Hundreds gather for anti-fracking march in Manchester

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Hundreds gather for anti-fracking march in Manchester

Hundreds pay $40 and line up in freezing cold for oversold grilled cheese festival

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Hundreds pay $40 and line up in freezing cold for oversold grilled cheese festival

Hundreds try to flee C. African Republic on emergency flights

By Paul-Marin Ngoupana

BANGUI Sat Dec 28, 2013 8:30pm EST

1 of 6. Personnel from the African Union peacekeeping mission to Central African Republic (MISCA) control a fighting crowd near the airport, in the capital Bangui December 28, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Andreea Campeanu

BANGUI (Reuters) – Hundreds of people tried to flee inter-religious violence in Central African Republic on Saturday aboard emergency flights to neighboring Chad, while nearby countries appealed for help to rescue their citizens from the mounting humanitarian crisis.

Tit-for-tat violence between Muslim Seleka rebels, who seized power in March, and Christian self-defense militias have killed more than 1,000 people this month in the riverside capital Bangui and displaced hundreds of thousands more.

Fighting in the former French colony has surged in recent weeks despite the presence of 1,600 French peacekeepers and nearly 4,000 African Union troops deployed under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians. Bangui was calm on Saturday.

The ‘anti-balaka’ militia have targeted Muslims they say have supported Seleka during months of looting and killing since March. With many Seleka gunmen coming from Chad, its citizens in particular have been singled out, prompting their government to charter flights this week to bring them home.

However, many of those who waited in the heat at Bangui airport were Muslim Central Africans who said they were fleeing their majority-Christian homeland for fear of reprisals.

“We have never known violence as barbaric as this,” said Aishatou Abdelkarim, 31, who said she was married to a Chadian. “The devil has taken control of our country.”

Chad’s Foreign Minister Moussa Faki said some 4,000 Chadians had been transported home so far, many of whom had lived in Central African Republic their whole lives. That is just a fraction, however, of the hundreds of thousands of Chadians living in landlocked Central African Republic.

More than 800,000 people have fled their homes during this month’s fighting, with about half of them seeking refuge in Bangui, the United Nations says. It appealed on Friday for $ 152 million to help meet emergency humanitarian needs such as drinking water and sanitation in makeshift camps.

Tens of thousands of people have sought safety at the international airport, where French peacekeepers have a base. Women and children waited beside piles of suitcases and bags.

Cameroon flew home 214 of its citizens on Friday, bringing the number evacuated this month to 926, state radio there reported. Senegal and Niger, meanwhile, have asked the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for urgent help in extracting hundreds of their own expatriates.

CONGOLESE KILLED

Many say the bloodshed has little to do with religion in a nation where Muslims and Christians have long lived in peace. Instead, they blame a political battle for control over resources in one of Africa’s most weakly governed states.

“We used to live in perfect harmony with the Christians but it is Seleka and the anti-balaka who are trying to divide us,” said Issa Baro, a 35-year-old Muslim trader from Chad, waiting to catch a flight home.

Chad’s Foreign Minister Faki said toppled President Francois Bozize was responsible for the surge in violence in recent weeks and was using the anti-balaka to undermine interim President Michel Djotodia, Seleka’s leader.

French President Francois Hollande told U.N. Secretary Ban Ki-moon by telephone on Friday he wanted greater U.N. involvement in Central African Republic. Ban is preparing a proposal for a possible U.N. peacekeeping mission.

Two Congolese peacekeepers were killed when they were attacked by unidentified gunmen late on Thursday, a day after six Chadian peacekeepers were killed, a spokesman for the African Union’s MISCA peacekeeping mission said.

Two French soldiers were also shot dead in early December.

(Additional reporting by Serge Leger Kokpakpa; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Erica Billingham)

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Reuters: Top News

Hundreds try to flee C. African Republic on emergency flights

US still has hundreds of nukes in silos

Dec 22, 2013 Contributing Author Breaking News 0

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The CBO has estimated that strategic nuclear forces would cost the Pentagon $ 132 billion over the next 10 years.

The United States still has hundreds of nuclear missiles that have stood war-ready for decades in underground silos along remote stretches of the country, says an analysis.

The missiles, œpacked with almost unimaginable destructive power,” are capable of obliterating people and places halfway around the globe if a US president orders, according to an article written by Associated Press national security writer Robert Burns.

The article however doubts about the future defense role of the missiles, arguing that proliferation of nuclear arms is too costly and that the weapons would fail to restrain new security threats like œterrorism” and œcyber” attacks.

It says that Pentagon Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel endorsed a 2012 report, conducted by a group called Global Zero, warning that the United States™ ICBM “has lost its central utility” in nuclear deterrence.

The article claims the US œsees less use for nuclear weapons and aims to one day eliminate them, possibly starting with the missiles.” It refers to President Obama™s remarks last summer, saying that Obama œdirected the military to come up with new non-nuclear strike options.”

Recent reports show the US Department of Defense is still planning to spend billions of dollars on nuclear weapons.

On Friday, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that strategic nuclear forces would cost the Pentagon $ 132 billion over the next 10 years. That would include $ 20 billion for the international ballistic missiles, or ICBMs, alone.

According to the AP, the Pentagon will also need another $ 56 billion for the 10-year cost of communications and other systems required to command and control the whole nuclear force.

ARA/ARA

Source: Press TV

Distributed by RINF Alternative News

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RINF Alternative News | Independent Media

US still has hundreds of nukes in silos

Fired Sen. Alexander Aide Allegedly Had Hundreds Of Child Porn Videos

The former top aide to Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) who was arrested Wednesday had hundreds of videos depicting child pornography on a hard drive, according to new court documents. 

In a criminal complaint filed on Thursday in federal court in Washington, D.C., a U.S. Postal Inspector described how authorities investigating a website that offered DVDs featuring nude young boys identified Ryan Loskarn, Alexander’s former chief of staff, as a customer back in 2010. In October of this year, the document states, investigators identified Loskarn’s residential IP address on the Gnutella peer-to-peer file-sharing network offering files for download with names that suggested child pornography.  

Agents downloaded identical videos from the Gnutella network, and found one that depicted a man performing sexual acts with a prepubescent girl. 

On Wednesday, law enforcement agents descended on Loskarn’s Washington, D.C. residence and executed a search warrant. They retrieved a portable hard drive — which they believe Loskarn had placed on a snowy ledge outside one of the home’s windows when they arrived. On the hard drive, authorities found “hundreds of videos depicting underage boys engaged in sexually explicit conduct,” among other videos containing child pornography. 

Loskarn was expected to appear in court Thursday to face charges of possession and distribution of child pornography. Alexander announced on Wednesday that he had fired Loskarn, and replaced him with a new chief of staff. 

Read the complaint (warning: the document contains explicit descriptions of child pornography):

Ryan Loskarn Complaint

All TPM News

Fired Sen. Alexander Aide Allegedly Had Hundreds Of Child Porn Videos

Hundreds of unexplained sea turtle deaths in Central America alarm scientists

Hundreds of unexplained sea turtle deaths in Central America alarm scientists
http://isbigbrotherwatchingyou.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/83beb__national_security_agency__Green_sea_turtle.jpg

AFP
November 10, 2013

Green sea turtle, via Wikimedia Commons

Hundreds of sea turtles are washing up dead on the beaches of Central America and scientists don’t know why.

One hypothesis is that the killer is a potent neurotoxin that can be produced by algae during red tides, which are large accumulations of algae that turn sea water red or brown.

The puzzling thing, though, is that red tides have come and gone before without taking such a deadly toll on turtles.

Read more

This article was posted: Sunday, November 10, 2013 at 11:19 am

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Infowars

Read more about Hundreds of unexplained sea turtle deaths in Central America alarm scientists and other interesting subjects concerning NSA at TheDailyNewsReport.com

Rule Cyber-Britannia: MoD to recruit hundreds of IT warriors for cyber task force

Published time: September 29, 2013 13:28

Reuters / Kacper Pempel

Britain’s Defense Ministry has announced it is creating a military cyber unit and has welcomed tech-savvy hackers to consider taking the Queen’s virtual shilling in a recruitment drive starting October.

The UK is channeling part of its military budget on recruiting hundreds of computer experts to constitute the new Joint Cyber Reserve Unit, the country’s Defense Secretary, Philip Hammond, announced Sunday.

For the first time, the UK’s would-be cyber warriors will be tasked with offensive missions.

“In response to the growing cyber threat, we are developing a full-spectrum military cyber capability, including a strike capability, to enhance the UK’s range of military capabilities,” AFP reported Hammond as saying.

The Defense Secretary said he believed that a purely defensive cyber unit was no longer enough for the country’s security. “You deter people by having an offensive capability,” he told The Daily Mail in an interview.

“We will build in Britain a cyber-strike capability so we can strike back in cyberspace against enemies who attack us, putting cyber alongside land, sea, air and space as a mainstream military activity. Our commanders can use cyber weapons alongside conventional weapons in future conflicts.”

Hammond described the ministry’s initiative as “an exciting opportunity” for computer geniuses “to put their skills to good use for the nation.”

Striking a patriotic chord is just part of the strategy for luring IT geeks into the army. Cyber National Guard reservists will be spared the current Territorial Army fitness tests, Hammond said in the interview, where he touted the army going digital as its biggest reform since World War I, when tanks started replacing cavalry.  

Hammond revealed the cyber unit plan to journalists in the MoD’s nuclear bunker, becoming the first Defense Secretary to have been photographed or interviewed there.

“Cyber weapons provide the tantalizing possibility of being able to cripple the enemy without inflicting lasting damage on them. No cities to rebuild, no infrastructure to reconstruct.” Hammond said, adding the innovation was very much in tune with attitudes in the US. “One of my American counterparts put it to me like this: Why would you want to bomb someone’s airfield if you could just switch it off with a cyber-attack?” 

The United States announced in March it was developing 40 new teams of cyber-agents, citing alleged Iranian and Chinese hacker attacks as reason behind the decision. Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of the US Cyber Command who is also in charge of the National Security Agency, announced 13 of the 40 cyber-squads would be devoted toward offensive operations.

Britain’s capability to fully staff its own cyber military force was questioned by a National Audit Office report in February, which revealed a shortage of UK IT experts able to combat cyber-attacks.

The report blamed the government for not promoting science and technology enough and quoted education officials saying that it could take “up to 20 years to address the skills gap at all levels of education.”

The research also questioned the government’s capability to attract IT experts to the public sector from more lucrative private companies.

British MPs have also warned about the country’s susceptibility to cyber-attacks. In January, the House of Commons Defense Select Committee expressed particular alarm that the military were excessively reliant on cyber systems for communication, which could make them an easy target for hackers.

RT – News

Rule Cyber-Britannia: MoD to recruit hundreds of IT warriors for cyber task force

Rule Cyber-Britannia: MoD to recruit hundreds of IT warriors for cyber task force

Published time: September 29, 2013 13:28

Reuters / Kacper Pempel

Britain’s Defense Ministry has announced it is creating a military cyber unit and has welcomed tech-savvy hackers to consider taking the Queen’s virtual shilling in a recruitment drive starting October.

The UK is channeling part of its military budget on recruiting hundreds of computer experts to constitute the new Joint Cyber Reserve Unit, the country’s Defense Secretary, Philip Hammond, announced Sunday.

For the first time, the UK’s would-be cyber warriors will be tasked with offensive missions.

“In response to the growing cyber threat, we are developing a full-spectrum military cyber capability, including a strike capability, to enhance the UK’s range of military capabilities,” AFP reported Hammond as saying.

The Defense Secretary said he believed that a purely defensive cyber unit was no longer enough for the country’s security. “You deter people by having an offensive capability,” he told The Daily Mail in an interview.

“We will build in Britain a cyber-strike capability so we can strike back in cyberspace against enemies who attack us, putting cyber alongside land, sea, air and space as a mainstream military activity. Our commanders can use cyber weapons alongside conventional weapons in future conflicts.”

Hammond described the ministry’s initiative as “an exciting opportunity” for computer geniuses “to put their skills to good use for the nation.”

Striking a patriotic chord is just part of the strategy for luring IT geeks into the army. Cyber National Guard reservists will be spared the current Territorial Army fitness tests, Hammond said in the interview, where he touted the army going digital as its biggest reform since World War I, when tanks started replacing cavalry.  

Hammond revealed the cyber unit plan to journalists in the MoD’s nuclear bunker, becoming the first Defense Secretary to have been photographed or interviewed there.

“Cyber weapons provide the tantalizing possibility of being able to cripple the enemy without inflicting lasting damage on them. No cities to rebuild, no infrastructure to reconstruct.” Hammond said, adding the innovation was very much in tune with attitudes in the US. “One of my American counterparts put it to me like this: Why would you want to bomb someone’s airfield if you could just switch it off with a cyber-attack?” 

The United States announced in March it was developing 40 new teams of cyber-agents, citing alleged Iranian and Chinese hacker attacks as reason behind the decision. Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of the US Cyber Command who is also in charge of the National Security Agency, announced 13 of the 40 cyber-squads would be devoted toward offensive operations.

Britain’s capability to fully staff its own cyber military force was questioned by a National Audit Office report in February, which revealed a shortage of UK IT experts able to combat cyber-attacks.

The report blamed the government for not promoting science and technology enough and quoted education officials saying that it could take “up to 20 years to address the skills gap at all levels of education.”

The research also questioned the government’s capability to attract IT experts to the public sector from more lucrative private companies.

British MPs have also warned about the country’s susceptibility to cyber-attacks. In January, the House of Commons Defense Select Committee expressed particular alarm that the military were excessively reliant on cyber systems for communication, which could make them an easy target for hackers.

RT – News

Rule Cyber-Britannia: MoD to recruit hundreds of IT warriors for cyber task force

Hundreds of Dead Deer Found in Montana, Baffling Scientists

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons

By JG Vibes
Intellihub.com
September 19, 2013

Frightened residents in a Montana town have been recently pointing out that hundreds of deer are mysteriously dying in their area.

Montana wildlife officials reported that more than 100 dead white-tailed deer have been seen in the west Missoula Valley.

Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials say they are waiting for lab results to come back so they can try to determine what’s caused the deaths, according to krtv.

“The deer may show no outward symptoms of disease,” said Vickie Edwards, FWP wildlife biologist in Missoula. “People are seeing healthy looking deer fall over dead.”

Scientists are currently speculating that these deaths are the result of a disease called Epizootic hemorrhagic disease.

“Hemorrhagic disease viruses are not contagious from one animal to another and are not transmissible to humans,” said Jennifer Ramsey, FWP Wildlife Veterinarian in Bozeman. “Transmission is only known to occur through the bite of the gnat.”

The disease poses no threat to humans. Anyone who sees dead or sick deer in the Missoula area is asked to call FWP at 542-5515 with observations and locations.

Below is the only copyright-free video that I cold find on this subject:

Sources:

[1] More than 100 dead deer found in west missoula area – krtv

Writer Bio:

JG Vibes is an Intellihub.com investigative journalist, staff writer and editor. He is also the author of “Alchemy of the Modern Renaissance”, an 87 chapter e-book and is an artist with an established record label. Find him on his Facebook.

For media inquires, interviews, questions or suggestions for this author, email: vibes@intellihub.com or telephone: (347) 759-6075.

Read more articles by this author here.

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Intellihub News

Hundreds of Dead Deer Found in Montana, Baffling Scientists

Hundreds flee, homes burn, 3 hurt in Calif. fire

Dave Clark, of Twin Pines, tells a neighbor their house is ok as his own house burns on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. Residents and sheriff’s deputies were left without an escape route and stuck inside an evacuation area Wednesday night as a huge and growing Southern California wildfire left three people injured and burned homes. Fire officials said about a dozen structures were damaged or destroyed, but could not say how many were homes. (AP Photo/Desert Sun, Richard Lui) (Richard Lui The Desert Sun)

Dave Clark, of Twin Pines, tells a neighbor their house is ok as his own house burns on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. Residents and sheriff’s deputies were left without an escape route and stuck inside an evacuation area Wednesday night as a huge and growing Southern California wildfire left three people injured and burned homes. Fire officials said about a dozen structures were damaged or destroyed, but could not say how many were homes. (AP Photo/Desert Sun, Richard Lui) (Richard Lui The Desert Sun)

The wildfire burns along State Route 243 as a truck carrying a Cal Fire bulldozer moves up the road on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. Residents and sheriff’s deputies were left without an escape route and stuck inside an evacuation area Wednesday night as a huge and growing Southern California wildfire left three people injured and burned homes. The fire broke out about 2 p.m. and grew with extreme speed, surging to at least 5,000 acres, or nearly 8 square miles, within a few hours, state fire officials said. (AP Photo/The Desert Sun, Richard Lui) (Richard Lui The Desert Sun)

A pickup truck is engulfed in flames as the Silver Fire roars through a residential area near Hwy 243 and Twin Pines Road between Banning and Idyllwild, Calif. on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/The Press-Enterprise, Frank Bellino)

Multiple structures burn in the Poppet Flats area as the Silver Fire roared through the area along Hwy 243 between Banning and Idyllwild, Calif. on Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013. (AP Photo/The Press-Enterprise, Frank Bellino) NO SALES; MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT

Twin Pines, Calif. resident Dave Clark tells some neighbors their home is ok while his own house burns behind him, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2013 near Banning, Calif. A new wildfire has broken out in Riverside County near Banning, sending up a massive plume of smoke and surging toward three communities where people have been told to evacuate. (AP Photo/The Desert Sun, Richard Lui)

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BANNING, Calif. (AP) — A wildfire that broke out in the inland mountains of Southern California has expanded exponentially, burning homes, forcing the evacuation of several small mountain communities and leaving three people injured.

About 1,500 people had evacuated as the wildfire of more than 9 square miles raged out of control in the San Jacinto Mountains near Banning, said Lucas Spelman, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Three were injured, including two firefighters taken to hospitals by ambulance and a burned civilian who was airlifted out, state fire officials said. They would give no further details on the injuries.

Fire officials said about a dozen structures were damaged or destroyed, but could not say how many were homes. Footage from TV news helicopters and photos from the scene showed several houses in flames.

They include the Twin Pines home of Dave Clark, whose parents were killed in a house fire in Riverside in April 2012 the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported. Prosecutors alleged Clark’s sister Deborah Clark set the fire, and she was awaiting a mental-competency hearing to see if she was competent to stand trial for her parents’ murder in a case that has received extensive local media coverage.

A photograph taken by the Desert Sun newspaper showed Clark talking on his cellphone with the home fully engulfed in flames behind him.

“He said he lost everything, he couldn’t talk,” brother Jeff Clark told the Press-Enterprise.

About 800 people evacuated the Silent Valley Club, a private RV resort, state fire spokesman Lucas Spelman said.

About 700 more were under evacuation order in the rural communities of Poppet Flats, Twin Pines, Edna Valley and Vista Grande, and evacuation centers were set up at high schools in Hemet and Banning. The communities are in the San Jacinto Mountains along Interstate 10 some 80 miles east of Los Angeles.

Margaret Runnels of Poppet Flats was at work when her house came under an evacuation order. She was in Banning waiting for her husband to collect pets and valuables from their house.

“I was hoping they would let me back up to get some personal items I knew my husband would forget like a jewelry box and stuff that means stuff,” a crying Runnels told the Desert Sun. “You always tell yourself to prepare everything but you never take the stupid time to do it.”

More than 500 firefighters, helped by five helicopters and five air tankers, were working to protect homes and get ahead of the flames. All but three helicopters were grounded after night fall but were set to return to the air Thursday morning.

Associated Press

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Top Headlines

Hundreds flee, homes burn, 3 hurt in Calif. fire

Taliban gunmen storm Pakistan prison, free hundreds

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) – Taliban fighters disguised as police and armed with bombs and grenades broke 250 prisoners out of a Pakistan jail in a brazen overnight operation that raised serious questions over the new government’s ability to combat militancy.

Reuters: Top News

Taliban gunmen storm Pakistan prison, free hundreds

Taliban gunmen storm Pakistan prison, free hundreds

By Saud Mehsud

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan | Tue Jul 30, 2013 2:39am EDT

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) – Taliban fighters disguised as police and armed with bombs and grenades broke 250 prisoners out of a Pakistan jail in a brazen overnight operation that raised serious questions over the new government’s ability to combat militancy.

Fighting continued into the early hours of Tuesday, with explosions and machine gunfire rattling the city of Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near Pakistan’s lawless tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

The attack underlines the growing capabilities of the Pakistani branch of the Taliban, an offshoot of the Islamist insurgents of the same name in Afghanistan. The freed prisoners included dozens of top militants.

Months after promising peace talks with the insurgents, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appears to be accepting that the use of military force may be unavoidable.

Dozens of gunmen launched the attack by blowing up the electricity line to the prison and detonating heavy explosions that breached the outer walls.

The militants then fought their way inside using rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, and calling the names of Taliban prisoners through loud speakers.

“It’s completely dark in there. We don’t know what’s going on but there is fighting,” provincial prisons chief Khalid Abbas told Reuters as the fighting unfolded.

Security forces said they had imposed a curfew on the city and the gunbattle was over by dawn. A Reuters reporter at the scene saw security forces and bomb disposal squads conducting searches amid ruined walls strewn with bullet holes.

The audacity of the attack raises embarrassing questions over how well-prepared Pakistani security forces are following a series of high-profile attacks, and underscores the challenges facing Pakistan’s new government in combating the militancy.

It also comes the day lawmakers are due to choose a new president in a largely ceremonial vote, and two days before a major Shi’ite festival which security officials have warned could be attacked.

“It was a heavily guarded jail and considered one of the most protected prisons in the province,” said a senior government official in Peshawar, capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“We will investigate how the militants managed to come from the distant tribal areas and break into the jail and take away their people.”

Another security official said provincial authorities received warning of the impending attack two weeks ago.

He said phone intercepts indicated the militants had been planning a jail break and interrogations of captured fighters confirmed it. Security officials had alerted the provincial governor of the threat based on the intercepts.

BRAZEN ATTACK

The Pakistani Taliban said they had sent a squad of 100 fighters and seven suicide bombers on a mission to free some of their top leaders, and they said they released 250 prisoners — a number roughly matched by local Pakistani authorities.

Mushtaq Jadoon, the town’s civil commissioner, said the 253 escaped prisoners included 30 top militants and six people on death row. Those who escaped are believed to have been whisked away to the lawless tribal areas of South and North Waziristan.

As the gunbattle unfolded, gunmen took over a nearby house and hospital, holding the residents hostage as they fired on police from the rooftops and laid ambushes for reinforcements.

Police Constable Gul Mohammed said he had been rushing to the scene when he was challenged by two young boys holding rifles.

“They told me to stop,” he said. “I told them I am a policeman, and that’s when they opened fire.” He added that he was shot three times.

The heavily guarded jail houses around 5,000 prisoners. Around 250 are Pakistani Taliban and members of banned sectarian groups such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a Sunni militant group that has killed hundreds of Shi’ite civilians this year.

At least 12 were killed, including four Shi’ite prisoners whose throats were slashed by gunmen, prison officials said.

A senior Taliban official told Reuters separately the attack on the prison was masterminded by Adnan Rashid, a Taliban commander who was himself freed when his prison in the northern town of Bannu was overran by militants last year.

After that attack, militants told Reuters they had been helped by insiders in the security services. An inquiry later found there were far fewer guards on duty than there should have been and those who were there lacked sufficient ammunition.

(Additional reporting by Jibran Ahmad in Peshawar; Writing by Maria Golovnina and Katharine Houreld)

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Reuters: Most Read Articles

Taliban gunmen storm Pakistan prison, free hundreds

China quake death toll more than doubles to 54, hundreds hurt

BEIJING | Sun Jul 21, 2013 11:31pm EDT

BEIJING (Reuters) – A 6.6 magnitude earthquake in China’s western Gansu province killed 11 people and seriously injured another 81, state media said on Monday.

The quake hit Minxian County and Zhangxian County, about 170 km from the province’s capital Lanzhou, at 7:45 a.m., the official Xinhua news agency said.

A second 5.6 earthquake struck the same region at 9:12 a.m. Xinhua said.

The United States Geological Survey said the initial quake had a magnitude of 5.9.

Reuters: Most Read Articles

China quake death toll more than doubles to 54, hundreds hurt

Video: Flashback: Hundreds Of Blacks Beat Whites At Wisconsin State Fair

This took place about 2 years ago. Is this the first time you are hearing about this? Don’t worry; the liberal media never talked about it either!

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Western Journalism

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Hundreds of thousands out for London"s gay pride

1 of 7. People take part in the first Gay Pride march (Marche des Fiertes) since a French law permitting gay and lesbian marriage was passed, in Paris June 29, 2013.

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Hundreds of thousands out for London"s gay pride

Dozing banker unwittingly transfers hundreds of millions

A German bank employee was fired from his job last week after falling asleep at his keyboard and accidentally transferring £222 million ($ 293 million U.S.) from one account to another.

The employee, whose name was not revealed, was originally supposed to transfer £62.40, but while doing so, managed to “fall asleep for an instant, while pushing onto the 2 key on the keyboard,” a Hessen labour court professed, producing an order that read £222,222,222.22.

No word on how the employee managed to awaken from his slumber and drag his mouse from the “amount” column to the “submit” button without noticing that he’d submitted a £222 million order.

The bank discovered the mistake shortly thereafter and corrected the error, firing the employee and his supervisor in the process.

On Monday, a German labor court ruled that the supervisor was wrongfully terminated and received her job back.

The sleepy employee, however, received nothing of the sort. He’s still fired, unemployed, jobless, and without work—blessed with hours and hours upon which to fall asleep on his home keyboard.

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Salon.com

Dozing banker unwittingly transfers hundreds of millions

Hundreds of strange metallic spheres found in ancient Mexican temple

Hundreds of strange metallic spheres found in ancient Mexican temple
2013 05 03

By Rossella Lorenzi | Discovery News

Hundreds of mysterious spheres lie beneath the Temple of the Feathered Serpent, an ancient six-level step pyramid just 30 miles from Mexico City.

The enigmatic spheres were found during an archaeological dig using a camera-equipped robot at one of the most important buildings in the pre-Hispanic city of Teotihuacan.

“They look like yellow spheres, but we do not know their meaning. It’s an unprecedented discovery,” said Jorge Zavala, an archaeologist at Mexico’s National Anthropology and History Institute.

The Mesoamerican ruins of Teotihuacan, a World Heritage Site, represent one of the largest urban centers of the ancient world. Thought to have been established around 100 B.C., the pyramid-filled city had more than 100,000 inhabitants at its peak, but was abandoned for mysterious reasons around 700 A.D. — long before the Aztecs arrived in the 1300s.

The excavation at the temple focused on a 330-foot-long tunnel which runs under the structure. The conduit was discovered in 2003 when heavy rain uncovered a hole a few feet from the pyramid.

The excavation focused on a 330-foot-long tunnel which runs under the structure. The conduit was discovered in 2003 when heavy rain uncovered a hole a few feet from the temple.

Exploring the tunnel, which was deliberately filled with debris and ruins by the Teotihuacan people, required several years of preliminary work and planning.

“Finally, a few months ago we found two side chambers at 72 and 74 meters (236 and 242 feet) from the entrance. We called them North Chamber and South Chamber,” archaeologist Sergio Gómez Chávez, director of the Tlalocan Project, told Discovery News.

The archaeologists explored the tunnel with a remote-controlled robot called Tlaloc II-TC, which has an infrared camera and a laser scanner that generates 3D visualization of the spaces beneath the temple.

“The robot was able to enter in the part of the tunnel which has not yet been excavated yet and found three chambers between 100 and 110 meters (328 and 360 feet) from the entrance,” Gómez Chávez said.

The mysterious spheres lay in both the north and south chambers. Ranging from 1.5 to 5 inches, the objects have a core of clay and are covered with a yellow material called jarosite.

“This material is formed by the oxidation of pyrite, which is a metallic ore,” Gómez Chávez said. “It means that in pre-hispanic times they appeared as if they were metallic spheres. There are hundreds of these in the south chamber.”

According to archaeologists, the spheres would have appeared metallic to those who placed them here.

According to George Cowgill, professor emeritus at Arizona State University and the author of several publications on Teotihuacan, the spheres are a fascinating find.

“Pyrite was certainly used by the Teotihuacanos and other ancient Mesoamerican societies,” Cowgill told Discovery News. “Originally the spheres would have shown brilliantly. They are indeed unique, but I have no idea what they mean.”

[...]

Read the full article at: discovery.com

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Hundreds of strange metallic spheres found in ancient Mexican temple