|
Mike Whitney
Counter Punch 2015-06-08 18:34:00
The vast build up of military assets in the Asia-Pacific signals a fundamental change in U.S. policy towards China. Washington no longer believes that China can be integrated into the existing US-led system. Recent actions taken by China - particularly the announcement that it planned to launch an Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) that would compete head-to-head with the World Bank and IMF— have set off alarms in the Capital where behind-the-scenes powerbrokers and think tank pundits agree that a more "robust" policy is needed to slow China's ascendency. The current confrontation in the South China Sea - where the US has demanded that China immediately cease all land reclamation activities - indicates that the new policy has already been activated increasing the prospects of a conflagration between the two nuclear-armed adversaries. There's no need to go over the details of China's land reclamation activities in the Spratly Islands since reasonable people can agree that Washington has no real interest in a few piles of sand heaped up on reefs 10,000 miles from the United States. The man-made islands pose no threat to US national security or to freedom of navigation. The Obama administration is merely using the Spratlys as a pretext to provoke, intimidate and harass Beijing. The Spratly's provide a justification for escalation, for building an anti-China coalition among US allies in the region, for demonizing China in the media, for taking steps to disrupt China's ambitious Silk Roads economic strategy, and for encircling China to the West with US warships that threaten China's access to critical shipping lanes and vital energy supplies. This is the ultimate objective; to bring China to its knees and to force it to comply with Washington's diktats. This is what Washington really wants. | |
 |
| Puppet Masters |
|
John Hall
Daily Mail 2015-06-08 19:38:00
Rebel groups battling the Islamic State in Syria have proudly paraded the severed heads of their defeated enemies, in the latest sign that all sides in the conflict are resorting to shocking barbarism. A coalition of anti-Assad forces were stationed in the town of Azaz, close to the Turkish border, when ISIS militants prepared to carry out a suicide bomb attack followed by a massive assault. But the rebels were tipped off about the attack in advance and were prepared for the jihadis when they arrived - slaughtering them in the streets of the Azaz before posing with the extremists' severed heads and displaying their mutilated corpses in the centre of the city. Large crowds of cheering locals took to the streets of Azaz in the aftermath of the failed attack, which was actually under the control of ISIS for several months in 2013. The ritual humiliation and public exhibition of the butchered corpses was in fact highly symbolic - with the jihadis' severed heads displayed in exactly the same location that ISIS themselves would show off the bodies of those they had brutally executed after Friday prayers. Describing the attack, one anonymous rebel fighter told VICE News: 'Last night, [ISIS] sent a suicide truck to Sawran, which is the frontline now next to Azaz, but we had info of the operation,' 'So they targeted the truck with a missile... Then the fighters following the truck were caught,' he added. On the subject of the subsequent beheadings of ISIS fighters, the rebel soldier said: 'It is not the way we act... but it's sort of revenge for all the civilians and leaders they killed.' Comment: If these 'rebels' are so concerned about civilian casualties, then how come they're causing them? Or how come they're at the same time beaheading ISIS and collaborating with them? The news comes as US-led aircraft bombed ISIS fighters while the jihadis were battling rival Syrian rebels, including Al-Qaeda loyalists, in a first such intervention, a monitoring group said. | |
Comment: The so-called Syrian 'rebels' are armed and funded by the US and their associates, the same goes for ISIS, what's the difference? There isn't one. It's only a name change. The whole story looks like a convenient excuse for the US to make it seem as if there a moderate 'rebel' force in Syria and thus continue basically supporting ISIS.
3,000 'moderate rebels' defect to ISIS - US preparing 5,000 more | |
|
|
Sputnik
2015-06-06 19:25:00
The conflict in Ukraine was created intentionally and follows "unprofessional actions" by the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. "I believe that this crisis was created deliberately and it is the result of our partner's unprofessional actions," Putin said in an interview with Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera ahead of his visit to Milan. The president added that the coverage of the situation surrounding Ukraine has been "absolutely unacceptable." The West has been accusing Russia of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs and supporting independence fighters in the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk, where Kiev launched a special military operation in April, 2014. The United States and the European Union have also criticized Moscow over the reunification of Crimea with Russia in March, 2014. Russia has repeatedly stressed that it is not involved in the situation in Ukraine, also pointing to the fact that 96 percent of Crimean residents voted for rejoining Russia at a referendum following a declaration of independence from Ukraine. "I would like to emphasize once more: this was not our choice, we did not seek it, we are simply forced to respond to what is happening." | |
|
|
Sputnik
2015-06-06 19:15:00
Anti-Russian sanctions are ineffective and will not force Moscow to reverse its political course, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said after a conference with top US diplomats and military brass in Stuttgart. US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter says it would be better to admit that anti-Russian sanctions are not effective and Moscow will not abandon its political course under pressure. Comment: Russia's "political course" is merely to remain a sovereign nation with the right to control its destiny and will not bow to the American Empire's demands. The West did not recognize Crimea's reunification with Russia after the last year's coup in Ukraine "What's clear is that sanctions are working on the Russian economy," Bloomberg cites Carter as saying after a conference with top US diplomats and military officials in Stuttgart, Germany. "What's not apparent is that that effect on his economy is deterring [Russian President Vladimir] Putin from following the course that was evidenced last year in the Crimea." The West has also accused Russia of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs and aiding Ukrainian independence supporters, but these allegations have not been supported by any proved factual evidence. | |
|
|
Bryan MacDonald
RT 2015-06-08 18:39:00
Vladimir Putin said this weekend that "Russia would attack NATO only in a mad person's dream." Unfortunately, there are a lot of mad people working in western politics and media. If the G7 were based on GDP, adjusted for purchasing power, it would be comprised of the USA, China, India, Japan, Russia, Germany and Brazil. Such a lineup would have remarkable clout. Members would boast 53% of the globe's entire GDP and the planet's 3 genuine military superpowers would be represented. The problem for Washington is that this putative G7 might actually be a forum for a real debate about the world order. Instead of a real G7, we have a farce. An American dominated talking shop where the US President allows 'friendly' foreign leaders to tickle his belly for a couple of days. There is no dissent. Washington's dominance goes unquestioned and everyone has a jolly time. Especially since they kicked out Russia last year - Vladimir Putin was the only guest who challenged the consensus. However, the problem is that this 'convenient' G7 is way past its sell-by-date. The days when its members could claim to rule the world economically are as distant as the era of Grunge and Britpop. Today, the G7 can claim a mere 32% of the global GDP pie. Instead of heavyweights like China and India, we have middling nations such as Canada and Italy, the latter an economic basket case. Canada's GDP is barely more than that of crisis-ridden Spain and below that of Mexico and Indonesia. | |
|
|
RT
2015-06-09 17:02:00
Israel's talks on migrant workers with China are deadlocked due to Beijing refusing to allow its citizens to participate in the construction of settlements in the occupied West Bank, a high-ranked Israeli official told AFP. "We are negotiating with China for an agreement on the arrival of thousands of additional workers," an unnamed government official said. According to the source, there are several stumbling blocks to the talks at the moment, including "the employment of these immigrants in settlements in Judea and Samaria [in the West Bank]." "Beijing is demanding that we ensure there are no workers in this region," he added. | |
Comment: This would really be news if it was politically motivated. Too bad it doesn't appear to be the case.
| |
|
|
Steven Chovanec
Underground Reports 2015-06-09 16:23:00
The rebel opposition in Syria has in recent months made a series of gains against the Syrian army, most notably in Idlib, Palmyra, and Ramadi in Iraq. However, given that from the very beginning the opposition had taken "a clear sectarian direction" and has been dominated by "ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra... in addition to other extreme jihadi groups", itself consisting of "no moderate middle", and the fact that "in reality there is no dividing wall between them [extremists] and America's supposedly moderate opposition allies", it is no wonder why all of the recent gains have been made by hard-line Islamists.(1) The radicalization of the opposition was the result of a covert US/CIA-led program in collusion with regional allies to expand the dissent base in Syria and strengthen Islamist rebels against the Syrian government.(2) These recent Islamist advances are the result of an increase in support from the US-led coalition to their proxies inside Syria. Recently both Turkey and Saudi Arabia, who operate out of US-led command centers in Turkey and Jordan, signed a pact in early March to coordinate support to al-Qaeda and other extremist groups in order to further attack the Syrian government. Huffington Post quotes Usama Abu Zeid, a legal advisor to the Free Syrian Army, as confirming that this new coordination had facilitated recent rebel advances.(3) The pact subsequently lead to the al-Qaeda takeover of Idlib in late March, where the two countries have since set up a joint command center to further coordinate and command their extremist proxies from the captured province. Syrian government sources thus accurately blame Turkish intervention as the key factor in the fall of Idlib. The city's fall however is only the 2nd provincial capital that has been captured by the opposition during the entire 4-year war, the other being Raqqa, which is now the de facto capital of the fake Islamic State "Caliphate."(4) | |
|
|
Alexander Mercouris
Russia Insider 2015-06-09 16:11:00
The last few days have seen Ukraine's far right groups in action again: violently dispersing an anti-government protest on Maidan Square hours after they violently dispersed an attempt to hold a gay pride parade in Kiev. The two incidents taken together illustrate the role of far right groups in today's Ukraine. Western governments and media try to minimise the importance of these groups by pointing to their very limited election success. | |
Comment: All of the psychopaths have been unleashed in Ukraine, from Right Sector all the way up to the oligarchs. Meanwhile Western oligarchs steal everything right from under Ukraine's nose, and laugh while the world blames Russia:
| |
|
|
Sputnik News
2015-06-08 00:00:00
Citing a series of geopolitical, economic and social setbacks faced by the United States since the turn of the century, geopolitical analyst and Sao Paulo Business School Professor Antonio Gelis-Filho argues that global policy planners must prepare to deal with the "improbable, but by all means possible, Soviet-style collapse of the United States." | |
|
|
Owen Gibson
The Guardian 2015-06-07 13:45:00
The man responsible for overseeing Fifa's reform process in the current crisis hasconfirmed that Russia and Qatar may be stripped of their World Cup hosting rights if conclusive new proof of corruption emerges. "If evidence should emerge that the awards to Qatar and Russia only came about thanks to bought votes then the awards could be invalidated," said Domenico Scala, the independent chairman of Fifa's audit and compliance committee, in an interview with the Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung. "This evidence has not yet been brought forth." Scala has made similar comments before but in light of the ongoing Swiss investigation and confirmation that the FBI has now widened its probe to include 2018 and 2022, his intervention takes on a new significance. New evidence has emerged, meanwhile, alleging that the former Fifa vice president Jack Warner used a $10m payment from Fifa, made on behalf of South African World Cup organisers, for money laundering, personal loans and credit card payments. The new evidence, obtained by the BBC, appears to show how the 2008 payments from Fifa - ostensibly for a Diaspora Legacy Programme promised by South African World Cup organisers - ended up in accounts controlled by Warner. JTA Supermarkets, the largest chain in Warner's native Trinidad & Tobago, received $4.8m, according to accounts seen by the BBC. The US indictment that charged 14 Fifa officials of 47 counts of racketeering and fraud had earlier alleged that Warner "laundered the funds through accounts held in the name of a large supermarket chain and affiliated investment company in Trinidad". | |
Comment: Sott.net' Joe Quinn was the very first journalist ANYWHERE to call this debacle for what it really is.
See: Yellow journalism, Western political psychopaths and Russia-hating behind FIFA 'scandal' and FIFA 'scandal' = US attempts to impose sports sanctions against Russia | |
|
|
Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research 2015-06-09 03:45:00
The Canadian media has highlighted Prime Minister Harper's one on one meeting with Ukraine's president Poroshenko in Kiev (June 5, 2015). The official story which has been fed to Canadians is that Ottawa is providing "non-lethal aid" as well support to the country's civilian police force: "We supply a range of non-lethal military equipment," Harper said... While disappointed about this, Poroshenko praised Canada for supporting Ukraine since "the first hours" of his presidency and said the military aid it had provided to his country, such as medical kits and mobile hospitals, "addressed an acute problem. (National Post, June 6, 2015, emphasis added) Harper also announced that Canada would be sending 10 police officers to Ukraine to help reform the country's security sector in a partnership with the United States. Harper announced the $5 million project during a visit in which he watched training exercises by police cadets. ... (CP News 24, June 6, 2015, emphasis added) | |
|
|
John W. Whitehead
The Rutherford Institute 2015-06-09 02:34:00
The more things change, the more they stay the same. It's a shell game intended to keep us focused on and distracted by all of the politically expedient things that are being said—about militarized police, surveillance, and government corruption—while the government continues to frogmarch us down the road toward outright tyranny. Unarmed citizens are still getting shot by militarized police trained to view them as the enemy and treated as if we have no rights. Despite President Obama's warning that the nation needs to do some "soul searching" about issues such as race, poverty and the strained relationship between law enforcement and the minority communities they serve, police killings and racial tensions are at an all-time high. Just recently, in Texas, a white police officer was suspended after video footage showed him "manhandling, arresting and drawing his gun on a group of black children outside a pool party." Americans' private communications and data are still being sucked up by government spy agencies. The USA Freedom Act was just a placebo pill intended to make us feel better without bringing about any real change. As Bill Blunden, a cybersecurity researcher and surveillance critic, points out, "The theater we've just witnessed allows decision makers to boast to their constituents about reforming mass surveillance while spies understand that what's actually transpired is hardly major change." Taxpayer dollars are still being squandered on roads to nowhere, endless wars that do not make us safer, and bloated government agencies that should have been shut down long ago. A good example is the Transportation Security Administration, which, despite its $7 billion annual budget, has shown itself to be bumbling and ineffective. And military drills are still being carried out on American soil under the pretext of training soldiers for urban warfare overseas. Southeastern Michigan, the site of one of the many military training drills taking place across the country this summer, has had Black Hawk helicopters buzzing its skies and soldiers dressed for combat doing night combat drills in abandoned buildings around the state. In other words, freedom, or what's left of it, is being threatened from every direction. The threats are of many kinds: political, cultural, educational, media, and psychological. However, as history shows us, freedom is not, on the whole, wrested from a citizenry. It is all too often given over voluntarily and for such a cheap price: safety, security, bread, and circuses. | |
|
|
Sputnik
2015-06-08 01:25:00
The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA) group of hackers who support the Syrian government broke into and defaced the US Army's official website on Tuesday redirecting it to an image promoting the Syrian Army.
The #SEA hacks the official website of the US Army and leave several messages on it | http://t.co/Q93FQFg3cG pic.twitter.com/e8ZXp58oAY— SyrianElectronicArmy (@Official_SEA16) June 8, 2015
| |
Comment: This should ruffle some feathers in the cyberwarfare front.
| |
|
|
Sputnik
2015-06-08 23:30:00
The Israeli government, which has never declared what is widely considered to be an extensive nuclear weapons program, built and detonated "dirty bombs" containing nuclear material over years of testing. The project consisted of 20 detonations with explosives laced with a radioactive substance, according to a report by Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Mini-drones measured radiation levels and sensors logged the force of the explosions. In interviews with the paper, researchers were quoted as saying that the tests were only defensive and conducted to see how such an attack by a hostile force would impact the country. Most of the detonations were carried out in the desert and one was performed at a closed facility. Comment: Sure, that's what they always say: 'defensive". | |
Comment: Where is the uproar?
| |
|
|
Sputnik
2015-06-08 23:21:00
Brennan, who has served as CIA chief since March 2013, offered the following admission during an appearance on Face the Nation: "I think the president has tried to make sure that we're able to push the envelope when we can to protect this country. But we have to recognize that sometimes our engagement and direct involvement will stimulate and spur additional threats to our national security interests." | |
Comment: Well at least it is good to know the CIA acknowledges publicly that it achieves the desired results.
| |
|
|
RT
2015-06-08 21:49:00
The GDP of the BRICS countries may surpass that of the G7 within two or three years, as it has already hit $32.5 trillion and rising, claims State Duma Foreign Relations chief Aleksey Pushkov. "In 2014, the total gross domestic product of BRICS countries reached 30 percent [of the world's GDP - Ed.]. This is less than that of the G7, but the difference is seven or eight percent. The combined GDP of the BRICS countries, according to the International Monetary Fund is $32.5 trillion [by purchasing power parity - Ed.]; the G7's is $34.7 trillion.Given that the BRICS members mostly show much higher growth rates than the G7, we can assume that in the next two or three years the aggregate GDP of the BRICS countries will exceed the G7's," said the head of the State Duma Foreign Relations Committee, Aleksey Pushkov, speaking to reporters at the first BRICS Parliamentary Forum in Moscow. He went on to say that BRICS should make this Forum regular, preferably annual, and when that happens, it would help to make the world more equitable and multipolar, based not on the superiority of one country over the other, but on the balance of interests. The economic center of the world is changing, the developed West will have to share its influence and authority in the global arena with players like BRICS, said Pushkov. | |
|
| Society's Child |
|
RT
2015-06-09 17:11:00
US journalist Mark Rice has asked the people of San Diego to sign President Barack Obama's "plan" to nuke Russia to "maintain America's superiority." The majority of beachgoers didn't appear to get the joke, and signed the fake petition. The "experiment" was recorded on video, which Mark Ricethen shared on his Twitter, YouTube and Facebook accounts. "We just need a couple more signatures to support President [Barack] Obama's new plan to deal with Russia," Dice tell a random man whom he stops. "We are going to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike." The man, who does not seem to be much familiar with the issue, cuts off Dice in mid-sentence, and says: "I'll sign it for you." | |
Comment: This demonstrates how difficult it is to make any improvements to our slavery.
| |
|
|
RT
2015-06-09 07:42:00
Video of the scene of Ukrainian oil depot fire has emerged, showing an ambulance and a fire engine ablaze, followed by a huge blast. The video shows rescuers and firefighters running away from their equipment, which is engulfed in flames. Within a minute, a huge blast occurs, covering the whole area with plumes of smoke.
| ||
|
|
Kendra Mangione
CTV News 2015-06-08 06:51:00
Toronto Transit Commission officials say a power failure the night before caused an "unacceptable" communications issue that left the city's entire subway system at a standstill. Between 125,000 and 150,000 people were affected by the "communication issues" during morning rush hour, officials estimated. TTC Chair Josh Colle called the shutdown "unacceptable." "The total shutdown of our subway system this morning, for approximately 90 minutes, was extremely frustrating for everyone," he told reporters on Monday. "It is deeply troubling that our system can experience such a major technical failure. This needs to be dealt with immediately." On Monday afternoon, the TTC said in a statement that a power outage at the Hillcrest complex was to blame for the issues. The complex, which houses the control centre, experienced a power failure on Sunday evening that activated the uninterrupted power supply. A failure in the system caused its battery to drain, keeping power from getting to the communications system. Crews are still investigating why the uninterrupted power supply system failed. "Once that is determined, the TTC can implement remedies, as required, to prevent a recurrence." TTC CEO Andy Byford spoke with reporters Monday afternoon, saying he is "very disappointed with what happened this morning." | |
Comment: Also in Canada, a major power outage was reported in downtown Vancouver yesterday.
See: SOTT Exclusive: Solar System 'grounding':Transformer explosions and electrical anomalies | |
|
|
Amari Roos
Several days ago a Dutch parent posted two images from his daughter's school workbook on his facebook page. The schoolbook is "Themes in Social Studies 1 for VMBO-KGT", VMBO standing for "preparatory middle-level vocational education", and is a school track in the Netherlands, which is similar to high school. The schoolbook is provided to VMBO students (aging approx. 15-16 y/o) during the last two years of this school track.Sott.net 2015-06-09 22:12:00 Part of the description of the workbook reads, "The workbook is updated on an annual basis and contains many current and diverse sources with assignments." The workbook has certainly been updated, as Russia has been painted as quite an unfriendly country, clearly in line with the ongoing Western anti-Russia propaganda. The following two images were found on page 67 of the workbook, Chapter 7: countries without democracy. The first image shows Russia as the 'evil' country trying to take Ukraine, while Europe is pictured lending a 'helping' hand. One of the questions students are asked, is: "What is Russia doing, and what is Europe doing in this picture?" Well, that isn't difficult to answer: Evil-looking Russia is obviously trying to devour poor Ukraine, while friendly Europe is looking on concerned!
| |
|
|
Paul Heltzel
Discovery News 2015-06-08 16:00:00
Some 50 hospitals in the United States charge the uninsured and out-of-network patients 10 times what's allowed by Medicare, reports a new public health study. The study, led by Gerard F. Anderson of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Ge Bai of Washington & Lee University was based on a review of 2012 Medicare costs reports. "There is no justification for these outrageous rates but no one tells hospitals they can't charge them," Anderson said in a release. "For the most part, there is no regulation of hospital rates and there are no market forces that force hospitals to lower their rates. They charge these prices simply because they can." "For-profit hospitals appear to be better players in this price-gouging game," says Bai, an assistant professor of accounting at Washington & Lee University. "They represent only 30 percent of hospitals in the U.S., but account for 98 percent of the 50 hospitals with highest markups." Those with insurance or seeking in-network care typically pay lower fees negotiated by their insurers. | |
|
|
Travis Gettys
Raw Story 2015-06-08 21:55:00
A Florida police officer was arrested on child abuse charges after he was accused of slamming a teenager to the ground. Mario Badia, a Kissimmee police school resource officer, was placed on paid administrative leave during an investigation of the May 8 incident, which was recorded on surveillance video. Witnesses said the 40-year-old officer threw the 13-year-old student down, pinned him to the ground, and twisted the boy's arm behind his back in the front office of Kissimmee Middle School. The teen had been arguing with his mother when the police officer intervened, authorities said. Badia yelled at the boy and attempted to grab his chin to turn the teen's face. The boy raised his hand to block the officer, who then grabbed the teen's shirt and arm, lifted him up, and threw him to the ground. The officer "torqued" the student's arm behind his back for more than 40 second as the boy screamed in pain, police said. Badia shoved the teen into a desk after he got up. Police said the boy never showed aggression toward the officer, who was released on $5,000 bond after his arrest. | |
Comment: The video evidence must have been pretty damning for the police to arrest one of their own and charge him. Clearly police are being taught that no one, not even children, is beyond being beaten and harassed by our increasingly psychopathic police forces in the U.S. The only thing that will force the police to change will be more arrests of officers who are increasingly taking the law into their own hands.
| |
|
| Secret History |
| No new articles. |
| Science & Technology |
| No new articles. |
| Earth Changes |
New figures have revealed the number of dog attacks in London went up fifty per cent last year. There were more than 1,400, partly because offences on private property are now included. On 13 May 2014, The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 was amended so that the term "a public place" was substituted to "any place in England or Wales (whether or not a public place)". Before this, dog bites and attacks on private property were excluded. Between January and December 2014 there were a total of 1,400 offences recorded, representing an average of 177 offences per month. August 2014 experienced the peak during this period with 141 offences. The boroughs of Croydon and Barnet recorded the highest numbers of attacks followed by Southwark, Hillingdon and Bromley. | |
|
Jenafor Azure was out for a drive with her husband in Churchill, Man., over the weekend when she spotted some unusual wildlife. June in Churchill presents excellent wildlife-viewing opportunities for bird watchers at the height of migration season. Droves of ecotourists head up north at this time of year to do just that. But one thing most Churchill tourists will never see — certainly something Azure never expected to see — is a slender, prehistoric-looking bird commonly found in the Eurasian boreal forests of Russia and Asia that can grow to be over four feet tall. "I've never seen anything like it. It's a really magnificent bird," Azure said Sunday after the sighting. "At first I thought the zoo had lost a bird or something!" What Azure said she spotted, and what many people in Churchill have since ventured out in search of, was a Eurasian crane. | |
|
|
panorama.am
2015-06-09 14:14:00
Zhupanovsky Volcano in Russia's Far Eastern Kamchatka Territory has spewed ash to a height of six kilometres above sea level, the Kamchatka Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT) of the Institute of Volcanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences told TASS on Tuesday. "The ash column reached six kilometres above sea level. The plume of ash has been taken by the wind to a distance of 30 kilometres in the southerly direction," a KVERT spokesman said. The volcano poses no threat to populated localities. Nonetheless, it has been assigned an orange aviation colour code. It is not ruled out that the volcano may spew more ash up to eight kilometres high. Zhupanovsky Volcano, which takes its name from a river of the same name flowing in its vicinity, is located in eastern Kamchatka, some 70 kilometers north of the Kamchatka capital, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Zhupanovsky is one of the least studied volcanoes in the region despite its proximity to a large city. It is a complex volcano composed of four overlapping cones aligned on a roughly east-west oriented axis, with the highest cone reaching 2,958 meters high, and the lowest one being 2,505 meters high. The giant mount has been active since October 2013. | |
|
A whale found washed up at Waikawa Beach, north of Otaki on the Kapiti Coast, has died, DOC rangers say. The whale was found by dog walkers this morning, and reported at about 11am, when it was believed to still be alive. DOC senior ranger Clint Purches visited the site early on Tuesday to examine the whale and find out if it could be rescued, but found it was dead. Measured at 7.4 metres and rolling in chest deep waves, the baleen whale could not be fully examined until scientists could get to the flippers and blowhole and take more measurements. However, its size and white baleen - its filter feeding mechanism - indicated it could be a Minke. | |
|
|
Japan Times
2015-06-09 14:08:00
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.7 struck Tokyo and its surrounding region on Tuesday morning, the Meteorological Agency said, No tsunami alert was issued. The 5:44 a.m. temblor occurred in the southern part of Ibaraki Prefecture at a depth of about 50 kilometers, registering 4 on the Japanese seismic intensity scale to 7 in Moka, Tochigi Prefecture, and 2 in central Tokyo. | |
|
|
Laura Bult, Lisa L.Colangelo, Joseph Stepansky
New York Daily News 2015-06-09 14:01:00
A partly decapitated Minke whale that washed up Monday on the Coney Island beachfront likely died after an unfortunate encounter with a ship's propeller, officials said. The approximately 18-foot-long leviathan was found on the beach near the Boardwalk at Ocean Parkway around 2p.m., authorities said. Kim Durham of the Riverhead Foundation, a group that studies and rescues marine mammals, performed a necropsy. The adult female whale's body had been battered by propeller strikes. | |
|
|
Anastasios Papapostolou
The Greek Reporter 2015-06-09 08:43:00
An earthquake with magnitude 5.2 occurred near Athens, Greece at 01:09:02.90 UTC on Jun 9, 2015. There have been no immediate reports of damage or injuries. According to the Geodynamic Institute in Athens, the quake occurred early Tuesday morning in the Gulf of Northern Evia, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Athens. Its epicentre was located 5 km deep near the city of Chalkida on Evia island. There have already been reported two smaller scale aftershocks. "It was certainly felt, but so far we have not received any calls for assistance," a Greek fire brigade official in Athens said. Earthquakes are common in Greece and have historically caused widespread damage across central and southern Greece, Cyprus, Sicily and other neighboring regions. Last year, a series of strong earthquakes on the island of Kefalonia damaged hundreds of homes and injured more than a dozen people. | |
|
| Fire in the Sky |
|
Will Johnson
Nelson Star 2015-06-08 11:00:00
No one's quite sure what caused a loud, rumbling noise Saturday morning heard by people from Salmo, Fruitvale, Trail, Rossland, Castlegar, Nelson, and points in between. Many people on the Farm the Kootenays Facebook page reported hearing it and suggested what it might have been. According to Robert Bailer and Alison Duff, dogs began barking at 6 a.m. "I heard that in Rossland! I just assumed it was blasting on the highway," wrote Betty R. Rekster. "Reminded me of Mt. St. Helen's when I heard it," wrote Jim Ross. Brittanie Reid wrote "I heard it was an explosion at Copper Mountain in Princeton," but theSimilkameen Spotlight confirmed there was no such explosion reported there on Saturday. Both Sheri Ferraro and Ryan Lewis reported feeling their houses shake during the sound. Though some thought it might be an earthquake, Meghan Osborne wrote "I lived in South California all my life ... I've never heard an earthquake sound like that." | |
Comment: While at this time it can only be speculated at for what caused this loud booming sound in British Columbia, what is notable is the mention of a meteorite as a possible source. If you follow Sott.net and the many loud booms reported around the world, then you know how rare it is for meteorites to be mentioned. Maybe knowledge and information is slowly spreading.
| |
|
| Health & Wellness |
Back pain is a tricky beast. Most Americans will at some point have a problem with their backs. And for an unlucky third, treatments won't work, and the problem will become chronic. Believe it or not, there are a few cultures in the world where back pain hardly exists. One indigenous tribe in central India reported essentially none. And the discs in their backsshowed little signs of degeneration as people aged. | |
Comment: Suffering from back pain? Read the following article to learn more: Sitting for too long can do harm to your body
| |
|
|
Charlotte Middlehurst
The operation to remove hundreds of tiny stones took doctors around two hoursThe Telegraph 2015-06-09 16:38:00
Doctors in China have removed 420 kidney stones from a man's body, blaming an excessive amount of tofu in his daily diet. Mr He from Zhejiang Province in eastern China, checked into the Dongyang People's Hospital complaining of intense pain in his abdomen last month. A CT scan revealed that his left kidney was packed full of stones, most of them tiny. Doctors operated on Friday in an agonising procedure that lasted about two hours. Mr He said he had a history of suffering from kidney stones. Twenty years ago he had 10 stones removed using a procedure called lithotripsy, which sends shock waves to break up stones in the kidney, bladder, or ureter until they are small enough to pass in the urine. "I have worked as a doctor for 30 years and have never seen so many stones," said Zhou Changchun, the attending surgeon, according to state newspaper Qianjiang Evening Post. | |
Comment: Soy is evil!
|
[Message clipped] View entire message