Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Monday, 03 November 2014

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Ottawa false flag terror attack launches Canadian bombs on Iraq and Syria Joe Quinn Sott.net 2014-11-03 13:45:00 Today, Canada began bombing Iraq and Syria, justified in large part by a 'terror attack' the narrative for which is falling apart. I've written previously about the suspicious background to the attacks in Ottawa and another city near Montreal a few weeks ago, but new details have emerged that pose serious questions about the official narrative surrounding the Ottawa war memorial and parliament shooting by Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.

"Chickenshit" Netanyahu - King of the Jews - Evokes JFK assassination - Psychopaths Rule Joe Quinn Sott.net 2014-11-01 13:09:00 Events in the world of "high politics" over the last week have been very revealing, and entertaining. The US-Israel 'special relationship' has, apparently, been souring for a while. At the beginning of this year Israeli defence minister Moshe Yaalon accused John Kerry of being "obsessive and messianic" in his pursuit of a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians. A few months later Kerry warned Israel that it was in danger of becoming "an apartheid state". Israel is, of course, already a full-blown apartheid state with even the warmongering daughter of Israeli terrorists and now, Israeli Justice Minister, Tzipi Livni, complaining about segregated buses for Palestinians. Two weeks ago the Obama administration warned that Israel risked alienating its "closest allies", and last week Yaalon was pointedly snubbed by senior administration officials during a visit to Washington. Then, several days ago, American-Israeli journalist and former Israeli prison guard, Jeffrey Goldberg, published an article in The Atlantic that cited an unnamed Obama official describing Netanyahu as a "chickenshit" in terms of the moribund Israel-Palestine 'peace process'and the alleged 'nuclear threat' from Iran.

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Puppet Masters

SOTT Exclusive: Elections in Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics elect Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky as their respective leaders Ante Sarlija Sott.net 2014-11-02 14:43:00 Following Ukraine's parliamentary elections on October 26, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics voted for their own leaders and lawmakers of local parliament on Sunday, November 2. The voter turnout was high according to foreign observers from Russia, South Caucasian Republic of South Ossetia, Serbia, Montenegro, Israel, France, the United States and other countries. Foreign observers monitoring elections in Ukraine's self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic mark a high voter turnout at polling stations which opened at 8 am, Moscow time. "We have just visited a polling station that was filled to capacity. My first impression is that people show huge interest in the elections," Manuel Ochsenreiter from Germany told TASS. One example of the interest showed in the elections is a group of about 20 people that arrived at the Luhansk's polling station half-an-hour before it opened. One of the observers of the November 2 elections said that there were no violations as of yet and that the elections are proceeding calmly. There were even polling stations set up in Russia for refugees that have fled from the Western-backed junta government in Kiev and people were also given the opportunity to vote via the internet.

Comment: SOTT Exclusive: Real democracy: Elections in progress in Novorussia

As you cast your vote remember that rulers seek to rule...because they're psychopaths Jeff Thomas International Man 2014-11-03 10:09:00 Rulers seek to rule. Well, that seems a bit obvious, doesn't it? And yet, time after time, we elect new leaders, imagining that, "This new group will be better - they'll represent us as they promised." Unfortunately, the democratic system doesn't really work very well at all. The idea is supposed to be that if old leaders overstep their bounds, new candidates may come forth who promise a reversal of the autocracy of the previous group, and we elect them. They will then proceed to implement that reversal. Of course, we all know that it's this last bit that consistently fails to happen. The new group does notfulfill its promises to the electorate - in fact, it almost invariably seeks to increase its power over them. And as each group assumes greater power than the previous one, the country slowly declines, until ultimately, it reaches the state of tyranny.

Comment: For more on the traits of the psychopaths in power see: Political Ponerology: A Science of Evil Applied for Political Purposes The Word is Spreading: The Ruling Psychopaths Among Us You can buy a copy of Political Ponerology on Amazon.

The Syrian Diary documentary: Who is responsible for turning a paradise into hell? Pressenza 2013-01-11 17:16:00 Pressenza has recently re-launched an article written by Silvia Cattori, that reported the documentary made by Anastasia Popova and transmitted by the channel Russia 24. This publication has attracted praise and criticism for the point of view about what is happening in Syria that is very different from the one circulating in the European media. For this reason we decided to pursue this issue by talking to the author of the report, a young journalist who covered the "Arab spring" in different countries and has spent some time in Syria, in contact with many people involved in the conflict. Anastasia, first of all many thanks for your willingness. How long have you been in Syria with your crew? We were there for 7 months in total, from August of 2011, when there was no war yet, until now when the war in full swing. So, you can say that all the events unfolded right in front of our eyes. On average we were on the ground in Syria for about a month at a time, from Deraa to Idleb and Aleppo and from Latakia along the Turkish border to al-Qamishli and down to Deir Ez Zour. What is your general impression about the state of the conflict? From the time when we arrived in August all the way until December, what struck us the most was the difference between what was being said about Syria from the outside and what was actually happening inside the country. Sometimes it would reach the point of absurdity, when we would get calls from our channel asking us about so-and-so square where an anti-government demonstration was being shot at by tanks or artillery. We would get to that square and there was literally nothing - a few pedestrians and a policeman directing traffic.

Comment: SYRIA: The Other Reports {Attention! Shocking footage!} With her courage and diligence the young Russian reporter Anastasia Popova has shown another Syria, as NATO propaganda did show it to us. She became an important corrective for those who want to come to the facts about this undeclared war. What is happening in Syria? Whence came the chaos into this beautiful and peaceful country? Syrians who are sentenced for war? These questions are answered by the filmmakers of "Syrian Diary" - reporter Anastasiya Popova - cameraman Michael Witkin - director Evgeny Lebedev source of the original video. This documentary also has been translated into German language.

Market rigging: Is all this real? Chris Powell GATA 2014-11-02 00:00:00 Dear GATA: I have to ask you something, as you may be among the few people I can trust. (At least I think you are people and not an Internet-derived scam.) Am I imagining everything that's happening or have I just been brainwashed into believing it? Are the things that people like Andrew Maguire, Eric Sprott, and Egon von Greyerz say really true and factual or just hearsay and nonsense? I can't believe my eyes -- and no regulators or others in authority are doing anything about it. Is this all a dream? Thousands of futures contracts dumped in the middle of the night to smash gold down? Are you real? Is the stuff GATA has dug up and archived real? I'm so mad I could strangle somebody. Please tell me this is all a joke and to walk away. This is almost worse than Nazi Germany. -- D.C. * * * Dear D.C: Yes, the totalitarianism here is far more effective because it is largely surreptitious. Years ago I wrote that if the United States occupied South Africa militarily and stole everything and shipped it out of the country, at least South Africans would see and understand what was happening to them and who was doing it. But rig the currency markets and you accomplish the same looting and hardly anyone can figure it out.

Comment: There is much more detail with respect to manipulation of the precious metals markets in this recent interview in which Chris Martenson discusses market manipulation with silver market expert Ted Butler:

Canada: Decoding Harper's terror game. Beneath the masks and diversions Prof. John McMurtry Global Research 2014-10-28 10:30:00 Comment: Today, November 3rd, 2014, Canadian CF-18 fighters jets have dropped laser-guided bombs over Iraq for the first time as part of the ongoing combat mission against ISIS. To those most easily manipulated, this indiscriminate bombing of innocent civilians in a foreign country would appear as an appropriate response to the so-called "terror attacks" in Ottawa a couple weeks ago. To those less easily swayed by mainstream media propaganda, one might think that it is Canada's ongoing willingness to support the fascist policies of our American cousins to the south that led to the tragic events in Ottawa and the hit-and-run incident in Quebec a few days earlier. However, for those who have an objective awareness of how psychopathic politicians really work, will understand that both events were perfectly timed false-flag terror operations that would be used by the government in power to justify and legitimize it's current bombing campaign in northern Iraq. Stephen Harper is the most deeply reviled Prime Minister in Canada's history. On the world stage, he is the servant of Big Oil boiling oil out of tar-sands to destroy major river systems and pollute the planet with dirty oil, while his attack dog John Baird leads the warmongering and bullying of nations like Iran and Syria targeted by the US-Israeli axis. He is the most despotic and toxic first minister in the life of our country. His administration defunds every social program and life protective system it can. It strips the country of its public information infrastructures at every level - including now the gagging of non-profit NGO's by eliminating their charitable status if they question any policy of his regime. Just as his friend George Bush Jr., Harper holds government by big-money backing, continual lies, attack ads, and life-blind policies to enrich the already rich. Canada's neo-con political class may have its head on backwards, but Harper is very cunning in skirting, subverting and perverting the law to abuse power at every level. He is the poster boy of the global corporate agenda of wrecking society and its common life support systems.

Ukraine's 'battalion' leader: We're ready to invade the Russian Federation, conduct bomb attacks inside Russia PressTV 2014-11-03 09:11:00 A Ukrainian lawmaker, who is also the leader of a volunteer battalion, says brigades like his are ready to "intrude" into Russia to carry out attacks on Russian territory. Yuri Bereza, the leader of the Dnepr-1 battalion, made the remarks during a televised interview with a Ukrainian broadcaster. "Today, we are ready not just to defend [Ukraine], but to invade the Russian Federation, break into it with reconnaissance detachments and sabotage groups," said Bereza. The Ukrainian MP also spoke about conducting bomb attacks inside Russia before he was cut off by the host of the program. Comment: It's going to get a lot harder for the Western media to maintain their propaganda campaign if more of these lunatics are allowed to voice their opinions publicly. More on Bereza: The Ukrainian military commander of the battalion, sponsored by Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, recently became a lawmaker after being elected to the country's parliament. Bereza was recently criticized in the media after reports appeared that he ran away from the heavy battle scene near the town of Ilovaysk in eastern Ukraine, leaving his volunteer troops behind. Kiev's fighters were encircled by local self-defense forces in the area, with Ukrainian officials later announcing hundreds of casualties. After the Ilovaysk failure, Bereza announced he would "be drinking beer on the ruins of the Moscow Kremlin." Bereza's volunteer battalion is one of the dozens of brigades set up this year by pro-EU protesters and members of right-wing party Right Sector following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych. The battalions have been fighting along with Kiev's government forces against the pro-Russia forces in the country's restive eastern regions and have been accused of using fierce tactics. The United Nations (UN) recently released a report on the human rights situation in Ukraine, accusing the volunteer battalions of violating international humanitarian laws. Ukraine, along with Western powers, accuses Russia of having a hand in the Ukrainian crisis, but Moscow denies the allegation. Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking eastern regions have witnessed deadly clashes between Ukrainian troops and pro-Russia protesters after the Kiev government launched military operations in mid-April in a bid to crush protests.

Pirates in the sand: The Islamic State's paramilitary, America's 21st century terror privateers? Patrick Henningsen Globalresearch.ca 2014-11-02 00:00:00 What is ISIS? If you believe government and corporate media propaganda, then you probably still think that ISIS is a grassroots Islamic ideological movement - with no connection to foreign agencies like the CIA, Britain's MI6, Turkish (NATO) intelligence, Saudi intelligence, Israeli intelligence, or Pakistan's ISI. You would be partly correct, in that there is a grassroots element to ISIS, one which coalesces around vulnerable poor, economically and politically disaffected, young Sunni Muslims - all needed to refill the lower foot soldiers ranks of their fighting force, and yes, some members of ISIS have an ideological belief system, even though it's not a very pleasant one. Theirs is a highly distorted, violent version of Islam, and a 360º theater of terror. According the latest UN report, foreign jihadists are heading into Iraq and Syria on "an unprecedented scale", with bulk of the Syrian rebellion being 15,000 'Islamist' foreign fighters. Hardly an Arab Spring. The middle and upper ranks of ISIS include thousands of seasoned mercenary Islamic fighters from countries far and wide including, but not limited to, escaped terrorist convicts, and former detainees released from Guantanamo Bay.

The BBC: Washington's ministry of propaganda, UK branch Steven MacMillan New Eastern Outlook 2014-11-02 00:00:00 "Not since Iraq have I seen BBC News working at propaganda strength like this. So glad I'm out of there" These are the words of the former economics editor of the BBC's Newsnight show, Paul Mason, relating to the BBC's coverage of the Scottish independence referendum. The London broadcaster's biased reporting on Scottish independence is not an isolated incident however, as the BBC has been blatantly warping, misrepresenting and omitting pertinent facts and narratives on numerous issues, from its coverage on Israel to its distortion on Ukraine. The broadcaster has been widely criticised by many in Scotland and around the world for their "propaganda" campaign in the run up to the referendum in September, leading thousands of people to take to the streets in protest over the lack of journalistic integrity at the BBC. A major episode of this was when the BBC's political editor, Nick Robinson, censored Alex Salmond's lengthy response to a question regarding the rumours that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) would move its headquarters to London if Scotland voted for independence. Despite Salmond's comprehensive response to the question which gave the BBC seven minutes of video footage to edit for their report, Robinson decided to deceive the public and falsely claim he "didn't answer" the question. This was part of a wider "propaganda" campaign of injecting fear and uncertainty into the idea of Scotland being an independent nation. Comment: See the SOTT Focus piece: Scottish referendum result undoubtedly rigged for much greater coverage of this recent story. The BBC's coverage of Scottish independence is just a microcosm of how the organisation operates with regards to many issues around the world, yet many people still give BBC news unmerited credence. This is not to say that there is not some good people within the BBC, however the broadcaster has repeatedly demonstrated that it serves as a propaganda organ of the Anglo-American establishment.

Comment: The New York Times, the Washington Post, the BBC - these are among many powerful media organs on the planet that exist to shape and tragically distort our views of reality. Make no mistake, this is an information war of the first order. If analysis such as the one above has induced your blood to boil with what would certainly be righteous indignation, some therapeutic value may be found in reading the lyrics and singing along with the following music video. It is also constructive, of course, to share news that has touched you in some way. Paranoia is in bloom, The PR transmissions will resume They'll try to push drugs that keep us all dumbed down And hope that we will never see the truth around (so come on) Another promise, another seed Another packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed And all the green belts wrapped around our minds And endless red tape to keep the truth confined (so come on) They will not force us They will stop degrading us They will not control us We will be victorious (so come on) Interchanging mind control Come, let the revolution take its toll If you could flick the switch and open your third eye You'd see that we should never be afraid to die (so come on) Rise up and take the power back It's time the fat cats had a heart attack You know that their time's coming to an end We have to unify and watch our flag ascend (so come on) They will not force us They will stop degrading us They will not control us We will be victorious (so come on) Hey, hey, hey, hey Hey, hey, hey, hey Hey, hey, hey, hey They will not force us They will stop degrading us They will not control us We will be victorious (so come on) Hey, hey, hey, hey

Disproportionate punishment! Israeli ministers pass bill jailing stone throwers for 20 years RT 2014-11-02 17:48:00 Government ministers in Israel have voted to increase penalties ten-fold on people convicted of throwing stones at vehicles from two to 20 years, in a move designed to deal with a wave of violence that has hit some of Jerusalem's Arab districts. If Israeli courts can prove that someone threw a stone with the intent of causing serious bodily harm, they may be able to impose a jail sentence of 20 years. The law would also allow the conviction of people who hurl rocks at police cars or police officers with the aim of hindering them from carrying out their duty. If intent to cause harm can't be proven, then the amendments still allow for a hefty 10-year sentence if the safety of a person or a vehicle is endangered. At the moment, such crimes have a maximum penalty of two years in prison. Although the changes have been given the green light by the Israeli cabinet, they must still be approved by the Knesset and the ministerial Committee for Legislation. The proposed legislation change stems from the recommendation of a committee headed by Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mandelblit, which was tasked with dealing with the deteriorating security situation in East Jerusalem.

Comment: Here's one definition of insanity: Throw a stone at an Israeli, you get 20 years in prison. Massacre unlimited number of Palestinians, you get commendations.

The Caliph fit to join OPEC Pepe Escobar Asia Times 2014-10-31 01:49:00 Islamic State leader Caliph Ibrahim - aka Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi - never ceases to amaze us - and most of all his powerful petrodollar-stuffed backers. The Caliph is for all practical purposes now an oil major worth of membership of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Histakfiri/mercenary goons - in theory - have for some time been extracting, refining, shipping and/or smuggling and clinching juicy deals involving vast quantities of oil, reaping profits of roughly US$2 million a day. The Caliph's oil prices are to die (be beheaded?) for; after all, he's implementing the same low-price strategy concocted by the people he wants to dethrone in Mecca, the House of Saud. The caliphate's GDP across "Syraq" has only one way to go: up. And oh, the irony. Top customers for The Caliph's cheap oil happen to be "Sultan" Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Earthly paradise, aka Turkey - a North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally - and that King "Playstation" Abdullah II ibn al-Hussein's domain impersonating a country, aka Jordan. Meanwhile, the awesome, immensely sophisticated military apparatus/intel agency acronym fest deployed by "free" US/NATO somehow is simply unable to register/intercept this racket. Not surprising, when they somehow had not previously registered/intercepted The Caliph's goons taking over large swaths of "Syraq" this summer with their cross-desert version of rolling thunder - that gleaming white Toyota promo ad. As for the Empire of Chaos "solution" to intercept The Caliph's oil profits, the only decision so far has been to bomb oil pipelines that belong to the Syrian Arab Republic, that is, ultimately, the Syrian people. Never underestimate the capacity of US President Barack Obama's "Don't Do Stupid Stuff" foreign policy doctrine to soar towards unreachable stupidity heights.

The Nobel Peace prize deception Ray Jason The Sea Gypsy Philosopher 2014-10-19 13:09:00 Every October I foolishly get my hopes up as the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize approaches. My dream is that the committee will finally proclaim that the greatest obstacle to world peace is American Imperialism. And then they will elaborate on this by insisting that only when the U.S. Empire has vanished, can global harmony and justice prevail. Therefore, they award the prize to some courageous writer or film-maker or activist who has been battling this death-spewing Leviathan. But once more they have refused to notice the 800 pound War Lord in the middle of the room. They have again chosen the "path most taken - the spineless one," and bestowed the award on some noble but uncontroversial candidates. By misdirecting our attention away from the indisputably evil scourge that is U.S. foreign policy, they have once again blockaded the road to actual Peace on Earth. But perhaps I should question why I even expect those at the Nobel to be noble. After all, they somehow forget to bestow the prize on the greatest peacemaker and liberator of the 20th Century - Mahatma Gandhi. And then they intensified the shame of such an oversight, by bequeathing the award to one of the most genocidal monsters of the same century - Henry Kissinger.  He received the prize even though he master-minded the secret and massive bombing assault on the innocent peasants of Laos and Cambodia. He was also instrumental in enabling the murderous regimes in East Timor and Chile. In all of these atrocities, he denied his involvement until the evidence finally drowned his lies in truth.

Paedophile Ring whistleblower Melanie Shaw sentenced without evidence Anna Bragga Neon Nettle 2014-10-31 17:21:00 A jury delivered a shock guilty verdict on paedophile ring whistleblower, Melanie Shaw, yesterday, accused of starting a shed fire and throwing paint on a neighbour's home in Nottingham, England. Observers watched with incredulity as Judge Michael Pert QC announced the news, resulting in a conviction of arson - reckless as to whether life was endangered, on February 1, and damaging property on June 26. Sentencing will take place in six weeks following a psychiatric report. An absence of substantive evidence, coupled with irregularities in the conduct of the trial, has reinforced public opinion that Beechwood Children's Home survivor, Melanie Shaw, is the victim of a carefully orchestrated establishment set-up intended to silence her and protect a high-ranking paedophile ring involved in crimes against children and child abuse - some of whom are said to have been murdered, committed suicide or disappeared without trace.

Comment: Well protected pedophile rings by the powerful people who enjoy such utter depravity is a worldwide phenomena. Another case in point for the UK: Woolf in sheep's clothing: Child sex abuse inquiry head 'unsuitable' say victim groups Also watch this powerful interview: Actress Samantha Morton speaks about her horrifying childhood physical & sexual abuse in Nottingham foster care homes Notice the statements at the end of the interview by the Nottingham City Council, Nottingham police and others, attempting to whitewash the matter as an issue of the past that no longer takes place. And compare that with the words of Samantha Morton on how the corrupt top echelons of the protective services are the ones sexually abusing the children under their care, and how the system (d)evolved to protect those pathological individuals instead of the vulnerable children who continue to struggle with the life-long effects of the sexual abuse trauma. And we bet that the same pathological individuals are holding the reins in that corrupt system still in our days!

SOTT Exclusive: Real democracy: Elections in progress in Novorussia Harrison Koehli Sott.net 2014-11-02 16:38:00 While Kiev continues to drop bombs on the regions, polling stations are now open in the People's Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. Around a hundred international observers (from Germany, France, Austria, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, Greece, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, South Ossetia, and the United States) are monitoring the elections. A Hungarian observer of the absentee polling for refugees in Russia reported today: "Everything is going, as it should. We have exposed no violations so far." South Ossetia's Parliament Speaker Anatoly Bibilov told RIA Novosti: "[The elections are] organized on a quite high level, people are eagerly going to the polling stations, I don't notice any violations." And a German observer in Lugansk, chief editor of the German monthly magazine Zuerst!, Manuel Ochsenreiter, told reporters: It's well organized, also it's a big challenge. Now everything is calm and peaceful, no provocations or violations ... We were visiting polling stations. They are all very crowded, it's a huge interest of the population at the elections. You can see it by masses of people standing inside and in front the polling stations. The vote comes just one week after Kiev's own elections, which, despite being accepted as legitimate by countries like the U.S. and Russia, were plagued by violations, threats, and violence.

U.N report indicts Bush and Obama administration for creating and supporting torture program Murtaza Hussain The intercept 2014-10-30 00:00:00 Months after President Obama frankly admitted that the United States had "tortured some folks" as part of the War on Terror, a new report submitted to the United Nations Committee Against Torture has been released that excoriates his administration for shielding the officials responsible from prosecution. The report describes the post-9/11 torture program as "breathtaking in scope", and indicts both the Bush and Obama administrations for complicity in it - the former through design and implementation, and the latter through its ongoing attempts to obstruct justice. Noting that the program caused grievous harm to countless individuals and in many cases went as far as murder, the report calls for the United States to "promptly and impartially prosecute senior military and civilian officials responsible for authorizing, acquiescing, or consenting in any way to acts of torture." In specifically naming former President George W. Bush, Department of Justice lawyer John Yoo and former CIA contractor James Mitchell, among many others, as individuals who sanctioned torture at the highest levels, the report highlights a gaping hole in President Obama's promise to reassert America's moral standing during his administration. Not only have the cited individuals not been charged with any crime for their role in the torture program, Obama has repeatedly reiterated his mantra of "looking forward, not backwards" to protect them from accountability.

Comment: Leaks about the Torture program have been coming for almost a decade, and the US government has not done a friggin' thing about it other than trying to cover it up and protect those responsible for it. Though UN is toothless in influencing any US policies, it is a welcome sign that the UN is acting on its report to ask the US to stop the "torture Program".

Russophobia: CIA mouthpiece "Radio free Europe" lets slip on Russian aggression Finian Cunningham Strategic Culture Foundation 2014-10-29 00:00:00 For months now, Western mass media have been in lockstep with the US State Department and the NATO military alliance, promulgating claims of Russian aggression in Ukraine and towards Europe generally. The mantra-like repetition of these claims, with scant substantiation, resembles the Big Lie technique of Third Reich master propagandist Josef Goebbels. Told often and brazenly enough, the claims acquire normalcy as "accepted facts". Western news media, from the BBC to the New York Times, uncritically peddle NATO and Washington claims that Moscow has "annexed" Crimea and infiltrated troops into eastern Ukraine to destabilise the pro-Western "government" in Kiev. Last month at the NATO summit in Wales, outgoing secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen asserted: "So we continue to call on Russia to pull back its troops from Ukrainian borders, [and] to stop the flow of weapons and fighters into Ukraine". Last week, that narrative was debunked by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The OSCE has been appointed to monitor the border between Russia and eastern Ukraine. The organisation's monitoring chief Paul Picard confirmed that since the beginning of its observer mission at the end of July to present, it has not recorded any movement of military equipment or units from Russia into Ukrainian territory.  "The movement of military equipment has not been seen by the OSCE from our border point [of observation]", said Picard during a press conference in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don last week. The OSCE monitoring chief did say that there was Russian military movement of airplanes, helicopters and drones inside Russian territory along the border, but that there was no cross-border incursion. "We observed their movement, but didn't see them fly into Ukraine, so they did not cross the border", Picard said. Tellingly, the OSCE assessment nullifying Washington and NATO claims of Russian invasion and infiltration of Ukraine was given negligible reportage in the Western media, which persists with the anti-Russian narrative that seems to operate on the basis of not letting the facts intrude on a convenient storyline.

Society's Child

Be surprised! Syrian rebels armed and trained by US surrender to al-Qaeda Aeneas Georg Sott.net 2014-11-03 20:55:00 Now it is well known to authoritarian followers that the US only arm and train the good rebels. Why? Well because they have said so and contrary to all other empires that happened to turn evil and collapse because the entropic principle characteristic of pathological deviants aka psychopaths reached its natural climax, then the United States of America is special and exceptional as its beloved president Obama keeps saying AND inherently a good empire! So it is time to be surprised and reading The Telegraph today brings the goods: Two of the main rebel groups receiving weapons from the United States to fight both the regime and jihadist groups in Syria have surrendered to al-Qaeda. The US and its allies were relying on Harakat Hazm and the Syrian Revolutionary Front to become part of a ground force that would attack the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil). For the last six months the Hazm movement, and the SRF through them, had been receiving heavy weapons from the US-led coalition, including GRAD rockets and TOW anti-tank missiles. But on Saturday night Harakat Hazm surrendered military bases and weapons supplies to Jabhat al-Nusra, when the al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria stormed villages they controlled in northern Idlib province. The development came a day after Jabhat al-Nusra dealt a final blow to the SRF, storming and capturing Deir Sinbal, home town of the group's leader Jamal Marouf. In case the readership of the Telegraph happens to read Sott or RT regularly and thus feels a little miffed about the lack of surprise, then the article highlights it for all to see: For the United States, the weapons they supplied falling into the hands of al-Qaeda is a realisation of a nightmare. It was not immediately clear if American TOW missiles were among the stockpile surrendered to Jabhat al-Nusra on Saturday. However several Jabhat al-Nusra members on Twitter announced triumphantly that they were.

Does the horror end? Bodies of 3 young US citizens - tied up and shot in the head - identified in Mexico David Alire Garcia Reuters 2014-11-01 20:23:00 The bodies of three people, tied-up and with gunshot wounds to the head, have been identified as siblings from Texas reported missing earlier this month, a northeastern Mexico state prosecutor said on Friday. The siblings' suspected abduction might have been orchestrated by local security officials, said the office of Ismael Quintanilla, attorney general of the border state of Tamaulipas.

Comment: Psychopaths in power = crimes against humanity. For background into this horrendous case of corruption, check out: More unrest: Protesters torch city hall, demand justice for missing Mexican students Tens of thousands march in Mexico for missing students as Iguala mayor is accused of being 'mastermind' behind disappearances Students and teachers set state capital building on fire in Mexico over rampant police crimes As an investigation is underway, 26 police officers have so far been arrested, a number of which admitted to working with the Guerreros Unidos - an infamous drug cartel. Arrest warrants have also been issued for the mayor of Iguala, Jose Luis Albarca, his wife and his security chief, but they have gone into hiding.

In North Carolina, voter fraud is THIS Easy Michael Krieger Liberty Blitzkrieg 2014-11-03 11:47:00 Of all of the undercover investigations I've conducted, this was by far the easiest. They were willing to pass out fraudulently obtained ballots like it was Halloween candy. With almost three-quarters-of-a-million inactive voters and no voter ID law in place, we could have turned the election results for most major candidates in the state. - James O'Keefe, quoted in the Daily Mail James O'Keefe is no stranger to this site. In August, I posted another one of his video stunts in the piece: Video of the Day - Man Easily Crosses U.S.-Mexico Border Dressed as Osama bin Laden, which you should check out if you missed it the first time around.

The Western supported and funded dumpster-democracy in Ukraine Aeneas Georg Sott.net 2014-11-03 13:11:00 The dumpster-democracy in Ukraine aka Banderastan continues. Despite the fascists and their radical cohorts being "elected" and with only a shadow of an opposition left as they were heavily intimidated beforehand, some of those fascists who in some districts lost to the opposition took to the usual tactics: Local mob affiliated with oligarch Igor Kolomoisky publicly harass and humiliate member from the team of Alexander Vilkul, MP of the Ukrainian Rada. She is from the "Opposition block", coalition of parties that oppose Euromaidan ideology. And why you may ask. Well the answer seems to be straight forward as the article explains: Alexander Vilkul won against Kolomoisky's candidate, so probably that was the reason why Kolomoisky unleashed his "local crew" to take care of the members of "Opposition bloc". Those pesky opposition people, who dare to raise their voice and Kolomoisky is not happy about losing, just likepsychopaths don't like losing. Coincidence? Anyway Kolomoisky is rather involved in politics in Ukraine and has been in the news lately. Not just because he was thesponsor of the Odessa massacre, but his private army commanders, those of the Dnipro-1 goon battalion (amongst other Kolomoisky funded death squads) have been rather vocal.

Comment: See also: SOTT Exclusive: Real democracy: Elections in progress in Novorussia Ukrainian Nazis threaten military takeover 'if things don't change within 6 months' - Reports of Ukrainian Army teaming up with eastern rebels

Switzerland shooting leaves three dead near Interlaken The Telegraph, UK 2014-11-03 09:31:00 Three bodies have been found in a Swiss car park after a reported shooting The bodies of three people were discovered in a car park near a train station in the Swiss Alps town of Wilderswill on Monday, police said, with reports saying they had been shot dead. Police said they had been alerted to the presence of the bodies in the town near the popular tourist destination of Interlaken at 7:00 am (0600 GMT), but gave no further details. Media reports said they were killed in a shooting incident and that police were carrying out a forensic search of a hotel balcony that overlooks the car park.

US approved Ferguson no-fly area to keep press out Jack Gillum and Joan Lowy The Associated Press 2014-11-03 10:38:00 The U.S. government allowed police in Ferguson, Missouri, to restrict more than 37 square miles of airspace for nearly two weeks in August for safety reasons, but audio recordings show that local authorities instead wanted to keep news helicopters away during violent street protests. On Aug. 12, amid demonstrations following the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, Federal Aviation Administration managers struggled to redefine an earlier flight ban so police helicopters and commercial flights at nearby Lambert-St. Louis International Airport could fly through the area - but not others. "They finally admitted it really was to keep the media out," said one FAA manager about the St. Louis County Police Department in a series of recorded telephone conversations obtained by The Associated Press. "But they were a little concerned of, obviously, anything else that could be going on." At another point, a manager at the FAA's Kansas City center said police "did not care if you ran commercial traffic through this TFR (temporary flight restriction) all day long. They didn't want media in there."

Majority of Scots would now vote 'yes' to independence - poll RT 2014-11-01 20:28:00 Just six weeks after the referendum in which Scots rejected independence by 55 to 45 percent, a new YouGov poll for the Times has found that 52 percent now back a split from the union, as Labour sees its support in Scotland gradually diminish. The YouGov poll put support for the union at 48 percent. The figures will give more momentum to the pro-independence Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), which wants to see another referendum as soon as possible. Another vote on whether Scotland should remain in the 300-year-old union with England may be triggered in 2017 if the UK votes to leave the EU. The Scottish are much more pro-European than the English, and want to stay in the European Union. While Scots believe the results of the last referendum have left the country divided, a separate poll for STV found that two-thirds of Scots want another referendum within a decade. The results of the YouGov poll came out after the Scottish Labour Party suffered a bad week. Johann Lamont, the leader of Scottish Labour, resigned amidst a barrage of criticism of the party's central London HQ and that the Scottish division of the party was merely a "branch office" of London. The poll showed that just 22 percent of Scots believe the Labour Party represents their interests and a further 65 percent do not believe it does a good job of representing them.

Comment: The Scottish people already did vote "yes" Evidence the Scottish independence vote was rigged Scottish independence stolen: Petition demanding referendum be re-held reaches 70,000 signatures in one day Scottish independence vote was rigged far in advance - City would never have allowed it

Hacking democracy: North Carolina voters report voting machines switching their votes to GOP candidate Tom Boggioni Raw Story 2014-11-02 00:00:00 A voter in Guilfrord County, attempting to take advantage of early voting in North Carolina, told theNews-Record that the voting machine he used repeatedly switched his vote for a Democrat to a vote for her Republican opponent. Percy Bostick, 69, of Greensboro said he tried casting a vote for Democrat Kay Hagan - who is locked in a tight battle with her GOP opponent - however the machine, located in the Old Guilford County Courthouse - assigned his vote to Republican Thom Tillis. "I called one of the poll workers over," Bostick explained. "She said do it again. And again, I touched the screen at the proper place for Kay Hagan, and it again reported it for Thom Tillis."

Comment: For many decades, American democracy has been funded by corporations. It became easy to hack the democratic process with the introduction of electronic voting machines. Voting machine manufacturers have close links with American political parties.

Woman sues LAPD for kidnapping and sexually assaulting her Jackson Marciana Counter Current News 2014-11-01 20:21:00 When Kim Nguyen called a cab after a few drinks, she thought she was on the right side of the law. But in spite of her best efforts, the 27-year-old pharmacist explains she was thrown from a police cruiser after Los Angeles police officers kidnapped and sexually assaulted her while she was waiting for that cab. Part of the assault on Nguyen was captured on camera, as the young woman was filmed tumbling from a moving LAPD cruiser after being handcuffed and kidnapped while waiting for the cab she called. Nguyen was just trying to get home in the early morning hours of March 17, 2013, but that's not where her story ends. More on the latest developments in a minute. First, let's make sure you understand just how serious her allegations against the LAPD are. Let's start by taking a look at the video below: Back in 2013, Nguyen explains that officers confronted her along with two male friends outside of a downtown Los Angeles restaurant at 2 am. The group had been drinking and they knew they shouldn't drive home. They were trying to do the right thing, making sure not to drink and drive. But while waiting for the cab, officers told the men to leave them with Nguyen or they would be arrested. Once the men left, the rogue cops kidnapped Nguyen and assaulted her. In the deposition taped last month it is alleged that the officer in the back of the cruiser with Nguyen had grabbed her left inner thigh. She resisted, but he forced her legs apart. Then the officer grabbed her chest, and when she tried to push away, he grabbed her by the ear. In the struggle to get him off over her, she explains that officer negligence led to her being ejected from the vehicle at high speeds. As a result of this, Nguyen spent two weeks in the hospital. Injuries sustained included having to have her jaw wired shut. She also lost all of her teeth from the impact on the street which was caught on video, after she was ejected from the cruiser. Now, Nguyen has filed a lawsuit against the LAPD, alleging that officers failed to secure her with a seatbelt or lock her door properly. This, her attorney says, is what led to her being ejected from the car. Nguyen's attorney, Arnoldo Casillas was able to obtain surveillance footage of the incident. The video of the incident clearly shows Nguyen sprawled on the ground with her dress removed from the waist down.

Hysterical America: Alabama school system paid former FBI agent $157,000 to spy on black students Scott Kaufman Raw Story 2014-11-02 00:00:00 Huntsville City Schools (HCS) paid a former Federal Bureau of Investigations agent $157,000 to direct security last year, but critics contend that the system he implemented is designed to monitor the social media activity of black students, according to AL.com. Chris McRae, the agent in question, was brought in to oversee the Students Against Fear (SAFe) program, which works by allowing students and teachers to provide anonymous tips to security personnel, who then scour social media sites like Facebook to determine the credibility of the threat. Over 600 Huntsville City School students had their social media presence monitored last year. Of the students expelled last year for reasons related to social media, 86 percent were African-American. The school system as a whole is 40 percent black - but 78 percent of all students expelled are black.

Comment: Why Black kids? Is it not racism to target the section of population for the illegal act of spying using public tax money?

George Orwell is rolling over - Metropolitan Police uses secret surveillance technology to follow suspects (and innocent folks) RT 2014-11-03 00:23:00 Metropolitan Police uses secret surveillance technology to follow suspects and gather data from their mobile phones, The Times reports. The gathering is done to all active mobiles within a certain range - including those belonging to innocent people. The technology, called an IMSI catcher, also allows for phone calls to be intercepted and listened to. Text messages and emails can also be collected and read. Additionally, it can block phone signals in a specific area. But it's not just the suspect's phone which is taken under control by the technology; all active mobile phones in the area are. Sources in the Metropolitan Police told The Times that the data of innocent people may also be stored in archives.

High strangeness is in the air: German minister's plane disappears from radar 'for hours', causes stir RT 2014-11-02 21:15:00 Frank-Walter Steinmeier's plane, the German foreign affairs minister, reportedly disappeared for several hours from radar screens on Saturday as he was travelling in Asia, sending diplomats and government officials scrambling in alarm. The minister was on his way from Seoul, South Korea, to Jakarta, Indonesia, when the incident happened, die Bild-Zeitung reported. The airbus A 340, "Theodor Heuss", took off from Seoul at 3pm on Saturday and was due to land in Jakarta, the next stop in his Asian trip, after seven hours. Steinmeier was accompanied by actress Natalia Wörner, who was preparing for her role in the German TV series, "The Diplomat".

Comment: Just what exactly is going on with all the recent air-travel related weirdness? Take a look at the following articles as an example: Helicopter vanishes without trace on 280 kilometre flight across mountainous Tyva Republic, Russia Mystery deepens: Mobile phones of passengers from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 ring but not answered Care to speculate about possible reasons?

Shades of 'American Psycho': Banker arrested for the murders of two prostitutes in Hong Kong Tyler Durden Zero Hedge 2014-11-02 18:14:00 The excesses of 1980s New York investment banking as captured best (and with just a dose of hyperbole) by Bret Easton Ellis's American Psycho may be long gone in the US, but they certainly are alive and well in other banking meccas, such as the one place where every financier wants to work these days (thanks to the Chinese government making it rain credit): Hong Kong. It is here that yesterday a 29-year-old British banker, Rurik Jutting, a Cambridge University grad and current Bank of America Merrill Lynch, former Barclays employee, was arrested in connection with the grisly murder of two prostitutes. One of the two victims had been hidden in a suitcase on a balcony, while the other, a foreign woman of between 25 and 30, was found lying inside the apartment with wounds to her neck and buttocks, the police said in a statement.

Comment: One wonders if this was the first time this guy has snapped. Hopefully, he'll be locked away permanently to prevent him from striking again. For more on psychopathy see: American Psycho Redux The two defining characteristics of psychopaths, blunted emotional response to negative stimuli, coupled with poor impulse control, can both be measured in psychological and neuroimaging experiments...They do not seem to process heavily loaded emotional words, like "rape", for example, any differently from how they process neutral words, like "table".

Georgia school administrator finally arrested after numerous reports of child cruelty Jared Keever Opposing Views 2014-10-31 00:00:00 A school administrator in Georgia has been charged with child cruelty after a mother alleged he beat her 9-year-old son with a leather belt. And now, new reports have surfaced that the incident may not have been an isolated case. Larry Morey, an administrator at ABC Montessori's Ace Academy in McDonough, Georgia, was arrested and booked into the Henry County jail Wednesday after a parent filed a complaint that her son came home from the school with marks on his body. Gentry Foster is described in a KFOR story about the incident as a "special needs" student. His mother, Lori Cameron, said she believes the school went too far in disciplining her son. "They lifted him, from what I understand, about 18 inches off the ground and beat him with a leather belt," she said. "I inspected my son and he's covered in bruises and welts."

Comment: Its unconscionable that nothing was done until now to remove this predator from the school, when three other reports were made to police prior to this incident.

Iraq keeps burning: Islamic State murders 67 more of its tribesmen RIA Novosti 2014-11-02 16:22:00 The Islamic State (IS) militant group has murdered on Sunday 67 of its Sunni tribesmen for opposing the group's military advancement, Xinhua reported citing official reports. According to the newspaper, the incident happened in Iraq's western province of Anbar, about 200 kilometers northwest of Baghdad. The jihadist group murdered 67 men from the families it had captured on the grounds that they were linked with Sahwa paramilitary groups supported by Iraq's government. In an earlier killing, 255 tribesmen were executed, according to the newspaper.

Comment: Always remember that the unleashed monster we know as ISIS was originally part of the Syrian "rebellion" that the US supported and armed in the hopes of toppling the Assad government. Remember as well that ISIS provides an excellent opportunity for new military adventures from Washington, including bombing Syria. See: At least 70 Syrian Army leaders 'slaughtered' as ISIS and Nusra Front militants storm Idlib Fighting Assad by fighting ISIS: U.S. considers bombing oil pipelines ISIS: America's mercenary task force

Secret History

Prophet Mani: Ancient seal provides insights from antiquity phys.org 2014-10-30 12:41:00 When a personal artifact of a religious leader is discovered nearly 1,700 years after its use, the object provides invaluable historical insights. Zsuzsanna Gulacsi, professor of Comparative Cultural Studies, has been studying an ancient crystal seal used by prophet Mani, to provide new interpretations and prepare the seal for further research. Mani, a Persian born in 216, established Manichaeism, a religion drawing from the era's dominant religions, including Zoroastrianism and Christianity. Mani stood out among religious leaders of the time, Gulacsi said, because he wrote his own doctrine, compared to Jesus, Mohammad and the historical Buddha who were not known to read or write. The engraved crystal seal was used to authenticate Mani's writings and correspondence. According to Gulacsi, Mani believed other religious leaders had their teachings distorted because they could not write themselves. "Their disciples did not have the capacity of a prophet, whose clarity of religious insight was believed to surpass that of ordinary human beings," Gulacsi said.

Leonardo legends: Master's self-portrait hidden from Hitler in case it gave him magic powers Dany Mitzman BBC News 2014-10-29 00:07:00 One of the world's most famous self-portraits is going on rare public display in the northern Italian city of Turin. Very little is known about the 500-year-old, fragile, fading red chalk drawing of Leonardo da Vinci but some believe it has mystical powers. There is a myth in Turin that the gaze of Leonardo da Vinci in this self-portrait is so intense that those who observe it are imbued with great strength. Some say it was this magical power, not the cultural and economic value of the drawing, that led to it being secretly moved from Turin and taken to Rome during World War Two - heaven forbid it should ever fall into Hitler's hands and give him more power. Whatever the reason, this was the only work from the entire collection of precious drawings and manuscripts to be removed from the Royal Library in Turin at the time. The library's current director, Giovanni Saccani, says nobody even knows exactly where it was hidden. "To prevent the Nazis from taking it, an intelligence operation saw it transported in absolute anonymity to Rome." Under such difficult circumstances, preservation was not properly considered, "nor did they have the same knowledge and techniques back then," says Saccani. "Naturally, this did not do its condition any good." Inside the Royal Library a pristine red carpet lines the stairs - we follow the steps down to a secure underground vault with reinforced doors. This purpose built caveau has been the home of Leonard's Self-Portrait, and thousands of other priceless drawings and manuscripts, since 1998. The picture's treatment today could not contrast more strikingly with the neglect it suffered during the first half of the 20th Century.

American Tariffs and Wars: From the Revolution to the Great Depression James Bovard Dave Stockman's Contra Corner 2014-11-01 17:09:00 Fair trade is once again a rallying cry for many Americans. Many contemporary leftists believe that the U.S. government should impose restrictions or tariffs on imported goods that are alleged to have been produced by underpaid or oppressed Third World workers. Few contemporary protectionists are aware of the sordid history of trade conflicts earlier in American history. Restrictive trade policies were a major cause of the American Revolution. "In 1732, England slapped heavy duties on American pig iron, and, in a death blow to the hat industry, decreed that hat makers were forbidden to have more than two apprentices each," as an 1892 Stanford University monograph noted. In 1750 Britain prohibited Americans from erecting any mill for rolling or slitting iron; William Pitt exclaimed, "It is forbidden to make even a nail for a horseshoe." The Declaration of Independence denounced King George for "cutting off our trade with all parts of the world." Many Founding Fathers recognized the corrupt nature of such restrictions. Benjamin Franklin observed, "Most of the statutes or acts, edicts, arrests, and placarts of parliaments, princes, and states, for regulating, directing, or restraining trade, have been either political blunders, or jobs obtained by artful men for private advantage, under pretense of public good."

Sacred tunnel discovered in city of Teotihuacan is filled with ritual objects and may lead to royal tombs David Alire Garcia Reuters 2014-10-29 00:00:00 A sacred tunnel discovered in the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan is filled with thousands of ritual objects and may lead to royal tombs, the lead Mexican archaeologist on the project said on Wednesday. The entrance to the 1,800-year-old tunnel was first discovered in 2003, and its contents came to light thanks to excavations by remote-control robots and then human researchers, archeologist Sergio Gomez told reporters. The site is located about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Mexico City. The ruins have long been shrouded in mystery because its inhabitants did not leave behind written records. The artifacts found inside the tunnel, located below the Temple of the Plumed Serpent, include finely carved stone sculptures, jewelry and shells.

1980s Home Office nuclear warfare experiment: Put psychopaths in charge! RT 2014-10-31 11:40:00 A clandestine Home Office experiment in 1982 tested Britain's capacity to rebuild after a catastrophic nuclear assault. Previously secret files, made public by the National Archives, document proposals to keep order using psychopathic recruits. The exercise, dubbed 'Regenerate', was devised to prepare Britain to cope with a massive nuclear attack. The project aimed to create back-up measures in the event of a World War Three scenario. Establishment officials imagined a situation where a nuclear exchange had devastated Britain's major cities, causing millions of casualties and widespread radiation poisoning. The Cold War experiment's strategic means of dealing with such a disaster entailed assembling and recruiting a large group of officials, who would report to 12 carefully selected commissioners. Those who participated in the experiment were predominantly police officers, state officials, military officers and fire services.

Comment: The irony here is that the very professions involved in this experiment - police officers, state officials, military officers - are full of psychopaths. So Hogg's suggestion, "extraordinary" and "bizarre" as it may appear to someone like Hennessy, is actually not that far from the truth. The problem is that psychopaths' lack of feelings for others is NOT an advantage. That's what they would like us to believe, and there has been a disinformation campaign for years to put these ideas in the public's awareness. But as Andrew Lobaczewski shows in Political Ponerology, psychopaths are anything but good in such situations; they make life intolerable for everyone else.

Hoard of 17th century artefacts found at Rathfarnham Castle in Ireland Colin Gleeson The Irish Times 2014-10-30 18:26:00 Items revealing lives of 'elite' family found in underground lair by construction workers A near perfect hoard of 17th century artefacts has been discovered in an underground lair of Rathfarnham Castle, revealing intimate details of the lives of the family who lived there and wider Irish society during that period. The hoard was discovered about a month ago by construction workers installing a lift shaft at the castle. It was found in a sealed lair between two stone floors at the bottom of one of the castle towers. Alva MacGowan, find supervisor with Archaeology Plan, the organisation commissioned by the Office of Public Works to deal with the hoard, said the "absolutely superb" preservation of the artefacts was "every archaeologist's dream". Among the items discovered was a foldable toothbrush, clay pipes, jewellery, porcelain, coins, chamber pots, crystal goblets, as well as wine bottles and ointment jars with as of yet unknown liquids inside.

Eight square meter vault and marble door found in Amphipolis tomb Philip Chrysopoulos Greek Reporter 2014-10-31 19:00:00 In an effort to reach the fourth chamber in the Amphipolis tomb, the excavation crew reached an 8.4 square meter vault and found an almost intact marble door weighing 1.5 tons. According to an official announcement by the Greek Ministry of Culture, the removal of the backfilling earth from the fourth chamber exposed a vault dug on the natural slate floor. The vault has a surface of 4X2.10 meters and its floor is sealed with limestone. In addition, a marble door that belongs to the third chamber with dimensions 2X0.90X0.15 meters, weighing 1.5 tons, was found with only a small part missing. Parts of the limestone remain intact and are connected to the side walls. On the west part of the floor, there is an incline caused by the floor caving in. On the east part, the limestone is in place. The stones from the west wall will be removed to facilitate supporting and bracing works. The report describes the vault as filled with soil, like the rest of the monument, and the removal of soil has led to a depth of 1.40 meters so far and it looks like it goes much deeper. The second door was found inside the soil. The removal of soil is continuing uninterrupted.

"Ancient" skull recovered from a cave in England The Westmorland Gazette 2014-11-01 02:00:00 Police are investigating after a human skull was discovered by cavers in a north Lancashire pothole. Members of Clapham-based Cave Rescue Organisation (CRO) were asked by Lancashire Police to retrieve the skull - which the rescuers described as "ancient" - from Dunald Mill Hole, Nether Kellet, yesterday. The CRO team received the call at 11.21am on Friday. A spokesman said: "An ancient human skull was discovered by cavers in Dunald Mill Hole and reported to the police. "CRO was asked to retrieve it as part of the subsequent police investigation and a small team completed the task later in the day."

Science & Technology

Investigating a triple star system in formation ScienceDaily 2014-11-03 20:11:00 An international team of astronomers, including researchers at the LAB (CNRS/Université de Bordeaux), IPAG (CNRS/Université Joseph Fourier Grenoble 1) and IRAM (CNRS/MPG/IGN), has carried out the most accurate study so far of the cocoon of gas and dust surrounding the GG Tau A system. By combining complementary observations at submillimeter (ALMA and IRAM) wavelengths with those at infrared (VLTI/ESO) wavelengths, the researchers were able to identify the complex dynamics at work in GG Tau. For the first time, they detected motion of matter showing that exoplanets can form not only around one of the members of this trio of young stars, but also much further out in the disc surrounding the three stars. These observational findings, published in the October 30 issue of the journal Nature, reveal a more complex story than originally thought. Although recent observational discoveries have shown the existence of many planets orbiting double stars, their formation ran up against the problem of the gravitational instabilities caused by the binary nature of such stars.. Observations of young binary stars are still too scarce to provide a detailed picture of these processes. Until very recently, GG Tau A, located 450 light years from Earth in the constellation Taurus, was thought to be a binary system of two stars, Aa and Ab. However, recent infrared measurements carried out with the VLT and VLTI (ESO) instruments have shown that GG Tau A is in fact a triple star system: GG Tau Ab is itself a binary star. The central star Aa is far enough away from the Ab pair for it to be surrounded by a circumstellar disc, first observed in 2011 with the IRAM interferometer. Around this triple star system the researchers have already identified a rotating disc of gas and dust, whose center is cleared by gravitational tidal effects. As the three stars orbit around one another, they create an unstable gravitational region called a cavity, through which matter can only travel before falling onto the central stars. Further away, where the outer ring of matter is located, the gravitational field is no longer disturbed, and the rotating matter can form a stable structure. The existence of a central cavity around GG Tau A, known since the 1990s thanks to observations with the IRAM interferometer, partially confirmed these theoretical predictions. In the 2000s, the presence of gas in the cavity was detected, but the precise dynamics of this gas, which is the key to understanding the accretion mechanisms giving rise to planets, remained largely unknown.

Newly discovered asteroid 2014 UR116 may threaten Earth RT.com 2014-11-03 18:57:00 Moscow University's robotic telescope has discovered a massive asteroid that could potentially hit Earth in the future. If such a collision happens, the explosion would be 1,000 more powerful the Chelyabinsk meteorite explosion in 2013. An automatic telescope installed in Russia's Caucasus Mountains, near the city of Kislovodsk, first spotted the newly discovered space rock, dubbed 2014 UR116. The asteroid is estimated to be 370 meters in diameter, which is bigger than the size of the notorious Apophis asteroid. Once Russian astronomers saw the new space object, they passed the data to colleagues at the Minor Planet Center of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. That means many observatories around the world closely scrutinized 2014 UR116, which helped to calculate the object's preliminary orbit. 2014 UR116's orbit is fluctuating because it also passes close to Venus and Mars, and the gravitational pull of these planets can also influence the asteroid's trajectory. When a meteorite exploded in the skies above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in February 2013, the energy of the explosion was estimated to be equivalent to 300-500 kilotons of TNT. But the Chelyabinsk meteorite was relatively small, about 17 meters in diameter and it disintegrated with a blast at an altitude of over 20 kilometers.

How hackers use radio waves and cell phones to steal protected data Kim Zetter Wired 2014-11-03 05:35:00 Computers housing the world's most sensitive data are usually "air-gapped" or isolated from the internet. They're also not connected to other systems that are internet-connected, and their Bluetooth feature is disabled, too. Sometimes, workers are not even allowed to bring mobile phones within range of the computers. All of this is done to keep important data out of the hands of remote hackers. But these security measures may be futile in the face of a new technique researchers in Israel have developed for stealthily extracting sensitive data from isolated machines - using radio frequency signals and a mobile phone. The attack recalls a method the NSA has been secretly using for at least six years to siphon data in a similar manner. An NSA catalogue of spy tools leaked online last year describes systems that use radio frequency signals to remotely siphon data from air-gapped machines using transceivers - a combination receiver and transmitter - attached to or embedded in the computer instead of a mobile phone. The spy agency has reportedly used the method in China, Russia and even Iran. But the exact technique for doing this has never been revealed. The researchers in Israel make no claims that theirs is the method used by the NSA, but Dudu Mimran, chief technology officer at the Israeli lab behind the research, acknowledges that if student researchers have discovered a method for using radio signals to extract data from hard-to-reach systems, professionals with more experience and resources likely have discovered it, too.

Comment: It appears as if nothing is safe anymore.

The 'plasmoelectric effect': New mechanism discovered to convert light into electricity phys.org 2014-10-30 12:21:00 Researchers from FOM Institute AMOLF and the California Institute of Technology have discovered a new method for the generation of electrical potentials using light. With the help of minutely sculpted metal nanocircuits they could effectively capture light and convert it into an electrical potential of 100 millivolt. The research results are published on 30 October in the journal Science. The AMOLF-Caltech team, which has worked together for many years, calls the newly discovered effect the 'plasmoelectric effect'. Albert Polman, leader of the AMOLF part of the team: "This is an entirely new way of converting light into electricity. We have now demonstrated that an electrical voltage can be generated; the next step is to see whether we can also collect electrical current and generate electrical power." Small particles of precious metals such as copper, silver and gold are known to emit colourful spectrums if they are illuminated. A well-known example is stained-glass windows in old churches in which the colours are formed by small metal nanoparticles that have been enclosed in the glass. The light that shines on these particles is converted into plasmons: oscillations of the free electrons in the metal. That results in strong absorption and diffraction of certain colours of light.

Ultracold disappearing act: 'Matter waves' move through one another but never share space phys.org 2014-11-02 12:02:00 A disappearing act was the last thing Rice University physicist Randy Hulet expected to see in his ultracold atomic experiments, but that is what he and his students produced by colliding pairs of Bose Einstein condensates (BECs) that were prepared in special states called solitons. Hulet's team documented the strange phenomenon in a new study published online this week in the journal Nature Physics. BECs are clumps of a few hundred thousand lithium atoms that are cooled to within one-millionth of a degree above absolute zero, a temperature so cold that the atoms march in lockstep and act as a single "matter wave." Solitons are waves that do not diminish, flatten out or change shape as they move through space. To form solitons, Hulet's team coaxed the BECs into a configuration where the attractive forces between lithium atoms perfectly balance the quantum pressure that tends to spread them out.. The researchers expected to observe the property that a pair of colliding solitons would pass though one another without slowing down or changing shape. However, they found that in certain collisions, the solitons approached one another, maintained a minimum gap between themselves, and then appeared to bounce away from the collision. "You never see them together," said Hulet, Rice's Fayez Sarofim Professor of Physics and Astronomy. "There is always a hole, a gap that they must jump over. They pass through one another, but they never occupy the same space while they're doing that. "It happens because of 'wave packet' interference," he said. "Think of them as waves that can have a positive or negative amplitude. One of the solitons is positive and the other is negative, so they cancel one another. The probability of them being in the spot where they meet is zero. They pass through that spot, but you never see them there."

China unveils "laser to shoot down low-flying drones" Phys.org 2014-11-03 09:00:00 China has developed a highly accurate laser weapon system that can shoot down light drones at low altitude, state media reported. The machine has a two-kilometre range and can bring down "various small aircraft" within five seconds of locating its target, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing a statement by the China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP), one of the developers. Xinhua showed pictures of large metal boxes in camouflage paint and the wreckage of a small drone, some of it burning. It is expected to "play a key role in ensuring security during major events in urban areas" and address concerns on unlicensed mapping activities, according to Xinhua. It is effective up to a maximum altitude of 500 metres and against aircraft flying at up to 50 metres per second (112 mph), Xinhua said.

Scientists explain why your dog kicks when you scratch his belly Loren Grush Popular Science 2014-10-27 12:14:00 It's called the sweet spot. That perfect place on your dog's belly or sides that, when scratched, causes your pet's foot to go into crazy automatic kicking mode. Every dog owner knows where to find this magical region on his or her canine, as it usually offers up unmitigated joy. As delightful as this puppy kicking is to watch, this reaction is actually a means of self-protection for your pet. It's called the scratch reflex, and it's an involuntary response that exists to keep your dog safe from dangerous bugs or irritants.

US scientists spy on human minds with brain decoder RT 2014-11-01 00:00:00 Keeping your thoughts strictly to yourself may soon prove infeasible, with scientists working on a break-through, mind-reading device. The idea is to help people who are physically unable to interact with the outside world. In fact, it's all about hearing "inner voices" and correctly interpreting them with the help of unique individual decoders, a researcher from the University of California, Berkley, explained. "If you're reading text in a newspaper or a book, you hear a voice in your own head. We're trying to decode the brain activity related to that voice to create a medical prosthesis that can allow someone who is paralyzed or locked in to speak," Brian Pasley told New Scientist magazine. The team of researchers recorded brain activity in seven people undergoing epilepsy surgery, while they looked at a screen displaying texts from either one of the best-known speeches in US history: the Gettysburg Address by President Abraham Lincoln, or John F. Kennedy's inaugural address.

Comment: It is any body's guess how this type of technology will be used in the world controlled by Psychopaths who spy on every thing they seem fit for their plunder.

More BRICS Space success: China completes first mission to moon and back phys.org 2014-11-01 13:53:00 China completed its first return mission to the moon early Saturday with the successful re-entry and landing of an unmanned probe, state media reported, in the latest step forward for Beijing's ambitious space programme. The probe landed safely in northern China's Inner Mongolia region, state news agency Xinhua said, citing the Beijing Aerospace Control Center. Xinhua said the probe took "some incredible pictures" of the Earth and the moon. Prior to re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, the unnamed probe was travelling at 11.2 kilometres per second (25,000 miles per hour), a speed that can generate temperatures of more than 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,700 degrees Fahrenheit), the news agency reported. To slow it down, scientists let the craft "bounce" off Earth's atmosphere before re-entering again and landing. The probe's mission was to travel to the moon, fly around it and head back to Earth, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) said in a statement at its launch eight days ago.

Comment: The success of Beijing's ambitious space programme, together with India, their BRICS ally (Indias maiden Mars mission successful) is in direct contrast to their Western counterparts; who have suffered various anomalies recently, in a shockingly bad week for their space dominance: Virgin Galactic Space Ship Two destroyed after in flight anomaly Antares rocket explosion: A "vehicle anomaly", a deliberate destruction, or something else? NASA rocket bound for International Space Station explodes just seconds after takeoff

Genes could influence who survives Ebola ABC Science, Australia 2014-10-31 00:58:00 The Ebola virus is not always deadly and genetics may play a role in the severity of the illness, according to a new study on mice. Researchers at the University of Washington infected mice with a mouse form of the same species of the Ebola virus that is sweeping West Africa. Seventy per cent of the mice got sick, and more than half of this group died, some due to liver inflammation and others due to internal hemorrhage. About 19 per cent of the mice lost weight initially but then regained it in two weeks and made a full recovery. The remaining 11 per cent showed a partial response to the virus and less than half in this group died. The findings are reported in the journal Science this week. Scientists say the variability in outcomes resembled what has been seen in the human epidemic sweeping West Africa this year, killing more than 4,900 people and infecting more than 13,000. They were also able to find associations in disease outcomes and mortality rates according to specific genetic lines of mice.

Earth Changes

Why is it cooling so fast? Dr Mark Sircus DrSircus.com 2014-10-31 21:59:00 We are being beaten by a one two punch. From one side we have the sun diminishing its radiance and on the other volcanoes have gone berserk these past few years. And we have 'official' smoke signals going up from the ICC global warming crowd that it is not warming after all with no sorry and no admission of being wrong or lying. (Be sure to read the special note at the end about the new official ICC statements, a new volcano blowing its stack since yesterday, and a spiritual note to global warming liars.) Until recently, it has been the hard science of astrophysics that has been warning us that the sun has entered a phase of low activity, which will drive cooler weather here on earth. The head of the Space Research section of the Russian Academy of Science, Professor Khabibullo Abdussamatov, in 2006 issued a press release, warning that the world should prepare for imminent global cooling. He predicted that the global cooling would start in 2012 - 2015, and would likely peak around 2055. "On the basis of our [solar emission] research, we developed a scenario of a global cooling of the Earth's climate by the middle of this century and the beginning of a regular 200-year-long cycle of the climate's global warming at the start of the 22nd century," said Abdussamatov. He and his colleagues had concluded that a period of global cooling similar to one seen in the late 17th century - when canals froze in the Netherlands and people had to leave their dwellings in Greenland - could start in 2012-2015 and reach its peak in 2055-2060. The Russians did not calculate into their predictions these record breaking volcanic emissions into the atmosphere. Alone the sun was throwing us into cooling. Volcanic cooling is being added to the formula before our very eyes and only the blind at this point cannot see what is coming.

Comment: For a detailed analysis on the current changes affecting our planet not only in terms of climate, but also geology, cosmology and more, read Pierre Lescaudron's and Laura Knight-Jadczyk's recent book, Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection: The Secret History of the World - Book 3.

Dead minke whale washes up on beach near Almeria, Spain David Jackson davidjackson.info 2014-11-01 20:18:00 A 16 metre long Minke whale has washed up on Retamar beach near Almeria city today. It's a common sort of whale in the Med, but this fully grown specimen caused much alarm when it was spotted at about 12:30 today just offshore, and calls were placed to the emergency services. Specialists from the sealife charity Equimar turned up and confirmed the animal was dead. Specimens were taken from the animal for later analysis, but a preliminary check by the specialists indicated that the animal had lost its dorsal fin, probably by being hit by a fishing boat, and probably died shortly afterwards as it would be unable to hunt.

Pack of feral dogs attack 2 children, killing one, Nanfang, China Charles Liu The Nanfang Insider 2014-11-03 20:00:00 A ten year-old fifth grader is dead after he and another student were attacked on their way to school in Anhui by three wild dogs, reports Sina News Video. They were heading to school at 7am on October 29 in Guzhen County when the dogs, described as "evil" and quite large, attacked. The other child, a nine year old, sustained an injury to his arm but was able to escape. When help arrived, the dogs were still surrounding the boy's body. Police brought more than 60 guns to the scene and killed all the dogs on site.

'Mini tornado' hits Tel Aviv coast i24news 2014-11-03 18:54:00 Israel Meteorological Service to i24news: Waterspout is just as beautiful as a tornado but much less harmful. The Israeli fall offered Monday morning a beautiful natural phenomenon - a waterspout. A waterspout is an columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water, usually above the sea, Amit Savir of the training department in Israel Meteorological Service told i24news. The phenomenon is usually accompanied by lightning and thunderstorm, Savir added. Unlike the infamous tornedo, which causes great damage in its wake due to wind speeds of more than 300 miles per hour, diameter of more than two miles (3.2 km) across, and which stays on the ground for dozens of miles (more than 100 km), "the waterspout is very local, it stays above the water and rarely hits land. If the waterspout does hit land, the damage could be minor," Savir explained.

Comment: Well, it seems, like "the necessary climate conditions" are just right for waterspouts in many other countries as well:

100 year snow records broken across the South Eastern US on October 31st and November 01st wattsupwiththat.com 2014-11-03 10:46:00 It was the earliest and heaviest snow in several places since records have been kept dating as far back as 1880. 100 Year Snow Records broken across the South Eastern US on October 31st and November 01st. It was the earliest and heaviest snow in several places since records have been kept dating as far back as 1880. Reduced sunspot count shows Solar hibernation is occurring along with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) showing a cooling Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation (AMO) Atlantic Ocean temperature is predicted to fall by 2020, which screams of cooling events to take place globally.

Flashback: So wrong: Snowfalls are now just a thing of the past Charles Onians UK Independent 2000-03-20 09:55:00 Britain's winter ends tomorrow with further indications of a striking environmental change: snow is starting to disappear from our lives. Sledges, snowmen, snowballs and the excitement of waking to find that the stuff has settled outside are all a rapidly diminishing part of Britain's culture, as warmer winters - which scientists are attributing to global climate change - produce not only fewer white Christmases, but fewer white Januaries and Februaries. The first two months of 2000 were virtually free of significant snowfall in much of lowland Britain, and December brought only moderate snowfall in the South-east. It is the continuation of a trend that has been increasingly visible in the past 15 years: in the south of England, for instance, from 1970 to 1995 snow and sleet fell for an average of 3.7 days, while from 1988 to 1995 the average was 0.7 days. London's last substantial snowfall was in February 1991.

Hurricane Vance moves toward Mexico's Pacific coast The Weather Channel 2014-11-03 05:27:00 Hurricane Vance continues to strengthen over the eastern Pacific Ocean, about 500 miles southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. It became a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale Sunday evening with winds of 105 mph. Vance earlier became a Category 1 hurricane Sunday morning, making it the 14th hurricane of 2014 within the Eastern Pacific basin. (Genevieve, which started in the Eastern Pacific, became a hurricane in the Central Pacific basin -- if one counts Genevieve, there have been 15 hurricanes with Eastern Pacific origins this year.) Hurricane Vance is tracking to the northwest, remaining well off the Mexican Pacific coast. However, Vance is expected to take a northeast turn toward the southwest Mexican coast during the week, as a mid-level ridge near the southern Baja California peninsula shifts eastward and a trough approaches.

First Afghan fanged deer seen in more than 60 years Richard Farrell Discovery News 2014-10-31 21:20:00 A fanged creature not seen in Afghanistan for more than 60 years has been spotted by a research team in the northeast part of the country. The Kashmir musk deer was last seen in Afghanistan in 1948. But a team headed up by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) reports in the October 22 issue of the journal Oryx that it made five sightings in a range of land that included alpine meadows and steep, rocky outcrops. The sightings featured a solitary male that was spotted three different times in the same area, as well as one female with a juvenile deer and one solitary female. The area where they were seen was scattered with dense bushes of juniper and rhododendron. Unfortunately, the extremely skittish deer, already difficult to spot, did not remain in place long enough to be photographed, the team said.

Study reveals startling decline in European bird populations Phys.org 2014-11-03 03:00:00 Bird populations across Europe have experienced sharp declines over the past 30 years, with the majority of losses from the most common species, say the University of Exeter, the RSPB and the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (PECBMS) in a new study. However, numbers of some less common birds have risen. The study, published today in the journal Ecology Letters, reveals a decrease of 421 million individual birds over 30 years. Around 90 percent of these losses were from the 36 most common and widespread species, including house sparrows, skylarks, grey partridges and starlings, highlighting the need for greater efforts to halt the continent-wide declines of our most familiar countryside birds. Richard Inger from the University of Exeter said: "It is very worrying that the most common species of bird are declining rapidly because it is this group of birds that people benefit from the most." "It is becoming increasingly clear that interaction with the natural world and wildlife is central to human wellbeing and significant loss of common birds could be quite detrimental to human society."

Scientist warns Amazon rainforest losing ability to regulate climate Jonathan Watts The Guardian 2014-10-31 16:47:00 The Amazon rain forest has degraded to the point where it is losing its ability to benignly regulate weather systems, according to a stark new warning from one of Brazil's leading scientists. The Amazon works as a giant pump, channeling moisture inland via aerial rivers and rainclouds that form over the forest more dramatically than over the sea, the author says. It also provides a buffer against extreme weather events, such as tornados and hurricanes. In the past 20 years, the author notes that the Amazon has lost 763,000 sq km, an area the size of two Germanys. In addition another 1.2m sq km has been estimated as degraded by cutting below the canopy and fire. As a result, the report notes, the deterioration of the rainforest - through logging, fires and land clearance - has resulted in a decrease in forest transpiration and a lengthening of dry seasons. This might be one of the factors of the severe drought affecting south-east Brazil. São Paulo - the biggest city in South America - is facing its worst water shortages in almost a century. October, which is usually the start of the rainy season, was drier than at any time since 1930, leaving the volume of the Cantareira reservoir system down to 5% of capacity. In a new report, Antonio Nobre, researcher in the government's space institute, Earth System Science Centre, says the logging and burning of the world's greatest forest might be connected to worsening droughts - such as the one currently plaguing São Paulo - and is likely to lead eventually to more extreme weather events. The study, which is a summary drawing from more than 200 existing papers on Amazonian climate and forest science, is intended as a wake-up call.

Comment: The Amazon does not belong to any nation or corporation. It belongs to the ecosystem that regulates the climate for the entire human race. As Earth endures the ongoing deformation of nature by mankind (through illimitable selfish acts, both big and small), there is obviously little cognizance that the trajectories of these separate acts are collective, are connected and progress to cataclysmic breakdowns of ecological systems and patterns. Mankind, in its greed and short-sightedness, ignores the signs, misses the connections and fails its stewardship. It is oblivious to the danger inherent in sawing off the proverbial limbs that nurture and support its life, resulting, perhaps without recourse, in near or full demise. As long as there are mindless consumers, there will be unconscionable corporations that prey upon the bounty of this planet and self-serving pathocrats whose blind-eye policies perpetuate the rape and plunder of earth's treasures for the benefit of the "privileged" few at the expense of all life. In the mirror of radically changing or failing natural processes, what will truncate these pathologically destructive belief systems and jolt human miopia long enough for a realignment of priorities in order to save itself, a species hellbent on self-extinction. Is there a will and a way? Is there time?

IPCC focus on stopping global warming and extreme weather is 'unscientific and immoral' Anthony Watts Watt's Up With That? 2014-11-03 00:35:00 "IPCC Chairman Dr. Rajendra Pachauri was right to advocate "a global agreement to finally reverse course on climate change" when he spoke to delegates tasked with approving the IPCC Synthesis Report, released on Sunday," said Tom Harris, executive director of the Ottawa, Canada-based International Climate Science Coalition (ICSC). "The new direction governments should follow must be one in which the known needs of people suffering today are given priority over problems that might someday be faced by those yet to be born." "Yet, exactly the opposite is happening," continued Harris. "Of the roughly one billion U.S. dollars spent every day across the world on climate finance, only 6% of it is devoted to helping people adapt to climate change in the present. The rest is wasted trying to stop improbable future climatic events. That is immoral." ICSC chief science advisor, Professor Bob Carter, former Head of the Department of Earth Sciences at James Cook University in Australia and author of Taxing Air explained, "Science has yet to provide unambiguous evidence that problematic, or even measurable, human-caused global warming is occurring. The hypothesis of dangerous man-made climate change is based solely on computerized models that have repeatedly failed in practice in the real world."

Canada: New Brunswick snowstorm leaves 7,600 without power The Canadian Press 2014-11-02 16:11:00 New Brunswick was blasted with the region's first snowstorm of the year on Sunday, causing power outages and prompting officials to urge people to stay off roads. Environment Canada said a low pressure system was intensifying as it tracked across the Maritimes Sunday. The national weather forecaster had issued snowfall warning for central and northwestern parts of New Brunswick. Meteorologist Barrie MacKinnon said the snowfall was intensifying throughout the day and would persist until Sunday evening, with as much as 30 centimetres expected in some areas. "It's certainly the first (snowstorm) and a big one for them," said MacKinnon from Halifax on Sunday. "But tonight we're expecting things to taper off and by tomorrow we'll just be seeing some flurries." New Brunswick Power said roughly 7,600 customers were without power at one point in Fredericton, Woodstock, St. Stephen, Bouctouche, Miramichi and Sussex.

Already an early U.S. winter? A foot of snow in Maine, record unprecedented early-season snow in South Carolina Jon Erdman Weather Channel 2014-11-02 22:21:00 Up to a foot of snow has fallen in Maine from a storm system that earlier brought an unprecedented early-season snow to parts of South Carolina on the first day of November. Bangor, Maine, reported 12 inches of snow as of 2:50 p.m. EST Sunday. Scroll down for more on the snow forecast for New England. Snow was observed Saturday as far south and east as Charleston, South Carolina, the earliest flakes on record in the city. This occurred less than three days after a string of four straight days in the mid-upper 80s. Places like Folly Beach and downtown Charleston picked up a trace of snowfall. Even more stunning were the snowfall amounts in the South Carolina Midlands. Up to 4.5 inches of snow fell in Red Bank, just west of Columbia. Red Bank is only about 350 feet above sea level. A couple of inches of snow coated grassy areas and some roads near Greenville and Pelion, South Carolina. Power lines were downed in Greenville, Greenwood, and Lexington Counties due to the combination of strong winds and wet snow accumulations.

Comment: Record snowfall prompts road closures and evacuations from Great Smoky Mountains National Park

'Out of control' dog reports increase in Midlothian, Scotland Midlothian Advertiser 2014-11-02 19:23:00 Reports of dogs that are out of control in public in Midlothian have more than doubled in the last three years, the Advertiser can reveal. Statistics show a rise from 23 in 2011/12 to 56 in 2013/14. There were 35 in 2012/13, while from April to September this year there were 43. Of the 157 incidents reported within the last three years, a total of 13 dog control notices have been issued by the Midlothian Council-employed dog warden.

Power grid collapses in Bangladesh causing nationwide blackout RT 2014-11-02 07:13:00 Imagine what happens when electricity is cut off nationwide in a country of 160 million people. In Bangladesh, everyday life was brought to a standstill on Saturday as factories, hospitals, and homes plunged into darkness or had to rely on generators. Even the prime minister's official residence was left with no electricity, as the small but extremely densely populated South Asian country experienced one of the worst blackouts in world's recent history. A general view shows Dhaka during a power blackout on November 1, 2014 (AFP Photo / Munir uz Zaman) "The national grid collapsed so the whole country lost power," Reuters quoted Mohammad Saiful Islam, a director of the state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board, as saying. "Our repeated efforts to restore electricity across Bangladesh failed repeatedly." Local media reported that the blackout was caused by the failure of a transmission line transporting electricity from India. India's Power Grid Corp, however, said there were no problems on their side of the border.

Comment: The sun recently erupted with X-class solar flares directed at earth. The delivery of huge quantities of energetic particles from the sun (mainly protons) can boost the radiation environment around Earth and interact with our planet's magnetosphere. These geomagnetic storms are responsible for beautiful auroral displays at high latitudes and can cause power outages on the ground and satellite damage in orbit. Largest sunspot on sun in more than two decades unleashes massive solar flare Monster Earth-facing Sunspot - solar flare alert with possible solar storm brewing X-Class solar flares hit Earth, cause radio blackouts

Fire in the Sky

No new articles.

Health & Wellness

10-year-old Florida girl is paralyzed with rare brain infection four days after receiving flu shot Pete D'amato DailyMail 2014-11-03 01:01:00 A 10-year-old girl in Florida has been paralyzed for almost a year with a rare inflammation of the brain and her family is blaming a flu vaccine. According to Carla Grivna, her daughter Marysue was living a perfectly healthy and happy life until last year. 'She (used to) love school, she was running, playing, singing in the church choir,' Grivna told WTSP. Last November, Grivna took Marysue for her seasonal flu shot. She was healthy for the next couple of days, playing freeze tag with friends a few days before Thanksgiving. The next day, Grivna found her daughter paralyzed in her bed, able to open her eyes but unable to move her body or speak. Grivna and her husband called an ambulance, and at the hospital received a sobering diagnosis - Marysue had a rare infection of the brain called acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, or ADEM.

Fast food marketing strategies continue to target children Natural Blaze 2014-10-31 21:12:00 A newly published research study examining only marketing directed at children on the interior and exterior of fast food restaurants has found that black, as well as middle-income communities and rural areas, are disproportionately exposed to such marketing tactics. Authored by Arizona State University researcher Punam Ohri-Vachaspati and her colleagues, the study is the first to examine the use of child-directed marketing on the interior and exterior of fast food restaurants and its relationship to demographics. It adds to a substantial body of literature on the effects of various marketing efforts on fast food consumption and their relationship to health outcomes in children. In the United States, fast food is the second largest source of total energy in the diets of children and adolescents. It provides 13 percent of total calories consumed by 2- to 18-year-olds. Every day, almost a third of children aged 2 to 11 years and more than 40 percent of 12- to 19-year-olds consume food and drinks from fast food restaurants.

Comment: Additional examples of the prevalence of large corporations (think Big Food/ Big Ag) targeting children regardless the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative: Babies Learn To Like Junk Food In The Womb Imprinted: Kids' brains "branded" with fast-food logos Study Shows Fast Food Companies Aggressively Market to Kids, Minorities Food manufacturers target children on internet after regulator's TV advertising clampdown Companies Exploiting Socially-Networked Children to Push Junk Food Like Drug Dealers McDonald's CEO called out by 9-year-old Hannah Robertson for selling junk food to kids We're Not Buying It: Stop Junk Food Marketing to Kids

The seasonal flu lie: PR stunt to sell more vaccinations Joe Martino Collective Evolution 2014-11-01 20:18:00 It is said that the seasonal flu kills between 250,000 to 500,000 people worldwide, a number that to some reading might sound incredibly high.[1] Perhaps this is why the flu vaccine is so heavily offered? The key question that is creating a great amount of controversy is whether or not the numbers we read about the amount of flu deaths are actually accurate? When winter time rolls around we start hearing the term "flu season." As a result, we are offered the flu vaccine as a means to protect ourselves from the flu. I was just reading a public health flyer the other day that stated the best way to protect yourself from the flu is to take the vaccine. It seemed odd that the whole public health flyer seemed focused on making sure people knew the flu vaccine was a must have. I could understand that, if the death stats were actually accurate.

Comment: Pain, profit and politics continue this flu season: SOTT Special Report: The Flu Threat Flu deaths in U.S. rise past epidemic levels, CDC says Squalene: The Swine Flu Vaccine's Dirty Little Secret Exposed Flu vaccination is most certainly not a 'no-brainer' Flu shot increased risk of infection, made recipients sicker, study determines

Love in the time of genetically modified bacterial cholera vaccines? Company petitions Australia, US, and Canada to test new drug Christina Sarich Natural Society 2014-10-30 07:28:00 Love in the Time of Cholera, written by Gabriel García Márquez is one of my favorite books of all time, but were I to be exposed to the disease and contract it, I certainly wouldn't feel so romantically inspired. Márquez even says in the book, "There is no greater glory than to die for love," but to die for a genetically modified bacteria? Please continue. Cholera (KOL-er-a) is an illness that results from infection of the large intestine by Vibrio cholerae bacteria. It can cause watery (and deadly) diarrhea, vomiting, circulatory collapse, and shock - to such an extent that people die from it. There hasn't been a major outbreak of cholera in the US.. since 1910, but worldwide it still affects millions of people. Now, PaxVax is looking to Australian government officials to conduct a clinical trial of a genetically modified live bacterial vaccine against cholera. The Australian Government Department of Health, Office of the Gene Technology Regulator, has received an application for a license from PaxVax to release their modified cholera bacteria on the population via vaccines. Say what?

Comment: Should we expect to see an explosion of cholera cases in the West?

Recipe for disaster: Rabies and adenovirus being used in new Ebola vaccine trials Melissa Melton The Daily Sheeple 2014-10-14 14:59:00 This story just popped up on USA Today this evening: "New Ebola vaccine study has begun in Maryland." Paragraph 1: The first human trials of a Canadian Ebola vaccine began Monday, part of a flood of experimental therapies rushed into testing to battle the Ebola epidemic. Great. Another experimental vaccine is being fast-tracked and rushed out thanks to a carefully planned fearporn propaganda campaign designed to ultimately make Big Pharma a lot of big profits. No one is talking about any natural alternatives, underlying nutritional deficiency issues or water treatment problems already plaguing Africa, or the fact that even the guy who designed the Ebola test says it's unreliable or the fact that stories have leaked out here and there in the African newspapers that people are purposefully poisoning city water wells with formaldehyde which, when ingested, can cause corrosive injuries that appear much like the symptoms of late-stage Ebola.

The human microbiome: Gut Bacteria quickly being cast as culprits or saviors for a diverse array of ailments Gabrielle Canon Mother Jones 2014-10-27 23:27:00 We're told that tweaks to the microbiome can cure everything from allergies to Ebola. Not exactly, say experts. In 2001, Joshua Lederberg, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist, coined the term "microbiome," naming the trillions of microorganisms that reside in and on our bodies. Today, if you type that word into Google, you'll turn up thousands of hits linking gut bacteria to a laundry list of health problems, fromfood allergies to Ebola. Between 2007 and 2012, the number of journal articles published on the microbiome increased by nearly 250 percent. Our bodily inhabitants are quickly being cast as culprits or saviors for a diverse array of ailments. The hype has kicked off a gold rush. Big food companies - including Nestle, PepsiCo, Monsanto, and General Mills - have funded gut bacteria studies, and some have even opened centers to develop foods that interact with the microbiome, such as probiotics. According to Transparency Market Research the global probiotics market is expected to reach an astonishing $45 billion by 2018.

Science of the Spirit

May she rest in Peace: Death-with-dignity advocate Brittany Maynard's voluntary death confirmed Janet Eastman The Oregonian 2014-11-02 14:54:00 Brittany Maynard dies 'as she intended,' agency says Brittany Maynard, the terminally ill 29-year-old who said she moved to Oregon to use the Death with Dignity Act, has died, a nonprofit group working with the family confirmed Sunday. Maynard died Saturday in her home in Portland, according to a statement from the agency. "She died as she intended - peacefully in her bedroom, in the arms of her loved ones," the statement reads. Compassion & Choices also posted Maynard's obituary, which listed her husband, mother and step-father among surviving family. People Magazine reported that Maynard took her own life Saturday after posting a final farewell message on Facebook. "Goodbye to all my dear friends and family that I love. Today is the day I have chosen to pass away with dignity in the face of my terminal illness, this terrible brain cancer that has taken so much from me ... but would have taken so much more," Maynard wrote in her final Facebook post.

Comment: Brittany Maynard: Why I scheduled my death for November 1st

How unconditional love helps kids with setbacks Anne Harding LiveScience 2014-11-03 07:36:00 Teens who spend some time thinking about situations in which their peers thought well of them, no matter what they did, may have an easier time coping with setbacks, new findings show. Adolescents in the study who wrote an essay about a time when they felt "unconditional regard" from their peers had fewer negative feelings about themselves after getting a bad report card than kids who wrote about a time when they felt their peers' regard was "conditional," the researchers found. "We studied this in early adolescence - a time when negative self-feelings peak, and when children often experience conditional regard from peers," said Eddie Brummelman, who was a Ph.D. candidate in developmental psychology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands when he helped conduct the study. "Although we did not study the actual provision of unconditional regard, our findings do suggest that helping children feel accepted and valued without conditions (for example, by reminding them of unconditionally accepting others) might help them buffer their negative self-feelings." "Unconditional regard" is similar to the more-familiar "unconditional love," and it means that others accept and value you without reservations or conditions. "Conditional regard refers to others making their regard conditional upon the participant's actions, performances or abilities," Brummelman said.

Subconscious manipulators: Subliminal messages easily bypass conscious perception Nick Parkins New Dawn Magazine 2014-10-18 23:00:00 The idea of someone or something controlling our every thought and action is so 1980s. Let's face it, we live out our modern, technological lives with access to instant communication and information that allows us to enjoy greater control and freedoms of thought and expression than at any point in recorded human history; right? Each of us draws comfort from the decisions we make, sure in the knowledge that we are individuals, masters of our own destiny. We mock those that aren't as under the thumb, as easily lead, or weak. Underlying this attitude is the principle that no person or system has the right to influence or determine the free will of another. This may be true, but what if this truth was naive; that even the strong-minded could not trust the direction their thoughts were taking them?

Comment: The author's closing statement, the subconscious mind throws up answers that our conscious cannot even predict, begs the question do we know ourselves? Are we aware of our own thoughts? Are we really masters of our own destiny? Or... are we, as the author suggests, easily manipulated? Easily swayed by subliminal messages? Passive to authority and lacking intuition? For more insightful information about this topic read the forum thread: The Adaptive Unconsciousand check out the two following books: Thinking, Fast And Slow In the international bestseller, Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, the renowned psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. The impact of overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning our next vacation - each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems shape our judgments and decisions. Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives - and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Winner of the National Academy of Sciences Best Book Award and the Los Angeles TimesBook Prize and selected by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 2011, Thinking, Fast and Slow is destined to be a classic. Strangers to Ourselves: Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious Preface It might seem that self-knowledge is a central topic in psychology.In some ways it is; from Freud onward, psychologistshave been fascinated by the extent to which peopleknow themselves, the limits of this knowledge, and theconsequences of failures of self-insight. Surprisingly, however,self-knowledge has not been a mainstream topic inacademic psychology. There are few college courses on self knowledge and few books devoted to the topic, if we ruleout self-help books and ones from a psychoanalytic point of view. I think this is about to change. In recent years there hasbeen an explosion of scientific research on self-knowledgethat paints a different portrait from the one presented byFreud and his followers. People possess a powerful, sophisticated,adaptive unconscious that is crucial for survival inthe world. Because this unconscious operates so efficientlyout of view, however, and is largely inaccessible, there is aprice to pay in self-knowledge. There is a great deal aboutourselves that we cannot know directly, even with the most painstaking introspection. How, then, can we discover ournonconscious traits, goals, and feelings? Is it always to ouradvantage to do so? To what extent are researchers in academerediscovering Freud and psychoanalysis? How can self-knowledgebe studied scientifically, anyway? These are the questionsto which I turn in the following pages. The answers are often surprisingand have direct, practical, implications for everyday living. ...

High Strangeness

More UFO's seen flying by Eiffel Tower Inquisitr 2014-10-27 00:00:00 A UFO "fleet" speeding around the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, was inadvertently caught on a tourist's cell phone video last week and posted on YouTube, where the video is still waiting for an explanation of what the three fast-moving objects it depicts might actually be. The UFO-tracking site UFO Sightings Daily described the three objects, which as appear in the video as pinpoints of light, as a "fleet," apparently because the three UFOs appear to be flying one after the other - though they do not seem to be in any kind of formation or following a set flight pattern.

Comment: Maybe there are some 'extraterrestrial' visitors who appreciate the Eiffel Tower and Empire State Building as much as we humans do? Or, another thought, maybe some of them wantto be seen - or just don't give a hoot about being seen? After all, if they have the technology to do what they are apparently doing, they have to know that everyone and their mother walks around these days with some kind of phone or device capable of capturing photos and/or video of them. If the pilots of these craft wanted to be discreet, why play peekaboo around some of the world's most famous structures - again and again.

Don't Panic! Lighten Up!

Man robs 4 Subways in 4 days because "Jared Diet" didn't work Thor Benson United Press International 2014-11-02 00:25:00 The man was recognized by someone who saw a video of the robberies on Facebook. A man who robbed four Subway restaurants in four days with a gun claims he did it because he was mad the "Jared Diet" didn't work for him. Zachary Torrance, 18, was arrested Friday by Hueytown police after someone saw surveillance videos on the Hueytown Police Department's Facebook page and recognized Torrance from having witnessed him purchase a gun holster at a Walmart. Police say he was even wearing the same clothing and shoes as the suspect was the day of the robbery. "He stated in the course of his interview he had tried the 'Jared Diet' and it hadn't worked for him like he thought it should have," Police Chief Chuck Hagler told WJBF. "He was trying to get his money back."

Florida man tried to steal chainsaw by sneaking it underneath shirt Fred Lambert United Press International 2014-11-02 02:44:00 Police charged homeless man and chainsaw-thief Anthony Brian Ballard with grand theft. Police say a homeless man was arrested Thursday for trying to steal a chainsaw by stuffing it under his shirt. WPTV reports that Anthony Brian Ballard was charged with grand theft by police in Port St. Lucie, Fla., after authorities accused him of stealing the tool. Ballard is said to have entered a lawn maintenance store and asked to break a dollar into change. He then placed a chainsaw under his shirt and left the store without paying. After fleeing on a bicycle, Ballard was eventually found by an employee from the business, who tracked the 28-year-old man down and held him until police arrived. The chainsaw was recovered in a vacant lot nearby.

Bizarre mass pants-ripping at Chinese military reserve training Rocket News 24 2014-10-06 00:00:00 Chinese media is abuzz with serious concerns about the combat effectiveness of China's military as it was revealed that, at a recent college military reserve training session, over 100 reservists' camouflage pants simultaneously ripped out of nowhere. The explosive rippage was apparently triggered when around 4,500 reservists - both men and women - were commanded by a drill instructor to sit down. We can only assume the drill instructor was the Chinese equivalent of R. Lee Ermy, as some of the reservists apparently took his command so seriously that they sat down with enough force to utterly destroy the stitching in their standard issue pants. Of the 4,500 reservists at the training session, a little over 100 of them suffered catastrophic pants failure. That accounts for approximately 2% of those in attendance and, according to witnesses, the mass pants-ripping event was accompanied by a clearly audible RRRRRIIIIIIPPPPP that we're certain would have made Hanna and/or Barbera fiercely proud. Despite chuckle-inducing sound effects, concerns are being raised about the general quality of the Chinese military's standard issue camouflage. The pants the trainees were wearing at the time apparently cost around 100 yuan (approx. US$15) - supposedly a somewhat high price to pay for a pair of pants in China. We certainly hope the Chinese military takes note and changes their provider for fatigues. While we're sure there's nothing wrong with the camo pattern itself, it sort of defeats the purpose of the camouflage when the enemy can hear the thunderous sound of hundreds of pairs of pants tearing as you attempt to flank them.

Comment: Military uniforms "Made in China" - sounds "em-bare-assingly" like a rip off!