- Signs of the Times Archive for Fri, 30 Mar 2007 -



Sections on today's Signs Page:

SOTT Focus
'Hostage Crisis' Or End Game?

Joe Quinn
Signs of the Times
2007-03-29 16:15:00

©Signs of the Times


Up until the 23rd March 2007, it seemed unlikely that the 'creative destructionists' 1. and 'reality-makers' in the Pentagon and Tel Aviv would get to "liberate" Iran in the way they have liberated 26 million Iraqis (1 million of them from their bodies). The past 3 years of subtle and not-so-subtle slander and demonisation of the Iranian president and people by the American, British and Israeli governments and their media had been largely ineffective in further provoking the anti-Islamic ire of Joe six-pack. After all, with the US invasion of Iraq either a war crime or a quagmire (depending on your political perspective and depth of conscience) Bush's political capital account was seriously overdrawn, rendering the idea of extending the Middle East madness into an attack on Iran nothing but a Zionist pipe dream.

Or so it seemed.

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Best of the Web
A "Filter for Life" to Save Children in Gaza

Silvia Cattori
Signs of the Times
2007-03-30 14:53:00

Flooding water in Gaza.


A source of life, water has become a major health problem in Gaza.

After the fear, the hunger, now it's thirst.

Israel diverts 80% of the water resources in the West Bank and Gaza.

After fifty years of appropriating the most fertile and water rich land in Palestine, Israel is diverting Jordan's water, which has given rise to reactions on the part of the UN. Since the 60s and the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel has profited by controlling the water resources of its neighbours. Sixty-five percent of water consumed by Israel comes from deep layers in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, and the Golan Heights, annexed by force in 1981.

Since the year 2000, Israel has intensified its pillage of both surface and subterranean water through illegal measures. For example: Israel constructed the so-called "security wall" on the interior of Palestinian lands following the traces of basins of water. They also installed wells up to 500 metres deep all along the Gaza to take up water that from time immemorial flowed in the natural reservoir of Gush-Katif.

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Blair in La-la Land sez: Iran arousing disgust by treatment of captives


CBC News
2007-03-30 11:17:00

©APTN/Associated Press
In footage shown on Iranian TV, British serviceman Nathan Thomas Summers apologized for entering Iranian waters 'without permission.' Is this a disgusting image?



©AP Photo/Courtesy of The New Yorker
American soldiers stand behind a pyramid of naked Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, Iraq in this undated photo. THIS is disgusting.






British Prime Minister Tony Blair says Iran will be increasingly isolated because of its treatment of illegally seized British sailors and marines.

Earlier Friday, Iran's official Arabic-language TV channel showed a British marine apologizing for entering Iranian waters "without permission."

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"THE SECRET": Creating a Culture of Cheerfulness as Rome Burns

By Carolyn Baker
Truth to Power
2007-03-30 08:53:00

©n/a
Imagine telling twelve year-old girls in Chinese sweatshops - the ones who work sixteen hours a day for pennies, live in squalor, may get raped at any moment, and sometimes are found dead at the ripe old age of twenty at their sewing machines from working themselves to death - that their situation is the product of their thoughts.


A friend recently asked me what I knew about The Secret, and I had to confess, absolutely nothing. A couple of days later, another friend asked the same question, so I decided I'd better investigate this supposedly revolutionary new book and DVD that have taken the country by storm. As I did so, I discovered that nothing about The Secret is revolutionary or new but rather a glitzy, twenty-first century redux of what has come to be called in metaphysical circles "New Thought".



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U.S. News
How American cinema embraced evangelical dollar

Andrew Gumbel
The Independent
2007-03-30 17:01:00

For years the American Christian movement has been trying to combat the Satan that is Hollywood.

In recent times, the first indication that there might be a market for Christian-themed films came not with Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ but with a fundamentalist thriller about the Apocalypse, entitled The Omega Code, released in 1999. It was the first venture into feature film by the televangelist Trinity Broadcasting Network. Like Gibson's film, it was marketed through word of mouth at churches, whose congregations were bused to multiplexes.

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Girl, 16, kicked off plane for coughing


AP
2007-03-30 10:45:00

A 16-year-old girl who caught a cold during a school trip to New York was kicked off her flight home because she was coughing.

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TJX filing describes hackers' haul from 45.7 million cards


The Star / AP
2007-03-30 07:54:00

It now turns out that information from at least 45.7 million credit and debit cards was stolen by hackers who accessed customer information at TJX Cos., the U.S. parent of the Winners and HomeSense stores in Canada.


The discount retailer, which owns about 2,500 stores in Canada, the U.S. and Britain, first disclosed the security breach two months ago, but provided more information about the leak in a regulatory filing made after business hours on Wednesday.


TJX said about three-quarters of the credit and debit cards had either expired at the time of the theft, or data from their magnetic strips had been masked - stored as asterisks rather than numbers.


The data came from customer transactions made over a four-year period, from January 2003 until mid-January of this year.


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Emails link Johnny "House of Death" Sutton to DOJ firing scandal

Bill Conroy
Narconews
2007-03-30 06:44:00

The U.S. Attorney who spearheaded a cover-up of a U.S. government informant's role in the House of Death mass murder also appears to have played a leadership role in the recent U.S. Attorney firing scandal.

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10-year-olds attack, beat homeless man, police say

Ashley Fantz
CNN
2007-03-30 06:02:00

Egged on by a 17-year-old, two 10-year-old boys joined in the attack of a Florida homeless man, leaving him bruised and bloody, police said.


The incident highlights an upswing in violent crime across the U.S. against the homeless.


In 2006, there were 142 attacks and 20 murders, several involving teenagers seeking a vicious thrill, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition for the Homeless.


Tuesday's incident, which took place in Daytona Beach, Florida, may make history, said the nonprofit's acting executive director Michael Stoops.


"If we're talking about 10-year-olds, that means we've hit an all-time low," said Stoops. "The youngest person to have ever been arrested for a crime like this is 13." (Read CNN's exclusive story about homeless 'sport killings')


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Sick! Carl Rove: "I like to tear the heads off of small animals"


Reuters
2007-03-30 05:54:00

Presidential adviser by day, rapper by night: Karl Rove rocked the house in his hip-hop debut on an evening of rare levity for an administration under fire.


The balding, bespectacled Rove was given a standing ovation at an annual broadcast journalists' awards dinner on Wednesday night when he danced and posed with his Blackberry during an improvised rap skit.


As boss President George W. Bush looked on, Rove gamely flapped about the stage as comedian Brad Sherwood described his favorite pastimes: "Listen up suckas, don't get the jitters, but MC Rove tears the heads off of critters."


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UK & Euro-Asian News
Berezovsky's Dizzying Ups and Downs - Why He Has a Grudge Against Putin


SOTT
2007-03-30 10:18:00

Boris Berezkovsky, implicated in the Litvenenko murder by Russian authorities, has a personal grudge against Vladimir Putin. Putin wouldn't let him buy his way to the top as Yeltsin did.

In January 2006, Berezovsky stated in an interview to a Moscow based radio station that he was working on overthrowing administration of Vladimir Putin by force. Later that year, in November, Berezovsky accused Putin of ordering the poisoning of FSB defector and fellow dissident Alexander Litvinenko, who also lived in exile in the UK. The two were close associates. Berezovsky said he had no doubts that the Russian authorities were behind the poisoning.

A rich man with a grudge - especially with Israeli citizenship - is an easy tool in the hands of anyone who wishes to smear Putin for declining to join the frenzied witch hunt against Muslims, Iran in particular.

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Flashback: 2001 Russian magnates 'no longer untouchables' sez Putin

By Marcus Warren in Moscow
The Telegraph
2002-06-19 10:13:00

2001 - PRESIDENT Putin warned Russia's tycoons yesterday that their status as "untouchables" was no more.

His warning came as tax police opened a criminal case against Russia's largest car manufacturer, Avtovaz, for tax evasion. In a television interview Mr Putin vented his anger on "people who feel comfortable in conditions of disorder", in an apparent reference to businessmen who amassed fortunes in the Yeltsin era.

He said: "We have a saying about catching fish in muddy waters. Here there are fishermen who have already caught a lot and want to keep the situation as it is."

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Flashback: Berezovsky on wanted list in 2001

By Ben Aris
The Telegraph
2007-03-30 10:07:00

THE Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky has been put on the country's wanted list accused of corruption and money laundering.

The general prosecutor's office has charged Mr Berzovsky in absentia, according to reports in the Russian press at the weekend. Mr Berezovsky, who has been dogged by allegations of corruption for years, has been in self-imposed exile in Europe since last summer.



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Flashback: In bed with Russophobes - Litvinenko murder used by neocons against Putin

Neil Clark
The Guardian
2006-12-04 09:19:00

Three weeks on, we are still no closer to knowing who was responsible for the death of the former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko. The use of polonium 210 as a murder weapon could point in entirely opposite directions. It might suggest that the killing was carried out on behalf of the Russian security service as a public warning to others who might think of betraying it. But it could also be read as an attempt by President Putin's rich and powerful enemies to discredit the Russian government internationally. Whatever the truth, it has been seized upon across Europe and the US to fuel a growing anti-Russian campaign.

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Berezovsky to be interviewed by Russian detectives

Luke Harding in Moscow
The Guardian
2007-03-28 09:15:00

The Russian tycoon Boris Berezovksy has agreed to meet Russian detectives as part of their investigation into the murder of the former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko - but only on the condition that they are frisked for poisons.

The team of Russian prosecutors arrived in London on Monday. Mr Berezovsky will meet them on Friday after they agreed to a series of conditions including being searched for "weapons and poisons" first.

The Russian investigators' visit comes two months after they first submitted a request to Scotland Yard to be allowed to carry out their own separate inquiry into the ex-agent's death. It follows a visit by British detectives to Moscow in December.

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Germans See U.S. a Bigger Threat to Peace Than Iran, Poll Shows

Claudia Rach
Bloomberg.com
2007-03-28 05:56:00

More Germans regard the U.S. as a threat to world peace than they do Iran, a poll showed, underscoring European concerns at President George W. Bush's policy of waging military campaigns to combat global terrorism.

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Around the World
Battles rage as troops try to restore order in Mogadishu

Steve Bloomfield
The Independent
2007-03-30 15:23:00

Mogadishu suffered its worst day of fighting since Ethiopian troops entered the Somali capital in January, with at least two dozen people reported dead.

Ethiopian helicopter gunships fired on a market in the south of the city as hundreds of insurgents, armed with rocket launchers and machine guns fought Somali government and Ethiopian troops.

There were unconfirmed reports that as many as 17 Ethiopian soldiers had been killed in the fighting.

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Medicine Hat prepares for shocking trial

Sherri Zickefoose
Edmonton Journal
2007-03-30 13:56:00

CALGARY - A Medicine Hat court will begin hearing grisly details today about the slaying of a local family that was linked to rumours of vampirism.

The preliminary hearing for accused triple-killer Jeremy Allen Steinke is scheduled to run until Thursday in provincial court.

Steinke, 24, faces three counts of first-degree murder after Marc and Debra Richardson and their eight-year-old son Jacob were found slain inside their home April 23, 2006.

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Charity says Uganda army raid killed 66 children

Francis Kwera
Reuters
2007-03-29 23:29:00

KAMPALA - Save the Children said on Friday it had information 66 children had been killed in an operation by Ugandan soldiers against cattle rustlers, but the Ugandan army denied the report.



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Vietnam dissident priest on trial

Chris Xia
BBC
2007-03-29 19:48:00

A Catholic priest is to go on trial in Vietnam accused of disseminating information to undermine the state and forming an illegal political party.

Father Nguyen Van Ly is a prominent pro-democracy activist who has been under house arrest since last month.

Father Ly, 59, has already spent 14 of the past 24 years in prison for his opposition to Communist Party rule.

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Mbeki to tackle Zimbabwe crisis


BBC
2007-03-29 18:33:00

President Thabo Mbeki should try to mediate in the political crisis in Zimbabwe.

Mr Mbeki will aim to formally arrange talks between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the opposition.

The meeting also called on the West to drop sanctions and appealed to Britain to "honour its commitments" to fund land reforms in its former colony.

The Tanzania summit came amid rising concern about the Zimbabwe crisis.


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Big Brother
Don't mention Zionism: Students support wide-ranging anti-semitism policy

Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi
The Guardian
2007-03-29 17:58:00

After an impassioned debate delegates at the National Union of Students' annual conference yesterday adopted a policy against anti-semitism that covers some criticism of Israel.

Feelings ran so high in the debate at Blackpool that the chairman was forced to ban the taking of photographs and filming on the conference floor as some unidentified delegates were heard to shout "we have your photographs on file" at speakers.

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Axis of Evil
DoubleTalk: Olmert hails Arab peace offer as 'revolutionary change' but "No" to Right of Return!


Associated Press
2007-03-30 10:46:00

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hailed a new peace initiative from Arab states as representing a "revolutionary change" but repeated Israel's opposition to any return of Palestinian refugees in a series of newspaper interviews published Friday.

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Propaganda and Whining: Israel Criticism At Fever Pitch

Jonathan Mark
Jewish Week
2007-03-30 10:38:00

Comment: Caveat Lector! The following article is loaded with propaganda and whining. See how many lies you can spot!


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Head of Zionist Occupation Olmert Fights Publication Of War Probe Findings

Ryan R. Jones
All Headline News
2007-03-30 08:44:00

Jerusalem, Palestine - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert established the Winograd Commission to probe the government's execution of last year's war with Lebanon's Hezbollah, but now he is intent on making sure its findings never see the light of day.

Earlier in the week, Israel's High Court ordered the commission to make public the testimonies of Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff Dan Halutz.

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Blair fury as hostage letter seeks withdrawal from Iraq

James Bone, Dominic Kennedy and Philip Webster
The Times
2007-03-29 22:26:00

IRAN twisted the knife in the hostage crisis today, releasing a letter said to be from the captured British sailor Faye Turney in which she called for British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq.


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Netanyahu: "Not a single Palestinian refugee will return" - We Ran Them Off Their Land and We Are Keeping It!


YNet News
2007-03-26 19:57:00

Netanyahu tells UN's Ban, Arab peace initiative unacceptable

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Middle East Madness
Iran: Attack fears spurred nuclear block

George Jahn
Associated Press
2007-03-30 17:07:00

VIENNA, Austria - Iran, in a confidential letter posted Friday on an internal Web site of the U.N. nuclear monitor, said its fear of attack from the U.S. and Israel prompted its decision to withhold information from the agency. In the letter, Iran said the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency had repeatedly allowed confidential information crucial to the country's security to be leaked.



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Sewage water floods northern Gaza strip village; five killed, scores injured

Ghassan Bannoura
IMEMC & Agencies
2007-03-30 15:05:00

©IMEMC
Injured children in Gaza


Sewage water flooded the village of Um Al Nassrin the northern part of the Gaza strip on Tuesday midday in what was described as a disaster. Five Palestinian civilians were killed and scores of others injured. Many more are still missing.

Ground-level holding pools near the village which contained raw sewage errupted on Tuesday midday, flooding the village and leaving at least 200 homes under water.

Medical sources reported that so far five residents have arrived dead at Kamal Adwan hospital, and a countless number of people are injured. Palestinian rescue teams stated that the death toll may rise, since there are homes that are completely under water with the residents still inside them.

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Silly propaganda! Super Al Qaeda blamed for violence in Iraq

Ross Colvin / Reuters
Yahoo! News
2007-03-30 13:15:00

BAGHDAD - A surge of violence in Iraq in the past week demonstrated the ability of al Qaeda to strike virtually anywhere at will with a seemingly limitless supply of explosives and suicide bombers to wreak chaos.

Comment: It's amazing how this 'League of Evil' myth of a super powerful 'al Qaeda' that stretches its tentacles throughout the globe simply refuses to die in the media, even after it has been proved again and again that reality is much more complex, that most of the attacks allegedly carried out by 'al Qaeda' are false flag operations, and that most claims about 'al Qaeda' are based on unfounded assumptions and constitute mere propaganda.

Read the first paragraph of this article again and ask yourself: how is it that a wave of violence in Iraq 'demonstrates' that al Qaeda has the 'ability to strike virtually anywhere at will with a seemingly limitless supply of explosives and suicide bombers to wreak chaos'? Where's the proof?


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Arab peace initiative would require far-reaching concessions from Israel - Don't Hold Your Breath

By STEVEN GUTKIN
Associated Press
2007-03-29 11:03:00

JERUSALEM - On the face of it, it's what the Jewish state has been yearning for ever since its establishment nearly 60 years ago: full acceptance by its Arab neighbors. So why has Israel's response to an Arab initiative offering just that in exchange for land withdrawals been so measured?

Comment: Because Israel doesn't want peace, you dummy! Israel wants ALL the land and wants ALL the Arabs dead! It's that simple!


The concessions required of it would be far-reaching - and Israel's embattled prime minister may lack the standing to carry them through. Israeli leaders also fear the plan could lead to an influx of millions of Palestinian refugees.

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At summit, Arabs push for nuclear energy while warning of possible Middle East arms race between Israel and Iran

By SALAH NASRAWI
Associated Press
2007-03-29 11:01:00

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Arab leaders pushed ahead with plans to develop nuclear programs, even as they warned of a possible Middle East nuclear arms race created by their powerful rivals Israel and Iran.

On Thursday, the final day of their annual summit, Arab League leaders said they would hold a high-level meeting this summer to review plans for an Arab nuclear industry.

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Russia trying to help bring peace to the Middle East

by Marianna Belenkaya
RIA Novosti
2007-03-30 10:50:00

MOSCOW- It has been a long time since an Arab League summit attracted as much attention as the one on March 28-29. No one expected the meeting in Riyadh to cause a sensation, and it did not.

It was the agenda that generated the most interest, primarily the revival of an Arab initiative on establishing relations with Israel.

The principle of the Middle East peace process - land in exchange for peace - has remained unchanged for several decades. It is the atmosphere in the Middle East that has been changing. Remarkably, developments in the region are echoing a proposal that Russia made a few years ago.

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The Loan Gunmen
Iran crisis bumps up crude prices to their highest in six months

Ashley Seager
Guardian Unlimited
2007-03-30 15:15:00

Oil prices shot up to their highest in over six months today on continued tension between Britain and Iran over British naval staff held by Tehran.

London Brent crude futures jumped over $1 a barrel, pushing through $69 for the first time since early last September during hectic trading. It later retreated towards $68 but dealers said any further escalation in the spat between the two countries would be immediately reflected in the oil price.

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Expert: No clear end to wave of foreclosures

Jerry Kronenberg
Boston Herald
2007-03-30 07:30:00

Bay State mortgage foreclosures have hit a record high for the second straight month, and a top market watcher warns problems will "continue at astronomical levels well into 2007."

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World's Biggest Debtor Nation: America On Top Again

Don Monkerud
Rebelion / Counterpunch
2007-03-25 04:56:00

The typical American family is buried in debt. According to the Federal Reserve Fund, household debt equals almost 25 percent of net household worth, or 136 percent of disposable income. After wages fell behind inflation for a decade, Americans mortgaged their homes and ran up their credit cards to cover living expenses.

In 2005, Americans spent $42 billion more than they earned, and the most recent report from the Commerce Department found savings rates at a negative one percent, the lowest since the Great Depression, and down from 11 percent after WWII. Only four times have savings rates fallen so low: The other two were during the Great Depression when a quarter of the workforce was unemployed and Americans spent their savings for essentials such as food and rent.

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Mortgage crisis hits million-dollar homes

By Walden Siew
Reuters
2007-03-29 21:02:00

NEW YORK - Sheriff Leo McGuire presides over foreclosure auctions in Bergen County, New Jersey, where the bidding for a home reached $1.2 million last June -- a record for one of the wealthiest counties in the nation.

Homes sold on the auction block for as much as $852,000 this month -- more than quadruple the median home price in the United States. County officials believe they are close to setting another record soon.

In Troy, Michigan, Dorothy Guzek, a credit counselor since 1988, has also seen the changing face of foreclosure.

Her clients, while predominantly poor and minorities, increasingly are neither. Nowadays, homeowners holding professional careers with six-figure salaries regularly drop by her office.

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The Living Planet
Abrupt climate change more common than believed


University of Wisconsin-Madison / Physorg.com
2007-03-30 14:38:00

It came on quickly and then lasted nearly two decades, eventually killing more than one million people and affecting 50 million more. All of this makes the Sahel drought, which first struck West Africa in the late 1960s, the most notorious example of an abrupt climatic shift during the last century.

Dramatic as this single event was, University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have now uncovered 29 other regions worldwide that endured similarly precipitous climatic changes during the 20th century - far more than scientists previously thought. Their study publishes today (March 30) in the online edition of Geophysical Research Letters.

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Measuring Changes In Arctic Sea Ice


Science Daily
2007-03-30 06:44:00

Arctic sea ice is in constant motion. It rides on the ocean, absorbing energy from the circumpolar weather systems.


This movement causes a buildup of stress within the ice. Under enough stress, the ice cracks or buckles in a cataclysmic process that resembles the energy released in earthquakes. These continuous ice quakes result in open leads of water or mountainous ridges of broken, jumbled ice. These deformations, in turn, may have an effect on the thickness and durability of the arctic ice pack in the face of climate change.


University of Alaska Fairbanks researcher Jennifer Hutchings hopes that a better understanding of this complex process will help improve climate models and shed light on how sea ice behaved in the past and how it may change in the future.


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Health & Wellness
Semi-identical twins discovered - "Chimeras"


BBC
2007-03-30 13:52:00

Scientists have revealed details of the world's only known case of "semi-identical" twins.

The journal Nature says the twins are identical on their mother's side, but share only half their genes on their father's side.

They are the result of two sperm cells fertilising a single egg, which then divided to form two embryos - and each sperm contributed genes to each child.

Each stage is unlikely, and scientists believe the twins are probably unique.

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Parents of autistic children 'feel guilty' over MMR

DAMIEN HENDERSON
The Herald
2007-03-30 08:57:00

Parents of autistic children have reported feelings of anxiety and guilt over whether they should give their children the MMR vaccine, a new study has found.

They have told researchers they felt they had "let their children down" by deciding to give their children the triple vaccine to ward against measles, mumps and rubella, despite assurances from scientists and doctors that it is safe.

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Elderly at Risk: Sedatives linked to pneumonia, strokes

By Nic Fleming
The Telegraph
2007-03-30 08:43:00

More than 100,000 elderly people with dementia are being sedated with drugs linked to increased risk of pneumonia, strokes and heart attacks.

The first long-term study of a class of drugs called neuroleptics found patients taking them died on average six months earlier than those switched to placebos.

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Nightmarish Child Custody Battle Suggestions


Best Syndication
2007-03-30 08:11:00

So you had a child with a monster. If this monster happens to be a psychopath you have a challenge on your hands. Now what do you do. Take control. How do you that?


First, and foremost, take control of your self. Every time you react to something they do, they are in control. Over and over I hear stories about these monsters and the story teller is stressed out over the whole thing. Wrong answer. You are playing into their hands.


For the purpose of this writing I will assume you are dealing with a court case. Psychopaths are master manipulators and you will not win without help.


Your role in protecting your child from a negative influence is to be the fact gatherer for your attorney. You can not do a good job if you are mentally strung out. Grab a hold of your self and focus on your mission.


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Stalk Your Stalker


Best Syndication
2007-03-30 08:10:00

Are you, or someone you love, so damn frustrated by a stalker you just want to scream. Adding insult to injury most recommendations come in the form of things you must do. You, not the stalker, are advised to turn your world upside in hopes it might stop. Law enforcement tells you there is not enough to make an arrest. Nobody or nothing seems to help. When you are at your wits end I suggest you stalk the stalker.


No, I don't me literally go out and follow them around. Nor do I mean gather all the personal information you can get your hands on. What I do mean is learn as much as you can about them. You need to become your own expert on how they think.


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Study Reveals Why We Get Distracted So Easily

Heather Whipps
Live Science
2007-03-30 06:32:00

Distractions turn on different part of our brains and do so more quickly than the daily grind of paying attention, neuroscientists have discovered.


Separate regions are responsible for the different ways our brain focuses on the world around us, according to the study by MIT researchers, and our brain waves even pulsate at different frequencies depending on the type of outside stimulus.


"Neural activity goes up and down in a regular periodic way, with everything vibrating together," said study co-leader and neuroscientist Earl K. Miller. "It is faster for automatic stimulus and slower for things we choose to pay attention to."


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Science & Technology
Spitzer Finds Planets Thrive Around Stellar Twins

Whitney Clavin
Physorg
2007-03-30 08:22:00

The double sunset that Luke Skywalker gazed upon in the film "Star Wars" might not be a fantasy.


Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have observed that planetary systems - dusty disks of asteroids, comets and possibly planets - are at least as abundant in twin-star systems as they are in those, like our own, with only one star. Since more than half of all stars are twins, or binaries, the finding suggests the universe is packed with planets that have two suns. Sunsets on some of those worlds would resemble the ones on Luke Skywalker's planet, Tatooine, where two fiery balls dip below the horizon one by one.


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Teens get way harsh on MySpace

Lucy Sherriff
The Register
2007-03-30 08:02:00

Breaking up might have been hard to do when Neil Sedaka sang about it, but thanks to Sir Tim Berners Lee, it is now as easy for teenagers to break up with each other as it is for them to microwave a junk food sausage.


Yes, the latest thing to do is to break up with your beau on his or her MySpace page. It is a far cry from the heady days we at El Reg can remember, when people would break up with each other by text message. So cosy, so personal. So old hat.


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3-D Medical Imaging Reaches the Stars


CFA Press Release
2007-03-30 06:29:00

A unique collaboration created by Harvard's Initiative for Innovative Computing (IIC) has brought together astronomers, medical imaging specialists, and software engineers to adapt medical imaging software to create 3-D views of astronomical bodies.


"Once this technology is fully developed, we will be able to explore and visualize space in entirely new ways," said Alyssa Goodman, Director of the IIC and a Professor of Astronomy in Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences.


Goodman discussed results from the IIC's Astronomical Medicine Project, or AstroMed, last week at the IIC's Inaugural Symposium in Cambridge, Mass.


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Dino demise no trigger for rise of mammals

Anna Salleh
ABC News
2007-03-29 23:56:00

The death of the dinosaurs was not the catalyst for modern mammalian evolution that many people think, a new study shows.



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Our Haunted Planet
UFO Flap Over Ontario Canada In March 2007

Brian Vike
American Chronicle
2007-03-29 11:10:00

British Columbia's UFO Researcher Brian Vike, Director of HBCC UFO Research sat listening to a radio show by way of the internet on March 11, 2007 from his home in Houston, B.C., a small town in northern British Columbia Canada.

Mr. Vike thought he would check his http referrals to see what people were searching for on the internet. He was surprised to see the large number of sighting reports coming out of the province of Ontario, where most people were searching for the March 11, 2007 meteor. Believing an amazing light show took place in the province he thought to place a short, quick note to his website requesting that if anyone may have been witness to a meteor sighting over the Ontario province to please get in contact with him at HBCC UFO Research.

It didn't take long before a few sighting reports of a possible meteor event started to arrive in Mr. Vike's email box.

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Fireball report: Trenton, New Jersey


ufoinfo
2007-03-27 18:21:00

Local time approximately 6:AM
Approach Direction: from south
Departure Direction: to north
Witness Direction: north

Description: I spotted in a split second a long tail of tan colored light burning about a football field in length that suddenly vanished. It moved faster than any jet I know of. It very well could have been something entering Earth's atmosphere.

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Don't Panic! Lighten Up!
"Monster" Toxic Toad Caught in Australia

Blake de Pastino
National Geographic
2007-03-27 08:32:00

©Getty Images
Monster Toad




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Storm in US over chocolate Jesus


BBC
2007-03-30 00:06:00

A New York gallery has angered a US Catholic group with its decision to exhibit a milk chocolate sculpture of Jesus Christ.



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Man Leads Chase, Claims He's Dick Cheney


Associated Press
2007-03-29 20:49:00

STRATFORD, Conn. - A man was taken to Bridgeport Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation after he led authorities on a high-speed chase and then claimed to be Vice President Dick Cheney, police said.



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