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. Wed, 22 May 2013 14:20:30 -0500 http://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net http://www.sott.net http://www.sott.net/article/262034-Brood-II-is-here-The-moment-thousands-of-cicadas-burst-into-life-from-underground-in-Virginia-yards-after-17-years Cicadas have begun to surface across the East Coast of the U.S. So far the majority of sightings have been in Virginia and other southern states Further north the weather has been too cool but the emergence of Brood II emergence isn't expected to be too far away The cicadas invasion of the East Coast has begun, with the insects spotted everywhere from Virginia to Massachusetts. The infestation, named Brood II by scientists, has not been seen since 1996. Before that it last appeared in 1979. So far the majority of sightings have been in Virginia and other southern states, where some people have found hundreds in their backyards accompanied by the insects' loud chorus call. Further north the weather has been too cool in the likes of New England and New York for a full-blown Brood II emergence, but it isn't expected to be too far away. Cicadas are expected to emerge from the ground in the billions in the next couple of weeks as soil temperature reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit. http://www.sott.net/article/262034-Brood-II-is-here-The-moment-thousands-of-cicadas-burst-into-life-from-underground-in-Virginia-yards-after-17-years Wed, 22 May 2013 14:11:41 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262033-Malaria-medicine-could-be-toxic San Francisco - A malaria drug once widely prescribed to U.S. soldiers could cause symptoms similar to traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), one researcher says. The drug mefloquine may damage the brain stem and increase the firing of neurons, said Dr. Remington Nevin, a former Army physician and researcher at the Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. Nevin discussed his research Monday (May 20) here at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. For decades, soldiers deployed to regions where malaria is common, such as Iraq or Afghanistan, have been given drugs aimed at preventing the mosquito-borne disease, one of which is mefloquine. But the Army stopped recommending the routine use of mefloquine as the preferred anti-malaria drug in 2009, according to the Army Times. Mefloquine may lead to anxiety, paranoia and hallucinations that can be misdiagnosed as other ailments, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, Nevin said. "The symptoms can overlap," Nevin told LiveScience. "It's very easy in military veterans to confuse the two conditions, or to mistakenly diagnose traumatic injury." http://www.sott.net/article/262033-Malaria-medicine-could-be-toxic Wed, 22 May 2013 13:54:57 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262032-Terrible-nights-sleep-Blame-your-mobile-phone-How-exposure-to-artificial-light-fools-the-brain-into-staying-awake Laptop and smartphone screens disrupt sleep and make us drink caffeine Britons uses 4 times more artificial light today compared to the 1950s Poor sleep associated with obesity, diabetes, heart disease and depression Electric lights, including those which illuminate laptop computers, smartphones and tablets, often play a key role in causing people to sleep badly, a leading expert has warned. Artificial lights disrupt the body's natural rhythm, affect chemicals in the brain and drive people to use stimulants like caffeine to stay awake longer, according to Harvard academic Professor Charles Czeisler. Writing today in the journal Nature, the professor of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School called for research to help develop 'behavioural and technical' ways of counteracting the ill effects of artificial light on modern sleeping patterns. The decline in the number of hours slept per night is affecting public health, including a greater risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, depression and stroke in adults and concentration problems in children, he said. While all electric light affected circadian rhythms - the natural body clock - and sleep, night-time exposure to LED lights like those in phones and computers was 'typically more disruptive' than standard electric light bulbs, he said. 'There are many reasons why people get insufficient sleep in our 24/7 society, from early starts at work or school, or long commutes, to caffeine-rich food and drink,' he wrote. http://www.sott.net/article/262032-Terrible-nights-sleep-Blame-your-mobile-phone-How-exposure-to-artificial-light-fools-the-brain-into-staying-awake Wed, 22 May 2013 13:46:30 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262031-Truly-shocking-London-attack-leaves-1-dead-2-injured Two men attacked another man near a London military barracks Wednesday, in what British authorities were investigating as a possible terror act. One man is dead and two others were injured. While details were scant, Prime Minister David Cameron called the killing "truly shocking" and said he had asked Home Secretary Theresa May to call an urgent meeting of the government's emergency committee. A British government official who spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the investigation said the details that had emerged were indicative of a "terrorist-motivated attack." May said she had been briefed by Britain's domestic security service, MI5, and by police on what she called a "sickening and barbaric" attack. Britain's Ministry of Defense said it was urgently investigating reports that a serving soldier was involved in the incident. Police said armed officers responded to reports of the assault Wednesday afternoon just a few blocks from a military training barracks in southeast London. Commander Simon Letchford said reports indicated that one man was being assaulted by two other men, and that a number of weapons - including possibly a firearm - were used in the attack. http://www.sott.net/article/262031-Truly-shocking-London-attack-leaves-1-dead-2-injured Wed, 22 May 2013 13:17:44 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262030-What-do-Comet-PANSTARRS-and-Pinocchio-have-in-common While comets can't tell lies, they do sometimes grow long noses. As the weeks click by and our perspective on Comet L4 PANSTARRS changes, its original plume-like dust tail has shrunk and faded while a second tail just won't stop growing. I'm talking about the anti-tail, so called because it points toward the sun instead of away. Like the normal dust tail, an anti-tail is formed from fresh dust blown back from the comet's head by the pressure of sunlight. As the comet continues along its orbital path, last week's dust lingers behind, forming a "trail of breadcrumbs" in its wake. Right now those breadcrumbs look like a light saber straight out of Star Wars. Time exposure photographs show a striking sunward-pointing appendage more than 6 degrees (12 full moons) long. I've been keeping an eye on Comet PANSTARRS here at home and can report that the anti-tail is plainly visible with a telescope under dark skies. Watching it grow from a short nub to the most dominant feature of this remarkable object has been the highlight of many a clear night. http://www.sott.net/article/262030-What-do-Comet-PANSTARRS-and-Pinocchio-have-in-common Wed, 22 May 2013 13:12:02 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262029-Federal-agents-and-the-state-fire-marshal-are-blocking-the-board-from-investigating-deadly-Central-Texas-fertilizer-plant-blast The head of a federal safety board says federal agents and the state fire marshal are blocking the board from investigating a deadly Central Texas fertilizer plant blast. In a letter to a U.S. senator planning hearings into the West Fertilizer plant blast, the chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board says the board's investigation of the blast has been blocked by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the State Fire Marshal's Office. The Waco Tribune-Herald reports that the chairman asks U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer to help the board obtain evidence controlled by the ATF. The ATF special agent in charge of the investigation tells the Austin American-Statesman that a criminal investigation comes with "certain sensitivities," while the State Fire Marshal's Office tells the paper evidence needs to be protected for now so that law enforcement produces one "clear cut" report. The April 17 blast killed 15 people and injured about 200 others. http://www.sott.net/article/262029-Federal-agents-and-the-state-fire-marshal-are-blocking-the-board-from-investigating-deadly-Central-Texas-fertilizer-plant-blast Wed, 22 May 2013 12:04:08 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262028-Stockholm-erupts-in-wave-of-violence-for-third-night Rioters have lit fires and stoned emergency services in the suburbs of Stockholm for the third night in a row after a man was shot dead by police. Incidents were reported in at least nine suburbs of the Swedish capital and police made eight arrests. On Sunday night, more than 100 cars were set alight, Swedish media report. Police in the deprived, largely immigrant suburb of Husby shot a man dead last week after he reportedly threatened to kill them with a machete. The founder of a local youth group told Swedish media the riots were a reaction to "police brutality." Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt told reporters on Tuesday that Sweden would not be intimidated by rioters. On Tuesday night, cars were torched in western and southern Stockholm, and stones were thrown at police officers and firefighters. One area affected, Rinkeby, saw similar rioting in 2010. Kjell Lindgren of the Stockholm police told Aftonbladet newspaper that the unrest had spread from the original rioting in Husby. "It feels like people are taking the opportunity in other areas because of the attention given to Husby," he said. Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Reinfeldt said: "We've had two nights with great unrest, damage, and an intimidating atmosphere in Husby and there is a risk it will continue. We have groups of young men who think that that they can and should change society with violence. Let's be clear: this is not okay. We cannot be ruled by violence." More than 80% of Husby's 12,000 or so inhabitants are from an immigrant background, and most are from Turkey, the Middle East and Somalia. - BBC http://www.sott.net/article/262028-Stockholm-erupts-in-wave-of-violence-for-third-night Wed, 22 May 2013 10:29:16 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262027-WHO-chief-warns-the-world-is-unprepared-for-a-massive-virus-outbreak The world is unprepared for a massive virus outbreak, the deputy chief of the World Health Organization warned Tuesday, amid fears that H7N9 bird flu striking China could morph into a form that spreads easily among people. Keiji Fukuda told delegates at a WHO meeting that despite efforts since an outbreak of another form of avian influenza, H1N1, in 2009-10, far more contingency planning was essential. "Even though work has been done since that time, the world is not ready for a large, severe outbreak," Fukuda said. Rapid-reaction systems were crucial, given that health authorities' efforts are already hampered by lack of knowledge about such diseases, he insisted. "When people get hit with an emerging disease, you can't just go to a book and know what to do," he said. According to the latest official data, H7N9 avian influenza has infected 130 people in China, and killed 35, since it was found in humans for the first time in March. It is one of a vast array of flu viruses carried by birds, the overwhelming majority of which pose little or no risk to humans. Experts are struggling to understand how it spread to people, amid fears that it could adapt into a form that can be transmitted easily from human to human. "Any new influenza virus that infects humans has the potential to become a global health threat," WHO chief Margaret Chan told the meeting. http://www.sott.net/article/262027-WHO-chief-warns-the-world-is-unprepared-for-a-massive-virus-outbreak Wed, 22 May 2013 10:26:51 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262026-Indonesias-Sangeang-Api-volcano-elevated-seismic-activity-triggers-alarm An increase in seismicity since 26 April triggered VSI to rise the alert status from 2 to 3 on a scale of 1-4 (from "Waspada," "watch" to Siaga," alert). For the moment, only degassing has been observed as surface activity. A similar increase in seismic activity was observed in Oct 2012, when the alert was raised as well and then reduced again in November. The last eruption at the volcano occurred in 2009. - Volcano Discovery http://www.sott.net/article/262026-Indonesias-Sangeang-Api-volcano-elevated-seismic-activity-triggers-alarm Wed, 22 May 2013 10:21:20 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262025-Costa-Ricas-Turrialba-Volcano-emits-massive-ash-and-gas-trail At 5 a.m. Tuesday morning, the Turrialba Volcano, located east of the province of Cartago, began to spew gas and ash from two crater openings, the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (Ovsicori) reported. By 8:30 a.m. a significant amount of volcanic material was released from the two openings of volcano, "which may indicate that these materials come from deep areas," Ovsicori said. "It is uncertain what will happen. Volcanologists are heading to the site to evaluate the activity," the statement said. Experts said Tuesday's activity is "normal for an active volcano such as Turrialba," but they recommended all nearby communities remain vigilant in coming hours. The released material fell into grasslands and communities in the canton of Turrialba and reached some three kilometers west of the crater. The trail of gases and ash can be seen from various locations in the provinces of Cartago, San José, Heredia and Limón. Public access to the volcano area was closed last year due to the activity. The Turrialba Volcano also emitted material in 2007, 2010 and 2012. The last eruptions of the volcano were in 1884. - Tico Times http://www.sott.net/article/262025-Costa-Ricas-Turrialba-Volcano-emits-massive-ash-and-gas-trail Wed, 22 May 2013 10:19:20 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262024-Surprise-Bin-Laden-death-photos-will-not-be-released-as-US-court-rules-they-must-stay-classified A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. government had properly classified top secret more than 50 images of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden taken after his death and that the government did not need to release them. The unanimous ruling by three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected a request for the images by a conservative nonprofit watchdog group. Judicial Watch sued for photographs and video from the May 2011 raid in which U.S. special forces killed bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, after more than a decade of searching. The organization's lawsuit relied on the Freedom of Information Act, a 1966 law that guarantees public access to some government documents. In an unsigned opinion, the appeals court accepted an assertion from President Barack Obama's administration that the images are so potent that releasing them could cause riots that would put Americans abroad at risk. 'It is undisputed that the government is withholding the images not to shield wrongdoing or avoid embarrassment, but rather to prevent the killing of Americans and violence against American interests,' the opinion said. The court ruled that the risk of violence justifies the decision to classify the images top secret, and that the CIA may withhold the images under an exception to the Freedom of Information Act for documents that are classified. The organization's lawsuit relied on the Freedom of Information Act, a 1966 law that guarantees public access to some government documents. http://www.sott.net/article/262024-Surprise-Bin-Laden-death-photos-will-not-be-released-as-US-court-rules-they-must-stay-classified Wed, 22 May 2013 10:03:30 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262022-Mystery-illness-claims-the-life-of-2-area-teens-a-third-is-critical A hospital spokeswoman at Texas Children's in Houston said in a written statement that a 17-year-old boy in their facility is not believed, by them, to be connected two cases in which area teens died from a mystery illness. http://www.sott.net/article/262022-Mystery-illness-claims-the-life-of-2-area-teens-a-third-is-critical Wed, 22 May 2013 07:02:19 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262021-Caribou-numbers-plummet-on-Baffin-Island-by-95 It's a shocking decline. In the past 20 years, caribou numbers have dropped by about 95% in the southern region of the island A survey by the territory of Nunavut in northeastern Canada conducted in 2012 and released last Thursday, confirms what elders and hunters have been saying, that it's getting much harder to find caribou there. Estimates from the early 1990's put the herd number between 60-thousand to 180 thousand. This recent survey, announced by Nunavut's environment minister, James Arreak, is the first comprehensive count of the animals. Elders, hunters and communities have expressed The survey report is called "Estimating the Abundance of South Baffin Caribou. http://www.sott.net/article/262021-Caribou-numbers-plummet-on-Baffin-Island-by-95 Wed, 22 May 2013 06:16:20 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262020-Mysterious-respiratory-illness-strikes-7-in-Alabama-2-dead Two people have died and five others have been hospitalized in a mysterious cluster of respiratory illnesses in southeast Alabama, state health officials said. The victims, all adults, had symptoms including fever, cough and shortness of breath, but the cause of the illnesses is unknown, said Dr. Mary McIntyre, the acting state epidemiologist for the Alabama Department of Public Health. The hospital is using respiratory precautions, which include requiring staff to wear special N95 masks that reduce the chance of infection. State health officials have collected and analyzed samples of specimens from all patients. So far, one sample has tested positive for H1N1 influenza A, but it's not clear that that is behind the unusual illnesses. There's no evidence of other kinds of flu, including the H7N9 strain that has caused illness and death in China, McIntyre said. http://www.sott.net/article/262020-Mysterious-respiratory-illness-strikes-7-in-Alabama-2-dead Tue, 21 May 2013 23:15:32 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262019-Insight-into-the-dazzling-impact-of-insulin-in-cells Australian scientists have charted the path of insulin action in cells in precise detail like never before. This provides a comprehensive blueprint for understanding what goes wrong in diabetes. The breakthrough study, conducted by Sean Humphrey and Professor David James from Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, is now published in the early online edition of the journal Cell Metabolism. First discovered in 1921, the insulin hormone plays a very important role in the body because it helps us lower blood sugar after a meal, by enabling the movement of sugar from the blood into cells. Until now, although scientists have understood the purpose of insulin at a broad level, they have struggled to understand exactly how it achieves its task. The latest analytical devices called mass spectrometers now provide the tool that has been missing -- the means of looking into the vastly complex molecular maze that exists in every single cell in the human body. These powerful devices have opened up a field known as 'proteomics', the study of proteins on a very large scale. Proteins represent the working parts of cells, using energy to perform all essential functions such as muscle contraction, heartbeat or even memory. http://www.sott.net/article/262019-Insight-into-the-dazzling-impact-of-insulin-in-cells Tue, 21 May 2013 22:56:42 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262018-Does-practice-really-make-perfect Is "practice makes perfect" an age-old adage to live by or just thinking inside-the-box? According to University of Michigan associate professor Zachary Hambrick, endless hours spent trying to perfect a skill could be a waste of time. In a new study published in the journal Intelligence, Hambrick and a team of American researchers suggest that "deliberate practice is not sufficient to explain individual differences in performance" among musicians and chess players. "Practice is indeed important to reach an elite level of performance, but this paper makes an overwhelming case that it isn't enough," Hambrick said. "The evidence is quite clear that some people do reach an elite level of performance without copious practice, while other people fail to do so despite copious practice." In the study, the team reviewed 14 studies involving chess players and musicians and looked explicitly at how practice routine was related to performance. They found that time spent practicing accounted for only about one third of the measurable skill differences in both music and chess. Hambrick said that the discrepancy can be explained by other factors such as intelligence, innate ability, or age. http://www.sott.net/article/262018-Does-practice-really-make-perfect Tue, 21 May 2013 21:24:37 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262017-Herbrandston-residents-tortured-by-mystery-low-frequency-noise Wales - A group of Herbrandston residents have reached breaking point after a 'torturous' mystery noise made life in the village a 'living hell'. Jane and Steve Ingram said life at their quiet Herbrandston home became unbearable when a low, drowning noise started keeping them awake at night. Jane, who began to hear the drone back in 2009, said she hasn't had a full night's sleep in years and has even considered moving house. She said: "At first it was a noise similar to a car engine running. I would get up in the middle of the night to see if there was a car out there, and there never was. "And when I put my head on the pillow, I hear big machines drilling underground. It's torturous." Over the last few years the noise has been described as a constant humming, a low drone, or vibration, which goes on and off throughout the night. The couple thought the noise was emanating from one of the two oil refineries or LNG facilities on their doorstep, and last August they contacted Port Health and the Environment Agency, which launched an investigation. Although the investigation detected low frequency noise at 63 Herz (42decibels), its source remained a mystery. http://www.sott.net/article/262017-Herbrandston-residents-tortured-by-mystery-low-frequency-noise Tue, 21 May 2013 21:18:55 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262016-Far-right-French-historian-78-year-old-Dominique-Venner-commits-suicide-in-Notre-Dame-in-protest-against-gay-marriage A far-right French historian shot himself in the head beside the altar of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris today apparently in protest against the legalisation of gay marriage in France. Dominique Venner, 78, a former member of the nationalist terrorist movement, OAS, placed a pistol in his mouth and shot himself dead in front of scores of tourists inside the most visited building in France. Mr Venner, a presenter on a Catholic-traditionalust radio station and controversial historian and essayist, posted an essay on his website earlier in the day calling for "new, spectacular and symbolic actions to shake us out of our sleep, to jolt anaesthetised minds and to reawaken memory of our origins". http://www.sott.net/article/262016-Far-right-French-historian-78-year-old-Dominique-Venner-commits-suicide-in-Notre-Dame-in-protest-against-gay-marriage Tue, 21 May 2013 21:04:31 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262015-Coronavirus-deaths-mount-to-16-In-Saudi-Arabia With the death of one more patient at a hospital in Al-Ahsa, death toll in the novel coronavirus (nCoV) infection in Saudi Arabia has mounted to 16, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said on Monday. The patient who died on Monday was suffering from chronic heart diseases, diabetes and high blood pressure, in addition to renal failure, the MoH said in a statement posted on its website. Meanwhile, one of the health workers, being treated for the infection, has recovered and left hospital, the statement said. Virologist from the World Health Organization (WHO) are making allout efforts to find out the origin of the virus and how it spread fast in the oil-rich kingdom. http://www.sott.net/article/262015-Coronavirus-deaths-mount-to-16-In-Saudi-Arabia Tue, 21 May 2013 20:57:24 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262014-Oceanside-couple-who-held-girl-as-sex-slave-sent-to-prison An Oceanside couple are headed to prison for keeping an underage relative as a sex slave, housekeeper, baby sitter and prostitute. Inez Martinez Garcia, 44, was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison, and her husband, Marcial Garcia Hernandez, 45, to 23 years to life. Each had pleaded guilty to multiple counts of abuse. The two were accused of forcing the girl to clean and cook, take care of the couple's three children and have sex with Hernandez and with other men for money. http://www.sott.net/article/262014-Oceanside-couple-who-held-girl-as-sex-slave-sent-to-prison Tue, 21 May 2013 20:43:28 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262013-Its-not-like-theres-an-instinct-called-mothering There is far more to mothering than giving birth. Just ask Alison Fleming. The University of Toronto Mississauga psychology professor has spent the past four decades researching the complex neurobiology and psychology involved in motherhood. Through her work, she has learned that while the hormonal changes associated with birthing help prepare females to take care of their young, maternal behaviours don't just come automatically; they develop over time. "There's a lot of stuff that comes into play.... It's not like there's an instinct called mothering," Fleming says, noting that fathers also undergo hormonal changes when exposed to their babies, and that women who adopt become every bit as attached and attracted to their children as those who raise their own offspring. "I think it's just a matter of getting the experience and the interaction." The numerous studies Fleming and her colleagues have conducted over the years have contributed to a greater understanding of why mothering matters, and have provided insight into what drives mothers to nurture their young. A mother's love, support and physical touch (or, in the absence of a mother, the simulation of sensitive parental care) are all critical to the offspring's healthy brain development and social and emotional development, she says. And the greater the exposure a mother has to her babies, the stronger her motivation becomes to care for them. http://www.sott.net/article/262013-Its-not-like-theres-an-instinct-called-mothering Tue, 21 May 2013 20:31:47 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262012-Elderly-mother-fatally-shoots-drunk-son-after-he-tries-to-shoot-her An 86-year-old Florida woman shot and killed her son after he became violently drunk and shot her. William Pennypacker, 64, attacked his mother, Nancy Pennpacker, on Friday night in her Lakeland home. He punched her in the face and eventually pulled a gun on her. William shot Nancy in the fingers, and the bullet travelled up her arm and into her right shoulder. Nancy, who was also armed at that point, fired one shot back at him, killing him. A Polk County Sheriff's deputy heard the shots around 10:30 p.m., while patrolling the area. He saw Nancy run out of her home screaming. William was found dead inside. http://www.sott.net/article/262012-Elderly-mother-fatally-shoots-drunk-son-after-he-tries-to-shoot-her Tue, 21 May 2013 20:23:57 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262011-5-die-in-33-foot-sinkhole-that-opened-up-in-China Five people died when a 10 metre (33 feet) wide sinkhole opened up at the gates of an industrial estate in Shenzhen, the southern Chinese boom town neighbouring Hong Kong, local authorities said Tuesday. The Shenzhen Longgang district government said on its verified page on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, that five people had died and added that it was investigating the incident. The sinkhole formed just outside the Huamao Industrial Park in Shenzhen on Monday evening, at a time when many factory workers would have been changing shifts, according to the website of Beijing-based newspaper the Guangming Daily. http://www.sott.net/article/262011-5-die-in-33-foot-sinkhole-that-opened-up-in-China Tue, 21 May 2013 17:40:54 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262010-Rapid-cooling-triggered-Bronze-Age-collapse-and-Greek-Dark-Age Of course the politically correct verbiage is "climate change." Between the 13th and 11th centuries BCE, most Greek Bronze Age Palatial centers were destroyed and/or abandoned throughout the Near East and Aegean, says this paper by Brandon L. Drake A sharp increase in Northern Hemisphere temperatures preceded the wide-spread systems collapse, while a sharp decrease in temperatures occurred during their abandonment. (Neither of which, I am sure - the increase or the decrease - were caused by humans.) Mediterranean Sea surface temperatures cooled rapidly during the Late Bronze Age, limiting freshwater flux into the atmosphere and thus reducing precipitation over land, says Drake, of the Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico. This cooling and ensuing aridity could have affected areas that were dependent upon high levels of agricultural productivity. The resulting crop declines would have made higher-density populations unsustainable. Indeed, studies of data from the Mediterranean indicate that the Early Iron Age was more arid than the preceding Bronze Age. The prolonged arid conditions - a centuries-long megadrought, if you will - lasted until the Roman Warm Period. http://www.sott.net/article/262010-Rapid-cooling-triggered-Bronze-Age-collapse-and-Greek-Dark-Age Tue, 21 May 2013 17:15:37 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262009-Neanderthals-Extinction-by-BBQ Humans today eat gorillas and chimpanzees, so why would our prehistoric ancestors flinch at sitting down to a nicely roasted Neanderthal? That's the shocking new hypothesis being raised by anthropologists in Spain, who wonder if our closest extinct relative was exterminated in the same way as 178 other large mammals, so-called megafauna, which are suspected of going at least partially by the hand of hungry human hunters. "Except in its native Africa, in the other continents Homo sapiens can be considered as an invasive alien species," write researchers Policarp Hortolà and Bienvenido Martínez-Navarro of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona, Spain. They published their hypothesis in the May issue of the journal Quaternary International. Today, there are endless cases of invasive species decimating native species all over the world. So perhaps at the end of the Pliestocene, it was the same when humans spread into Europe and Asia, where Homo neanderthalensis was just another big, slow-reproducing mammal. "We think that modern humans, who occupied a similar ecological niche as Neanderthals, but with more evolved technology, in their colonization of the new European territories directly competed with Neanderthals for the food and other natural resources," wrote Martínez-Navarro in an emailed response to Discovery News. http://www.sott.net/article/262009-Neanderthals-Extinction-by-BBQ Tue, 21 May 2013 16:59:44 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262008-Exploding-meteorite-may-have-sealed-fate-of-the-mammoths Researchers have found evidence that a large meteorite broke apart in the atmosphere around 12,800 years ago at around the time when mammoths died out. Studying deposits at 18 archaeological sites around the world they found tiny spheres of carbon they say are characteristic of multiple impacts and mid-air explosions from meteorite fragments. They claim that millions of tonnes of dust and ash thrown would have been thrown into the atmosphere by the event, which would have choked the atmosphere and altered the global climate. Their findings cast doubt on claims that it was human hunting that was responsible for the demise of large ice age animals like woolly mammoths, woolly rhinos and sabre toothed tigers. Many scientists now believe that it was a combination of changes in the climate and pressure from human hunting that led to the mass extinction of many of these species. However, the cause of the abrupt change in the climate between 12,800 and 11,500 years ago, known as the Younger Dryas by geologists, has been a controversial topic. http://www.sott.net/article/262008-Exploding-meteorite-may-have-sealed-fate-of-the-mammoths Tue, 21 May 2013 16:34:49 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262007-Accidental-find-shows-Vitamin-C-kills-tuberculosis Scientists said Tuesday they had managed to kill lab-grown tuberculosis (TB) bacteria with good old Vitamin C - an "unexpected" discovery they hope will lead to better, cheaper drugs. A team from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York made the accidental find while researching how TB bacteria become resistant to the TB drug isoniazid. The researchers added isoniazid and a "reducing agent" known as cysteine to the TB in a test tube, expecting the bacteria to develop drug resistance. Instead, the team "ended up killing off the culture", according to the study's senior author William Jacobs, who said the result was "totally unexpected". Reducing agents chemically reduce other substances. The team then replaced the cysteine in the experiment with another reducing agent - Vitamin C. It, too, killed the bacteria. "I was in disbelief," said Jacobs of the outcome published in the journal Nature Communications. "Even more surprisingly... when we left out the TB drug isoniazid and just had Vitamin C alone, we discovered that Vitamin C kills tuberculosis." http://www.sott.net/article/262007-Accidental-find-shows-Vitamin-C-kills-tuberculosis Tue, 21 May 2013 16:23:43 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262006-Rare-particles-give-clue-to-ancient-Earth Semi-precious minerals found in a bucket of sand from an island nation have cracked open a clue to the drifting movements and break-up of ancient Earth's massive continental plates. The particles are zircons and the island - Mauritius - is now thought to be hiding a micro-continent which has been given the name Mauritia. Zircons can be as old as four billion years and are almost never found in oceans, proving the likelihood that Mauritius sits on top of a fragment of continental plate which remained behind and was covered by huge masses of lava when Madagascar split apart from India about 90 million years ago. Prof. Lewis Ashwal from Wits University studies the break-up process of continents. He was part of the group of geoscientists from Norway, South Africa, Britain and Germany who recently announced their finding of zircons in Mauritius. They've been working in the area for 15 years. http://www.sott.net/article/262006-Rare-particles-give-clue-to-ancient-Earth Tue, 21 May 2013 16:13:59 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262005-Villagers-find-ancient-sports-statue-in-Mexico Villagers installing a water pipe in southwestern Mexico stumbled onto an ancient granite statue depicting a player from a pre-Hispanic ball game, the national anthropology institute said Monday. The stone had been sliced at the neck, like a decapitation, and buried in a ritual that was common at the time, the National Anthropology and History Institute said in a statement. There are indications that the 1.65-meter (5-foot-4) tall statue, which depicts a bow-legged ballplayer with his arms crossed, was built onto an I-shaped ball game field before it was buried and could be more than 1,000 years old. http://www.sott.net/article/262005-Villagers-find-ancient-sports-statue-in-Mexico Tue, 21 May 2013 16:05:28 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262004-Spookydate-Filling-a-coffin-sized-hole-in-the-singles-market London, England -- A fascination with the paranormal is at an all-time high, with TV programs like the Walking Dead and Supernatural, dozens of ghost-hunting reality shows, and big box-office horror movies. And along with this comes a growing number of single people of all ages who want to meet others who share their unique interests. If you like hunting for ghosts or exploring old graveyards, but you're tired of doing it by yourself, then Spookydate may be the place for you. It's a dating site for people into everything from Jack the Ripper to zombies. Spookydate's members' idea of a romantic evening isn't dinner and a movie, unless it's a horror movie. But despite popular perception, these are just normal people with not-so-normal interests, insists Spookydate founder Tony Hart-Wilden. He says they take long walks on the beach and gaze at the sunset, just like anyone else, but the difference is they may be looking for UFOs at the same time. Tony Hart-Wilden's own adventures have taken him everywhere from Dracula's castle in Transylvania to Area 51 in the Arizona desert, monster hunting on Loch Ness, and paranormal investigating in India. But he acknowledges that none of this would have been possible if it wasn't for research projects, preservation, and awareness created by documentaries and films that led him there. So, unlike other dating sites, part of Spookydate's profits will go back into its own community to support anything from cemetery restoration to financing independent horror films. Spookydate members can browse any of eight different categories: Zombies, Vampires, Horror Movies, The Paranormal, Unexplained Mysteries, UFOS, Monsters, and Urban Exploration in search of their perfect match. And another unique feature of Spookydate that sets it apart from other dating sites is that they don't have gold memberships, only silver ones. Because, as Tony Hart-Wilden says, "everyone knows that silver is more effective against werewolves. http://www.sott.net/article/262004-Spookydate-Filling-a-coffin-sized-hole-in-the-singles-market Tue, 21 May 2013 15:54:57 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262003-DR-Congos-witchcraft-epidemic-50000-children-accused-of-sorcery There are around 50,000 children being held in churches in the Democratic Republic of Congo accused of witchcraft, a BBC film team has discovered. Branded a Witch shows Kevani Kanda exploring the secretive world of faith-based child abuse, where children are physically assaulted because a church leader believes they possess kindoki or magic powers. The documentary explores the increase in the number of children abused and murdered by relatives in the name of driving out demons. Kanda, who was born in the DRC, looks to establish how ancient traditions have resulted in children being singled out for abuse. http://www.sott.net/article/262003-DR-Congos-witchcraft-epidemic-50000-children-accused-of-sorcery Tue, 21 May 2013 14:22:31 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262002-Killer-donkeys-maul-pensioner-to-death Two donkeys are to be put down after they dragged a pensioner from his mobility scooter and mauled him to death. Sandor Horvath, 65, was chased and pulled from the scooter at a farm in Hungary, where he was visiting his farmer friend. He was bitten and trampled on, and when his mutilated remains were found it was believed he had been attacked by wolves. However, a post-mortem examination revealed the bites and markings had come from the donkeys. A vet told local media: "Donkeys aren't usually aggressive towards humans. "They probably reacted like this as they thought the victim was intruding upon their territory." A police spokesman said: "If these were dogs then they would also be put to sleep. "We can't allow animals to go around killing people. Putting them to sleep is the best thing for everyone." The farmer's daughter, Csikos Darda, said: "I had noticed that the donkeys were becoming increasingly aggressive and I'd asked my father to do something about it, but he'd said they were fine." Source: SkyNews http://www.sott.net/article/262002-Killer-donkeys-maul-pensioner-to-death Tue, 21 May 2013 14:11:34 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262001-Survivors-pulled-from-Oklahoma-tornado-debris-as-toll-falls-lowering-deaths-to-24 Emergency workers pulled more than 100 survivors from the rubble of homes, schools and a hospital in an Oklahoma town hit by a powerful tornado, and officials lowered the death toll from the storm to 24, including nine children. The 2-mile (3-km) wide tornado tore through Moore outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, trapping victims beneath the rubble, wiping out entire neighborhoods and tossing vehicles about as if they were toys. Seven of the nine children who were killed died at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which took a direct hit, but many more survived unhurt. "They literally were lifting walls up and kids were coming out," Oklahoma State Police Sergeant Jeremy Lewis said. "They pulled kids out from under cinder blocks without a scratch on them." The Oklahoma state medical examiner's office said 24 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage, down from the 51 they had reported earlier. The earlier number likely reflected some double-counted deaths, said Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer for the medical examiner. "There was a lot of chaos," she said. http://www.sott.net/article/262001-Survivors-pulled-from-Oklahoma-tornado-debris-as-toll-falls-lowering-deaths-to-24 Tue, 21 May 2013 11:59:42 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/262000-Moore-Oklahoma-Incredible-tornado-aftermath-images Additional Images - a collection of photos from photographers who were in the Oklahoma City area on Monday and Tuesday. http://www.sott.net/article/262000-Moore-Oklahoma-Incredible-tornado-aftermath-images Tue, 21 May 2013 11:51:09 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261999-What-is-causing-hundreds-of-fish-to-die Temperatures, just as News 4 reported in March What is causing hundreds of fish to die? Buffalo, N.Y. - Canalside is just weeks away from being packed with people attending summer events. But visitors could be met with hundreds of dead fish in the water. Hundreds of dead fish started washing up from Lake Erie, the Niagara River and their tributaries in March, and News 4 reported after concerned viewers called about the dead fish. And though it's been months, you can still find dozens of them floating in the Commercial Slip. Donald Zelazny, the DEC's Great Lakes Program Coordinator, said, "This is actually one of the larger die-offs of these fish that we've seen in quite a while." So it's no surprise that people who see them are worried about disease and pollution. But the DEC now has biological evidence of what it has said all along: these fish, a member of the herring family called "gizzard shad," died of natural causes. "They're very susceptible to cold temperatures and temperature fluctuations. So we generally see a die-off of this particular type of fish every year," Zelazny explained. http://www.sott.net/article/261999-What-is-causing-hundreds-of-fish-to-die Tue, 21 May 2013 11:46:46 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261998-The-killing-of-12-year-old-Mohammed-al-Durrah-in-Gaza-became-the-defining-image-of-the-second-intifada-Only-Israel-claims-it-was-all-a-fake One of the most evocative and shocking episodes of the second Intifada, the shooting of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy by the Israeli army, was staged. Indeed, Mohammed al-Durrah was not even injured in the incident. Those, at least, are the findings of an investigation by the Israeli government, published today, which has described the case as a "blood libel on the state of Israel". The killing of Mohammed al-Durrah in Gaza was played out on television scenes across the West in September 2000, days after the start of the Palestinian uprising. The France 2 network filmed Jamal, Mohammed's father, desperately trying to shield his young son after they were caught up in a heavy gun battle between Palestinian fighters and Israeli soldiers. After 40 minutes of being pinned behind a barrel and against a wall, Mohammed's body appears to crumple, hit it seems, in the crossfire. Mohammed's death became a Palestinian rallying call in the violence that followed. Despite Israel initially admitting that the bullets had "apparently" come from their positions, and apologising for the incident in what the report describes as the "fog of war", lobbyists have long argued that the footage was staged. http://www.sott.net/article/261998-The-killing-of-12-year-old-Mohammed-al-Durrah-in-Gaza-became-the-defining-image-of-the-second-intifada-Only-Israel-claims-it-was-all-a-fake Tue, 21 May 2013 11:19:55 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261997-The-mammoths-lament-How-cosmic-impact-sparked-devastating-climate-change Herds of wooly mammoths once shook Earth beneath their feet, sending humans scurrying across the landscape of prehistoric Ohio. But then something much larger shook Earth itself, and at that point these mega mammals' days were numbered. Something -- global-scale combustion caused by a comet scraping our planet's atmosphere or a meteorite slamming into its surface -- scorched the air, melted bedrock and altered the course of Earth's history. Exactly what it was is unclear, but this event jump-started what Kenneth Tankersley, an assistant professor of anthropology and geology at the University of Cincinnati, calls the last gasp of the last ice age. "Imagine living in a time when you look outside and there are elephants walking around in Cincinnati," Tankersley says. "But by the time you're at the end of your years, there are no more elephants. It happens within your lifetime." Tankersley explains what he and a team of international researchers found may have caused this catastrophic event in Earth's history in their research, "Evidence for Deposition of 10 Million Tonnes of Impact Spherules Across Four Continents 12,800 Years Ago," which was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This research might indicate that it wasn't the cosmic collision that extinguished the mammoths and other species, Tankersley says, but the drastic change to their environment. "The climate changed rapidly and profoundly. And coinciding with this very rapid global climate change was mass extinctions." http://www.sott.net/article/261997-The-mammoths-lament-How-cosmic-impact-sparked-devastating-climate-change Tue, 21 May 2013 06:31:58 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261996-Church-whistle-blowers-join-forces-on-abuse They call themselves Catholic Whistleblowers, a newly formed cadre of priests and nuns who say the Roman Catholic Church is still protecting sexual predators. Although they know they could face repercussions, they have banded together to push the new pope to clean house and the American bishops to enforce the zero-tolerance policies they adopted more than a decade ago. The group began organizing quietly nine months ago without the knowledge of their superiors or their peers, and plan to make their campaign public this week. Most in the steering group of 12 have blown the whistle on abusers in the past, and three are canon lawyers who once handled abuse cases on the church's behalf. Four say they were sexually abused as children. http://www.sott.net/article/261996-Church-whistle-blowers-join-forces-on-abuse Mon, 20 May 2013 22:30:09 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261995-Is-our-universe-merely-one-of-billions London - Scientists believe they have found the first evidence that other universes exist after analysing the data gathered by the European Space Agency's Planck spacecraft. Theories that our universe could be just one of billions -- perhaps an infinite number - have been discussed for decades but until now they have lacked any evidence. However, a few weeks ago, scientists published a new map of the cosmic microwave background - the 'radiation' left behind after the Big Bang that created the universe 13.8 billion years ago. The map, based on Planck data, showed anomalies in the background radiation that, some experts say, could only have been caused by the gravitational pull of other universes outside our own, The Sunday Times reported. "These anomalies were caused by other universes pulling on our universe as it formed during the Big Bang," said Laura Mersini-Houghton, a theoretical physicist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. http://www.sott.net/article/261995-Is-our-universe-merely-one-of-billions Mon, 20 May 2013 22:18:46 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261994-Vast-Oklahoma-tornado-kills-at-least-51 A giant tornado, a mile wide or more, killed at least 51 people as it tore across parts of Oklahoma City and its suburbs Monday afternoon, flattening homes, flinging cars through the air and crushing at least two schools packed with children. As the injured began flooding into hospitals, the authorities said many people remained trapped, even as rescue workers were struggling to make their way through debris-clogged streets to the devastated suburb of Moore, where much of the damage occurred. http://www.sott.net/article/261994-Vast-Oklahoma-tornado-kills-at-least-51 Mon, 20 May 2013 22:17:34 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261993-Discovery-of-mystery-creature-may-provide-clues-to-clarity-of-Lake-Tahoe A Lake Tahoe area scientist has found an unidentified life form in a high-altitude lake. Now agencies in the area are trying to figure out what it is. University of Nevada Reno Professor Emeritus, John Kleppe pilots a remotely operated vehicle, or "ROV," into the frigid depths of Fallen Leaf Lake near Lake Tahoe. Particles whiz by the ROV's lights like stars. "It is sort of amazing because when you think about it no humans have seen a lot of what we see. It is like walking on the moon," said Kleppe. He discovered a 3-thousand-year-old hidden forest still standing. He says it's evidence of past mega droughts. As if that's not strange enough, he has found something living in the forest. "What we are seeing here is a thing, which is like a balloon of green jell and it will eventually look like a baggie and then like it is creating a gas in it and then float away," said Kleppe. http://www.sott.net/article/261993-Discovery-of-mystery-creature-may-provide-clues-to-clarity-of-Lake-Tahoe Mon, 20 May 2013 21:56:29 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261992-Asteroidal-belt-comets-rise-from-the-dead Astronomers have found a group of comets that have risen from the dead. The asteroidal belt comets - or ABCs for short - lie in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, report astronomers on the on the pre press website ArXiv.org. Dr Ignacio Ferrin, Dr Jorge Zuluaga and Pablo Cuartas from Columbia's University of Antioquia, say the group of eleven objects behave like comets, but have asteroidal orbits. They propose the objects they've dubbed 'Lazarus comets' are extinct comets that have been rejuvenated when their orbits changed. "The asteroidal belt contains an enormous graveyard of ancient dormant and extinct rocky comets, that [are rejuvenated], in response to a diminution of their perihelion distance [closest orbital position to the Sun]," the authors write. The findings, which are accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, blurs the line between comets and asteroids. Comets become dormant when they no longer emit volatile gases - they are then called asteroids. But previous research has shown these dormant comets can be rejuvenated into comets after collisions with asteroids, meteors or other comets, as well as high energy particle impacts. Ferrin and colleagues now suggest a new comet rejuvenation theory. http://www.sott.net/article/261992-Asteroidal-belt-comets-rise-from-the-dead Mon, 20 May 2013 21:49:33 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261991-USGS-Earthquake-Magnitude-6-0-ESE-of-Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy-Russia Event Time 2013-05-21 01:55:08 UTC 2013-05-21 12:55:08 UTC+11:00 at epicenter Location 52.505°N 160.470°E depth=33.9km (21.1mi) Nearby Cities 136km (85mi) ESE of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia 147km (91mi) ESE of Vilyuchinsk, Russia 159km (99mi) ESE of Yelizovo, Russia 988km (614mi) SE of Magadan, Russia 2483km (1543mi) NE of Tokyo, Japan Technical Details http://www.sott.net/article/261991-USGS-Earthquake-Magnitude-6-0-ESE-of-Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy-Russia Mon, 20 May 2013 21:39:29 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261990-Brain-develops-new-circuits-to-compensate-for-damage-or-injury When the brain's primary "learning center" is damaged, complex new neural circuits arise to compensate for the lost function, say life scientists from UCLA and Australia who have pinpointed the regions of the brain involved in creating those alternate pathways -- often far from the damaged site. The research, conducted by UCLA's Michael Fanselow and Moriel Zelikowsky in collaboration with Bryce Vissel, a group leader of the neuroscience research program at Sydney's Garvan Institute of Medical Research, appears this week in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The researchers found that parts of the prefrontal cortex take over when the hippocampus, the brain's key center of learning and memory formation, is disabled. Their breakthrough discovery, the first demonstration of such neural-circuit plasticity, could potentially help scientists develop new treatments for Alzheimer's disease, stroke and other conditions involving damage to the brain. For the study, Fanselow and Zelikowsky conducted laboratory experiments with rats showing that the rodents were able to learn new tasks even after damage to the hippocampus. While the rats needed more training than they would have normally, they nonetheless learned from their experiences -- a surprising finding. http://www.sott.net/article/261990-Brain-develops-new-circuits-to-compensate-for-damage-or-injury Mon, 20 May 2013 21:35:25 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261989-Rise-Up-or-Die Joe Sacco and I spent two years reporting from the poorest pockets of the United States for our book "Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt." We went into our nation's impoverished "sacrifice zones" - the first areas forced to kneel before the dictates of the marketplace - to show what happens when unfettered corporate capitalism and ceaseless economic expansion no longer have external impediments. We wanted to illustrate what unrestrained corporate exploitation does to families, communities and the natural world. We wanted to challenge the reigning ideology of globalization and laissez-faire capitalism to illustrate what life becomes when human beings and the ecosystem are ruthlessly turned into commodities to exploit until exhaustion or collapse. And we wanted to expose as impotent the formal liberal and governmental institutions that once made reform possible, institutions no longer equipped with enough authority to check the assault of corporate power. What has taken place in these sacrifice zones - in postindustrial cities such as Camden, N.J., and Detroit, in coalfields of southern West Virginia where mining companies blast off mountaintops, in Indian reservations where the demented project of limitless economic expansion and exploitation worked some of its earliest evil, and in produce fields where laborers often endure conditions that replicate slavery - is now happening to much of the rest of the country. These sacrifice zones succumbed first. You and I are next. http://www.sott.net/article/261989-Rise-Up-or-Die Mon, 20 May 2013 21:25:55 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261988-Psychopathy-of-elites-Brit-millionaire-told-sexual-assault-victim-you-cannot-do-anything-this-will-never-go-anywhere Gregory Cox, 32, the founder and chief executive of the UK-based Quintessential Finance Group and a graduate of the exclusive Millfield boarding school near Somerset, has admitted to a sexual encounter with the woman - a 21-year-old from Bermuda - but claims she consented. The trial started with a new jury this week after the first jury was discharged last week for legal reasons. The alleged assault occurred on Sydney's famous Bondi Beach after 11pm on a Saturday night in January 2012. The pair met at a beachside bar, The Bucket List, where the woman swapped phone numbers with one of Mr Cox's friends. The woman, who had only arrived in Australia four days earlier, also chatted with Mr Cox about his boarding school and later walked off with him along the beach. But he faces accusations he held her head while standing with his back against a wall on the beach and forced her to perform oral sex. The crown prosecutor, Huw Baker, told the court that the woman had a patchy memory of what happened after leaving the bar but recalled being "terrified" as she tried to stop Mr Cox's efforts to force her to perform oral sex. "She recalls being on her knees and she tried to stand up but being unable to stand up because something was holding her down," Mr Baker told the court. "She recalls being terrified at that point." After Mr Cox withdrew, the woman allegedly cried: "Please stop, please stop - I don't want this." Mr Cox allegedly told the woman: "There's nothing you can do about it... You can tell the police, you can tell whoever you like but this will never go anywhere - I've got a lot of money." http://www.sott.net/article/261988-Psychopathy-of-elites-Brit-millionaire-told-sexual-assault-victim-you-cannot-do-anything-this-will-never-go-anywhere Mon, 20 May 2013 21:11:36 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261987-Psychopathy-Illinois-teen-athletes-raped-12-year-old-girl-posted-video-on-Facebook Three Illinois teenagers are accused of raping a 12-year-old girl at gunpoint and posting a video of it on Facebook. Kenneth Brown, 15, Justin Applewhite, 16, and Scandale Fritz, 16 appeared in court on Friday. They are being charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault. All three are accused of luring the girl into Fritz's home in Englewood where they sexually assaulted her. The girl was raped by Fritz and told to also have sex with Brown and Applewhite. When the girl refused to have sex with them, Brown and Applewhite raped her and ordered her again to perform sex acts on them. She said she was scared to attempt escaping because she was afraid of getting shot. A day later, she told an adult what had happened and was taken to the hospital. Police were also contacted. http://www.sott.net/article/261987-Psychopathy-Illinois-teen-athletes-raped-12-year-old-girl-posted-video-on-Facebook Mon, 20 May 2013 20:55:52 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261986-Lost-dog-found-protecting-small-kitten After receiving calls reporting dog cries in the area, a police officer in Anderson, South Carolina, arrived at the scene to investigate. Upon discovering that the cries came from a lost dog in the North Pointe Creek ravine, Officer Michelle Smith found something even more surprising. The small dog had with her a new friend: a kitten. It turns out, writes the Huffington Post, that the "dog was actually calling for help on behalf of the small kitten it was protecting." Smith says that she thinks the dog stayed down in the ravine because it was unable to bring the kitten out with her, and wasn't willing to leave it behind. http://www.sott.net/article/261986-Lost-dog-found-protecting-small-kitten Mon, 20 May 2013 20:42:24 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261985-Immigration-law-in-Alabama-requires-physicians-to-prove-US-citizenship-to-maintain-license Physicians and physician assistants in Alabama are now required to prove they are U.S. citizens, under the state's 2011 immigration law. Medical professionals received letters this week instructing them to submit paperwork to the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners (ABME) in order to maintain their license to practice. "A person applying for or renewing a professional license is required to sign a declaration of U.S. citizenship and demonstrate U.S. citizenship or demonstrate lawful presence in the U.S., which is then verified by the federal government," read the May 16 letter published by the Huffington Post. It says the medical professional has only until May 31, 2013 to send the required documentation. "You will not be permitted to renew you license until this agency is in receipt of the signed Declaration and accompanying documentation," said the letter. http://www.sott.net/article/261985-Immigration-law-in-Alabama-requires-physicians-to-prove-US-citizenship-to-maintain-license Mon, 20 May 2013 20:34:31 -0500 http://www.sott.net/article/261984-About-time-Major-sea-change-in-media-discussions-of-Obama-and-civil-liberties Due to the controversies over the IRS and (especially) the DOJ's attack on AP's news gathering process, media outlets have suddenly decided that President Obama has a very poor record on civil liberties, transparency, press freedoms, and a whole variety of other issues on which he based his first campaign. The first two paragraphs of this Washington Post article from yesterday, expressed in tones of recent epiphany, made me laugh audibly: "President Obama, a former constitutional law lecturer who came to office pledging renewed respect for civil liberties, is today running an administration at odds with his résumé and preelection promises. "The Justice Department's collection of journalists' phone records and the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative groups have challenged Obama's credibility as a champion of civil liberties - and as a president who would heal the country from damage done by his predecessor." You don't say! The Washington Post's breaking news here is only about four years late. Back in mid-2010, ACLU executive director Anthony Romero, speaking about Obama's civil liberties record at a progressive conference, put it this way: "I'm disgusted with this president." In the spirit of optimism, one can adopt a "better-late-than-never" outlook regarding this newfound media awakening. http://www.sott.net/article/261984-About-time-Major-sea-change-in-media-discussions-of-Obama-and-civil-liberties Mon, 20 May 2013 20:25:48 -0500