Lost in Spades

A Fed love story: Janet Yellen meets her match | Reuters

How the Surveillance State Was Born

N.S.A. Gathers Data on Social Connections of U.S. Citizens

Louisiana Pastor Shot and Killed During Service | TIME.com

Saudi cleric says women who drive risk damaging their ovaries | Reuters

Tehran-born businessman's arrest brings Israel closer to Iran spymaster Israel takes cheap shot to counter Rouhani charm offensive

Al Qaeda-linked group blamed in Nigerian college attack

Let the games begin: fleet readies for entry to Sydney

Russia calls for pragmatic steps on removing Syrian chemical weapons - Xinhua | English.news.cn

FDA: Criminal case shows food safety is paramount

UK man gets 27 years in U.S. prison for plot to torture, eat child | Video | Reuters.com

Drug 'Molly' is taking a party toll in the United States | Reuters

Pakistani girl shot by Taliban honored as Harvard University’s humanitarian of the year - The Washington Post

Despite terror attacks and mass killings, most of the world is safer than ever | Fox News

BBC News - Iran nuclear: Rivals rally as Rouhani returns from UN

UPDATE 3-Greek police arrest leader, lawmakers of far-right Golden Dawn | Reuters

What Monkeys Can Teach Humans About Altruism - WSJ.com

Report: Israel warned Kenya of Nairobi attack

Climate change report: extreme weather to become more common - Telegraph

BBC News - Iran nuclear: Obama and Rouhani speak by phone

Greece Cracks Down on Far-Right Party With Arrests of Lawmakers

Pakistan gets three new islands following earthquake - Times Of India

Campaign Begins to End Locust Plague

Jehovah's Witness teen loses appeal over life-saving transfusion

WET SPOT found on MARS: NASA rover says 'high percentage'

Around the world, strong reactions to climate-change report

First U.S. cases of krokodil use

Iran surprises itself and the world

Iran at UN: Missteps and advances on the road to a nuclear deal

Syrian rebels reject interim government, embrace Sharia

Ex-Pope breaks silence to deny sex abuse cover-up

U.N. Weapons Inspectors Return to Syria

Forget the Handshake. Here Are Iran President Rouhani’s Real Challenges | TIME.com

Obama and Rouhani Miss Each Other, Diplomatically, at U.N.

7.7 magnitude quake in Pakistan just created a new island

What interested me even more than the headlines was his little riff on the projection of American hegemony. In the context of talking about Egypt, Obama noted that the United States has been accused of both backing the Muslim Brotherhood and of engineering the coup that removed it from power. Then he said that in fact, the danger is not that the United States is these days too aggressively interventionist or imperialist. Rather, he said, the "danger" (yes, danger) is that a wary-weary United States may "disengage," leaving a "vacuum" in global affairs that would be filled by others .

Mystery behind evolution of complex societies solved using math model Link to Full Journal Article (PDF file)

Mystery behind evolution of complex societies solved using math model

Jews Challenge Rules to Claim Heart of Jerusalem

Women 'Smell' Their Competition : DNews

Eagle vs Deer: Rare Images Caught on Camera

Iran president brings 'charm offensive' to U.N., but will Obama buy it?

Egypt Bans the Muslim Brotherhood, but the Islamists Are Not Finished | TIME.com

Turing and the Test of Time

Bangladeshi Garment Workers Set Factories Ablaze in Bid for Higher Wages | TIME.com

The duplicity, irony and the hypocrisy have no end... Pope attacks global economics for worshipping 'god of money'

Extended Ruling by Secret Court Backs Collection of Phone Data

Scores Are Killed by Suicide Bomb Attack at Historic Church in Pakistan

A New U.S. Player, Put on World Stage by Syria

Venezuela: 3 soldiers arrested in smuggling of 1.4 tons of cocaine to Paris

The new Pope is reinventing the wheel for the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and asking people, essentially, to forgive and forget. We cannot insist only on issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these things, and I was reprimanded for that. But when we speak about these issues, we have to talk about them in a context. The teaching of the church, for that matter, is clear and I am a son of the church, but it is not necessary to talk about these issues all the time . Of course! Why didn't we think of that. The (RCC) church is obsessed with abortion, gay marriage and contraception. What a shame that the RCC doesn't appear nearly as obsessed with the truth; with putting an end within its very ranks to child sexual abuse; with weeding out corruption and money laundering. It is by their fruits that we know a true disciple of Jesus. Consider what the boughs of the tree of Christianity (most...

Before the dust can settle on another American mass shooting, this time in Chicago , we hear of a mounting death toll in Nairobi, Kenya amid an ongoing shopping-mall siege : These two incidents have occurred barely before the ink could dry on the Huffington Post's 17th September story  We've Had So Many Mass Shootings In The U.S., We've Had To Redefine The Term  that outlined a spate of recent mass shootings (listed below with a local news story link with more details for each): Sept. 16, 2013 -- Washington -- At least 12 dead (including gunman) July 26, 2013 -- Hialeah, Fla. -- 7 dead (including gunman) June 7, 2013 -- Santa Monica, Calif. -- 6 dead (including gunman) April 24, 2013 -- Manchester, Ill. -- 5 dead April 21, 2013 -- Federal Way, Wash. -- 5 dead (including gunman) March 13, 2013 -- Herkimer County, N.Y. -- 5 dead (including gunman), one FBI K-9 dead Dec. 14, 2012 -- Newtown, Conn. -- 27 dead (including gunman) Sept. 27, 2012 -- M...

Top Ten Cheap All-Inclusive Resorts

Why It's Hard to Make an Ethically Sourced Smartphone

Focus On Energy - Businessweek

8 Sleeping Positions and Their Effects on Health

The Honey Launderers: Uncovering the Largest Food Fraud in U.S. History

News Summary: FDA to track most medical implants

Harvard launches a record $6.5B fundraising campaign

North Korea indefinitely postpones family reunions with South

Veteran confronts rape, suicide: 'I am angry that others are going through this'

Al Qaeda-linked Islamists hold hostages at Kenya mall after killing 39

Life on Mars? Well, Maybe Not

Pregnant CrossFit mom Lea-Ann Ellison causes stir online

Analysis: Pope charts a new course for church

It’s hard not to like such an erudite show-off. An Audience with Boris Johnson - Culture and Society - Browse - Big Ideas - ABC TV

For World's Oddest-Looking Antelope, Signs of a Comeback

First Person: Five Things I Learned in Syrian Refugee Camps

WWII soldier's letter finally reaches daughter

US nearly detonated atomic bomb over North Carolina – secret document

Rohani’s charm offensive poses difficult challenge for Netanyahu - Middle East Israel News | Haaretz

In the poker game with Obama on Syria, Putin playing the Israel card - Middle East Israel News | Haaretz

New research shows Earth’s core spins in opposite directions

The Pope is humming a sweet melody, assuaging a flock to yet more slumber. But a vulnerable flock needs to be alert, not asleep. A vulnerable flock needs now to be herded with a firm hand for safe passage through a narrow gate; not an opening of the flood gates. What tune is Francis humming? Pope Francis is humming the tune of "free" love. Nothing wrong with that is there?   The bible tells me that for every time there is indeed a season. Yet the world has had more than enough "free love" over the last 50 or so years: a 'free' love that has led to wanton apostasy; a 'free' love that has allowed for a scattered, narcotised and narcissistic flock; a 'free' love that says anything goes.    No-one would argue against love. Love is the crucial ingredient; but love must come with boundaries. What boundaries come with 'free' love? No boundaries. I would suggest that the world is in need of some '...

John McCain issues a rebuttal to Vladimir Putin's controversial op-ed in the New York Times last week, telling Russians they deserve better than their current leadership . Further on the situation in Syria: Turkey closed a border crossing to Syria after an al Qaeda-linked group stormed a nearby town and expelled opposition fighters from an Arab and Western-backed unit, officials said on Thursday . Meanwhile: President Vladimir Putin says that Russia has strong grounds to believe that Syrian rebels were responsible for the country's chemical attack . Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/09/19/3636799/putin-syria-chemical-attack-sly.html#storylink=cpy

Twice, before he shot and killed 12 people in a rampage at the Washington Navy Yard on Sept. 16, Aaron Alexis was arrested for discharging a firearm - once in his Ft. Worth apartment, and once outside his grandmother's home in Seattle. Neither time was he prosecuted for a crime .  And in a related story: Navy Yard gunman Aaron Alexis had sought treatment for insomnia in the emergency rooms of two Veterans Affairs hospitals in the past month, but he told doctors he was not depressed and was not thinking of harming others, federal officials said Wednesday . And this: Aaron Alexis sought medical help in the days before his shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard, leaving a trail of missed distress signals now under scrutiny in the massacre’s wake. .

Blood test can determine if person has virus or bacteria

Underwater Mountains Mix Antarctic Waters, Influence Global Climate

I was listening to some MF Doom when I stumbled upon this excellent album review. I'm not saying you should rush out and buy the album; although maybe that you should; but I liked the style and tone of this piece (link below). But first, listen to Lovage, featuring Eryka Badu: People used to think MF DOOM was slacking if he only released one album a year, but sometime after The Mouse and the Mask , the  dude just up and vanished .

The salient message of the bible is equivalent to the first law of thermodynamics: energy cannot be created nor destroyed; it can only be redirected into another form. Everything takes energy. Existence is by definition energised. Every action has its equal but opposite reaction. Do unto others as you want done unto you. Sow and you will reap. Knock and it will be opened... Sound familiar? These are the quintessential teachings of Jesus who was a wholly unblemished man - physically, emotionally, spiritually. He bore the sins of the world and only through him will the unleashing of those sins be delivered upon those who have spent their life trying to cheat the universal and fundamental energetic equation. They will have their comeuppance. The Rapture will be an event that will occur within the mental-emotional-spiritual realm of each individual involved and at varying times for each - one where the individual will at once see Jesus in plain light and unvarnished and unadulterated ...

A brief respite: The Night Out " The Night Out " is a song performed by French electronic music DJ and producer Martin Solveig from his fifth studio album, Smash. The song was released as the album's fifth single on April 2, 2012. The song was written and produced by Martin Solveig. The song has charted in Belgium and Germany.

British singer-songwriter Rita Sahatçiu Ora released her debut, self-titled album that went straight to number one in the UK in 2012. It spawned two number-one singles, R.I.P. and How We Do (Party). Radioactive (released Feb 11, 2013) is her fourth single and is co-written by Sia Furler and Greg Kurstin. Born: 26 November 1990; Pristina, Serbia Height: 1.66 m   Albums: Ora  

I Remember is a progressive house  track by Canadian artist deadmau5 and American artist Kaskade featuring the vocals of Haley Gibby . The song appears in the 2010 video games GoldenEye 007 and DJ Hero 2 . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Remember_(song )

Ig Nobel prize for discovery that opera is good for a mouse's heart

5 years after financial crash, many losers — and some big winners

Want to See China’s Latest Top Secret Military Site? Just Google It | TIME.com

Beware your smartphone: NSA is watching you - News - World - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events, Expert opinion, podcasts, Video

UN has evidence that Syrian rebels used chemical weapons - News - Politics - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events, Expert opinion, podcasts, Video

Attack on Syria may cause massive damage to the US - News - World - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events, Expert opinion, podcasts, Video

Syrian chemical attack a staged event - FM - News - Politics - The Voice of Russia: News, Breaking news, Politics, Economics, Business, Russia, International current events, Expert opinion, podcasts, Video

How Bashar al-Assad took Syria to the brink -- and beyond

In Russia, politics and nationalist pride are basis of Putin’s anti-American turn

Has the West got it wrong twice: Iraq (not questioning the intelligence); Syria (too cautious)? The current stalling has allowed Putin a foot in the door. And Russia essentially is allied locally with anti-US sentiment (currently more-or-less a Shia diagonal along Iran-Iraq-Syria into Lebanon (Hezbollah)) for commercial but also politico-strategic reason. Putin has played his poker face. Right or wrong if push comes to shove, if not the US, then ultimately Israel will call their bluff. Russian Roulette is not the same without a gun.

Deadly fungal disease detected outside the Pacific Northwest

Voyager 1 facts Launched from Cape Canaveral on September 5, 1977 onboard a Titan-Centaur rocket Voyager has been the most distant human-made object in space since 1998, when it passed the Pioneer 10 probe Between them, Voyager 1 and 2 explored the giant planets of our outer solar system and the moons, rings, and magnetic fields that surround them Both Voyager spacecraft carry a 12-inch gold-plated copper phonograph record containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on earth The records are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form, or future humans, who may find them Famous space scientist Carl Sagan headed the NASA committee responsible for selecting material for the records  Comparison of sizes of lengths with order of magnitude 1e13m: Sedna's orbit (left); comet Hale Bopp's orbit (lower, faint orange); one light-day (yellow spherical shell with yellow Vernal point arrow as radius); the Termination Shock (b...

Vatican City: the country

Obama's back down on the Syrian "red line" has weakened him and emboldened not only Assad, but their recently outspoken allies Russia , Iran and China . Add to this the feeble UK - indeed it has been openly ridiculed by the Russians - and we have the appearance at least of an  impotent West . Send in the Clowns: Putin, Iran and the RCC. In the guise of Christianity, now rushing in to also help fill this void left by Obama and the Wets is the historically tyrannical Roman Catholic church. The Pope is the joker in the pack. Watch for him to now go a whoring with the East. This situation has left Israel feeling increasingly vulnerable , without friends. I have been postulating for some time but it is now clear that we have the pre-text for a third World War. When will the circus be in town? Tuesday, 15th April 2014 . The circus is coming to town! It isn't funny.

Analysis: The Syrian deal - more bad than good for Israel | JPost | Israel News

Asia Times Online :: Papal challenge rocks US's Syria plans The above link is to an article by  Francesco Sisci, a columnist for the Italian daily, in which he outlines the recent remarks by Pope Frances regarding the situation in Syria; and in effect serving as a timely reminder to the superpower USA, and the superpower-to-be China, that not all revolves around the Pacific. Indeed Francesco goes on to argue that "t his could dent the current ability of the US president to be the arbiter of right and wrong in global politics, and it would give the stage to the pope to become a greater center of gravity in international politics, not just in religion." Indeed the article assumes an increasing role, as world inquisitor, by the Hole See. Are we on the threshold of seeing the Pope again begin to wax greatly with regard to geopolitical affairs in a way not seen perhaps since the Middle Ages? Pope Francis ...

This article is a redaction from a number of articles from CNN looking at why Russia, China and Iran are backing Syria - February 5, 2012 RUSSIA Apart from securing its energy contracts, a leased naval facility at the Syrian port of Tartus is Russia's only direct access to the Mediterranean. Russia's key policy goal is blocking American efforts to shape the region - be they revolutions, wars or regime change. It points to the Arab Spring and the US-led war in Iraq as evidence of the regional disruption and repercussions from American influence. Russia doesn't want a repeat of Iraq, and Putin is still upset about NATO's bombing in Libya two years ago that removed Russian ally Moammar Gadhafi from power. Russia also doesn't trust U.S. intentions in the region; believing humanitarian concerns are often used as an excuse for pursuing America's own political and economic interests. The U.S. (Kerry, McCain et al.) is keen to stress that there is no ...

One thing should be abundantly clear, after tonight's "Q&A" on ABC Television, to those of you who were befuddled during the election campaign: the LNP Coalition have no plan and never did - just a bunch of slogans and policy aims; but no detail of policy. Australians voted for an Aero-Bar party - more air than substance. Why do you think Tony Abbott was so quick to get to work? Yes, it is camouflaged behind words like: "slowly"; "methodically"; "carefully"... but they are winging it Big Time! No policy. No Plan. NFI. You get what you vote for - nebulous, superficial, unprepared, sloganeering. Make no mistake: Australia  IS the laughing stock of the world. Now Mr Murdoch, send in the clowns!

1. Labor was too busy fighting amongst itself and that took the gloss off its legislative/ economic achievements - "they kicked themselves out" 2. Labor Government was too progressive for the country with perhaps too many changes in too short a time for the vested interests of mining and other business to cope with 3. The Liberals exploited this and managed, aided by the media it has to be said, to convince the public that it was a 'bad' government This Prime Minister of Australia is unlikely to drown.

Only Australians are stupid enough to vote out a government presiding over an economy the envy of the world just because the Opposition said they weren't; and to which end they were backed by the media. Whatever female voters thought of Tony Abbott was effectively nullified by having his daughters stick to him like shit to a wet blanket. Furthermore, Blue Collar males are the demographic that deserted Labor - they never liked Julia Gillard and they preferred a man's man like Abbott over Rudd. And therein lies the irony: those most likely to lose from a Coalition government have just voted them in as the next government. Can't believe we made him Prime Minister. Well guys, you get what you vote for.

The Liberals have played 'Magic Cup' with the 'Mug' Punter   Yes. Labor really annoyed me when they deposed a sitting Prime Minister.   And then they did it a second time. Ropable, I was. Still am. I consider my politics to be just left of centre (prudent, but not a fanatic), but because of their twice deposing of a sitting prime minister, and also because of the Green's more humane asylum seeker policy (and strong climate policy), I was considering voting the latter ( they have been quite transparent ) and perhaps preference Labor, or, believe it or not, the PUP. Sound ridiculous? So fed up was I that I was considering a vote for Clive Palmer (mind you, you could do worse in this election – how dull would it have been without him). But this is no laughing matter – this is our future. And here’s the rub… Aware of Labor heartland disaffection, the Liberals are using this as leverage to wager an increasingly right-wing agenda; bu...

For f---'s sake Australia. If you vote or preference the LNP you'll be voting for the far right wing and a whole big f---ing world of pain and embarrassing stupidity .

WA Today - Leanne Nicholson, September 6, 2013 - 1:36PM Disturbing findings from a cost of living investigation by a peak WA body is being reflected in the streets of Perth with more and more families living the hardships identified in the report.

The Age - Adam Turner, September 6, 2013 - 1:42PM The man who would be Prime Minister of this country skimmed this important policy document for the first time, only days before the election, and then signed off on it while either failing to spot a giant mistake or simply failing to understand it. There's no ambiguity here. It looked pretty clear that the Coalition felt it could drop the filtering bombshell two days before the election and escape any serious scrutiny. The plan isn't as draconian as Stephen Conroy's now abandoned filtering scheme, but at least Conroy had the guts to lay his cards on the table and argue the point.

Financial Times - Global Insight, By John Reed - September 2, 2013 Their worry is not that Israel is being left alone to cope with Syria, whose war Israel’s government and most of its people want no direct part in. The fear – and it is a big one – is about the message America’s perceived wavering on Syria sends to its bigger and much more powerful ally: Iran.

James Legge -  Saturday 31 August 2013 The Independent A key Syria ally on the Security Council, Putin has previously warned that "any unilateral military action bypassing the UN Security Council" would be a "direct violation of international law".

The Independent - Joe Murphy , St Petersburg - Friday 06 September 2013 Few signs of unity of purpose between leaders at first day of summit, but hostility remains veiled – more or less .

Gabrielle Chan , political correspondent theguardian.com , Friday 6 September 2013 19.22 AEST Campaigning on the central coast, the prime minister insists the election is still there to be won, against all polling data.