Archive for October, 2009
Hunting Banned in Parts of Austria After Hailstones Kill 90% of Wild Game
From The Telegraph:
Hundreds of deer were discovered either dead or so badly injured they had to be put down by wildlife experts.
In the country’s rural Salzburg province, 90 per cent of pheasants and 80 per cent of hares were killed in the hail storms.
Sepp Eder, the hunting chief, said : “Animals sought shelter in farms, in fields of grain but the hail was so heavy it smashed right into them. It may take five years for animal numbers to recover, if they ever do so.”
Farmers are believed to have suffered more than £60 million in damages to crops and buildings.
Cynthia McKinney On Why We Should Believe Mike Ruppert
Even her critics will admit that Cynthia McKinney isn’t afraid to champion a deeply unpopular cause. This morning she sent out the message below in support of Michael Ruppert and the documentary film featuring him, CoLLapse:
Hello! As many of you know, Mike Ruppert is singularly responsible for confirming from the inside what many of us on the outside knew: that the black community didn’t have the infrastructure to import and distribute crack cocaine from which it still reels today, but the CIA did.
Mike was on it on September 11th! And explained it to us in his book, “Crossing the Rubicon.”
Mike is on it in his film CoLLapse, and explains it to us in his new book, “A Presidential Energy Policy.”
Mike has taken many bullets for us, so that we may know the truth. Now, several more have been fired at him, but we must deflect them and not allow them…
High Protein Diets ‘Could Cause Alzheimer’s Disease’
Richard Alleyne writes in the Telegraph
Researchers found that mice fed meals similar to those of the original Atkin’s Diet had brains five per cent lighter than all the others.
They also found that the hippocampus part of the brain, which is responsible for memory, were less developed in those rodents on the high protein diet. Scientists say the findings, published in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration, suggest the ravages of dementia “might be slowed or avoided through healthy eating”.
Previous research has discovered Mediterranean-style low-calorie, low-fat diets rich in vegetables, fruits, and fish may delay the onset or slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers used mice specially bred to develop Alzheimer’s.
The animals were fed either a regular diet, a high fat-low carbohydrate diet, a high protein-low carb version or a high carb-low fat option. The researchers then looked at the brain and body weight of the mice, as well as plaque build…
Evolver: 2012, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the Dimensional Shift
Where will you be when the 5,125 year Long Count Calendar of the Classical Maya ends on December, 21, 2012? Will you be hiding in an underground cave from global cataclysm and magnetic polar reversal? Will you be entering a multidimensional realm of hyperspace triggered by mass activation of the pineal gland? Will you be picking up the pieces of a ruined world or dancing the night away at the party at the end of time?
Considering that nobody knows what’s going to happen in 2012, the end of the Mayan Calendar functions as a tremendously intriguing meme upon which we can project our hopes and fears, dreams and desires. Hollywood has now offered up a massive collective shadow projection in the form of a $250 million disaster epic that takes the aesthetics of annihilation to a new pitch of perfection. Paradoxically, this doom-riddled blockbuster could create a great opening to offer…
The Frightening Beauty of Bunkers
From The Morning News
Photos by Paul Virilio · Introduction by Rosecrans Baldwin
Approximately 1,500 bunkers were built during World War II along the French shores to forestall an Allied landing—“the Atlantic Wall.” Decommissioned after the Allied invasion of Normandy, this elaborate defense system now lies abandoned. At the age of 25, Paul Virilio stumbled upon these relics with his camera and began a study that would continue for 30 years. His 1975 book, Bunker Archeology, has recently been translated into English and reprinted by Princeton Architectural Press: an inquiry of war and its structures and a personal memoir of exploration, merging technical analysis with philosophical questioning.
Al Gore’s “Global Warming” Scam Slammed By Congress
From the ILoveCarbonDioxide.com site, which says:
the purpose of this site is to enlighten as many people as possible on climate issues and correct a common misconception held by a large percentage of the population: the myth that Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is a pollutant. The truth of the matter is there is no justification for demonizing CO2. It is certainly not a pollutant.
32 New Planets Found Outside Our Solar System
James Owen for National Geographic News:
Astronomers have added 32 new planets to the list of planets found orbiting stars outside our solar system.
The discoveries, announced today at a press briefing in Portugal, increase to more than 400 the number of known extrasolar planets, or “exoplanets.”
The 32 previously unseen planets range from five times the mass of Earth up to eight times the mass of Jupiter, scientists said.
In addition, the new planets were found around different types of stars, challenging existing theories for where and how planets form.
Overall, the research suggests that 40 to 60 percent of all planetary systems in the universe contain low-mass planets.
Since lower masses most likely mean Earthlike sizes, such planets are considered to be the best candidates in the search for extraterrestrial life…
Fascism Watch: Police and Military Lining Up Against Obama
Klint Finley writes for Mutate:
To their credit, the “Oath Keepers” acknowledge the Patriot Act’s erosion of civil liberties as well. But where were they during the 8 years that Bush was president? Obama gets 400% more death threats than Bush but still lets people carry assault rifles around him, and the Oathers think that they’re being persecuted? Bush had people hauled away for wearing the wrong t-shirts.
I have little good to say about Obama, but I can’t say that his administration is less tolerant of dissent than Bush’s.
From the Oather’s Declaration of Orders We Will NOT Obey: “We will NOT obey any order to conduct warrantless searches of the American people, their homes, vehicles, papers, or effects — such as warrantless house-to house searches for weapons or persons.”
I take this to mean they will start refusing to do warrantless searches for drugs? For 28 years the federal government has waged…
Pay Your Bills on Time? There’s a Fee for That.
In an attempt to squeeze more revenue out of consumers who don’t rack up much debt, Citigroup, Bank of America, and other credit card companies are adding new fees. According to USA Today credit card users are being hit with new “inactivity fees” and fees for not putting enough debt on your credit cards. Consumers thinking about canceling their cards face taking a hit to their credit scores for closing an account.
Other consumers may have no choice – Citibank has been closing some credit card accounts without reason or warning, damaging their customers credit ratings.
I cut-up my credit cards last night.
The Robber Barons Are Back — Hide Your Money!
From Alternet:
On Oct. 14, the Dow Jones Industrial Average barely passed the 10,000 mark for the first time in over a year.
That gave the “green shoots” crowd spasms of joy at the possibility of a recovery from the worst recession to hit America in seven decades. Of course, the last one eventually morphed into the Great Depression lasted at least a full decade, rewired our currency, led to world war, ruined countless lives and set a universal standard for societal implosions.
The fire this time? It’s almost out, say a series of decorated financial experts within and without the mainstream.
But most of them blew the call on the implosion, and are still blowing it today. We are not in Paul Krugman’s Great Recession, or the “deep and long recession” coined by the optimistic National Association for Business Economics. We’re not even mired in Wikipedia’s comparatively boring Financial Crisis of 2007-2009.
No, we’re…
The Yes Men Dupe Fox Business Network
Gotta love those Yes Men. As I posted earlier this week, they fooled a lot of people into thinking that the U.S Chamber of Commerce was changing its position on climate change. The biggest suckers were our favorite Republican Party media shills at Fox News. Check out the poor anchor Brian Sullivan:
America’s Top Insane Census Conspiracy Theories
Huffington Post has compiled the eight craziest 2010 census-related conspiracy theories to gain media traction. Including:
One of the most infamous Census conspiracy theories was spread by Rep. Michele Bachmann — that the census would lay the groundwork for World War II-style internment camp.
The American Daily Review suggests that the Census GPS is a way to help United Nations personnel round people up after Obama lets foreign troops control the country.
Michelle Malkin suggests Obama aims to use the Census to undermine [U.S.-Mexico] border control and give “the Left” a “permanent ruling majority” with the help of undocumented immigrants
Anti-tax activist Neal Boortz thinks the Census is being used to take away your property and give it to the “moochers.”
Batman With Fidel
Agan Harahap, a photographer and illustrator from Jakarta, Indonesia, has created a series of images titled Super Hero consisting of memorable political and wartime scenes from the mid-20th century featuring masked heros like Spiderman and Batman in the action. A metaphorical representation of American post-WWII hegemony? I’d like to think that this was how these events really went down.
Cartels Face an Economic Battle
From the Washington Post:
ARCATA, Calif. — Stiff competition from thousands of mom-and-pop marijuana farmers in the United States threatens the bottom line for powerful Mexican drug organizations in a way that decades of arrests and seizures have not, according to law enforcement officials and pot growers in the United States and Mexico.
Illicit pot production in the United States has been increasing steadily for decades. But recent changes in state laws that allow the use and cultivation of marijuana for medical purposes are giving U.S. growers a competitive advantage, challenging the traditional dominance of the Mexican traffickers, who once made brands such as Acapulco Gold the standard for quality.Almost all of the marijuana consumed in the multibillion-dollar U.S. market once came from Mexico or Colombia. Now as much as half is produced domestically, often by small-scale operators who painstakingly tend greenhouses and indoor gardens to produce the more potent, and expensive,…
Meth Fight Goes to Pharmacy
Ryan Knutson writes in the Wall Street Journal:
A nationwide resurgence in illegal methamphetamine labs is prompting state and municipal lawmakers to consider copying an Oregon law requiring a prescription for many cold medicines, a restriction opposed by manufacturers.
Oregon in 2005 became the first state to require a doctor’s prescription for medications containing pseudoephedrine, which is used in about 40 cold and allergy medicines. Pseudoephedrine also is the primary ingredient for methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant.
Oregon’s prescription law goes further than the 2005 federal legislation restricting the sale of pseudoephedrine. Federal law limits how much consumers can purchase per month and during each store visit. It requires retailers to track purchases and refuse the sale of more pseudoephedrine than allowed.
Medicines containing pseudoephedrine also have to be kept behind the counter or in a locked cabinet under the federal law. In addition, authorities have access to retailers’ logs to see who is…
Blasphemy Day: A Bitter Rift Divides Atheists
Barbara Bradley Hagerty reports on Blasphemy Day for NPR:
Last month, atheists marked Blasphemy Day at gatherings around the world, and celebrated the freedom to denigrate and insult religion.
Some offered to trade pornography for Bibles. Others de-baptized people with hair dryers. And in Washington, D.C., an art exhibit opened that shows, among other paintings, one entitled Divine Wine, where Jesus, on the cross, has blood flowing from his wound into a wine bottle.
Another, Jesus Paints His Nails, shows an effeminate Jesus after the crucifixion, applying polish to the nails that attach his hands to the cross.
“I wouldn’t want this on my wall,” says Stuart Jordan, an atheist who advises the evidence-based group Center for Inquiry on policy issues. The Center for Inquiry hosted the art show.
Jordan says the exhibit created a firestorm from offended believers, and he can understand why. But, he says, the controversy over this exhibit goes way beyond…
Tom and Katie Celebrate with Travoltas at Secret Scientology Event
Gossip mag US reports on the continuing public support for Scientology from stalwarts Cruise and Travolta:
Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes and daughter Suri reunited with John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston — plus over 4000 other Scientologists — at a massive party in England on Oct. 16, Usmagazine.com has confirmed.
The stars were surprise guests at the 25th anniversary of the International Association of Scientologists held at Saint Hill Manor in East Grinsted, West Sussex. During nearly two hours of speeches, Cruise, 47, briefly addressed the rapturous, fist-pumping crowd: “Because we never took our eyes off the ultimate prize, we stand where we are today,” he intoned, witnesses tells Us. “We are in this together!”
When a choir took to the stage, the Cruise-Holmes family stood up with the rest of the audience. “Tom was swaying and looked like he was in heaven,” an attendee tells Us. “He was really, really into it. Katie…
Shepard Fairey: Clandestine Asshole
Secrecy is of utmost importance to the graffiti artist. After all, their chosen medium remains illegal. And good graffiti rivals more traditional artistic pursuits, especially now, when controversy is valued much more than pure talent in the art world.
I used to be a huge fan of Shepard Fairey (of Obey/Giant fame) while he was still underground. He’s since ruined the surprise for everyone.
Fairey broke rule number one of guerilla art: you never, ever show your face. You are not doing this for publicity, after all, nor for money. You are doing this to get your anarchic message to the masses, whether they like it or not.
As well intentioned as Fairey’s Barack Obama portrait may have been (and I believe that is debatable) it will eventually prove to be his undoing. He’s recently admitted lying about the source picture, all while in the midst of a court battle with the Associated…
Kanye West Death Hoax Takes Internet By Storm
From the NME:
A hoax posting on Twitter claiming that Kanye West had been killed in a car crash has taken the internet by storm.
‘RIP Kanye West’ has become the top trending topic on the site and the top Google search term in the USA just hours after someone falsely posted that the rapper was dead.
West’s girlfriend Amber Rose moved quickly to quash the rumours on her own Twitter page, Twitter.com/DaRealAmberRose.
“This RIPKanyeWest topic is not funny and it’s NOT TRUE!” she wrote. “He has people like myself and his family that love him very much.
And don’t forget what Kanye did to disinfo!
