| Puppet Masters |
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William Engdahl
New Eastern Outlook 2015-05-24 11:55:00
These are sad days in Washington and Wall Street. The once unchallenged sole Superpower at the collapse of the Soviet Union some quarter century ago is losing its global influence so rapidly that most would not have predicted anything comparable six months ago. The key actor who has catalyzed a global defiance of Washington as Sole Superpower is Vladimir Putin, Russia's President. This is the real background to the surprise visit of US Secretary of State John Kerry to Sochi to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and then a four hour talk with "Satan" himself, Putin. Far from a "reset" try, Washington's hapless geopolitical strategists are desperately trying to find a better way to bring the Russian Bear to her knees. A flash back to December 2014 is instructive to understand why the US Secretary of State holds out an apparent olive branch to Russia's Putin at this juncture. At that point, Washington appeared about to pin Russia to the ground, with its precision targeted financial sanctions and its deal with Saudi Arabia to collapse oil prices. In mid-December the Ruble was in free fall against the dollar. Oil prices were similarly plummeting down to $45 a barrel from $107 only six months earlier. As Russia is strongly dependent on oil and gas export revenues for its state finances, and Russian companies held huge dollar debt obligations abroad, the situation was bleak as seen from inside the Kremlin. | |
Comment: This is certainly one way to read Kerry and Nuland's visit to Sochi, and probably close to the truth. The peace overtures are just surface narrative designed to give Russians and others the impression that cooler heads are prevailing in Washington - when, in fact, the cooler heads - whoever they are - are either dupes of their own horrible thinking and manipulations, or, being maneuvered to seem tamed and docile by the rabid dogs of war, chaos and conquest who really run the show in the U.S. Or both.
See also: Surprised? US has launched a new assault against Russia | |
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Deirdre Fulton
Common Dreams 2015-05-22 23:13:00
Under pressure from the U.S. and agrochemical industry lobbyists and amid ongoing negotiations for a controversial trade deal, the European Union dropped planned rules that could have led to the banning of 31 pesticides containing hazardous chemicals, a new investigative report has revealed. The probe, led by the Brussels-based research and watchdog group Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and French journalist Stephane Horel, exposes how corporate lobby groups like the American Chemistry Council, CropLife America, and the American Chambers of Commerce, mobilized to stop the EU from taking action on hormone (endocrine) disrupting chemicals (EDCs)—known to have significant health and environmental impacts. According to the report—titled A Toxic Affair: How the Chemical Lobby Blocked Action on Hormone Disrupting Chemicals (pdf)—the examination of evidence "sheds light on how corporations and their lobby groups have used numerous tactics from the corporate lobbying playbook: scaremongering, evidence-discrediting, and delaying tactics as well as the ongoing [TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP] negotiations as a leverage." | |
Comment: For more information read:
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| Society's Child |
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RT
2015-05-24 20:30:00
Today we seek to comprehend the cause of the tension gripping the 'Police States of America' following a series of seemingly unstoppable deaths of black people at the hands of 'Officers of the Peace.' What is the cause of these #BlackLivesMatters hastags and the protests erupting around the country? What is this 'R-'word that everyone keeps bandying about...? What about that 'history' thing? Featuring newly installed Chief of Militarized Police, General Baxter, and a guest from the 'Civil Rights' movement, one Marvin Uggenrite, join indefatigable warrior for truth, Brian Washington, as he attempts to get to the bottom of this... or scrape the bottom of the barrel trying. For the first time ever Juice Rap News tunes into the Main Stream Media BS frequency for an entire episode... what could possibly go wrong?
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Comment: For more information on these thuggish, power-obsessed, pathological cops; listen to the recent Truth Perspective show - Cops gone wild on the SOTT Radio Network.
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Karen Soldatic And Kim Spurway
The Conversation 2015-05-24 08:12:00
Access to affordable and nutritious food is an ongoing problem in remote Indigenous communities. These areas have an artificially inflated cost of living due to cycles of mining boom and bust, and suffer from a general unavailability of fresh fruit and vegetables and other high-quality foods. As well as the high cost of living, limited educational outcomes and work opportunities coupled with insufficient social services, including public transport, create chronic economic insecurity for Indigenous residents. Food is often the first thing to go when there is not enough money to pay the bills. Going without food, or going without nutritious food, has heavy consequences for Indigenous people, as we learnt on a recent research trip to the West Kimberley. Indigenous Australians are already twice as likely to have a disability or chronic illness as non-Indigenous Australians; poor nutrition compounds these problems, leading to further illness and secondary impairments. In our interviews, Aboriginal people consistently reported alleviating food insecurity by going crabbing or fishing on traditional lands. Though this accounted for a small portion of total dietary intake, our respondents greatly valued having some control over this part of life. Yet this may be jeopardised by the policy direction of the state and federal governments. | |
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Danielle Demetriou
The Telegraph 2015-05-25 08:19:00
Warnings of risk of hydrogen explosion due to build up of gases in containers leaking radioactive water at Japan's disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant Leaking containers at Japan's embattled Fukushima nuclear power plant are at risk of possible hydrogen explosions, experts have claimed. Almost 10 per cent of recently inspected containers holding contaminated water at the nuclear plant in northeast Japan were found to be leaking radioactive water. The leakages, discovered during inspections by Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), the operators of the plant, were thought to be caused by a build-up of hydrogen and other gases due to radiation contamination. The discovery was reported to the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), which raised concerns surrounding the potential hazards of accumulated hydrogen building up in the containers. "If the concentration level is high, a spark caused by static electricity could cause a container to explore," one NRA official told the Asahi Shimbun. Tepco officials made the discovery while inspecting 278 of the plant's 1,307 containers and found that 26 - close to ten per cent - had a leakage or overspill from their lids. | |
Comment: As well as the risk of explosion from a 'spark', there is an ongoing catastrophe at Fukushima; as the skyrocketing cancer epidemic of local residents continues to be"swept under the rug", with devastating effects on insects, birds and marine life. A fresh nuclear leak 70 times greater than the already high radioactive status was detected at the plant recently, which the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) officials admit to concealing.
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RT
2015-05-21 03:24:00
Much of the debate surrounding police behavior in the United States has revolved around fatal confrontations between unarmed black men and law enforcement, but a new movement wants to remind Americans that black women are also victims. In order to do so, a new report was released Wednesday called 'Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women,' which documents cases in which black women have been killed, beaten or sexually assaulted by law enforcement. The report was authored by the African American Policy Forum (AAPF), the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies at Columbia University, and Andrea Ritchie, a Soros Justice Fellow and expert on women's experiences with police. "Although Black women are routinely killed, raped and beaten by the police, their experiences are rarely foregrounded in popular understandings of police brutality," said Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, Director of the African American Policy Forum and co-author of the report, in a statement. "Yet, inclusion of Black women's experiences in social movements, media narratives and policy demands around policing and police brutality is critical to effectively combating racialized state violence for Black communities and other communities of color." The group is using the hashtag #SayHerName to get its message out on social media. On Wednesday, a vigil was held at New York City's Union Square, where dozens of people rallied, and relatives of women victimized by police brutality spoke about their experiences.
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Comment: For more information on these thuggish, power-obsessed, pathological cops; listen to the recent Truth Perspective show - Cops gone wild on the SOTT Radio Network.
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Marco Chown Oved
TheStar.com 2015-05-23 17:02:00
Caledon student was immunized two days before his first birthday and now Peel Public Health could suspend him because his shots aren't valid. Cheryl Fulcher dutifully got her son Mason,6, his necessary shots and thought he was fine until she received a letter from Peel Public Health. Now, because her son got his meningitis shot two days before his first birthday, it doesn't count. Cheryl Fulcher is no anti-vaxxer. In fact, she has been so zealous getting shots for her son, Mason, that she had him vaccinated ahead of schedule: two days before his first birthday. Five years on, as Mason wraps up Grade 1 at Caledon Central Public School, Peel Region Public Health is threatening to suspend him — not because he didn't get his shots, but because they were 48 hours premature. "My doctor's office never flagged that it was a day or two early. I'm pretty anal about getting those things done when they're supposed to happen," Fulcher told the Star. "It's a complete surprise. It makes you feel like you aren't doing your job properly — but I thought I was." Provincial guidelines, updated for the 2014/2015 school year, require children to receive their measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot as well as a meningitis vaccination "on or after the first birthday." The Immunization of School Pupils Act stipulates that students can be suspended if they aren't properly immunized. "We're required to adhere to the legislation," said Peel Region Public Health spokesperson Janet Eagleson. "We send out at least four different correspondences to parents well in advance, working (with them) because we don't want to suspend kids." But Mason is courting suspension next fall because he got his shots too early and Public Health says they don't count. "If you want to get technical, he was born five days overdue," Fulcher said. Fulcher received a letter from Peel Public Health in March, claiming that Mason did not have his MMR and meningitis shots. Thinking there had been a mix-up, she says she called them up and explained that the record shows he received both shots at 11 months and 28 days old. She says the public health nurse told her that was too early and Mason would have to get another shot, be tested for immunity, or she could sign an affidavit saying that he wasn't being vaccinated for religious or moral reasons. "I'm definitely not going to sign it because you have to say 'I refuse to vaccinate my kid,' which is not the truth," said Fulcher. "But if I don't do anything, they're going to suspend my kid until I do." She appealed her son's case but found out this week that he wouldn't get an exemption. "Peel Public Health will uphold the provincially legislated requirements for the 12 month minimum age cut-off for students," wrote Dr. Monica Hau, associate medical officer of health at Peel Public Health, explaining that the vaccinations aren't as effective if delivered before the first birthday. "There will be no exceptions made." | |
Comment: A authoritarian follower getting outdone by even bigger authoritarian followers. We hope the best for young Mason.
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Paul Bedard
Washington Examiner 2015-05-24 12:50:00
The demise of big city print media, displayed in full by the painfully slow sale of the mammoth New York Daily News, is going nationwide as ad sales decline 50 percent and circulation plummets, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis According to their report, "The Declining Value Of U.S. Newspapers," just three different media companies in 2014 alone decided to dump more than 100 newspaper properties. Pew said the companies spun off the money-losing properties "in large part to protect their still-robust broadcast or digital divisions." The Daily News, on the block since February, has yet to be sold and is now being eyed by Captiol Hill's newspaper The Hill, which may turn it into a digital operation like the Washington Examiner, Huffington Post, Brietbart and the Daily Caller. The Pew report is short and very unsweet: | |
Comment: Maybe the U.S. consumer is tired of the lies:
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| Secret History |
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Sarah Griffiths
Daily Mail, UK 2015-05-25 20:40:00
The stereotype of Stone Age men was cave dwelling brutes rather than sophisticated town planners who lived in two-storey houses. But archaeologists have uncovered the remains of 60 large houses built 8,000 years ago as part of a Neolithic village, in south west Bulgaria. Thought to be built by farmers, the town has three parallel streets with homes spread over five acres (215,278 square ft or 20,000 square metres). The village also features a canal, a port for boats and an unusual cemetery. | |
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| Science & Technology |
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RT
2015-05-22 15:55:00
According to the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, recent loss of the Proton-M rocket will push up launch costs and affect the overall number of contracts. Comment: Russian Proton-M rocket launches are on hold since the latest failure of this booster that was destroyed on May 16 over East Siberia. (source) "No doubt, the latest failure will affect the number of orders that we expected to sign in the near future because insurance costs will grow. Naturally, this will affect the overall price of a launch," Andrei Kalinovsky told the Rossiya-24 TV.
The latest of seven Proton carrier rocket failures over the past five years occurred on May 16. A Proton-M with a payload of cargo for the International Space Station lost its telemetry contact with the Earth after reaching space and began spinning out of control. A few days later, it fell from an uncontrollable orbit and burned up in the atmosphere. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered an investigative commission to uncover the exact causes of the Proton-M accident. The commission will present recommendations on personal and financial responsibility as well as ways to repair what went wrong. It was revealed in mid-May that Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center sustained losses nearing $180 million last year due to employee embezzlement and fraud. An investigation into the Moscow-based spacecraft and space-launch systems producer's losses is ongoing. | ||
Comment: Has the Russian space agency been infiltrated by saboteurs? Learn more:What's going on? Russian Proton rocket feared lost after another botched launch
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| Earth Changes |
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Phys.org
2015-05-21 18:31:00
A group of scientists, led by a team from the University of Bristol, UK has observed a sudden increase of ice loss in a previously stable region of Antarctica. The research is published today in Science. Using measurements of the elevation of the Antarctic ice sheet made by a suite of satellites, the researchers found that the Southern Antarctic Peninsula showed no signs of change up to 2009. Around 2009, multiple glaciers along a vast coastal expanse, measuring some 750km in length, suddenly started to shed ice into the ocean at a nearly constant rate of 60 cubic km, or about 55 trillion litres of water, each year. This makes the region the second largest contributor to sea level rise in Antarctica and the ice loss shows no sign of waning. Dr Bert Wouters, a Marie Curie Fellow at the University of Bristol, who lead the study said: "To date, the glaciers added roughly 300 cubic km of water to the ocean. That's the equivalent of the volume of nearly 350,000 Empire State Buildings combined." The changes were observed using the CryoSat-2 satellite, a mission of the European Space Agency dedicated to remote-sensing of ice. From an altitude of about 700km, the satellite sends a radar pulse to Earth, which is reflected by the ice and subsequently received back at the satellite. From the time the pulse takes to travel, the elevation of the ice surface can retrieved with incredible accuracy. By analysing roughly 5 years of the data, the researchers found that the ice surface of some of the glaciers is currently going down by as much as 4m each year. The ice loss in the region is so large that it causes small changes in the gravity field of the Earth, which can be detected by another satellite mission, the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE). "The fact that so many glaciers in such a large region suddenly started to lose ice came as a surprise to us," continued Dr Wouters. "It shows a very fast response of the ice sheet: in just a few years the dynamic regime completely shifted." | |
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New Zealand Herald
2015-05-25 17:15:00
A storm blasting Antarctic weather over New Zealand is currently the biggest storm on earth according to WeatherWatch. The low stretches from just south of Fiji to Antarctica's ice shelf, but only 20 per cent of the storm is affecting New Zealand. WeatherWatch.co.nz said the forecast air pressure at its centre over the next 24 hours would be greater than that of Hurricane Katrina when it made landfall in 2005. Weather expert Philip Duncan said, "It's fairly normal to get a cold snap in late May. We're less than a week away from winter, it's not surprising to get a blast like this." But he said the low's strength was surprising. "The depth of this storm south of New Zealand is up there with some of the biggest hurricanes we've seen. It's a really big storm."
However, WeatherWatch.co.nz said only the storm's edges were affecting New Zealand - its centre lay around 1000 to 1500kms to our south east. Southland, Otago and Banks Peninsula woke this morning to the heaviest dumping of snow so far this year. Overnight, areas of Central Otago and Southland saw up to 30 cm of snow, according to Metservice. The North Island didn't escape the cold weather with light snow falls reported in Napier and heavier falls on the Napier-Taupo Rd. Queenstown Airport was temporarily closed, with heavy snow right down to the township, and snow flurries blanketed Invercargill. Dunedin was battered by an onslaught of nasty weather, said MetService, hit by snow, showers and offshore thunderstorms.
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A stray pit bull was caught on video by security cameras while savagely attacking people at a gas station in Thessaloniki, northern Greece.
After the attack at Neo Rysio area in Thessaloniki nine people had to be taken to a local hospital. Among them was a 13-year-old minor, a firefighter and a policeman. At first only six people were hurt after trying to stop the pit bull, however, they were not successful. Greek police officers were forced to intervene, but the crazed dog could not be stopped. Finally the dog attacked a police officer, a firefighter and a man who attempted to help them and pry the dog off men. Eventually a police officer shot the dog at the leg, causing it to run off towards the street where a passing fire department truck hit the pit bull and killed it.
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Jason Samenow
Washington Post 2015-05-22 15:50:00
Since Wednesday, high temperatures (well into the 70s) in Fairbanks, Alaska have outdone the highs (in the 60s to mid-70s) in Washington, D.C. The Last Frontier is in the midst of an extended streak of record-challenging warmth that will continue through next week. Alaska's warmest temperatures, with respect to normal, have actually focused north and east of Fairbanks. Barrow - Alaska's northernmost city, located above the Arctic circle - has logged record highs four of the past five days, including a toasty 47 on Thursday. That's some 18 degrees above normal. Eagle, Alaska - located about 200 miles east of Fairbanks - has recorded six straight days with highs in the 80s. | |
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Harrison Christian
The New Zealand Herald 2015-05-25 14:55:00
A whale washed up on Porongahau Beach in Southern Hawke's Bay yesterday. DoC marine ranger Rod Hansen said the 3m pygmy sperm whale was found dead about 200m from the local campground. It had likely died of natural causes. "Whales are a bit like humans, they have a fear of drowning," he said. "Often they come into shallow water so they can rest on the bottom." He said sickness may have drawn the whale into shore. It was not common to see this species close up. "We get the odd one every now and then. A few locals said it was the first whale of its kind they'd seen." The whale's body was blessed by local Iwi and moved by a digger up the beach, where it was buried. | |
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70 Dalmatian pelicans have been found dead in Atyrau Oblast in western Kazakhstan, Tengrinews reports citing the press office of Kazakhstan's Agriculture Ministry. Pelicans were found in the shallow waters of the Kigach river's delta in Kurmangazy district during the spring registration of birds conducted by North Caspian Operating company. A working group was formed to investigate the cause of the birds' death. The Dalmatian pelicans are listed in the Red Book of Endangered Species of Kazakhstan. There are approximately 2,000 pairs in Kazakhstan nesting in the water basins of the Ural region, along the Caspian Sea coast and in the Torgai and Naurzum Reserves. | |
Comment: This comes just days after the mass die-off of antelopes in Kazakhstan reaches 85,000...
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Brandon Mathis
The Durango Herald 2015-05-24 13:45:00
Two people were transported to Mercy Regional Medical Center early Saturday morning after being bitten by a bear that wandered into their illegal camp near the Durango Tech Center. Joe Lewandowski, spokesperson with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said the incident happened about 2 a.m. Saturday. "We don't know what the extent of their injuries are, and we're looking for the bear," he said. Lewandowski said a wildlife officer spent all night and much of Saturday looking for the animal. "It's tough to find a bear," he said. Sgt. Mike Slack with the Durango Police Department said that according to reports, the two men began knocking on homeowner's doors on Ella Vita Court, a residential area near where the men were camped, but residents didn't answer because of the time of night, but they did call authorities. Officers from the Durango Police Department found the men near Manna Soup Kitchen. | |
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Hannah Parry
Daily Mail 2015-05-25 10:09:00
Tens of thousands of giant jellyfish are swarming off one of Britain's most popular stretch of coastline this Bank Holiday. Record numbers of the 5ft long monsters - which weigh five stone each - were spotted off the Dorset coast. The unprecedented invasion of barrel jellyfish may due to over fishing which leaves fewer predators to eat them when they are young and smaller. The jellyfish, which are more than three feet wide, may also have overwintered in the depths of UK waters. Their sting is not considered dangerous to humans but is similar to that of a nettle and can cause a rash. Conservationist Steve Trewhella spotted the swarm from his dive boat off the coast of Kimmeridge in Dorset.
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Comment: Thousands of barrel jellyfish were also spotted off the coast of Devon and Cornwall in April:
Billions of barrel jellyfish appear in coastal waters off Cornwall, UK | ||
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Trucks got stuck for 11 hours on the mountain passage Hardangervidda. A column of eight trucks were stuck in the middle of Hardangervidda for eleven hours. Plowing crews worked on getting them off the mountain. There has been very bad weather in the mountains in the last day. Plowing crews report there is now up to a meter (more than 3 feet) of snow on the roadway. See photo. There is a lot of snow. Thanks to Alf Inge Fagerheim for this link | |
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National Post
2015-05-22 13:18:00
Authorities in Kazakhstan says around one-third of the endangered saiga antelope population in this Central Asian nation has mysteriously died off in the last few days. Kazakhstan's agriculture ministry said Friday the number of saiga that have died may have reached 85,000. The ministry says it suspects the animals, which are recognizable for their distinctive humped snout, may have been struck by an epidemic of pasteurellosis caused by a bacterial infection. Officials say international veterinarian experts have been flown to Kazakhstan to study other possible causes for the catastrophic die-off. The number of saiga plummeted in the 1990s as a result of poaching. At the latest Kazakh government count in 2014, the saiga population stood at 257,000. Saiga are also found in smaller numbers in parts of Russia. Source: The Associated Press | |
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BBC
2015-05-25 05:30:00
Two people died in weather-related accidents in Oklahoma and a man died in San Marcos, Texas. Parts of Texas saw up to 10 inches (25cm) of rain over a 24-hour period, with more predicted across the region. There were numerous rescues on Sunday after banks burst, and hundreds of homes were destroyed in central Texas. Warnings and alerts stretch from Colorado through to Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and eastern Kansas.
'Worst I've seen' One of the worst hit rivers was the Blanco in Texas. At one point it crested at 43ft (13m) - some 30ft above the designated flood stage and 7ft higher than the 1929 record.
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Wall Street Journal
No immediate reports of damage, tsunami after magnitude 5.5 quake2015-05-25 01:55:00
TOKYO - A powerful earthquake shook central Tokyo on Monday afternoon, causing the temporary suspension of some bullet trains and the closure of airport runways at one of the capital's air hubs. There was no danger of a tsunami and no initial reports of any damage, according to national broadcaster NHK. The magnitude 5.6 quake, centered north of Tokyo, struck at 0528 GMT. It measured a lower 5 on Japan's earthquake intensity scale in southern Ibaraki prefecture, northeast of Tokyo. The intensity scale has a highest reading of 7. Narita International Airport temporarily closed its two runways following the quake, but Haneda airport, located closer to the center of Tokyo, was running flights as scheduled, according to NHK. Some bullet shinkansen train services were temporarily suspended following the temblor, NHK also said. There were no reports of irregularities at the Tokaimura nuclear plant in southern Ibaraki, the national broadcaster said. | |
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They are bringing a crane to help make the road passable for families stuck on the other side. There are about 12 homes on the other side of the hole. There are no other roads out. They are bringing in emergency vehicles to further assess the situation. There are no reports of injuries right now. | |
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Sky News
2015-05-24 17:44:00
Heavy rain that caused mudslides and flooding in southern and central China has left at least 35 people dead and another 13 missing, reports say. Torrential rain - the worst for 40 years in some parts of the country - has hit at least six provinces, Xinhua news agency and the government say. But relief could be on the way for some areas as China's National Meteorological Centre said the weather would start to weaken on Sunday. The southwest province of Guizhou is among the worst affected with 11 people dead and eight missing as of Friday, the government's ministry of civil affairs said in a separate statement. | |
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Situation was equally alarming in Andhra Pradesh where commercial capital Vijayawada recorded 47 degrees Celsius on Saturday
As Telangana and Andhra Pradesh continue to reel from intensifying heatwave, Khammam recorded an unprecedented 48 degrees Celsius on Saturday breaking almost 67 year old record. The highest ever temperature 47.2 was recorded there in 1947. Nalgonda, Karimnagar and Nizamabad districts followed at second place with 47 degrees Celsius temperature today breaking past records. Situation was equally alarming in Andhra Pradesh where commercial capital Vijayawada recorded 47 degrees Celsius on Saturday. With the situation worsening with each passing day, the Indian Meteorological Centre at Hyderabad upgraded the situation to severe heatwave and warned of higher temperatures for another 48 hours as hot winds were sweeping in from the North-West and northern India. The temperature in Khammam was a whopping ten degrees above normal. Khammam which has the reputation of being the hottest place in Telangana, had recorded 47 degrees on Friday along with Nizamabad, Nalgonda and Ramagundam in Karimnagar district. The updated figure for Hyderabad on Friday evening was 44 degrees Celsius, but the situation was slightly better on Saturday. |
