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Joint Chiefs Planned Terror Attacks in U.S A...!

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:57:26 GMT

clipped by: TJColatrella

Operation Northwoods

US PLANNED FAKE TERROR ATTACKS ON CITIZENS
TO CREATE SUPPORT FOR CUBAN WAR

According to secret and long-hidden documents obtained for Body of Secrets, the Joint Chiefs of Staff drew up and approved plans for what may be the most corrupt plan ever created by the U.S. government. In the name of antiCommunism, they proposed launching a secret and bloody war of terrorism against their own country in order to trick the American public into supporting an ill-conceived war they intended to launch against Cuba.

Tags: terrorism, jfk, bay of pig, pnac, 9/11, joint chiefs, cuba, iran, iraq, pentagon

Humanity May Hold Key For Next Earth Evolution

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:44:41 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: If we recognize humanity is an integral part of the planet and begin working for a healthy Earth, then planetary evolution could move forward to some unknown future.

On the other hand, Langmuir said, if we continue to view the Earth as something that is separate, that we merely use, then the resulting practices could damage the environment enough to stall planetary evolution, even causing it to fall back to a level where it supports just microscopic life.

“The story of the Earth is our story. We are intimately connected [to the Earth] in every fiber of our being, in every breath we take. We’re inseparable from the Earth,” Langmuir said.

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Human degradation of the environment has the potential to stall an ongoing process of planetary evolution, and even rewind the evolutionary clock to leave the planet habitable only by the bacteria that dominated billions of years of Earth’s history

planets may proceed through a natural series of evolutionary steps that transform them from lifeless balls into the home of bacteria and other microscopic life and then into a place that supports more complex life

Along the way, life interacts with the nonliving parts of the planet in planet-changing ways

there’s no guarantee that a planet will proceed from one to the next. Each step represents a moment of both crisis and opportunity

The Earth today may be at the brink of another step, Langmuir said. Complex life has evolved into intelligent life that dominates the planet — ecosystems, food webs, and energy flow — as no species ever has before

Whether the planet takes the next step or not may depend on us

Tags: earth, evolution, life, ecology

The 'morning after' HIV drug cocktail

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:25:27 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: To my surprise I found that most people I know are not aware to the existence of such a life saving option. The treatment has some severe side effects but also a very high (81%) success rate.

Keep this option in mind and inform your friends.

Clip Source: www.straitstimes.com

The 30-year-old businessman was on a working trip in Bangkok. He visited a male prostitute on his last night in the city. Against his better judgment, they had unprotected sex

But the next morning, he was seized by panic with the sudden realisation he might have exposed himself to HIV - the retrovirus that can lead to Aids

Upon landing in Singapore that afternoon, he headed straight for the Department of Sexually Transmitted Infections Control

Not only did he get an Aids test, but he also asked to be prescribed post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)

He had read that the cocktail of antiretroviral drugs with Zidovudine works like a 'morning after' HIV prevention course and may keep the virus at bay

He breathed a sigh of relief when another HIV test three months later pronounced him clean

Studies have shown that PEP is not 100 per cent foolproof against HIV. Its efficacy is around 81 per cent

cocktail is best taken as early as possible - not beyond the window period of 72 hours after exposure

Tags: hiv, hiv prevention

Where are all the Acorns?

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 18:10:58 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly

Clip Source: www.washingtonpost.com

By Brigid Schulte

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 30, 2008; Page A01

The idea seemed too crazy to Rod Simmons, a measured, careful field botanist. Naturalists in Arlington County couldn't find any acorns. None. No hickory nuts, either. Then he went out to look for himself. He came up with nothing. Nothing crunched underfoot. Nothing hit him on the head.

Then calls started coming in about crazy squirrels. Starving, skinny squirrels eating garbage, inhaling bird feed, greedily demolishing pumpkins. Squirrels boldly scampering into the road. And a lot more calls about squirrel roadkill.

But Simmons really got spooked when he was teaching a class on identifying oak and hickory trees late last month. For 2 1/2 miles, Simmons and other naturalists hiked through Northern Virginia oak and hickory forests. They sifted through leaves on the ground, dug in the dirt and peered into the tree canopies. Nothing.

Christmas Colors for the White House: Red, White and Impeach

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:52:25 GMT

clipped by: dulios
clipper's remarks:

"Apparently, they didn't read it -- or Laura Bush is more progressive than I believed," Lawrence told us.

Clip Source: voices.washingtonpost.com

Laura Bush asked members of Congress to pick local painters to decorate ornaments for this year's 20-foot Fraser fir in the Blue Room. The globes (to be unveiled by the first lady tomorrow) are supposed to showcase something special about each congressional district. Washington state's Rep. Jim McDermott contacted a local arts organization, which asked Lawrence, a collage artist, to create the local entry.

"I was at first nauseated, then realized it was an opportunity," said Lawrence, 55, who frequently combines politics and satire in her work and saw this as the perfect way "to highlight Jim McDermott because he's a hero of mine."

The nine-inch ball is covered with swirly red and white stripes -- and, in tiny glued-on text, salutes the Democratic congressman's support for a resolution to impeach President Bush. (Also showcased: Washington state's 1919 labor strike, its suffrage movement and the violent anti-World Trade Organization riots of 1999.)

Tags: ho ho ho

The Age of Thinking, Self-Developing Robots Has Finally Arrived

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:04:14 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: This is quite fascinating.

Clip Source: mensnewsdaily.com

Institute of Robotics in Scandinavia (iRobis) has announced commercial availability of Brainstorm®, the world’s first “complete cognitive software system for robots”. The system turns robots into self-developing, adaptive, problem-solving, “thinking” machines.

The system automatically writes control programs for any robot on which it is installed, dramatically shortening development time and cost. The same technology is used to allow robots to adapt to new circumstances and solve other problems while in operation.

The coming of such creatures has been predicted for decades.

But how long does it really take to put thinking, self-developing robots on the market?

The secret ingredient in iRobis’ software is a method called “genetic programming” (GP).

A number of scientists since the time Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species to the present day have suggested that human thought and problem solving follow the same pattern as natural evolution.

Tags: robotics, genetic programming, adaptive sytems