Fireball lights up sky over Nova Scotia

© newsfirst.lk

Photo used for representational purposes.

People across Nova Scotia took to social media Tuesday after seeing a ball of fire in the night sky.

Astronomer David Lane, director of the observatory at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, said it was likely a bright meteor called a fireball.

He said that while they are not rare, they do usually pass by in the middle of the night when most people are sleeping.

The ball of fire was reportedly seen by people in the Annapolis Valley, Antigonish, Sydney and even some on Prince Edward Island.

"It grew brighter as it streaked low on the southeastern horizon and expired with a bright green flash," said Emily MacKay on Twitter

Nova Scotia Webcams captured the fireball on its Halifax harbour webcam.

After multiple fireball sightings last year, Lane told CBC the odds of finding a meteorite after seeing a fireball are small.

"The chances of finding it are pretty slim. You really need a lot of good camera reports that shows the streak in the sky so that scientists can follow up ... to do, essentially, a triangulation and pinpoint a target search area."

He said finding a meteorite is very rare. Only one meteorite has ever been confirmed to have been found in the Maritimes.

"Fireballs happen all the time," Lane said. "There's something like 100 tonnes of stuff that hits the Earth every day from space, but [in] Nova Scotia, or I should say the Maritimes, there's only been one meteorite ever found on the ground."

Nova Scotia Webcams caught the thing on camera:

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Massive asteroid on course to 'narrowly miss' the Earth

© Unknown

Asterid 2014-YB35 is due to skim earth in late March

A mammoth asteroid measuring 1,000-metre wide in on course to narrowly miss Earth within days, NASA predicts.

The object called '2014-YB35' is predicted to skim the Earth on Friday travelling at more than 23,000 mph in space.

It is not unusual for small meteorites to pass close by, however one of this size is a very rare occurrence and poses a very real threat, an expert told the Express.

Any impact would trigger devastating changes in the climate, earthquakes and tsunamis.

Bill Napier, professor of astronomy at the University of Buckinghamshire, told the Express there is a "very real risk" of a comet or damaging asteroid hitting Earth.

He said: "With something like YB35, we are looking at a scale of global destruction, something that would pose a risk to the continuation of the planet.

"These events are however very rare, it is the smaller yet still very damaging impacts which are a very real threat."

Experts warn it is only a matter of time before an asteroid capable of "life-altering" damage collides with our planet.

This rock is forecast to pass within 2.8 million miles - a tiny distance in astronomical terms - of Earth on Friday, according to NASA's Near Earth Object Programme.

It is estimated to be from between 500 metres and 1km wide, with 990 metres the most likely.

The object was first spotted by the Catalina Sky Survey at the end of last year with astronomers expected to be closely watching its progress this week.

If it hit Earth, plumes of debris would be thrown into the atmosphere, changing the climate and potentially making the planet inhabitable for all life.

Smaller impacts would be capable of destroying cities.

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San Diego sues Monsanto for polluting the bay with banned carcinogenic chemicals

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San Diego Bay, California

San Diego authorities filed a lawsuit on Monday against the agrochemical giant Monsanto, accusing the corporation of polluting the city's bay with carcinogenic chemicals that are so dangerous to human health they were banned in the U.S. more than 30 years ago.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court by City of San Diego and San Diego Unified Port District and focuses on Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). "PCBs manufactured by Monsanto have been found in bay sediments and water and have been identified in tissues of fish, lobsters, and other marine life in the Bay," the complaint reads.

"PCB contamination in and around the Bay affects all San Diegans and visitors who enjoy the Bay, who reasonably would be disturbed by the presence of a hazardous, banned substance in the sediment, water, and wildlife," the document continues.

As the notes, the city's lawsuit charges that "the risks did not deter Monsanto from trying to protect profits and prolong the use of PCB compounds such as Aroclor, as shown in a report from an ad hoc committee that Monsanto formed in 1969."

This is despite the fact that, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, PCBs "have been demonstrated to cause cancer, as well as a variety of other adverse health effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, and endocrine system." Dangers to human health led to a domestic ban on the domestic manufacture of PCBs in 1979.

By that time, however, PCBs had already spread through ecosystems, where they have remained to the present-day.

Monsanto was responsible for 99 percent of U.S. production of this dangerous chemical, according to a report from Food & Water Watch.

Comment: PCBs accumulate. PCB levels from Monsanto facilities in adjacent communities reported 940 times the federal level of concern in yard soils, 200 times that level in dust inside people's homes, 2000 times that level in Monsanto's drainage ditches. Fish die of exposure within seconds. There is no safe level. There were several lawsuits filed by schools and even one for PCBs in the chalk used by children. Swedish scientists identified traces of PCBs throughout the food chain, in fish, birds, pine needles, even children's hair. Having moved on, leaving death and destruction behind, Monsanto currently seeks to supply GMOs globally and reaps net sales of $11.8B per year with 404 facilities in 66 countries. We may never know the full extent of the devastation perpetrated on our planet and the life it supports from this company, nor ever, ever see it come to justice. How big a slap will Monsanto receive, if any at all? Untouchable.

See also:

Monsanto Hid Decades of Pollution

Monsanto, a corporate profile (Food and Water Watch PDF--This is mind boggling!)

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US troops, contractors sexually abused Colombian girls with impunity - report

We're here to help, and rape your children.

Soldiers and military contractors sexually abused more than 54 children in Colombia between 2003 and 2007, according to a recently released historic document on the country's conflict. The suspects have allegedly not been prosecuted due to immunity clauses in bilateral agreements.

The 800-page independent historic report was commissioned by the Colombian government and rebel group FARC to establish the causes and violence aggravators of the 50-year-long conflict they are negotiating to end.

The document is to help negotiators determine who is responsible for the more than 7 million victims of the armed conflict between leftist rebels and the state while they are negotiating peace.

"There exists abundant information about the sexual violence, in absolute impunity thanks to the bilateral agreements and the diplomatic immunity of United States officials."

One of the scholars that helped redact the historians' report, Renan Vega of the Pedagogic University in Bogota, focused part of this historic document on the American military that has actively supported the Colombian state in its fight against drug trafficking and leftist rebel groups like the FARC and ELN.

In his report, the historian cited one 2004 case in the central Colombian town of Melgar where 53 underage girls were sexually abused by nearby stationed military contractors "who moreover filmed [the abuse] and sold the films as pornographic material."

According to Colombia's leading newspaper, El Tiempo, the victims of the sexual abuse practices were forced to flee the region after their families received death threats.

Other Americans stationed at the Tolemaida Air Base allegedly committed similar crimes, but possibly also never saw a day in court due to an immunity arrangement for American soldiers and military contractors agreed by Washington and Bogota.

"Yes, we took her and we raped her. So what?"

One case that has called most attention in Colombian media was that of a 12-year-old who in 2007 was raped by a US Army sergeant and a former US military officer who was working in Melgar as a military contractor.

Colombian prosecutors established that the girl had been drugged and subsequently raped inside the military base by US sergeant Michael J. Coen and defense contractor Cesar Ruiz.

However, prosecution officials were not allowed to arrest the suspected child rapists who were subsequently flown out of the country.

The case has caused major indignation among Colombians for years.

Nevertheless, the rape victim, her little sister and mother were forced to flee Melgar and eventually moved to the city of Medellin as forces loyal to the suspects were threatening the family, the mother told Colombian television.

In 2009, the US embassy in Bogota told Miami newspaper El Nuevo Herald that the US government did not rule out the possibility to reopen the apparently closed case against Coen and Ruiz.

However, according to El Tiempo, no US court has since indicted both suspects for their alleged crime in the six years since.

According to left-leaning news website El Turbion, the case of the 12-year-old girl is not the only one.

"In 2006 there were 23 reported cases of sexual abuse committed by active American soldiers and another 14 in 2007," the website said. Colombia Reports was unable to confirm this claim with other online sources.

However, if this claim is confirmed, there would be more than 90 cases of sexual violence against women and children committed by American soldiers between 2004 and 2007 alone.

According to the governmental National Victims Unit, 7,234 Colombian women have been registered as victims of sex crimes within the context of the conflict in the decades that it has lasted.

While the FARC and the administration of President Juan Manuel Santos are negotiating who is responsible for the 7.2 million registered victims of the country's half-a-century armed conflict, US President Barack Obama sent Special Envoy Bernie Aronson to Colombia to assist in the process.

Aronson has so far met with Santos and, reportedly, with negotiation team members of the FARC and the government, and will be the intermediary between Bogota and Washington.

The special envoy will possibly have to deal with the role of the US military and its members in the alleged victimization of Colombians.

His most difficult task will be balancing the US government's duty of "protecting American interests" — as he was reminded by Tea Party Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) — and trying to "stand by Colombians' side in this journey," as Aronson said himself.

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Pennsylvania cop charged with criminal homicide in shooting of unarmed man

This isn't something you hear very often.

© stamfordadvocate

Officer Mearkle

From ABC27 News:

A Hummelstown [PA] police officer has been charged with criminal homicide in the fatal shooting of a South Hanover Township man last month.

Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico said following a state police investigation, he concluded 36-year-old Lisa Mearkle was not justified in using deadly force when she shot 59-year-old David Kassick.

This story is quite disturbing. On February 2, Mearkle attempted to stop Kassick for an expired inspection sticker. Instead of stopping, Kassick drove to his sister's home and fled on foot.

Mearkle chased Kassick and shot him with her stun gun, shooting him in the back:

Kassick fell to the snow-covered ground and was lying face down when Mearkle ordered him to show his hands. She continued to use the stun gun while Kassick was on the ground, then shot him twice in the back, Marsico said.

Mearkle told investigators she shot Kassick because he would not show her his hands and she thought he was reaching into his jacket for a gun. She acknowledged that she did not see him display anything that could have been considered a weapon, however.

But the stun gun recorded portions of the encounter, and Marsico called it the strongest evidence in the case.

He said it appeared Kassick had been trying to remove stun-gun probes from his back.

"At the time Officer Mearkle fires both rounds from her pistol, the video clearly depicts Kassick lying on the snow covered lawn with his face toward the ground," according to the arrest affidavit. "Furthermore, at the time the rounds are fired nothing can be seen in either of Kassick's hands, nor does he point or direct anything toward Officer Mearkle."

Kassick, in fact, was not physically aggressive at all, according to the criminal complaint filed by state police. He had no contact with Mearkle and was not facing her when she fired the first shot. She ordered him to show his hands and was still using the stun gun when she fired the second shot - while Kassick was still face-down on the ground.

Mearkle performed CPR on Kassick, but he died at the scene.

Mearkle is a 14-year veteran of the Hummelstown Police Department. She was arraigned before District Judge Lowell Witmer and jailed in the Dauphin County Prison without bail.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled April 20.

The police department issued a news release that said it had cooperated fully, calling the matter "an extremely difficult case for all involved."

"We are servants of justice and must now allow the judicial process to conduct a fair and impartial review of the allegations that have been presented," the news release stated.

The offense of criminal homicide encompasses a range of charges, from misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter to felony first-degree murder. Prosecutors often narrow the charge later in the process, about the time when defendants are formally arraigned.

Kassick's family issued the following statement through their attorneys at the Slusser Law Firm:

The Kassick family is extremely pleased that the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office has elected to pursue homicide charges against the police officer responsible for David's untimely death. The family would like to thank the Dauphin County district attorney and his staff as well as the Pennsylvania State Police for their hard work and impartial handling of this matter. Their courage in doing what is right and just in criminally charging this police officer is to be commended.

David is dead and he should not be. The family would like to respectfully remind the public that while David had his problems and struggled with addiction, he was loved and will be deeply missed. The family is comforted by the knowledge that the individual who caused David's death will be held to answer for her cowardly and criminal behavior. This prosecution is a substantial step towards closure following a horrifying tragedy.

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Ice age on the way: Gulf Stream is slowing down faster than ever, scientists say

Gulf Stream stops Britain from freezing over in Winter

The Gulf Stream that helps to keep Britain from freezing over in winter is slowing down faster now than at any time in the past millennium according to a study suggesting that major changes are taking place to the ocean currents of the North Atlantic.

Scientists believe that the huge volumes of freshwater flowing into the North Atlantic from the rapidly melting ice cap of Greenland have slowed down the ocean "engine" that drives the Gulf Stream from the Caribbean towards north-west Europe, bringing heat equivalent to the output of a million power stations.

However, the researchers believe that Britain is still likely to become warmer due to climate change providing the Gulf Stream does not come to a complete halt - although they remain unsure how likely this is.

Calculations suggest that over the 20th century the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation - the northward flow of warm surface water and the southward flow of deep, cold water - has slowed by between 15 and 20 per cent, said Professor Stefan Rahmstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany.

© Getty Images

Scientists believe that huge volumes of freshwater flowing into the North Atlantic from the rapidly melting ice cap of Greenland have slowed down the ocean “engine” that drives the Gulf Stream

"There is more than a 99 per cent probability that this slowdown is unique over the period we looked at since 900 AD. We conclude that the slowdown many have described is in fact already underway and it is outside of any natural variation," Professor Rahmstorf said.

The scientists calculated that some 8,000 cubic kilometres of freshwater has flowed from Greenland into the Atlantic between 1900 and 1970, and this rose significantly to 13,000 cubic kilometres between 1970 and 2000.

Freshwater is lighter than salty water which means that it tends to float on the surface of the ocean and in doing so disturbs the normal sinking of dense, cold saltwater to the ocean floor, which is the main driver of the Atlantic circulation.

© Getty Images

An iceberg in Ilulissat, Greenland; researchers have been studying the phenomena of the melting glaciers and their long-term ramifications for the rest of the world

In a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change, Professor Rahmstorf and colleagues point out that maps of global surface temperatures have consistently indicated an overall warming trend around the world, except for the region of the North Atlantic south of Greenland.

"It is conspicuous that one specific area of the North Atlantic has been cooling in the past hundred years while the rest of the world heats up," said Professor Rahmstorf, who added that previous research had indicated that a slowdown in ocean currents may be the explanation.

"Now we have detected strong evidence that the global conveyor has indeed been weakening in the past hundred years, particularly since 1970," he said.

The study used proxy measurements of the Atlantic currents, using ice cores, tree rings, coral growth and ocean and lake sediments, to estimate regional temperature variations and so assess how the Gulf Stream has changed over the past 1,000 years.

© Getty Images

Machair, a grassy coastal habitat found only in north-west Scotland and the west coast of Ireland, is one of the several elements of the UK’s “cultural heritage” that is at risk from climate change

Jason Box of the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland, who helped to calculate the amount of freshwater flowing into the Atlantic from melting ice caps, said that the slowdown can be linked to man-made climate change.

"Now freshwater coming off the Greenland ice sheet is likely disturbing the circulation. So the human-caused mass loss of the Greenland ice sheet appears to be slowing down the Atlantic overturning, and this effect might increase if temperatures are allowed to rise further," Dr Box said.

Michael Mann of Pennsylvania State University said: "Common climate models are underestimating the change we're facing, wither because the Atlantic overturning is too stable in the models or because they don't properly account for Greenland ice melt, or both."

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80 percent of your food contains carcinogens

© seattleorganicrestaurants.com

Two days ago, an agency of the World Health Organization issued a report concluding that glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsanto's Roundup, likely causes cancer in humans.

If you eat foods that contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs), you are consuming glyphosate—because the U.S. EPA not only allows glyphosate residue on your food, the agency actually raised the allowed limits in 2013.

How do you know you're eating GMO foods? You don't. Because Monsanto and the EPA, USDA and FDA made certain of that by refusing to require labels on GMO foods. Even though about 80 percent of processed foods in the U.S. contain GMO ingredients.

You may be thinking, is it worth it to keep funding these state GMO labeling campaigns, when Monsanto and Big Food come in with their hundreds of millions of dollars to snuff them out?

The answer is a resounding yes. Here's why.

First, it's more urgent than ever for your health. The FDA just signed off on the GMO apple and the GMO potato, and will likely sign off on GMO salmon and GMO wheat. This, in addition to new GMO corn and soy varieties the USDA recently approved—crops engineered to withstand massive doses of a toxic combination of both glyphosate and 2,4-D (a form of which was used to make Agent Orange).

More and more studies are being done on the toxic effect of glyphosate on human health. But this most recent study, from the World Health Organization, may be the most incriminating of all—and yet, we have no indication from the U.S. government that it will heed this new warning and take action.

Second, Monsanto's lobbyists are pushing Congress to pass a law that would kill states' rights to pass GMO labeling laws.

Word is that within weeks, if not sooner, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.) will reintroduce what activists have labeled the DARK ACT—Deny Americans the Right to Know. The bill is an attempt to strip states' of their constitutional right to pass GMO labeling laws.

If we pass GMO labeling laws in Maine, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, in addition to the law already passed in Vermont, we'll make it much more difficult for Congress to take on all four of these states.

The House Agriculture Committee is holding a full committee hearing on the costs and impacts of GE food labeling—likely a preamble to the reintroduction of Pompeo's bill.

Third, it is absolutely essential that we not give up this fight—your fight—or we risk sending the wrong message to Monsanto, and state and federal lawmakers.

We may have (very narrowly) lost several key state battles, but those battles launched a massive national public education campaign, and helped launch similar initiatives and legislative campaigns in more than 20 states.

Without the support of people like you—concerned consumers, voters, moms and dads, from every generation and every point across the political spectrum—most Americans still wouldn't know what a GMO is or why it matters, much less that they are being denied this basic information on food packaging—information that consumers in more than 60 countries rightfully have.

Instead, thanks to you, more than 90 percent of Americans are now standing up to demand the right to know.

It is absolutely critical that we keep this fight alive. That's why we're asking for your support so we can provide resources to these important GMO labeling battles in New England.

We need to raise another $145,000 to meet our goal of $200,000 by March 31 to fund GMO labeling in Maine, and in other New England states, including Massachusetts. Details on how to donate online, by check or by phone here.

Donations made to the Organic Consumers Fund, our 501(c) 4 lobbying arm, are not tax-deductible. If you want to support the grassroots advocacy and education campaigns in these states, you can make a tax-deductible donation to our 501(c)3 here.

Thank you!

In Solidarity, Ronnie Cummins

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