of several that have been spotted this week.
Still unexplained, is the 'event' that turned night into day in Urals, Russia.
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Michael King
WXIATV - Atlanta 2014-11-21 18:57:00
More than a dozen reports were received Thursday evening by 11Alive News and by the American Meteor Society of a fireball over parts of metro Atlanta. The reports began coming at about 9:30 p.m., with reports from the city of Atlanta, Alpharetta, Dalton, Johns Creek, Austell, Senoia, Lagrange, Loganville, Powder Springs, Villa Rica, and as far away as Macon. Most of the reports described a flame-like tail on the meteor. No sound was heard from those reporting what they saw. Astronomically, the Leonid meteor shower generally occurs every year between the 5th and the 30thof November, with a peak of November 15 to November 20. Meteors associated with this shower are generally tied to the passage of Comet Temple-Tuttle. | |
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| Health & Wellness |
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ScienceDaily
2014-11-24 21:15:00
People with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea may have an intrinsic inability to burn high amounts of oxygen during strenuous aerobic exercise, according to a new study led by researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. The study, reported in the current issue of Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, shows that people with sleep apnea, in which breathing repeatedly starts and stops during slumber, have a lower peak oxygen uptake during aerobic activity than those who do not suffer from the sleep disorder. People who suffer from apnea are more likely to be obese and thus would be expected to be less fit as well. The researchers, however, found that apnea patients had a reduced aerobic fitness, even compared with those of similar body mass indices. "Encouraging patients to exercise more is part of the story, but that is not the whole story," said lead author Jeremy Beitler, MD, assistant clinical professor in pulmonary and critical care medicine. "We believe the sleep apnea itself causes structural changes in muscle that contributes to their difficulty exercising." | |
Comment: Those who suffer from sleep apnea might want to take a look at this article:
Breathe in: Exercises may help sleep apnea Also if you haven't tried any breathing techniques, you can check out the Éiriú Eolas breathing program here. | |
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The Guardian
2014-11-23 23:43:00
World Health Organisation is concerned about risk of disease spreading in the capital where two cases have been recorded An outbreak of the plague has killed 40 people out of 119 confirmed cases in Madagascar since late August and there is a risk of the disease spreading rapidly in the capital, the World Health Organisation has said. So far two cases and one death have been recorded in the capital Antananarivo but those figures could climb quickly due to "the city's high population density and the weakness of the healthcare system," WHO warned. "The situation is further complicated by the high level of resistance to deltamethrin (an insecticide used to control fleas) that has been observed in the country," it added. Plague, a bacterial disease, is mainly spread from one rodent to another by fleas. Humans bitten by an infected flea usually develop a bubonic form of plague, which swells the lymph node and can be treated with antibiotics, WHO said. If the bacteria reach the lungs, the patient develops pneumonia (pneumonic plague), which is transmissible from person to person through infected droplets spread by coughing. It is one of the most deadly infectious diseases and can kill people within 24 hours. Two percent of the cases reported in Madagascar so far have been pneumonic, it added. The first known case of the plague was a man from Soamahatamana village in the district of Tsiroanomandidy, identified on 31 August. He died on 3 September and authorities notified WHO of the outbreak on 4 November, the agency said. WHO said it did not recommend any trade or travel restrictions. The last previously known outbreak of the plague was in Peru in August 2010. | |
Comment: There is research out there supporting the idea that plagues coincide with cometary bodies in our atmosphere. From New Light on the Black Death: The Viral and Cosmic Connection,
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Jill Dahl
The Huffington Post 2014-11-21 13:43:00
I pride myself on being a relational and socially conscious woman in the workplace. I had no idea that these qualities made me a prime target for emotional abuse from a business colleague. Looking back now, I can easily see his artfully used tactics so he could always win: rationalization, lying by omission, diversion, shaming, playing the servant role, and so many more. However, at the time it was hard to put my finger on what was going on. I now know that this is because he belongs to a special category of manipulative people Dr. George Simon labels Covert Aggressors: experts at knowing what to say and do in order to make you abandon any intuitive mistrust. | |
Comment: For more on pathology in the workplace:
Ponerology 101: Snakes in Suits Psychopathic Bosses and Institutional Bullying Beware the Workplace Psychopath Workplace Psychopaths Leave a Trail of Destruction | |
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Zoya Klebanova
Sott.net 2014-11-22 22:05:00
There is a saying, that everything new is long forgotten old. But what if it wasn't forgotten, but twisted and purposefully concealed under a pile of lies, personal interests and greed? For over 50 years we've been hammered with lies about saturated fats being bad for us, but now, after countless cases of seemingly healthy and young people dropping like flies due to heart attacks, the tide is slowly changing toward old-time wisdom that there is no better remedy for the body and soul than bacon, fatty broth and home made butter. And scientific research can back it up. For example, take a look at the recent research done by The Ohio State University: But what better way to test a theory if not on those who are constantly in the spotlight? As it turns out, a famous actress, Anne Hathaway, decided to give herself a present on her 32nd birthday and start following a low-carb diet. | |
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Sayer Ji
Wake up World 2014-10-31 00:00:00
Long considered impossible to accomplish, new research reveals how a simple spice might contribute to the regeneration of the damaged brain. Turmeric is hands down one of the, if not the, most versatile healing spice in the world with over 600 experimentally confirmed health benefits, and an ancient history filled with deep reverence for itsseemingly compassionate power to alleviate human suffering. But, most of the focus over the past decade has been centered on only one of its many hundreds of phytocompounds: namely, the primary polyphenol in turmeric known as curcumin which gives the spice its richly golden hue. This curcumin-centric focus has lead to the development of some very good products, such as phospholipid bound curcumin concentrate (e.g. Meriva, BCM-95) which greatly helps to increase the absorption and bio-activity of curcumin. But, curcumin isolates are only capable of conferring a part of turmeric's therapeutic power - and therein lies the limitation and hubris of the dominant 'isolate the active ingredient' model. | |
Comment: Turmeric has many health giving benefits, including being anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, and a natural painkiller. It removes amyloid plaque buildup in the brain which leads to Alzheimers, speeds up wound healing and may prevent prevent metastases from occurring in many different forms of cancer. For more information on this wondrous plant, see:
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Jeremy Dean
PsyBlog 2014-11-22 17:04:00
Neuroscientists have shown that a calorie-restricted diet almost stops gene expressions related to aging and dementia. Dr. Stephen D. Ginsberg, who presented the new study's results at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, said: "Our study shows how calorie restriction practically arrests gene expression levels involved in the aging phenotype - how some genes determine the behavior of mice, people, and other mammals as they get old."Mice in the study were fed 30% fewer calories, which likely reduced some of the aspects of aging which can lead to diseases like Alzheimer's. The life-preserving effect of calorie restriction in animals has been known for some time, but the same effect is not proven in humans. | |
Comment: Although calorie restricted diets and intermittent fasting have been shown to prolong life in studies, a low-carb, high fat ketogenic diet has actually been proven to prevent and/or improve numerous diseases in humans. Because of its similarities to calorie restriction, the ketogenic diet is likely to involve other neuroprotective mechanisms that could ameliorate pathological aging.
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Lisa Egan
Ready Nutrition 2014-11-21 15:47:00
By now, most of us realize that sugar is not a health food and is meant to be consumed in moderation. Comment: Even better -- don't consume it at all. It's been linked with poor dental health, obesity, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, type II diabetes, cell aging, heart disease, and cancer. What is less commonly publicized is the link between sugar consumption and liver health. For years, fat was the subject of a dietary witch-hunt. It was implicated in obesity, type II diabetes, and a myriad of other health problems. The 2004 documentary Super Size Me chronicled the 30-day McDonald's-only diet of filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. During that month, Spurlock consumed 90 meals from the fast-food chain. He gained 24 pounds, his cholesterol level shot up to 230, and fat accumulated in his liver. Those results led many to believe that dietary fat was the culprit, despite the fact that Spurlock consumed over 30 pounds of sugar in that month. | |
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| Science of the Spirit |
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Jamie Doward
The Guardian, UK 2014-11-08 20:34:00
Mick Jagger famously couldn't get it, but now economists think they know what's required to get some satisfaction. After investigating the factors in a person's life that can best predict whether they will lead satisfied lives, a team headed by one of the UK's foremost "happiness" experts, Professor Richard Layard, has come up with an answer that may prove controversial. Layard and his colleagues at the Wellbeing research programme at the London School of Economics' Centre for Economic Performance conclude that a child's emotional health is far more important to their satisfaction levels as an adult than other factors, such as if they achieve academic success when young, or wealth when older. The authors explain that evaluating the quality of a child's emotional health is based on analysing a range of internal factors in a person's early life,including whether they endured unhappiness, sleeplessness, eating disorders, bedwetting, fearfulness or tiredness. | |
Comment: More on what it takes to raise a healthy child:
Early Childhood Diet May Influence Future Health The secret to a happy life?: Close relationships with family and friends when you are a child, say researchers That's why childhood psychological abuse should be as taboo as sexual or physical abuse: Large new study reveals how harmful psychological abuse in childhood can be | |
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Corrinne Burns
New Scientist 2014-11-20 20:00:00
As a rule, I don't remove my shoes in public. But today I'm making an exception. Surrounded by engineers and psychologists, I pull off my Converse and step into a pair of rather ordinary-looking brown leather sandals. I begin to walk slowly around the room, and that's when I experience the most peculiar sensations. The sound of my footsteps changes, and suddenly my lower legs feel lighter and longer. My knees feel looser, and I begin to raise them higher and higher as I walk. My walking speed increases until it's all I can do not to break into a trot. I feel slimmer, stronger, and full of energy. These are unlike any shoes I have ever worn. Such footwear sounds fantastical, but these shoes are just one of a number of new experiments revealing how the noises we make have an immediate and profound effect on the way we experience our bodies, on our emotions and our behavior. The trick here is not in the shoes themselves, but in the way they change the sound of my footsteps. | |
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Christina Sarich
Natural Society 2014-11-22 22:54:00
I recently reported how 8 weeks of meditation can promote brain growth by fueling grey-matter in the hippocampus - boosting memory, sense of self, empathy, and reducing stress. But did you know that this practice can also positively affect 'white matter' in the brain? Research has now shown that meditators have better communication in their 'white matter' than those who do not meditate at all. You've likely heard of 'grey matter' in the brain, but what about 'white matter'? This is an important component of the central nervous system, brain, and spinal nerves that encompass numerous glial cells that help to transmit electrical signals from one part of the cerebrum to another as well as through other brain centers. You might say the 'white matter' is the brain's super highway. | |
Comment: Meditation is good for the mind, body and spirit in every possible regard:
Interested in learning more about the numerous benefits of breathing exercises and meditation? Try the easy to use Éiriú Eolas Stress Control, Healing and Rejuvenation Program here. | |
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| High Strangeness |
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April Holloway
Ancient Origins 2014-11-21 03:27:00
The Children of Woolpit is an ancient account dating back to the 12th century, which tells of two children that appeared on the edge of a field in the village of Woolpit in England. The young girl and boy had green-hued skin and spoke an unknown language. The children became sick and the boy died, but the girl recovered and over the years came to learn English. She later relayed the story of their origins, saying they came from a place called St Martin's Land, which existed in an atmosphere of permanent twilight, and where the people lived underground. While some view the story as a folk tale that that describes an imaginary encounter with inhabitants of another world beneath our feet or even extraterrestrial, others accept it as a real, but somewhat altered account of a historical event that merits further investigation. The account is set in the village of Woolpit located in Suffolk, East Anglia. In the Middle Ages, it lay within the most agriculturally productive and densely populated area of rural England. The village had belonged to the rich and powerful Abbey of Bury St. Edmunds. | |
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| Don't Panic! Lighten Up! |
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Dan McKay
Albuquerque Journal 2014-11-21 15:00:00
The movement inside the gym bag startled Robert Watterson. He was even more surprised when he unzipped it and a furry little head popped out - a kitten. But the mystery was just beginning. The kitty is from Albuquerque. Watterson found her outside a thrift shop in Portland, Maine, over 2,300 miles away. How she got there, nobody seems to know. But Spice the cat is getting a plane ride back to her owner in Albuquerque. The owner wants to remain anonymous, according to the Animal Refuge League of Greater Portland, but she was tracked down because Spice had a microchip with her identification. | |
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Riley Waggaman
Russia Insider 2014-11-22 16:31:00
Like all karate black belts, Putin is incapable of anticipating anything. He's "not someone who sets strategic plans; he lives today." He's as unpredictable as a menopausal woman [no offense, Mom - Riley]. Sometimes he even barricades himself in his Kremlin nuclear fallout shelter for hours on end, snacking on buckets of tasty popcorn shrimps as he watches Bridget Jones's Diary over and over again. We know all of this thanks to Russia's bravest political dissident-in-exile, Sergei Pugachev, whodescribes Putin as a comatose Ritalin-induced vegetable: "With [Putin] it was just quiet, no one there, no meetings, everything quiet. He'd sit there, or watch TV. He really likes watching TV." Russia's bloodthirsty dictator-for-life is...Chauncey Gardener? Fancy that. "I can't write. I can't read. I like to watch TV. As long as the roots are not severed, all is well in Russia." Finally, the mystery of Vladimir Putin has been solved forever. Who is Sergey Pugachev, and how did he become privy to so many hot Putin scoops? |
