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Lawrence O Donnell
MSNBC 2014-12-01 13:08:00
The so-called "prosecutor" in the Ferguson shooting Grand Jury deliberately fooled the jurors into believing that Wilson could legally shoot Brown as he ran away. She did so by using a Missouri law that was ruled unconstitutional by the US supreme court in 1985. She further tried to confuse the jurors by not telling them clearly that US supreme court law overruled Missouri state law. Ask yourself, why would she go to such lengths? Obviously, because the facts of the case show that Wilson shot the unarmed Brown dead as he was running away from Wilson. Social justice in psychopath-ruled USA
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David Lindorff
CounterPunch 2014-11-27 00:09:00
What's wrong with Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson's killing of the unarmed 18-year-old black teenager, Michael Brown, and with a Grand Jury decision not to indict him for that outrageous slaying, is what is wrong with American law enforcement and American "justice" in general. Both actions were permeated not only with racism, which clearly played a huge rule in both the verdict rendered by a Grand Jury composed of nine whites and only three blacks, and in this tragic police killing by a white cop of a black child, but also by a mentality on the part of police - and apparently by at least a majority of the citizen jurors on a panel evaluating Wilson's actions - thatcops are authorities who must be obeyed without question, on pain of death. Let's recall the most crucial evidence in this killing: According to the New York Times it was two shots into the top of the head by Officer Wilson that killed Brown - shots that multiple witnesses confirm were fired after the unarmed Brown was on his knees, already seriously wounded by four other apparently non-lethal shots to arm, neck and upper right chest, with his hands raised and pleading "Don't shoot." The Times also reports that those shots, apparently fired when Brown's head was leaning forward, or from a position above him, appeared to have been fired "not from close range," a determination based upon an absence of gun powder residue around the area of the entry wounds. | |
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| Puppet Masters |
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thelocal.se
2014-12-01 20:57:00
Police have yet to make any arrests after a justice centre in Malmö was bombed late on Sunday night. The explosion resulted in substantial damage in what was the second attack on the building this year. The bomb exploded just before midnight and damaged the main entrance and front of the building. Such was the force of the blast that several nearby properties had its windows blown apart. No one was seriously hurt but there was one person who had some minor injuries after being cut by shards of glass. Police have been speaking to people in the area in the wake of the incident to try and determine what happened. "There are some witnesses who said that someone was at the building and then ran away shortly before the detonation," said Stephan Söderholm, information officer with the Skåne police. | |
Comment: Something to do with this perhaps? Sweden becomes first European state to recognize Palestine
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Ziad Fadel
Syrian Perspective 2014-11-27 18:23:00 Comment: While it's impossible to verify, the following piece on the current talks between Syrian and Russian diplomats provides what could be a view into what is really being talked about, and the secret alliances and plans to counter Western aggression and proxy warfare in Syria and neighboring states. We'll just have to wait and see if any of the dynamics described below play out. In the meantime, it's good to know that Russia is supporting Syria, the latest victim of the West's cynical policy of using terrorism to effect its 'geopolitical strategy'.
The Foreign Minister and Minister for Expatriates of the Syrian Arab Republic, Mr. Waleed Al-Mu'allim, is in Sochi to meet with Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and Russian F.M., Sergei Lavrov. The meeting is face-to-face which required the Syrian top diplomat to fly to Russia. You can assume that the reasons for the trip have to do with secrecy, confidential exchanges of information and the need to prevent Western eavesdropping. This meeting could be the most important of the entire war in Syria. Pay no attention to press conferences or summaries offered up by both sides to the talks at the end. This meeting is not about publicity or orotund denunciations of terrorism. Both countries have staked out clear positions on ISIS, American meddling and the incessant violations of international law by the West, its troglodyte Arabian allies, and the Zionist Apartheid State. | |
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Raw Story
2014-12-01 18:20:00
Amazon.com Inc has installed more than 15,000 robots across 10 U.S. warehouses, a move that promises to cut operating costs by one-fifth and get packages out the door more quickly in the run-up to Christmas. The orange 320-pound (145 kg) robots, which scoot around the floor on wheels, show how Amazon has adopted technology developed by Kiva Systems, a robotics company it bought for $775 million in 2012. Amazon showcased to media on Sunday ahead of Cyber Monday, the biggest online shopping day of the year. The robots are designed to help the leading U.S. online retailer speed the time it takes to deliver items to customers and better compete with brick-and-mortar stores, where the bulk of Americans still do their shopping. | |
Comment: Amazon owners will be happy with the robots and average customers may also be happy as long as they have the jobs and incomes to buy the goods. But, if the robots take over all the jobs, will the customers have the income to buy? If people don't have the money to buy, do the movers and shakers of our society care to feed them to keep them alive? Not likely.
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Dominic Rushe
The Guardian 2014-11-30 15:08:00
The Canadian government said on Sunday it was investigating reports that a Canadian-Israeli woman who joined Kurdish militias fighting in northern Syria has been captured by Islamic State (Isis) fighters. According to a blog linked to Isis, several female fighters who fought alongside the Kurds have been taken prisoner, including Gill Rosenberg, a Canadian-born resident of Tel Aviv. Israel Radio reported Kurdish sources denying the claims, saying Rosenberg was not in the area when it was attacked. A Canadian government spokesman said in a statement his country was "pursuing all appropriate channels" as it sought further information and was in touch with local authorities. Asked by an Israeli television station about the reports, the Israeli defense minister, Moshe Ya'alon, said: "I cannot confirm that and I hope that it isn't true." The Shin Bet, Israel's general security service, told the Jerusalem Post: "There are no further details at this stage". Rosenberg, 31, joined Kurdish troops fighting Isis earlier this month. A former pilot who served in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), she reportedly contacted Kurdish fighters over the internet before travelling through Iraq to train at one of their camps on the Syrian border.
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Comment: There were few details on the alleged kidnapping, only that it occurred after three suicide attacks on sites where Kurdish fighters were holed up. Posts on Rosenberg's Facebook timeline indicate she arrived in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan region, on Nov. 2 and then traveled through Turkey and into northern Syria sometime before Nov. 9. A source linked to the YPG (Kurdish Militia), said earlier this month that she was their first female foreign recruit and had crossed into Syria to fight Islamic State militants.
Israel has maintained discreet military, intelligence and business ties with the Kurds since the 1960s, making use of this buffer against shared Arab adversaries. The Kurds are spread through Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran. Worried about spillover from the Syrian war, Israel has been cracking down on members of its 20-per cent Arab minority who return after volunteering to fight with ISIS or other rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule. Israel bans its citizens from traveling to enemy states, among them Syria and Iraq. It is possible Rosenberg could face prosecution if she returns to Israel. Just like Israel to have volunteers to do the dirty work and then not let them back into the country! Another consideration: The U.S. and Canada "do not negotiate" with terrorists (even if they are more or less "home grown"). The fight in Syria and other Middle East locations seems to attract a number of idealistic young recruits, fascinated by barbarity and savagery, or perhaps disillusioned by the posturing and agendas of their home countries, willing to be pawns-at-risk in the most dangerous game on earth. One can hope that the reports of Rosenberg's kidnapping are merely propaganda. Any other result could be horrifically short, tragic and brutal. | ||
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Middle Eastern Eye
2014-11-26 04:14:00
When President Obama nominated Chuck Hagel to lead the Pentagon in 2012, the decorated Vietnam War veteran became the first enlisted man to serve as the Secretary of Defence. Unlike his predecessors, Robert Gates, Leon Panetta, and Donald Rumsfeld, Hagel, as an infantry squad leader, has seen firsthand the carnage of combat. And, like all who are confronted with the reality of war, he hated it. "Every Vietnam veteran understands that," Hagel said during a 2012 interview. "Any veteran who has ever served in a war understands that, and I think we should never forget the consequences of war." To understand Hagel is to understand why he opposed the 2007 surge. He called the Iraq war, "the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam". It was his opposition to the Iraq surge that led some Senate Republicans, particularly John McCain (R-AZ), to vehemently oppose his nomination. | |
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Greg Hunter
USAWatchdog 2014-11-30 00:00:00
A few months ago, financial analyst Rob Kirby said the gold price was ready to go up. In the international market, where it is sold by the ton - it has. Kirby explains, | |
Comment: Rob Kirby pretty much says it all. It's only a matter of time before the physical gold price diverges greatly from the paper spot price for even small quantities of gold. For the Russian perspective on gold, see:Chessmaster Putin's golden trap
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Vladimir Odintsov
New Eastern Outlook 2014-11-28 00:00:00
The series of "colour" revolutions that have occurred in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) since 2010 have not happened by chance, especially since these were not a spontaneous protest by those "dreaming of democracy" but a result of the implementation of specific projects by certain Western powers to restructure the world order. These processes of regime change occurred under the pressure of massive street protests and with the support of non-governmental organizations financed from abroad. The purpose of the colour revolutions was a coup using mainly non-violent methods of political struggle, in the interests of, and with the dominant and direct participation in planning, organization and financing by, Western nations and, above all, the United States. Or rather, the aim was not simply an overthrow of the existing legal governments but a personified replacement of the countries' leaders, so that the "heat wave" of popular anger against the authorities would bring new faces which are in no way better than the previous ones but merely more satisfactory to the puppeteers in Washington. The preparatory stage for unwinding the colour revolutions in the MENA region was certainly the military invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the subsequent overthrow of Saddam Hussein. In this way the strategists in Washington, in order to solve the White House's problem of achieving full submission of the Middle East to the United States, chose Iraq as the primary objective. | |
Comment: The US has been influencing, overthrowing and destroying the governments of other nations for many decades, all to meet its own economic and hegemonic objectives in the chosen country. The color revolutions described are just one more sneaky tool to achieve these ends and are being implemented at great expense to all parties involved. Worst of all are probably the protesters who may have the sincere intent to bring about reforms to their countries, but who are actually the unwitting dupes of US plans. The color-change phenomenon is insidious, manipulative and, ultimately, malevolent. And part and parcel of how the US operates today in order to influence more control over the lives of many hundreds of millions around the world.
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Pepe Escobar
Russia Insider 2014-12-01 14:59:00
Here, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov explains in detail how this is undiluted rubbish. What has actually happened is that Moscow deftly called the Brzezinski-inspired bluff in Ukraine - with all its overtones. No wonder the Empire of Chaos is furious. And yet there is a solution to defuse the current, hysterical rush to war logic. Here I have examined in some detail how Washington is playing Russian roulette. Now it's time to advance a modest proposal - as it has been discussed by a few concerned analysts from the US, Europe and Asia. | |
Comment: Of course NATA/EU/US will not want or approve this simple plan since it will destroy their goal to harm Russia.
Dancing around the question of Ukraine's federalization | |
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Having lived in the former USSR before immigrating to the US, Dmitry Orlov has an invaluable perspective on both the US and Russian perspectives, as well as Ukraine. With the western propaganda flying thick and heavy, it's more important than ever to cut through the chaff and learn what we can about the most important geopolitical realignment (and renewed tensions) in recent memory.
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Rakesh Krishnan Simha
Tehelka.com 2014-11-27 00:36:00
There are 7.2 billion people on this planet but the United States fears only one man - Vladimir Putin. That's because on virtually every front of the new Cold War, the Russian president is walloping the collective challenge of the West. Fear can make you do strange things - for the second year running,Forbes magazine has named Putin as the world's most powerful person. It is said about the Russians that they take a long time to saddle their horses, but they ride awfully fast. After patiently nursing the collapsed Russian economy back to health from 1999 to 2007, Putin started pushing back against the western encirclement of his country. In Syria, Crimea and Ukraine, the West has faced humiliating setbacks and melted away at his approach. In the high-stakes game of energy, it will be Russian - not western - pipelines that will dominate the Eurasian landmass. But instead of scorekeeping, a more instructive exercise would be to try and understand how Putin has managed to keep Russia ahead in the game. More than any other leader, the Russian president by virtue of his KGB experience understands how the US operates. The American modus operandi - in sync with the British - is to organise coups, rebellions and counter-revolutions in countries where nationalist leaders come to power. Iran, Chile, Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama and Ukraine are the classic examples. John Perkins writes in Confessions of an Economic Hitman (2004) how he and other 'hitmen' like him were sent to developing countries as consultants to bribe or coerce diplomats, economists, administrators and politicians to do the bidding of the US. Often they succeeded, but if they failed then the CIA would send in the 'jackals' - professionally trained assassins who would engineer the deaths of those who stood in the way of complete American domination. (Chilean prime minister Salvador Allende's assassination - the result of a request by PepsiCo chairman Donald Kendall to the company's former lawyer president Richard Nixon - is a classic example of a CIA jackal job.) | |
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Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge 2014-11-30 18:32:00
Whether as a result of an unprecedented scare campaign by the Swiss National Bank (most recentlyreinforced by Citigroup), or due to confidence that Swiss gold is as safe abroad as it is at home, or simply due to good old-fashioned "hanging chads", today's most awaited event has come and gone and the result - according to early projections by Swiss television SRF -is that the Swiss population overwhelmingly rejected a referendum to force the Swiss National Bank to hold some 20% of its reserves in gold in a landslide vote, with about 78% voting against what AP politely termed"protecting the country's wealth by investing in gold." As Bloomberg reports, the proposal stipulating the Swiss National Bank hold at least 20 percent of its 520-billion-franc ($540 billion) balance sheet in gold was voted down by 78 percent to 22 percent, according to projections by Swiss television SRF as of 1:00 p.m. local time. The initiative "Save Our Swiss Gold" also would have prohibited the SNB from ever selling any of its bullion and required the 30 percent currently stored in Canada and the U.K. to be repatriated. | |
Comment: The Swiss people seem to be caught up in the "everything is fine" meme and ignoring the cataclysmic economic events happening around them. Fiat money is at unsustainable levels of debt and will come crashing down like a great Ponzi scheme. Other countries see this happening and have been hoarding gold. Sad to say, but we called it.
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Robert Parry
Consortium News 2014-11-24 10:58:00
The abrupt resignation of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel - along with the failure to reach a final agreement on Iran's nuclear program on the same day - does not augur well for the last quarter of Barack Obama's presidency, reflecting his continuing tendency to let the neocons have their way. Not that Hagel had distinguished himself as a sterling leader of the Pentagon - nor has all hope disappeared that a sensible resolution of the impasse with Iran might be achieved before the next "deadline" in June - but Obama still does not appear to have escaped the spell of the neocons who continue to dominate American geopolitical thought despite the bloody disasters that they helped cause in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. Six years into his presidency, Obama still doesn't seem to understand that just because some people have impressive credentials doesn't mean they know what they're doing. Indeed, in a profoundly corrupted system - like the one that now controls Official Washington - rewards are handed out to people who serve the corrupt interests or at least don't get in the way. In a time of corruption, the countervailing forces of wisdom and courage will never be found among the credentialed, but rather among the outcasts of the establishment, those who were forced to the margins because they objected to the venality, because they stood up against misguided "group think." But Obama has been unwilling - or possibly unable - to come to grips with this reality. Despite his personal intelligence and rhetorical skills, Obama never has been willing to challenge people cloaked in credentials - those who went to the best schools, worked at big-name firms, won prestigious awards or held fellowships at famous think tanks. The tragedy of Obama is that I'm told that he understands the stupidity of the modern U.S. establishment and does sometimes consult with "realists" who offer practical advice for how he can resolve some of the most nettlesome problems facing the United States around the world. But he does so virtually in secret, with what politicians like to call "deniability." | |
Comment: Earlier this year Hagel planned to downsize the U.S. military, which could also be one of the reasons he had to go.
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Barbara H. Peterson
Farm Wars 2014-11-27 05:33:00
If you had any doubt about the boldfaced sham that "democracy" is, that doubt should be completely alleviated now. The people in Hawaii County voted that they did not want GMOs.
The court overruled that vote in favor of the biggest pro-GMO agricultural corporation of all - state and federal biotech interests. Comment: There's democracy for ya! The people vote for a ban on GMOs and a court overrules the people's will in favor of corporate interest. Surprise surprise! | |
Comment: There are mountains of scientific evidence of the evil effects that GMOs have on human health, livestock and the environment. People are waking up to this, that's why Hawaii citizens voted down GMOs, but when you have psychopaths in charge of corporations and the courts your vote means nothing.
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Ante Sarlija
Sott.net 2014-11-29 12:45:00
George 'regime change' Soros recently visited Kyrgyzstan, prompting fears of a possible coup d'étatin the country. A small group of people gathered in front of the U.S. Embassy in the Kyrgyz Republic, demanding that Soros leave the country immediately. Who can blame them? And it seems that Soros isn't the only problem, Kyrgyz member of parliament Irina Karamushkina recently expressed concerns about activities of American NGO 'TechCamp' in the country. | |
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Patrick Martin
World Socialist Web Site 2014-11-29 21:11:00
The United Nations Committee Against Torture issued a lengthy report today assessing the performance of the 156 countries whose governments have ratified the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which took effect two decades ago. The report subjected a major country to a wide-ranging critique, indicting it for a long list of human rights violations including:
The language of the report is both cautious and bureaucratic, and there are strained efforts to congratulate the Obama administration on alleged improvements, compared to the Bush administration, on such practices as extraordinary rendition and waterboarding. But the overall impact of this indictment is damning. | |
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| Society's Child |
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Raw Story
2014-12-01 20:19:00
An Indian student who traveled to Iraq to join the Islamic State group has returned home disillusioned after jihadists made him clean toilets and do other menial jobs, according to media reports. Areeb Majeed, 23, left for Iraq with three friends in late May amid fears by authorities that IS militants were attempting to recruit from India's large pool of young Muslim men. The engineering student flew home Friday to Mumbai where he was arrested and charged by India's elite National Investigation Agency (NIA) with terror-related offences. Majeed told NIA officers he was sidelined by the jihadists for whom he fetched water and performed other lowly tasks such as cleaning toilets, instead of taking part in the deadly offensive like he wanted, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. He phoned his family to say he wanted to come home after suffering an unexplained bullet wound for which he did not get proper medical attention, the agency said late Sunday. | |
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John Rubino
DollarCollapse.com 2014-11-30 00:00:00
Last week saw the global financial system tip from delusion - where it had happily drifted for several years - into chaos. Consider the following more-or-less randomly chosen data points: French unemployment hits record high Italian unemployment hits record high Oil's price falls by $10.36/bbl, or 13.5%, in a single day, to its lowest price since 2010. Copper falls by 6% to $2.86/lb, 25% below its 2013 high. European bond yields fall to record lows. Even Italy, with government debt exceeding 130% of GDP, can now borrow for around 2%. Japan, meanwhile, issues bonds with negative interest rates. European inflation approaches zero, with several member states apparently already in deflation. | |
Comment: Gordon T Long notes similar cracks in the central framework:
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Charles Kenny
Bloomberg Business Week 2014-12-01 19:47:00
The tragedy in Ferguson, Mo., highlights how predatory policing has reduced trust in law enforcement in many parts of the U.S. Court fines (mostly connected with traffic violations) are worth20 percent of Ferguson's general-fund revenue. That's considerably more than property tax revenue and about two-thirds sales tax revenue. The police force accounts for 41 percent of the city's expenses, suggesting fines are worth about one-half of the police budget. The incentives that such a system created to fine people overzealously were one factor behind the dismal state of relations between locals and cops in the city even before the death of Michael Brown. | |
Comment: "If the police aren't fining, arresting, or investigating, they must be doing something else."
That something else includes tasing, maiming, stealing, raping, shooting, killing and getting off scot-free. Police worldwide are nothing but tools of the state. (When was the last time you heard of a wealthy member of the elite suffering at the hands of the police?) Police don't stop crimes from happening, they just show up after a crime has been committed. One should consider themselves lucky if they aren't subjected to further victimization after cops arrive on the scene. | |
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Tony Cartalucci
New Eastern Outlook 2014-12-01 16:34:00
Grad rockets fired indiscriminately into populated areas by Kiev regime - a war crime NATO has condemned before, but only when politically convenient. "The Grad rocket cannot be targeted, so shooting it into a town full of civilians, with no specific military objective, violates the laws of war." These words were found in a 2011 Human Rights Watch (HRW) document titled, "Libya: Rocket Attacks on Western Mountain Towns - Grads Striking Civilian Areas," one of many reports ceaselessly cited by the United Nations and in turn, NATO as part of justifying a military intervention in the North African nation. At the time, accusations of indiscriminate bombardment of populated areas by air and artillery, and the use of punitive squads to detain, beat, torture, and/or arbitrary arrest citizens served as the rhetorical and legal foundation of NATO's "humanitarian war." | |
Comment: So let's get this straight. Libya fires a ballistic missile that doesn't hit anything or kill anyone, and it's a horrible crime showing how evil Gaddafi was. Kiev fires ballistic missiles into Novorussia regularly, killing civilians, and it's perfectly OK. Saddam, Gadaffi and Assad all "kill their own people" (either total lies or a gross progaganda slogan to cover the fact that they were engaged in fighting U.S. proxy terrorists) and get the regime-change, destroy-your-country treatment, and yet Kiev gets away with doing exactly this thing - killing their own people - no spin, no lie. The hypocrisy is stunning.
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Janet Phelan
New Eastern Outlook 2014-11-29 12:00:00
With last week's vote on A2270, New Jersey's Assembly approved physician assisted suicide. Oregon, Washington and Vermont have also passed AS (Assisted Suicide) laws. State courts in Montana and New Mexico have affirmed the rights to physician assisted suicide. What's wrong with that, you might well ask. If a person is terminally ill and wishes to end his or her suffering, why should this not be permitted? In fact, this issue is not as clear cut as some might wish you to believe. The effect of such legal permissions, as seen in other countries which have historically permitted doctor assisted suicide, is worth reviewing. | |
Comment: It's not as if
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RT
2014-11-30 23:18:00
Out with boring public information leaflets and in with flashy TV ads. The German Ministry of Environment has come up with a series of commercials on the problems of climate change, featuring sex and zombies in the message. The scene: A young girl arrives home late one night and is confronted with the awkward situation of finding her parents engaged in the act inside a brightly lit room. After uttering a meek, "Hi," the teenager proceeds to switch off the lights in the room. The lesson learned, as the female narrator says: "The world says thanks. 5 percent less energy consumption in German households makes one coal power plant redundant. Together it's climate protection."
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Comment: If carbon emissions are such a problem, German politicians would do the world a favor by holding their breath - indefinitely. Just think of all the carbon dioxide expelled each day by politicians who fund the kind of asinine, juvenile, crass garbage seen above!
But of course, carbon emissions are not the problem. Never have been, never will be. But then again, it's possible that our global climate - and our imminent collapse - just might turn out for the better if all politicians suddenly stopped breathing! For more on that comforting idea, see SOTT editor Pierre Lescaudron's book, Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection.
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NBC News
2014-11-30 23:32:00
Afghan police said they are investigating how a wild bird came to bear an antenna, electronic devices and explosives. Police came across the strange sight around 8 a.m. in the northern Faryab province, a volatile region ravaged by Taliban violence. When police spotted the white bird - which isn't native to the area and appeared larger than an eagle - walking along a highway, they noticed it had an antenna and decided to shoot it, provincial police chief Maj. Gen. Abdul Nabi Ilham told NBC News on Saturday. The bird then exploded, he said, and "suspicious metal stuff" scattered around. "We are gathering all the stuff, but found parts of what looks to be GPS and a small camera," Ilham said. He added that this was the first time police have made such an encounter. Police added that it is possible the bird had been "deployed" on a surveillance mission. Using animals in warfare or for suicide missions is unusual but not unheard of. Hamas militants reportedly put explosives on a donkey and pushed it in the direction of Israeli soldiers as fighting intensified this summer in Gaza. | |
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Timothy Alexander Guzman
Silent Crow News 2014-11-29 00:00:00
The world is watching what is happening in Ferguson, Missouri. After the announcement by the grand jury that Officer Darren Wilson was acquitted for the shooting death of Michael Brown, angry residents took to the streets of Ferguson and other towns and cities across the U.S. to protest police brutality. The U.S. government has the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) along with the Ferguson police department and the Missouri National guard ready to confront the angry protesters with force. Michael Brown's murder is not the only incident that sparked riots. There have been other similar incidents involving police brutality such as the Rodney King beating by the Los Angeles Police Department in 1991 that also sparked riots. The Police used excessive force against the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York and other anti-Establishment protests across the U.S. In 1997, NYPD officers sodomized a Haitian immigrant by the name of Abner Louima with a broken-off broom handle after he was arrested during an altercation between the police and patrons outside a Brooklyn nightclub. He was hospitalized and most of the police officers involved were not found guilty because of insufficient evidence, except for one of the officers who received a 30-year sentence. Following the verdict of the Michael Brown case, another African-American man was recently shot and killed by an NYPD officer in a housing project in East New York, Brooklyn. White Americans have also been victims of police brutality. In 2012, Kelly Thomas, a 37-year-old homeless man with schizophrenia was beaten to death by two veterans of the Fullerton Police Department in California. Both men were acquitted by the grand jury. Although statistics do show that minorities are more likely to get harassed (by Stop and Frisk in NYC for example), arrested and even murdered by the police. The United Nations Human Rights Committee issued a report on human rights abuses in the United States which included the epidemic of police brutality. It stated: | |
Comment: No longer a day goes by that one doesn't hear of a man, woman or child getting severely abused, or even killed by an "officer of the peace". And it's clearly getting worse. Far worse. If we look at the author's comparison of developments in Nazi Germany to today's militarized US police state, we notice that the changes there, as here, occurred incrementally. First new laws and institutions, then the "crackdowns" on dissent. And much of it occurring oh so covertly. One would not be incorrect in extrapolating the events of today into the near future and using one's imagination to see how far this can and will go.
"Never in America"? Don't count on it. The Nazis, fascists, totalitarians, pathocrats - choose your own descriptive - are already doing their will, and have the spilt blood to prove it. | |
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Mail Online
2014-11-30 18:18:00
But the American Dream does not actually exist, according to one economics professor. Gregory Clark, who works at the University of California, Davis, claims the national ethos is simply an illusion and that social mobility in the country is no higher than in the rest of the world. | |
Comment: As the late, great George Carlin said, "It's called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."
See also: The facade of the American dream The American Dream As We Know It Is Obsolete | |
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Jackson Marciana
Counter Current News 2014-11-30 16:41:00
We recently received a tip about a 18-year-old University of South Alabama student who was shot and killed by a campus police officer. We were asked why we have not covered this story. The short answer is that this story is not a new one, but one that broke two years ago, in October of 2012. But in the wake of the outrage surrounding the Michael Brown verdict not to indict Officer Darren Wilson, many have asked where the outrage over this story is... Well, they're right. Every story of any unarmed citizen gunned down by rogue police officers deserves public outrage and attention. But the reality is that if we do not bring these stories to the attention of the nation through our own organic efforts (sharing, commenting, "liking" and tweeting), then many of the mainstream, corporate media sources will not find the stories to be discussion-worthy. That is the sad reality: the mainstream media will pick up story after story from independent, alternative media like Counter Current News, once they see the stories being shared widely. That was certainly with our breaking of the John Crawford shooting before any local or national media had published a story on it, or the shooting of Tamir Rice last weekend for that matter. Two years ago, when Gil Collar was shot and killed by a campus police officer, there simply was not the "viral buzz" about the story, and thus it never got picked up. But his story is no doubt an important one that needs and deserves to be told. | |
Comment: Another young person shot and killed by the police. You'd think they were trained to murder.
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Jerry Markon and Tom Hamburger
The Washington Post 2014-11-25 00:00:00
When Ferguson, Mo., police officer Darren Wilson left the scene of the fatal shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown, the officer returned to the police station unescorted, washed blood off his hands and placed his recently fired pistol into an evidence bag himself. Those actions, described in grand jury testimony, violated protocols for handling a crime scene and securing evidence, according to experts in policing procedures and Justice Department documents. Wilson's movements after the shooting were among a number of police actions in the aftermath of Brown's death that experts said were unusual. The grand jury transcripts revealed, for example, that the officers who interviewed Wilson immediately after the shooting did not tape the conversations. The transcripts also showed that an investigator from the medical examiner's office opted not to take measurements at the crime scene and arrived there believing that what happened between Brown and Wilson was "self-explanatory.'' It is unclear how these unorthodox practices may have influenced the investigation of a shooting that has triggered a national conversation about race and police practices. The grand jury's decision Monday not to indict Wilson in connection with the shooting death has led to protests nationwide. Police and forensic officials have not responded to requests for comment over a two-day period. | |
Comment: Unusual? You can't get away with this kind of sloppiness and disregard for procedure in a crumby TV show! The fans would be all over it. It will be interesting to see how these revelations play out on the stage of real life. Wilson washed the blood off his hands because it was getting sticky? Huh? Blood has a tendency to dry. He washed it off to remove evidence KNOWING it was Michael Brown's blood and he was the cause for the bloodshed and to protect himself, not the investigation. (Remember that the extent of Wilson's wounds was red marks on his face. Nothing else.) And the rest of it...well, it seems like the PTB that helped cook the situation to the frenzy it has become, calculated in the police "oops" factor when picking their target location. Nothing like a freebie to parlay negativity, emboldening and entrenching opposing sides to up the ante. More reaction. More chaos. More data on how America reacts to stimuli. Shame on us if we let this slide by!
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sundance
The Last Refuge 2014-11-29 00:00:00
DeAndre Joshua, 20, was murdered on the same night of the Saint Louis Grand Jury announcement. DeAndre was shot in the head, and then a flammable liquid poured on him and set afire inside his vehicle. Perhaps coincidentally DeAndre Joshua also fits the social profile of an eye-witness who gave a police/FBI statement and testified before the Grand Jury in the Mike Brown shooting case. If that were the only coincidence it might be easy to dismiss. Alas, it's not. Out of an abundance of caution for other witnesses we are avoiding outlining the most direct connections - however, they are not in doubt. As you are aware he was an employed black male, with no history of drug use or illicit behavior. In the Canfield Community, marijuana is not considered illicit, nor does weed really qualify as drug use - it's as common as tobacco. DeAndre was also a friend of Dorian Johnson who is currently under protection. (Note: Dorian Johnson was Michael Brown's companion the day he was mortally shot.)
Tweet, Dorian Johnson: "My Fcking Brother Gone DeAndre Joshua!! Hella Fckd Up, SomeBody come get me right Now I gotta Go!!!!!" Obviously, Dorian is very alarmed, understandably so. On the night before the Grand Jury announcement, there were considerable nerves amid a select group in the Ferguson community. As the attention of a nation turned to the grand jury decision, and also to the demands of the Justice for Mike Brown coalition, Dorian Johnson was potentially going to be the recipient of a tremendous amount of angst. Several people were looking for DeAndre and Dorian. Dorian was in hiding - DeAndre was vulnerable. | ||
Comment: Reading the transcripts of witness statements, it is clearly "unclear" what is independent truth, maneuvered truth, or "truth by threat." It is possible that the Black community, supporting Michael Brown, had a pact for a particular eye-witness scenario and threatened potential witnesses to keep to the story.
It is also likely those who engineered the No True Bill verdict, and absolution of Darren Wilson, issued their own witness threats to protect the "white-washing" of events. It becomes evident that detectives and special agents manipulated witness testimony. It apparently is not a good time to be a witness, as DeAndre Joshua found out. His death was a vicious act and message to others. Why wasn't he protected? Where is the public outrage for this young man? For those who believe 10 gunshot wounds from a Sig Sauer P229 semi-automatic pistol were what it took to down unarmed Michael Brown, here's the medical rundown of both his and Darren Wilson's wounds:On the surface, Ferguson may be about complicated mixture of racial issues, community organized crime, civil service corruption, predation and retaliation. But it goes deeper and wider than that. The bigger picture is the ever-encroaching total authoritarian control of The American Police State. Ferguson is a test run - a profile to be studied, perfected and ultimately unleashed. We are not in Kansas anymore. Welcome to purgatory. | ||
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RT
2014-11-30 01:08:00
Ferguson officer Darren Wilson, who fatally shot black teenager Michael Brown, has resigned from the police force, his attorney said. The news comes amid unceasing protests across the US against a grand jury decision clearing Wilson of murder charges. The resignation is effective immediately, AP quoted one of Wilson's lawyers, Neil Bruntrager, as saying on Saturday. Prior to the resignation, Wilson was on administrative leave from the Ferguson Police Department since the August 9 shooting. On Monday, a St. Louis County grand jury decided not to indict Wilson, 28, for the fatal shooting of the 18-year-old Brown. Wilson testified that he used deadly force against Brown - who was unarmed - in self-defense. A majority of witnesses told the grand jury that the teenager had his hands raised and was running away from Wilson as the officer shot him repeatedly. This was, however, denied by St. Louis County prosecutor Bob McCulloch, who announced the grand jury's decision and highlighted the alleged scuffle between Brown and Wilson, which ended with the police officer unloading his gun 12 times against Brown. Wilson's attorneys argued that he had been following his training and the law when he shot Brown. | |
Comment: Read Darren Wilson's resignation letter, via St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
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Paul Craig Roberts
CounterPunch 2014-11-29 20:07:00
Few, if any, of the correct questions were asked in the grand jury hearing to decide whether policeman Darren Wilson would be indicted for killing Michael Brown. The most important unexamined question is whether police are trained to use force immediately as a first resort before they assess a situation or determine if they are at the correct address. Are the police trained that the lives of police officers are so much more valuable than the lives of possible suspects, or a houseful of people into whose residence a heavily armed SWAT team enters, that police officers must not accept the risk of judicious behavior when encountering citizens? If this is the case as all evidence indicates that it is, then the police when they gratuitously murder members of the public are merely doing what they have been trained to do. As police are trained to use violence as a first resort, the police cannot be held accountable when they do. Comment: Exactly. When police PR departments say their officers complied with standard procedures, they mean exactly that: standard procedure is to shoot to kill, at the drop of a hat. | |
Comment: See: Nationwide protests against police brutality in AmeriKKKa: Wilson gets away with murder, Anonymous: #HoodsOff "The war is on!" (and note the comments - there are actually people who agree with this paramoralistic justification for cold-blooded murder)
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RT
2014-11-29 21:47:00
Hundreds of people have gathered near the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood with St. Andrew's Cross flags, music and speeches in a celebration of Scottish nationhood, amid continued demands for independence as St. Andrew's Day celebrations got underway. Poetry recitals, speeches and songs were on the agenda, as people wrapped themselves in flags and "Yes"-related paraphernalia. Even the blue Estelada could be seen among the crowds to show a degree of solidarity between various independence movements in Europe. | |
Comment: See: Scottish referendum result undoubtedly rigged
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| Secret History |
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Phys.org
2014-11-27 00:00:00
A limestone statuette of a shapely woman some 23,000 years old has been discovered in northern France in what archaeologists Thursday described as an "exceptional" find. Archaeologists stumbled on the Paleolithic-era sculpture during a dig in the summer in Amiens, the first such find in half a century. "The discovery of this masterpiece is exceptional and internationally significant," said Nicole Phoyu-Yedid, the head of cultural affairs in the area, on showing the find to the media. "We were expecting to find classical vestiges such as tooled flint or bones," said archaeologist Clement Paris. | |
Comment: See also: Ancient Siberian skeletons confirm Native American origins
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| Science & Technology |
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Scott Kaufman
Raw Story 2014-12-01 00:00:00
According to a paper published in the latest Journal of Neuroscience, scientists have successfully injected human glial cells - which support the communication between neurons - into mouse brains, creating hybrid mice four times smarter than their peers. Steve Goldman and his team extracted glial cells from donated fetuses and injected them into mice. Within a year, the mouse glial cells had been significantly displaced by the human. Glial cells - in this case, astrocytes - strengthen the synapses. The average human astrocyte is 10 to 20 times larger and has 100 times as many tendrils as a mouse astrocyte. "We could see the human cells taking over the whole space," Goldman told New Scientist. "It seemed like the mouse counterparts were fleeing to the margins." The human cells only stopped when they reached the physical limit of the mouse's cranial capacity. | |
Comment: Isn't it ironic that they (the PTB) contaminate the drinking water with fluoride that destroys brain cells, feed us with GMO food that modify our DNA, vaccinate us with mercury that destroys our immune system, bombard us with mind-numbing TV programs that corrupt our brain and coerce us to dumb obedience and create mice that are smarter than their peers? Is this progress?
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David Dickinson
Universe Today 2014-12-01 19:04:00
It's a dangerous universe out there, for a budding young space-faring species. Killer comets, planet sterilizing gamma ray bursts, and death rocks from above are all potential hazards that an adolescent civilization has to watch out for. This week offers two close shaves, as newly discovered Near Earth Asteroids (NEAs) 2014 WC201 and 2014 WX202 pass by the Earth-Moon system. The passage of 2014 WC201 is coming right up tonight, as the 27-metre space rock passes about 570,000 kilometres from the Earth. That's 1.4 times farther than the distance from the Earth to the Moon. | |
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RT.com
2014-11-30 08:35:00
There is as yet no method to mimic Jesus Christ and turn water into wine, but German chemical engineers have proved they can perform miracles of alchemy. They are now finalizing the assembly of a rig that changes water into gasoline. The German company says it has developed an engineering installation capable of synthesizing petroleum-based fuels from water and carbon dioxide. The 'power-to-liquid' rig converts gases extracted from water into liquid hydrocarbon fuels. "I would call it a miracle because it completely changes the way we are producing fuels for cars, planes and also the chemical industry," Nils Aldag, Chief Financial Officer and co-founder of Sunfire GmbH told RT's Ruptly video agency. The Dresden-based company expects the technology to have a big impact on the future fuel market. The electrically-powered installation uses a process known as Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis, first developed by German chemists Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch in 1925. The Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) reaction converts colorless, odorless, incombustible carbon dioxide gas (CO2) extracted from water, and hydrogen gas generated from water vapor, by electrolysis into liquid fuels such as diesel, jet kerosene and other chemical products. | |
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Matt Williams
Universe Today 2014-11-29 19:05:00
People tend to think of gravity here on Earth as a uniform and consistent thing. Stand anywhere on the globe, at any time of year, and you'll feel the same downward pull of a single G. But in fact, Earth's gravitational field is subject to variations that occur over time. This is due to a combination of factors, such as the uneven distributions of mass in the oceans, continents, and deep interior, as well as climate-related variables like the water balance of continents, and the melting or growing of glaciers. And now, for the first time ever, these variations have been captured in the image known as the "Potsdam Gravity Potato" - a visualization of the Earth's gravity field model produced by the German Research Center for Geophysics' (GFZ) Helmholtz's Center in Potsdam, Germany. And as you can see from the image above, it bears a striking resemblance to a potato. But what is more striking is the fact that through these models, the Earth's gravitational field is depicted not as a solid body, but as a dynamic surface that varies over time.This new gravity field model (which is designated EIGEN-6C) was made using measurements obtained from the LAGEOS, GRACE, and GOCE satellites, as well as ground-based gravity measurements and data from the satellite altimetry. | |
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Evolution News & Views
2014-11-26 22:10:00
It's not exactly Ferguson, Mo., but the battle between ENCODE researchers and junk-DNA holdouts goes on. Our ongoing coverage of the hostilities left off with the latter sending over their latest salvo. Now, ENCODE is back. Confident that genomes are not mostly junk, they have set their latest contender in the ring: a mouse. The mouse genome was sequenced in 2002 as a primary model in which to study gene function and human diseases and to develop drugs. This was followed by maps of transcribed messenger RNA molecules and of long, non-protein-coding RNAs, which facilitated such experiments and analysis. Yet although 17 mouse strains have been sequenced, genome function and regulation cannot be understood by sequence analysis alone. Now, in four papers published in this issue, the Mouse ENCODE Consortium presents data sets that dramatically enhance our understanding of the regulation of the mouse genome, and of the similarities and differences compared with the human genome. (Emphasis added.)The four papers in Nature announce the findings from the Mouse ENCODE Consortium:
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Comment: So where did the genetic information in DNA come from to begin with? And what about the information that itself regulates DNA expression and development, and is not reducible to DNA sequence? As stubborn as neo-Darwinist materialists are to admit it, the more we learn about DNA, the more we know we don't know, suggesting a worldview completely at odds with traditional materialism.
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Kelly Dickerson
Live Science 2014-11-21 12:10:00
The sun may be partly responsible for lightning strikes on Earth, and scientists think fluctuations in the sun's magnetic field could be used to predict lightning storms weeks in advance. The sun's magnetic field can bend Earth's own magnetic field, and this twisting and turning may be allowing an influx of high-energy particles into the planet's atmosphere. These particles can cause a buildup of electric charge that can trigger lightning strikes. From 2001 to 2006, during a period when the sun's magnetic field was severely skewing the Earth's magnetic field, the United Kingdom saw 50 percent more lightning strikes than normal, according to the new study. This severe skewing happens regularly as the sun's magnetic field shifts. Scientists say this suggests the sun's magnetic field could be used to predict the occurrence of lightning. "We now plan to combine regular weather forecasts, which predict when and where thunderclouds will form, with solar magnetic field predictions," Matt Owens, a professor of space environment physics at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, said in a statement. "This means a reliable lightning forecast could now be a genuine possibility." Earth would be a barren wasteland without a magnetic field. The magnetic field shields the planet from blasts of particles from space, such as high-energy cosmic rays and dangerous solar winds. | |
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Terradaily.com
2014-11-28 14:40:00
A new study has pulled together research into the most diverse place on earth to demonstrate how the organisms below-ground could hold the key to understanding how the worlds ecosystems function and how they are responding to climate change. Published in Nature, the paper by Professor Richard Bardgett from The University of Manchester and Professor Wim van der Putten of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology, brings together new knowledge on this previously neglected area. The paper not only highlights the sheer diversity of life that lives below-ground, but also how rapid responses of soil organisms to climate change could have far reaching impacts on future ecosystems. The paper also explores how the below-ground world can be utilised for sustainable land management. Professor Bardgett explains: "The soil beneath our feet arguably represents the most diverse place on Earth. Soil communities are extremely complex with literally millions of species and billions of individual organisms within a single grassland or forest, ranging from microscopic bacteria and fungi through to larger organisms such as earthworms, ants and moles. "Despite this plethora of life the underground world had been largely neglected by research, it certainly used to be a case of out of sight out of mind, although over the last decade we have seen a significant increase in work in this area." The increase in research on below-ground organisms has helped to explain how they interact with each other and crucially how they influence the above-ground flora and fauna. | |
Comment: What the authors fails to mention is the effect agriculture has had on the soil. Agriculture is the single most destructive thing on earth. It destroys entire ecosystems and kills millions of plants, animals and microorganisms every year. Agriculture is just another form of genocide (and mass extinction) courtesy of greedy psychopaths.
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| Earth Changes |
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Robert Felix
2015-2035 Mini Ice Age - Extreme cold in the U.S. heartland where farming takes placeIce Age Now 2014-11-29 20:21:00 ------------------------------
------------------------------ With 130-year cold sweeping across the USA, temperatures -50F below normal are bound to have an effect on winter wheat seedlings that are just a few inches tall. Temperatures dropped to -26F/-32C, which caused an 8% increase in wheat futures. Thanks to David DuByne, who created this video. | |
Comment: SOTT has been talking about this for quite some time: Fire and Ice: The Day After Tomorrow
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thelocal.at
2014-12-01 20:00:00
The fire service was called out more than 200 times over the weekend in the district of Zwettl (Lower Austria) as a rare ice storm hit the region, bringing chaos with layers of frozen ice in trees. Firefighters have been busy clearing away hundreds of trees from the vicinity of homes and power lines. The trees' branches had been bent almost double by the weight of the ice. The area near Ottenschlag has particularly been hit hard. A combination of very low temperatures and high humidity caused many layers of thick frost to form into heavy ice. Motorists in the region have been asked to exercise extreme caution due to icy conditions on the roads.Northeast Fire Department spokesman Franz Resperger described on Sunday how many trees were destroyed by the ice, including some with trunks more than a meter in diameter.
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Melissa Hills
Daily Mail, UK 2014-11-28 15:22:00
These appalling photos reveal the largely unknown damage that abandoned fishing gear dubbed 'ghost nets' in a new campaign is doing to animals in the ocean surrounding Australia. Turtles are the main victims that get trapped in abandoned nets in the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia and experts estimate there could have been 14,000 that have died over the last nine years, large numbers of seals are also getting caught up in the nets across the country's waters. World Animal Protection has launched the Sea Change campaign with the aim to make fishermen, fisheries and the general public more aware of this problem and they want to save one million animals by 2018.
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Scoop.co.nz
2014-12-01 15:12:00
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza, has declared an emergency in Gaza City, following extreme weather and severe flooding over the past 48 hours exacerbating the already poor humanitarian situation in the enclave, which is dealing with the aftermath of a last summer's conflict, and an acute fuel and energy crisis. "We are particularly concerned for those families still seeking adequate shelter and preparing for the winter months, and for the impact the flooding is already having on children unable to attend school," said UNRWA's Director of Operations Robert Turner in Gaza on Thursday. No casualties or injuries have been reported, but hundreds of residents in the flooded areas around the Sheikh Radwan storm water lagoon have evacuated their homes. One UNRWA school and an UNRWA Collective Centre in Gaza City have been affected by the rising waters. The Agency has established an Area Emergency Operations room in Gaza City following contingency planning undertaken last week. As the largest UN agency in the Gaza Strip, UNRWA supplies emergency fuel to municipalities, water, sanitation and health facilities, partially through the WASH and Health clusters led by UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). | |
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TheLocal.fr
2014-12-01 15:03:00
As southern France recovers from the worst flooding it's seen in years, The Local takes a look at some of the most shocking images of the damage done by the forces of nature. The latest victim was a 73-year-old man who died of heart failure in Rivesaltes, in the Pyrenees-Orientales region, when trying to force his car through a big dip in a road that was flooded. Along the banks of the Agly river in the same region, some 2,800 people had been evacuated by late afternoon Sunday, the government office there said. The flooding was considered already more serious than deadly overflows in 1999 and "we are evacuating residents within 200 metres (yards) of either side of the river," the government said. The prime minister's office dubbed the flooding "exceptional" in a statement but said "the situation is under control." | |
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Lynne LaMaster
Prescott News 2014-12-01 14:56:00
Despite some rock falls, there appear to be no injuries due to Sunday night's earthquake. According to the US National Weather Service, "An earthquake just hit northern Arizona this evening Nov 30th at 10:57pm. The magnitude as reported by the USGS was 4.7 on the Richter Scale. The location was near the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon 12 km north of Sedona. Multiple reports of this earthquake were received in Flagstaff, Sedona and Camp Verde this evening." Rock falls have been reported along 89A near the epicenter. ADOT crews worked to remove the rock and debris overnight from the roadways. Drive carefully! Here is the information from the USGS website | |
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US Geological Survey
2014-12-01 14:50:00
Event Time: 2014-12-01 05:57:38 UTC 2014-11-30 22:57:38 UTC-07:00 at epicenter Location: 34.977°N 111.740°W depth=10.2km (6.4mi) Nearby Cities: 12km (7mi) N of Sedona, Arizona 13km (8mi) NNE of West Sedona, Arizona 25km (16mi) SSW of Flagstaff, Arizona 36km (22mi) NE of Cottonwood, Arizona 172km (107mi) N of Phoenix, Arizona USGS data | |
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Marcus Schneck
The Patriot-News 2014-11-25 17:20:00
Cedar Cliff High School in Camp Hill was visited Tuesday by a snowy owl, one of several of the Arctic birds that have shown up in Pennsylvania in recent days. The large, mostly white birds may be the precursors of a repeat of last winter's mass invasion into Pennsylvania and several other states. Scott Weidensaul, one of the owl researchers who organized the Project SNOWStorm banding and radio-tracking effort in response to last winter's record-setting irruption by snowies, said already this year owls have been spotted in the Gratz Valley of northern Dauphin County, near Morgantown in Berks County, on Presque Isle in Lake Erie and "a bunch on the coast." Dozens of additional snowy owls have been reported throughout the Northeast, around the Great Lakes, and as far south as Illinois and Maryland. | |
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Sarah Bowman
The State (South Carolina) 2014-11-24 00:00:00
When avid birdwatcher Carol Clemens had a chance to see a rare species -- one that usually migrates only along the West Coast -- just 45 minutes from her Hilton Head Island home, she couldn't pass it up. A Ross's goose, similar to but smaller than a snow goose, had been spotted in the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge near Hardeeville, and Clemens hopped in her car almost as soon as she heard. "This bird is so unusual that if I hadn't called my friend to go out and see it, then it would have been a lost opportunity," said Clemens, membership co-chairwoman of the Hilton Head Island Audubon Society. "We were hoping to get a glimpse of the goose, but thought that it would be just a white speck on the horizon," she added. "But then we got almost 10 feet away and could really admire it." Sadly, the visit by both the goose and its apparent companion proved short-lived -- both have been found dead, within about 10 days of their arrival, according to refuge spokeswoman Monica Harris. The first goose is believed to have been killed last week by a bobcat, Harris said. The second was found dead Monday morning, though the cause is not yet known. | |
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EyesOnNews.com
2014-11-27 16:44:00
The Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital is caring and warming up 30 Kemp's ridley sea turtlessuffering from hypothermia just days after they were rescued from a frigid beach on Cape Cod Bay, Mass. On Wednesday, each cold-stunned turtle had a full physical examination, X-rays, a swimming test and was administered intravenous fluids and Vitamin D, according to Bette Zirkelbach, the hospital's manager "We're trying to slowly raise their body temperatures," Zirkelbach said. "We're hoping they will get healthy enough so they can be released."Zirkelbach said some of the turtles have secondary issues including head trauma and pneumonia. The 30 are a portion of 193 flown to Orlando in banana boxes by the U.S. Coast Guard Tuesday evening with the balance going to four other Florida-based marine animal rehabilitation centers.
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Julian Robinson
Daily Mail, UK 2014-11-29 16:19:00
This was the scene at a Cornish beauty spot this morning after walkers discovered a 20ft long whale washed up on a beach. The decomposed carcass of the huge mammal was found at the popular holiday destination of Pentewan Sands near Mevagissey in Cornwall. Stunned dog walkers could be seen stopping to take pictures of what is believed to be a dead juvenile Minke whale. | |
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More than 50 green sea turtles were released into the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas coast on Friday after recovering from cold-stunning, or hypothermia, brought on by a drastic drop in water temperature. The release has taken place in phases, with Friday being the last major release for sea turtles rescued after a mid-November cold snap in Texas sent temperatures below freezing in large parts of the state. | |
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Andy Mussoline
Accuweather 2014-11-29 18:16:00
A fresh blast of frigid air and bone-chilling winds will continue to expand across the Plains and Midwest through Monday, hitting cities from Minneapolis to Chicago and Oklahoma City. The frigid blast has already dropped temperatures nearly 60 degrees in a 24-hour period across parts of Montana Friday into Saturday. Some locales went from the mid-50s on Friday to nearly 10 below zero F. The arctic chill will dive south and east through Monday, hitting Minneapolis, Chicago and Oklahoma City with sharply colder air and drastically plummeting temperatures.
Highs near 40 F in Minneapolis Saturday afternoon will be replaced by teens and single digits Sunday and Monday. Bone-chilling winds will accompany the cold blast on Sunday, forcing afternoon AccuWeather.com RealFeel® temperatures into the single digits below zero. Chicago's RealFeels will sit in the single digits above zero throughout the day on Monday. "This latest cold blast will not be nearly as wide-reaching or long lasting as the one that hit the country in the middle of November," said AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Mark Paquette. "The Plains and Midwest will be hit the hardest, while the Southeast will avoid much of the chill." Oklahoma City will be near record highs in the 70s Sunday before highs plummet into the 30s for Monday. Winds will place RealFeel temperatures in the single digits around daybreak Monday. | ||
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ABC News
2014-11-28 02:00:00
A volcano in southern Japan blasted out chunks of magma Friday in the first such eruption in 22 years, causing flight cancellations and prompting warnings to stay away from its crater. The Japan Meteorological Agency said that Mount Aso spewed out lava debris and smoke, shooting plumes of ash a kilometer (3,280 feet) into the sky. Dozens of flights from Kumamoto, the nearest city, were canceled. | |
Comment: The seismic activity and volcanic eruptions have been on the increase in Japan for awhile:
It's been just two months since Japan's Mt. Ontake erupted:
Why all the volcanic eruptions, seismic activity, and other extreme weather phenomena? How could we as a people, be connected in all of this? See:
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Chillymanjaro
The Watchers 2014-11-27 17:05:00
Most of the US Southwest region has been suffering from a persistent lack of rain and snow. More than 64 million people are directly affected by drought in the Southwest and Southern Plains, and far more are indirectly affected, mostly in agricultural sector.
California is experiencing the worst drought conditions. The past three years have been the driest in California history, and it looks like 2014 will be the hottest on record. Since April 2014, the entire state of California was in some stage of drought. 80 % was in extreme drought and 55 % was classified with exceptional drought in middle of November 2014. In period between October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014, California received just 20 % of normal rainfall and 18 % of it snowpack. Reservoirs in the state collectively stood at 57 % of its capacity. | ||
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| Fire in the Sky |
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Dan Bloom and Stephanie Linning
The Daily Mail 2014-11-30 16:21:00
Last night, Britons from Aberdeen to Devon were left baffled by a series of mysterious explosions which shook windows and disturbed sleeping children. Hundreds of Twitter users reported the sounds between around 9pm and 11pm last night, with many describing the noise as sounding like 'distant fireworks'. But despite suggestions of RAF jets, meteors and aliens flooding the social media site today, no one has been able to explain what was heard. Even the MoD has said it is stumped. Now a recording of the 'loud bangs', taken by a woman as she sat at home in Croydon, south London, might shed light on what is really behind the unexplained noise.
Some suggested that unusual weather conditions might be the source, but the Met Office today dismissed the claims. Others on Twitter suggested that it could be traced back to controlled explosions or military exercises. Meanwhile, conspiracy theorists took to social media to claim that aliens were to blame. Claudia Angiletta said that she was watching TV at home when the unexplained sounds started. She told MailOnline: 'I was just at home watching TV when I couldn't hear the program due to the loud noises. It was very distracting as it went on for ages. | ||
Comment: It's true that there can be several possible explanation to the mysterious booms, but considering the evidence and constantly increasing number of meteorite sightings, we dare to speculate that this case has something to do with it as well.
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| Health & Wellness |
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Lauren McCauley
'The most dangerous thing would be if people now think Ebola is over and become complacent,' warns Ebola expert.RINF 2014-12-01 15:37:00
The World Health Organization has failed to meet their December 1 goal for isolating and containing the deadly Ebola outbreak in many regions of West Africa, the United Nations reports. The targets, set in early October, aimed to get 70 per cent of the Ebola cases isolated and treated and to have 70 percent of the deceased safely buried by December 1. Of the hardest hit nations - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone - only Guinea is on track to meet the deadline, WHO Spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said in a press briefing last week. | |
Comment: It was apparent long ago that government organizations do not have a handle on the Ebola outbreak. It would be in the best interests of the hardest hit African countries to eschew the counsel of the WHO and UN and put a team together that knows what they're doing.
Perhaps this will give them a clue: Ebola: Fear, lies and the evidence (VIDEO) | |
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Trina Ricketts
The Liberty Beacon 2014-12-01 13:23:00
In British Columbia (Canada), school nurses deliberately track down youth aged 14 and up who have consent forms from the their parents marked "NO" to all vaccines and attempt to persuade those children to get vaccinated under "mature consent" laws that state children over the age of 14 may make their own decisions about medical interventions. A number of my friends' children were coerce into vaccines against their parents' wishes and one parent in particular has taken his case to the BC Civil Liberties Association. When vaccination day approached for my 14-year-old daughter, I wanted to keep her home from school. Knowing that many parents relent to vaccinating their children despite their original intention to refuse because they are bullied into it by nurses or doctors, I can easily imagine how hard it must be for children to refuse in the face of such pressure. I planned to keep my daughter home from school on vaccination day, but the shots took place during her favorite classes and she didn't want to miss them. I coached my daughter on what to say and do if anyone tried to force her to take the shots. I also sent a letter requesting non-vaccination.In my letter, I informed the vaccine-pushers that I would take it to the courts and the media if my daughter was coerced into getting vaccinated. To my surprise, the Medical Health Officer for my local health authority responded to my letter. It was the usual propaganda with a dash of condescension and a wallop of complete ignorance. I could not help it. I decided to respond... | |
Comment: For more information, see Gardasil: Medical torture and child abuse by Big Pharma:
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Andrew Buelt, DO
Andrew Buelt, DO, and Joe Weatherly, DO, are family medicine residents in St. Petersburg, Fla. Together, they co-produce the podcast Questioning Medicine, where they deconstruct issues confronting today's clinicians. In this guest blog, Buelt gives his take on the overuse of prostate cancer screenings.Med Page Today 2014-10-05 19:12:00
Let the Prostate Be As prostate cancer awareness month just ended, prostate cancer screening seemed a fitting subject for this week's blog. Those who know the evidence might think this argument pits European practices against our own domestic actions. Almost like a Ryder Cup for prostate screening. However, I recently saw that almost 50% of patients admit to undergoing lubed finger insertions and blood tests, which we know to be fairly inaccurate, in the last 12 months. | |
Comment: See also: Prostate cancer screenings essentially useless
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SCG News
2014-11-29 00:00:00
Just about everything we've been told about Ebola since the beginning of the outbreak in west Africa, is wrong. The means of transmission, the incubation period, its persistence on surfaces, available treatment methods have all been systematically misrepresented. That's an extreme claim, and extreme claims must bear the burden proof, so let's take a look at the evidence.
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Comment: See SCG's previous Ebola video as well: Ebola - What you're not being told
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Sayer Ji
GreenMedInfo 2014-11-28 14:30:00
A groundbreaking study published this month in Nature challenges a century old assumption about the innate pathogenicity of these extremely small, self-replicating particles known as viruses. Titled, "An enteric virus can replace the beneficial function of commensal bacteria," researchers found that an "enteric RNA virus can replace the beneficial function of commensal bacteria in the intestine." Known as murine (mouse) noravirus (MNV), researchers found that infecting germ-free or antibiotic-treated mice infection with MNV "restored intestinal morphology and lymphocyte function without inducing overt inflammation and disease." The researchers found:
Despite the commonly held belief that viruses are vectors of morbidity and mortality that must be vaccinated against in order to save us from inevitable harm and death, the new study dovetails with a growing body of research showing that our own genome is 8% viral in origin. | |
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livefreelivenatural.com
2014-06-24 19:39:00
The idea that DNA from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is broken down in the digestive tract and rendered innocuous, a common industry claim, is patently false. A recent study published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE found that large, meal-derived DNA fragments from GMOs are fully capable of transferring their genes directly into the bloodstream, deconstructing the myth that transgenic foods act on the body in the same way as natural foods. A combined analysis of four other independent studies involving more than 1,000 human samples and a team of researchers from universities in Hungary, Denmark and the U.S. looked at the assimilation process for GMOs as they are currently consumed throughout the world. This includes derivatives of GM crops such as high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) from GM corn, for instance, and soy protein from GM soybeans, as well as meat derived from animals fed a GM-based diet. | |
Comment: Back in 2012 Dr. Don Huber, plant pathologist, discussed the shocking discovery of a brand new organism in genetically engineered crops. It is likely that Dr. Huber's research led him to a similar conclusion, regarding GMOs, as the team of researchers reporting their findings in thePLOSONE journal. The following is just one of Dr. Huber's concerns:
The situation is equally disturbing with respects to the genetic engineering of the crop itself. Many experts have admitted that we really do not yet understand genetics enough to dabble in this way and release it into the wild. Because what we do know is that when you insert a foreign gene, you alter not just one feature - you're altering multiple things, and you can end up with some highly unpredictable and unforeseeable results.The results....
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Peter R. Breggin, MD
Natural News 2014-11-26 15:00:00
Psychiatric drugs are more dangerous than you have ever imagined. If you haven't been prescribed one yet, you are among the lucky few. If you or a loved one are taking psychiatric drugs, there is hope; but you need to understand the dangers and how to minimize the risk. The following overview focuses on longer-term psychiatric drug hazards, although most of them can begin to develop within weeks. They are scientifically documented in my recent book Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal and my medical text Brain-Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry, Second Edition. | |
Comment: As if it weren't bad enough to be ingesting these drug cocktails in pill form, evidence shows that our water supply is tainted with dangerous drugs as well.
Cancer and psychiatric drugs found in tap water The Drug Store in Your Tap Water Drugs in Drinking Water a Growing Problem | |
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Sayer Ji
Greenmedinfo.com 2014-11-24 19:05:00
A new study finds highly malignant mumps infections in those successfully vaccinated against the virus... A provocative new study titled, "Epidemic of complicated mumps in previously vaccinated young adults in the South-West of France," reveals that the MMR vaccine, despite generating high rates of presumably protective IgG antibodies against mumps, does not always translate into real-world immunity against infection as we have repeatedly been told. To the contrary, the study details cases where, despite the detection of high levels of antibodies against the mumps virus, patients contracted a malignant form of mumps that only rarely follows from natural, community acquired infection. | |
Comment: Additional information that vaccine failure is well established:
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Ronald Grisanti D.C., D.A.B.C.O., D.A.C.B.N., M.S.
Your Medical Detective 2014-11-29 00:00:00
A growing body of medical literature has discovered the damaging effects of mercury on endothelial (the inner lining of blood vessels) function and vascular smooth muscle function. Mercury induces mitochondrial dysfunction with reduction in adenosine triphosphate (ATP), depletion of glutathione, and increased lipid peroxidation. Increased oxidative stress and reduced oxidative defense are common. The overall vascular effects of mercury include increased oxidative stress and inflammation, reduced oxidative defense, thrombosis, dyslipidemia, and immune and mitochondrial dysfunction. The clinical consequences of mercury toxicity include hypertension, coronary heart disease, myocardial infarction, cardiac arrhythmias, reduced heart rate variability, increased carotid intima-media thickness and carotid artery obstruction, cerebrovascular accident, generalized atherosclerosis, and renal dysfunction. | |
Comment: For more information on how to detox mercury, check out Infrared Saunas: An Easy Way to Lose Weight, Lower Blood Pressure, Detoxify, and Improve Brain Function.
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Justine Alford
IFLScience 2014-11-26 05:12:00
Since its advent 50 years ago, the pill has helped revolutionize contraception and transform women's lives. The pill is so popular today that over 100 million women worldwide currently use this method of contraception, and the majority of users report high levels of satisfaction. Many women, however, experience unpleasant side effects, ranging from mood changes toandrogenic effects, such as acne and unwanted hair growth. The latter are caused by the fact that some progestins (the synthetic versions of the hormone progesterone used in oral contraceptives)interact with androgen receptors. The androgens, such as testosterone, are steroid hormones that are responsible for male characteristics. Some progestins have high androgenic activity and therefore increase the chances of androgen-related side effects, but many more modern pills actually exert anti-androgenic effects. Over the years, many studies have scrutinized these side effects, but the focus of the majority of these studies has been on metabolic and emotional effects. A few studies also looked at effects on cognitive tasks, and some found that the pill is associated with memory changes, enhancing verbal and recognition memory. The possible effects on brain structure and function, however, have been largely ignored, despite the fact that the steroid from which many progestins were derived has been demonstrated to induce changes in the brain. A few years back, a study aimed to address this gap in our knowledge and discovered that users of oral contraceptives had larger volumes of gray matter (brain tissue consisting of nerve cell bodies) in certain areas of the brain. However, they failed to take into account the androgenic activity (androgenicity) of the progestin or control for age differences. Building on this work, scientists from the University of Salzberg enrolled 60 women into a new study. 20 of the participants were naturally cycling, i.e. not taking oral contraceptives (OCs), 18 were using OCs containing androgenic progestins, and 22 were taking OCs containing anti-androgenic progestins. As described in Brain Research, after controlling for age, MRI scans revealed that women using anti-androgenic progestins had significantly larger gray matter volumes in several brain regions when compared with naturally cycling women. These brain areas include the hippocampus, which is involved in learning and memory, and the fusiform face area (FFA), which is thought to be specialized for facial recognition. Furthermore, they found that volume increased with duration of use, i.e. the longer women had been taking the pill, the greater the gray matter volume in these areas. Women taking androgenic progestins, however, had smaller gray matter volumes in certain brain regions when compared with naturally cycling women. | |
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Paul Tadich
Sputnik 2014-11-28 01:12:00
Researchers have tested a new way to encourage the body's own immune system to fight off cancer. Results are better than they expected. A series of papers published Wednesday in the journal Nature show how the immune system can fight off cancer, and how that discovery could usher in new vaccines to stimulate that process to become more efficient. It's the latest advance in personalized medicine - tailoring a treatment to the unique genetic profile of the patient. One of the jobs of the immune system is to patrol the body looking for foreign invaders that are then disposed of. When tumor cells arise, they are often "marked for death" because they have special molecules on the surface called antigens. The immune system recognizes these antigens and then destroys the tumor cell. But cancer cells can be crafty. Some of them are able to hide from the immune system because they produce chemicals that can shut the immune response down. The chemicals disable a component of the immune system called T cells. So scientists designed a vaccine to block the activity of those disabling chemicals. This allows the T cells to rev into gear and destroy the tumor cells. A vaccine has to be created for each individual because everyone's cancer cells are different. "The concept is that, if we engage the immune system to attack the cancer, the immune system has the ability to remember, it has memory," Antoni Ribas, Professor of Medicine and director of the Tumor Immunology Program at the Johnson Cancer Center at UCLA, told Sputnik. Ribas was one of the doctors who carried out some of the cancer vaccine experiments. "That would lead to a long-lasting response, which is the feature that's important." In one experiment, mice with an advanced form of muscle cancer were given a vaccine tailored to their specific tumor type. Astonishingly, the immune systems of the animals responded by obliterating the cancer in 90% of the mice that were treated. "This is proof that personalized cancer vaccines can be very powerful and need to be applied to human cancers now", said Dr. Robert Schreiber of the Washington University School of Medicine, one of the lead authors of the study. As knowledge of what makes the immune system tick continues to improve, the effectiveness of using the body's own defenses to fight cancer is likely to make treatment outcomes better. | |
Comment: While this is very interesting, it is also dangerous. This vaccine could potentially rake in mega bucks for the pharmaceutical industry. Vaccine efficacy is very questionable. Real research should involve delving into how to prevent cancer in the first place like with proper diet and care for all aspects of your body and mind.
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Jennifer Marguilis, Ph.D
Greenmedinfo.com 2014-11-24 00:28:00
When the editor of the Washington Independent Review of Books invited me to review a recent narrative book about vaccines, I said yes. It was a natural fit, since I've been researching vaccines for the past fifteen years, participating publicly in vaccine debates, and writing about the vexing issue of childhood vaccination for nearly as long. But when an advanced reading copy came in the mail, I recognized the author's name as someone who had mentioned me in a January 2013 article in Harper's Magazine. I flipped through the book, and since her essay from Harper's was printed there nearly verbatim, my name was also in the book. I called the editor to ask if that might create the perception of a conflict of interest. "Do you think you can write a fair and balanced review," the editor asked me on the phone. | |
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Maryam Henein
TruthOut 2014-11-26 22:04:00
In 2013, the United Nations announced that the world's agricultural needs can be met with localized organic farms. That's right, we do not need giant monocultures that pour, spray and coat our produce with massive amounts of poisons, only to create mutant pests and weeds while decimating pollinators and harming human health. Don't believe the hype: We do not need genetically modified foods "to feed the world." From my experience, many of these - how shall we say it - "worker bees" (i.e the GMO salesmen) who spread this propaganda, actually believe conventional tactics are necessary to ensure food security. They've drunk the Kool-Aid and cannot envision another possibility. The changes threaten their very existence. | |
Comment: SOTT has carried several articles on the topic of organic vs. conventional/industrial produced food. Below are a list of articles that give more data about why this topic is important, in addition to tools consumers can use to make informed decisions when purchasing food:
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| Science of the Spirit |
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| High Strangeness |
 A rain of mysterious strands of wispy, white 'angel hair' fell from the sky in Portugal - leaving locals baffled by the substance, which seems to "come alive" under ultraviolet light. Some have even questioned whether it was of terrestrial origin - or left drifting in the air by a passing UFO. One local, who did not want to be named, said, "It fell during the afternoon. I tried to inquire if aeroplanes flew over before, but no straight answer. It happened 2 weekends in a row. "Me and a couple of friends sent it to be analyzed - and the weirdest things happened. It reacts to UV light. It comes alive." Similar sightings of strands falling from the sky have been reported in countries such as Finland and Canada - but the samples often evaporate before they can be properly analyzed. Conspiracy theorists believe they could be related to UFO propulsion systems - or even to "chemtrails", sinister biological agents supposedly distributed by aircraft around the world. |
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There is something about Overtoun Bridge that lures dogs to their deaths. The Gothic stone structure, located near Dumbarton in Scotland, spans a narrow gorge on the grounds of a 19th-century manor. Since the 1960s, some 50 dogs have perished after leaping from the same spot on the bridge. Hundreds more have jumped but lived, some even returning for a second leap onto the jagged rocks 50 feet below. These apparent canine suicides have baffled the poor dog owners unlucky enough to witness their dear pets jumping off the "dog suicide bridge." Conspiracy theories arose. Suspicions of supernatural forces grew. Was there a disturbance in the magnetic field? Could the bridge be haunted? | |
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| Don't Panic! Lighten Up! |
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Russell Brand
The Trews (episode 199)The Trews 2014-11-27 18:52:00 Russell Brand answers questions and comments on subjects including anarchy, psychopaths, immigration, fascism, voting, and what happens when he's not talking.
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Comment: Brand is funny about it, but the issue of psychopaths in business really and 'trewly' is serious, and deserves looking into more closely: Ponerology 101: Snakes in Suits
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Giordano Nanni and Hugo Farrant
Juice Rap News 2014-11-29 00:00:00
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Comment: We heartily agree!
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