U.S. DEAL WITH IRAN HELPS THEM ACCELERATE THEIR NUCLEAR PROGRAM

By Mark Langfan

The problem with Chamberlain’s 1938 Munich appeasement of Hitler wasn’t merely that Chamberlain mistakenly “thought he had saved world peace.”  It was that Chamberlain didn’t realize that, by giving Hitler the topographic-beachhead of the Czech-Sudetenland under the Munich diplomatic-umbrella, Chamberlain accelerated, rather than retarded, Hitler’s time-table for his military conquests.

U.S. GOVERNMENT SILENT AT LOOMING CALAMITY AT FUKUSHIMA

TV: Fukushima confirms nightmarish potential of nuclear power; Public living with threat of worst-case scenarios on daily basis — Author: “Super catastrophe” looms at plant (VIDEO)

Dr. Michael Parenti, Ph.D.(Yale University) political scientist, historian, author, Jan. 13, 2014: [...] President Obama has been as mute about the calamity looming at Fukushima as the Japanese government itself—-and for the same reasons. First, the potential danger is stupendous and it is in the manner of leaders, when facing something that might develop into a super catastrophe, to keep the public’s mind off it. The last thing they want is to put the public into a fright and fury about their own survival [...] Should Obama broach the subject of Fukushima he would leave himself open to a host of questions [...] It would become apparent that he and the others have no sure answer regarding how they are going to decommission the nuclear plants.

 Michael Okwu, Al Jazeera correspondent back from Japan, Jan. 7, 2014 (at 2:30 in): To be clear, people are awake at night because every day, worst case scenarios are entirely conceivable at the four troubled reactors at Fukushima Daiichi. If for some reason the cooling system falters or a massive earthquake in this highly quake prone nation were to hit, deadly levels of radiation could be released into the atmosphere In Reactors 1, 2, and 3 the cooling system is completely dependent on an ad hoc warrant of pipes that travel through the melted core. Tepco says its reactors could withstand a M9.0 quake, but we spoke to plenty of people in Japan who were not willing to find out how accurate that statement is.

Read more -
http://enenews.com/tv-fukushima-confirms-nightmarish-potential-of-nuclear-power-under-threat-of-worst-case-scenario-on-dail-y-basis-author-super-catastrophe-looms-at-plant-video


Joseph Trento:  JAPAN'S NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS WERE USED TO ACCUMULATE PLUTONIUM FOR BOMBS - THE U.S. CIRCUMVENTED LAWS TO HELP THEM
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/12/japans-nuclear-power-plants-were-used.html




More on Fukushima - http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/
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THE MOMENT POLAR BEAR BABIES OPEN THEIR EYES FOR THE FIRST TIME AND SEE MOM

The world has never before seen the moment a polar bear cub opens its eyes for the first time and sees its mother.. until now. A video taken at Hellabrun Zoo in Munich, Germany, shows polar bear Giovanna tenderly cradling her two snow-white cubs in her paws, breathing on them gently to keep them warm. As Giovanna's breath slowly wakes the month-old infants they open their eyes for what keepers believe is the first time, gazing up at her. One of the cubs even stretches out his tiny paw to pat Giovanna on the nose.

See pictures of adorable cubs here -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2539299/Adorable-moment-two-polar-bear-cubs-open-eyes-mother-time-breathes-snug.html

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THE ULTIMATE SELFIES - PLACING ONESELF IN FANTASTIC WILDERNESS SETTINGS

Paul Zizka, 34, has put his own slant on the celebrity-led photographic genre, made popular by photo-sharing website Instagram, by including his silhouette in dramatic shots of the Canadian wilderness.  Rather that a vainglorious attempt to propel himself to 15 minutes of internet fame, his inclusion of himself in the shots is an attempt to show the relationship between a mere man and the awesome natural world surrounding him.

 

See amazing pictures here -

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2539195/No-Instagram-filters-necessary-Photographer-puts-selfies-shame-stunning-images-frozen-wilderness.html

 

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SECRET AGREEMENT INCLUDED WITH IRAN-U.S. DEAL

New Iran agreement includes secret side deal, Tehran official says


By Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON – Key elements of a new nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers are contained in an informal, 30-page text not yet publicly acknowledged by Western officials, Iran’s chief negotiator said Monday.

Abbas Araqchi disclosed the existence of the document in a Persian-language interview with the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency.

The new agreement, announced over the weekend, sets out a timetable for how Iran and the six nations, led by the United States, will implement a deal reached in November that is aimed at restraining Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

When officials from Iran and the world powers announced that they had completed the implementing agreement, they didn’t release the text of the deal, nor did they acknowledge the existence of an informal addendum.

In the interview, Araqchi referred to the side agreement using the English word “nonpaper,” a diplomatic term used for an informal side agreement that doesn’t have to be disclosed publicly.

The nonpaper deals with such important details as the operation of a joint commission to oversee how the deal is implemented and Iran’s right to continue nuclear research and development during the next several months, he said.

Read more - http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-iran-nuclear-side-deal-20140113,0,4116168.story#axzz2qNWYJsrQ

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

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WOULD A PALESTINIAN STATE FURTHER AMERICAN INTERESTS?

By Yoram Ettinger, Chairman of Special Projects at the Ariel Center for Policy Research. - Formerly the Minister for Congressional Affairs to Israel's Embassy in Washington, DC.  - Former Consul General of Israel to the Southwestern US.

Secretary of State, John Kerry, is preoccupied with the attempt to establish a Palestinian state, as a means to advance peace and US interests. However, Congress – which is charged by the Constitution with supervising the Administration - has yet to conduct hearings on the impact of the proposed Palestinian state upon vital US interests.  Congress cannot relinquish its constitutional responsibility to probe, independently, the critical implications of a Palestinian state upon the US economy, core values, homeland and national security, as well as upon the stability of pro-US Arab regimes, in particular, and the Middle East in general.

Independent Congressional scrutiny of this Palestinian state-driven policy is doubly-essential against the backdrop of the systematic US Middle East policy failures since 1947.

The US Administration Track Record

In 1948, the US State Department opposed the establishment of a Jewish state. Assuming that Israel would be an ally of the Communist Bloc, and expecting Israel to be devastated by the invading Arab armies, the Administration imposed a regional military embargo, while the British supplied arms to Jordan, Iraq and Egypt.

During the 1950s, the US Administration courted the Egyptian dictator, Nasser, in an attempt to remove him from Soviet influence, offering financial aid and pressuring Israel to “end the occupation of the Negev,” internationalize Western Jerusalem and evacuate the whole of Sinai. Instead, Nasser intensified his pro-USSR policy, subversion of pro-US Arab regimes and support of Palestinian terrorism.

During the 1970s and 1980s, until the invasion of Kuwait, the US Administration supported Saddam Hussein through an intelligence-sharing agreement, the transfer of sensitive dual-use US technologies and approval of five billion dollar loan guarantees.

In 1977, the Administration, initially, opposed the Begin-Sadat peace initiative, lobbied for an international conference, and finally jumped on the peace bandwagon.

In 1979, the Administration abandoned the Shah of Iran, facilitating the rise of Khomeini, which transformed Iran from a top ally of the US to its sworn enemy.

During 1993-2000, the Administration embraced Arafat as the harbinger of peace and democracy, elevating him to the Most Frequent Visitor to the White House.

In 2005 and 2006, the Administration encouraged the uprooting of Jewish communities from Gaza and the participation of Hamas in the Palestinian election, deluding itself that both would advance the cause of moderation, stability and peace.

In 2009, the Administration turned its back on pro-US Mubarak, facilitating the rise to power of the anti-US, transnational-terrorist Muslim Brotherhood. In 2011, the Administration participated in the toppling of Gaddafi’s regime of terror, intensifying chaos in Libya, which has become an exporter of military systems to Muslim terrorist organizations. In 2013, the Administration handed Russia an unexpected Syrian bonus.  In 2014, the Administration has managed to instill panic in Saudi Arabia and other Arab states, which are concerned about the US potentially transforming Teheran from a controllable tactical- to an uncontrollable strategic – threat.

Mahmoud Abbas’ Track Record

The background of Mahmoud Abbas, the Chairman of the PLO and the Palestinian Authority – ostensibly a moderate compared with Hamas – sheds light on the likely nature of the proposed Palestinian state.

Abbas speaks fluent Russian, as a result of his KGB training and Ph.D. thesis (Holocaust Denial) at Moscow University. He was the architect of PLO ties with the USSR and other ruthless communist regimes. In 1972, he oversaw the logistics of the Munich Massacre of eleven Israeli athletes. In the late 1950s, 1966 and 1970, he fled Egypt, Syria and Jordan because of subversion. During the 1970s and 1980s he participated in the Palestinian plundering of Southern Lebanon and the attempts to topple the central regime in Beirut, which triggered the 1976 Syrian invasion of Lebanon and a series of civil wars, causing some 200,000 fatalities and hundreds of thousands of refugees. In 1990, Abbas collaborated with Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, despite Kuwait’s unique hospitality to 300,000 PLO-affiliated Palestinians. In 1993, he established the Palestinian Authority hate education system – a most effective production line of terrorists.

The Impact on the Middle East

During the October 1994 signing of the Israel-Jordan peace treaty, top Jordanian military commanders urged their Israeli counterparts to refrain from establishing a Palestinian state, “lest it destroy the [pro-US] Hashemite regime.”  Coupled with a terror-dominated Iraq, it would initiate a domino scenario, sweeping Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other oil-producing Arab regimes, causing havoc to the supply and price of oil and devastating the US economy.

Abbas’ PLO was an early ally of Khomeini.  Moreover, following his 2005 replacement of Arafat, Abbas’ first visits were to Teheran and Damascus. A Palestinian state – whether controlled by the PLO or (most probably) Hamas – would provide Iran, as well as Russia, China and North Korea, improved access to the eastern flank of the Mediterranean, at the expense of the US.

In 1993, the Palestinian Authority was established by PLO graduates of terrorist bases in the Sudan, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya and Tunisia, generating a robust tailwind to global Islamic terrorism. It has become a major terror academy, exporting terrorists to Iraq, Afghanistan, Latin America, Africa and Europe. Thus, the Palestinian Authority has sustained the legacy of Abbas’ PLO, which has been the role model of international and Islamic terrorism, training worldwide terrorists in Jordan (1968-1970) and Lebanon (1970-1982).  The PLO introduced commercial aircraft hijacking, carried out the 1973 murder of the US Ambassador to the Sudan, and participated in the 1983 murder of 300 US Marines in Lebanon.

A Palestinian state would reward a regime which is referred to by much of its population as “Modern day Sodom and Gomorrah,” and has driven Christians away from Bethlehem. It would add another anti-US vote at the UN.

Both Hamas and the PLO follow in the footsteps of Palestinian leaders, who collaborated with Nazi Germany, the Communist Bloc, Khomeini, Saddam Hussein and Bin Laden, and currently with Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba and other rogue regimes.

Hence, the proposal to establish a Palestinian state proves that policy-makers are determined to learn from history by repeating – rather than avoiding – past dramatic blunders.

Thorough Congressional supervision could spare the US a blow to its economic and national security interests.

Source - http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/a-palestinian-state-would-it-further-us-interests/2014/01/14/


The Yoram Ettinger Report - http://www.theettingerreport.com/




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SINGER NEIL YOUNG ATTACKS TAR SANDS - WHY NOT NUCLEAR INDUSTRY TOO?

The Canadian Tar Sands, with their giant tailing ponds holding poisonous sludge, are indeed an ugly wound in the once pristine landscape of northern Alberta.  They consist of a mixture of crude bitumen (semi-solid crude oil), silica sand, clay minerals and water. 

Singer Neil Young has just denounced this environmental disaster.  The government has replied.  Neil Young has responded to the government.

That's all very good.  We need to talk about this issue.

But we have to wonder why are environmental activists still so silent regarding nuclear power, which is millions of times worse for the planet than even the nastiest oil industry disaster?  Worse even than the Tar Sands.

Life on Earth can recover from the damage done by the oil industry.  Earth has recovered from many major disasters, mass extinctions, and climate extremes. 

But the biosphere could NEVER RECOVER from the damage done by a major nuclear disaster. 

The Fukushima nuclear power plant has been spewing highly radioactive waste for almost THREE YEARS now, dumping it into the ocean and releasing it into the air.  Ocean currents and winds bring much of that poison into the American and Canadian west coast, and beyond.

There are almost daily reports of major anomalies among sea life, birds, and other animals.  Many scientists attribute that and countless mass animal die-offs to Fukushima radiation in the environment. 

Three years is more than enough time for environmentalists to have organized and denounced nuclear power - although nuclear power has been a threat since the mid-1940s.  Its nothing new.  We have already had some close calls in this continent.  There are frequent reports that not all is well in the areas surrounding nuclear plants.

But if you go to just about any major pro-environment website these days, they are still focusing on global warming and the oil industry - but they say nothing or next to nothing against the nuclear industry.  

Why is that? 


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REFERENCES

Neil Young and the Tar Sands:


1) Neil Young attacks oil sands
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/01/12/neil-young-attacks-alberta-oilsands


2)  Canadian government's reply
http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/politics/inside-politics-blog/2014/01/neil-young-vs-pmo-oilsands-comments-spark-war-of-words.html


3)  Neil Young's response to the government's reply.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/neil-young-responds-to-pmo-s-defence-of-oilsands-1.2494950


General information about the Tar Sands (or Oil Sands, as they prefer to call them)
-  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athabasca_oil_sands
-  http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/Energy/tarsands/
-  http://oilsandstruth.org/
-  http://www.naturecanada.ca/tarsands.asp
-  Photographer Garth Lenz video lecture (18 minutes) http://www.ted.com/talks/garth_lenz_images_of_beauty_and_devastation.html


This blog's previous article about the Tar Sands
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/06/environment-news-two-disasters-in.html


Latest news about Fukushima
http://enenews.com/
http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/


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RADIATION EXPERT: FUKUSHIMA PLANT OUT OF CONTROL - OCEAN RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION TO CONTINUE FOREVER

Radiation Expert: Fukushima plant “out of control” — Nuclear fuel “is now in the ground… no way they can get at it” — “Will just wash uranium out to sea” — Pollution of Pacific Ocean to continue more or less forever.   (Audio and Video) 

Jan. 6, 2014 interview with Professor Chris Busby, Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk and member of UK Department of Health Committee Examining Radiation Risk for Internal Emitters (CERRIE), Infowars (at 19:45 in):

YOUR FACEBOOK PAGE COULD AFFECT YOUR CREDIT SCORE

Looking up loan applicants’ social media activity has become a popular trend among lenders, and major credit rating agencies like Fair Isaac Corp (FICO) are starting to catch on.

Facebook factors like the number of friends an applicant has, the number and time span of jobs they have listed on their timeline and status updates about losing a job help to decide whether they’re approved or denied, and now will likely begin to influence their credit score as well.

“There could come a time where certain social media could be predictive and we’re looking at that, but it isn’t yet,” FICO consumer-credit specialist Anthony Sprauve told the Wall Street Journal.   FICO scores are used in more than 90 percent of all credit worthiness lender decisions.  Twitter and LinkedIn are also used to follow a potential borrower’s tweets about their job, and whether or not the job they have listed on their application matches the one posted on their LinkedIn profile.  

Lenders also check and see whether the friends and connections of an applicant have paid back their loans.  Some are even using it to communicate with current borrowers about their repayment options and urging them to make payments on loans. Lenddo, a platform that helps potential borrowers build creditworthiness through social media, sends messages about repayment directly to users’ accounts.

Government regulators and privacy advocates like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission have begun examining lenders’ use of social media, with early reports calling it a violation of consumer privacy.  With laws already on the books in some states to keep employers from using social media from judging job candidates and schools from evaluating prospective students, a similar law against the use for approving loans and establishing credit ratings is a possibility.

Source - http://dailycaller.com/2014/01/09/why-your-facebook-could-start-affecting-your-credit-score/


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YOU ARE NOT BEING PARANOID - THEY ARE INDEED TRACKING YOUR CAR'S MOVEMENTS

Automakers track and store your location as you drive.

(NaturalNews) It's bad enough that traffic cameras, satellites and the National Security Agency tracks and records virtually everything you do and everywhere you go.   Now the nation's major automobile makers are doing the same thing.

According to a report in The Detroit News, the tracking isn't something that buyers were aware of (I'm assuming that's because "tracking" wasn't offered as an option but instead was, obviously, standard equipment):

A government report finds that major automakers are keeping information about where drivers have been - collected from onboard navigation systems - for varying lengths of time. Owners of those cars can't demand that the information be destroyed. And, says the U.S. senator requesting the investigation, that raises questions about driver privacy.  The Government Accountability Office in a report released Monday found major automakers have differing policies about how much data they collect and how long they keep it.

Read more - http://www.naturalnews.com/043478_location_tracking_automakers_data_privacy.html

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TINY BABY ELEPHANT STUCK IN THE MUD IS RESCUED BY HIS MOM

Baby elephant is rescued by its mother after getting stranded while taking a bath.

Calf was enjoying the water in the Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

Baby slipped and was unable to scramble out of the lake

His mother then stepped in and hauled him to safety with her trunk

Adorable moment captured by South African photographer Ken Watkins

Read more and see pictures - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2534397/Stuck-mud-Baby-elephant-rescued-mother-getting-stranded-taking-bath.html


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PICTURES OF LAUGHING BABY SEAL - SO ADORABLE!

Seal spotted heartily laughing as he plays on the beach on remote North Sea island.

Seal pup laughing on the sandy island with his mouth wide open

Adorable pictures taken at Dune in the Northern Sea by Peter Krejzl

See pictures here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2538266/Heard-one--Seal-spotted-heartily-laughing-plays-beach-remote-North-Sea-island.html


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ARIEL SHARON'S LEGACY - WHY ISN'T HIS ILLEGAL FORCIBLE EXPULSION OF 10,000 ISRAELIS ALSO CONSIDERED A CRIME?

Perhaps one of the most pointed commentaries today about Ariel Sharon's demise focuses on how Human Rights Watch wrote an article full of outrage at Sharon's crime of standing idle by while Christian militias in Lebanon massacred their enemies at a refugee camp.

Human Rights Watch:  "Ariel Sharon died without facing justice for his role in the massacres of hundreds and perhaps thousands of civilians by Lebanese militias in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon in 1982. The killings constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"Sharon also escaped accountability for other alleged abuses, such as his role expanding settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, prosecutable as a war crime. Sharon ordered the removal of all Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip and from four West Bank settlements in 2005, but the overall number of settlers in occupied territory increased significantly during his term as prime minister."

Blogger Elder of Ziyon writes: 

As far as I can tell, HRW has never written an article like this about the death of any other person. Not Osama bin Laden, not Moammar Qaddafi, not Saddam Hussein. Only Ariel Sharon gets treated this way.  Now, if you do a search through HRW's archives of the word "Phalangist" (or "Keta'eb," which is the current name of that group in Lebanon, still an active political party) you will not find a single condemnation of their massacres in Sabra and Shalita. Every single time they are mentioned it is in context of - Ariel Sharon. 

To HRW, the people who actually slaughter human beings and mutilate pregnant women are blameless. They are not worthy of any calls to investigation, there is no reason to seek justice from them. 

In fact, Lebanon saw much worse massacres in recent decades- even against Palestinian civilians - and HRW has not a word to say about those massacres. Only if a Jew can be blamed is it worth being brought up.

AND WHY ISN'T THIS CONSIDERED A CRIME?

Sharon forcibly expelled thousands (10,000) of Jews from their homes in Gaza and the West Bank. This would seem to be against the Geneva Conventions. The ICRC interprets international law this way: "Individual or mass forcible transfers...are prohibited, regardless of their motive." But they were Jews, so HRW has nothing bad to say about that.

Jews in the territories are the only group of people in the world that HRW insists should be forcibly removed from their homes. There is a double standard clear to all: international law must be twisted to ensure that Jews, the indigenous people of ancient Israel and Judah, are always violators of law while Arabs who invaded or moved in millenia later are nearly blameless in their actions.

Read more - http://elderofziyon.blogspot.co.il/2014/01/why-hrw-is-racist-it-condemns-sharon-in.html#.UtNfFCQWKM8

 

 

Pictures of the brutal and bloody expulsion of Israeli Jews from Amona, by their own government, and contrary to international law.  Some people received permanent disabling injuries as a result.
 

The expulsions of Jews from Gush Katif were carried out by PM Ariel Sharon, breaking promises he had made as a candidate.  The ones from Amona by his successor and close collaborator, PM Ehud Olmert.


MYTHS AND FACTS ABOUT THE ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS
Settlements use less than 2% of the West Bank area demanded by the Arabs
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths3/MFsettlements.html

More on mass expulsions of Israeli citizens here:  http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/01/what-motivated-former-israeli-prime.html


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HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH GOES TO SAUDI ARABIA ...

Not to criticize their appalling human rights record,

but to raise money to attack Israel.

Wall Street Journal (2009)  -  A delegation from Human Rights Watch was in Saudi Arabia.

To investigate the mistreatment of women under Saudi Law? To campaign for the rights of homosexuals, subject to the death penalty in Saudi Arabia? To protest the lack of religious freedom in the Saudi Kingdom? To issue a report on Saudi political prisoners?

 

No, no, no, and no.

The delegation arrived to raise money from wealthy Saudis by highlighting HRW's demonization of Israel. An HRW spokesperson, Sarah Leah Whitson, highlighted HRW's battles with "pro-Israel pressure groups in the US, the European Union and the United Nations." (Was Ms. Whitson required to wear a burkha, or are exceptions made for visiting anti-Israel "human rights" activists"? Driving a car, no doubt, was out of the question.)

Apparently, Ms. Whitson found no time to criticize Saudi Arabia's abysmal human rights record. But never fear, HRW "recently called on the Kingdom to do more to protect the human rights of domestic workers.  (But why not those of Saudi citizens themselves?)

Read more - http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB124528343805525561

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STUNNING PICTURES OF THE WRECKED CRUISE SHIP COSTA CONCORDIA

Amazing pictures show hulking wreck of the Costa Concordia rusting away in the Mediterranean Sea as massive operation to lift stricken cruise liner begins.

Refloating the Concordia will be the next phase in the largest maritime salvage in history

Thirty massive tanks filled with air will lift the hulk of the liner off the seabed in June

The 114,500-tonne vessel hit rocks off Italian island on January 13, 2012, killing 32 people

See pictures here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2538109/Italy-prepares-mark-second-anniversary-Costa-Concordia-tragedy-operation-lift-stricken-cruise-liner-begins.html


DON'T MISS:  More links to pictures of the Costa Concordia's sinking, diagrams of the accident, and even more amazing pictures of the inside of the cruise ship after it sank.
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/09/inside-costa-concordia-and-its-wrecked.html


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BEAUTIFUL AND SURREAL PICTURES OF ANIMALS

When Mother Nature meets Photoshop: IT director turns his wildlife pictures into surreal works of art.

Swiss photographer John Wilhelm creates imaginative, playful and humorous visions of animals in a fantasy world.

See pictures here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2536481/When-Mother-Nature-meets-Photoshop-IT-director-turns-wildlife-pictures-surreal-works-art.html


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VIOLENT PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS - NOBODY CARES

Since it does not happen in Israel, the media, governments, churches, and the usual human rights organizations pay only lip service to this tragedy.


The number of Christians murdered because of their religion doubled in 2013, compared to the previous year. 

The estimated number of killings perpetrated mostly by radical Islam groups and governments is 2,123 victims.

Add to that countless numbers of acts of violence and destruction of private property and churches, and the displacement of thousands of Christians. 

Read more - http://www.wnd.com/2014/01/37-muslim-nations-persecuting-christians/


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PALESTINIANS STARVING AND DYING BY THE DOZENS IN SYRIA - NOBODY CARES

BUT SINCE IT IS NOT HAPPENING IN ISRAEL


NEITHER ARAB COUNTRIES, 
NOR THE EUROPEANS,
NOR THE US GOVERNMENT,
NOR THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS REALLY CARE.


Hunger kills 48 Palestinian refugees in besieged camp in Syria
By staff writer, Al Arabiya News
Sunday, 12 January 2014


Severe hunger in a besieged refugee camp for Palestinians in southern Damascus has claimed two lives, raising the death toll to 48 people killed, an opposition Syrian group said Saturday in a statement.


Read more - http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/01/12/Hunger-kills-48-Palestinian-refugees-in-besieged-camp-in-Syria-.html

Via - http://elderofziyon.blogspot.ca/2014/01/48-palestinians-in-syria-have-starved.html#.UtQ_MmEWLMw

Syrian refugees freezing in tents in Lebanon - not allowed to build - http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/12/syrian-refugees-in-lebanon-freezing-in.html


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WHAT MOTIVATED FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER SHARON TO EXPEL ISRAELIS FROM THEIR HOMES

In the aftermath of the demise of Israel's former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israelis have chosen to celebrate his achievements rather than his decisions at the end of his political life in 2005 to expel thousands of citizens from the communities of Gush Katif in Gaza, or "Disengagement," as he euphemistically called it and to hand the territory to the Arabs. 

This surrender has harmed both Arabs and Jews.  Arabs live under the control of corrupt and violent Jihadist Hamas, while Jews in the surrounding areas have endured years of rocket attacks launched by Gazans.   

But one of the worst parts of Ariel Sharon's tragic decision to surrender Gaza is that he did not take it with the best interest of Israelis in mind. 

 

It has been alleged for years that the withdrawal from Gaza was done as a result  a secret deal with leftist and pro-Arab judicial authorities as the price to pay to keep Sharon and his two sons - who had been embroiled in corrupt financial practices - from going to jail.

Photo of  the 2005 Israeli government pogrom on Israeli citizens living in Amona.
See more pictures here: http://www.iris.org.il/brutality/brutality.htm#brutality

THE EXPULSION OF TWO MILLION MEXICANS FROM THE UNITED STATES IN THE 1930s - AN ALMOST UNKNOWN HISTORICAL EVENT

Many of those "Mexicans" had been born in the United States and had American citizenship.

THE MEXICAN REPATRIATION

It refers to a mass migration that took place between 1929 and 1939, when as many as TWO MILLION people of Mexican descent were forced or pressured to leave the US.

This event occurred during the latter end of the Hoover Presidency and into Franklin Delano Roosevelt's second term. The event, carried out by American authorities, took place without due process.

The Immigration and Naturalization Service targeted Mexicans because of "the proximity of the Mexican border, the physical distinctiveness of mestizos, and easily identifiable barrios."

Studies have provided conflicting numbers for how many people were “repatriated” during the Great Depression. The State of California passed an "Apology Act" that estimated 2 million people were forced to relocate to Mexico and an estimated 1.2 million were US citizens.

Authors Balderrama and Rodriguez have estimated that the total number of repatriates was about one million, and 60 percent of those were citizens of the United States. These estimates come from newspaper articles and government records and the authors assert all previous estimates severely under counted the number of repatriates (Balderrama).

An older study conducted by Hoffman argues that about 500,000 people were sent to Mexico. His data comes from the "Departmento de Migracion de Mexico" or “Mexican Migration Service,” which is said to be a reliable source since the Mexican government had many ports along the border in which Mexicans were required to register and could do so free of charge (Aguila and Hoffman).

The Repatriation is not widely discussed in American history textbooks; in a 2006 survey of the nine most commonly used American history textbooks in the United States, four did not mention the Repatriation, and only one devoted more than half a page to the topic. Nevertheless, many mainstream textbooks now carry this topic. In total, they devoted four pages to the Repatriation, compared with eighteen pages for the Japanese American internment which, though also a gross violation of the rights of citizens, affected a much smaller number of people, even by the more conservative estimates for the Mexican deportations.

These actions were authorized by President Herbert Hoover and continued by FDR who was the 32nd President of the United States (1933–1945) and targeted areas with large Hispanic populations, mostly in California, Texas, Colorado, Illinois, and Michigan.

Source -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Repatriation


RELATED


Los Angeles apologizes for role in massive deportations.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/23/la-apologizes-for-deportation_n_1295052.html


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WEIRD EARLY NUCLEAR SAFETY POSTERS

Radiation Protection posters were produced at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the late 1940s, where the most of the work was done on the Manhattan Project. Before the Cold War was in full effect, these posters warned of dangers that would come to define a generation.


See posters here - http://io9.com/early-nuclear-safety-posters-are-seriously-weird-1497775044


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NEW EVIDENCE PLANTS GET THEIR ENERGY USING QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT - WHAT EINSTEIN CALLED "SPOOKY ACTION"

Biophysicists theorize that plants tap into the eerie world of quantum entanglement during photosynthesis. But the evidence to date has been purely circumstantial. Now, scientists have discovered a feature of plants that cannot be explained by classical physics alone — but which quantum mechanics answers quite nicely.

The fact that biological systems can exploit quantum effects is quite astounding. In a way, they're like mini-quantum computers capable of scanning all possible options in order to choose the most efficient paths or solutions. For plants, this means the ability to make the most of the energy they receive and then deliver that energy from leaves with near perfect efficiency. But for this to work, plants require the capacity to work in harmony with the wild, wacky, and extremely small world of quantum phenomena.

The going theory is that plants have light-gathering macromolecules in their cells that can transfer energy via molecular vibrations — vibrations that have no equivalents in classical physics. Most of these light-gathering macromolecules are comprised of chromophores attached to proteins. These macromolecules carry out the first step of photosynthesis by capturing sunlight and efficiently transferring the energy.

TOP TEN MOST OUTRAGEOUS DECISIONS BY THE UNITED NATIONS IN 2013

By The Commentator.com


The widely respected and highly courageous group UN WATCH has welcomed the New Year with a short but telling list of 10 worst decisions by the UN in 2013.  If it wasn't so shocking, it'd be funny.  Watchdog group UN WATCH lists the 10 worst decisions by the U.N. in 2013. Most are against Israel and in favour of terrorists or brutal dictatorships

1. The UN Human Rights Council elected Hezbollah supporter Jean Ziegler, founder and recipient of the Muammar Qaddafi Human Rights Prize, as a top advisor.


2. The UN General Assembly adopted 21 condemnatory resolutions against Israel, compared to 4 on the rest of the world combined.


3. The same UN General Assembly elected China, Cuba, Russia, and Saudi Arabia to the UN Human Rights Council. The dictatorships will take their new seats on January 1, 2014.


4. UN Human Rights Council expert Richard Falk blamed the Boston Marathon terror bombings on "the American global domination project" and "Tel Aviv." Council members praised Falk and the president defended him.


5. The UN Special Committee on Decolonization, charged with upholding fundamental human rights and opposing the subjugation of peoples, elected the murderous Syrian regime to a senior post.


6. The UN Conference on Disarmament in May 2013 made Iran its president.  


7. The UN Economic and Social Council, which oversees the UN women's rights commission, elected genocidal Sudan as its vice-president.  


8. The UN Human Rights Council elected slave-holding Mauritania to be its vice-president.


9. The UN chose Zimbabwe, a regime that systematically violates human rights, to host its world tourism summit.


10. UNESCO, which condemned no other country but Israel, and which was silent as Hamas bulldozed a world heritage site to make a terrorist training camp, allowed Syria to sit as a judge on UNESCO's human rights committee.


UN Watch has not asked us to do this but we do recommend reading their site on a regular basis and supporting them financially so they can keep up their invaluable work.


Read more on: Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy, United Nations Human Rights Council, and Israel


Article Source - http://www.thecommentator.com/article/4539/the_top_10_worst_decisions_by_the_u_n_in_2013_un_watch


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Don't miss:  The moment when a United Nations interpreter inadvertently spoke on an open microphone about the unfairness of the UN selectively targeting Israel for criticism, while ignoring horrors going on elsewhere:


A UN interpreter was caught on a hot mic expressing her incredulity at 9 anti-Israel resolutions offered at the UN General Assembly while none for the rest of the world, The Times of Israel reports:

Under the mistaken impression that she was speaking only to a colleague, the interpreter uttered the following words into the headphones of every UN delegate, and before a live webcast audience worldwide:

“Isn’t it a little weird? There are nine or ten resolutions against Israel. And I know there’s a problem with the Palestinians. But there’s other bad shit going on and they’re spending so much time on this.”


Laughter erupted among the delegates. “The interpreter apologizes,” said the unfortunate truth-teller, moments later. I sincerely hope she won’t get fired.  Because the one who should really apologize today is the UN. Founded on noble ideals, the world body is turning the dream of liberal internationalists into a nightmare.  For by the end of its annual session next month, the General Assembly will have adopted a total of 22 resolutions condemning Israel — and only four on the rest of the world combined. The hypocrisy, selectivity, and politicization are staggering.


Source - http://freebeacon.com/un-interpreter-caught-on-hot-mic-anti-israel-resolutions-a-little-weird/

Watch video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7W5tsnd0BE

UN WATCH - http://www.unwatch.org/site/c.bdKKISNqEmG/b.1277549/k.D7FE/UN_Watch__Monitoring_the_UN_Promoting_Human_Rights.htm

GOOGLE ALLOWING STRANGERS TO SEND E-MAILS TO YOUR G-MAIL ADDRESS

Users of Google's web-based email service Gmail will be bombarded with messages from total strangers following a system update which allows people to send them emails without needing their address, it is feared.

The change, announced on yesterday, is designed to integrate Gmail with Google+, the firm's two-and-a-half-year old social network that has 540 million active users.  As well as seeing their social network contacts added to their list of email contacts, the update means Google+ users will be able to email people on the social network directly even if they don't have their address.  Currently anyone signing up for a Gmail account is automatically given a Google+ account too.

Google said the new feature will make it easier for people who use both services to communicate with their friends.  Some privacy advocates said Google should have made the new feature 'opt-in,' meaning that users should explicitly agree to receive messages from other Google+ users, rather than being required to manually change the setting.  Marc Rotenberg, the executive director of non-profit Electronic Privacy Information Center, called the new feature 'troubling'.

Read more -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2537024/How-strangers-soon-invading-inbox-Gmail-private-update-allows-people-send-emails-without-having-address.html


RELATED


Google can now use your face and name on Google ads without prior authorization
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/01/google-can-now-use-your-face-and-name.html


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PICTURES OF THE GHOST TOWNS OF FUKUSHIMA

Three years after the onset of the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant, former residents are allowed only short visits to their former homes.

In March 2011 the world watched in horror as a powerful earthquake rocked Japan, before a deadly tsunami swept ashore, washing away any boats, cars, homes and people unfortunate enough to be in its path.  But while the initial reports of 19,000 dead shocked viewers around the globe, that news would soon be superseded by the terrors to come from the then-unknown town of Fukushima as its nuclear power plant was overcome by floodwater before going into meltdown.  Now, nearly three years on from the natural disaster, a very unnatural catastrophe is still unfolding in the central prefecture while the villagers who used to live around the plant are still suffering.

In total 80,000 people were evacuated because of the disaster as a 12-mile 'no go zone' was put in place around the stricken facility. Tepco, the owner of the plant and Japan's largest power company, insist that the situation is under control and announced in December that the plant is now in a state of 'cold shutdown' allowing a cleanup operation to start.  As a result of that operation exclusion zone lines may be redrawn, allowing some former residents of the towns around Fukushima to go home.


In the town of Namie more than 20,000 former residents are allowed to visit their homes once a month with special permissions but are not allowed to stay overnight.  In the town of Futaba residents were once so proud of their nuclear plant that they erected a sign across the promenade saying the technology made them prosperous. Now their town lies in ruins.

Within the exclusion zone hundreds of bags filled with radioactive soil lie piled up next to road and fields because opposition from those outside the zone means there is nowhere to move them to. 

Across the other side of the Pacific Ocean, the US state of California is also concerned about the effect of the disaster as water contaminated with radiation is expected to start washing up soon. The exact amount is unknown, and Tepco say there is no way to accurately measure how much has leaked away.  Even after the nuclear cleanup has finished, it will be just the beginning for anyone who decides to move back, as the devastation caused by the tsunami has still not been repaired after people fled.

Read more and see pictures of Fukushima towns here -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2537046/The-ghost-towns-Fukushima-Three-years-Japans-nuclear-disaster-residents-allowed-home-month-stay-overnight.html
 
Pictures of Chernobyl
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2514337/Another-winter-arrives-ghostly-Chernobyl-town.html

More on Fukushima on this blog -
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Fukushima


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ELEPHANT ARTIST PAINTS SELF PORTRAITS

He has a delicate brushstroke and an eye for colour that would give Picasso a run for his money.So it's all the more impressive that this impressionist painter is in fact... an elephant.

Noppakhao, also known as Peter, has churned out dozens of works of art over the years, with some fetching as much as $700.Noppakhao - which stands for the 'nine colours of the gemstones' - began painting eight years ago as part of the Asian Elephant Art & Conservation Project (AEACP) in Ayutthaya province, nearly 50 miles north of Bangkok.

According to the organisation's website, the 11-year-old bull 'exhibits a wonderful sense of dexterity and control with the paintbrush' to draw landscapes and floral designs.

Read more and see pictures of Noppakhao at work - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2536361/It-s-pachyderm-Picasso-Elephant-paints-amazing-self-portraits-youll-never-forget.html  


RELATED

Monet, another elephant painter in Thailand.
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/10/elephant-paints-pictures-of-flowers.html


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FROM FARM TO FRIDGE - VIDEO EXPOSES THE EXTREME CRUELTY USED IN THE FARM ANIMAL INDUSTRY

From Farm to Fridge - 12 minute video showing the cruel and brutal conditions and procedures - most of them approved by law - used to grow animals, to harvest their products and offsprings, and eventually to kill them.  All this in the United States, Canada, and other "civilized" western countries.   What happens in other places is even worse.

Whoever still eats meat may, upon seeing this video, reflect on whether that chicken, or steak, fish, or slice of ham they consume is worth all the excruciating suffering endured by these gentle creatures who have never done any harm to anyone.

WATCH VIDEO HERE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFlAR1rITpM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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More on this video:

Narrated by Academy Award nominee James Cromwell, this powerful film takes viewers on an eye-opening exploration behind the closed doors of the nations largest industrial poultry, pig, dairy, and fish farms, hatcheries, and slaughter plants - revealing the often-unseen journey that animals make from Farm to Fridge.

Using arresting images covertly recorded on hidden camera, this provocative film puts into focus the harsh reality faced by farmed animals - creatures granted no federal protection from abuse during their lives on factory farms. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1863233/


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BEAUTIFUL PICTURES OF SUNSETS AND SUNRISES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Breathtaking photographs from National Geographic readers capture magical sunrises and sunsets from some of the globe's most beautiful places.  Golden Gate, Paris, Greece, and more.

See pictures here  -  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2536871/Golden-Hour-world-Breath-taking-photographs-National-Geographic-readers-capture-magical-sunrises-sunsets-globes-impressive-places.html


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WEIRD DOG BALANCING ON TWO LEGS STROLLING ON THE BEACH WITH HIS EARS FLYING IN THE WIND

This sea's a bit ruff! Benny the spaniel gets blown by a hair-raising gust of wind while strolling on a beach in Jersey


See picture here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2536781/This-seas-ruff-Benny-spaniel-gets-blown-hair-raising-gust-wind-strolling-beach-Jersey.html


UPDATE - Family reaction at sudden fame of weird dog on the beach
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2537548/Blown-away-Familys-delight-Benny-spaniel-leaps-fame-beach-stroll-yesterdays-Mail.html


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