Concerns Over Superbugs In Our Food Supply

About two years ago, dozens of workers at a large chicken hatchery in Arkansas began experiencing mysterious skin rashes, with painful lumps scattered over their hands, arms, and legs.

“They hurt real bad,” says Joyce Long, 48, a 32-year veteran of the hatchery, where until recently, workers handled eggs and chicks with bare hands. “When we went and got cultured, doctors told us we had a superbug.”

Its name, she learned, was MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. This form of staph bacteria developed a mutation that resists antibiotics (including methicillin), making it hard to treat, even lethal. According to the CDC, certain types of MRSA infections kill 18,000 Americans a year — more than die from AIDS.

via Concerns over superbugs in our food supply – Food safety- msnbc.com.

US Senators Act to Force Recognition of Jerusalem as Capital

Seven United States senators have sponsored a bill that would abolish the “security” waiver that American presidents have used to prevent implementing a 1995 law declaring that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback, a long-time supporter of Israel, introduced the bill and said, “It is long overdue for America to recognize the sovereign right of Israel to choose Jerusalem as its capital city.”

The proposed Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act law, number S. 2737, is “a bill to relocate to Jerusalem the United States Embassy in Israel” and has six co-sponsors–five Republicans, from Kentucky, Texas, Arizona, and Louisiana and Independent Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

It would remove the current waiver, which gives the president authority to delay recognition of Jerusalem as the capital on the premise that doing so would endanger the security of the United States. Previous presidents, including George W. Bush, vowed during their election campaigns they would recognize Jerusalem as the Jewish State’s capital but they have failed out to carry out their election promise.

The senators introduced the bill following last week’s visit to the United States by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, who said, “I believe moving the American embassy to Jerusalem will the first step towards other embassies moving to the capital, as in every other country in the world.”

Call For Global Currency Expected At G20 Conference

The embattled US dollar is expected to come under scrutiny at a summit of developing and industrialized nations following China-led calls to review its role as a reserve currency.

The dollar issue is bound to surface at the two-day meeting in Pittsburgh as US President Barack Obama and other leaders of the Group of 20 economies debate a new framework for tackling the so called global “economic imbalances” blamed for fuelling the latest financial crisis.

“Though not clear how the plan would be enforced, it would involve measures such as the US cutting its deficits and saving more, China reducing its reliance on exports and Europe making structural changes to boost business investment,” analysts at French bank Societe Generale said in a report.

Some argue that the financial crisis resulted from imbalances between savings and investment in major economies, which have led to large current deficits, as evident in the United States, and surpluses, as enjoyed by China.

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Dust Turns Sydney Sky Red, Alarms Residents

Sydney Australia residents have woken to a red haze unlike anything seen before by residents or weather experts, as the sun struggles to pierce a thick blanket of dust cloaking the city this morning.

Callers flooded talkback radio, others hit social networking sites and scores of emails were received from smh.com.au readers as Sydney residents expressed their amazement at this morning’s conditions.

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U.S. Pushes For New Economic World Order at G20

The United States will urge world leaders this week to launch a new push in November to rebalance the world economy, but there are doubts national governments will bow to external advice.

A document outlining the U.S. position ahead of the September 24-25 Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh said exporters, which include China, Germany and Japan, should consume more, while debtors like the United States ought to boost savings.

“The world will face anemic growth if adjustments in one part of the global economy are not matched by offsetting adjustments in other parts,” said the document, which was obtained by Reuters on Monday.

The framework drafted by U.S. policy makers foresaw analysis of G20 members’ economic policies by the International Monetary Fund to figure out if they were consistent with better balanced growth.

“We call on our finance ministers to launch the new framework by November,” the document said, signaling a determined effort to maintain momentum for change created by last year’s global financial crisis.

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One Quarter of Americans Could Claim ‘No Religion’ in 20 Years

If current trends continue, a quarter of Americans are likely to claim “no religion” in 20 years, according to a survey out today by Trinity College. Americans who identify with no religious tradition currently comprise 15 percent of the country, representing the fastest growing segment of the national religious landscape.

While the numbers portend a dramatic change for the American religious scene—”religious nones” accounted for just 8 percent of the population in 1990—the United States is not poised adopt the anti-religious posture of much of secularized Europe.

That’s because American religious nones tend to be religious skeptics as opposed to outright atheists. Fewer than ten percent of those identifying with no religious tradition call themselves atheists or hold atheistic beliefs, according to the new study.

“American nones are kind of agnostic and deistic, so it’s a very American kind of skepticism,” says Barry Kosmin, director of Trinity’s Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture. “It’s a kind of religious indifference that’s not hostile to religion the way they are in France. Franklin and Jefferson would have recognized these people.”

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Plans to Change the Way Americans Think about Sex

Life Site News reports a San Francisco sex group’s four-year strategic plan, aimed to “change the way Americans think about sex” by desensitizing mainstream American culture to aberrant sexual practices, has been leaked.

According to Lifes Sites report, the document reveals a well thought out strategy to acclimatize the American public to everything from the practice of sadomasochism to orgies and every other “consensual” sexual behavior besides.

“CSC will be taking the lead in framing the sex positive discourse in our culture,” writes the Center for Sex and Culture in its 2007-2011 strategic plan. “In this ambitious vision of the future, certainly more than five years distant, CSC will have accomplished the difficult task of changing the way Americans think about sex.

“People will feel more comfortable with their sexual desires and society at large will be more accepting of a wide range of attitudes regarding sexuality.”

CSC says its mission is “to provide non-judgmental, sex-positive sexuality education and support to diverse populations” by means of educational initiatives that include “hands-on, practical skills-building events.” The group currently offers several workshops related to homosexual and sadomasochistic sex, and other “non-mainstream sexualities,” and advertises other monthly activities we will not go into detail on here.

CSC’s goals in advancing the “sex positive revolution” include a comprehensive plan to expand the group via marketing, the formation of regional and national partnerships with local groups, as well as the development of a “sex positive” curriculum that would “appeal to both professionals and lay-persons.” In addition, the group says it plans to launch a formal internship program to “add legitimacy to CSC in the academic world,” and expressed interest in instigating a “Sexual Attitude Reassessment” program.

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Dismay in Europe as Obama Ditches Missile Defense

President Obama dismayed America’s allies in Europe and angered his political opponents at home today when he formally ditched plans to set up a missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The project had been close to the heart of Mr Obama’s predecessor, President Bush, who had argued before leaving office in January that it was needed to defend against long-range ballistic missile attacks from rogue states such as Iran and North Korea.

But it had hobbled relations with Russia, which considered it both a security threat and an unnecessary political provocation in its own backyard.

At a White House appearance today, Mr Obama confirmed that the defense shield envisaged by the Bush Administration, involving a radar base in the Czech Republic and interceptor rockets sited in Poland, was being abandoned.

Instead, after a comprehensive review, he had decided to accept the advice of both the Defence Secretary, Robert Gates, and of the Chiefs of Staff opt for a “smarter, stronger and swifter” system involving both sea-based and land-based mobile interceptors.

Mr Obama said that latest intelligence suggested that threat of long-range missile attacks from Iran had receded, but the threat of short- or medium-range attacks was a real one.

via Source.

W.H. Collects Web Users’ Data Without Notice

The White House is collecting and storing comments and videos placed on its social-networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube without notifying or asking the consent of the site users, a failure that appears to run counter to President Obama’s promise of a transparent government and his pledge to protect privacy on the Internet.

Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said the White House signaled that it would insist on open dealings with Internet users and, in fact, should feel obliged to disclose that it is collecting such information.

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Congress Expanding ‘Gay’ Protections In Classrooms

A new proposal in Congress would allow public school students to be disciplined for “bullying” for “perceiving” a slight over someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, and in one case where such a program already has been implemented, it is being used to exclude parents from any input into what their children are taught about homosexuality and bisexuality.

The proposal is H.R. 2262, which was introduced in May by Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., just about the time Kevin Jennings, the founder of the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network which promotes homosexuality in schools, was appointed to head the office of school safety in President Obama’s administration.

The alarms are being raised by organizations such as Americans for Truth and the Illinois Family Institute, where Laurie Higgins warned about the impact of the plan.

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Palestinians: State Within 2 Years With Obama’s Support

Following meeting with Mitchell in Ramallah, senior Palestinian officials say US committed to peace deal within two years. According to them, former President Bill Clinton’s plan again put on table

US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu twice on Wednesday. Senior Palestinian officials who met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after his meeting with the American statesman Tuesday told Ynet that the US commitment to reach a peace deal within two years was clarified during the meeting.

The Palestinians estimate the Americans are adopting de facto the plan presented by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayya

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Fossils From Animals And Plants Are Not Necessary For Crude Oil

Researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm have managed to prove that fossils from animals and plants are not necessary for crude oil and natural gas to be generated. The findings are revolutionary since this means, on the one hand, that it will be much easier to find these sources of energy and, on the other hand, that they can be found all over the globe.

“Using our research we can even say where oil could be found in Sweden,” says Vladimir Kutcherov, a professor at the Division of Energy Technology at KTH.

Together with two research colleagues, Vladimir Kutcherov has simulated the process involving pressure and heat that occurs naturally in the inner layers of the earth, the process that generates hydrocarbon, the primary component in oil and natural gas.

According to Vladimir Kutcherov, the findings are a clear indication that the oil supply is not about to end, which researchers and experts in the field have long feared.

He adds that there is no way that fossil oil, with the help of gravity or other forces, could have seeped down to a depth of 10.5 kilometers in the state of Texas, for example, which is rich in oil deposits. As Vladimir Kutcherov sees it, this is further proof, alongside his own research findings, of the genesis of these energy sources – that they can be created in other ways than via fossils. This has long been a matter of lively discussion among scientists.

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Mystery Surrounds Hijacking of Russian Ship

Russia has retrieved its Arctic Sea shipping vessel that was hijacked and charged the offenders. The story doesn’t end there, though, as reports continue to surface alleging the “hijacking” were Israeli operatives sent to intercept missiles headed to Iran.. Other reports indicate the Russians staged their own hijacking after being notified of the ship’s contents by Israel. Regardless of who the hijackers were, they have thwarted a shipment of weapons that would have raised the stakes in the region for Israel and possibly even provoked military conflict.

On July 24, the Arctic Sea was hijacked by eight individuals while it was in the Baltic Sea, headed for Algeria carrying less than $2 million worth of timber. It was retrieved by the Russians on August 17 near Cape Verde. The authorities have released minimal information about the hijackers, except to say they are in custody and being charged with kidnapping and piracy. The crew members won’t talk, saying they were told by officials that doing so would compromise “state secrets.”

The attention surrounding the ship’s hijacking heightened after the Novaya Gazeta, a Russian newspaper that has had more than a handful of its journalists killed after investigating the misdeeds of officials, reported that the ship was transporting X-55 cruise missiles and the S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. The ship’s stop for “repairs” at Kaliningrad, the residence of a major Russian naval base that would house such missiles, may have provided a cover for such weaponry to be placed in a secret holding spot. The Iranians and Syrians have long talked about acquiring such arms, which present a severe threat to Israel.

The X-55 cruise missiles have a range of about 1,550 miles, putting Israel in Iran’s crosshairs, and are capable of carrying payloads with weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads. It is not believed that Iran currently has the long-range bombers necessary to launch such a weapon at this time.

The S-300 is an advanced air defense system that would severly hamper the ability of the Israeli Air Force to launch air strikes on Iranian nuclear targets. It can track up to 100 targets, and engage a dozen of them, downing aircraft up to 27,000 meters in the sky. It would result in the Israelis losing 20 to 30 percent of the aircraft involved in a potential strike on Iran, assuming that the Israelis don’t have a secret way of disabling the system. One Israeli Air Force source said that the system would result in increasing Israeli casualties in such a strike by 50 percent. For this reason, experts like Pentagon advisor Dan Goure have described the S-300 as a “game changer” in the Middle East.

The report claimed that the hijackers were really working for the Israeli Mossad, sent to intercept the ship’s contents, and pointed to President Peres’ trip to Moscow the day after the Russians retrieved the ship, which was described as a surprise visit. Prime Minister Netanyahu is also reported to have made a secret visit to Moscow to discuss Russian arms sales to Iran and Syria, explaining his sudden absence.

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Remains of Jesus-era Synagogue Found in Israel

The remains of a 2,000-year-old synagogue where Jesus may have preached were found on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, archaeologists said on Friday. The synagogue, one of the oldest ever found, was unearthed at Migdal, which Christians believe to be the birthplace of Mary Magdalene, a leading follower of Jesus.

“It is possible that Jesus had preached in this synagogue since Migdal was an important Jewish city at the time,” excavations director Dina Abshalom-Gorni, who led the dig, told AFP.

Jesus did much of his preaching on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake Kinneret, where Christians believe he performed several miracles.

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