A corrupted and a psychopath...

Puppet Masters

Jon Stewart: Dick Cheney, a righteous warrior or psychopath? Jenée Desmond-Harris Vox 2014-12-16 22:42:00 Video Link On Sunday's "Meet The Press," former Vice President Dick Cheney stubbornly - and, many would argue, illogically - defended the controversial CIA interrogation techniques that were the subject of a recent horrifying report. In part, he seemed to insist that they should not be labeled torture, despite the Senate Intelligence Committee's conclusions, because only the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States deserve that label.

Comment: Dick Cheney is a psychopath. It is good to see one mainstream media celebrity dare to call him what he is.

Lukashenko says Belarus is ready to help Ukraine ITARR-TASS 2014-12-21 17:51:00 Belarus is ready to offer support to Ukraine, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Sunday at a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko. "I want everything in Ukraine to be well. Many interpret it as some kind of games. I know you are not among them," the Belarusian news agency BELTA quoted Lukashenko as saying. "That is why, and I have told you this before: if you want anything from Belarus, just say it, we will give you anything you might ask in just a day." "I am telling it openly, we have always done everything the Ukrainian president asked us. And we will continue that way," Lukashenko said. "This is not a game for us. Not just because of trade but because we are neighbours, we live side by side, we are kinsfolk," he added. The Ukrainian president, in turn, said he hoped the Minsk talks on the settlement in eastern Ukraine would proceed as energetically as they had started. He said that thanks to "efficient cooperation" with the Belarusian side "such terms as the 'Minsk format,' the 'Minsk memorandum,' the 'Minsk protocol,' and the 'Minsk agreements' are part of the history of diplomacy now."

Comment: Lukashenko's statement of helping Ukraine with anything is pretty wide open to interpretation. However it doesn't appear this includes any military assistance.

CIA 'enhanced interrogation' vs. ISIS torture: See if you can tell the difference Jared Keller Mic 2014-12-10 15:04:00 It's been a big week for abhorrent torture manifestos. On Tuesday, the Senate released its much-anticipated report outlining the CIA's brutal post-9/11torture program. A few days before, the Islamic State (IS) group released what appears to be an "abhorrent" pamphlet to its followers with guidelines on how to capture, keep and sexually abuse female slaves, a reminder of the militant group's vicious tactics. Both document are testaments to the brutality of the war on terror, from the CIA interrogators fighting to "save American lives" to IS waging a bloody war against the West. What's even more disturbing is how accounts of CIA and Islamic State torture - from the Senate report for the former and months of news reports from the latter - are, at times, virtually indistinguishable from one another. Speaking on the Senate floor after the release of the CIA torture report, Sen. John McCain passionately asserted that "our enemies act without conscience. We must not." As it turns out, that moment is long past. Read the 13 torture accounts below see for yourself: 1. Prisoners were "routinely beaten and subjected to waterboarding." 2. The waterboarding of one prized prisoner devolved into a "series of near drownings," where the process induced convulsions and vomiting. 3. Prisoners were subjected to "rectal rehydration" or "rectal feeding." 4. Interrogators "chained [a prisoner's] feet to a bar and then hung the bar so that he was upside down from the ceiling. Then they left him there." 5. Prisoners were forcefully kept awake, at times with their hands shackled above their heads. 6. Detainees "were starved and threatened with execution by one group ... only to be handed off to another group that brought them sweets and contemplated freeing them." 7. Prisoners were subjected to extended isolation and experienced "hallucinations, paranoia and attempts at self-harm and self-mutilation."

Comment: ISIS was in part trained and created by the CIA, it's really no wonder that they employ the same tactics.

The government is spying on you - What's the big deal? Scott Lazarowitz LewLewRockwell.com 2014-12-20 17:00:00 Recent polls show that, despite the Senate's torture report, most Americans still support the Central Intelligence Agency's use of torture on suspects. Obviously the mainstream media misinform the public, neglecting to tell them that such torturetechniques do not even produce reliable information and are mainly used to extract false confessions from innocent detainees. And on the National Security Agency's spying on innocent Americans, people love it, and then theyhate it, and now they're back toloving it again. Alas, Most people are ignorant of the actual criminality being committed by the federal goons.

Comment: It's the old argument: "If you have nothing to hide ...", but only the most gullible and naive (or corrupt) people really believe that. Imagine your neighbour having full access to you home, laptop, email, etc. Would you tolerate that? Certainly not!

IDF is itching for another round of slaughter and strikes Gaza in retaliation to rocket fire RT 2014-12-19 23:08:00 The Israeli Defense Forces have launched an attack on Gaza allegedly striking a weapons cache near Khan Yunis in retaliation to a rocket fired from Gaza earlier in the day. There were at least two strikes by the Israeli Air Force, Jerusalem Post reports. Residents reported hearing two explosions in an "area that contains training sites for Palestinian militants," according to AP. There were no immediate reports of casualties. The attack allegedly comes in retaliation to a rocket fired from Gaza earlier in the day into an open territory near the Eshkol Regional Council. "The IDF will not permit any attempt to undermine the security and jeopardize the well being of the civilians of Israel. The Hamas terrorist organization is responsible and accountable for today's attack against Israel," said the IDF Spokesman, Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, cited by Haaretz.

Comment: Notice that as usual no one claimed responsibility (except when a new and "unknown before" terror group suddenly does that). Read the following articles to understand why. Israel plans more Palestinian suicide attacks Faking Palestinian resistance The myth of the Palestinian suicide bomber Peace in the Middle East? - Over the bodies of 3 million Palestinians Israel encourages Palestinian rocket attacks Telegenically dead Palestinians and the subversion of your soul

The return of US-Cuba relations: An unlikely victory for Cuba Alexander Mercouris Sputnik 2014-12-20 11:43:00 The announcement by the Obama administration in the United States of the re-opening of diplomatic relations with Cuba shows that the contest between the irresistible force and the immovable obstacle has been won by the latter. The restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States has provoked enormous interest. This is in no way surprising. Since the rupture in diplomatic relations in 1961 the United States and Cuba have been the most consistent adversaries on the international stage. In that period relations between the United States and other countries with which it has had adversarial relationships such as Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Iraq or Vietnam, have gone through ups and downs. This has not been true of relations between the United States and Cuba. Relations between them have always been bad. This hostility between the United States and Cuba has been one of the most stable factors in international relations over the last half-century. Though its effect in Europe and elsewhere is mitigated by distance, this hostility has had an enormous influence in shaping the present political geography of Latin America especially. The possibility that this hostility may change has therefore come to many people as a surprise if only because the general expectation was that there would be no significant improvement in relations between the two countries at least until the two Castro brothers, Fidel and Raul, had died. What explains this enduring hostility and this abrupt shift in relations? Will it endure or is it as many appear to think a trap the United States has laid for Cuba preparing the grounds for regime change there? Comment: To read more about such analysis of the renewed U.S.-Cuba ties see: The implications of renewed US-Cuba ties The breakdown in relations between the United States and Cuba was the consequence of the Castro Revolution of 1959. This was a revolution launched from the countryside against a corrupt oligarchic elite based in Havana. That elite in turn had extremely close connections with the United States. These extended back decades to Cuba's liberation war against Spain in the 1890s. The United States intervened in that war in a manner that achieved for it a dominant position in Cuba right up to the point of Castro's revolution in 1959. It would not be an exaggeration to say that throughout this period Cuba was essentially a protectorate of the United States.

Comment: See also: Cuba not returning to capitalism despite U.S. deal: Castro's daughter Cuba will defend its socialist principles and will not return to capitalism just because it has agreed a detente with the United States, the daughter of President Raul Castro said, dispelling any notion that U.S. companies would be free to roll into Cuba.

U.S. sends four Guantanamo prisoners home to Afghanistan Matt Spetalnick Reuters 2014-12-20 00:02:00 Four Afghans held for over a decade at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been sent home, the Pentagon said on Saturday, the latest step in a gradual push by the Obama administration to close the jail. The men were flown to Kabul overnight aboard a U.S. military plane and released to Afghan authorities, the first such transfer of its kind to the war-torn country since 2009. With the repatriation of the four Afghans, Guantanamo's detainee population has been whittled down to 132. Several more prisoners of "various nationalities" are expected to be transferred before the end of the year and a further unspecified number in succeeding weeks, according to a senior U.S. official. Obama promised to shut the internationally condemned prison when he took office nearly six years ago, citing the damage it inflicted on America's image around the world. But he has been unable to do so, partly because of obstacles posed by Congress.

Comment: So now if there is an upswing of fighting insurgents in Afghanistan, the US can say "see, it's because we released those prisoners". Closing the prison is a good thing but it is too little too late to clean up the US's reputation around the world.

Stratfor head: Yanukovich overthrow "most blatant coup in history" Eric Zuesse Washington's Blog 2014-12-20 00:00:00 In a December 19th interview in the Russian magazine Kommersant, George Friedman, who is the Founder and CEO of Stratfor, the 'Shadow CIA' firm, says of the overthrow of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych that occurred on February 22nd of 2014: "It really was the most blatant coup in history." Perhaps he is saying this because of the videos that were uploaded to the Web which showed it to be so, but this statement by him contradicts the description that is asserted by the U.S. White House and the European Union, and the Western press, which description is that Yanukovych's overthrow was instead just the result of the U.S. Government's $5+ billion expense since 1991 to establish 'democracy' in Ukraine. Friedman further says that "The Russian authorities can not tolerate a situation in which western armed forces will be [in Ukraine] a hundred kilometers from Kursk or Voronezh [in Russia]", and that the goal of the U.S. is to "maintain the balance of power in Europe, helping the weaker party," which he says is Europe. He furthermore says, "The United States considers the most dangerous potential alliance to be between Russia and Germany. This would be an alliance of German technology and capital with Russian natural and human resources." So: the U.S. is trying to antagonize Germans against Russia. This will weaken both of them. However, that would be not a "balance of power" but an increasing imbalance of power in favor of the United States. The Russian interviewer failed to catch his inconsistency on that.

Comment: Funny how the truth seeps out of the most unexpected places! More on Stratfor: Wikileaks: US-led NATO Troops Operate Inside Syria The other Bradley Manning: Jeremy Hammond faces life term for WikiLeaks and hacked Stratfor emails

Society's Child

Private prison corporation with record of inmate abuse given control of immigrant detention center Taylor Wofford Newsweek 2014-12-20 00:00:00 The Department of Homeland Security this week handed the keys to the largest detention center for undocumented immigrant families over to Corrections Corporation of America, a private prison company with a record of disregarding inmate safety and flouting federal laws. The Obama administration announced on Monday that CCA would run a 50-acre compound in Dilley, Texas, that will ultimately hold 2,400 women and children awaiting release or deportation. In 2012, CCA settled out of court with the American Civil Liberties Union after the ACLU sued on behalf of inmates at the Idaho Correctional Center. Because CCA had not hired enough staff, in 2008, the CCA-run correctional facility experienced four times as many prisoner-on-prisoner assaults as Idaho's seven other prisons combined, the ACLU found. Inmates called the facility "the gladiator school." The 2012 suit also charged CCA with falsifying records and billing the state for 4,800 hours of work at posts that in actuality remained vacant. In 2013, a federal judge held CCA in contempt of court for continuing to understaff the prison, even after it was successfully sued by the ACLU. CCA lost its $30 million contract for the prison with the state, and the FBI launched an investigation into the company in 2014.

Comment: Increasing numbers of illegal immigrants are being sent to private prisons, for whom America's immigration system is a giant profit center. This highly profitable industry is rife with abuse, with the ACLU reporting numerous instances of poor medical care, lack of basic sanitation and a tendency to overuse extreme isolation of prisoners. Just another fine example of American 'exceptionalism'. Private US prisons are getting rich by abusing illegal immigrants Jailing Americans for Profit: The Rise of the Prison Industrial Complex

Police officer shot and killed in Florida Joe Sutton CNN 2014-12-21 17:36:00 A police officer in Tarpon Springs, Florida, was shot and killed early Sunday, a sheriff's spokeswoman said. A suspect is in custody. The fatal shooting occurred in a residential area in the predawn hours, said Cecilia Barreda from the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff's office and local police are investigating. No further information was available. Tarpon Springs is located on Florida's Gulf Coast about 10 miles northwest of Tampa.

Comment: Wow, police officers getting killed is turning into an epidemic. This violence will only beget more violence.

Mystery drone spotted flying over Belgium's nuclear plant thenewsnigeria.com.ng 2014-12-20 14:49:00 A mystery drone was spotted flying over a Belgium nuclear facility on Saturday, local authorities said, a day after one of the plant's reactors came back on line after a four-month closure caused by sabotage. The mystery appearance by an unmanned aircraft, on which Belgian authorities refused to provide much detail, resembles a spate of similar drone sightings over nuclear plants in neighbouring France this autumn. Around 20 unidentified drones have been spotted over nuclear plants since October throughout France. "We can confirm that the East Flanders prosecutor's office has opened an investigation into a drone flight over the Doel nuclear plant," a spokesman for the investigation told Belga news agency. "We will not provide further information for the time being," the spokesman added, hours after the plant's operator, GDF-Suez unit Electrabel, first disclosed the incident, which took place early Saturday. The imposing Doel nuclear site sits on a riverbank near the North Sea about 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of Antwerp. It holds four of Belgium's seven reactors. One of those reactors, Doel 4, was shut urgently in August after a leak, caused by tampering, gushed out 65,000 litres of oil lubricant. A steam turbine weighing 1,700 tonnes was severely damaged by the loss of lubricant, requiring a 30-million-euro ($37-million) repair job that was carried out in Germany.

Comment: Is someone trying to keep pressure on the Belgian government?

Protesting police brutality is "stupid s**t," police across the nation lash out against opposition Matt Agorist Free Thought Project 2014-12-19 02:10:00 The president of the New York Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, Patrick Lynch, was recorded in a private meeting last week candidly expressing his contempt and level of disrespect for those who wish to hold police accountable. Lynch even went so far as to call those who dare criticize the violent nature of the NYPD, "enemies." "If we won't get support when we do our jobs, if we're going to get hurt for doing what's right then we're going to do it the way they want it," he said. "Let me be perfectly clear. We will use extreme discretion in every encounter." "Our friends, we're courteous to them. Our enemies, extreme discretion. The rules are made by them to hurt you. Well now we'll use those rules to protect us." It didn't stop there, the us vs. them mentality, which is overt in Lynch's words, continued. Lynch said Mayor Bill de Blasio acts more like the leader of "a f**king revolution" than a city.

Comment: Police brutality is "stupid s**t" end of discussion.

12 cops raid the house of a mother and daughter after mistaking her for a male fugitive Matt Agorist The Free Thought Project 2014-12-20 01:43:00 Massillon, Ohio - An Ohio mother and her 3-year-old daughter woke up to the horrifying scene of a dozen men dressed in military attire, armed with assault rifles, standing over their bed last week. Kaiti Glazier said she and her daughter Nadiah were sleeping inside their home on 10th Street Southeast when these paramilitary cops from the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force stormed into her bedroom. "When I woke up they were all in here (the bedroom) . . . I was like, 'What?' And it's just 'Hands up! Hands up!' " she said. "I was like, 'What is happening? Is this real?' " she said. Glazier said her 3-year-old also raised her hands up. The task force mistook Glazier, a woman, for Christopher Williams, a Canton man wanted for a probation violation. Williams was evicted from that house over a year and a half earlier. "They did no homework at all. I can find Chris Williams on the internet. I can Google better than they can apparently," said Glazier. This home invasion happened after police even came by their home in November and spoke with her husband, confirming that Williams no longer lived at this address. According to ABC 5, Glazier said she repeatedly asked the officers to show her a search warrant. She said the lead officer responded by threatening to arrest her.

Malaysian wannabe-IS members taking bank loans to fund 'one way trip' to martyrdom RT 2014-12-20 02:22:00 Malaysian wannabe-IS members have been applying for loans in banks, as well as getting rid of most of their property, in order to fund what they believe to be a one way road to martyrdom, the New Straits Times citing investigation papers on five cases. Sources close to the police investigation told the publication that many of the suspects have taken out the loans with no intention of ever paying them back as they believe they are on a one way road to martyrdom. This practice had been going for some time and sources said there were many Malaysian fighters in Iraq and Syria who had got there with bank loans. One woman who was arrested as she was trying to leave Malaysia for Syria had got a loan for RM100,000 ($28,695). Another 30-year old former National Service trainer, who was arrested at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Wednesday, had taken out a RM20,000 ($5,739) loan. "Some of them subscribed to the idea that even if they do come back to Malaysia, they would be arrested and settling the loan would be the least of their problems," one source said.

Comment: Well, what can you say? Hard to understand this frame of mind.

25 homes evacuate an unstoppable gas leak in another Ohio fracking 'incident' FaithGardner DailyKos 2014-12-21 01:28:00 Another day, another toxic spill thanks to fracking: About 25 families in eastern Ohio have been unable to live in their houses for the past three days because of a natural-gas leak at a fracking well that crews cannot stop. Bethany McCorkle, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the state agency that regulates oil and gas, said crews lost control of the Monroe County well on Saturday. [...] The well is not on fire, but the gas could be explosive. Ohio has had its share of fracking accidents this year. In May, a blowout resulted in an oil spill into an Ohio river tributary. And then this happened the following month: On the morning of June 28, a fire broke out at a Halliburton fracking site in Monroe County, Ohio. As flames engulfed the area, trucks began exploding and thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals spilled into a tributary of the Ohio River, which supplies drinking water for millions of residents. More than 70,000 fish died. In October, a well ruptured in eastern Ohio, spreading natural gas and methane, and resulted in the evacuation of over 400 families. [This] incident was the third in three days tied to fracking operations in eastern Ohio. On Sunday, a worker at a fracking site in Guernsey County was burned in a fire. On Monday, a pipeline carrying natural-gas condensate ruptured in Monroe County, igniting several acres of woods. Explosions resulting in frequent evacuations, leaks into drinking-water supplies, earthquakes - but don't worry, folks. Fracking is perfectly safe.

New York cop fired for stopping fellow officer from choking suspect; denied pension Moreh B.D.K. Countercurrentnews.com 2014-12-18 11:57:00 She was fired for trying to stop a fellow officer from abusing a suspect. Now, former Buffalo Police Officer Cariol Horne is in a battle to get her pension. "November 1, 2006, there was a call of an officer in trouble at 707 Walden," Cariol Horne recalls. The officer in need of assistance was Gregory Kwiatkowski. He was responding to a domestic dispute at the aforementioned address, between Neal Mack and his girlfriend who was living with him. But by the time that officer Horne got there, she says that Mack had already been placed under arrest. "He was handcuffed in the front and he was sideways and being punched in the face by Gregory Kwiatkowski," Horne recounted. There were nearly a dozen other officers at the scene, who dragged Mack from the home. Horne says that once he was outside, Officer Kwiatkowski lost all control. "Gregory Kwiatkowski turned Neal Mack around and started choking him. So then I'm like, 'Greg! You're choking him,' because I thought whatever happened in the house he was still upset about so when he didn't stop choking him I just grabbed his arm from around Neal Mack's neck," Horne said. First he put a chokehold of a handcuffed suspect, but then when officer Horne tried to stop him, she says that "he comes up and punches me in the face and I had to have my bridge replaced."

Comment: When you live in a police state, resisters and dissenters must be ostracized and punished. The Gestapo did the same thing in Nazi Germany. On the other hand, it is refreshing to see another cop with a conscience.

Secret History

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Science & Technology

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Earth Changes

Animals and insects can predict natural disasters and diseases Discovery News 2014-12-18 18:00:00 Anecdotal evidence has long suggested that certain animals can predict natural disasters, detect disease and more, and now science is proving many of these stories to be correct. Close observation of such animals could even help people to plan well in advance of coming problems, suggests a new paper in the latest issue of the journal Current Biology. Henry Streby of the University of California, Berkeley, and his colleagues discovered that golden-winged warblers take off from their expected locations more than 24 hours before storms hit. In this case, the storm in question produced tornadoes that killed at least 35 people. "The most curious finding is that the birds left long before the storm arrived," said Streby. "At the same time that meteorologists on The Weather Channel were telling us this storm was headed in our direction, the birds were apparently already packing their bags and evacuating the area."

Comment: The idea that animals can predict earthquakes has ancient origins. In 373BC, the Greek historian Thucydides recorded that rats, dogs, snakes and weasels deserted the city of Helice in droves a few days before a catastrophic earthquake. On the morning of December 26, 2004, Thai villagers noticed that buffalo grazing on the beach lifted their heads, pricked their ears and looked out to sea, then stampeded to the top of a nearby hill. For the villagers who chose to follow them, it was a live-saving move as the tsunami struck only minutes later. There have been hundreds of reports of animals seemingly foretelling catastrophe, sometimes hours and even days before it occurred. These include tales of bizarre behavior by wild beasts including elephants, antelopes, bats, rats and flamingos, plus stories of dogs refusing to go for their usual morning walk.

USGS: Earthquake Magnitude 6.6 - 157km WNW of Tobelo, Indonesia US Geological Survey 2014-12-21 19:10:00 Event Time 2014-12-21 11:34:14 UTC 2014-12-21 19:34:14 UTC+08:00 at epicenter Location 2.126°N 126.651°E depth=54.6km (34.0mi) Nearby Cities 157km (98mi) WNW of Tobelo, Indonesia 168km (104mi) NNW of Kota Ternate, Indonesia 168km (104mi) NNW of Ternate, Indonesia 179km (111mi) ENE of Bitung, Indonesia 1042km (647mi) WSW of Koror Town, Palau Scientific Data

Local people terrorized by unusual explosion of venomous snakes in central Vietnam tuoitrenews.vn 2014-11-22 16:06:00 The green pit viper, a species of venomous snake, has appeared in urban residential areas in Vietnam's central region at an alarming rate, slithering into kitchens, bedrooms, gardens, and schools. Dozens of people in Da Nang City, as well as Quang Nam and Quang Ngai Provinces, have been hospitalized recently after being bitten by the poisonous reptile 'rắn lục' (green snake), with the scientific name of Trimeresurus albolabris. The snake perfectly disguises itself around trees thanks to its green body. It is yellow or pale green below the eyes, while its belly is green, yellowish or white, and the end of the tail is brown or red. The situation has reached such a dangerous level that the Department of Forest Management of Quang Ngai has asked local authorities to urgently begin a campaign to drive the animals out of local neighborhoods.

Mystery as 5,000 pigeons die in Nepal ekantipur.com 2014-12-21 15:42:00 Mystery surrounds the death of thousands of pigeons on the Bhimeshwor temple premises in the past week. According to the people in Dolakha Bazaar, dead pigeons are lying on the streets, rooftops, gardens and paddy fields. The stench from dead birds pollutes the atmosphere. "Approximately 5,000 pigeons have died in a week," said Bharat Shrestha, treasurer of the Bhimeshwor temple prayer and trust management committee. Authorities are yet to respond to the situation. Vets said an unidentified virus may be responsible for the menace while the locals have got into a panic fearing a disease outbreak in humans. "Such cases happened in the past but the damage this time is terrible," said temple caretaker Kashi Narayan Shrestha. He added that rooftops and areas surrounding the temple had yet to be cleared of dead pigeons.

Comment: Similar reports: Bird deaths in Moscow spark 'zombie pigeon' scare Over 500 pigeons drop dead in Bihar village, India

More than 30 earthquake tremors hit Italy's Chianti region thelocal.it 2014-12-19 15:11:00 Several mini-earthquakes with a maximum magnitude of 4.1 shook Italy's famous Chianti wine region on Friday. The tremors were sufficiently powerful to result in homes, schools and offices being evacuated but no serious damage or injuries were reported. The National Institute for Geophysics and Vulcanology (INGV) said there had been more than 30 tremors over 24 hours with the strongest, measuring 3.8 and 4.1, registered mid-morning on Friday. The epicentre of the strongest quake was nine kilometres (six miles) below ground close to Greve in Chianti, one of the best known wine villages in an area of rolling hills around and between the historic cities of Florence and Siena. The area lies in the foothills of the central section of the Apennine mountains, which run like a spine down the centre of Italy and are subject to significant seismic activity. Source: AFP

Wind company PacifiCorp Energy convicted in the deaths of eagles and other birds Chris Clarke kcet.org 2014-12-19 13:36:00 A Portland-based wind energy company that recently sued the federal government to keep its bird death data secret has been convicted in federal court over deaths of protected birds at two of its wind facilities in Wyoming. The carcasses of 38 golden eagles were found at PacifiCorp Energy's "Seven Mile Hill" and "Glenrock/Rolling Hills" installations in Carbon and Converse counties between 2009 and this year, along with 336 other birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, PacificCorp disregarded risk to eagles and other birds when it built its turbines at the two facilities. "PacifiCorp Energy built two of its Wyoming wind projects in a manner it knew would likely result in the deaths of eagles and other protected birds," said Sam Hirsch, the U.S Department of Justice's Acting Assistant Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources.

Angler hooks 89 STONE greenland shark setting new world record for biggest fish caught on a rod Steve White Daily Mirror, UK 2014-12-20 12:12:00 Builder Joel Abrahamsson caught the Greenland, which weighed as much as an adult male polar bear, while fishing off Norway An angler who built up his strength by reeling in blocks of concrete caught a record-breaking 89-stone shark. Builder Joel Abrahamsson, 33, caught the 15ft Greenland while fishing off Norway. The monster catch is a world record for a fish caught on rod and reel from a kayak. Joel built up his strength for the record attempt by lifting rocks and practiced his technique by lowering 60lbs cement blocks into his local lake and then reeling them in. To give him the extra power needed to reel in the 1,247lbs shark, he strapped himself into a harness that was attached to his rod, meaning if the shark had overpowered him, he could have been pulled into the freezing waters.

New 'evolutionary oddity' revealed in the bizarre deep-sea bone worm saga phys.org 2014-12-11 09:46:00 The saga of the Osedax "bone-eating" worms began 12 years ago, with the first discovery of these deep-sea creatures that feast on the bones of dead animals. The Osedax story grew even stranger when researchers found that the large female worms contained harems of tiny dwarf males. In a new study published in the Dec. 11 issue of Current Biology, marine biologist Greg Rouse at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and his collaborators reported a new twist to the Osedax story, revealing an evolutionary oddity unlike any other in the animal kingdom. Rouse's collaborators included Nerida Wilson (formerly based at Scripps and now at the Western Australian Museum), Katrine Worsaae of the University of Copenhagen, and Robert Vrijenhoek of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). Examining bone worms collected at 700 meters (2,296 feet) depth by an MBARI remotely operated vehicle, Rouse observed a surprising new type of Osedax species. Females of the new species are roughly the same size as their previously studied relatives, but males are tens of thousands of times larger than those of other Osedax worms, and are roughly the same size as the females.

Comment: There seems to be an increasing number of bizarre, odd (perhaps even mutated species), previously unknown and mysterious creatures being discovered recently, together with increases in abnormal animal and marine behavior also. All over the world such 'strange' and 'unusual' incidents are quickly becoming the norm, as are mass fish die offs this year too. Are these more 'signs of the times'? If so, what do they mean? The fact remains that there is a lot of hard evidence suggesting that, far from 'global warming', we're already in the process of entering a new ice age (which could end up being a lot bigger than the last one), accompanied by increasing cataclysmic activity such as major destructive storms, earthquakes, and volcanism, among other 'anomalous' goings-on all over the planet. So no wonder the animals are behaving strangely. Maybe they're trying to tell us something important. The question is, is anyone listening? Creatures from the deep signal major Earth Changes: Is anyone paying attention?

Fire in the Sky

Calgary photographer captures fireball over Mount Rundle Clara Ho Calgary Herald 2014-12-21 09:09:00 Calgary photographer Brett Abernethy was out in Banff shooting aurora over the night sky early Saturday when he captured what appeared to be a fireball zipping over the mountains. Abernethy said he and a fellow photographer were set up at Johnson Lake taking a shot of Mount Rundle at around 1:22 a.m. when the sky lit up. "It was like daytime almost. It fragmented into three pieces. We were both in awe. Then I realized my shot was exposing as it was going on," he said, adding he used a 40-second exposure. When he looked at the photo he snapped with his Canon 5D Mark III, using a Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 lens, he was pleasantly surprised to see he'd captured a bright light streaking over the mountains.

Health & Wellness

Documentary: 'Unacceptable Levels' - The chemicals in our bodies; how they got there and what to do about it Activist Post 2014-12-21 21:34:00 Study after study reveals the negative health impact of the chemical concoction that we encounter daily in our foods, in our environment, and in consumer products. Unacceptable Levels is a feature-length documentary which examines the results of the chemical revolution of the 1940s through the eyes of affable filmmaker Ed Brown, a father seeking to understand the world in which he and his wife are raising their children. To create this debut documentary, one man and his camera traveled extensively to find and interview top minds in the fields of science, advocacy, and law. Weaving their testimonies into a compelling narrative, Brown presents us with the story of how the chemical revolution brought us to where we are, and of where, if we're not vigilant, it may take us. A diverse group of voices are offered, which should spur debate from many sectors of those who have become concerned about everything from pesticides to BPA to GMO to fluoride and any one of the other 80,000 synthetic chemicals known to have been released. Now the question is what do we do about it? The environmental movement and particularly the "sustainable" agenda is a minefield of controlled opposition, infiltrators and everything in between. First, all of us should become as informed as possible on all fronts so that we can properly tackle real solutions to a crisis that only continues to get worse as the fusion between government and corporate interests intensifies.

Comment: The great American experiment These studies recognize that we're all being used as human guinea pigs. We know darn well that over 1,000 chemicals harm the brains of animals - and animals' bodies are not all that different from ours. About half of the chemicals on this list are chemicals that are in our industrial solvents, pesticides, flame retardants, and other common products. What's our current approach? Just keep using them. Move along, everyone, until scientists can prove beyond a doubt that a specific chemical made a specific person sick. Trying to steer clear of dangerous chemicals can drive you crazy. Just try to discover which products in your life contain chemicals that are toxic to you or your kids, and how you can find non-toxic replacements for them. It's hard not to grow exasperated and give up. And as a society, we should theoretically have more control over the process of identifying and banning toxic chemicals. But the federal law that regulates them, theToxic Substances Control Act of 1976, has no teeth. Corporations don't even have to test their products for toxicity before putting them on the market. And the government has a very limited ability to prevent toxic chemicals from being sold.

Surprise! Another study confirms USDA Dietary Guidelines on fats are wrong Brian Shilhavy Wake-up World 2014-12-17 22:34:00 A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine made waves through the mainstream media. In a stunning meta-analysis of the relationship between dietary fats and heart disease that included over 600,000 people, the researchers came to the following conclusion: "Current evidence does not clearly support cardiovascular guidelines that encourage high consumption of polyunsaturated fatty acids and low consumption of total saturated fats." This conclusion flies in direct contrast to the USDA dietary guidelines, which recommend polyunsaturated fats (think corn and soybean oils) as healthy, and saturated fats as unhealthy (think animal fat and coconut oil) in terms of cardiovascular health. This is certainly not the first study that has been published in the past few years clearly showing there is no link between saturated fats consumption and heart disease.

Comment: Sott.net has been saying it for years: Saturated Fat is good for you! Animal fats are better for you than vegetable fats Should we be eating more fat? Latest studies says yes! The rise and fall of the low-fat guidelines: Saturated fat is good for you! The questionable link between saturated fat and heart disease Carbs Against Cardio: More Evidence that Refined Carbohydrates, Not Fats, Threaten the Heart Saturated fat heart disease 'myth': UK cardiologist calls for change in public health advice on saturated fat Wrongly Convicted? The Case for Saturated Fat

Science of the Spirit

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High Strangeness

Bizarre square-shaped fire which burnt through shop sofa leaves London police mystified Alix Culbertson Daily Mirror, UK 2014-12-17 12:39:00 The baffling blaze took hold on the settee inside a letting shop in Fulham, south west London These pictures show the bizarre square-shaped fire which ripped through a sofa inside a shop. Passer-by Ragini Patel was on her way to Sainsbury's just before 9am on Sunday when the young son of a neighbour told her he could see a settee on fire inside the Lettings Company shop in Fulham Road, London which has two floors of flats above. The long-time Fulham resident quickly called the fire brigade who had to smash down the estate agent's door to put the fire out which started in a square shape and slowly spread out to burn the entire sofa. She told Get West London: "I was just going to Sainsbury's in the morning when my neighbour's son told me there was a fire in the shop. "I looked in and a square-shaped fire was burning into the sofa. "It was very odd. "I called the fire brigade straight away then started filming because it was very bizarre, I couldn't figure out how it had started."