Another case of mind controlled violence and unstable behavior? Shooting reported at Portland, Oregon high school

© Google Maps

A shooting at a Portland, Oregon high school on Friday has left at least three people injured, according to the Associated Press.

Portland's KPTV-News reported on Friday afternoon that at least two people were shot by a gunman or gunmen outside the city's Rosemary Anderson High School. A third victim was also taken to an area hospital, the Fox affiliate reported, citing a Portland fire official. It's not clear if he was shot as well.

Despite initial reports, police say the shooting did not take place inside of the school, but rather just outside on Killingsworth Court, according to KOIN 6. Police also believe the shooting may be gang-related.

All three victims were breathing and conscious when they were transported to the hospital. Although these three were injured, they were able to run into the school while emergency teams arrived at the scene.

According to The Oregonian, a 17-year-old was shot in from the back and a female student was shot in the chest. Their condition is not immediately known.

Details on potential suspects have not yet been released, but the AP reported that an individual sought in connection with the shooting reportedly fled the school. The shooter did not enter the school at all, officials said.

"This doesn't appear to be an active shooter running around shooting people," said police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson to the Los Angeles Times.

Rosemary Anderson, a community-based alternative high school, has an annual enrollment of roughly 190 students, according to its website. The site for the Portland Public School District says the city's "most at-risk and disadvantaged youth" are educated at the facility, through "positive reinforcement and creating an academic atmosphere founded upon a nurturing yet challenging classroom environment."

Two other schools - Jefferson High School and PCC Cascade - were on lockdown following news of the shooting, KPTV reported. In June, a freshman student died following a shooting at Reynolds High School in the Portland area.

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Extreme flooding in Sao Paulo, Brazil

© Thaddeus Pawlowski

Aerial view of Sao Paulo flooding

Violent storms and heavy rainfall hit Sao Paulo in Brazil on December 10, 2014, causing flooding and traffic chaos as authorities announced a state of alert in some parts of the city.

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Thunderstorm dumped more than two inches of rain in only a few hours. Streets turned into flowing rivers. Cars were swept away by flash floods in parts of the city, where mud and debris clogged the streets.

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Sao Paulo, home to around 20 million people, experienced months of the worst drought in decades.

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School violence continues: 3 shot near high school in Portland, Oregon, police say

© Maxine Bernstein/The Oregonian

Portland Police Chief Mike Reese and Mayor Charlie Hales stand on peace mural on North Killingsworth Court and North Borthwick as police investigate shooting outside Rosemary Anderson High School.

Three people were shot Friday afternoon near a high school in Portland, Oregon, Lt. Rich Tyler of the Portland Fire Department said.

Portland police Sgt. Pete Simpson said three student-age people, two males and a female, were shot near the Rosemary Anderson High School campus and ran inside a school building after being shot, reported CNN affiliate .

The victims were breathing and conscious as they were transported to a hospital, according to the police. Their condition was not immediately available.

Police said the shooter left the scene. No arrests were reported in the immediate aftermath.

Nearby Jefferson High School and Portland Community College were put on lockdown, authorities said.

Another school shooting occurred June 10 at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, about 12 miles east of Portland. One person was killed

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Despite initial reports, police say the shooting did not take place inside of the school, but rather just outside on Killingsworth Court, according to . Police also believe the shooting may be gang-related.

According to , a 17-year-old was shot in from the back and a female student was shot in the chest. Their condition is not immediately known.

Details on potential suspects have not yet been released, but the AP reported that an individual sought in connection with the shooting reportedly fled the school. The shooter did not enter the school at all, officials said, and the area is now secure.

This doesn't appear to be an active shooter running around shooting people said police spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson to the .

Rosemary Anderson, a community-based alternative high school, has an annual enrollment of roughly 190 students, according to its website. The site for the Portland Public School District says the city's "most at-risk and disadvantaged youth" are educated at the facility, through "positive reinforcement and creating an academic atmosphere founded upon a nurturing yet challenging classroom environment."

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Civil unrest is rising everywhere while government digs in its heels

I have warned that governments always turn against the people. Illinois just made it a felony to film police abuse in the USA. The Spanish government has followed the same course. Despite protests from political, judicial and population, the politicians who are becoming ruthless elite dictators rather than democratic representatives of the people, passed a law which provides extensive fines for protesters who dare to film the abuse of police. They have the audacity to claim filming police is an "offense against public safety" with fines of up to 600,000 euros. It is the police who protect government - not the people. So let's get this straight. "public safety" has become a code word for "government safety" that no longer gives two shits about the people.

Switzerland enacted laws requiring registration of all guns in the country for the first time when. Why? There have not been any incidents of "public safety". They too realize that the people are starting to wake up against the abuse of government everywhere. The people have caused this. As a whole, people watch sports, buy clothes, and go to dinner. Generally at best half even bother to vote. That has sent the signal to government elites the people do not care so corruption has run wild. But now with taxes rising, unemployment rising, pensions vanishing into thin air, and living standards declining, people want real change no words.

Even in the USA, the Republicans wrongly believe their ideas are what the people want. They too raise taxes. This funding bill allowing the banks to repeal Dodd Frank is an example of the corruption behind the scenes. They vote for Republicans because who is ever in power is being tossed out. Come 2016, it will be the Republican's turn as we see a rise in third-party activity. This repeal of Dodd Frank is a John Andrew Boehner special that goes against the conservative T-Party Republicans.

Politicians will be politicians. What is left to say?

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Six released Guantanamo detainees 'happy to be' in Uruguay

© Reuters / Andres Stapff

Former Guantanamo detainees Ahmed Adnan Ahjam (C) and Omar Mahmoud Faraj (L) from Syria walk alongside an unidentified police officer (R) in a neighbourhood in Montevideo December 12.

Six former US detainees, who have never been charged, are beginning their new life as refugees in Uruguay. They arrived on Sunday and have given their first comments to the press to say they are happy to be there.

The six include four Syrians, a Palestinian and a Tunisian.

Although they were cleared for release in 2009, the US was not able to discharge them until Uruguayan President Jose Mujica offered to take them.

One of the Syrians, 32 year old Ali al-Shaaban, has been held for more than a decade in the Guantanamo prison in Cuba, after he was arrested in Pakistan following the 9/11 attacks.

We are happy to be here he has told the by phone in his first interview since arriving in Uruguay.

© Reuters / Andres Stapf

Syrian Omar Mahmoud Faraj stands on the balcony of a house he shares with five other former Guatanamo detainees, in a neighbourhood in Montevideo December 12, 2014.

One of the other detainees, Abedlhadi Omar Faraj, issued a letter through his New York lawyer on Monday thanking Uruguay for their decision.

Were it not for Uruguay, I would still be in the black hole in Cuba today. It's difficult for me to express how grateful I am for the immense trust that you, the Uruguayan people, placed in me and the other prisoners when you opened the doors of your country to us" read the letter.

They got hugs from Uruguayan officials, friendly waves and thumbs up from the other patients at the hospital, the Uruguayan reception team even brought bathing suits for them Michael Bone, the Boston lawyer who helped secure Shaaban's release, told the .

Bone added that while on the flight over from Cuba on the US military plane, they were in handcuffs, shackles, blindfolds and ear defenders but the Uruguayans refused to let them walk off the plane in shackles; they insisted that they be allowed to take their first step on Uruguayan soil as free men

© Reuters / Andres Stapff

Former Guantanamo detainee Ahmed Adnan Ahjam from Syria uses a mobile phone while standing near a window in a neighbourhood in Montevideo December 12, 2014.

One of the refuges, Abu Wa'el Dhiab, arrived in Montevideo in very poor shape, having been on hunger strike for seven years.

His lawyer Cori Crider said Dhiab never thought he'd be released.

It's going to take some time for him to come down off his hunger strike, he's six foot five and only weighs about 148 pounds, he's extremely thin, in pain, emaciated and still confined to a wheelchair said Crider, as quoted by the Guardian.

Jose Mujica, the 79-year old Uruguayan president said his decision was a humanitarian gesture He himself spent 13 years in prison and two of those in solitary confinement, incarcerated by Uruguay's military dictatorship. However, he has voted against trials for crimes committed when the country was under military rule.

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Finally? Both sides confirm ceasefire finally 'real' in east Ukraine

Chechen volunteers, fighting for Novorussia.

The ceasefire in Ukraine is actually being implemented, and both sides of the conflict have acknowledged this in a rare demonstration of accord after months of mutual accusations.

"I have good news," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, currently on a visit to Australia, told journalists on Friday. "Today, for the first time in seven months, there was a real 24-hour-long ceasefire."

"You can't imagine how important this is for us. This has become the first night when I don't have a single soldier either killed or wounded".

Poroshenko admitted, however, the truce has so far been "very fragile" and promised to "pray for the process to carry on."

Heavy armor, artillery and Grad missile launchers haven't been used by rebel forces during the past day, the speaker of the Ukrainian Security Council, Andrey Lysenko, confirmed on Friday.

"On the whole we can confirm gradual, mutual establishment of the "silence regime" in the areas where the anti-terror operation is taking place," Lysenko said, as cited by RIA Novosti.

The leaders of the self-proclaimed republics of Lugansk and Donetsk have also admitted the ceasefire was mostly observed.

The rebel fighters in Lugansk have withdrawn heavy weapons from the front line, as agreed with Kiev, says the local people's council speaker, Aleksey Karyakin.

"The ceasefire seems to be observed on the whole, but local skirmishes do occur," he said. "Only it's not the heavy weaponry, but the small firearms that are being used. Fighting on a large-scale is not taking place."

The situation is similar in Donetsk, according to the head of the people's council there, Andrey Purgin.

"As far as I understand sporadic skirmishes are taking place, but not 120 a day, as it used to be," Purgin said, as cited by the Donetsk news agency.

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is optimistic about the current truce.

"There has emerged a chance for peace in Ukraine. With some pain, the ceasefire has finally been achieved," Lavrov said on Friday.

"There's good ground for moving forward in negotiating other issues, like economic reconstruction of the Donbass region, boosting political dialogue, which has to eventually lead to constitutional reform in Ukraine with the participation of all regions and all political forces, something the Ukrainian authorities had promised back in April."

The latest and so far successful attempt at a ceasefire, brokered by the OSCE, was launched on December 9 and is supposed to pave the way for a new round of peace talks between Kiev and the self-proclaimed republics in the east. The date for the negotiations, that will take place in Minsk, Belarus, has not yet been agreed on.

Russia is, according to Lavrov, trying to get the date set as soon as possible.

A major roadmap to peace was already agreed upon in Minsk in September. Among other things, it stipulated Ukraine was to grant a special status for the Lugansk and Donetsk regions, and hold early elections there.

Since then both Kiev and the rebels have accused each other of violating the September Minsk agreement.

Kiev launched its military operation against the anti-government forces in April. 4,300 people have been killed in the conflict since that time, the UN recently estimated.

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Probiotics: A myth or a miracle?

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The chances are, you think you are an individual. Within a few social, economic and legal constraints, you probably see yourself as pretty autonomous. The reality, however, is that you are more of an ecosystem than an individual. There are 10 times more microbial cells in your body than human ones.

In recent years, scientists have developed a greater understanding of the important roles played by the 100tn or so bugs the average person carries. After decades of focusing on how to kill bacteria with soap and antibiotics, we are coming round to a more nuanced appreciation of the symbiotic relationship we have with them. While some can make us sick, others help to break down the nutrients in our food, teach our immune systems to recognise enemies, fight off food poisoning and even produce chemicals that determine our moods.

As our knowledge of the importance of the microbes in our bodies grows, the big question is whether it is possible to give our gut flora a helping hand. In fact, it is the $28.8bn question - the projected global value of the probiotics market for next year. The ads are certainly seductive. All that harm from takeaways, boozy nights and work stress can be put right with a daily dose of live bacteria. But do probiotics have real health benefits?

Studies have documented that people with a wide range of diseases including Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease have different gut flora from those of healthy people, but it can be hard to tell whether this is a cause or a consequence of the illness. Microorganisms play important roles in regulating immune system responses, and can therefore affect the chances of people developing auto-immune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome and allergies. Numerous studies, including one published last year by Swedish scientists, show that babies born by caesarean have lower levels of good bacteria and chemical imbalances in the immune system that make them more susceptible to allergies and eczema.

Research also suggests that healthy gut bugs can improve the effectiveness of some cancer therapies. In a study published last year, Professor Laurence Zitvogel, of the Gustave Roussy Institute in France, gave cyclophosphamide, an anti-cancer drug, to mice with skin cancer and sarcoma. The drug made the lining of the mice's small intestines porous, allowing gut bacteria to escape and encourage immature immune cells to develop into T-cells capable of attacking tumours.

Those who have had "gut-wrenching" experiences or butterflies won't be surprised to hear that there are also strong connections between the gut and the brain. Gut bacteria produce neurochemicals such as serotonin and dopamine that regulate basic psychological processes and mental states. Altering the balance between beneficial and disease-causing bacteria can change the brain chemistry of animals in ways that can make them either bolder or more anxious.

Of course, understanding that gut microbes have major influences on health does not necessarily mean we can do anything about it. "Working out potential effects involves doing large, long-term population studies, and that's expensive and difficult," says Kristian Bravin, a spokesman for the British Dietetic Association.

The best evidence to support the use of probiotics is for reducing cases of infectious diarrhoea, especially that associated with the use of antibiotics. Around 30% of patients given antibiotics get diarrhoea, with potentially serious symptoms. When scientists at the California-based Rand research organisation combined the results of 63 studies, they found people who took probiotics alongside antibiotics almost halved their risk of diarrhoea. There is also good research supporting the use of probiotics to treat ulcerative colitis and pouchitis, a complication patients can suffer following surgery.

When it comes to mundane colds and respiratory infections, the evidence is mixed. A German study published in 2006 did find probiotics shortened the average duration of cold symptoms from nine to seven days and reduced their severity, but had no effect on incidence. However, a Cochrane review, combining the results of 10 studies, found those given probiotics were 8% less likely to get colds, but that probiotics had little effect on symptom severity.

There is little convincing evidence to support the many other health claims made for probiotics, such as helping with weight loss, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, and preventing or alleviating skin conditions, urinary tract infections, anxiety and depression.

The idea behind probiotics is to increase levels of beneficial bacteria, but another approach is to help those already there. That is what prebiotic supplementation is for. Prebiotics are non-digestible carbohydrates that provide food for friendly bacteria. Food sources include beans, garlic, onions and leeks, but they are also added as supplements to food, and increasingly to formula milk for babies. Last year, a large study found no evidence that putting prebiotics in baby formula prevents babies getting asthma or hives, but did find some evidence that they could reduce the chances of developing eczema.

Hundreds of applications to make health claims for probiotic products have been rejected by the European Food Standards Authority in recent years on the grounds of lack of conclusive evidence, though some scientists believe this is more to do with faults in the claims process than lack of evidence. Others are sceptical that probiotic products containing a few million live bacteria can even survive exposure to gastric acid in the stomach.

"If someone is buying a probiotic," says Bravin, "I'd say go for good-quality live yoghurts, consume them every day, and select those that contains several different species of bacteria. And ideally it should be something with a prebiotic as well."

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