Category: Aggregated

The huge, genetically engineered dinosaur which goes on a man-eating rampage in Jurassic World, this summer’s blockbuster movie, owes her very existence to a smaller but equally scary beast, casually — almost affectionately — nicknamed Bruce by the men who created it. This was the rogue Great White shark in Jaws, the film which premiered 40 years ago this week — and in doing so, launched the modern trend for action-packed summer mega-movies. The symmetry of the two openings is irresistible. Jurassic World, which arrived in cinemas here last Friday, has Steven Spielberg, 68, as executive producer. He was just … Continue reading →

“It is perfectly possible for a man to be out of prison and yet not free—to be under no physical constraint and yet be a psychological captive, compelled to think, feel and act as the representatives of the national state, or of some private interest within the nation wants him to think, feel and act. . . . To him the walls of his prison are invisible and he believes himself to be free.”—Aldous Huxley, A Brave New World Revisited “Free worlders” is prison slang for those who are not incarcerated behind prison walls.  Supposedly, those fortunate souls live in … Continue reading →

Nebraska’s legislature recently made headlines when it ended the state’s death penalty. Many found it odd that a conservatives-dominated legislature would support ending capital punishment, since conservative politicians have traditionally supported the death penalty. However, an increasing number of conservatives are realizing that the death penalty is inconsistent with both fiscal and social conservatism. These conservatives are joining with libertarians and liberals in a growing anti-death penalty coalition. It is hard to find a more wasteful and inefficient government program than the death penalty. New Hampshire recently spent over $4 million dollars prosecuting just two death penalty cases, while Jasper County in … Continue reading →

By Stuart CooperCampaign Manager, Fluoride Action Network (FAN) Just when you thought the evidence against fluoridation couldn’t get any more damning, several new studies and reviews have been published so far in just the past five months that ought to condemn fluoridation to the history books once and for all. The video above features a brief overview by Dr. Paul Connett, director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN),  about the health risks of water fluoridation you may have not been aware of. Water Fluoridation Linked to Higher Prevalence of ADHD A new study links water fluoridation to attention deficit hyperactivity … Continue reading →

Look, I am no seismologist. But I cannot agree with the people of the Malaysian province who claim that a recent fatal tremor was nothing short of divine retribution. The tribal folk in the neighbourhood of Mount Kinabalu say that local deities – the aki – took violent exception to a group of streaking European tourists, and in particular a young British woman who loosened her girdle and shook her naked breasts at the mountain. They say that the spirits quivered in corresponding outrage. They say that the great earth mother was so outraged that she uncorseted herself and wobbled the … Continue reading →

Two women, both armed with handguns, fought back during two separate attacks in Detroit last week. One woman was targeted for a carjacking and the other was the victim of a home invasion when five men broke into her house, and while all of the suspects walked away empty-handed, at least one also walked away with a gunshot wound. Dietta Gueye was asleep around 2:30 a.m. on June 9 when she heard tapping on a window, followed by the sound of glass shattering. She said the five men, two of who were armed, avoided the back side of the house … Continue reading →

Through the last decades, as we have been getting ever more occupied trying to be what society tells us is defined as successful, we all missed out on a lot of changes in our world. Or perhaps we should be gentle to ourselves and say we’re simply slow to catch up. Which is somewhat curious since we’ve also been getting bombarded with fast increasing amounts of what we’re told is information, so you’d think it might have become easier to keep up. It was not. While we were busy being busy we for instance were largely oblivious to the fact … Continue reading →

A civilized society’s first line of defense is not the law, police and courts but customs, traditions, rules of etiquette and moral values. These behavioral norms — mostly transmitted by example, word of mouth and religious teachings — represent a body of wisdom distilled over the ages through experience and trial and error. They include important thou-shalt-nots, such as thou shalt not murder, thou shalt not steal and thou shalt not cheat. They also include all those courtesies that have traditionally been associated with ladylike and gentlemanly conduct. The failure to fully transmit these values and traditions to subsequent generations … Continue reading →

Modern Europe was only formed 5,000 years ago when mass migration from southern Russia and Georgia brought new languages, technology and dairy farming to the continent, a study has revealed. Researchers in one of the largest studies of the DNA of Bronze Age skeletons, found that a huge shift of people from the Caucasus region in third millennium BC, brought migrants to northern Europe. And they carried a genetic mutation that allowed adults to tolerate drinking cow’s milk. DNA analysis revealed that the Yamnaya people lived in southern Russia’s Caucasus region, where the term Caucasian originated. They then spread their … Continue reading →

The crisis and chaos engulfing the Middle East and Ukraine is evidence of US imperial decline, as Washington learns the harsh lesson that no empire lasts forever. In the wake of the Vietnam War – the end of which was marked by news footage of US personnel and a select few Vietnamese collaborators being evacuated from the roof of the US Embassy in Saigon in 1975 – the United States entered a prolonged period of decline when it came to its ability to embark on major military operations. For all the massive destructive power in its arsenal, the Vietnamese had … Continue reading →

Whether it’s called a hurricane, a typhoon, or a tropical cyclone, this is one dangerous but awesome kamikaze (Japanese for “divine wind“). While tornadoes have stronger winds than a hurricane, they are relatively small and don’t last long. Hurricanes can be up to half the size of the contiguous United States, and they maintain their peak intensity for days at a time. Besides flooding rains, they also bring the sea ashore with them, battering the land with a surge of up to 6 meters (20 ft) high, topped with waves of up to 15 meters (50 ft) tall. Everybody in … Continue reading →