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Republican Congressman Wants to 'Sell Off Some of US National Parks'


Common Dreams
Wed, 14 Mar 2012 22:42 UTC
Mount St. Nicholas in Glacier National Park
© National Park Service
Mount St. Nicholas in Glacier National Park. Rep. Cliff Stearns recently expressed the view that the United States should sell some of its national parks.

A video showing Rep. Cliff Stearns (R, Florida) announcing his desire to "sell off some of our national parks" was recently filmed and released on the Internet by the Florida Political Action Cooperative.

In a speech given at a town hall meeting in Belleview Florida, Stearns explained his position.
I got attacked in a previous town meeting for not supporting another national park in this country, a 200-mile trailway. And I told the man that we don't need more national parks in this country, we need to actually sell off some of our national parks, and try and do what a normal family would do is - they wouldn't ask Uncle Joe for a loan, they would sell their Cadillac, or they would take their kids out of private schools and put them into public schools to save to money instead of asking for their credit card to increase their debt ceiling.
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Arrow Down

Veteran's Gulf War Syndrome Struggle


BuryFreePress
Tue, 13 Mar 2012 08:24 UTC
Image

Shaun Cole, 47, from Stowmarket, is a veteran of the 1990/91 Gulf War. He is suffering from various health problems as a result of his time there. He feels he has been forgotten by the government and that illness among Gulf War veterans is largely disbelieved.
UK - A Gulf War veteran twice turned down by the MoD for a war veterans pension has spoken out about his experience of living with Gulf War Syndrome.

Shaun Cole, 47, of Stowmarket, braved the Middle East warzone while a corporal in the Grenadier Guards in the 1990/91 conflict.

He left the Army in 1993 and started working as a self-employed builder.

But 10 years ago, Shaun was rushed to hospital after he suddenly developed a full body rash and became paralysed for four days.

Since then he has relied on crutches and a wheelchair and, due to depression, lost his business, his three-bedroom home and his family.

But Shaun says the Ministry of Defence has twice turned down his requests for a war pension as it does not officially recognise Gulf War Syndrome as a condition.

Shaun said: "I have been ill for about 10 years now.
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Attention

Double Standards on 'Terrorism': Don't Terrorists Ever 'Go Berserk'?

Sibel Edmonds
Boiling Frogs Post
Tue, 13 Mar 2012 20:38 UTC
terrorists
© n/a
Mental State Appears to be Only Relevant to Great White Men of the West

I was sipping my first morning coffee while staring at the headlines on the latest massacre committed by our military in Afghanistan. The phrase of the day to describe this latest massacre which resulted in more than a dozen innocent people - sleeping children and women - being viciously murdered and set on fire is 'Man Gone Berserk.' That's right.

Unfortunately Oprah is not around any longer, otherwise she'd have a session on this: bring in the Berserk Man's parents and grandparents to talk about his less than perfect childhood; showcase dozens of PhD psychologists to talk about his 'tough' experiences in Iraq; introduce his buddies from the 'fields' to talk about his 'rough' encounters ... But no worries. The Pentagon, their tentacles in the networks, their pet puppets and madams like Huffington are doing their best to compensate for Oprah's absence. The crafty stories are coming out: PTSD, depression, isolation, brain damage, head injuries, concussions, not enough candy or lollipops in childhood, too early start in potty training, chronic constipation, severe allergies, recent hernia operation ... or for the common men and women of America, 'A Man Gone Berserk,' and that, justifiably so:
The U.S. soldier who allegedly attacked and killed 16 Afghan civilians Sunday may have experienced a relatively rare state of mental derangement characterized by a blind killing rage, a disregard of pain and danger, and a total disconnection from his fellow troops, military mental health specialists said.

It's not clear what might have ignited his rage, said Dr. Jonathan Shay, a clinical psychiatrist who for decades has treated combat veterans with mental trauma. But he said what is known of the incident fits a pattern in which someone literally goes berserk.

"It's a painful and destructive thing and usually fatal for the soldier. And it's fairly rare - in 20 years I had only two patients who unmistakably had episodes of berserkness," Shay said. The term "berserk" is an Old Norse word describing the frenzied trance in which some warriors fought.
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Newspaper

Body parts found in University of Cologne's cellars

Kate Connolly
the guardian
Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:32 UTC
Hundreds of human body parts have been found in the cellars of the institute of anatomy, apparently abandoned for years
Image
© Stefano Paterna/Alamy
Hundreds of body parts have been found in the cellars of the University of Cologne's anatomy department.

The University of Cologne is investigating after hundreds of human body parts were found in the cellars of its institute of anatomy, apparently abandoned there for years.

The scandal has shaken the German academic world, especially as last month the former head of the anatomy department was found dead, apparently having taken his life when rumours began to circulate.

According to a first report made available to Spiegel Online, university staff discovered a room full of human adult corpses and animal cadavers, as well as a large number of plastic buckets, labelled "noses", "newborns" and "shark head". Evidence gathered by hygiene experts and fire safety officers accompanying the staff indicated that the room might have been left unused for a decade or more.

About 100 corpses of people who had donated their bodies to medical research, but who should by then have long been buried, were among the macabre discoveries. The institute has been trying to identify them using a highly muddled donor archive.
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Info

Cameras at U.K. Gas Stations Will Block Uninsured Drivers from Refueling

Eric Pfeiffer
The Slideshow
Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
© The Associated Press/Wong Maye-E
A new plan from the British government will use closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at gas stations that will automatically prevent uninsured drivers from filling up their gas tanks - that is, until their vehicle information has been logged in the system.

The Mirror reports that the plan is meant to address the 1.4 million uninsured motorists in Britain and act as a deterrent. That may not sound like a huge number compared with the estimated 13.8 percent of uninsured American motorists, but the 1.4 million figure represents four percent of all U.K. drivers.

The British government decided to make use of the CCTV cameras after hearing a presentation from accounting firm Ernst & Young, which will help implement the new system. And while the proposal comes from the private sector but will be used by the government, it's hard to not immediately think of British author George Orwell's seminal novel 1984.

"The key to this is simplicity. Connecting the existing technology ... is relatively inexpensive and wouldn't be a big information technology program" Ernst & Young partner Graeme Swan told the Telegraph. "There shouldn't be concerns about 'big brother' because there is no new database, no vehicles are tracked and no record is kept. It's simply a new rule of no insurance equals no fuel."
      Read More...
Alarm Clock

Goldman Banker Quits In Disgust, Blasts Firm For "Ripping Off" Clients

Henry Blodget
Daily Ticker
Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:00 UTC

US - Another PR disaster is unfolding for Goldman Sachs (GS), the Wall Street investment bank that has already borne the brunt of popular wrath in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

A senior executive at the firm, Greg Smith, quit today in spectacular fashion, announcing his resignation in a scathing New York Times editorial in which he accused the firm of gleefully "ripping off" its clients and succumbing to short-term greed.

Within today's Goldman Sachs, Smith says, senior bankers often refer to the firm's clients as "muppets."

The firm has lost the culture of integrity, teamwork, and humility that once made it great, Smith says, and instead has become a place that is "as toxic and destructive as I have ever seen it."
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Heart - Black

Bus Crash in Swiss Tunnel Kills 28 People

John Heilprin
The Associated Press
Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:00 UTC
Image
© unknown
Geneva - A bus carrying Belgian students returning from a ski holiday crashed into a wall in a Swiss tunnel, killing 22 Belgian 12-year-olds and six adults, police said Wednesday.

Another 24 students were hospitalized with injuries, Valais cantonal (state) police spokesman Jean-Marie Bornet told The Associated Press.

The bus carrying 52 people, including 12-year-old students from two different Belgian schools, crashed around 9 p.m. local time Tuesday inside a tunnel on the A9 highway near Sierre, Switzerland, in the southern Swiss canton (state) of Valais, an area of popular ski resorts in the Swiss Alps.

Authorities were still identifying all the victims, said Didier Reynders, the Belgian foreign minister.

"It is incomprehensible. There were three buses and only one was in (an) accident without any contact with another vehicle," Reynders said.

Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo said this is "an extremely sad day for all of Belgium."
      Read More...
Cult

British Police Investigate Website of Cannibalistic Cult


The Independent
Wed, 21 Feb 2001 03:32 UTC
A further insight into the extent of child abuse and exploitation published on the internet was revealed yesterday when British detectives said they were trying to close a website showing pictures of a man eating a dismembered baby.

Scotland Yard is liaising with the FBI in the US to close the website, based in California, which has been linked with the ritual abuse of children. Last night the website was still accessible.

The discovery of the site comes just a week after seven British men were jailed for their involvement in the Wonderland paedophile ring.

While this site was not specifically uncovered by Operation Cathedral which investigated the ring, British detectives are currently at the forefront of efforts to close it down. A second website showing similar scenes of sadistic and ritualistic abuse has been successfully
shut.
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Pistol

Texas Courthouse Shooting: One Dead, Four Injured

Christina Ng
ABC News
Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:00 UTC

US - A shooting at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Beaumont, Texas, has left one person dead and four injured, according to the Beaumont Police Department.

Five people were shot, including the gunman. The gunman has been taken into custody, but police have not yet disclosed his identity.

Rod Carroll, a Jefferson County Sheriffs Department deputy, told ABC News the shooting was part of a hostage situation at the courthouse.

A county employee told ABC News' Beaumont affiliate KMBT that the victims were visitors, not courthouse employees.
      Read More...
2 + 2 = 4

Rock Group "Junkyard Prophet" Delivers Controversial Message at School Assembly

Sarah B. Weir
Shine from Yahoo!
Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:00 UTC
US, Iowa - High school students in Dunkerton, Iowa were expecting an assembly about bullying and making good choices. What they got instead was the Christian rap/hard rock band called Junkyard Prophet delivering an anti-gay and anti-abortion rant.

According to the La Crosse Tribune, after the band performed, they separated the girls, boys, and teachers into three breakout groups. "They told my daughter, the girls, that they were going to have mud on their wedding dresses if they weren't virgins," said Jennifer Littlefield, whose 16-year-old daughter, Alivia called her in tears after the event. Reportedly, one of the band members led the girls in a chant pledging purity and encouraged them to be submissive to their husbands after marriage.

The boys were shown images of musicians who died of drug overdoses. A video of the event shows a band member criticizing Elton John and Lady Gaga for encouraging "sexual deviancy" and supporting laws outlawing homosexuality.

      Read More...
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