0 Knesset to hold emergency session as Israel's social protest grows

Hundreds of pensioners protest in Tel Aviv; non-profit organizations to hold emergency conference and present their demands.

The Knesset has decided to break temporarily from its summer recess and hold a special session to discuss the growing social protests across Israel, at the request of the opposition parties.

The session will take place either this Wednesday or on the following Monday. Some members of the opposition, are pushing to convene the meeting next week in order to keep the protests alive.

Pensioners protesting in Tel Aviv hold banner reading 'millions of pensioners demand social justice', August 8, 2011 Photo by: Nir Kafri

Hundreds of pensioners staged a protest at the Tel Aviv government compound (Kiryat Hamemshala) on Monday, demanding the government lower medicine costs, cancel VAT on basic necessities and prevent a cut in their pensions.

The head of the pensioners' union. Gideon Ben Yisrael, said the pensioners identify with the nation-wide social struggle but demand specific solutions to their sector's problem.

Shlomo, a pensioner from Ashkelon, said that "the last time I protested was in 1947 against the British… open your eyes, look at what is happening around you – it’s a terrible thing." Another speaker at the protest said: "The youth and the pensioners will oust Bibi Netanyahu together."

Dozens of non-profit and social organizations will hold an emergency conference on Wednesday present their demands. Giora Rozen, head of the umbrella organization of non-profit groups in Israel, said that "most of the organizations represent the lower strata of society, therefore there can't be a solution without dealing with Israel's poor population together with civil society organizations." 
http://www.haaretz.com/news 

 

0 Exploding meteor wakes Pacific island nation

AN exploding meteor is believed to be responsible for a huge bang that reverberated around the Pacific island nation of Niue last week.

A meteor streaks across the sky

Niue police chief Mark Chenery said the loud bang on Wednesday night woke the island's 1200 residents and he initially thought a boat had exploded in the harbour.

Chenery said there was widespread speculation about the cause of the noise but the Carter observatory in New Zealand had told him it was likely to be a meteor exploding 20km high in the atmosphere.

"There was a large (noise), a huge clap of thunder but it was its normal starry night outside," he told Radio New Zealand.

"People have described seeing a white light, like a flare, shooting across the sky. Niue is 64 kilometres around and it was heard in Lakepa in the northwest down to Avasele in the southeast, so it was certainly heard island-wide."

Chenery said there were no reports of damage.

0 Al-Qaeda Cause US Ebola Outbreak In New Book

Source: http://blogcritics.org

Book Review: Uncaged by Paul McKellips

The horrors of 9-11 ten years ago introduced many Americans for the first time to the real truth about devastating destruction and our national vulnerabilty. Over the ten years since 2001, we have learned more about the fragile relationship of politics, ideology, power, and money. Now, few things seem impossible.

Paul McKellips is the Executive Vice President for the Foundation for Biomedical Research in Washington D.C. He is a motion picture and television producer who served as a State Department war correspondent in Iraq. During his tenure in Iraq, McKellips traveled with army veterinarians throughout the war-torn country, observing the U.S. effort to restore conditions necessary for the proper care and treatment of large animals.

In a 30-minute interview on Pet-Life Radio McKellips provides a full and informative description of the work of the FBR. I recommend this audio interview to the reader in order to understand the experience and knowledge which informs McKellips' perspective in the book.

Uncaged is a work of fiction. It is however an entirely plausible, if not likely, scenario in which the devastation of 9-11 would unspeakably be dwarfed in size.

If the perfect storm of politics, activism, science, greed, and ideology were brought together in a single moment in history, an apocalyptic event could be unleashed (uncaged) all over the world in a matter of days, not years. It is chilling, but as McKellips aptly applies the perfect storm scenario, it becomes not just plausible, but believable as well.

The political trigger is pulled when a clandestine animal rights activist group creates a widespread public health scare by causing severe illness and death among the nation's meat consumers. This fear forces the U.S. president to declare a full one-year moratorium on animal research of any kind.

Simultaneously, a South Korean pharmaceutical company, funded by private Russian investors, violently obtains farm livestock in the United States in which advanced testing has been done, giving the new company the fast track for producing a vaccination and treatment for possible future outbreaks of Ebola.

Working with Al-Qaeda, pirates seize commercial tankers bound for American ports. The pirates perpetrate some relatively minor theft and then send the ships on their way. Their purpose was not to enrich themselves with a ransom, but to uncage infected rats. The rats, more precisely the fleas from the rats, begin claiming victims within hours of their presence at port.

The story's main characters, a veteran male military doctor nicknamed "Camp," and a military expert in infectious disease, a woman named "Leslie," are teamed up to gain the necessary intelligence to counter the impending threat. In their travels to Algeria, Yemen, and finally Costa Rica, they encounter the enemies. Suffering several brushes with death, they emerge from a combative personal relationship to one which is implicitly one of love. The relationship between Camp and Leslie gives the story the necessary character depth to keep Uncaged from being a one-dimensional military special-ops novel. The relationship is far from distracting to the reader and serves the fundamental story expertly.

Uncaged raises many issues about the use of animals in medical research. Among medical researchers and animal activists a great chasm of perspective exists, though the work of the Foundation for Biomedical Research is seeking to close that gap. Extreme positions on both ends of the issue's spectrum are brought to this book in a hypothetical situation in which the question of the value of human life vs. the value of non-human animal life, is raised. It is a question that is not resolved easily.

Uncaged is a thought-provoking and thrilling read.  McKellips' obvious personal credibility allows him to raise right issues, and he leaves the reader with perhaps a broader understanding of the dilemma posed by biomedical research and the treatment of animals.  

Americans, no longer doubtful about our vulnerability after 9-11, hear whispers about bioterrorism from time-to-time. After reading Uncaged, the whispers will become shouts.

Looking at who the guy is, and who he works for...is this some sort of warning?

or just literally throwing the future in our face?

0 Tottenham riot: bullet lodged in officer's radio at time of Mark Duggan death 'was police issue'

The bullet fired at a police officer during the operation which ended in the death of Mark Duggan is understood to be a police-issue round, initial forensic tests have suggested.

Mr Duggan’s death during a police operation on Thursday prompted riots on the streets of Tottenham on Saturday.

It was initially suggested that he died following an exchange of fire with police officers. A bullet was found lodged in a police-officer’s radio.

However initial forensic tests suggest that the bullet is a hollow-point round as used by the Metropolitan Police.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission says they are awaiting further tests before they will know whether or not the bullet was a police-issue round.

But the results of the initial tests cast doubt on whether or not Mr Duggan actually fired at officers. It could also fuel further disturbances if it emerges that Mr Duggan did not fire at police.

Read More:http://www.telegraph.co.uk

0 Jim Traficant Freedom Palooza 7-2011 P1 of 3

Jim Trafficant as always...tells it like it is.

"They wanted to get rid of my voice, because I was starting to talk about the real issues in America.

The fact that the American people do not control America anymore, and in doing so they labelled me in the mainstream media..an Anti-Semite"

"You got to expect that...I am not an Anti-Semite, I have nothing against Israel, but Israel and it's lobbies have become so powerful they have more control over the American political system than do the American people, and nobody should control America but the American people...Period!."

0 "Cases Reported As Swine Flu Are Not H1N1" India Times

The patients who showed symptoms similar to that of swine flu are not carrying the virus, according to hospital sources.

Though the H1N1 virus has not yet surfaced in the city this year, Government Medical College and Hospital ( GMCH) is taking no chances. The patients who showed symptoms similar to that of swine flu are not carrying the virus, according to hospital sources.

Since April, the hospital has sent about ten samples for testing the presence of the virus that spelt dread last year. All ten samples have tested negative.

Earlier the doctors of the hospital had predicted that the disease may not take the form of an epidemic this time around. However, pregnant women should be cautious of any kind of fever as the instances of death among them was 100 percent last year, they warned.

The disease had assumed its worst form in the city from August 2009 to September 2010. In fact, 50 lives were lost during the months of July and August last year, most of them being pregnant women.

Source:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/No-proved-cases-of-H1N1/articleshow/9515068.cms 

0 Abu Ghraib Abuse Photo Ringerleader Released From Jail...3 And A Half Years Early

Spc. Charles Graner, the sick low-level bully and ringleader in the scandal that rocked the already shaky U.S war effort to its deepest, darkest core in 2004, has been released from jail, three and a half years ahead of schedule. Recall with revulsion the many now iconic photos of Abu Ghriab: young Lynndie England with an Iraqi prisoner on a leash, the hooded detainee hooked up to a fry station, the pyramid of naked male bodies. The dogs, the dead bodies, the U.S soldiers, thumbs up over a fresh, bloodied and bruised corpse

.

Charles Graner was behind all of those photographs and more. According to jailhouse interviews with England, who spent a year in prison and had the married Graner’s baby behind bars, the then-Army reservist seized upon and played off of the frenetic, often desperate anxiety of his young inexperienced crew of national guardsmen and women — most of whom were not trained nor prepared to serve as prison guards in a war theater — and was responsible for whipping up the sexual antics and fraternity house atmosphere at the notorious prison.

But Graner had a past — of anger and abuse, as a husband and a state correctional officer. At Abu Ghraib, he was in his element. He was the perfect tool for a higher-level directive involving the systematic abuse of prisoners including not only physical and psychological pain, but sexual humiliation. For a while, he was effective. Sadly, we’ve been living with his effectiveness ever since.

This is what i wrote almost three years ago when Salon had tried to air brush Graner in order to fry the big fish in the Bush Administration (a laudable effort, but I couldn’t allow them to let this predatory eel off the hook):

So while I understand the inspiration behind Benjamin’s latest, “Sympathy for Charles Graner,” I don’t see how a semi-white wash of the guy with the camera is going to advance the cause. Sure, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and a handful of DoD, White House and CIA lawyers are running around with their livelihoods and plump speaking fees ahead of them while Graner rots in jail, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t belong there.

Benjamin travels to Graner’s family home in western Pennsylvania to talk to his parents, who describe Graner’s treatment at Fort Leavenworth — where he has been sentenced for ten years on charges of conspiracy to maltreat detainees, failing to protect detainees from abuse, cruelty, and maltreatment, as well as charges of assault, indecency and dereliction of duty — as “terrible.” His father goes so far as to say he shouldn’t be in prison.

But Benjamin’s story skips over a few things about this Persian Gulf War vet, former corrections officer and amateur photog. He says that Graner is the only person involved in Abu Ghraib still behind bars, and that “Lynndie England is not in jail.” He fails to mention that England, the 21-year-old pregnant lover of the 36-year-old Graner at the time of the scandal, did more than a year in prison and had his baby behind bars.

He also fails to mention that Graner had a history of abuse. His ex-wife and mother of his two young daughters (they are pictured, lovingly with Graner in the Salon spread) took out a restraining order on him in 1997 after he allegedly threatened to kill her and dragged her across the floor by her hair. As a correction officer he was accused by inmates in two separate incidents of physical abuse while shouting racial epithets and in one case, putting a razor blade in an inmate’s mashed potatoes.

He has been called the “ringleader,” of the activities among the 372nd Military Police Company, orchestrating not only the abuse and sick photography of the Iraqi prisoners seared upon our brains, but of the sexual antics among members of the company, particularly England. She recalled in a prison interview with Tara McKelvey of Marie Claire how she fell in with Graner’s weird sexual fetishes long before they were sent to Iraq together. In Iraq, he took pictures ofeverything, with one particular signature: the “thumbs up” sign.

Lynndie recalled her lurid affair with Graner  in a wide-ranging interview with Marie Claire:

England refused to give him up. In March 2003, she went with Graner and another soldier to Virginia Beach. During the trip, Graner took pictures of himself having anal sex with England. He also photographed her placing her nipple in the ear of the other soldier, who was passed out in a hotel room. Soon, it became their new game: Whenever Graner asked her to, England would strike a pose. “Everything they did, he took a picture of,” says Hardy, her lawyer. “I asked Lynndie why she let him. She said, ‘Guys like that. I just wanted to make him happy.’ She was like a little plaything for him.

The sexual stuff, the way he put her in those positions, that was his way of saying, ‘Let’s see what I can make you do.’”In a supply room, Graner takes a shot of England performing oral sex. England adds a flourish for the photos: a thumbs-up sign. In another photo, England is standing near a detainee, Hayder Sabbar Abd, a 34-year-old taxi driver, as he is being made to simulate masturbation. Again, she gives a thumbs-up.

Why did she let Graner take all those pictures? Wasn’t she afraid he’d show them to people? “I didn’t want him to take the pictures,” England tells me. “But he took pictures of everything. He kept a camera in his cargo pocket. He was always taking his camera out. Sometimes he took the pictures for himself. Sometimes he took them for documentation…

… England remembers one detainee, “Gus.” (The prisoner’s real name has not been released.) “He didn’t like Americans,” she says. Gus was a “small man weighing approximately 100 pounds,” according to government documents. He was mentally ill; he had smeared his own feces on his body and threatened to kill some of the guards. One autumn night, Graner went into his cell with a leash (a “tie-down strap,” according to the documents). Gus was submissive. Graner put the strap around his neck, led him out of the cell, and handed the strap to England. Then he took a picture — and sent the jpeg to his family in Pennsylvania.

“Look what I made Lynndie do,” Graner wrote in the email….

Now this devil, who is right up there as one of the myriad footmen to the League of Extraordinary Bastards who orchestrated the war and all of its tortures and renditions in the name of God and honor and country, is getting out of jail and into a community near you.

Justice served?

 

 

Source:http://www.shoah.org.uk/2011/08/07/sick-abu-ghraib-photog-released-from-jail/

0 The Protest's The Western Media Will Not Report: The Israeli Awakening.

From Video Description:

There is something in the air in Israël....

They say i am a dreamer but let's hope this could be the beginning for more humanity In Israel.

Let's hope for more justice for the poor.

Let's hope that the middleclass will claim their rights.

Let's hope that the politicians and Tycoons come back to earth where they belong, between the people.

And hopefully then people will take a look on the other side off the wall. Palestinians don't even have the right to Protest Peacefully.

0 Many Treated for the Effects of Tear Gas Inhalation As Israeli Troops Attack West Bank Protests

Friday protests  took place in  the central West Bank villages of  al-Nabi Salleh, Bil’in, and Nil’in in addition to  al-Ma’ssara in the southern West Bank.

 Local and international protesters were tear gassed today as they marched in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh. Unlike other recent protests in the village, Israeli soldiers did not meet the protesters in the village but along a road leading out of the town.

After the march Israeli soldiers entered the village and threw a tear gas canister into a house where protesters had gathered. As protesters escaped the house, more tear gas was shot into the streets. In recent weeks Israeli soldiers have stepped-up their efforts in Nabi Saleh, declaring the village a closed military zone and stopping activists and journalists before even reaching the village.

In Bilin village also central West Bank, Troops attacked protesters with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Many were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation. This week people in Bil;’in marched in support of the Palestinian state bid at the UN in September.

Troops used tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets also to suppress the anti wall protest in the nearby village of Nil’in. villagers were joined by  Israeli and international supporters after the midday prayers and marched up to the wall. Troops fired tear gas at protesters causing many to suffer from tear gas inhalation.

In southern West Bank, many treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as troops attacked the anti-wall protest organized in al-Ma’sara village near Bethlehem. Soldiers attacked protesters as they tried to reach land owned by local farmers Israel took for the wall. 

 Source: http://english.pnn.ps

 

0 Advice from an Israeli Agent: "The next terrorist attack on the U.S. will occur within the next few months."

In a lecture in New York City Yuval Aviv shared information that EVERY American needs to know -- but that the government has not yet shared with us.

Yuval Aviv was the Israeli Agent upon whom the movie 'Munich' was based. He was Golda Meir's bodyguard, and she appointed him to track down and bring to justice the Palestinian terrorists who took the Israeli athletes hostage and killed them during the Munich Olympic Games.

He predicted the London subway bombing on the Bill O'Reilly show on Fox News stating publicly that it would happen within a week. At the time, O'Reilly laughed, and mocked him saying that in a week he wanted him back on the show. Unfortunately, within a week the terrorist attack had occurred.

 Yuval Aviv gave intelligence (via what he had gathered in Israel and the Middle East) 
to the Bush Administration about 9/11, a month before it occurred. His report specifically 
said they would use planes as bombs and target high profile buildings and 
monuments. Congress has since hired him as a security consultant.

Now for his future predictions. 
He predicts the next terrorist attack on the U.S. will occur within the next few months.

Forget hijacking airplanes, because he says terrorists will NEVER try and hijack a 
plane again as they know the people onboard will never go down quietly again. Aviv 
believes our airport security is a joke -- that we have been reactionary  rather 
than proactive in developing strategies that are truly effective.

For example:

1) Our airport technology is outdated. We look for metal, and the new explosives 
are made of plastic.

2) He talked about how some idiot tried to light his shoe on fire. Because of that, 
now everyone has to take off their shoes. A group of idiots tried to bring 
aboard liquid explosives. Now we can't bring liquids on board. He says he's 
waiting for some suicidal maniac to pour liquid explosive on his underwear; 
at which point, security will have us all traveling naked!

Every strategy we have  is reactionary.

3) We only focus on security when people are heading to the gates.

Aviv says that if a terrorist attack targets airports in the future, they will target busy times 
on the front end of the airport when/where people are checking in. It would be easy for 
someone to take two suitcases of explosives, walk up to a busy check-in line, ask a person 
next to them to watch their bags for a minute while they run to the restroom or get a drink, 
and then detonate the bags BEFORE security even gets involved. In Israel, security checks 
bags BEFORE people can even ENTER the airport.

Source:http://globalrumblings.blogspot.com/2011/08/advice-from-israeli-agent.html 
 


 

0 Summit County students learn leadership with imaginary deadly Ebola Virus outbreak.

What's contained in this orange bucket is the deadly Ebola virus, the senior counselor told the five seventh graders Tuesday. 

To prevent an outbreak you must develop a plan to transfer the bucket, he instructed, without touching the bucket and without knocking over the ball on top of it, using only the ropes provided. And, the children were told, the only people who can touch the ropes are the other five kids on your team, who all happen to be blindfolded.

The first five stood for a second, figuring out how they could direct the “blind” children to complete the tricky task. They gathered the second five, and worked together to give them directions.

“Guys, I'm trusting you,” one of the blindfolded children said. 
The bucket turned over, spilling the make-believe virus. The 10 children sat in a circle to re-evaluate their actions.

“I got so frustrated not being able to see,” one girl said.

“We needed to be more specific in our directions,” another said.

A lot of kids think it wouldn't be fun to be blind, and that's the moral of this story. But it's about improving your communication skills and developing trust, said Rolando Cuadrado, president of the Rotary Club of Summit County and senior counselor at the Young Rotary Youth Leadership Awards in Larkspur, where 120 children are gathered this week for the five-day camp.  
The camp serves two Rotary geographical districts, which includes over 120 clubs from parts of Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska and all of Wyoming. Children are sponsored by a Rotary club, which covers the $450 registration fee after each child goes through an application process. They must be in the seventh grade, and have demonstrated leadership in their school, community or place of worship. There are three student attendees from Summit County.  
 Each day's schedule is packed full of activities designed to help develop personal confidence, trust of teammates, working as a team, communication and overcoming obstacles. The students are split into 12 10-member teams throughout the duration of the camp.  
“The purpose is empowering youth to lead through discovering themselves,” Cuadrado said. “A lot of folks expect this to be classes — how to lead, how to make people follow you. But really, being a good leader means knowing how to work as a team and be a good follower as well.” 
“I really like how in just two days, we've all become such close friends already,” said camper Cait McCluskie, a Summit County resident. “My team already has all these inside jokes. Just moving out of my comfort zone and making new friends has definitely helped me become more of a leader, and become more confident.

Source: http://www.summitdaily.com/article

The Ebola "Meme" seems to be everywhere recently....from all the coverage of the new breakthroughs in a New vaccine, to the US dept of defence earmarking in access of $290 million for "research"....even Alex Jones is shouting from the rooftops that:

"They’ve got the helicopters loaded — the Sunshine Project got the documents — with the airborne Ebola to spray on us. I mean, they actually got the documents that they got helicopters with knockout gas and lethal weapons parked at bases everywhere to kill everybody in America.”

 There's definitely a trend in media pointing at Ebola...and personally I'm starting to find it a little worrying now.

0 Why Do Banks Make So Much Money?

Banks make so much money because they can create money, effectively out of nothing, by lending. Every single pound in your bank a

ccount was created by a bank, not by your government.

Visit www.PositiveMoney.org.uk, find out more and SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN. ...and spread the word!

0 Senior official Nabil Shaath:"Peres, Abbas Were to Meet, Netanyahu Refused"

Fatah official confirmed there was a meeting to be held between the Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas and Zionist President Shimon Peres in a bid to resume “peace” talks.

Senior official Nabil Shaath on Tuesday told consuls and ambassadors in Ramallah city that a meeting was supposed to take place between Abbas and Peres at the request of the latter.
Shaath added that Peres later on decided to cancel the meeting after he did not receive the green light from Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu.

For its part Maariv newspaper had reported that Netanyahu foiled an intended secret meeting that was supposed to be held on Thursday between Peres and Abbas in the Jordanian capital Amman.
According to the report, Abbas responded to Peres' invitation and went to Amman for the meeting, but he was told that the meeting was terminated because Netanyahu did not accept the new suggestions to resume the talks with the Palestinian side.

Source: http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/

This report really goes some way to showing just "Who" is being the unreasonable party here....it also goes to show just how "scared witless" they are of Israel.

0 Giant cables to link sub-station to Atlantic Array offshore turbines

A NINE mile long and 60 metre wide cable could be built across rural Torridge if plans for the Atlantic Array go ahead.

North Hoyle Offshore Wind Farm

Plans for RWE Npower Renewables include creating a new substation in Alverdiscott to connect the offshore windfarm to the national grid.
The three cables going from the station to the Bristol Channel will pass through many hamlets before going out to sea at the Cornborough Range near Abbotsham.
They will travel through the outskirts of Bideford near Gammaton Moor, just north of Tennacott before crossing the River Torridge at Hallsannery.
The cables will then pass north of Littleham, Moorhead and Winscott Barton before going through the village of Abbotsham and out to sea on the Cornborough Range.
The company said: "We have selected a route which seeks to minimise contact with houses and features of particular environmental interest, such as streams, woodlands and sites of archaeological interest wherever possible.
"Following cable installation, topsoil and hedgerows will be reinstated and replanted."
Devon County Councillor, Alison Boyle, represents Abbotsham.
She said: "When construction commences it will have an immediate impact on the farming operations of the landowners, and there may will be limitations on what landowners can do with their land once construction is complete.
"Landowners have been informed by the land agent acting for RWE that this is the chosen route, as against being previously referred to as the preferred route.
"I am not sure how much consultation has taken place with the landowners, but I know they have permitted a variety of environmental studies to be run."
Torridge district councillor, Kathy Murdoch, who represents the Abbotsham ward did not want to comment on the plans for the cable to go through the village.

Source: http://www.thisisdevon.co.uk/

Perhaps these people WOULD be commenting if they read the following story?, before having a 60ft wide cable plonked though the Village.

Official: Windfarms are totally useless.

The report, Analysis of UK Wind Generation, is the result of detailed analysis of windfarm output in Scotland over a 26-month period between November 2008 to December 2010 using data from the BMRS (Balancing Mechanism Reporting System). It's the first report of its kind, and drew on data freely available to the public. It challenges five common assertions made regularly by wind industry and the Scottish Government:

1. 'Wind turbines will generate on average 30% of their rated capacity over a year'In fact, the average output from wind was 27.18% of metered capacity in 2009, 21.14% in 2010, and 24.08% between November 2008 and December 2010 inclusive.

2. 'The wind is always blowing somewhere'On 124 separate occasions from November 2008 to December 2010, the total generation from the windfarms metered by National Grid was less than 20MW (a fraction of the 450MW expected from a capacity in excess of 1600 MW). These periods of low wind lasted an average of 4.5 hours.

3. 'Periods of widespread low wind are infrequent.'Actually, low wind occurred every six days throughout the 26-month study period. The report finds that the average frequency and duration of a low wind event of 20MW or less between November 2008 and December 2010 was once every 6.38 days for a period of 4.93 hours.

4. 'The probability of very low wind output coinciding with peak electricity demand is slight.'At each of the four highest peak demand points of 2010, wind output was extremely low at 4.72%, 5.51%, 2.59% and 2.51% of capacity at peak demand.

5. 'Pumped storage hydro can fill the generation gap during prolonged low wind periods.'The entire pumped storage hydro capacity in the UK can provide up to 2788MW for only 5 hours then it drops to 1060MW, and finally runs out of water after 22 hours.

Read more and download the report

0 Video: Mayhem in Cairo after Claims Mubarak has been Dead Since 2005.

A defense lawyer claims in court Mubarak died in 2005; mayhem broke out in Tahrir Square after similar claims of a “US-Zionist” conspiracy.

Will the real Hosni Mubarak please talk: A defense lawyer claimed in court on Wednesday that Mubarak died in 2005 and that an imposter has replaced him since then. Mayhem broke out in Tahrir Square after similar claims of a “US-Zionist” conspiracy.

Inside the courtroom, Mubarak, lying on a stretcher in the “cage” designed for the accused, managed to utter a “not guilty” plea to accusations of murder and corruption.

Hamed Seddik, a geologist at the National Research Center with a doctorate in law, previously has claimed that Mubarak died several years ago and that his defense minister, Hussein Tantawi, is responsible for the more than 800 deaths in the Arab Spring protests earlier this year.

Egyptian media have dismissed Seddik’s claims as ”rubbish,” the Ahram news outlet reported. Seddik mounted a platform in Tahrir Square and announced “the truth that will save all the Arab revolutions.”

Before being taken down from the podium Monday night by authorities, he said, “The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which has been ruling the country since 11 February, know that the man in Sharm El-Sheikh is not the real Mubarak. The prosecutor-general knows, and all the political leaders know, including the leaders of the parties, movements, the Muslim Brotherhood group and the Salafists sheikhs, whom I demand to reveal the truth and urge Egyptians to stay in Tahrir as a way of Jihad.”

After he was taken off the stage, clashes broke out, complete with stone-throwing, between opponents of Mubarak and his loyalists.

Mubarak had not been seen in public from February 10th until the trial began Wednesday, sparking speculation that he died or escaped to another country, possibly Saudi Arabia.

Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/146358#.Tjo82WtRbjU

0 USA focuses on Ebola vaccine but research gaps remain

The United States has backed efforts to develop a vaccine for Ebola, but specialists said scientists must look into a number of areas in pursuing defenses against the potential bioterrorism agent, The Lancet reported last week.

Weaponizing the Ebola virus appears to be a daunting task, the magazine said; the virus dies rapidly when exposed to sunlight, and the high speed with which it kills carriers minimizes opportunities for its spread.

Still, the Defense Department has provided $291 million for the development of two potential countermeasures for the Ebola and Marburg viruses at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Ft. Detrick, Md. Each of the highly lethal agents causes hemorrhagic fever in humans.
“There have been quite a few promising vaccine candidates in post-exposure treatment strategies that have successfully protected nonhuman primates,” said Thomas Geisbert, an expert with the University of Texas at Austin who led a research group that determined one such treatment was 100 percent effective in animal testing. A vaccine would be useful to laboratory personnel and to medical workers in areas where the virus exists in nature, according to the magazine.
“I would think we're years away from a licensed product and bringing the kinds of vaccines or therapeutics into the regions that actually need them”, said Heinz Feldmann, an official with the U.S. National Institutes of Health. High manufacturing expenses for such countermeasures could lead to significant procurement costs, according to the magazine.
Preventive efforts would be "cheaper and likely to be more effective in the long-run,” Feldmann said.
Further study is necessary. “One of the biggest challenges is to understand how the virus is being transmitted from the putative reservoir species to humans; or to other wildlife which then transmit it to humans,” the official said. "It's a totally understudied subject."
Also of concern is "that diagnosis, and confirmation of diagnosis, takes too long," according to Feldmann.
There have been situations in which diagnostic findings were not delivered for 10 days while Ebola spread through a population, said Esther Sterk of Doctors Without Borders. "We're lacking a biochemical and hematological test adapted to the field situations in which outbreaks usually occur," she said (Talha Khan Burki, The Lancet, July 30).

0 'FaceGlat': The Ultra-Orthodox Jewish answer to Facebook, Women to the left....Men to the right.

A new social networking site for ultra-Orthodox Jews takes customary segregation of the sexes online and also bars pictures or ads deemed immodest in ultra-Orthodox society.

Go to www.faceglat.com and the home page has signs in Hebrew and English directing men to click on to the right of the page and women to the left.

Sign up and you will see a page identical to those on Facebook, but here photos posted on a man's wall may only be of other men; likewise for the women's side.

The virtual divide mirrors the practice at Orthodox Jewish synagogues, weddings and other events where the sexes are physically separated. On certain public bus lines running through ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods, women must stand at the back, to the outrage of feminists.

Israeli news website Ynet says FaceGlat -- Glatt is a term used in kosher food certification -- was founded by Yaakov Suissa from the Habad hassidic movement.

"It's not an alternative for Facebook, but something intended for a particular public," Ynet quoted him as saying.

"I believe that it would be much more convenient for a haredi (ultra-Orthodox) man or woman to publish pictures and all kinds of other things to people of the same sex only.

"People who are God-fearing and care about their children's education cannot tolerate the ads and pictures one sees on the regular Facebook," he said.

Men who sign in to FaceGlat as men cannot visit or post on the women's wall and vice versa, although at the moment there seems to be nothing preventing a member of either sex signing up under a false name and details.

Ynet says that plans for the site's future include modifications to prevent gender impersonation.

Source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/technology

0 India to open Bio Safety Level-4 lab

India’s National Institute of Virology is in the final stages of completing a Bio Safety Level-4 laboratory on its Pashan campus in order to study dangerous diseases that could be used in a bioterrorist attack.

The levels of containment range from BSL-1 to BSL-4. BSL-4 labs are capable of safely containing the some of the world’s most deadly agents for study, according to ExpressIndia.com.

The laboratory at NIV’s microbial containment complex at Pashan is expected to be fully functional by November and will hold an assortment of diseases, including ebola, anthrax, lassa and smallpox.

NIV has imported a total of 12 biosafety suits with dedicated oxygen lines from Italy. Seven NIV scientists are scheduled to return from rigorous training in the United States that taught them how to safely operate a BSL-4 lab.

“This laboratory will not just be the first in the country but the only one in entire South East Asia,” NIV director Dr. A. C. Mishra said, ExpressIndia.com reports.

The Indian Council of Medical Research has, according to Mishra, set up a special group of engineers who will manage the facility. The core group will be responsible for training other engineers to run various BSL-3 facilities around the country.

“Virologists are always the first responders in case of any outbreak. Viruses can be used as a bioterrorism agent and the BSL-4 laboratory has been designed in such a way that it can detect the virus and counter any bio-terror attack,” Mishra said, ExpressIndia.com reports.

souce:http://bioprepwatch.com/news/257066-india-to-open-bio-safety-level-4-lab 

0 Swine Flu And Swine Flu Vaccines Are Really Good For You....Take Your Shot!

The first antibody which can fight all types of the influenza A virus has been discovered, according to American researchers.

Experiments on flu-infected mice, published in Science Express, showed the antibody could be used as an "emergency treatment."

It has already been suggested that some people who had swine flu may develop 'super immunity' to other infections. As a result, scientists from the Medical Research Council’s National Institute for Medical Research looked at more than 100,000 samples of immune cells from patients who had the flu or the flu vaccines.

From this sample, the researchers isolated the F16 antibody, which targeted a protein found on the surface of all influenza A viruses called haemagglutinin.

In the mouse model, scientists found that injections of the antibody protected the mice against lethal doses of the H1N1 virus, indicating “full protection.” Additionally, mice that were injected with the antibody up to two days after being exposed to the virus recovered and survived the flu.

This antibody cannot serve as a vaccine because it would need to trigger an immune system response. So its methods of enhancing protection are under investigation.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/health/2011-08/01/c_131022287.htm

0 Anti-Zionist Former House Rep, David Duke's Official Website Under Malious Hack Attack?

Outspoken former house rep David Dukes Official website  http://www.davidduke.com/ 
seems to have come under some sort of attack,

I admit I know little about this sort of thing, but Norton Antivirus completely blocks the site and throws up the following warning, might be nothing...but I thought it's worth a warning.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOME SORT OF ANTI-VIRUS RUNNING IF YOU DECIDE TO VERIFY THIS,
JUST IN CASE.

0 Israel's biggest anti-govt protests completely ignored by media

Summary:

In Israel, mainstream media are being accused of burying their heads in the sand over coverage of the biggest anti-government protests the country has seen in decades. Tens of thousands of people, fed up with deteriorating living standards, are staging demonstrations calling for Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stand down. But as Paula Slier reports from Tel Aviv, protesters' voices are simply going unheard by the rest of the world.

0 Hidden video shows treatment of ‘flytilla’ detainees in Israeli prison

13 British people were stopped at Tel Aviv airport in July 2011. Five hours later they and 120 other people were in a high security prison in Israel.One woman managed to smuggle out this hidden recorded video of their six nights locked up in the high security prison in Israel.
The video clips shows how the women were forced to scrub the prison floors in exchange for coffee. Life inside the hot cells and tense interactions with the Israeli guards were all captured.
Interested broadcasters please contact http://www.undercurrents.org
For more information on the issue see http://www.swanseapalestine.org/

0 DAVID ICKE - POLICE STATE - AMERICA - THEY LIVE - 2011 (Part 1 of 2)

0 Fatal Radiation Levels At Fukushima Now 'Off The Scale'

LETHAL LEVELS OF radiation have been discovered in areas of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant almost five months after it was crippled by an earthquake and tsunami.

Plant operator the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said radiation greater than 10 sieverts per hour was found at the foot of a ventilation chimney between two reactors, Reuters reports. According to the World Nuclear Association, a single dose of 10 sieverts is fatal, while just half that would kill 50 per cent of people exposed to it.

Radiation above 10 sieverts per hour could not be measured because that is the maximum reading on a Geiger counter, Bloomberg reports. Such high levels can cause the intestines to stop functioning properly and blood vessels to leak, according to radiation expert William McBride.

It is feared that radiation levels could have been this high since the initial disaster on March 11, but have only just been discovered. Al-Jazeera reporter Aela Callan said: “It is now looking more likely that this area has been this radioactive since the earthquake and tsunami but no one realised until now.”

A reading of 10 sieverts per hour is equivalent to 10,000 millisieverts – or 40 times the maximum dose of 250 millisieverts that workers at the plant are allowed to be exposed to.

Authorities in Ukraine, site of the Chernobyl disaster 25 years ago, have said they will donate 2,000 personal Geiger counters and 1,000 gas masks to the Japanese government to aid in containing the crisis. The equipment will be handed over on Thursday, Bloomberg reports.

Tepco has pledged to stabilise the reactors at the Fukushima plant by January.

Read more: Full coverage of the Fukushima disaster >

0 UN becomes an independent Palestine's only option

The apartheid-inspired Israeli regime continues to go on rampage in illegally occupied Palestine, killing the defenceless Palestinians at will.

This context has been imposed in Mideast by USA-UK terror twins following their mischievous victory in the World War II, and now further reinforced by the notorious UNSC-NATO terror organizations, The lawless Israeli regime has even provided it with illegal nukes.

Ever since they were driven out of their homes by the criminal elements Israel’s Jewish population, Palestinians have been struggling to obtain an independent Palestine once again to live free from Zionist attacks and massacres and all the “talks” between them and the illegal Israeli occupiers have failed so far owing to the lack of sincerity on the part of the Zionist leadership as well as the western sponsors led by the unilateral USA.

The USA and Israel have objected to the Palestinian’s diplomatic offensive, calling instead for a resumption of direct peace negotiations. Leaders of both USA and Israel behave like dictators pushing through their own terms to Palestinians, rather than true statesmen trying to find credible solutions.

It seems like the Israeli Establishment’s Zionist ideology. and fascism are also synonymous with “democracy“. USA and Israel, as apparent joint terror twins, employ similar threatening tone regarding UN recognition of Palestine as a full member.

By withstanding all pressure and terror tactics of US-Israeli terrocraices, the Palestinians will seek full membership in the world body through the General Assembly. But the USA, Israel’s ally in humanity crimes, has threatened to veto any such measure, raising procedural questions about the Palestinian campaign.

Pro-West Palestinian leader Abbas acknowledged the internal obstacle of Palestinian bifurcation between Hamas in Gaza and the P.A. in the West Bank. He said, “God willing, Palestinian reconciliation will be achieved before we go to the UN.” Last month, the rotating president of the General Assembly said the body does not deal with membership issues absent an enabling resolution passed by the UNSC.

A close ally of USA and NATO, Israel also kills defenceless Palestinians and uses the corpses as a bargain chip with the Palestinian leadership over their freedom struggle for an independent Palestine state to be a full member of UN. A recent announcement by Israeli military minister Ehud Barak, former terror PM of Israel, that he had placed a hold on plans to transfer the bodies of 84 Palestinian terrorists killed in attacks on Jews has sparked outrage among Israelis who knew nothing about the plan until Barak’s announcement. Washington which claims to be crusader for the cause of freedom and democracy does not open its dirty mouth on the issue.

USA and its CIA-Pentagon-Mossad jointly oppose Palestine as well the sovereignty move legally though UN and, like the Jews, call Palestinians the terrorists. Palestinian diplomats gathered in Istanbul, Turkey, on 23th July to receive marching orders for a diplomatic offensive in support of plans to seek legal recognition of statehood at the UN in September overcoming all pressure tactics of fascist Israel and its allies. Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud ‘Abbas told his assembled diplomats that the UN gambit was forced upon the Palestinians by virtue of Israel’s refusal to “end settlement building and end the occupation. In an apparent response to critics who argue that the UN gambit is a unilateral act proscribed by the Oslo Accords,” and is therefore “not unilateral”, but Abbas reiterated that their decision to approach the UN after such long wait is not “unilateral”. 

Read More : http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/news/editorial/2011/08/01/359.html

0 Israeli prison authorities deny the existance of about 1000 Palestinian captives

There are 7500 Palestinian captives in Zionist regime’s jails but Zionist authorities deny the existance of about one thousand of captives, only giving the list of about 6500 prisoners in 31 Israeli jails, visiting Gaza Minister of Captives Affairs Attallah Abu al-Sabah said in an interview with Qudsna correspondent in Tehran. 

Among the captives, there are 300 children and 37 women, al-Sabah said, adding that about 1500 Palestinian captives are suffering from incurable diseases including cancer and kidney infection or disorder. 

Torture, inhumane treatment, and long solitary confinement are some violations of human rights against Palestinians by the Israeli prison authorities, the minister added.

Some Palestinian captives have been held for more than 12 years in solitary confinement, he said.

Palestinian captives during interrogations are facing more than a hundred mental and physical torture methods including threats of murder, assassination, home demolition and rape, the minister said, calling on the Arab and Muslim leaders to put pressure on Zionist regime to comply with its international obligations.  

The minister said he himself had experienced such inhuman treatment at the hand of Zionist regime during his three year imprisonment in Israeli jails.

Source: http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&Id=257139

0 WASP the small flying spy drone that cracks Wi-Fi and cell data

The safety of Wi-Fi networks may be in danger from small threats flying above us. An airplane hobby shop owner and an ex-Air Force official team up to create a drone that cracks into Wi-Fi and cell phones.

Built by Mike Tassey and Richard Perkins, the Wireless Aerial Surveillance Platform (otherwise known as the WASP) is a flying drone that has a 6-foot wingspan, a 6-foot length and weighs in at 14 pounds.

The small form factor of the unmanned aerial vehicle allows it to drop under radar and is often mistaken for a large bird. 

It was built from an Army target drone and converted to run on electric batteries rather than gasoline. 

It can also be loaded with GPS information and fly a predetermined course without need for an operator. 

Taking off and landing have to be done manually with the help of a mounted HD camera, though. However, the most interesting aspect of the drone is that it can crack Wi-Fi networks and GSM networks as well as collect the data from them.

It can accomplish this feat with a Linux computer on-board that’s no bigger than a deck of cards. The computer accesses 32GB of storage to house all that stolen data. 

It uses a variety of networking hacking tools including the BackTrack toolset, as well as a 340-million-word dictionary to guess passwords. In order to access cell phone data, the WASP impersonates AT&T and T-Mobile cell phone towers and fools phones into connecting to one of the eleven antennas on-board. The drone can then record conversations to the storage card, and avoids dropping the call due to the 4G T-mobile card routing communications through VoIP.

Amazingly, this was accomplished without breaking a single FCC regulation. The drone relies on the frequency band used for Ham radios to operate. Not wanting to get into legal trouble with AT&T and T-Mobile, they tested the technology in isolated areas to avoid recording phone conversations other than their own. The duo will discuss how to build the WASP at the DEFCON 19 hacking conference starting Thursday in Las Vegas.

 http://www.digitaltrends.com