Unapologetic Nestlé CEO would take more water from drought stricken California if he could

© n/a      Nestlé's chief executive officer said he would not consider moving his company's bottling operations out of California - which continues to struggle through a historic drought. The corporate official said Nestlé would not follow Starbucks and stop drawing water from wells in the state - where personal use has been limited - and move elsewhere, reported KPCC-FM. "Absolutely not," said CEO Tim Brown. "In fact, if I...

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Ukrainian nationalist thugs assault women and elderly on Victory Day

"Glory to Ukraine's Nazis!"      As the world marked the 70th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in WWII, Ukraine has seen a wave of attacks against Victory Day symbols associated with May 9 celebrations in Russia and the former Soviet Union. On May 9, activists from the nationalist Ukrainian Svoboda ("Freedom") party were seen attacking people for wearing the traditional black-and-orange St. George ribbons or carrying red...

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30 waterbirds found dead on Lake Havasu, Arizona had blunt trauma

An eared grebe (black-necked grebe)      Birds found dead on Lake Havasu in late-April showed signs of "severe blunt trauma" and have been sent to the National Wildlife Health Center in Wisconsin for further testing, Arizona Game and Fish wildlife biologist Carrington Knox said Tuesday. A group of more than 30 dead eared grebes were spotted just south of Cattail Cove State Park on April 28 and reported to Game and Fish. Lake...

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Before You Buy That Rothko…How the CIA Covertly Nurtured Modern Art as a Cold War “Weapon”

For decades in art circles it was either a rumour or a joke, but now it is confirmed as a fact. The Central Intelligence Agency used American modern art – including the works of such artists as Jackson Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko – as a weapon in the Cold War. In the manner of a Renaissance prince – except that it acted secretly – the CIA fostered and promoted American Abstract Expressionist painting around the...

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Woman is savaged by an angry beaver in Russia

While beaver attacks are rare, they are not unheard of. A fisherman died while trying to take a picture of a beaver in Belarus in 2013 after the animal bit through an artery in his leg, causing him to bleed to death      A woman in Russia who had her leg ripped open by an angry beaver was saved after a neighbour came running over and stabbed it in the head. Evgenia Eliseeva, 24, was at home in her village in southwest Russia's...

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SOTT FOCUS: EMF Pollution: Man-Made EMF, Dirty Power, and AC magnetic fields

© (Richard Box’s ‘FIELD’ February 2004 Photo: Stuart Bunce, www.richardbox.com) [With permission – Henshaw 1] Fluorescent tubes lit by overhead power line      This article is part two in a series of articles on EMF pollution. Part one on the bakground to EMF pollution is available here. We'll now proceed with a detailed description of man-made sources of EMF (Electromagnetic Field), discuss past study results, and finish up...

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China requests IMF recommend renminbi as a reserve currency

     China has made a request of the International Monetary Fund (IMF): It wants the IMF to recommend the Chinese renminbi as a reserve currency. Being a reserve-currency economy would give China easier and cheaper access to capital (something an indebted China is likely to cheer). But there are also drawbacks. Reserve currencies tend to be in high demand, pushing up the value of their currency relative to where it would otherwise...

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First warm-blooded fish found

© NOAA Fisheries, Southwest Fisheries Science Center Southwest Fisheries Science Center biologist Nick Wegner holds a captured opah, the first-ever warm-blooded fish..      The car-tire-size opah is striking enough thanks to its rotund, silver body. But now, researchers have discovered something surprising about this deep-sea dweller: It's got warm blood. That makes the opah () the first warm-blooded fish every discovered. Most...

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Hidden GMO Ingredients

     These days it seems we know less and less about what's in our food. As big food and lawmakers have their way, ingredients sneakily make their way into our food. It's up to us, the consumer, to research what we eat and take a closer look at the labels. We've already identified the many places MSG is hiding in your food, but GMOs have an even stronger prevalence in what we eat. WHAT ARE GMOS? Genetically modified organisms...

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BEST OF THE WEB: Roger Waters to Dionne Warwick: "You are showing yourself to be profoundly ignorant of what has happened in Palestine since 1947″

© AP/Vadim Ghirda Roger Waters      Singer and U.N. global ambassador Dionne Warwick recently released an interesting if puzzling statement asserting that she would, and I quote, "never fall victim to the hard pressures of Roger Waters, from Pink Floyd, or other political people who have their views on politics in Israel." "Waters' political views are of no concern," I assume she means to her, the statement read. "Art," she...

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Ukraine Makes John McCain A Presidential Advisor

Most of the group’s supposed members are former European politicians who have been vocal supporters of Ukraine’s pro-Western course. It’s not clear what Poroshenko actually okayed with any of them before publishing the decree, since each of them is listed as a council member “by agreement” — including Saakashvili, whom Poroshenko appointed head of the council by a separate decree in February. Two of the other men listed are current members of...

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