Tuesday, 30 November 2010

SOTT Focus

Wiki-Leaks Serves Israeli Agenda Of Demonizing Iran

Joe Quinn
Sott.net
2010-11-30 20:48:00


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I obviously missed the momentous occasion when the mainstream media turned anti-war. But who can now deny that it is so when we see Wiki-leaks and the mainstream media joining forces to expose the ugly truth of the US invasions of Iraq, Afghanistan, and more recently, what the US state department thinks of world leaders? I mean, that is what is happening, right?

Wrong.

What is happening is that Wiki-leaks is being promoted by the media in order to sell the same old lies, except that now the lies are coming sugar-coated, with a 'whistle-blower' gloss to better enable digestion. The lies themselves don't frustrate me so much anymore, and I can understand why the general public are fooled, but I have to admit to being disappointed at how effortlessly the Wiki-leaks poison is being swallowed by so many supposedly alternative news sites. Sites like Counterpunch, Global Research, Citizens for a Legitimate Government and Information Clearing House, to name but a few, are all disseminating the Wiki-leaks story without so much as a hint of critical thought it seems.
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SOTT Exclusive: Who precisely is attacking the world?

Paul Craig Roberts
Sott.net
2010-11-29 18:52:00


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The stuck pigs are squealing. To shift the onus from the US State Department, Hillary Clinton paints Wikileaks' release of the "diplomatic cables" as an "attack on the international community". To reveal truth is equivalent, in the eyes of the US government, to an attack on the world.

It is Wikileaks' fault that all those US diplomats wrote a quarter of a million undiplomatic messages about America's allies, a.k.a., puppet states. It is also Wikileaks' fault that a member of the US government could no longer stomach the cynical ways in which the US government manipulates foreign governments to serve, not their own people, but American interests, and delivered the incriminating evidence to Wikileaks.

The US government actually thinks that it was Wikileaks' patriotic duty to return the evidence and to identify the leaker. After all, we mustn't let the rest of the world find out what we are up to. They might stop believing our lies.

The influential German magazine, Der Spiegel, writes: "It is nothing short of a political meltdown for US foreign policy."

This might be more a hope than a reality. The "Soviet threat" during the second half of the 20th century enabled US governments to create institutions that subordinated the interests of other countries to those of the US government. After decades of following US leadership, European "leaders" know no other way to act. Finding out that the boss badmouths and deceives them is unlikely to light a spirit of independence. At least not until America's economic collapse becomes more noticeable.
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--- Best of the Web

The Madness of a Lost Society

SGTbull07
2010-11-30 14:52:00

On 26th November 2010 - Black Friday - as the bankers and government officials planned the final demise of the US economy and the destruction of American society, millions of citizens across the US fought and trampled each other at thousands of stores for the privilege of buying insignificant consumer items made by virtual slave-workers in far off lands. This is the madness of a lost society on the brink of collapse.


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U.S. News

Dem Senator Bennett On Lame Duck Session: "It's All Rigged": Hot Mic Picks Up Discussion on Senate Floor

David Freddoso
Real Clear Politics/C-Span
2010-11-30 15:39:00

A hot microphone caught a conversation between a male and female Senator.

"Because -- because, it's all rigged. I mean, the whole conversation is rigged. The fact that we don't get to discussion before the break about what we're going to do in the lame duck is just rigged. This stuff's rigged," the Senator said.


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State Pulls the Plug On SIPRNet

Massimo Calabresi
Time.com
2010-11-29 09:26:00

Late last week, after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton informed the White House of the likely fall-out from the WikiLeaks cable dump, the White House came back with a question: "What's our corrective action?"

Clinton's undersecretary for management, Patrick Kennedy, had a simple suggestion: pull the plug on SIPRNet, the classified DoD network that PFC Bradley Manning reportedly used to download the cables from State's in-house classified database. "The White House said do it," says a senior administration official.

The publication by WikiLeaks of more than 250,000 diplomatic cables, many of them classified, is forcing an administration-wide intelligence retrenchment as agencies reconsider how to balance the need to share with the need to know. With its third major dump of controversial classified information in nine months, WikiLeaks is single-handedly tipping the balance back towards inter-agency "stovepiping", or walling off information from other departments.


Comment: Given the selectivity of the leaks, pointing toward war with Iran and destabilizing the Middle-East (known political goals of Israel), one wonders just how this could all transpire "single-handedly".

Comment: Regardless of the source of these leaks, or the details of how it transpired, who benefits from them is ultimately what counts. As we have seen, these leaked diplomatic cables seem to be a great service to Israel and their push to extend war to Iran.

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Saudi King takes up the entire VIP wing at New York hospital

New York Post
2010-11-30 09:16:00


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Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah is causing his own diplomatic drama at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where the 86 year-old monarch has commandeered an entire wing as he recovers from back surgery on the VIP floor.

King Abdullah -- who repeatedly exhorted the US to "cut the head off the snake" by launching military strikes to destroy Iran's nuclear program, according to leaked diplomatic cables -- has forced other patients out by block-booking the hospital's top treatment and recovery rooms.

A family member of one patient told us, "The king has taken the entire luxury treatment wing and booked out all the rooms, even though they are empty and he doesn't need them, to protect his privacy.
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U.S. Cops and Their Love Affair With Tasers

Cops Cars and Crashes
2008-10-24 05:38:00


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A swerving car is stopped by highway police. The driver passes all the 'intoxication tests' but the cops are eager for some 'action'. So, they taser the man as he lies immobile on the ground, and then proceed to pepper spray his elderly mother. The presenter's comment that it is 'a microcosm of US foreign policy' is spot on.




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Sick! Wisconsin Woman Raped with Live Snake

Earl Morningstarr
The Morningstarr
2010-11-29 21:48:00


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Two men in Wisconsin are facing 1st degree sexual assault charges after allegedly raping a woman using a live snake.

An unnamed 32-year-old woman was at a house party last week in Eau Claire, Wisconsin where she claims Damonta Jones invited her to his bedroom to see photos of his children. However when she entered the room she says she was struck on the head and thrown to the floor.

The complainant alleges that Jones then held her down whilst a second man, John Bullock, raped her. Following the rape the victim claims that the two men then penetrated her using a live snake.
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US states prepare unprecedented cuts to social spending

Alexander Fangmann
World Socialist Web Site
2010-11-29 21:15:00

Erosion in support for the right-wing policies of the Obama administration and the Democratic Party was starkly illustrated by the loss of control over a host of state legislative chambers and governorships in the recent midterm elections. With the dust settling, both parties have falsely claimed that the election results are an expression of a turn to the right by the population, and are now drawing up plans for massive budget cuts.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Republican Party won at least 675 state legislative seats in the election, a record, and now control 53 percent of the total seats across the country. The Republicans also gained full control over 19 legislative chambers in which they did not previously have majorities. In gubernatorial elections, the Democrats won office in five states, but lost in 11, for a net loss of six. Republicans now control both the governor's mansion and the legislature in 16 states.

Additionally, the formerly Democratic-controlled Oregon House of Representatives is now evenly split between the two big business parties, while control of New York's Senate is still undecided pending the result of recounts. Out of 99 state legislative chambers nationwide, the Republicans now hold 54.
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9 Shocking Examples Of Black Friday Violence - Is This A Foretaste Of The Economic Riots We Can Expect When The Financial System Collapses?

The Economic Collapse
2010-11-29 20:26:00


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It seems with each passing year the madness on Black Friday gets even worse. This year, there were reports of fights and rioting from coast to coast. It was estimated that over 180 million U.S. shoppers headed for the stores on Friday, and whenever you get that many people together there are going to be problems. But just how crazed ordinary Americans are getting over saving a little bit of money is deeply disturbing when you really start thinking about it. If people will go this wild just to save 40 percent on a television set, then what in the world are they going to do when they have been without food for a couple of days? If Americans will act like psychotic animals just to save 50 bucks, then what in the world will they do when they have lost everything and are desperate to survive?

All of us had better hope and pray that an economic collapse does not happen any time soon, because it is becoming increasingly apparent that the American people are not morally equipped to be able to handle one. Greed and selfishness have become so rampant in America that large segments of the population have totally forgotten how to be any other way.

If the United States ever experiences a really, really bad economic downturn, this nation could very quickly start looking like New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina from coast to coast. Most Americans would simply not know how to handle it.

The following are 9 shocking examples of Black Friday violence that should make all of us wonder what is happening to America....
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UK & Euro-Asian News

Space Debris? Russia's Got It Covered

Kit Eaton
FastCompany
2010-11-24 20:20:00


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Russia has announced it will be investing $2 billion in a program to capture some of the thousands of pieces of dangerous debris that threaten the future of space technology. How might it work?

Energia, Russia's space corporation, has revealed plans to build a special space "pod" which will grab around 600 defunct satellites and then safely deorbit them so that they either burn up in the atmosphere or splash down into the ocean. The pod will rely on a nuclear power core, and cost around $2 billion to develop and deploy. Energia plans to complete design and testing by 2020 and have it in service no later than 2023, with an operational lifespan of around 15 years. The company also said it has been working on a space interceptor capable of tackling any dangerous objects from the outer solar system that may be on a collision course with Earth.

If it seems odd to think of Russia as Earth's space junk and comet defender, it's also welcome news. Space debris in the form of defunct or malfunctioning satellites is an increasingly severe problem. Numerous orbits are becoming inaccessible, or at least hopelessly dangerous, because of wandering hulls or showers of shredded metal debris--like the one caused by a collision between a working U.S. Iridium satellite and a dead Russian Cosmos satellite in 2009.
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Its star rising, Turkey is forced to choose an ally

Nichole Sobecki
Global Post
2010-11-16 07:21:00


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At the upcoming NATO conference in Lisbon, Turkey is going to have to finally take sides.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Islam-rooted Justice and Development Party, Turkey, a rising power and a traditional ally of the West, has increasingly turned its focus to its neighbors in the Middle East, including Iran, leading some to question the country's loyalties. Now, a U.S. plan to build a missile defense shield on Turkish soil - designed specifically to counter Iranian short- and medium-range missiles - might finally force Turkey to decide for which team it wants to play.

NATO's 28-member alliance meets in Lisbon on Friday to determine a strategic concept for the 21st century (its last rethink was in 1999). On its agenda will be both an assessment of its commitment to the Afghanistan War and a decision on whether or not to support the missile defense shield - a decision that must be made by consensus, giving each alliance member, including Turkey, veto power.

At the heart of the controversy is a proposal to locate a radar base for the defense shield on Turkish territory. At the G20 meeting in Seoul last week, Erdogan told U.S. President Barack Obama that Turkey remained unsure about the idea.
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Ireland: Dublin has no budget for extreme weather in 2011

Olivia Kelly
The Irish Times
2010-11-30 01:26:00


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Dublin City Council has no budget to deal with "exceptional weather" events next year, city manager John Tierney has said. The council expects to have spent more than three times its budget for the winter maintenance of national primary and secondary roads this year, not including the money it is spending during the current cold spell.

In his introduction to the city council's 2011 budget, presented to councillors last night, Mr Tierney said the council had received no additional funding from central government to meet the costs of dealing with the heavy snows last January. The council faces a 10 per cent reduction in the Local Government Fund, the main source of funding for the council from central government, which is likely to bring its net allocation to €57.4 million for 2011.

However, by and large the council is not proposing to lay the burden of this cut on either businesses or residents.

The costs of waste collection for households is to increase only marginally next year. The standing charge for the large grey general waste bin is increasing from the current €96 per year to €100 per year, while those using the smaller bin will see their standing charge rise from €78 to €80 per year. The per lift charges are not being increased and will remain at €6 for the large grey bin; €3.60 for the small bin; €3 for those using bags; €2 for the brown organic waste bin; and no charge for the green recycling bin.
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Around the World

Kenyan Prime Minister Threatens to Arrest Gays

CBC News
2010-11-29 11:43:00

An official with Kenya's largest gay rights organization said Monday there is panic among its members after remarks made by

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Kenya's prime minister that homosexuals should be arrested.

The office of the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya received calls from concerned members, some of whom are HIV-positive and fear they will be arrested when they collect life-prolonging medicine from government clinics, board member Nguru Karugu said.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Sunday said homosexuals who are found in the midst of sex acts will be arrested. Odinga's spokesman said in a statement Sunday night that the prime minister was quoted out of context.

In an audio recording of Sunday's speech heard by The Associated Press, the prime minister says in the Kenyan language of Kiswahili that "if a man is caught having sex with the other, we jail them, or if a girl is caught with the other ..., we will jail them." In the latter part of his statement he used profanity to explain lesbianism.
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Pakistan tribesman 'to sue CIA' over drone deaths

Raw Story
2010-11-29 21:47:00

A Pakistani tribesman is seeking 500 million dollars in compensation from the CIA after his son and brother were killed in America's covert drone war against Al-Qaeda, his lawyer said Monday.

Kareem Khan from North Waziristan, the district on the Afghan border where the US campaign has stepped up in recent months, said his house was hit by US missiles on December 31, 2009.

"That drone attack killed my son, my brother and a local man. We are not terrorists, we are common citizens," he told a news conference.

Pakistani intelligence officials said at the time that four militants were killed in the US missile strike in the Mir Ali area.

"We need justice. We are innocent people," Khan said Monday.
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Big Brother

Police State- TSA, Homeland Security & Tampa Police Set Up Nazi Checkpoints At Bus Stations

YouTube/UrbanWarfareChannel
2010-11-30 10:26:00

Under the new DHS program, VIPER, we will continue to see more and more Nazi style checkpoints in America. Basically Americans are being subjected to invasive/illegal searches all in the name of protecting us from the boogiemen known as Al Qaeda.






These checkpoints are essentially the same thing as the checkpoints that everyone in America were against during World War 2. Notice as the news anchor announces the checkpoints like they are wonderful.
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WikiLeaks Attacked on the Eve of US Diplomatic Cables Leak

Lucian Constantin
SoftPedia
2010-11-29 03:45:00


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As it was preparing to begin releasing a massive cache of secret US diplomatic cables, WikiLeaks was hit by a major distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, which temporarily crippled its website.

The announcement was made from the organizations official Twitter account and read: "We are currently under a mass distributed denial of service attack."

The identity of the attacker has not been confirmed, but a hacktivist calling himself th3j35st3r (The Jester in l33t speak), who specializes in attacking jidhadist websites, took credit for the DDoS via his Twitter account.

"www.wikileaks.org - TANGO DOWN - for attempting to endanger the lives of our troops, 'other assets' & foreign relations," he wrote several times.

He also noted that "If I was a wikileaks 'source' right now I'd be getting a little twitchy, if they cant protect their own site, how can they protect a src?"
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Axis of Evil

More Wiki-Drama: Interpol Issues Wanted Notice for Julian Assange

Guardian UK
2010-11-30 18:03:00


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The WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, is tonight facing growing legal problems around the world, with the US announcing that it was investigating whether he had violated its espionage laws.

Assange's details were also added to Interpol's worldwide wanted list. Dated 30 November, the entry reads: "sex crimes" and says the warrant has been issued by the international public prosecution office in Gothenburg, Sweden. "If you have any information contact your national or local police." It reads: "Wanted: Assange, Julian Paul," and gives his birthplace as Townsville, Australia.

Friends said earlier that Assange was in a buoyant mood, however, despite the palpable fury emanating from Washington over the decision by WikiLeaks to start publishing more than a quarter of a million mainly classified US cables. He was said to be at a secret location somewhere outside London, along with fellow hackers and WikiLeaks enthusiasts.

In contrast to previous WikiLeaks releases, Assange has, on this occasion, kept a relatively low profile. His attempt to give an interview to Sky News via Skype was thwarted today by a faulty internet connection.

Assange's reluctance to emerge in public is understandable. It comes amid a rapid narrowing of his options. Several countries are currently either taking - or actively considering - aggressive legal moves against him. This lengthening list includes Sweden, Australia and now the US - but so far as can be made out, not Britain.
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WikiLeaks's Document suggests that Mossad Chief wanted to topple Iranian regime

Gilad Atzmon
GiladAtzmon.com
2010-11-30 17:03:00


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I have learned tonight from Ynetnews that Secret US embassy cables leaked by WikiLeaks suggested that Mossad chief, Meir Dagan, advised the US make use of local fringe groups to try and topple the Iranian regime.

"According to a memo from August 2007, Dagan described to Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns the five pillars of Israel's Iran policy, among them the desire to spark a revolution.

The memo, says Dagan, wanted to enlist the student unions supporting democratic views in order to undermine the government's rule.

The Mossad chief also wanted to enlist local ethnic minorities to the task, including the Kurds and Balochis. These groups - especially the Balochis - have carried out terror attacks in Tehran for which the Islamic Republic has consistently blamed Israel. Seemingly, the Iranian regime was telling the truth all along.

As we all remember, last year thousands of Iranian students took to the streets to protest against the 'falsification of polls results'. I guess that by now the smoke starts to clear, we see who stood behind the riots in Iran. We also learn once more who are the real enemies of democracy.
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"Wiki-Murders" In Iran, Signal "False Flag" Terror

Gordon Duff
Veterans Today
2010-11-29 15:57:00


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An attack on American forces in the Persian Gulf is being planned. Wikileaks is an integral part of the operation. Step one was the current "diplomatic" Wikileak. Step two, the brazen "Mossad style"murders in Iran.

Wikileaks couldn't be more involved if they built the bombs or fired the missiles themselves.

When America is attacked, either in the Persian Gulf or at home, Wikileaks will be a part of it. The operation is staged for the Persian Gulf where American warships are "sitting ducks" for a sneak attack like the USS Liberty "incident."

As with the Liberty attack, Israel can use friends in high places in the United States to assure that if they are blamed, they can claim it was an honest mistake, even if an American super-carrier goes down with all hands.
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Flashback: WikiLeaks Under Scrutiny For Being US-Israel Psyops Organization

Islam Times
2010-10-24 14:48:00

The war between Wikileaks and the Pentagon supposedly continued on Friday as the famous "whistleblower" website released 400,000 "classified" documents. The Pentagon has reportedly assigned 120 personnel to pore over the documents to determine the potential damage they could cause to U.S. security.

However, like many news reports in this day and age, the real story may be buried under the hype surrounding the release of these supposedly "classified" documents and the "outrage" they are causing. The documents seem to paint a picture that very much favours official U.S. positions on the Iraq war. For example, the American media, which has a well documented history of shilling for the U.S. government highlighted two stories that it supposedly extrapolated from these documents.

The first was the fact that the majority of civilian casualties in the Iraq war were caused by Iraqis. This directly contradicts a comprehensive study conducted by Johns Hopkins University in 2004. It found that "coalition" forces killed over 600,000 Iraqis, the majority of them killed in airstrikes. The leaked documents conveniently contradict this information.

The second major story emanating from the "leaks" is that Iran was actively destabilizing Iraq by funding militants who were assassinating Iraqi officials. One AFP story even highlights the accusation that Iran tried to launch a poison gas attack on the "green zone," an area where Iraqi and American officials are based.
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CSIS ex-chief slams courts, Canadians: WikiLeaks

CBC News
2010-11-29 23:19:00


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A U.S. official reported that former CSIS director Jim Judd said Canadians and their courts had an "Alice in Wonderland" worldview, according to a 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks.

Judd and the U.S. official were discussing threats posed by violent Islamist groups in Canada, as well as recent developments in Pakistan and Afghanistan.


Comment: The threat posed by "violent Islamist groups" in Canada is as fictitious as it is in the USA. If Judd really was discussing such 'threats', you can be sure it was with a cynical twinkle in his eye.



In the cable, which was sent by the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa to the U.S. government, the official states that Judd said Canadian judges have "CSIS 'in knots,' making it ever more difficult to detect and prevent terror attacks in Canada and abroad."

Judd said the situation "left government security agencies on the defensive and losing public support for their effort to protect Canada and its allies," the cable states.

Comment: While this tidbit of information from the recent Wikileaks release tows the party line on the existence of a Muslim terror conspiracy, it does reveal something of the psyche of ex-CSIS head, Judd. After all, for a psychopath, how else to describe displays of conscience in reaction to torture than as "paroxysms of moral outrage"?

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Why, Really, Was The USS Liberty Attacked By Israel?

Alan Hart
AlanHart.net
2010-06-12 01:38:00


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The following is my keynote address to the annual re-union dinner of the Liberty Veterans' Association - Long Island, 12 June 2010.

I want to begin by saying that though I covered wars wherever they were taking place on Planet Earth in my television reporting days - it was in Vietnam as a very young correspondent that I first started to ask myself questions about why things are as they are in the world - I am an Englishman and one who didn't serve in his country's armed forces. (Not because I was a draft dodger. Conscription had ended). So it is both an honour and a privilege for me to be with you this evening. And please believe me, I really mean it. I'm not a politician just saying it.

We do, of course, have something in common, OUTRAGE that can't be expressed adequately in polite words at the continued suppression here in America of the truth about a war crime - Israel's attack on the U.S.S Liberty; an attack which, if it had gone completely according to plan, would have seen the sinking of the ship with the loss, the murder, of all hands on board. (Which means that some of you here tonight would not be here).

In my latest book, Zionism: The Real Enemy of the Jews, an epic journey in three volumes through the lies and truth of history as it relates to the making and sustaining of the conflict in and over Palestine that became Israel, I have a chapter titled The Liberty Affair, "Pure Murder" on a "Great Day". (I'll source those quoted comments later).
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CIA implanted electrodes in brains of unsuspecting soldiers, suit alleges

David Edwards
Raw Story
2010-11-29 21:54:00


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A group of military veterans are suing to get the CIA to come clean about allegedly implanting remote control devices in their brains.

It's well known that the CIA began testing substances like LSD on soldiers beginning in the 1950s but less is known about allegations that the agency implanted electrodes in subjects.

A 2009 lawsuit (.pdf) claimed that the CIA intended to design and test septal electrodes that would enable them to control human behavior. The lawsuit said that because the government never disclosed the risks, the subjects were not able to give informed consent.

Bruce Price, one plaintiff in the lawsuit, believes that MRI scans confirm that the CIA placed a device in his brain in 1966.
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Boat engine causes oil to rise from seafloor --"Just dead, everything's dead"

Al Jazeera
2010-11-29 19:52:00




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Middle East Madness

'53% of Israelis say Arabs should be encouraged to leave'

Lahav Harkov
The Jerusalem Post
2010-11-30 06:15:00


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Israel Democracy Institute poll shows only 51% think Arabs, Jews deserve equal rights; Israel ranked least-stable democracy in the world.

The Israel Democracy Institute released the results of its Israeli Democracy Ranking and poll on Tuesday, revealing that 53 percent of Jewish Israelis say the government should encourage Arabs to emigrate from Israel, and only 51% believe Jews and Arabs should have equal rights.

The poll showed that the more religious respondents were, the less they believed Arabs should have equal rights, with 33.5% of secular Jews opposing rights for Arabs, as opposed to 51% of traditional Jews, 65% of religious Jews, and 72% of haredim. In addition, 86% of Jewish Israelis believe that important decisions should be made by a Jewish majority.
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Egypt Elects New Parliament Amid Violence and Fraud Allegations

Samer al-Atrush
The Telegraph, UK
2010-11-28 12:33:00


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Egypt elected a new parliament on Sunday in a vote marred by violence and fraud allegations, leading the US to fear for the country's future as a key strategic ally in the Middle East.

Protesters clashed with police and there were reports of gunfights between candidates' supporters in the south of the country.

But as polls closed it seemed likely that the government had achieved its aim of reducing the Muslim Brotherhood, the main Islamist opposition, to a rump as US-backed President Hosni Mubarak sought to strengthen his grip on power.

The United States and particularly President Barack Obama regard Egypt as a key partner in the Middle East. But even Washington was moved to urge restraint as more than 1,000 Muslim Brotherhood activists were arrested during the campaign.
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What would you do if . . .

Mohammed Said Alnadi
Mondoweiss
2010-11-29 20:57:00


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Someone had assailed your home, ethnically cleansed its people, annexed its land, exhausted its bounteous resources, and decimated its geographical characteristics?

Someone had denied you your inalienable right of defending your home and self, and mendaciously accused you of being "terrorist", justifying crimes and oppression by "self-defense"?

Someone, by using humiliation and most degrading ways, had gotten in your way when you are dying and desperately in need of medical treatment?

Someone had taken away your most beloved ones and incarcerated them in a non-human environment?
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Israeli forces shoot child on Gaza border

Ma'an News Agency
2010-11-27 20:51:00


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Gaza City - A Palestinian boy was shot and injured by Israeli forces in Beit Lahiya Saturday morning, after soldiers opened fire on the boy, who was with a group of men collecting stone aggregates along the Gaza-Israel border.

Medics said the unidentified 12-year-old was shot in the foot and evacuated to the Kamal Udwan Hospital where he was treated for the moderate injury.

An Israeli military spokesperson said soldiers identified "a number of suspects approaching the fence," adding that the group was only 50 meters from the border, in an area where a more than one kilometer no-go zone is enforced by Israeli troops.
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Israeli forces assault 7 year old Palestinian in Silwan

Wadi Hilweh Information Center - Silwan
2010-11-26 20:47:00

Silwan, Jerusalem -- Israeli forces assaulted 7 year old Adam Mansour Rishq during tense scenes in Silwan today. The child was beaten by Israeli troops who accused him of throwing stones at a military vehicle, who then attempted to arrest the youth but were stopped by residents who flocked to the scene. One resident told soldiers that "if you want to arrest him you can send an order to his father, summoning him to the police station."

An Israeli policewoman was witnessed shouting at the mother of Rishq as she arrived on the scene, accusing her and other residents of covering up their children's faults. The mother, fearful of the police officer, fled in to the house. Her son was brought in to the house over an hour later, when he was found hiding in a nearby tree out of fear of a repeat attack by soldiers. Rishq, clearly suffering from severe shock, was taken to Sharat Zedek hospital in West Jerusalem where he was treated for trauma and hallucination. Despite receiving treatment for 4 hours, the hospital refused to issue any papers to Rishq's family to prove the necessity of medical attention following the assault.
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Iran Admits Uranium Enrichment Hit by Malware

Agence France-Presse
2010-11-29 19:48:00


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President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad admitted Monday that "several" uranium enrichment centrifuges were damaged by "software installed in electronic equipment," amid speculation Iran's nuclear activities had come under cyberattack.

"They were able to create problems on a limited basis for some of our centrifuges by software installed in electronic equipment," told reporters when asked whether Iran's nuclear programme had been affected.

"Our specialists stopped that and they will not be able to do it again," he added without elaborating on the software thought to have been used.

Computer security firm Symantec said this month that computer worm Stuxnet might have been designed to disrupt the motors that power gas centrifuges used to enrich uranium.
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Grand Theft Economics

More than 8 million drop out of credit card use

Eileen AJ Connely
Breitbart
2010-11-29 09:49:00

New York- More than 8 million consumers stopped using credit cards over the past year. The decline stems from a combination of consumer choices and bank actions.

An analysis by credit reporting agency TransUnion found that use of general purpose credit cards bearing MasterCard or Visa logos, or issued by Discover or American Express, fell more than 11 percent in the third quarter, compared with the July to September period last year.

About 62 million people now have an active card, compared with 70 million a year ago.

The Chicago company found that consumers in the subprime category, or those with low credit ratings, were believed to be without cards mostly because they were shut down by banks after payments fell behind or balances were written off.
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Silver Prices Surging on Near-Record Demand

Sharon Epperson and Jessica Golden
MSNBC
2010-11-29 22:08:00

The price of silver is surging and so is business at many coin dealers across the country. At Plaza Collectibles, an appraisals shop in Manhattan, owner Lee Rosenbloom says he's seeing a tremendous demand both in new and older silver coins. "This is probably the strongest demand there's been in the last 25 years," he says.

Silver prices have soared 60 percent in 2010, driven in large part by a strong investment demand, particularly strong buying of exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, backed by the physical metal.

"ETF demand has been an important driver of prices because investors have prepositioned themselves for this central bank buying by emerging markets" says Francisco Blanch, Head of Global Commodity Research at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch.
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Stocks in U.S. Drop as Concern Grows That European Debt Crisis May Spread

Rita Nazareth and Tara Lachapelle
Bloomberg
2010-11-29 21:11:00

U.S. stocks fell, sending the Standard & Poor's 500 Index down for the fourth time in five days, as Ireland's bailout failed to ease investor concern that Europe's debt crisis may spread to the southern region.

The S&P 500 rallied in the final 90 minutes of trading, almost wiping out a 1.3 percent drop, as the measure bounced off a level watched by chart analysts. Hewlett-Packard Co. and Verizon Communications Inc. lost at least 1 percent, pacing declines in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Visa Inc. sank 1.7 percent as an analyst said mobile-network operators may take market share. Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. led a rally in financial shares, gaining more than 1.6 percent.

The S&P 500 retreated 0.1 percent to 1,187.76 as of 4 p.m. in New York, after earlier falling below its average price of the last 50 days of 1,177. The Dow lost 39.51 points, or 0.4 percent, to 11,052.49.
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Wikileaks Announces Next Target: US Banks

Reuters
2010-11-29 20:40:00


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The founder of whistle-blower website WikiLeaks plans to release tens of thousands of internal documents from a major U.S. bank early next year, Forbes Magazine reported on Monday.

Julian Assange declined in an interview with Forbes to identify the bank, but he said that he expected that the disclosures, which follow his group's release of U.S. military and diplomatic documents, would lead to investigations.

"We have one related to a bank coming up, that's a megaleak. It's not as big a scale as the Iraq material, but it's either tens or hundreds of thousands of documents depending on how you define it," Assange said in the interview posted on the Forbes website.

He declined to identify the bank, describing it only as a major U.S. bank that is still in existence.
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The Living Planet

Moderate quake jolts Tibet; no injuries reported

Geology News
2010-11-30 18:24:00

A moderate quake jolted the eastern part of Tibet on Tuesday, though no casualties were reported. The 5.5-magnitude quake, which occurred at 4:39 pm local time, was located about 45 miles (75 kilometers) west of Lhasa, the regional capital of Tibet, according to the US Geological Survey.

The China Earthquake Networks Center, which reported the quake was magnitude 5.2 on the Richter scale, said the epicenter was in Gedar township in Damxung county near the capital.
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The Ice Age Cometh: Ireland records coldest November temperatures since 1947

Tim O'Brien
Irish Times
2010-11-30 17:29:00


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Record low November temperatures are set to be broken again today with very cold easterly winds and further heavy snowfalls. Met Éireann said that a wind chill factor would combine with heavy snowfalls of up to 25cm (10in) in east Leinster by tonight, making travel difficult and reducing temperatures.

Met Éireann said the wind chill "will make it very much colder than recent days" and added there was no sign of a thaw this side of the weekend.

Water authorities have warned of disruption to supplies which they say would "almost inevitably" follow the current cold spell.

Record low November temperatures were broken at weather stations in recent days, while Dublin airport recorded the lowest November temperatures since 1947 on Sunday.

The heaviest snowfalls today are expected to be in Wicklow, Dublin and Louth but snow is also expected to be heavy in Ulster, Connacht and, by tonight, in Waterford and the south coast. Scattered snow showers are predicted for the midlands.

The Government's emergency planning taskforce met yesterday to co-ordinate information on public transport and travel arrangements as well as efforts to keep key national and strategic routes open and clear city footpaths of ice.
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US: Earthquake Magnitude 3.9 - Off Long Island Coast

The Sag Harbor Express
2010-11-30 16:07:00


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A minor, 3.9 magnitude earthquake was confirmed Tuesday morning off the coast of Long Island.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake occurred just over 80-miles from Southampton and 122 miles southeast of New York City. A handful of East End residents, from East Hampton to Southampton have reported feeling the quake, which a dispatcher from Southampton Town Police said shook police headquarters in Hampton Bays for seven seconds.

No injuries or damages have been reported as a result of the quake.
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9 Quakes Recorded Around Mount Bulusan in the Philippines

GMANews.TV
2010-11-30 14:45:00


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At least nine volcanic quakes were recorded near restive Bulusan Volcano in Bicol in the last 24 hours, national disaster management officials said Tuesday.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) also reported weak emission of white steam from the volcano's northwest thermal vents.

"For the past 24-hour observation period, Bulusan Volcano's seismic network detected nine volcanic quakes. Measurement of sulfur dioxide emission rate yielded an average value of 36.56 tons per day. Weak emission of white steam was observed from the northwest thermal vents from 8:35 to 10:35 a.m. (Monday)," the NDRRMC said in its 8 a.m. bulletin.
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Volcano Forces Airport Shut in Indonesia

JR/HGH/MMN
PressTV
2010-11-29 18:24:00


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Ash eruption from Indonesia's Mount Bromo volcano has forced nearby airports to close, leaving several passengers stranded in the east Java region.

Officials say civilian flights to and from Abdurahman Saleh Airport in East Java Province will remain grounded for at least five days. Tourists were not allowed to visit Mount Bromo on Friday.

Volcanic eruption from this mountain killed two tourists in 2004.

Indonesia is home to about 130 active volcanoes.

This follows the deaths of hundreds of people after Mount Merapi started its volcanic activities in late October.
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Arctic conditions paralyse Scotland

STV
2010-11-30 14:36:00


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As the snow continues and black ice warnings are issued, the country faces another day of travel chaos and school closures.

Scotland woke up to yet more snow on Tuesday morning, as severe weather warnings were issued for widespread black ice and temperatures as low as minus eight.

By midday on Tuesday most towns and cities were experiencing sub-zero temperatures with Inverness reaching a record low for November overnight - at minus 14.

Plunging temperatures meant untreated roads froze up, leaving many commuters struggling to get to work and schools facing closure for a second day running.
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Schools And Transport Hit As Snow Blankets UK

Alison Chung and Jo Couzens
Sky News Online
2010-11-30 14:07:00


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Heavy snowfall has caused major disruption to Britain's transport networks and forced hundreds of schools to close, as forecasters warn of more wintry weather to come.

Almost every corner of the UK woke up to between 2cm and 10cm of snow this morning, with the East Coast worst hit by flurries and sub-zero temperatures.

The freezing conditions that have paralysed much of Scotland and the North East spread overnight to the Midlands before moving on towards the South East and London.

Severe weather warnings of heavy snowfall and widespread road ice have been issued by the Met Office across almost every part of the UK.

All airports are currently open but some flights are being delayed or cancelled. Gatwick, Luton and London City Airports have reported cancellations.
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Snow Spreads in Europe, Disrupting Germany, U.K. Air Services

Renee Lawrence
Bloomberg
2010-11-30 12:55:00


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Air services across Europe were disrupted today, as snow and bad weather led to flight cancelations and delays at airports including in Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Edinburgh.

In Frankfurt, 266 flights were canceled as of 2:45 p.m., airport owner Fraport AG said in an e-mailed statement. Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Europe's second-largest carrier, said Fraport had made "insufficient de-icing and handling capacities" available. Fraport spokesman Thomas Uber said "clumpy, coagulated" snow meant de-icing took longer than usual.

Cold temperatures and snow are forecast for Germany over the next five days, according to AccuWeather.Com, with temperatures in Munich expected to dip as low as minus 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit) today. The earliest widespread snowfall of a British winter since 1993 has led to "icy roads and heavy snow" across most parts of the country, the Met Office said on its website.

"The winter weather we will experience this week will be such as many people, especially in eastern Germany, have never experienced in their lives," German weather service Wetter24.de said on its website.
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US: 15 hurt as storms, possible tornadoes hit Mississippi, Louisiana

ABC News
2010-11-30 10:52:00

Severe storms ripped through central Mississippi, bringing further misery to an area already decimated by a line of tornadoes that killed 12 people in April. Tornado watches were posted across southern Louisiana, much of Mississippi and Alabama and into Tennessee as the storms moved east Tuesday.

Authorities in Mississippi reported 15 people hurt and homes and businesses badly damaged, but no deaths. On Battle Street in Yazoo City, a twister late Monday ripped the tarp off 63-year-old Clarence Taylor's roof, which had been damaged by the April tornado.

"It looks like a war zone now," he said Tuesday morning, pulling a slow drag off a cigarette, then looking around at the power lines dangling from broken poles and pieces of tin scattered about from nearby buildings.





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Scientists Fear Mass Extinction as Oceans Choke

Amy Simmons
ABC, Australia
2010-11-30 01:06:00


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Australian scientists fear the planet is on the brink of another mass extinction as ocean dead zones continue to grow in size and number.

More than 400 ocean dead zones - areas so low in oxygen that sea life cannot survive - have been reported by oceanographers around the world between 2000 and 2008.

That is compared with 300 in the 1990s and 120 in the 1980s.

Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) and from the University of Queensland, says there is growing evidence that declining oxygen levels in the ocean have played a major role in at least four of the planet's five mass extinctions.

"Until recently the best hypothesis for them was a meteor strike," he said.

"So 65 million years ago they've got very good evidence ... all the dinosaurs died because of smoke and stuff in the atmosphere from a meteor strike.

"But with the four other mass extinction events, one of the best explanations now is that these periods were preceded by an increase of volcanic activity, and that volcanic activity caused a change in ocean circulation.
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Eruption Alert: More Indonesian Volcanoes Getting Restless

Our Amazing Planet
2010-11-29 15:31:00


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As if things weren't already bad enough in Indonesia, another volcano may be about to blow.

Indonesia straddles the Pacific Ring of Fire - and lately, this nation of islands has been living up to the region's fiery reputation. A number of so-called minor ash explosions from Mount Bromo on Sunday (Nov. 28) caused a nearby airport to close as scientists upgraded the volcano to its highest alert level, according to the Indian newspaper The Hindu. On the same island, Java, Mount Merapi's recent eruptions killed hundreds and prompted mass evacuations.

The eruption watch also continues in the straight just west of Java where Anak Krakatau has also been increasingly active lately.

Still want to visit Indonesia? Try virtual tourism.

The heightened eruption alerts come just a couple weeks after Mount Merapi's relentless erupting killed more than 300 people.

Mount Merapi's devastation has been estimated at $611 million and pyroclastic flows have destroyed huge swaths of forest (and one unfortunately placed golf course), according to the People's Daily Online.
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Japan - Earthquake Magnitude 6.6 - Bonin Islands

United States Geological Survey
2010-11-29 22:34:00


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Date-Time:
Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 03:24:41 UTC

Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 01:24:41 PM at epicenter

Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

Location:
28.415°N, 139.139°E

Depth:
478.3 km (297.2 miles)

Region:
BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION

Distances:
335 km (210 miles) WNW of Chichi-shima, Bonin Islands, Japan

455 km (285 miles) NNW of Iwo Jima, Volcano Islands, Japan

525 km (325 miles) S of Hachijo-jima, Izu Islands, Japan

810 km (500 miles) S of TOKYO, Japan
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Health & Wellness

Narcissism No Longer a Psychiatric Disorder

Charles Zanor
New York Times
2010-11-29 12:59:00


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Narcissists, much to the surprise of many experts, are in the process of becoming an endangered species.

Not that they face imminent extinction - it's a fate much worse than that. They will still be around, but they will be ignored.

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (due out in 2013, and known as DSM-5) has eliminated five of the 10 personality disorders that are listed in the current edition.

Comment: When you read the proposed changes to the DSM, narcissism is not simply removed, it's incorporated into a category referred to as antisocial/psychopathic. ALL the narcissism features are listed in there. It's actually a good thing as NPD is being upgraded into the psychopathic category. Although it's not listed NPD's SYMPTOMS are now part of the whole ASPD/psychopathic category which is where it belongs. This guy who wrote the article didn't do his homework!

For more information on narcissism see: Hurting you isn't something narcissists do by accident. Since it seems probable that narcissists are really just high functioning psychopaths, we have to wonder why this is being done. Maybe we're getting too close in being able to identify them.
Intraspecies Predator: How A Psychopath Sees The World

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Paracetamol May be Linked to Young Child Allergies

Elaine Lies
Reuters
2010-11-29 12:43:00


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The use of paracetamol for infants may be linked to the development of allergies and asthma later on, according to a report.

But more research is needed to clarify this and the benefits of paracetamol use for fever control still outweigh the potential of later allergy development, said Julian Crane, a professor at Otago University in Wellington and author of the report.

"The problem is that paracetamol is given quite liberally to young children," he told Reuters.

"There's a lot of evidence suggesting that something is going on here. It's not completely clear-cut, that's the problem."

The report, which has appeared in "Clinical and Experimental Allergy" journal, is based on the New Zealand Asthma and Allergy Cohort Study, which investigated use of paracetamol for 505 infants in Christchurch and 914 five and six-year-olds in Christchurch to see if they developed signs of asthma or allergic sensitivity.
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Researchers Ditch Toxic Nanoparticle Chemicals for Delicious Cinnamon

Jason Mick
DailyTech
2010-11-30 12:16:00


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Nanoparticles these days are quietly being slipped into products and processes as diverse as electronics, healthcare products (like sunscreen), and pharmaceuticals to fight cancer.

But for all that promise, there's a dark side. In order to make nanoparticles like tiny gold nanoparticles or titanium dioxide nanoparticles, caustic chemicals frequently are required. Scientists are concerned that minute quantities of those chemicals could harm the human body, causing cancer or other diseases.

But a University of Missouri research team, led by MU Physics and Radiology Professor Kattesh Katti thinks they have a solution -- cinnamon.

The team mixed gold salts in water with cinnamon and discovered that they remarkably formed nanoparticles. Typically such particles form only when exposed to an electric field or when toxic chemicals are added to the mix.
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Acupuncture changes brain's perception and processing of pain

Linda Brooks
Radiological Society of North America
2010-11-30 11:28:00


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Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers have captured pictures of the brain while patients experienced a pain stimulus with and without acupuncture to determine acupuncture's effect on how the brain processes pain. Results of the study, which the researchers say suggest the effectiveness of acupuncture, were presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

"Until now, the role of acupuncture in the perception and processing of pain has been controversial," said lead researcher Nina Theysohn, M.D., from the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology at University Hospital in Essen, Germany. "Functional MRI gives us the opportunity to directly observe areas of the brain that are activated during pain perception and see the variances that occur with acupuncture."

fMRI measures the tiny metabolic changes that take place in an active part of the brain, while a patient performs a task or is exposed to a specific external stimulus.

In the study, conducted in close collaboration with the Department of Complementary and Integrative Medicine at University of Duisburg-Essen, 18 healthy volunteers underwent fMRI while an electrical pain stimulus was attached to the left ankle. Acupuncture needles were then placed at three places on the right side, including between the toes, below the knee, and near the thumb. With the needles in place, fMRI was repeated while electrical currents were again directed at the left ankle. The researchers then compared the images and data obtained from the fMRI sessions with no acupuncture to those of the fMRI sessions with acupuncture.

"Activation of brain areas involved in pain perception was significantly reduced or modulated under acupuncture," Dr. Theysohn said.
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Adult Picky Eaters Now Recognized as Having a Disorder

Robin Nixon
LiveScience
2010-11-28 09:37:00

He's 63 years old, but Bob Krause admits he still eats "a 4-year-old's dream diet."

Krause likes peanut butter, crackers, grilled cheese sandwiches, chocolate milk and little else. More adventurous meals look like "a plate of barf," he told LiveScience.

"If I could snap my fingers and change, I would," he said, explaining his pickiness helped ruin two marriages, limited his career options and makes most social occasions sources of stress.

Researchers think Krause could be one of thousands suffering from a previously unrecognized illness: selective eating disorder, more commonly known as very picky eating. Instead of having a couple foods they'd rather avoid, the way most of us do, people with selective eating disorder feel there are very few foods they are even capable of eating.

"People who are picky aren't doing this just to be stubborn," said eating researcher Nancy Zucker of Duke University, explaining that extremely picky eaters experience food differently than the rest of us.

Zucker, who is also the director of the Duke Center for Eating Disorders, first became interested in selective eating, because adult picky eaters were walking in, looking for help. Their eating behavior was getting in the way of their job or social life, or they were worried about being bad role models for their kids, she said. [How to Handle Kids' Picky Eating]
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USDA Asked to Approve GMO Apple That Won't Brown

Shannon Dininny
Associated Press
2010-11-29 16:18:00


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Cashmere, Washington - A Canadian biotechnology company has asked the U.S. to approve a genetically modified apple that won't brown soon after its sliced, saying the improvement could boost sales of apples for snacks, salads and other uses.

U.S. apple growers say it's too soon to know whether they'd be interested in the apple: They need to resolve questions about the apple's quality, the cost of planting and, most importantly, whether people would buy it.

"Genetically modified - that's a bad word in our industry," said Todd Fryhover, president of the apple commission in Washington state, which produces more than half the U.S. crop.

But Neal Carter, president of the company that developed the apples, said the technology would lower the cost of producing fresh slices, which have become a popular addition to children's lunch boxes, and make apples more popular in salads and other quick meals.

Carter's company, Okanagan Specialty Fruits of Summerland, British Columbia, licensed the non-browning technology from Australian researchers who pioneered it in potatoes. Essentially, the genes responsible for producing the enzyme that induces browning have been silenced in the apple variety being marketed as "Arctic."

"They look like apple trees and grow like apple trees and produce apples that look like all other apples and when you cut them, they don't turn brown," Carter said. "The benefit is something that can be identified just about by everybody."
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Study Suggests Being Too Clean Can Make People Sick

Medical Daily
2010-11-29 21:11:00


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Young people who are overexposed to antibacterial soaps containing triclosan may suffer more allergies, and exposure to higher levels of Bisphenol A among adults may negatively influence the immune system, a new University of Michigan School of Public Health study suggests.

Triclosan is a chemical compound widely used in products such as antibacterial soaps, toothpaste, pens, diaper bags and medical devices. Bisphenol A (BPA) is found in many plastics and, for example, as a protective lining in food cans. Both of these chemicals are in a class of environmental toxicants called endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs), which are believed to negatively impact human health by mimicking or affecting hormones.

Using data from the 2003-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, U-M researchers compared urinary BPA and triclosan with cytomegalovirus (CMV) antibody levels and diagnosis of allergies or hay fever in a sample of U.S. adults and children over age 6. Allergy and hay fever diagnosis and CMV antibodies were used as two separate markers of immune alterations.

"We found that people over age 18 with higher levels of BPA exposure had higher CMV antibody levels, which suggests their cell-mediated immune system may not be functioning properly," said Erin Rees Clayton, research investigator at the U-M School of Public Health and first author on the paper.
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The Best and Worst Vegetables to Eat

Dr. Mercola
2010-11-29 18:41:00


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There's little doubt that one of the best ways to improve your health is to make sure you're eating plenty of fresh, minimally processed high quality vegetables, ideally locally-grown and organic, with a majority of them consumed raw. One simple way to boost your vegetable intake is to juice them.

Juicing organic vegetables is highly recommended to patients in our clinic who are working to restore or improve their health. I am firmly convinced that juicing is one of the key factors to giving you a radiant, energetic life, and truly optimal health.

I simply do not know of any other single nutritional intervention that has a more profound influence on health than eating and/or juicing fresh, organic vegetables.

You can review my comprehensive approach to how to juice on my vegetable juicing page.
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Science & Technology

The Return Of Jupiter's Missing Stripe

Space Weather
2010-11-30 16:57:00

The revival of Jupiter's South Equatorial Belt (SEB), missing for nearly a year, is now well underway. The roiling, turbulent disturbance that heralds the brown stripe's full return stretches almost halfway around the giant planet. "Here is a projection map showing the revival on Nov. 29th," says amateur astronomer Wayne Jaeschke of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Note the region bracketed by arrows:


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"I made the map by combining two pictures of Jupiter I took using my 14-inch Celestron telescope," says Jaeschke. "The disturbance has grown dramatically since it first appeared in late October." Indeed, it is now so large that even novice observers are starting to notice it in the eyepieces of backyard telescopes.

The spreading disturbance is not the SEB itself. Instead, it is thought to be a progressive clearing of high clouds that will eventually reveal the brown stripe hiding below. When the SEB finally returns, Jupiter will have two brown stripes again and the planet's appearance will return to normal. Meanwhile, amateur astronomers are encouraged to monitor the revival. Point your optics south after sunset: sky map.
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Earth Oceans Were Homegrown

Bruce Dorminey
ScienceNOW
2010-11-29 17:50:00

Where did Earth's oceans come from? Astronomers have long contended that icy comets and asteroids delivered the water for them during an epoch of heavy bombardment that ended about 3.9 billion years ago. But a new study suggests that Earth supplied its own water, leaching it from the rocks that formed the planet. The finding may help explain why life on Earth appeared so early, and it may indicate that other rocky worlds are also awash in vast seas.

Our planet has always harbored water. The rubble that coalesced to form Earth contained trace amounts - tens to hundreds of parts per million - of the stuff. But scientists didn't believe that was enough to create today's oceans, and thus they looked to alien origins for our water supply. Geologist Linda Elkins-Tanton of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge didn't think researchers needed to look that far.
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Hot new discovery: Rare metal that stores heat from sun makes the 'rechargeable solar battery' possible

Niall Firth
Daily Mail
2010-11-30 09:55:00


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Scientists have discovered how a rare metal is able to absorb sunlight and store it as pure heat until it is needed.

The breakthrough paves the way for the next generation of solar power devices that are able to harness energy and heat collected from the sun and store it indefinitely.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say it could be used to create a 'rechargeable heat battery' that could be used to heat a home.
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"Mirrors in Your Brain": Does an Epic Discovery Do for Psychology What DNA Did for Biology?

Casey Kazan
The Daily Galaxy
2010-11-15 01:20:00


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A recent paradigm-shattering discovery in neuroscience shows how our minds share actions, emotions, and experience - what we commonly call "the monkey see, monkey do" experience. When we see someone laugh, cry, show disgust, or experience pain, in some sense, we share that emotion. When we see someone in distress, we share that distress. When we see a great actor, musician or sportsperson perform at the peak of their abilities, it can feel like we are experiencing just something of what they are experiencing.

Only recently, however, with the discovery of mirror neurons, has it become clear just how this powerful sharing of experience is realized within the human brain. In the early 1990's Giacomo Rizzolatti and his colleagues at the University of Parma discovered that some neurons had an amazing property: they responded not only when a subject performed a given action, but also when the subject observed someone else performing that same action.

These results had a deep impact on cognitive neuroscience, leading the the world's leading experts to predict that 'mirror neurons would do for psychology what DNA did for biology'.

Vilayanur Ramachandran is a neurologist at the University of California-San Diego and co-author of Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind writes that "Giacomo Rizzolatti at the University of Parma has elegantly explored the properties of neurons - the so-called "mirror" neurons, or "monkey see, monkey do" neurons. His research indicates that any given cell in this region will fire when a test monkey performs a single, highly specific action with its hand: pulling, pushing, tugging, picking up, grasping, etc. In addition, it appears that different neurons fire in response to different actions."

The astonishing fact is that any given mirror neuron will also fire when the monkey in question observes another monkey (or even the experimenter) performing the same action. "With knowledge of these neurons, you have the basis for understanding a host of very enigmatic aspects of the human mind: imitation learning, intentionality, "mind reading," empathy -- even the evolution of language." Ramachandran writes.
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In the Beginning, the Universe Was a Liquid

Ian O'Neill
Discovery News
2010-11-27 22:16:00


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After colliding lead ions at close to the speed of light, physicists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) using the ALICE detector have discovered the Universe acted like a fluid in the moments immediately after the Big Bang. Also, the ATLAS and CMS detectors have observed a phenomenon known as "jet quenching" for the first time.

Until recently, the LHC only accelerated protons and collided them inside the particle accelerator mainly to search for the infamous Higgs boson and other exotic particles. But earlier this month, heavier lead ions were injected into the LHC. This is when the quantum party really got started.

Smashing Lead

For three weeks, lead ions have raced around the accelerator ring at relativistic speeds, crashing head-on with other lead ions traveling in the opposite direction.

Lead ions are significantly bigger than protons, so they carry more energy. When they collide, they release so much energy that physicists often refer to the lead-lead collisions as "micro-Big Bangs."

Each ion collision can, quite literally, recreate the conditions just after the Big Bang, some 13.75 billion years ago.

For a brief moment, these mini-Big Bangs flashed up to an estimated temperature of 10 trillion degrees Kelvin (that's more than 500,000 times hotter than the center of the sun), giving the ALICE detector a peek into how matter would have acted right at the Universe's superheated birth.
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Microsoft Appeal on i4i Patent Goes to Top Court

CBC News
2010-11-29 01:39:00


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The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a $290-million US dispute between Microsoft Corp. and Canadian technology company i4i Inc. over complaints that the former's ubiquitous Word program violates one of i4i's patents.

The high court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from the Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft, which wants the multimillion-dollar judgment against it erased.

In its appeal, the world's largest software maker says the lower court that handles patent cases makes it too hard for those accused of infringement to argue that a patent should never have been granted initially. Tech giants Apple Inc. and Google Inc. have taken the unprecedented step of publicly backing their rival Microsoft in the dispute.

In Microsoft's appeal, Apple told the justices that the patent system "is tilting out of balance," giving disproportionate power to people who secure patents of questionable legitimacy, Bloomberg reported.
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Unraveling the Mystery of Why We Give, or Don't

Judy Keen
USA Today
2010-11-30 01:37:00


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South Bend, Indiana - Generous impulses often are described in fundraising appeals, conversation and greeting cards as coming "from the heart."

In fact, the origins of giving probably are deep in the brain's circuitry.

Exactly how the complicated workings of the brain stimulate or suppress giving and how families, co-workers and values affect generosity remain a mystery despite years of study. The University of Notre Dame is leading a new research initiative that will merge economic, sociological, neurological and psychological studies to explain why some people give and some don't and to create a new academic field.

With a $5 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation, Notre Dame created the Science of Generosity Initiative in 2009. Research is underway here and at universities across the nation.

Project director Christian Smith, a Notre Dame sociology professor, hopes to unravel the physiological and behavioral mechanisms that make people generous - or not: Why do some people give blood? Why do some people go out of their way to help strangers?
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Dark Jupiter May Haunt Edge of Solar System

All Top News
2010-11-29 23:41:00


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A century of comet data suggests a dark, Jupiter-sized object is lurking at the solar system's outer edge and hurling chunks of ice and dust toward Earth.

"We've accumulated 10 years more data, double the comets we viewed to test this hypothesis," said planetary scientist John Matese of the University of Louisiana. "Only now should we be able to falsify or verify that you could have a Jupiter-mass object out there."

In 1999, Matese and colleague Daniel Whitmire suggested the sun has a hidden companion that boots icy bodies from the Oort Cloud, a spherical haze of comets at the solar system's fringes, into the inner solar system where we can see them.

In a new analysis of observations dating back to 1898, Matese and Whitmire confirm their first thought: In this area 20 percent of the comets visible from Earth were sent by a dark, distant planet.

This thought was a reaction to an earlier notion that a dim brown dwarf or red dwarf star, ominously dubbed Nemesis, has pummeled the Earth with deadly comet showers every 30 million years or so. Shortly research suggested that mass extinctions on Earth don't line up with Nemesis's predictions, so many astronomers now reckon the object doesn't exist.
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Our Haunted Planet

Black Helicopter & UFOs Over Lehigh Acres Florida 2010

Disclose TV
2010-11-30 15:32:00


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UFO Denver, Colorado November 2010

Daily Motion
2010-11-30 14:45:00

Multiple lights were recorded in the night sky over Denver Colorado. This footage was recorded in November 2010.

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Unknown Cyndrical Object Over Brazil November, 27th 2010

JuangonysChannel/YouTube
2010-11-29 21:36:00

Interesting daytime video of a cigar-shaped craft in the sky over Brazil. This was taken on Saturday, 27th November 2010.

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Don't Panic! Lighten Up!

Satire: Wikileaks To Release UFO Secret

The Spoof
2010-11-29 23:33:00


17908_0132_1221ufo.jpg


Stockholm, Sweden-- Wikileaks plans to release the most stunning secret of all, at a news conference tomorrow. Wikileaks will release a UFO secret so incredible, it will shock the world. Major rioting is expected, and world leaders have been notified.

Wikileaks founder Julian Weaselface says the decision to release the ultimate Top Secret, kept him awake at night.

"I actually threw-up, when I found out. It's really that bad." he said sadly. "Once everyone knows the secret, it will change the world." said Mr. Weaselface.

Wikileaks put together the UFO information from 'millions' of emails, cables and government documents from all over the world. Thousands of suicides are expected, once the secret is released.
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