Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Puppet Masters

Hersh: Abu Ghraib video shows young boys raped in front of their mothers Geraldine Sealey Salon 2014-12-15 20:49:00 After Donald Rumsfeld testified on the Hill about Abu Ghraib in May, there was talk of more photos and video in the Pentagon's custody more horrific than anything made public so far. "If these are released to the public, obviously it's going to make matters worse," Rumsfeld said. Since then, the Washington Post has disclosed some new details and images of abuse at the prison. But if Seymour Hersh is right, it all gets much worse. Comment: No shit, Rumsfeld! Things really do get 'worse' for people like Ted Bundy when the atrocities they perpetrate on other humans come to light. The question is this: does the fact that things will get worse necessarily mean that's a bad thing? The answer is simple: absolutely not.

Comment: We said it in both our SOTT Radio Network shows this last weekend (Behind the Headlines and The Truth Perspective): the details released in the Senate CIA torture report are just the tip of the iceberg; they have done and are doing far worse. And here it is: raping young boys in front of their mothers. These psychopaths' depravity knows no bounds. They and the scumbags covering up for them need to be exposed, identified, prosecuted, and punished. Anything less is simply unacceptable. Details like this only go to show that the American empire is not just dying: it is dead. And as long as it continues to infect the world with the stench of its corruption, the world will suffer.

Psychopath Obama belittles US military with tasteless joke to troops Sott.net 2014-12-16 20:52:00 Comment: Not content with the "fight them over there to keep us safe here" BS, President Obama recently tried to cover up the fact that US soldiers are used as cannon fodder to line the pockets of the political and corporate elite by suggesting they were like "Santa in fatigues" for deploying abroad to kill innocent civilians at Christmas time. Monday, at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey, during an address to the troops, President Obama made a joke that they are like "'Santa in Fatigues," which was received with complete silence, prompting the president to nervously name-drop the military aircraft C-130 to evoke a response. President Obama said, "We are free and safe and secure over here because you are willing to serve over there," adding "You never stop serving, you never stop giving, you guys are like Santa in fatigues. Although I bet one of those C-130's is a little more efficient then Santa's sleigh."

Another staged "lone wolf" attack in Sydney, Australia Toni Cartalucci Global Research 2014-12-16 18:53:00 Suspect had multiple aliases, granted political asylum by Australian government, interviewed by Australian media, spent years as fake pro-Western "Shia'a cleric" condemning Iran and Syria before recently "converting" to Sunni and supporting ISIS. Another embarrassing chapter has unfolded for Western intelligence and security communities in the wake of the so-called "Sydney Siege." The suspect named by the media as "Man Haron Monis" also has gone by the names "Manteghi Boroujerdi" and "Mohammad Hassan Manteghi" and was an individual now confirmed to have long been on the radar of the Australian government, media, law enforcement, and court system since his arrival on Australian shores almost two decades ago. Claiming he was a "lone wolf" attacker whose violence and extremism could not have been foreseen is betrayed by an extensive criminal record including murder, preceded by the suspicious circumstances that brought him to Australia to begin with.

Comment: This siege smells very much like another setup by authorities, much in line with the Sandy Hook school massacre and the Boston Marathon bombing. Especially the "lone wolf" theory, or the claim that the suspect was just a "fruitcake" raises a red flag. Interesting also how the Australian media reacted to this attack: "Australian security analyst Rory Medcalf of the Lowy Institute for International Policy, a foreign-policy think tank based in Sydney, said the siege would likely damp opposition to the government's recent counterterrorism measures. It wasn't clear whether authorities would seek to tighten the laws further." Source: Australia Confronts Security Challenge After Sydney Siege For more information about the Sandy Hook massacre and the Boston Marathon see: Sandy Hook psy-ops: Police state here we come Sandy Hook hoaxes and the terror of the situation Were The Boston Marathon Bombers 'Mind Controlled'?

Slaughter in Pakistan: Who put the Taliban into power? Who is funding them now? Tony Cartalucci Land Destroyer Report 2014-12-16 16:36:00 Taliban militants stormed an army public school in the northern city of Peshawar, killing over 100, including many young students. It is believed up to 10 militants took part in the attack, dressed as soldiers to first infiltrate the school's grounds before beginning the attack. While the details of the attack are forthcoming, the background of the Taliban and the persistent threat it represents is well established, though often spun across the Western media. Who Put the Taliban into Power? Who is Funding them Now?  In the 1980's the United States, Saudi Arabia, and elements within the then Pakistani government funneled millions of dollars, weapons, equipment, and even foreign fighters into Afghanistan in a bid to oust Soviet occupiers. Representatives of this armed proxy front would even visit the White House, meeting President Ronald Reagan personally. The "Mujaheddin" would successfully expel the Soviet Union and among the many armed groups propped up by the West and its allies, the Taliban would establish primacy over Kabul. While Western media would have the general public believe the US rejected the Taliban, never intending them to come to power, it should be noted that the Afghans who visited Reagan in the 1980's would not be the last to visit the US and cut deals with powerful American corporate-financier interests.  In 1997, Taliban representatives would find themselves in Texas, discussing a possible oil pipeline with energy company Unocal (now merged with Chevron). The BBC would report in a 1997 article titled, "Taleban in Texas for talks on gas pipeline," that: A senior delegation from the Taleban movement in Afghanistan is in the United States for talks with an international energy company that wants to construct a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan across Afghanistan to Pakistan. A spokesman for the company, Unocal, said the Taleban were expected to spend several days at the company's headquarters in Sugarland, Texas.

Comment: For more background on the Taliban attack in Pakistan see: At least 126 killed after Taliban militants stormed an Army school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar For more information on U.S. sponsoring of terrorist groups see: "Game" of Wars: US "fighting" terrorists it fostered Since at least the end of the Second World War, the US has been directly and indirectly fostering, aiding, funding and training fighting militias and groups in different regions of the world to further its own interests. However, the irony of this policy is that in most of the cases, the US ended up fighting, in the name of establishing peace, these very forces of destruction. History is replete with such examples. As the 'sole' super power of the world, it has actually been fighting the war of its own survival, that is, to continue to survive as the 'sole' super power. As such, not only does it 'invent' enemies, but also reasons to fight them. Let's have a look at some of these 'invented' wars.

Italian journalist and politician Giulietto Chiesa arrested by U.S. vassal Estonia for speaking against Western propaganda TASS 2014-12-16 11:29:00 Authoritative Italian journalist and politician Giulietto Chiesa is being kept in custody in Estonia without proper explanation of the causes, his wife, Fiammetta Cucurnia, told TASS late on Monday. "Giulietto is being kept in a detention ward. His mobile phone has been taken from him. But what is most surprising is that neither he nor the Italian foreign ministry have been explained the reason for his detention," she said. Chiesa arrived in the Estonian capital city Tallinn early on Monday to take part in a conference entitled "Is Russia Europe's Enemy?" However he failed to do that, since he was arrested in a hotel, his wife said, adding that the Italian ambassador to Italy was staying with the journalist. The local media said the Italian journalists and former member of the European Parliament, who openly criticizes the policy of NATO's eastwards expansion conducted by the United States and some European countries, particularly the Baltic republic, had been put on a blacklist of personae non grata. Chiesa spent many years in Russia and witnessed the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the birth of new Russia. He visits Russian quite frequently and now he is among the few in Europe who openly speaks about what is going on in Ukraine and where the Ukrainian crisis is rooted in. Chiesa organizes conferences and seminars where he condemns the United States' policy and warns against one-polar world. The latest such conference took place on December 12 at the national parliament and involved international experts, political observers, commentators. On December 13, Chiesa organized a roundtable meeting within the framework of the Nobel Peace Prize Winner summit in Rome. The meeting was attended by Federica Mogherini, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Comment: We only have to read the statements of Giulietto Chiesa to understand why the U.S. puppet Estonia is keeping him in custody. "There is no freedom of information in the West," he said. "World media are dominated by the American dictates. There is only one opinion. It is nothing else but censorship." [...] "The revolt in Ukraine was preceded by long and thorough preparations by the United States," the Italian journalist stressed. "This is the only way once can interpret Victoria Nuland's words about five billion dollars. It is absolutely obvious." [...] "Journalists are ignorant themselves and are playing on people's ignorance.In Italy, for instance, they have been suggesting the idea that Russia has intruded into Ukraine." [...] He said he strongly believed Russia's actions could be characterized as "defence," not as "attack."

Combat readiness exercise held in Russia's westernmost Kaliningrad region TASS 2014-12-16 11:01:00 The snap check involved up to 9,000 people, 642 pieces of weaponry and equipment, including 250 tanks and armored vehicles, about a hundred artillery mounts, 55 ships, and 41 aircraft A surprise inspection of combat readiness of troops was held from December 5 through December 10 in Russia's westernmost Kaliningrad region, which is an exclave territory in the southeast of the Baltic Sea littoral area, General Andrei Kartapolov, the chief of Operations Department at the General Staff of the Armed Forces said on Tuesday. The troops were inspected in line with a decision of President Vladimir Putin, who is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. "It embraced up to 9,000 people, 642 pieces of weaponry and equipment, including 250 tanks and armored vehicles, about a hundred artillery mounts and salvo systems, 55 naval ships, and 41 aircraft," says a report issued by the General Staff. "The inspectors assessed combat readiness of the group of troops of the Western Military District and its capability to ensure security of the Kaliningrad region." "The exercise involved the units or missile troops, artillery, mechanized infantry, airborne troops, marine forces, reconnaissance, signal corps, logistics, as well as combat aircraft and airlifters and ships of the Baltic Fleet," the report said. Over a period of two days, the airlift jets and ships of the Baltic Fleet relocated two a missile brigade and an airborne brigade to the Kaliningrad region. Units of the missile brigade had Iskander-M missile complexes among the equipment delivered to Kaliningrad.

Comment: Is this Russia's response to the recent NATO exercise called 'Trident Lance' which dealt with "the hypothetical invasion of NATO member Estonia?" See: Operation "Trident Lance" - Is Kaliningrad NATO's real target? Of course Russia is not going to "invade Estonia", an absurd hypothesis. There is no conceivable evidence or reason for a "Russian invasion" of Estonia. But examine a map of the Baltic. There, very discretely, lies Kaliningrad. A small enclave of half a million people belonging to Russia. It used to be Königsburg, a part of Germany, lost in the Second World War. Wedged between Poland and Lithuania, it is already hit by damage to its trade with the E.U. resulting from U.S.-imposed sanctions.The prospect of recuperating Kaliningrad/Königsberg through some manipulated incident could be a factor in the present official German anti-Russian position, which goes against German economic interests and about half of German public opinion. A war to conquer Kaliningrad would be started by some contrived "international crisis" to "respond" to.

Extreme moderates: Syrian 'opposition' losing ground, ISIS gaining upper hand Moon of Alabama 2014-12-13 00:11:00 The U.S. has given up on the Fee Syrian Army in the north of Syria: The United States has stopped paying most of the pro-western rebels fighting in northern Syria and has suspended the delivery of arms to them, rebel commanders told McClatchy Tuesday. Some of the FSA mercenaries, now no longer getting paid, are joining jihadi groups: As many as 800 to 1,000 fighters from U.S.-vetted rebel groups already have joined Nusra, ... The stop of support in the north is confirmed by additional reports. That this is likely real can also be seen in the number of arms video posted. The U.S. gave TOW anti-tank missiles to the mercenaries but demanded video uploads to prove their use. Eliot Higgins, though not always trustworthy,counted these numbers: TOW videos posted by the opposition by month Apr 9 May 16 Jun 16 Jul 37 Aug 35 Sep 44 Oct 58 Nov 26 Dec 3 The U.S. is still paying for some small FSA groups within Aleppo city but these are now surrounded by the Syrian Arab Army and unlikely to be able to hold their positions. Their hold of Aleppo city is politically symbolic and therefore something the U.S. wants them to keep. It is the reason why the UN envoy is trying to negotiate a ceasefire for Aleppo. Syria and Russia are playing along but Aleppo will likely be completely in government hands before any ceasefire is reached.

Comment: Israel has also been giving support to Nusra in Syria. And you can bet both Israel and the States have at least some degree of control over ISIS -- it is their creation, after all. SOTT EXCLUSIVE: Match made in Sheol: Israel working with terrorists in Syria (says UN), Mossad training ISIS (says Putin aide) Israeli attacks on Syria: How Israel backs terrorists against Syria So while it may not look to MoA above that ISIS will pose an existential threat to the Syrian government, that depends entirely on the amount of covert support directed their way by their Western handlers. The plan or contingency seems to have been to arm the moderates -- with the full awareness that any support given to them would fall into the hands of ISIS eventually, whether through defection, defeat, or surrender -- until the point when ISIS consolidates all that material, at which point it can do Washington's job without leaving any American fingerprints, by taking down Assad's government. Whether that will happen or not depends on many factors, including support given to Assad from friendly countries (like Russia).

Ron Paul: All I want for Christmas is a real Government shutdown Ron Paul Ron Paul Institute 2014-12-14 00:00:00 The political class breathed a sigh of relief Saturday when the US Senate averted a government shutdown by passing the $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill. This year's omnibus resembles omnibuses of Christmas past in that it was drafted in secret, was full of special interest deals and disguised spending increases, and was voted on before most members could read it. The debate over the omnibus may have made for entertaining political theater, but the outcome was never in doubt. Most House and Senate members are so terrified of another government shutdown that they would rather vote for a 1,774-page bill they have not read than risk even a one or two-day government shutdown. Those who voted for the omnibus to avoid a shutdown fail to grasp that the consequences of blindly expanding government are far worse than the consequences of a temporary government shutdown. A short or even long-term government shutdown is a small price to pay to avoid an economic calamity caused by Congress' failure to reduce spending and debt.

Comment: Here is what Senator Elizabeth Warren had to say about that 1,774 page omnibus, and what snuck into it through Wall Street/Bankster cronyism/corruption that now makes up our government. This is little more than a declaration of war on the people.

Society's Child

Pennsylvania shooting spree suspect Bradley Stone found dead in woods Vince Lattanzio NBC 2014-12-16 22:58:00 Bradley Stone, the man prosecutors say is responsible for killing his ex-wife and five of her family members and seriously stabbing one other before going on the run, has been found dead in the woods near his home, the Montgomery County District Attorney said. His body was discovered at 1:38 p.m. Tuesday near W. 4th Street and Schoolhouse Road North Hanover Township, District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman said. The location is about a half mile from the former Marine's home where SWAT teams have been methodically searching for the man for the past two days. It appears Stone took his own life through "self-inflicted cutting wounds to the center of his body," Vetri Ferman said. A knife was discovered nearby, she said. Police also found a video recorded by Stone on a cell phone on or near his person, law enforcement sources said. Stone, 35, had not been seen since just before 5 a.m. Monday as he rushed his screaming children out of their mother's apartment in Harleysville. Moments before, neighbors and police said he gunned down the woman, Nicole Hill Stone. She was the last of seven family members he shot that morning, prosecutors said. The children were left in his neighborhood in Pennsburg and he fled, officials said. The girls, along with Stone's current wife and infant are now in protective custody, Vetri Ferman said.

Comment: This is such a sad and needless tragedy.

Keeping colonialism in place: Haitian police and UN 'peacekeepers' fire on protesters Aljazeera 2014-12-13 09:25:00 Haitian police and UN peacekeepers have clashed with protesters as several thousand opposition supporters tried to march on the presidential palace, demanding new leadership. The Associated Press reported that UN troops fired in the air as police used tear gas to disperse protesters. The demonstrations started off peacefully but shots were fired after protesters burned tires and threw rocks at police. Friday's march in the capital, Port-au-Prince, was only the latest in a series of demonstrations by opposition supporters demanding the resignation of President Michel Martelly and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe. It came just days after a government-appointed commission recommended that the country's prime minister resign.

Comment: One of the reasons the poor have not seen progress is that a large amount of the reconstruction funds have been used to build five star hotels for foreigners rather than being used to provide food and housing for the Haitian people. The international community is not helping rebuild Haiti. It is improving colonialism in Haiti with its companies, using the country's population as slave labor to boost profits. Haiti "Reconstruction": Luxury Hotels, Sweat Shops and Deregulation for the Foreign Corporate Elite

Wal-Mart ordered to pay $188M to employees for failure to compensate for breaks and hours worked Shailaja Sharma and Nathan Layne The Raw Story 2014-12-16 17:18:00 The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered Wal-Mart Stores Inc to pay $188 million to employees who had sued the retailer for failing to compensate them for rest breaks and all hours worked. Wal-Mart said on Tuesday that it might appeal the decision, which upheld lower court rulings, to the U.S. Supreme Court. Monday's ruling on the class-action lawsuit will reduce Wal-Mart's earnings for the quarter ending on Jan. 31 by 6 cents a share, the company said in a securities filing. That amounts to roughly 4 percent of its profit forecast of $1.46 to $1.56 for the period.

Comment: It is heartening to see that the justice system is finally taking Walmart to task for at least some of the company's egregious actions against its virtual slave labor force. You can rest assured, though that the psychopaths at the helm of Walmart will resist compensating these employees to the bitter end.

Seattle man guns down 6-month-old puppy with hollow point round for pooping David Edwards Rawstory 2014-12-16 08:57:00 A Washington man says that he had a right to shoot several dogs - including a 6-month-old puppy - that came into his yard over the years. Kathy Davis told KOMO that her husband called her on Thursday to let her know that her 10-year-old son's Australian shepherd had been shot. "He said, 'Rowdy had been shot.' I said, 'How do you know?' And he said, 'He's got a big old hole in his gut and he's bleeding out everywhere,'" she recalled. The family later learned that the dog had escape from its fence into 82-year-old Otis McCulley's yard. According to KOMO, McCulley said that it "looked like the dog was about to poop" so he shot it. "I shot the f*cking thing," McCulley said. And he admitted that it wasn't the first time he had shot dogs for coming into his yard. Rowdy's family said that the puppy ran home, where blood stains could still be seen on the front porch. Vets recovered a hollow point .22 round in the dog's colon, but couldn't save Rowdy. Kathy Davis pointed out that she would have been happy to patch the hole in the puppy's fence if McCulley had just let her know that it had escaped. And Davis was also upset that McCulley had fired a rifle so close to her home.

Comment: This citizen, a child of a society run by psychopaths, is mimicking the behavior of people in authority. 'A cop tried to kill my dog last night': Tales from the police state Baltimore City Police shoot and kill beloved pet Police State: Graphic video shows California police shooting dog during arrest Hysterical America: Wisconsin police deploy armored vehicle over dog poop dispute, SWAT team executes dog

Video captures moment shell hits Ukrainian soldier as he argues for killing civilians Damian Marinovich Russia Insider 2014-12-16 15:18:00 This video is real. It was filmed at the Donetsk airport by a pro-Ukrainian documentary film maker. It shows a zealous Ukrainian volunteer who is explaining there is no such thing as peaceful population in the rebel-held areas - everyone should be considered an enemy combatant - and dealt with accordingly. As soon as these words leave his mouth, a shell explodes near him, knocking him out cold. Donetsk airport is where rebels claim government forces have been shelling the city of Donetsk, killing many civilians. In September Ukraine President Poroshenko seemed to endorse a strategy of terrorizing and targeting civilians: "Our children will go to schools and kindergartens... theirs will hole up in the basements... This is exactly how we will win this war!"

Comment: Marvelous answer to this hater of humanity!

"Witness 40": Fraud exposed in Ferguson William Bastone, Andrew Goldberg, Joseph Jesselli The Smoking Gun 2014-12-15 00:00:00 The grand jury witness who testified that she saw Michael Brown pummel a cop before charging at him "like a football player, head down," is a troubled, bipolar Missouri woman with a criminal past who has a history of making racist remarks and once insinuated herself into another high-profile St. Louis criminal case with claims that police eventually dismissed as a "complete fabrication," The Smoking Gun has learned. In interviews with police, FBI agents, and federal and state prosecutors--as well as during two separate appearances before the grand jury that ultimately declined to indict Officer Darren Wilson--the purported eyewitness delivered a preposterous and perjurious account of the fatal encounter in Ferguson. Referred to only as "Witness 40" in grand jury material, the woman concocted a story that is now baked into the narrative of the Ferguson grand jury, a panel before which she had no business appearing. While the "hands-up" account of Dorian Johnson is often cited by those who demanded Wilson's indictment, "Witness 40"'s testimony about seeing Brown batter Wilson and then rush the cop like a defensive end has repeatedly been pointed to by Wilson supporters as directly corroborative of the officer's version of the August 9 confrontation. The "Witness 40" testimony, as Fox News sees it, is proof that the 18-year-old Brown's killing was justified, and that the Ferguson grand jury got it right. However, unlike Johnson, "Witness 40"--a 45-year-old St. Louis resident named Sandra McElroy--was nowhere near Canfield Drive on the Saturday afternoon Brown was shot to death.

Comment: Nice piece of detective work. Incredible the red flags that went on waving in the wind...speaks to both the prosecution's and defense's investigative sloppiness, witness leading, police bias and disregard for protocol, as well as the grand jury's inability to make an informed decision. There was obviously no vetting of witnesses for past history of fraud, mental stability or blatant racial issues. There wasn't even a suggestion that jury witnesses were double-checked and proven to be on site. It is even more disturbing when we realize that the rioting, destruction and other murders that took place in Ferguson, over several months after the shooting, might in part, be attributed to and intensified by false witnesses who privileged themselves in order to make a racial statement. It is sick and corrupt. McElroy is the first domino to fall. Are there others? And, what part does local, state and national law enforcement play in fomenting racial tensions into community conflagrations? To what end, indeed! For related, see: Nationwide protests against police brutality in AmeriKKKa: Wilson gets away with murder, Anonymous: #HoodsOff "The war is on!" DeAndre Joshua murdered, fits profile of eye-witness to Michael Brown shooting

At least 126 killed after Taliban militants stormed an Army school in the Pakistani city of Peshawar RT 2014-12-16 12:11:00 More than 120 people, including 100 students, have been killed and 122 others injured in a Taliban seizure of a military-run school in the city of Peshawar, Pakistan, according to provincial authorities. The numbers of dead and injured may still rise as the casualties of the assault are counted. Some 500 students and teachers were in the Army Public School on Warsak Road at the time of the attack. Pakistan's military said most of the civilians escaped, but some had been taken hostage by the assailants. According to media reports, as many as 10 militants dressed in Pakistani military uniforms entered the school compound on Tuesday at around noon. They torched a car at the site and proceeded with a raid on the facility. "Seven to eight people attacked us, then an army soldier came to us and he asked [the] principal and teachers to take the children out of compound from the back gate. There were thousands [of] students in college. They were moved to auditorium, they can't come out until the fight is ended," Arshad Khan, a student at the school, told RT's Ruptly. The Pakistani Army responded to the emergency, dispatching security forces to cordon off the area and sending military helicopters for surveillance. A commando force arrived at the site. "As the firing started our teacher asked us to bent down and we went to a corner of the class, after one hour when firing reduced, [an] army officer came and rescued us, but as we came out we saw on the way in corridors our friends were lying dead on ground hit by bullets, some with three, some with four bullets. They were bleeding," another student, Muhammad Naeem, said. In the ensuing battle with Pakistani security forces, three militants reportedly were killed. One of them is said to have detonated a suicide vest he was wearing. At least one Pakistani soldier was reported killed in the gun battle, which seriously damaged the school building.

Comment: See also: "Game" of Wars: US "fighting" terrorists it fostered For example, the emergence of the Taliban is most directly the result of the CIA's involvement in the Soviet-Afghan War. Not only did CIA provide all possible funding, but also established camps across Pakistan-Afghan border which were extensively used to train people to do "Jihad" against the Soviet Union. And, the fact that the Americans joyfully disseminate information about different aspects of this war in the form of Hollywood movies shows the extent of acknowledgement the US has publicly made regarding once supporting the Taliban when they were hailed and glorified as the "defenders" of the "free world." Given that, now it looks remarkably amazing how that very Taliban later on turned into enemies and dragged the US into the longest war of its history. Nothing can explain this fundamental transition except the fact that the US first needed the Taliban to use them against its cold war rival, and then to use, as a pretext to go to war, the Taliban's refusal to allow the US a free way to build oil and gas pipelines from the Central Asia to the India Ocean. The force that the US once 'proudly' created thus turned into the most pernicious enemy of the world - hence the war against "terrorism." In other words, the most important reason of this longest war is nothing but the US' own created group of fighters.

At least 128 journalists killed in 32 countries in 2014 TASS 2014-12-15 10:20:00 Gaza leads the list, with 16 journalists killed by Israel during the Operation Protective Edge, followed by Syria and Pakistan, the Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign NGO says At least 128 journalists were killed in 32 countries in 2014, including nine in Ukraine, the Geneva-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) independent NGO said on Monday. "Gaza leads the list, with 16 journalists killed by Israel during the Operation Protective Edge, followed by Syria (13 journalists killed) and Pakistan (12 killed)," PEC said calling 2014 a terrible year for journalists. Iraq and Ukraine come fourth and fifth among the most dangerous places for media work, with 10 and nine journalists killed, the PEC said. "New conflicts for media workers opened in Ukraine, in the Israeli assault on Gaza, which led to the killings of many media workers, and in Syria, the situation was unprecedented with the beheading of journalists recorded in video clips," the organisation said. "Compared to 2013, when 129 journalists were killed, the figures are very close," the NGO said.

Comment: Russian war photographer Andrei Stenin was murdered by the fascist junta in Kiev while Press TV reporter Serena Shim was killed in a suspicious car crash. The day before her death, Serena told Press TV that she had evidence of ISIS fighters entering Turkey via NGO trucks and that Turkish intelligence was looking for her. They were killed precisely because their reports go against the dominant narrative of the Western media, which went into overdrive this year to cover up the ever increasing criminal activity of the psychopaths in power.

Video shows John Crawford's girlfriend aggressively questioned after Ohio police shot him dead in Walmart Jon Swaine The Guardian 2014-12-14 14:42:00 Video shows Ohio detective accusing her of lying and threatening her with jail Tasha Thomas only told of Crawford's death after 90-minute interrogation Officer who shot black man in Walmart lied, victim's mother says Ohio Walmart video reveals last moments before officer shot man Police aggressively questioned the tearful girlfriend of a young black man they had just shot dead as he held a BB gun in an Ohio supermarket - accusing her of lying, threatening her with jail, and suggesting that she was high on drugs. Tasha Thomas was reduced to swearing on the lives of her relatives that John Crawford III had not been carrying a firearm when they entered the Walmart in Beavercreek, near Dayton, to buy crackers, marshmallows and chocolate bars on the evening of 5 August. "You lie to me and you might be on your way to jail," detective Rodney Curd told Thomas, as she wept and repeatedly offered to take a lie-detector test. After more than an hour and a half of questioning and statement-taking, Curd finally told Thomas that Crawford, 22, had died. "As a result of his actions, he is gone," said the detective, as she slumped in her chair and cried. Crawford had been shot by police officer Sean Williams, after a customer called 911 and claimed the 22-year-old was pointing a gun at passersby. Surveillance footage released later showed Crawford picking up the BB rifle from a shelf, wandering the aisles and occasionally swinging the gun at his side while he spoke on his cellphone to his ex-girlfriend. A 94-minute police video recording, released to the Guardian by the office of Mike DeWine, the Ohio attorney general, in response to a public records request, shows Thomas, 26, being interviewed by Curd after she was driven from Walmart to the Beavercreek police department. Curd later told investigators he had not yet been told Crawford only had a BB gun that had been on sale at the store. Curd promptly asked Thomas whether she and Crawford had criminal records. Already tearful and breathless, Thomas explained that she may have had some traffic offences and had been arrested for petty theft as a juvenile. The detective then became increasingly aggressive and banged on the table between them with his hand. "Tell me where he got the gun from," Curd repeated. Thomas insisted Crawford had been carrying only a white plastic grocery bag when they arrived at Walmart to buy the ingredients to make s'mores at a family cook-out. Asked one of several times whether Crawford owned a gun, Thomas said: "Not that I know." Curd told her: "Don't tell me 'not that you know', because that's the first thing I realise somebody's not telling me the truth". He later repeated: "You need to tell me the truth" and "You need to be truthful." Crawford's family and their attorneys have stressed since his death that under Ohio's open-carry firearms laws and Walmart's regulations, he would have been allowed to carry a real rifle with him around the store. Crawford was talking on his cellphone to LeeCee Johnson, the mother of his two sons, when he was shot by Williams. Curd repeatedly suggested to Thomas that Johnson, who was in fact at home in Cincinnati, may also have been in the Walmart store and that Crawford was there to attack her.

No proof tying Boston bombing suspects to triple murder James Henry WhoWhatWhy 2014-12-09 01:45:00 For nearly any crime requiring a "Whodunnit" answer in Boston around the time of the April 15, 2013, Marathon bombing, the authorities answered: The Tsarnaev brothers. One egregious crime pinned on them was a grisly Sept. 11, 2011, triple murder in Waltham, Mass. Now, prosecutors in the trial of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have delivered a shocking reversal. They admit to having no evidence that his dead brother, Tamerlan, was involved in the slayings. That wasn't the case right after the bombing: law enforcement fingered Tamerlan as the perpetrator, and suggested Dzokhar may have been involved. Much of the media has presented it as fact ever since. This is a pattern we've seen since the bombing: The government feeds prejudicial information(usually anonymously) to the press, implying Tamerlan and Dzhokhar's guilt, despite having flimsy or no evidence. In the most extreme example, prosecutors had to completely recant their accusation that the brothers robbed a 7-Eleven.

Comment: There's a whole lot more to the Boston Marathon bombing than meets the eye. Check out SOTT editors Joe Quinn and Niall Bradley's book, Manufactured Terror, for more. See alsoSibel Edmonds' interview with James Corbett on the bombing, which includes the wider geopolitical games going on in the background, e.g., in Dagestan and Chechnya.

UN 'peacekeepers' use live ammo and chemical agents against Haitian protesters Revolution News 2014-12-13 15:26:00 Haitian police and UN peacekeepers have attacked protesters with live ammo and chemical agents as several thousand opposition supporters tried to march on the presidential palace, demanding new leadership. Haiti has seen many anti-government protests in recent months calling for President Michael Martelly to step down, amid a growing anger over the high levels of government corruption. Elections have been delayed now for years.

Comment: How can they continue to get away with calling themselves peacekeepers?

Majority of Americans approve torture: poll Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Anthony Salvanto, and Fred Backus CBS News 2014-12-15 22:57:00 In the wake of last week's release of the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the CIA's detention and interrogation program, 69 percent of Americans consider waterboarding to be torture, but 49 percent think aggressive interrogation tactics like waterboarding are sometimes justified. 36 percent think they are not justified. Comment: Torture can never be justified. Period. More than half (57 percent) think that such interrogation tactics provide reliable information that helps prevent terrorist attacks at least some of the time. Fifty-two percent of Americans think the release of information regarding the CIA interrogation tactics poses a threat to U.S. security; a third doesn't think it will have an impact. Comment: The propaganda supporting torture enhanced interrogation techniques has done a wonderful job convincing sheeple people that it is necessary and works. Torture never works for gaining information. It is used by psychopaths to propagate fear.

Comment: Notice the CBS headline for this story was: "Most Americans consider waterboarding to be torture: poll". It gives you that feel good sensation about Americans. But if one reads the poll results, it is truly an ugly sight to behold; Americans love torture.

Secret History

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Science & Technology

Meditation changes how genes are expressed - study Psyblog 2014-12-16 21:12:00 First study to show rapid beneficial changes from meditation at the molecular level. The health benefits of meditation are becoming well-established, but we still know little about howthese effects are achieved. A new study, though, sheds light onto the molecular changes that take place in the body as a result of meditation. For their new study, Kaliman et al. (2014) recruited 19 experienced meditators, who each carried out an intensive 8-hour session of mindfulness meditation. They were compared with a group of 21 others who engaged in quiet non-meditative activities for the same period of time. Both groups gave blood samples before and after their activities. After analysing these samples at the molecular level, they found some remarkable changes. Amongst the group of experienced meditators, changes could be seen in the way certain important genes were expressed. The expression of genes which are involved in inflammation, and generally in the body's stress-response, were down-regulated. These changes were not seen in the control group. The body's stress-response is important for all sorts of health conditions such as cancer, metabolic diseases and neuropsychological problems.

Comment: Éiriú Eolas - 'Growth of Knowledge' is excellent breathing and meditation technique. Regular application and practice with Éiriú Eolas will help detoxify your mind, body and spirit in addition to improving overall health and wellness. Learn more about the many benefits of Éiriú Eolas here.

Methane 'belches' detected on Mars Jonathan Amos BBC news 2014-12-16 20:08:00 The US space agency's (Nasa) Curiosity rover has detected the intermittent "belching" of methane gas on Mars. The robot sees very low-level amounts constantly in the background, but it also has monitored a number of short-lived spikes that are 10 times higher. Methane on the Red Planet is intriguing because here on Earth, 95% of the gas comes from microbial organisms. Researchers have hung on to the hope that the molecule's signature at Mars might also indicate a life presence. The Curiosity team cannot identify the source of its methane, but the leading candidate is underground stores that are periodically disturbed. Curiosity scientist Sushil Atreya said it was possible that so-called clathrates were involved. "These are molecular cages of water-ice in which methane gas is trapped. From time to time, these could be destabilised, perhaps by some mechanical or thermal stress, and the methane gas would be released to find its way up through cracks or fissures in the rock to enter the atmosphere," the University of Michigan professor told BBC News. This, of course, still leaves open the question of how the methane (CH4) got into the clathrate stores in the first place. It could have come from Martian bugs; it could also have come from a natural process, such as serpentinisation, which sees methane produced when water interacts with certain rock types. At the moment, it is all speculation. But at least Curiosity has now made the detection.

Comment: There has been increased methane outgassing here on Earth too recently: Arctic Ocean leaking methane faster than anticipated  Vast methane plumes discovered escaping from Arctic seafloor north of Siberia  New climate change threat: Arctic seabed releases millions of tons of methane into atmosphere  As well as recent "increasingly stormy" conditions on Uranus, this year we have seen increased volcanic activity on Jupiters moon Io, scientists have been puzzled by the wobble of Saturn's moon Mimas and a major increase in asteroid activity has seen MIT astronomers upgrade the solar system from stable to dynamic What is causing these recent Solar system wide climate changes? We have also seen deluges, meteor fireballs, 'thunder-snow', unseasonal tornadoes, 'super-storms'here on the BBM last month. Could it be part of an overall 'grounding' of our solar system, caused perhaps by the close approach of the system's Twin Sun?

Ten horrifying technological threats to mankind Jonathan Benson Natural News 2014-12-12 10:18:00 Technology is the archetypal golden calf of the modern age. Everything that naturally exists in a purely analog and resonant state is being artificially mechanized, computerized, digitized and hybridized (think half-human, half-robot on this one). And with this gradual suffocation of the living, breathing fabric of our world comes the ominous threat of eventual human extinction, as the very essence of humanity is systematically uprooted in favor of a wholly synthetic and programmed existence. Much of what is considered technological advancement these days is inherently evil and has the potential to be used as a collective weapon of mass destruction against life itself. Synthetic biology, for instance, which involves re-engineering genes to manufacture fake organisms, is one such example that threatens to set off an unpredictable chain reaction of devastation and death within the larger ecosystem of life itself.

Earth Changes

First dead Irrawaddy dolphin located after Bangladesh oil spill, more deaths expected inquisitr.com 2014-12-15 22:14:00 The salvage of the wrecked oil tanker took more than two days, while authorities in Bangladesh failed to contain or clean up the oil. Now, the first of what is expected to be a myriad of deaths of a rare Irrawaddy dolphin has occurred. The first dead dolphin surfaced yesterday. The oil spill in the Sela River has now spread over more than 80 km. The Sela River is a sanctuary for two different species of dolphins. Dolphins are extremely sensitive creatures, and more than 350,000 liters of oil was spilled into their environment. According to the Dhaka Tribune, there have been sightings of other dead wild animals in the region.

Pneumonia outbreak kills 10 bighorns near Gardiner, Montana Billings Gazette 2014-12-16 21:59:00 Ten bighorn sheep have died over the past two weeks following an outbreak of pneumonia in a herd that lives along the upper Yellowstone River near Gardiner. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks staff has collected a mix of dead rams, lambs and one adult ewe and taken them to the state wildlife lab in Bozeman, where all were determined to have died from pneumonia. Historically, pneumonia affects bighorn sheep herds differently. According to FWP wildlife veterinarian Jennifer Ramsey, "Sometimes we'll see a large scale, all age die-off in which most of the population dies, and that population never really rebounds. Yet in other herds we seem to see a low-level mortality year after year."

Sperm whale washes up dead at Kitty foreshore, Guyana caribbeantrakker.com 2014-12-16 21:40:00 Hundreds of persons turned out this morning to get a glimpse of a whale that washed up at the Kitty foreshore opposite Pere Street. Speaking to TrakkerNews wildlife conservation specialist Annette Arjune-Martins said her organization along with members of the Guyana Defense Force were looking and trying to free the whale since Sunday after they were notified of the mammal being trapped in fishing net at Mahaicony Foreshore. Their efforts proved futile and this morning they got word of the find at Georgetown seawall of the dead whale. Martins said she will be working along with the Public Works Minister Robson Benn on the way forward as to what they will do with the remains. The whale size is approximately 20 feet.

Scientific American turns it back on science, proposes ridiculous geo-engineering schemes to combat 'climate change' Dr. Sircus Dr. Sircus 2014-12-15 12:22:00 Workers on Germany's highest mountain, Zugspitze, cover the glacier with oversized plastic sheets to keep it from melting during the summer months. Scientist have said geoengineering must be researched to find a possible solution of last resort to dangerous levels of global warming. I was saying to my wife over dinner at a restaurant on the beach in Rio that the world has gone nuts since we were younger and in college. Even back then, I was able to isolate major patterns in civilization that showed me the future was bleak but never could anticipate the extent and level of sickness we were headed into. Gerald Celente agrees with me saying, "The world is crazy. Look at the leaders of the world, it's a freak show." There are so many points of insanity in our world it is hard to know where to begin. How many of us would ever have thought we would see in the world, right in the mainstream press the outright claim, "ISIS: Enslaving, having sex with 'unbelieving' women, girls is OK." Perhaps we should not be surprised when we realize how sexual barbarism has filled the world since time began, or at least since the onset of organized religion.

Comment: Oh, the hubris! The fact that these so-called scientists think that they can control the climate of this planet is absolutely mind-boggling!

Rare Arctic glaucous gull turns up in Turkey Şahika Temur Yeni Şafak 2014-12-16 20:25:00 A glaucous gull, which only recently reappeared on the Black Sea coast after more than a century, has drawn prominent birdwatchers to the northern province of Rize. The glaucous gull is believed to have first appeared in 1874 in the busy Turkish province of Istanbul. This is actually the sole evidence of their existence in the Turkish territory, but there has been no sighting of the bird for 140 years. The white-headed and-tailed bird has been described as the glaucous bird, which has first been recorded in 1874 in Istanbul, according to a discussion among Turkey's key bird watchers.

Hawaii lava threatens to hit gas station and stores Audrey Mcavoy AP 2014-12-16 19:46:00 Lava from a volcano on Hawaii's Big Island is on course to reach a shopping center with a gas station and a supermarket in seven to 10 days, officials said. Lava is about 1 mile from the shopping center in the small town of Pahoa, Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said Monday. The shopping center also contains a hardware store, pharmacy and auto repair shop. There's still a great deal of uncertainty about when the lava might reach the center and what it could hit. The lava could smother one structure in the complex or cover them all, he said. "It just depends on what the flow does as it comes through," he told reporters during a conference call. Oliveira says the county has been in touch with the merchants about evacuation plans. The county hasn't yet advised them to leave. The supermarket, one of the biggest stores in the center, plans to start removing equipment on Tuesday and shut down on Thursday. Malama Market said in a statement it was encouraging customers to keep shopping until its doors close. The gas station would sell its remaining fuel and pump out what's leftover if it does have to evacuate, Oliveira said. It would then fill its tanks with water and firefighting foam. This plan has been approved the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and by the state Department of Health, he said. An earlier idea called for the gas station to put sand into the tanks, but this wouldn't have removed all flammable vapors. It also would have destroyed the pumping system. By using firefighting foam, the gas station may use the tanks again if lava bypasses the area and it wants to reopen. Lava has never hit a gas station on the Big Island in the past, Oliveira said. Lava has been threatening Pahoa town, which has a population of about 900, for months. In October, it burned a house and covered part of a cemetery but stalled just before hitting Pahoa's main road. It later started flowing from a different spot. The lava could still cross the town's main road and a highway, which would make it more difficult for residents of Pahoa and the broader community of Puna to get to other parts of the island.

This rare rainbow appeared over the Atacama Desert at 9,500 feet above sea level European Southern Observatory 2014-12-15 17:37:00 Rainbows are widely appreciated for the welcome touch of colour they can bring to an otherwise dark and dreary day, and this rainbow is no exception. This rare rainbow appears over the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) Operations Support Facility (OSF), which lies some 2900 metres above sea level close to San Pedro de Atacama. The OSF is the base camp for the ALMA site, which is significantly higher at over 5000 metres up on the Chajnantor Plateau. The OSF isn't just a location for operating the giant ALMA Observatory; it is also where new technologies are assembled, integrated, and verified before they are transported to their final destination on Chajnantor. The technology has to be assembled and tested at the OSF because the air is much denser there than on the plateau, and workers can complete their tasks without theadverse health risks associated with working at high altitude. This rainbow was captured by ESO employee Armin Silber.

Comment: Atacama desert is one of the driest places on Earth, it is almost a miracle that we can admire this beauty.

Record number of panther attacks on farm animals in Florida David Fleshler phys.org 2014-12-14 18:20:00 A record number of Florida panther attacks on farm animals and pets took place this year, in what the state wildlife commission says is a consequence of the endangered cat's increased population. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Friday confirmed 32 incidents of fatal panther attacks on animals such as goats, sheep, calves, dogs and cats, with more than 50 animals killed. This year also saw a record 20 panthers killed by vehicles. The commission attributed the increase in killings to the success of state and federal efforts to increase the panther's population. The number of panthers today is estimated at 100 to 180, with the top figure representing a recent upward revision from 160. During the 1970s, the population may have fallen as low as 30. "Over the past 40 years, Florida panther conservation efforts have resulted in the panther population growing significantly from the 1970s, when the panther was first federally listed as endangered," the agency said. "As the population grows, the chance for interaction between the large cats and humans also increases - which can be bad for both people and panthers."

Young girl severely mauled by dog in Widgee, Australia Sunshine Coast Daily 2014-12-16 18:09:00 A five-year-old girl who suffered severe facial injuries in a dog attack at Widgee is recovering after emergency plastic surgery. It is believed the girl was visiting a Widgee home on Sunday when she suffered several bite marks to her face, leaving injuries to her nose, cheeks and lip. Gympie Regional Council officers yesterday began an investigation into the incident, which occurred about 5pm Sunday on a private property on Gympie Woolooga Rd. A worker at Widgee General Store said the girl and her mother were not locals. The mother turned up at the shop seeking help in an area notorious as a mobile phone black spot.

Earth might face sixth mass extinction within 100 years BenTufft The Independent, UK 2014-12-14 17:58:00 The earth could face a mass extinction by the next century if species continue to disappear at the current rate, according to a report by the scientific journal Nature. Despite conservation attempts by governments across the world to save endangered species, thousands of animal types continue to face extinction every year. Nature found that 41 per cent of all amphibian species are threatened with extinction, the highest at risk group. A more modest, but still alarming, 26 per cent of mammal species and 13 per cent of bird species are also threatened. Habitat loss and degradation, as well as specific human activity such as hunting pose a significant hazard to wildlife sustainability and these pressures are only increasing. Similarly, it is thought that climate change will accelerate the rate of extinctions in the future.

Wild elephant kills yet another person in Sri Lanka Ceylon Today 2014-12-12 16:46:00 A man died yesterday (11th) attacked by a wild elephant in Mangalagama area. Remains of the victim lie at Maha Oya Hospital awaiting post-mortem. Mangalagama Police continue further investigations in to the incident.

Comment: Since August elephants on the island of Sri Lanka seems to be going berserk for some reason: Third elephant attack within 3 days in Sri Lanka: Two killed in jumbo attack Father and son killed in elephant attack, Sri Lanka 2 people killed in another elephant attack in Sri Lanka Wild elephant attacks kills two in Sri Lanka One person killed in wild elephant attack in Sri Lanka Fourth elephant attack within four weeks in Sri Lanka Two killed in a wild elephant attack in Maankulam, Sri Lanka

Fire in the Sky

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Health & Wellness

The real cause of heart disease - parasympathetic nervous system deficiency Thomas S. Cowan Mercola.com 2014-12-16 20:40:00 In a previous article in this journal ("What Causes Heart Attacks," Fall 2007), I presented the case that the spectrum of heart disease, which includes angina, unstable angina, and myocardial infarction (heart attack), is better understood from the perspective of events happening in the myocardium (heart) as opposed to events happening in the coronary arteries (the arteries that supply the heart). As we all know, the conventional view holds that the central event of heart disease occurs in the arteries, with the buildup of blockage called plaque. In this follow-up article I will go into more detail about the conventional theory and why it is largely misleading; then I will describe the precise and well documented events that do lead to MIs (myocardial infarctions or heart attacks). This understanding is crucial since during the last fifty years, the pursuit of the coronary artery theory has cost this nation billions of dollars in unnecessary surgical costs, billions in medications that cause as much harm as allow for any positive benefits, and, most seriously, has led many to adopt a low-fat diet, which only worsens the problem. Newer twists on this theory only serve to further obscure the real cause. In contrast, by understanding the real patho-physiological events behind the evolution of MIs, we will be led to a proper nourishing traditional style of eating, the use of the safe and inexpensive heart tonic called g-strophanthin. Most importantly, we will be forced to look at how heart disease is a true manifestation of the stresses of modern civilized life on the core of the human being. To overcome the epidemic of heart disease, we literally need a new medical paradigm, a new economic system, a new ecological consciousness; in short, a new way of life. The coronary theory misses all of this, just as it misinterprets the actual pathological events.

Comment: Apart from the methods described in this article to increase parasympathetic activity, there is another one, a breathing and meditation program, that is able to reduce stress and increase vagal tone: Face life with Éiriú Eolas, a stress relief program

Trading sleep for work is hazardous to your health Christopher Ingraham Washington Post 2014-12-15 10:03:00 Did you try to catch up on sleep this weekend? You're not alone. More than one third of American adults report getting less than 7 hours of sleep on weekdays, and many of them try to sleep extra-long on weekends to make up for it. This isn't a particularly healthy way to live -- insufficient sleep is associated with obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and a host of other physical ailments. Drowsy driving causes around80,000 automobile accidents every year, 1,000 of which are typically fatal. The simple reason for shortchanging sleep on the weekdays? Work. A team of researchers examined nearly 125,000 responses to the American Time Use Survey to calculate two things: first, how much sleep we're getting, and second, what we're doing instead of sleeping.

Comment: See also: A new study suggests Lack of Sleep Causes Slower Cognitive Abilities No sleep means no new brain cells

Science of the Spirit

Super psychopaths reign in politics and medicine Dr. Sircus Dr. Sircus 2014-12-10 20:24:00 The incidence of psychopathy among CEOs is about 4 percent, four times what it is in the population at large. According to Wikipedia, the DSM IV-TR gives the prevalence of psychopathy as 3% in males and 1% in females. Many forensic psychologists, psychiatrists and criminologists use the termssociopathy and psychopathy interchangeably. Leading experts disagree on whether there are meaningful differences between the two conditions. Certainly there are meaningful differences from one psycho and sociopath to another. In the United States congress the percentage is higher. In fact, in reading Dr. Ron Paul's most recent essay Reckless Congress Declares War on Russia - all but ten congressmen voted for the measure. Any good psychologist would conclude that there are 425 psychopaths in the House of Representatives and only 10 normal people who care about children and everyone else.

Flashback: Masters and Disasters: Researchers able to predict marital happiness by measuring kindness and generosity Emily Esfahani Smith The Atlantic 2014-06-12 10:00:00 Every day in June, the most popular wedding month of the year, about 13,000 American couples will say "I do," committing to a lifelong relationship that will be full of friendship, joy, and love that will carry them forward to their final days on this earth. Except, of course, it doesn't work out that way for most people. The majority of marriages fail, either ending in divorce and separation or devolving into bitterness and dysfunction. Of all the people who get married, only three in ten remain in healthy, happy marriages, as psychologist Ty Tashiro points out in his book The Science of Happily Ever After, which was published earlier this year. Social scientists first started studying marriages by observing them in action in the 1970s in response to a crisis: Married couples were divorcing at unprecedented rates. Worried about the impact these divorces would have on the children of the broken marriages, psychologists decided to cast their scientific net on couples, bringing them into the lab to observe them and determine what the ingredients of a healthy, lasting relationship were. Was each unhappy family unhappy in its own way, as Tolstoy claimed, or did the miserable marriages all share something toxic in common?

High Strangeness

No new articles.

Don't Panic! Lighten Up!

Humane Society posts extremely honest ad for a little dog who is "kind of a jerk." Shira Danan Happy Place 2014-12-16 19:24:00 Someone at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley decided that to find a home for "Eddie the Terrible," they'd have to be brutally honest up front. "How does so much naughty exist in one dog?" asks their blog in a post titled "Three Reasons You DON'T Want To Adopt Eddie The Terrible." They also made this video illustrating exactly how terrible Eddie is around other dogs: Between the blog post and the video, the case against adopting Eddie is pretty damning. Eddie isn't good around other dogs. He isn't good around children. And he does not enjoy sleeping in a crate. He's "never actually bitten anyone but we're not saying it could never happen." So yeah, he's a little bit of a nightmare. It's definitely a risky move to publicize all of a dog's faults, but of course, the best scenario for a rescue dog is going to an owner who knows what she or he is getting into. The blog post makes it clear that "unless you're looking for a dog that's a little bit of work, Eddie the Terrible is not the dog for you." On other hand, this little terror is "super loyal, easy in the house and a lot of fun." For the right owner, Eddie could be just the yapping, lap-warming, fetch-playing dog they need.