Month: April 2013

‘The BRAIN Initiative’, A $100-Million Project To Map Our Brains

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From the article:

“… giving scientists the tools they need to get a dynamic picture of the brain in action and better understand how we think and how we learn and how we remember,” …

… and how we can be manipulated and controlled.

And yes, ….

“That knowledge could be — will be – transformative.”

President Obama Speaks on the BRAIN Initiative and American Innovation


YouTube Added: 02.04.2013

– Campus poised to join Obama’s BRAIN initiative (UC Berkeley, April 2, 2013):

BERKELEY — Three UC Berkeley scientists were among a gathering of the nation’s top scientists at the White House this morning (Tuesday, April 2) as President Barack Obama announced a major national initiative to develop new tools to create real-time traffic maps of the human brain.In a White House briefing, Obama proposed an initial $100 million investment this year in the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative, which “ultimately aims to help researchers find new ways to treat, cure, and even prevent brain disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, and traumatic brain injury,” according to a White House press release.

“There is this enormous mystery waiting to be unlocked, and the BRAIN Initiative will change that by giving scientists the tools they need to get a dynamic picture of the brain in action and better understand how we think and how we learn and how we remember,” Obama said. “That knowledge could be — will be – transformative.”

Read more‘The BRAIN Initiative’, A $100-Million Project To Map Our Brains

Obama Announces ‘The BRAIN Initiative’, A $100-Million Brain Mapping Project

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… to map our brains.

– Obama has announced a $100-million brain mapping project (io9, April 2, 2013):

President Obama announced plans this morning for a long-term research project to improve our understanding of the brain. Comparing it to the Human Genome Project, Obama said the brain-mapping initiative could lead to cures for diseases like Alzheimer’s and autism, while fueling economic growth and job creation. Here’s what you need to know.

The announcement has been hotly anticipated since mid-February, when The New York Times reported the President would soon seek funds from Congress to “examine the workings of the human brain and build a comprehensive map of its activity, seeking to do for the brain what the Human Genome Project did for genetics.” At the time, we and others speculated that Obama’s plan would resemble a so-called Brain Activity Map (a.k.a. “BAM”) project outlined last year in the journal Neuron, and that the Administration might seek billions of dollars from Congress to set things in motion.

In fact, Obama announced this morning that the project will be called the BRAIN Initiative. The initial price tag: a paltry (relatively speaking) $100 million.

BRAIN stands for “Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies,” and the last word in that acronym is a telling one. When we spoke with Rafael Yuste (one of the neuroscientists whose advice the Obama Administration has sought in planning the initiative) back in February, he told us that the endeavor would be first and foremost “a technical development project.” The ultimate goal of the BRAIN may be to create a functional map of neuron activity throughout the human brain, but charting such a map is – as of today – impossible.

Read moreObama Announces ‘The BRAIN Initiative’, A $100-Million Brain Mapping Project

Visualizing The Cypriot Deposit Confiscation

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– Visualizing The Cypriot Deposit Confiscation (ZeroHedge, April 2, 2013):

From ‘why Cyprus could not bail out its banks’ to its failed financing needs and the road to confiscation, Demonocracy provides the ‘everything you wanted to know about Cyprus’ infograph ‘but were afraid to read’.

Via Demonocracy,

The big depositors will get hit harder than expected, because a lot of money left the banks right before the banks went into lock-down.

Cyprus’ Banks are the first during the last 147 banking crises that will not get a single Euro from EU to bail out the banks. Greek branches of Cyprus banks had €15 Billion in deposits, they were sold last minute to another bank, by so they will not be included in sharing the losses- obviously suspicious. Some people are offering depositors to get their money out of Cyprus for a 20% fee. Cyprus officials are throwing around slogans such as “time for responsibility‘ (to pay up) just to turn around a week later and oppose it.

With the lack of backbone, the next political move is rather unpredictable. EU officials say Cyprus is a unique case, but EU has many countries with over-sized banking sectors.

The crash of Cyprus financial sector and government bailout sentences Cyprus to a long period of recession and debt. The list of demands by EU to Cyprus for accepting the €10 billion bailout includes things such as freeze on pensions, massive tax increase on just about everything and more taxes.

For America: Bernanke Fails to Answer Concerns about a Cyprus-Style Seizure of American Bank Deposits

The Monsanto Protection Act (Video & Transcript)

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– The Monsanto Protection Act? A Debate on Controversial New Measure Over Genetically Modified Crops (Democracy Now, April 2, 2013):

President Obama outraged food activists last week when he signed into law a spending bill with a controversial rider that critics have dubbed the “Monsanto Protection Act.” The rider says the government must allow the planting of genetically modified crops even if courts rule they pose health risks. The measure has galvanized the U.S. food justice movement, which is now preparing for its next fight when the provision expires in six months. We host a discussion on the “Monsanto Protection Act” and the safety of genetically modified foods with two guests: Gregory Jaffe, director of the Biotechnology Project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization that addresses food and nutrition issues; and Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food & Water Watch and author of the book, “Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America.” On Wednesday, Hauter’s group is releasing a major new report called “Monsanto: A Corporate Profile.” [includes rush transcript]

Transcript

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AARON MATÉ: President Obama outraged food activists last week when he signed into law a spending bill with a controversial rider attached. Critics have dubbed the rider the “Monsanto Protection Act.” That’s because it effectively says the government must allow the planting of genetically modified crops even if courts rule they pose health risks. The provision calls on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the USDA, to, quote, “grant temporary permit(s) or temporary deregulation,” unquote, to the crop growers until an environmental review is completed. In other words, plant the GE crop first and assess the impact later.

AMY GOODMAN: One of the biggest supporters of the provision was Republican Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, Monsanto’s home state. Blunt reportedly crafted the bill’s language with Monsato’s help.
On the other side was the lone member of the Senate who’s also an active farmer, Democrat Jon Tester of Montana. Senator Tester tried to remove the rider when the budget bill made its way through Congress last month. Speaking on the Senate floor, Tester said the provision would undermine judicial oversight and hurt family farmers.

SEN. JON TESTER: The United States Congress is telling the Agricultural Department that even if a court tells you that you’ve failed to follow the right process and tells you to start over, you must disregard the court’s ruling and allow the crop to be planted anyway. Not only does this ignore the constitutional idea of separation of powers, but it also lets genetically modified crops take hold across this country, even when a judge finds it violates the law—once again, agribusiness multinational corporations putting farmers as serfs. It’s a dangerous precedent. Mr. President, it will paralyze the USDA, putting the department in the middle of a battle between Congress and the courts. And the ultimate loser will be our family farmers going about their business and feeding America in the right way.

AARON MATÉ: Well, Senator Tester’s effort failed, and the rider was included in last month’s legislation that avoided a government shutdown.

Read moreThe Monsanto Protection Act (Video & Transcript)

Study: 28% Increase In Thyroid Problems In Babies Born After Fukushima in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington

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– Study: 28% Increase In Thyroid Problems In Babies Born After Fukushima in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington (ZeroHedge, April 3, 2013):

Infants are much more vulnerable to radiation than adults. And see this.However, radiation safety standards are set based on the assumption that everyone in the world is a healthy man in his 20s.

Now, a medical doctor (Janette D. Sherman, M. D.) and epidemiologist (Joseph Mangano) have released a study showing a 28% increase in thyroid problems in babies born in Hawaii and America’s West Coast after the Fukushima nuclear accident.

Janette Sherman, M.D. worked for the Atomic Energy Commission (forerunner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission) at the University of California in Berkeley, and for the U.S. Navy Radiation Defense Laboratory in San Francisco. She served on the EPA’s advisory board for 6 years, and has been an advisor to the National Cancer Institute on breast cancer. Dr. Sherman specializes in internal medicine and toxicology with an emphasis on chemicals and nuclear radiation.

Joseph J. Mangano is a public health administrator and researcher who has studied the connection between low-dose radiation exposure and subsequent risk of diseases such as cancer and damage to newborns. He has published numerous articles and letters in medical and other journals in addition to books, including Low Level Radiation and Immune System Disorders: An Atomic Era Legacy.

Their new study – published in the Open Journal of Pediatrics – is entitled “Elevated airborne beta levels in Pacific/West Coast US States and trends in hypothyroidism among newborns after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown.”

Common Dreams notes:

[The study found that] children born in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington between one week and 16 weeks after the meltdown began are 28 percent more likely to suffer from congenital hypothyroidism (CH) than were kids born in those states during the same period one year earlier.

Read moreStudy: 28% Increase In Thyroid Problems In Babies Born After Fukushima in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington

Federal Framework Being Set Up Enabling The U.S. Secret Service To Arrest Sheriffs

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Related info:

– Utah Sheriffs Association To Obama: From Our Cold Dead Hands

 

– Federal Framework Being Set Up To Arrest Sheriffs (Modern Survival Blog, March 30, 2013):

Colorado, and apparently Texas (next) are being targeted with an attempt to set up a federal authority framework that will enable Secret Service agents (not just those guarding the president), and others of the U.S. Secret Service including uniformed division officers, physical security technicians and specialists, and other ‘special officers’, to arrest and remove an elected sheriff for refusing to enforce the law (or anyone breaking the law).The bills being introduced defines law as including any rule, regulation, executive order, court order, statute or constitutional provision.

Why are they doing this? Here’s why…

It would establish federal authority police powers in a State, enabling an enforcement arm reporting directly to the president (the Secret Service).

It would potentially lead to enabling the president / executive branch to theoretically override the actions and preventative measures that are now being taken by many States throughout the country who are trying to preserve 2nd Amendment gun rights and who are prohibiting the enforcement of unconstitutional law passed by Congress or pushed by executive order.

As some of you may know, a growing list of sheriffs (more than 340 so far) across the country have expressed that they will not enforce a Washington mandate that clearly violates the Second Amendment.

Many State laws to preserve gun rights are gaining momentum. States include Montana, Ohio, Kentucky, Idaho, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, Michigan, Utah, and New Mexico.

Read moreFederal Framework Being Set Up Enabling The U.S. Secret Service To Arrest Sheriffs

Holland: ‘An Economy On The Brink’

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– Holland: “An Economy On The Brink” (ZeroHedge, April 2, 2013):

Infamous for little boys plugging holes with their fingers and grown-ups plugging their mouth with their foot (D-Boom), it seems Holland, Berlin’s most important ally in the goal of greater fiscal discipline in Europe, has fallen into an economic crisis itself. As Spiegel reports, the once exemplary economy is suffering from huge debts and a burst real estate bubble, which has stalled growth and endangered jobs.

The statistics make for some worrisome reading: no nation in the euro zone is as deeply in debt as the Netherlands, where banks have a total of about €650 billion in mortgage loans on their books; consumer debt amounts to about 250% of available income – by comparison, in 2011 even the Spaniards only reached a debt ratio of 125%; unemployment is on the rise; consumption is down; and growth has come to a standstill.

The trouble for Holland is that despite their proclamations of the need for Fiscal conservatism, even EUR46 billion in austerity measures are apparently not enough to keep the nation’s deficit within the EU debt limit. The Dutch were long among Europe’s most diligent savers, and in the crisis many are holding onto their money even more tightly, which is also toxic to the economy, as “one of the main problems is declining consumption.”

The nationalization on SNS in February brought this reality home and as Spiegel reports, “there is no end to the crisis in sight.”

Source: Spiegel

France: Francois Hollande’s Former Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac Exposed As Complete Liar

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– Another European Politican Exposed As Complete Liar (ZeroHedge, April 2, 2013):

Remember this guy?

This would be Jerome Cahuzac, the French “budget minister” who was tasked with rooting out tax fraud by his socialist “75% tax or the capitalist pigs win” overlord, and who resigned two weeks ago to avoid “hindering” an investigation into allegations he had a secret Swiss account, all the while maintaining his innocence? Well, he was just exposed as the latest lying Eurocrat politicians.

  • FORMER FRENCH BUDGET MINISTER SAYS LIED ABOUT BANK ACCOUNT
  • EX-FRENCH BUDGET MINISTER SAYS HAS HAD THE FOREIGN BANK ACCOUNT FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS
  • EX-FRENCH BUDGET MINISTER SAYS HAD EU600,000 IN FOREIGN ACCOUNT
  • EX-FRENCH BUDGET MINISTER APOLOGIZES TO HOLLANDE, AYRAULT

Where did he make the confession?

  • EX-FRENCH BUDGET MINISTER COMMENTED ON HIS BLOG TODAY

The take home:

  • EX-FRENCH BUDGET MINISTER SAYS `CAUGHT IN SPIRAL OF LIES’

In other words: just another politician.

But that’s ok: it got serious – he could have gone to jail or been fired in disgrace, so naturally he had to lie.

Ron Paul: ‘The Great Cyprus Bank Robbery’

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– The Great Cyprus Bank Robbery (Ron Paul, April 1, 2013):

The dramatic recent events in Cyprus have highlighted the fundamental weakness in the European banking system and the extreme fragility of fractional reserve banking. Cypriot banks invested heavily in Greek sovereign debt, and last summer’s Greek debt restructuring resulted in losses equivalent to more than 25 percent of Cyprus’ GDP. These banks then took their bad investments to the government, demanding a bailout from an already beleaguered Cypriot treasury. The government of Cyprus then turned to the European Union (EU) for a bailout.

Read moreRon Paul: ‘The Great Cyprus Bank Robbery’

The Stability Of The Gold Standard Era Vs The Centrally-Banked Fiat Capital Era

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– So Much For The Stability Of The Centrally-Banked “Fiat” Era (ZeroHedge, April 1, 2013):

According to some economist PhDs, the end of the gold standard era marked by the arrival of the Federal Reserve one century ago ushered in the era of stability, prosperity and virtually unlimited growth (just ignore the two world wars and millions of casualties immediately following). While that is an amusing way of describing a financial system that is now daily on the brink of a financial apocalypse courtesy of a few good central banks propping up a $1 quadrillion house of derivatives cards, whose collapse would mean an immediate “game over”, and where (rapidly evaporating) confidence in a failing status quo, must be preserved at all costs, the question of post-Fed induced stability is an interesting one, especially when measured in terms of intangible value (in this case the most basic of indicators – the Dow Jones), compared to thousands of years of a real tangible, store of wealth: gold. In the chart below, courtesy of Cambridge House, we ask readers: in which period was there a more stable relationship between tangible and intangible values, and a less exuberant irrationality vis-a-vis that which is purely based on confidence, if not so much reality.

A second logical follow up question is: where is this ratio of intangible to tangible value going next? The chart below attempts to provide some log-based perspective on precisely this.

It’s Official: Stockton Becomes Biggest US City To Declare Bankruptcy

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– Stockton Becomes Biggest US City To Declare Bankruptcy (It’s Official) (ZeroHedge, April 1, 2013):

A mere nine months after we first discussed the inevitability of Stockton, CA.’s bankruptcy, a judge has ordered today that the city will now become the most populous in the US to be declared bankrupt.

  • *STOCKTON CREDITORS DIDN’T NEGOTIATE IN GOOD FAITH, JUDGE SAYS

Creditors are pushing to get the city out of bankruptcy but the judge states that “by any measure” the city was insolvent. So, in summary, yeah, it was broke years ago, it still is broke – despite the best efforts by the Central Planning Reserve to reflate the same housing bubble that was the primary reason for the city’s insolvency in the first place. Only this time, it’s official!

Via Reuters:

Read moreIt’s Official: Stockton Becomes Biggest US City To Declare Bankruptcy

Cyprus Finance Minister Sarris Resigns

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– Cyprus Finance Minister Resigns (ZeroHedge, April 2, 2013):

As per rumors first reported in the overnight summary article, the Cypriot finance minister has joined the other rats dumping the sinking island:

  • CYPRUS FINANCE MINISTER SARRIS SAYS HE RESIGNS
  • SARRIS SAYS RESIGNS DUE TO ONGOING INVESTIGATION IN CYPRUS
  • SARRIS SAYS CYPRUS PRESIDENT ACCEPTED RESIGNATION

Investigation? Did he also funnel cash into London ahead of Confiscation Day? But fear not, all shall be well, the now ex-finmin promises:

  • SARRIS SAYS CAPITAL CONTROLS WILL BE EASED GRADUALLY

Surely, if this great news doesn’t send the S&P to new all time highs, nothing will.

From Sigma Live:

His resignation, submitted by the Minister of Finance Michalis Sarris and agreed the President, confirmed by the Government Spokesman Christos Stylianides.

“I took over the Ministry of Finance to help the Cyprus agreement with the Troika on the memorandum, which was achieved,” said Mr. Sarris in his statements.

Read moreCyprus Finance Minister Sarris Resigns

For Cyprus, The Pain Is Only Just Starting

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Related info:

– List Released With 132 Names Who Pulled Cyprus Deposits Ahead Of ‘Confiscation Day’

– Cyprus Parliament President Says ‘No Future’ Under Troika, Calls For ‘Iceland’ Solution

– Cyprus: Why Big Depositors Are Facing A Complete Wipe Out

– Another Non-Russian, Non-Oligarch, Non-Billionaire, Non-Tax Evader Speaks Up: ‘I Went To Sleep Friday A Rich Man, I Woke Up Poor’

– TOTAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE AWAITS CYPRUS – Caught In The Cyprus Crossfire: Small Businesses Suddenly With Zero Cash:

Because if the locals thought the deposit haircut is the worst of it, just wait until the full brunt of what a -20% depressionary collapse in the economy hits them head on.

– Have The Russians Already Quietly Withdrawn All Their Cash From Cyprus? … YES!!!

Why the f*** have the people sheeple not been calling for the ‘Iceland’ solution?

Do they have to much FLUORIDE and/or LITHIUM in their drinking water, or what?

( TV ‘programs’ in Cyprus are probably not better in ‘programming’ than in Iceland, so that shouldn’t be an excuse.)

– For Cyprus, The Pain Is Only Just Starting (ZeroHedge, April 1, 2013):

If the suffering, yet docile, Cypriot serfs thought deposit confiscation would be the end of their problems under the European feudal system, they are about to be shocked. Because as part of their banking sector bailout, the country is set to get a “loan” from the Troika, a loan which comes with a Memorandum of Understanding, aka a “blueprint for austerity”, with dictates terms for government revenue increases and spending cuts (of the variety that nearly caused America’s leader to blow a gasket when he was describing the untold devastation that would result if the rate of acceleration in US budget spending dared to be slowed down even by a tiny bit). Today, a draft of the revised Cypriot MOU being prepared by the head of the IMF mission to the island nation, Delia Velculescu, leaked and can be found in its 24 page entirety here. However, for the benefit of our Cypriot readers, here is the important part: the listing of the anticipated austerity tsunami coming, not to mention healthcare system, “pension reform” changes and other proposals the ECB and the IMF are imposing on Cyprus as part of their generosity to keep the recently insolvent country as a well-behaving serf in the Eurozone.

Key highlights:

Read moreFor Cyprus, The Pain Is Only Just Starting

Ecuador To Sell A Third Of Its Amazon Rainforest To Chinese Oil Companies

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And I have no doubt that the Chinese will turn Ecuador’s pristine Amazonian rainforest into ‘China’ in no time:

Flashback:

– China Admits Pollution Has Caused ‘Cancer Villages’

– Nigeria’s agony dwarfs the Gulf oil spill; The US and Europe totally ignore it:

One report, compiled by WWF UK, the World Conservation Union and representatives from the Nigerian federal government and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, calculated in 2006 that up to 1.5m tons of oil – 50 times the pollution unleashed in the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster in Alaska – has been spilled in the delta over the past half century. Last year Amnesty calculated that the equivalent of at least 9m barrels of oil was spilled and accused the oil companies of a human rights outrage.


Oil and gas blocks in Ecuador “Oil and Gas Projects in the Western Amazon”

– ??Ecuador To Sell A Third Of Its Amazon Rainforest To Chinese Oil Companies (Business Insider, March 28, 2013):

Ecuador is planning to auction off three million of the country’s 8.1 million hectares of pristine Amazonian rainforest to Chinese oil companies, Jonathan Kaiman of The Guardian reports.

The report comes as oil pollution forced neighboring Peru to declare an environmental state of emergency in its northern Amazon rainforest.Ecuador owed China more than $7 billion — more than a tenth of its GDP — as of last summer.

In 2009 China began loaning Ecuador billions of dollars in exchange for oil shipments. It also helped fund two of the country’s biggest hydroelectric infrastructure projects, and China National Petroleum Corp may soon have a 30 percent stake in a $10 billion oil refinery in Ecuador.

Read moreEcuador To Sell A Third Of Its Amazon Rainforest To Chinese Oil Companies

Hundreds Of Starving, Dying Sea Lions Washing Up On Beaches From San Diego To Santa Barbara

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Fukushima, anyone?

– Starving, Dying Sea Lions Washing Up On Southland Beaches (CBS News):

– Starving sea lion pups fill Calif. rescue centers (AP, March 29, 2013):

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hundreds of starving sea lion pups are washing up on beaches from San Diego to Santa Barbara, overwhelming rescue centers and leaving scientists scrambling to figure out why.

At island rookeries off the Southern California coast, 45 percent of the pups born in June have died, said Sharon Melin, a wildlife biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service based in Seattle. Normally, less than one-third of the pups would die.

It’s gotten so bad in the past two weeks that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared an “unusual mortality event.” That will allow more scientists to join the search for the cause, Melin said.

Pups are normally weaned from their mothers in April.

Even the pups that are making it are markedly underweight, Melin said.

The most recent pups weighed at the breeding area on San Miguel Island were around 37 pounds, Melin said. They should weigh between 55 and 59 pounds by now, she said.

Read moreHundreds Of Starving, Dying Sea Lions Washing Up On Beaches From San Diego To Santa Barbara

Major oil spill in U.S. after pipeline bursts — 40 miles from Arkansas nuclear plant at ‘emergency Level 4’ — “Like a river” of crude — Nearly 500,000 gallons spilled (VIDEO)

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– Major oil spill in U.S. after pipeline bursts — 40 miles from Arkansas nuclear plant at ‘emergency Level 4’ — “Like a river” of crude — Nearly 500,000 gallons spilled (VIDEO) (ENENews, April 1, 2013)

“Air detection teams deployed” after U.S. nuclear plant accident — “Evacuation signs were posted throughout community” — Concerns over building stability? — Worker: Worst thing to happen in 30+ years (VIDEOS)

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– “Air detection teams deployed” after U.S. nuclear plant accident — “Evacuation signs were posted throughout community” — Concerns over building stability? — Worker: Worst thing to happen in 30+ years (VIDEOS) (ENENews, April 1, 2013)

Emergency at U.S. Nuclear Plant: Steam dumps to atmosphere — No known primary to secondary leakage — Full extent of damage unknown — Additional staff brought to site (VIDEO)

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– Emergency at U.S. Nuclear Plant: Steam dumps to atmosphere — No known primary to secondary leakage — Full extent of damage unknown — Additional staff brought to site (VIDEO) (ENENews, April 1, 2013)

Before

– U.S. nuclear plant suffers “significant industrial accident” — 8 injured, 1 dead — No ‘immediate’ threat to the public (ENENews, March 31, 2013)

Bitcoin Hits $101 – Doubles Since Cyprus!

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Related info:

– US Begins Regulating BitCoin, Will Apply ‘Money Laundering’ Rules To Virtual Transactions

– ‘What In The World Is A Bitcoin?’

– Bitcoin Hits $101 – Doubles Since Cyprus (ZeroHedge, April 1, 2013):

From a January 2nd price of $13.16, the price of a Bitcoin in USD had risen to $46 on March 16th – right before the Cyprus ‘solution’ was announced. Since then, in two short weeks, the price of a Bitcoin has more than doubled, reaching $101 today. This ‘exuberance’ in non-fiat currency, should perhaps warrant caution as we noted here, the US is now not only actively monitoring but has commenced regulating the Bitcoin market and those who participate should be well aware that when uncle Sam is involved, things tend to have an unhappy ending for pretty much everyone involved.

Source: BitCoinCharts.com

List Released With 132 Names Who Pulled Cyprus Deposits Ahead Of ‘Confiscation Day’

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– List Released With 132 Names Who Pulled Cyprus Deposits Ahead Of “Confiscation Day” (ZeroHedge, April 1, 2013):

With every passing day, it becomes clearer and clearer the Cyprus deposit confiscation “news” was the most unsurprising outcome for the nation’s financial system and was known by virtually everyone on the ground days and weeks in advance: first it was disclosed that Russians had been pulling their  money, then it was suggested the president himself had made sure some €21 million of his family’s money was parked safely in London, then we showed a massive surge in Cyprus deposit outflows in February, and now the latest news is that a list of 132 companies and individuals has emerged who withdrew their €-denominated deposits in the two weeks from March 1 to March 15, among which the previously noted company Loutsios & Sons which is alleged to have ties with the current Cypriot president Anastasiadis.

From Sigma:

Money transfers made within 15 days, namely from 1 until March 15. On Friday, March 15, had met the Eurogroup, which officially decided to impose a tax on deposits by companies and individuals in all financial institutions in Cyprus.

These 132 companies and individuals have withdrawn all deposits in euros, dollars and rubles, which were transferred to other banks outside Cyprus.

Read moreList Released With 132 Names Who Pulled Cyprus Deposits Ahead Of ‘Confiscation Day’

How To ‘3D-Print’ A Semi-Automatic Rifle (Documentary)

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– Gun Control? – How To “3D-Print” A Semi-Automatic Rifle (ZeroHedge, April 1, 2013):

As the furor over gun control fades from the front pages – and therefore from politicians need to actively participate en masse – it appears there is a rather large loophole that could change things considerably. As this clip shows, Cody R Wilson, a 25 year old University of Texas Law student, has figured out how to print a semi-automatic rifle from the comfort of his own home. Wilson is an advocate for the open source production of firearms using 3D printing technology and it is forcing the US legal system to catch up and control this new technology. From the constitution to the legal system and from the manufacture and test-firing of 3D-printed gun, this clip is intriguing to say the least.


YouTube

Fake Science Alert: Fukushima Radiation Can’t Be Compared to Bananas or X-Rays

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– Fake Science Alert: Fukushima Radiation Can’t Be Compared to Bananas or X-Rays (ZeroHedge, April 1, 2013):

[Related:  Arkansas Hit with Nuclear Accident AND Major Oil Spill]

Nuclear apologists pretend that people are exposed to more radiation from bananas than from Fukushima.

But the EPA explains:

The human body is born with potassium-40 [the type of radiation found in bananas] in its tissues and it is the most common radionuclide in human tissues and in food. We evolved in the presence of potassium-40 and our bodies have well-developed repair mechanisms to respond to its effects. The concentration of potassium-40 in the human body is constantand not affected by concentrations in the environment.

Wikipedia notes:

Read moreFake Science Alert: Fukushima Radiation Can’t Be Compared to Bananas or X-Rays

CO2 Myth Busted: Why We Need More Carbon Dioxide To Grow Food And Forests

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– CO2 myth busted: Why we need more carbon dioxide to grow food and forests (Natural News, March 1, 2013):

If you talk to the global warming crowd, carbon dioxide — CO2 — is the enemy of mankind. Any and all creation of CO2 is bad for the planet, we’re told, and its production must be strictly limited in order to save the world.

But what if that wasn’t true? What if CO2 were actually a planet-saving nutrient that could multiply food production rates and feed the world more nutritious, healthy plants?

CO2 is a vital nutrient for food crops

As it turns out, CO2 is desperately needed by food crops, and right now there is a severe shortage of CO2 on the planet compared to what would be optimum for plants. Greenhouse operators are actually buying carbon dioxide and injecting it into their greenhouses in order to maximize plant growth.

The science on this is irrefutable. As just one example, the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food says:

Read moreCO2 Myth Busted: Why We Need More Carbon Dioxide To Grow Food And Forests

The 10 Worst Toxins Hidden In Vitamins, Supplements And Health Foods

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– The 10 worst toxins hidden in vitamins, supplements and health foods (Natural News, March 26, 2013):

I’m absolutely shocked at how many people don’t investigate what’s really in the products they swallow. When something is sold as an herb, vitamin, superfood or supplement, they think it’s automatically safe. And while the natural products industry has a truly remarkable safety record — especially in contrast to the massive number of deaths caused by pharmaceuticals — it still suffers from a lot of hidden toxins that are routinely used throughout the industry.

I know this because I’ve been an investigative journalist and activist in the natural health industry for over a decade. Natural News is arguably the most-read natural health news website in the world, reaching millions of readers a month. I’ve walked the floors of countless trade shows, conducted hundreds of interviews and spent tens of thousands of dollars on laboratory tests to determine what’s in these products. On top of that, I’m deep into organic product formulations and certified organic food production, serving as the supervisor of a USDA-certified organic food production and packing facility.

Read moreThe 10 Worst Toxins Hidden In Vitamins, Supplements And Health Foods