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Category Archives: world
Four America’s And What Is Democracy?
Here is a long winded though really well written article I found. While I am fairly politically quiet, the following, explained a great deal of the conflicting attitudes in our country. Hope you enjoy, and have a nice day.
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Spain: Stop abusing big cats in circuses!
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Spain: Stop abusing big cats in circuses!
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| rusty,A four-month-old lion cub, Magnus, was starved by circus owners to keep him small enough to pose for selfies with visitors. Magnus was kept on a liquid-only diet and nearly died of malnutrition. His esophagus shrunk, making it impossible for him to eat solid foods.
Magnus is now being cared for by a charity, but he will be chronically ill for the rest of his life. Sadly, his situation is not unique. Big cats used in tourist shows are often drugged and abused. Cubs are usually taken away from their mothers at an early age so they are easier to handle. Their claws and canine teeth are removed so that they can’t harm visitors. These animals don’t deserve such horrifying cruelty just so people can take selfies. Ringing Bros circus recently announced it would stop abusing elephants in response to pressure from around the world. If enough of us speak out against this awful abuse of lions and tigers, the entertainment industry in Spain may follow suit as well. Tell the Spanish government to ban the use of lions, tigers, and other big cats in circuses! Thank you,
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MORE EFFING SPIDERS?
So what is it with this guy and his damn spider fancy? Didn’t I say ” I hate those f***&%g things? ” Sorry y’all, but these things were running all over the place, so I caught them and put them in here. Even though you don’t like them, if you are able to recognize them, you won’t smash the good ones.
Oh crap, look out, that big one’s a nasty one, quick smash it before it it bites us all!
Shake Your Silk-Maker: The Dance of the Peacock Spider
25 Adorable Spiders That Are Not As Scary As You Think
Published on Sep 4, 2014
Few people say they like spiders. These little creatures are usually characterized by terms like “disgusting”, “detestable” or “revolting” but in fact, the bad reputation is entirely undeserved. Most spiders are not dangerous to humans at all. Indeed, many are beneficial because they eat other pests in our homes and gardens. If we still have not succeeded in convincing you to stop hating these little guys, these 25 adorable guys might help you to change your mind.
Top 10 Most Venomous Spiders
Looking into our 8 legged friends from around the world. We’re looking into the most dangerous/deadliest and most venomous spiders.
World’s Most Deadly Spider – Brazilian Wandering Spider
The deadly Brazilian wandering spider, aka banana or armed spider, is considered the world’s most venomous & deadliest spider by the Guinness Book of World records. They are found in the tropical regions of Central & South America and are called wandering spiders because they roam the jungle floor at night.
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Yemen Blasts: Suicide Bombers Strike Sanaa Mosques, Killing 137 People
Yemen Blasts: Suicide Bombers Strike Sanaa Mosques, Killing 137 People
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/yemen-blasts-suicide-bombers-strike-sanaa-mosques-killing-dozens-n327136
BY ALEXANDER SMITH AND ALASTAIR JAMIESON
Four suicide bombers hit a pair of crowded mosques in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa on Friday, killing at least 137 people and injuring more than 300 others, officials told NBC News.
Yemen Blasts_ Suicide Bombers Strike Sanaa Mosques, Killing 137 People – NBC New
The ISIS affiliate in war-torn Yemen claimed responsibility for the attacks, according to Flashpoint Intelligence, a global security firm and NBC News consultant. It was the first large-scale attack claimed by the Sunni militants in Yemen, which has been in a state of chaos since Shiite Houthi rebels launched a violent power grab.
Dr. Alia Saria, head of emergency services at Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population, confirmed the death toll to NBC News and said “hundreds” were injured. Mohammed Albasha, Yemen’s spokesperson in Washington, put the number of injured above 300. Albasha said the bombers struck Badr and al-Hashoosh mosques during Friday prayers — traditionally the busiest time of the week. Both mosques were hit by two bombers using similar tactics: one would detonate explosives inside the building while the second waited outside for people to flee before blowing himself up, Albasha explained.
One witness at the al-Hashoosh mosque told the AP he was thrown two meters by the blast.
“The heads, legs and arms of the dead people were scattered on the floor of the mosque,” Mohammed al-Ansi told the AP. “Blood is running like a river.”
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Rare ‘severe’ geomagnetic storm is hitting Earth right now
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IMAGE: NASA SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY
The event, which is just one notch below the highest category of solar storm, began at about 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday, according to the NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center. The geomagnetic storm is the result of a pair of coronal mass ejections, or CMEs, that left the Sun on March 15 and are now interacting with Earth’s atmosphere and geomagnetic field.
In a press briefing on Tuesday, NOAA scientists said the two CMEs may have unexpectedly combined as they sped toward Earth, which could explain why the geomagnetic storm has been so strong.
Coronal mass ejections, which are essentially magnetic clouds ejected at high velocity from the sun, can affect the electricity grid, radio transmissions and GPS signals, among other things, when they interact with the planet’s magnetic field. According to NOAA, there had not been any reported abnormalities in the U.S. power grid as of noon eastern time on Tuesday.
However, there have been numerous reports of “vivid” sightings of the Northern Lights across the northern tier of the U.S., including Washington State and Minnesota. The G4 solar storm is expected to lead to a widespread viewing of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, on Tuesday night from Alaska across Canada and much of Eurasia.
It’s possible that the Northern Lights will be visible as far south as Tennessee, New Mexico and Oklahoma on Tuesday night, NOAA experts said, depending on the evolution of the event’s intensity.
IMAGE: NOAA
The Space Weather Prediction Center issued a G1, or minor, geomagnetic storm watch for Wednesday in response to the two recent CMEs, with the first effects to be felt on Tuesday. Scientists think the two CMEs unexpectedly combined into “one sort of larger shock front traveling and intersecting Earth’s orbit,” according to Robert Rutledge of the Space Weather Prediction Center.
The CMEs in this case were not oriented head-on in relation to Earth, causing forecasters to think the planet would just receive “just a glancing blow,” rather than a severe geomagnetic storm, Rutledge says.
Severe solar storms such as this one have the potential to cause “possible widespread voltage control problems” in the electrical grid. It could also disrupt tracking of spacecraft, and impede the efficacy of high-frequency radio signals, such as those used by flights that travel across the Arctic between North America and Asia. These storms can also degrade the accuracy of satellite navigation.
According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, these storms tend to occur about 100 times per every 11-year solar cycle, or about 60 days per each 11-year cycle. According to the Space Weather Prediction Center, the ongoing event is one of just two G4 events in the current solar cycle.
IMAGE: MARKETA MURRAY/SPACEWEATHER.COM
This event is nowhere near the strength that would be required to create a nightmare scenario that space weather specialists have been warning about for years. In that scenario, a powerful geomagnetic storm, a G5 on the five-point scale, shuts down the electrical grid, wreaks havoc on radio communications, GPS devices and aerial navigation systems, costing billions in damage.
Such a storm last occurred in 1859, and is known as The Carrington Event. In that event, a CME was so powerful that it raced from the Sun to the Earth — a 90-million-mile journey — in just 18 hours.
Research published in 2014 showed that the Earth narrowly missed a similar event in 2012, but the burst of solar energy was directed far enough away from Earth’s magnetic field that disaster was averted.
The ongoing event may last a total of 24 to 36 hours, NOAA scientists told reporters on Tuesday. The last G5 event occurred in 2005, and the last G4 event before this one was in the fall of 2013, according to NOAA.
While this event is somewhat rare in the context of the current solar cycle, when looking at longer timescales it does not appear nearly as unusual, Rutledge says.
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Tunis Attack: Shooters Kill Eight at Tunisia’s National Bardo Museum
Tunisia Attack: Shooters Kill 19 at National Bardo Museum in Tunis
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/tourists-killed-tunisia-parliament-attack-breakingnews-com-n325601
The death toll still going up, with 3 other gunmen still on the loose….read more at the link.
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/tourists-killed-tunisia-parliament-attack-breakingnews-com-n325601
Tunis Attack: Shooters Kill Eight at Tunisia’s National Bardo Museum
Eight people have been killed in an attack on a museum near Tunisia’s parliament, the Interior Ministry told NBC News. The ministry said there were two shooters involved but would not comment on whether the situation was ongoing or if any hostages had been taken.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack on the National Bardo Museum, which lies next to Tunisia’s national parliament building. Footage from Tunisia’s state-run broadcaster ERTT showed what appeared to be security services ushering dozens of civilians out of a street and into a building.
The public affairs section of the U.S. Embassy in Tunis told NBC News it had no additional details and was not prepared to comment on the incident in any way. A message later posted on the embassy website warned of an “ongoing security situation” around the Bardo museum and urged U.S. citizens to avoid the vicinity.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/tourists-killed-tunisia-parliament-attack-breakingnews-com-n325601
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11 Things You May Not Know About Ancient Egypt
11 Things You May Not Know About Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt stood as one of the world’s most advanced civilizations for nearly 3,000 years and created a culture so rich that it has spawned its own field of study. But while Egyptian art, architecture and burial methods have become enduring objects of fascination, there is still a lot you probably don’t know about these famed builders of the pyramids. From the earliest recorded peace treaty to ancient board games, find out 11 surprising facts about the Gift of the Nile.
1. Cleopatra was not Egyptian.
Along with King Tut, perhaps no figure is more famously associated with ancient Egypt than Cleopatra VII. But while she was born in Alexandria, Cleopatra was actually part of a long line of Greek Macedonians originally descended from Ptolemy I, one of Alexander the Great’s most trusted lieutenants. The Ptolemaic Dynasty ruled Egypt from 323 to 30 B.C., and most of its leaders remained largely Greek in their culture and sensibilities. In fact, Cleopatra was famous for being one of the first members of the Ptolemaic dynasty to actually speak the Egyptian language.
2. The ancient Egyptians forged one of the earliest peace treaties on record.
For over two centuries the Egyptians fought against the Hittite Empire for control of lands in modern day Syria. The conflict gave rise to bloody engagements like 1274 B.C.’s Battle of Kadesh, but by time of the pharaoh Ramses II neither side had emerged as a clear victor. With both the Egyptians and Hittites facing threats from other peoples, in 1259 B.C. Ramses II and the Hittite King Hattusili III negotiated a famous peace treaty. This agreement ended the conflict and decreed that the two kingdoms would aid each other in the event of an invasion by a third party. The Egyptian-Hittite treaty is now recognized as one of the earliest surviving peace accords, and a copy can even be seen above the entrance to the United Nations Security Council Chamber in New York.
3. Ancient Egyptians loved board games.
After a long day’s work along the Nile River, Egyptians often relaxed by playing board games. Several different games were played, including “Mehen” and “Dogs and Jackals,” but perhaps the most popular was a game of chance known as “Senet.” This pastime dates back as far as 3500 B.C. and was played on a long board painted with 30 squares. Each player had a set of pieces that were moved along the board according to rolls of dice or the throwing sticks. Historians still debate Senet’s exact rules, but there is little doubt of the game’s popularity. Paintings depict Queen Nefertari playing Senet, and pharaohs like Tutankhamen even had game boards buried with them in their tombs.
4. Egyptian women had a wide range of rights and freedoms.
While they may have been publicly and socially viewed as inferior to men, Egyptian women enjoyed a great deal of legal and financial independence. They could buy and sell property, serve on juries, make wills and even enter into legal contracts. Egyptian women did not typically work outside the home, but those who did usually received equal pay for doing the same jobs as men. Unlike the women of ancient Greece, who were effectively owned by their husbands, Egyptian women also had the right to divorce and remarry. Egyptian couples were even known to negotiate an ancient prenuptial agreement. These contracts listed all the property and wealth the woman had brought into the marriage and guaranteed that she would be compensated for it in the event of a divorce.
5. Egyptian workers were known to organize labor strikes.
Even though they regarded the pharaoh as a kind of living god, Egyptian workers were not afraid to protest for better working conditions. The most famous example came in the 12th century B.C. during the reign of the New Kingdom pharaoh Ramses III. When laborers engaged in building the royal necropolis at Deir el-Medina did not receive their usual payment of grain, they organized one of the first recorded strikes in history. The protest took the form of a sit-in: The workers simply entered nearby mortuary temples and refused to leave until their grievances were heard. The gamble worked, and the laborers were eventually given their overdue rations.
6. Egyptian pharaohs were often overweight.
Egyptian art commonly depicts pharaohs as being trim and statuesque, but this was most likely not the case. The Egyptian diet of beer, wine, bread and honey was high in sugar, and studies show that it may have done a number on royal waistlines. Examinations of mummies have indicated that many Egyptian rulers were unhealthy and overweight, and even suffered from diabetes. A notable example is the legendary Queen Hatshepsut, who lived in the 15th century B.C. While her sarcophagus depicts her as slender and athletic, historians believe she was actually obese and balding.
7. The pyramids were not built by slaves.
The life of a pyramid builder certainly wasn’t easy—skeletons of workers commonly show signs of arthritis and other ailments—but evidence suggests that the massive tombs were built not by slaves but by paid laborers. These ancient construction workers were a mix of skilled artisans and temporary hands, and some appear to have taken great pride in their craft. Graffiti found near the monuments suggests they often assigned humorous names to their crews like the “Drunkards of Menkaure” or the “Friends of Khufu.” The idea that slaves built the pyramids at the crack of a whip was first conjured by the Greek historian Herodotus in the fifth century B.C., but most historians now dismiss it as myth. While the ancient Egyptians were certainly not averse to keeping slaves, they appear to have mostly used them as field hands and domestic servants.
8. King Tut may have been killed by a hippopotamus.
Surprisingly little is known about the life of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamen, but some historians believe they know how he died. Scans of the young king’s body show that he was embalmed without his heart or his chest wall. This drastic departure from traditional Egyptian burial practice suggests that he may have suffered a horrific injury prior to his death. According to a handful of Egyptologists, one of the most likely causes for this wound would have been a bite from a hippopotamus. Evidence indicates that the Egyptians hunted the beasts for sport, and statues found in King Tut’s tomb even depict him in the act of throwing a harpoon. If the boy pharaoh was indeed fond of stalking dangerous game, then his death might have been the result of a hunt gone wrong.
9. Some Egyptian doctors had specialized fields of study.
An ancient physician was usually a jack-of-all-trades, but evidence shows that Egyptian doctors sometimes focused on healing only one part of the human body. This early form of medical specialization was first noted in 450 B.C. by the traveler and historian Herodotus. Discussing Egyptian medicine, he wrote, “Each physician is a healer of one disease and no more…some of the eye, some of the teeth, some of what pertains to the belly.” These specialists even had specific names. Dentists were known as “doctors of the tooth,” while the term for proctologists literally translates to “shepherd of the anus.”
10. Egyptians kept many animals as pets.
The Egyptians saw animals as incarnations of the gods and were one of the first civilizations to keep household pets. Egyptians were particularly fond of cats, which were associated with the goddess Bastet, but they also had a reverence for hawks, ibises, dogs, lions and baboons. Many of these animals held a special place in the Egyptian home, and they were often mummified and buried with their owners after they died. Other creatures were specially trained to work as helper animals. Egyptian police officers, for example, were known to use dogs and even trained monkeys to assist them when out on patrol.
11. Egyptians of both sexes wore makeup.
Vanity is as old as civilization, and the ancient Egyptians were no exception. Both men and women were known to wear copious amounts of makeup, which they believed gave them the protection of the gods Horus and Ra. These cosmetics were made by grinding ores like malachite and galena into a substance called kohl. It was then liberally applied around the eyes with utensils made out of wood, bone and ivory. Women would also stain their cheeks with red paint and use henna to color their hands and fingernails, and both sexes wore perfumes made from oil, myrrh and cinnamon. The Egyptians believed their makeup had magical healing powers, and they weren’t entirely wrong: Research has shown that the lead-based cosmetics worn along the Nile actually helped stave off eye infections.
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Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, U.S. Air Force Veteran, Charged With Trying to Join ISIS
Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, U.S. Air Force Veteran, Charged With Trying to Join ISIS
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/tairod-nathan-webster-pugh-u-s-air-force-veteran-charged-n325101
A former U.S. Air Force mechanic has been charged with attempting to go to Syria to join ISIS, authorities said Tuesday. Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh was indicted Monday by a grand jury in Brooklyn on two charges, including attempting to provide material support to a terror organization.
The indictment said that Pugh was fired from a job in Kuwait as an airplane mechanic in December 2014. It said that he flew from Egypt to Turkey on January 10, in an effort to cross the border into Syria to join ISIS and wage violent jihad.
Turkish authorities denied him entry into the country, however, and sent him on a return flight to Egypt. He was deported from Egypt to the U.S. in January 15, after he was found carrying suspicious items, including a photograph of a machine gun.
Pugh was arrested on January 16, but the case has been sealed since that date.
Searches of his laptop revealed online queries about borders and crossing points controlled by the Islamic State, and videos showing ISIS executions. Posting on social media show Pugh repeatedly professed a desire never to return to the U.S., even though he has family — including children — in the country.
Pugh is a U.S. citizen whose last known address in the United States was in Neptune, New Jersey.
He served in the Air Force from 1986 to 1990 as an avionics instrument specialist, according to court documents. While in the Air Force, he reportedly received training in the installation and maintenance of aircraft engine, navigation, and weapons systems.
After leaving the Air Force, officials say, Pugh worked for a number of companies in the U.S. and Middle East as an avionics specialist and airplane mechanic.
This is a breaking news story. Please refresh for updates.
— Michael Kosnar and Daniel Arkin
First published March 17th 2015, 10:15 am
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Himalayan Yeti ‘Mystery’
Himalayan Yeti ‘Mystery’ Looks Even Less Mysterious, Scientists Argue
BY ALAN BOYLE
http://player.theplatform.com/p/2E2eJC/nbcNewsOffsite?guid=tdy_yeti_tracking_120903
Mystery solved? Not Yeti, but close.
A year ago, geneticists reported that RNA extracted from hair samples attributed to the Himalayan Yeti monster, a.k.a. “the Abominable Snowman,” were actually most similar to the 40,000-year-old genetic signature of a now-extinct breed of polar bear. They suggested there might be a yet-to-be-discovered bear species lurking in the remote Himalayan snows.
Now a different research team says the hairs were just as likely to come from a type of brown bear that’s common in the Himalayas.
The scientists behind the original study, led by Oxford University’s Bryan Sykes, are holding to their claims about the polar-bearish RNA. But Eliecer Gutierrez of the Smithsonian Institution and Ronald Pine, who’s associated with the University of Kansas’ Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center, say there’s too much genetic overlap in the RNA results to rule out the Himalayan brown bear. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayan_brown_bear
The analysis from Gutierrez and Pine was published online Monday by the open-access journal ZooKeys. http://zookeys.pensoft.net/browse_articles
Is an exotic bear out there?
Sykes’ results made a splash when they came out last year in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. The project involved gathering up dozens of samples of hair that had been collected over the years by monster-hunters and fringe researchers known as cryptozoologists. Sykes and his team looked specifically at mitochondrial RNA extracted from the samples.
Most of the hairs matched run-of-the-mill species, ranging from cows and canines to humans. But two of the samples, from northern India and Bhutan, matched up with genetic markers from a 40,000-year-old polar bear fossil from Norway. That led Sykes to call for an expedition to seek evidence of such a species in the Himalayas.
Since then, other researchers have suggested that the results may have been affected by contamination, and that it’s too great a leap to assume there’s an exotic bear species waiting to be found. The newly published results echo those conclusions.
In an email to NBC News, Sykes said he stood by last year’s findings. He noted that the findings published in ZooKeys were “entirely statistical” in nature.
‘Getting off your butt’
“The explanation by Gutierrez and Pine might be right, or it might not be,” Sykes wrote. “The only way forward, as I have repeatedly said, is to find a living bear that matches the 12S RNA and study fresh material from it. Which involves getting off your butt, not an activity I usually associate with desk-bound molecular taxonomists.”
Sykes said “the real heroes of the piece are the people who actually went to the Himalayas, spoke to the local people, found these hairs, had the wit to keep a few, and then contributed them to the study.”
He noted that his book about the project, titled “The Nature of the Beast,” is set for publication in April. As for the expedition to the Himalayas, Sykes said he was “not in a position to comment.”
In addition to reviewing the yeti results, Gutierrez and Pine noted that the DNA signature of an Asian black bear in Japan was not closely related to those of the species’ mainland members. In a news release, Gutierrez said further study of Asian black bear diversity “would surely yield exciting results.”
The study by Gutierrez and Pine is titled “No Need to Replace an ‘Anomalous’ Primate (Primates) With an ‘Anomalous’ Bear (Carnivora, Ursidae).”
First published March 16th 2015, 9:01 am
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