VIDEO GAMES - CREATING GENERATIONS OF PSYCHOPATHS

UPDATE December 2014

Read the latest article on this subject here:

http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2014/12/how-violent-and-depraved-video-games.html

 

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December 2013:

By Tanith Carey  - Daily Mail

Chilling truth about the video games your children got for Christmas: How titles like Pay Day 2, Grand Theft Auto and Mortal Kombat corrupt children as young as five

Scenes include women tied to train tracks and a man's kneecaps drilled

One five-year-old was bought Grand Theft Auto to bond with his father

Another child spent two days in his bedroom playing 11-plus reward game

Study found violent games can make 12 to 14 year olds more aggressive

13-year-old boy in Glasgow slashed a rival's throat before quoting a game

A generation ago, entertainment during the Christmas period revolved around families playing board games before sitting down to watch the Morecambe And Wise Christmas Show and a Bond film.

 

But this year, the launch of two super-powerful games consoles — the Sony PS4 and Microsoft Xbox One — meant that, more than ever, video games like these were among the most popular presents received.

 

And despite such stomach-churning content and 18 ratings, the uncomfortable truth is that in hundreds of thousands of homes the person ripping the parcel open was a child.

 

But would most parents buy these games if they knew the depravity of their content?

 

It seems many do not realise the levels of sex and violence portrayed in such games, and the damage they can do to the under-developed minds of children.

 

This week I reviewed some of these games — and the hours I spent doing so were among the most horrible and eye-opening of my life.

 

Of course I’d heard they were unpleasant. But I was not prepared for the extreme realism — the latest high-definition games played on the new consoles are almost impossible to tell apart from film — or the fact that players take such an active role in murdering, maiming and torturing others.

 

As an adult, I found the gratuitousness and lingering attention to every detail of death disturbing. As a mother and a parenting author, I found imagining this through the eyes of a child terrifying.

 

Read more - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2529677/Chilling-truth-video-games-children-got-Christmas.html

 

 

Previous generations still had the blessing of enjoying their childhood.  

 

These days aside from mind-warping entertaining, there is also the problem with the sexualisation of small children through explicit "sex education" in schools, which erases all concepts of right and wrong by telling children that anything goes as long as they avoid pregnancy and STDs.  Schools are denigrating traditional values and imposing the educators' own moral relativism.

  

 

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EINSTEIN DENOUNCED FOOLISH FAITH IN AUTHORITY - NO MATTER WHAT IDEOLOGY OR BELIEF IT REPRESENTS

By Washington Blog


Albert Einstein said:

A foolish faith in authority is the worst enemy of the truth.

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Indeed, scientists have shown that people will go to absurd lengths - and engage in mental gymnastics – in order to cling to their belief in what those in authority have said.

Part of the reason so many are so vulnerable to naive belief in authority is that we evolved in small tribes … and we assume that the super-elites are just like us.

In reality, there are millions of psychopaths in the world … and they are largely running D.C. and on Wall Street.

These people have no hesitation in lying to promote their goals.
The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs told Morley Safer of 60 Minutes and CBS News:

Look, if you think any American official is going to tell you the truth, then you’re stupid. Did you hear that? — stupid.

And studies show that the super-rich lie, cheat and steal more than the rest of us.

Who’s to Blame … Big Government or Big Business?

 

Conservatives tend to believe that the captains of industry are virtuous and that the government can’t be trusted.

Liberals tend to believe that government servants are virtuous and that corporations can’t be trusted.

But the truth is that psychopaths are psychopaths … whether they’re in the private sector or government.

And there is no such thing as representative government or free market capitalism anymore. Big corporate money has coopted the government; and ill-guided politicians have destroyed the free market.

Corrupt government agencies and officials and corrupt corporations and executives have become intertwined in a malignant, symbiotic relationship.

And they’re trying to grab more and more power and wealth every day.

Big Business Has Turned Into a Criminal Syndicate

 

Big banks and giant oil companies have more or less become criminal enterprises.
And conservatives are not amused.

Government Has Gone Rogue

 

If the government were accountable, then government corruption, deceit and wrongdoing would be held to a modest level.

But the government is not accountable.

When bad government policy leads to bad results, the government manipulates the data … instead of changing policy.

Government pumps out massive amounts of propaganda through the mainstream and “gatekeeper” alternative media, movies, video games, and other venues.

The government has launched a war on journalism, and censors and manipulates social media. And see this.

The massive NSA is spying on all of us – including government officials, reporters, and everyone else – as a way to crush dissent.

And people who criticize government policy or government officials may literally be labeled terrorists.

No wonder the American public has lost faith in the 2 party system. And see this.

People of faith shouldn’t be fooled into blindly deferring to government authority.

Source - http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/12/einstein-foolish-faith-authority-worst-enemy-truth.html

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SATIRE - HOW THE NSA INTERCEPTED CHILDREN'S LETTERS TO SANTA CLAUS

 

SATIRE - By G-Had

 

FORT MEADE, MD – The National Security Agency routinely intercepts children’s letters to Santa, internal agency documents have revealed.

 

The documents describe an operation known as MILK COOKIES, based out of Fort Meade and run in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Service. COOKIES is the interception of the letters while MILK feeds them through a complex series of algorithms to spot any hidden messages.

 

Agency director Gen. Keith Alexander had previously testified to Congress in 2011 that the NSA would occasionally collect letters addressed to Santa, but insisted that it was totally accidental and that no one was actually reading or storing them.

 

The NSA is prohibited from directly monitoring American citizens under both Executive Order 12333 and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. However, because the letters are addressed to the North Pole, which falls outside of U.S. territory, they are considered potential foreign intelligence signals which the NSA is authorized to intercept.

 

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a former senior administration official defended the program: ”We’re only looking for any unusual presents, like children who ask Santa for pressure cookers, large amounts of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, hyzadrine rocket fuel, things like that. I mean a six-year old with a hammer is bad enough; just try to imagine that same six-year old with a truck bomb.”

 

The leaked reports show that the NSA also routinely hacked Santa’s Naughty and Nice List for any information on world leaders, and at one point tried to smuggle surveillance devices disguised as lumps of coal into Santa’s sack. They also reveal the existence of a massive NSA data storage center at the North Pole, known as ELFCHELON, which dwarfs even the planned one at Utah, and is capable of storing letters dating back to 1952.

 

The documents were part of the massive data haul taken by fugitive whistleblower and Playgirl centerfold Edward Snowden, whom the former official referred to as “a very naughty boy.”

U.S. intelligence has closely monitored the Letters to Santa program ever since the U.S. Post Office first created it in 1912. Initially, children’s letters were reviewed by both Army and Navy Intelligence under the aegis of Project SHAMROCK until that program’s termination in 1975.

 

Four years later the NSA began MILK COOKIES in response to the Secret Santa program, which the agency initially thought was a Soviet operation after a flier for the program mistakenly replaced the picture of Santa with Karl Marx.

 

Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the NSA began an almost-relentless campaign to insert itself both legally and covertly into the Christmas spirit.

 

First the NSA managed to get language inserted into the PATRIOT Act which required Santa to file a flight plan with NORAD and submit to random TSA inspections at select chimneys. Then came the 2002 judgment in United States v. Kringle, when the NSA and the Justice Department ordered him to deliver multiple GPS devices to the location of Usama bin Laden and other high-ranking Al Qaeda leaders.

 

When Santa refused and was put on a no-fly list he briefly had to outsource all his American operations to Canada, which handles diplomatic issues for the North Pole.

 

In response to the scandal, the task force appointed by President Obama to review NSA activity has issued a further critique of the agency. Calling Santa a “close and traditional U.S. ally,” panel member Richard Clarke urged tough new restrictions on NSA collection against holiday figures.

 

He added, “We’re not in any way recommending the disarming of the intelligence community. The NSA can still spy on the Easter Bunny.”

 

Top NSA officials were skeptical. “What else would you expect from someone who asked Santa for a Barbie doll when he was nine?” Gen. Alexander was overheard remarking.

 

Some privacy advocate groups believe that the panel’s recommendations don’t go far enough. They are telling parents not to let their children use the U.S. Post Office to contact Santa this year, and risk having their children’s information indefinitely stored for whatever the government wants to use it for. 

Source - http://www.duffelblog.com/2013/12/nsa-letters-to-santa/

More satire by G-Had here - http://www.duffelblog.com/author/ghad/


RELATED

Video satire of NSA Santa Claus army spying on you
You better watch out, you better not Skype.

http://rt.com/usa/aclu-nsa-santa-claus-328/

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FUKUSHIMA COVERUP IN NORTH AMERICA - PEOPLE NOT TOLD ABOUT PLUME OF RADIOACTIVITY IN THE AIR

THAT WAS IN 2011 - THE COVERUP CONTINUES ...
 

The governments of the United States and Canada were aware in 2011 of the thick plume of radioactivity headed to the North American west coast - but never alerted the public.  On the contrary, all statements minimized the threat. 

They are still minimizing the threat, although the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan continues to spew highly radioactive waste into the ocean and the air. 

 

Winds and ocean currents bring the worst of this radioactivity to our west coast.  Fish are already contaminated.  Eat fish at your own risk. 

But the air is something we can't do without. 

 

Authorities could have done their duty and warned people during the worst of the nuclear cloud over North America to stay indoors if they could, and to wear masks if they went outside.

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Interview with nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds, KBOO, Nov. 8, 2013 (at 26:00 in):

From Portland on the south, to Vancouver on the north, there was significant hot particles deposited locally.

 

One of the scientists we work with had air filters, continuous air monitors, set up in Seattle and we could clearly show that the average person in Seattle was ingesting about 10 hot particles a day into their lungs. No matter what you do you can’t get that out, the particle size was such that once you breathed it in, it lodged in your lung […]

 

What people in Seattle could have done were to put air masks on, but of course by the time we got that data and analyzed it, it was May and the worst of the cloud had already passed. The authorities did know about it though.

I’m absolutely convinced that authorities did know about it and chose to keep us all in the dark.

 

There was a case up in Seattle where the government announced that it was going to be flying helicopters up and down the coast all the way through the Seattle area. They said they were doing background radiation monitoring, and it was just purely coincidence that they were doing it just 90 days after Fukushima Daiichi.   I don’t believe that.

I think that those helicopters were looking for hot particles and we were not told the outcome of those helicopter surveys. They said it was a national security secret. So authorities did know and didn’t warn us [...]

Source - http://enenews.com/new-model-shows-hit-fukushima-radioactive-cloud-dispersed-little-pacific-gundersen-authorities-knew-about-hot-particles-didnt-warn-public-people-could-worn-air-masks-instead-stuck-lungs-helicopters


RELATED

Russian Experts: Fukushima pollution spreads all over Earth, clearly a large amount of fish, seaweeds, and everything in ocean has been polluted — These products are the main danger for mankind as they can end up being eaten by people on a massive scale

Read more - http://enenews.com/russian-experts-fukushima-pollution-spreads-all-over-earth-clearly-a-large-amount-of-fish-seaweeds-and-everything-in-ocean-has-been-polluted-these-products-are-the-main-danger-for-mankind-as-th

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Fukushima Radioactive Aerosol Dispersion

The earthquake occurred on March 11th at 14:26 Japan Standard Time (JST), the tsunami about one hour later at 15:41, and by 16:36 a nuclear emergency was reported. By the early morning hours of March 12th, radioactive emissions were occurring from the plant.

 

NOAA one minute video showing the dispersion of Cesium 137 as it heads to the Canadian and American west coast.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnP5t_PaxOQ

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Scientific Paper: “The Fukushima Radioactive Plume Contaminated the Entire Northern Hemisphere During a Relatively Short Period of Time”

 

Zero Hedge - September 2012  - We warned mere days after the Japanese earthquake that the West Coast of North America could be hit with radiation. Our concerns – unfortunately – have been validated.  See this and this.

 

The peer-reviewed scientific journal Science of the Total Environment reports: Massive amounts of anthropogenic radionuclides were released from the nuclear reactors located in Fukushima (northeastern Japan) between 12 and 16 March 2011 following the earthquake and tsunami.

 

Ground level air radioactivity was monitored around the globe immediately after the Fukushima accident. This global effort provided a unique opportunity to trace the surface air mass movement at different sites in the Northern Hemisphere.

 

Read more - http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-09-18/scientific-paper-%E2%80%9C-fukushima-radioactive-plume-contaminated-entire-northern-h

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Don't let them fool you. 

Even Miniscule Amounts of Radiation

Can Be Dangerous

Posted on August 23, 2013 by WashingtonsBlog

  Science Daily reports: 

Even the very lowest levels of radiation are harmful to life, scientists have concluded in the Cambridge Philosophical Society’s journal Biological Reviews.  The scientists reported significant negative effects in a range of categories, including immunology, physiology, mutation and disease occurrence. 

Fukushima has spewed much more radioactive cesium and iodine than Chernobyl. The amount of radioactive cesium released by Fukushima was some 20-30 times higher than initially admitted. Japanese experts say that Fukushima is currently releasing up to 93 billion becquerels of radioactive cesium into the ocean each day. And the cesium levels hitting the west coast of North America will keep increasing for several years. Fukushima is spewing more and more radiation into the environment, and the amount of radioactive fuel at Fukushima dwarfs Chernobyl.)

 

Cesium-137 mixes easily with water and is chemically similar to potassium. It thus mimics how potassium gets metabolized in the body and can enter through many foods, including milk.

 

In addition to spewing massive amounts of radioactive iodine 131, Fukushima also pumped out huge amounts of radioactive iodine 129 – which has a half-life of 15.7 million years. Fukushima has also dumped up to 900 trillion becquerels of radioactive strontium-90 – which is a powerful internal emitter which mimics calcium and collects in our bones – into the ocean.

 

Cesium-137 and radioactive iodine – the two main radioactive substances being spewed by the leaking Japanese nuclear plants – are not naturally-occurring substances, and can become powerful internal emitters which can cause tremendous damage to the health of people who are unfortunate enough to breathe in even a particle of the substances, or ingest them in food or water.

 

Unlike low-levels of radioactive potassium found in bananas – which our bodies have adapted to over many years – cesium-137 and iodine 131 are brand new, extremely dangerous substances.

 

And unlike naturally-occurring internal emitters like radon and radium – whose distribution is largely concentrated in certain areas of the country – radioactive cesium and iodine, as well as strontium and other dangerous radionuclides, are being distributed globally through weapons testing and nuclear accidents.

 

Ever since nuclear weapons were first developed 68 years ago, the U.S. and other governments have been covering up the dangers of radiation.

 

Even though the science is clear that even tiny doses of radiation may be dangerous, political decisions have been made to allow low-level radiation. See this and this.

Read full article here - http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/08/are-the-levels-of-fukushima-radiation-hitting-north-america-harmless.html


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Study on the serious danger for life 

of even small amounts of Cesium 137

Cesium-137 is among the most common heavy fission products. Fission of various isotopes of thorium, uranium, and plutonium all yield about 6% cesium-137.

This high fission yield results in an abundance of cesium-137 in spent nuclear fuel, as well as in regions contaminated by fission byproducts after nuclear accidents.  The large quantities of cesium-137 produced during fission events pose a persistent hazard.

Its half-life of about 30 years is long enough that objects and regions contaminated by cesium-137 remain dangerous to humans for a generation or more, but it is short enough to ensure that even relatively small quantities of cesium-137 release dangerous doses of radiation.

http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2012/ph241/wessells1/


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Radiation Experts: Radiation Standards Are Up to 1,000 Higher Than Is Safe for the Human Body

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2011/04/radiation-experts-radiation-standards-are-up-to-1000-higher-than-is-safe-for-the-human-body.html

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BEAUTIFUL VIDEO OF ELECTRIC-BLUE NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS OVER SCOTLAND

 

Noctilucent clouds are like a great "geophysical light bulb." They turn on every year in late spring.

 

It is summer in Antarctica now, and experiencing this noctilucent cloud event

As December unfolds, a vast bank of noctilucent clouds is blanketing Antarctica. It started on Nov. 20th as a tiny puff of electric-blue and quickly expanded to overlie nearly the entire continent.

So why do these clouds appear in the summer?

 

The answer has to do with wind patterns and the flow of humidity in our atmosphere.

 

Summer happens to be the time when the greatest number of water molecules are wafted up from the lower atmosphere to mix with "meteor smoke" at the edge of space. Ironically, summer is also the time when the upper atmosphere is coldest, allowing the ice crystals of NLCs to form.

 

In recent years NLCs have intensified and spread. When noctilucent clouds first appeared in the 19th century, you had to travel to polar regions to see them. Since the turn of the century, however, they have been sighted as close to the equator as Colorado and Utah.

Some researchers believe this is a sign of climate change. One of the greenhouse gases that has become more abundant in Earth's atmosphere since the 19th century is methane.

"When methane makes its way into the upper atmosphere, it is oxidized by a complex series of reactions to form water vapor," explains Hampton University Professor James Russell, the principal investigator of AIM. "This extra water vapor is then available to grow ice crystals for NLCs." If this idea, one of several, is correct, noctilucent clouds are a sort of "canary in a coal mine" for one of the most important greenhouse gases. And that, says Russell, is a great reason to study them.

Read more - http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Electric_Blue_Clouds_Appear_over_Antarctica_999.html

And watch beautiful time lapse NASA video by Maciej Winiarczyk of noctilucent clouds over Scotland here:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130819.html

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SUPERBUGS BREEDING IN WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS - WATER USED FOR DRINKING, IRRIGATION

IT HAPPENS AT WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANTS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD
 

Tests at two wastewater treatment plants in northern China revealed antibiotic-resistant bacteria were not only escaping purification but also breeding and spreading their dangerous cargo.

 

Joint research by scientists from Rice, Nankai and Tianjin universities found "superbugs" carrying New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1), a multidrug-resistant gene first identified in India in 2010, in wastewater disinfected by chlorination.

 

They are everywhere, in every country.

 

They are growing by eating garbage, and no antibiotic can kill them.  They are the perfect survivors.

 

Worse.  They are transferring their antibiotic resistant genes to other less harmful bacteria. 

 

"It turns out that they transfer these genetic determinants for antibiotic resistance to indigenous bacteria in the environment, so they are not only proliferating within the wastewater treatment plant, they're also propagating and dispersing antibiotic resistance," said a scientist.

Read more - http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Superbugs_found_breeding_in_sewage_plants_999.html


RELATED

The end of antibiotics - Superbugs have won
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/2013/11/the-end-of-antibiotics-superbugs-have.html


More articles on the fascinating subject of microbes on this blog
http://ottersandsciencenews.blogspot.ca/search/label/Microbes

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CUTE CORGI BECOMES FRIEND AND PROTECTOR OF NEWBORN BABY - THEY ARE INSEPARABLE

Wilbur the corgi had been the baby of the family for years.  The question on everyone's mind was how he would react when he was pushed to second place by a human baby.

Well, Wilbur showed everyone the loyal and noble heart of dogs by instantly becoming baby Claire's best friend and protector.  He won't leave her side now.

Read more and see pictures of Wilbur and Claire here
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2529065/Cute-corgi-best-friends-little-baby-Claire-goes-viral.html

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DRONE SPOTTING - SURVIVAL GUIDE TO AERIAL PREDATORS

 

A Drone Survival Guide with hints and tips on how to thwart the “robotic birds” - including drone identification chart - has been published on the internet.

 

With over 30,000 drones expected to be flying over the US by 2030, the Guide urges readers to familiarize themselves with the craft.

 

In light of the growing number of drones, the Guide advises a number of techniques to evade and scramble drones. The document is available online and has been translated into 17 different languages.

Dutch designer Ruben Pater penned the Drone Survival Guide, which shows the different shapes and sizes of flying robots used at war

The chart distinguishes between attack and surveillance drones as well as noting which countries use the different models

IDENTIFY THE SPY DRONES
WITH A CHART INCLUDING SILHOUETTES OF ALL KINDS OF DRONES, HERE:

- http://rt.com/news/drone-survival-guide-published-774/

- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2528902/21st-century-bird-watching-Drone-guide-lets-sky-gazers-spot-flying-military-robots-silhouettes.html

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OCEAN RUBBISH IS KILLING ALBATROSSES, WHALES AND OTHER MARINE ANIMALS

 

Golf balls, lighters and action figures: Staggering rubbish found in albatross chicks' stomachs

 

Dutch biologist Jan Andries van Franeker photographed the unusual items found inside albatross chick carcasses

He travelled to the northernmost island of the Hawaii chain, to highlight the environmental problem of birds ingesting man made objects at sea

While trying to find a nutritious meal of fish eggs, squid or fish, the birds accidentally eat an array of indigestible objects

 

These are big birds and there is definitely space for items the size of toothbrushes,’ Dr van Franeker said.  ‘However, these large and sharp items can make it difficult to regurgitate indigestible materials from the stomach. 

 

While most chicks regurgitate the indigestible material before fledging - growing feathers to fly - Dr van Franeker explained: ‘if the plastic inside is too large, it will stay and slowly kill the chick.  ‘When I found these items I felt it was a disgrace to humanity that we should rapidly end,’ he added

 

Read more and see pictures of objects found inside the chicks.

 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2528826/From-golf-balls-lighters-action-figures-Hungry-albatross-chicks-swallowing-rubbish-killing-them.html

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RELATED


More information on the albatross and threats to his survival
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/albatross/

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Our plastic garbage is killing marine animals

Marine Pollution is a significant threat to all marine life. Eighty percent of marine pollution comes from land. Non-point sources include runoff from septic tanks, cars, construction, farms and more. Air pollution (including mercury as a byproduct of burning coal) also settles on soil and water.

 

Toxins accumulate in the food chain and build up to high levels in Cetaceans making them vulnerable to disease and unhealthy to consume.

Marine debris like old nets and plastic rubbish can entangle or be eaten by Cetaceans and other marine life causing lacerations, suffocation, starvation, infections and more. As this debris (especially plastic) degrades more toxins are released into the ocean.

http://www.internationalwhaleprotection.org/threats/

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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Also known as the floating plastic island or Garbage Island - is a horrific mess of plastic garbage collecting out in the pacific ocean and wreaking havoc on the environment. We’re all responsible, but there are things you can do to help.

http://www.ecolife.com/recycling/plastic/pacific-plastic-island-garbage-patch.html

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Ocean garbage killing whales

Studies have shown that litter concentrates in so-called convergence zones - formed by currents and wind - where whales feed on abundant prey.  Plastic debris in the seas can harm these animals by both ingestion and entanglement.

In 2002, a dead minke whale washed up on the Normandy coast of France had nearly a tonne of plastic in its stomach, including bags from two British supermarkets.

Potentially, the greater danger here is from toxins in plastic that breaks down over time into tiny, even microscopic, particles.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/death-by-plastic-is-ocean-garbage-killing-whales-2311982.html

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NASA RELEASES THOUSANDS OF PICTURES FROM APOLLO PROGRAM - A RUEFUL FEELING OF WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

 

Americans look back to their abandoned dream.  After reaching the Moon, they contented themselves with science pastimes at the Space Station. 

 

See newly released photos from the Apollo program here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2528936/One-small-click-man-Nasa-releases-17-000-photos-Apollo-program-including-rare-shots-mission-13.html

 

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Now the Chinese have landed a robotic spacecraft on the Moon, and plan to establish a military base there.   

 

An expert from the China National Space Administration's Lunar Exploration Programme Centre told a Chinese newspaper that the moon could be used as a military base from which to fire missiles at the Earth.

 

 

Will China turn the Moon into a Death Star?

Read more - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2518665/Does-China-want-turn-moon-DEATH-STAR.html

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NOW HE NOTICES ! - UK CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP MENTIONS MURDERED AND PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS

 

For many years Christians have been under persecuted and murdered in Middle East and African and Asian countries.  There are frequent attacks on them by the dominant Muslim population. 

 

So far Christian churches have remained silent.  If they articulated any protest at all, it was all done timidly, diplomatically, and behind the scenes. 

 

All the while Christian churches have conducted their steady verbal attacks on Israel, organizing boycotts, making pro-Israel statements, and receiving with full honor the visit of official Palestinian leaders.

 

Now the plight of Christians is so brutal that they feel compelled to speak out.  And they are doing so reluctantly, moderating their language so as not to offend those who perpetrate the crimes. 

 

But they're still obsessed with Israel.

During his future visit to Israel the Pope will not say mass in Jerusalem, but in the area controlled by the Palestinian Authority, an insult on Israel that speaks volumes.

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DAILY MAIL - The most senior Catholic in England and Wales, Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, told followers to pray for Christians in the Middle East, where even going to church is 'an act of life-risking bravery'. 

 

He warned of the dangers to Christians in Egypt, Iraq and Syria, all dogged by religious violence.  He added Christianity 'was literally born in the Middle East' as he delivered Midnight Mass to worshippers in London's Westminster Cathedral. The Archbishop said: Christians are the most widely persecuted religious group in the world today and this evening we think especially of the Middle East, especially of Egypt, Iraq and Syria.

 

Read more - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2528969/Archbishop-Westminster-urges-people-think-Christians-suffer-faith-Midnight-Mass.html

 

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In the past the same archbishop has met with Muslim Palestinian leaders and wholeheartedly taken up their cause - never mind that their regime allows the persecution of Christians.  

 

Archbishop Nichols has harshly criticized Israel for building barriers separating Palestinian Authority Arabs from nearby Jewish communities.  What he did not mention was that the barriers were erected after Arabs' repeated acts of terror, with snipers targeting Jewish babies and other civilians.

 

1,239 people have been killed by Palestinian violence and terrorism since September 2000 in Israel.

 

See list here - http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/ForeignPolicy/Terrorism/Palestinian/Pages/Victims%20of%20Palestinian%20Violence%20and%20Terrorism%20sinc.aspx

 

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The Bishop overlooked how Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority have been harassing Christians under their rule.  A large number of PA Christian Arabs have left. 

 

The Western media usually ignore the plight of Christians in the P.A..  They just denounce Israel’s security barrier.  However, until Arab terrorists turned Bethlehem into a safe haven for suicide bombers, Bethlehemites were free to enter Israel, just as many Israelis routinely visited Bethlehem.

 

One hears claims that Israel is compelling Christians to flee.  No facts are adduced to explain why would it be just Christians.  Truth is, Muslims are compelling a Christian exodus, as they have from other states, in our time, particularly in Lebanon.  Some of the pressure is official.  When the pressure is individual, P.A. authorities condone it.

http://www.examiner.com/article/persecution-of-christians-palestinian-authority

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 THE BELEAGUERED CHRISTIANS

 OF THE PALESTINIAN-CONTROLLED AREAS

 

2003 - JCPA - Under Islam, Christians are considered dhimmi, a tolerated but second class who are afforded protection by Islam. Dhimmitude is integral to Islam; it is a "protection pact" that suspends "the [Muslim] conqueror's initial right to kill or enslave [Jews and Christians], provided they submitted themselves to pay tribute."

 

Under Islam, the targeted dhimmi community and each individual in it are made to live in a state of perpetual humiliation in the eyes of the ruling community."³ As described by a Christian Lebanese president, Bashir Gemayil: "a Christian...is not a full citizen and cannot exercise political rights in any of the countries which were once conquered by Islam."

 

Islam is the official religion of the Palestinian Authority.¹⁸ In addition, fundamentalist Hamas and Islamic Jihad have promoted Islamic influence on Palestinian society.

 

The PA has shown contempt for certain Christian holy sites, and there has been significant desecration as well. For example, without prior consent of the church, Yasser Arafat decided to turn the Greek Orthodox monastery near the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem into his domicile during his visits to the city. On July 5, 1997, the PLO seized Abraham's Oak Russian Holy Trinity Monastery in Hebron, violently evicting monks and nuns.

 

The 2002 Palestinian takeover of the Church of Nativity. 

 

Three Armenian monks, who had been held hostage by the Palestinian gunmen inside Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, managed to flee the church area via a side gate yesterday morning. They immediately thanked the soldiers for rescuing them.  They told army officers the gunmen had stolen gold and other property, including crucifixes and prayer books, and had caused damage.  One of the monks, Narkiss Korasian, later told reporters:

 

"They stole everything, they opened the doors one by one and stole everything....They stole our prayer books and four crosses...they didn't leave anything. Thank you for your help, we will never forget it."  Israeli officials said the monks said the gunmen had also begun beating and attacking clergymen.

 

The Palestinian gunmen holed up in the Church of the Nativity seized church stockpiles of food and "ate like greedy monsters" until the food ran out, while more than 150 civilians went hungry. They also guzzled beer, wine, and Johnnie Walker scotch that they found in priests' quarters, undeterred by the Islamic ban on drinking alcohol.

 

The indulgence lasted for about two weeks into the 39-day siege, when the food and drink ran out, according to an account by four Greek Orthodox priests who were trapped inside for the entire ordeal.  The Orthodox priests and a number of civilians have said the gunmen created a regime of fear.  Even in the Roman Catholic areas of the complex there was evidence of disregard for religious norms.

 

Catholic priests said that some Bibles were torn up for toilet paper, and many valuable sacramental objects were removed. "Palestinians took candelabra, icons and anything that looked like gold," said a Franciscan, the Rev. Nicholas Marquez from Mexico.

 

Read more - http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp490.htm

 

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Israel - the safest place for Christians in the Middle East

Read more - http://unitedwithisrael.org/israel-safest-place-for-christians-in-middle-east/

 

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POLE-DANCING BEARS IN THE WOODS

If you go down to the woods today... be prepared to meet the three POLE-DANCING bears

Mother bear and her two cubs climb around and up a 3m high tree trunk

The spot in Suomussalmi, Eastern Finland, often attracts bear families

Photographer Valtteri Mulkahainen has also seen lynx, wolves and moose

See the cute animal pictures here -
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2528474/If-woods-today-prepared-meet-three-POLE-DANCING-bears.html
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SOMETHING IS STRIKING EAGLES IN UTAH

Wildlife experts cannot seem to figure out why so many bald eagles have been dying in Utah.

There have been 12 reported cases so far this month, with the latest coming this past weekend.

The only thing the experts know for sure is that all the eagles were experiencing the same symptoms.

“They were showing signs of body tremors, they would have seizures, they appeared to be paralyzed, and they had weakness in their feet and in their legs,” Erickson-Marthaler added to KSL.

The Division of Wildlife says this is the time of year eagles migrate from other states to Utah and are usually seen near the Great Salt Lake.

Read more - http://lasvegas.cbslocal.com/2013/12/23/wildlife-experts-perplexed-over-dozen-dead-bald-eagles/

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More about eagles


December 5, 2013

Wind energy gets away with murder -

U.S. Administration says it's OK for wind farms to murder eagles.

Although under both the Bald and Gold Eagle Protection Acts and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the death of a single eagle is a felony

 

The Interior Department is close to finalizing a rule that would allow wind farms to kill eagles, National Journal reports.

The White House Office of Management and Budget signed off Wednesday on the heavily lobbied rule, which would boost the available permit period from five to 30 years, records show.  The rule, which has faced opposition from environmental groups, authorizes the non-intentional deaths of eagles but also contains conservation provisions, according to a summary of the plan on OMB’s website.  The summary touts provisions designed to “ensure the preservation of eagles.”

Supporters of the rule and the Obama administration say the 30-year permits will provide the wind industry with regulatory certainty.

Read more -

http://freebeacon.com/doi-die-eagles-die/

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/12/05/administration-close-to-finalizing-rule-to-allow-wind-farms-to-kill-eagles-for/

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MYSTERY DUST COVERS SOUTHEAST TEXAS

 

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- We received hundreds of calls, emails, Facebook posts and tweets about your dirty cars on Sunday. Why were your cars dirty? A red dust was to blame, and we worked to track down the source and solve the mystery.

 

"It's very strange to see all this red dirt on the cars, and I've seen on many cars in front of me," said a resident while waiting in line at an area car wash.

 

Many folks tell us they woke up to find the mystery dust all over their cars this morning.

 

SO, WHAT WAS IT? 

 

ABC13 Meteorologist Travis Herzog went looking for answers to the mysterious dust, beginning by identifying the top three theories of what it could be.

 

The first theory is that it's cedar pollen that came in from the Texas Hill Country. The only problem with that is that the winds had not changed by the time you saw the dust on vehicles.

The second theory is that the dust blew in from West Texas. It does look like the sand and clay from there, but we had strong southwesterly winds over the past 24 hours until the front came through. Again, wrong direction.

 

The final theory is that it was mud showers from Mexico. And here's the clue that will likely crack this one wide open: a tweet was sent out by the National Weather Service in Brownsville just a few days ago. They noted a very large dust and sand cloud originating from Mexico, just south of the border.

 

The strong southwesterly winds we had Saturday could have transported the dust in this direction. And here's the kicker: most people say it looked like a dirty or rusty rain. The rain showers in the past 24 hours have all come from the southwest where that dust cloud was observed.

 

Of course, we couldn't be 100 percent sure unless we were to do a chemical analysis, but we believe we found the culprit: mud showers from Mexico.

 

Either way, it was certainly a car wash owner's dream.

Read more - http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=9369293

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AMAZING PICTURES OF LIQUID SCULPTURES

The mesmerising 'liquid sculptures' took endless patience, hundreds of camera clicks and SIX MONTHS to create.  The images are created by letting drop fall into coloured liquid then very quickly pressing the camera shutter.  They look like umbrellas, or mushrooms, or trees.
Tapan Sheth, a photographer from India, took six months to create these dream-like 'liquid sculptures'. 


See beautiful pictures here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2528562/Mesmerising-liquid-sculptures-took-endless-patience-hundreds-camera-clicks-SIX-MONTHS-create.html

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CUTE ANIMAL PICTURES THIS CHRISTMAS

The Daily Mail has a treat for you:  a collection of very cute animal pictures for the holidays.

Collection of pictures shows a variety of animals braving the wintery weather to venture out into the cold

One indulgent squirrel greedily tucks into a mince pie while another eyes up a Christmas jumper

Hazel the search dog receives gifts in Afghanistan while Kali the polar bear orphan slides around in make-shift sled

See pictures here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2528487/Tis-season-FURRY-As-bitter-cold-weather-sets-hardy-creatures-braving-elements-one-cheeky-squirrel-tucking-mince-pie.html

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TRAUMATIZED AND GRIEVING ORPHAN BABY ELEPHANT ENJOYS LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP OF OTHER ORPHANS AND THEIR CAREGIVERS

 

How an elephant orphanage saved Zongoloni: Traumatised calf is transformed into a happy, healthy little girl after she was found guarding her dying mother.

This tragedy is repeated by the thousands and is caused by greed and by the market of ivory figurines, very popular in Asia.  They may drive elephants to extinction in ONLY TEN YEARS.

A baby elephant, who was found guarding the body of her dying mother, has been rescued and is now rebuilding her life in Kenya’s only elephant orphanage.  Zongoloni spent her last moments in the wild with her mother, who lay critically injured from wounds inflicted by poachers hoping to steal her tusks.  But two months later, the 'strong-willed' one-year-old calf has overcome her trauma and has found new friends in the keepers and other orphaned elephants at Kenya's Nairobi National Park.

 Zongoloni was rescued by the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust (DSWT) as she cuddled her mother who lay dying from a gunshot wound to her leg.

In September a gang of poachers shot at the animal and while a mobile veterinary unit tried to remove shattered bone and treat her wounds, they could not rule out the possibility of a bullet still being embedded within the bone and were worried about her future.

 

Two weeks after the attack the large elephant collapsed and could not stand, leaving milk-dependent Zongoloni to guard her, even though the calf was scared and confused.  Sadly, the Kenya Wildlife Service had to euthanise the mother who was in crippling pain from her wounds and after spending final moments with her mother, the calf was tranquilised and flown to Kenya’s only elephant orphanage, based in Nairobi National Park to recover with other young victims of the ivory trade.

 

At the orphanage, Zongoloni now spends time with calves and keepers 24 hours a day, travelling with them as a group during the day, and sleeping alongside them within a stable at night.  Zongoloni’s keepers said she is a ‘very independent and strong willed little elephant’

 

Keepers in Kenya told MailOnline that Zongoloni was initially understandingly very untrusting of them, given her experience with humans so far.  However, she is slowly building bonds with the people who care for her that will last a lifetime. 

 

‘In Zongoloni’s case, since her rescue she has been grieving for her lost family and during the day, chooses to spend some time alone,’ they said.‘Like humans, elephants grieve for their loved ones just as acutely and so this is completely natural and a process that the orphanage has seen many times over.

 

The daily routine of the orphanage and constant contact with the other orphans, including her friends Oltaiyoni and Lima Lima who she enjoys to walk with, provides respite from the grieving process and keepers hope that in the next few months it will gradually subside.
 

For many orphans, losing their mother can prove too much to bear and many lack the will to survive through this loss, but Zongoloni’s strong spirit shows she has chosen the choice of “life” and she is a survivor - something that will aid her in years to come during the reintegration process,’ they said.‘ At the moment, she is very greedy for her milk feeds and dairy cubes from the Keepers and loves her hand-picked greens.’  While Zongoloni is still grieving her mother, her unique personality is emerging and the keepers said some of the orphans, like Kithaka are incredibly mischievous and ‘enjoy teasing visitors and engaging in lots of pushing bouts’. 

 

Zongoloni is one of the quieter elephants in the herd but she still plays in the mud bath and socialises with the other orphans.

 

‘Each orphan that reintegrates into the wild has their own traumatic story that they have overcome,’ the charity said.‘The young calves are hugely vulnerable and because of this it is vital the interaction between elephant and keeper is sustained.’However, because elephants are so emotionally intelligent, keepers are alternated regularly to avoid an extra level of distress for an orphan if their chosen keeper is away. 

 

‘In the past, we have sadly experienced the death of an orphan due to this separation, as young elephants are known to pass away due to a broken heart,’ the charity said.  ‘The care and love provided from each Keeper is paramount to the survival of the orphans and we ensure our locally employed Keepers are with us for around 10 years to avoid added emotional distress for the orphans,’ it added.

 

Bottle feeding is a relaxing time for the orphans and the keepers regularly hang large blankets when the elephants are feeding because it gives them an extra level of comfort as calves rest their trunk on the blanket as they would their wild mothers.  It is our duty to protect these vulnerable elephants, I will never stop being a Keeper’ said Goya Golicha, a keeper at the orphanage.Zongoloni will be released into Tsavo Natural Park when she is ready, which might be when she is between eight and 10 years old.

 

The charity said it is difficult to predict the future of the orphans due to the current poaching situation in Africa, but many of the elephants revisit the orphanage with their wild born calves to welcome new arrivals and often when they have been injured by poachers or hidden illegal snares.  In a few years Zongoloni will join the older orphans at either Voi or Ithumba Reintegration Units to slowly become accustomed to a wild life among Tsavo’s famous herds to start her own family.

 

She is one of 49 infant elephants rescued by the DSWT this year and her story shows the real cost of an ivory poaching crisis that kills a staggering 36,000 elephants across Africa every year.

 

Elephants with calves and entire herds are slaughtered for their ivory, prized in the Far East in countries including China, for ornaments and figurines.

 

Dame Daphne Sheldrick, founder of the DSWT said: ‘Individual personalities and family histories are lost each time an elephant is slaughtered for its ivory, with innocent milk-dependent calves like Zongoloni paying the price for man’s greed for ivory.  ‘In these terrible times for Africa’s elephants, our anti-poaching teams and mobile vet units are on the front line against poaching everyday providing immediate aid and protection to wild elephants and rescuing those that are found orphaned.’

 

The  DAVID SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST  charity is currently looking for people to 'foster' elephants for £30 a year

 

See pictures of lovable Zongoloni here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2527055/How-elephant-orphanage-saved-Zongaloni-Traumatised-calf-transformed-happy-healthy-little-girl-guarding-dying-mother.html

 

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MORE STORIES ON THE PLIGHT OF WILD ELEPHANTS
 

IVORY BUYERS - SHAME ON YOU

POACHERS  SLAUGHTER  ELEPHANTS
BECAUSE  CUSTOMERS  DEMAND  IVORY.
  

MAY 2013:  Elephants are being murdered in the hundreds to satisfy the lust for ivory in Asia and other parts of the world.   Here is the story in photographs of a baby elephant who refused to leave her murdered mother's side.  The baby nudges her mother with her trunk, trying to elicit a response. When she eventually realizes her mother is no longer alive, she still refuses to leave her side and remained there for many hours, in silent grief.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2317752/Heart-wrenching-moment-baby-elephant-discovers-mother-died--refuses-leave-side.html

March 2012: Hundreds of elephants slaughtered at Wildlife park.   http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2115934/HALF-elephant-population-African-wildlife-park-slaughtered-poachers.html

March 2013 - 86 elephants massacred in Chad in less than a week.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/19/86-elephants-chad-poaching-massacre

April 2013 - Elephant killings on the rise in Central African Republic
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/26/us-centralafrican-poaching-idUSBRE93P0F220130426
 

October 2013 - Muslim terrorists may be financing their activities by poaching elephants

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2450807/Kenya-mall-massacre-terrorists-funded-poaching.html

National Geographic elephant slaughter archive - see A Voice for Elephants articles here: 
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/blog/a-voice-for-elephants/

June 2013 - At this rate of poaching, elephants will be extinct in only TEN years
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2343137/Elephants-face-extinction-Beijing-does-ban-ivory-trade-China-accounts-nearly-half-40-000-killed-year-tusks.html

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