Signs of the Times

http://www.sott.net Signs of the Times: The World for People who Think. Featuring independent, unbiased, alternative news and commentary on world events. en_us Original content Copyright 2015 by Signs of the Times/Sott.net. For other content, see our Fair Use Policy at www.sott.net. Tue, 24 Mar 2015 07:36:36 +0100 http://bit.ly/1GOjHPh SOTT.net http://www.sott.net http://bit.ly/1CkQtYy Australian scientists have uncovered what is believed to be the largest asteroid impact zone ever found on Earth, in central Australia. A team lead by Dr Andrew Glikson from the Australian National University (ANU) said two ancient craters found in central Australia were believed to have been caused by one meteorite that broke in two. "They appear to be two large structures, with each of them approximately 200 kilometres," Dr Glikson said. "So together, jointly they would form a 400 kilometre structure which is the biggest we know of anywhere in the world. "The consequences are that it could have caused a large mass extinction event at the time, but we still don't know the age of this asteroid impact and we are still working on it." The material at both impact sites appears to be identical which has led researchers to believe they are from the same meteorite. http://bit.ly/1CkQtYy Tue, 24 Mar 2015 07:36:36 +0100 http://bit.ly/1GOjGL2 Surviviors of institutional abuse have expressed outrage over Government plans to seal all major industrial school and orphanage investigation records for 75 years. The move, which also allows for the possible destruction of documents, must now be ratified by the Dáil in a bill which will be brought forward by Education Minister Jan O'Sullivan. The Irish Independent has learned that the bill has been approved by Cabinet for drafting. The Retention of Records Bill 2015 will provide for the strict and confidential sealing of documents from the Commission into Child Abuse, the Residential Institutions Redress Board and the Residential Institutions Review Committee. Tom Cronin of Irish Survivors of Institutional Abuse International said abuse survivors were "shocked and horrified" that the records would be sealed for so long. "I can understand that these documents are sensitive and that they might need to be sealed for a period of years. "But why seal them for 75 years? Why not seal them for five or 10 years? By the time they can be accessed again, everyone associated with this most shameful period of Irish history will be long dead. The whole thing won't be anything more than a footnote in history by 2090," he said. http://bit.ly/1GOjGL2 Tue, 24 Mar 2015 04:52:01 +0100 http://bit.ly/1CkQw6u Republican hardliners, ignoring newly-reelected Benjamin Netanyahu's pre-polling remark that a Palestinian state would not happen on his watch, accused Barack Obama of dropping the ball regarding Israel and the Islamic State. US partisan fractures deepened at the weekend following Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's reelection. With peace talks stalled, the Palestinians have attempted to win international recognition of statehood in the UN. Republicans, however, downplayed the Israeli leader's campaign pledge that a Palestinian state would not happen during his tenure. Senator John McCain was unfazed by Netanyahu's remarks, instead focusing his vitriol against the Democratic president. "The least of your problems are what Bibi Netanyahu said in a political campaign. If every politician was held to what they said in a political campaign, obviously that would be a topic of long discussion,"McCain told CNN. Comment: Yes indeed, and that topic would be: How often do politicians lie on the campaign trail in order to get elected? It would be likely that in McCain's case, that list would be quite lengthy. No wonder he's an Israeli puppy. They like their politicians to have no problems lying to the American public. Poor Bibi, actually being taken to task for what he said on the campaign trail. The nerve of some people! "The president has his priorities so screwed up that it's unbelievable." http://bit.ly/1CkQw6u Tue, 24 Mar 2015 02:46:18 +0100 http://bit.ly/1GOjI5u US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2007 had supposedly asked ex-Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd "how do you get tough on your banker?" This was over concerns about China's growing power and hold on US finances and according to Wikileaks Rudd told Clinton to keep force as a last resort. Do the Chinese trust the Americans? As superpowers, both are wary of each other. The business of America has always been business, not friendship or the interest of others in mind except their very own. That is understandable. About the American hubris- I once read somewhere that hubris was the downfall of a Greek hero in some classical tragedy. We are entering a new era- the era of a currency war that will test the might of the US economy and the dollar against the might of the Chinese economy and the yuan. The rope in the tug of war will be crude oil. The US economy based hegemony is being challenged by China and therefore it is naturally given that the US will try to maintain its global geopolitical and financial position. Between the giants, the global financial system could end up being completely redefined through a devastating war in the Middle East. http://bit.ly/1GOjI5u Tue, 24 Mar 2015 02:30:07 +0100 http://bit.ly/1CkQueP Okinawa's governor ordered a halt to an underwater survey needed for reclamation of land for a new $8.6-billion base, which would host US troops after the Futenma facility on the island is closed. Takeshi Onaga is delivering on the promise he made to voters to oppose the construction, after his election last November. At a media conference on Monday, he announced that defense ministry contractors must stop the survey due to the damage it's causing to coral reefs. If they don't, Onaga said he would revoke approval for drilling operations given by his predecessor in December 2012 within days. The survey is necessary for the eventual construction of an off-shore runway for the future US military base in the less populous area of northern Okinawa, which would house thousands of troops after the closure of the Futenma base in the south. The facility is viewed by locals as a source of noise, pollution and crime. Opposition to its presence flared up after the rape and abduction of a 12-year-old girl by three US servicemen in 1995. http://bit.ly/1CkQueP Tue, 24 Mar 2015 02:27:25 +0100 http://bit.ly/1GOjGL4 A member of the Royal family was claimed to be part of a suspected paedophile ring under investigation by police in the late 1980s, a former police officer has said. The former Metropolitan Police officer says he was told by a detective sergeant that the investigation into the ring, which was also claimed to include an MP, was shut down for national security reasons. "I was in a car with two other vice squad officers. ... The detective sergeant said he had just had a major child abuse investigation shut down by the CPS regarding a royal and an MP," he told the Sunday Mirror newspaper. "He did not mention names, but he said the CPS had said it was not in the public's interest because it 'could destabilise national security'." Comment: Which means the people may rise up against the nation. The police officer identified the two colleagues, the newspaper said. http://bit.ly/1GOjGL4 Tue, 24 Mar 2015 02:12:56 +0100 http://bit.ly/1GOjGL5 Move over, Manhattan. The controversial stop-and-frisk practice once common among the New York Police Department has spread to Chicago, according to a new report, and is more prevalent in the Windy City than in the Big Apple. A report published by the American Civil Liberties of Illinois on Monday accuses Chicago Police Department officers of overwhelmingly targeting minorities during an apparent stop-and-frisk surge last year. African-Americans accounted for around 72 percent of civilians stopped by the CPD during a four-month period last summer, according to the ACLU. This is despite them accounting for less than one-third of Chicago's population. Whites and Hispanics were subjected to stop-and-frisk policing 17 percent and 9 percent of the time respectively. From May through August 2014, according to the report, the CPD stopped around a quarter of a million people without making an arrest. With statistics showing that minorities are predominantly the victims of these searches, the ACLU report suggests constitutional violations may be afoot. http://bit.ly/1GOjGL5 Tue, 24 Mar 2015 02:12:31 +0100 http://bit.ly/1CkQw6v Four cops are out of a job after an internal review within the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department in Florida uncovered a slew of racially-charged messages sent between officers, and even a homemade movie that's ripe with hateful epithets. Three officers have been fired, Ft. Lauderdale Police Chief Frank Adderley said at a news conference on Friday, and a fourth, Alex Alvarez, had already resigned in the midst of a five-month probe launched late year when his former fiancée filed a complaint with the department. The woman, who has not been named, approached authorities in October 2014 about text messages sent between Alvarez and other officers with the Ft. Lauderdale police. "She said she had personally seen it herself and felt it was inappropriate," Adderley said. A subsequent review of text messages sent between the cop and his colleagues uncovered several instances in which the officers used derogatory terms. "I had a wet dream that you two found those two n*****s in the VW