Israelis brace for major war with Hamas

Israeli military chiefs say a large-scale conflict is inevitable despite a shaky cease-fire since Monday in their current confrontation with Palestinian fundamentalists of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

But the consequences of such an operation are likely to be far more perilous for Israel than the torrent of international condemnation it faced over its last offensive against Hamas, a 22-day invasion known as Operation Cast Lead, launched Dec. 27, 2008.

A new invasion, which would likely be far more pulverizing than Cast Lead, could stir support for Hamas in Egypt now that Hosni Mubarak is no longer around to back Israel and keep Gaza blockaded. (read more)

Israel raids Gaza after rocket attacks as conflict escalates

Israeli warplanes launched raids against targets in Gaza overnight after two rockets were fired at Israel from the coastal enclave, Palestinian security officials said on Saturday.

No one was hurt in the air attacks which struck bases of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigade, the military wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which rules Gaza, in Gaza City and east of it, one source said.

A military spokeswoman confirmed the raids and said warplanes struck "targets of a terrorist organisation" in response to "two rockets fired on Ashkelon and Ashdod" in southern Israel on Friday afternoon.

Friday's attack was the first time any rockets had been fired from the Gaza Strip since Sunday when militants in the Hamas-run territory began observing an unspoken truce, a military spokesman had said. (read more)

CIA will not halt operations in Pakistan -- trouble brewing?

The Central Intelligence Agency has no plans to suspend "operations" in Pakistan against terror suspects despite objections from leaders in Islamabad, a US official said Thursday.

Pakistan has criticized missile strikes by US drone aircraft against Islamist militants in the country but CIA Director Leon Panetta has told intelligence officials that he has a duty to prevent attacks on the United States, the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

"Panetta has been clear with his Pakistani counterparts that his fundamental responsibility is to protect the American people, and he will not halt operations that support that objective," the official said. (read more)

Japan Nuclear crisis could last 2 to 3 more months, expert says -- and by "says", they mean "guesses"

Japan will likely need two to three more months to bring an end to the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, a nuclear industry official said Saturday.

Takashi Sawada, the deputy director of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan, said Saturday that it was likely to take that long to restore normal cooling systems for the damaged reactors at Fukushima Daiichi.

The plant's coolant systems were knocked out by the March 11 tsunami, causing three reactors to overheat and producing what Japan's government has designated a top-scale nuclear accident.

Sawada's organization is an association of nuclear engineers, scientists and professors, and it issued a Friday report that he called "our best effort to imagine what the core looks like."

That report concluded that the zirconium alloy sheaths that surround the reactor's fuel rods ruptured in the three units, sending pellets of molten uranium tumbling to the bottom of the reactors. The pellets are since believed to have cooled and solidified at the reactor bases, according to the report. (read more)

Sixth-grader handcuffed over spilled milk... but kind of deserved it; are children no longer taught any respect?

A 12-year-old faces two counts of resisting law enforcement for his alleged actions when he refused to clean up spilled milk in the Ben Franklin Middle School cafeteria.

A police officer was helping supervise the lunch period on Tuesday, because both the principal and assistant principal were in a meeting, and the boy got into a confrontation with a school staff member.

After refusing to wipe up the mess, according to the police report, the sixth-grader refused to sit and wait for the other students to return to class so the staff member could deal with him individually.

He then allegedly ran away — through hallways and the kitchen — when the police officer attempted to escort him to the principal’s office.

Once caught, he fought and kicked the officer in attempts to get away and eventually was put in handcuffs. (read more)

Deer Stands Guard Over Goose -- Live Video!

Click play to watch the LIVE Goose Cam at Forest Lawn. It operates in daylight and also in night vision mode when dark. See images below.

The deer has been seen throughout the day, but occasionally wanders in and out of the picture. Keep watching if you want to make sure you see the deer.

The Story of the Goose & Deer

It's a scene right out of a Disney movie, mother goose has lost her lifelong mate and is now left alone to create and tend to her nest in Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, NY. She spends the day sheltering her eggs from the cool spring air inside an empty urn she has chosen as home.

The loss of her male partner and guardian now makes her vulnerable to any would-be predators that choose to approach the nest. But, in an unlikely twist of fate, an adult deer has befriended the mother goose, taking over the role of protector.

This animal arrangement is highly unusual, since there's no known way that a deer and goose can communicate. Yet somehow the deer has come to understand the need of the nesting mother. (read more)

Largest Bank Failure This Year, Alabama's Superior Bank, Is Among Six Banks Shut

U.S. regulators announced the biggest bank failure so far this year by assets, Birmingham, Ala.'s Superior Bank, as well as the most failures in a single day in 2011, as five other banks were closed in Alabama, Minnesota, Mississippi and Georgia.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said in addition to Superior, Nexity Bank, also based in Birmingham, was closed, the first failures in Alabama this year. Minnesota and Mississippi also logged their first failures of 2011 with the closures of Rosemount National Bank and Heritage Banking Group, respectively. (read more)

Japan corporate exodus: Japan radiation fears prompt firms to move employees

Foreign firms are evacuating staff from Japan, after fears of radiation leaks at the Fukushima Daiichi plant escalated further.

German car maker BMW and car part maker Continental are among companies moving employees out of the country.

Others, including software group SAP, are moving staff to southern cities within Japan.

Workers have suspended operations at the nuclear plant after a rise in radiation levels.

Radiation levels in Tokyo were higher than normal, officials said, but not at levels dangerous to humans.

The expatriate staff of international banks, including Morgan Stanley, BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered, have reportedly left the capital city.

However, the Japan-based International Bankers Association said that none of its members had ordered its employees to evacuate, and some financial firms were continuing "business as usual". Although predominately staffed by Japanese employees, expatriates typically make up a large part of the management at the Tokyo offices of foreign financial firms. (read more)

Puberty blocker for children as young as 12 considering sex change

Children as young as 12 are to be allowed drugs to block puberty while they decide whether to have a sex change, it has been revealed.

The monthly injection suspends the onset of adulthood so that young people confused about their gender can be sure of any decision before they take on too many masculine or feminine features.

Supporters say that the "window" prevents a great deal of mental and physical anguish caused by the maturing of sex organs, facial hair growth and changes in the voice.

But critics argue it only prolongs the agony and can prevent people "growing out" of any feelings of confusion.

The treatment can be prescribed for people diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder (GID) – a rare psychiatric condition where a person is born one sex, but feels they are the other.

One of the main effects of the drugs is to stunt the development of sexual organs so less surgery will be required if someone chooses to permanently change their gender at a later date. (read more)

Morgan Stanley Defaulted on a Loan and Walked away from Offices in Tokyo; Biggest Default in Japan's History -- $3.3 Billion

Morgan Stanley Defaulted on a Tokyo Commercial office building yesterday (April 15th) they gave the keys back! It is the biggest default ever in Japan's History - it is worth 3.3 Billion. Morgan Stanley left their investors high and dry with this default! Will this information come to light in the U.S. MSM? Portions from Article:

TOKYO (Reuters) – A Morgan Stanley property fund failed to make $3.3 billion in debt payments by a deadline on Friday, handing over the keys to a central Tokyo office building to Blackstone (BX.N) and other in

The $4.2 billion MSREF V real estate fund missed its April 15 deadline to repay 278 billion yen($3.3 billion) vestors, the largest repayment failure of its kind in Japan.

The refinanced debt was sold in six different tranches by Morgan Stanley to investors.

Now comes the question on WHY Morgan Stanley did this? Commonsense says they know something we do not or they can read the writing on the wall. Tokyo is getting a major amount of radiation from the Fukushima melt down. They have decided to walk away from their investments there. I have read this morning (16th) that planes have been chartered with the elite getting out of Japan in a more hurried fashion than before.

Here is an article on how many of the banks have left Tokyo along with other major corporations and evacuated their top personnel. It is being denied by those corporations, but with the latest news of Morgan Stanley walking away from an office building, I would wager a bet it is true. (read more)

How about Gas for $2.80 a Gallon? Texans brave drug wars for cheap gas in Mexico

Such a deal! How would you like to be able to fill up at $2.80 a gallon?

Gasoline prices like that are available but there’s one catch...they’re in Mexico.

But 1200 WOAI’s Michael Board says plenty of south Texans are ducking to avoid the bullets from the gang wars, to gas up at prices which are as much as a dollar lower than prices in the United States.

“When Piedras prices are under ours, a segment of Eagle Pass residents go to Piedras Negras to fill up,” says Chad Foster, the former Mayor of Eagle Pass and currently a real estate agent who sells property on both sides of the Rio Grande.

Why is gasoline so much cheaper across the Rio Grande? Two main reasons. First of all, Petroleos Mexicanos, the state-owned oil company, controls prices with the assistance of the Mexican government, which is not keen to see the price of gasoline go up too high for fear of public unrest. Also, Mexican environmental laws are not as strict as laws in the U.S., and gasoline sold in Mexico is not required to have many of the special blends designed to hold down air pollution, which jack up U.S. prices.

Foster says he will organize his day so he can buy gasoline in Mexico.

“The other day, I was going to Zaragoza to show a ranch, and I needed gas, and I have no issue buying Mexican gas,” he said. (read more)

Nevada Quake Swarm has Experts Concerned

Nevada Seismologists are keeping a close eye on an area southwest of Hawthorne, Nevada where hundreds of earthquakes have been detected since Sunday.

"It's a little bit concerning in a sense. The largest earthquakes in these sequences are pretty large in size." Graham Kent is Director of Nevada Seismological Laboratory at the University of Nevada Reno. He says there have been hundreds of earthquakes southwest of Hawthorne over the past few days. The largest-- recorded at a 4.4 in size.

"These are the biggest in a sequence we've seen at least in the last couple of years." Kent says unlike the 2008 quakes in Somersett that damaged so many homes, these earthquakes are fortunately not underneath a community.

Size is not the only reason Kent says they are watching the swarm of quakes closely. The location of these quakes is on top of a fault that has until now remained unknown or has not been active. Kent then made an eerie comparison, "Whats really interesting about most of these earthquakes we've experienced. Short of the Chilean and Japanese; Haiti, Baja, even Christchurch... we're on unknown faults." (read more)

Hawaii, Other States, Form Caucus to Oppose TSA Intrusions

Believing that the federal Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has gone too far in an assault on individual and states rights, a new, national, bipartisan legislative caucus is emerging to take action.

Dubbed tentatively the “United States for Travel Freedom” caucus, it officially convened on April 14, 2011 via teleconference and video live streaming (http//alaskalegislature.tv/).

The mission of the caucus is to, “establish a centralized location to share information regarding

· detailed information of federal security policies as they pertain to the right to travel freely;
· detailed information on how these policies affect the citizens of the United States of America;
· detailed information on methods of screening and the accumulative costs of these procedures.

Primary organizers are Alaska State Representative Sharon Cissna and Washington State Senator Val Stevens. Republican and Democrat legislators from Alaska, Hawaii, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington have pledged to work together for common goals to oppose what is perceived as an ever growing threat to liberty by the TSA. Additional state legislative participation is anticipated.

Each of the lawmakers involved to date has introduced legislation in their state to curb what they, and their state’s citizens, believe to be excessive power by the TSA. (read more)

Congress passes $6 trillion in spending cuts: US

The House on Friday approved a fiscal year 2012 budget resolution from Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) that seeks to drastically limit government spending next year and in years to follow.

But the vote on the measure — which imposes $5.8 trillion in spending cuts over the next decade — came after a clear sign that at least half of the Republican Caucus supports even tougher spending cuts.

The final tally was 235-193, with four Republicans opposing it. They were Reps. Ron Paul (Texas), Denny Rehberg (Mont.), Walter Jones (N.C.) and David McKinley (W.Va.). (read more)

TSA security looks at people who complain about ... TSA security -- "Behavior detection officers" might want to see "your papers", so be ready

Don't like the way airport screeners are doing their job? You might not want to complain too much while standing in line.

Arrogant complaining about airport security is one indicator Transportation Security Administration officers consider when looking for possible criminals and terrorists, CNN has learned exclusively. And, when combined with other behavioral indicators, it could result in a traveler facing additional scrutiny.

CNN has obtained a list of roughly 70 "behavioral indicators" that TSA behavior detection officers use to identify potentially "high risk" passengers at the nation's airports.

Many of the indicators, as characterized in open government reports, are behaviors and appearances that may be indicative of stress, fear or deception. None of them, as the TSA has long said, refer to or suggest race, religion or ethnicity.

But one addresses passengers' attitudes towards security, and how they express those attitudes.

It reads: "Very arrogant and expresses contempt against airport passenger procedures."

TSA officials declined to comment on the list of indicators, but said that no single indicator, taken by itself, is ever used to identify travelers as potentially high-risk passengers. Travelers must exhibit several indicators before behavior detection officers steer them to more thorough screening.

But a civil liberties organization said the list should not include behavior relating to the expression of opinions, even arrogant expressions of opinion. (read more)

BP victim's father: 'You rolled the dice and lost'

BP chief executive Bob Dudley on Thursday read aloud the names of the 11 men killed aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig last year -- a response to stinging criticism at its annual shareholder meeting that the company was putting profits over safety.

Just prior to Dudley's recital, Antonia Juhasz, an activist shareholder from the Gulf Coast, read a letter written by the father of one of the men killed. She read the letter with the vocal support of many in the audience, and despite an attempt by BP (BP) chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg to cut her off.

"This was no act of God -- BP, Halliburton (HAL, Fortune 500) and Transocean (RIG) could have prevented this," Juhasz said, reading a letter from Keith Jones, the father of Gordon Jones, an engineer on the doomed rig. "But it would have taken more time, more money, and you were too greedy to wait. You rolled the dice with my son's life, and you lost."

Juhasz said in an interview after the meeting that the younger Jones left behind a pregnant wife and a two-year-old son. (read more)

U.S. South storms death toll rises to 16: 'It's just been one catastrophe after another'

The death toll from powerful storms and tornadoes that have devastated parts of the U.S. South, toppling trees, smashing buildings and tearing up trailers, rose to at least 16 early Saturday.

Seven deaths were reported in Alabama, including a man killed when the storm tossed a mobile home nearly across a state highway.

In the deadliest storm of the season, three adult family members were killed around 11 p.m. Friday when a tornado ripped through homes in the Boone's Chapel community, north of the Alabama capital of Montgomery, said Autauga County Chief Deputy Sheriff Joe Sedinger.

Two side-by-side trailers were torn from their foundations and tossed into nearby woods. On Saturday morning, wooden steps and flowerbeds were all that remained where one mobile home had stood.

"The trailer was anchored down and the anchors are gone," Sedinger said. "But the steps are still there and the blooms are still on the flowers."

Seven people were hurt in the storm, including a firefighter injured during the emergency response, Sedinger said.

Another three deaths were reported early Saturday in Washington County in southern Alabama, said Yasamie Richardson, spokeswoman for the Alabama Emergency Management Agency.

Don Faulkner, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mobile, estimated mobile homes make up around 40 per cent of the houses in the area of Washington County where the storm hit. (read more)

Libyan rebels advance on key oil city -- Will Brega finally be theirs?

Libya's opposition forces have advanced once again to the strategic oil town of Brega thanks to four days of airstrikes by NATO, a rebel officer said Saturday.

Col. Hamid Hassy said that following scattered clashes with the government forces of Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi, the rebels had reached the outskirts of the key oil facility in Brega, a town that has already changed hands half a dozen times since fighting began in early March.

He added that the rebels will bring engineers to repair any damage to the refinery and oil facilities there.

For four days, the rebel forces maintained their positions around the city of Ajdabiya, about 50 kilometers away, allowing airstrikes by NATO planes to weaken government forces, Hassy said.

The NATO bombardments, which began last month after the United Nations authorized military action to defend civilians caught in Libya's civil war, have kept rebels from being outright defeated on the battlefield by Gadhafi's better trained and equipped forces, but until now they have not been enough to turn the tide.

The military alliance has struggled to coax its members to supply enough planes for its sorties, and earlier this week launched an appeal for more aircraft capable of precision ground attacks. Only half of NATO's members support the assault on Libya, and just a handful – including Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Britain and Norway – have furnished jets for the mission.

While opposition fighters were advancing on Brega in the east, the rebels' struggled to hold their positions in the city of Misrata, their only major foothold in the country's west. (read more)

Serbia anti-government protesters demand early election -- people power spreading?

Tens of thousands of anti-government protesters have massed in Belgrade to call for early elections, amid growing anger over the economy and corruption.

Opposition leader Tomislav Nikolic told the crowd he was going on hunger strike until an election was called.

The rally comes three months after a similar protest in the capital.

President Boris Tadic has said Serbia needs stability and dismissed opposition ultimatums about election dates as "totally inappropriate".

The next election is scheduled for 2012.

But the BBC's Mark Lowen in Belgrade says the resurgent opposition, combined with news of the hunger strike, may make the call for a fresh poll hard to ignore. (read more)

B.C. girls in YouTube fight charged with assault -- Today's Parents: No rules, no teaching, no morals

Two teenaged girls from Nanaimo, B.C., have been charged with assault in connection with a fight that was posted to YouTube.

Police believe the girls, aged 13 and 14, lured the 15-year-old victim to a mall parking lot some time in the last week of March and took turns attacking her.

Several others teens watched the brawl and at least one of them recorded the event and posted it to the popular video website. YouTube has since removed the video.

The fight was believed to be the culmination of a dispute among the three schoolmates that was fuelled by rounds of accusations on Facebook, said RCMP Const. Gary O'Brien. (read more)

More Gulf of Mexico Hijinx: BP oil buried on beaches, dolphin carcasses left to rot (Reader contributed)

Regarding the second picture, the contributor comments:

"Laurel Lockamy was upset that a dolphin had been lying dead in the sand near Pass Christian, MS, for more than five days. It had been painted orange after being counted by the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies and tagged as counted. But it still was not moved and was decomposing in the sand."

Mississippi coastline green algae build up becoming part of a disturbing post-Gulf oil spill trend? (Reader contributed)

Photos taken April 12, 2011.

New York set to be big loser as sea levels rise

New York is a major loser and Reykjavik a winner from new forecasts of sea level rise in different regions.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said in 2007 that sea levels would rise at least 28cm (1ft) by the year 2100.

But this is a global average; and now a Dutch team has made what appears to be the first attempt to model all the factors leading to regional variations.

Other researchers say the IPCC's figure is likely to be a huge under-estimate.

Whatever the global figure turns out to be, there will be regional differences.

Ocean currents and differences in the temperature and salinity of seawater are among the factors that mean sea level currently varies by up a metre across the oceans - this does not include short-term changes due to tides or winds.

So if currents change with global warming, which is expected - and if regions such as the Arctic Ocean become less saline as ice sheets discharge their contents into the sea - the regional patterns of peaks and troughs will also change. (read more)

Pollution in Southern California may be harming our brains

New research suggests that pollution in Southern California may be harming our brains.

We already know that pollution can do harm to our lungs, but research from the University of Southern California suggests that residents here are even worse off thanks to our traffic-polluted freeways.

“It’s not like what you see in smog and the days when you don’t get to see the mountains,” says Todd Morgan a researcher with USC referring to the type of pollution investigated in the study.

Researchers looked at the smallest of particles that are not visible to the naked eye. Air samples were taken from the 110 Freeway near USC and exposed to mice over a 10 week exposure period, over about 150 hours. The results showed brain damage — keeping neurons from developing — which could eventually lead to memory loss, even developmental disorders in children. According to researchers there is suggestive evidence, it could happen to us too. (read more)

South Sudan contemplates new capital -- don't forget about our newest country (Video)

In Southern Sudan, a committee has been formed to investigate whether Juba is suitable to be the capital city.

Many believe a new city should be built from scratch, but there are mixed feelings about a possible move.

Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasa reports from Juba, South Sudan. (Source: Watch video here)

Vaccines and autism: a new scientific review establishes links between vaccines and autism

For all those who've declared the autism-vaccine debate over - a new scientific review begs to differ. It considers a host of peer-reviewed, published theories that show possible connections between vaccines and autism.

The article in the Journal of Immunotoxicology is entitled "Theoretical aspects of autism: Causes--A review." The author is Helen Ratajczak, surprisingly herself a former senior scientist at a pharmaceutical firm. Ratajczak did what nobody else apparently has bothered to do: she reviewed the body of published science since autism was first described in 1943. Not just one theory suggested by research such as the role of MMR shots, or the mercury preservative thimerosal; but all of them.

Ratajczak's article states, in part, that "Documented causes of autism include genetic mutations and/or deletions, viral infections, and encephalitis [brain damage] following vaccination [emphasis added]. Therefore, autism is the result of genetic defects and/or inflammation of the brain."

The article goes on to discuss many potential vaccine-related culprits, including the increasing number of vaccines given in a short period of time. "What I have published is highly concentrated on hypersensitivity, Ratajczak told us in an interview, "the body's immune system being thrown out of balance." (read more)

How Singapore is making sure it doesn't run out of water

It may be one of the most developed nations in Southeast Asia, but on the densely packed urban island of Singapore, a simple glass of water doesn't come cheap, or easy.

A highly modernized city-state with a population of around 5 million, Singapore has no native freshwater supplies. Instead, it relies heavily on imports from neighboring Malaysia -- which delivers up to 250 million gallons a day -- to satisfy the nations huge and growing thirst.

At present, imports account for around 40% of its total water supply but, according to Singapore's Public Utilities Board (PUB), an array of alternative sources are in place to significantly reduce the country's future dependence on foreign supplies.

A "four tap" strategy -- which includes desalinated, recycled, rain and imported water -- has won the PUB an outpouring of international praise, including the Stockholm Industry Water Award in 2007.

According to Singapore's National Environment Agency, the country enjoys 2,340 millimeters of rainfall a year -- much of which is caught and funneled into the water supply through a network of drains, canals and reservoirs dotted around the city.

Large reservoirs are found even in the country's most built-up areas. Bordered by skyscrapers in densely-populated downtown Singapore, the recently built $226 million "Marina Barrage" has become a popular tourist attraction. (read more)

Success in the sky: U.S. military claims 'most challenging' missile intercept test yet - 15th Apr 2011

It isn't easy to knock a missile out of the sky, especially one nearly 2,000 miles away.

But the U.S. military says it has done just that, successfully completing its 'most challenging' missile intercept to date, using Lockheed Martin Corp and Raytheon Co hardware to shoot down an intermediate-range ballistic target over the Pacific.

The Pentagon said the test showed it is on track to wrap up this year the first phase of a layered, multibillion-dollar antimissile shield in Europe against missiles that could be fired from Iran.

It also may be adapted to defend against North Korea, and ultimately to add to the existing U.S. ground-based defenses.

The test on Friday west of Hawaii was the first time that Lockheed's shipboard Aegis combat system had been used to intercept a target with a range greater than 3,000 kms (1,864 miles), the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said.

Dubbed Flight Test Standard Missile-15, it was also the first Aegis test to rely on missile tracking data gathered by a powerful on-shore radar station.

The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency said in a statement: 'The ability to use remote radar data to engage a threat ballistic missile greatly increases the battle space and defended area of the SM-3' interceptor missile built by Raytheon and used to destroy the target. Read More

U.K. Soft Justice, so who is left to protect the Children? - 16th Apr 2011

Below you will see two near identical articles, in both a baby dies because their mother is more interested in Facebook than their own Child. See also how two countries value the life of a child.

The life of a child, any child should be protected and when a crime is commited there should be consiquences for your actions, how else will you learn or set an example. When it comes to children in the UK this seems to be flawed as society and the systems continues to let these babies and children down, fails to protect them and fails to punish their abusers.

100.000 children go missing in the UK each year, with 95% being due to abuse at home or at the hands of a family or friend. this problem isn't getting better, lessons or not being learned from previous mistakes made within the system, and punishments seem to be in the hands of the human rights act rather than our Courts.

The NSPCC in the UK does not know exactly how many children are being abused or neglected in the UK as the UK does not publish statistics on the number of substantiated child abuse cases. However, the latest published figures show that approx. 46.700 children ar at risk of abuse right now in the UK.

In the USA there are over 3 million reports of child abuse each year, these reports can include multiple children.

* IN the USA a report of Child Abuse is made every 10 Seconds.
* Almost 5 Children die in the US each day as result of Child Abuse - 3 out of 4 of the deaths are children under the age of 4


1: UK - In December 2009 Shannon Woods, then 19 years old, left her 8 Month old baby Daughter alone to Drown in a bath, whilst she was looking on Facebook.

She was SPARED JAIL on the 4th of April 2011, even though pleading QUILTY to the charges of child cruelty and neglect.

Shannon Woods received a 12 Month Sentence, Suspended for two years. Source

2. USA - In September 2010 Shannon Johnson, then 34 years old, Left her 13 Month old Baby Son alone to Drown in a bath, whilst she was playing on Facebook.

She also pleaded QUILTY to Child neglect and Abuse and was Handed a 10 year JAIL SENTENCE - Source

Obama administration unveils online ID system (but insists it's not a Big Brother plan to snoop on Internet users) - 16th Apr 2011

A plan to create a national online identity system was launched today to help combat cyber crime.

Commerce Secretary Gary Locke claimed the move will protect Internet consumers from fraud and identity theft.

Unveiling the scheme, he insisted the cyber ID was not a Big Brother plan by the government to snoop on web users.

Mr Locke said it would mean people would no longer have to remember a variety of different passwords to do business and social networking online.

He claims that the current system of half-remembered passwords jotted down on post it notes and based on pets and mother's maiden names is not enough.

'Passwords just won't cut it here,' he said. 'We must do more to help consumers protect themselves, and we must make it more convenient than remembering dozens of passwords.'

The Commerce Department said 8.1 million people fell prey to online identity thieves last year at a cost of $27 billion.

By using a single identification- which could come in the form of a unique piece of software on a cell phone, a keychain fob, or some other type of gadget- the administration believes it will be easier and safer to navigate the web. Read More

Torture By Syrian Regime? A series of YouTube videos appear to show demonstrators being tortured by Syrian authorities. - 15th Apr 2011

WARNING GRAPHIC VIDEOS BELOW

Great balls of fire: Cosmic sight of 90 burning interstellar 'filaments' that are each 230,000 times the size of the EARTH - 16th Apr 2011

Scientists have discovered that gaseous filaments in nearby interstellar clouds are 230,000 times bigger than the size of Earth and often contain newly-born stars.

And because each filament is approximately the same width, a team from the European Space Agency's Herschel observatory now believes they may have been formed by interstellar sonic booms throughout the Milky Way.

Filaments in interstellar clouds have been photographed previously, but never in enough detail to have their widths measured. The latest images show that, regardless of the length or density of a filament, the width is always roughly the same.

The team analysed 90 filaments and found they were all about 0.3 light years across, or about 20,000 times the distance of Earth from the Sun - which is 93million miles.

'This is not direct proof, but it is strong evidence for a connection between interstellar turbulence and filaments. It provides a very strong constraint on theories of star formation,' said Dr Philippe André.

'The connection between these filaments and star formation used to be unclear, but now thanks to Herschel, we can actually see stars forming like beads on strings in some of these filaments,' added Herschel Project Scientist Göran Pilbratt. Read More

Game over! FBI shut down three of largest poker sites in probe that could end online gambling - 16th Apr 2011

(IMAGE: This is what appears if you go to the pokersites now)

Three of the largest online poker sites have been shut down by the FBI in a probe that could bring about the death of the internet gambling industry.

Eleven people, including the owners of Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and PokerStars, were charged with bank fraud and money laundering.

In 2006, Congress passed a law prohibiting online gambling, but most of the leading sites found ways to work around the law using foreign banks. Prosecutors allege that in doing so they broke the law.

FBI assistant director Janice Fedarcyk said: ‘These defendants, knowing full well that their business with U.S. customers and U.S. banks was illegal, tried to stack the deck.

‘They lied to banks about the true nature of their business. Then, some of the defendants found banks willing to flout the law for a fee.

The defendants bet the house that they could continue their scheme, and they lost.’

According to the indictment, the companies arranged for money received from U.S. gamblers to be disguised as payments to non-existent websites purporting to sell merchandise such as jewellery and golf balls. Read More

FBI seize the Computer of Akeem Cruz a New York pimp, in hunt for 'Craigslist ripper' - 16th Apr 2011

The laptop of a New York pimp has been seized and searched by the FBI in the desperate hunt for the 'Craigslist ripper'.

The FBI have seized the laptop of Akeem Cruz - who is linked to dead prostitute Megan Waterman - hoping to find a record of clients that could lead them to a possible serial killer, a source close to the investigation have indicated.

Cruz, of Brooklyn, is not considered a suspect in the disappearance of Waterman and three other prostitutes who bodies were found strewn last December near the side of a remote highway leading to Long Island's Jones Beach, the official said.

Cruz's lawyer said earlier this week that his client - currently imprisoned in Maine for a cocaine conviction - would have granted permission for a search of his computer.

The U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn declined to comment on the investigation into Cruz's computer.

Authorities say Cruz was one of the last people seen with Waterman, 22, of Scarborough, Maine, last June when she disappeared after travelling to a hotel in Hauppauge, to meet clients for sex. Read More

Japanese show their resilience by setting up communal bath in the middle of tsunami disaster zone - 16th Apr 2011

They've had to endure earthquakes, a tsunami and an ongoing level-7 nuclear crisis. But don't believe for one moment the Japanese are feeling sorry for themselves because they're having a bath.

These resourceful chaps weren't going to let the trifling matter of their houses being destroyed stop them having a proper wash so they set up an outdoor communal tub amidst the ruins of their home town.

It's a testament to the incredible spirit of the Japanese people as they pull together to overcome the appalling series of disasters they've had to endure. Read More

Beam me up, BEAMS: Teleporting breakthrough as scientists transport light particles (but is this the first time?) - 16th Apr 2011

Sci-fi enthusiasts have dreamt of being able to teleport from one location to another since Gene Roddenberry popularised the idea in Star Trek.

But the first steps towards making that dream a reality have now been taken by Japanese scientists who’ve found a way to transport light particles from one place to another – and echoed a popular theory in the process.

The famed Schrodinger’s Cat theory suggested that a body could be both alive and dead until its particles decide either way , due to outside interference.

In the experiment, Schrodinger proposed the idea of a cat left in a box with a radioactive substance, which had a 50 per cent chance of decaying and releasing a poison, thus killing the cat within an hour.

Because there is also a 50 per cent chance the substance would not decay, and thus not release the poison, quantum mechanics dictate that the cat is neither alive, nor dead, until the box is opened for measurement.

And new findings by scientists from the University of Tokyo bear similarity to Schrodinger’s Cat after they teleported light that is in two, seemingly contradictory, states simultaneously. Read More

NOTE: This is not a breakthrough or the First time, it was reported in National Geographic on the 18th April 2004 that Austrian Researchers have teleported photons (particles of Light) across the Danube River in Vienna.

Quote: "We were able to perform a quantum teleportation experiment for the first time ever outside a university laboratory," said Rupert Ursin, a researcher at the Institute for Experimental Physics at the University of Vienna in Austria.

READ ARTICLE FROM 2004 HERE >>>>>>

Shank city: The suburb hijacked by gangs where this week it was a 15-year-old Negus McLean's turn to die - 16th Apr 2011

Located in two redbrick campuses straddling a busy dual carriageway, Edmonton County may not be the most prepossessing state school in London — but down the years it has produced an admirable array of high-achievers.

Among the many past pupils to have risen far beyond their humble beginnings are Tory peer Norman Tebbit, actor Ray Winstone, Olympic silver medallist and TV personality Kriss Akabusi, and the arts polymath Sir Roy Strong.

By all accounts, 15-year-old Negus McLean, the son of a primary school secretary, had every chance of adding his name to this list of successful alumni. A talented rap musician with good looks and charisma to match, he was tipped to emulate chart-topping singer Lemar — another, more recent Edmonton County pupil.

Tragically, however, this gifted teenager — who hoped to gain five A-starred GCSEs this summer — will be remembered for a very different reason.

Last Sunday evening, as he went to fetch a takeaway chicken supper with his 12-year-old brother, Elijah, a gang of about a dozen youths, their faces covered with bandanas, followed them on mountain bikes and demanded the younger boy’s BlackBerry phone.

With commendable courage, Negus attempted to defend Elijah, whereupon the mob chased and encircled him, stabbed him repeatedly through the thigh and chest, and beat him with a metal pole. He died from wounds to his heart soon after reaching hospital. Read More

Yob stung while trying to steal honey returns to PETROL BOMB - Killing 54,000 Bees - 16th Apr 2011

After a vain attempt to steal honey from a beehive, a callous youth thought he'd get his own back - by setting fire to the hive and killing 54,000 bees.

The 17-year-old ran away howling after being badly stung on the hand during his botched robbery.

He returned later with five friends and a plastic bottle filled with petrol, which he set alight and lobbed at the hive.

It burst into flames, killing around a third of the bees which the owners had spent three years building up.

The youth, who cannot be named, was found guilty of one count of arson following a two-day trial at Newton Abbot Magistrates Court, Devon.

The hive was set up in the grounds of Kingskerswell Parish Church near Newton Abbot in 2007.

It was funded by the Kingskerswell Manor House Trust and produced honey which was sold locally to raise money for the charity which maintains the historic site.

Trust spokesman Wendy Coombes said: 'I find it incredible that someone would do such a thing.

'I cannot understand the mentality of someone who would set fire to a beehive which a lot of time and effort was put in to.

'We set it up three years ago as a nucleus and steadily watched it grow. Last year was to be the first time they were going to produce a significant amount of honey.

'But that will never happen now. I haven't decided whether I am to create another yet. I'm still coming to terms with having lost the last one.' Read More

Mystery female host 'invited' Lee Bradley Brown to Dubai - 16th Apr 2011

A British tourist allegedly beaten to death by prison guards in a Dubai jail was invited to the Arab state by a mystery woman, it was claimed last night.

Lee Bradley Brown, 39, was on holiday at a £1,000-a-night hotel when he was arrested for assault and swearing and thrown into a filthy cell.

His family have demanded government help and believe the nature of his death is being covered up by the authorities who claim he died of natural causes – even though witnesses saw him being ‘badly beaten’.

The self-employed maintenance worker flew to the Gulf state without telling his family, who don’t know how he was able to afford a luxury suite at the seven-star Burj Al Arab – one of the most expensive hotels in the world.

Yesterday a prison source said Mr Brown, of Dagenham, Essex, had told inmates he had been ‘invited to Dubai’ by an unknown woman.

It emerged last night that the British Government will not conduct an independent investigation into the death – meaning his family may never know the truth. Read More

Deadly bat disease found in Garrett cave Site third in Maryland to be infected by white-nose syndrome - 15th Apr 2011

— CUMBERLAND — Maryland Department of Natural Resources biologists have confirmed that white-nose syndrome has been found in a cave in Garrett County, the third documented case of the disease in Maryland.

The cave serves as an important winter shelter or hibernaculum for hundreds of bats. The disease has caused unprecedented bat mortality across the eastern U.S. Affected bats display a white fungus on their muzzles or other exposed skin.

“This is the second new infected site we’ve documented this year,” said Dan Feller, DNR’s Western Region ecologist. “We now have positive sites in all three Maryland counties with bat hibernacula.”

A survey by volunteer biologists from Frostburg State University, working under the direction of DNR, discovered the newly infected population. Three little brown bats and one tricolored bat submitted to the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center tested positive for for the disease.

At an infected site discovered last year in Allegany County, virtually all of the bats were dead, a level of devastation similar to other affected sites in the Northeast. The disease was found in Washington County last month.

“We’re relieved that our surveys found several important hibernating sites still unaffected, including one of the largest populations of eastern small-footed bats remaining in the United States,” said Feller. “But with the spread of this disease having been fast and unrelenting, the future of these sites is uncertain.”

The disease has spread across mines and caves in 14 states and two Canadian provinces, killing more than a million bats. It was first observed at Howe Cave near Albany, N.Y., in 2006. It is caused by a newly discovered cold-weather fungus, Geomyces destructans. Read More

'I hear you are going to be a mum': Chilling online message from woman accused of cutting unborn baby from 21-year-old Jamie Stice - 16th Apr 2011

A woman accused of cutting a foetus out of a pregnant friend's womb and pretending the baby was hers, allegedly contacted the victim three weeks ago with the Facebook message: 'I hear you're going to be a mum.'

The barbaric murder was uncovered after Kathy Michelle Coy, 33, turned up at a Kentucky hospital with a newborn boy.

Nursing staff immediately became suspicious and alerted the police.

The next day, investigators discovered the mutilated body of eight-month-pregnant Jamie Stice, 21, in woodland in Oakland, Kentucky.

The victim's mother, Jeannie Stice, said Coy allegedly began chatting online with the family about three weeks ago.

Jeannie Stice told Deborah Highland of the Bowling Green Daily News: 'She popped in on Jamie’s [Facebook] page and said, "How are you? I hear you are going to be a mum".'

She added that Coy told Jamie and herself that she worked for a company that could help them obtain baby clothes and other financial assistance.

'We were being evicted... and she gained our trust. She was trying to get us help and into another place.'

But Mrs Stice now believes that the whole story was a bid to get closer to her pregnant sister. Read More

Increasing activity at Philippine volcano as 20 Earthquakes are Recorded in the Past 24 Hours - 16th Apr 2011

More quakes and gas emissions have been detected from a volcano on an island close to the Philippine capital, possibly indicating an eruption is looming, the government said on Saturday.

Twenty volcanic quakes were detected at Taal Volcano in the 24 hours to Saturday 8:00am (0000 GMT) compared to 15 quakes in the same period on Friday, indicating that magma is still rising to the surface, the volcanology institute said.

Additionally, the water in the crater of Taal is heating up while the volcano's emissions of carbon dioxide have risen from 1,875 tonnes per day in February to 4,670 tonnes by the end of March.

"If this trend continues, we may have to raise alert level again," said Paul Alanis of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

People were warned not to approach Taal's crater or parts of its slopes where gas could still vent out.

Phivolcs on April 9 raised the second of a five-step alert around Taal Volcano, a popular tourist attraction 65 kilometres (40 miles) south of Manila, after detecting signs that magma was rising to the top of the volcano.

However Alanis said this does not mean an eruption is imminent and that the volcano might yet stabilise.

Despite government pleas for people to leave the 2,500-hectare (6,178-acre) crater island, only 163 of the estimated 7,000 people living there have evacuated, the civil defence agency said in a statement.

Taal is one of the most unstable of the country's active volcanoes with 33 recorded eruptions, the last one in 1977.

The lake surrounding the crater prevented deaths in 1977 and during other eruptions, as the body of water protected outlying areas from the lava. Source