Austerity measures imposed by the Greek
government since the economic crisis have inflicted “shocking” harm on
the health of the population, leaving nearly a million people without
access to healthcare, experts have said.
In a damning report on the impact of spending cuts on the Greek
health system, academics found evidence of rising infant mortality
rates, soaring levels of HIV infection among drug users, the return of
malaria, and a spike in the suicide count.
Greece’s public
hospital budget was cut by 25 per cent between 2009 and 2011 and public
spending on pharmaceuticals has more than halved, leading to some
medicine becoming unobtainable, experts from Oxford, Cambridge and the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) said.
Read more Tough austerity measures in Greece leave nearly a million people with no access to healthcare, leading to soaring infant mortality, HIV infection and suicide
Friday, 21 February 2014
Charge people to appeal benefit decision, DWP document proposes
The government is considering charging people who appeal against the decision to withdraw their benefits.
A leaked Department for Work and Pensions document obtained by The Guardian said the “introduction of a charge for people making appeals against decisions to social security tribunals” would be one possibility of raising money.
The newspaper cited figures showing that nearly 900,000 people had their benefits terminated in the last year, the highest figure for any 12 month period since jobseekers allowance was brought in 18 years ago.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow work and pensions secretary, accused the government of presiding over a “broken” benefits system. She said that 58 per cent of appeals against DWP decisions to withdraw jobseekers allowance are upheld.
Read more Charge people to appeal benefit decision, DWP document proposes
Gina Robins cooked kitten to death in microwave
Robins (right) had claimed the kitten was shut in the microwave oven by other cats
A woman who microwaved a 10-week-old kitten to death has been found guilty of causing it unnecessary suffering.
Gina Robins, 31, of Salisbury Avenue, Torquay, had denied the charge, claiming the kitten had been shut in the microwave oven by other cats.
Magistrates heard Robins was angry at Ms Knutton for reporting her boyfriend to police over a separate matter.
Robins was released on bail and is due to be sentenced at the court on 14 December.
'Made it worse'
Prosecutor Iain O'Donnell, for the RSPCA, told the court: "We say the defendant put the 10-week-old kitten in the microwave and cooked it to death."
Prior to the incident, on 16 February, the court was told that Robins had sent Ms Knutton a text
Read more Gina Robins cooked kitten to death in microwave
Tuesday, 18 February 2014
If America Continues To Go Down This Path, This Is What Life Will Be Like...
They believe that if we are all allowed to just do whatever we want that it would result in utter chaos. They are convinced that life is better when those that are smarter (them) control the lives of everyone else.
In essence, Europe is like a giant religious cult in many ways (minus the religion). With each passing year, the number of rules and regulations governing the daily lives of Europeans steadily grows, as does the level of control. If you try to live outside of that control, you could very well find yourself in a direct confrontation with the authorities very rapidly.
Just consider what is happening in Germany. Authorities there have stated repeatedly that they do not believe in having any “parallel societies”, and therefore everyone must participate in the system that the government has established.
That includes all children. In Germany today, almost all forms of homeschooling are illegal. In fact, one judge shockingly ruled that one set of parents could not have custody of their children because they might move them to another country and homeschool them there…
Read more If America Continues To Go Down This Path, This Is What Life Will Be Like...
US to deploy laser weapon on warship in 2014
The US
Navy is prepared to deploy its first laser weapon on a warship for the
first time later this year, a new option for replacing missiles and
smart bombs with the advanced system.
The Navy also planned to The laser weapons can be fired continuously and they won’t run out like missiles and bombs.
"It fundamentally changes the way we fight," Capt. Mike Ziv, program manager for directed energy and electric weapon systems for the Naval Sea Systems Command, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
Read more US to deploy laser weapon on warship in 2014
UK fraud agency charges 3 ex-Barclays bankers over Libor
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said criminal proceedings had started against Peter Charles Johnson, Jonathan James Mathew and Stylianos Contogoulas, alleging they conspired to defraud between June 2005 and August 2007.
Barclays paid $450 million in July 2012 to settle charges it had manipulated Libor interest rates, and several more banks have followed and regulators continue to investigate the scandal.
Source Reuters
Monday, 17 February 2014
Sunday, 16 February 2014
California's New 'Dust Bowl': "It's Gonna Be a Slow, Painful, Agonizing Death" For Farmers
"It's really a crisis situation," exclaims one California city manager, "and it's going to get worse in time if this drought doesn't alleviate."
For the state that produces one-third of the nation's fruits and vegetables, the driest spell in 500 years has prompted President Obama to make $100 million in livestock-disaster aid available within 60 days to help the state rebound from what he describes is " going to be a very challenging situation this year... and potentially some time to come."
As NBC reports, Governor Jerry Brown believes the "unprecedented emergency" could cost $2.8 billion in job income and $11 billion in state revenues - and as one farmer noted "we can't recapture that." Dismal recollections of the 1930's Dust Bowl are often discussed as workers (and employers) are "packing their bags and leaving town..." leaving regions to "run the risk of becoming desolate ghost towns as local governments and businesses collapse."
Read more California's New 'Dust Bowl': "It's Gonna Be a Slow, Painful, Agonizing Death" For Farmers
Saturday, 15 February 2014
US streets have become ‘war zones’: Peace activist
The “militaristic” policies of the United States government, as well as rising inequality, racism and widespread access to weapons, has turned American streets into “war zones” for many years, a peace activist says.
“The problem with the war on the streets of the United States has
been going on for a very, very long time,” said Tighe Barry, a member of
CODEPINK, a social justice movement working to end US-funded wars and
occupations.“It has its roots originally in the racist policies of the US government, the policy of the rich dominating the poor and also the fact that our government has been a militaristic government for a very, very long time,” Barry added.
“The streets of the United States are basically a war zone right now, people take their lives in their own hands whenever they go out the door,” he added.
Read more US streets have become ‘war zones’: Peace activist
Family of Woman Who Led Cops on Capitol Car Chase Suing Police
LANHAM, Md. (CBSDC) — The family of Miriam Carey, the woman who was killed in October after ramming White House barricades with her car and then leading authorities on a high-speed chase to the U.S. Capitol, is suing the Secret Service and the U.S. Capitol Police.
The New York City-based Sanders Firm, P.C. is representing the family, and recently announced that Carey’s sister, Valarie Carey, has filed a wrongful death
Police say Miriam Carey rammed her car into a White House checkpoint barricade on the afternoon of Oct. 3. She fled the scene to avoid law enforcement, leading officers through the streets of D.C. toward the Capitol.
The Capitol building was placed on lock-down and Capitol Police issued a shelter-in-place order following reports of shots fired near the building.
A Capitol Police officer and a Secret Service agent suffered non-life threatening injuries during the incident.
Read more Family of Woman Who Led Cops on Capitol Car Chase Suing Police
Sunday, 9 February 2014
High dose vitamin C benefits cancer patients
Laboratory
study has illustrated that high-dose vitamin C can boost the
cancer-killing effect of chemotherapy and develop patients’ treatment .
The study, conducted by the scientists of the University of Kansas,
showed that getting vitamin C shot kills cancer cells without harming
normal ones.They achieved the result through vitamin C injection into human ovarian cancer cells in the lab, into mice as well as into patients with advanced ovarian cancer, according to the report appeared in Science Translational Medicine.
However, vitamin C has long been known as an alternative therapy for cancer, taking vitamin C by mouth failed to replicate the effect.
Clinical trials of oral taking of vitamin C indicate that the human body quickly excretes the vitamin when it is taken by mouth.
Read more High dose vitamin C benefits cancer patients
Friday, 7 February 2014
Medical Nanobots Will Connect Brain to Cloud Computing
The Human Body Version 2.0 project features none other than arch-Transhumanist Ray Kurzweil as its main proponent. The goals have been openly stated for some time:
In the coming decades, a radical upgrading of our body’s physical and mental systems, already underway, will use nanobots to augment and ultimately replace our organs. We already know how to prevent most degenerative disease through nutrition and supplementation; this will be a bridge to the emerging biotechnology revolution, which in turn will be a bridge to the nanotechnology revolution. By 2030, reverse-engineering of the human brain will have been completed and nonbiological intelligence will merge with our biological brains.
Working toward the first Posthuman: courtesy of Ray Kurzweil and the Lifeboat Foundation
In fact, the reverse engineering of the human brain has already been announced to be well under way via new microchips and accompanying software.
In fact, the reverse engineering of the human brain has already been announced to be well under way via new microchips and accompanying software.
And, while full nanobot rewiring of the brain is
not expected before 2020, Phys.org has reported that our DNA has been successfully targeted by nanobots "for drug therapy or destruction."
Read more Medical Nanobots Will Connect Brain to Cloud Computing
The Mafia State of Mind
Once
the mafia state of mind has seeped into every nook and cranny of the
society and economy, it's not even recognized as corruption: it's simply
the way the system works.
We recently spent a few days with a friend who was born and raised in Sicily who now lives elsewhere in Europe with his wife (also Italian, from Naples). Though we talked of many things, one of his comments struck me like a bolt of lightning.
The Mafia isn't about shoot-outs, he said; the mafia is a state of mind.
He then pointed to a city trash collection truck driving by. Those guys are mafia.
I should stipulate that our friends are left-liberal in their views, and deeply concerned about the direction of free enterprise, democracy and social equality in Europe. He did not make these comments as a joke but with the utmost seriousness.
Read more The Mafia State of Mind
We recently spent a few days with a friend who was born and raised in Sicily who now lives elsewhere in Europe with his wife (also Italian, from Naples). Though we talked of many things, one of his comments struck me like a bolt of lightning.
The Mafia isn't about shoot-outs, he said; the mafia is a state of mind.
He then pointed to a city trash collection truck driving by. Those guys are mafia.
I should stipulate that our friends are left-liberal in their views, and deeply concerned about the direction of free enterprise, democracy and social equality in Europe. He did not make these comments as a joke but with the utmost seriousness.
Read more The Mafia State of Mind
Iran to put three satellites into orbit by yearend
Iran plans
to place three indigenously designed and manufactured satellites into
orbit by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2014).
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a Monday ceremony marking
the National Space Technology Day, deputy head of Iran Space Agency
(ISA) Hamid Fazeli stated that Sharif Sat, Tadbir (Prudence) and Fajr
(Dawn) satellites will be lifted into space by the end of the year. He added that Fajr is a monitoring satellite, which has been developed by Iranian experts at Iran Electronics Industries, known as SAIRAN.
Fajr is said to be a reconnaissance satellite powered by
Fajr satellite will reportedly be placed in elliptical orbit of 400 km in radius, and will remain in space for a year and a half.
Read more Iran to put three satellites into orbit by yearend
Iran cleric urges ‘crushing’ response to US threats
A senior
Iranian cleric has called on the Foreign Ministry to react decisively to
US threats against the Islamic Republic over its nuclear energy
program.
“People expect the Iranian Foreign Ministry to give crushing response
to rants, lies, accusations and brazenness of the United States,”
Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahhedi Kermani said in a sermon to worshippers
at the weekly Friday Prayers in Tehran.He was reacting to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s renewed threat of military action and allegations made by US top nuclear negotiator with Iran, Wendy Sherman, against Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Read more Iran cleric urges ‘crushing’ response to US threats
Kentucky Police Set Up ‘Eating While Driving’ Checkpoints
Operation R.A.I.D. (Remove Aggressive, Impaired and
Distracted drivers from Kentucky Roadways), which starts this month,
will remain active for one year.
“Law enforcement will be more visible and the number of check points will increase,” reports WBKO.“Not only just texting, but any distracting drivers.
This includes eating and drinking. We are going to be out looking for
those people. You’re going to see a major force when it comes time for
St. Patrick’s Day weekend and holiday weekends,” said Trooper Biven of
the Kentucky State Police.
Although Kentucky has banned text messaging while driving, there is no state law that bans eating while driving, according to Distraction.gov.
Police will be pulling people over and subjecting them to checkpoints
over a supposed violation (eating while driving) that doesn’t exist.
Reports concerning the program also made no mention
whatsoever of the fact that such checkpoints are clearly a violation of
the 4th Amendment.
“Roving patrols and an increase in safety checkpoints”
will characterize a “blanket campaign” that “may not work well in
certain areas,” acknowledged Captain Nathan Kent, KSP Post One Commander.
Thursday, 6 February 2014
My £430,000 payout is massive - but I DESERVE it': Ex-policeman 'ridiculed out of job' over internet video of him smashing up pensioner's Range Rover says attack was 'not over the top
The police officer who was awarded a £430,000 payout after he was filmed smashing a pensioner's car window with a metal baton has conceded that the award is a 'massive' amount of money.
PC Mike Baillon, 47, who served with Gwent Police as a traffic officer, became a viral sensation after a two-minute clip of the incident was uploaded to the internet.
He said that he was ridiculed by colleagues following the incident and was forced to resign after senior officers removed him from frontline duties.
Read more My £430,000 payout is massive - but I DESERVE it': Ex-policeman 'ridiculed out of job' over internet video of him smashing up pensioner's Range Rover says attack was 'not over the top
Samantha Cameron shows off her style credentials in £1,000 designer gown as she joins David Cameron at Conservative Party ball
The first lady of fashion showed off her style credentials in a floor length blue Roksanda Ilincic gown as she arrived with her husband, David Cameron, at the annual Conservative Party Black and White Fundraising Ball.
The dress, which costs around £1,000 and features cream and green colour block panels, is part of the Serbian designers Resort 2014 collection.
Read more Samantha Cameron shows off her style credentials in £1,000 designer gown as she joins David Cameron at Conservative Party ball
Newborn baby died after mother was ‘kept waiting for more than three HOURS for an unplanned caesarean
A newborn baby died at just eight hours old after her mother was made to wait three-and-a-half hours for a caesarian, an inquest heard.
Mary-Jayne Harrison’s baby Jessica died at Southend Hospital, Essex after picking up an infection before her birth.
The one specialist in duty ordered a caesarian but was then called to deal with another birth and midwives decided not to call for another specialist because they 'hoped for a good outcome'.
Read more Newborn baby died after mother was ‘kept waiting for more than three HOURS for an unplanned caesarean'
Fanatics in Syria vow to bring terror home to UK: Terrorists say they will attack public transport and financial centres
A group of Britons waging jihad in Syria have threatened to carry out terror attacks in the UK.
The extremists warned of atrocities on London’s public transport, at financial centres and also at the White House in the US.
They are believed to be the first direct threats of terrorist strikes in the West to emerge from Syria, where hundreds of Britons are among thousands of foreign fighters who have joined jihadist rebel groups.
n a series of threats issued online by the Rayat Al-Tawheed group, the British jihadist faction in Syria, one image shows a man inside a vehicle with an assault rifle as a red London Routemaster bus passes by.
A slogan on the image in English says: ‘Sometimes you just got to get up and go.’
Another appears to make a reference to MI6. It shows a laptop computer with the barrel of an assault rifle resting on the keyboard and ammunition lined up under the screen, which displays an image of a hand gun and the phrase: ‘You only die once why not make it martyrdom.’
Read more Fanatics in Syria vow to bring terror home to UK: Terrorists say they will attack public transport and financial centres
Cop Handcuffs Firefighter For Trying to Protect Crash Victims
The incident occurred on Tuesday night after a car overturned and another fell down an embankment on the 805 Freeway.
Chula Vista Firefighter Jacob Gregoire responded to the
accident by following standard protocol of parking his fire truck in
front of the crash scene to protect the victims as they were being
treated and loaded into an ambulance.
However, when a CHP officer asked Gregoire to move the
truck he refused and returned to helping the crash victims, prompting
the officer to handcuff Gregoire and temporarily place him under arrest
in front of a TV news camera.
“This is ridiculous. CHP is arresting engineer for where
he spotted the fire engine,” states a voice on the Fire Department
radio frequency. “We’re in the middle of patient care with patients on
the freeway and we’re trying to protect our scene and they’re putting
him in handcuffs at this time and walking him away.”
Gregoire was detained in a CHP squad car for half an hour before supervisors from both agencies arrived.
“It’s unbelievable that you guys have to treat us like
this. We are on the road trying to help people,” states Gregoire as he
is being handcuffed.
The CHP say they are investigating the incident but have refused to name the officer involved or say if he has been reprimanded.
Worldwide Cancer Cases Expected to Soar by 70% Over Next 20 Years
Low- and middle-income countries will be increasingly hit by cancers
triggered by infections or associated with more affluent lifestyles.
Photograph: Cultura RM/Alamy
Cancer
cases worldwide are predicted to increase by 70% over the next two
decades, from 14m in 2012 to 25m new cases a year, according to the World Health Organisation.
The latest World Cancer Report says it is implausible to think we can treat our way out of the disease and that the focus must now be on preventing new cases. Even the richest countries will struggle to cope with the spiralling costs of treatment and care for patients, and the lower income countries, where numbers are expected to be highest, are ill-equipped for the burden to come.
The incidence of cancer globally has increased in just four years from 12.7m in 2008 to 14.1m new cases in 2012, when there were 8.2m deaths. Over the next 20 years, it is expected to hit 25m a year – a 70% increase.
The biggest burden will be in low- and middle-income countries. They are hit by two types of cancers – those triggered by infections, such as cervical cancers, which are still very prevalent in poorer countries that don't have screening, let alone the HPV vaccine, and increasingly cancers associated with more affluent lifestyles "with increasing use of tobacco, consumption of alcohol and highly processed foods and lack of physical activity", writes the World Health Organisation director general, Margaret Chan, in an introduction to the report.
Read more Worldwide Cancer Cases Expected to Soar by 70% Over Next 20 Years
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
The Mini Cheddar Martyr has been expelled
Boy, six, suspended from school after taking a packet of Mini Cheddars in his lunchbox has now been EXPELLED because parents vented their outrage in the press
In stories like this, there is sometimes more than meets the eye. Perhaps the lad has been expelled for some more serious crime than eating cheesy snacks?
The school has insisted a pupil was not excluded 'for just having Mini Cheddars in their lunchbox'
Read more The Mini Cheddar Martyr has been expelled
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