Calls For Blasphemy Ban Resurface At UN

UNITED NATIONS -- When Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari took the podium to address the UN General Assembly on September 25, he wasted no time taking on one of the most divisive issues of the day.

"Before I take up my speech, I want to express the strongest condemnation for the acts of incitement of hate against the faith of billions of Muslims of the world and our beloved Prophet," Zardari said.

He could have specified many such "incitements" over the years, including Koran burnings and the publishing of cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad. The most recent example, of course, is "Innocence of Muslims," a film produced in the United States whose insulting depiction of the Prophet Muhammad prompted outrage and even deadly violence in the Muslim world.

"Although we can never condone violence, the international community must not become silent observers and should criminalize such acts that destroy the peace of the world and endanger the world security by misusing freedom of expression," Zardari said.

"Pakistan moves the United Nations to immediately address this alarming concern and bridge the widening concern and bridge the widening rift to enable the community of nations to be one again."

On one side of the cultural rift stands free speech, on the other religious sensitivities -- and as evidenced by the contrasting views expressed during the General Assembly, the divide is great.

Criminalizing Disrespect


Aside from condemning both the denigration of Islam and the violence that can follow, however, what can states collectively do to prevent such incidents in the future?

One idea that has been floated for years is again gaining traction: establishing clear rules against blasphemy, protected by international law.

Currently there are about 30 countries worldwide that have instituted their own laws criminalizing blasphemy, including Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia, Egypt, Algeria, and Poland.
Speaking at a Security Council briefing on peace and security in the Middle East, Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby provided his view of how such measures could be established universally.

"The League of Arab States calls for the development of an international legal framework which is binding in order to confront insulting religions and ensuring that religious faith and its symbols are respected."

Many have tried, and failed, to establish such frameworks before. Islamic countries have pushed resolutions through the UN's General Assembly and Human Rights Council. Because they were nonbinding, however, those initiatives had no real teeth.


Growing Support

One way to reverse course would be to go outside the UN. The Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which has 57 member states and a permanent delegation to the United Nations, is one option.

The grouping of mostly Muslim-majority countries has a history of developing legal guidelines in keeping with Islamic views. The Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, for example, was adopted in 1990. Nine years later, the OIC passed the Convention on Combating International Terrorism. And in 2005, after a Danish newspaper published cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, the OIC called an extraordinary session in which the cartoons were condemned.

The OIC has previously pushed blasphemy legislation that would be agreed by legally binding treaty or international convention. That is until last year, when the cause was dropped.

In recent days, however, the OIC has released several statements in support of an international blasphemy ban. Turkey -- whose president has said he would speak out in support of a ban -- is now heading the OIC.

Even UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's comments on the controversy reflect a sway in opinion toward the religious-sensitivities camp.

"Freedoms of expression should be and must be guaranteed and protected, when they are used for common justice, common purpose," Ban told reporters on September 19. "When some people use this freedom of expression to provoke or humiliate some others' values and beliefs, then this cannot be protected in such a way."


Abusing Laws For Repression

There appears to be growing support for some sort of blasphemy code of conduct to be worked out at some international level, even if not under the umbrella of the United Nations. And that is cause for worry for free-speech advocates.

Pakistani security personnel move Rimsha Masih, a young girl accused of blasphemy, to a helicopter after her release from jail in Rawalpindi.

​​
Courtney Radsch, program manager for the Global Freedom of Expression Campaign at Freedom House, says it is important to note that the divergent views between Islamic leaders and the West are driven by each country's political history, as well as current state of affairs.

"In cultures, in countries where there is an authoritarian government, where there are restrictions on freedom of expression, and freedom of speech, and freedom of association, where criticism of ruling authorities -- whether those are political or religious -- is not tolerated, then yes, you see a much different relationship to freedom of expression, to satire, to what some people would see as poking fun at things," Radsch says.

In the case of the "Innocence Of Muslims," she says, the film itself was not the cause of the violence, but was used as a political tool to incite violence

Likewise, blasphemy laws are not the answer because they too can be used to oppress, rather than protect, religious minorities, according to free-speech advocates.

They point to a recent case in Pakistan in which a 14-year-old Christian girl was tried for allegedly burning pages of the Koran. Her case was moved on September 24 to a juvenile court -- but adults convicted of blasphemy could face a death sentence.

Such an outcome is anathema to the belief systems of some countries, such as the United States, where freedom of speech is enshrined in the constitution.

U.S. President Barack Obama laid out the general argument during his address to the General Assembly on September 25. "The strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech -- the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy, and lift up the values of understanding and mutual respect," he said.

And that is why, ultimately, without the support of the United States and key Western countries, the effort to criminalize blasphemy is unlikely to be enshrined universally in international law.

By Courtney Brooks

http://www.rferl.org/content/un-hears-calls-for-blasphemy-ban/24721995.html

Suicides In U.S Military Rise

                             

When someone feels death is a better option, they have lost sight of purpose, direction, and motivation.

Many of the suicides believe the only way they can provide more opportunity for their families, and a life of stability, is through their death; this is why suicide is increasing in the Army.

Soldiers' come back from multiple deployments and they have missed so much back home. Children have to readjust, and so do spouses. The soldier has to try to adjust, while dealing with a new revelation on how ugly the world is, and how self centered people can be. The soldier feels like he or she brings more trouble than good into the lives of their children or spouse, and the soldier fears for their future. The soldier knows though, that if they die while serving their family will be provided with financial stability, and they will not have to fear failing those they love.

 Outside the Army the soldier doesn't even have hope in death.

 The soldier sees the pain he or she brings those they love, the soldier sees the unstable life they bring for their loved ones... How could suicide not seem like the better way; a sacrifice giving their loved ones a hope the soldier feels they never had? Financial security is important in this day and age, and education is important as well, if the next generation is to get ahead... The leaders' cannot fix the problem till they go to the root of the problem... Financial security for the soldiers' families should be a guarantee, like is the case for politicians.

 This won't happen though.

 So after many years of war the soldier will go on feeling unappreciated, but many of them will stick it to the establishment that failed them. The organization that helped turn them into a pain, and a stranger to their loved ones "will" pay for the soldiers children's future, and provide some sort of stability to their spouse...

If the leader cannot provide purpose, direction, and the motivation to accomplish the mission, then based on the Army definition of leadership; that leader has failed.

                                                                                                                          ~N. Moore~

http://news.yahoo.com/suicides-military-rise-even-combat-lessens-080600461--politics.html
http://news.yahoo.com/army-stand-down-focuses-day-suicide-training-183257654.html

Astronomers Discover, We're All Trapped.

“Confirmation, soon, on what we already know on a fundamental level; we’re all trapped.”

“Astronomers have discovered a cloud of gas engulfing our Milky Way galaxy that weighs as much as all the stars inside our galactic home…”

 

 

                              

 

 

 

“This is interesting for many reasons, but the two largest reasons, I feel, is the fact that this gas would be so hot, (and so thick), nothing could live if attempting to pass through. People wondered if we were alone in the universe, well we will never meet ET if this giant gas cloud is surrounding us. If there was any advanced life outside our galaxy they would not try to make an attempt to pass through a large barrier of burning vaporous gas. And to caveat off of this, the other interesting fact is our hopes of ever traveling to another planet, habitable for life, may be an impossible dream, for how could we pass through this dangerous barrier surrounding our Milky Way Galaxy? It’s as if we’re incased in a massive prison…There is no going in or coming out. Many times people feel trapped, and they always long to be free, as they observe others who seem to be… The truth is we’re all trapped.”

                                                                                                                       ~N. Moore~

 

 

http://news.yahoo.com/giant-gas-cloud-surrounds-milky-way-galaxy-111240997.html

Obama's UN General Assembly Speech Condemns Extremism

"In regards to the recent violence of Islamic extremists, and all campaigning aside; President Obama took a stand, and brought justice to our rights as Americans; defense of our Freedom of Speech & Press. Apologizing was beyond the real issue."  

 

                                                                                                                       ~N. Moore~

 

 

 

 

US President Barack Obama has urged global leaders to rally against extremism in an address to the UN General Assembly in New York.

Mr Obama said it was the obligation of all leaders to speak out forcefully against violence and extremism, as he framed his speech with references to the US ambassador murdered in Libya.

Unrest across the Middle East is set to dominate discussion at the summit.

Mr Obama also again stressed the US would not allow Iran nuclear weapons.

He said the US would "do what we must" to stop Tehran acquiring nuclear arms. Six weeks before the US election, the president said a nuclear-armed Iran was "not a challenge that can be contained".

'Marginalise hatred'
 

Iran's nuclear programme and the 18-month conflict in Syria have featured strongly in Tuesday's speeches at the Assembly, as have the recent protests across the Muslim world in response to a US-made video mocking the Prophet Muhammad.

 

The US president condemned the violence that erupted over the "disgusting" anti-Islam video as "an attack on UN ideals".

Referring to the US envoy who was killed in Benghazi on 11 September during protests sparked by the video, Mr Obama challenged the UN to affirm that "our future will be determined by people like Christopher Stevens, and not by his killers".

"It is time to marginalise those who - even when not resorting to violence - use hatred of America, or the West, or Israel as a central principle of politics," said Mr Obama.

The brand of politics that pits East against West, South against North, Muslim against Christian, Hindu and Jew, could not deliver the promise of freedom, he added.

"That brand of politics only makes it harder to achieve what we must do together: educating our children and creating the opportunities they deserve; protecting human rights and extending democracy's promise.

"Today, we must declare that this violence and intolerance has no place among our United Nations."

'Regional calamity'
 

Syria's conflict is not formally on the General Assembly's agenda but was a focal point of discussion on the opening day.

 

Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said the UN Security Council's failure to end the conflict meant it would be better for Arab countries to intervene in Syria - citing the work of the Arab League-established force that intervened in Lebanon in the 1970s.

Opening the meeting on Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described the fighting in Syria as "a regional calamity with global ramifications".

He called for action from the divided UN Security Council and said "the international community should not look the other way as violence spirals out of control".

"Brutal human rights abuses continue to be committed, mainly by the government but also by opposition forces," he added.

People did not look to the UN to be simply a mirror reflecting back a divided world, said Mr Ban. Rather, they wanted to see it come up with solutions to problems.

The US president was blunter in his assessment of Syria, saying Bashar Assad's regime must end.

The UN Security Council has been unable to reach agreement on the Syria crisis and on Monday UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned that the situation was "extremely bad and getting worse".

While he did not have a full plan, he said he had "a few ideas". Mr Brahimi has just visited Damascus as well as refugee camps in neighbouring Jordan and Turkey.

The BBC's Barbara Plett says that diplomats have played down expectations for Mr Brahimi's mission, with no sign of fundamental divisions on the council being bridged.

Mr Hollande, in his first appearance at the assembly, is also expected to call for backing for an international force to be sent to the West African state of Mali to help dislodge Islamist militants who have taken over the north of the country.

Fake regime
 

Although the White House said Mr Obama's address was not a campaign speech, it follows critical remarks about his foreign policy from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

 

His presidential rival condemned Mr Obama's description of the murder of Mr Stevens and three other Americans as "bumps in the road". He has also castigated him for not taking time out to hold talks on Iran during the summit with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Obama has rejected the Israeli leader's calls for Washington to set Tehran "red lines".

Instead, he said the United States would "do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon" with the backing of "a coalition of countries" holding Tehran accountable.

Mr Netanyahu has recently appeared on US television to press for a tougher line on Iran, and he will take the same message to the General Assembly on Thursday.

Tehran says its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

On the eve of the assembly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a UN meeting that Israel was a "fake regime", prompting Israel's UN ambassador, Ron Prosor, to walk out.

Barbara Plett  BBC UN correspondent

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19709969

Time Banks Help Spaniards Weather Finanical Crisis

                   
^{As a philosophy, time banking also known as Time Trade is founded upon five principles, known as Time Banking's Core Values:}

• Everyone is an asset,
• Some work is beyond a monetary price,
• Reciprocity in helping,
• Social networks are necessary,
• A respect for all human beings.

After saving money for years, Lola Sanchez was finally able to buy a car refitted with a ramp and space for a wheelchair in the back for her teenage son, who has cerebral palsy.
A nurse used to come each day to help with her son's care. That service was cut amid government austerity measures, though Sanchez still gets a small check every month.

"What I need is physical help, even more than financial assistance," Sanchez says, "because I can't physically lift him on my own."

So earlier this year, Sanchez joined a local "time bank" that sends members to help with her son's care. She doesn't pay them. Instead, she reciprocates by using her handicap-friendly car to transport other disabled people in her community.

With Spanish unemployment near 25 percent, many people have more time than money to spend. So in the past two years, the number of time banks in Spain has doubled, to nearly 300. Most have anywhere from 50 to 400 members, and some even print their own currency.

Most of all, they stress equality, Sanchez says.

"For me, it's good to know that my time has the same value as anyone else's," she says. "There's no difference between one hour of work for a computer specialist or for a cleaning woman."

Time banks originated in the 19th century in America and Europe among socialists who emphasized the direct link between their labor and what they could get for it.

 

A Sense Of Purpose

Most time banks nowadays operate online. You register for a profile — sort of like a Facebook page — that lists your work skills, and then lists the tasks you're looking for someone else to do for you.

"Whatever you can imagine," says José Luis Herranz. "You can fix a car, or paint a wall, or cook some food, or even clean the windows."

Herranz helped start the time bank Sanchez belongs to in Madrid, late last year. The 27-year-old monitors the barter of services among members — about a third of whom are unemployed — and logs their hours online.

Amid constant government cutbacks, Herranz says the time bank gives people much-needed work, and also a sense of purpose.

"We have to trust each other, to create solidarity networks," he says. "We feel we are alone, and we have to help each other."

Julio Gisbert is a conventional banker, but spends his spare time as a consultant to time banks across Spain. He helps them avoid charges of tax evasion — people are working, but not for money, so they pay no income tax.

"One of the rules is that the services exchanged can't be continuous and indefinite," Gisbert says.

"Imagine you're a time banker who teaches English, and someone wants classes every week," he says. "In theory, the time bank can't do that because an English-language academy can come along and denounce you. They're paying tax and their professors, and you're not."

So the services must be sporadic to be legal. That doesn't stop some time bankers from working 20 hours a week, in a variety of odd jobs.

Rebuilding Communities

Gisbert says time banks are especially useful in Spain, where traditionally close family ties have been fractured by urbanization in the past generation, and now by unemployment.

"It's a question of reconstructing the sense of community that used to exist in Spanish villages in the old days, which doesn't exist here in the city," he says.
José Luis Herranz, the time bank organizer, is now getting his 55-year-old mother, Maribel, involved in Madrid.

Gisbert says time banks are especially useful in Spain, where traditionally close family ties have been fractured by urbanization in the past generation,
"I was born here in this neighborhood, and wow. How things have changed," she says.
A housewife all her life, Maribel is working outside the home for the first time, side by side with younger neighbors who've been laid off from their jobs. She gives cooking lessons and does grocery shopping for the elderly.

The neighborhood's jobless rate is still at an all-time high, at more than 30 percent. But through their time bank, these neighbors have found a way to be productive.

by Lauren Frayer  NPR News

http://www.npr.org/2012/09/22/161380937/time-banks-help-spaniards-weather-financial-crisis

True Democracy

 

True democracy should be about unity at the core, and balance. Democracy is about the people determining what is best for their nation as a whole. The people have the power and they must insure the unity and balance is not taken from them… for this could happen unexpectedly.

 

Perhaps democracy is only a dream today, or more like an illusion; a ghost of what once was. We believe in democracy, in America, because we want to. In the same manner as a faithful person wants to believe in God. The idea of a loving creator is nice to imagine, just like the idea of a political system uniting humanity and bringing an end to tyranny may also be a pleasant thought. Seeking after philosophical ways of making logical sense in how a loving God governs a world like ours; people can debate for years on such an issue. Neither side can prove though, without a shadow of a doubt that there is, or is not, a loving God. How could people prove democracy is more than a dream today, more than an illusion?

 

Like America, Rome was a Republic with democratic values. The Roman model of governance inspired many political thinkers, and today's modern democracies imitate the Roman and Greek models. The major difference from the Roman Republic model, (and one of the primary reasons our modern day democracy may be so flawed), is the fact our present political leaders are paid millions of dollars for being in their positions. In ancient Rome the political leaders chose to serve their nation without payment. They earned their money by other means while viewing their job as senators to be an honor, since they were able to serve those less fortunate. In the days of the Republic, before Julius Caesar shook things up, the people knew the senators cared about helping to bring a balance to Rome.

The political, cultural, and economic forces which held the Roman Empire together were removed because of Economic fragmentation, eventually leading to the Dark Ages. Following the economical mistakes made in Rome the empire continued to digress because of the crumbling of political, military, and other social institutions, along with invasions from outside peoples, and usurpers from within the empire. The Roman Empire held onto their particular values in politics for a time, but eventually they allowed outside influences to change these values, and wash away the foundations of the Republic. Rome started to lose their identity as others came in from foreign lands and started to change the Roman individuality. In summary, the economy collapsed, outside influences started to change Rome, and eventually too many wars, attacks, and dependence on the crumbling government brought about the ultimate fall of Rome… The loss of democratic values was subtle at first, and then by the time the people depended unequivocally upon the power of their leader, or government, their leaders had little to offer. The damage from all the mistakes made in Rome drained the economy, and helped make the populace an ignorant people who depended too much on the “elite” for help. Soon the Dark Ages followed after what was left of the empire crumbled...

Today, America is the great empire, or as the world believes, the great democratic nation. The march on Wall Street, the fact that more than six in ten Americans oppose the U.S. war in Afghanistan, (according to a new national poll), the protests against government spending, and our government officials being unable to unite so as to solve our present economical woes; these problems should not persist in a properly ran democracy. If the people want the issue resolved in a Democratic Nation, then the issue should be resolved, or else this is not a system of government based on the principle of majority decision making.

Instead of tyranny and a dictatorship, democracy provides opportunities for the people to control how their nation is ran. The political “leaders” should work for the people, and the people can oust them without need for violence, or any sort of revolution. Why are the people ignored today by their political leaders’ in America? If the people declare, “we want to stop fighting. We want the war to end”, then the soldiers’ should be brought home. Despite the argument on whether something may be a good idea or a bad idea; the people determine what will be done. For better or worse, they should receive what they demand, or else face the truth that they no longer live in a truly democratic nation. If the leaders ignore what the majority want and they decide to do what they feel is best, (despite what the citizens want), then how can such a nation still be defined as democratic?

 

The idea of democracy and the importance of this political ideal can be summarized in the word “unity”. Democracy is supposed to be about something bigger than one’s self. Democracy is bigger than ones culture, ones past, one’s personal desires. Democracy is supposed to be a balanced system where what is best for humanity as a whole is focused on instead what may be best for an individual or a group of a select privileged few. If our motive is love for something greater than ourselves, no ingratitude will hinder us from serving our fellow man. Democracy should be about love for humanity and equality. There is an idea that one’s love for self is most important. Conclusively an individual will end up hurting themselves and those they love if they only depend on their selves. Every individual is flawed and their emotions lead to more trouble. Democracy was meant to unite a nation and preserve freedom and justice for all. It’s quite clear in our nation’s history that the founding fathers’ wanted those in our democracy to believe in something greater than self. Sadly most live for themselves first in our nation today, and unity doesn’t last… A house divided will fall.

 

The people believe in democracy in America, because we want to... Is this a democratic nation or a crumbling empire where the people place their allegiance in the leaders more than in the values their nation was founded upon? We are surely not united and balanced today. The political leaders cannot even unite to fix our economic crises. The people can’t seem to unite and succeed in receiving what they ask for. Is democracy an illusion, a ghost of what once was? Ultimately if democracy has failed in our nation, this is because we, the people, have failed our nation.

                                                                                                                                ~N. Moore~

      

Amish Hate Crime

So even the Amish have extremists now...

 

 

 

Mullet’s three sons, his daughter, and 11 other family members and followers from his ultra-strict Amish order 100 miles southeast of Cleveland also were convicted of conspiracy and hate crimes after a trial that attracted international attention.

 

 

The 66-year-old bishop could face life in prison for his crimes. U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster scheduled sentencing hearings for Jan. 24.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bridget Brennan said federal sentencing guidelines recommend a minimum of 17 1/2 years for the other 15 defendants given that their crimes involved violence and kidnapping.
But defense attorneys said the judge has the discretion to sentence some of Mullet’s followers to as little as time already served in jail.

A jury of seven men and five women announced the verdicts Thursday afternoon after deliberating for 37 hours over five days.

Defense attorney Edward Bryan, who represented Samuel Mullet during the three-week trial in U.S. District Court, said he was shocked by the jurors’ decision to convict his client, and will appeal.

“There was very little, in fact no evidence, connecting Sam Mullet to any of these matters,” Bryan said. “The government was successful in convincing the jury that he had a Svengali-like influence over these people.”

 

By James F. Mccarty| Religion News Service

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/16-amish-found-guilty-of-hate-crimes-in-beard-cutting-attacks/2012/09/21/dd8f16f0-0417-11e2-9132-f2750cd65f97_story.html

 

 

Who Will Have The Number One Economy Now?

In Our Present World With an Economic Crises, What Can This News Mean For Russia?


Call it the Soviet Union's most valuable cold war secret. This past weekend, Russia declassified the existence of what could very well be the richest diamond field in existence, located in the depths of a 62-mile diameter asteroid crater known as Popigai Astroblem in Siberia.

The diamonds found in the Popigai Astroblem are known as "impact diamonds." They're created when a meteor strikes a graphite deposit, as happened there an estimated 35 million years ago. Impact diamonds are significantly harder than normal diamonds, and are best suited for industrial or scientific use.

Given that diamonds can sell for $2,000 per karat with unusually large diamonds going for as much as $20 million, a discovery of "trillions of karats" could value this hole in the quadrillions of dollars. Of course, a diamond discovery of this magnitude is almost sure to have a serious downward impact in the per-karat price should full-scale mining operations ever begin.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/russian-asteroid-crater-revealed-filled-over-1-quadrillion-013025163.html

Earliest Evidence of Human Violence

    

A healed fracture discovered on an ancient skull from China may be the oldest documented evidence of violence between humans, a study has shown.

The individual, who lived 150,000-200,000 years ago, suffered blunt force trauma to the right temple - possibly from being hit with a projectile.

But the ancient hunter-gatherer - whose sex is unclear - survived to tell the tale: the injury was completely healed by the time of the person's death.


"There are older cases of bumps and bruises - and cases of trauma," said co-author Erik Trinkaus from Washington University in St Louis, US.

"Can we completely rule out a hunting accident? No. But it's less likely to be that than getting hit on the side of the head with a missile”

 

Quote Prof Erik Trinkaus Washington University, St Louis

"But this is the first one I'm aware of where the most likely interpretation is getting whooped by someone else - to put it bluntly."

The skull was unearthed at a cave near Maba, southern China, in 1958. Before it was buried, a large rodent - probably a porcupine - gnawed on the bone, removing a significant portion of the face.

Prof Trinkaus, who was part of an international team that re-examined the specimen, said the depressed fracture in the right temple region was the result of an impact that was "very directed, very localised".

Being struck hard with a stone cobble might produce this type of injury, the researcher told BBC News.

But he added: "One of the problems was that these people led rough lives. They were hunting medium-to-large animals at close quarters. And when you stick a spear in an animal, they usually do not appreciate it.

"They tend to kick and fight - and many of these animals had horns and antlers.

"Can we completely rule out a hunting accident? No. But it's less likely to be that than getting hit on the side of the head with a missile."


Survival instinct


In addition to the severe headaches it undoubtedly caused Maba man - or woman, experience of present-day injuries like this one suggests the person probably suffered some temporary amnesia.

The fracture had fully healed by the time the individual died

The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes wrote that life in the natural condition of mankind was "nasty, brutish and short"; and the Chinese discovery is unlikely to change any modern preconceptions about the lifestyles of our ancient forbears.

But the Maba individual survived for weeks or months "at least" after sustaining the injury, based on the completely healed state of the fracture. And according to Professor Trinkaus, this presents an important flip side to the latest finding.

He told BBC News: "It's another individual in a growing number of human fossils going back in excess of a million years who show long-term survival with serious injuries and congenital problems - a variety of things along these lines.

"We have many instances of trauma - some serious, some minor. We also have a surprisingly high incidence of conditions that occur in the modern world but are extremely rare. So the probability of finding them in our meagre fossil record is extremely low."


Support networks


Whatever the reason behind this latter observation, he said, "they are surviving them remarkably well".

Researchers believe such evidence points to the existence of care and support networks within ancient human groups.

"They hit each other, they squabbled, they had weaponry - so it became serious. But at the same time, they were helping each other out," Prof Trinkaus explained.

The Maba individual was not a modern human like us; it instead belonged to a poorly defined population of so-called "archaic" people who were living in East Asia at the same time the Neanderthals dominated Europe.

It is possible that the Chinese specimen is linked to a mysterious population known as the Denisovans, who have been identified as a distinct group of ancient humans on the basis of DNA alone.

However, Prof Trinkaus thinks there was a population continuum across the Eurasian landmass.

The Neanderthals were the western representatives of this continuum, with Maba and other specimens representing an eastern physical form. "It's just that the Neanderthals have a name," he said.


By Paul Rincon Science editor, BBC News website

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15823272
 

Trojan Horse of Islam

The "Word" is their most dangerous and valuable weapon, and their ideology is the largest threat to our world today.

To win the war we needed to understand the enemies' mindset, we needed to understand the foundation their beliefs were built upon: Here are the answers, but is it too late now?

Abu Ad-Darda'; Muhammad's companion, "We smile in the face of some people although our hearts curse them."


                                      


http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/the-origin-of-our-threat-the-danger-of-their-ideology-5276443.html

Two US Marines Fall to Revenge Protest

                               

Insurgents have attacked Nato's heavily fortified Camp Bastion base in southern Afghanistan.

At least two US marines died when militants breached the perimeter of the sprawling base in Helmand province.

The Taliban told the BBC that they carried out the attack in revenge for a film mocking Islam which has triggered protests around the Muslim world.

Aircraft and buildings were damaged but Nato says its forces killed 18 of the insurgents and captured one.

Later on Saturday, a man thought to be a member of the Afghan local police force opened fire on Nato troops in the south of the country, killing two foreign soldiers.

---

The Taliban say that the motive for the attack was the film that has outraged the Muslim world. But they also claim that they chose Bastion, at least in part, because the base is where Britain's Prince Harry is stationed as an Apache helicopter pilot.

Nato insists Captain Wales, as the prince is known, was never in any danger, but there will be concerns about his security. However, there is no suggestion that his deployment will be curtailed. I have been told he was more than a kilometre away from the fighting.

The bigger question is how were the Taliban able to penetrate a secure military base. The UK's Ministry of Defence concedes this was a significant attack but the bottom line is that the insurgents should never have got so far.

The nationalities of the dead soldiers have not been made public. A statement from the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said the attacker was killed when troops returned fire.

The incident means 47 Isaf members have died this year at the hands of Afghan military or police personnel, or by insurgents posing as them.

 

Brigadier General Gunter Katz, ISAF, said they were looking at how the Taliban managed to attack the base

The attack was finally fought off by mainly American and British personnel who "ended up killing 18 of those attackers", he said.

Isaf said one of the attackers was also wounded and subsequently captured during the assault.

The camp is home to troops from several countries and the assault hit the adjoining US compound, Camp Leatherneck.

In addition to those killed, several other international troops were wounded in the raid.

What is Camp Bastion?

• Major transit centre with a large airfield, accommodates 28,000 mostly British personnel
• Set up in 2006, now covers an area of about eight square miles
• A logistical support centre for frontline troops, it also has a substantial field hospital

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told the BBC that the target was US and UK soldiers.

In a later statement the Taliban said "tens" of fighters had been involved. It said the base was "engulfed in fire and covered in heavy smoke".

It threatened "further retaliation throughout the country" for the "insult towards the beloved Prophet of Islam" carried in the film.

The UK's defence ministry said the incident had been "contained with a number of insurgents killed as a result".

 

It said that a "clearance operation is being conducted and we are in the process of accounting for our people".

Our correspondent says that suggests the fighting is over and Nato forces will be making sure no Taliban are hiding and all Nato personnel are present.

Camp Bastion has a high level of security and is one of the world's busiest airports because of the heavy helicopter and plane traffic.

Earlier this year, a member of Nato forces was injured when an Afghan man drove a pick-up truck onto the runway, which then burst into flames, during a visit by US defence secretary Leon Panetta.

But successful head-on attacks by insurgents that penetrate the perimeter fence, which is protected by hi-tech detection systems, are rare.

Nato told Reuters news agency that Prince Harry was on the base at the time of the attack but was "never in any danger".

The Taliban have previously threatened to target Prince Harry during his stay at Camp Bastion.

Their statement after the attack specifically referred to his presence there.

There are fears of a surge in violence in Afghanistan ahead of the withdrawal of most foreign forces by 2014.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19608561

US Authorities Question Anti-Islam Film Suspect Nakoula

 

     

             

 

 

A man suspected of involvement in the making of an anti-Islamic film that has sparked violent protests across the Middle East and north Africa is being questioned by US probation officers.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was convicted of bank fraud in 2010 and later released on condition that he did not access the internet or use aliases.

He has denied involvement in the film, clips of which have been posted online.

At least seven people died in protests over the film on Friday.

Violence flared in Khartoum, Tunis and Cairo and there are fears of further unrest.

On Tuesday, the US ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed after the US consulate was stormed in the city of Benghazi.

Anger over the inflammatory film was cited as a spark for the attack, but there is suspicion that it was pre-planned.

The US victims were repatriated on Friday in a ceremony at Andrews Air Force Base attended by US President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Protest timeline - main flashpoints

 

11 September

 

1. US embassy in Cairo attacked, flag torn down and replaced with black Islamist banner

2. Mob attacks US consulate in Benghazi, US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans killed

 

13 September

3. Protesters break into the US embassy compound in Sanaa, Yemen, amid clashes with security forces

 

14 September

4. Sudanese protesters attack US, German and UK embassies in Khartoum and clash with police. Three killed

5. One person killed in Lebanon in protest at a KFC restaurant

6. Protesters in Tunis attack the US embassy, with a large fire reported and shots heard. Two killed

7. Riot police in Cairo clash with protesters near US embassy. One person killed

'Sam Bacile'

It is unclear who is behind the film - Innocence of Muslims - which has been widely circulated on the internet in English and Arabic.

Any portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad is considered blasphemous, and the film depicts him as a foolish, power-hungry man.

The character is also seen having sex with his wife and other women. In one scene he is seen sanctioning the sexual abuse of children, in another he says he is gay.

The original posting of a 14-minute trailer for the film on Youtube came from an account linked to the name 'sambacile'.

No film-maker by the name of Sam Bacile has been traced, and the US authorities suspect Nakoula Basseley Nakoula of using the pseudonym.

Nakoula served 21 months in prison for using stolen identities to open numerous bank accounts that he later used to withdraw funds.

He was released in June 2011 with the proviso that he did not access the internet or use any aliases without permission.

Nakoula, who was also convicted of drugs offences in 1997, volunteered for questioning and was escorted from his home by officials early on Saturday, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

He wore a scarf, hat and sunglasses to hide his identity as he left his home in the suburb of Cerritos.

Local media reported that a man later emerged from the police station wearing the same outfit.
Peace call
Anger over the film erupted on Tuesday when, as well as the attack in Benghazi, the US consulate in Cairo was attacked.

There has since been violent unrest in Yemen, Sudan and Tunisia, with further protests in Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey.

An attack on a Nato base in Afghanistan on Saturday that killed two US marines was also carried out in response to the video, the Taliban have said.

The US has stepped up security at its embassies across the region, and the EU has urged leaders in Arab and Muslim countries to call for peace.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19609051

Fed Pulls Trigger, to Buy Mortgages in Effort to Lower Rates (CNBC)

The Federal Reserve fulfilled expectations of more stimulus for the faltering economy, taking aim now at driving down mortgage rates until an improvement in unemployment that the central bank says will be a problem for several years.
The Fed said it will buy $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities per month in an attempt to foster a nascent recovery in the real estate market. The purchases will be open-ended, meaning that they will continue until the Fed is satisfied that economic conditions, primarily in unemployment, improve.
There's strong hints that they'll do Treasurys next," Joe LaVorgna, chief economist at Deutsche Bank Advisors, said in a phone interview from London."They're pulling out all the stops to try to get this economy to gain some traction and, most important, to get unemployment down."
Enacting the third leg of quantitative easing will take the Fed's money creation past the $3 trillion level since it began the process in 2008.
"The Committee is concerned that, without further policy accommodation, economic growth might not be strong enough to generate sustained improvement in labor market conditions," the Open Market Committee said in a statement.
As a follow-up to the statement, the Fed released its latest economic projections, which foresee slow growth including a jobless rate that stays above 7 percent into 2014. The economic projections expect growth to remain slow but to improve due to the stimulate measures announced Thursday.
In addition, the Fed said it will continue its program of selling shorter-dated government debt and buying longer-term securities, a mechanism known as Operation Twist. It also will continue its policy of reinvesting principal payments from agency debt and mortgage-backed securities back into mortgages.
The Fed left its funds rate unchanged at near-zero but offered one change in that regard, saying the rate would stay at "exceptionally low levels" until at least mid-2015.

"These actions, which together will increase the Committee's holdings of longer-term securities by about $85 billion each month through the end of the year, should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative," the Fed statement said.
The vote was 11-1, with Jeffrey Lacker voting against the notion of asset purchases as well as setting a time frame for rates.
At an afternoon news conference, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke offered a defense of the Fed's QE activities, saying they are not adding to the government budget deficit nor causing runaway inflation...

Please read entire article at the following link;

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/fed-pulls-trigger-buy-mortgages-163638925.html

The Arrest of the Face of Anonymous Will of Course Be Televised

                         

 

 

 

When you're the so-called face of Anonymous, a lot of your life gets documented online, including, for Barrett Brown, video threats to an FBI agent and his subsequent arrest. We still don't know why Brown was arrested on Wednesday night. But because he lives so much of his life online, we got to see video of his arrest, hear audio, and even get a transcript. And we can also see videos Brown posted earlier Wednesday that sure seem like they could have led to the raid.

 

 

Daily Dot did a great early rundown of how Brown's arrest became "one of the most thoroughly covered arrests in multimedia." He was with his girlfriend, on a video chat with 12 others when an off-camera commotion broke out and Brown left the frame before his girlfriend turned the webcam off. But the audio ran, and shouting from someone who sounds a lot like law enforcement can clearly be heard. Soon after, someone who had been recording the video chat posted it to Mediafire, someone else posted cleaned-up audio, and then a transcript went up on Pastebin. Brown is still in custody with the FBI, Wired reports, citing a Dallas County sheriff's spokeswoman.

Earlier Wednesday, Brown had posted a series of videos to Youtube railing against FBI agent Robert Smith. "Robert Smith's life is over. And when I say his life is over I don't mean I'm going to kill him, but I'm going to ruin his life and look into his fucking kids," Brown says at about 10:45 in the third and final installment, below. At the very end of the video, he says he's always thought he'd be dead before the age of 40, "and I wouldn't mind going out with a couple of FBI sidearms." Daily Dot reported that at some point in the video Brown threatened "to knife any FBI agent who bothered him or his mother," but if that's in there we missed it. Once again, the reason for Brown's arrest hasn't been made clear, but threatening a federal agent is illegal and people have gone to jail for it before, so that's a reasonable first guess.

 

Here's the video of Brown's arrest:

RELATED: 'Lone Wolf' Bomb Suspect Needed a Lot of Help from the the NYPD

http://news.yahoo.com/arrest-face-anonymous-course-televised-173944292.html

Anti-Islam film Protests Escalate, Who is Nakoula Basseley Nakoula?

Disillusionment, lack of opportunity and anger at the establishment can cause protests in any context.

                         

Thousands have protested across the Middle East and North Africa against a film made in the US that depicts the Prophet Muhammad. James Longman explains what is in the film and why it has enraged so many people.

 

 

What does the film show?


The video, a trailer for a longer film entitled Innocence of Muslims, appears to depict Islam as a religion of violence and hate, and its Prophet Muhammad as a foolish and power hungry man.

It opens with a scene in which a Coptic family in a newly radicalised Islamic Egypt is attacked by a group of Muslims. The father tells his daughters that Muslims are bent on killing all Christians and that the Islamic state is hiding their crimes.

It then depicts the Prophet Muhammad and his life with his family and his followers in the desert. He is shown with his wife Khadija, and implies she engineers the Koran with a mix of Old and New Testament verse. He is also shown in sexual positions with his wife and other women.

The film shows Muhammad's followers to be savage killers hungry for wealth and bent on killing women and children. One of the most insulting sequences includes a reference to Muhammad sanctioning the molestation of children, and at one stage the Prophet also declares that he is gay.

Many characters recite verses supposedly taken from the Koran although clearly invented, as they go about killing and extorting locals.


Why is it so offensive?


Depicting the Prophet Muhammad in any way already defies Islamic belief, let alone satirising him. His wife Khadija and his earliest companions are also revered in their own right in Islam, and so mocking these individuals is also considered serious blasphemy.

The founding principle of Islam is that the Koran is the direct word of God, revealed to Muhammad in order that he impart it to humankind. Depicting Khadija as planning to concoct a holy book out of the Old and New Testament defies an intrinsic Islamic belief.


Other references to Muhammad's affairs with women, his greed and violence would clearly be insulting in any context.


What do we know about how it was put together?


The entire film is thought to be around an hour long, although most have only seen a 14 minute trailer which has now been widely circulated on the internet in English and Arabic.

It was clearly put together on a budget, with a cheaply made set, amateur actors and poor production standards. It was shot over five days at a California film studio in August last year, with a cast of around 50, together with a large production crew.

The most offensive parts of the film appear not to have been in the original, but dubbed over the soundtrack at a later date.


Who is Nakoula Basseley Nakoula?
 

The now infamous trailer for the film was posted through a Youtube account linked to the name 'sambacile' - originally reported as an Israeli Jew who had raised $5m dollars from Jewish donors in the US to make the film. But this person did not exist.

US authorities now say they have identified Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, an Egyptian-born Coptic Christian living in California as the man who made the film. Basseley, who was found guilty of fraud in 2010 and ordered to pay more than $790,000 in restitution, is thought to have used the pseudonym "Sam Bacile" to hide his identity. He denies the allegations.

What do the actors say about it?


They say they were misled about the film entirely, claiming that the original film had nothing to do with Islam or Muhammad, and that all references to him and insults to the religion were added post-production.

Cindy Lee Garcia, who had a small role in the film, told Web site Gawker.com that she and others were given a script for a film called Desert Warriors, and that it would be a historical drama set in the Middle East. Ms Garcia also said she had seen Mr Nakoula on set.


Is there something more going on here than protests about a film?


As was evident after Danish cartoons of Muhammad were published in 2006, politicians and religious leaders in the region use perceived insults to Islam to rally public support.

Protests began to spread from Egypt to other countries - spurred on perhaps by local media - because of a long-standing mistrust and anger at the West, something a number of groups have been able to capitalise upon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19606155

Ally or Enemy to America?

What we are now left with is continuing this insanity game for another round. Why look for what we already have been shown through others actions? We need to truly rebuild our foundation because these old strategies are proving yet again to be useless.
                                                                                                               ~Nicholas Moore~

                         

                         

President Barack Obama says he will decide whether Egypt is an ally or an enemy of the United States in part according to the way the fledgling government in Cairo responds to the violent assault on the American Embassy there, which happened on Monday.

"Certainly in this situation what we're going to expect is that they are responsive to our insistence that our embassy is protected, our personnel is protected," Obama said. "And if they take actions that indicate they're not taking responsibilities, as all other countries do where we have embassies, I think that's going to be a real big problem."

The president—his handling of the so-called "Arab Spring" under fresh scrutiny after attacks on American diplomatic posts in Egypt, Libya and Yemen—had been asked by Telemundo whether he sees Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's government as an ally.

"I don't think that we would consider them an ally, but we don't consider them an enemy. They're a new government that is trying to find its way," Obama replied in what, by the standards of diplomatic talk, amounted to a blunt warning.

"They were democratically elected. I think that we are going to have to see how they respond to this incident. How they respond to, for example, maintaining the peace treaty with Israel," he added.

"So far, at least, what we've seen is that in some cases they've said the right things and taken the right steps. In others, how they've responded to various events may not be aligned with our interests," Obama said. "So I think it's still a work in progress."

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-warns-egypt-ally-enemy-140958144--election.html

Libya Attack: Obama Vows Justice for Killed US Envoy

With this unfortunate happening, let the lives of those taken not disappear within this hurl of ignorance. Many are blaming each other and finding justification for hate. Nothing can help change this way of thinking but knowledge & leaving personal vendettas aside.

 

                                                                                                                          ~Nicholas Moore~

 

 

 

                             

 

US President Barack Obama has vowed to bring to justice the killers of the US ambassador to Libya during protests against a film that mocks Islam.

But he told reporters that the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi would not break the bonds between the US and the new Libyan government.

Mitt Romney, Mr Obama's political foe, criticised the handling of the crisis.

Ambassador J Christopher Stevens reportedly died of smoke inhalation after a crowd stormed the consulate.

---

Three other Americans were also killed, amid reports that rocket-propelled grenades had been fired during the assault on Tuesday night.

The consulate was set ablaze and a charred car could be seen parked near the damaged buildings on Wednesday.

A US marine anti-terrorism team is being sent to Libya to bolster security after the attack, a US defence source told reporters in Washington.

Protesters against the film also attacked the US embassy in Cairo on Tuesday night.
'Especially tragic'
Speaking in the Rose Garden at the White House, President Obama told reporters: "Make no mistake. Justice will be done."

He said he condemned "in the strongest possible terms the outrageous and shocking" attack.

---

The killing of the US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, along with three other US embassy staff, raises a host of questions about security, the prevalence of armed militias in the country and the whole trajectory of Libya's democratic project.

The Obama administration in Washington will want answers from the Libyan government about the scale of the security measures in place at its consulate in Benghazi and how demonstrators were able to get into the building.

More broadly the ambassador's death highlights the continuing instability in Libya as the country struggles to establish security and the rule of law.

The country is awash with weapons and armed militias - some of a salafist or extreme Islamic fundamentalist outlook - hold sway in many areas.

"It is especially tragic that Chris Stevens died in Benghazi because it is a city that he helped to save," he added, praising the dead ambassador for his work in Libya after the overthrow of the late Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Libya's interim leader, Mohammed Magarief, apologised to the US over the killings, which he called "cowardly criminal acts".

Reports say a militia known as the Ansar al-Sharia brigade was involved in the attack, but the group has denied the claim, the BBC's Rana Jawad in Tripoli says.

Ambassador Stevens and his staff went to the consulate in an attempt to evacuate the site after it was attacked, the Associated Press news agency said.

The building apparently came under attack by a crowd armed with guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

"The American ambassador and three staff members were killed when gunmen fired rockets in their direction," a Libyan official in Benghazi told Reuters news agency.

The Libyan doctor who treated Mr Stevens in hospital said he had died of severe asphyxiation, apparently from smoke inhalation, with no other injuries, and that he had tried for 90 minutes to revive him.

US media reaction

Time correspondent Ashraf Khalil describes the scene on the ground in Egypt and concludes the reaction to the film was "essentially a case of an American group of fringe Christian fundamentalists successfully provoking and enraging a similar group of fringe Muslim fundamentalists".

ABC's Jake Tapper explains the chronology of events in Egypt and Libya as the Romney campaign accused the White House on Tuesday of being sympathetic with those who waged the attacks.

NBC calls Mr Romney's criticism of the Obama administration "one of the most over-the-top and incorrect attacks of the general-election campaign".

In the International Herald Tribune, Harvey Morris shares Christopher Stevens' recent emails with him about his hopes for Libya.

He was the only American brought into the Benghazi Medical Centre and initially nobody realised he was the ambassador, Ziad Abu Zeid told AP.

Mr Romney, Mr Obama's Republican challenger in this November's presidential election, said the Obama administration had appeared to "sympathise with those who waged the attacks" in Benghazi and Cairo.

Mr Obama's team, he said, had sent "mixed signals to the world" in the face of violence.
Safety concerns
Our correspondent says many people in Libya are still armed following the conflict that overthrew Gaddafi.

Analysts say the attack will raise serious new concerns about stability in the country and the ability of the new Libyan administration to maintain security.

US ambassadors killed in line of duty

• John Gordon Mein - Guatemala, 1968: Shot dead by rebels who ambushed his car

• Cleo A Noel Jr - Sudan, 1973: Shot dead along with senior US and Belgian diplomats by Palestinian militants, after being taken hostage in Saudi embassy

• Rodger P Davies - Cyprus, 1974: Killed by sniper gunfire during a protest at US embassy by Greek Cypriots
• Francis E Meloy Jr - Lebanon, 1976: Kidnapped and shot dead by Palestinian militants in Beirut with another senior US official
• Adolph Dubs - Afghanistan, 1979: Killed in exchange of fire after Afghan and Soviet forces tried to free him from kidnappers in hotel

In June, two British bodyguards were injured in an attack in Benghazi on a convoy carrying the British ambassador to Libya. Red Cross and UN staff also came under attack this year.

Correspondents say the film at the heart of the row, which appeared on Youtube translated into Arabic, is highly provocative and insulting to Muslims.

A demonstration in Cairo on Tuesday saw protesters breach the US embassy and tear down the US flag, which was flying at half-mast to mark the 9/11 attacks.

An Islamic tenet bans the portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad.

Cartoons featuring the founder of Islam sparked violent unrest among Muslims in 2005 when they were published by a Danish newspaper.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19577913