http://www.sott.net Signs of the Times: The World for People who Think. Featuring independent, unbiased, alternative news and commentary on world events. en-us Original content Copyright 2013 by Signs of the Times/Sott.net. For other content, see our Fair Use Policy at www.sott.net. Sun, 19 May 2013 17:02:16 -0500 http://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net http://www.sott.net http://www.sott.net/article/261954-Mysterious-bite-marks-on-disabled-Philadelphia-teenager-trigger-investigation A Philadelphia teenager with cerebral palsy is recovering after a brutal attack in which she was bitten across her back and shoulders. However, from where the bites originated remains a mystery. 16-year-old Ariel Alexander's condition has confined her to a wheelchair for most of her life, leaving her unable to communicate to authorities about who committed the savage act, MyFoxPhilly.com reported. Yet the human bite marks across her left shoulder and upper back are clearly visible. Ariel's parents reportedly believe that the incident occurred at MLK High School, where Ariel is a student in a special needs classroom. Her parents say that a few days after the attack, which they claim took place on May 1, a male teacher took them to one side and informed them that a fellow student was responsible. The school rejects the notion that it occurred on school property, stating that all teachers interviewed have denied seeing anything. http://www.sott.net/article/261954-Mysterious-bite-marks-on-disabled-Philadelphia-teenager-trigger-investigation Sun, 19 May 2013 16:28:35 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261953-Inequality-surges-in-worlds-richest-countries-especially-in-times-of-crisis Not only has social inequality risen in the industrialized nations over the past three decades, the economic crisis of 2008-09 sped up the deterioration as "pain of the crisis was not evenly shared," a new report says. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which unites the world's most developed countries, has published an update to its report 'Divided We Stand'. The report published in December 2011 showed that by 2008 the industrialized nations had the worst situation with inequality in three decades. According to the new data, the gap between the rich and the poor in most of its 34 members has been getting wider since the crisis started at a higher pace than it did before. Inequality grew more over the three years between 2007 and 2010 than it did over the 12 years before that. Among OECD countries, it appears that "the top 10 percent has done better than the poorest 10 percent in 21 countries," with the widest gaps seen in the United States, Turkey, Chile and Mexico. In the three years described above, their income status had been continuously plunging by 2 per cent every year. http://www.sott.net/article/261953-Inequality-surges-in-worlds-richest-countries-especially-in-times-of-crisis Sun, 19 May 2013 16:06:03 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261952-Big-Brother-is-big-business The odds are you are not just a face in the crowd any longer. Even if your picture isn't plastered all over social networking and photo-sharing sites, facial recognition technology in public places is making it harder if not impossible to remain anonymous. Lesley Stahl reports on the new ways this technology is being used that even has one of its inventors calling it too intrusive. Her 60 Minutes report will be broadcast Sunday, May 19 at 7 p.m. ET/PT. Professor Alessandro Acquisti of Carnegie Mellon, who researches how technology impacts privacy, stunned Stahl with an experiment. He photographed random students on the campus and in short order, not only identified several of them, but in a number of cases found their personal information, including social security numbers, just using a facial recognition program he downloaded for free. Acquisti says smart-phones will make "facial searches" as common as Google searches in the future. And nearly everybody can be subject to such prying, even those who are careful about their Internet use. http://www.sott.net/article/261952-Big-Brother-is-big-business Sun, 19 May 2013 13:52:45 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261951-Trapping-of-millions-of-birds-in-Egypt-threatens-European-bird-populations Migratory murder on Egypt's coast May 2013. Disturbing evidence has emerged from the Mediterranean coast of Egypt: Bavarian Broadcasting have documented a total of 700 kilometres of nets set to catch birds. The birds are then offered as a delicacy in markets and restaurants across Egypt. The nets are very difficult to avoid for many migratory birds as they form a barrier across their flight path either across the Mediterranean or the Sahara when they are looking for a place to rest. The exact number of birds caught in this way can only be estimated, but experts believe that tens of millions are killed each year. That songbirds are on the menu (and targeted by many hunters) in many countries of southern Europe and North Africa is nothing new. The existence of fishing nets on the coast of Egypt has long been known, but what is new is the scale of netting, which now extends from Libya across almost the entire coastline of the Egypt to the Sinai - interrupted only in a few places by military installations or major cities. http://www.sott.net/article/261951-Trapping-of-millions-of-birds-in-Egypt-threatens-European-bird-populations Sun, 19 May 2013 10:35:19 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261950-Hofstra-student-fatally-shot-in-home-invasion-near-campus A 21-year-old college student was shot and killed early Friday on Long Island after an armed man broke into the home she shared with her twin sister, held her hostage and then engaged in a gun battle with the police, the authorities said. The man who forced his way into the home was also killed It was not immediately clear who fired the fatal shots, the police said. The violence played out in the middle of the night on an ordinarily quiet residential street, only blocks from Hofstra University, where the victim went to school. Students who were preparing for their last day of exams awoke to the news that one of their own had been killed, and the normally festive atmosphere that comes with the end of the academic year turned terribly sad. http://www.sott.net/article/261950-Hofstra-student-fatally-shot-in-home-invasion-near-campus Sun, 19 May 2013 06:55:02 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261949-Manatees-are-dying-in-droves-Florida-says-too-bad Red tide' and a loss of sea grass account for some manatee deaths, but researchers believe undiscovered factors are also at play. A record number of endangered manatees are dying in Florida's algae-choked waterways. So far this year, 582 manatees have died, more than any year on record, according to preliminary numbers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Pat Rose is an aquatic biologist and the executive director of the Save the Manatee Club, an organization devoted to preserving the animal. In his interview with TakePart, Rose reports the estimated minimum population of these gentle beasts is only 3,100 adults. That means their population has decreased by more than 10 percent in just four months. A total of 247 of these have died in the southwest of the state due to an explosion of a red-hued algae called Karenia brevis, also known as a red tide. This pesky microorganism produces neurotoxins that can kill manatees by causing them to seize to the point where they can't make it to the surface - or even lift their head out of the water - to breathe. The large marine mammals are also dying in the eastern part of the state, in Brevard County near Orlando. Rose says a gradual die-out of sea grass, upon which the manatees feed, has combined with blooms of brown algae and likely other unknown factors to kill nearly 150 more manatees. Since 2010, about 30,000 acres of sea grass have been wiped out. Luckily, it appears that both events are winding down, and the rate of manatee deaths appears to be slowing. But that's cold comfort for Rose, since the number of threats to manatees appears to be growing, and little is being done to address the problem. Traditionally, boat collisions have been the biggest killer of manatees; they're vulnerable since they're large, slow-moving and often hang out on the surface. Until this year, at least 41 percent of all manatee deaths resulted from these collisions, and likely more, because not all of these deaths are reported or detected. http://www.sott.net/article/261949-Manatees-are-dying-in-droves-Florida-says-too-bad Sun, 19 May 2013 05:48:52 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261948-Dozens-injured-when-car-hits-Virginia-parade As many as 50 or 60 people were injured Saturday in southwest Virginia when a car plowed into the annual Appalachian Trail Days parade in the town of Damascus, sending hundreds of people scattering amid shouts and screams. Nine of the injured were taken to hospitals after the incident at the annual trail festival, but none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening, authorities said. "Reports to us indicate that no one was injured beyond stable" said Pokey Harris, director of emergency management in Washington County, Va. where Damascus is located, about 300 miles southwest of the District. http://www.sott.net/article/261948-Dozens-injured-when-car-hits-Virginia-parade Sat, 18 May 2013 19:53:07 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261947-Connecticut-crash-might-snarl-Northeast-train-service-for-days Train service in the busy New York-to-New Haven corridor may be restricted for days as officials investigate Friday's rush-hour collision of two trains in Connecticut -- an incident that sent dozens to hospitals -- officials said Saturday. Officials from the federal National Transportation Safety Board arrived at the site Saturday morning to begin their investigation of the Metro-North train crash in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The wreckage won't be removed until investigators finish examining it on site -- possibly Sunday, NTSB member Earl Weener said -- and then two tracks will have to be repaired before they can be reopened. http://www.sott.net/article/261947-Connecticut-crash-might-snarl-Northeast-train-service-for-days Sat, 18 May 2013 18:55:41 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261946-France-gay-marriage-Hollande-signs-bill-into-law France's president has signed into law a controversial bill making the country the ninth in Europe, and 14th globally, to legalise gay marriage. On Friday, the Constitutional Council rejected a challenge by the right-wing opposition, clearing the way for Francois Hollande to sign the bill. He said: "I have taken [the decision]; now it is time to respect the law of the Republic." The first gay wedding could be held 10 days after the bill's signing. But Parliamentary Relations Minister Alain Vidalies told French TV he expected the first ceremonies to take place "before 1 July". http://www.sott.net/article/261946-France-gay-marriage-Hollande-signs-bill-into-law Sat, 18 May 2013 18:45:53 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261945-What-the-heck-are-these-weird-tracks-on-the-bottom-of-the-ocean When it comes to mysteries, there's no better place for hiding them than the bottom of the ocean. In fact, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as much as 95% of the world's oceans remain unexplored. And yet some people don't believe in sea monsters. Well, thanks to the advent of the internet, we can do some of that exploring from the comfort of our computer chairs, and you never know what sorts of strange stuff will turn up. Our pal Samuel Burgan (AKA IceBurg) was doing just that, and found a bunch of bizarre markings on the ocean floor, so he sent a few snapshots our way. http://www.sott.net/article/261945-What-the-heck-are-these-weird-tracks-on-the-bottom-of-the-ocean Sat, 18 May 2013 17:23:41 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261944-Washington-gets-explicit-war-on-terror-is-permanent Senior Obama officials tell the US Senate: the 'war', in limitless form, will continue for 'at least' another decade - or two Last October, senior Obama officials anonymously unveiled to the Washington Post their newly minted "disposition matrix", a complex computer system that will be used to determine how a terrorist suspect will be "disposed of": indefinite detention, prosecution in a real court, assassination-by-CIA-drones, etc. Their rationale for why this was needed now, a full 12 years after the 9/11 attack: Among senior Obama administration officials, there is a broad consensus that such operations are likely to be extended at least another decade. Given the way al-Qaida continues to metastasize, some officials said no clear end is in sight. . . . That timeline suggests that the United States has reached only the midpoint of what was once known as the global war on terrorism." On Thursday, the Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on whether the statutory basis for this "war" - the 2001 Authorization to Use Military Force (AUMF) - should be revised (meaning: expanded). This is how Wired's Spencer Ackerman (soon to be the Guardian US's national security editor) described the most significant exchange: "Asked at a Senate hearing today how long the war on terrorism will last, Michael Sheehan, the assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, answered, 'At least 10 to 20 years.' . . . A spokeswoman, Army Col. Anne Edgecomb, clarified that Sheehan meant the conflict is likely to last 10 to 20 more years from today - atop the 12 years that the conflict has already lasted. Welcome to America's Thirty Years War." That the Obama administration is now repeatedly declaring that the "war on terror" will last at least another decade (or two) is vastly more significant than all three of this week's big media controversies (Benghazi, IRS, and AP/DOJ) combined. The military historian Andrew Bacevich has spent years warning that US policy planners have adopted an explicit doctrine of "endless war". Obama officials, despite repeatedly boasting that they have delivered permanently crippling blows to al-Qaida, are now, as clearly as the English language permits, openly declaring this to be so. It is hard to resist the conclusion that this war has no purpose other than its own eternal perpetuation. This war is not a means to any end but rather is the end in itself. Not only is it the end itself, but it is also its own fuel: it is precisely this endless war - justified in the name of stopping the threat of terrorism - that is the single greatest cause of that threat. http://www.sott.net/article/261944-Washington-gets-explicit-war-on-terror-is-permanent Sat, 18 May 2013 17:15:33 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261943-Climate-control-lather-rinse-repeat We always talk about and are lectured to about how "weather is not climate". Of course that's a flexible meme, because now when the weather turns hot or bad, climate is to blame. I had to go to Walmart today to pick up something, and as I walked down the aisles looking for things, this jumped out at me. Unfortunately, it was so ridiculous, it made me laugh out loud, and I got stares. So, I'm sharing this humor with you. I suppose it was only a matter of time before some enterprising company did this. Gotta love that "defend your hair against bad weather" line. Now even when CO2 or weather modification driven hordes of tornadoes descend upon us in retaliation for our climate sins, we can avoid bad hair days. Of course, shampoo only goes so far. They need "climate control body spray" to really be effective. http://www.sott.net/article/261943-Climate-control-lather-rinse-repeat Sat, 18 May 2013 17:09:19 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261942-One-terrorist-a-million-psychopaths-eight-million-sociopaths This morning, I found a little green caterpillar crawling on my arm, in bed, as I was waking up. I took it outside so it could become a butterfly or moth. If it had been a mosquito or tick, I would have killed it so it wouldn't hurt me or my family later. One shoe bomber terrorist inspired the US to invest billions in airport security, required hundreds of millions of shoes to be removed. That's because there was a risk that was known. But there are a million psychopaths and over eight million sociopaths who we know are out there, predators, doing damage, hurting people, killing people, bullying, stalking, stealing, corrupting. A small percentage get caught. Most of the ones who get caught are the low functioning, stupid ones, the violent ones, the ones who have co-morbid problems like drug addiction or alcoholism. The smart ones, the higher functioning ones get jobs at big corporations, in city, state and federal government. They even become judges and certainly become lawyers too. Some speculate that it takes a sociopath to become a CEO of a major fortune 1000 company. One commenter on a previous article in the series suggested ... The best defense is not to engage with them. You can't win. If you are forced to work with a psychopath then you either kill him or leave." Given the current situation, there's no protection from sociopaths who navigate the system avoiding arrest. They break rules but then intimidate or bully or charm people to cut them slack. They turn on their interpersonal intelligence to gain sympathy from those who say we should show them compassion. The best current defense may indeed be to leave. That's not acceptable to me, and of course, killing is not acceptable. That's why I'm engaging in writing this series. Good people should not have to leave to be safe from sociopaths. http://www.sott.net/article/261942-One-terrorist-a-million-psychopaths-eight-million-sociopaths Sat, 18 May 2013 17:00:27 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261940-Moyers-Moment-2001-Toxins-in-Our-Blood In this 2001 Moyers Moment from Bill's documentary Trade Secrets, Bill examines the many chemicals that have been introduced into our environment over the last few decades. To find out just how pervasive these chemicals were, Bill volunteered to get his blood tested. http://www.sott.net/article/261940-Moyers-Moment-2001-Toxins-in-Our-Blood Sat, 18 May 2013 16:37:06 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261939-Pay-As-You-Go-American-Democracy-Billionaires-Unchained This piece first appeared at TomDispatch. Read Tom Engelhardt's introduction. Billionaires with an axe to grind, now is your time. Not since the days before a bumbling crew of would-be break-in artists set into motion the fabled Watergate scandal, leading to the first far-reaching restrictions on money in American politics, have you been so free to meddle. There is no limit to the amount of money you can give to elect your friends and allies to political office, to defeat those with whom you disagree, to shape or stunt or kill policy, and above all to influence the tone and content of political discussion in this country. Today, politics is a rich man's game. Look no further than the 2012 elections and that season's biggest donor, 79-year-old casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. He and his wife, Miriam, shocked the political class by first giving $16.5 million in an effort to make Newt Gingrich the Republican presidential nominee. Once Gingrich exited the race, the Adelsons invested more than $30 million in electing Mitt Romney. They donated millions more to support GOP candidates running for the House and Senate, to block a pro-union measure in Michigan, and to bankroll the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other conservative stalwarts (which waged their own campaigns mostly to helpRepublican candidates for Congress). All told, the Adelsons donated $94 million during the 2012 cycle - nearly four times the previous record set by liberal financier George Soros. And that's only the money we know about. When you add in so-called dark money, one estimate puts their total giving at closer to $150 million. It was not one of Adelson's better bets. Romney went down in flames; the Republicans failed to retake the Senate and conceded seats in the House; and the majority of candidates backed by Adelson-funded groups lost, too. But Adelson, who oozes chutzpah as only a gambling tycoon worth $26.5 billion could, is undeterred. Politics, he told the Wall Street Journal in his first post-election interview, is like poker: "I don't cry when I lose. There's always a new hand coming up." He said he could double his 2012 giving in future elections. "I'll spend that much and more," he said. "Let's cut any ambiguity." http://www.sott.net/article/261939-Pay-As-You-Go-American-Democracy-Billionaires-Unchained Sat, 18 May 2013 16:28:35 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261938-KFC-smuggled-into-Gaza-via-underground-tunnels Turns out that the underground smuggling tunnels connecting the Gaza Strip to Egypt have been used to transport more than weapons lately. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip can now be supplied with Kentucky Fried Chicken delivered via the tunnels, as CNN reported. The American fast food is brought into the Palestinian territory by Al-Yamama, a delivery service that advertises on Facebook. The "finger lickin' good" chicken doesn't come easily to Palestinians in the Strip, however. A 20-piece bucket can cost about $30, which is about three times the amount it sells for in Egypt. The delivery also takes about three hours to travel 35 miles from the KFC branch in al-Arish, Egypt, to Gaza, sometimes being stopped by Hamas policemen who check the deliveries for other prohibited items. "Sometimes Hamas checks meals, sometimes the taxi picking up Sinai orders is late," a spokesman for the delivery company told The Mirror. Palestinians don't seem to be thrown off by the higher prices and lengthy time it takes the food to be delivered, however. http://www.sott.net/article/261938-KFC-smuggled-into-Gaza-via-underground-tunnels Sat, 18 May 2013 16:18:34 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261937-American-Gulag-Guantanamo-hunger-strike-enters-100th-day Activists protest outside White House calling for immediate closure of controversial jail. Activists demanding the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison have marked the 100th day of a hunger strike there by submitting a petition to the White House containing some 370,000 signatures. A group of activists wearing orange jumpsuits and black hoods like those used on detainees at Guantanamo Bay gathered outside the White House on Friday to call for the immediate closure of the controversial jail. "Immoral, illegal, ineffective," a banner read. Richard Killmer, executive director of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, said that "years of detention without charge or trial have created a sense of desperation and hopelessness among the men at Guantanamo, which has led over 100 of them to join a hunger strike". http://www.sott.net/article/261937-American-Gulag-Guantanamo-hunger-strike-enters-100th-day Sat, 18 May 2013 16:05:12 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261936-Penguins-and-sea-lions-found-dead-on-Chilean-shore Chilean Navy discovers more than 600 dead animals in Punta de Choros, a small fishing town north of La Serena. The bodies of sea lions, cormorants and penguins littered a seven mile stretch of beach in Punta de Choros, northern Chile on Sunday. The crime scene is in close proximity to the Humboldt Penguin Nature Reserve. Two days prior the Movement in Defense of the Environment (MODEMA) reported a band of ten fishing boats off the coastline of Punta de Choros. MODEMA and other environmental groups accused the boats of blast fishing - using explosives to catch mass quantities of fish. Sernapesca, Chile's National Fishing Service, investigated the scene and determined that all the animals were killed by the same incident. Autopsies report animals with fractured skulls, missing rib cages and multiple abrasions. Local authorities promptly called in the Investigative Police's (PDI) Environmental Crime Brigade for further investigation. Microbiological and chemical analysis tests are currently being run to determine if blast fishing is the cause of death. In Chile, blast fishing is illegal. Companies caught fishing in this manner face prison time and fines. The monetary amount depends on the damage to the ecosystem. However, causing the death of penguins during commercial activities is a jailable offense. Officials from Sernapesca told The Santiago Times that the combined offenses amount to a "serious crime." http://www.sott.net/article/261936-Penguins-and-sea-lions-found-dead-on-Chilean-shore Sat, 18 May 2013 15:58:30 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261935-Would-you-get-a-scar-tattoo-carved-into-your-skin Yeah, your trad demon-eating snake tattoo is really edgy and all, but if you're looking to take your body art to the next level, why not ditch the black ink and use hypertrophic scar tissue instead? Apparently, slicing your skin into bloody tattoos is totally a thing now, and you can go get your very own "I Love Mom" heart made out of your own mutilated skin in (where else?) Williamsburg. Called "scarification," the practice has deep roots in ancient tribal arts, but it feels creepier now that it's headed West. Having said that, it's certainly an art form: just check out the scar work done by Brooklyn resident Brian Decker, who runs Pure Body Arts in Williamsburg. He's been cutting elaborate symbols, designs and seahorses into people's skin for the past thirteen years, and told DNAinfo the practice has become more popular over the years. "People started to implement the ideas of tattoo reference to the design, which made them more extravagant, more detailed," he said. "You were able to build much more beautiful designs, which I'm sure caught more people's eyes." Then again, some people just think scar tattoos do a nice job highlighting their Alice in Chains Hot Topic tees: "Someone who is freshly 18 probably relishes the idea of someone being repulsed by that," Chris Beierschmitt, who works at Pure Body Arts, told DNAinfo of the practice. But is a scar tattoo really any more frightening in theory than shooting possibly cancerous black ink into your skin? Even if that ink is shaped like Rex Ryan's wife? Plus, scar tattoos are great for sending scary messages to time-traveling law breakers. http://www.sott.net/article/261935-Would-you-get-a-scar-tattoo-carved-into-your-skin Sat, 18 May 2013 14:16:23 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261934-Reality-check-The-truth-about-the-lies-we-re-told-about-Iran http://www.sott.net/article/261934-Reality-check-The-truth-about-the-lies-we-re-told-about-Iran Sat, 18 May 2013 13:37:29 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261933-Wacky-weather-producing-one-of-Alaska-Interiors-craziest-spring-migrations-on-record Fairbanks - Birds of all kinds are arriving in dizzying numbers and many long-time birders say they have never seen such a concentrated wave of migrating birds in the Tanana Valley. Bud Johnson in Tok estimates there were 100,000 sparrows descending on that area Tuesday. He reported seeing continuous flocks along the sides of the highway, and came home to hundreds of songbirds in his yard. White-crowned, golden-crowned, fox and tree sparrows mixed with juncos, rusty blackbirds and Lapland longspurs. Other viewers saw Lincoln's and Savannah sparrows and gray-crowned rosy-finches. "I have never seen anything like this ever," Johnson said. "The ground is just in constant movement and the singing (mostly from the white-crowned sparrows) is insane." Among bird-watchers, there is a phenomenon called "fallout," which is when a large number of migrating birds make landfall because they run into storm systems. Usually this happens along the coast, where exhausted birds touch down on the first solid ground they find. It's possible a combination of the late spring breakup and a current weather front has caused this unusual spring gathering. "This is turning out to be the most spectacular spring migration I think the Tanana Valley has seen in recent memory," Fairbanks birder Nancy DeWitt wrote in an email. "First, there were the unprecedented numbers of swans and white-fronted geese in the Delta barley fields (many of which are still there) accompanied by the biggest flocks of Canada geese and pintails I've ever seen, now followed by what Steve Dubois says is the largest concentration of sandhill cranes he's seen in his 28 years there. "Add in the numerous bluebird sightings (I've lost count), cloud after cloud of Lapland longspurs moving through the valley, thick groups of varied thrush at Fort Greely on Saturday night, and now the sparrow fall-out in Tok Bud describes, and I am just beside myself with glee," she said. "I assume most of this is weather related, but what happened and where along the migration route that balled up all these birds? I suppose the fact that a lot of the valley is snow-covered and many ponds and lakes are still frozen is also concentrating birds, but would sure love to know if anyone tracked migration radar data over Canada in the past month. http://www.sott.net/article/261933-Wacky-weather-producing-one-of-Alaska-Interiors-craziest-spring-migrations-on-record Sat, 18 May 2013 12:56:02 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261932-May-storm-dumps-heavy-snow-in-interior-Alaska-Denali-National-Park Denali Park, Alaska - Christmas music played Friday in the lobby of the McKinley Chalet Resort, just outside Denali National Park and Preserve. It was fitting, considering the weather outside. A heavy spring snowstorm dumped enough snow in the area to cancel some local events, keep people from driving and surprise a few tourists. A winter storm watch remained in effect until this morning. "The guests are actually enjoying the experience," said Craig Pester, district manager of Aramark's Denali resorts. "We had to change a couple tours around so they didn't get the full experience, but all the guests are very happy. They're kind of making it part of their adventure." Indeed, the Elliotts who are visiting from South Carolina thought the snow was pretty exciting, as they huddled behind an umbrella. What an Alaska experience, they said. A visitor from Germany came north for better weather and ended up camping in the snow at Riley Creek Campground. He took it all in stride. http://www.sott.net/article/261932-May-storm-dumps-heavy-snow-in-interior-Alaska-Denali-National-Park Sat, 18 May 2013 12:23:21 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261931-Late-snow-delaying-annual-bird-migration-across-Alaska Cold air across so much of Alaska, so late in the year, has delayed summer for the winter weary and left thousands of international travelers in holding patterns. An unexpected bonanza of migrating birds are reportedly hunkered down northwest of Denali National Park and Preserve. In the Delta-Tok region, thousands more cranes, swans, geese, and swallows than usual are waiting out conditions unusual even for Alaska. Birds often "ball-up" in foul weather, congregating along coastlines and then fly over vast Interior Alaska in waves. Not this year. One local birder told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner he'd never seen so many stopped over, all at once, in more than 20 years. Arctic air pushing southward and smaller low-pressure systems have kept cold weather lingering. Up to 6 inches of snow was forecast over the weekend in Anchorage, with accumulation likely in Fairbanks as well, the National Weather Service predicted, though ground temperatures would melt most of it. Normally, late May sees warmer air from the Gulf of Alaska pulled north across the state, but for now, at least, much of Alaska remains near freezing or colder. "It is a real fluke. We just haven't gotten into our summer pattern yet," meteorologist Dan Peterson said. Next week, forecasts called for highs in the 50s and 60s from Anchorage, in Southcentral Alaska, north to Fairbanks. http://www.sott.net/article/261931-Late-snow-delaying-annual-bird-migration-across-Alaska Sat, 18 May 2013 11:59:57 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261930-For-combat-veterans-suffering-from-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-fear-circuitry-in-the-brain-never-rests New imaging study of combat veterans shows that brain regions linked to PTSD function abnormally even in the absence of external stress Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain regions associated with fear and anxiety. Previous imaging studies of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have shown that these brain regions can over-or under-react in response to stressful tasks, such as recalling a traumatic event or reacting to a photo of a threatening face. Now, researchers at NYU School of Medicine have explored for the first time what happens in the brains of combat veterans with PTSD in the absence of external triggers. Their results, published in Neuroscience Letters, and presented today at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatry Association in San Francisco, show that the effects of trauma persist in certain brain regions even when combat veterans are not engaged in cognitive or emotional tasks, and face no immediate external threats. The findings shed light on which areas of the brain provoke traumatic symptoms and represent a critical step toward better diagnostics and treatments for PTSD. A chronic condition that develops after trauma, PTSD can plague victims with disturbing memories, flashbacks, nightmares and emotional instability. Among the 1.7 million men and women who have served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an estimated 20% have PTSD. Research shows that suicide risk is higher in veterans with PTSD. Tragically, more soldiers committed suicide in 2012 than the number of soldiers who were killed in combat in Afghanistan that year. "It is critical to have an objective test to confirm PTSD diagnosis as self reports can be unreliable," says co-author Charles Marmar, MD, the Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Psychiatry and chair of NYU Langone's Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Marmar, a nationally recognized expert on trauma and stress among veterans, heads The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center for the Study of Post-Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury at NYU Langone Medical Center. The study, led by Xiaodan Yan, a research fellow at NYU School of Medicine, examined "spontaneous" or "resting" brain activity in 104 veterans of combat from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars using functional MRI, which measures blood-oxygen levels in the brain. The researchers found that spontaneous brain activity in the amygdala, a key structure in the brain's "fear circuitry" that processes fearful and anxious emotions, was significantly higher in the 52 combat veterans with PTSD than in the 52 combat veterans without PTSD. The PTSD group also showed elevated brain activity in the anterior insula, a brain region that regulates sensitivity to pain and negative emotions. Moreover, the PTSD group had lower activity in the precuneus, a structure tucked between the brain's two hemispheres that helps integrate information from the past and future, especially when the mind is wandering or disengaged from active thought. Decreased activity in the precuneus correlates with more severe "re-experiencing" symptoms - that is, when victims re-experience trauma over and over again through flashbacks, nightmares and frightening thoughts. Key scientific contributors include researchers at NYU School of Medicine, the University of California at San Francisco, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and the Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco. http://www.sott.net/article/261930-For-combat-veterans-suffering-from-post-traumatic-stress-disorder-fear-circuitry-in-the-brain-never-rests Sat, 18 May 2013 04:47:28 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261929-USGS-Earthquake-Magnitude-6-1-NE-of-Namie-Japan Event Time 2013-05-18 05:48:00 UTC 2013-05-18 14:48:00 UTC+09:00 at epicenter Location 37.761°N 141.454°E depth=41.5km (25.8mi) Nearby Cities 50km (31mi) NE of Namie, Japan 61km (38mi) ESE of Watari, Japan 62km (39mi) ESE of Marumori, Japan 63km (39mi) ESE of Kakuda, Japan 278km (173mi) NE of Tokyo, Japan Technical Details http://www.sott.net/article/261929-USGS-Earthquake-Magnitude-6-1-NE-of-Namie-Japan Sat, 18 May 2013 01:17:23 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261928-Rare-meteorite-near-miss-in-New-Zealand A Whakamarama man has geologists excited after a meteorite soared into his garage moving buckets and narrowly missing his head. The man, who does not wish to be named, was in his garage talking with his neighbour last Monday when a meteorite soared past his head. "It must have missed me by a couple of feet. I thought it was a gun shot." He didn't hear or see the meteorite, but noticed the buckets were moving in the garage. Together with his friend the pair began searching. http://www.sott.net/article/261928-Rare-meteorite-near-miss-in-New-Zealand Sat, 18 May 2013 01:08:33 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261927-Thrills-and-Spills-Amusement-rides-surprising-child-toll This summer, millions of people will head to the nation's amusement parks. Many might assume that the bigger and faster rides account for the most amusement ride-related injuries to children, but that's not always the case. My colleagues and I at the Center for Injury Research and Policy, Nationwide Children's Hospital, did the first study that looks in detail at children who are injured on amusement rides, which includes rides at amusement parks (fixed-site rides), rides at fairs and festivals (mobile rides) and rides found at local malls, stores, restaurants or arcades (mall rides). From 1990 to 2010, 92,885 children under age 18 were treated in U.S. emergency departments for amusement ride-related injuries for an average of 4,423 injuries each year. More than 70 percent of the injuries happened during the warm summer months of May through September - averaging more than 20 injuries a day during those months. [Killer Thrills: How Safe Are Amusement Parks?] We found that most children were injured in the head and neck region, followed by the arms, face and legs. Soft-tissue injuries like bruises were the most common type of injury, followed by strains and sprains, cuts and broken bones. http://www.sott.net/article/261927-Thrills-and-Spills-Amusement-rides-surprising-child-toll Fri, 17 May 2013 20:46:49 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261926-Human-Cloning-Stem-cell-advance-reignites-ethics-debate A new stem cell discovery has reawakened controversy about human cloning - though technical challenges mean scientists are far from being able to create human babies as in Michael Bay's 2005 sci-fi flick "The Island." Not that they would even want to. "Nobody in their right mind would want to do that," said John Gearhart, the director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the study. And indeed, the research wasn't conducted with the idea of creating cloned mini-me's in mind. Instead, scientists attempting to treat diseases of the cell's powerhouse, the mitochondria, refined the technique, which is the same one used to create the cloned sheep Dolly in 1996. But the parallels between the animal-cloning procedure and the new human one have triggered concern. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) swiftly issued a statement condemning the research, both on the grounds that embryos were destroyed in the research process and over the concern that the full reproductive cloning of humans is on its way. "They or others may be close to being able to develop cloned human embryos to the fetal stage and then beyond," said Richard Doerflinger, the associate director of USCCB's Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities. http://www.sott.net/article/261926-Human-Cloning-Stem-cell-advance-reignites-ethics-debate Fri, 17 May 2013 17:47:15 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261925-Close-approach-of-Asteroid-285263-1998-QE2 Asteroid (285263) 1998 QE2 was discovered on Aug. 19, 1998, by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program. 1998 QE2 has an estimated size of 1.3 km - 2.9 km (based on the object's absolute magnitude H=16.6). It was observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope by Trilling et al. (2010), who estimated that it has a diameter of 2.7 km and a dark optical albedo of 0.06. This asteroid will have a close approach with Earth at about 15.2 LD (Lunar Distances = ~384,000 kilometers) or 0.0392 AU (1 AU = ~150 million kilometers) at 2059 UT on 2013 May 31 and it will reach the peak magnitude ~10.8 on May 31 around 2300 UT. (285263) 1998 QE2 will be a great Goldstone radar target May 30 through June 9. This is going to be one of the best radar targets of the year. Radar images from the Goldstone antenna could achieve resolutions as fine as 3.75 meters. We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, from the Q62 iTelescope network (Siding Spring) on 2013, May 17.36, through a 0.50-m f/6.8 astrograph + CCD + f/4.5 focal reducer. http://www.sott.net/article/261925-Close-approach-of-Asteroid-285263-1998-QE2 Fri, 17 May 2013 17:04:18 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261924-Why-are-there-so-few-lefties-in-China In 2/3 of the world it's still unlucky to be born a leftie, says a researcher who has taken a new look at attitudes about left-handed people worldwide. In China, in particular, less than 1 percent of students are reportedly left-handed, despite a global average of 10 to 12 percent of humans preferring their left hand, reports Howard Kushner, a researcher and Professor of Science and Society at Emory University in Atlanta. It's not that there are fewer people born left-handed in China or necessarily that there are negative attitudes about lefties there. It's just that being left-handed is especially impractical. "If you have to cater a huge society, you can't cater to the other side," Kushner said. And with 88 to 90 percent of the population right-handed, and some written characters requiring a right hand, that's what wins out, at least when it comes to writing. Kushner summarized the situation for Chinese southpaws in an article in the June edition of the journal Endeavour. So is left-handedness going extinct in China? Probably not, says Kushner, because there doesn't seem to be a simple genetic basis for handedness. What's more, studies on Chinese-Americans in California show a similar rate of left-handers as the rest of the U.S. population -- so there is nothing about being Chinese or Asian that makes a person less prone to being left-handed. But being born in China does mean you will likely be forced to function as a right-hander, Kushner concludes. http://www.sott.net/article/261924-Why-are-there-so-few-lefties-in-China Fri, 17 May 2013 16:49:43 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261923-Great-Lakes-are-loaded-with-chemicals-even-cocaine From urban and developed to remote and isolated, lakes around Minnesota contain a wide range of chemicals, including DEET, BPA, prescription drugs and even cocaine. The findings, which came out of the first large-scale, systematic statewide study, suggest that it might be worth taking a wider look at bodies of water around the country for chemicals that have potential consequences for both the environment and human health. For now, it's not clear how all of the chemicals are getting into Minnesota's lakes or exactly what effects they might be having on animals or people. "It's not as though people should worry about going to the lake or taking their dogs to the lakes," said Mark Ferrey, an environmental scientist at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which published the new report. "We're talking about how we're affecting lakes and rivers in ways that we probably don't understand yet." "It's disquieting," he added. "We could be affecting fish populations or entire ecosystems in ways that are largely invisible to us." Starting about a decade ago, in routine reconnaissance, Ferrey and colleagues began collecting surface waters from rivers and streams around Minnesota. As expected, analyses showed contaminants downstream from wastewater treatment plants and in other highly developed areas. But the researchers were surprised when chemicals also turned up in background samples collected in lakes with mostly untouched shorelines. http://www.sott.net/article/261923-Great-Lakes-are-loaded-with-chemicals-even-cocaine Fri, 17 May 2013 16:42:17 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261922-When-will-the-human-mind-upload-to-a-computer In the new techno-thriller Upload, a young computer scientist with a sketchy past and distrust of society decides to take the ultimate leap forward by scanning his brain and uploading his memories, personality and consciousness into a simulated world of his own making. Raymond wants to live forever, controlling his environment and interactions with other humans as a god-like being. The novel by author Mark McClelland is set in the Michigan of 2070 about the time that futurists like Ray Kurzweil predict that "singularity" will be reached, the moment when machine learning will surpass human intelligence. It's not the first science-fiction tale to explore human-computer hybrids (see What are Little Girls Made Of in the first season of the original Star Trek series) or even the perils of virtual reality becoming too real (see the "Matrix" triology). But it does posit some questions that real-world researchers are just now tackling. The European Union, for example, recently announced it was funding a $1.3 billion project to build a human brain on a silicon substrate. That's about 1 1/2 cents per neuron. Swiss neuroscientist Henry Markham, who is behind the Human Brain Project, has already started work on building a simulated rat brain. http://www.sott.net/article/261922-When-will-the-human-mind-upload-to-a-computer Fri, 17 May 2013 16:34:11 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261921-Why-bullies-still-prosper-at-work Even though most companies on paper say they don't tolerate bullying in the workplace, bullies can still thrive in office environments. This may be explained by a social gift many bullies share: They know how to strategically abuse their coworkers - with belittling comments, deliberate exclusion and the like - while still garnering positive evaluations from their supervisors, researchers say. "Many bullies can be seen as charming and friendly, but they are highly destructive and can manipulate others into providing them with the resources they need to get ahead," Darren Treadway, associate professor of organization and human resources at the University of Buffalo, said in a statement. In a new study, Treadway and colleagues measured bullying behavior and career success for by looking at behavioral and job performance data from 54 employees at a mental health organization in the northwest U.S. The researchers found a strong correlation between bullying, social competence and positive job evaluations. http://www.sott.net/article/261921-Why-bullies-still-prosper-at-work Fri, 17 May 2013 16:25:12 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261920-Hedonistic-robots-could-destroy-humanity Complex robots are like animals: They learn by doing. Future robots may even respond to reward systems: complete a task with aplomb, and a gain a "feeling" of satisfaction for a job well done. While this technology could create more efficient, goal-oriented robots, it could also have some very dire ramifications for humanity. After all, robots that feel rewarded by making humans happy may eventually decide that if no humans exist, no human will ever be unhappy again. "Robots without preferences can't have complicated behaviors," Roman V. Yampolskiy, director of the Cybersecurity Research Lab at the University of Louisville, told TechNewsDaily. "To make machines which are independent and creative, we need to give them rewards and preferences." While Yampolskiy believes that robots can be indispensible tools, he also warns that as they learn to seek rewards, they may learn to circumvent helping humans. "I am trying to make sure that any AI software we develop is safe to use and beneficial to humanity," he said. Yampolskiy asserts that robots with the capacity for feelings of pleasure would, in all likelihood, take all the same shortcuts that humans use to acquire it. In a recent paper, he described the process of "wireheading," which sent an electric jolt through the pleasure center of a rat's brain. "The rat's self-stimulation behavior completely displaced all interest in sex, sleep, food and water, ultimately leading to premature death," Yampolskiy wrote. http://www.sott.net/article/261920-Hedonistic-robots-could-destroy-humanity Fri, 17 May 2013 16:16:01 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261911-Huge-rock-crashes-into-moon-sparks-giant-explosion The moon has a new hole on its surface thanks to a boulder that slammed into it in March, creating the biggest explosion scientists have seen on the moon since they started monitoring it. The meteorite crashed on March 17, slamming into the lunar surface at a mind-boggling 56,000 mph (90,000 kph) and creating a new crater 65 feet wide (20 meters). The crash sparked a bright flash of light that would have been visible to anyone looking at the moon at the time with the naked eye, NASA scientists say. "On March 17, 2013, an object about the size of a small boulder hit the lunar surface in Mare Imbrium," Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office said in a statement. "It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've ever seen before." NASA astronomers have been monitoring the moon for lunar meteor impacts for the past eight years, and haven't seen anything this powerful before. Scientists didn't see the impact occur in real time. It was only when Ron Suggs, an analyst at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., reviewed a video of the bright moon crash recorded by one of the moon monitoring program's 14-inch telescopes that the event was discovered. "It jumped right out at me, it was so bright," Suggs said. Scientists deduced the rock had been roughly 1-foot-wide (between 0.3 to 0.4 meters) and weighted about 88 lbs (40 kg).The explosion it created was as powerful as 5 tons of TNT, NASA scientists said. When researchers looked back at their records from March, they found that the moon meteor might not have been an isolated event. http://www.sott.net/article/261911-Huge-rock-crashes-into-moon-sparks-giant-explosion Fri, 17 May 2013 16:11:21 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261919-1998-QE2-asteroid-as-big-as-19-Royal-Cruise-liners Nasa scientists are getting excited about seeing the QE2 in the hope it will reveal crucial new insights. But it is not Her Majesty's defunct steam liner which is lying in dock in Dubai which has set stargazers in Houston, Texas, agog. The object is an asteroid flying through space which is as big as 19 of the former royal vessel. It measures 1.7 miles in length. 1998 QE2 is set to come close to our world when it flys past in its orbit of the sun, on May 31. Scientists will use the Near Earth Object (NEO) event to help plan for an audacious bid to land on a lump of space rock in four years time as part of asteroid defence planning. Nasa scientist Lance Benner said: Whenever an asteroid approaches this closely, it provides an important scientific opportunity to study it in detail to understand its size, shape, rotation, surface features, and what they can tell us about its origin. "We will also use new radar measurements of the asteroid's distance and velocity to improve our calculation of its orbit and compute its motion farther into the future than we could otherwise." Earth's upcoming brush with an extra-terrestial object should not contain the risk of causing chaos for us on earth, like the Russian meteor earlier this year. 1998 QE2 shall fly past earth 3.6m miles above our heads. A Nasa spokesman claimed there is no connection between the asteroid and the British royal cruise ship. http://www.sott.net/article/261919-1998-QE2-asteroid-as-big-as-19-Royal-Cruise-liners Fri, 17 May 2013 16:05:42 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261918-Case-launched-as-video-of-orphans-being-beaten-goes-viral Russian authorities have launched a criminal case into the suspected beating of children by teenage caretakers in a Far Eastern orphanage on Friday, a day after a video sparked internet outrage. The video, made in the orphanage in the town of Pionersky in the Far Eastern Amur Region, shows a teenage girl who lashes boys aged between seven and nine with a belt. Seven boys are lined up against a wall as she calls the children forward one by one, beats them and shoves them away. Police opened a criminal case on charges of torture, which entail a maximum punishment of seven years in prison. Three girls, aged between 15 and 17 are seen as likely suspects. Two of them were taken to a detention facility for minors. The third teenager, who is under 16 years - the age of criminal responsibility on these charges - was hospitalized for reasons not related to the incident. http://www.sott.net/article/261918-Case-launched-as-video-of-orphans-being-beaten-goes-viral Fri, 17 May 2013 15:43:56 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261917-Genetic-risk-for-schizophrenia-is-connected-to-reduced-IQ The relationship between the heritable risk for schizophrenia and low intelligence (IQ) has not been clear. Schizophrenia is commonly associated with cognitive impairments that may cause functional disability. There are clues that reduced IQ may be linked to the risk for developing schizophrenia. For example, reduced cognitive ability may precede the onset of schizophrenia symptoms. Also, these deficits may be present in healthy relatives of people diagnosed with schizophrenia. In a remarkable new study published in Biological Psychiatry, Dr. Andrew McIntosh and his colleagues at the University of Edinburgh provide new evidence that the genetic risk for schizophrenia is associated with lower IQ among people who do not develop this disorder. The authors analyzed data from 937 individuals in Scotland who first completed IQ testing in 1947, at age 11. Around age 70, they were retested and their DNA was analyzed to estimate their genetic risk for schizophrenia. The researchers found that individuals with a higher genetic risk for schizophrenia had a lower IQ at age 70 but not at age 11. Having more schizophrenia risk-related gene variants was also associated with a greater decline in lifelong cognitive ability. http://www.sott.net/article/261917-Genetic-risk-for-schizophrenia-is-connected-to-reduced-IQ Fri, 17 May 2013 15:35:09 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261916-Russia-outs-alleged-Moscow-CIA-station-chief A Russian intelligence agency Friday publicly identified an individual it claims was the Moscow station chief of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as of late 2011 - a move widely seen as a breach of protocol in the intelligence community. A man identified as an official with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) named the alleged CIA station chief in an interview with state-run television Friday in which he gave new details about the agency's highly publicized detention of purported US spy Ryan Fogle earlier this week. In the interview, the FSB official reiterated earlier claims that his agency had explicitly called on the CIA to stop trying to recruit Russian security and intelligence officers. In late 2011, he added, the FSB formally warned the CIA station chief in Moscow, whom he identified by name, that "in the event that provocative efforts to recruit employees of the Russian special services continue, the FSB ... would take reciprocal measures against American intelligence officers." http://www.sott.net/article/261916-Russia-outs-alleged-Moscow-CIA-station-chief Fri, 17 May 2013 15:30:40 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261915-Well-hmm-CIA-chief-makes-unannounced-Israel-visit An Israeli defense official says the head of the American CIA spy agency has made an unannounced visit to Israel. The official says CIA chief John Brennan met Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon. He did not disclose other details. The official spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the visit with reporters. Brennan's trip comes amid Israeli concerns about weapons transfers from Syria to the Lebanon's militant Hezbollah. Israel has carried out airstrikes aimed at halting arms shipments to Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Russia this week to persuade Moscow not to sell an advanced air defense system to Syria that could complicate any possible aerial campaign. Israel is also in close contact with the U.S. over Iran's suspect nuclear program. http://www.sott.net/article/261915-Well-hmm-CIA-chief-makes-unannounced-Israel-visit Fri, 17 May 2013 15:29:23 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261914-UKs-rare-spring-butterflies-make-a-late-show The UK's spring butterflies are being welcomed by enthusiasts, but weeks later than they usually arrive. The second-coldest March on record contributed to the delayed emergence of many rare species, according to the charity Butterfly Conservation. "First sightings" recorded by the public showed the insects typically appeared a fortnight later than normal. One rare species - the grizzled skipper - emerged a month later than last year. The pearl-bordered fritillary was another rare butterfly to make a late show. Last year the insects were first spotted on 1 April but were not recorded until 27 April this year. Threatened wood whites could be seen by 10 April last year, but this year were delayed until early May. And the Duke of Burgundy butterfly made an appearance in late April this spring, around three weeks later than last year. Last spring saw butterflies emerging earlier than normal following an unusually mild February and March. But the extreme wet weather that followed resulted in a terrible year for most species. Butterfly Conservation's findings, which focus on the UK's rare and threatened species, show a large contrast with last years' spring sightings. http://www.sott.net/article/261914-UKs-rare-spring-butterflies-make-a-late-show Fri, 17 May 2013 15:04:37 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261912-Catfight-and-its-US-vs-EU Paris - Lovers of turbo-neoliberalism, rejoice - and take your bottles of Moet to a prime ringside seat; there won't be a nastier catfight this summer than the opening rounds opposing two Western giants. Forget about the Pentagon "pivoting" to Asia without ever abandoning the Middle East; nothing compares with this voyage in the entrails of turbo-capitalism, worthy of a neo-Balzac. We're talking about a new Holy Grail - a free-market deal between the United States and the European Union; the advent of a giant, internal transatlantic market (25% of global exports, 31% of global imports, 57% of foreign investment), where goods and services (but not people) will "freely" circulate, something that in theory will lead Europe out of its current funk. The problem is that to reach this Brave New World presided by the Market Goddess, Europe will have to renounce some of its quite complex juridical, environmental, cultural and health norms. In that Kafkaesque/Orwellian bureaucratic paradise also known as Brussels, hordes of faceless equivalents of the bowler hat men in a Magritte painting openly complain about this "adventure"; there's a growing consensus Europe has everything to lose and little to gain out of it, in contrast with the much-derided enemies of the European integration, as in the fanatics of an "pro-American" and "ultra-liberal" Europe. http://www.sott.net/article/261912-Catfight-and-its-US-vs-EU Fri, 17 May 2013 14:01:10 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261910-Chile-hundreds-of-dead-animals-washed-up-on-shore Residents in Chile discover around 600 dead animals washed up on the shore in Punta Choros, on the country's northern coast. Officials fear the deaths were caused by blast fishing, explosions used by fishermen to rid the water of sea lions and seals that compete with them for fish stocks. Fishing is one of the most valuable industries to Chile, which has more than 4,000 km (2,500 miles) of coast http://www.sott.net/article/261910-Chile-hundreds-of-dead-animals-washed-up-on-shore Fri, 17 May 2013 12:56:43 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261909-5-1-Magnitude-earthquake-ripples-through-Toronto-Canada Earthquakes Canada is reporting a5.1-magnitude earthquake just west of Ottawa that was felt as far away as Toronto. The federal agency that monitors earthquakes revised its original report, saying it registered a 5.1-magnitude temblor with an epicenter located about 21 kilometers (13 miles) northeast of Shawville, Quebec, about an hour's drive outside Ottawa. It was felt as far west as Toronto, Canada's largest city, but no damage was immediately reported. Twitter erupted with reports of buildings shaking in Ottawa for several seconds. Ontario's premier, who lives in Toronto, tweeted that her house was shaking. Ontario Provincial Police in Arnprior, Ontario, not far from the epicenter, say they have received no reports of damage. The original report said a 4.8-magnitude quake was centered near the town of Braeside, Ontario. - HP http://www.sott.net/article/261909-5-1-Magnitude-earthquake-ripples-through-Toronto-Canada Fri, 17 May 2013 12:09:34 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261908-Syria-not-a-bargaining-chip-in-relations-with-West-Lavrov Moscow will make no "backstage" agreements on Syria in exchange for Western concessions on missile defense or any other disputed issues, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. "This is not serious. I think that those who try suggest that indulge in wishful thinking," Lavrov said in an interview with Lebanon's Al Mayadeen TV channel. "Everyone knows well that Russia's stance on a whole range of crucial issues is not opportunistic," the Russian top diplomat emphasized. At the same time, he pointed out, this does not mean that Moscow's position on such issues is definitive. "We defend only the things that are in the basis of modern world order - the US Charter principles and other international legal documents, and we insist on their fulfillment," Lavrov said. "We do not want and we will not put up with attempts to distort reached agreements, particularly the legally binding ones," he underlined. However, within the framework of these principles and agreements, Moscow is ready to look for compromises, acceptable primarily for the sides of the conflict. Lavrov reiterated that Russia does not support President Bashar Assad in the Syrian conflict. He explained that Moscow acts not "for the sake of the regime or any person inside of at the top of this regime" but for the sake of the Syrians. The minister noted it was Russia's aim to stop suffering and uphold the basic principles of international law - such as national sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in internal affairs. http://www.sott.net/article/261908-Syria-not-a-bargaining-chip-in-relations-with-West-Lavrov Fri, 17 May 2013 11:53:23 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261907-Mystery-sponsor-of-weapons-and-money-to-Syrian-mercenary-rebels-revealed Previously, when looking at the real underlying national interests responsible for the deteriorating situation in Syria, which eventually may and/or will devolve into all out war with hundreds of thousands killed, we made it very clear that it was always and only about the gas, or gas pipelines to be exact, and specifically those involving the tiny but uber-wealthy state of Qatar. Needless to say, the official spin on events has no mention of this ulterior motive, and the popular, propaganda machine, especially from those powers supporting the Syrian "rebels" which include Israel, the US and the Arabian states tries to generate public and democratic support by portraying Assad as a brutal, chemical weapons-using dictator, in line with the tried and true script used once already in Iraq. On the other hand, there is Russia (and to a lesser extent China: for China's strategic interests in mid-east pipelines, read here), which has been portrayed as the main supporter of the "evil" Assad regime, and thus eager to preserve the status quo without a military intervention. Such attempts may be for naught especially with the earlier noted arrival of US marines in Israel, and the imminent arrival of the Russian Pacific fleet in Cyprus (which is a stone throw away from Syria) which may catalyze a military outcome sooner than we had expected. However, one question that has so far remained unanswered, and a very sensitive one now that the US is on the verge of voting to arm the Syrian rebels, is who was arming said group of Al-Qaeda supported militants up until now. Now, finally, courtesy of the FT we have the (less than surprising) answer, which goes back to our original thesis, and proves that, as so often happens in the middle east, it is once again all about the natural resources. http://www.sott.net/article/261907-Mystery-sponsor-of-weapons-and-money-to-Syrian-mercenary-rebels-revealed Fri, 17 May 2013 11:36:08 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261906-Syria-WMD-Redux "There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, 'Fool me once, shame on... shame on you. But fool me... can't get fooled again!'." ~ Dubya interpretation of 'Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me', Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002 The anti-Assad propaganda is in full swing with contradictory and unsubstantiated claims that the Syrian government has "used chemical weapons against its own people." Against this backdrop of faulty, evocative rhetoric, Israel recently launched deadly air strikes on Syrian territory. Like textbook plagiarism or a record on repeat, we're seeing a re-run of the 'Weapons of Mass Destruction' (WMD) lies that led to the illegal invasion of Iraq ten years ago. UN investigator Carla del Ponte reported that if any sarin gas was used in Syria, it was actually fired by the US-backed opposition rebel forces, not the state forces of President Bashar al-Assad. The damning additional fact is that the Syrian 'rebels' the West are arming are, in reality, terrorist 'Al-Qaeda' factions, as has been admitted in the French daily Le Monde and supported by an admission in the New York Times. Just as many Azawadi rebels in northern Mali last year defected from the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad to Al-Qaeda-in-the-Islamic-Maghreb and other CIA fronts ahead of full-scale military intervention by Western powers in January 2013, Free Syrian Army 'rebels' are consolidating their allegiances to (and pooling their resources with) Jabhat al-Nusra, "an Al Qaida associate operating in Syria" that is responsible for cross-border attacks in Turkey and Lebanon. http://www.sott.net/article/261906-Syria-WMD-Redux Fri, 17 May 2013 11:30:41 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261905-All-eyes-on-Syria-Russian-warships-enter-Mediterranean-to-form-permanent-task-force Warships from Russia's Pacific Fleet have entered the Mediterranean for the first time in decades. Russia's Navy Chief says the task force may be reinforced with nuclear submarines, as the country starts building up a permanent fleet in the region. "The task force has successfully passed through the Suez Channel and entered the Mediterranean. It is the first time in decades that Pacific Fleet warships enter this region," the Pacific Fleet spokesman, Capt. First Rank Roman Martov told RIA. The vessels are now heading to Cyprus and will make a port call in the city of Limassol, he added. The group includes destroyer "Admiral Panteleyev," two amphibious warfare ships "Peresvet" and "Admiral Nevelskoi," as well as a tanker and a tugboat. The ships left the Far-Eastern port city of Vladivostok on March 19 to join Russia's Mediterranean task force, which currently consists of vessels from Northern, Baltic, and the Black Sea Fleets, including a large anti-submarine ship, a frigate and a Ropucha-II Class landing ship. http://www.sott.net/article/261905-All-eyes-on-Syria-Russian-warships-enter-Mediterranean-to-form-permanent-task-force Fri, 17 May 2013 08:46:54 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261904-Video-Strange-weather-phenomena-for-the-first-days-of-May-2013 http://www.sott.net/article/261904-Video-Strange-weather-phenomena-for-the-first-days-of-May-2013 Fri, 17 May 2013 08:34:52 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261903-San-Diego-ground-squirrel-tests-positive-for-plague Squirrel trapped in Palomar Mountain campground A ground squirrel that tested positive for plague on Palomar Mountain has led San Diego County health officials to warn campers and hikers to take precautions."The big thing is to avoid contact with squirrels and the fleas that they can carry," Department of Environmental Health director Jack Miller said. "Campers should set up tents away from squirrel burrows, never feed squirrels and warn children not to play with squirrels." Miller said. A squirrel trapped at Cedar Grove Campground on Palomar Mountain was the first reported case of plague in San Diego County this year. Plague is a bacterial disease of wild rodents that is transmitted to people by fleas that feed on the blood of a sick animal and then bite humans. http://www.sott.net/article/261903-San-Diego-ground-squirrel-tests-positive-for-plague Fri, 17 May 2013 05:13:42 -0500