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Lisa Marie White
Russia Insider 2015-06-02 00:43:00
Russia is actually ahead of the United States on many issues championed by the American Left We all know what it feels like to log onto the Newsweek-owned Daily Beast, or the puerile random listicle generator known as Buzzfeed, and peruse the invective-laden anti-Russian,anti-Putin screeds contained therein. These hysterical publications serve a function; that function is to convince members of the American public who might balk at militarism that today's Russia is a dangerous, dirty, backward, evil place, and its leader is some amalgamation of Dr. Evil and Emperor Palpatine. Unlike during the lead-up to the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, where the left took the lead in opposing the Bush administration's reckless Middle East policy, American liberals have more or less given Obama a free hand in his dealings with Russia and the Evil Putin. Liberals opposed the Iraq War, and spent many an hour arguing with Bushies about the errors of his foreign policy. It just so happens that these individuals turned out to be right, but their insistence on facts, logic, and commitment to the truth have gone out the proverbial window when it comes to Russia and Ukraine. "Putin is just like Stalin," my earnest, well-educated, liberal friends tell me. "His next target is Moldova and he hates gay people and Pussy Riot and now he wants to use prison labor to build the World Cup venues and he hates all women and doesn't support women's rights. I don't understand why you are so pro-Russian." I am pro-Russian because I can tell the difference between right and wrong. I can also realize when a country and a leader are being demonized to further an American geopolitical agenda. Furthermore, I can see that the more the United States tries to create some philosophical difference between the U.S. and Russia as existed during the Cold War, the more the former opens itself up to critique. | |
Comment: See also: 'Pussy Riot', the U.S. State Department and Economic Shock Therapy
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| Puppet Masters |
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RT
2015-06-02 19:20:00
Comment: It's pretty hypocritical for the U.S./EU to accuse Russia of being an aggressor when they are the ones building up their armies practically right on the Russian border. They apparently think that they can do whatever they want but if any country reacts to their aggressive war tactics, they get accused of aggression. It must be maddening for Russia and Putin to have to deal with such stark hypocrisy. Lithuania is conducting its biggest military exercises since joining NATO in 2004. Meanwhile, 200 extra troops are set to arrive at the alliance's headquarters in Eastern Europe, located in Szczecin, Poland. "The huge allied presence demonstrates solidarity with the countries of this region," Major General Almantas Leika, who is in charge of the country's land army, said as the annual Saber Strike military drills began. Lithuania is one of 13 countries participating in the exercise, which will involve about 6,000 troops performing manoeuvers in three Baltic states and Poland until June 19. During the two-stage exercise, land and air forces will carry out joint operations in the field, and then commanders will conduct a separate computer simulation of a regional conflict. "This exercise is an opportunity to give one more demonstration of both our armed forces' and our strategic partners' abilities to organize military drills of such scope together and to continue honing interoperability," said Leika. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have jointly asked for permanent NATO bases to be located on their territory, saying Russia has the capacity to invade them within four hours of ordering an attack. Moscow has lashed out at the move, saying it contravenes the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act.
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South Front
2015-06-02 19:10:00
At least 6,657 people, including at least 1,285 civilians, have been killed throughout Syria in May 2015, making it the bloodiest month of the year in the Arab country plagued by a foreign-backed militancy aimed at overthrowing the government of President Bashar al-Assad, according to a pro-opposition monitoring group based in the British capital city of London. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights further stated in its report on Monday that the civilian death toll includes 236 children and 186 women. The report further stated that "rebels and Kurdish fighters" made up 793 of those killed in May, while terrorists such as the ISIL and the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front numbered 2,109.
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Comment: No Russians in Ukraine? Ha!
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RT
2015-06-02 19:06:00
Russia has the right to house nuclear weapons on its territory, if it deems this move to be necessary, while this also includes the option of stationing them in Crimea, a statement from the Foreign Ministry read. "Russia obviously retains the right, if needed, to deploy its nuclear weapons anywhere on its national territory, including on the Crimean Peninsula," the Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms control at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mikhail Ulyanov told the RIA Novosti news agency on Monday. Ulyanov's statement comes in response to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin saying in May that the deployment of Russian arms in Crimea would violate the Non-Proliferation Treaty. "Any activity or even signals from Russia that they are even considering deploying nuclear weapons in Crimea will be considered a grave breach of the international code of conduct. If this happens, the international community will need to act decisively," Klimkin said. Comment: Imagine the outcry by the Americans if Russia told them that they are not allowed to deploy their nuclear weapons as they see fit, which is exactly what they have done, surrounding Russia with U.S. military bases fully equipped to attack within Russian borders. But somehow Russia equipping a small peninsula that is rightly Russian territory with nuclear weapons is breach of code of conduct? These people live in bizarro world! | |
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RT
2015-06-01 16:47:00
China has rejected US criticism concerning construction work, which is taking place on a series of disputed islands in South China Sea. Beijing says its presence is a peaceful one and is merely "improving the functions of the relevant islands and reefs." "The situation in the South China Sea is on the whole peaceful and stable, and there has never been an issue with the freedom of navigation," said Admiral Sun Jianguo, the deputy chief of the general staff department in the People's Liberation Army, during a summit in Singapore on Sunday. He added that Chinese authorities have carried out construction on some of the islands in the South China Sea "mainly for the purpose of improving the functions of the relevant islands and reefs, and the working and living conditions of personnel stationed there." The highly disputed Spratly Islands are a group of more than 750 reefs, islets and islands in the South China Sea. China claims the vast majority of the sea, despite being involved in territorial disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei and Malaysia.
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RT
2015-06-02 19:00:00
The US-led campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria is a "mistake," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. "Unfortunately, when the Americans announced this crusade against ISIL in Iraq and Syria, they never came to the Security Council, they just announced the coalition and they announced that the Iraqi government gave its consent," Lavrov told Bloomberg TV in an interview. "I believe it was a mistake. I think that just an obsession with the personality of [Syrian President Bashar] Assad is not bringing any good to the common cause of fighting terrorism." Russia is not against the actions of the international coalition against Islamic State (formerly known as ISIS or ISIL), but bombardment of the militant-controlled areas of Syria without the approval of Damascus authorities is a mistake, Lavrov said.
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Jack Gillum, Eileen Sullivan, and Eric Tucker
Associated Press 2015-06-02 14:18:00
The FBI is operating a small air force with scores of low-flying planes across the country carrying video and, at times, cellphone surveillance technology - all hidden behind fictitious companies that are fronts for the government, The Associated Press has learned. The planes' surveillance equipment is generally used without a judge's approval, and the FBI said the flights are used for specific, ongoing investigations. The FBI said it uses front companies to protect the safety of the pilots and aircraft. It also shields the identity of the aircraft so that suspects on the ground don't know they're being watched by the FBI. In a recent 30-day period, the agency flew above more than 30 cities in 11 states across the country, an AP review found. Aerial surveillance represents a changing frontier for law enforcement, providing what the government maintains is an important tool in criminal, terrorism or intelligence probes. But the program raises questions about whether there should be updated policies protecting civil liberties as new technologies pose intrusive opportunities for government spying. U.S. law enforcement officials confirmed for the first time the wide-scale use of the aircraft, which the AP traced to at least 13 fake companies, such as FVX Research, KQM Aviation, NBR Aviation and PXW Services. Even basic aspects of the program are withheld from the public in censored versions of official reports from the Justice Department's inspector general. The FBI also has been careful not to reveal its surveillance flights in court documents. | |
Comment: Might this have something to do with the mysterious surveillance plane seen flying over Minnesota skies recently?
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Chris Hedges
On Saturday at the Left Forum in New York City, Chris Hedges joined professors Richard Wolff and Gail Dines to discuss why Karl Marx is essential at a time when global capitalism is collapsing. These are the remarks Hedges made to open the discussion.Truth Dig 2015-05-31 16:35:00
Karl Marx exposed the peculiar dynamics of capitalism, or what he called "the bourgeois mode of production." He foresaw that capitalism had built within it the seeds of its own destruction. He knew that reigning ideologies—think neoliberalism—were created to serve the interests of the elites and in particular the economic elites, since "the class which has the means of material production at its disposal, has control at the same time over the means of mental production" and "the ruling ideas are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant material relationships ... the relationships which make one class the ruling one." He saw that there would come a day when capitalism would exhaust its potential and collapse. He did not know when that day would come. Marx, as Meghnad Desai wrote, was "an astronomer of history, not an astrologer." Marx was keenly aware of capitalism's ability to innovate and adapt. But he also knew that capitalist expansion was not eternally sustainable. And as we witness the denouement of capitalism and the disintegration of globalism, Karl Marx is vindicated as capitalism's most prescient and important critic. In a preface to "The Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy" Marx wrote: Socialism, in other words, would not be possible until capitalism had exhausted its potential for further development. That the end is coming is hard now to dispute, although one would be foolish to predict when. We are called to study Marx to be ready. | |
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Robert Parry
Consortium News 2015-05-31 16:47:00
Official Washington's narrative about Syria's civil war is that innocent "pro-democracy" protesters were driven to violence because the Syrian government cracked down harshly - and that if only President Barack Obama had armed the protesters and supported "regime change" at the beginning, the current crises in Syria and Iraq could have been averted. But the storyline was never that black and white. Though there surely were many Syrian protesters in 2011 simply seeking the end of President Bashar al-Assad's rule and political reform, there were also extremist elements in their ranks from the start, including "Al-Qaeda in Iraq" terrorists, as a Defense Intelligence Agency report describes. In other words, Assad's early complaint about "terrorists" having infiltrated the opposition wasn't entirely false, although it was often treated that way by the mainstream U.S. news media. Even early in the disorders in 2011, there were cases of armed elements killing police and soldiers. Comment: Those "armed extremist elements" are Western proxy armies that were trained, armed, and funded by Western governments. They exist to further the U.S. goal of regime change in Syria. The idea of innocent, peaceful protesters driven to violence by the Assad regime is purely Western propaganda. | |
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Eric Draitser
New Eastern Outlook 2015-06-02 16:08:00
The news that Lyudmila Alekseyeva, head of the Russian Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) the Moscow-Helsinki Group, will be returning to the Presidential Council for Human Rights, has been heralded by many in the liberal establishment in Russia as a victory for their cause. Indeed, as an adversary of President Putin on numerous occasions, Alekseyeva has been held as a symbol of the pro-Western, pro-US orientation of Russian liberals who see in Russia not a power seeking independence and sovereignty from the global hegemon in Washington, but rather a repressive and reactionary country bent on aggression and imperial revanchism. While this view is not one shared by the vast majority of Russians - Putin's approval rating continues to hover somewhere in the mid 80s - it is most certainly in line with the political and foreign policy establishment of the US, and the West generally. And this is precisely the reason that Alekseyeva and her fellow liberal colleagues are so close to key figures in Washington whose overriding goal is the return of Western hegemony in Russia, and throughout the Eurasian space broadly. For them, the return of Alekseyeva is the return of a champion of Western interests into the halls of power in Moscow. | |
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Jennifer Agiesta
CNN 2015-06-02 12:28:00
More people have an unfavorable view of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton now than at any time since 2001, according to a new CNN/ORC poll on the 2016 race. While Clinton remains strikingly dominant in the Democratic field, the poll shows that her numbers have dropped significantly across several key indicators since she launched her campaign in April. A growing number of people say she is not honest and trustworthy (57%, up from 49% in March), less than half feel she cares about people like them (47%, down from 53% last July) and more now feel she does not inspire confidence (50%, up from 42% last March). In head-to-head match-ups against top Republicans, her margin is tighter than it has been at any point in CNN/ORC's polling on the contest. On the Republican side, though, no candidate has successfully broken out of the pack. | |
Comment: For many years, the Clinton's have been quite adept at sidestepping scandals and managing to stay on top of the political game, however it appears that finally more people are becoming aware of Hillary's true nature.
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The Saker
Russia Insider 2015-06-02 13:29:00
The Saker: The Ukrainian government is constantly claiming that Spetsnaz GRU units are operating in the Donbass. Purely in theory, would you say that that this is possible or do you completely exclude such a possiblity. Please explain the reasons for your reply. What do you make of this video: Ramzes: As for there being Spetznas in Donbass - you can have it both ways. It is extremely unlikely, however, anything is possible. Just as it is possible that GRU Spetsnaz can be in the USA, Canada, Germany, Israel, Saudi Arabia at this moment. They might even be in China, Venezuela, or Iran etc... But GRU will not be operating inside Russia. | |
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Reconsidering Russia
2015-06-02 13:37:00
On 29 May 2015, the current Ukrainian government made a jaw-dropping move. As if Kiev's controversial de-communization laws were not enough, the new government decided to appoint Georgia's provocative ex-president Mikheil "Misha" Saakashvili to the post of governor of the Odessa Oblast. Immediately prior to this (literally within hours), Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko granted Saakashvili Ukrainian citizenship, thus making him eligible for the governorship. On Twitter and Facebook, future governor Saakashvili expressed his love for Odessa. Needless to say, Saakashvili is no Prince Vorontsov. Unabashedly pro-Western and hawkishly anti-Russian, Saakashvili is regarded by many as one of the most unstable politicians in the entire former Soviet Union. It was he who recklessly launched the disastrous South Ossetian war in 2008. Currently, he is a wanted man in his native Georgia, charged with abuse of office. In fact, Prosecutors in Tbilisi are seeking an Interpol Red Notice for his arrest. Further, Russia, acting on behalf of Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia, is also seeking the arrest of Saakashvili in connection with war crimes from the 2008 war. This has not prevented Saakashvili from periodically threatening to return to Georgia via revolutionary means, despite the fact that he is widely unpopular in Georgia. | |
Comment: Saakashvili is just another in a huge network of psychopaths groomed and empowered by Washington to sew chaos around the world:
Also see: Gangster state: Fugitive Saakashvili nominated as governor of Ukraine's Odessa region
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Sputnik News
2015-06-02 13:24:00
An MP from the Petro Poroshenko Bloc has suggested to his fellow deputies that the territories under the control of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics should be subjected to a complete economic blockade, calling them a "cancerous tumor." Speaking before colleagues in the Rada on Tuesday, Poroshenko Bloc leader Yuriy Lutsenko explained that Kiev's blockade against anti-Kiev forces in the Lugansk region should be expanded to Donetsk as well. "The president believes that the cancerous tumor [referring to the territories not under Kiev's control] is subject to blockade. The practice of the head of the Lugansk military-civil administration Hennadiy Moskal, who has prohibited any movement of vehicles into and out of the occupied territory, is the correct policy." | |
Comment: Psychopathic imbeciles are quick to point out that normal, healthy people are "cancerous growths" while they themselves destroy everything generations of people worked to create. Giving credence to such bizarre attitudes results in ponerization, "the influence of pathological people on individuals and groups whereby they develop acceptance of pathological reasoning and values." We can see the effects all around us:
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US attack dog: Australian government 'actively considering' dangerous provocation in South China Sea
Peter Symonds
World Socialist Web Site 2015-06-02 13:47:00
Amid escalating tensions between the US and China over the South China Sea, the Australian government is "actively considering conducting its own 'freedom of navigation' exercises near artificial islands built by China in disputed territory," according to a front-page article featured in today's Australian. Written by the newspaper's foreign editor Greg Sheridan, who is well-connected in defence circles in Washington and Canberra, the article revealed that what is under discussion is far more provocative than recent US military operations close to Chinese-controlled atolls. "The Royal Australian Air Force aircraft would fly within 12 nautical miles (22 kilometres) of an artificial island build by the Chinese, with Beijing certain to react," Sheridan stated. | |
Comment: Another 'hot spot' in the world getting warmer with the potential of creating a false flag event.
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RT
2015-06-02 13:02:00
President Barack Obama defended nuclear negotiations with Iran, arguing that military action would not end the country's controversial nuclear program. He stated a deal with Tehran is the only way to ensure it does not develop a bomb. Speaking with Israel's Channel 2 television program "Uvda," President Obama insisted that the best way to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon was through an agreement. Tehran is currently negotiating with the US and other world powers over its program as a June 30th deadline quickly approaches. "I can, I think, demonstrate, not based on any hope but on facts and evidence and analysis, that the best way to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon is a verifiable, tough agreement," he reportedly said, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. | |
Comment: Is this a ploy to actually provide cover for a military strike on Iran?
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Nicholas West
Activist Post 2015-06-02 20:33:00
In what has become a common refrain in all security circles, the elimination of privacy is a necessary tool needed to provide a solution. China is invoking the threat of financial fraud to usher in a new system of facial recognition ATMs that not only will link to an "identity database" but also will scan cash for counterfeit currency. The facial recognition ATM won't let people withdraw cash unless their face is matched with their IDs. The ATM machine has a camera installed on it which does the task by comparing people's face with their photo which is stored in its database. [...] According to reports the machine allows currency exchanges. It also records the serial number of every note deposited by clients to identify fake bank notes. (emphasis added)Perhaps it would seem appropriate that China would take first place in implementing a centralized ID database with a link to financial transactions, but the development of biometric IDs for transacting business and monitoring movements is a global initiative a long time in the making. | |
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David Edwards
Raw Story 2015-06-01 19:52:00
A website that gives sex advice to married Christians argues that women can never give their spouses "a flat no" when asked for sex because "her body does belong to her husband." The anonymous founder of the Biblical Gender Roles website, who says he is a white male in his 40s, came under fire earlier this month after he wrote an article titled, "Is a husband selfish for having sex with his wife when she is not the mood?" "Feminists and even some women who would not consider themselves feminists believe it is selfish for a man to have sex with his wife, knowing she is not in the mood," the writer explains. "In fact some claim if a man has sex with his wife when she is not the mood this is rape... Here we will try to answer this very important question, from a Biblical perspective." Although the author insists that he would not advocate "for a husband to force himself physically upon his wife," he says that "a Christian wife should never give her husband a flat no, BUT she can humbly and gently ask for a delay." And any request for a delay "must be done humbly and respectfully, and always with the attitude in mind that her body does belong to her husband." A "wife does not have the right to stand and deny her husband access to her body," he writes, adding that she can ask for a delay with a "legitimate" reason, but "the judge of what is legitimate or not is her husband." | |
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Daisy Luther
The Organic Prepper 2015-06-01 19:54:00
Nothing warms my prepper's heart more than a good disaster movie that supports my hypotheses about a specific event, and the recent movie San Andreas was no exception. Okay, sure, there was some pretty unrealistic stuff like when The Rock was driving a boat through post-tsunami San Francisco and just happened to find his daughter that he was looking for. The last time I went to San Francisco, my daughter and I had trouble finding each other on the first floor of Forever 21, for crying out loud. But, when you only have two hours for a movie, you have to be willing to suspend your disbelief somewhat and put that kind of stuff aside. So, putting that aside, I enthusiastically recommend the movie. We live about 4 hours from San Francisco and go there occasionally for educational outings to the excellent museums, so the setting was quite familiar to us, as was the premise of what would occur if an earthquake happened there. So familiar that my daughter was the frequent recipient of my elbow, as I whispered, "See!!!! I told you this was what would happen if the Big One hit that time we went to the Science Museum!" Trooper that she is, she said, "Yes, Mom, I know, you were right about that too." Since she's a teenager, she probably also rolled her eyes each time, but it was dark and I can't be absolutely certain of that. | |
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RT
2015-06-01 19:55:00
Paris authorities removed hundreds of thousands of metal padlocks from iconic Pont des Arts bridge in front of the Louvre on Monday, with the new anti-romantic token ban possibly breaking millions of hearts around the world - for security reasons. Both Parisians and tourists had been attaching their tokens to the famous 19th century bridge for years. The padlocks symbolically immortalize their love.
Both Parisians and tourists had been attaching their tokens to the famous 19th century bridge for years. The padlocks symbolically immortalize their love. | ||
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RT
2015-06-02 17:45:00
Comment: One can't help but wonder if Blatter's resignation is a result of pressure from the U.S. over his insistence that Russia will host the 2018 World Cup. It certainly appears as though Russia hosting the World Cup in 2018 is now decidedly up in the air. Sepp Blatter has said he will resign as president of football's governing body, FIFA, at an extraordinary congress of the organization. The sensational announcement comes just four days after Blatter was reelected as FIFA boss for a fifth term. "I cherish FIFA most of all and always try to do the best for football and the organization," Blatter said at a press conference in Switzerland. "I decided that I should keep running in elections. The election now is over, but the challenges remain. FIFA needs restructuring, the FIFA delegates have given me the mandate. But it is not supported by other members of FIFA, fans, clubs. Those who inspire FIFA like we do.Therefore, I ask to convene an extraordinary congress as soon as possible to elect my successor." Blatter, who took charge of world football in 1998, said he would be carrying out the duties of FIFA president until the extraordinary congress. The new congress will take place between December 2015 and March 2016, the chairman of FIFA's audit and compliance committee, Domenico Scala, has said. He has taken the floor after Blatter.
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Comment: See also:
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Mark Green
Fox13 2015-06-01 12:14:00
About 50 people were taken to Salt Lake City hospitals Sunday night after reports of food poisoning at a homeless shelter, and some individuals were transported by bus due to the high volume of patients; firefighters said there don't appear to be any serious illnesses as a result of the incident. Jasen Asay, Salt Lake City Fire Department Spokesman, said about 50 individuals from the Road Home Shelter, located at 210 South Rio Grande, were taken to nearby hospitals. He said they evaluated the patients and transported some by ambulance and others who were less ill by bus. "This evening around 9:30, the Salt Lake City Fire Department responded to several reports of food poisoning here at the shelter at 210 South Rio Grande," he said. "When our crews arrived, they started evaluating some people down here at the shelter, started noticing that a lot of them were suffering from symptoms similar to food poisoning." The patients were taken to hospitals for treatment of symptoms that included vomiting and nausea. "We've transported approximately 50 patients from both the men's shelter and the women and family shelter to the hospital in minor condition, no real serious injuries, but a lot of discomfort," Asay said. Asay said they evaluated numerous patients and transported about 50 of them, and he added that more patients may have sought treatment at hospitals prior to when first responders were dispatched. The exact cause of the illnesses remains unknown. | |
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RT
2015-06-02 16:40:00
A computer glitch forced United Airlines, the world's second-largest commercial air provider, to momentarily halt all scheduled domestic take-offs. For 39 minutes on Tuesday morning, all UA flights expected to depart within the United States were grounded while the airline addressed "automation issues." An advisory from the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control system command center said unspecified automation issues had prompted the FAA to announce a ground stop for all UA flights inside the US. | |
Comment: There have been a rather large number of worrisome airline glitches recently:
Sott Exclusive: Mayhem and Maydays in May skies: Aircraft crashes, accidents, glitches, mishaps and near misses | |
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Julie Lévesque
Global Research 2015-05-31 00:00:00
An increasing number of countries are banning Monsanto's cancer-linked Roundup herbicide, a.k.a. glyphosate. Others are banning Monsanto's GMOs. Meanwhile, Monsanto-funded U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton thinks "(t)here is a big gap between what the facts are, and what the perceptions are." Actually the facts are established: Monsanto's herbicides and GMOs are harmful to humans and animals. Several studies have demonstrated it and even led the World Health Organization to issue a warning against glyphosate's links to cancer. In fact, Monsanto knew 35 years ago that its glyphosate was linked to cancer and other health issues. GM-Free Cymru discovered this while looking into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) archives from the early 80′s: There were many animal experiments (using rats, mice and dogs) designed to test the acute and chronic toxicity of glyphosate in the period 1978-1986, conducted by laboratories such as Bio/dynamics Inc for Monsanto and submitted for EPA consideration... but like all the other older studies they were and still are treated as Trade Secrets and cannot be freely accessed for independent scrutiny. That in itself is suggestive that the studies contain data which Monsanto still does not wish to be examined by experts in the toxicology field. It is also deeply worrying that EPA acceded to the routine Monsanto requests for secrecy on the flimsiest of pretexts. | |
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Christopher Leonard
Bloomberg 2015-06-02 15:34:00
Somebody turned the fans off on 300,000 chickens to suffocate them—somebody who knows exactly how the industry works. The chicken farm on Brewer Road, just south of the small town of Manning in South Carolina, is hidden away down a series of winding country highways, between a patch of forest and an empty farm field. On the morning of Feb. 17 the farm's owner, a Vietnamese immigrant named Hoangson Nguyen, was awakened by a frantic phone call. Nguyen, who goes by "Sonny," raises birds under contract for Pilgrim's Pride, the nation's second-largest poultry company. An employee who checks the chicken houses each morning was shouting over the phone. Something was terribly wrong. Nguyen sped to the farm. That morning, when the farmhand opened the door to the first building, a sophisticated warehouse designed to hold about 20,000 birds, a column of steam had billowed out. Nguyen went into the control room and saw that the temperature inside was 122F. He entered the cavernous building. It was like a sauna: The giant circular fans used to cool the chicken house had been switched off. A set of electronic alarms had also been disabled. There were thousands of dead chickens on the ground, pressed up against the walls as if they'd tried to escape. They'd been smothered to death overnight in the intense heat. Nguyen knew immediately that this wasn't an accident. Someone had killed his flock. | |
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RT
2015-06-02 14:58:00
Seventy years ago, there were between 3 million and 5 million elephants in Africa. Today, as the number of African bush elephants has dropped to nearly half a million, this magnificent animal faces extinction in some parts of the continent. "If conservation action is not forthcoming, elephants may become locally extinct in some parts of Africa within 50 years," warns the World Wildlife Fund. Others have said that elephants could be extinct in Africa within our lifetime. Recent news about elephant populations has been heartbreaking. These wonderful animals are being slaughtered on a truly horrific scale. Last week, it was reported that the elephant population of Mozambique has almost halved since 2009, due to poaching. There were over 20,000 elephants in the southeast African state in 2009, but last year the total was down to 10,300. This comes on the back of news that half of the elephants in Tanzania's Ruaha National Park - one of the largest national parks in the whole of Africa - have been lost to poachers in just one year. | |
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RT
2015-06-02 15:23:00
Worrying statistics have emerged, placing meth - the Asia-Pacific's most popular drug - at the top of its grocery list. Police seizures have quadrupled in five years, as production skyrockets in tandem with increasing economic integration into the world. And it's a vicious cycle: the more economic opportunities increase for the region as a whole, the more the drug and its various derivatives are produced, which, in turn, leads to plummeting prices, according to a recent report by the UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Asian drug cartels are only too happy with this, as their profits soar, despite the price reductions. | |
Comment: This is an age-old problem encompassing the history of the world. This is a clear indication of the dreadful state of humans. And given the Unites States intelligence agencies connections with the drug trade and it's interests in destabilizing Asia, it's not too much of a leap to wonder about more covert influences involved in the exploding drug trade in the Asia-Pacific.
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Alex Freeman
The Fifth Column 2015-05-28 02:39:00
Due to Governor Paul LePage launching direct political and environmental attacks against the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes of Maine, leaders of those tribes have recalled their representatives from the state legislature and are asserting their sovereignty from the State of Maine. "The Maine Indian Land claims Settlement act has failed and we cannot allow ourselves to continue down the path," Chief Francis said. "We're saying it's a failed social experiment." In August of 2011, Governor LePage signed an Executive Order recognizing a "special relationship" between the sovereign State of Maine, and the sovereign tribes within the State. In this order, the Governor instructed all Sta |
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