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United Airlines forced to ground all domestic flights due to computer automation issues

united airlines
© Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
A computer glitch forced United Airlines, the world's second-largest commercial air provider, to momentarily halt all scheduled domestic take-offs.

For 39 minutes on Tuesday morning, all UA flights expected to depart within the United States were grounded while the airline addressed "automation issues."

An advisory from the Federal Aviation Administration's air traffic control system command center said unspecified automation issues had prompted the FAA to announce a ground stop for all UA flights inside the US.

Comment: There have been a rather large number of worrisome airline glitches recently:

Sott Exclusive: Mayhem and Maydays in May skies: Aircraft crashes, accidents, glitches, mishaps and near misses


Arrow Up

Down with Monsanto: Increasing number of countries banning cancer causing glyphosate and GMO's

monsanto
An increasing number of countries are banning Monsanto's cancer-linked Roundup herbicide, a.k.a. glyphosate. Others are banning Monsanto's GMOs. Meanwhile, Monsanto-funded U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton thinks "(t)here is a big gap between what the facts are, and what the perceptions are." Actually the facts are established: Monsanto's herbicides and GMOs are harmful to humans and animals. Several studies have demonstrated it and even led the World Health Organization to issue a warning against glyphosate's links to cancer.

In fact, Monsanto knew 35 years ago that its glyphosate was linked to cancer and other health issues. GM-Free Cymru discovered this while looking into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) archives from the early 80′s:
There were many animal experiments (using rats, mice and dogs) designed to test the acute and chronic toxicity of glyphosate in the period 1978-1986, conducted by laboratories such as Bio/dynamics Inc for Monsanto and submitted for EPA consideration... but like all the other older studies they were and still are treated as Trade Secrets and cannot be freely accessed for independent scrutiny. That in itself is suggestive that the studies contain data which Monsanto still does not wish to be examined by experts in the toxicology field. It is also deeply worrying that EPA acceded to the routine Monsanto requests for secrecy on the flimsiest of pretexts.

However, archived and accessible EPA Memos from the early 1980′s do give some indications as to what the rat studies contain (9). Although the studies predate the adoption of international test guidelines and GLP standards they suggest that there was significant damage to the kidneys of the rats in the 3-generational study... In the rat study results, the changes in the bladder mucosa are significant because metabolites, concentrated by the kidneys, have led to hyperplasia that could be considered as a very early and necessary step in tumour initiation. (GM-Free Cymru, Monsanto Knew of Glyphosate / Cancer Link 35 Years Ago, April 19, 2015)

Comment:


X

Who's murdering thousands of chickens in South Carolina?

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Somebody turned the fans off on 300,000 chickens to suffocate them—somebody who knows exactly how the industry works.

The chicken farm on Brewer Road, just south of the small town of Manning in South Carolina, is hidden away down a series of winding country highways, between a patch of forest and an empty farm field. On the morning of Feb. 17 the farm's owner, a Vietnamese immigrant named Hoangson Nguyen, was awakened by a frantic phone call. Nguyen, who goes by "Sonny," raises birds under contract for Pilgrim's Pride, the nation's second-largest poultry company. An employee who checks the chicken houses each morning was shouting over the phone. Something was terribly wrong.

Nguyen sped to the farm. That morning, when the farmhand opened the door to the first building, a sophisticated warehouse designed to hold about 20,000 birds, a column of steam had billowed out. Nguyen went into the control room and saw that the temperature inside was 122F. He entered the cavernous building. It was like a sauna: The giant circular fans used to cool the chicken house had been switched off. A set of electronic alarms had also been disabled. There were thousands of dead chickens on the ground, pressed up against the walls as if they'd tried to escape. They'd been smothered to death overnight in the intense heat. Nguyen knew immediately that this wasn't an accident. Someone had killed his flock.

Arrow Down

African elephant populations facing extinction due to hunting and poaching for ivory

elephants endangered
© Reuters/Philimon BulawayoElephants walk inside Zimbabwe's Hwange National Park
Seventy years ago, there were between 3 million and 5 million elephants in Africa. Today, as the number of African bush elephants has dropped to nearly half a million, this magnificent animal faces extinction in some parts of the continent.

"If conservation action is not forthcoming, elephants may become locally extinct in some parts of Africa within 50 years," warns the World Wildlife Fund.

Others have said that elephants could be extinct in Africa within our lifetime.

Recent news about elephant populations has been heartbreaking. These wonderful animals are being slaughtered on a truly horrific scale.

Last week, it was reported that the elephant population of Mozambique has almost halved since 2009, due to poaching. There were over 20,000 elephants in the southeast African state in 2009, but last year the total was down to 10,300.

This comes on the back of news that half of the elephants in Tanzania's Ruaha National Park - one of the largest national parks in the whole of Africa - have been lost to poachers in just one year.

Syringe

Crystal meth cheaper than Burger King in Asia, seizures quadruple in 5 years

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© Reuters/Chaiwat Subprasom
Worrying statistics have emerged, placing meth - the Asia-Pacific's most popular drug - at the top of its grocery list. Police seizures have quadrupled in five years, as production skyrockets in tandem with increasing economic integration into the world.

And it's a vicious cycle: the more economic opportunities increase for the region as a whole, the more the drug and its various derivatives are produced, which, in turn, leads to plummeting prices, according to a recent report by the UN Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Asian drug cartels are only too happy with this, as their profits soar, despite the price reductions.

Comment: This is an age-old problem encompassing the history of the world. This is a clear indication of the dreadful state of humans. And given the Unites States intelligence agencies connections with the drug trade and it's interests in destabilizing Asia, it's not too much of a leap to wonder about more covert influences involved in the exploding drug trade in the Asia-Pacific.


Che Guevara

Penobscot and Passamaquoddy declare sovereignty from Maine citing 'failed social experiment'

tribes cut dipolomatic ties Maine
© Sherri Mitchell/Native News OnlinePenobscot Chief Kirk Francis at a May 26 rally outside of the Maine Statehouse.
Due to Governor Paul LePage launching direct political and environmental attacks against the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes of Maine, leaders of those tribes have recalled their representatives from the state legislature and are asserting their sovereignty from the State of Maine. "The Maine Indian Land claims Settlement act has failed and we cannot allow ourselves to continue down the path," Chief Francis said. "We're saying it's a failed social experiment."

In August of 2011, Governor LePage signed an Executive Order recognizing a "special relationship" between the sovereign State of Maine, and the sovereign tribes within the State. In this order, the Governor instructed all State agencies to include a tribal liaison, whose role would be to facilitate communication and direct policy in all areas of State jurisdiction in such a way as to include the voice and interest of native peoples. The Order instructs that "the State and Tribes should work together as one," and Tribal interests should be heeded when developing policies and procedures "on matters that significantly or uniquely affect those tribes."

In April of this year, LePage rescinded that Order. The new Order maintains that native tribes in Maine retain their sovereignty, but holds that they now have a "relationship between equals with its own set of responsibilities," yet declares that tribal lands, forms of tribal governance and natural resources controlled by the native tribes are subject to the laws and jurisdiction of the State of Maine. The takeover of lands was prompted by an EPA letter to the State, and claims that lack of Tribal participation in "the State's interests" required the usurpation of Tribal sovereignty. The Letter, in fact, actually supports the Tribal position, as the Tribal standards of environmental protection are much stricter than those of the EPA or the State of Maine. Those close to the Penobscot Tribe tell The Fifth Column that LePage threatened to sue the EPA over the proposed new regulations, leading the Agency to back down. LePage's Order, then, becomes a direct political attack against the Tribes in affront to their sovereignty and an effort to exact more control over the land by the State of Maine.

Beaker

Washington man convicted of selling toxic Miracle Mineral Solution as cure all

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You wouldn't normally think of industrial bleach as being a miracle cure. Or any kind of cure for that matter. But that didn't stop Louis Daniel Smith from selling many gallons of the stuff by labeling it "Miracle Mineral Solution."

A federal jury in Washington state sat through seven days of testimony, alleging that Smith, 45, of Spokane, sold the toxic liquid as a miracle cure for numerous diseases and illnesses, including cancer, AIDS, malaria, hepatitis, lyme disease, asthma and the common cold.

It then convicted him of conspiracy, smuggling, selling misbranded drugs and defrauding the United States. He faces up to 34 years in prison.

Potentially fatal

In 2010, the FDA said it had received several reports of health injuries from consumers using the product, including severe nausea, vomiting, and life-threatening low blood pressure from dehydration. Consumers who have MMS should stop using it immediately and throw it away, the FDA said.

Evidence at trial showed that Smith operated a business called "Project GreenLife" (PGL) from 2007 to 2011. PGL sold a product called "Miracle Mineral Supplement," or MMS, over the Internet. MMS is a mixture of sodium chlorite and water.

Sodium chlorite is an industrial chemical used as a pesticide and for hydraulic fracking and wastewater treatment. Sodium chlorite cannot be sold for human consumption and suppliers of the chemical include a warning sheet stating that it can cause potentially fatal side effects if swallowed.

"This verdict demonstrates that the Department of Justice will prosecute those who sell dangerous chemicals as miracle cures to sick people and their desperate loved ones," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer of the Justice Department's Civil Division. "Consumers have the right to expect that the medicines that they purchase are safe and effective." Mizer thanked the jury for its service and its careful consideration of the evidence.

Comment: While the FDA is wrong on many things, their position on 'M.M.S.' is spot on. Drinking what amounts to bleach is not good for your health and can cause disastrous consequences. For more info check out MMS: Miracle Mineral Solution or Trojan Horse? Your Body and DNA Decide


Heart

Utah is solving chronic homelessness with 'Housing First' program

Terry and Buddy
© Thomas B. Szalay / LA TimesBuddy the cockateil has helped inspire Terry Birch to take care of his new Salt Lake City apartment – and himself – after two decades of homelessness.
Terry Birch recalls walking cautiously into the tiny one-bedroom apartment seven months ago, like a cat exploring a box, or something wild fearful of a trap.

After two decades on the streets, he finally had a real roof over his head, a home to call his own. It was clean, private and safe, but also scary and confusing.

"I couldn't get used to the four walls. It felt like they were closing in on me," he said, sitting in the living room of unit No. 2 at the

Metro Apartments. "On the streets, I had no responsibility, other than keeping myself clean."

He paused, surveying his surroundings: "And then this."

Chart Pie

Corporate handouts dwarf spending on social services

Corporate Welfare
© Shutterstock/TijanaM
Corporations aren't people, despite what the Supreme Court says, and they don't need or deserve handouts.

When corporations get special handouts from the government - subsidies and tax breaks - it costs you. It means you have to pay more in taxes to make up for these hidden expenses. And government has less money for good schools and roads, Medicare and national defense, and everything else you need.

You might call these special corporate handouts "corporate welfare," but at least welfare goes to real people in need. In the big picture, corporate handouts are costing tens of billions of dollars a year. Some estimates put it over $100 billion - which means it's costing you money that would otherwise go to better schools or roads, or lower taxes.

Conservatives have made a game of obscuring where federal spending actually goes. In reality, only about 12 percent of federal spending goes to individuals and families, most in dire need. An increasing portion goes to corporate welfare.

Other examples: The oil, gas, and coal industries get billions in their own special tax breaks. Big Agribusiness gets farm subsides. Big Pharma gets their own subsidy in the form of a ban on government using its bargaining power under Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices. And hedge-fund and private-equity managers get a special tax loophole that treats their income as capital gains, at a lower tax rate than ordinary income.

Comment: Nice idea, but the likelihood of our government ever making any real attempt to end these subsidies is practically non-existent. Wealthy corporations represent the 'power behind the throne' in government. Their control through campaign donations, lobbying and the revolving door between government jobs and industry insures that no one who values their career is likely to step too far out of line. The end game is to accrue as much from the public sector as possible to feed the coffers of the wealthy elites, most of whom are psychopathic, and as such have no concern for the welfare of the masses.


Airplane

Commercial airplane narrowly avoids collision with drone over NYC

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© Flickr/ Phillip Capper
A commercial aircraft en route to New York's LaGuardia Airport narrowly avoided a mid-air collision with a drone on Friday morning, according to Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) official. Shuttle America flight 2708 was travelling from Washington, DC and nearing its destination when it encountered an unmanned aerial vehicle. The pilot had to swerve upwards over Brooklyn's Prospect Park to avoid a collision.

The plane later landed safely, and FAA officials have released a statement saying they will launch an investigation into the incident.

"The flight crew of Shuttle America Flight 2708 reported climbing 200 feet to avoid an unmanned aircraft while on final approach to LaGuardia Airport at 11AM today," The FAA said in a statement. "The crew...reported that the unmanned aircraft was operating in the vicinity of Prospect Park at Brooklyn at an altitude of 2,700 feet. The FAA will investigate."

The Joint Terrorism Task Force is also investigating the incident.