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FARS News Agency
2016-01-01 11:02:00
The United States government can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but it cannot fool all of the people all of the time. That's why when State Department Spokesman John Kirby bragged up Washington's sordid achievements of 2015, even things that they never did, such as the declaration that the US brought "peace and security to Syria," everyone in the entire world raised eyebrows and said come again? Writing in his laudatory year-in-review, Kirby further bragged of the US "stepping up to aid the Syrian people during their time of need," while taking credit for peace talks set for next month. Ironically, the peace talks are the fruit of a joint Russian-Iranian effort to get the opposition groups - not "moderate" terrorists - to talk with the Syrian government, something the War Party and its vassals had long resisted and openly opposed. Kirby's silly declaration notwithstanding, the War Party is no longer able to hide the bitter truth about the ongoing proxy war from hardcore thinkers:
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Comment: The best lies are not this obvious! Perhaps Kirby believes his own country's propaganda where perception is purposefully completely twisted and facts don't matter. Eyebrow raising? How about a bona fide trial-by-public truthification! The US definitely brought something to Syria, but it most assuredly wasn't peace!!!
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| Puppet Masters |
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Paul Antonopoulos
al Masdar News 2016-01-05 20:42:00
Oman's diplomat to Tehran stated that Riyadh's move to cut diplomatic ties with Iran was an effort to overshadow Iran's nuclear agreement with the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany). The Omani ambassador, Saud bin Ahmed bin Khalid Al Barwani, also said that Saudi Arabia's reactions were the wrong method. "Regardless of its cause, this has definitely been an unwise action conducted through an incorrect method," Bardani said in a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani. "I believe Saudi Arabia, through its recent measure, is after pressuring Iran and overshadowing the nuclear agreement (between Tehran and the world powers)," he added. | |
Comment: Hopefully Saudi Arabia's ploy to pressure Iran and further destabilize the region will backfire. Check out:
Saudi provocation may backfire: Will Iran now start actually aiding Houthis? | |
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Sputnik
2016-01-05 18:30:00
The Syrian Army and National Defense Forces (NDF) resisted an attack by Daesh in a rural area in the Eastern part of Hama province following an intense fight. "The Syrian army troops and their allies thwarted the ISIL attempt to infiltrate into the defense lines of the government forces in al-Mab'ujah village in Salamiyah district," Fars News Agency reported the army as saying. The army further said that Syrian army artillery units heavily bombed the militants' strongholds near the villages of al-Qahira, Tal Wasit, al-Mansoura and al-Ziyarah and the regions of al-Dellak and al-Sathiyat across Hama province, resulting in a major death toll for the terrorists. | |
Comment: For more updates on the battle for Syria, check out: South Front Digest: Syria, Iraq, Yemen war updates (VIDEO)
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RT
2016-01-05 17:14:00
Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who reportedly sent explicit text messages to a 17-year-old girl, is under mounting pressure to resign after protesters descended on his Rochdale constituency office on Monday. The 49-year-old, who is at the heart of a deepening sexting scandal, admitted he was "silly" for sending explicit text messages to the 17-year-old dominatrix, who had asked him for a job. In a string of lewd messages, the MP told Sophena Houlihan how "horny" he was and asked her if she wanted "spanking." | |
Comment: See more: Traits that define ethical leadership
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Gilbert Doctorow
Consortium News 2016-01-02 00:00:00
The neocons and liberal hawks who dominate the U.S. foreign policy and media establishment are pushing the world toward a nuclear showdown with Russia as few people hear a comprehensive response from the other side, an imbalance that a new Russian documentary addresses, writes Gilbert Doctorow. Without mincing words, the new Russian documentary World Order is a devastating critique of U.S. global hegemony justified in the name of "democracy promotion" and "human rights" ever since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1992. It is directly in line with Russian President Vladimir Putin's first repudiation of the American unipolar world issued in his speech to the Munich Security Conference in February 2007 and his further, ever more explicit exposés in a succession of speeches that challenged specific manifestations of "American exceptionalism." | |
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Press TV
2016-01-05 01:37:00
The brother of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr Baqir al-Nimr has blamed US President Barack Obama for failing to prevent his brother's execution by Saudi Arabia, which has set off worldwide protests. "I am sorry to say that the American government did not offer to make any efforts on this, althoughthey knew the danger of this action and the repercussions," Mohammed al-Nimr said in an interview with Yahoo News. "We asked very clearly for the American president to intervene as a friend of Saudi Arabia — and the Americans did not intervene," he said in a telephone interview from al-Awamiyah, a village situated in the Qatif region in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. The Saudi regime said Saturday it had executed Sheikh Nimr along with 46 others, causing international outrage and a serious escalation of diplomatic tensions in the region. Sheikh Nimr, a critic of the Riyadh regime, was shot by Saudi police and arrested in 2012 in Qatif, which was the scene of peaceful anti-regime demonstrations at the time.Mohammed al-Nimr said he personally asked officials at the US consulate in Dharan, Saudi Arabia, tourge the American president to speak out forcefully against his brother's death sentence, but "the Americans did not issue such a statement. They limited themselves to general statements from the State Department," he said.
At a US State Department press briefing on Monday, chief spokesman John Kirby told reporters, "We've been very clear about our concerns about the legal process in Saudi Arabia. It's something that we have talked to Saudi officials about before. We all continue to do so." Mohammed al-Nimr's own son, Ali Mohammed Baqir al-Nimr, has also been sentenced to death over his alleged role in anti-regime protests in 2012, when he was 17 years old.Mohammed al-Nimr said that, in the aftermath of his brother's execution, he is now increasingly concerned that his son will also be put to death. "Our fears were great, but now our fears are greater," he said. "We don't trust promises anymore. This issue needs political energy from the friends of Saudi Arabia." | ||
Comment: Were the US State Department and Obama blindsided? With all their "diplomatic" meddle and control tactics, finger in every pot so's to speak, you would think this issue would be obvious. Then again, the US has not been particularly bright in recent years -- its aggression out of control, many hundreds of thousands of lives lost, the global destruction of liberty and justice for all and its hubris blinding the signs of its degradation bringing its own population to the brink of destruction -- hey, it's a lot to not think about. Who can blame them! Well done. Atoning is gonna be a bitch.
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RT
2015-12-29 14:23:00
Washington and Ankara are extremely unwilling to compromise and this position brings suffering to millions of Syrian citizens, the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov has told the press. "Because of some personal ambitions, the United States and Turkey are not even trying to get on common ground with Syrian President Bashar Assad, despite the sufferings of millions of Syrians," Kadyrov said at the major annual press conference in the Chechen capital, Grozny. "Just imagine, [Turkish President] Erdogan and America are saying that until Assad retires they are not even going to raise the question about stabilizing the situation. So many people are suffering because of their personal ambitions, a whole country has been destroyed because of them," he added. Kadyrov also said that Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIL/ISIS) received funds from Arab and European countries. "Their numbers reach the tens of thousands. They are financed by rich Arab and Western European states. Best military specialists from these states are working with these terrorists. Of course they have a strong and powerful military machine," he said. One IS's objectives is the destabilization of situation in Chechnya, Kadyrov told reporters, but he also noted that law enforcers were successfully containing this threat. | |
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RT
2016-01-05 14:22:00
Prime Minister David Cameron has postponed his tour of the Gulf States, including Saudi Arabia, amid outrage at the Sunni theocracy's mass executions and Britain's seemingly weak response to them. The tour, which was due to start in Riyadh, will now take place in March at the earliest. Senior sources say there is no connection between recent Saudi executions and the delay, however. The Gulf monarchy recently carried out a mass execution of 47 people, including long-time dissenter and prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. | |
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Ben Schreiner
Global Research 2016-01-05 13:14:00
With New Year celebrations barely in the rear view mirror, foreboding storm clouds are once again forming along the horizon. The blackening skies are casting a dour mood over 2016, which in its mere infancy seems all but assured to see deepening global tumult, conflict, and crisis. At the root of this palpable disquiet lies the still fragile state of the global economy, coming up on eight years after the financial collapse of 2008. Writing in the German newspaper Handelsblatt last week, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde pointed to "rising interest rates in the United States and an economic slowdown in China," coupled with slowing growth in global trade and "a decline in raw material prices," to warn that, "global growth will be disappointing and uneven in 2016." Back in October, the IMF projected a lackluster 2016 global growth rate of 3.6%, a 0.2% reduction from its previous forecast. As IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld commented at the time, "Six years after the world economy emerged from its broadest and deepest postwar recession, a return to robust and synchronized global expansion remains elusive." On Monday, stoked by fears of slowing growth in China, evidenced by a report from the market data firm Markit showing a contraction in Chinese manufacturing, global stock indexes tumbled as they rang in 2016. But as HSBC strategist Devendra Joshi noted of the plunge to the New York Times, "This will be the theme for the year. There will be more volatility." | |
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Pete Sweeney and Samuel Shen
Reuters (UK) 2016-01-05 08:56:00
China struggled to shore up shaky sentiment on Tuesday a day after its stock indexes and yuan currency tumbled, rattling markets worldwide, but analysts warned investors to buckle up for more wild price swings in the months ahead. Stocks fell more than 2 percent in early trade, prompting fears that exchanges were set for a second day of panic selling after a 7 percent dive on Monday set off a new "circuit breaker" mechanism, suspending trade nation-wide for the first time. But both the central bank and the stock regulator reacted quickly, and major indexes recouped most of their initial losses despite a late afternoon scare. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) poured nearly $20 billion into money markets, its largest cash injection since September, and traders suspected it was using state banks to prop up the yuan CNY=CFXS at the same time. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), for its part, announced it was planning new rules to further restrict share sales by major stakeholders in listed companies, and said it would further tweak the circuit breaker mechanism amid criticism that it had fuelled Monday's sell-off. | |
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Translated by Susan Neumann
Russia Insider 2016-01-05 03:46:00
In Moscow the Russian president holds his annual press conference while there's discussion in the EU over repealing the sanctions against Russia. That means it's time for "Groundhog Day" in the media. The same kremlinologists keep inundating us with their interpretations of Putin: he's a one-man power structure, a reincarnation of Ivan the Terrible, Vlad the Impaler - he even travels through time and is immortal. More than twenty years after its release, Harold Ramis' Groundhog Day is a great comedy that one can still enjoy. Bill Murray plays an arrogant TV weatherman who, while reporting on the ritual Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, finds himself stuck in a time loop where he is forced to repeat the same day again and again. He sees the same people who wear the same thing, say the same thing. It's maddening. Even suicide doesn't help because he wakes up every morning at six, hearing the radio playing the same song.... The ZDF documentary Machtmensch Putin (Power-seeker Putin) is very much like Groundhog Day.It was released shortly before Putin's big annual press conference and against the backdrop of the EU summit in Brussels, where discussion took place over whether to repeal or ease the sanctions against Russia. The same "Putin experts" keep playing the same song.... | |
Comment: This is what passes for 'journalism' in the West, and in Germany in particular. It's an act of violence against thinking people, where the 'journalists' have completely abandoned their duty and will just make up whatever gets them a pat on the back from the 'power elite'. Also see:
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Binoy Kampmark
Global Research 2016-01-04 00:00:00
Wither human rights - especially when it comes to strategic partnerships. The UK-Saudi Arabia relationship has been one of a seedier sort, filled with military deals, mooted criticism and hedging. When given the John Snow treatment as to what Britain's role behind securing Saudi Arabia its position on the UN Human Rights Council was, Prime Minister David Cameron fenced furiously before embellishing Riyadh's value in its relations with the West.[1] The paper trail in such matters is always useful, and given that Britain remains one of the most secretive states in the western world, those things are not always easy to come by. Light, however, was already shed by cables released through WikiLeaks suggesting that a degree of haggling had taken place between the states over the subject of compromising human rights. The Saudi cable trove, made available to WikiLeaks last June, has spurred various groups to comb through the foreign ministry collection with an eye to decoding the Kingdom's sometimes inscrutable positions.[2] | |
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Gilbert Doctorow
Russia Insider 2016-01-02 00:14:00
If World Order is a piece of propaganda, it is sophisticated and serves certain higher values, not the interests of individuals or power for power's sake. In effect, it is a wake-up call to avert nuclear war by reining in exceptionalism and safeguarding the principles of the UN Charter. The Russian documentary World Order, released by the state broadcaster Pervy Kanal on Sunday, 20 December and posted on LiveLeak with English subtitles, received some attention in Western mainstream media, which is not always the case with news generated in Moscow. Euronews, in particular, drew on a minute or two out of this one hour forty-nine minute film to present good tidings to the world: President Putin had just publicly stated that he is ready to cooperate with European countries on shared concerns including terrorism, environmental issues and organized crime notwithstanding the sanctions being applied to Russia over Ukraine. This happy finding ignores completely the nature and overall content of the film in question, which heads in a direction 180 degrees at variance with the Euronews spin, as I will explain in a minute. Meanwhile, BBC reporting on New Year's Eve celebrations around the world on Friday morning, 1 January, showed Vladimir Putin delivering his 2016 greetings to his countrymen over the caption "Russia names Nato as threat to security." In a classic propaganda exercise, the editorial staff of the British Broadcasting Company merged two very different pieces of news that bear the same dateline: the anodyne salutation of the Russian president and the 41 page National Security doctrine which he had signed earlier in the day. This is propaganda not only because the stories were unrelated but because the Nato threat is covered explicitly in just one page out of the 41, which take in a great many other security metrics such as education, import substitution, religious and spiritual convictions. I mention this case because the major arguments set out in the Russian Security Doctrine flagged by the BBC are precisely the same as those in World Order. For both, ultimate authorial responsibility rests with one man: Vladimir Putin.
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Valentin Vasilescu
Fort Russ 2016-01-04 00:27:00
A BIRN investigation shows that since 2011 the United States, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have bought more than 600 million dollars worth of Soviet-style equipment in Bulgaria for armed groups fighting against the Syrian Arab Republic. This traffic contravenes UN principles that prohibit attempting to overthrow a government by supplying offensive weapons to domestic opponents or to external mercenaries. Since the beginning of the war against Syria, the US government spent 500 million dollars in Bulgaria on Soviet-type weapons. The military gear includes 18,800 portable anti-tank grenade launchers and 700 Konkurs anti-tank missile systems. | |
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Moon of Alabama
2016-01-04 23:39:00
I still believe that, from the Saudi rulers' viewpoint, the execution of a bunch of al-Qaeda types and the Saudi Shia rabble-rouser Nimr Baqr al-Nimr was a smart move to divert the attention of their people from the accumulating problems of their rulers and the recent 40% gas price hike. But it comes with now escalating costs. The biggest danger to the al-Saud family which dictatorially rules over Saudi Arabia is the proven validity of an alternative Islamic system. The Islamic Republic of Iran has such an alternative system and its reintegration into the world after the nuclear deal shows its validity. Some people and Islamic scholars in Saudi Arabia might get the idea that they also could also have a system where every vote counts and policies are decided at the ballot box. This without a kleptocratic, dictatorial family and, importantly, without doing away with their core Islamic values. This, not religion, is why the Saudis have fought Iran since its revolution in 1979 and why they try to curb its influence wherever they can. The al-Sauds fear for their family and its sinecures. That Saudis, together with Israel, tried everything to sabotage the nuclear deal. They want Iran back in the isolation box. But it is now too late. I have not read one piece in "western" media today that was negative on Iran and/or positive on Saudi Arabia. The wind of international politics has changed and it is now Saudi Arabia that comes under pressure. The impulsive reaction of the current Saudi rulers is to escalate and escalate even more and to fight Iran wherever it is present, like in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, or even where it is not present like in Yemen. | |
Comment: The Saudis were clearly banking on causing an uproar. While the Iranian government remained stoic, the Iranian vandals who set the Saudi embassy aflame gave the Saudis the response they wanted. Their swift and hyperbolic response - severing diplomatic ties, stopping civilian flights, cutting business - suggests it was planned in advance. The NATO-Gulf States bloc just won't quit. Now they'll be fighting Russia by fighting Iran, in Syria. Anything but dealing with the real problems facing the region: ISIS and the Saudi Wahhabi soil in which it was nurtured.
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Sputnik
2016-01-04 23:03:00
On Sunday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order for law enforcement to force the state's homeless population into shelters when the temperature drops below freezing. The order goes into effect on Tuesday, and will allow for individuals to be taken — even against their will — by law enforcement. Law enforcement agencies are to take "all necessary steps to identify individuals reasonably believed to be homeless and unwilling or unable to find the shelter necessary for safety and health in inclement winter weather, and move such individuals to the appropriate sheltered facilities." | |
Comment: It seems like Cuomo is trying to appear as if he cares about the plight of the homeless, but really this new executive order highlights his lack of real empathy as it treats the homeless like ignorant cattle and is not likely to go over well. Not to mention how it sets a precedent for rounding up large groups of people without legal grounds or justifications for doing so. It's a new year, and the pathocracy is wasting no time continuing to crush what's left of the human spirit.
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| Society's Child |
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John Vibes
The Free Thought Project 2016-01-05 00:00:00
A California police officer was recently busted after driving 247 pounds of marijuana all the way across the country. Yuba County Deputy Christopher M. Heath was caught in York, Pennsylvania with a shipment of marijuana that was worth over $2 million. Heath was reportedly on vacation from his job at the Yuba County Police Department at the time of his arrest. The York County Police Department has been cautiously silent about the investigation, and they have refused to comment on the details of the arrest, and how they became aware of the shipment. York County District Attorney Tom Kearney admitted at a recent press conference that this arrest was a part of a large investigation that included various different police departments. Penn Township Police, West Manheim Township Police, Hanover Police, Northern York County Regional Police, York Area Regional Police, Springettsbury Township Police and the York barracks of Pennsylvania State Police were all involved in the arrest and present at the press conference. | |
Comment: This is hardly an isolated incident and underscores the systemic corruption within the US, particularly among those involved in the farcical war on drugs:
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RT
2016-01-04 20:08:00
The US Department of Homeland Security has made good on its late-2015 promise of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants from Central America. Immigration enforcement officers detained 121 people, mostly in Georgia, Texas and North Carolina. Eleven families were part of the weekend deportation operation, which targeted people caught crossing the US-Mexico border after May 1, 2014. The families have been issued final orders of removal by a federal immigration court and have no further opportunities for appeal or prolonged legal action. On Saturday, at least five families in the Atlanta area were detained, including Ana Lizeth Mejia, 30, and her 9-year-old son, according to reports. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents entered the home of Mejia's aunt, Joanna Gutierrez, claiming they were seeking a man Gutierrez did not know. After searching her home, the agents asked about Mejia, who had fled Honduras in the summer of 2014 after her brother was killed by a gang, according to the Los Angeles Times. Mejia had attended every court date, and was wearing a court-ordered ankle monitor, Gutierrez said. "Why abuse a person who is already in the control of the court?" Gutierrez said. | |
Comment: The cruel treatment of these families by US authorities only underscores thepsychopathic nature of the entire government and their callous disregard for those whose only crime is desiring a life free of violence, extreme poverty and hunger, as a result of this same regime's malevolent policies in Latin America.
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RT
2016-01-05 18:44:00
More than 400 acres of crops have been destroyed by the IDF near the fence surrounding Gaza, in a lethal no-go zone maintained unilaterally by Israel on the Palestinian side of the border. They say they sprayed pesticides to enable a security operation. The no-go area is volatile and many explosives are found in it. The IDF told RT this was such a case, as it continues to patrol the area for improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and signs of border infiltrations. Israel's ground forces have also been regularly entering the Gaza Strip to clear obstructions and for other purposes. The IDF added the spraying of the pesticides did not harm the environment, but Palestinian farmers say hundreds of acres have been laid to waste, and showed evidence of this. Comment: The IDF's claims are A) not true and B) besides the point. The point is that they are destroying the meager livelihood of an already impoverished people whom they have been occupying and decimating for decades. To make a ridiculous statement like 'pesticides don't hurt the environment' just goes to show how racist and entitled these individuals are. | |
Comment: Also see: Israel repeatedly sprays crop-killing pesticides on Gaza farms
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Alexander Mercouris
Russia Insider 2016-01-05 04:17:00
The year 2015 ended with further falls in oil prices. As is now traditional, this have given rise to more predictions of disaster for Russia's economy. This whole subject is much misunderstood. The major effect on the oil price is on interest rates - not the Russian budget, which gets all the attention. Oil prices are anyway likely to stabilise - and even rise - before long, whilst the effect of their fall on the Russian economy is diminishing. To explain all this it is necessary to begin with oil prices, since they are the heart of the story. | |
Comment: Also see: German media is stuck in an insane, anti-Putin time loop
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Palestine Red Crescent Society
2016-01-01 00:00:00
PRCS' Emergency Medical Teams provided emergency medical services to 15,397 persons wounded by Israeli occupation forces in the oPt since the beginning of October, including 14,035 persons in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem, and 1,344 persons in the Gaza Strip. In the West Bank, including in occupied Jerusalem, PRCS' Emergency Medical Teams treated 983 persons who had sustained live ammunition injuries, 2,986 persons who had been hit with rubber-coated metal bullets, 9,691 persons suffering from tear gas suffocation and another 367 persons who had stumbled, were beaten or suffered from burns. In the Gaza Strip, PRCS' teams treated 489 persons who had sustained live ammunition injuries, 140 persons who had been hit with rubber-coated metal bullets, 602 persons suffering from tear gas suffocation, 107 persons who had been beaten and six others who had been wounded during Israeli raids. Furthermore, Israeli occupation forces and settlers assaulted PRCS' teams and ambulances 335 times since October 3rd. As a result, 147 paramedics, including several volunteers, were wounded while 94 ambulances sustained damage. Moreover, 94 different incidents in which PRCS' ambulances were denied access have been documented. | |
Comment: A statistical reminder: Still nothing is done; nothing is said; nothing is remedied; nothing is resolved, and none are rescued.
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Justin Gardner
The Free Thought Project 2016-01-05 15:23:00
Jamie Kalani Rice, a native Hawaiian, has filed a federal complaint against Honolulu police for an unprovoked beating he received from Officer Ming Wang, which was captured on videotape. Rice saw an endangered monk seal lying on the beach and believed it was sick, so he approached the seal and sat a few feet away from it. Rice chanted at the seal while rubbing sand on his body and throwing it in the air, attempting to use his mana (energy) for healing. Volunteers with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recorded the encounter after asking Rice not to approach the seal. They had posted signs saying "Hawaiian Monk Seals: Please do not Disturb." The cameraman says, "Call the police" as he films. However, Rice was clearly not trying to harm the seal, and resorting to the police was uncalled for. | |
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Joshua Krause
The Daily Sheeple 2016-01-05 15:09:00
Ever since armed militiamen took over a federal building in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, the one question that has been on everyone's mind is "how are the Feds going to respond to this?" Regardless of whether or not you support these people, you have to admit that the government's response hasn't been typical. At least for now, there isn't an army of soldiers, or swat teams, or tanks, bearing down on the militia's position. As far as we know the FBI is en route, and that's pretty much it. From the accounts that have been coming out of the area, it doesn't look like a Waco situation. It doesn't look like a Bundy Ranch situation either. Granted, this could still get really ugly at any time, but based on what government officials have said, it doesn't sound like they want that. While its hard to say what they are thinking behind the scenes, publicly they are calling for a peaceful resolution to the situation. Even the White House chimed in, referring to the standoff as a "local law enforcement matter" and refusing to label the militiamen "terrorists," before calling for a peaceful resolution. | |
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Tuoi Tre
2016-01-05 14:27:00
Three unidentified metal orbs were discovered in three provinces in northern Vietnam on Saturday, while a military official said that the spheres might be parts of a flying object. The first sphere was found by local residents in Tuyen Quang ,Province following a loud noise from a supposed aerial explosion on Saturday morning. Provincial leader Chau Van Lam confirmed the report to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper and said that competent authorities have been working to identify the metallic object. The mysterious sphere, about 50kg in weight, which has Russian letters on its surface, was initially identified as a device for meteorological research, Lam said. | |
Comment: See also: Mystery space objects land in Spain
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RT
2016-01-05 14:29:00
Hillary Clinton has stunned the public with a new revelation: Aliens might have visited Earth, she said. The Democratic presidential hopeful says if elected president, she would dig deep into the secret Area 51 site, aliens and UFOs. Clinton made comments when talking to Daymond Steer of The Conway Daily Sun in New Hampshire last week. It was the first time since 2007 that she was interviewed by the reporter. Setting politics and mundane issues aside, Clinton and Daymond spoke briefly about extraterrestrial life. "I think we may have been (visited already). We don't know for sure," the presidential candidate said, when asked about her husband's comment's to late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel. In 2014, former President Bill Clinton told Kimmel that he would not be surprised if aliens visited us. Mrs. Clinton also promised to expose the aliens and "get to the bottom of it," a vow that might endear her to scientists, space geeks and UFO enthusiasts. | |
Comment: Forget about what aliens may be out there. Focus on Hillary's alien view on humanity:
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RT
2016-01-05 13:10:00
Gas has begun flowing into a southern Ukrainian town that pleaded for Russian help during a bitter cold spell. Amid regular blackouts caused by the Kiev administration, Crimean authorities have fulfilled President Vladimir Putin's order to prevent people from freezing. A port city along the Sea of Azov in the Kherson Oblast of southern Ukraine, Genichesk is home to more than 25,000 people who began suffering severe gas shortages when the thermometers plunged to -14 degrees Celsius over the weekend. By Monday more than 1,500 residents in the Kherson region were left without gas, as authorities struggled with the decreased pressure on the municipal pipeline. | |
Comment: See more: Ukrainian town asks Putin for Russia's help against the cold and gets it
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Steven Maxwell
Activist Post 2016-01-04 00:40:00
Every activist has read the increasing number of stories where homelessness is being criminalized, as if simply being homeless isn't punishment enough. However, there is a rising tide among all walks of life that is beginning to view homelessness in a very different light. As a sinking economy and the criminal actions of the banking elite are leading many middle class, stable families into abject poverty, it is becoming much easier to identify with the less fortunate the closer their plight appears to be. Defenders of the homeless are becoming much more vocal now. We have seen some amazing examples recently of people moved to help those in need through programs such as an artist who paints and sells portraits of the homeless and gives them the profits; a former homeless man who gives back to the homeless by selling book reviews and buying food to share; or the inspiring story of a community organizer who used his own faith to connect with those from other faiths in a common cause of feeding those in need. | |
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Fort Russ
2016-01-04 23:55:00
The mayor of the Ukrainian town of Genichesk, which is located near the border with the Crimea, addressed Vladimir Putin with a plea for help with gas supplies, the need for which has increased dramatically due to the cold snap. The press secretary of the president of Russia, Dmitry Peskov, reported this on RIA Novosti: "On behalf of the residents Genichesk the mayor of the city, due to low temperatures continuing through the last several days, asked to the Russian side to ensure the gas supply to prevent the people of the city freezing," said the press secretary of the Russian president. | |
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Press TV
2016-01-04 09:43:00
US President Barack Obama says he will bypass Congress and its opposition to gun control through introducing a raft of executive actions to resolve the crisis. "We have tens of thousands of people every single year who are killed by guns," Obama said in remarks at the Oval Office on Monday, adding he would take unilateral measures to end "the scourge of gun violence." He said the proposals, presented to him by Attorney General Loretta Lynch at the White House, would focus on regulating gun sales and preventing illegal purchases. According to his aides, Obama's move could tighten rules on gun dealers, widen background checks to more buyers and clamp down on "straw purchases" which enable suspect individuals to buy guns through an intermediary. The president admitted the measures were "not going to solve every violent crime in this country. It's not going to prevent every mass shooting. It's not going to keep every gun out of the hands of a criminal," but he said "it will potentially, save lives in this country." During a meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch and other advisers on Monday, Obama said "the good news is .. these are not only recommendations that are well within my legal authority and the executive branch, but they're also ones that the overwhelming majority of the American people, including gun owners, support." | |
Comment: "We the People" have not agreed on this action by "You the President."
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| Secret History |
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Alicia McDermott
Ancient Origins 2016-01-05 00:49:00
While researchers were analyzing the genes of prehistoric Irish ancestors they discovered that the beginning of a "Celtic Curse" (haemochromatosis) probably arose 4,000 years ago with a wave of migration from the Pontic Steppe to the East. This discovery also provides hard evidence for massive migrations that could have led to changes in Neolithic and Bronze Age lifestyles. When geneticists at Trinity College in Dublin teamed up with archaeologists at Queen's University of Belfast to study the origins of Ireland's people and culture, they could only imagine the possible outcomes. The team successfully sequenced then compared the genomes of a woman farmer from 5,200 years ago (whose remains were found near Belfast) and three men who lived on Rathlin Island during the Bronze Age. When they analyzed these genes they discovered that a disease often called the "Celtic Curse" arose sometime between the two time periods and that it was related to a massive migration into the region. The results of their analysis were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and show that the Ballynahatty Neolithic woman "possessed a genome of predominantly Near Eastern origin" and that "she had some hunter - gatherer ancestry but belonged to a population of large effective size, suggesting a substantial influx of early farmers to the island." | |
Comment: For more information on hemochromatosis, see: The iron elephant - The dangers of iron overload
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| Science & Technology |
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Phys Org
2016-01-04 05:46:00
An international group of astronomers led by the University of Sydney has discovered strong magnetic fields are common in stars, not rare as previously thought, which will dramatically impact our understanding of how stars evolve. Using data from NASA's Kepler mission, the team found that stars only slightly more massive than the Sun have internal magnetic fields up to 10 million times that of the Earth, with important implications for evolution and the ultimate fate of stars. "This is tremendously exciting, and totally unexpected," said lead researcher, astrophysicist Associate Professor Dennis Stello from the University of Sydney. "Because only 5-0 percent of stars were previously thought to host strong magnetic fields, current models of how stars evolve lack magnetic fields as a fundamental ingredient," Associate Professor Stello said. "Such fields have simply been regarded insignificant for our general understanding of stellar evolution. "Our result clearly shows this assumption needs to be revisited." The findings are published today in the journal Nature. | |
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RT
2016-01-04 21:57:00
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg may not quite be Tony Stark, but he wants to build an artificially intelligent digital assistant modeled after Jarvis, the cyber-butler from Marvel's 'Iron Man' universe. Can the "Age of Ultron" be far behind? The tech billionaire announced his plan on Sunday night, saying that he wants an AI assistant to help run his life more efficiently. | |
Comment: See more:
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| Earth Changes |
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Leadership
2016-01-05 19:40:00
Cambodian National Committee for Disaster Management, said 107 Cambodians, mostly rural dwellers, had been killed by lightning strikes in 2015, up 42.6 percent from the 75 deaths in 2014. Keo Vy, Spokesman for the Management, said on Tuesday in Phnom Penh that besides the fatalities, thunderbolts had injured 77 others last year, up 35 per cent from the 57 injuries in a year earlier. He said the casualties rose because torrential rains with thunder, lightning and strong wind had happened more often last year. Vy said lightning strikes occur every year in Cambodia, particularly in rainy season from May through October. He advised that to avoid the dangers from lightning strikes, people should stay in homes or shelters when there are strong rains. Source: Xinhua/NAN | |
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news.stv.tv
2016-01-04 19:05:00
One of the few remaining West Coast orcas has been found dead on Tiree in the Inner Hebrides. The killer whale, known to researchers as Lulu, was discovered beached on the island on January 3. Lulu was one of a pod of orcas that patrol the waters around the Hebrides and eastern Irish coast.Scientists now believe there might be just eight animals remaining in the pod, the only resident orca community in British waters. The Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust said on Facebook: "We have some sad news to report: one of the West Coast community of killer whales known as Lulu was found dead yesterday on Tiree. Dr Andy Foote, a killer whale specialist, confirmed the photo-id match which was made using the distinctive eye and saddle patches which are unique to individuals. | |
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Robert Felix
Ice Age Now 2016-01-03 18:56:00
Heavy snow continues today in a number of cities and regions in both west and east Georgia (former Soviet Republic). Snow depth in the western town of Zugdidi, Tsalenjikha, Kobuleti, Batumi reaches 50-70 cm (20-28 inches) in some areas and other nearby cities - 1 meter (39 inches). The temperature dropped to minus 10.5 degrees, in mountainous areas - to minus 15-20 degrees Celsius. Also in Abkhazia the heavy snow knocked out power to dozens of villages of western Georgia. Power teams are working almost around the clock to restore power and brigades of workers with heavy machinery are working to clear the highways. | |
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Mudassir Ahmad
The North Lines 2016-01-05 16:36:00
Govt "ill-prepared" to deal with disasters Jammu and Kashmir has recorded 34 earth quakes in 2015 which has brought to limelight the state"s vulnerabilities to natural disasters. According to the Indian metrological department, most parts of Kashmir covering the districts of Srinagar, Ganderbal, Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora, Budgam, Anantnag and parts of Jammu region, Doda, Ramban, Kishtwar come under Seismic Zone V and are prone to earthquakes. While the rest part of the state comes under Seismic Zone IV. In 2015, the frequent earth quakes some were measured above 7 magnitude on the Richter scale has proved that J&K is prone to earthquakes and there is a dire need of having well equipped agencies to deal with natural disasters. According to the official figures of J&K meteorological department, 34 earthquakes hit J&K in 2015. Tremors were felt twice in February last while eight earth quakes were reported in March. Tremors jolted the state four times in April including a powerful earth quake on April 25 measuring 7.5 on the Richter scale. Tremors were felt twice and once in the month of May and June respectively. In July, the state recorded four earthquakes although of low intensity. Mild to moderate tremors were felt twice and thrice in the month of August and September respectively. In October, two earth quakes were recorded including a powerful one on October 26 of 7.5 magnitude in which three people lost their lives and caused damage to scores of houses across the state. The figures reveal, earth quakes were recorded thrice in the month of November. In December also, tremors jolted J&K thrice including a power earthquake on 26 midnight of the month measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale in which two people died due to heart attack. | |
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Joshua Cain
San Antonio Express-News 2016-01-04 15:52:00
Earthquakes in Oklahoma spiked in 2015, jumping more than 50 percent and setting another state record, according to Energy Wire. The state was rocked by 881 earthquakes with a magnitude of 3 or greater last year, compared to 578 in 2014, according to data from the Oklahoma Geological Survey. Quakes have been on the rise in Oklahoma following a boom in oil and gas activity — state officials have blamed the seismic activity on an increase in wastewater injections in drilling areas. The technique that has helped Oklahoma become a bigger energy producer, hydraulic fracturing, involves blasting a combination of water, chemicals and sand underground to unlock the oil and natural gas trapped in shale deposits. When the left over water from that process is pumped into some fault lines, state researchers have said, an increase in seismic activity can result. The Oklahoma Corporation Commission requires well operators to prove that their wells do not reach a certain depth that has been linked to greater earthquake activity, according to The Oklahoman.
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Comment: See also: 17,500 earthquakes recorded for Nevada in 2015
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Rumbling through the Sandhills, an earthquake rattled folks across Custer County on Monday. That includes Shannon Cooksley, who was in her kitchen writing checks. She said, "All of a sudden there was a shaking and a horrible rumble." The Cooksley's picturesque Sandhills ranch was near the epicenter of an earthquake, with a magnitude of 3.5. Cooksley said, "People in Broken Bow didn't know what was going on. I heard reports on the radio that maybe a plane had crashed at the airport or maybe a train had derailed." Shannon and her husband Kevin Cooksley have seen a lot, as Kevin told NTV in July 2014. "Weathering drought and natural disasters," he said. But an earthquake is a first for their ranch, and their recently remodeled home a carpenter said was well-built, like a barn. Shannon said, "To make it shake, it had to be fairly strong, or fairly close anyway." | |
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Borneo Post
2016-01-05 15:11:00
A moderate earthquake, measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, occurred in the Banda Sea in Indonesia at 1.28pm today (Jan 5), according to the Meteorological Department. It said in a statement that the epicentre of the quake was 393km southeast of Ambon, Indonesia, and 1,794km southeast of Semporna, Sabah. The quake did not pose any tsunami threat, it added. | |
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An earthquake has struck east of Seddon. The 4.2 magnitude tremor, just after 9am on Tuesday, was centred 15 kilometres east of Seddon at a depth of 37km, according to GeoNet. It was felt widely across Marlborough and also in Nelson and Christchurch. Facebook user Alysha Morgan, who lives in Seddon, said she ran for the door frame after the quake. "Was quite violent here," Morgan said. | |
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Cyprus Mail
2016-01-05 14:58:00
An earthquake measuring 4.5 was recorded in the Limassol area on Tuesday morning, the Geological Survey Department said. The epicentre of the earthquake was the sea area 50 km southwest of Limassol at a depth of 30 km. The quake was recorded at 9.17 am. It lasted about five seconds with furniture and lighting shaking, according to a resident of Ypsonas, which is located 53 km northeast of the epicentre. "The quake was rather short. It lasted only a couple of seconds. It was intense though; more of an up and down shake," a resident of Erimi near Limassol commented on twitter. | |
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Eyewitness News
2016-01-01 14:15:00
Local millers say the country only has around 248,000 tonnes of maize left, enough to last 8 weeks. Zimbabwe's Agriculture Minister Joseph Made says food imports will be stepped up following reports that the country is left with just two months' supply of grain. Aid agencies warned earlier this year that 1.5 million Zimbabweans would go hungry after a drought hit maize production badly. Local grain millers say the country only has around 248,000 tonnes of maize left, enough to last eight weeks. The Herald says Agriculture Minister Joseph Made has admitted that grain stocks are low, but he couldn't give figures. | |
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Jim Williams
Star Tribune 2016-01-05 13:53:00
An Ivory Gull, resident of Arctic ice edges, has been seen for the past several days at Canal Park in Duluth. This small gull is all white in breeding plumage, with black legs and feet. The Duluth bird shows the random black marking of a bird in its first winter. Ivory Gulls have been seen before in Minnesota, but rarely. Perhaps 2016 is opening with the year's highlight bird.
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Volcano Discovery
2016-01-03 13:04:00
A strong explosion occurred this morning at 04:22 local time at the volcano, covering much of the summit cone with incandescent ejecta. The lava flow effusion and continuous strombolian activity had stopped in early December, followed by only high-temperature degassing, sporadic minor explosions and the growth of what might have been a small lava dome. A more intense phase of activity seems to have started yesterday. Early on 2 January, small ash emissions occurred, followed by more, still weak explosions in the early afternoon of yesterday. The strong explosion this morning might have involved a small pyroclastic flow on the NE side of the volcano, reaching about 1.5-2 km length.
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RT
2016-01-05 04:42:00
Fuego Volcano has again put on an incredible display of fire and smoke as it continued to light up the skies over Guatemala. Here is its most recent eruption, when lava and ash shot 7 kilometers (4 miles) into the air.
The truly dramatic volcanic activity took place on Sunday night. Located some 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the capital, Guatemala City, the mountain, which literally means the Volcano of Fire in Spanish, has been occasionally erupting across 2015. It has been especially active for at least a month now. | ||
Comment: According to Volcano Discovery, 39 volcanoes around the world have recently erupted, and 32 of them are associated with the Ring of Fire, where seismic activity appears to be dramatically increasing amid a progression of recent disasters.
See also: SOTT Earth Changes Summary - November 2015: Extreme Weather, Planetary Upheaval, Meteor Fireballs | ||
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Sputnik
2016-01-05 07:36:00
A 5.8 magnitude earthquake occurred on Tuesday southeast of the Japanese island of Kyushu, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said. According to the USGS, there is no tsunami threat. The epicenter of the quake was located at sea at the depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), according to the agency. In turn, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported that the tremors were felt across ten prefectures, including Kochi, Miyazaki, Hiroshima, Kagoshima and Okayama. No information about the damage or casualties was immediately available. Japan is one of the world's most seismically active countries. In March 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake started a tsunami that killed about 16,000 people in northeastern Japan and caused nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant which resulted in the largest nuclear catastrophe in the world since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. | |
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| Fire in the Sky |
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nemesis maturity
Youtube 2016-01-04 07:47:00
Two bright meteors explode over AZ & NM in U.S. in the early hours of January 3, 2016. The bright meteors recorded by the NASA All Sky Fireball Network exploding up to the atmosphere.
The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 04JAN2016 Clips credit: NASA All Sky Fireball Network | ||
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| Health & Wellness |
Zapping the 10th cranial nerve may treat arthritis, heart failure, headaches and more With outposts in nearly every organ and a direct line into the brain stem, the vagus nerve is the nervous system's superhighway. About 80 percent of its nerve fibers — or four of its five "lanes" — drive information from the body to the brain. Its fifth lane runs in the opposite direction, shuttling signals from the brain throughout the body. Doctors have long exploited the nerve's influence on the brain to combat epilepsy and depression. Electrical stimulation of the vagus through a surgically implanted device has already been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a therapy for patients who don't get relief from existing treatments. | |
Comment: More Nervy facts about the vagus nerve:
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Sayer Ji
Greenmedinfo.com 2016-01-04 17:40:00
The fracking industry likes to call its product "natural gas," but the natural consequence of its activity is the production of billions of gallons of cancer-causing wastewater. A new study published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology titled, "Malignant human cell transformation of Marcellus Shale gas drilling flow back water," is the first study of its kind to confirm widely held suspicions concerning the carcinogenicity of fracking pollution. The new collaborative study was conducted by scientists at esteemed institutions in both the U.S. and China and found that so-called "flow back" fracking wastewater induced malignant changes in human bronchial epithelial cells consistent with the cancerous phenotype. The same fracking wastewater was injected into mice, with 5 of the 6 developing .2 cm to .6 cm tumors as early as 3 months after injection, and with the control mice forming no tumors after 6 months. The authors concluded that their results indicate "flow back water is capable of neoplastic transformation in vitro," i.e. fracking wastewater is capable of producing cancer in mammals. | |
Comment: Fracking: Choosing gas or clean water
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Lawrence Wittner
Counter Punch 2016-01-04 17:07:00
When Americans think about nuclear weapons, they comfort themselves with the thought that these weapons' vast destruction of human life has not taken place since 1945—at least not yet. But, in reality, it has taken place, with shocking levels of U.S. casualties. This point is borne out by a recently-published study by a team of investigative journalists at McClatchy News. Drawing upon millions of government records and large numbers of interviews, they concluded that employment in the nation's nuclear weapons plants since 1945 led to 107,394 American workers contracting cancer and other serious diseases. Of these people, some 53,000 judged by government officials to have experienced excessive radiation on the job received $12 billion in compensation under the federal government's Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. And 33,480 of these workers have died. | |
Comment: The nuclear tragedy has been ongoing...
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Michael Edwards
Organic Lifestyle Magazine 2015-05-22 00:39:00
Detoxing from vaccines is a process without a definite timeline. Think of it as an ongoing journey. Toxin accumulation, especially heavy metals like mercury, can take a long time to remove from the body. Vaccine toxins can be cumulative, building up with each vaccination, adding to the toxin load we acquire from the enormous amount of environmental toxins we encounter every day. If you've been vaccinated and suffer from serious vaccination damage, you're best off living a lifestyle that promotes detoxification for the rest of your life. The truth is, you may never be able to dispel all of the toxins that have caused the damage. Living the healthiest possible lifestyle may be your only way to live symptom-free. But then again, to one degree or another, this is true for everyone. | |
Comment: Learn more about many different beneficial ways to detox the body: The Health and Wellness Show - Detox Protocols
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Jay Syrmopoulos
The Free Thought Project 2016-01-05 15:46:00
It will soon become almost impossible to know where your pork or beef was born, raised or slaughtered, due to Congress repealing a labeling law that required retailers to include country of origin on pork and beef products. Lawmakers claimed to have had little choice but to lift the labeling requirements after the World Trade Organization's continual rulings against the U.S. labels. The labels were challenged by Canada and Mexico in the WTO, with the organization authorizing those countries to begin fining the U.S. over $1 billion in economic sanctions. The lawmakers' explanation, as to their reasoning for getting rid of the labels, lends direct support to the argument that U.S. sovereignty is being lost by membership in certain international organizations. If a transnational trade organization has the ability to dictate U.S. law to those that are tasked with representing the people of a nation, then sovereignty is most certainly an extremely fluid concept the deeper a nation ventures into the land of international organizations. | |
Comment: Once again, the will of the people is thwarted by big business interests.
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| Science of the Spirit |
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Science Daily
2016-01-04 00:00:00
The more social ties people have at an early age, the better their health is at the beginnings and ends of their lives, according to a new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The study is the first to definitively link social relationships with concrete measures of physical well-being such as abdominal obesity, inflammation, and high blood pressure, all of which can lead to long-term health problems, including heart disease, stroke and cancer. "Based on these findings, it should be as important to encourage adolescents and young adults to build broad social relationships and social skills for interacting with others as it is to eat healthy and be physically active," said Kathleen Mullan Harris, James Haar Distinguished Professor at UNC-Chapel Hill and faculty fellow at the Carolina Population Center (CPC). The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, builds on previous research that shows that aging adults live longer if they have more social connections. It not only provides new insights into the biological mechanisms that prolong life but also shows how social relationships reduce health risk in each stage of life. | |
Comment: Other research has highlighted the detrimental effects of loneliness and isolation, and the importance of companionship and the support of others on our mental and physical health:
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| High Strangeness |
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Arjun Walia
Collective Evolution 2016-01-04 14:44:00
We live in a strange world, and as Neil Armstrong once said, there are "great ideas undiscovered, breakthroughs available to those who can remove one of the truth's protective layers." (source) (source) Fast forward to today, and a number of people have become aware of the fact that not all of what goes on behind the scenes is made public. This is precisely why the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was created; it's a federal freedom of information law that allows for the full or partial disclosure of previously unreleased information and documents controlled by the United States government. There are still many obstacles in the way of full transparency, one of which is the use of 'national security' to keep information classified and hidden from public viewing. This has become more evident with the revelations of WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden, but the problem goes deeper still. Did you know that the U.S government classifies roughly five hundred million pages of documents every single year? This is a completely separate topic in itself and if you're interested in learning more about this, you can check out our article about the 'Black Budget.' |
