Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Tuesday 16 December 2014

The European Union Times


Posted: 15 Dec 2014 05:37 AM PST


Japan’s nuclear watchdog says the radioactive water that has accumulated at the battered Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant must be decontaminated and dumped into the ocean, local media reported. The news has sparked concern from local fisherman.
“We have to dispose of the water,” Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), told a media conference after visiting the crippled nuclear power plant on Friday, Asahi Shimbun reported.
The NRA chief was referring to the contaminated water stored in tanks on the premises of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant. He added that the water, which is tainted with radioactive material, poses a risk to the safety of the decommissioning work.
Tanaka has previously stated that the radioactive water at the site needs to be decontaminated so it falls under safety standards, and then it must be released into the sea.
This is aimed at battling growing amounts of toxic water accumulating in the plant’s buildings, and at reducing the volume of groundwater that is flowing through the premises and becoming contaminated.
“We also have to obtain the consent of local residents in carrying out the work, so we can somehow mitigate [the increase in tainted water],” he added on Friday. “While [the idea] may upset people, we must do our utmost to satisfy residents of Fukushima.”
Local fishermen have expressed concern over the contaminated water and other issues linked with water management at the Fukushima plant.
Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Co-operative Associations submitted a petition that calls on the government and Tokyo Electric Company (TEPCO), the nuclear plant’s operator, to make sure that the water released into the Pacific is safe and below the required radiation levels.
Plans to dump the water from the crippled nuclear plant into the ocean after removing the most dangerous radioactive elements were voiced as early as March. However, TEPCO’s initial efforts failed and the plan was indefinitely suspended after malfunctions crippled the water purification process and recontaminated thousands of tons of already cleaned liquid.
Some 400 tons of untainted groundwater are believed to be seeping into the buildings of the Fukushima plant on a daily basis. It is then mixing with the toxic water generated in the process of cooling the crippled reactors. TEPCO collects the radioactive groundwater and stores it at the site of the plant. However, storing the groundwater becomes more difficult each day, as the water quantity continues to increase.
Following the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, three reactors at the plant suffered nuclear meltdowns, causing a radioactive fallout. The catastrophe was the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. TEPCO is engaged in a cleanup process at the site, which has been dogged by delays and setbacks. In January, the company started erecting a controversial underground frozen wall which is planned to stop radioactive water from seeping into the sea.
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Posted: 15 Dec 2014 05:25 AM PST
However, the study did not find any results to support a common theory that tendencies toward negative emotions such as depression or anxiety can lead to poor health.
A person’s degree of extroversion and conscientiousness could affect how well their immune system works, researchers have said.
They believe aspects of our personality may affect our health and wellbeing.
However, the study did not find any results to support a common theory that tendencies toward negative emotions such as depression or anxiety can lead to poor health.
The health psychologists at The University of Nottingham and the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) carried out a study to examine the relationship between certain personality traits and the expression of genes that can affect our health by controlling the activity of our immune systems.
It concluded that was related to differences in immune cell gene expression were a person’s degree of extroversion and conscientiousness.
‘Our results indicated that ‘extroversion was significantly associated with an increased expression of pro-inflammatory genes and that ‘conscientiousness’ was linked to a reduced expression of pro-inflammatory genes,’ said Professor Kavita Vedhara, from The University of Nottingham’s School of Medicine, who led the study.
‘In other words, individuals who we would expect to be exposed to more infections as a result of their socially orientated nature (i.e., extroverts appear to have immune systems that we would expect can deal effectively with infection.
‘While individuals who may be less exposed to infections because of their cautious/conscientious dispositions have immune systems that may respond less well.’
However, the team admit they aren’t sure what is happening.
‘We can’t, however, say which came first. Is this our biology determining our psychology or our psychology determining our biology?’
The study used highly sensitive microarray technology to examine relationships between the five major human personality traits and two groups of genes active in human white blood cells (leukocytes): one involving inflammation, and another involving antiviral responses and antibodies.
A group of 121 ethnically diverse and healthy adults were recruited.
These were comprised of 86 females and 35 males with an average age of 24 (range 18-59) and an average body mass index of 23.
The participants completed a personality test which measures five major dimensions of personality, extroversion neuroticism, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness.
Blood samples were collected from each volunteer for gene expression analysis and their typical smoking, drinking and exercise behaviours were also recorded for control purposes.
Gene expression analysis was carried out at the Social Genomics Core Laboratory at UCLA.
These two clear associations were independent of the recorded health behaviours of the participants and subsets of white blood cells which are the cells of the body’s immune system.
In the remaining three categories of personality, ‘openness’ also trended towards a reduced expression of pro-inflammatory genes and ‘neuroticism’ and ‘agreeableness’ remained unassociated with gene expression.
The research concludes that although the biological mechanisms of these associations need to be explored in future research, these new data may shed new light on the long-observed epidemiological associations between personality, physical health, and human longevity.
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Posted: 15 Dec 2014 05:18 AM PST


The $1.1 trillion spending bill approved by the Senate Saturday night is over six times larger than the estimated number of galaxies in the observable universe.
$1.1 trillion is a little over a thousand billions and astronomers estimate there’s only around 170 billion galaxies in known existence, stretching nearly 14 billion light-years away in every direction.
Additionally, one study estimates the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy at 100 billion, not significantly higher than the food stamp program accounting for $82 billion of the budget, which already cleared the House of Representatives on Thursday and is expected to be signed by President Obama.
It’s amazing how the federal budget makes the known universe look less significant in comparison.
To put it into the perspective of time, 82 billion seconds ago was around 528 B.C. during the early stages of the Persian Empire and 1.1 trillion seconds ago was before 30,000 B.C.
If the entire $1.1 trillion budget was stacked in dollar bills, it would reach over 63 miles high into the mesosphere layer of the atmosphere which is well above the maximum altitude of aircraft and not too far from the minimum altitude of satellites.
The national debt really began to accelerate when the Federal Reserve Act was passed in 1913, which practically gave the government unlimited funding at the expense of the American public who are unaware they are paying for it through a hidden tax called inflation.
“Over the century that followed, the U.S. has gone from being the biggest creditor in the world to its biggest debtor,” financial analyst Simon Black wrote. “Decades of expanding government programs, waste, endless and costly wars, etc. have racked up such an enormous pile of debt that it has become almost impossible to pay it down.”
But due to the nature of our fiat monetary system spearheaded by the Fed, if everyone paid back all debt in existence, there wouldn’t be any money left because money is only created the instant it’s borrowed and it vanishes when the debt is paid.
“Someone has to borrow every dollar we have in circulation, cash, or credit,” financial expert G. Edward Griffin wrote inThe Creature From Jekyll Island. “If the banks create ample synthetic money we are prosperous; if not, we starve.”
“We are absolutely without a permanent money system.”
“When one gets a complete grasp of the picture, the tragic absurdity of our hopeless situation is almost incredible — but there it is,” he added. “With the knowledge that money in America is based on debt, it should not come as a surprise to learn that the Federal Reserve System is not the least interested in seeing a reduction in debt.”
Hence why the federal government is running at a deficit created by the Fed.
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Posted: 15 Dec 2014 05:08 AM PST
Massive fire is seen raging in the Whiteman Park area of the Australian city of Perth on December 14, 2014.
Towering flames near Western Australian city of Perth have prompted evacuation of many homes as water-bombing helicopters and firefighters battle the blaze.
The wildfire began in the Whiteman Park area of the major city, which has a population of 1.5 million, at 1:11 pm local time, threatening residential buildings, according to Perth’s Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES).
DFES authorities stated that the exact cause of the major bush fire was unknown and still under investigation.
An evacuation alert was issued for homes in the Perth suburb of Swan earlier in the day but the warning was downgraded just before 9 p.m. local time.
“I would estimate there might have been about 20 properties under threat at one stage,” North Coast Metropolitan Superintendent Allan Riley told local news outlets.
DFES spokesman, Ryan Murray, insisted that the fire was still burning.
“The situation is the fire’s not contained. It’s gone over 120 hectares. The fire has settled. Crews will be working throughout the night to contain it,” Murray said.
DFES further warned about the presence of a lot of smoke in the area, with the fire still burning in Whiteman Park, spanning over two kilometers and slowly moving towards northeast.
Wildfires are quite common in Australia during the country’s usually hot and dry summer months.
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Posted: 15 Dec 2014 04:55 AM PST


Pope Francis has promised that your favorite pooch will have a spot in heaven, along with all other animals. He made the vow while comforting a little boy mourning the loss of his dog, according to media reports.
During his weekly address in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square, the pope told the boy that “paradise is open to all of God’s creatures.”
“One day, we will see our animals again in the eternity of Christ,” said the leader of the Catholic Church, according to Italian news outlets.
There has been a long-standing debate within the Catholic community over whether animals should and can go to heaven.
The pope’s comments differ from the position adopted by his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who said in 2008 that when an animal passes away it “just means the end of existence on Earth.”
Pope Francis’ reported stance has been immediately hailed by some animal rights groups. The Humane Society of the United States and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) welcomed the statements.
The Argentinian pope has become known for his controversial liberal approaches and stirring statements since assuming his post in March 2013.
He is famous for a more accepting view on homosexuality. Last year, Pope Francis signaled a less condemnatory stance by famously saying, “Who am I to judge?”
In October, the Catholic Church said it is considering embracing homosexual believers, as well as partially accepting same-sex and other religiously unsanctioned partnerships. This is according to “relatio,” a document released at the half-way point of the Synod, a two-week discussion of Catholicism and personal relationships at the Vatican, which was attended by 200 senior bishops.
On several occasions, Pope Francis has lashed out against capitalism and its footprint on humanity. He launched his latest attack in November, saying that humankind will bring about the end of the world unless people rein in their rapacious greed.
“It is also painful to see the struggle against hunger and malnutrition hindered by market priorities, the primacy of profit, which reduce foodstuffs to a commodity like any other, subject to speculation and financial speculation in particular,” Francis said.
In September, Pope Francis compared today’s world to a third world war “fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres and destruction.”
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Posted: 14 Dec 2014 02:56 PM PST
Sailson Jose das Gracas, 26, told police in Rio de Janeiro he would go out ‘on the hunt’ for white women after studying each victims for up to a month.
A Brazilian racist black man arrested for stabbing a woman to death calmly confessed to murdering another 41 people, putting him among history’s most prolific serial killers, it was reported today.
Sailson Jose das Gracas, 26, told police in Rio de Janeiro he would go out ‘on the hunt’ specifically targeting white women after studying each victims for up to a month.
In an unreported reign of terror spanning nine years, Gracas claims to have murdered 37 women, two men and one two-year-old child in the outlying area of Rio de Janeiro known as Baixada Fluminense.
He told police: ‘I would watch the victim, study her. I would wait a month, sometimes a week, depending on the place. I would get to know where she lived, how her family were, if she passed by on the street, I would watch, have a look at her house, studying her.
‘In the early hours of the morning, I’d get through a gap in her house, really easily, and take advantage.’
In an interview in front of TV cameras at the police station in Nova Iguacu, Garcas said he found pleasure in seeing the life drain out of the women he murdered.
He said: ‘I would stop in the bakery, or in a square, reading a newspaper. I would look at a woman and say to myself, “it’s that one”.
‘I would follow her to her house, but I never raped anyone. Women for me has to be white, not black, because of my colour. ‘
I got pleasure from them fighting, screaming and scratching me. I thought that I was crazy, sometimes normal.’
Chillingly, Garcas admitted he had become ‘addicted’ to murder.
‘The first woman I killed I strangled with my hands. I felt pleasure, I liked it. I felt a very strong desire. I’ve already killed 38 women, I’m addicted,’ he said.
He also told camera he was eleven when he lost his father, who was electrocuted during an accident at work.
He said: ‘It marked me a lot. But that wasn’t the reason why I committed these crimes.’
Marcelo Machado, the Rio police chief investigating the black racist serial killer, said Sailson found pleasure in stragulating his white victims, and masturbated after his murders.
He said: ‘On occasions, he killed his victims and masturbated on seeing them with their eyes open.’
Police chief Pedro Henrique Medina, from the Baixada Fluminense Homicide Division, said Gracas voluntarily confessed to the murders have being caught in the act of murdering his latest victim.
He said he believed his testimony because only the author of the crimes could recall them in so much detail.
He said: ‘His desire to kill was for women, and he didn’t kill black women, just white. He followed the victim, studied her step by step until he managed to commit the crime.’
Gracas was arrested after stabbing to death a 26-year-old woman identified as Fatima Miranda, in her home in the town of Nova Iguaçu, Greater Rio de Janeiro.
During the investigation into her death, police officers arrested Gracas and two other people, Cleusa Blabina and Jose Messias, who were with Ms Miranda on the night of her death.
The three were arrested after giving contradictory versions of what happened when questioned by police.
After they were taken to the police station, Gracas admitted that he had been paid by the other two accomplices to murder Ms Miranda.
He also admitted killing two men for money, and then detailed the dozens of other women he had murdered for his own pleasure in his serial killing spree.
Gracas claimed commiting murder would help him ‘calm down’.
He said: ‘When I didn’t do it, I’d become nervous, I’d pace up and down inside the house. And when I’d done it I’d become calmer. I’d do a victim, and I could stay two months without doing it, or three. I’d stay fine, I’d just be thinking of that one that I’d killed. Then I’d go out on the hunt.
‘I didn’t kill worrying about going to jail. I did everything well, it’s because I really like it doing it. I was most concerned with fingerprints, or if the place had a camera. I wouldn’t take any documents with me so I wouldn’t leave any clues for the police.’
During his testimony Gracas also confessed to killing a two-year-old child because he was afraid her cries might wake up neighbours after he had killed her mother. He said his sick racist taste for murdering white people began as a teenager.
He said: ‘I started to steal small things, do small robberies. And as I grew up I started having other thoughts. My thinking started to change, understand? From robbing, I started to think about killing. Aged 15, I stole handbags. After that, aged 17, I killed the first person.
‘It gave me that adreneline rush, the first woman. And I thought about jail. Will I get caught? The things flowed well. So I started thinking about doing it more and more. And I liked it and started to get used to it.’
Chillingly, Gracas claimed he did not regret any of the murders.
Tiago Henrique Gomes da Rocha, another Brazilian, confessed to murdering at least 39 people in just three years but at least Rocha was somewhat better than Gracas, he targeted homeless bums, gays and prostitutes. He also did not racially discriminate by targeting blacks only.
He said: ‘I have no regrets, no. For me what I did is done. I wouldn’t change anything, I don’t regret anything. If I leave prison in 10, 15 or 20 years, I’ll start doing the same thing again. It’s my will, there’s no other way. I leave, choose my ‘women’, the women I like to choose, and if I think that it has to be, it will.’
According to police records, Sailson was arrested twice in 2007 for robbery and theft, carrying illegal firearms in February 2010 and theft again in February this year. But his murders remained undiscovered until today.
Police have now launched an investigation into Gracas’ claims and are calling on families of murder victims over the last nine years to get in touch.
Gracas spent last night in a police cell and will be transferred to a maximum security jail in Rio de Janeiro today.
His arrest comes after Tiago Henrique Gomes da Rocha, another Brazilian, confessed to murdering at least 39 people in just three years.
Rocha, 26, was arrested in October after being pulled over in the city of Goiania, when local police found he was facing trial for stealing a motorcycle’s license plate in January.
He was stopped while riding with fake plates on the motorcycle he often used during the murders, when he would drive by and attack random victims before speeding away.
A day later, he confessed to killing 39 people, 15 young women as well as prostitutes and random people he thought to be gay or homeless.
In a sick twist, it has been revealed that Rocha was in a romantic relationship with a pretty church girl with long hair, her appearance similar to that of his victims, the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo reported.
Rocha began killing in 2011, at first targeting homeless people, gays and prostitutes. His first victim was a man, the first of 17 males he would eventually kill. This year, he turned his attention to young women. Unlike Gracas, Rocha did not racially targeted blacks.
The list of the 15 most prolific modern serial killers is topped by Colombian Luis Garavito, a child murderer and rapist known as ‘La Bestia’ or ‘The Beast.’ He is thought to have killed more than 400 people, mostly street children. His proven victim count is 138.
Pedro Rodrigues Filho, Brazil’s most prolific killer, claimed to have killed more than 100 victims, 47 of them inmates. He was convicted of killing 71 people.
He killed his first two victims at the age of 14 and murdered his father and ate a piece of his heart.
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Posted: 14 Dec 2014 02:47 PM PST
Hungarians gather in front of the parliament building during an anti-government demonstration in the capital Budapest on November 17, 2014.
Hundreds of Hungarians have taken to the streets of the capital Budapest to protest against alleged government corruption, austerity measures, and worsening social welfare.
Some 2,500 people staged a rally outside the Hungarian Parliament building on Sunday.
The protesters carried placards and banners criticizing some senior members of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government for their alleged roles in recent corruption cases.
Hungary’s 2015 state budget, slated to be approved on Monday, is unworthy of the country, chief protest organizer Zoltan Vajda said.
“The government is a lie,” Vajda noted, adding, “Their whole system is based on lies and Orban himself is a lie.”
Hungary has been the scene of a series of anti-government protests since October when tens of thousands marched to demand the drop of a proposed tax on internet usage.
The government scrapped the plan, marking Orban’s first major policy retreat since 2010.
Massive protest rallies have taken place since then against Orban’s policies and corruption in the country’s tax collection agency.
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Posted: 14 Dec 2014 02:38 PM PST



In addition to declaring economic war on Russia, attempting to cripple the largest exporter of natural gas in the world, and arming a fanatical clique of fascists in Kiev, S.2828, dubbed the Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014, dusts off a Cold War relic.
The final paragraph of a summary of S.2828 states:
Directs the Chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors to submit to Congress a plan for increasing the quantity of Russian-language broadcasting into the countries of the former Soviet Union in order to counter Russian Federation propaganda. Requires such plan to prioritize broadcasting into Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova by the Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
CIA Relics of the Cold War Dusted Off
Following the Second World War the CIA, the U.S. State Department, the Pentagon, and the Office of Policy Coordination (a CIA covert psychological operations and paramilitary action organization) organized Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty(RFE/RL) to operate as a “catalytic agent” to disseminate propaganda inside the Soviet Union.
The radio transmissions were part of a “political warfare” effort engineered by George F. Kennan, a member of the so-called “Wise Men,” a coterie globalist insiders responsible for the Marshall Plan, the World Bank and NATO.
In October, the AFP reported:
A quarter century after it helped topple totalitarian Communist regimes in eastern Europe, the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is dueling Moscow again, this time in a media war over the Ukraine crisis.
This “media war,” what Kennan deemed “political warfare,” is once again a priority. It will serve as the propaganda component of a stepped-up campaign that now includes military and “defense” assistance to the regime in Kiev, a State Department orchestrated regime that has thus far managed to kill 4,634 people and displace more than a half million civilians.
Passage of U.S. Measure May Result in “Preemptive” Russian Strike in Ukraine
In response to the Senate bill and the decision to send arms to the government in Kiev, Mikhail Yemelyanov of the Fair Russia party said on Friday the move may result in “adequate measures” by Russia, including sending the Russian military into Ukraine.
“The decision of the US Senate is extremely dangerous. If it is supported by the House of Representatives and signed by their president, Russia must reply with adequate measures,” Yemelyanov said.
“It is quite possible that we should return to the decision by our Upper House and give the Russian president an opportunity to use military force on Ukrainian territory preemptively. We should not wait until Ukraine is armed and becomes really dangerous.”
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Posted: 14 Dec 2014 02:07 PM PST


Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has promised to destroy Israel, as thousands of people in the city of Gaza marked the group’s 27th anniversary.
On Sunday, some 2,000 Hamas members from all the group’s military divisions took part in a military parade in Gaza.
Trucks and other vehicles carrying rockets with multiple-launcher rockets were showcased in the parade.
“This illusion called Israel will be removed. It will be removed at the hands of the Qassam Brigades,” said Khalil al-Hayya, a top Hamas leader, referring to the movement’s armed wing.
Abu Ubaydah, Qassam Brigades’ spokesman, said the anniversary was a major turning point in the region’s history.
The spokesman warned Israel of consequences if it did not reconstruct the tens of thousands of Palestinian homes damaged or destroyed during Tel Aviv’s war on the coastal strip this summer.
He further warned Tel Aviv of “the moment of explosion which won’t be in the interest of the occupation.”
The resistance movement also addressed Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention centers, saying they would soon be released.
Abu Ubaydah told the Palestinian prisoners that the day they “will see the light of freedom has become closer than any point in the past, so you needn’t bother thinking of numbers, figures, alive, dead, bodies, torn-off limbs or how and when.”
This comes nearly four months after a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians ended the deadly 50-day Israeli war against the Gaza Strip.
Gaza health officials say some 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children, were killed in the Israeli onslaught. Over 11,100 others, including 3,374 children, 2,088 women and 410 elderly people, were injured.
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Posted: 14 Dec 2014 01:51 PM PST
Australian hostage girls forced to display the ISIS terrorist flag.
A police operation is underway at a café in the Australian city of Sydney, where hostages are being held by unknown Muslim ISIS attackers and a black Jihadist flag can be seen. It comes amid Australia’s backing of the US-led operation against the Islamic State.
At least 40 hostages are believed to be held inside the café. There was no immediate confirmation of the exact number of assailants.
The gunmen’s attack, which took place in Sydney’s central business district, forced nearby buildings in Martin Place – including the Reserve Bank of Australia – to go on lockdown.
“A police operation is underway in Martin Place, Sydney’s CBD. People are advised to avoid the area,” New South Wales (NSW) police tweeted.
Meanwhile, live TV footage showed people standing inside a café with their hands pressed against the windows. At least one of the attackers was caught on camera wearing a traditional Islamic cap.
The hostages were forced to hold a black flag with an Arabic inscription, prompting fears that ruthless Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) militants were behind the attack.
Dozens of police, including a SWAT team, were dispatched to the scene, and a couple hundred people were held back by cordons amid the evacuation of nearby buildings.
Terrifying photo of hostages in Martin Place in Sydney, being held by men waving an ISIS flag.
The flag, which appeared different from the one typically used by ISIS was identified as the shahada, or the statement of Islamic faith. The shahada itself contains religious inscription “There is no god but the Allah, Muhammad is the messenger of the Allah.” However, it has been used by various jihadi groups over the years.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the situation “deeply concerning,” adding that everything is being done to respond to the incident.
“This is obviously a deeply concerning incident but all Australians should be reassured that our law enforcement and security agencies are well trained and equipped and are responding in a thorough and professional manner,” Abbott said in a statement.
He added that the National Security Committee of Cabinet is currently being briefed on the situation. The prime minister has spoken to NSW Premier Mike Baird, offering him all possible Commonwealth support and assistance.
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Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 21:07