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Frederic Mousseau
Asia Times Online 2015-01-28 19:12:00
At the same time as the United States, Canada and the European Union announced a set of new sanctions against Russia in mid-December last year, Ukraine received US$350 million in US military aid, coming on top of a $1 billion aid package approved by the US Congress in March 2014. Western governments' further involvement in the Ukraine conflict signals their confidence in the cabinet appointed by the new government earlier in December 2014. This new government is unique given that three of its most important ministries were granted to foreign-born individuals who received Ukrainian citizenship just hours before their appointment. The Ministry of Finance went to Natalie Jaresko, a US-born and educated businesswoman who has been working in Ukraine since the mid-1990s, overseeing a private equity fund established by the US government to invest in the country. Jaresko is also the CEO of Horizon Capital, an investment firm that administers various Western investments in the country. | |
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James J. Napoli
Global Research 2015-01-19 21:40:00
A colleague of mine in Cairo told me a story a few years ago about a massacre in the streets of Paris. He was a news service reporter at the time of the violence in the French capital - Oct. 17, 1961 - and saw tens of bodies of dead Algerians piled like cordwood in the center of the city in the wake of what would now be called a police riot. But his superiors at the news agency stopped him from telling the full story then, and most of the world paid little attention to the thin news coverage that the massacre did receive. Even now, the events of that time are not widely known and many people, like myself, had never heard of them at all. This year is an apt time to recall what happened, and not only because this is the 35th anniversary year of Algerian independence. The continuing civil war in Algeria and the growing violence and racism in France, as well as the appalling slaughters taking place elsewhere in the world, give it a disturbing currency. Here's what happened:
Unarmed Algerian Muslims demonstrating in central Paris against a discriminatory curfew were beaten, shot, garotted and even drowned by police and special troops. Thousands were rounded up and taken to detention centers around the city and the prefecture of police, where there were more beatings and killings. | ||
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Vladimir Platov
New Eastern Outlook 2015-01-29 20:52:00
After the bloody events in Paris, when journalists of Charlie Hebdo were murdered in the broad daylight, all across the globe numerous journals have been discussing who could benefit from this tragedy. In some countries (primarily Muslim) the manifestations against the provocative publications of controversial cartoons of the Prophet that mocked the religious feelings of all Muslims are still on the rise. Some experts have linked these provocative anti-Muslim cartoons with the acquisition of Charlie Hebdo by the Rothschilds in December 2014, the latter of whom are constantly worrying about their profits. But now they can be fairly content since after these tragic events the number of copies sold increased tenfold! Another group of experts believes that the attack on French journalists was the result of direct actions of Western intelligence agencies. Therefore, the consequences of the Charlie Hebdo massacre can be compared to those of 9/11 attack, such as the tightening of security in Europe. These agencies have been seeking ways to create obstacles to the spread of Islam in Europe, along with obtaining legislative support to establish total surveillance over the activities and private lives of Europeans. Political elites behind such agencies believe that democratic rights, the protection of which has been the focal point of all populist political speeches in the West, should be narrowed. Police control in Western countries is increasingly intrusive with each passing day, as the growing distrust and discontent of the European population becomes more apparent. Western elites have failed to put forward comprehensive social and economic measures that could ease this growing angst, therefore an increase in political activity, anti-government demonstrations, and electoral control over ruling parties was inevitable. The recent two-day meeting of Foreign Ministers of the EU in Brussels, summoned to discuss the "urgent measures to strengthen the fight against terrorism." can be regarded as damning evidence against Western elites. It was of little surprise for experts that the topic of these discussions was the adoption of a EU version of the US Patriot Act, that is used by Washington to control not only its fellow citizens, but "allies" alike. | |
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Nicholas Confessore
New York Times 2015-01-29 19:39:00
The political network overseen by the conservative billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch plans to spend close to $900 million on the 2016 campaign, an unparalleled effort by coordinated outside groups to shape a presidential election that is already on track to be the most expensive in history. The spending goal, revealed Monday at the Kochs' annual winter donor retreat near Palm Springs, Calif., would allow their political organization to operate at the same financial scale as the Democratic and Republican Parties. It would require a significant financial commitment from the Kochs and roughly 300 other donors they have recruited over the years, and covers both the presidential and congressional races. In the last presidential election, the Republican National Committee and the party's two congressional campaign committees spent a total of $657 million. Hundreds of conservative donors recruited by the Kochs gathered over the weekend for three days of issue seminars, strategy sessions and mingling with rising elected officials. These donors represent the largest concentration of political money outside the party establishment, one that has achieved enormous power in Republican circles in recent years. Comment: The money and power of the Koch brothers has been welded previously to buy politicians and influence political policy:
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RT
2015-01-29 05:16:00
A new genetically modified potato is closer than ever to arriving in American grocery stores, but while advocates claim it can actually reduce the risk of cancer, opponents say not nearly enough is known to ensure public safety. Created by the J. R. Simplot Company, 'Innate' potatoes were created by inserting extra genes into them - genes that are modified but that otherwise exist naturally in the potato. Through genetic modification using RNA interference (RNAi), scientists used these genes to shut down a few of the potato's other original genes - a process called gene silencing. Some of the genes being shut down are those that cause bruising and create acrylamide when potatoes are baked or fried. Acrylamide is an amino acid which, in tests conducted on rats, has increased the animals' risk of getting cancer. Comment: That's a great marketing strategy and one hell of a sales job. The fact thatacrylamide has been linked to cancer doesn't mean GMOs are good for you or that eating them will prevent cancer. There are also financial incentives behind gene silencing, and the Innate potato was designed to solve a big monetary problem. Farmers currently throw out 1.4 billion pounds of potatoes due to browning and bruising, costing them 15 percent of their profits each year. The fewer potatoes thrown out because of this, the more profit they can recoup off their yield. While the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the new varieties in November, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has yet to give the green light on the potato. It is looking into how the genetic modification has altered the chemical makeup of the potato, and whether that raises safety concerns. The Center for Food Safety (CFS) is worried about the USDA granting the Innate potato a non-regulatory status, since GMO foods are not required to be labeled. As a result, the new potato will be sold to consumers without their knowledge. | |
Comment: See also:
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Travis Gettys
Raw Story 2015-01-28 17:33:00
Fox News promotes the most false information among TV news outlets, according to a fact-checking watchdog - and the problem is only getting worse. Politifact regularly examines claims made on air by pundits, hosts, or paid contributors and rates those statements by accuracy. The latest scorecard showed more than 60 percent of the claims made on Fox News were mostly false or worse - and half of all claims were either demonstrably false or outright lies. Politifact found that 39 percent of the claims made on air during Fox News broadcasts had some basis in fact, with 10 percent that could be proven as true, 11 percent rated as mostly true, and 18 percent that were half true. However, a nearly equal number - 38 percent - of the claims made on Fox News were demonstrably false, while 26 percent of them were mostly false, and 11 percent were mocked as "pants on fire" falsehoods. | |
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Sputnik
2015-01-29 17:49:00
The chief of Ukraine's General Military Staff Viktor Muzhenko acknowledged that Russian regular army units were not involved in combat action in the troubled Donetsk and Luhansk regions. "Right now the Ukrainian army is not engaged in combat operations against Russian regular units," he underscored. Muzhenko added, however, that he had information about Russian civilian and military individuals fighting alongside independence supporters in the country's east. | |
Comment: But the misinformation campaign by the West has already done it's damage to make Russia look like the aggressor.
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Eric Draitser
Counterpunch News 2015-01-29 17:00:00
The most entertaining mysteries are the ones with compelling protagonists, enigmatic and often surreptitious antagonists, and surprising or shocking conclusions. Indeed, without these essential elements, one is unlikely to read the story at all. However, when it comes to politics and geopolitics, somehow our mass media storytellers - the scores of journalists, military and counter-terrorism 'experts,' and establishment mouthpieces - fail to even point us in the right direction. Not only do they not follow the threads of the story, they prefer to pretend they simply aren't there. And so it is with the great 'mystery' of Boko Haram, a group that in just a few years has become one of the most recognizable terrorist entities in the world. Having carried out heinous massacres of men, women, and children, abducted thousands of innocents, and destroyed whole towns, Boko Haram now symbolizes just that perfect blend of barbarism, religious and ideological fundamentalism, and non-white skin, which come together to cast them, in the eyes of westerners especially, as the manifestation of evil - the devil incarnate that can only be destroyed by the forces of righteousness. You know, the 'good guys.' But what happens when there are no 'good guys' to be found? What happens when you follow the story only to find the most cynical of intentions from every player involved? Such is the case with this Boko Haram story, and indeed the regional politics and geopolitics of West Africa as a whole. In trying to unravel the labyrinthine web of political, economic, and strategic threads connecting a number of significant actors, it becomes clear that no analysis of Boko Haram is worth reading unless it approaches the issue from three distinctly different, yet intimately connected, angles. First, there is Nigeria's domestic politics, and the issue of Boko Haram and the perception of the government and opposition's responsibility for the chaos it has wreaked. With elections scheduled to take place in February, Boko Haram and national security have, quite understandably, become dominant issues in the public mind. The mutual finger-pointing and accusations provide an important backdrop for understanding how Boko Haram fits both into the public discourse, and into the strategies of political networks behind the scenes in Nigeria, and the region more broadly. | |
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Zerohedge
2015-01-29 08:57:00
Two days ago, Zero Hedge first, and shortly thereafter everyone else, pointed out something stunning: the biggest surprise to emerge so far out of the new anti-Troika/austerity Greek government was not so much its intention to proceed with the first test of "Odious Debt" - this was largely known in advance - but its dramatic pivot away from Germany and Europe, and toward Russia. As we noted before, not only has Greece already blocked all ongoing privatization processes, a clear snub of Merkel and the Troika which demands the piecemeal blue light special sale of Greece to western buyers as part of the "bailout", but is also looking at plans to reinstate public sector employees and announce increased pensions for those on low incomes: further clear breaches of the Troika's austerity terms. But the most important message that Tsipras is sending to Europe is that (after meeting the Russian ambassador first upon his election) Greece is now effectively a veto power when it comes to future Russian sanctions! This was first hinted when the Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, who arrives in Brussels today to discuss possible additional sanctions on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine, said a few days ago that the Greek government disagreed with an EU statement in which President Donald Tusk raised the prospect of "further restrictive measures" on Russia. As Bloomberg observed before, in recent months, Kotzias wrote on Twitter that sanctions against Russia weren't in Greece's interests.He said in a blog that a new foreign policy for Greece should be focused on stopping the ongoing transformation of the EU "into an idiosyncratic empire, under the rule of Germany." | |
Comment: Though Greece is still largely under the sway of its own Oligarchs and EU-aligned political parties, it will be interesting to see how far Tsipras and the Syriza party can go in throwing off the yoke of austerity policy and the Western imperative to destabilize Russia. It seems that following these two approaches go hand in hand if any country has a strong enough will towards national sovereignty.
See: Greece's Syriza party breaks from EU propaganda line against Russia | |
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RT
2015-01-28 17:32:00
Hundreds of sex offenders are being given lenient punishments by British judges despitecommitting "abhorrent" crimes against children. According to official figures from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), hundreds of sex offenders have been let off with cautions, despite the law saying they should face jail sentences of up to 14 years. According to the MoJ, there were 7,057 cautions handed to sex offenders in the UK since 2009. The figures come as authorities investigate allegations of historic child abuse during the 1970s and 1980s, including a suspected elite pedophile ring consisting of serving British politicians. Philip Davies, the Tory MP who disclosed the figures, said sex offenders were not "feeling the full force of the law" adding, "It is completely unacceptable to give cautions for sexual activity with children under the age of 13." "There are no mitigating factors and no excuses. They should go before a judge," he said. | |
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Eduard Birov
Fort Russ 2015-01-28 02:53:00
Comment: Update: The following article has been put on the internet as being by Zakharchenko, the leader of the Donetsk Peoples Republic. This is not the case as The Sakerfound out. It was penned by Eduard Birov. If one is to speak without geopolitical complexities and nuances, the situation is extremely simple. This is a battle for the continent, for the international system, for one's own taiga. They are desperately attacking us and are trying to take us down quickly. They use all means at their disposal, except for direct military intervention on Russia's territory. They are destroying Russians outside their borders, are raising foreign legions in order to invade the country. The West undertook to destroy us for the simple reason it is trying to avert its own destruction. The main factors are the destruction of the economy and of the political authorities of Russia. The main factor that might allow them to accomplish this is the decay within Russia, a split within the Russian government, the spreading of hatred among the people. That's the reason for the constant provocations and the divide-and-conquer policies: inter-ethnic animosities, hatred toward the state, toward big capital (specifically the pro-Russian), toward the Orthodox Church, toward its own people and everything around it. All of that is being done to get Russia to destroy itself from within. But that's precisely what is not happening. Everything is breaking apart against the unity of the government which has the support of its people which feels as if it was in a besieged fortress together with its leader. Even capitalists like Usmanov, Vekselberg, and others, who chose the West,moved their assets from offshore accounts back to Russia. Even Shuvalov swore his loyalty to Putin in Davos. To say nothing of ordinary mortals. No matter how much is said about "Putin the billionaire" and the government for sale, in spite of all the problems and the worsening financial situation, the solidarity with the national leader is not only not growing weaker, but is getting stronger. What is more, the people want him to act more firmly and not compromise with the West, no matter what the cost. | |
Comment: Donetsk is lucky to have a leader like Zakharchenko, who seems to have a good grasp of the big picture, popular support, military ability, and a conscience. The same can't be said for certain other 'leaders' involved in this senseless, murderous conflict. Readers can watch one of Zakharchenko's latest sitreps below:
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South Front Ukraine updates: Ukraine 'troops' enter Russia! Russian Popeye behind Mariupol shelling!
South Front
2015-01-28 02:33:00
The latest South Front news updates from Ukraine:
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Eric Zuesse
Washington's Blog 2015-01-28 01:40:00
On January 27th, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense headlined "Militants Continue to Suffer Losses," and reported that four helicopters, and other weapons of the "militants," were destroyed in battle, but no evidence was given to support the assertion. Just two days prior, the (also pro-Government) Kiev Post had, in fact, bannered "Ukraine Hides Devastating Losses as Russia-Backed Fighters Surge Forward," and reported "Ukraine's worst-kept secret - that the Ukrainian army is drastically understating its casualties." After detailing, there, what seems to be outrageous unconcern by the Government, for the welfare of troops it's sending into battle (even by jamming battlefield-injured soldiers into regular civilian hospitals, which aren't equipped to handle their injuries), this report ends with a doctor saying, "It's bad everywhere. Yes, the soldiers are still standing at their positions ready to fight. But we don't see any help coming for them." The Ukrainian news agency RIAN headlined on January 26th, "Mobilization in Dnipropetrovsk Almost Drowned," and reported, "In Dnipropetrovsk region [which is run by the U.S. White House's friend, the Ukrainian-Swiss-Israeli billionaire Ihor Kolomoysky, whose longstanding personal mercenary army has, alone, more than 5,000 fighters], thousands of men are hiding from the draft. Enforcement officers recognize that accomplishing their task will be very difficult." More than 2,000 people there who were drafted "did not show up, they evaporated." | |
Comment: Apparently one of Poroshenko's advisors, Yury Biryukov, posted details on his Facebook page showing how disastrous the latest, fourth mobilization of troops for the Ukrainian army is going: heads of rural councils are refusing to accept summons and warning their residents, conscripts are not turning up or are fleeing Ukraine, or are refusing service on religious grounds. No one wants this war except for the Nazi element in Ukraine and the U.S./NATO puppet masters pulling the strings. Ukrainian troops are being lied to, sent into battle under false pretexts, and then being killed or captured as cannon fodder. Even a dyed-in-the-wool patriot would find that slightly offensive. Is the Ukrainian military command really that stupid? Or just desperate?
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Sputnik
2015-01-28 00:14:00
Russian banks have been forced to cancel contracts with their US clients due to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), law that requires foreign banks to provide information on US citizens' banking activities, a senior Russian official said Wednesday. The FATCA, which became law in 2010, requires foreign banks to report information on some US clients. If a bank does not comply, it may be subject to a fine. Moscow and Washington were negotiating a FATCA deal acceptable for both sides until March 2014, when the United States suspended the talks over the Ukraine crisis. "We could not put our national security under risk in this case, this is why a rule was adopted, under which every credit services organization may cancel the contracts with its clients, the US residents, and avoid FATCA regulations this way," Deputy Director of Russia's Federal Financial Monitoring Service Pavel Livadny told journalists. | |
Comment: The U.S.'s FATCA, ostensibly designed to make more money, seems only to have had the effect of turning the rest of the world against Americans, and making it harder for law-abiding U.S. citizens living abroad to do so. There's a word for this kind of behavior:
(from Carlo Maria Cipolla's "Basic Laws of Human Stupidity") See also: FATCA what? How to fight the war on tax evasion, one American at a time | |
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RT
2015-01-28 23:55:00
A German right-wing politician said in an interview his country should halt immigration for Muslims and others who "are completely foreign to our cultural tradition." He says this is necessary to stop the creation of "parallel societies in Germany." "We should no longer support immigration by people who are totally foreign to our cultural tradition,in fact we ought to block it," Alexander Gauland, a senior official with the Alternative for Germany (AFD) party, told the Tagesspiegel newspaper. "There are cultural traditions that have a very hard time integrating here ... those cultural traditions are at home in the Middle East," Gauland, 73, said. | |
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Reagan Ali
Counter Current News 2015-01-29 22:45:00
A 17-year-old girl walked into the Longview, Texas police station. Then, only minutes later, police say they were "forced" to shoot and kill her, Thursday night. Now, the police have released surveillance footage that captured the final moments of Kristiana Coignard's life. Cognard walked into the empty lobby and approached the after-hours assistance phone. "We don't know how she got here," Longview police officer Kristie Brian said. Coignard was connected to dispatch, via the after-hours phone. Dispatch then sent officers out to confront her. But no one knows exactly what was said then. Police, however, say that she "pulled a weapon" and "threatened" them. We asked what weapon she brandished. "I don't know what kind it was, yes she did brandish a weapon," Officer Brian said on Friday. | |
Comment: For those of you short on time, the key points are:
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Katy Murphy, Tracey Kaplan and Robert Salonga
San Jose Mercury News 2015-01-27 13:45:00
A former Stanford University swimmer has been charged with raping an intoxicated, unconscious woman in an on-campus attack that prosecutors say was witnessed by two cyclists who nabbed him in the middle of the night as he tried to run away. Brock Allen Turner, 19, who voluntarily withdrew from the school Tuesday, faces five felony counts that could put him behind bars for 10 years. He was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on Jan. 18, shortly after the attack, on suspicion of attempted rape and penetration with a foreign object, both felonies. He has been released on $150,000 bail. Turner is charged with one count of rape of an intoxicated person, one count of rape of an unconscious person, one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object of an intoxicated woman, one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object of an unconscious woman and one count of assault with intent to commit rape, prosecutor Alaleh Kianerci said Tuesday. He is to be arraigned Monday in Palo Alto. Turner could not be reached Tuesday and his attorney, Mike Armstrong of Palo Alto, declined to comment. Turner is not permitted to return to campus, the school announced Tuesday evening. The Stanford Daily, following up a story by a campus newsletter, The Fountain Hopper, reported Tuesday that an unnamed freshman varsity athlete who had been accused of attempted rape was no longer practicing with the team and that he was not living on campus. A university spokeswoman said Tuesday the victim was not a student. Kianerci declined to reveal details about the victim, describing her only as "a woman attending an on-campus party." Turner's arrest comes as campus sexual assaults have attained unprecedented levels of national attention, with activists demanding their colleges do more to prevent assaults and punish offenders. Last spring, Stanford students protested the school's handling of a case in which the accused student -- whom police never charged, but who was found by a Stanford review panel to be responsible for sexual assault -- was permitted to complete his senior year. | |
Comment: Surprisingly, Stanford is demonstrating a willingness to recognize the problem of rape on university campuses.We can't help but wonder if this is damage control from the fall out of theUVA and other scandals. More on university rape culture in the U.S. below:
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Derek Lambie
Putin backs proposal to give one hectare to each citizen or person willing to move to region in a bid to stimulate economy and boost population.Siberian Times 2015-01-29 20:22:00
Ambitious plans to give each resident of the Russian Far East one hectare of land for free have been given the backing of President Vladimir Putin. The idea was floated by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Trutnev in a bid to help stimulate the economy of the sparsely populated region and entice more people to move across the country. A total of 614 million hectares of land are currently owned by the state and would effectively be up for grabs in the Far East under the scheme. It could be used for agricultural purposes, for hunting, or as a base for a timber plant or any other business. | |
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Finian Cunningham
Press TV 2015-01-28 20:01:00
The film American Sniper has sent the US public into raptures over the "heroic life" of its autobiographical subject Chris Kyle - who has been described as America's "greatest warrior" soldier. Last week, the movie premiered in cinemas to rave reviews, earning its director Clint Eastwood a box office smash-hit. Multiple Oscar awards are nominated. Critics have quibbled about this or that aspect of the cinematography and storyline. But the prevailing impression is that Kyle - a US Marine marksman - was a tragic hero, a guy who honorably served his country during the American war in Iraq. The film has even been described by some as an "anti-war" movie because it delves into the mental trauma of veterans and the suffering they endure after conflict. Lost in the discussion is the central issue, which is the criminal nature of American militarism and its destructive impact on millions of innocent people. American Sniper may express certain misgivings about US foreign wars, owing to the psychological consequences on its military personnel. But in indulging "heroes" like Chris Kyle, the insidious effect is to glorify American war-making. This reinforces American narcissism about its "exceptionalism" as a nation that is intrinsically good, superior and which has the prerogative to wage wars wherever it deems necessary for its "national interests" regardless of international law or morality. Over one million Iraqis were killed during American military occupation of that country from 2003-2011. The fraudulent pretext for that war - Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction - has been amply documented and is irrefutable. That makes US involvement in Iraq an epic crime, a war of aggression, or, to put it plainly, a state-sponsored terrorist cataclysm. | |
Comment: See also:
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Matt Apuzzo and Steven Erlanger
NY Times 2015-01-16 20:06:00
The arrests came quickly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. There was the Muslim man suspected of making anti-American statements. The Middle Eastern grocer, whose shop, a tipster said, had more clerks than it needed. Soon hundreds of men, mostly Muslims, were in American jails on immigration charges, suspected of being involved in the attacks. They were not. After shootings last week at a satirical newspaper and a kosher market in Paris, France finds itself grappling anew with a question the United States is still confronting: how to fight terrorism while protecting civil liberties. The answer is acute in a country that is sharply critical of American counterterrorism policies, which many see as a fearful overreaction to 9/11. Already in Europe, counterterrorism officials have arrested dozens of people, and France is mulling tough new antiterrorism laws. Many European countries, and France in particular, already have robust counterterrorism laws, some of which American authorities have studied as possible models. But the terrorist rampage at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper offices and the Hyper Cacher market prompted calls to go even further. Valérie Pécresse, a minister under former President Nicolas Sarkozy, said France needed its own version of the USA Patriot Act, which gave the United States more authority to collect intelligence and pointed America's surveillance apparatus at its citizens. Politicians and civil rights advocates on both sides of the Atlantic bristled at that suggestion, and at a string of arrests in which French officials used a new antiterrorism law to crack down on what previously would have been considered free speech. One man was sentenced to six months in prison for shouting support for the Charlie Hebdo attackers. Up to 100 others are under investigation for remarks that support or tried to justify terrorism, authorities said. Dominique de Villepin, the former French prime minister, warned against the urge for "exceptional" measures. "The spiral of suspicion created in the United States by the Patriot Act and the enduring legitimization of torture or illegal detention has today caused that country to lose its moral compass," he wrote in Le Monde, the French newspaper. | |
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Travis Gettys
Raw Story 2015-01-28 18:16:00
A Utah teenager said she was told to wear a coat or shawl over her dress at a school dance because her shoulders were exposed. Gabi Finlayson said a representative from Lone Peak High School told her as she arrived that she must cover her shoulders, which were exposed by her sleeveless dress, reported KUTV-TV. The teen said she was embarrassed and didn't want to make a scene, so she went to her car to retrieve a winter coat that she wore during the event. "Somehow my shoulders are sexualized - like it's my responsibility to make sure the boys' thoughts are not unclean," said Finlayson, whose dress extended from just below her neckline to below her knees. | |
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Jackson Marciana
Alternative Media Syndicate 2015-01-29 18:49:00
A new bill has been proposed which would allow police officers to enter any home, regardless of whether or not they have a warrant, if there is a pit bull on the property. Even worse, the bill would allow officers to shoot and kill the dog if only a handful of conditions were met. The Huffington Post reported that measure would make Mississippi the only state in history with a policy against a specific dog breed. House Bill 1261 not only says police may enter homes without warrants, but they could actually kill the animal if they determine the dogs are "not under proper restraint when on the premises of its owner" or if they are not wearing vaccination tags and "attempts to peacefully capture the dog have been made and proven unsuccessful." | |
Comment: Let's face it, these laws have nothing to do with protecting the public, and everything to do with increasing the legal authority of the local government to enter your home and do whatever they please.
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RT
2015-01-29 14:35:00
Paris experienced a commuter chaos on Wednesday night, after an outraged passenger attacked a train driver on the RER A regional train line on the outskirts of the French capital. In the suburb of Torcy, the passenger set off the train alarm system after his hand got stuck in the closing doors, and then head-butted the driver, who had left his cabin to reset the alarm system.
The passenger then fled, and the train driver had to be taken to hospital with a broken nose, French newspaper Le Parisien reported.
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Ok - believe it or not, this really shows how the new younger generation of police are anti-society and just insanely pro-government beyond common sense. With cities and municipalities dead broke, confiscating cash from people pretending it is somehow tainted without any proof under Civil Asset Forfeiture was bad enough. Now they are really going over the top. This is not an isolated incident. Towns in the North East are targeting teenagers who traditionally made money during winter shoveling snow. The police even in Philadelphia are targeting kids as they are in New Jersey. Many towns demand a license with paperwork and fees of $50+ to be paid to shovel snow. These corrupt politicians are hungry for money and any possible piece of loose change they want to grab. Just how far will society allow this type of corruption go before they throw-the-bums-out? From FATCA to targeting teenagers shoveling snow, these people are destroying everything that held society together. They look upon us as the great unwashed - just scum to be exploited. This is really going way too far. | |
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RT
2015-01-29 17:40:00
It has taken the French parliament more than 200 years to officially recognize animals as "living, sentient beings" rather than "furniture," finally upgrading their embarrassing status that dates back to Napoleonic times. While amendments to the Civil Code were first approved in November, the National Assembly voted on the motion Wednesday, according to AFP. The Assembly had to give its final word after debate with the Senate over several clauses, including the animals' status. Until the motion was passed, animals in France, including domestic pets and farm animals, had the same status as a sofa. When the civil code was wrapped up by Napoleon back in 1804, animals were considered as working farm beasts and viewed as an agricultural force designated as goods or furniture. | |
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David Edwards
Raw Story 2015-01-29 16:49:00
A New York pastor this week was convicted of molesting his grandchildren just as he had been accused of sexually abusing his own children years before. Jurors in Orleans County on Monday found 71-year-old pastor Roy Harriger guilty of molesting two of his grandchildren about 12 years ago, WGRZ reported. Harriger had originally been charged with molesting three of his grandchildren. Another 15 people in three states signed affidavits last year alleging that they had also been molested by Harriger as children. But most of those cases were ruled to be past the statute of limitations. | |
Comment: According to Dr. Anna Salter, many pedophiles lurk in organizations where they have easy access to vulnerable children. The best protection we may provide is to educate ourselves and our children so as to have a better understanding of how these predators operate and learn how to spot them before it is too late. Knowledge protects!
Predators: Pedophiles, Rapists, and Other Sex Offenders, Who They Are, How They Operate, and How We Can Protect Ourselves and Our Children SOTT Talk Radio: Predators Among Us - Interview With Dr. Anna Salter | |
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Pepe Escobar
Sputnik 2015-01-28 17:20:00
I had no agenda other than to connect the future (the Eurasian Century) with the past (the crumbling European Union dream) via God's favorite abode, the City of Cities; Constantinople, the New Rome. Just a Eurasia pilgrim on the move, absorbing those flows coming from the Balkans and ancient glorious Thrace; from the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara through the Bosphorus; and from chaotic, teeming peripheries where gleaming towers coexist with miserable huts. Morning was a question of being immersed, between myth and history, in the thundering silence of centuries of stony sleep. Istanbul should be read as a scroll - beyond methodological cunning and stylistic ornaments. Jean Cocteau wrote that Constantinople was a city born in purple, a city of blood, sunsets and fires. Casanova wrote that as Constantine arrived by the sea, seduced by the sight of Byzantium, he instantly proclaimed, "This is the seat of the empire of the world." So, in style, he left the seat of the old empire, Rome, for good. | |
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Jason Wheeler
WFAA 2015-01-28 17:25:00
In Gustine, population 457, what happens at the schoolhouse affects nearly everyone. And something happened Monday that is causing a big controversy in this small town. "I felt uncomfortable, and I didn't want to do it," said 11-year-old Eliza Medina. "I felt like they violated my privacy." She was one of about two dozen elementary students who were rounded up in the small town 90 miles southwest of Fort Worth. Eliza's mother, Maria Medina, said boys were taken to one room, girls to another, and they were ordered "to pull down their pants to check them to see if they could find anything." Eliza's mom explained that educators "have been finding poop on the gym floor." She can imagine the frustration, but said even for feces on the floor you don't partially strip search a group of students to find the culprit. | |
Comment: The parents have every right to be furious. The school should be sued for invading the privacy of the students. They do not consent to strip-searches just by attending school. The school went way beyond its rights as a center of education. This is the behavior of a prison, not a school.
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Andrew Cawthorne and Diego Ore
Reuters 2015-01-29 15:51:00
After finishing a routine overnight shift, Venezuelan policeman Edgar Perez was walking home from the bus stop when two armed men pulled up on a motorbike. Perez, 41, had time to draw his gun and injure one of the attackers in the shootout near his modest home in the town of Ocumare del Tuy outside Caracas, but the other shot him in the head and took his weapon. The officer died shortly afterwards in a nearby clinic, leaving a widow and three children. | |
Comment: As Oliver Stone has pointed out, the US plays a large part in destabilizing Venezuela:
Also see:
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Alan Chin
Reuters 2015-01-29 15:59:00
Since 9/11, every time there is a major terrorist attack abroad, many Americans might think or say to themselves, understandably if not graciously, "Thank God it's not us." From Bali to Madrid to London and or Paris, extreme Islamist violence has struck peaceful cities with sudden gunfire or explosions and the killing of innocents. Not that the United States is immune - the Fort Hood shootings and the Boston Marathon bombing are notable domestic incidents that involved assailants identifying with al Qaeda in one way or another. But after each attack, the same questions get asked. A few weeks ago, the question was, "Why France? Why not the United States?" Comment: Because France wasn't towing the Zionist line: As authorities in France continue to piece together events that led up to the Charlie Hebdo attack and to hunt for other Islamic extremists, it's important to note that there are significant differences between American and French society. The horrific and tragic assault on the satirical newspaper and a supermarket serving the Jewish community occurred in a specifically French context of racial and religious tensions. From a certain perspective, France and the other Western European countries are marvels of successful social democracy in ways that American liberals can only dream about: excellent schools, public transportation and infrastructure; universal healthcare that has been a fact for generations; even troubled economies are buttressed by still resilient welfare states. There's little of the street crime that plagues many American cities. | |
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| Secret History |
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The Siberian Times
Forensic examination to be made on well preserved remains of possible Lama teacher.2015-01-28 21:34:00 This extraordinary picture shows the mummifed male body which is believed to be several centuries old. It was found at 6.30 pm 27 January 2015 in Songinokhairkhan province, reported Mongolia'sMorning Newspaper.
'The mummified body sits in a lotus position, as if still meditating. 'Experts that only had time to carry basic visual test say they believe the body can be about 200 years old'. The report added: 'So far there is no information as to where the body was found. The only details we learned was that it was covered with a cattle skin'. | |
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Owen Jarus
Live Science 2015-01-26 07:03:00
Archaeologists are excavating the vessel that served as the flagship of the pirate Blackbeard, and the medical equipment they have recovered from the shipwreck suggests the notorious buccaneer had to toil to keep his crew healthy. Blackbeard is the most famous pirate who ever lived. His real name was Edward Teach (or possibly Thatch), and his flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was formerly a French slave vessel named La Concorde de Nantes that Blackbeard captured in November 1717. Blackbeard was able to capture this ship easily because much of its crew was either sick or dead due to disease. A few months into 1718, the Queen Anne's Revenge ran aground on a sandbar at Topsail Inlet in North Carolina. Blackbeard abandoned much of his crew at that point, leaving the site with a select group of men and most of the plunder. He was killed in battle later that year. The wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge was rediscovered in 1996 and has been under excavation by the Queen Anne's Revenge Project. Archaeologists have recovered many artifacts, including a number of medical instruments. These artifacts, combined with historical records, paint a picture of a pirate captain who tried to keep his crew in fighting shape. "Treating the sick and injured of a sea-bound community on shipboard was challenging in the best of times," Linda Carnes-McNaughton, an archaeologist and curator with the Department of Defense who volunteers her time on the excavation project, wrote in a paper she presented recently at the Society for Historical Archaeology annual meeting. The people on a ship like Blackbeard's would have had to contend with many conditions, including "chronic and periodic illnesses, wounds, amputations, toothaches, burns and other indescribable maladies," Carnes-McNaughton said. Blackbeard's surgeons In fact, maintaining the crew's health was so important that when Blackbeard turned the Queen Anne's Revenge into his flagship, he released most of the French crew members he had captured, but he forced the ship's three surgeons to stay, along with a few other specialized workers like carpenters and the cook, Carnes-McNaughton said. | |
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| Science & Technology |
No new articles.
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| Earth Changes |
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cfzwatcheroftheskies.blogspot.
2015-01-29 20:16:00
A stunning rare bird, hailing from the Arctic, has been spotted in Aberdeenshire. The beautiful drake King Eider was found off St Combs in Aberdeenshire, on Wednesday. Described as one of North America's most spectacular species, the King Eider forms large flocks during spring migration, sometimes exceeding 10,000 individuals, however, this duck appears to have been split from the flock. Elsewhere a Ridgway's Cackling Goose was spotted at Castle Kennedy near Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway. The rare goose is native to North America. It breeds in northern Canada and Alaska in a variety of tundra habitats. Source: The Press and Journal | |
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Jonathan Kaiman
The Guardian 2015-01-29 17:39:00
Beijing's mayor, Wang Anshun, has called the city "unliveable" because of its noxious smog, according to state media. "To establish a first-tier, international, liveable and harmonious city, it is very important to establish a system of standards, and Beijing is currently doing this," he said last Friday, according to the China Youth Daily newspaper. "At the present time, however, Beijing is not a liveable city." Anshun's speech came days before the market research company Euromonitor International announced, in its findings on theglobal tourism market in 2013, that tourism to Beijing had declined by 10% from the year before due to pollution and a countrywide economic slowdown. The company's top 100 city destination rankings, released on Tuesday, ranked Hong Kong, Singapore and Bangkok in its top three spots, followed by London and Paris. Beijing ranked 34th, in between Johannesburg and Sofia, Bulgaria. | |
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Jonathan O'Callaghan
Daily Mail (UK) 2015-01-29 11:29:00
These lakes may look like they are full of bizarre floating sea creatures, but they are actually filled with thousands of frozen bubbles. Snapped across Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada, the natural wonders are made of highly flammable gas methane. The gas - emitted by bacteria after they consume dead organic matter - is fairly harmless, but these bubbles can cause an explosion if lit. Paul Zizka, 35, tracked down the natural phenomenon, which he photographed at Lake Minnewanka, the Vermillion Lake and Abraham Lake. Abraham Lake is the most commonly-photographed spot for the spectacular sight. But adventure-loving Mr Zizka, who loves to explore, revealed Lake Minnewanka offers rival views - but is just a little trickier to get to. He said: 'All three lakes are ever-changing, cover wide areas and provide endless possibilities for the keen landscape photographer. They are magical places to explore and I find myself returning to them often. The methane bubbles depicted in the photographs have generated a lot of buzz primarily on social media. Many people have never seen the phenomenon before. People marveled at the beauty of them and wondered what they really were.'
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Comment: It is looking increasingly likely that electrical discharges may be causing recent strange phenomena, such as these glowing lights over the 'ring of fire' perhaps caused by the ignition ofleaking methane which may also be contributing to the discovery of thousands of dead fish which is becoming more common and unusual whale behaviour.
Could increasing electrical interaction with different charge layers of the atmosphere (see Earth Changes and the Human-Cosmic Connection) ignite larger plumes of escaping methane in the future? Another manifestation of 'fire in the sky' perhaps? | ||
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Paige Austin
Dana Point Patch 2015-01-29 13:11:00
The Pacific Marine Mammal Center will release a recently nursed-back-to-health sea lion back into the ocean at Crescent Bay in Laguna Beach Tuesday. The center usually doesn't see any ill sea lions washing ashore this time of the year, but already more than two dozen have needed treatment by the only licensed agency in the county. At most, two or three might end up on the beach and need a rescue, but the center has taken in 28 this month while 13 sea lion pups washed ashore in December, Executive Director Keith Matassa said. Further alarming the center's experts is an influx of varying species, Matassa added. "The difference this year is we're also seeing different species we don't normally see down here," Matassa said. | |
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Ivan Maldonado
North Tribune 2015-01-26 12:51:00
A hailstorm that hit mainly south central Ivaiporã on Sunday night killed about 300 birds, including sparrows and doves. According to information from the Environmental Secretariat, the hailstorm was located between the Plaza Henry Portelinha, near the Bank Brazil,on Bible Square, close to the bus station and Rio Grande Street South, near the State Barboza Ferraz College. At first there was a suspicion of environmental crime, which was dismissed by Secretary of Environment Jayme Ayres, moreover, the birds were badly hurt. "We talked with the population living here in this region and they confirmed the hailstorm yesterday (Sunday) at about 23 hours. The dead birds were found only where the hail occurred. " According to Ayres, just before the hail there was a strong wind that frightened the birds. "Frightened by the wind, they went looking for another shelter. It was when there was a hailstorm which ended up killing the birds, "said Ayres. | |
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A one-mile long ice jam is moving down the Platte River in Nebraska has caused flooding near Two Rivers State Park, about 30 miles west of Omaha. Authorities have rescued five people and pets from the floods and ice. Three of the victims are thought to have been in their vehicle when it became trapped in flood waters. Around 20 residents have evacuated the area. The National Weather Service in Omaha said: They predict that jam will move towards the South Bend area, just west of Louisville. | |
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Bill Gardner
The Telegraph 2015-01-29 12:09:00
An earthquake measuring 3.8 on the Richter scale has struck in the East Midlands. The UK's second major quake in 48 hours struck in Rutland at around 10:25pm at a depth of around 10 kilometres, the US Geological Survey said. According to residents, the tremor shook houses in the village of Cottesmore and the surrounding area. Jonathan Agnew, the BBC cricket correspondent who lives nearby, tweeted: "The earth just moved in the Vale. I mean seriously. Anyone else feel it?" Others posted photographs of framed pictures hanging on the walls slightly askew to show the aftermath of the earthquake. Sally Smart wrote: "Earthquake wow that was a biggen!! Thought a truck was coming through the house #adrenalinepumping." The British Geological Survey (BGS) said: "Just looking into reports of a possible earthquake in the Leics/Rutland area. Watch this space." Rutland is becoming something of an earthquake hotspot after three tremors were reported in two weeks last April. | |
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Bulbous head, 50 (yes, 50!) rows of tiny teeth, flabby body ... yep, it's a megamouth shark!
The 66th megamouth shark ever seen washed ashore this morning in Marigondon, a port in theAlbay province of the Philippines. Initial reports suggest the shark (Megachasma pelagios) was approximately five metres (16 ft.) in length, but until a necropsy can be performed, the finer details about the animal (including the cause of death) will remain a mystery. Sightings like this are rare ... so rare, in fact, that when the first megamouth was spotted in 1976, a new shark family, genus and species had to be created! These bizarre deep-diving animals are characterised by their bulbous snouts, loose skin, poorly calcified skeletons and (of course) their mega-mouths, which extend upward beyond the eyes. Only two living specimens have ever been studied by researchers, so every find is a big deal for science. | |
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USGS
2015-01-28 13:45:00
A magnitude-5.7 earthquake struck 25 miles southwest of Ferndale, California, on Wednesday afternoon, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The quake was reported 40 miles southwest of Eureka. | |
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| Fire in the Sky |
No new articles.
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| Health & Wellness |
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Lisa Egan
Ready Nutrition 2015-01-28 16:56:00
We already know that inflammation is the likely cause of a multitude of health conditions, including arthritis, asthma, cancer, chronic pain, headaches, and heart disease. Now research suggests an addition to the growing list of ailments with possible links to inflammation: depression. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 350 million people of all ages (globally) suffer from depression. Worldwide, only about half of the afflicted receive treatment. As many as a third of patients don't respond to antidepressant medications. And, the medications we currently have aren't without side effects - some of which are devastating. If inflammation is indeed a major cause of depression, things look brighter for sufferers. That's because there are lifestyle changes that can be made to alleviate chronic inflammation - and in turn, its associated disorders. | |
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Dr. Gary Null and Richard Gale
Global Research 2015-01-29 15:31:00
Within the mainstream medical and scientific community there is an unassailable pseudo-truth that vaccines are safe and effective, whether administered individually or in combination. Within the vaccine injured children and autism movements there is also an unchallenged belief that vaccines are effective but not always safe. In this case, vaccine-injured children or adult family members were simply one of the rare cases where they received a hot lot vaccine or possessed biomolecular abnormalities, such as mitochondria dysfunction, and suffered the consequences. Even many parents with two children developing neurological complications after vaccination, will continue to follow the recommended vaccine schedule. Any medical physician, scientist, nurse, public health advocate, politician, or journalist who questions the myth of vaccine safety and efficacy are often immediately attacked, ridiculed, and designated a conspirator. In fact, the pro-vaccine propaganda machine sends forth articulate doctors and university scientists to engage in ad hominin personal attacks against vaccine dissenters. However, what if all of these individuals and their organizations, their shadow lobbying foundations and think tanks, are wrong? | |
Comment: For more information, watch Dr. Tenpenny's overview on vaccination:
Dr. Sherri J. Tenpenny is an osteopathic medical doctor, board certified in three medical specialties. Beyond her recognition in the field of Integrative Medicine, she is most knowledgeable and outspoken physician on the negative impact vaccines can have on health. Dr Tenpenny has invested more than 18,000 hours documenting the problems with vaccines. Dr Tenpenny is the author of several books and a contributing author for several more including "Textbook of Food and Nutrients in Disease Management." (Johns Hopkins Univ. Press). Her articles about vaccine hazards translated into more than 10 languages. | |
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Jeremy Dean
PsyBlog 2015-01-29 15:06:00
Commonly used antidepressants and hay fever drugs, among others, have been linked to an increased risk of developing dementia, a new study finds. The drugs are often taken by older people, as Professor Shelly Gray, the study's first author, explained: "Older adults should be aware that many medications - including some available without a prescription, such as over-the-counter sleep aids - have strong anticholinergic effects. | |
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| Science of the Spirit |
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John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
Psych Central 2015-01-29 17:53:00
Nature teaches us a lot about what it takes to survive in the world. If only we'd listen. As I watch the snow fall outside my window, I can't help but be impressed. This perfect snow clumps on the tree branches, building a forest of white. But branches can only take so much weight. What happens when the snow becomes too much? This is where nature's amazing architecture comes into play. Nature has a simple solution to the weight of the world - and it's one we can all learn from. The branches fill up with snow. When it becomes too much, the branch gently bends, relieving itself of the snow and its weight. The branch, we could say, is practicing resilience. Nature has considered all the possibilities of life, and built in mechanisms to ensure that things survive. It brings snow to the trees, and the trees bend to the weight of snow, allowing no real harm to come to them. Nature has built these same mechanisms into us, too. We just don't always recognize or use them. | |
Comment: Two other excellent ways to improve resilience are the practices of mindfulness andmeditation. Both have been shown to be able to transform health and well-being psychologically as well as physically. A highly beneficial meditation technique is the Éiriú Eolas program which can be learned quickly, and has immediate positive effects. There is no need to sit in special postures, or be present in a carefully prepared relaxing atmosphere. The strength of the program comes from its high adaptability to stressful conditions of the modern world.
Face life with Éiriú Eolas, a stress relief program | |
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| High Strangeness |
No new articles.
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| Don't Panic! Lighten Up! |
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ignoramusky
2015-01-26 18:12:00
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Nick Wing
Happy Earth Day! Every year on April 22, the world celebrates this amazingly diverse planet we call home, focusing on ways to protect it from the often destructive practices of its human inhabitants. While many of these efforts focus on the conservation of Earth's most fragile habitats, we frequently forget just how extreme and alien-like our own planet can be. The photos below showcase Earth's unbelievably varying landscapes and remind us that we often live our lives confined only to a minuscule part of this amazing planet.The Huffington Post 2014-04-22 10:08:00 Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland
This strange landscape was formed around 50 to 60 million years ago. The geometric features are actually basalt columns that fractured into these shapes after a volcanic |
