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Joe Quinn
Sott.net 2015-05-28 09:15:00
Over the course of the past 100 years, Eastwards from South America to South East Asia (and everywhere in between), official history records that US governments have repeatedly created and used terrorist groups to attack foreign governments and populations who foolishly refused to view the world through a stars and stripes-tinted lens.Two examples among dozens include Nicaragua and Indonesia. At a 1985 hearing of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on US operations in Nicaragua, Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) told then Secretary of State George P. Shultz: "There is a growing body of evidence that the contras have committed widespread violence against the civilian population. I am concerned that money from our government goes to an organization that commits atrocities. I have been given affidavits by victims of atrocities, terrible photographs." Shultz was being rather coy here. The US government viewed the democratically-elected Sandinista government as a threat to the ability of American corporations to exploit Nicaraguan resources. Continuing in the tradition they had, by then, established in at least 5 other South American nations that rejected US corporate plunder of their nation, the US government decided to fund, arm and train a terrorist group known as the 'Contras' or 'counterrevolutionaries'. For the next ten years, the Contras carried out widespread terror attacks against the civilian population that killed at least 45,000 people in the tiny central American nation. The CIA even produced a 'terror manual' for the Contras called Psychological Operations in Guerrilla Warfare that advised on how to rationalize the killing of civilians. For almost ten years these CIA terrorists busied themselves by:
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Joachim Hagopian
Global Research 2015-05-27 22:37:00
Comment: If someone stood the 'State of the Union' annual address made by the President of the United States on its head, and truthified it, it would sound very close to this article. A growing segment of the American population is waking up to the implications of the Jade Helm 15 military operation to be conducted by Special Forces in conjunction with local law enforcement, the FBI, DHS, the DEA and Border Patrol across the entire Southwest. This massive unprecedented exercise will also commence in June sooner than first announced and last for 10 weeks through the summer till September 15. The risk of it triggering civil unrest or that it may coincide with a potential false flag scenario followed by another possibly timed crisis situation is both feasible and real, despite mainstream media's ridicule dismissing any such possibilities as pure paranoid conspiracy theory. What we do know for sure is this nation has turned into a militarized police state and that both the military and the government lie all the time. We also are aware of the globalists' long planned agenda of a national crisis that would induce Obama to quash civil unrest by declaring martial law. A recent poll of Americans found that near half (45%) see Jade Helm as imposing more control over the states. If martial law doesn't actually come to pass this time around, it certainly sets the stage for next time in this incrementally increasing militarization of America. We also know that a specific Department of Defense manual FM 3-39.40 has existed since 2010 delineating how the federal government in cooperation with the UN will respond to civil disturbance that includes FEMA camp roundups to fill waiting empty Haliburton-refurbished prison camps after a $385 million no bid contract during the former CEO Cheney's vice presidency. We also know that each prison camp includes a tribunal section and a mortuary section along with psychological officers responsible for reprogramming US detainees. Despite this layout presented so matter-of-fact and by-the-book, Americans will be killed. During the upheaval of a national crisis, a lethal outcome is also most probable. Meanwhile, countdown to global war appears to be ticking away as troops from virtuallyevery nation are busily training in preparation for a likely West versus East endgame scenario of World War III. President Kennedy spoke of subversive forces operating inside the shadow governmentseveral months prior to those same forces killing him. And those demonic forces posing as our international crime syndicate government boldly went on unconsequenced by the JFK assassination to stage the worst false flag in history on 9/11 giving birth to the neocons' war on terror. And it's been all downhill ever since with nonstop wars, a runaway deficit (over $18 trillion), a fragile and broken global economy, and within a few years after 9/11 amilitarized totalitarian police state. Long gone is America's once democratic republic, replaced by a fascist oligarchy controlled by a military-security-prison complex. AsObama's personal army, Homeland Security has grown gluttonously evil bringing tyranny and oppression to the United States of America as never before. But to those of us aware enough to study and learn from history, there are no accidents and no surprises here. Armed with the latest technology, the global elitists in control have done their homework, long in advance manipulating everything in its Orwellian place for these shuttering events and developments to unfold. From the overreaching CIA grooming their Manchurian Candidate president to his unqualified meteoric rise to puppet power, Obama was the perfect made man for the job. Obscured by a shadowy, made over past that includes a fake birth certificate, he was steeped in Communist ideology and socialist collectivism by his deep connection with ex-terrorist Bill Ayers (who also was the Common Core architect responsible largely for dumbing down public education) and fellow mentor Saul Alinsky. Obama displayed dazzle as an early orator on the big stage of big politics, wore the right skin color to prey on people's hope for change and progress, appearing as a different kind of leader who many thought would represent the common people, a unifier and uplifter for the downtrodden. Boy were they dead wrong! | |
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| Puppet Masters |
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RT
2015-05-28 19:53:00
Russia expects to launch the $100-billion BRICS New Development Bank along with a currency reserve pool worth another $100 billion at the July summit in Ufa, said Russian President Vladimir Putin. "We expect to reach agreement in Ufa on the launch of practical operations of the BRICS Bank and a pool of currency reserves," Putin said on Thursday at a ceremony to receive the credentials of ambassadors of foreign states, TASS reports. Putin recalled that the BRICS was created in 2006 under Russia's initiative, and that the group "has already become an influential factor in world policy and economy." "Russia is interested in further intensifying cooperation between the BRICS countries and developing new interaction mechanisms, including in the financial and economic sphere," he said. | |
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RT
2015-05-28 19:45:00
The FIFA-linked arrests on the eve of the re-election of the organization's chief are an obvious attempt to thwart Sepp Blatter's re-appointment, Vladimir Putin said, answering journalists' questions. He added it's another example of US meddling abroad. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the US could be selfishly motivated for its own gain, as was the case with Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. "Unfortunately our American partners are using these methods in order to achieve their own selfish gains and it is illegal to persecute people. I would not rule out that in regards to FIFA, the same thing could be happening, though I do not know how it will end," he said. "However, the fact that this is happening right on the eve of the FIFA presidential elections, gives one this exact impression." Putin added this is an obvious attempt to expand Washington's jurisdiction in other countries. "This is yet one more attempt to try and impose their law against other states. I am absolutely sure that this is an attempt to try and stop Blatter from being re-elected as FIFA president, which is a grave breach of the principles of a functioning international organization." | |
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Fort Russ
2015-05-28 19:16:00
Russia's President Vladimir Putin speaks with uncommon bluntness against the foreign policy of the United States. He wants an alliance with China and the BRICS states, to close the security gaps that arise from US foreign policy: The illegal interventions of the West are what first gave strength to the Islamic State. The BRICS countries should safeguard against such developments. At a meeting Monday with the security chiefs of the BRICS countries, Putin declared, according to TASS: Putin sees danger for other nations of the world in the West's aggressive policies: "It is also obvious that our countries have to face serious threats due to violations of international law and the national sovereignty of states in various spheres of activity." | |
Comment: Once again, Putin's right. And he's saying things you'll only otherwise here in the alternative media. For example, see Joe Quinn's latest: Is ISIS a creation of the US government? Do large hairy mammals relieve themselves in the woods?
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South Front
2015-05-28 18:51:00
On May 13, the Vatican officially recognized the state of Palestine. Indeed, the Vatican had already welcomed the United Nations General Assembly vote in 2012 to recognize a Palestinian state. It has treated Palestine as a state since then despite the conflict over this issue. Meanwhile, Venezuela is strengthening diplomatic ties with Palestine. Particularly, it means that Venezuela's diplomatic representation in Palestine will be elevated to full embassy status. The news was revealed in the wake of a visit to Venezuela by PA Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki, which resulted in the signing of 18 cooperation agreements related to trade, energy, agriculture, health, education, defence and security. Although, these facts don't resolve system problem in the region. The State of Palestine is a de jure sovereign state in the Middle East. Its independence was declared on 15 November 1988 by the Palestine Liberation Organization in Algiers as a government-in-exile. The State of Palestine claims the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and has designated Jerusalem as its capital, with partial control of those areas assumed in 1994 as the Palestinian Authority. Most of the areas claimed by the State of Palestine have been occupied by Israel since 1967 in the aftermath of the Six-Day War. In 2007, the Hamas takeover of Gaza Strip politically and territorially divided the Palestinians, with Abbas's Fatah left largely ruling the West Bank and recognized internationally as the official Palestinian Authority, while Hamas has secured its control over the Gaza Strip. In April 2011, the Palestinian parties signed an agreement of reconciliation, but its implementation had stalled until a unity government was formed on 2 June 2014.
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Comment: A concise summary from Sott.net's information partner, South Front, of what's going on in Palestine, and how we got here over the last few years.
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Chris Frates
CNN 2015-05-28 18:44:00
The IRS believes that a major cyber breach that allowed criminals to steal the tax returns of more than 100,000 people originated in Russia, two sources briefed on the data theft tell CNN. On Tuesday, the Internal Revenue Service announced that organized crime syndicates used personal data obtained elsewhere to access tax information, which they then used to file $50 million in fraudulent tax refunds. The IRS said the agency's Criminal Investigation Unit and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration are investigating the origins of the breach. The agency also alerted the Homeland Security Department of the breach, a DHS official confirmed. On Thursday, the FBI announced it had also opened an investigation into the incident. An IRS spokeswoman said the agency does not discuss ongoing investigations. | |
Comment: Between this and the recent FIFA arrests related to Russia hosting the World Cup, the U.S. is back to ramping up the anti-Russian propaganda again. Foolishly, Obama must think he can win.
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RT
2015-05-28 18:26:00
NATO is destabilizing the Ukrainian crisis by turning blind eye to Kiev's aim for a military solution, Moscow's envoy to NATO said, warning that alliance's rhetoric of shifting all responsibility onto Russia is not consistent with real state of affairs. "NATO continues to position Russia as a participant in the conflict, which is far from reality and has a serious confrontational potential because, in essence, it gives Kiev carte blanche to seek a military solution to the conflict," Russian envoy to NATO Aleksandr Grushko told Rossiya 24 TV channel. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced earlier on Wednesday that the alliance will create up to eight new command and control units on its eastern borders. "We are establishing six command and control units in the three Baltic countries [Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia] and in Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania. And probably also [there will] be two more of those in two more countries," Stoltenberg said.
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Sputnik
2015-05-27 18:11:00
Russian Gazprom has signaled that it will move forward with the construction of the Turkish Stream, regardless of potential political obstacles in Europe, planning to cease using its route through Ukraine in 2019, Stratfor reported. According to US private intelligence company Stratfor, Russia's Gazprom has clearly signaled that it will push ahead the construction of the Turkish Stream, calling upon Italian energy firm Saipem and Germany's Europipe to start working on the project. "Russia said it plans to start constructing the underwater portion of the pipeline in June. Gazprom has already told Europe that it plans to cease using its current export route through Ukraine in 2019 and shift those natural gas supplies to the Turkish Stream pipeline," Stratfor analysts emphasized. Indeed, Moscow has resumed a contract with Europipe for 150,000 metric tons of pipe, and notified a subsidiary of Saipem that it could begin constructing the 63 billion-cubic-meter pipeline in the Black Sea. | |
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Chipstone, translated by Tatzhit Mikhailovich
Vineyard of the Saker 2015-05-26 13:17:00
The harsh rhetoric of Merkel at the Moscow press conference on May 10th, as well as her very sour face after talking to Putin, may have very real and important reasons. Germany is looking more and more like the main loser in the geopolitical schemes of both Russia and USA. Well, if we don't count Ukraine, which is the main battlefield. It's no secret that Russia's most important foreign policy objective has long been fostering closer ties with Europe, especially Germany. This is not only about Russia's traditional goal off "Westernization", or the fact that President Putin's previous work in Germany has impacted his strategic views, but also about elementary lessons of history. Russia and Germany ended up on opposing sides in two world wars, and took immense losses, while USA and Britain reaped most of the spoils. So, attempting to break this pattern is only natural. Unfortunately, each of our countries looks out for its own geopolitical interests first and foremost, and those are often opposed to each other. And, like twice before, Germany is about to fall prey to its short-term interests going against its long-term strategic position. Comment: It's more likely Germany is about to fall prey to the psychopathic elite's short-term interests. We could talk about Germany not being fully sovereign and all of this happening due to United States influence, but this is only partly true. In the last three decades, Germany has made enormous progress towards restoring its geopolitical standing. It became the leading power in the EU - virtually all other European countries are dependent on German loans and already severely in German debt. The process has gone so far that many talk about the new "EuroReich", as EU is essentially economically controlled by Germany. | |
Comment: Also see: The German Question
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Bill Holter
Global Research 2015-05-27 15:35:00
The title is of course a little misleading because China has many options, none of which except one in my opinion will actually work. Options to what exactly you ask? Options to a collapsing global economy and an imploding financial system which will surely affect China as much as anywhere else, but with one caveat. I take these events as a given, others do not but betting against an outright panic and global bankruptcy is betting against pure mathematics itself. Let's back up a little bit and look at where China is currently. They are the second largest economy in the world (maybe the largest, we can't really know because the numbers here, there, and everywhere are made up). China is by far THE largest manufacturer in the world and also an enormous exporter. China is also in a three horse race as to who owns the most U.S. Treasuries with Japan and unbelievably the Federal Reserve itself. They have an oversized shadow banking system which has already been shown as fraudulent in several cases regarding copper, zinc and lead as "collateral" (or not). | |
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ITAR-TASS
2015-05-28 15:23:00
Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Thursday there was a need to fully separate the territories of the East-Ukrainian Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by militia forces. "We'll have to fully close the line of contact [separating the militia units and the forces loyal to the government in Kiev - TASS] to close it for everything," he said in an interview withLigaBiznesinform agency. "That's my radical viewpoint," Avakov went on. "In a junta-like style, the way we do it. Let's shut the contact line. Let them cross it on foot or in small cars but without any goods. As for the goods, let them get everything from Russia." | |
Comment: More psychopathic drivel from Kiev. They clearly have no interest in the Minsk agreements.
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RT
2015-05-28 13:20:00
President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro says his country has reached an agreement with Russia, which will see investment of $14 billion in the oil and gas sector over the next few years. The agreement was reached between the Venezuelan state oil firm, PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela) and the Russian oil giant, Rosneft, after talks in the South American country's capital, Caracas, between Maduro, the president of PDVSA, Eulogio Del Pino, and the president of Rosneft, Igor Sechin. "We had a great meeting and agreed on investment of over $14 billion," said Maduro in a television address, following a meeting with Sechin. He added that the funds would go towards doubling Venezuela's oil production. | |
Comment: The world keeps wheeling and dealing despite the US "sphere of influence".
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RT
2015-05-28 12:32:00
The US rejects the idea of any nation claiming a sphere of influence, Vice President Joe Biden told a Washington think tank, arguing that the crisis in Ukraine was about the principles and values of the West and international order. "We will not recognize any nation having a sphere of influence," the vice president said during a speech at the Brookings Institution on Wednesday. It remained unclear whether the remark applied to US influence around the globe, or referred only to Russia, China and other countries. Comment: In other words, US 'sphere of influence' is the only thing that matters. Any other country attempting to do the same is threatening to the 'bully on the hill'. | |
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Alex Thomas
Intellihub 2015-05-26 06:00:00
Captured British journalist John Cantlie has written an article for the Islamic State in which he claims that the possibility of an ISIS nuclear attack on America has risen "infinitely." The article appeared in the new edition of Dabiq, the ISIS online english magazine with Madison Avenue design cues. Cantlie was abducted by ISIS in 2012 and is now apparently being forced to write their english language propaganda. Claiming ISIS has billions of dollars, Cantlie outlined how the terrorist group could acquire the weapon and transport it into America. Press TV reports: | |
Comment: If you think that this possibility seems too far-fetched, then you're simply not considering the depths of depravity the psychopathic elites are capable of.
See also: Be very afraid: Islamic State says could obtain nuclear bomb in less than 12 months ISIS complains about 'conspiracy theories' claiming that the group is a puppet in the hands of western intelligence agencies | |
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Russia Insider
2015-05-27 22:41:00
There is a long history of the U.S. military-industrial complex lobbying the government for funding and influencing foreign policy, e.g., to help pick out countries to bomb or invade. However, the latest pressure group to be formed in the run up to next year's U.S. presidential elections is an insult to basic intelligence. It calls itself Americans for Peace, Prosperity and Security but literally hides its sinister motives in broad daylight. The name sounds so innocent, so appealing and credible. After all, don't we all want peace, prosperity, and security!? | |
Comment: War is peace apparently. The U.S. military-industrial complex for the win.
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RT
2015-05-27 21:41:00
Tony Blair has reportedly resigned as envoy to The Quartet group of Middle East nations. The news was reported in a tweet by the Associated Press, which claimed an official had told the agency the former UK Prime Minister would stand down.
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Comment: This worthless piece of humanity needs to be imprisoned!
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| Society's Child |
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RT
2015-05-27 18:36:00
Seven Maryland high school students are facing burglary and other charges for allegedly breaking into their high school and releasing thousands of ladybugs as part of a senior prank. According to the St. Mary's County, Maryland Sheriff's Department, five male suspects wearing masks and hooded sweatshirts forced their way into the Chopticon High School at around 3:40 a.m. on May 20 and released approximately 72,000 ladybugs purchased over the internet. Two male suspects waited outside in a car while the others entered the school. Four juvenile suspects are being charged with fourth-degree burglary, property destruction under $1,000, and disruption of school activities, the sheriff's office reported. They were released into custody of their parents. The three other adult suspects will be charged through criminal summons.
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RT
2015-05-28 18:16:00
A shocking photo has emerged of two former police officers posing with a suspect dressed as a hunting trophy. The picture was unsealed by a Chicago judge as one of the officers fired over the incident appealed the decision. The Chicago Sun-Times published the troubling polaroid on Tuesday, showing Special Operations Section (SOS) officers Timothy McDermott and Jerome Finnigan kneeling over an African-American man with deer antlers strapped to his head. It was taken sometime between 1999 and 2003. Finnigan was convicted of leading a group of rogue cops in a string of robberies and home invasions, and given a 12-year prison sentence in 2011. Federal prosecutors shared the photo with Chicago police two years later, resulting in a 5-4 police board vote that saw McDermott's fired as opposed to merely suspended. The majority opinion stated that "appearing to treat an African-American man not as a human being but as a hunted animal is disgraceful and shocks the conscience." Cook County Judge Thomas Allen decided to unseal the photo, although attorneys for both McDermott and the Chicago police requested it remain secret, citing concerns over the privacy of the yet unidentified man posing as the crooked cops' "trophy." | |
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RT
2015-05-28 14:56:00
The Methodist Church in Britain (MCB) published a damning report from an independent inquiry on Thursday, which found nearly 2,000 incidents of physical and sexual abuse going back as far as 1950. The inquiry was carried out by Jane Stacey, former deputy chief executive of the children's charity Barnados, and took three years to complete its findings. It considered all cases that ministers and members of the church could remember as well as those for which there were written records. These included cases that were carried out within the church and those that were reported to the church, but which occurred away from it. | |
Comment: Child sexual abuse is frightening and everywhere. It is a deep cancer of society that, if not rooted out, will be the destruction of said society.
Whether Church or State, the 'Establishment' connections ensure these depraved pedophiles invariably escape due justice. Further information such as their modus operandi, is explained in this article: UK 'Establishment': Unmasking psychopathic faces - Pedophilia and murder in VERY high place | |
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Michael Snyder
End of The American Dream 2015-05-26 00:00:00
The thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted on a daily basis is beginning to disappear, and a new era of chaos and anarchy is coming to our cities. I don't know if you have noticed, but violence is increasing on the streets of America. Over Memorial Day weekend, 29 people were shot in Baltimore and 55 people were shot in Chicago. But of course the trend that I am talking about is much broader than that. According to the FBI, the number of police officers "feloniously killed" in the line of duty rose by an astounding 89 percent in 2014. We live at a time when Americans are becoming extremely angry and extremely frustrated, and this is only going to intensify as economic conditions worsen. But already we have seen some of this anger and frustration boil over into violence in Ferguson and in Baltimore. And you know what? The vast majority of Americans expect more of the same in the coming months. According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey that was recently released, 96 percent of all Americans believe that there will be more civil unrest in America this summer. What we have seen up until now is just the warm up act. The main event is still to come. If things are this bad already, how bad will they be when the next great economic crisis hits this nation and unemployment skyrockets and poverty is everywhere? | |
Comment: The following book by the author of the above article is a good start if you haven't yet started preparing (or even if you have).
Get Prepared Now!: Why A Great Crisis Is Coming & How You Can Survive It See also: Situational Awareness - Observe, Orient, Decide, Act | |
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Claire Bernish
The AntiMedia 2015-05-27 21:01:00
What started as a tragically common report of a missing teenager, turned out to be a far more sinister saga with a conclusion so bereft of justice, it attests to all but irrefutable proof of law enforcement impunity. In case after case, incidents of undeniable police brutality and murder become opportunities for public victim-blaming; and when no punishment is wrought on the perpetrators, that blame turns to self-righteous indignation. Because law enforcement is infallible, right? A 13-year-old boy was reported missing the evening of November 5, 2012 in Habersham County Georgia, but when located the following morning, authorities quickly realized he wasn't another disgruntled runaway. Sheriff Joey Terrell discovered marks and bruising on the boy's neck and back inconsistent with spending one night outdoors, and the teen subsequently explained they were the result of being "hit on" at home. After child welfare advocates interviewed the boy, authorities were dispatched to arrest his mother, father, and 17-year-old sister. | |
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Ben McGrath
World Socialist Web Site 2015-05-27 21:01:00
Japanese protesters gathered outside the parliament building in Tokyo on Sunday to demand the removal of a US base on the island of Okinawa. Numerous rallies have been held recently, both on the island and the Japanese mainland, to oppose the US military's presence in the country. An estimated 15,000 people took part in Sunday's protest, denouncing plans to move the US Marine Corp Air Station Futenma base to a new location at Henoko, which is currently being constructed. Futenma is located in the city of Ginowan, while Henoko sits along a less populated coast in Okinawa. Many people held banners reading, "No to Henoko." They demanded the base be removed from the prefecture altogether. One protester, Akemi Kitajima, told the press: "We must stop this construction. The government is trying to force the plan, no matter how strongly Okinawa says 'no' to it." The demonstrators also expressed opposition to US plans to deploy CV-22 Ospreys to the Yokota Air Base in Tokyo. A larger protest took place on the previous Sunday, when 35,000 people gathered on Okinawa to oppose the base relocation plan. The protests began that Friday and continued throughout the weekend. On the Saturday, demonstrators marched around the Futenma base and were joined in other cities across the country by approximately 2,600 others. Besides their opposition to the base, people shouted slogans, such as "Oppose enhanced Japan-US defense ties," directed against Japan's turn to militarism. Plans to move the Futenma base have been in the works since 1996, following the 1995 brutal kidnapping and rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three US servicemen, which resulted in widespread anti-US protests. Other, less publicized crimes by US personnel have also stoked anti-US sentiment. | |
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Carey Wedler
The AntiMedia 2015-05-26 21:01:00
A recently released Drug Enforcement Administration report reveals not only that heroin use has exploded, but that 4 out of 5 new users have previously abused prescription drugs.The details of the analysis, titled the "National Heroin Threat Assessment," unwittingly demonstrate that the Drug War has failed to curb drug use and has actually exacerbated the problem. The report opens with an overview of heroin addiction: "The threat posed by heroin in the United States is serious and has increased since 2007. Heroin is available in larger quantities, used by a larger number of people, and is causing an increasing number of overdose deaths."The report acknowledges more specific data about heroin use. It explains that the strength of the drug has skyrocketed since the 1980s, increasing from 10% purity in 1981 to 40% in 1999. Due to this purity, the drug has become easier to snort and smoke, which broadens its appeal. Alternatively, the reformulation of Oxycontin in 2010 made the prescription opiate harder to inject, leading some pill addicts to turn to heroin for a drug they could use intravenously. | |
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| Secret History |
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www.abc.net.au
2015-05-28 03:34:00
Jaw and teeth fossils found in Ethiopia's Afar region in 2011 represent a previously unknown member of humankind's family tree that lived 3.3 to 3.5 million years ago alongside the famous human ancestor Lucy, scientists say. The fossils shed new light on a key period in the human lineage's evolution before the emergence of our genus, Homo, and provide the first evidence that two early human ancestor species lived at the same time and place prior to 3 million years ago. The new species, Australopithecus deyiremeda, combined ape-like and human-like traits as did Lucy's species, Australopithecus afarensis, but was sufficiently different to warrant recognition as a separate species, scientists said announcing the discovery on Wednesday. Lucy's skeleton was unearthed in 1974 from the Hadar site, near Woranso-Mille, where the new fossil was found. | |
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Chuck Bednar
RedOrbit 2015-05-27 22:10:00
Wounds discovered on a 430,000-year-old human skull discovered in Spain could indicate that the individual was one of the first-ever murder victims, according to a new study published in the May 27 edition of the open-access journal PLOS One. In the study, Dr. Nohemi Sala from Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Spain, and her colleagues explain that the skull was discovered at Sima de los Huesos, a site located deep within a series of underground caves located in northern Spain. The skull, known as Cranium 17, was found with the skeletal remains of at least 28 individuals dating back to the Middle Pleistocene period. The specimen is comprised of 52 cranial fragments recovered during a series of excavations at the site over the past two decades, and contains a pair of penetrating lesions on the frontal bone, just above the left eye, Dr. Sala's team said. | |
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RT
2015-05-27 18:50:00
Around 20,000 residents in Cologne in Germany were evacuated after a 200-kilogram bomb from World War II was discovered during preparations for construction work. Deactivation of the device, found near Muelheim Bridge over the Rhine River, is scheduled to take place on Wednesday afternoon, the DPA news agency reported. The bomb, believed to be a US design, is 1.76 meters long and 60 centimeters in diameter. It is buried 5 meters underground, which is going to complicate the task of the bomb disposal squad. "As is common with these heavy bombs, this one is very deep down. Such a big bomb can't simply be taken out. We need to dig a deep and wide hole first," Dieter Daeneck, who is leading the operation, told FAZ. Earlier, 20,000 people had to leave their homes, including over a 1,000 residents of a nursing home, which required dozens of ambulances to arrive on the scene. | |
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| Science & Technology |
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RT
2015-05-27 16:09:00
An investigation has been launched into a "serious incident" involving Air France Flight 953. It was revealed the plane with nearly 40 on board risked crashing into a giant volcano in Cameroon while trying to avoid a storm. France's BEA air accident agency is looking into what took place on May 2, when the Boeing 777 was en route to Paris. Air France Flight 953 with 23 passengers, three pilots and 10 cabin crew were traveling from Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, to Douala, the largest city in Cameroon. An automatic 'pull up' alarm went off when the plane diverted north from its normal route "to avoid storms," accident investigators said. The BEA stated in its report that the aircraft ascended quickly from 9,000 ft to 13,000 ft to avoid crashing. | |
Comment: Crash course in avoidance? It would seem logical that any emergency rerouting of an airline, for such circumstances as weather anomalies, would take into consideration a trajectory that excludes dangerous landmarks, such as the highest mountain/active volcano in Cameroon!
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Jenna Lacurci
Nature World News 2015-05-12 12:07:00
What is referred to as "breaking wave" cloud patterns in our atmosphere reportedly disturb Earth's magnetic field (or magnetosphere) surprisingly often - more often than scientists previously thought, according to new research. The phenomenon involves ultra low-frequency Kelvin-Helmholtz waves, which are abundant throughout the Universe and create distinctive patterns - which can be seen from Earth's clouds and ocean surfaces, to even the atmosphere of Jupiter. "Our paper shows that the waves, which are created by what's known as the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, happens much more frequently than previously thought," co-author Joachim Raeder of the University of New Hampshire (UNH) Space Science Center within the Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, said in a statement. "And this is significant because whenever the edge of Earth's magnetosphere, the magnetopause, gets rattled it will create waves that propagate everywhere in the magnetosphere, which in turn can energize or de-energize the particles in the radiation belts." In fact, data shows that Kelvin-Helmholtz waves actually occur 20 percent of the time at the magnetopause and can change the energy levels of our planet's radiation belts. So why is this important? Well, first of all, Earth's magnetic field protects us from cosmic radiation. Not to mention these changing energy levels can potentially impact how the radiation belts either protect or threaten spacecraft and Earth-based technologies. But the UNH team presses that their discovery is less about the effects of so-called "space weather" and more about a better understanding of the basic physics of how the magnetosphere works. "It's another piece of the puzzle," Raeder said. "Previously, people thought Kelvin-Helmholtz waves at the magnetopause would be rare, but we found it happens all the time." | |
Comment: The Earth's magnetic field is already showing signs of significant weakening, one consequence of which is the growing peril for astronauts as cosmic rays intensify.
A fascinating book which encompasses these phenomena and so much more is: Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection | |
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Mike Wheatley
Russia Insider 2015-05-27 22:36:00
Baikal Electronics, a fabless semiconductor company specializing in ARM-based and MIPS-based processors and systems on a chip (SoC), has announced the release of engineering samples of its new Baikal-T1 multi-core microprocessor created using a 28 nanometer process and designed for use in consumer and industrial devices. The Baikal-T1 will become the first Russian offering for the communications market to use a MIPS Warrior CPU, boasting highly competitive properties in terms of performance, technology node and compatibility, the company said. At the heart of the chip sits a dual-core MIPS P5600 CPU clocked at 1.2 GHz. The Baikal-T1 also includes multiple high-speed (1G/10G Ethernet, PCIe, SATA 6G, USB) and low-speed interfaces (GPIO, I2C, UART, SPI). The package measures 25 x 25 mm and is manufactured on 28nm process technology, achieving less than 5 W of total power consumption - an ideal figure for fanless device designs. | |
Comment: Nice to see Russia coming out with new tech to add competition to the CPU world.
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Ernesto Guido & Nick Howes
BET nr. 4108, issued on 2015, May 27, announces the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~18) by PANSTARRS survey in three w-band exposures taken with the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS1 telescope at Haleakala on May 24.5 UT. The new comet has been designated C/2015 K4 (PANSTARRS).Remanzacco Observatory 2015-05-27 22:18:00 We performed follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 20 unfiltered exposures, 30-sec each, obtained remotely on 2015, May 26.3 from U69 (iTelescope network - Auberry California) through a 0.61-m f/6.5 astrograph + CCD, shows that this object is a comet with a ill-defined central condensation surrounded by diffuse irregular coma about 6" in diameter. Our confirmat |
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