| Puppet Masters |
|
Johannes Stern
World Socialist Web Site 2015-05-04 02:05:00
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme," the great American writer Mark Twain once wrote. One might add: "And often, unfortunately, in an alarming way." Just days before the 70th anniversary of the capitulation of Nazi Germany in World War II, debate in the German media is raging about how the German army can again wage an effective armoured tank war against Russia. In an article headlined "Why politicians rejected uranium projectiles for the Leo", the Die Welt national daily newspaper calls for equipping German Leopard 2 battle tanks with uranium munitions to effectively combat Russian tanks. The article begins by announcing, with obvious satisfaction, that the defence ministry has recently "recalled into operation 100 mothballed Leopard 2 tanks at a cost of €22 million, thereby increasing the country's arsenal of combat tanks from 225 to 325". The primary purpose of this "unusual measure" is allegedly to signal to eastern European countries that "the trend towards further reduction of Germany's conventional military capabilities (has been) reversed". However, the author then gives full vent to his frustration over the country's military inadequacy. The Leopard 2 tanks are, he writes, indeed "still excellent weapons ... but unfortunately [they are] no longer capable of effectively combatting the modern types of Russian tanks—particularly the T90 series". The reason is "exclusively the inadequate type of ammunition used for the [tank's] first-class 120 mm smoothbore cannon", which is manufactured by the German Rheinmetall arms company. The Bundeswehr's (German army's) DM63 ammunition, currently used in heavy armoured combat, is not powerful enough "to penetrate the newer versions of T80 and T90 tanks. This will probably be even more the case for Russia's incoming Armata tank, which will be operational from 2020." | |
 |
|
Paul Craig Roberts
2015-05-07 15:50:00
Radio "Liberty" has always been a propaganda ministry. Formerly its propaganda was directed against the Soviet Union. Today it is directed against distinguished Americans who are known and respected for their allegiance to the truth. Radio Liberty's latest target is an American scholar who is far more widely respected than Radio Liberty. Like everything else in Washington the two-bit propaganda ministry is carried away by hubris and a mistaken opinion of its own importance. A Radio Liberty non-entity named Carl Schreck, of whom no one has ever heard, has declared America's most distinguished Russian scholar, Stephen Cohen, to be "a Putin apologist." | |
Comment: The further from reality the US travels the more brutal, dictatorial, and nonsensical the lies become. Check out:
| |
|
|
Sputnik News
2015-05-07 15:15:00
The military commander of Ukraine's Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion has promised his fighters will not lay down arms until its flags are raised over the regions of Donbass and Crimea; the unit has marked the first anniversary of its formation. As members of the Azov Battalion mark the first anniversary of the formation of their all-volunteer paramilitary militia, their military commander is vowing that the far right group will not lay down its weapons until Ukraine has reclaimed Crimea and the breakaway Donbass region. | |
Comment: Azov is probably the only battleworthy Ukrainian unit left because the rest of Ukraine has realized that they're fighting on the side of inbred neo-Nazis. Check out:
| |
|
|
Sputnik
2015-05-07 14:46:00
Saudi Arabia and the United States do not consider putting boots on the ground in war-torn Yemen, US Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday. Kerry, who is in Saudi Arabia for negotiations with his counterpart Adel Jubeir, said at a press conference there was no talk of sending troops to Yemen to roll back Houthi rebels' insurgency there. In an earlier Twitter post, Kerry said he had held a constructive meeting with Yemen's fugitive President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who fled to Riyadh earlier this year following the rebel advance on his stronghold in the port city Aden. | |
Comment: Interesting development considering Yemen's government pleas for a ground invasion:
| |
|
|
RT
2015-05-07 05:52:00
Former top military commanders of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) penned an open letter on the eve of WWII Victory Day celebrations calling for the US and NATO to refrain from Cold War policies and cooperate with Russia to solve the Ukrainian crisis. More than 100 top brass of the ex-GDR, the majority of whom fought on the fronts of WWII, slammed American and North Atlantic alliance leaders for using military power in the resolution of conflicts. Titled "Soldiers for Peace," the open letter was presented in Berlin on Tuesday. "We witness War becoming a permanent companion of humanity once again. The new world order that the USA and their allies have been trying to establish has recently led to nothing but new wars - in Yugoslavia and Afghanistan, in Iraq, Yemen and Sudan, in Libya and Somalia. These wars claimed the lives of more than two million people and forced even more out of their homes," the letter said. Former German generals pointed to NATO's "intensive militarization of Europe"saying that war "has returned" to the continent. "The United States as well as the other NATO members have recently returned to the policy of the Cold War and they justify it by imaginary Russian aggression,"said former GDR defense minister Theodor Hoffmann during the presentation of the open letter on Tuesday. "The aim of the American strategy consists in defeating Russia as a competitor to the US as well as in weakening the EU. The US hopes to isolate Russia and to corrode its ties to Europe and particularly to Germany by admitting Ukraine to NATO," the letter reads. The East German commanders also blamed the US and their allies for launching an"unprecedented media campaign," which aims to "to win the trust of people in western countries over to their cause." "And those taking part in this campaign are just irredeemable politicians and corrupt journalists that stir up hostility, hatred and war hysteria," the letter states. Comment: Commenting on mainstream media sources, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said recently, "We know that blaming everything on Russia has already turned into some sort of sport." | |
|
|
MintPress
2015-05-04 01:53:00
Media reports hammer home the notion that Israel's borders are under new threat from fighting from ISIS and al-Qaida, but rarely explain how Israel offers direct aid to al-Qaida. Historically, Israel has denied most claims of direct involvement in the conflict, but army forces admitted to carrying out an attack last weekend on what they describe as a terrorist group approaching the Golan Heights. Ruth Eglash, a Jerusalem-based reporter for The Washington Post, elaborated on the April 26 airstrikes based on the sparse details available from official sources: "Arab news media have run stories on airstrikes allegedly carried out by Israel in the past few days against the Hezbollah militia, an Iran proxy, and Syrian army targets.Writing for the Jewish Chronicle on Thursday, Anshel Pfeffer claims Israel is exerting extreme and "nuanced" control over media reports of its involvement in the Syrian conflictby denying involvement in most airstrikes while blaming Iran and Hezbollah for continued unrest. | |
Comment: Par for the course. There is no more nastily opportunistic country than Israel. Al-Nusra' being a militant Islamic group is just an inconvenient detail, if they can be manipulated to advance Israel's goals.
| |
|
|
Eric Zuesse
Global Research 2015-05-05 23:17:00
The Obama-proposed international-trade deals, if passed into law, will lead to "a dystopian future in which corporations and not democratically elected governments call the shots,"says Alfred De Zayas, the UN's Special Rapporteur on Promotion of a Democratic and Equitable International Order. These two mammoth trade-pacts, one (TTIP) for Atlantic nations, and the other (TTP) for Pacific nations excluding China (since Obama is against China), would transfer regulations of corporations to corporations themselves, and away from democratically elected governments. Regulation of working conditions and of the environment, as well as of product-safety including toxic foods and poisonous air and other consumer issues, would be placed into the hands of panels whose members will be appointed by large international corporations. Their decisions will remove the power of democratically elected governments to control these things. "Red tape" that's imposed by elected national governments would be eliminated — replaced by the international mega-corporate version. Comment: Talk about the fox being in charge of the hen house De Zayas was quoted in Britain's Guardian on May 4th as saying also that, "The bottom line is that these agreements must be revised, modified or terminated," because they would vastly harm publics everywhere, even though they would enormously benefit the top executives of corporations by giving them control as a sort of corporate-imposed world government, answerable to the people who control those corporations. | |
Comment: If TTIP and TPP are passed it's one step closer for the "elite's" plan for total control.
| |
|
| Society's Child |
|
Reuters
2015-05-07 15:29:00
A Missouri man has been arrested on suspicion of shooting dead an Illinois college student looking to sell his car to the suspect during a meeting arranged through online classified website Craigslist, police said. Michael Gordon, a 24-year-old St. Louis resident, was arrested on Tuesday and was being held in a county jail on $1 million bond, Florissant Police Department spokesman Tim Fagen told a news conference late on Wednesday. The body of Taylor Clark, a civil engineering student at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, according to his Twitter page, was found at the truck driver training center where Gordon worked. | |
Comment: Take caution when buying and selling of personal goods no matter where one advertises. Meet in a well lit and busy parking area and best to never go alone! There are predators answering ads just for the opportunity to do harm. What a tragic loss of lives.
| |
|
|
Jamie Stengele
Yahoo News 2015-05-07 16:46:00
When an outspoken opponent of radical Islam sought to mock Muhammad in Texas, home to one of the nation's largest Islamic communities, local Muslims were encouraged to ignore her, and they did. No one protested when Pamela Geller's cartoon contest attracted about 200 people to suburban Dallas Sunday, even though some Muslims in Texas were already feeling aggrieved and fearful over growing anti-Islamic sentiment in the state. Comment: It's not just Texas, either. Anti-Muslim hate crimes are sky-rocketing due to the "War on Terror" propaganda that equates all Muslims with terrorists and fuels a massive military and security industry. Then, two men with attack rifles drove in from Arizona and opened fire on officers guarding the conference center in Garland. Both were shot dead, an officer was shot in the leg, and from the other side of the world, the Islamic State group made an unproven claim of responsibility. | |
Comment: The FBI is reaching out to their community for recruitment and monitoring, and though it's understandable the Muslim community would want to present as peaceful an appearance as possible, the Terrorism Industry has no intention of playing nice. See:
| |
|
|
Laura Mills
Market Watch 2015-05-07 16:02:00
Annual inflation in Ukraine hit its highest level in more than a decade in April as a dramatic increase in energy rates drove up consumer prices, the government said Wednesday. Consumer prices were up 60.9% higher in April from the year before, Ukraine's state statistics agency wrote on its website. There was 14% inflation in the first four months of 2015 alone. The dramatic increase was largely due to a rise in energy prices: according to the agency, the cost of natural gas rose by more than five times in April, more than doubling total utility costs for households. Food prices increased by 4.4%, slowing from 15.6% in March. | |
Comment: Too bad those key IMF reforms in Ukraine's government don't translate into kicking the neo-Nazis out. While Ukraine is on the verge of collapse, with 70% of working-age men fleeing to find jobs elsewhere, and neo-Nazi battalions growing at a rapid rate, the Donetsk Republic (that pesky 'eastern conflict') has nationalized its bank for the good of its people. And still the problems are pinned on Russia.
| |
|
|
Sputnik News
2015-05-07 13:31:00
Kiev prosecutors have reported the arrest of 19-year-old Aidar Battalion volunteer Vita Zaverukha, who is suspected of serving as an accomplice in the killing of two Ukrainian police officers and the injury of three more following a botched gas station robbery in Kiev which occurred on May 4, Ukrainian media have reported. "As part of the investigation of criminal proceedings over an attack on a gas station and the killings of law enforcement officers on the night of May 4 in Kiev, another suspect has been arrested: a 19-year-old resident of Vinnitsa," a statement on the website of the Kiev prosecutor's office reads. The statement added that Zaverukha has been detained under the criminal code article for an "attempt on the life of an officer of the law." | |
Comment: History repeats:
| |
|
|
Karl Denninger
Market Ticker 2015-05-06 21:53:00
I wonder if it's time for a new song..... It's unlikely that police officers would turn on each other during a trial, due to the loyalty that typically runs through departments, David A. Harris, a University of Pittsburgh law professor and an expert on racial profiling, told The New York Times.That's been true for a long time, but as the number of people who have this sort of experience mount.... | |
Comment: That day can't come soon enough.
| |
|
| Secret History |
| No new articles. |
| Science & Technology |
|
Antonio Regalado
MIT Technology Review 2015-05-05 03:29:00
Of all the rumors ever to swirl around the world's most valuable company, this may be the first that could involve spitting in a plastic cup. Apple is collaborating with U.S. researchers to launch apps that would offer some iPhone owners the chance to get their DNA tested, many of them for the first time, according to people familiar with the plans. The apps are based on ResearchKit, a software platform Apple introduced in March that helps hospitals or scientists run medical studies on iPhones by collecting data from the devices' sensors or through surveys. The first five ResearchKit apps, including one called mPower that tracks symptoms of Parkinson's disease, quickly recruited thousands of participants in a few days,demonstrating the reach of Apple's platform. "Apple launched ResearchKit and got a fantastic response. The obvious next thing is to collect DNA," says Gholson Lyon, a geneticist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, who isn't involved with the studies. Nudging iPhone owners to submit DNA samples to researchers would thrust Apple's devices into the center of a widening battle for genetic information. Universities, large technology companies like Google (see "Google Wants to Store Your Genome"), direct-to-consumer labs, and even the U.S. government (see "U.S. to Develop DNA Study of One Million People") are all trying to amass mega-databases of gene information to uncover clues about the causes of disease (see "Internet of DNA"). In two initial studies planned, Apple isn't going to directly collect or test DNA itself. That will be done by academic partners. The data would be maintained by scientists in a computing cloud, but certain findings could appear directly on consumers' iPhones as well. Eventually, it's even possible consumers might swipe to share "my genes" as easily as they do their location. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment. But one person with knowledge of the plans said the company's eventual aim is to "enable the individual to show and share" DNA information with different recipients, including organizers of scientific studies. This person, like others with knowledge of the research, spoke on condition of anonymity because of the company's insistence on secrecy. One of these people said the DNA-app studies could still be cancelled, but another said Apple wants the apps ready for the company's worldwide developers' conference, to be held in June in San Francisco. | |
|
| Earth Changes |
|
news.yahoo.com
2015-05-07 19:47:00
Japanese authorities have closed part of a popular hot springs area to the public because of fears a volcano might erupt. Increased earthquake activity at Mount Hakone prompted the Japanese Meteorological Agency to raise the alert level earlier this week to 2 on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being the lowest. The town of Hakone met on Thursday with tourism industry representatives who are concerned about the possible impact on business. About 50 people who operate businesses in the restricted area were allowed to make a temporary visit to maintain their facilities and collect necessities, according to Japanese broadcaster TBS. It quoted a cafe owner saying he hopes the situation will be over soon. The closed area includes Owakudani, a well-visited site where tourists can see steam emerging from vents in a crater from a past eruption. Both a section of a ropeway that passes nearby and trails to Owakudani have been closed. Hakone, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of Tokyo, attracts visitors from both Japan and overseas. Most of Hakone's other sights remain open. The eruption of Mount Ontake in central Japan last September killed 57 people. Source: AP | |
|
|
Discovery News
2015-05-07 11:51:00
Multiple tornadoes injured at least 13 as they tore through the central United States on Wednesday destroying homes and felling trees amid heavy rains that triggered local flooding, US media reported. At least 13 people were injured when a tornado tore through a mobile home park in Oklahoma City, CNN reported, quoting Susie Patterson of the Emergency Medical Services Authority in Oklahoma City. The Weather Channel said at least 29 tornado sightings had been reported across the states of Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma, where multiple homes were destroyed. | |
|
Northern wheatear is an extremely rare sight south of Canada A rare Arctic visitor came to Lane River Bridge in South Sutton on May 3. A female northern wheatear was seen and photographed there and leads to Rare Bird Alert for New Hampshire for this week. These are marathon migrators who don't usually make it into the lower 48 states. Its conservation status is probably stable and may be increasing as a breeder in northeastern Canada, according to Audubon. | |
|
|
wcvb.com
2015-05-07 18:22:00
A waterspout was spotted on a Little Pea Pouridge Pond in Madison around noon Wednesday. The waterspout was captured on video by viewer Lauren MacDonald. MacDonald called it unusual and said she had never seen anything like it.
| ||
|
A Wood River Police Officer's five-year-old son was attacked by the family dog Wednesday afternoon. The incident happened around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in the back yard of the officer's Wood River home. The dog was a 120 pound English Mastiff. The five-year-old was unconscious when emergency responders arrived at the house. Officers say they were forced to put down the dog due to it's violent behavior. The boy regained consciousness before he was flown to a St. Louis Hospital. He was bitten multiple times and suffered lacerations to the lower portion of his body. Police did not release details on his condition tonight. | |
|
The US National Weather Service yesterday evening issued an unprecedented "flash flood emergency" for Oklahoma City after storms dumped record amounts of rain on Wednesday 06 May 2015. A statement made by Oklahoma City government said that National Weather Service officials called Wednesday night's flood threat "deadly and dangerous," issuing a Flash Flood Emergency for the first time in central Oklahoma's history. The flood threat was expected to be ongoing from Wednesday night and into Thursday as rain continues and the watershed drains. The storms and torrential rain were accompanied by several tornadoes in the region over the last 24 hours. Around 12 people have been reported as injured in the severe weather.Numerous roads have been closed, either as a result of floods or wind and storm damage.
In a statement last night, the government of Oklahoma City said: | ||
|
|
Ranchie Express
2015-05-07 16:42:00
An elephant went on rampage in the State capital creating havoc among the people for several hours before daybreak on Wednesday. One person named Baldev Mahli, 55, got killed after it rammed over him after he came out of his house at Naya Basti under Argora Police Station in Ranchi. It also injured at least two other persons of the same locality as they stepped out of their houses. A forest official said that the tusker took the root from the jungles of Khunti to Lalkhatanga to Bio-diversity Park and entered the city along with the boundary of Birsa Munda Airport, then to Birsa Chowk from where it took the Hatia Ranchi Railway line for venturing towards Argora and Kadru heading towards Ranchi Station. They, however, claimed that the elephant has been chased away to the jungles of Lalkhatanga adjacent to Ranchi. | |
|
|
yahoo.com
2015-05-07 16:10:00
A fire in Shawangunk Ridge State Forest in the Catskill Mountains of New York has burned over 2,000 acres of land. The fire has been burning for four days and has been contained in areas of Sullivan and Ulser counties, according to local media. It could take more than three more days to extinguish the fire that has burned more than 2,400 acres, which is more than four square miles. The fire has caused evacuations, and officials believe the fire started when a homeowner burned debris outside, violating a state-wide burn ban. The burn ban is in effect until May 15.
| ||
Comment: See also: Wildfires in New York's Hudson Valley continue to burn
| ||
|
|
The Telegraph
2015-05-06 14:19:00
Severe storms in northern Germany have left at least one person dead and caused widespread destruction. Worst hit was the town of Bützow near the northern port of Rostock, where bricks lay scattered in the streets and cars were reportedly thrown meters into the air. A 26-year-old man was killed in the northern port city of Hamburg when parts of a roof toppled onto his car in the downtown harbourside area, also badly injuring his pregnant girlfriend who was seated next to him.
| ||
|
|
Stock Journal
2015-05-06 14:43:00
Red dust covered much of northwestern Victoria and the west of New South Wales yesterday, making its way into the border city of Mildura, Victoria, shortly after noon as gale force westerly winds culminated with a dust storm. A cold front moved rapidly through western and central Victoria on Tuesday morning before weakening in the east in the afternoon. The Bureau of Meterology issued a severe weather warning for numerous districts, including the Mallee, late on Tuesday as damaging winds swept across the state. Mildura weather station recorded a peak gust of 69 kilometres an hour about 11.41am. Gusts of up to 67km/h were still being felt as the thick dust moved in. A sharp drop in temperature coincided with the dust storm, falling almost five degrees between 12pm and 12.27pm, to 14.5C, with the 'apparent temperature' as low as 7.1C a few minutes later.
| ||
|
|
Matt Riedl and Travis Heying
The Wichita Eagle 2015-05-07 13:19:00
Escorted by her son, Charmaine Foraker walked out to the field where her childhood house was now strewn in pieces to the northeast of Mount Hope. Family members hugged her as she surveyed the bits of the roughly 100-year-old farmhouse that was destroyed by a tornado Wednesday afternoon. A tornado spawned at around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday north of Mount Hope, northwest of Wichita, destroying at least three buildings before lifting about 45 minutes later near Burrton.
| ||
|
|
RT
2015-05-07 02:04:00
Multiple tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of the state's main commercial airport as a safety precaution. At least one large twister also damaged homes and buildings in the Oklahoma City area. In addition to severe storms and tornadoes, Oklahoma residents had to contend with power outages, golf-ball-sized hail, and flooding. Even wild animals got loose at one town's Tiger Safari wildlife refuge. One of the day's largest tornadoes, according to local CBS affiliate KWTV, occurred around 4:30 pm local time and resulted in the formation of several satellite twisters. The big storm, whose main tornado measured about a quarter-mile wide, caused damage in Bridge Creek, Blanchard, Norman and Newcastle in the central part of the state.
Less than four hours later, another large tornado sprouted from the same storm near Bridge Creek. A daycare center was reportedly struck, but fortunately all the children and staff had already been moved to a shelter. | |
|
|
US Geological Survey
2015-05-07 07:52:00
Time
| |
Comment: Earth is 'opening up'. Other big earthquakes in just this one region over the last couple of months include:
March 16 2015 - 6,3 quake March 30 2015 - 7,7 quake April 30 2015 - 6.9 quake May 1st 2015 - 7.1 quake May 5th 2015 - 7.5 quake | |
|
| Fire in the Sky |
| No new articles. |
| Health & Wellness |
|
Erin Elizabeth
Health Nut News 2015-05-06 12:57:00
A study done by birthing specialists show home births have jumped by 79% in recent years. Of course doctors are outraged and one head OB GYN of a clinic asked "why would anyone ever want to have their baby at home" Comment: Perhaps it has something to do with this: Report finds US 'worst place to be a mother' among developed nations The geniuses at Fox wouldn't allow their video to embed so we have a snippet above, but you can watch the whole video here. It's interesting to say the least. We aren't surprised that nearly every mainstream news outlet we can find is reporting this story as "stunning" and frightening". They interview experts who say how incredibly dangerous this is to have a baby at home (women haven't been doing it for centuries or anything) and how you should have your baby at the hospital! Surprisingly one OB GYN does admit if someone has a licensed midwife overseeing the birth she might be ok with it. Some doctors in the news today are blaming it on the internet (go internet!) and say people perceive hospitals as evil or dangerous (why yes, many of us do!) | |
|
|
Robert Harrington
Natural Society 2015-05-07 08:29:00
Did you know that root canals can have untold, negative effects on your health? People are slowly discovering the hidden dangers of root canals as more medical professionals speak out about their dangers. Here is what you need to know. Dr. George Meinig, author of Root Canal Cover Up, said it best when he quoted Dr. Weston A. Price as follows:
This quote may be long and sound complex; however, it speaks directly to why root canals should be avoided. Whenever a tooth is root canaled it sets up a situation that is identical to the one described above. Harmful substances are produced by the infected root canaled tooth which can have serious effects on constitutional health. When these infections and their circulating toxins occur unchecked for prolonged periods of time, systemic damage often results. | |
|
|
Robert Oliva
Collective Evolution 2015-05-06 01:05:00
There is a cancer eating at the core of medical research. You've most likely heard of medical reports touting the effectiveness of a diet plan, a new drug, a supplement, or medical procedure. You may have even decided on a course of action based on these findings, only to find out later that they have been refuted by new studies. Strikingly, the odds are that the studies that influenced your decision, and possibly the decision of your doctor, were wrong. We are bombarded by medical research studies that don't stand the test of time and potentially cause serious negative health outcomes. | |
Comment: Read more about Dr. Ioannidis, 'one of medicine's top mythbusters'
Why Almost Everything You Hear About Medicine Is Wrong | |
|
|
Judy Wilyman
Activist Post 2015-05-02 23:33:00
As the Australian Government expresses its anger over Indonesia executing two Australian drug smugglers, it is implementing a policy that will remove the free and informed consent for Australians to choose a medical intervention in healthy people: vaccination. This policy will remove our right to choose freely what we put into our own bodies, a fundamental human right that is protected in all International Bills of Human Rights. Yet this is not being discussed in the mainstream Australian media even though the risks of vaccines and valid consent (2.1.3) are required from Australian consumers before a vaccine is administered. There is no question that the ingredients of vaccines are unsafe yet in 2012 the Australian government added 3 new vaccines to the infant schedule and linked 'fully vaccinating' a child to $2,100 in welfare benefits. A doctor's signature was required to refuse any of the 11 vaccines required before 1 year of age. This policy reverses the principle of informed consent by requiring a doctor's signature for parents to refuse a vaccine, instead of patient's consent to accept vaccines. The government's policies have been accepted with hardly any presentation of the risks of vaccines in the media. In Australia, Murdoch owns70% of the major newsp |
