| Puppet Masters |
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Thomas C. Frohlich and Evan Comen
24/7 Wall St. 2016-02-06 21:35:00
Since the conclusion of World War II, the United States and a number of Western European nations have maintained extremely costly military industrial complexes — both in peacetime and during the numerous other conflicts since. The United States is far and away the largest defense market, and U.S.-based companies disproportionately comprise the top global arms producers. Global military sales from the 100 largest dealers totaled $401 billion in 2014, down by 1.5% — but still substantially higher than in 2002 — according to the latest estimates released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 10 companies with the largest military equipment sales worldwide. Lockheed Martin, with annual arms sales of $37.5 billion, maintains its dominant and long-standing lead as the largest corporate arms dealer in the world. | |
Comment: War is murder for profit. This needs to stop! The last thing we need are for these greedy psychopaths to not be happy with what they have but create more conflicts to generate even more profits.
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Andre Vltchek
Counter Punch 2016-02-05 00:00:00
(Speech given in Rome at the Italian Parliament on January 29, 2016) Friends and Comrades, it is a great honor to be standing here - at the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament. One year ago I was driving through the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, monitoring the situation in the refugee camps there. Winter was approaching and the mountains on the Lebanese - Syrian border were covered by snow. It was cold, very cold. Some 20 minutes, after leaving Baalbek, I spotted an extremely humble makeshift refugee camp, growing literally from the road, in the middle of nowhere. I stopped. Together with my interpreter, I walked inside and engaged several people in conversation. The situation was desperate. Children were hungry and could not register for schools through the UNHCR or through the Lebanese government, which, by that time, had almost collapsed. Many electronic food cards that were issued to the migrants did not function. Work permits were not offered, and without proper paperwork, local social services could not be used. In brief: a total disaster. | |
Comment: Without recognizing psychopathy, pathological mentalities, and the role it plays in imperialism, this cycle of death and destruction will continue on. See more:
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Jay Vogt
Russia Insider 2016-02-06 17:04:00
The Twilight Zone is also where the president of Turkey lives, or at least one would think so. In an absolutely outrageous scene, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan actually blamed Russia - publicly - for the deaths of up to 400,000 people in Syria over the course of the last five years. This amazing statement comes from a man who more than any other party on earth is directly responsible for the ISIS horror show that has tormented, defiled, and butchered a once-peaceful nation to further his own insidious 'Neo-Ottoman' objectives. | |
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FARS News Agency
2016-02-06 21:12:00
Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said Saudi Arabia doesn't have the guts to send its armed forces to Syria. "They claim they will send troops (to Syria) but I don't think they will dare do so. They have a classic army and history tells us such armies stand no chance in fighting irregular resistance forces," Jafari told reporters in Tehran on Saturday. "This will be like a coup de grâce for them. Apparently, they see no other way but this, and if this is the case, then their fate is sealed," he added. Jafari, said this is just cheap talks, but Iran welcomes the Saudi decision if they decide to walk on this path. | |
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Press TV
2016-02-06 06:44:00
The European Union on Saturday censured the Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, calling on the Tel Aviv regime to stop demolition of Palestinian homes, some of which were funded by the EU. "In the past weeks there have been a number of developments in Area C of the West Bank, which risk undermining the viability of a future Palestinian state and driving the parties yet further apart," the EU diplomatic service said in a statement. It referred to the Israeli regime's decision on January 25 to declare 154 hectares (380 acres) of land near Jericho in the West Bank as its own land, with reported plans to build about 150 new units for settlers. This was followed by the demolition of several Palestinian homes in the south of al-Khalil (Hebron) on Wednesday. "This is particularly concerning both because of the extent of the demolitions and also the number of vulnerable individuals affected, including children who need support," the EU said, adding that "demolitions included EU-funded structures." "We call on the Israeli authorities to reverse the decisions taken and to halt further demolitions," it said. Foreign ministers from the 28 EU states have confirmed "the EU's firm opposition to Israel's settlement policy" and criticized the actions including demolitions. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Friday he was "ashamed" at a lack of progress in the Israeli-Palestinian talks, which have been deadlocked since 2014. | |
Comment: The demolition of EU-funded housing may have finally brought this into focus for the EU states. Whatever the stimulus, the momentum against a 'carte-blanche Israel' is increasing.
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telaSUR
2016-02-05 18:45:00
The inauguration comes weeks after Brazil rejected Israel's ambassador, a former leader of West Bank settlers. The Palestinian Authority inaugurated its first embassy in the Western Hemisphere in Brasilia Wednesday amid a diplomatic row between Brazil and Israel. Representatives of Arab countries and Arab Brazilians attended the event, hosted on land donated to the PA by former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. "This is the conclusion of a dream of mine that was also a dream of colleagues that came before me in this mission in the last four decades," said Palestinian ambassador Ibrahim Alzeben. "I hope that this is the beginning of a new phase in relations between Brazil and Palestine, that they can be closer and more diversified." | |
Comment: Congratulations to both countries, and Brazil especially for standing up to Israeli bullying.
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Newcoldwar.org
2016-02-03 00:00:00
The following is an extensive report on the opening day, February 1, 2016, of the trial in Russia of Ukrainian right-wing extremist paramilitary Nadiya Savchenko. The report is by Susan Ormiston, European correspondent of Canada's state broadcaster, CBC. The CBC was apparently one of the few, if only, Western media outlets to attend the opening day of the trial. The CBC report is one of the few published in English. Susan Ormiston's lengthy report contains a large number of photos. The CBC reporter fills her report with the usual Western media bias, including:
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Comment: The true story of Ukraine's 'Right Sektor' is rarely, if ever, told in the Western press. Recently, however, the French TV channel Canal+ aired this documentary:
'Kiev livid as documentary revealing ugly truth about Maidan 'revolution' aired on French TV - EN subs (VIDEO)' | |
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Sputnik
2016-02-05 17:19:00
In an interview with Sputnik, Turkish political analyst Haldun Solmazturk said Moscow is almost certain to respond in kind to Turkey recently blocking a Russian flight under the Open Skies Treaty. He also said that by doing so, Ankara had in fact missed an opportunity to resuscitate relations with Moscow, which have been strained since Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane over Syria in November 2015. | |
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Moses Birch
Russia Insider 2016-02-06 17:07:00
One of the most embarrassing things to come out of the Russian military venture in Syria is the huge convoy supply lines of oil moving between Turkey and ISIS positions. Watch America's finest mumble their way through explanations of why they have let this go on for two years. Priceless. | |
Comment: Further reading:
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RT
2016-02-05 16:46:00
Between Iran, North Korea, and Russia, Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders disagreed about which was the "greatest threat" to America in the final Democratic debate before the New Hampshire primary. From the University of New Hampshire, MSNBC moderators Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow steered what was the most contentious Democratic debate thus far, and no topic exemplified that more than foreign policy. | |
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South Front
Global Research 2016-01-29 00:00:00
Though Syria and Iraq are the main theaters of global standoff and terrorist activity in recent years, there is another country that also draws the attention of the world powers: Libya. Since the fall of Muammar Gadhafi in 2011, the war-torn country has been in a constant crisis fueled by the West's inability to implement any kind of a peace settlement involving a wide range of competing entities operating in the country. The so-called "national unity government" backed by the UN has almost no influence in the country. The crucial oil infrastructure and the coastal zone are controlled by fragmented factions. Indeed, it's obvious that US and European diplomats won't be able to control the Libyan conflict over the long term. A conflict they created themselves. A diplomatic solution could be found through UN procedures and under the supervision of the international community through neutral states such India, Malaysia, Indonesia or even Latin America states. Unfortunately, this type of "neutral approach" is never implemented by the UN. If the US and the EU continue to participate in the conflict, the situation will likely deteriorate. The Libyan scenario is even worse than the situation in Syria and Iraq because the structure of governance is totally destroyed. After the start of the Russian military operation in Syria which also pushed other world powers to increase military activity in the region, ISIS is rapidly losing ground in Syria and Iraq. The group is now looking for a new home. Some 5,000 militants loyal to ISIS already operate in Libya and this number is expected to grow. Thus Libya will likely become a foothold for the terrorist groups after a retreat from the Syria-Iraq battlespace. Here they will be able to set up a network of training camps and start a new full-scale recruiting campaign. Libya's advantageous geographical location will allow terrorist entities entrenched there to conduct operations in any chosen direction: Middle East, Europe or Northern and Central Africa. Economic resources also attract the attention of ISIS. Libya is rich in oil fields and its geographical location allows terrorist groups to control illegal traffic from the rest of Africa to Europe and Middle East.
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RT
2016-02-06 13:49:00
Ukraine must take the steps to peace agreed a year ago in Minsk, or risk losing the support of the European Union, said Denmark's foreign minister. Earlier this week other western powers criticized Kiev, following the resignation of a key minister. "If Ukraine doesn't come through with the reforms linked to the Minsk peace process, it will be very difficult for Europe to continue united in support for sanctions against Russia," Kristian Jensen told Reuters at the EU foreign ministers' meeting in Amsterdam on Friday. "Ukraine has a deadline. They need to push those reforms now, they can't wait." Signed by Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany last February, the Minsk accord lays out 13 steps to secure the end of the armed conflict in Donbas, in eastern Ukraine, which broke out in 2014, after people in the regions refused to accept the forceful change of power in Kiev. The conflict has resulted in over 9,000 deaths and the displacement of more than 2 million people, according to the UN. The initial stage prescribed a ceasefire, the pullout of heavy armaments, and the introduction of comprehensive international monitoring. Later, a constitutional reform would grant more autonomy to Donbas, which would conduct local elections. | |
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Jack A. Smith
Global Research 2016-02-05 00:00:00
Nearly five years after the U.S., Britain and France launched a bombing campaign against the Libyan government to bring about regime change, these same countries are contemplating a resumption of the war they thought was won when rebel forces they supported grotesquely tortured to death the country's leader, Col. Muammar Gaddafi. The result today in Libya is utter disarray. But at the time, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton— a leading advocate of the bombing who justifies the deed to this day — was ecstatic when told the news of Qaddafi's death while she was appearing on a TV talk show. Laughingly she shouted to the cameras, "We came, we saw, he died!" No one is laughing in Washington now. President Obama came, saw and created the very opposite of what he sought, a hardly unusual outcome for the Obama and Bush Administrations.in the Middle East. Instead of a pliable dependent government willing to do the bidding of Washington and its NATO foreign legion, there has been an explosion of civil war and Sunni jihadism. | |
Comment: A million casualties and still counting, undermined regional security, terrorist meccas, increased refugee migration to Europe and beyond, escalation of uprisings and rebellion, devastation and destruction...and the answer is a full-spectrum military war in Libya. Thanks USA.
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RT
2016-02-06 13:38:00
The EU countries facing the heaviest influx of refugees need "detention or removal centers" for those denied entrance or unwilling to return back home voluntarily, the European Migration Commissioner said. Referring in particular to Greece and Italy, Dimitris Avramopoulos has stressed that such facilities are needed alongside expanding "reception centers", also known as hotspots, to handle the intake and processing of refugees. "Of course, during that time, people have to stay somewhere. So it is normal that we need more reception places," he told Euractiv.com. "But detention or removal centers are also needed for those who receive the decision to return, particularly if there is a risk of absconding and if they are not willing to return voluntarily." According to the EU migration official, following the Western Balkans leaders' meeting in late October, Greece committed to expanding its reception places by 50,000. Athens hopes that most of the facilities will be operational by mid-February, Reuters reported. However, the contraction of "hotspots" crucial for hosting the refugees, on one side, cause a furious reaction by locals on the other. | |
Comment: It's disgusting that, through the actions of Western countries in the Middle East, civilians are having to migrate to safer countries and those countries are then attempting to herd them into "detention centers" aka open-air prisons. It's a large-scale version of blaming the victim. Instead of treating these people as sub-human, maybe Europe ought to look in the mirror and recognize their responsibility in this entire mess.
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RT
2016-02-06 13:31:00
The president of Ukraine suggested an amendment that would allow him to start military mobilization without announcing it beforehand. The measure was proposed after only 60 percent of draftees were enlisted in the previous run. Over the two years that have passed since the armed coup in Kiev dramatically changed Ukraine, the new government declared six waves of mobilization. It's a special kind of military draft separate from regular conscription that is used to respond to an emergency. The draft was needed to boost military units sent to fight the rebellious eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk. Ukraine nearly doubled the strength of its army from the initial 130,000 to 232,000 in 2014 and wants to have 250,000 standing troops. 210,000 people were drafted overall, some of them already demobilized. The war effort, however, became increasingly difficult to maintain. The initial surge of volunteers dwindled while the number of people who would rather risk prosecution for dodging the draft than put their necks on the line increased. | |
Comment: Clearly most Ukrainians have no interest in fighting a war against their own people, especially since doing so means serving in a military that is poorly equipped, poorly trained, and even more poorly supervised.
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| Society's Child |
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Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
Global Research 2016-02-03 00:00:00
Four million Syrian children have no means of getting to a school in safety because of the actions of marauding gangs of terrorists firing at the personnel of the Syrian Arab Army, police, ambulance and fire services. The rest of the world looks on and Russia apart, blames the legitimately elected President of the country, Bashar al-Assad. The United Nations Organization is trying to coordinate an initiative called No Lost Generation, aiming to prioritize the education of Syria's children before an entire generation has its schooling interrupted, losing important parts of the curriculum. UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and Africa, Peter Salama, states: "The scale of the crisis for children is growing all the time, which is why there are now such fears that Syria is losing a whole generation of its youth". UNICEF is co-hosting a conference held in London, UK, with a view to getting financing for the initiative from the representatives of over thirty nations who have committed to attend and with a view to solving the problem in the short and medium term. There are around four million Syrian children aged between five and seventeen years who need education assistance, among these being 2.1 million children inside Syria who cannot attend school because of the destabilization caused by gangs of terrorists aided, funded and abetted from outside the country and a further 700,000 children living as refugees in Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. Apart from these there are over a million children inside Syria engaged in informal learning activities with volunteers or unofficial schools where the delivery of the curriculum is not open to supervision or any degree of quality control. | |
Comment: Children, facing terror, uncertainty, seeing their homes, schools, cities crumble around them, as physical victims and as societal victims requires at least a generation to heal...if they make it, if the world regains sanity and if the psychopath warlords vanish from the planet.
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Michael Moore
The Huffington Post 2016-02-01 11:15:00
News of the poisoned water crisis in Flint has reached a wide audience around the world. The basics are now known: The Republican governor, Rick Snyder, nullified the free elections in Flint, deposed the mayor and city council, then appointed his own man to run the city. To save money, they decided to unhook the people of Flint from their fresh water drinking source, Lake Huron, and instead, make the public drink from the toxic Flint River. When the governor's office discovered just how toxic the water was, they decided to keep quiet about it and covered up the extent of the damage being done to Flint's residents, most notably the lead affecting the children, causing irreversible and permanent brain damage.Citizen activists uncovered these actions, and the governor now faces growing cries to resign or be arrested. | |
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Matt Agorist
Free Thought Project 2016-02-05 18:00:00
Danielle Jacobs, 24, brought tears to the internet's eyes last year after she posted a video of what she felt like with Asperger's syndrome. In the video, Jacobs recorded herself during one of her 'meltdowns,' which showed her trying to punch herself, but being comforted by her Rottweiler instead. "This is what having Asperger's like," she wrote with the video. | |
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John Pilger
Johnpilger.com 2016-01-26 00:00:00
On 26 January 2016, the national holiday in Australia, journalist and activist John Pilger spoke at a rally at Sydney Town Hall on the hidden meaning of 'Survival Day':
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RT
2016-02-04 16:45:00
Welshman Darren Bray, 29, choked to death when he tried to swallow a whole cheeseburger in one bite while drinking at a friend's house. A Cardiff coroner heard how Bray, a father of three, had been out with his friends when he apparently jokingly tried to swallow the whole burger in October 2015. "Watch this," he told friends before folding and ramming the 99p meal down his throat, according to one witness. When it became clear Bray was encountering difficulties, his friend Sam Bisgrove tried to intervene. | |
Comment: See also: McDonald's Japan founder: Burgers will make us 'taller, white and blonde'
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Jake Wallis Simons
Nazi daggers, SS hats and a hangman's noose: On night patrol with the 'Soldiers of Odin', neo-Nazi led vigilantes vowing to 'keep Europe's women safe from migrant sex attacks'The Daily Mail 2016-02-04 00:00:00
A gang of vigilantes led by a violent neo-Nazi go on night time 'migrant patrols' on the streets of Finland, with some talking of 'ethnic cleansing' in the wake of the country's mounting immigration crisis. The self-styled 'Soldiers of Odin' march in a mob, wearing bomber jackets with their logo on the back. They have vowed to take direct action to 'protect their wives, girlfriends and children' after a migrant influx to the liberal Scandinavian country. The gang - which claims to have cells across Europe - says it mobilised after a rise in migrant-related crime over the past 12 months because the Finnish government has 'screwed everything up'. MailOnline gained exclusive access to the gang's leadership and visited its secretive headquarters - which was packed with Nazi memorabilia and White Supremacist propaganda. | |
Comment: Does anyone think that these guys are going to help anything? Or is their way of thinking the bigger problem?
It is very worrying that the Police Chief, Seppo Kolehmainen, unlike many in the police force, has actually made statements in support of these kinds of groups. Similarly, Jari Lindström who is the current Minister of Justice and Minister of Labor, has stated that he has not heard that there is a problem with them. This sort of talk gives a positive signal for these kind of hostile groups and opens the country to accept them little by little. Also, the Finnish media has so far not highlighted these clearly fascist aspects of these groups, which makes one curious as to the cause. Is someone trying to set up a "Maidan"-type of atmosphere in Finland? Extreme right-wing ideologies have been used to the detriment of Finnish society before and so we need to be vigilant against this sort of thing: Untold history of Finland: Fascist origins, Russophobia and today's anti-Muslim hysteria | |
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RT
2016-02-06 03:44:00
A California doctor received 30 years to life in prison after being convicted of the second-degree murder of three of her patients. The patients of Hsiu-Ying "Lisa" Tseng overdosed on narcotics that she overprescribed. Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney John Niedermann wrote in court papers that the murder charges against Tseng stemmed from her ignoring warnings from the coroner's office that her patients were dying from her prescriptions. Tseng was charged in the deaths of Joey Rovero, 21, Steven Ogle, 25, and Vu Nguyen, 28. According to the Los Angeles Times, at least eight of Tseng's patients had died from overdoses in 2008. Among her patients were three convicted drug dealers, two of whom admitted to selling drugs that Tseng prescribed. The prosecution claims that Tseng received over a dozen phone calls from either law enforcement or the coroner's office, telling her "Your patient has died." Tseng's husband, Gene Tu, testified for the defense that she treated the calls as "just FYI," according to CNN. Tseng's clinic was allegedly notorious for how easy it was to receive prescriptions. Over the course of three years, Tseng would write over 27,000 prescriptions - 25 a day, according to CBS. Her practice was a busy one, so busy that her appointments allegedly would last just three minutes. | |
Comment: Deaths from opiate prescriptions are epidemic, yet little has been done so far to counter the forces responsible. The pharmaceutical cartel is primarily responsible through its aggressive marketing of these drugs, yet the industry may now be rewarded for its malfeasance by receiving funding from the government to address the situation.
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Cory Doctorow
BoingBoing 2016-02-05 17:09:00
Maryland attorney general Brian E Frosh has filed a brief appealing a decision in the case of Kerron Andrews, who was tracked by a Stingray cell-phone surveillance device. In the brief, Frosh argued that in not turning off his cellphone, Andrews had consented to warrantless government surveillance, because phones' locations can be derived by an examination of phone company records. | |
Comment: Absurd! Their argument is akin to saying "You left the lights on and windows open in your house therefore you consent to warrantless government searches of your home." Interesting how that since the advent of the Internet and mobile technologies those technologies have been increasingly used to push people towards changing the way they interpret what is an isn't right.
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RT
2016-02-06 02:19:00
Former NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchell has died, 45 years to the day since he became the sixth man ever to set foot on the moon. Mitchell piloted the lunar module during the 1971 Apollo 14 mission. Mitchell died Thursday night at a hospice in West Palm Beach, Florida, after a short illness, his daughter Kimberly said. Joining NASA in 1966, Mitchell helped design and test the lunar module used in the 1969 Apollo 11 mission. He was on the original crew of the Apollo 13, but was bumped to the next mission after the commander needed more time to prepare. Apollo 13 never made it to the moon, suffering a catastrophic explosion en route; the crew barely managed to return alive. | |
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In a speech that lasted almost 30 minutes, Judge Vonda Evans of Detroit laid into 47-year-old William Melendez, the former Inkster, Michigan, police officer caught on video beating an unarmed black man in January 2015. Melendez was sentenced to 13 months to 10 years in prison Tuesday for his role in the attack on Floyd Dent, a 58-year-old black auto worker, that occurred during a late night traffic stop in the struggling Wayne County suburb last winter. "The one image [from this trial] that stood out to the court was looking at Mr. Dent in his cell, shaking his head in disbelief of what had occurred to him," Evans said in a courtroom video published by local television station WJBK. "If his conduct was indicative of what he was thinking, I would have thought this: 'What crime did I commit, being a black man in a Cadillac, stopped for a minor traffic offense by a group of racist police officers looking to do a nigger?'" On Jan. 28, 2015, Melendez and his partner, John Zieleniewski, pulled Dent over for an alleged traffic violation. Upon finding that Dent was driving with a suspended license, the officers dragged him from his vehicle and onto the ground, where Melendez placed him in a chokehold and punched him 16 times in the head. At least eight more Inkster police officers gathered at the scene, none of whom intervened to stop the attack. Dent was charged with resisting arrest and drug possession, the latter due to a baggy of cocaine that he alleged the officers planted on him. The beating — which left Dent's face and shirt drenched in blood — was captured on a patrol car dashboard camera and went public soon after, prompting a criminal investigation. After his arrest, as he sat in a cell nearby, Dent reportedly had to listen and watch as officers made fun of him andcleaned his blood off their uniforms with disinfectant. All charges against Dent were eventually dropped, and in May, he settled with the city of Inkster for $1.4 million.
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Comment: Judge Evan's complete 25 minutes address is below:
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RT
2016-02-06 03:31:00
A Flint official involved in causing the city's water supply to be contaminated with high levels of lead has been fired, but scandals keep surfacing. An ex-prisoner says he served fellow Genesee County Jail inmates the poisonous stuff for months. Liane Shekter-Smith was already demoted from her former position as head of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's Drinking Water and Municipal Assistance, but on Friday she became the first Flint official to be fired over the water crisis. | |
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RT
2016-02-05 19:03:00
The Flint water crisis is expanding again. This time, however, the devastation is affecting man's best friend, as two dogs in Genesee County, Michigan have tested positive for lead toxicity, according to the state veterinarian. The two dogs, both crossbreeds, are still alive, said Dr. James Averill, state veterinarian and Animal Industry Division Director for the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. One dog is a pet, while the other is a stray. The lead-toxicity test results were confirmed in October 2015 and January 2016, but state officials declined to release further details about the cases, including whether either or both of the pups live in Flint, the Detroit Free Press reported. "The confidentiality of the owners is like medical information in humans," Averill said.
The two dogs are the first confirmed cases of lead toxicity in canines in the past five years, the Free Press reported citing state records. It is unknown if the dogs drank Flint water, which has been contaminated since city officials sought to save money by switching the water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River ‒ now known to contain high levels of chloride ions ‒ in April 2014. Soon after, Flint residents started complaining about their drinking water, and the city issued a number of boil notices that summer, following fears that fecal coliform bacteria was present in the water supply.
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Comment: It is without question that any living being drinking this contaminated water could be harmed.
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Andrew Blake
The Washington Times 2016-02-05 00:00:00
A video depicting President Obama feasting on the souls of a half-million people was reportedly projected onto buildings in downtown Moscow early Friday along with a message calling for him to be tried in international court. Video footage uploaded to YouTube shows a computer-generated version of Mr. Obama picking up little spheres colored in the national flags of several countries and placing them in his mouth. The president's face gradually turns red and horns sprout from his head as he begins to chew and symbolically destroys the populations of Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine and Libya. | |
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Eesha Pandit
Government responses to the current Zika emergency highlight failures of health policy both in America and abroadSalon 2016-02-06 03:21:00
Last month, the World Health Organization declared the mosquito-borne Zika virus a "international health emergency." Though the virus doesn't harm most who get it, recent research suggests that Zika can cause serious damage to the brains of fetuses and, in rare instances, neurological problems in adults. Since last spring, more than 20 countries have reported locally acquired cases of Zika. "The level of alarm is extremely high," said Dr. Margaret Chan, director general of the World Health Organization, in a speech in Geneva. Such alarmist language about the Zika virus is mostly focused on the implications on pregnant women and their fetuses, specifically on the purported link between the virus and microcephaly, a rare condition in which infants are born with abnormally small heads and damaged brains. Despite the fervor and worry, experts say it is too early to tell whether Zika is causing microcephaly in infants. Nonetheless, in response to the increase in Zika cases, the government of El Salvador has advised women to refrain from becoming pregnant until 2018. Brazil has seen the most Zika cases in Latin America, and recently a leading Brazilian health official recommended that women in the hard-hit northeastern region postpone pregnancy. U.S. health officials have warned pregnant Americans to refrain from traveling to Latin American countries. In additional pregnancy-related worry, on the heels of the WHO's announcement about the Zika explosion, the United States' Centers for Disease Control issued a report finding that three in four American women who plan to get pregnant soon are still drinking alcohol. The report also found that whether women plan to get pregnant or not - an estimated 3.3 million, between the ages of 15 and 44, risk harming a developing fetus with alcohol because they are drinking and having sex without birth control. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that "Alcohol can permanently harm a developing baby before a woman knows she is pregnant." This is especially important given that, "About half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, and even if planned, most women won't know they are pregnant for the first month or so, when they might still be drinking." These are distinct health issues with different causes and impacts. The common threads are the emphasis on pregnancy-related health concerns and solutions that center on behavior-change. The juxtaposition of these scenarios is interesting because of what it exposes about gender and public health — the emphasis on behavior change with a dramatic disregard for the fact that it is growing more and more difficult here in the U.S. and around the world to plan a pregnancy and have control over one's pregnancy outcome — whether it is a healthy childbirth and child, a miscarriage or an abortion. | |
Comment: See also: The Zika freakout: Is there more to this virus scare than meets the eye?
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Ian Johnston
The Independent, UK 2016-02-06 00:56:00
Norbert Marot was described as violent alcoholic who raped and beat his wife and their three daughters A 68-year-old French woman jailed for 10 years for murdering her husband after nearly 50 years of rape and violent abuse is set to be freed, after President Francois Hollande intervened following a public outcry. Jacqueline Sauvage, of Montargis in central France, shot her husband Norbert Marot three times in the back with his own hunting rifle in September 2012, the day after their son hanged himself. She described Marot as violent alcoholic who raped and beat her and their three daughters and also abused their son. After an appeal against an earlier conviction, Ms Sauvage was found guilty in December and given a 10-year-sentence. But then more than 400,000 people, who signed a petition, politicians on the left and right, and Mr Hollande's former partner, Valérie Trierweiler, all called on the president to use his right to pardon convicted criminals. The power is seldom used in France, but the president's office said it had been decided to waive the remainder of Ms Sauvage's sentence, stopping short of an actual pardon. "In the face of an exceptional human situation, the president wanted to make it possible for Madame Savage to quickly return to her family while respecting judicial authorities," a presidential spokesperson told the Associated Press. | |
Comment: A great action for France to take - even more so, the people power behind it.
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| Secret History |
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New Scientist
2016-02-04 00:00:00
Europe went through a major population upheaval about 14,500 years ago, at the end of the last ice age, according to DNA from the bones of hunter-gatherers. Ancient DNA studies published in the last five years have transformed what we know about the early peopling of Europe. The picture they paint is one in which successive waves of immigration wash over the continent, bringing in new people, new genes and new technologies. These studies helped confirm that Europe's early hunter-gatherers - who arrived about 40,000 years ago - were largely replaced by farmers arriving from the Middle East about 8000 years ago. These farmers then saw an influx of pastoralists from the Eurasian steppe about 4500 years ago, meaningmodern Europe was shaped by three major population turnover events. Waves of immigration The latest study suggests things were even more complicated. About 14,500 years ago, when Europe was emerging from the last ice age, the hunter-gatherers who had endured the chilly conditions were largely replaced by a different population of hunter-gatherers. | |
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| Science & Technology |
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Dr. Mercola
Mercola.com 2016-02-06 00:00:00
If the biotech industry has its way, 184 million acres of native forests around the world will be bulldozed down and replaced with plantations of genetically engineered (GE) trees. On these proposed GE tree plantations, there are essentially no other plants, insects, birds, or wildlife — just rows upon rows of cloned Frankentrees growing at accelerated rates on a crust of dead, lifeless soil above dwindling groundwater reserves. Trees are being genetically engineered with unnatural characteristics, such as the ability to kill insects, tolerate colder temperatures, resist toxic chemicals, and grow faster — but these "advantages" come at an unacceptable price. "Synthetic Forests" is a documentary exposing the truth about GE trees. In this short but hard-hitting film, leading scientists discuss the devastating and irreversible impacts of allowing GE trees into our global ecosystem. | |
Comment:
Will fast-growing eucalyptus trees take root as cash crop across the South? Various experiments are underway across the South studying the possibility of farming eucalyptus trees. While awaiting permission from the USDA to begin selling seedlings commercially, Arborgen was allowed to begin trial plantings in dozens of locations, including two in Alabama. The results at the Auburn site were mixed, according to Auburn officials. "It hasn't turned out quite the way they planned. The trees just haven't grown like they thought they would". The trees are also thirsty, sending tap roots down more than 40 feet underground, where they are able to suck straight from aquifers. An Environmental Assessment by the USDA noted that conversion of pine plantation to eucalyptus had reduced the flow in nearby streams up to 20 percent in some cases. A more recent scientific paper by USDA scientists concluded that "localized reductions in water resources may occur immediately downstream of (Frost Tolerant) Eucalyptusplantations." If a large number of the trees were planted, the report concluded that "regional reductions" in stream flow and the overall level of the water table could occur. USDA scientists also predict a strong likelihood that the modified species used in plantation forestry will become naturalized in the southeastern USA. | |
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Press TV
2016-02-06 03:01:00
Chinese scientists have managed to create searing plasma through heating hydrogen gas three times hotter than our Sun's core in a controlled experiment in eastern China, paving the way for a migration from depleting natural reserves towards more stable, sustainable, and controllable energy resources. The experiment was conducted in the doughnut-shaped chamber of a magnetic fusion reactor last week at the Institute of Physical Science in Hefei, the capital of Anhui province, where nuclear scientists heated hydrogen up to a temperature of around 50 million degrees Celsius, the South China Morning Post reported on Friday. The reactor, officially known as the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), produced hydrogen plasma — the ionized gas consisting of approximately equal numbers of positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons — and maintained its temperature for 102 seconds.A few days before the Chinese experiment, German scientists, in a similar experiment, used two megawatts of microwave radiation to heat hydrogen gas and create plasma. They managed to reach a temperature of 80 million degrees Celsius but could only maintain it for a fraction of a second. The officials at EAST hope to approximate the solar nuclear fusion conditions, which occur deep inside the sun and convert hydrogen atoms into heavier ones, like Helium. In such fusion reaction some tiny portions of matter turn into massive amounts of energy through fusing Hydrogen nuclei together. The team, however, are halfway in their endeavor as they must reach 100 million degrees Celsius and maintain it for over 1,000 seconds (some 17 minutes) to mimic solar nuclear fusion reaction and produce controlled energy. Humans have so far managed to create fusion energy through detonating nuclear bombs, dubbed thermonuclear or Hydrogen bombs, but the problem is the destructive and uncontrollable energy they release. The first such bomb was tested by the United States in 1952 in Enewetak Atoll islands, located in the Pacific Ocean. | |
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| Earth Changes |
In a horrible episode of déjà vu for an Anderson Township plant shop, a massive sinkhole opened Wednesday after heavy rains deluged the Tri-State. Plants by Wolfangel owner Barb Henry reported on Facebook Thursday that the hole was quickly fenced off. "The unknown of an event like this is scary," Henry told WCPO Thursday. "Just standing there yesterday watching the earth crumble in, the sounds of it, the smell of it, it's all familiar and it doesn't bring back good memories." Plants by Wolfangel was shut down for nearly two years after sinkholes in April and June 2011 swallowed the parking lot and threatened to cut the property in half. The store reportedly lost merchandise into the hole that was never found.
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Debabrata Mohanty
The Indian Express 2016-02-06 18:52:00
Two days after a 33-feet long Sperm whale beached on coastline of Ganjam district in Odisha, a 66-feet long whale washed ashore on an unmanned island of Kendrapara district in the state. Though it is not clear to which species the whale belongs, Rajnagar divisional forest officer Bimal Acharya said the 66-feet-long animal bore no injury marks. It may have been a normal death, he said. Whales are Schedule-I animals. The carcass of the whale was found at Chinchira beach, an unmanned island under Rajnagar block of Kendrapara district on Saturday after which local fishermen thronged to see it. Two days ago the 33-foot sperm whale, which washed up on the Rushikulya beach of Ganjam district, its carcass bore injury marks. Experts said the whale might have died after being hit by fishing trawlers. The district officials later got a crane to lift the carcass and bury it. | |
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Ross Logan
Daily Mirror, UK 2016-02-06 16:59:00
A young family had to be saved after a gigantic sinkhole opened up beneath them and swallowed the car they were sitting in. Video footage of the rescue shows the car lying almost vertically in the chasm, as passersby help a man and woman climb out of the driver's side door. Three people, Edgar Orlando Bartolo Silva, 34, Marisol Mercedes Gutierrez Siccha. 31 and their two-year-old daughter escaped unhurt, Sol TV reported. They were taken to hospital as a precaution.
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Julianne Geiger
Oilprice.com 2016-02-03 22:04:00
Following the mysterious death of seven cattle near an oil field in Kansas, public health authorities are investigating whether oil drilling could be the cause. In late December, seven dead cattle were found near an oil field in the Cimarron National Grassland, Kansas, and authorities believe that cows inhaled something toxic, prompting them to deny public access to the 2,500-acre Cimarron National Grassland until at least May. Six of the cattle were discovered together in a low-lying area, while a seventh was found a short distance away, with local veterinarians identifying the ingestion or inhalation of something toxic leading to pulmonary edema or fluid in the lungs as a possible cause, though the cause of death has not been officially declared. More specifically, they suspect the cattle may have inhaled hydrogen sulfide—a toxic gas that can be released in the oil and gas drilling process. They haven't pinpointed the cause officially, but it was enough to implement an emergency order to halt public access to the area for a prolonged period. | |
Comment: As well as hydrogen sulfide being released in the oil and gas drilling process, natural outgassing of toxic gases can also occur.
Other possible cases of outgassing around the United States in recent times include:
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Pauline Liu
Times Herald-Record 2016-02-01 20:03:00
Portions of Sullivan County were rocked by noise that to some have compared to a sonic boom. It occurred shortly before midnight on Saturday. Numerous residents grabbed their phones to report the disturbance directly to police agencies as well as 911. At the Monticello Police Department, officers seated in their patrol cars not only heard the boom, but they said it also rattled both their cars and the building for a second or two. On the Times Herald-Record Facebook page, recordonline.com, about 100 readers commented on a post which raised the question, "What was that boom?" The post was also "shared" more than 100 times. Readers from Liberty to Cuddebackville, which are more than 30 miles apart, claimed to hear the very loud sound. "Loud enough to shake my floor and then a gusty wind for minute. Sure made the cat jump!" posted Izabella Urban of Varnell Road in Monticello. Lance Gibson in Grahamsville posted that he heard it and felt the shake, as did his friends in Rock Hill. One reader wondered if it could have been the aftermath of meteor shower. Others went on Facebook to joke that the noise was the work of aliens. Several questioned whether it was a sonic boom much like those felt along the coasts of New Jersey, New York City and Long Island last week. Those booms may have been caused by fighter jet flight tests at the Naval Air Station in Patuxent River, Maryland. "Turns out the US Navy was testing new fighter planes that can go 1200 mph. Maybe the same thing," posted Rich Dean. Calls to the Stewart Air National Guard Base went unreturned. When contacted by phone, Sullivan County Commissioner of Public Safety Dick Martinkovic said he doesn't have the answer yet. "We have no idea," said Martinkovic. "There's been no confirmation by the government, the military or the scientific community." Some readers on Facebook said they even heard a couple of similar disturbances earlier in the day. According to Sullivan County Undersheriff Eric Chaboty, the Sheriff's Office also received a call on Sunday morning about a booming noise that was heard near the Swinging Bridge Reservoir, more than seven miles west of Monticello. | |
Comment: These booms could be overhead explosions of incoming meteors or from vibrations in the earth's crust brought about by earthquakes or other seismic activity. See: Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection
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The wind is so strong in Scotland that water is getting blown back up waterfalls, seemingly against the laws of gravity. Footage shared by a cottage rental firm based in Mull, Scotland shows 90 mile per hour winds stopping a waterfall on the Isle of Mull dead in its tracks earlier this week. | |
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Ari Charilaou
Daily Mail, UK 2016-02-03 15:40:00
A man has been left in awe after he purchased a fly catcher which filled up after just one day. Myles Farrawell, from Sydney, posted the photo of his full contraption to Facebook which left social media users stunned. 'So I bought a fly trap from Bunnings yesterday and put it out yesterday afternoon and just came home to find this wow !!!! Flys for dinner lol [sic],' Mr Farrawell wrote. Flies are often a massive pest for Australian's during the hot summer period, due to their attraction to heat when mating. Bryce Peters, General Manager for the Faculty of Science at University of Technology Sydney, said the hot temperatures this summer could be a direct link to the large amount of flies in Sydney's CBD. It could also be the reason as to why this man caught so many flies in a day. 'When the weather gets warmer and more humid the flies are more active,' Mr Peters said. Mr Peters, who is also from the Sutherland Shire, said it is highly likely the flies are bush flies. 'Bush flies tend to breed out in the west (Western Sydney) before being blown over to the city due to the westerly winds'. Australian Museum naturalist Martyn Robinson told the Daily Telegraph a combination of heavy rain and heat has caused a 'build up' of more flies over spring last year and summer this year. | |
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Sputnik
2016-02-05 23:47:00
In a matter of minutes, a mighty twister rips through a high school, sweeping everything out of its way. Raw security camera footage from an EF-1 tornado that hit Crockett County High School on Tuesday. The tornado's path was 100 yards wide and spanned just more than two and a half miles, according to the National Weather Service. Strong storms hit southern states in the US on Tuesday, demolishing hundreds of homes, as well as a prison facility. No casualties or injuries have been reported. | |
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RT
2016-02-05 23:35:00
Multiple buildings, including a residential tower, have collapsed after a powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck southern Taiwan early on Saturday. Authorities in the affected city have formed an emergency response center. A building has half collapsed in Tainan as a result of the quake, with fire brigades now on their way to the site, Liu Shih-chung, Tainan City Government official, told Reuters. At least four buildings have collapsed as a result of the earthquake. "Four buildings have collapsed in Tainan City area. Search and rescue is underway and no casualties have been reported at this moment," Lin Kuan-cheng, spokesman for the National Fire Agency, told AFP. | |
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RT
2016-02-05 22:39:00
Southern Taiwan was hit was hit by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake early Saturday, with heavy damage reported. Rescue crews are trying to save people feared to be trapped inside a collapsed building in the city of Tainan. 05 February 2016 22:18 GMT Tainan City has been hit by flooding as the result of broken water lines in some areas, according to local media reports. 22:16 GMT At least two injuries have been reported as a result of falling debris in the Huwei Township of Yunlin County, BNO news reports. | |
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| Fire in the Sky |
No new articles.
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| Health & Wellness |
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Sayer Ji
Greenmedinfo.com 2016-01-05 18:47:00
A new study validates a controversial cancer theory, namely, that yeast in our body can contribute to not just feeding, but actually causing cancer. Can the ancient healing spice turmeric come to the rescue? A recent study published in Critical Reviews in Microbiology lends support to the concept that opportunistic Candida albicans (yeast) infection may not just be a consequence of cancer, but is an actively contributing cause as well. | |
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There is growing evidence that Americans would have better health and a lower incidence of cancer and fibrocystic disease of the breast if they consumed more iodine. A decrease in iodine intake coupled with an increased consumption of competing halogens, fluoride and bromide, has created an epidemic of iodine deficiency in America.- Dr. Donald Miller, Jr.The toxicity of modern life is impacting iodine levels and in the countries that fluoridate their water this impact is maximized. It is well known that the toxic halides: fluoride and bromide, having structure similar to iodine, can competitively inhibit iodine absorption and binding in the body. All the halogens use the same receptors in the body so fluoride's danger for people is centered in great part on this fact. | |
Comment: Additional articles on the benefits of Iodine:
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Christina Sarich
Natural Society 2016-02-06 17:28:00
There are many heavy metals that people are exposed to regularly without realizing it. Mercury,cadmium, and aluminum, among others, are able to imbed themselves into our central nervous systems and bones, bio-accumulating for years until we start to suffer acute health problems from heavy metal poisoning. Fortunately, there is a simple one-two-combination that helps to chelate heavy metals so that they are no longer circulating in the body cilantro and chlorella. Chelating agents are those that bind to heavy metal toxin ions, and then are removed from the body through our regular excretory channels. Pharmaceuticals like 2,3-Dimercaprol have long been the mainstay of chelation therapy for lead or arsenic poisoning, but they have serious side effects. The simple, and proper dose of cilantro (Chinese parsley) and chlorella; however is a powerful chelator for numerous heavy metals. | |
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James Corbett & Jon Rappoport
Activist Post 2016-02-05 16:54:00
You may have heard of the wave of birth defects that is ravaging Latin America as the globe gears up for another pandemic panic. But do you know how many of those cases of microcephaly have been confirmed? Or how many of those confirmed cases are said to be "related to" the Zika virus? Today Jon Rappaport of NoMoreFakeNews.com joins us to separate the truth from the hype with the Zika virus panic and discuss whether the WHO and the CDC are merely crying wolf yet again. | |
Comment: Read more articles by Jon Rappoport on the Zika virus and the 'hyping' of epidemics:
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Gary
Truth Kings 2016-02-06 04:47:00
This morning, an infant was found dead shortly after receiving what's being termed "routine vaccinations." The two and a half-month-old girl died after allegedly being administered the HIB vaccine at 1:30 pm and then subsequently was found dead this morning. The family is accusing the hospital, which is a privately owned hospital located in suburban Mumbai, India, of then attempting to cover it up. They brought the baby back to the same hospital and allege Doctors took an hour to even show up and then began a process of trying to quiet them. According to the source article, the baby had turned pale and motionless. "The HIB vaccine was administered as part of routine vaccination. After that the baby was fine, but this morning we found that she had turned pale and was lying motionless. We realised that she was dead," a family member said. "We took the baby to the same hospital again. However, the doctor and staff arrived one hour later and attempted to hush up the matter," the relative alleged. | |
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Glynis Sweeny
Alternet 2016-02-03 21:28:00
If you think your boss is out to get you, but can't point to any obvious incidents of abuse, you may not be paranoid after all. You may, in fact, be in hot water, and the boss is just being stealthy when alienating and antagonizing you. Most managers — even the bad ones — appreciate the importance of maintaining the facade of professionalism at the workplace, so some have become increasingly skilled at being subtle while abusing employees. These passive-aggressive managers are often highly valued in the modern workplace because many corporations believe they help weed out undesirable employees. Some corporations even create cultures that foster leadership that is quietly ruthless and devious. Research by the University of Buffalo School of Management finds that it actually pays to be a workplace bully. Those who engage in harassment typically receive excellent reviews from their own supervisors and are exceptional at climbing the corporate ladder. | |
Comment: Considering the fact that Psychopaths 'flourish' at top of the corporate ladder. The reader might want to read more about psychopaths in the work place:
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| Science of the Spirit |
Walking to class one day, one of us (Laura) saw a young student crying and waiting for his mother to arrive—he had split his chin while playing. When Laura got to class, the other students were very upset and afraid for their friend, full of questions about what would happen to him. Laura decided to ask the class how they could help him. "Caring practice!" exclaimed one of the children—and they all sat in a circle offering support and well wishes. The children immediately calmed and they continued with their lesson. This is what's possible when kids learn to be kind at school. | |
Comment: Forget Survival of the Fittest: It Is Kindness That Counts
Why do people do good things? Is kindness hardwired into the brain, or does this tendency arise via experience? Dacher Keltner, director of the Social Interaction Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, investigates these questions from multiple angles and often generates results that are both surprising and challenging. In his recent book, Born to Be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life (W. W. Norton, 2009), Keltner weaves together scientific findings with personal narrative to uncover human emotion's innate power to connect people with one another, which he argues is the path to living the good life. |
