Tag Archive: Austin


FARM NEWS

by Staff Writers
Austin TX (SPX)


Bees will move longer distances to find patches of flowers that are rich in species; it’s not floral density that determines how far a bumblebee will fly, but floral diversity.

Landscapes with large amounts of paved roads and impervious construction have lower numbers of ground-nesting bumblebees, which are important native pollinators, a study from The University of Texas at Austin and the University of California, Berkeley shows.

The study suggests that management strategies that reduce the local use of pavement and increase natural habitat within the landscape could improve nesting opportunities for wild bees and help protect food supplies around the word.

The study also suggests that increasing the number of species-rich flowering patches in suburban and urban gardens, farms and restored habitats could provide pathways for bees to forage and improve pollination services over larger areas.

The findings have major implications for global pollinator conservation on a rapidly urbanizing planet.

“We are potentially in a pollinator crisis,” said Shalene Jha, lead author and assistant professor of biology at The University of Texas at Austin. “Honey bees are declining precipitously, and wild bees have also been exhibiting population declines across the globe. Native bees provide critical pollination services for fruit, nut, fiber and forage crops. Understanding how bees move around the landscape can help us both preserve biodiversity and improve crop yields.”

Animal pollination is estimated to be worth over $200 billion in global crop yields.

Read Full Article Here

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Health And Wellness Report

 

 

Health Ranger interviews Laura Pressley about water fluoridation

by: NaturalNews

(NaturalNews) Health Ranger: Welcome, this is Mike Adams, the Health Ranger. This is the Health Ranger report at NaturalNews.com. As you can see, I’m wearing a shirt today, ‘Water is Life.’ This is a truism about human biology, isn’t it? In fact, life on the whole planet. And here today is a special guest, well, joining us by phone actually, who has a special interest in keeping our water safe and clean. She’s running for city council in Austin, Texas, where I’m located. Her name is Laura Pressley, and she’s been one of the most outspoken opponents against the chemical fluoridation of the water supply. She’s hosting a money bomb right now to raise campaign funds to help her win the election and get a seat on the city council in Austin, where she can then help lead the fight against water fluoridation and contamination of the Austin water supply with synthetic, dangerous chemicals. Laura, thanks for joining me today.

Laura Pressley: Hey Mike, thank you for having us. I love being on your show. We’ve been on it a couple times and thank you for having us again.

Health Ranger: It’s great to have you on. I hear you’re making a lot of waves in Austin right now with your run for city council. People are, I heard they’re accusing you of being a Ron Paul supporter. That sounds like a compliment to me. What’s the deal?

Laura Pressley: I know, it is hilarious. My opponent, whom I’m running against, I’m running for Austin city council place two, and our opponent, he cannot stand on his own policies or his own voting record or his own experience, so the only thing he can do to attack us is say that you know what, in Austin it’s mostly a Democrat-type community, and I’ll tell you what, the left-right paradigm is alive and well here in Austin. And , totally, if you’re not a Democrat, people don’t think you can be elected to a city council place. Well we’re, we’re, I’m basically an Independent, and all he can say is ‘she’s got a Ron Paul sticker on the back of her car and we can’t have one of those in the city council.’ And that is a direct quote from him.

Health Ranger: Well that’s extraordinary because first of all, the progressive, let’s say Democrat, liberal community, they believe in the legalization of medical marijuana, or the decriminalization-

Laura Pressley: Yes, yes.

Health Ranger: -they believe in clean water.

Laura Pressley: They’re strong environmentalists-

Health Ranger: They don’t believe in any wars.

Laura Pressley: Yes, they’re strong environmentalists, they’re anti-war, and they don’t like giving, you know, their money, taxpayer money to a bunch of rich people.

Health Ranger: Yeah but my point is that Ron Paul supports all of these positions that the liberals support, so why are they, why are they against Ron Paul? I don’t get that.

Laura Pressley: Exactly. Well, of course we know that the mainstream media demonizes Ron Paul for his policies and puts out a lot of disinformation and misinformation because you know, he’s a threat to the establishment.

Health Ranger: True.

Laura Pressley: So the good parts of him that are consistent with the Democratic party, which are the no wars, no bail-outs, no NDAA, they don’t really look at that. They just look at the part, oh, he’s anti-woman, ok, he’s anti-abortion, he’s anti, you know, environment, anti-regulations. So they skew all these components of his candidacy, and I have had to answer for a lot of this during our run for city council and explaining his positions, and it falls on deaf ears because they’ve been told so much by the mainstream media. And my opponent, yeah, go ahead.

Health Ranger: Well, I didn’t mean to make this conversation about Ron Paul, I want to make this conversation about you, Laura Pressley-

Laura Pressley: I know.

Health Ranger: Now, clearly you are pro-woman because you are a woman. And you want clean drinking water for all the women and mothers out there, too.

Laura Pressley: That’s right, we want to protect our babies and our children and our women who are so sensitive to hyperthyroidism. And fluoridation, you know, affects women disproportionately, and it affects minorities disproportionately. Hispanics and African-Americans with fluorosis two to three x higher than it does Anglos. So yes, all of our, all of the things that we’re standing for in the city council are consistent with Democratic party values, and of course we cannot focus on that because his voting record for subsidies and against the environment and against our families with fluoridation, he can’t stand on that. So he has to pick something that’s inflammatory, and it seems to be working to some extent. The other part is, like you said, he is doing a lot of advertising for me here in Austin because there are a lot of Ron Paul supporters here in Austin.

Health Ranger: Well, but let me explain to our viewers why this is really a national issue. It’s, Austin has become the battleground for the fluoride debate. Dr. Paul Connett, for example, came here and testified I believe, was that in front of the city council, or-

Laura Pressley: Yes, many times, he’s been multiple times.

Health Ranger: Yeah, and you’ve been on the issue, InfoWars team, Alex Jones and the whole crew there, they’ve been investigating. In fact, they ran a video that exposed the chemicals that are fluoride is being dumped into the Austin water supply.

Laura Pressley: Yes.

Health Ranger: And, so, if we can get fluoride chemicals, the poison, removed from the water supply in Austin, that really helps set a national precedent. And that’s why electing you, getting you into a city council seat is crucial for having that domino effect across the country. How can people support your campaign, Laura?

Laura Pressley: Well we are, and thank you Mike, we are having a money bomb this week to raise funds for our campaign. And we don’t have the what they call bundlers here in Austin, where these people go out and get money for the candidates and bundle money as it comes in. And typically those bundlers are real estate developers, or you know industry that’s getting subsidies from our city council currently. So we are doing grassroots. We need everybody’s support as much as possible. There’s a $350 limit for individuals and $700 limit, contribution limit for couples. So we have at PressleyForAustin.com, we have a contribute page, and we’re doing the money bomb this week and we need support, we really do. There’s a big push, we have about a month before the election and we’ve got a whole strategy of getting our message out and getting how we’re different from this candidate and how we will not be giving a bunch of our tax dollars to these rich corporations like Apple. Austin city council just gave Apple corporation, the $110 billion cash rich company, the richest company in the world outside of the banking and financial institutions, we just gave them $8.6 million to come and bring 3,600 jobs over the next ten years. And it’s an outrage. Apple was going to come here anyway, and there’s a lot of ways we can generate 300 jobs per year over the next ten years by investing in small businesses and keeping that money in Austin and keeping that money locally. So that’s, we need people’s help with donations if they can do that.

Health Ranger: I want to ask you about Apple in a separate segment with you here, but-

Laura Pressley: Ok.

Health Ranger: First, to wrap this up, I want to also inform people of a little bit about your background and ask you to comment on that, too. You have a PhD in chemistry, you’re from the high-tech industry. You’re also in the natural products industry. You have a rainwater company that sells bottled rainwater. What else do people need to know about you and sort of your background?

Laura Pressley: Well, I’m also a survivor of domestic violence. You know, one of the things that I can provide on the city council is a perspective of how really our city funds can support and help people out of poverty. I have been in a shelter myself with my daughter when she was two years old. She’s now 27. But I have seen the benefit of investing in our community, investing in people. And so not only do I have the tech side background, I was in the semi-conductor industry here in Austin for 17 years and I was an engineer and I was a business manager. I managed a $1 billion business, networking business and I was a cost-reduction manager, so I really have a lot of the expertise to get in the city council and start cutting waste, cutting expenses, but also having the side of seeing how if we could really fund critical and effective programs to get people out of poverty. I’m an example of that.

Health Ranger: But that’s, see, you talk about cutting waste, this is part of the reason why they don’t want you there because a lot of that so-called waste is actually graft and corrupt money going into somebody’s pocket, from what I hear about the city council. It’s very, very corrupt and they want to keep it that way. So you would shake that up, it sounds like.

Laura Pressley: Absolutely, and that’s why they’re pressing so hard on this Ron Paul issue, you know, trying to demonize us. We’re just trying to get in there and do what’s right for the citizens. There is a ton of waste, Mike. I met with one of the, well the CEO of Austin Energy. It’s a $1 billion entity here in our community, and they provide our electricity but there’s some profit they make and that goes into funding these major programs. And I asked him and I said, why are we not doing cost reduction and efficiency and waste reduction programs before you start raising rates to citizens? And he told me, the CEO said, of Austin Energy, he said, we don’t have the bandwidth to go cut costs. I’m like, well you have the bandwidth to go raise rates for all of us. Why can’t you look in your own backyard? So, I pretty much told him what-for and exposed that there’s nothing they’re doing, that the city council setting expectation for them to be less wasteful. And you’re right, it’s going into the pocket of somebody, and that somebody’s not going to be happy. But we are there to shake it up, use our voice, expose what’s going on and make a difference.

Health Ranger: And the people of Austin are never going to benefit from this corruption. I always find it interesting that these people who worship big government, they never benefit from it. The government keeps them in poverty, and somehow they think the government is their savior when they’re getting screwed. It’s like, come on.

Laura Pressley: Well, I think what happens, I agree with you, I think what happens is the middle class and then the upper classes, the upper-middle class in all communities, they have disposable income, so you’re really not affecting their pocket book yet when you’re raising electric rates and raising water rates and what happens is those lower income classes and those people that are already in poverty absolutely are destroyed financially when these things happen. And what happens is they develop these people out and they go in and buy their property and they put mixed-use large commercial developments on that cheap land, and I’ll tell you what, that’s what’s going on in Austin. That’s the cycle.

Health Ranger: Some under the table property deals and the city seizing property from people, using imminent domain and then later selling it a few years later to their friends and connected insiders, things like that.

Laura Pressley: Yes, and then giving these subsidies. You know, the council member that I’m going up against, he actually made the statement two nights ago in a candidate forum that the city needs to balance the risk for these companies coming in and spending millions of dollars in investment and the city needs to help them with that risk and mitigate that risk and I was in shock.

Health Ranger: That sounds just like the banker bail-out justification.

Laura Pressley: It is no different. It’s exactly that. And I say, you know what, I will not give our tax dollars to a bunch of rich corporations, and that’s what I stand for. And the people in Austin are very frustrated by this. And I know they’re frustrated with it across the country because this is a model that’s being translated across all cities: Dallas, Arlington, Houston, all across the country, this is a model that’s happening now where councils are being approached, we’ll come and bring these jobs if you give us this money. And they feel kind of, there’s a fear factor. And that’s one thing that I do not operate off of. I don’t have the fear chip in my head. I missed it somehow when I was born and I just don’t have it, so I don’t operate off of that. So they can’t make those arguments with me and I’ll just give them back the business cases of why we don’t need as citizens to be subsidizing them.

Health Ranger: Yeah, well alright I want to talk to you about that in another segment, but for wrapping this one up, the website folks is PressleyForAustin.com. That’s where you can help contribute to her money bomb, her fundraising effort to actually get a seat on the Austin city council and when that happens, that’ll be a real game changer for the fluoride debate across the country.

Laura Pressley: It will be.

Health Ranger: Laura, I hope that once you’re there in that seat, you’ll still find time to talk with us.

Laura Pressley: I would love to keep doing that, that’s wonderful. And again, what I can provide on the council because I have a chemistry background is I can provide education. And that’s kind of the first step in this whole fluoridation thing. The council’s being educated by the city staff that doesn’t have the most recent data, and really doesn’t have the expertise to analyze and present that data in a way that is cohesive and understandable, and that’s the piece I can bring.

Health Ranger: Sure. Yeah, well, they should be in favor of education, but it’s funny how it’s very selective, where issues like fluoride, they don’t want to know. Don’t tell us, you know. Or economics, basically, it sounds like.

Laura Pressley: Yes.

Health Ranger: With the company subsidies. Anyway, we’ll talk about that in another segment. Thanks for watching, folks, and thank you Laura for joining me today here on the Health Ranger Report.

Watch the full video interview at:

http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=F2C011AF301080465CA5F078F51E333A

Texas, Time to Secede or Be Ruled By Globalist Puppets in Both Poltical Parties.

 

This election is a joke. There is no evidence to say the elections are fair, accurate or have any credibility. Texas cannot afford another four  years under Obama or Romney. If Obama wins a second term, we will get more of the same and worse. If Romney wins, there will be no difference in policy either. He is for gun control and socialized medicine. Romney is a vanilla ice version of Obama. There is not a dimes worth of difference between the two candidates. So what should Texas do to ensure its own survival to maintain her economic and cultural heritage?

First things Texans should do, that is recall Governor Rick Perry and Lt Governor David Dewhurst to remove both from office. They both talk a good talk, saying they will not allow Washington DC to interfere in the business of Texas; their lack of actions on the behalf of Texans speaks louder then words. They both are derelict in their duties and have behind the scenes have killed bills that were good for Texans siding with special interest.

They were silent during the rolling blackouts in February 2011 allowing the EPA to shut off our coal power plants on the coldest day of winter. Both were silent and out to lunch.

They have failed to send law enforcement officers to the Airport and enforce existing state law prohibiting TSA for touching people in private areas against their will. Lt Gov Dewhurst twisted the State Senators arms on the Senate Floor with a Rep from Obama’s DOJ to kill the bill after the House voted overwhelmingly in favor. Gov Perry waited the last minute to put the bill back on the agenda of the special session making it impossible to pass due to lack of time left in the session. Both these men coordinated behind the scenes to kill this legislation that would have been a major victory for state’s rights.

They have allowed the EPA to come into Texas and shut down coal power plants without any law to justify the actions.

They have no stood up for the Texas oil industry when Obama was on contempt of court not allowing offshore drilling.

They have stood silent while Obama came in and took over the permit process for refineries and power plants that was reserved for Texas only.

They violated the Logan Act. Rick Perry attending Bilderberg meeting in Istanbul Turkey in 2006, David Dewhurst attended Bretton Woods II in 2011 meeting behind closed doors with George Soros talking about economic policy in secrecy.

Gov Rick Perry and Lt Gov David Dewhurst both work for the same foreign banks Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney bow to and take orders from the same oligarchs. Texas cannot have this anymore if she is going to survive.

These two will stand in the way allowing Texans to vote on shall we be a part of the Untied States or secede from the union? If Texas does secede, we cannot have these men in power because they will make sure we are beholden to the UN and a private central bank.

If Barrack Obama wins, a second term or Mitt Romney is the 45th President. First, we cannot have Perry and Dewhurst in power to thwart the will of Texans. They will go along with the same globalist agenda regardless who is in the White House.

I see secession being the only choice now facing Texas now if freedom is going to survive and her dignity kept in tact. We cannot allow to be governed by a false choice that was chosen by the ruling oligarchs and not Texans themselves. Mitt Romney is not a dimes worth of difference than Obama. They are both stand for things Texas is against in their true beliefs. Texas does not want Obamacare. Romney and Obama both endorse Socialized medicine. They both are for gun control. Romney signed the assault weapons ban in 2004. The both are pro abortion. They both are for carbon taxes and banker bailouts.

President Obama if he wins a second term will use the pen to sign executive orders bypassing congress to implement gun control and agenda 21. Texas needs a governor and a Lt Gov who will govern as the President of the Senate who can set the agenda for the state to erect barriers against illegal Federal encroachments. If the Federal government does not respect the state’s right to govern as they see fit. We can secede by a vote of the state legislature or a direct election with a simple up and down vote,

Texas is in a unique position to make her own way to be a state or be a republic once more. Sam Houston prophesied” Texas will again lift its head, and stand among the nations” That time is coming soon where Texas will have to make a choice or fade into history under the globalist dictatorship. It is all in God’s hands for now.

Politics and Legislation

Persian paradox

DailyStar

For the Islamic Republic of Iran, the question of fighting off foreign intervention and “conspiracies” has been a watchword ever since the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

Iranian officials are quick to talk about an unholy trinity of the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel working together to plot in one way or another against Tehran or its allies in the region.

But when sovereign states in the Middle East express their views, or announce certain policies, Iran’s various responses often take the form of naked intervention in the affairs of other countries.

The latest flare-up has emerged in the Gulf, where countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council recently announced that closer ties between member-states were on the table.

No concrete steps toward political unity were taken during Monday’s meeting of the GCC; instead, the question of closer political ties, or even unity, would be tackled at a later date.

But Tehran has responded in full force to the notion by advising Bahrain to stay away from a closer relationship with Saudi Arabia, and urging the Iranian people to turn out Friday for protests against what it says is an “American-Zionist-British” plot.

Moscow court upholds ban against satellite image distributor

by Staff Writers
Moscow (RIA Novosti)


illustration only

A Moscow court upheld a ban on Friday prohibiting the Russian research and development company ScanEx from distributing satellite images of Earth at a resolution higher than two meters.

Scanex works under license from the Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos, to collect, process and disseminate Earth remote sensing data.

A 2008 ban prohibited ScanEx from distributing high-resolution images, considered by the defense ministry to contain sensitive military information.

ScanEx appealed the ban, citing the Russian defense minister as saying in 2006 that all restrictions on satellite imagery resolution would be lifted.

Commenting after the court decision was announced, a ScanEx spokesman said the company would file another appeal.

“The whole world can see Russia from space on detailed satellite images, but in Russia these data have not been definitively declassified,” the spokesman said.

Last November Roscosmos announced that it was preparing a bill to lift all restrictions on the dissemination of civil satellite data.

Source: RIA Novosti

Related Links
Daily Russian News
Earth Observation News – Suppiliers, Technology and Application

Jordan monarchy faces growing challenges

by Staff Writers
Amman, Jordan (UPI) May 16, 2012

 

Jordan’s Queen Rania is coming under mounting criticism over alleged corruption in the Hashemite kingdom’s political elite as the pro-Western monarchy faces major challenges to introduce reforms and scrap the 1994 peace treaty with Israel.

The 41-year-old queen, whose parents are Palestinian, has long faced accusations she was playing too prominent a role in running the largely desert and highly vulnerable state squeezed between the larger powers of Israel, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

But as King Abdullah II, who she married in 1993 when he was a prince not then in line for the Hashemite throne, has sought to ride out the political turbulence from pro-democracy uprisings that have convulsed the Arab world since January 2011, she has become more of a target for popular ire.

The normally high-profile queen, a stylish, cosmopolitan beauty who was born in Kuwait, has been advised by Jordan’s powerful security service to adopt a lower profile to deflect criticism of the monarchy at a time of regional turmoil.

Abdullah, who ascended the throne in 1999 after the death of his father, King Hussein, has repeatedly pledged to introduce sweeping democratic reforms.

But so far he has failed to produce. He has sought to deflect criticism by blaming the governments he appoints. So far he has gone through 10 prime ministers — three in the last 18 months since the Arab Spring began.

The last to go was Awn Shawkat al-Khasawneh, who suddenly resigned April 26 after six months.

That was a major setback for Abdullah’s efforts to maintain stability in the face of the regional upheaval while maintaining as much power as he can for the monarchy established by Britain after World War I.

Khasawneh, a respected international jurist, was apparently the victim of a power struggle with the kingdom’s powerful security service, the General Intelligence Directorate.

The pace of political change has been glacial and talk of meaningful parliamentary democracy, where government would be formed on a parliamentary majority rather than the whims of the monarch, has all but vanished in recent months.

The king, once beyond public criticism, is now coming under direct attack, along with his wife, who is also being accused of corruption. High unemployment and economic woes fuel the growing anger.

Abdullah blamed Khasawneh for dragging his feet on reforms the king says he ordered him to introduce.

But political insiders say Abdullah privately concedes his agenda of gradual reforms has been blocked by powerful elements within the security establishment.

These shadowy figures are determined to prevent Islamists, the most organized opposition group, from making the major political gains their brethren have made in Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

Abdullah’s innate caution has been heightened by the bloodbath in Syria, Jordan’s powerful and often aggressive northern neighbor.

More than half Jordan’s 6.5 million population are of Palestinian origin, many of them refugees bitterly opposed to the 1994 peace agreement.

The protests are largely peaceful and tame by Middle Eastern standards, but they mask a growing discontent.

There is also stiff opposition from the Bedouin tribes, bedrock of support for the monarchy.

They feel threatened by the largely urban Palestinian business class that has amassed considerable power and because they fear Israel’s seeking to drive Palestinians out of the West Bank to turn Jordan into a Palestinian state.

The king’s appointment of a prominent conservative, Fayez Tarawneh, to succeed Khasawneh has heightened public anger. Tarawneh is seen as a royal yes-man who won’t press for reforms.

In recent days there has been a nationwide surge of protests by Islamists and leftists demanding the abrogation of the peace treaty.

They’ve been doing that for 18 years. But these days, the mood is becoming darker and more aggressive as other Arab states topple longtime rulers and Israel stalls the peace process.

“For the moment, the opposition calls are for reform rather than regime change, but the signs are becoming clear that Abdullah has failed to understand the new pressures unleashed by the Arab Spring,” said British analyst Julien Barnes-Darcy.

Columnist Lamis Andoni also fears the worst. “The regime’s reached the conclusion — I think it’s a miscalculation — it can carry on without making fundamental changes,” she said.

“It’s betting the protest movement will get weaker and that it can fall back on its traditional power base of tribal leaders. … But the reality is the economic situation will undermine those assumptions.”

Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com

NDAA Authorizes War Against Iran

U.S. Representative from Ohio’s 10th District

This week, Congress is considering two pieces of legislation relating to Iran. The first undermines a diplomatic solution with Iran and lowers the bar for war. The second authorizes a war of choice against Iran and begins military preparations for it.

H.Res.568: Eliminating the Most Viable Alternative to War

The House is expected to vote on H.Res. 568. Read the resolution. Section (6) rejects any United States policy that would rely on efforts to contain a nuclear weapons-capable Iran. Section (7) urges the President to reaffirm the unacceptability of an Iran with nuclear-weapons capability and opposition to any policy that would rely on containment as an option in response to Iranian enrichment.

This language represents a significant shift in U.S. policy and would guarantee that talks with Iran, currently scheduled for May 23, would fail. Current U.S. policy is that Iran cannot acquire nuclear weapons. Instead, H. Res. 568 draws the “redline” for military action at Iran achieving a nuclear weapons “capability,” a nebulous and undefined term that could include a civilian nuclear program. Indeed, it is likely that a negotiated deal to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran and to prevent war would provide for Iranian enrichment for peaceful purposes under the framework of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty with strict safeguards and inspections. This language makes such a negotiated solution impossible.

At the same time, the language lowers the threshold for attacking Iran. Countries with nuclear weapons “capability” could include many other countries like Japan or Brazil. It is an unrealistic threshold.

The Former Chief of Staff of Secretary of State Colin Powell has stated that this resolution “reads like the same sheet of music that got us into the Iraq war.”

H.R. 4310: Authorizing War Against Iran and Preparing the Military for it

While H. Res. 568 undermines our diplomatic efforts and lowers the bar for war, H.R. 4310, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 begins military preparations for war. Section 1221 makes military action against Iran a U.S. policy. Section 1222 directs our armed forces to prepare for war.

Read Full Article Here

14 State Governors Under Fire From White House for Forming Citizen Militias Not Under Federal Control.

Lone Star Watchdog

Right now, what is keeping the new world order from really rearing its ugly head is an armed population, which is the militia at large. The State Governors and the State Legislatures are within their legal right to call up the state militia.

The state militia is not the National Guard. The State Guards or militias proceeded before the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of confederation and the US Constitution. The state defense forces are the not Regular Army or a Professional force. They are unorganized and irregular formations consisting of the people possessing arms not under a centralized command structure.

To prevent such abuses from a centralized government. The Bill of Rights were adopted by the Congress and the original 13 states. The militias and the possession of arms in the hands of a decentralized power is the alternative to having a standing army in peacetime.

The 10 Articles in the Bill of Rights was adopted as expressed in the preamble stating:

In order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution.

The Bill of rights as a means to restrain Federal; power over the sovereign states and the individual.

In the second Amendment, “A well regulated militia being necessary for the security of a FREE STATE”. That means it is not the National Guard that only came into existence because of the Militia act of 1903(The Dick Act). Many anti-gun advocates on the left argued the “well regulated militia” means the National Guard, which is supposed to be under the command of the state governors. The second part of the second Amendment says after the comma states:

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Economy

People & Power – Algeria: The revolution that never was

Published on May 17, 2012 by

Why did the uprisings that brought down governments across North Africa and the Middle East fail to materialise in Algeria? Was it, as the government would claim, because of the regime’s ‘progressive leadership’ or has something more sinister and complex been going on? Opponents and human rights activists say it has more to do with a wary population traumatised by the country’s violent past and and living in fear of its secret police. People & Power wanted to find out more, but getting into Algeria is difficult – not least because Al Jazeera has been denied official access to the country since 2004. When our requests for journalist visas were ignored, our filmmakers managed to get in unofficially and were able to work discreetly. Algeria: The revolution that never was reveals what they found.

 

 

New French cabinet won’t scare the horses

Published on May 17, 2012 by

May 17 – Chris Hughes of Breakingviews says French politicians will toe the line on Europe, but the question is whether president Francois Hollande’s new cabinet will tackle reform at home.

 

 

Economic crisis
Congress MP Bhalchandra Mungekar on Tuesday warned that if government does not take “urgent” steps the country could face a bigger crisis.

PTI

NEW DELHI: Amid fragile global economic recovery and its impact on India, Congress member and former Planning Commission member Bhalchandra Mungekar on Tuesday warned that if government does not take “urgent” steps, the country could face a bigger crisis.

“If we do not adopt some of the urgent economic measures, I apprehend that a bigger crisis may be awaiting the country,” he said participating in the discussion on the Finance Bill, 2012 in the Rajya Sabha.

While congratulating finance minister Pranab Mukherjee for intending to amend the FRBM Act, Mungekar said the decision to roll back some tax measures is “most disturbing”.

World Bank agrees $2b loan for Indonesia

THE World Bank has announced it’s ready to provide Indonesia with a $2 billion loan, a backstop against a potential debt crisis in one of Asia’s fastest growing economies.

The World Bank said the loan, requested by the Indonesian government, would be held as a contingency against “possible future shocks and volatility”.

While Indonesia has long seen growth rates that would be the envy of the United States or European nations, the economy has slowed recently thanks to a drop in export demand.

Jakarta and the World Bank will hope the loan sends a message to markets that Indonesia has the firepower to withstand moderate shocks, as it moves to implement economic reforms.

Though Indonesia currently enjoys better terms of borrowing than some indebted European nations, its budget remains vulnerable to external shocks.

Any deepening of the crisis is the eurozone or a slowdown in China or the United States would hit the Indonesian economy hard.

Exports account for around 26 percent of gross domestic product.

But for now, the country appears to be weathering the storm.

According to the Bank of Indonesia, the country will pay an interest rate of 3.85 percent on 10 year bonds, more than Greece pays for three month bonds.

GDP expanded 6.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter.

Why We Are Going To See Bank Runs Happening All Over Europe (XLF, EWP, EWI, FXE, VGK, EWG, FAZ, FAS)

Michael Snyder: The bank runs that we are watching right now in Greece (NYSEARCA:GREK) are shocking, but they are only just the beginning.  Since May 6th, nearly one billion dollars has been withdrawn from Greek banks.  For a small nation like Greece, that is an absolutely catastrophic number.  At this point, the entire Greek banking system is in danger of collapsing.  If you had money in a Greek bank, why wouldn’t you pull it out?  If Greece leaves the euro, all euros in Greek banks will likely be converted to drachmas, and the value of those drachmas will almost certainly decline dramatically.  In fact, it has been estimated that Greek citizens could see the value of their bank accounts decline by up to 50 percent if Greece leaves the euro.  So if you had money in a Greek bank, it would only make sense to withdraw it and move it to another country as quickly as possible.  And as the eurozone begins to unravel, this is a scenario that we are going to see play out in country after country.  As member nations leave the eurozone, you would be a fool to have your euros in Italian banks or Spanish banks when you could have them in German (NYSEARCA:EWG) banks instead.  So the bank runs that are happening in Greece right now are only a preview of things to come.  Before this crisis is over we are going to see bank runs happening all over Europe (NYSEARCA:VGK).

If Greece leaves the euro (NYSEARCA:FXE), the consequences are likely to be quite messy.  Those that are promoting the idea that a “Grexit” can be done in an orderly fashion are not being particularly honest.  The following is from a recent article in the Independent….

“Whoever tells you a Greek exit would be no big deal is an idiot, lying or disingenuous,” said Sony Kapoor of the European think-tank Re-Define. Economists fear that a disorderly exit would prompt a huge run by investors on Spanish and Italian debt, forcing those countries to seek support from an EU bailout fund, which, with a capacity of just €500bn, is widely regarded as too small to cope with those pressures.

Greek exit from the euro would not only result in a run on Spanish and Italian bonds, but it would also likely result in a run on Spanish and Italian banks.

If Greece is allowed to leave the euro, that will be a signal that other countries will eventually be allowed to leave as well.  Nobody in their right mind would want their euros stuck in Spanish or Italian banks if those countries end up converting back to national currencies.

Fear is a powerful motivator.  If Greece converts their euros back to drachmas, that will be a clear signal that all euros are not created equally.  The race to move money into German banks will accelerate dramatically.

Read Full Article Here

Published on May 12, 2012 by

12 year old spells out the fraud the banks are committing against the people.
Victoria Grant explains why her homeland, Canada, and most of the world, is in debt. April 27, 2012 at the Public Banking in America Conference, …

 

 

We Are Watching The Greek Banking System Die Right In Front Of Our Eyes

Money is being pulled out of Greek banks at an alarming rate, and if

something dramatic is not done quickly Greek banks are going to start dropping like flies.  As I detailed yesterday, people do not want to be stuck with euros in Greek banks when Greece leaves the euro and converts back to the drachma.  The fear is that all existing euros in Greek banks would be converted over to drachmas which would then rapidly lose value after the transition.  So right now euros are being pulled out of Greek banks at a staggering pace.  According to MSNBC, Greeks withdrew $894 million from Greek banks on Monday alone and a similar amount was withdrawn on Tuesday.  But this is just an acceleration of a trend that has been going on for a couple of years.  It has been reported that approximately a third of all Greek bank deposits were withdrawn between January 2010 and March 2012.  So where has all of the cash for these withdrawals been coming from?  Well, the European Central Bank has been providing liquidity for Greek banks, but now it has been reported that the ECB is going to stop providing liquidityto some Greek banks.  It was not announced which Greek banks are being cut off.  For now, the Greek Central Bank will continue to provide euros to those banks, but the Greek Central Bank will not be able to funnel euros into insolvent banks indefinitely.

This is a major move by the European Central Bank, and it is going to shake confidence in the Greek banking system even more.

There are already rumors that the Greek government is considering placing limits on bank withdrawals, and many Greeks will be tempted to go grab their money while they still can.

Read Full Article Here

 

 

Get Ready: We’re About To Have Another 2008-Style Crisis

by cmartenson

Well, my hat is off to the global central planners for averting the next stage of the unfolding financial crisis for as long as they have. I guess there’s some solace in having had a nice break between the events of 2008/09 and today, which afforded us all the opportunity to attend to our various preparations and enjoy our lives.

Alas, all good things come to an end, and a crisis rooted in ‘too much debt’ with a nice undercurrent of ‘persistently high and rising energy costs’ was never going to be solved by providing cheap liquidity to the largest and most reckless financial institutions. And it has not.

Forestalled is Not Foregone

The same sorts of signals that we had in 2008 are once again traipsing across my market monitors. Not precisely the same, of course, but with enough similarities that they rhyme loudly. Whereas in 2008 we saw breakdowns in the credit spreads of major financial institutions, this time we are seeing the same dynamic in the sovereign debt of the weaker European nation states.

Greece, as expected and predicted here, is a right proper mess and will have to leave the euro monetary system if it is to have any chance at recovery going forward. Yes, all those endless meetings and rumors and final agreements painfully hammered out by eurocrats over the past year are almost certainly going to be tossed, and additional losses are going to be foisted upon the hapless holders of Greek debt. My prediction is that within a year Greece will be back on the drachma, perhaps by the end of this year (2012).

Read Full Article Here

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Wars and Rumors of War

‘Pentagon talks peace, arms Syria rebels via Gulf allies’

Published on May 17, 2012 by

Washington is helping to co-ordinate arms to the Syrian opposition through Arab Gulf allies – Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The confirmation was given by unnamed American officials. However they say the US is not directly supplying weapons to the rebel forces. There’s recently been an influx of arms from abroad to fight the regime in Syria.

Anti-war activist Brian Becker says the US and NATO still want Assad out.

 

 

IDF denies Palestinians injured in Gaza artillery strike

Published on May 17, 2012 by

Israel’s denying reports that its army has shelled parts of Gaza, wounding several civilians. The claims come from Palestinian doctors, who say they’re treating the casualties. The latest from our Middle East correspondent Paula Slier.

Israeli intelligence head ‘visited US for Iran talks’

A general view shows the Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem in 2011. Israeli military intelligence chief Aviv Kochavi made a "secret visit" to Washington earlier this month to discuss the upcoming talks between world powers and Iran, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

A general view shows the Western Wall in the old city of Jerusalem in 2011. Israeli military intelligence chief Aviv Kochavi made a “secret visit” to Washington earlier this month to discuss the upcoming talks between world powers and Iran, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

AFP – Israeli military intelligence chief Aviv Kochavi made a “secret visit” to Washington earlier this month to discuss the upcoming talks between world powers and Iran, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

An Israeli security official confirmed the visit, which was reported in Haaretz newspaper, but could not provide further details.

As well as discussing Tehran’s nuclear programme, the major general also held talks with senior White House and intelligence officials in New York and Washington on “the Syria crisis and Hezbollah’s increasing power in Lebanon,” the paper said.

Citing a senior Israeli official, Haaretz said Iran was the main topic, with talks focused on next week’s talks between Tehran and the P5+1 powers — the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.

Israel and most of the West believe Iran’s nuclear energy programme masks a drive to develop atomic weapons but the two allies disagree on how imminent the threat is. Tehran denies such intentions.

US officials have warned against any pre-emptive military strike, with analysts predicting Iran could hit back at US and Israeli targets, with its Lebanese Shiite ally Hezbollah expected to launch rocket attacks on Israel.

According to the paper, Kochavi warned over Hezbollah’s “increasing strength” and said internal tensions in Lebanon, combined with the instability in Syria, “increases the risk of escalation.”

In recent weeks, Israel has spared no effort to ensure its concerns are well understood ahead of the May 23 P5+1 talks in Baghdad.

Earlier this month, National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror toured European capitals meeting officials directly engaged in the Iran talks.

And last week, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton made a surprise visit to Jerusalem to discuss the talks with top Israeli officials.

On Tuesday, Defence Minister Ehud Barak flew to Washington for the third time in recent months for talks with his American counterpart, which were also expected to deal with Iran.

Before leaving, Barak complained that the world’s demands of Iran were “minimalist” and would not succeed in making it halt its nuclear drive.

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Articles of Interest

Russia Questions Dutch Vegetable Safety

by Staff Writers
Moscow (RIA Novosti)


illustration only

Russia’s food safety chief Gennady Onishchenko raised doubts on Monday over the safety of vegetables imported from the Netherlands, which he said had been experimenting with mutations of the avian flu virus.

“The Netherlands is engaged in an activity banned by international conventions. It alters properties, in particular, the properties of bird flu viruses, increasing their virulence compared with natural strains,” he said.

“Being aware of this process, we believe we must understand why this is being done and how much this threatens Russia’s national security, Onishchenko said.

Onishchenko has repeatedly claimed the European Union has failed to identify the causes of a highly pathogenic E.coli intestinal virus that claimed several lives in Europe last summer and prompted Russia to restrict vegetable imports from the EU.

Source: RIA Novosti

Related Links
Daily Russian News
Farming Today – Suppliers and Technology

 

 

Austin Texas May Be Test Site For Drone Training! High Tech Clay Pigeon Program!

S. Korea set to launch multipurpose satellite

ANI

South Korea is set to launch a multipurpose satellite to carry out earth observation from a space center in Japan early Friday, the government said Thursday.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said in a statement that the Arirang-3 satellite is scheduled to take off at around 1:39 a.m. Friday from Tanegashima Space Center on Tanegashima Island in western Japan.

The satellite will be carried into orbit by Japan’s H-IIA rocket, and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), which has organized the launch, said the liftoff will go smoothly citing favorable weather conditions, according to the ministry.

The satellite, equipped with a high-resolution optical camera, will operate at an altitude of 685 kilometers for the next four years to provide highly detailed images of the Earth’s surface.

South Korea launched its first Earth-observatory satellite Arirang-1 in 1999, and since 2004 the country has invested heavily, spending more than 286.6 billion won (245.5 million U.S. dollars) on its satellite project.
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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes 'FAIR USE' of any such copyrighted material.]

Environmental

Nanotube ‘sponge’ has potential in oil spill cleanup

by Staff Writers
Oak Ridge, TN (SPX)


A carbon nanotube sponge developed with help from ORNL researchers holds potential as an aid for oil spill cleanup. Simulations at ORNL explained how the addition of boron atoms encouraged the formation of “elbow” junctions (seen in d) that help the nanotubes grow into large spongelike clumps (seen in a-c). The material is extremely efficient at absorbing oil in contaminated seawater because it attracts oil and repels water. For a larger version of this image please go here.

A carbon nanotube sponge that can soak up oil in water with unparalleled efficiency has been developed with help from computational simulations performed at the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Carbon nanotubes, which consist of atom-thick sheets of carbon rolled into cylinders, have captured scientific attention in recent decades because of their high strength, potential high conductivity and light weight. But producing nanotubes in bulk for specialized applications was often limited by difficulties in controlling the growth process as well as dispersing and sorting the produced nanotubes.

ORNL’s Bobby Sumpter was part of a multi-institutional research team that set out to grow large clumps of nanotubes by selectively substituting boron atoms into the otherwise pure carbon lattice. Sumpter and Vincent Meunier, now of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, conducted simulations on supercomputers, including Jaguar at ORNL’s Leadership Computing Facility, to understand how the addition of boron would affect the carbon nanotube structure.

“Any time you put a different atom inside the hexagonal carbon lattice, which is a chicken wire-like network, you disrupt that network because those atoms don’t necessarily want to be part of the chicken wire structure,” Sumpter said. “Boron has a different number of valence electrons, which results in curvature changes that trigger a different type of growth.”

Simulations and lab experiments showed that the addition of boron atoms encouraged the formation of so-called “elbow” junctions that help the nanotubes grow into a 3-D network. The team’s results are published in Nature Scientific Reports.

“Instead of a forest of straight tubes, you create an interconnected, woven sponge-like material,” Sumpter said. “Because it is interconnected, it becomes three-dimensionally strong, instead of only one-dimensionally strong along the tube axis.”

Further experiments showed the team’s material, which is visible to the human eye, is extremely efficient at absorbing oil in contaminated seawater because it attracts oil and repels water.

“It loves carbon because it is primarily carbon,” Sumpter said. “Depending on the density of oil to water content and the density of the sponge network, it will absorb up to 100 times its weight in oil.”

The material’s mechanical flexibility, magnetic properties, and strength lend it additional appeal as a potential technology to aid in oil spill cleanup, Sumpter says.

“You can reuse the material over and over again because it’s so robust,” he said. “Burning it does not substantially decrease its ability to absorb oil, and squeezing it like a sponge doesn’t damage it either.”

The material’s magnetic properties, caused by the team’s use of an iron catalyst during the nanotube growth process, means it can be easily controlled or removed with a magnet in an oil cleanup scenario. This ability is an improvement over existing substances used in oil removal, which are often left behind after cleanup and can degrade the environment.

The experimental team has submitted a patent application on the technology through Rice University. The research is published as “Covalently bonded three-dimensional carbon nanotube solids via boron induced nanojunctions,” and is available online here.

The research team included researchers from ORNL, Rice University; Universidade de Vigo, Spain; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Instituto de Microelectronica de Madrid, Spain; Air Force Office of Scientific Research Laboratory; Arizona State University; Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium; The Pennsylvania State University; and Shinshu University, Japan.

 

Related Links
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Our Polluted World and Cleaning It Up

 

 

 

Researchers map fish species at risk from dams

by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX)


File image.

Dams are believed to be one of the biggest threats to freshwater organisms worldwide: They disrupt normal patterns of water and sediment flow, impede migration, and alter the character of spawning and feeding grounds. A shortage of data has until now prevented a thorough global assessment of the threat dams pose to fish species, but a study described in the June issue of BioScience attempts just that.

The report, by Catherine Reidy Liermann of Umea University, Sweden, and three coauthors, analyzed 397 ecologically distinct freshwater regions around the world and plotted the occurrence of dams greater than 15 meters high. This approach enabled the researchers to assess the amount of obstruction the dams caused.

The authors then examined location data for fish species believed to be at risk of extinction because they are restricted to a specific region or because they have to migrate up rivers as part of their life cycle.

This allowed the researchers to identify regions where dams pose the biggest risk to fish species. Factoring in where there has been additional habitat alteration-a known risk for many fishes-allowed the authors to further refine their list of the danger zones.

The results pointed to Murray-Darling Province (Australia), Southern Italy, the Lower and Middle Indus Basin, West Korea, the Upper Parana (southern Brazil), the South Atlantic coast of the United States, and Mobile Bay ecoregions as having notable numbers of fish species at risk and heavy dam obstruction.

Other parts of the United States in the 18 ecoregions deemed to present the greatest risks worldwide include the Great Lakes and part of the Gulf of Mexico. Much of the Danube, Iberia, and the Southern Temperate Highveld in South Africa are also on the list.

These 18 ecoregions, the authors write, “merit immediate conservation attention.” Eels, shads, lampreys, sturgeons, and salmonids stand out as being especially vulnerable.

The authors explain that their findings will help researchers and planners in identifying important regions where conservation is feasible because the watercourses are relatively unobstructed and are home to at-risk species. The results also flag regions where restoration-possibly even including dam removal-is desirable if fishes are to be conserved.

The complete list of peer-reviewed articles in the June, with 2012 issue of BioScience is as follows. Articles 1,2,4,5, 6, and 7 are now published ahead of print. Article 3 will be published with the June issue’s full contents next month.

1. Implications of Dam Obstruction for Global Freshwater Fish Diversity. Catherine Reidy Liermann, Christer Nilsson, James Robertson, and Rebecca Y. Ng

2. The Effects of Forest Fuel-Reduction Treatments in the United States. Scott L. Stephens, James D. McIver, Ralph E. J. Boerner, Christopher J. Fettig, Joseph B. Fontaine, Bruce R. Hartsough, Patricia Kennedy, and Dylan W. Schwilk

3. Oil Impacts on Coastal Wetlands: Implications for the Mississippi River Delta Ecosystem after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Irving A. Mendelssohn, Gary L. Andersen, Donald Baltz, Rex Caffey, Kevin R. Carman, John W. Fleeger, Samantha B. Joye, Qianxin Lin, Edward Maltby, Edward Overton, and Lawrence Rozas

4. Legacy Effects in Material Flux: Structural Catchment Changes Predate Long-Term Studies. Daniel J. Bain, Mark B. Green, John L. Campbell, John F. Chamblee, Sayo Chaoka, Jennifer M. Fraterrigo, Sujay S. Kaushal, Sherry L. Martin, Thomas E. Jordan, Anthony J. Parolari, William V. Sobczak, Donald E. Weller, Wilfred M. Wolheim, Emery R. Boose, Jonathan M. Duncan, Gretchen M. Gettel, Brian R. Hall, Praveen Kumar, Jonathan R. Thompson, James M. Vose, Emily M. Elliott, and David S. Leigh

5. Education Improves Plagiarism Detection by Biology Undergraduates. Emily A. Holt

6. Integrating Theoretical Components: A Graphical Model for Graduate Students and Researchers. David M. Choate, Chelse M. Prather, Matt J. Michel, Ashley K. Baldridge, Matthew A. Barnes, David Hoekman, Christopher J. Patrick, Janine Ruegg, and Todd A. Crowl

7. Planetary Opportunities: A Social Contract for Global Change Science to Contribute to a Sustainable Future. Ruth S. DeFries, Erle C. Ellis, F. Stuart Chapin III, Pamela A. Matson, B. L. Turner II, Arun Agrawal, Paul J. Crutzen, Chris Field, Peter Gleick, Peter M. Kareiva, Eric Lambin, Diana Liverman, Elinor Ostrom, Pedro A. Sanchez, and James Syvitski

 

Related Links
American Institute of Biological Sciences
Water News – Science, Technology and Politics

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Cyber Space

 

Twitter agrees to adopt Do-Not-Track privacy option

Twitter

Twitter

Twitter will honor requests from users who do not want their online behavior tracked, the company said on Thursday, in contrast with Web companies such Google and Facebook whose business models rely heavily on collecting user data.

Twitter said it will officially support “Do Not Track,” a standardized privacy initiative that has been heavily promoted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, online privacy advocates and Mozilla, the non-profit developer of the Firefox Web browser.

Some browsers, including Firefox, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Apple’s Safari, include a “Do Not Track” option that sends a line of code to websites indicating the user does not want to be tracked. But under current regulations, it is up to the website to honor the requests.

Google has said it will implement a “Do Not Track” feature in its Chrome browser later this year.

The “Do Not Track” announcement also coincides with Twitter’s recent push to provide a more personalized service. Twitter recommends “tailored suggestions” based on a user’s Web surfing history, but does not use the data for any other purpose, the company said on Thursday.

“As always, we are committed to providing you with simple and meaningful choices about the information we collect to improve your Twitter experience,” Twitter’s Director, Growth and International, Othman Laraki, said in a blog post on Thursday. “For those who don’t want to tailor Twitter, we offer ways to turn off this collection.”

 

 

Read Full Article Here

 

 

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Survival / Sustainability

10 tips for companion planting for natural pest control and organic sustainability – Increase vegetable yields and improve flavor

By JB Bardot, 

(NaturalNews) Companion planting for pest control and to encourage plants to grow with more vigor has fascinated men for centuries; however, few backyard gardeners know how to use these natural methods for organic sustainability and how to improve your garden. Plants that work together to help one another grow; plants that repel insects for organic pest management; and plants that repel other plants for natural herbicide control are of great value to both small backyard gardeners and commercial growers…

Week 9 of 52: Emergency Medical Supply (List 2)

Tess Pennington
Ready Nutrition

A lot goes into being medically prepared, so this will be a reoccurring theme throughout this series. We will start with gathering the basic first aid supplies and then slowly begin accumulating more advanced medical preps and learning alternative medical therapies towards the end.

This week I would like to urge all of you to purchase a few medical reference books. Buying multiple reference materials gives you a broader spectrum in how to provide different types of medical treatment – not all medical emergencies should be approached the same way. I recommend starting with When There is No Doctor and When There is No Dentist, but here are some other great references:

Don’t forget that there are some good eBook references out there. I found First Aid Full Manual on Scribd which would be a great place to start looking for more material. If you are out there and come across some other eBook references, please feel free to share it with me and our readers.

 

Read Full Article Here

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Activism

People & Power – Algeria: The revolution that never was

Published on May 17, 2012 by

Why did the uprisings that brought down governments across North Africa and the Middle East fail to materialise in Algeria? Was it, as the government would claim, because of the regime’s ‘progressive leadership’ or has something more sinister and complex been going on? Opponents and human rights activists say it has more to do with a wary population traumatised by the country’s violent past and and living in fear of its secret police. People & Power wanted to find out more, but getting into Algeria is difficult – not least because Al Jazeera has been denied official access to the country since 2004. When our requests for journalist visas were ignored, our filmmakers managed to get in unofficially and were able to work discreetly. Algeria: The revolution that never was reveals what they found.

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Articles of Interest

Austin Texas May Be Test Site For Drone Training! High Tech Clay Pigeon Program!

 

 

Is the Earth actually a living ‘creature’? Chemical clues could finally prove claims our planet is a single organic system

  • ‘Gaia Hypothesis’ claims earth is self-regulating ‘organic’ system that maintains life
  • Sulphur could be key to understanding cycles of Earth
  • Gaia idea initially scorned by scientists but now taken seriously

By Rob Waugh

In the 70s, James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis claimed that Earth's physical and biological processes 'link' to form a self-regulating, basically 'self-aware' systemIn the 70s, James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis claimed that Earth’s physical and biological processes ‘link’ to form a self-regulating, basically ‘self-aware’ system

In the 70s, James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis claimed that Earth’s physical and biological processes ‘link’ to form a self-regulating, basically ‘self-aware’ system.

Their book became a cult classic, and the idea that the Earth is a giant chemical system, almost like an ‘organism’ persists to this day – although it’s never been proved.

In 2010, a poll of 400 academics placed the Gaia Hypothesis the sixth greatest British academic breakthrough of all time.

Now a new chemical clue – sulphur – could allow scientists to work out whether Earth is in fact ‘alive’ – a huge chemical system that in turn sustains us all.

The Gaia hypothesis doesn’t claim that the earth is actually ‘alive’ – but that all living organisms and their non-living surroundings are bound together into a ‘system’ that maintains the conditions for life.

One of the early predictions of Lovelock’s theory – known as the Gaia -  hypothesis was that there should be a sulphur compound made by organisms in the oceans that would transfer to the air and thus to the land.

Scientists are on the brink of testing this theory – and proving the existence of at least one part of a ‘system’ of the Earth.

The most likely candidate for this role was deemed to be dimethyl sulphide.

Harry Oduro of the University of Maryland has created a tool for tracing and measuring the movement of sulphur through ocean organisms, the atmosphere and the land in ways that may help prove or disprove the controversial Gaia theory.

Sulphur, the tenth most abundant element in the universe, is part of many inorganic and organic compounds.
 Read Full Article Here

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[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit, for research and/or educational purposes. This constitutes 'FAIR USE' of any such copyrighted material.]

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