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A universe of beauty, mystery and wonder
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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

BEST WISHES TO ALL OF YOU FOR THE NEW YEAR!


2013 was this blog's first year, and I'm very grateful to all of you visitors. 

This is not a for-profit blog.  I do it just for fun, so your visits mean a lot to me personally.

Let's hope that the new year will bring positive changes towards a better understanding of our priorities as human beings and as an integral part of Earth, showing love and respect for life and our planet. 

Let's hope that we will learn to see the ocean as a unique marvel in our solar system, full of beauty and life, not a dumping place for toxic and other wastes.

~~~~~~~~~~

As I write these notes the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster continues to spew highly radioactive waste into the ocean, and will continue to do so for an indeterminate number of years.  Countries build nuclear power plants close to bodies of water for a reason:  In case of trouble they can conveniently dispose of dangerous waste into that water.  Out of sight, out of mind.

Let's also hope that we become conscientious consumers.  Much of what we buy is stuff we don't really need.  It ends up in landfills, contaminating groundwater.

We buy so much and crave for so many gadgets and entertainment because we are trying to fill a void.  That void could be our lost connection to nature, to the universe, and to other animals and human beings. 

Sometimes the adoption of a homeless pet can help fill that void, even if it's only a little bit, and the love you return to that creature can help balance the debt we all have to this generous universe.

No matter how much hardship we've had in our lives, nature and the universe still have poured so many gifts on us and continue to do so every second.

Let our first resolution for the new year be one of gratitude.  If you pray to God, say a few words of gratitude to Him and to the universe and planet Earth with your prayers.
 





                           
All the very best to you, your family, your pets, our beautiful planet, and to life on Earth.

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Photo - NASA

 

Monday, December 30, 2013

MAN DISCOVERS HIS TAP WATER IS FLAMMABLE - MOST LIKELY CAUSED BY FRACKING IN THE AREA.


North Dakota man discovers his tap water is flammable… and he has been washing his teeth and bathing in it for years.

  • Jacob Haughney saw flames erupting from bathroom tap
  • Phenomenon is caused by hydrolic fracturing or 'fracking', some warn
  • North Dakota, home to just 700,000 people, is the center of a fracking boom
  • State is now the second largest oil-producing state in America

  •  
    A stunned homeowner has filmed himself setting fire to highly flammable water gushing from his bathroom tap.  In the clip uploaded to YouTube, Jacob Haughney produces a intensely bright yellow fireball to erupt from a flowing tap by putting a lighter flame to the liquid.  Mr Haughney, who works on oil fields near his home in North Dakota, discovered the worrying phenomenon while in the shower. 
     
    FRACKING  is the process by which natural gas is extracted by using water, sand and toxic chemicals injected at high pressure into oil of methane gas deposits to fracture the rock above and release the liquid or gas below. 
     
    Fracking involves releasing natural gas trapped in shale formations by blasting a mix of water, sand and chemicals into the rock.  It has unlocked reserves that could supply the U.S. for 100 years, although environmentalists say that fracking can contaminate water supplies.
     

    RELATED
     
    More on fracking: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing

    Questions and answers about fracking - http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/whats-fracking

    Anti-fracking activism in America - http://ecowatch.com/p/energy/fracking-2/
     
     
     
    DOES HE ALSO DRINK THAT WATER?  IF SO, WHAT IS IT DOING TO HIS INSIDES?
     
    *******************************************************
     

    SICK OF PAPARAZZI, WILD FOX TRIES TO STEAL PHOTOGRAPHER'S CAMERA


    Cunning fox sneaks up on oblivious photographer in the Canadian wilds and then tries to steal her camera.

  • Megan Lorenz was snapping foxes in the snow when interloper appeared
  • The fox crept up on her camera and looked like he was taking his own pics
  • Ms Lorenz says they are usually timid but are comfortable around her

  • Read more and see photos of the perpetrator - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2531236/Cunning-fox-sneaks-oblivious-photographer-Canadian-wilds-tries-steal-camera.html

    *****************************************************************************

    MYSTERY OF THE TINY AMAZON FOREST TOWERS SOLVED


    Miniature towers surrounded by 'picket fences' on trees are found to be spiders egg-nests

  • Dubbed 'silkhenge' the picket fence structure was first discovered in June
  • During an expedition to Peru, a photographer realised it was a spider's web
  • This discovery was made when an orange spider hatched close to the web
  • Researchers don't know why the spider builds this unique structure
  • Experts are also working to identify which species the spider belongs to

  • The mystery of how the white picket fence structures appeared in the Peruvian Amazon in June has been solved.  They are the work of a tiny spider that builds it webs on trails lined by cecropia trees in Tambopata National Reserve, Peru.
     
    Researchers had no idea what was making the unique webs until a tiny orange spider hatched from an egg next to them. Arachnologists and entomologists are now working to identify which species the spider belongs to.
     
    Although the spider looks similar to a jumping spider, experts have ruled this out because the arrangement of the eyes were different between the families. 
     
    This latest discovery was made by wildlife photographer Jeff Cremer during an eight-day-long expedition to the reserve.
     
    He found that the spider species makes a central tower on a tree trunk and forms a circular fence around the outside.  At the base of the tower, the spider lays its eggs.
     
    Cremer and his team said they only realised this was the case when one of the spiders hatched and appeared from the bottom.
     
    The first of the structures was spotted in June by Troy Alexander, a graduate student at Georgia Tech.  Alexander discovered the bizarre formation on the bottom of some blue tarpaulin close to the Tambopata Research Center, in southeastern Peru.  He then found three more of the enclosures on tree trunks in the jungle, and told Wired.com that the fences measured around two centimeters across.
     
    Read more and see pictures of this alien-looking arachnid architecture and its architect  - 
     
    ******************************************************************************

    Sunday, December 29, 2013

    DOG ENDURES FREEZING TEMPERATURES OVERNIGHT TO STAY WITH CANINE BUDDY WHO WAS KILLED BY A CAR

     
    A loyal dog watched over his dead four-legged friend overnight in sub-zero temperatures after the other dog was run over by a car.
     
    The small white dog was killed in the middle of a busy street in the city of Yinchuan in north west China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, when he was hit by an unknown car.
     
    Despite temperatures dropping to a chilly -13C another sandy-coloured dog stayed by the animal's side overnight, guarding the body as it lay in the road.
     
    Passersby took photographs of the touching gesture, with images and video footage of the dog quickly going viral on the internet.

     
    Other people placed a stool near to the two dogs so that they would not be struck by other passing vehicles.
     
    Eventually restaurant workers removed the dead dog's body, and buried it under a tree in a nearby park.
     
    They were followed along the route by the other dog, who stayed with the workers until his friend had been buried.
     
    See pictures and video - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2530579/Loyal-dog-braves-sub-zero-temperatures-guard-body-dead-pal.html

     
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    One more story from China a year ago:
     
    Please wake up: Dog desperately tries to revive his dead mate after she is killed by a car - then stands guard by her side in the middle of the road for SIX HOURS 
     
    Read more - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2250461/Please-wake-Dog-desperately-tries-revive-dead-mate-killed-car--stands-guard-SIX-HOURS.html


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     
    And another story of canine loyalty from Los Angeles a year ago:
     
    A loyal Labrador retriever named Maggie, who was videotaped as she guarded the body of a yellow Lab hit and killed by a car in Southern California, was reunited with her family Monday.
     
    A good Samaritan saw what was happening on Hacienda Boulevard in La Puente last Wednesday, called officers, put traffic cones around the dogs and took the video that touched hearts across the country as it made its way around the Internet.
     
    Dozens of people called or visited the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control shelter in Baldwin Park offering to adopt the sweet-natured dog. The good Samaritan was the first to fill out paperwork.
     
    Read more - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2130038/Loyal-dog-braves-traffic-stay-fatally-struck-pal.html

    ****************************************************************************


    Saturday, December 28, 2013

    THE ULTIMATE ABSURDITY: BLACK FOOTBALL PLAYER - WHO WOULD HAVE BEEN KILLED OR ENSLAVED BY THE NAZIS - GIVES NAZI SALUTE


    Hatred for Jews blinds some people to the fact that they themselves would have been primary Nazi targets for genocide because of their color and race.

    Aryan Neo-Nazis must be rolling on the floor laughing at non-Aryan folks who support the Nazi ideology.

    The original German Nazis determined that whoever was not of pure Aryan race was to be exterminated or used as a slave. 

    All Slavs were considered sub-humans by the Nazi regime, so Poles were used as slaves.  Poland was invaded and plundered.  Poles were humiliated, starved, enslaved and murdered in the hundreds of thousands.  And yet, there is a strong Neo Nazi movement in Poland.

    Greece was also invaded, and Greeks literally starved during the brutal Nazi occupation.  But today there is also a strong Neo-Nazi movement in Greece. 

    Neo-Nazi groups are also found in Latin American countries, where the members look like anything but Aryan. 

    That's not all.  Hitler is very popular in Muslim countries.  All those Muslims with dark skin would have also been prime material for slavery and genocide. 

    The Palestinians, great favorites of liberals and anti-Semites, also give the Nazi salute, fly the Nazi flag, and express sympathies for Hitler. 
     
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     
    BLACKS' MISUNDERSTANDING OF ISLAM
     
    A parallel case of sad irony exists in the inclination by populations of African descent in the United States and other countries to see Islam as an African religion - as opposed to Christianity, which they regard as a white colonizer religion. 
     
    The obscured truth is that Islam came to Africa with Muslim slave traders and colonizers.  Muslim Arabs forced those populations to convert, and at the same time they displaced local indigenous religions and languages, imposing Islam and, in many cases, the Arabic language.    The practice of slavery exists to this day in many Arab countries.  Their slaves are mostly Black African slaves.
     
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     
    The latest case to make the news for public display of sympathies for Nazi ideology - in addition to allegiance to Islam - is that of French football player Nicolas Anelka. 

    Who is Nicolas Anelka?

    Anelka was born in 1979 in France, to parents who had migrated from the Caribbean island of Martinique in 1974.  His mother is a high school secretary.  Anelka, who is black,  converted to Islam.
     

    THE UK TELEGRAPH reports:  
     
    Nicolas Anelka is under investigation by the Football Association for a gesture which was condemned by the French Sports Minister as a “shocking, disgusting” display of anti-Semitism.

    Anelka celebrated a goal for West Bromwich Albion's against West Ham United with a quenelle gesture, a salute invented by the controversial comedian Dieudonné M’Bala;   M’Bala, a friend of the French striker. The quenelle, which consists of placing one hand on to the opposite shoulder and pointing the other arm straight downwards, has been described as a form of Nazi salute by Jewish groups in France, although those who use it have insisted it is merely an anti-establishment gesture.
     
     
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     
    Anti-Semitism in France
     
    It has skyrocketed in recent years. A report found anti-Semitic incidents rose 58% in 2012, with most attributed to Muslim extremists. That year saw the infamous Toulouse shooting in 2012 in which a rabbi and 3 Jewish children were murdered in a shooting-spree by a French Muslim extremist.
     
     
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The Nazi past and present of the Palestinians

    During the German Nazi regime, the Palestinians' leader, the Mufti of Jerusalem, worked hand in hand with Adolph Hitler and other top Nazis in the design of the Final Solution, the mechanism for the destruction of all Jews.  He also created the Muslim Nazi SS Handzar Division, that perpetrated many atrocities.

    After the war the Allies did not prosecute the Mufti of Jerusalem for genocide along with other Nazis, so he lived undisturbed in the Middle East engaged in training the future Palestinian leadership.  Two of his alumni were former Palestinian Authority leader Yassir Arafat and the current leader Mahmoud Abbas (or Abu Mazen).  
     
    Abbas, by the way, was the financial mastermind of the Munich Olympics massacre of eleven Israeli athletes in 1972.  This biographical detail is never mentioned during  "Peace Talks" with Israel. 
     
     

    REFERENCES

    The SS Muslim Nazi Handzar division  

    It was created by Palestinian leader Hajj Amin Al Husseini, the  Mufti of Jerusalem, in collaboration with Adolf Hitler.

    WIKIPEDIA - The 13th Waffen Mountain Division of the SS Handschar (1st Croatian) was a German mountain infantry division of the Waffen-SS, the armed wing of the German Nazi Party that served alongside but was never formally part of the Wehrmacht during World War II.   ... Composed of Bosnian Muslims with some Catholic Croat soldiers and mostly German and Yugoslav Volksdeutsche (ethnic German) officers and non-commissioned officers, it took an oath of allegiance to both Adolf Hitler and the Croatian leader Ante Pavelić.

    This division earned a reputation for brutality and savagery, not only during combat operations, but also through atrocities committed against Serb and Jewish civilians.
     
    Over the winter of 1944–1945, it was sent to the Baranja region where it fought against the Red Army and Bulgarians throughout southern Hungary, falling back via a series of defensive lines until they were inside the Reich frontier.  Most of the remaining Bosnian Muslims left at this point and attempted to return to Bosnia. The rest retreated further west, hoping to surrender to the Western Allies.   Most of the remaining members became prisoners of the British Army. Subsequently, thirty-eight officers were extradited to Yugoslavian authorities to face criminal charges, and 10 were executed. 

    Read more  
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_Waffen_Mountain_Division_of_the_SS_Handschar_(1st_Croatian)

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The Nazi Origin of the Palestinian Movement
     

    Current leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) acknowledges Palestinian collaboration with Hitler and their sympathies for Nazi ideology 
    http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/12/palestinian-collaboration-with-hitler.html

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     
    The Arab Slave Trade - It continues to this day

    Contrary to many people beliefs, the Arab slave trade predates the European slave trade in Africa. The Arab slave trade began in the 7th century and lasted more than 1000 years. Africans were taken from present-day Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, and transported to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey, and other parts of the Arab world. The Arab slave trade stretched over three continents at its peak.
     
    African male slaves, who were often made eunuchs, were employed as servants, soldiers, or laborers by their Arab owners. An eunuch is a man who has been castrated and is incapable of reproduction; eunuchs usually guarded the Arab women. African female slaves were mostly purchased as concubines or house servants
     
    Read more - http://www.examiner.com/article/qaddafi-apologized-to-african-leaders-for-the-arab-slave-trade-Africa

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     
    ISLAMIC SLAVERY AND RACISM
     
    In North Africa, the Haratin, a Berber word meaning dark skin, are the remnants of the indigenous African population. Many are still enslaved. Others live apart from mainstream society, forced into degrading or difficult occupations.
     
    Mauritania is the country with the world’s largest proportion of slaves. There hundreds of thousands of Haratin serve the Bidhan, the so-called “White Moors”.  The Bidhan pass on the Haratin as property from generation to generation. And even those who are not legally property face a grim life.
     
    In the 80s, Mauritania ethnically cleansed tens of thousands of Africans from its territory. Even Human Rights Watch stated, “It is fair to say that the Mauritanian government practices undeclared apartheid and severely discriminates on the basis of race.”
     
    Slavery has been officially abolished; unofficially it lingers on. There is still a silent unofficial slave trade that is carried on and leading Saudi clerics have insisted that slavery is a part of Islam. Saudis living abroad are often discovered to have domestic workers who live like slaves leading to criminal cases.
     
    The situation is worst in North Africa where Arab colonization largely displaced and suppressed the indigenous peoples, like the Nubians in Egypt. Ethnically cleansed to make way for the Lake Nasser project, Egyptian Nubians have, like so many other North African indigenous peoples, been reduced to a persecuted minority within their own land.
     
    Some may argue that Islamic slavery, like Islamic terrorism, has nothing to do with Islam, and yet the rationale for racial slavery can be found in the Koran and the Hadiths which discuss Mohammed’s trade in black slaves.
     
    Al-Tabari wrote that, “Noah prayed that the hair of Ham’s descendants would not grow beyond their ears, and that whenever his descendants met Shem’s, the latter would enslave them.”  This theological justification provided a religious manifest destiny for the Arab conquests and acts of ethnic cleansing in Africa.
     
    The great Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun justified slavery by relegating black people to the rank of animals, writing, “The only people who accept slavery are the Negroes, owing to their low degree of humanity and proximity to the animal stage.”
     
    The great Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun justified slavery by relegating black people to the rank of animals, writing, “The only people who accept slavery are the Negroes, owing to their low degree of humanity and proximity to the animal stage.”
     
    The legacy of Islam makes the permanent abolition of slavery and racism impossible.
     
    The oil-rich tyrannies at the heart of the Islamic Gulf are maintained by armies of slave laborers with few rights. The skyscrapers of Dubai and Doha are built with the blood of thousands of foreign workers who are paid a pittance and are only allowed to leave with the approval of their masters.
     
    While Saudi money goes to sponsor propaganda that accuses Israel of Apartheid for fighting Saudi-backed terrorist groups, the brutal kingdom continues an ancient policy of slavery and repression.
     
    Read more and watch video of today's slavery in Sudan
    http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/black-slavery-and-islamic-racism/

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     

    Should Arab Countries Pay Reparations for African Slave Trade Too?
     
    August 2013, by Martin Plaut
     
    In February 2003 a UNESCO Conference on “Arab-Led Slavery of Africans” was held in Johannesburg. The Conference’s final communiqué condemned slavery in all its forms, but went on to declare that “the Arab-led slave trade of African people predates the Trans-Atlantic slave trade by a millennium, and represents the largest and, in time, longest involuntary removal of any indigenous people in the history of humanity.” Since then a silence has descended on the debate.
     
    It is estimated that over 12 million Africans were subjected to the slave trade by Muslim Arab traders.
     
    What is far more worrying is the almost total silence from the African Union, the United Nations and almost all other international bodies about the continuing scandal of modern Africa slavery.
     
    A report into the practice in Sudan carried out by Anti-Slavery International (established in 1839 and the world’s oldest human rights organisation) in 2001 spoke of “thousands” of Africans being held in conditions of servitude (by Muslim Arabs).
     

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    STUNNING PICTURES OF ERUPTING VOLCANO TAKEN JUST STEPS FROM FLOWING LAVA

     
    Incredible pictures taken just a yard from erupting volcano by photographer who was forced to flee to avoid being hit by lava. 
     
    Miles Morgan was just one metre away from the source of the eruptions when he took some of these incredible images of Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii.
     
    The 42-year-old - who burned his feet while taking the shots, said: 'On this outing we were able to access the beach, which made for some dramatic photography, but came with a surprise.'
     
    I wasn't too concerned as some bigger waves started to crash onto the beach area. But the water rushed in above my knees, it was scalding hot.' 
     
    The photographer, who also works as an airline pilot, said his wife supported his adventures, but admits he usually hides his expeditions from other family until afterwards. 
     
    He added: 'Things change every second, so timing the shots and the waves is a constant battle.   The most important challenge, was not allowing yourself to become so hypnotised by the lava that you lose sight of the very real and ever-present dangers that surround you.'
     
    The Kilauea Volcano is one of the most active volcanos in the world and has been erupting constantly for the last 20 years.
     
    See amazing pictures here -
     
    More articles on volcanoes on this blog
     
    ********************************************************************************

    Friday, December 27, 2013

    FIRST RESULTS OF U.S. AGREEMENT WITH IRAN - IRAN IS NOW DEVELOPING NEW NUCLEAR CENTRIFUGES


    Another U.S. Administration Success Story…
     
    Iran to Develop New Nuclear Centrifuges
    After Signing Nuke Agreement Last Month

    Posted by Jim Hoft on Friday, December 27, 2013 on Gateway Pundit


    The Iranian Nuclear Program Grew by 74% - or another 14,000 centrifuges during this administration.

    From 163 centrifuges in 2003, to 3000 in 2007, to 19,000 in 2013.
     
    In November the U.S. president announced a nuclear deal with Iran.

    Today the Iranian regime announced they were developing new centrifuges for their nuclear program.



    WTVQ reported:

    Iran’s nuclear chief said Friday that the country is building a new generation of centrifuges for uranium enrichment, but that they need further tests before they can become operational. 
     
    Under a landmark nuclear deal reached last month between Iran and world powers, Iran promised not to bring new centrifuges into operation for six months. But the deal does not stop it from developing centrifuges.
     
    In comments reported by state TV late Thursday, nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi did not elaborate on how long the building and testing would take.   He also said Iran has a total of 19,000 centrifuges, though he did not say how many were operational.  In August, Iran said it had 18,000 centrifuges.

     
    Source - http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/12/another-obama-success-story-iran-to-develop-new-nuclear-centrifuges-after-signing-nuke-agreement-last-month/


     
    RELATED
     
    Infographics explaining the U.S. deal with Iran
    http://www.thetower.org/iran-bad-deal/


    Seven huge loopholes in U.S. Agreement with Iran
    http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/11/seven-huge-loopholes-in-iran-agreement.html


    U.S. was anxious for any deal with Iran because American troops aren't battle ready. - Classified briefing in which top armed forces commanders told Congress that they are not prepared for war.
    http://freebeacon.com/lawmakers-u-s-troops-unprepared-to-deploy/

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    JAPAN CREATES ARTIFICIAL WOMB - WHILE FUKUSHIMA'S HEAVY RADIATION CONTINUES TO SPILL OVER LAND, AIR AND OCEAN

     
    In Tokyo, researchers have developed a technique called EUFI — extrauterine fetal incubation. They have taken goat fetuses, threaded catheters through the large vessels in the umbilical cord and supplied the fetuses with oxygenated blood while suspending them in incubators that contain artificial amniotic fluid heated to body temperature.
     
    Yoshinori Kuwabara, chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Juntendo University in Tokyo, has been working on artificial placentas for a decade. His interest grew out of his clinical experience with premature infants, and as he writes in a recent abstract, ”It goes without saying that the ideal situation for the immature fetus is growth within the normal environment of the maternal organism.”

    Kuwabara and his associates have kept the goat fetuses in this environment for as long as three weeks. But the doctor’s team ran into problems with circulatory failure, along with many other technical difficulties. Pressed to speculate on the future, Kuwabara cautiously predicts that ”it should be possible to extend the length” and, ultimately, ”this can be applied to human beings.”

    For a moment, as you contemplate those fetal goats, it may seem a short hop to the Central Hatchery of Aldous Huxley’s imagination. In fact, in recent decades, as medicine has focused on the beginning and end stages of pregnancy, the essential time inside the woman’s body has been reduced. We are, however, still a long way from connecting those two points, from creating a completely artificial gestation. But we are at a moment when the fetus, during its obligatory time in the womb, is no longer inaccessible, no longer locked away from medical interventions.

    The future of human reproductive medicine lies along the speeding trajectories of several different technologies. There is neonatology, accomplishing its miracles at the too-abrupt end of gestation. There is fetal surgery, intervening dramatically during pregnancy to avert the anomalies that kill and cripple newborns. There is the technology of assisted reproduction, the in-vitro fertilization and gamete retrieval-and-transfer fireworks of the last 20 years. And then, inevitably, there is genetics. All these technologies are essentially new, and with them come ethical questions so potent that the very inventors of these miracles seem half-afraid of where we may be heading.
      
     
    ALDOUS HUXLEY on Brave New World:  "One by one the eggs were transferred from their test-tubes to the larger containers; deftly the peritoneal lining was slit, the morula dropped into place, the saline solution poured . . . and already the bottle had passed on through an opening in the wall, slowly on into the Social Predestination Room."
     
    Source - http://www.sciencegymnasium.com/2013/12/the-artificial-womb-is-born-and-world.html


    RELATED

    Japan creates animal sperm bank
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/10272997/Japanese-scientists-create-sperm-bank-of-endangered-animals-to-colonise-other-planets.html

    ~~~~~~~~

    Experts: Fukushima disaster victims to include up to 600,000 deaths, over 100,000 still-births, and over 100,000 children with genetic deformations

    http://enenews.com/experts-fukushima-victims-to-include-up-to-300000-deaths-over-100000-still-births-and-over-100000-children-with-genetic-deformations

    Read more on Fukushima - http://enenews.com/

    *****************************************************************************


    A CUSTOMER'S VIEW OF UPS CRISIS - BLAME POOR LOGISTICS, LACK OF ORGANIZATION


    NATURAL NEWS WEBSITE'S EXPERIENCE WITH UPS
     
    Something is REALLY wrong with UPS, and it's far worse than the media is reporting 
     
    Personally, I think the "we are over capacity" excuse being circulated by UPS is a cover story. I think the UPS logistics infrastructure is cratering.   I've seen tracking logs where packages were sent back and forth between California and Texas multiple times. These are critical routing errors that create the very "over capacity" crisis UPS is talking about because it causes the same packages to be carried two or three times over the same roadway. This is a recipe for logistical disaster.

    UPS is quick to blame weather events for its logistics breakdowns, but if you look closely at what's happening, the delays in package delivery far exceed the duration of weather events. A two-day cold weather snap in Texas, for example, should not result in a 7-day delay in packages. The numbers don't add up. Something has gone wrong inside UPS that's far worse than the weather or last-minute online retail purchases for Christmas. From my perspective, UPS seems to be falling apart at the seams.

    Read more - http://www.naturalnews.com/043332_UPS_logistics_breakdown.html

    ********************************************************************************

    U.S. GOVERNMENT PURSUING THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL BY WEAKENING AND SHRINKING THE COUNTRY

    (NOTE  -  The list of related articles on the subject cited at the end of this article are being UPDATED regularly)
     

    Obama Administration to IDF Generals:
    Stop Being So Concerned About Israel’s Security
     
    The Obama administration is pressuring Israeli generals to stop publicly voicing their concerns about the administration’s security proposals in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and instead endorse the administration’s plans, according to Israeli media reports.
     
    The administration is seeking a complete or partial IDF withdrawal from the Jordan Valley, where the border between Israel and Jordan lies at the eastern edge of Judea and Samaria, also called the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority has long sought control of the valley.

    However, Israel and Jordan are opposed to an IDF withdrawal, which they fear would enable the transit of terrorists and arms through Jordan into the West Bank.
     
    After a prominent retired Israeli general spoke out against IDF withdrawal from the Jordan Valley, Israeli media reported that the Obama administration’s head envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Martin Indyk, convened a meeting of Israeli security officials. He pressured them to drop their objections to the plan and make media appearances in support of it to help sell a skeptical Israeli public on the benefits of a reduction in security.

    See video here - http://freebeacon.com/obama-admin-to-idf-generals-stop-being-so-concerned-about-israels-security/

     

    RELATED
     
    The White House and State Department refuse to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital

    President Obama's State Department refusing to accept Jerusalem as Israel's capitalIn their own words.  Transcript of press conference.
    Read more - http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/09/obama_state_department_officially_refusing_to_say_jerusalem_is_israels_capital.html


    President Obama refuses to call Jerusalem the capital of Israel
    Read more - http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23174/Default.aspx?article=related_stories

    The struggle in US courts in the case of an American citizens born in Jerusalem having the right to list Israel as his country of birth.Read more - http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/183291#.VBo58JstCM8


    THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IN A PERMANENT DIPLOMATIC WAR AGAINST ISRAEL
     

    How the US State Department undermines Israel's security and existence. http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/09/lee-kaplan-how-us-state-department-has.html

    United States sides with Hamas and chastises Israel for targeting terrorists using human shields - Hamas is part of the Muslim Brotherhood - White House sympathies for Muslim Brotherhood http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/09/united-states-sides-with-hamas-and.html

    President Obama has been trying to protect Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood all along.
    http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/08/president-obama-has-been-trying-to.html

    Analysis -  The Gaza Games - How Israeli soldiers are pawns in the US government plan to return the Muslim Brotherhood to Egypt.
    http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/08/the-united-states-gaza-games-israeli.html


    Documents show White House close ties to Muslim Brotherhood (June 2014)
    http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/06/documents-show-obama-administrations-close-ties-to-muslim-brotherhood

    US Secretary Kerry  THREATENS ISRAEL WITH INTERNATIONAL BOYCOTTS AND ISOLATION.
     
    UNITED STATES complicit with Arab plans for the eventual destruction of Israel.
    Palestinian official states that their goal is to destroy Israel in stages.  Statehood being one of those stages.
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/175990#.Usrh5mEWLMw

    American and European tax payers funding the murder of Jews in Israel.
    'Moderate' Palestinian Authority pays up to $3,400 a month to terrorists
    http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/03/american-and-european-tax-payers.html
    Update
    http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/08/where-does-hamas-get-resources-to-kill.html

    US president sells weapons worth $11 billion to Qatar, that finances Muslim terror - but restricts weapons sales to Israel, that fights terror. 
    http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/08/us-president-sells-weapons-worth-11.html


    Negotiating With Hamas Cartoon

    WHEN SOMEONE WANTS TO KILL YOU AND YOUR FAMILY AND TAKE OVER YOUR HOME - CAN THAT BE CALLED A "CONFLICT"? - How do you compromise? How do you meet him half way?
    Read more - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/08/when-someone-wants-to-kill-you-and-your.html

    THE U.S. GOVERNMENT SETTING UP CONDITIONS FOR A NEW HOLOCAUST - 
    It demands partition of Israel one way or another - while Palestinians display flags of Al Qaeda, Hizbollah and Hamas - and the Jerusalem mosque Imam urges the destruction of Israel
    http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/05/the-us-government-setting-up-conditions.html

    The United States plans for Auschwitz borders to complete Holocaust, says Israeli attorney
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/176946#.U2UQMZsU-M8

    The 1967 Lines are Auschwitz Borders
     
    US State Department listed as "partner" in Abu Dhabi Book Fair that features anti-Semitic books

    RELATED

    BACKGROUND

    HAS THE U.S. REALLY BEEN AN ALLY OF ISRAEL?
    By Prof. Francisco Gil-White (Prof. Gil-White is not Jewish)
     
     
     
    DEBUNKING MYTHS REGARDING U.S. SUPORT FOR ISRAEL
    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths3/MFUSpolicy.html

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    AMERICA'S NAZI SECRET
    Video with former US government prosecutor and former Army intelligence officer John Loftus.  (Mr. Loftus is not Jewish.)
    While the American people have always stood in support of Israel, U.S. governments have held some nasty secrets.  John Loftus explains the US financial and political elite support for the Nazis and the US government recruitment of Nazis after the war. Many of those Nazi criminals ended up working for the State Department, which to this day is extremely hostile to Israel.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmC0cwBMz2M


    The United States was complicit with the Holocaust
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/176850#.U2URs5sU-M8


    MORE HISTORICAL AND LEGAL BACKGROUND

    Documentation supporting Israel's LEGAL right to Judea and Samaria (West Bank) - Office for Israeli Constitutional Law website
    http://www.justicenow4israel.com/


    MYTHS AND FACTS - The Israeli - Arab Conflict
    http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths3/MFindex.html


    MYTHS AND FACTS - THE 1967 WAR
    http://www.sixdaywar.org/myths-and-facts.asp


    HISTORY - The ancient kingdoms of Judah and Israel http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Kingdoms1.html
     

    Palestinian collaboration with Hitler during World War II and ongoing support for Nazi ideology
    http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/12/palestinian-collaboration-with-hitler.html


    Map and facts on the Israeli Arab conflict - Astounding comparison of Israel and other Arab countries' size
    http://www.science.co.il/Arab-Israeli-conflict.asp


    The White House insists on partitioning that tiny sliver in red - Israel - claiming it will bring peace to the region.  Seriously.

    WILL PARTITION OF THAT RED BIT ON THIS MAP (ISRAEL) BRING PEACE TO THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE WORLD?


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    Thursday, December 26, 2013

    THE HORRORS OF THE INDONESIAN ZOO OF SURABAYA - AND NOTHING IS BEING DONE


    By Richard Shears In Surabaya, Indonesia for the Daily Mail

    World's cruellest zoo: Shackled elephants, starving camels, 150 pelicans crammed into one cage - and a death toll that rises daily.
     
  • More than 50 animals have died in the last three months at Indonesia's Surayaba Zoo, a former keeper has claimed
  • One giraffe died last year with 20kg of plastic bags in its stomach after they blew into its cage and weren't cleared
  • In another case, a Sumatran tiger's digestive tract rotted away after it was routinely fed formaldehyde-laced meat
  • A Zoo spokesman defended the attraction, branded the worst in the world, but admitted: 'We also have issues'

  • A young elephant has tugged at his shackled hind leg so often that the manacles have cut through the flesh, leaving it raw.
     
    Not that freeing himself would help. A chain on his left front leg means he can move neither forwards, backwards nor sideways.  The elephant’s owner has tethered the youngster because he prefers to tend to his small shop in the grounds of the Surabaya Zoo in Indonesia.  Money comes first. And so, day after day, week after week, the elephant stands there, being released from his chains only at the end of each day. 
     
    Anyone finding the scene depressing, and who turns away to look for more happy animals in the zoo would eventually leave, as I did, utterly depressed.  Surabaya Zoo has been branded the worst in the world and when I walked through this animal torture ground I was left in no doubt its reputation was well earned.
     
    There are 150 pelicans jammed into a cage, trying to share a small pool of water, so tightly packed that they could not even spread their wings, let alone fly.
     
    Each step took me through a macabre animal dungeon. While I saw dishes of chopped vegetables for the primates, the ribs of several large animals could be seen.
     
    One camel in particular appeared appallingly thin.   A capuchin monkey I came across appeared to almost plead to be released.  In another cage, a sad rhinocerous hornbill looks up at the blue sky, trying to take off from its perch, but there is no room to flap its wings.
     
    Well over 50 animals have died here in the past three months, says Tony Sumampau, a former member of the zoo’s temporary management team, who had finally left in despair.   ‘The keepers have stalls that they run selling food and drinks and it’s more important for them to make money than it is to be taking care of their animals.’
     
    The zoo, was opened in 1916 during Dutch colonial rule, and next to nothing has been done to improve it. Instead, more and more animals have been packed in. A report by an independent team set up by Indonesia’s forestry ministry called for the animals be moved to other zoos but nothing has been done.   Other zoos refuse to take the animals because of their condition and the fear that many of them carrying diseases.
     
    The state of the zoo’s animals came to world-wide attention following the death of a giraffe in 2012 that was found with no less than 20 kilograms of plastic bags in its stomach.  They had blown into its enclosure and the keepers had not bothered to pick them up.  The giraffe’s death would possibly have faded from the world’s conscience had it not been for the discovery of a dead female orangutan, Nanik, in its enclosure a few weeks ago.  Orangutans, an endangered species, live up to the age of 60 in captivity, but Nanik was just 12 years old when she died, a large tumour being found in her intestines.
     
    Sitting alone is another orangutan. I cannot believe what I see – she is chewing on the yellow top of a marker pen someone has thrown at her.   She pushes it forward between her lips, then sucks it back into her mouth. I fear she will soon swallow it.   Beside her, rats scurry in and out of holes in an embankment.
     
    I stare at a Sumatran tiger – or rather just its face – as it peers out from behind the bars of its stone living quarters.  One of its brothers, I was told, had been seriously ill with its digestive tract rotted away due to the formaldehyde-laced meat it had been fed.
     
    An African lion is reported to have died in pain, adding to the zoo’s shameful catelogue of deaths from starvation, mistreatment and other unnatural causes.
     
    Agus Supangkat, a spokesman for the zoo, insisted conditions had improved in the past year, but accepted that ‘we also have issues’. The Jakarta Globe has reported that data it had acquired showed that 43 animals had died at the zoo between July 15 and September 17 this year. The zoo, claims however, that the animals on the list died because they were old or had diseases. 
     
    The 3,000 or so creatures that live in these appalling conditions are destined to die here, naturally or through neglect, but one thing is certain they will not die happily unless something is done urgently. A final glance at the baby elephant with three legs tethered leaves me in no doubt of that.
     
     
     
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     
    Although animal abuse occurs everywhere, there is a culture of extreme contempt for animals and disregard for their suffering in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
     
     
    This is standard operating procedure for killing cattle in Indonesia:  mistreating the animal, hitting him, as they move him out of a container.  He is immobilized with ropes and for the next five minutes they continue to slice his throat, with the animal fully conscious.
     
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
     
    That type of procedure is repeated by the billions during the worldwide Muslim celebration of  the festival of Eid.
    Watch several short videos here -
     
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
     
    Jordan mistreatment of Australian sheep - extreme cruelty and long agony caught on camera.
    Lyn White, Campaign Director of Animals Australia being interviewed -  They were being treated in horrendous ways. During the purchasing days they were being trussed on the ground, selected, dragged to the roadsides and then either put in boots of cars or into the backs of trucks. And, sadly, on the day of slaughter itself, the tragedy is that there are many inexperienced people that slaughter animals on this particular day and there’s numerous occasions where we saw people that were literally incapable of cutting the throat of an Australian sheep and the extended nature of their suffering and their deaths was really terrible to see.
     
     
    Asia:
     
     
    Angora rabbits having their fur plucked by hand every three months through painful procedure.
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2510641/Cruel-truths-angora-fur-trade-revealed-shocking-video.html
     
     
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