The Raw Story

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Thursday, 28 August 2014

Greenland ice study shows 'unexpected link between solar activity and climate change'

Lund University have published a reconstruction of solar activity vs snow accumulation in Greenland, which indicates a strong correlation between solar minima and a colder climate. 'The study shows an unexpected link between solar activity and climate change,' Dr Muscheler said in a press release. 'It shows both that changes in solar activity are nothing new and that solar activity influences the climate, especially on a regional level. 'Understanding these processes helps us to better forecast the climate in certain regions.' According to the study abstract; http://ift.tt/1rYlmde "We find that during the Last Glacial Maximum, solar minima correlate with more negative δ18O values of ice and are accompanied by increased snow accumulation and sea-salt input over central Greenland. We suggest that solar minima could have induced changes in the stratosphere that favour the development of high-pressure blocking systems located to the south of Greenland, as has been found in observations and model simulations for recent climate9, 10. We conclude that the mechanism behind solar forcing of regional climate change may have been similar under both modern and Last Glacial Maximum climate conditions."

Maryland man shot 3-year-old daughter and slit her throat before fatal shootout with police

A Temple Hills, Maryland man slashed his 3-year-old daughter's throat, then shot and killed her before leading police on a car chase that ended in a fatal shootout. According to CBS Baltimore, 38-year-old Frederick Roy Miller shot and wounded two other people in the rampage, which took place on Saturday. Police Chief Mark Magaw said in a press conference that Miller, a Marine veteran, was engaged in a custody battle with his ex-wife. On Saturday, Miller went to the home where his daughter, Laila Miller, lived with her two primary caretakers, her maternal grandfather and great-grandmother. Miller shot the two adults, one in the driveway in front of the house, and left with the child as neighbors looked on in horror. Police pursued Miller in a high-speed car chase that ended in a hail of bullets. When Miller was confirmed dead, police converged on the car and found Laila Miller bleeding from a gash in her throat and with a bullet wound to the head.

Washington's nightmare comes true as the Russian-Chinese partnership goes global

The Russian-Chinese strategic partnership (RCSP), indoctrinated in 1996, is Eurasia's geopolitical anchor in the 21st century, shaping its evolution and entrance into the Multipolar World. No other political relationship between the two continents' actors even comes close, with the RCSP's only formidable rival being the US via its privileged military alliances with NATO, the Gulf Kingdoms, and Japan. In this century's struggle for the supercontinent, the interplay between the RCSP and the US will come to define global politics. Detractors or Distracters? Much ado has been made in the Western media about the RCSP, with some highlighting its significance in challenging the Washington Consensus and others brushing it off as nothing more than Moscow's increasing dependency on Beijing. The views of the former are often trumpeted to scare Americans and justify their government's aggression against Russia and China, while the latter serves to feed a disinformation campaign meant to split Russia and China apart. Only rarely is the RCSP mentioned as a cautionary warning for the US to moderate its policies, which is the most responsible way to present this development to the Western voter. The article's intent is to provocatively argue that the RCSP is already a worldwide reality in the making, the manifestation of Washington's nightmare, and that it extends beyond Eurasia and even into North Africa and Latin America. It does seek to challenge the Western order, but only to help guide the transition to the Multipolar World, a goal which both countries pledged their solidarity to in 1997. The US' reluctance in recognizing the tectonic shifts that have occurred in the world since then and its insistence on prolonging the fading unipolar moment are the largest sources of global destabilization today. Despite what the detractors try to achieve by fear mongering and the distracters by divisionary tactics, the RCSP is peaceful, defensive, and more unified than ever. By exploring the confluences of Russian-Chinese policy in key areas of Eurasia and beyond, the article will prove that the RCSP is alive and growing, actively working to steer the world closer to multipolarity.

How the brutalized become brutal: Years of random violence, brutal repression and collective humiliation

The horrific pictures of the beheading of American reporter James Foley, the images of executions of alleged collaborators in Gaza and the bullet-ridden bodies left behind in Iraq by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant are the end of a story, not the beginning. They are the result of years, at times decades, of the random violence, brutal repression and collective humiliation the United States has inflicted on others. Our terror is delivered to the wretched of the earth with industrial weapons. It is, to us, invisible. We do not stand over the decapitated and eviscerated bodies left behind on city and village streets by our missiles, drones and fighter jets. We do not listen to the wails and shrieks of parents embracing the shattered bodies of their children. We do not see the survivors of air attacks bury their mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters. We are not conscious of the long night of collective humiliation, repression and powerlessness that characterizes existence in Israel's occupied territories, Iraq and Afghanistan. We do not see the boiling anger that war and injustice turn into a caldron of hate over time. We are not aware of the very natural lust for revenge against those who carry out or symbolize this oppression. We see only the final pyrotechnics of terror, the shocking moment when the rage erupts into an inchoate fury and the murder of innocents. And, willfully ignorant, we do not understand our own complicity. We self-righteously condemn the killers as subhuman savages who deserve more of the violence that created them. This is a recipe for endless terror. Chaim Engel, who took part in the uprising at the Nazis' Sobibor death camp in Poland, described what happened when he obtained a knife and confronted a German in an office. The act he carried out was no less brutal than the beheading of Foley or the executions in Gaza. Isolated from the reality he and the other inmates endured at the camp, his act was savage. Set against the backdrop of the extermination camp it was understandable.

Escape from New York: City dwellers prepare for doomsday

San Francisco - Quick: In the event of a zombie apocalypse, how would you make it out of New York City alive? If you're like most New Yorkers, you probably have no idea. But a small group of folks in the city are gearing up for the next doomsday scenario by prepping survival gear, planning escape routes, and training to get out of New York City - even by inflatable kayak if necessary. These urban doomsday preppers look very different from the stereotype of the rural, gun-toting conservative depicted on shows such as "Doomsday Castle," Anna Maria Bounds, a sociologist at Queens College, City University of New York, said on Monday (Aug. 18) here at the 109th annual American Sociological Association meeting.

On-going nightmare in Rotherham UK: About 1,400 children were 'sexually exploited over 16-year period'

Report claims police and council agencies failed victims, some of whom were threatened with guns and gang-raped About 1,400 children were sexually exploited in Rotherham over a 16-year period, according to a report that concluded "it is hard to describe the appalling nature of the abuse that child victims suffered". The report on events in the town in South Yorkshire, between 1997 and 2013, found that in more than a third of these cases the youngsters were already known to child protection agencies. It said there had been "blatant" collective failures by the council's leadership. Council leader Roger Stone said: "Having considered the report, I believe it is only right that I, as leader, take responsibility on behalf of the council for the historic failings that are described so clearly in the report and it is my intention to do so.

The pivot towards China continues: US to "rebalance" military in Guam to counter China and North Korea

Guam, an Island nation of 160,000 people has been a victim of Imperialism dating back to the 16th century. More than 65,000 of the population are called the Chamorro people, an indigenous population originally from the Mariana Islands. Many of the Chamorro people also live in the Northern Mariana Islands, another U.S. territory. Guam's fate with imperial powers from the West began with Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan, who represented the King of Spain, landed in Guam around 1521. Spanish General Miguel López de Legazpi claimed Guam for the Spanish throne in 1565. It eventually resulted in the Spanish-Chamorro War which lasted 25 years. Then it was followed by Japan's brutal occupation during World War II. U.S. won a decisive battle against Japanese forces known as the Battle of Guam in 1944. However, the U.S. still remains in Guam. They never left. Over the years, the U.S. Military-Industrial complex has become the Island's main economic engine besides the tourism industry. With geopolitical developments in recent years, the U.S. is now in the stage of "rebalancing" its Pacific forces to prepare for a possible future war with China and North Korea.

Dr. Frankenstein's ISIS: Made in Washington, Riyadh - and Tel Aviv

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is being touted as the newest "threat" to the American homeland: hysterics have pointed to Chicago as the locus of their interest, and we are told by everyone from the President on down that if we don't attack them - i.e. go back into Iraq (and even venture into Syria) to root them out - they'll soon show up on American shores. How is this supposed to work? Well, you see, that monster who beheaded James Foley had a British accent, and there are reports of more than a few Brits (and Americans) traveling to Syria to fight on behalf of ISIS. So these jihadi "internationalists" could always just fly back to either Britain or the US, where another 9/11 would shortly be in the works. Let's put aside the FBI statement that, while Americans abroad may be in some unspecified degree of danger, ISIS represents "no credible threat" to the continental United States. If we take the ISIS-threatens-us-at-home war propaganda seriously we have to believe Western law enforcement agencies, with all the tools at their command - including near total surveillance of online and telephonic communications worldwide - have no idea what dubious characters have traveled to Syria via, say, New York or London, and would in any case be powerless to prevent their return. In short, we have to invade yet another country (or two) because our own post-9/11 security arrangements are virtually nonexistent - in spite of having spent untold billions on building them up. Can that really be true? If we step back from the hysteria generated by the beheading of US journalist James Foley, what's clear is that this new bogeyman is the creation of the United States and its allies in the region. ISIS didn't just arise out of the earth like some Islamist variation on the fabled Myrmidons: they needed money, weapons, logistics, propaganda facilities, and international connections to reach the relatively high level of organization and lethality they seem to have achieved in such a short period of time. Where did they get these assets?

August 24, 2014: 7.0 earthquake strikes Peru + 6.7 in Chile + 6.0 in California + Iceland erupting = major unrest occuring

Another large earthquake has struck the Pacific ring of fire. On top of today's 6.0M in Central California, on top of yesterdays 6.7M earthquake in Chile, now we see a 6.8 magnitude (upgraded to 7.0M) event in Peru. Overall, we are seeing a major uptick in earthquake activity occur. On top of Icelands large volcanic eruption, I would say now is a good time to have a plan and be prepared. I'd still be watching near Vancouver Island. Salton Sea should show something soon as well. Notice the earthquakes stopped in Oklahoma temporarily.. the pressure has been "transferred" temporarily... But to where? Where has the pressure transferred? Since we first saw the 6.7M yesterday in Chile.. now the 6.0M in California.. this makes me think its a NW pressure transfer which is occurring like all those deep asthenosphere earthquakes which were happening at the 350mile deep range.

Australia's 'Guantanamo: 'Refugees' in mental anguish

At least one in four refugees locked in indefinite detention on the basis of secret ASIO findings has attempted or threatened suicide, a new analysis has revealed. Several of the 44 refugees have now been incarcerated more than five years without charge in Melbourne and Sydney, and none are allowed to know the detail of the secret assessments used to justify their detention. The heavy psychological toll has led to extraordinary rates of depression, anxiety and self-harm, including one man repeatedly beating his head with a toilet door.

Ukraine will spend billions of hryvnas to upgrade its military

Before the end of this year Ukraine "will spend billions of hryvnas" to upgrade military hardware of the country's armed forces, President Pyotr Poroshenko said at a military parade on the occasion of the 23rd Ukrainian independence anniversary on Sunday. "Warplanes, helicopter gunships, warships and motor boats will be bought and this is just a moderate start," he said, adding that right from Kreshchatik "the column of troops will be dispatched in the combat action zone" in east Ukraine.

Demented MMA fighter who savagely beat ex-girlfriend sez oppression of men is worse than slavery

A mixed martial arts fighter accused of battering his porn actress former girlfriend complained that American men suffered even worse than Jews under Nazi Germany or African slaves in the U.S. War Machine, who legally changed his name in 2008 from Jon Koppenhaver, was arrested Saturday in the brutal assault of his ex-girlfriend, Christy Mack, and reality TV star Corey Thomas. Mack suffered broken bones, missing teeth, and a ruptured liver in the attack. The cage fighter, who has been imprisoned twice previously, claimed he attacked the pair in self-defense. During his last incarceration, in 2010 on a San Diego assault conviction, War Machine wrote a weekly "prison blog," reported the Daily Telegraph, that outlined his complains about prison life. "Me and a couple other guys have been waging war on these 2 loud, obnoxious *ssholes who love to yell and bang their door all day and night," War Machine wrote. "Our weapon of choice by default, is of course sh*t bombs... LMAO! We have been bombing their cells twice/day for 4 days straight and since the Deps hate them too, they don't even clean it out, they let them sit in sh*t for HOURS at a time."

Game changer? Futuristic Chinese 'supersonic' sub could reach US shores in under two hours

Traveling from Shanghai to San Francisco in under two hours may sound like a fantasy, but China believes it's figured out how to design an underwater vehicle that can make the idea a reality. More worryingly, though, is the possibility that the technology will be used to develop even more dangerous weaponry. According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the super-fast technology was developed by scientists at the Harbin Institute of Technology, and would allow underwater submarines or torpedoes to exceed the equivalent speed of sound under water - about 3,600 miles per hour. The idea is based on the old Soviet concept of supercavitation, which involves creating a large air bubble around an object so that it could avoid facing too much friction and travel through water quickly. Professor Li Fengchen said that when the vessel hits the water, one of its mechanisms continuously sprays a "special liquid membrane" all over the object's surface. This membrane eventually wears off, but by the time the vessel reaches 46 miles per hour, it's going fast enough to enter supercavitation state and generate an air bubble capable of helping it cover previously unknown distances. "Our method is different from any other approach, such as vector propulsion," Li told SCMP. "By combining liquid-membrane technology with supercavitation, we can significantly reduce the launch challenges and make cruising control easier."

Discontent building: French goverment resigns amid rancor over German austerity pressure

The French government has resigned despite being formed just 4 months ago. They quit after ministers slammed President Francois Hollande's plans for taxation and cuts, while also being critical of Germany's austerity program. The statement published on Monday said the new office would be formed on Tuesday and would be in the "direction he (the president) has defined for our country." Following the 2008 financial crisis, Germany has taken the lead to try and resurrect the EU's economy. This has been marked by cutbacks and taxation, which have not proved to be universally popular within the eurozone. Economics Minister, Arnaud Montebourg, an outspoken critic of Germany, believes that country has hindered France's development. Montebourg said it was time to resist Germany's "obsession" with austerity and work out some alternative ways to promote household consumption. He said that measures that had been introduced since the financial crisis were not doing anything to help the country's economy grow. He also blamed Germany for factory closures in France. "You have to raise your voice. Germany is trapped in an austerity policy that it imposed across Europe," the Socialist minister said in the interview with the French newspaper Le Monde on Saturday.

'Boogeyman' series tries to find out if Morag the monster really exists

A TV documentary is to investigate the existence of Scotland's other monster -Morag, who is reputed to live in Loch Morar in Lochaber. More than 30 sightings of Morag date back to 1887 and at least 16 involve multiple witnesses. In 1948 "a peculiar serpent-like creature about 20ft long" was reported by nine people in a boat, in the same place as the original 1887 sighting. The best known encounter, in 1969, involved Duncan McDonnel and William Simpson, and their speedboat, with which they claimed to have accidentally struck the creature, prompting it to hit back. Mr McDonnel retaliated with an oar, and Mr Simpson opened fire with his rifle, whereupon it sank slowly out of sight. They described it as being brown, 25 to 30 feet long, and with rough skin. It had three humps rising 18 inches above the loch's surface, and a head a foot wide, held 18 inches out of the water. The Loch Ness Investigation Bureau expanded its search to include Loch Morar in February 1970.
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