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Betrayed by Obama: Honduras on standby as Washington endorses gunpoint election
Bill Van Auken
World Socialist Web Site
2009-11-27 15:54:00
The Obama administration has declared its support for elections being held this Sunday in Honduras, under conditions in which the regime that came to power in a coup last June has refused to cede power and is preparing intense repression against those who oppose it.
The action has placed Washington at odds with virtually all of Latin America, whose governments have refused to recognize the elections as legitimate.
The US endorsement of the elections represents the culmination of a policy that has lent political support to the coup regime headed by the Liberal Party leader of the national legislature, Roberto Micheletti, and the Honduran military, even as Washington has given lip service to the principle of restoring the country's elected president, Manuel Zelaya, to power.
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Just Like Nazi Germany: Israel Breeds Aggression and Apartheid
Peter Eyre
The Palestine Telegraph
2009-11-26 08:20:00
I was shocked to see this photograph of Israeli elders showing children how to use weapons of war. It is a known fact that in Israel young children are raised with this mentality. Israeli children from the age of 13 are offered a variety of training.
Many schools have uniformed teacher soldiers and guides who provide the vital link between the education system and the military. A more intense programme of activities starts at age 15-16 and from age 16 onwards students are brainwashed ready to enlist in the IDF.
Youth battalions are offered a one week military training programme on an IDF bas as part of the 16-17 year old curriculum at most Jewish State Schools. The armed forces also directly administered schools, including the Beit Biram Military Boarding School in Haifa, which accepted students from age 14. Pupils at this school are called cadets and wear military uniforms. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) also run four technical schools for children aged 13 and above. Amal High School in Ramat David was a joint military-civilian facility for children aged 13 and older based on an IAF base.
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U.S. News
Lobbyists pushed away from the trough
Dan Eggen
Washington Post
2009-11-27 15:41:00
White House initiative to limit influence could affect thousands
Hundreds, if not thousands, of lobbyists are likely to be ejected from federal advisory panels as part of a little-noticed initiative by the Obama administration to curb K Street's influence in Washington, according to White House officials and lobbying experts.
The new policy -- issued with little fanfare this fall by the White House ethics counsel -- may turn out to be the most far-reaching lobbying rule change so far from President Obama, who also has sought to restrict the ability of lobbyists to get jobs in his administration and to negotiate over stimulus contracts.
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Florida: Police Seek Man After Thanksgiving Party Shootings
BBC News
2009-11-27 11:07:00
Police in the US are searching for a man after four relatives - including a child - were shot dead at a family Thanksgiving dinner in Florida.
Paul Michael Merhige, 35, is considered armed and dangerous, police in the small Palm Beach town of Jupiter said.
The victims are a six-year-old girl who was shot in her bed, the man's twin sisters and his 76-year-old aunt.
Police said 17 relatives were gathered at the home for dinner on Thursday. The motive for the killings is unclear.
Authorities said a fifth victim, Mr Merhige's brother-in-law, was being treated in hospital for unspecified wounds.
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UK & Euro-Asian News
Irish Catholic Church 'Covered Up' Sickening Catalogue of Child Abuse by Paedophile Priests
Fay Schlesinger
Daily Mail
2009-11-27 06:44:00
Thirty years of sex abuse by paedophile priests was covered up by the Roman Catholic Church on an 'astonishing scale', a damning report has found.
Four archbishops were among those condemned for allowing hundreds of vulnerable children to suffer so they could protect the Church's reputation.
The Catholic hierarchy was granted police immunity and Church leaders protected abusers in some cases with the blessing of senior law enforcers.
Hundreds of crimes were not reported while police treated clergy as above the law, investigators said.
The report examined the handling of only a 'representative sample' of allegations of child abuse by 320 children against 46 priests in Dublin between 1975 and 2004.
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UK: Aristocrat Who Plundered £1.6 Million From Orphan Charity to Pay for Fine Wine, Golf Clubs and School Fees Escapes Prison
Rebecca Camber
Daily Mail
2009-11-27 00:21:00
A thieving aristocrat who treated his family charity like a 'magical piggy bank' walked free from court yesterday.
The Honourable Jonathan Davies, 65, plundered £1.6 million from the fund set up by his philanthropist grandfather, spending the cash on personal luxuries and a failed business venture.
The charity, which helped a host of causes including caring for Bosnian war orphans, has collapsed because of his dishonesty.
Father-of-six Davies, who was educated at Eton and Oxford, spent the money on his daughter's school fees, gifts to family members, credit card bills, golf and fine wine, and tax and utility bills.
He also gave around £1 million to inventor Joe Dawson, who was hoping to patent a new type of spark plug.
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Roman Polanski to be Released on Bail After Swiss Government Ruling
Peter Allen
Daily Mail
2009-11-26 14:05:00
The Swiss government has agreed to bail Roman Polanski - despite the fact that he was a fugitive from justice for 30 years.
He is to be confined to house arrest at his chalet in Gstaad.
Yesterday a £2.7 million bail agreement was reached with Swiss authorities - but there were still hopes that the Swiss Justice Ministry would overturn the ruling.
However those hopes disappeared today as the government gave the bail agreement the nod.
Polanski was convicted of sex with a minor in the U.S. in 1978.
On his conviction he fled the country and stayed away for 30 years, limiting himself to countries such as France that do not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
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Record Numbers Leave Britain as Poles Head Home - But New Arrivals Increase to Half a Million
James Slack
Daily Mail
2009-11-27 00:09:00
Emigration from recession-hit Britain reached a record level last year.
But the number of foreigners living here still increased by 700 each day, new figures show.
Some 427,000 people left the UK, up from 341,000 in 2007. They included 172,000 Britons starting a new life in countries such as Australia, Spain and France.
But statisticians said the bulk of the rise was due to tens of thousands of foreign workers returning home as jobs dried up.
The figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the number of non-Britons leaving the country leapt by 50 per cent from 169,000 to 255,000. Many were Poles who arrived after the expansion of the EU in 2004.
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CRU's Source Code: Climategate Uncovered
Marc Sheppard
American Thinker
2009-11-25 10:33:00
As the evidence of fraud at the University of East Anglia's prestigious Climatic Research Unit (CRU) continues to mount, those who've been caught green-handed continue to parry their due opprobrium and comeuppance, thanks primarily to a dead-silent mainstream media. But should the hubris and duplicity evident in the e-mails of those whose millennial temperature charts literally fuel the warming alarmism movement somehow fail to convince the world of the scam that's been perpetrated, certainly these revelations of the fraud cooked into the computer programs that create such charts will.
First, let's briefly review a few pertinent details.
We reported on Saturday that among the most revealing of the "hacked" e-mails released last week was one dated November 1999, in which CRU chief P.D. Jones wrote these words to Hockey-Stick-Team leaders Michael Mann, Raymond Bradley, and Malcolm Hughes:
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Gary McKinnon's mother brands extradition of her son 'disgusting'
Afua Hirsch & Adam Gabbatt
Guardian.co.uk
2009-11-27 10:06:00
Computer hacker Gary McKinnon said to be at serious risk of suicide after home secretary allows his extradition to the US
The mother of computer hacker Gary McKinnon has criticised the home secretary's decision to extradite her son to the US as "disgusting".
McKinnon, who has Asperger's syndrome, is said to be at serious risk of suicide after Alan Johnson rejected a last-ditch attempt to prevent his extradition.
In a letter today the home secretary ordered McKinnon's removal to the US on charges of breaching US military and Nasa computers, despite claims by his lawyers that extradition would make the 43-year-old's death "virtually certain".
"The secretary of state is of the firm view that McKinnon's extradition would not be incompatible with his [human] rights," said the letter, dated 26 November. "His extradition to the United States must proceed forthwith."
Janis Sharp compared her son's treatment to that of an "animal" today.
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Around the World
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Big Brother
Documents show university spied on novelist
David Bernans
Art Threat
2009-11-27 18:41:00
Montreal author David Bernans made international headlines in 2006 when he was prevented from holding a reading of his novel North of 9/11 on the campus of Concordia University. While university administrators had cited security concerns as cause for the rejection, they were quick to reassign blame to a clerical error once journalists came calling. Documents recently obtained through access to information legislation show that the writer was in fact under observation by security personnel. In this first-person narrative, Bernans chronicles his experience dealing with Concordia's security apparatus, and questions the motivations of a university that spies on and censors its students.
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Privacy law helps the government hide
Les Leyne
Times Colonist
2009-11-26 10:22:00
When reporters were briefed a couple of weeks ago on how the Olympic torch relay would go down, they were told no identities of the runners would be supplied, because of "privacy law."
Apparently the people who eagerly volunteered to wear bright white suits while carrying burning torches in front of TV cameras and thousands of people wanted their privacy, along with all the fame and glory.
They wanted no such thing, of course. They were only too happy to joyously volunteer their names on their own. The edict was simply the decision of torch functionaries eager to exercise some of their authority. It was a good example of how privacy law has vastly enhanced officials' first inclination to say "no" to every request.
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Pentagon world-sim tool making good progress, say profs
Lewis Page
The Register
2009-11-27 08:50:00
Computer suggests a savage bombing campaign, Mr President
Computer boffins in America report that their plans to create a lifelike virtual Matrix-style simulation of the entire world and human race are proceeding well.
Rather than a sinister yet totally implausible plan to farm people in tanks for electric power, the idea here is that America might try out various national-security initiatives - for instance invasions, bombing campaigns, supply of arms and training to regional governments/freedom-fighters/terrorists etc - in silico before doing so in the real world.
The latest news comes in an article written by Professor V S Subrahmanian and his colleague John Dickerson, two computing experts working on such initiatives for the Pentagon.
"Defense analysts can understand the repercussions of their proposed recommendations for policy options or military actions by interacting with a virtual world environment," write the researchers.
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A question of trust
Robert Bain
MediaWatch
2009-11-26 08:53:00
Over at the FreshMinds Research blog, Dave Bevan has posted this amusing video from the Onion about Google and online privacy. Bevan argues that attitudes to privacy include two questions: how you feel about consumerism and how much you trust those in power.
"It only makes sense to jealously guard your data if you believe either that it will be used to dupe you into consumption that is bad for you or others, or that it is likely to fall into the hands of nefarious governments," he writes. Otherwise, you risk just "sticking tape over your own mouth".
It has to be said, the privacy campaigners who have argued vehemently against online tracking activities have not done a good job of articulating the threat. It's more that they believe that information will inevitably be abused because either they don't like consumerism or they don't trust those in power, or both.
There's no question that the systems used by public and private organisations to manage our data are open to abuse. The UK's information commissioner says 434 organisations have reported data losses in the past year - a figure it calls "unacceptable". That includes hospitals and various government departments, as well as 200 private companies. There's nothing to suggest that the behaviour of any of these organisations was "nefarious" - just irresponsible or incompetent to some degree - but the potential is there.
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What kind of country arrests innocent people to boost its DNA database?
Stephen Robinson
The Mail Online
2009-11-25 09:12:00
Throughout the 12 years since New Labour began its assault upon our civil liberties, the response to those of us who publicly vented our dismay was straightforward: 'If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear.'
So, by that logic, we were invited to embrace the ugly stacks of CCTV cameras that crawled across our High Streets and which, surprise, surprise, did nothing to reduce general levels of crime and lawlessness.
By the same token, we were encouraged to say 'Amen' to the multi-billion-pound ID cards scheme, or 'entitlement cards' as Tony Blair's old flatmate Lord Falconer used soothingly to call them when he was a minister in the Home Office.
This gigantic New Labour bung to foreign-owned IT companies is now discredited, though still being 'rolled out' as a voluntary scheme in Manchester to save the Government's face.
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Innocent Until Sampled
The Wall Street Journal
2009-11-26 09:29:00
DNA testing must be treated with caution and used with care.
When it began in 1995, Britain's national DNA database was hailed as a cutting-edge way to track criminals. But a report this week from government advisory body, the Human Genetics Council, raises the possibility that the database is fast becoming an unofficial operation to catalogue much of the nation's DNA. Forget the conspiracy theories, the forensic arguments about false matches, and the fretting that minorities are overrepresented in the U.K.'s DNA database: The real question is whether the accuracy of DNA testing has cured human fallibility.
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Axis of Evil
UK diplomat: US was 'hell bent' on Iraq invasion
David Stringer
Associated Press
2009-11-27 12:41:00
London - The United States was "hell bent" on a 2003 military invasion of Iraq and actively undermined efforts by Britain to win international authorization for the war, a former British diplomat told an inquiry Friday.
Jeremy Greenstock, British ambassador to the United Nations from 1998 to 2003, said that President George W. Bush had no real interest in attempts to agree on a U.N. resolution to provide explicit backing for the conflict.
The ex-diplomat, who served as Britain's envoy in Iraq after the invasion, said serious preparations for the war had begun in early 2002 and took on an unstoppable momentum.
As diplomats frantically attempted in early 2003 to agree upon a U.N. resolution approving a military offensive, Bush's key aides grew impatient - criticizing the process as an unnecessary distraction, he said.
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Israeli Colonel: "We Will Have To Kill Them All"
Jim Holstun
Politicaltheatrics
2009-11-27 11:38:00
Colonel Efraim (Fein) Eitam was only following orders when he told his troops to beat Ayyad Aqel in 1988. They beat him to death.
Eitam, who since then has held several senior posts in the Israeli government, has recently toured the US as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's "Special Emissary" to the "Caravan for Democracy" program of the Jewish National Fund (JNF). This is a marriage made in heaven. Since Israel was founded, the JNF has organized the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the settlement of Jews on their expropriated land; Eitam sees himself as the messianic soldier-prophet directing future expulsions of Palestinians from Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Hillel of Buffalo, New York, invited Eitam to speak at our campus, the University at Buffalo (UB), on the recommendation of UB Professor Ernest Sternberg, a board member of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and a founder of its local campus chapter.
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Israel Says One Thing and Does Another: Calls for Halt to Expansion of Settlements While Actually Encouraging Their Development
Press TV
2009-11-27 10:23:00
Israel approves construction of 28 buildings in the West Bank despite a temporary freeze and mounting calls for an end to the illegal settlement activity in the occupied land.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday allowed the construction of 28 new public buildings in settlements, Ha'aretz revealed on Friday.
"These public buildings and schools must be completed in time for the start of the new school year in September," said the defense ministry in an attempt to justify the move.
This is while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had earlier boasted a decision to freeze settlement expansions for 10 months.
Much to the peace brokers' disappointment, however, Netanyahu's decision did not include disputed Jerusalem Al-Quds, which Israel occupied during the 1967 war.
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Iran told to halt work on nuclear plant by IAEA
Ian Black
Guardian.co.uk
2009-11-27 10:12:00
International Atomic Energy Agency vote could form the basis for a future binding resolution by the UN security council
Iran faced rare international unity today when the governing board of the UN nuclear watchdog issued a formal demand that it immediately halt work on a secret uranium enrichment plant at the centre of concerns that the country is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.
Russia and China lined up with the US, Britain, France and Germany to censure Iran in a vote by the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), passing the first resolution against Iran in nearly four years by a 25-3 margin.
The IAEA vote could form the basis for a future binding resolution by the UN security council, which in turn could be used to impose sanctions.
Gordon Brown was quick to warn of punitive measures: "I believe the next stage will have to be sanctions if Iran does not respond to what is a very clear vote from the world community," he said in Trinidad and Tobago where he is attending a Commonwealth summit.
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Flashback: Portrait of the CIA as an artist
Lila Rajiva
Countercurrents.org
2007-01-20 02:11:00
According to Frances Saunders, in her well-documented book, The CIA and the Cultural Cold War, the CIA financed and groomed the avant-garde art movement from which abstract expressionism, performance art and the other freak shows of the art world emerged. In the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, the Agency wanted to move the center of art away from the social realism of European artists, which threatened the status quo with its powerful, realistic depictions of the human condition. So, it brought to national attention a group of bohemian artists who were busy struggling on the sidelines painting abstract scenes devoid of any identifiable representation of human figures. The groups included the likes of Robert Motherwell, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and William de Kooning.
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Middle East Madness
Iran blasts Norway for jumping to conclusions about Nobel prize winner
Press TV
2009-11-27 18:50:00
After Norway accused the Tehran government of confiscating the medal of Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi, Iran urges Oslo officials to 'get their facts straight before taking sides'.
Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer, had earlier claimed that authorities acting on orders from Tehran's Revolutionary Court, have taken away her peace prize medal and her Legion of Honor.
She claimed the authorities also seized a ring awarded to her by a German association of journalists and froze all the bank accounts of her husband and herself.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said Friday that he was "shocked and concerned" by the move.
"This is the first time a Nobel Peace Prize has been confiscated by national authorities," claimed Gahr.
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Houthis accuse Yemeni, Saudi troops of using excessive force
Mohammed Bin Sallam
Yemen Times
2009-11-25 16:25:00
Saudi fighter jets continue to hit Houthi strongholds in Hasama, Malahidh, Dhahyan, Razih and Ashaeesh areas, local sources from the Sa'ada governorate said, adding that the airstrikes coincide with heavy mortar and rocket shelling by both Yemeni and Saudi armies in other areas.
In a statement distributed to the various media outlets, Houthi followers said that Saudi forces began on Monday advancing toward Yemeni lands from various border fronts, using all types of ground and aerial weapons. Houthis accused both armies of using excessive force against citizens.
The statement added that the Saudi army uses tanks, heavy mortars, Apache helicopters and F-15 jets in the operation, pointing out that "clashes are still going on in various fronts at the Yemeni border in Malahidh, Shadha and Hasama districts."
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Jordanian Commandos Support Saudi Troops in Fight Against Houthis
Mohammed Bin Sallam
Yemen Times
2009-11-23 15:27:00
Fierce clashes between Yemeni and Saudi forces on one side, and Houthi supporters on the other, continue in various Saada districts.
Saudi media sources revealed on Saturday that Jordanian commandos are backing the Saudi army in its operations against Houthis at the Dukhan Mountain.
The Eco of Najd and Hijaz newspaper said that the Jordanian commandos arrived at Saudi camps in the northern city of Tabuk a few days ago, and were then transported by planes to the southern part of the Kingdom. The newspaper revealed that those forces suffered great losses as a result of Houthi assaults against them.
According to local sources, more bloody clashes between both warring parties lasted up to three hours in Saada City after Houthis attempted to take control of the Republican Palace. Dozens were killed or injured on both sides.
Houthis denied that they targeted the Republican Palace, adding they targeted military positions surrounding the palace.
The Yemeni Defense Ministry-affiliated 26sep.net reported that the army killed several Houthis and seized their equipment in Sabkhana, Maarasa, Jarahih and Jabal Khazzan , and thwarted a Houthi attempt to sneak into a strategic military position near Sa'ada City. The same source added that the army thwarted another Houthi attempt to sneak into the Maqash and camp areas.
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Grand Theft Economics
Judge Erases $525G Mortgage for N.Y. Couple, Citing 'Repulsive' Acts by Bank
Fox News
2009-11-27 18:35:00
A Long Island couple is home free after an outraged judge gave them an amazing Thanksgiving present - canceling their debt to ruthless bankers trying to toss them out on the street.
Suffolk Judge Jeffrey Spinner wiped out $525,000 in mortgage payments demanded by a California bank, blasting its "harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive" acts, the New York Post reported.
The bombshell decision leaves Diane Yano-Horoski and her husband, Greg Horoski, owing absolutely no money on their ranch house in East Patchogue.
Spinner pulled no punches as he smacked down the bankers at OneWest - who took an $814.2 million federal bailout but have a record of coldbloodedly foreclosing on any homeowner owing money.
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European Confidence Improves to Highest in 14 Months
Simone Meier
Bloomberg
2009-11-27 15:50:00
European confidence in the economic outlook improved in November to the highest since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., suggesting the recovery in the 16-nation euro region is gathering strength.
An index of executive and consumer sentiment rose for an eighth straight month to 88.8 from 86.1 in October, the European Commission in Brussels said today. That was the highest since September 2008, when Lehman filed the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history, compounding the financial crisis.
The euro-area economy emerged from its worst recession in more than 60 years in the third quarter after governments spent billions of euros on stimulus programs and the European Central Bank lowered borrowing costs to near zero. HeidelbergCement AG, Germany's largest cement maker, said this month that it is "very optimistic" about the outlook. Rising unemployment and a stronger euro are threatening to undermine the recovery.
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Dubai Crisis May End in 'Major' Default, BofA Says
Tal Barak Harif
Bloomberg
2009-11-27 15:40:00
Dubai's debt woes may worsen to become a "major sovereign default" that roils developing nations and cuts off capital flows to emerging markets, Bank of America Corp. said.
"One cannot rule out -- as a tail risk -- a case where this would escalate into a major sovereign default problem, which would then resonate across global emerging markets in the same way that Argentina did in the early 2000s or Russia in the late 1990s," Bank of America strategists Benoit Anne and Daniel Tenengauzer wrote in a report.
A default would lead to a "sudden stop of capital flows into emerging markets" and be a "major step back" in the recovery from the global financial crisis, they wrote.
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U.S. Stocks, Commodities Decline as Bonds Gain on Dubai Crisis
Mark Gilbert and Paul Sillitoe
Bloomberg
2009-11-27 15:37:00
U.S. and emerging-market stocks slumped and commodities dropped as Dubai's attempt to delay debt repayments unnerved investors. Treasuries and the dollar rose while credit-default swaps surged.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index slid 1.7 percent to 1,091.49 at 1 p.m. in New York and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index slipped 1.8 percent at 3:20 p.m. The Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, the equity-derivatives benchmark known as the VIX, surged 21 percent. Two-year Treasury yields fell to the lowest level since December. Oil and copper tumbled and gold fell for the first time in 10 days as the Dollar Index advanced. Credit-default swaps tied to debt sold by Dubai rose 105 basis points to 646, according to CMA DataVision.
"The world's going to test now how much this means to people's risk-taking attitude," said Donald Ross, the Cleveland-based global strategist for Titanium Asset Management Corp., which manages $9 billion. "This is a big enough deal for people to question how far and how fast we've come."
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Dubai Debt May Be Higher Than $80 Billion, UBS Says
Anthony DiPaola and Chris Bourke
Bloomberg
2009-11-27 14:45:00
Dubai, the Persian Gulf emirate whose state-run companies are seeking to defer debt payments, may owe more than the $80 billion to $90 billion in liabilities assumed by investors, UBS AG analysts said.
"Perhaps Dubai's debt includes sizeable off-balance sheet liabilities that imply a total debt burden well above the $80 billion to $90 billion markets have estimated so far," Dubai- based real estate analyst Saud Masud wrote in a note. "This could imply that the debt issued by Dubai in recent weeks is insufficient to meet upcoming redemptions."
Dubai, which has said it will raise as much as $20 billion selling bonds to repay borrowings, said on Nov. 25 that state- run Dubai World, with $59 billion of liabilities, would ask creditors for a "standstill" agreement as it negotiates to extend debt maturities.
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Dubai Shows Limits of Government Rescues
Rita Nazareth
Bloomberg
2009-11-27 14:39:00
The worldwide decline in equities spurred by Dubai's efforts to reschedule its debt is a sign that government spending alone won't be enough to protect financial markets, according to Arnab Das of Roubini Global Economics.
Stock volatility will probably jump as countries and companies default on loans, said Das, the head of market research and strategy at RGE, the advisory firm founded by economist Nouriel Roubini.
Shares slumped from Shanghai to Brazil and European shares fell the most in seven months yesterday after Dubai World, the government investment company burdened by $59 billion of liabilities, sought to delay repayment on much of its debt. Governments have spent, lent or guaranteed $11.6 trillion and central banks held interest rates near zero percent to end the first global recession since World War II.
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The Living Planet
Arizona, US: Giraffe Arrives at Zoo with Crooked Neck
Daily Mail
2009-11-26 16:48:00
This giraffe is suffering what looks like the world's biggest pain in the neck.
Five-year-old Amali from Tulsa Zoo, Oklahoma, had the unfortunate crick in transit from The Wilds Park in Ohio.
It is feared that the hook might never be cured.
Since undergoing treatment from Tulsa Zoo's resident vet Dr Kay Backues, Amali has been kept in medical quarantine since her arrival on October 18.
Luckily, the 11-foot tall female giraffe is not thought to be in any pain and staff at Tulsa Zoo are hoping the crick corrects itself naturally.
'When Amali the giraffe walked off the trailer into her new home she could walk, eat and manoeuvre normally,' said Dr. Backues.
'Amali was initially treated for muscle fatigue and possible soft tissue trauma.
'We are using medications a human might use if they strained their neck or back, such as non-steroidal ant-inflammatories similar to ibuprofen, muscle relaxers, pain relievers (analgesics) and a vitamin supplement.
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Health & Wellness
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Science & Technology
Experts scan disease links with Chinese "gene map"
Tan Ee Lyn
Reuters.com
2009-11-27 18:46:00
Hong Kong - A large analysis of the genes of 8,200 ethnic Chinese has revealed subtle genetic differences between inhabitants in northern China and southern China, and even between different Chinese dialect groups.
Published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, the study is important as scientists are trying to identify if certain gene variants may render some people more vulnerable to some diseases -- so that targeted preventive measures can be taken and therapies may one day be found.
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Mural reveals ancient connection to Uzbekistan
Yim Seung-hye
JoongAng Daily
2009-11-27 18:37:00
In most cases, replicas of ancient treasures or great works of art are treated with contempt. But with relics that are at risk of aging or disintegration, replicas can play an integral role in our understanding of the original works and the time in which they were made.
In 1965, a mural was discovered in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, when local authorities decided to build a road in the middle of the Afrasiab tepe. A tepe is a mound marking an ancient site, in this case pre-Mongol Samarkand.
When it was found, the mural was weathered and its images obscured. But those who discovered it had the foresight to make a drawing of it, from which replicas have been made.
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10,000-year-old weapon found at site of new Ontario arena
Gary Rennie
Windsor Star
2009-11-27 18:20:00
Archaeologists in Windsor, Ont., have discovered a 10,000-year-old stone weapon created by the first humans who lived in the province.
Newmarket archaeologist Kim Slocki said she found a single "projectile point" in her pre-construction survey of the site of a new arena.
"It's at least 10,000 years old," Slocki said.
She said the artifact comes from Paleoindian hunters often called the "first people of Ontario."
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Was Jesus Taught by the Druids of Glastonbury? New Film Claims It Is Possible He Came to England
Fiona MacRae
Daily Mail
2009-11-26 11:28:00
As a book of record, the New Testament doesn't do too well on the early life of Jesus Christ.
The large holes may explain why so many outlandish theories have been able to build up about what the Son of God got up to as a boy.
But among those myths most perpetuated is that he visited Britain - an idea immortalized in the opening lines of William Blake's "Jerusalem."
Now a film has sought to add flesh to the fable by claiming it's perfectly plausible the Messiah made an educational trip to Glastonbury.
And Did Those Feet explores the idea that Jesus accompanied his supposed uncle, Joseph of Arimathaea, on a business trip to the tin mines of the South-West.
Whilst there, it is claimed he took the opportunity to further his maths by studying under druids.
Unsurprisingly, the documentary stops short of concluding the visit did take place, noting 'Jesus's shoe has not turned up'. However, the makers insist that while the visit is unproven, it is possible.
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The AGW Cover Up Is In The Code - Smoking Gun Update!
AJStrata
The Strata-sphere
2009-11-25 09:49:00
Update: Another SW engineer concludes the CRU code shows clear data manipulating to cool off the 1940's warm period and warm up the currently cooling period. - end update
I can now understand why Jones and Co. were so resistant to providing code and data - it would not take long for the army of skilled skeptics with backgrounds in science, engineering, math and programming to unravel the truth. And now that the dirty laundry is in the hands of 100's of sharp minds on the internet, were are discovering the depth and breadth of the AGW con.
I have been off work for a couple of days now so as to wade through all the details, but in this race there are too many good people doing the good work, so I will link to those who are credible in their analysis.
I have seen inklings of how bad the CRU code is and how it produces just garbage. It defies the garbage in-garbage out paradigm and moves to truth in-garbage out. I get the feeling you could slam this SW with random numbers and a hockey stick would come out the back end. There is no diurnal corrections for temperature readings, there are all sorts of corrupted, duplicated and stale data, there are filters to keep data that tells the wrong story out, and there are create_fiction sub routines which create raw measurements out of thin air when needed. There are modules which cannot be run for the full temp record because of special code used to 'hide the decline'.
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Evidence of Life on Mars Lurks Beneath Surface of Meteorite, Nasa Experts Claim
Hannah Devlin
Times Online
2009-11-26 20:00:00
Nasa scientists have produced the most compelling evidence yet that bacterial life exists on Mars.
It showed that microscopic worm-like structures found in a Martian meteorite that hit the Earth 13,000 years ago are almost certainly fossilised bacteria. The so-called bio-morphs are embedded beneath the surface layers of the rock, suggesting that they were already present when the meteorite arrived, rather than being the result of subsequent contamination by Earthly bacteria.
"This is very strong evidence of life on Mars," said David Mackay, a senior scientist at the Nasa Johnson Space Centre , who was part of the team of scientists that originally investigated the meteorite when it was discovered in 1984.
In a 1996 study of the sample, Dr Mackay and others argued that the microfossils were evidence of life, but sceptics dismissed the claims, saying that similar-shaped structures might not be biological. The new analyses, the product of high resolution electron microscopy, make a strong case for the Allan Hills 84001 Meteorite having carried Martian life to Earth.
The microscopes were focused on tiny magnetite crystals present in the surface layers of the meteorite, which have the form of simple bacteria. Some argued that these could be the result of a carbonate breaking down in the heat of the impact.
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Our Haunted Planet
US: Mysterious 'fireball' sighting over Massachusetts not science fiction
Lynne Hendricks
The Daily News
2009-11-27 10:58:00
As Ernest Merrill was driving down Route 113 in West Newbury on Saturday night, he glimpsed what many astronomers refer to as a once-in-a-lifetime sighting - a fireball falling from the sky.
Merrill's friends think he's crazy, but scientists say it's entirely possible. Referred to by astronomers as a "fireball," it is caused by a larger-than-average particle, perhaps from a Leonid meteor shower, shooting through the earth's atmosphere and blazing a fiery trail to the treeline.
The object was like nothing 67-year-old from Salisbury and his wife, Laura, had ever seen before.
"We were riding along, and it was dark," Merrill said. "We were talking about the moon, and all of a sudden this thing came into the Earth's atmosphere and was shooting across the sky with a tail, like fire coming off and going all the way toward Haverhill. We watched it going down, and it finally disappeared by the trees. It came into the Earth's atmosphere and it was burning up as it was coming down."
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US: Erratic Moving Object That Changed Speeds Seen in Daylight Sky.
UFOs Northwest
2009-11-27 10:58:00
Posted: November 26, 2009
Date of Sighting: November 26, 2009
Time of Sighting: 3:15 PM EST
Location of Sighting: Rockaway, New Jersey (See Map)
Description: Around 3:15 in the afternoon we saw what looked like a star in the sky. It would move very slowly to the west then stop. It kept doing this until about 5 minutes later it started moving fast and we lost sight of it when it passed behind a tree. It looked very high up in the sky because some planes passed by and you could see it was beyond them.
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US: Erratic Moving Red Light Seen in Night Sky
UFOs Northwest
2009-11-27 10:37:00
Posted: November 26, 2009
Date of Sighting: November 25, 2009
Time of Sighting: 11 PM PST
Location of Sighting: San Bruno, California (Near San Francisco International Airport)
Description: There was a red light which seemed to be moving slowly west, away from our location. It stopped momentarily, changed directions as if it was going to turn and make a circle, stopped again, and then moved a little more west. It did this two or three times then came to stop for approximately 5 minutes. Then it began to move west again very slowly and steadily towards the coast until it disappeared out of sight over the San Bruno Hills. The distance of the object was unknown. We were located on El Camino Real at the Tanforan shopping center. It was a little before 11 PM when we noticed it.
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England: Man sees glowing object that seemed triangular in shape when it moved
UK UFO Sighting Reports
2009-11-27 10:37:00
Posted: November 26, 2009
Location of Sighting: Castleford, West Yorkshire
Date of Sighting: Possibly 17th November 2009
Time: 11:30pm
Witness Statement: My Grandad told me this week he had seen a UFO sometime last week I think he said last Tuesday. How he described it was that It was just a large glowing object that seemed to be triangular when it moved. It was hovering and silent. He said he had never seen anything like it in all his life. I have always been certain though that I have also witnessed a UFO sighting and that was in the 1990's also in Castleford. I am just eager to find out if anyone else has witnessed anything in the last week or so. My grandad said that anyone was sure to have seen this in the sky. There may also have been more than one object.
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England: 3 green lights in triangle formation spotted over Woodford Green
UK UFO Sighting Reports
2009-11-27 10:37:00
Posted: November 26, 2009
Date of Sighting: 25.11.2009
Time: 11.30pm
Witness Statement: I had just finished watching TV in bed, turned off lights and TV as usual. (I sleep with one blind open as the light helps me to wake up in the morning). I saw 3 green lights in a triangle format very close together, much larger than aircraft lights. As soon as I saw it I knelt up in bed to watch them shoot across the sky, they were very rapid, no noise, debris or fuel trail. The sighting lasted about 5 seconds. The strangest thing I have ever seen in my life!
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England: Circle of white light seen moving over Cambridge
UK UFO Sighting Reports
2009-11-27 10:14:00
Posted: November 26, 2009
Date of Sighting: 20th November 2009
Time: midnight
Witness Statement: I was wondering if anyone has contacted you yet about a "possible" sighting of a UFO over Cambridge on Thursday the 19th Nov 2009? My wife is adamant that she saw a circle (sphere?) of white light moving south over Cambridge Airport at about 1700hrs. She said it moved quite slowly, with no sound whatsoever (hard to say though as she was close to a busy road) and had no other means of illumination (ie. Red/Green navigation lights or wingtip strobes) As she found it hard to guess it's size, she also couldn't accurately estimate height or velocity. She did believe it to be "incredibly high" though.
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