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| Puppet Masters |
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Giles Tremlett
The Guardian 2013-06-05 13:53:00
Judges say memorial to 35,000 international volunteers who fought Franco breaks planning laws after rightwing outrage Less than two years after a monument was raised in Madrid to the 35,000 volunteers who joined the International Brigades to fight the fascist-backed forces of General Francisco Franco during the Spanish civil war, a court has ordered that it be pulled down. The monument to the volunteers from 53 countries, paid for by public subscription and placed in the gardens of the Complutense University, where many died defending Madrid and Spanish democracy against Franco's rebels, has enraged some rightwingers. A case brought by the lawyer Miguel García has now succeeded where political protest failed. Judges have decided the university broke planning laws and must remove the monument. Topped by the brigades' three-pointed star, the monument bears the words of Dolores Ibárruri, the communist firebrand better known as La Pasionaria: "You are history; you are legend; you are an heroic example of solidarity and of the universality of democracy." David Lomon, then the last surviving British-based veteran, travelled to Madrid for the inauguration in October 2011 and asked those present to remember the up to 10,000 volunteers who died. | |
Comment: Cause that's exactly what an extremely unpopular government needs to be doing with protesters amassing on Parliament's doorstep and 50% youth unemployment. The sheer stupidity of psychopaths in power!
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Pepe Escobar
Asia Times Online 2013-06-05 13:10:00
Western politicos love to shed swamps of crocodile tears about "the Syrian people" and congratulate themselves within the "Friends of Syria" framework for defending them from "tyranny". Well, the "Syrian people" have spoken. Roughly 70% support the government of Bashar al-Assad. Another 20% are neutral. And only 10% are aligned with the Western-supported "rebels", including those of the kidnapping, lung-eating, beheading jihadi kind. The data was provided mostly by independent relief organizations working in Syria. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) received a detailed report in late May - but, predictably, was not too keen on releasing it. As Asia Times Online has been stressing for months, the Sunni business classes in Damascus and Aleppo are either neutral or pro-Assad. And most Sunnis now regard the gangs of foreign mercenaries weaponized by Qatar and the House of Saud as way more repellent than Assad. Meanwhile, in Britain - where David of Arabia Cameron remains gung ho on a no-fly zone to protect the "Syrian people" - only 24% of Britons are in favor of further weaponizing the "rebels" (although 58% support humanitarian aid). And at a rally in Doha, perennial al-Jazeera star and Muslim Brotherhood icon Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi - now pontificating at Al-Azhar in Cairo - has called for a jihad of all Sunni Muslims against Damascus. As he also branded Hezbollah as "the party of Satan" and condemned Iran for "pushing forward arms and men to back the Syrian regime". He has in fact condoned a jihad of Muslims against Muslims, even though he insisted his call to fight Hezbollah is "not against all Shi'ites". | |
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Sarah Rae Fruchtnicht
Opposingviews.com 2013-06-04 10:33:00
It is now legal for police to take a DNA sample from anyone they arrest, regardless of whether they have been convicted of a crime or gone to trial. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Monday to uphold the practice of DNA swabbing arrestees. Investigators believe the practice, used in 26 states, will help them close unsolved cases. Justice Samuel Alito called the case "the most important criminal procedure case that this court has heard in decades." "DNA identification of arrestees is a reasonable search that can be considered part of a routine booking procedure," said Justice Anthony Kennedy. "Taking and analyzing a cheek swab of the arrestee's DNA is - like fingerprinting and photographing - a legitimate police booking procedure that is reasonable under the Fourth Amendment." | |
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Sarah Rae Fruchtnicht
Opposingviews.com 2013-06-03 10:15:00
Republicans in Wisconsin are pushing legislation that would allow the government to view the bank accounts of anyone seeking unemployment and freeze those accounts if it believes the person has been overpaid on benefits. "This is to protect the workers and lessen the burden on employers who are paying all the bills," said co-author of the bill, Rep. Dan Knodl, R-Germantown. The bill was introduced in the assembly and senate on Friday. It is scheduled for committee hearings on Wednesday in both houses. | |
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The Washington Post
2013-06-04 22:33:00
Fort Meade, Maryland - The court-martial of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the central figure in a massive leak of government documents, is focused on secrecy and government security. Yet his trial has become a secretive drama that allows the public little insight into what's going on in the military courtroom. One of the pretrial hearings was closed to the public. Many court documents have been withheld or heavily redacted. Photographers were blocked from getting a good shot of the soldier and even some of Manning's supporters had to turn their T-shirts inside out. Military law experts say some of it is common for a court-martial, while other restrictions appear tailored to the extraordinary nature of the case. Manning has garnered an outpouring of support from whistleblowers, activists and others around the world. "I think the judge is very concerned about not turning this trial into a theater, into a spectacle," said David J.R. Frakt, a military law expert at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a former military prosecutor and defense lawyer. "I cannot remember a situation where there was such a high degree of civilian interest, people not affiliated with the military, having intense and passionate interest in the outcome of the case." Manning is charged under federal espionage and computer fraud laws, but the most serious offense the military has accused him of is aiding the enemy, which carries a life sentence. His supporters call him a hero; opponents say he is a traitor for leaking the material the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. The trial for the soldier from Crescent, Okla., began Monday under a barrage of heavy restrictions. | |
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| Society's Child |
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Lauren DiSanto
NBC Philadelphia 2013-06-05 10:38:00
A building in downtown Philadelphia has collapsed and authorities fear that multiple people may be trapped beneath the rubble. As many as 10 people may currently burried beneath the collapsed structure according to Lloyd Ayers, Philadelphia Fire Commissioner and a frantic search is underway. The collapse happened around 10:30 am while construction crews were working in the building. "There are firemen, police, construction guys digging out because I believe people are down there. It's crazy right now," said Corey Vey who works nearby. At least a dozen people have been rescued already, according to eyewitnesses. | |
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Hoa Nguyen
USA Today 2013-06-05 10:32:00
Woman, an equestrian, allegedly ran operation as 'Fantastic Enterprises' in a warehouse. A mother of two has been charged with growing nearly 3,000 marijuana plants worth $3 million in Queens, officials said. Andrea Sanderlin, 45, who is active in the equestrian community, is accused of conspiring to manufacture, distribute and possess with intent to distribute 1,000 or more marijuana plants. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn without bail. Law enforcement personnel from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Police Department and other agencies identified Sanderlin as operating at least one marijuana grow house in the area, officials said. | |
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Emily Smith
Opposingviews.com 2013-06-03 09:57:00
Monona, Wisconsin, parents whose children are repeat offenders in cases of bullying can now be ticketed by police and fined in court, according to a decision made by the Monona City Council on May 20. The mandate was created in an effort to reduce the epidemic of physical and emotional abuse faced by young Americans. Monona Police Chief Wally Ostrenga said no specific event led to the council's decision - the policy is preventative rather than corrective. According to Ostrenga, parents who make an effort to improve their children's behavior will not be ticketed. The council hopes those who would not originally comply with the policy will under threat of a $114 fine. | |
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The New Zealand Herald
2013-06-04 16:45:00
An Oamaru father who attempted to rent his baby son to a paedophile has been sentenced to nearly nine years imprisonment on a raft of charges. The 27-year-old father was sentenced today to eight years and 10 months imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of five years after being convicted of charges including sexual violation, indecent assault and making, possessing and distributing an objectionable publication. The man was arrested as part of a police operation that began last July involving staff across the country including Northland, Auckland City, Eastern, Canterbury and Southern districts. The operation targeted alleged paedophiles in New Zealand and overseas, including Aaron John Ellmers aged 41, who last month was sentenced to 20 years' preventative detention. The Oamaru father was charged when police caught him attempting to rent out his 13-month-old son to Ellmers for $500. As the 40-year-old paedophile jetted into Christchurch to meet the boy's father, police were waiting. | |
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Hunter Spanjer says his name with a certain special hand gesture, but at just three and a half years old, he may have to change it. "He's deaf, and his name sign, they say, is a violation of their weapons policy," explained Hunter's father, Brian Spanjer. Grand Island's "Weapons in Schools" Board Policy 8470 forbids "any instrument...that looks like a weapon," But a three year-old's hands? "Anybody that I have talked to thinks this is absolutely ridiculous. This is not threatening in any way," said Hunter's grandmother Janet Logue. "It's a symbol. It's an actual sign, a registered sign, through S.E.E.," Brian Spanjer said. | |
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| Secret History |
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Arden Dier
USA Today 2013-05-24 10:22:00
If you thought being found buried under a parking lot was about as unroyal as it could get for King Richard III, think again. In a paper published todayinAntiquity, researchers describe his body as being buried in haste, crammed into a too-small grave that was roughly dug (at the time, a proper grave would have had straight walls, not sloping ones). Further indications that the dead king was treated with little respect: He was found in a somewhat folded position with no death shroud, and his hands may have been bound, reports Smithsonian. (The BBC tempers the finding by noting the University of Leicester researchers did acknowledge the treatment could have been the result of harried gravediggers.) | |
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| Science & Technology |
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Elizabeth Palermo
TechNewsDaily 2013-06-04 18:03:00
You may have had remote controlled airplanes growing up, but they probably weren't as cool as the quadcopter. This tiny helicopter looks a lot like a toy, but it's really a high-tech robot controlled exclusively by human thought. Developed by a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota, the four-blade helicopter, or quadcopter, can be quickly and accurately controlled for a sustained amount of time using the electrical impulses associated with a subject's thoughts. The team used a noninvasive technique known as electroencephalography(EEG) to record the electrical brain activity of five different subjects. Each subject was fitted with a cap equipped with 64 electrodes, which sent signals to the quadcopter over a WiFi network. The subjects were positioned in front of a screen that relayed images of the quadcopter's flight through an on-board camera, allowing them to see the course the way a pilot would. The plane, which was driven with a pre-set forward moving velocity, was then controlled by the subject's thoughts. By imagining that they were using their right hand, left hand and both hands together, subjects controlled the flight path of the plane. If they imagined raising their left hand, for example, the plane turned left. If they imagined raising their hands together, the plane lifted higher in the air. | |
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Tanya Lewis
LiveScience 2013-06-05 12:00:00
The oldest well-preserved skeleton of a primate, a 55-million-year-old specimen found in China, has been discovered, researchers report. The primate appears to be the most primitive known relative of the group that contains tarsiers, small primates found only in Southeast Asia. The finding suggests this group diverged from anthropoids, the group that contains monkeys, apes and humans, during the Eocene epoch (55.8 million to 33.9 million years ago), a time of widespread warming. It's not the oldest primate fossil, researchers say, but it is one of the oldest most-complete skeletons of the group known as tarsiiformes. "This discovery is really exciting," vertebrate paleontologist Jonathan Bloch of the University of Florida's museum of natural history told LiveScience, "because it shows us the first really [well-articulated] skeleton of one branch of the crown primate tree," (the group including all primates alive today and their common ancestor). Bloch was not involved in the study. The fossil confirms speculation that the earliest primates probably lived in trees, ate insects and were active during the daytime. The primate, now named Archicebus achilles (roughly translated as "ancient monkey"), would have weighed about 1 ounce (20-30 grams), suggesting the earliest primates were very small. The skeleton shares some features of tarsiers and some of anthropoids. For instance, the specimen's heel bone strongly resembles those of anthropoids, hence the species name, achilles. | |
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Sciencedaily.com
2013-06-03 10:24:00
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health, and their colleagues, have discovered that a gene called BACH2 may play a central role in the development of diverse allergic and autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, asthma, Crohn's disease, celiac disease, and type-1 diabetes. In autoimmune diseases, the immune system attacks normal cells and tissues in the body that are generally recognized as "self" and do not normally trigger immune responses. Autoimmunity can occur in infectious diseases and cancer. The results of previous research had shown that people with minor variations in the BACH2 gene often develop allergic or autoimmune diseases, and that a common factor in these diseases is a compromised immune system. In this study in mice, the Bach2 gene was found to be a critical regulator of the immune system's reactivity. The study, headed by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), both part of NIH, and their colleagues appeared online inNature, June 2, 2013. | |
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| Earth Changes |
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BBC News
2013-06-05 17:36:00
Rescuers used helicopters to pluck families from rooftops in the southern German town of Deggendorf on Wednesday as the Danube flood crisis continues. | |
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newdaily.com
Killings of endangered elephants are rising in Indonesia as authorities fail to stop poaching2013-06-04 12:19:00 Poisoning or shooting killed many of the 129 critically endangered elephants that have died on Indonesia's Sumatra island in less than a decade, highlighting weak enforcement of laws against poaching, an environmental group says. WWF Indonesia said killings of Sumatran elephants are on the rise, with 29 either shot or poisoned last year, including 14 in Aceh province. The group said Tuesday that no one has been convicted or jailed in the deaths that were counted in Riau province since 2004. The report came three days after two dead Sumatran elephants were found near a paper plantation in Riau, allegedly poisoned by poachers. Another elephant was killed last month near Tesso Nilo national park and its tusks were hacked off. An autopsy found a plastic detergent wrapper in its belly filled with poison. The group said 59 percent of the dead elephants were definitely poisoned, 13 percent were suspected to have been poisoned, and 5 percent were killed by gunshots. Others died from illness or other causes, or the reason for their death was unknown. |
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Karel Janicek
A raging flood wave that inundated parts of Prague is now heading north toward Germany, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people and leading to concerns about the safety of chemical plants.Associated Press 2013-06-05 11:28:00
More than 19,000 people have been evacuated from the flooding that has affected half of the Czech Republic, said firefighters spokeswoman Nicole Zaoralova. Some 3,000 people had to leave their homes in Usti nad Labem on the Elbe river near the German border where the waters were still on the rise Wednesday. High waters have already submerged parts of the city as well many other towns along the Elbe, the biggest river in the country. They are also threatening major chemical factories, including one that released toxic chemicals into the Elbe during the devastating floods of 2002. The plants have been shut down as a precaution and chemicals removed, authorities said. Czech public television said a barrier that protects one chemical plant in Lovosice was leaking Wednesday and it was not immediately clear if it might be completely flooded. | |
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dw.de
Record floods in southern Germany have subsided to some extent in certain areas. Other parts of the country continue to hold their breath as the worst flooding may still be to come.For some residents in southern Germany, Wednesday marks the first day they can begin assessing the damage of the floods that have hit wide swathes of the country. For others, Wednesday could see the worst flooding yet.2013-06-05 11:23:00
The eastern German city of Dresden is one of the places where citizens are bracing for the worst. Over 600 people have been evacuated there as water levels are expected to rise to 8.27 meters (27.1 feet) - well above normal levels of around two meters. Across the border in the Czech Republic, the story is the same: the cities of Usti-nad-Labem on the Elbe river are also expected to see peak flood stages. The same rush of water is expected to hit Dresden downriver on the Elbe. Magdeburg, which also lies on the Elbe, is expecting water levels to rise nearly 5 meters (16.4 feet) above normal. A state of emergency has been declared there, and other cities along the Elbe in German state of Saxony are taking similar precautions. | |
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Christian Science Monitor
The U.S. Geological Survey is revising the magnitude of an earthquake off the southeast coast of Hawaii to 5.3.2013-06-05 10:28:00 Tuesday afternoon's earthquake was centered about 34 miles (55 kilometers) southeast of Pahala on the Big Island, at a depth of about 25 miles (40 kilometers). Officials say it did not expected to generate a tsunami. "The earth is very sound down there there's not a lot of cracks, therefore waves travel very efficiently through the material," USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Seismic Network manager, Wes Thele told KHON2.com. Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira says there are no immediate reports of damage. The USGS reported earlier that the quake's magnitude was 5.6. People as far away as Maui and Oahu reported weak shaking to the USGS. The Oahu Department of Emergency Management says some areas may have experienced strong shaking. Kevin Dayton, the executive assistant to the mayor, says he felt a large jolt in the county building in Hilo. |
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Anne Sewell
Digital Journal 2013-06-03 10:16:00
Bitter cold conditions, heavy rains and hail have wreaked havoc in Cape Town, South Africa, with a new cold front set to arrive on Monday. The mountains close by have seen heavy snowfall. Wilfred Solomons-Johannes of Cape Town Disaster Management told the media that 2,266 people have been affected by floods on the Cape Flats. Around 550 houses have been damaged in Bishop Lavis, Guguletu, Hout Bay, Khayelitsha, Philippi and Strand. In Athlone, Elsies River, Langa and Parow Valley, roofs were blown off houses. Cape Town mayor, Patricia De Lille called for "extraordinary emergency arrangements". | |
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The Extinction Protocol
Eleven years after an eruption of Mount Nyiragongo devastated the sprawling lakeside city of Goma, killing hundreds of people, eastern Congo's armed conflict is preventing scientists from predicting the volcano's next deadly explosion. With its plume of ash and steam reaching high into the sky, the brooding Nyiragongo is one of the world's most active volcanoes and a constant menace to the city of 1 million people, whose streets are still scarred by solidified lava. Attempts to monitor the volcano's activity have been dangerously curtailed by the M23 rebel group which has controlled its lush, forested slopes for the past year. Observation equipment has been looted by armed groups and the area around Nyiragongo is off-limits as rebel fighters defend their strategic positions overlooking Goma.2013-06-05 08:54:00
"What happened in 2002 will happen again. We just don't know when," Celestin Kasereka Mahinda, a volcanologist at the Goma observatory and head of a national committee charged with planning for natural disasters. Kasereka and his colleagues gave two months' warning before the last eruption but authorities ignored them. People only began to evacuate as the first fingers of lava probed their way into the town's densely populated residential areas. Goma's airport is still surrounded by lava blocs as big as cars, excavated after the runway was swallowed by molten rock. Kasereka used to conduct weekly checks on Nyiragongo, one of only three volcanoes in the world to have a permanent lava lake. "Surveillance is very reduced so the risk has become very big," he said. | |
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US Geological Survey
2013-06-05 00:21:00
Event Time 2013-06-05 04:47:29 UTC 2013-06-05 15:47:29 UTC+11:00 at epicenter Location 11.408°S 166.265°E depth=64.7km (40.2mi) Nearby Cities 89km (55mi) SSE of Lata, Solomon Islands 466km (290mi) NNW of Luganville, Vanuatu 725km (450mi) ESE of Honiara, Solomon Islands 734km (456mi) NNW of Port-Vila, Vanuatu 1057km (657mi) N of We, New Caledonia Technical Details | |
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| Fire in the Sky |
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WGNS
WGNS has received multiple phone calls and emails from residents in the area of Smyrna telling us that they heard a loud "BOOM" sound Monday night. The sound was heard around 8:30 in the evening.2013-06-04 00:30:00 WGNS checked with the Smyrna Police Department where we talked to Police Chief Kevin Arnold. Arnold told us, "We received several complaints last night about that. The Sheriff's Office also received complaints. From the log this morning it appears nothing was found." We then headed to the Smyrna / Rutherford County Airport. There, we were told that no "BOOM" sounds involving airplanes were reported on Monday night. Several workers there told us they did not hear the "BOOM." So that leaves us with the big question... What was that big "BOOM" sound that was heard Monday? It seems as if we cannot find the answer to that mystery. |
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| Health & Wellness |
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Pat Robinson
Greenmedinfo.com 2012-06-22 13:46:00
Candida is associated with craving simple carbs (white foods -pasta, bread, rice, and all sugars) which feed the yeast. Candida develops for many reasons. Basically, it is a 'helper' attempting to create balance in the gut, generally due toantibiotics, preservatives, heavy metal toxins and sterile foods. We can make candida obsolete and unnecessary by rebalancing gut microbials. Antibiotics for mother or baby during pregnancy and birth (intrapartum antibiotics) are the most common sources of microbial imbalance leading to candida in children (and mother). The mother's exposures to mercury through (silver) amalgam fillings and vaccinations herself, and HER mother's mercury toxin exposures are other variables leading to candida overgrowth. Our foods have "preservatives", which means chemicals that retard microbial and bacterial growth in the food product. Live foods have enzymes and microbials and spoil. If a food doesn't spoil at room temperature within a week, it has preservatives, essentially. | |
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Bruce Friedrich
Alternet 2013-05-29 13:33:00
Repeat food safety violations are just the tip of the iceberg. Two weeks ago, the USDA's Office of the Inspector General released a reportthat, once again, proves that our food system is broken: First, the Food Safety and Inspection Service doesn't meaningfully attempt to stop repeat violations of food safety laws. Second, it has allowed a 15-year-old pilot program with faster slaughter and fewer inspectors to proceed without review. Third, it all but ignores its humane slaughter mandate. Remarkably, unless you read Food Safety Newsor the agricultural media, you will have missed this extremely damning report. | |
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realpharmacy.com
2013-04-29 13:24:00
If you were told to ingest a biologically alien synthetic chemical whose presence on this planet did not predate 1976,and whose structure is only a few atoms away from the deadly pesticide DDT, and you knew that not only were there no long term human safety studies performed on it, but that it had been already proven in tests to have following adverse health effects:
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Alliance for Natural Health USA
2013-06-04 10:11:00
Yesterday, Connecticut passed a law requiring foods with genetically engineered ingredients to be labeled - and it's all thanks to your grassroots activism! Connecticut has taken a first important step. The House version of its Label GMO bill (which ANH-USA helped draft) passed the Connecticut Senate unanimously on Saturday, and passed the legislature 134 to 3 on Monday. Our hope is that this bill will inspire neighboring states to take similar action so the trigger can come into effect as quickly as possible. | |
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| Science of the Spirit |
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Tanya Lewis
LiveScience 2013-06-05 11:32:00
The brain's internal clock keeps time via a synchronized network of cells that is able to reset itself, a new study reveals. This resetting may be what enables us to change our own daily rhythms with the seasons while the clock itself remains fairly stable, the researchers report. But this mechanism didn't evolve to deal with modern technologies, such as alarm clocks or air travel. Messing with natural daily cycles can cause jetlag, or more serious effects. Shift work, for instance, has been linked to metabolic disorders such as diabetes, and even diseases like cancer. "Shift work is now listed as a potential carcinogen by the World Health Organization," said study researcher Erik Herzog, a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis. By understanding how the brain's clock is wired, researchers could develop ways to improve the brain's ability to deal with these kinds of environmental perturbations, so they have fewer detrimental effects on our health, Herzog told LiveScience. The brain's timing center is called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, or SCN. "Each cell is its own little timer," which works by turning on and off a set of "clock genes" that tell the cell to make proteins, Herzog explained. These genes operate on an approximately 24-hour cycle, known as a circadian rhythm. These cycles are important for regulating metabolism, hormone release and sleep/waking cycles. | |
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| High Strangeness |
| No new articles. |
| Don't Panic! Lighten Up! |
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On the road for 88 of his 105 years, New Zealand's oldest driver says, 'I don't think I'm old' Bob Edwards was born before the first Model T rolled out of Henry Ford's factory in Detroit. He learned to drive in a French car that had a lever instead of a steering wheel. And he's still on the road, only now in a red four-wheel-drive Mitsubishi. The oldest licensed driver in New Zealand, and one of the oldest in the world, has been driving for 88 of his 105 years and has no plans to give it up, just as he intends to keep working out every morning in his home gym, and to keep regularly cooking meals for himself and his wife, who's 91. "In fact, I don't think I'm old," Edwards says. "Not really." He's been involved in just one crash in his life and has gotten just one speeding ticket, a citation that still gets him riled up years later. When he broke his left hip three years ago, his doctors said to stop driving for six weeks but he didn't pay them much mind - after all, he says, he drives an automatic and only needs his right leg for that. In New Zealand, drivers older than 80 must have their health and vision tested every two years to stay on the road. Many countries in Europe and U.S. states have similar requirements. While stories about elderly drivers making mistakes or causing crashes often make headlines, it's young drivers who tend to cause the most damage. |
