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Landmark Court Decision Forces Netherlands To Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions 25 Percent

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The Netherlands’ government has been ordered by a Dutch court to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% as of 2020 in a landmark decision. Environmentalists, praising the ruling, hope this will motivate other countries to do the same.

The case was presented on behalf of nearly 900 Dutch citizens by campaigners. They claimed that the government was legally obligated to protect the country and its people from climate change.

The government’s lawyers had no comment on the ruling in The Hague, and Greenpeace’s Jasper Teulings said it was a “landmark case,” and that, “It shifts the whole debate. Other cases are being brought in Belgium, the Philippines. This is the start of a wave of climate litigation.”

The judgment has never happened before in Europe, and is a surprise. The Dutch government will feel pressure to follow through and cut emissions.

The government has already begun applying methods. It has made plans to close coal plants, increase windmill use, solar energy, and significantly lower gas extractions in the country’s northern region. The court case forces the government to hasten changes to meet the deadlines and become more energy efficient by 2020.

The was made according to “Tort Law,” which is a legal term used to make the government take action to avoid causing harm.

According to the current policies, the Netherlands would only reduce emissions by 17%, which is even less than other countries. It was said that, “The parties agree that the severity and magnitude of climate change make it necessary to take measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

The lawsuit enacted via human rights laws by the Urgenda foundation, which claimed that the government had a duty to protect its citizens with these efforts. It said that, if these actions were not taken, the country would be particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate changes.

It argued that unless rapid action was taken, the next half of this century would see extreme weather, shrinking ice caps and shortages of food and water.

The Netherlands’ decision to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by 25% will not be easy, and will require difficult and speedy actions to avoid suffering future climate change related issues.

The ruling will likely serve as a blueprint for future legal actions over environmental destruction, some of which we profiled previously here.

 

Bottled Water Scare Across America As 14 Brands Founds To Be Contaminated

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If you have any bottle water bearing the brand names below – do not drink ! They may contain E. coli bacteria.

Acadia, Acme, Big Y, Best Yet, 7-Eleven, Niagara, Nature’s Place, Pricerite, Superchill, Morning Fresh, Shaws, ShopRite, Western Beef Blue, and Wegmans.

They are all part of a recall of Niagara Bottling LLC spring water products produced at its two Pennsylvania facilities between June 10-18, 2015. The recall comes after the company was informed that the water source of the products was potentially “compromised” by E. coli bacteria.

Stores selling the affected brands include Wegmans, ShopRite, 7-Eleven, Acme and others.

The company said the bacteria were found on June 10, noting, “As the spring source did not notify us in a timely manner, we have discontinued the use of this source.”

According to Niagara Bottling LLC there have been not yet been any reported cases of illness or injury to date, and that completed product testing had not shown any contaminants or other issues.

People who have purchased the affected brands can return the recalled product for a full refund, the company stated.

Code information on bottles will reveal whether it is part of the recall. It shows the place, date and time the product was produced. Only the bottled spring water with codes beginning with “F” or “A” are affected.

The recall notice for Niagara said that E. coli bacteria’s presence indicates that the water could be contaminated with human or animal wastes. Microbes in these wastes can cause cramps, diarrhea, headaches, nausea, or other symptoms, which may present special health risks for infants, young children and the elderly, as well as people with compromised immune systems.

Consumers can get more information of the recall by contacting Niagara Bottling LLC Consumer Service at (877) 487-7873.

Retail Giants All Move To Ban Sale Of Confederate Flag Merchandise

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Some of the USA’s largest retailers are backing calls from lawmakers and civil rights groups to remove the Confederate flag from the grounds of South Carolina State House, a week after the gunning down of nine black church members in Charleston.

The Civil War-era flag of the South’s pro-slavery Confederacy, seen as an emblem long associated with racism, has become a symbol lightning rod for outrage over the Charleston murders which authorities say were racially motivated.

Walmart and Amazon.com are the latest companies saying they will no longer sell the rebel flag, joining EBay Inc, Google Inc, and Sears Holding Corp.

The country’s most prominent flag makers have also said they would no longer manufacture or sell the flag.

Dylan Roof, the 21-year-old white man charged with murder for the shooting last Wednesday, had posed with a Confederate flag in on-line photos he had posted with a racist manifesto.

South Carolina state lawmakers voted on Tuesday to open debate on removing the Confederate flag from the State House grounds. The law which requires the flag to be hung on the grounds, may only be amended or repealed on the passing of an act which has received a two-thirds vote on the third reading of the bill in each branch of the South Carolina General Assembly.

New Document Leaks Show Iran Gave Nuclear Materials To Murderous Sudan

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According to documents released by transparency group WikiLeaks last week an embassy cable by Saudi diplomats in Khartoum says that Iran sent advanced nuclear equipment and centrifuges to Sudan in 2012.

The document, marked “very secret,” claimed, “The embassy’s sources advised that Iranian containers arrived this week at Khartoum airport containing sensitive technical equipment in the form of fast centrifuges for enriching uranium, and a second shipment is expected to arrive this week.”

WikiLeaks revealed more than 60,000 documents last week, claiming they are genuine Saudi communications. They plan to show a total of 500,000.  Saudi Arabia, on the other hand, said they may be false, and have not made any comments on specifics.

Should the cable prove authentic, it does not reveal the embassy’s information source, or more evidence regarding the shipment. Iran has not been reported in the past for shipping nuclear elements to Sudan, where there is no current nuclear activity.

A strange explosion destroyed a munitions factory in Sudan in October of 2012, just eight months after cable’s supposed date. The Sudanese government blamed the attack on an air raid perpetrated by the Israelis.  There was nothing to suggest that the factory had nuclear equipment but this could explain the unusual event.

There have been no official comments on the cable, and no official proof as to whether WikiLeaks’ information on Saudi diplomats, and their beliefs that Iran sent equipment to the Sudan, is true.

How A Pickle A Day May Help Your Calm Your Social Anxiety

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If you’re feeling a bit nervous about going out socializing pickles and other fermented foods may help calm your nerves, according to new research.

A study in Psychiatry Research’s August issue claims that fermented foods like anything pickled, yogurt, and kefir can ease a person’s social anxiety, and even their neuroticism. Probiotics, bacteria that ferment the food. Psychologist Matthew Hillimire, co-author for the study, said, “It is likely that the probiotics in the fermented foods are favorably changing the environment in the gut, and changes in the gut in turn influence social anxiety.”

The authors gathered 710 students at William & Mary and recorded the amount of fermented food they ate, along with symptoms of neuroticism and social issues they experienced during the study. They found a correlation between the fermented food consumed and the levels of anxiety. Particularly neurotic subjects saw a decrease in their symptoms of shyness and fear of social situations when they ate more fermented food.

Despite uncovering a link, the study does not explain how it works, precisely. Previous studies on animals have indicated that the microbiome and probiotics help the human stomach, and possibly the mind. Clinical trials have also indicated possible healthy benefits, but no results are finite.

The good bacteria may influence GABA levels–a brain chemical that controls anxiety. GABA is connected to neural pathways the same way anti-anxiety medications are. “In other words,” Rupp says, “if you’ve got a case of social jimjams, eating a bowl of sauerkraut may be the equivalent of popping a Valium. Or maybe even better.”

Of course, all these details differ from person to person, and so discovering precise causes for links between fermented food and anxiety will take time and research. However, if you’re feeling particularly anxious, you might want to consider grabbing a pickle.

Study Finds Five Largest Internet Providers Are Illegally Slowing Your Traffic

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A major study, released on Monday, confirms the need for the FCC and other federal agencies to monitor the behavior of powerful internet service providers as it found that the five major internet providers are illegally slowing connections speeds for businesses and residential consumers in several areas of the country.

Internet activists from BattlefortheNet found that noticeable reductions in speed were happening in the five largest services providers (75% of all wired homes), including AT&T, Timer Warner, and Verizon. They pulled information from 300,000 customers.

Just weeks ago the FCC promoted new “net neutrality” guidelines to protect the freedom of internet data and prevent ISPs from charging for better speed.

Tim Karr of BattlefortheNet’s Free Press said, “For too long, internet access providers and their lobbyists have characterized net neutrality protections as a solution in search of a problem. Data compiled using the Internet Health Test show us otherwise – that there is widespread and systemic abuse across the network. The irony is that this trove of evidence is becoming public just as many in Congress are trying to strip away the open internet protections that would prevent such bad behavior.”

Specialists at Open Technology Institute’s M-Lab supported the information examining the various speeds of Content Delivery Networks (CDNs), which carry some data for major websites. Any particularly popular site must pay a CDN to hold its content on national or international server networks near the customer base.

At AT&T at network is forced to pay when its outgoing traffic exceeds its incoming traffic, and the ISP will not upgrade to more capacity unless the network pays extra. AT&T does not want its connectivity arrangements regulated, though certain networks have petitioned the FCC to do so.

“History proves that absent competition a predominant position in the market such as yours creates economic incentives to use that market power to protect your traditional business in a way that is ultimately harmful to consumers,” FCC chairman Tom Wheeler said at an Internet and Television Expo recently.

The internet traffic and neutrality issues continue to be debated between the FCC and providers, and it is uncertain whether the study will make a difference for customers looking to have the speed they were promised from the five ISPs.

Beware Rich Celebs Crying Foul: Taylor Swift Wants Photographers’ Pictures For Free

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Music Sensation Taylor Swift has been accused of hypocrisy in her battle with Apple over music streaming.

Photographer Jason Sheldon said the singer does not “play fair” when it came to image rights and yet had expected Apple to do so when she had argued that the company’s withholding of payments during a three-month trial period offered to subscribers was not fair.

Swift had argued she and other artists should be paid for music streamed during the three month free month trial and had threatened to prevent the US firm from streaming her album 1989 if it did not. Apple Music agreed to the demands a day after Swift’s threat.

But Sheldon in an open letter to Swift said her actions were a double standard.

“If you don’t like being exploited, that’s great – make a huge statement about it, and you’ll have my support. But how about making sure you’re not guilty of the very same tactic before you have a pop at someone else?” wrote Sheldon.

“With all due respect to you too Taylor, you can do the right thing and change your photo policy. Photographers don’t ask for your music for free. Please don’t ask us to provide you with your marketing material for free.”

Sheldon, who runs photography agency Junction 10 , said he and other photographers had been told to hand over some rights to their images from Swift’s live concerts.

He said to cover a 2011 Swift concert he had to sign a permission form that granted Swift’s management company long-term rights to reuse the images and stopped him from featuring them after the initial coverage.

Sheldon said he had seen a 2015 version of the same contract that was even more strict, although he had not applied for one.

“I can’t use it in my portfolio, feature it on my website and even the original newspaper couldn’t reuse it. What’s more, they can give my image to my clients for press purposes. It’s giving my work away for free,” said Sheldon.

“I fully agree with Taylor Swift’s stance against Apple, but it’s about her playing by the same rules she wants to live by.”

Surge In Number Of Homeless Has Hawaiian Officials Puzzled

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HILO, Hawaii — The exterior tropical paradise image of Hawaii Island has an ugly underbelly of a rapidly increasing homeless population. Yet state officials remain puzzled by the increase.

State figures show that Hawaii Island’s homeless population has more than doubled in the last two years. There was no mention in the annual point-in-time count of the homeless situation for any of the State’s other islands.

The count showed the homeless population on Hawaii Island increased from 557 in 2013 to 869 in 2014 with 1,241 reported so far for in 2015.

Funding for homeless support services has not kept up with the rising homeless population.

Brandee Menino, CEO of Hope Services Hawaii said approximately 60 percent of the homeless they served last year were completely new to their programs, and mostly local residents. Of that number fewer less than seven percent were from outside of Hawaii.

“We’ve been experiencing a high increase in homelessness — 53 percent from fiscal year 2013 to 2014. We’ve seen an increase in all areas of the island– Hilo, Pahoa, Oceanview, Kailua-Kona, Honoka’a. On nearly every island in every region — homelessness is increasing,” she said.

According to a report in Hawaii News Now, the number of sheltered homeless grew from 160 to 220 in three years, while the number of unsheltered increased from 397 to 1,021 in the same time period.

Officials are at a loss to explain why, exactly, the increase has occurred and whether or not the trend looks set to continue into the future or is related to a one time event. Possible causes include the gentrification of the island, with house prices steeply appreciating or unreported unemployment due to workers out of work yet not registering their status while being homeless and thus not showing up in unemployment figures.

Obama Administration Has Decided To Outsource The War On ISIS To Syria

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The Pentagon is once again outsourcing a war, this time not to U.S. defense contractors but to Syrian moderates, who are being lured to fight against Islamic State militants with American dollars from The Pentagon’s budget.

Navy Commander Elissa Smith, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said they will be paid $250 to $400 each per month, depending on skills, performance and leadership qualities. Training of the first group of about 90 fighters began last month with preparation for battle expected to take several months.

Training is taking place in countries that neighbor Syria, including Jordan.

Smith said The Pentagon expects to have 3,000 fighters trained by year’s end. The goal for 12 months is 5,400.

“For operational security, we will not announce when coalition-trained Syrian opposition forces enter into Syria,” she said.

Approximately 6,000 Syrians volunteers have stepped forward for the training program. Of that number more than 4,000 are waiting to be vetted, Smith said.

A small well trained force could make a difference in Syria, according to David Phillips, director of Columbia University’s Peace-Building and Rights Program.

“They’re not fighting a large army,” he said. “Even small numbers can be effective on the battlefield. Nobody envisions this to be an easy or quick win. Developing a nucleus of capable fighters is the right way to start.”

Efforts to field competent, trained forces in Iraq to fight the Islamic State, known as ISIL and ISIS are also progressing slowly. The Pentagon had wanted to field 24,000 new Iraqi security forces by fall. Only 9,000 have signed up to train.

The training program which has been called “critical” by Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, had been put on the back burner for several months because finding and vetting fighters who were prepared to adhere to laws of war and promise to conduct themselves properly, had proved difficult.

ISIS Is Now Offering Sex Slaves As Prizes To Those Who Memorize The Koran

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Muslim extremist terror group ISIS has sunk to another low by reportedly offering female prisoners as sex slave “prizes” to fighters who show they have mastered the Koran.

According to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and the Clarion Project, two independent research groups that track social media accounts linked to terrorist groups, the practice of giving away human beings as prizes is called “sibya,” and was organized by the Da’wa and Mosques Department in Al-Baraka province in Syria in honor of the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan.

The contest was announced on an ISIS twitter account. The chapters in the Koran ISIS challenged its followers to memorize include some of the most warlike passages in the entire Koran.

Contest prices included “slave girls” and Syrian currency up to $500 in value.

Ryan Mauro, national security analyst for the New York-based Clarion Project said the contest and its underlying competition demonstrate that fighters are studying the Koran, and that ISIS flicks off international criticism and condemnation.

“By showcasing its slavery, ISIS is boasting that it practices Islam in its most literal interpretation, doesn’t capitulate to public opinion and rejects modern interpretations,” Mauro said. “It is also showing it has a functional Islamic educational system and therefore is a real caliphate.”

Last November, ISIS unveiled a menu for women and children for sale with women 40 and 50 years old fetching just $40, girls between 10 and 20 years old auctioned for $129 each, and children under 10 commanding higher prices.

Numerous human rights activists said the treatment of females captured by ISIS has become increasingly horrific and alarming.

A Human Rights Watch report issued in April documented continued organized rapes, sexual assault, and other horrible crimes against Yazidi women and girls kidnapped from their homes and held as captives in Iraq and Syria.

In June the United Nation envoy on sexual violence reported girls and women were being traded for as little as a pack of cigarettes.

Pentagon Quietly Building Cruise Missile Defense Network To Protect U.S. Cities

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In moves reminiscent of the Cold War, The Pentagon has secretly been planning an extensive defense network to protect USA cities from attacks by Russian cruise missiles.

The plan includes the purchase of radars that would allow National Guard F-16 fighter jets to spot and shoot down fast, low-flying missiles. Top generals want to network the radars with sensor-laden aerostat balloons hovering over U.S. cities and with coastal warships equipped with their own sensors and interceptor missiles.

To avoid the normal procurement process, Admiral William Gortney, U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command has tabled an “urgent need” request to put AESA radars on F-16s patrolling Washington airspace.

While everyone remains hush hush about the Pentagon’s overall cruise missile defense plans, much of which remain classified, senior military officials have dropped clues in speeches, congressional hearings and other public forums, all pointing to the Pentagon’s worries about Russia’s development of advanced cruise missiles.

During a recent speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Admiral. Sandy Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said “We’re devoting a good deal of attention to ensuring we’re properly configured against such an attack in the homeland, and we need to continue to do so” .

In recent years, The Pentagon has invested heavily in ballistic missile defenses which shoot down long-range rockets that touch the edge of space and then fall toward targets on Earth, but efforts to defend the U.S. mainland against smaller, shorter-range cruise missiles have flown under the public radar. Defending against cruise missiles is much different to shooting down a ballistic missile . Launched from ships, submarines, and even trailer-mounted launchers, cruise missiles are powered throughout their entire flight, allowing them to fly close to the ground and maneuver throughout flight, making radar detection difficult.

While many of the 4-star generals and admirals who command forces in various geographic regions of the world believe cruise missiles pose a threat to the United States, they have had trouble convincing their counterparts in the military services who decide what arms to purchase.

The major driving force behind the concern at The Pentagon is Russia’s development of the Kh-101, an air-launched cruise missile with a reported range of more than 1,200 miles.

Judge Sides With FTC, Rules Merger Of Food Giants Sysco, US Foods Would Be Anticompetitive

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American consumers can look forward to more competition in restaurant food prices as Sysco Corp, the nation’s largest food distributor to restaurants, lost its battle with the U.S. government over its proposed merger with the second largest food distributor in the nation, US Foods.

A federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the company could not merge with its biggest competitor without approval from antitrust regulators.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the body tasked with that assessment and had previously found the merger would harm consumers and likely lead to significant price increases at major U.S. restaurant chains, which rely on the large food distributors for supplies.

“The FTC has shown that there is a reasonable probability that the proposed merger will substantially impair competition in the national customer and local broadline markets and that the equities weigh in favor of injunctive relief,” Judge Amit Mehta wrote in his opinion.

It was unclear if Sysco would appeal the decision.

The move is the latest in a series of decisive actions taken by the agency to fight massive corporations praying on American citizens. The agency has enacted tough network neutrality rules of internet service providers to ensure they don’t simply tax the internet, pushed for meaningful patent reform, stepped in to regulate failed crowdfunding projects and has stepped up enforcement of promoted social media posts that are really advertisements.

France Summons U.S. Ambassador After Wikileaks Reports Widespread Spying On French Prime Ministers

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France has angrily summoned the U.S. ambassador for a meeting on Wednesday after reports emerged that the United States spied on French President François Hollande as well as his two immediate predecessors, despite the French being considered a close U.S. ally.

Transparency group WikiLeaks published U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) reports about the interception of secret communications of the last three French presidents.

France’s Defense Council said in a statement Wednesday that it would not tolerate “any action jeopardizing its security and the protection of its interests,” yet alluded to the fact it was already aware of the spying.

“These unacceptable facts already resulted in clarifications between France and the United States” in 2013 and 2014, the Council stated.

“Commitments were made by the American authorities,” the statement read. “They must be recalled and strictly respected.”

President Hollande had called a meeting of the council after reports appeared in the French press about the WikiLeaks disclosures.

French newspaper Libération and online news site Mediapart cited five NSA documents disclosed by WikiLeaks on Tuesday. The reports contained information pulled from intercepted communications of Presidents Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande and other senior French officials.

WikiLeaks said in a news release that the cache of “top secret” files includes “intelligence summaries of conversations between French government officials concerning some of the most pressing issues facing France and the international community.”

White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price on Tuesday said of the reports:

We are not targeting and will not target the communications of President Hollande. Indeed, as we have said previously, we do not conduct any foreign intelligence surveillance activities unless there is a specific and validated national security purpose. This applies to ordinary citizens and world leaders alike. We work closely with France on all matters of international concern, and the French are indispensable partners.

In addition to summoning the American ambassador, France’s intelligence coordinator will visit the United States to discuss the measures to eliminate spying between the two nations which are supposedly already in place.

The U.S. ambassador to France, Jane Hartley, will appear at the French Foreign Ministry at noon Eastern Time for what is sure to be an awkward exchange.

ISIS Begins To Destroy Historic Ruins Of Ancient Palmyra

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A predictable fate has started to befall the historic Syrian city of Palmyra as ISIS fighters have now destroyed two ancient Muslim shrines in the ancient city, the Syrian government confirmed Wednesday.

The move marks the latest act of cultural vandalism by the Sunni extremist, this time against the UNESCO World Heritage Site which dates back 2,000 years.

Syria’s antiquities chief, Maamoun Abdulkarim, head of the Directorate-General for Antiquities and Museums (DGAM), confirmed that the body became aware of the destruction four days ago, when reports started filtering in.

“ISIS has blown up two ancient Muslim shrines in Palmyra, and has published photos of this awful crime against the Syrian cultural heritage on Facebook,” a statement from the DGAM said.

Of the ruins destroyed, one is the tomb of Mohammed bin Ali, a descendant of Ali bin Abi Taleb, the Prophet Mohammed’s cousin. The DGAM said that it is located in a hilly area 2.5 miles north of Palmyra.

“ISIS militants also blew up the shrine of Shagaf, known as Abu Behaeddine, a religious figure from Palmyra, dated to 500 years ago. The shrine is located in the oasis 500 meters away from the Ancient City’s Arch of Triumph,” the statement went on to confirm.

Palmyra, commonly known as the “bride of the desert,” is an unparalelled collection of ruins in the desert northeast of Damascus. It was once a monumental city sitting on a vital trade route linking Persia, India and China with the Roman Empire.

The eclectic mix of architectural styles of its colonnades and temples is a testament to its importance as a caravan city at the crossroads of ancient civilizations.

Reports emerged, as we covered here, that ISIS militants had begun planting landmines and explosive in the city late last week, about the same time as the vandalism took place.

Latest Secret Service Incident Sees Agent Found Guilty Of Stealing $840,000 From Digital Crime Scene

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In the latest blow to the troubled U.S. Secret Service, former agent Shaun W. Bridges (above, right) will plead guilty to stealing $820,000 worth of Bitcoins from online drug marketplace Silk Road. Bridges confessed to taking the money before exchanging it at the Mt Gox Bitcoin before fleeing.

Bridges’ lawyer, Steve Hale Levin, told Bloomberg that “Mr. Bridges has regretted his actions from the very beginning. His decision to plead guilty reflects his complete acceptance of responsibility and is another step towards rehabilitation.”

Bridges was a member of the taskforce that apprehended Silk Road ringleaders Curtis Green and Ross Ulbricht, and was one of two agents accused of stealing from the crime scene. It is claimed that he used his credentials to take from the dealers’ accounts, after which Ulbricht contracted a professional hit against Green, thinking he was the one responsible. The trial for that crime is pending.

Another agent, Carl Force (above photo, left), also stands accused of blackmailing Ulbricht for $235,000 (the money was deposited into a Panama account) and offering him information on the ongoing investigation for a substantial amount of Bitcoin. Force was supposedly paid $90,000 in Bitcoins for giving Ulbricht information and a false identity to avoid arrest.

The government began to suspect Force when he did not turn in his PGP key, which was used to encrypt his meetings with Ulbricht. A transaction between Ulbricht and Force was later discovered in a Bitcoin blockchain. The agent may have also taken Bitcoin wallets and solicited help from another agent to hide his actions.

Ulbricht, despite being the world’s safest drug dealer, was sentenced to life in prison for running the Silk Road, and Bridges’ plea will be heard in August.

The incident comes after a slew of issues with the Secret Service over the past year, with agents caught driving drunk, hiring prostitutes and committing serious lapses in security that have led to repeated security breaches at the White House.

In addition to serious financial crimes, the agency is tasked with providing security for President Obama.

Leaked Documents Reveal Global Saudi Program Of Paying For Favorable Press Coverage

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New documents released by international transparency organization Wikileaks have exposed a massive propaganda program by Saudi Arabia to influence the international media attention the country receives.

The documents show the repressive state paying large sums to western media outlets to have incidents of Saudi human rights abuses and other reprehensible behavior missed or purposefully avoided by the media.

Earlier this year the country paid large sums to bury the beheadings of 100 prisoners, which was widely condemned by human rights groups.

Saudi Arabia takes particular care when it comes to keeping up an internationally positive image, monitoring world media closely, and purchasing loyalty from other countries, including many in the West.

The documents obtained by Wikileaks show strong efforts to control the media and alter any unwanted information or distribution in Arab coverage. They utilize “neutralization” and “containment” methods, according to the leaked papers.

Any negative media is neutralized, and the word is included in cables in reference to journalists who may have been silenced with money. These “neutralized” media outlets simply avoid publishing any bad press or criticism of the Arab country’s people or policies. Containment includes praising the Kingdom, and being involved in attacks on anyone who criticizes the country.

These methods are sometimes enacted through the purchase of subscriptions in specific publications. The expectation is that these publications will do something in return, and become an ally in Saudi propaganda. These subscriptions, requiring renewal by January 1, 2010, were listed in a document, and the monetary values ranged from $500 to $33,000. The Kingdom purchases reverse “shares”, and in return Saudi Arabia gets political help from the press.

This sort of arrangement can be seen between the Saudi Foreign Ministry and its Embassy in Cairo. In, 2011 Egypt’s ONTV hosted Saad al-Faqih, a man in opposition to the Saudi government. The Foreign Ministry then had someone investigate the channel, and find out how “to co-opt it or else we must consider it standing in the line opposed to the Kingdom’s policies.” The station owner, Naguib Sawiris, told the station “never to host al-Faqih again.”

When “neutralization” and “containment” fail, the Saudi Ministry moves on to confrontation. For example, the Foreign Minister was to remove Al-Alam, Iran’s Arabic news network, after a Royal Decree in 2010. When that did not work, Saud Al Faisal tried to “weaken its broadcast signal”, showing that the country will go to military means to achieve control over unfavorable media outlets.

Other examples of the Saudis use of questionable methods to influence media coverage of the repressive nation can be seen in WikiLeaks’ Saudi Cables here.

FBI Arrests Third American In A Week For Providing Support To Terror Group ISIS

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For the third time in under a week, the U.S. justice department has arrested an American for supporting the terrorist group ISIS, this time In North Carolina. Justin Nojan Sullivan was charged on Friday with a plot involving violence in support of an Islamic extremist group. His plans involved the purchase of a semiautomatic rifle, which he would have used to kill Americans.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina said the 19-year-old from Morganton, North Carolina, was arrested Friday and appeared in Charlotte’s federal court at noon. He is charged with trying to distribute materials support the Islamic State, and two counts of weapons charges.

Sullivan said he was a Muslim convert. He was pursued by the FBI when his father called the local authorities to report that his son was behaving erratically, destroying Buddhist objects in their home, and apparently inspired by Islamic-State ideals. The family reportedly feared for their lives.

According to the complaint, Sullivan also attempted to conspire with an undercover FBI agent in order to buy the rifle at a gun show. He is reported to have said, “the war is here.” He also asked the agent to send him a homemade silencer so he could perform, “minor assassinations before the big attack for training,” and then make and send a video to the Islamic State. Prosecutors said he received the silencer in the mail prior to being arrested.

This is one occurrence among many; several young men have been apprehended in the U.S. recently, all supporting the Islamic State, and planning single attacks.

Sullivan’s arrest follows those of two Boston men, who pleaded not guilty to planning a beheading of police officers, and yet another man was apprehended in Ohio for trying to distribute materials supporting the Islamic State.

Federal agents say they are investigating similar issues all over the U.S. and that these investigations are regular and ongoing. The agency is specifically targeting those using social media or other online resources to provide aid, whether weapons or financing or any other form of support.

The FBI has confirmed that many more arrests are imminent.

World Takes Note As Fully One Third of Europe’s Electric Energy is Now Renewable

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The European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) reports that fully one-third of last year’s electricity in Europe came from renewable energy. At 24% four years prior, this means fewer fossil fuels are being used. Susanne Nies, Corporate Affairs Manager at ENTSO-E, calls it a “revolution.”

ENTSO-E recently released their annual review,Electricity in Europe 2014, showing the growth in renewable energy taking place in electricity production. They claim a total of 33% of renewable energy, with 14.4% comprised of wind, solar power, and other sources, and 18.5% hydropower. Hydropower was just 15.3%, and others 9.3% in 2011. Fossil fuel has decreased from 48.6% to 40.5% in 2011 to 2014.

“The EU has a target of 27% renewable energy in 2030, which translates into 46% renewable electricity. We should have no problem reaching that target. It’s a revolution that we’re seeing,” said Nies.

The estimates reveal an increase in electricity imports and exports for EU countries. Since 2010, these exchanges have increased 16%, and France and Germany had the largest ‘negative’ exchanges, while Italy, the UK, and Belgium had more electricity coming in than going out.

She claims the change could reach 80% if the system changes to suit their needs: “The electricity system needs to change. The big issue is variability. We need more storage, more demand response, more e-mobility, data management, more cooperation between DSO’s (distribution system operators) and TSO’s (transmission system operators). In addition, we need market signals to attract investment. This is our main worry now.”

That need for electricity storage may bode well for American company Tesla which, in addition to making electric cars, is making massive investments in battery technology, which we’ve profiled previously here. Such large-scale battery storage systems will be used in wind and solar installations to reduce just the type of variability EU renewables generators are experiencing.

ENTSO-E will release its vision on June 24th with a ‘Vision Package,’ and discuss the future of renewable energy. They anticipate a rise in consumption. Nies said, “Experts expect that annual electricity consumption of the average 4-person household will increase from 3,500 kWh now to 5,000 kWh. We believe this process has already started.”

Netherlands To Air Prophet Mohammed Cartoons On National TV

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In the latest sign the enlightened world is refusing to compromise hard-won values for religious sensitivities, Dutch far-right leader, Geert Wilders, says Dutch TV will broadcast controversial cartoons involving the Prophet Muhammad. The cartoons were meant to be aired on Saturday.

According to Wilders, a “misunderstanding” was why they were not aired as scheduled. The cartoons were released at a US event last month, at which Wilders was a speaker, and which underwent an attack by two men who were eventually shot fatally by security.

Wilders first accused the TV station of purposefully cancelling his segment, but retracted his accusation and claimed it was a misunderstanding, tweeting, “I have just spoken to NPO boss Hagoort. It seems to have been a misunderstanding.”

Parliament would not allow the cartoons on its premises. They were meant to be an important part of Wilders’ presentation at the Texas event, and political party broadcasts are permitted to include almost anything. A contest at that same conference offered a $10,000 (£6,300) reward for a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

According to Anna Holligan of BBC, Wilders has been on a crusade against Islam. Pictures of Muhammad are considered offensive to Muslims, and Wilders has expressed his dislike of the religion, and wanted the Koran banned in the Netherlands.
The TV slot, intended for political parties and their views, instead showed a feature on migrants.

Wilders, angry about the cancellation, distributed the cartoons on social media. They include a bearded man in disguise, including one in which he wears robes and overlooks a bloodied map of the world. Yet another features him with a beard full of snakes.

The broadcast’s timing appears purposeful, as it occurs during Ramadan, a holy month for Islam. Dutch embassies are on alert with the knowledge that Wilders plans to exhibit the cartoons. Protests and violence following similar actions, such as the Charlie Hebdo incident, and the death of a film director during a free speech rally in Copenhagen, suggest Wilders’ actions could have serious, violent consequences.

Yet increasingly many groups, from France to Texas to the Netherlands, are willing to take this chance to defend civil and political liberties that took generations to win. Many radical Islamists are fundamentally opposed to basic human rights such as freedom of speech, religious tolerance, secularism and women’s equality, a stance that is putting them in direct confrontation with various groups willing to defend their rights and not willing to back down – at all costs.

EU Latest To Find Fracking Should Be Banned For Causing Health, Environmental Problems

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A new study has found that fracking poses “significant” risks to people’s health and the environment and that the practice should be banned in the EU until reforms are made. It also warned that the problems will worsen if the recently-formed Conservative government proceeds with shale gas fracking.

The results mirror those found by the U.S. EPA just last month.

The CHEM Trust, a British charity that investigates issues such as these, suggests there are problems in the UK regulations, which will only worsen with budget cuts.
The report also discusses the potential risks involved with the chemicals which the fracking companies utilizes to open the rocks. It claims there are significant chances of air, water (both ground and surface), and wildlife.

These toxic chemicals are said to cause various cancers and heart disease, according to the report. It cites examples of these materials, “associated with leukemia in humans,” and “toxic to sperm production in males”.

This week, the Lancashire county council will vote on plans to implement the first commercial fracking sites in the area. The new report on fracking will be released tomorrow, and the CHEM Trust said it will send the report to Lancashire councillors before the official vote.

New York was the first U.S. state to stop fracking over health concerns, despite the state’s significant access to shale gas. Health commissioner Howard Zucker agreed with the health risks, and governor Andrew Cuomo compared them to secondhand smoke.

The CHEM Trust report encourages many steps to protect British water, wildlife, and health. They ask to stop fracking near drinking water, more steady research to keep track of environmental effects, and continued monitoring once fracking has ceased. These include no fracking operations near drinking water aquifers, the undertaking of environmental impact assessments for all fracking sites, and effective monitoring even after fracking operations have stopped.

“We take the environmental risks associated with oil and gas exploration and production very seriously,” said an Environment Agency spokesperson, “including hydraulic fracturing for shale gas, and are committed to ensuring that people and the environment are protected.”

Veterans Left Hanging As Funding For VA Hospitals Falls Short Of Needs

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Long waiting lists at veterans hospitals have been an issue for some time, and now the numbers have grown 50 percent. The Department of Veterans Affairs is nearly $3 billion short, making it likely they will continue to fail veterans in terms of care.

Hiring cessations, rationing treatments, and even excluding certain patients (such as those who are terminally ill) are just some of the methods the department is considering in order to address funding. The debate is ongoing and increasingly negative.

The agency wants to petition Congress for program funding, but some Republicans object to doing so because that means veterans on waiting lists may use private care in rural areas, paid for by taxpayers.

The department has done what it can since the waiting list problem came to light. They have made more than 2.7 million more appointments, and authorized hundreds of thousands of people to seek outside care. They have doubled what they thought they would need to make things better.

“We are not meeting the needs of the veterans,” said Sloan D. Gibson, deputy secretary of the department, “and veterans are signaling that to us by coming in for additional care, and we can’t deliver it as timely as we want to.” The workload has still increased, something they could not anticipate.

Those workloads increased by 20 percent, according to the New York Times. That information includes people who had to schedule multiple appointments because veterans need more care now than they previously have.

Some claim that the lack of awareness on this issue has been the result of retaliations against whistleblowers and those who criticize the department. Other say it is a lack of staff, space, and funding since Vietnam, and now Iraq and Afghanistan. Whatever the reason, Gibson said, “Veterans are going to respond with increased demand, so get your checkbooks out.”

Law and No Pulley Stops Critics From Lowering Confederate Flag In South Carolina

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Even though criticism continues to rage that the Confederate Flag in the grounds of South Carolina’s State House was not hung at half mast in respect to the nine people allegedly slaughtered by gunman and self stated racist Dylann Storm Roof last week in Charleston, it seems, no one, including the State’s Governor Nikki Haley, can do anything about it.

“In South Carolina, the governor does not have legal authority to alter the flag,” a Haley spokesman said. “Only the General Assembly can do that.”

There is also a physical obstacle that prevents the flag from being lowered – it’s affixed to the pole, not on a pulley system and can’t come down unless someone climbs the flag pole and pulls it down — which would be illegal anyway.

South Carolina has been attacked about its capitol’s Confederate flag ever since it went up in the capitol in 1962 despite the burgeoning civil rights movement.

The law that keeps the flag flying high even while the USA flags limp at half mast, says the flag cannot fly from the capitol dome, but must appear at a memorial to fallen confederate soldiers, who fought under the flag, that is located near the dome. The flag is permitted to appear in legislators’ offices within the capitol building. The law even specifies the type of flag, its placement, and the dimensions of its display.

“This flag must be flown on a flagpole located at a point on the south side of the Confederate Soldier Monument, centered on the monument, ten feet from the base of the monument at a height of thirty feet,” it reads. “The flagpole on which the flag is flown and the area adjacent to the monument and flagpole must be illuminated at night and an appropriate decorative iron fence must be erected around the flagpole.”.

The law may only be amended or repealed on the passing of an act which has received a two-thirds vote on the third reading of the bill in each branch of the General Assembly.

This means that any changes to the flag policy will require near unanimous agreement from South Carolinian lawmakers, which are currently debating the issue.

Study Finds Teens Stop Smoking, View Marijuana As Less Attractive After It Becomes Legal

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New research continues to debunk just about every myth used to criminalize drugs, with the latest long-term study on the issue producing results sure to influence the marijuana debate.

According to a study analyzing data on 1 million teenagers in 48 states, legalizing medical marijuana does not lead to increased underage usage of the drug and in fact actually reduces teen usage.

The study, published in the medical journal Lancet Psychiatry, tracked 1,098,270 8th-grade, 10th-grade and 12th-grade students over 24 years. All were asked if they had smoked or used marijuana products in the prior month.

One interesting finding was that pot use decreased among eighth graders after medical marijuana was made legal because the teens started to view marijuana as a relatively harmless medical product which marijuana industry expert Debra Borchardt said “certainly doesn’t fit with the idea of being a rebellious teenager”.

Of the 21 states that had legalized medical marijuana as of 2014, not only hadn’t teenage pot use increased but had actually decreased from 8 percent before legalization to 6 percent afterward.

In states that have passed medical marijuana laws after the study began, teen use was already slightly higher than in other states. Usage was about 16 percent in those states compared to 13 percent in states that still lack medical marijuana laws.

New 8 Minute Surgery Will Give You Superhuman Eyesight. Forever.

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A revolutionary new surgically implanted eye lens developed by Canadian researchers will give people suffering from severe eye conditions or just wanting better eyesight perfect vision.

Forever.

The Ocumetics Bionic Lens, created by Dr. Garth Webb, an optometrist in British Columbia, will give patients perfect vision, ending the need for driving glasses, progressive lenses, and contacts. The implant will also be immune to eye disease or age related eye conditions because the lens replaces that of their natural eye.

Webb says that anyone over the age of 25 is the best candidate, because that is when the eye is fully developed.

“This is vision enhancement that the world has never seen before,” he said, “If you can just barely see the clock at 10 feet, when you get the Bionic Lens you can see the clock at 30 feet away.“

Surgery to fit the lens can be done within 8 minutes. The lens will be custom-made, folded in a saline-filled syringe and when placed in the eye, will unravel itself within 10 seconds, immediately correcting a patient’s vision.

Pending clinical trials on animals and then blind human eyes, the Bionic Lens could be available in Canada and elsewhere in about two years, depending on regulatory processes in each country.

The lens has taken over eight years to develop, costing approximately $3 million in research and development fees, international patents, and the securing of a biomedical manufacturing facility.

Webb said he was driven to free himself and others from wearing glasses since he was prescribed glasses in Grade 2.

“My heroes were cowboys, and cowboys just did not wear glasses — Perfect eyesight should be a human right.” he said.

It is likely the United States would be the first market the new product is available in, sometime in 2017.

While Facebook Builds Goggles, Google Builds The Tools To Make Virtual Reality Videos

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As we’ve said before, 2016 is set to be the year virtual reality goes mainstream. Facebook, Google, Samsung, GoPro, Sony, Conde Nast and a host of others are all lining up to launch 3d goggles and content late this year and early in 2016.

While Facebook, thanks to its $2 billion acquisition of Oculus, is intent on making the glasses to view 3d content, arch-rival Google is going in a different direction by making 3d video capture tools.

The Mountain View based search giant announced on Monday that it is now looking for help to test its Jump virtual reality capture platform. The company released a short survey to screen potential applicants who want to help shape the future of virtual reality.

The straightforward form asks for basic biographical information, what country you live in and what your job is and then asks would-be producers to write what kind of content they wish to create with the platform. “Tell us about what you have in mind,” reads the form. “Not required, but awesome answers might put you at the top of the list.”

Google’s 3d creation platform, Jump, was unveiled it at this year’s annual I/O developer conference and was created in partnership with GoPro. The system consists of an array of 16 GoPro Hero4 cameras that capture 360 degree panoramic video at incredible speed.

Google hasn’t yet announced any launch details or time-frames on the new product but given the intense interest in the market for all things virtual reality, and competitor products on-tap, expect to see production versions of Jump hit the market in early 2016.

Google has an especially vested interest in making 3d film and television thanks to its ownership of video sharing platform YouTube. There is a distinct worry in Mountain View that if Google fails to attract 3d content to its video sharing platform it could drive users away and relegate the platform to has-been status.

Food Giant Nestle Believes Every Drop of Water On Earth Should Be Corporate Owned

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If you’re thirsty and want or need a drink of water you should have to pay for it according to the former CEO and now Chairman of Nestle SA, the largest food product manufacturer in the world.

An article published on peacefulwarriors.net by Anthony Gucciardi, the Editor of Natural Society, claims that in a recent video interview reported on by the website Corporate Watch, Nestle Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe said he believes corporations should own every drop of water on the planet, adding that it is a commodity that should not be free nor viewed as a basic human right.

Gucciardi wrote that Nestle “goes into struggling rural areas and extracts the groundwater for their bottled water products, completely destroying the water supply of the area without any compensation. In fact, they actually make rural areas in the United States foot the bill” .

Quoting a report on the Corporate Watch website, he said Nestle and Brabeck-Letmathe’s history of “disregarding public health and abusing the environment to take part in the profit of an astounding $35 billion in annual profit from water bottle sales alone” goes back many years.

“Nestlé production of mineral water involves the abuse of vulnerable water resources. In the Serra da Mantiqueira region of Brazil, home to the “circuit of waters” park whose groundwater has a high mineral content and medicinal properties, over-pumping has resulted in depletion and long-term damage.”

While Nestlé sometimes takes action on these issues, such as moving bottling of water out of drought-stricken California, it appears to do so only when publicly exposed. Judging by the attitude of its top executive these moves are purely to sway public perception and not standard corporate policy.

Another Study Finds Chocolate Is Good For The Heart, Prevents Stroke

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A new study involving almost 21,000 men and women has discovered that eating as much as 3.5 ounces of chocolate each day was associated with a lowered risk of heart disease and stroke. The study was published in the health journal Heart.

“The calculations showed that compared with those who ate no chocolate, higher intake was linked to an 11 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease and a 25 percent lower risk of associated death,” read the journal study.

But the researchers were quick to point out they were not suggesting everyone add daily chocolate to their diet, saying much more research was needed.

There has been on-going debate over several years over whether or not chocolate was good for ones health.

Howard LeWine, chief medical editor of the Harvard University health blog, said finding a link or association between chocolate and heart health is not the same thing as proving a cause and effect.

“We don’t yet know enough to put eating chocolate on a par with eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains,” he said.

Other experts said the latest study adds weight note to an increasing list of research that show bioactive plant compounds in cocoa beans, known as polyphenols, may provide some protection against heart disease.

JoAnn Manson, chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston said they will be testing cocoa beans in capsule form so that none of the sugar, fat and calories found in a typical candy bar can be a factor.

The experts suggest, stick to dark chocolate since it has more cocoa with its polyphenols and less of the sugar and milk found in milk chocolate.

New Website Shines Bright Light On Shady World Of Campaign Finance

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Politicians will find it harder to cover the tracks of questionable campaign funding thanks to a soon to be launched website partly funded by the Sunlight Foundation and a public Kickstarter campaign.

The Sunlight Foundation is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog that uses the tools of civic tech, open data, policy analysis and journalism to make the Government and politics more accountable and transparent to all.

The website was devised and built by Solomon Kahn, a Sunlight Foundation OpenGov grantee, and an Edmond J. Safra Network Fellow at Harvard University

He says the motivation behind creating the website was to give the public a venue from where they could see exactly how much money a politician raised each year, and from which sectors they raised it, “offering users more context than they would normally receive —- on the micro-level, I wanted people to be able to dig as deeply into the details as they wanted”

Content on the website will be obtained from both information politicians and political parties have declared, publicly available information that is hard to find if one does not know where to look for it, and verifiable information submitted by the public and found on the internet

“No single person or media organization could possibly investigate the funding sources of 24,000 federal politicians, but with the help of the internet, we might actually be able to hold every single politician accountable for how they raise money, said Kahn.

“For the last 25 years, these politicians have never expected us to actually find much in this data, and I’m extremely excited to dig up dirt on things that politicians thought we would have long forgotten by now. If you’re excited about this project, and want to contribute, the Kickstarter campaign will be running for a few more weeks. The project will be open source, so you can contribute code as well, or stick this system on top of data from your state or country!”

Commercial Rocket Startup SpaceX Prepares For Third Try At Reusable Rocket

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Elon Musk’s rocketry outfit SpaceX is hard at work this week preparing for its third attempt to land its all-original Falcon 9 rocket booster on a barge anchored at sea. The attempt will take place this Sunday, after a mission to send a Dragon cargo capsule on a supply run to the International Space Station (ISS), which is in desperate need of supplies after a Russian rocket failed to reach orbit earlier this year.

SpaceX has been trying to land the booster, the most expensive piece of the rocket, since January this year. That attempt saw the booster descend to the barge under control, but run out of fuel just before touchdown. The result was a gigantic explosion which resulted in the rocket being destroyed. Or, as SpaceX CEO Elon Musk termed it a “rapid, unscheduled disassembly.”

A second attempt in April this year saw the booster touch down on the barge but the tall space vehicle tilted and fell, resulting in another explosion that destroyed the rocket.

Sunday’s mission is the first resupply mission to the ISS since a Russian Progress spacecraft, which contained food, science experiments and other supplies, halted communication with mission control shortly after launch and began to spin out of control in April.

Yet NASA says there is no panic surrounding Sunday’s mission as even if it doesn’t go to plan, supplies won’t run out.

If SpaceX is successful in landing the booster and is able to consistently achieve this feat it will lead to drastic cost savings on future launches, totally reinventing the space industry. Right now every space launch system in the world throws away the rocket portion of launch vehicle, which happens to be the most expensive part.

This process is like throwing away a brand new Boeing 747 on each and every launch. If SpaceX can recover the rocket, and its pricey motors, on each launch it will be able to shave something like $100 million off each and every launch.

Just Ten Days In, Time Warner Caught Breaking Net Neutrality Rules

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Never ones to be troubled by the rule of law, telecom giant Time Warner Cable (TWC) violating the “no paid prioritization” and “no throttling” provisions of the FCC’s net neutrality regulations which took effect just ten days ago.

The first accusation of a breach of the rules, which are designed to stop big cable and wireless companies from charging gate-keeping taxes to rivals like Netflix and Google, has been brought by streaming company Commercial Network Services (CNS).

CNS provides internet for a number of webcams but also for high-frequency traders, who are aware of every millisecond difference in their internet access speed.

CNS claims TWC is only offering it access to congested, high-latency connections unless it pays extra. In the world of high frequency trading a solid, low-latency internet connections is essential, and what everyone should be entitled to.

“TWC has repeatedly refused to peer and instead offered ‘a commercial transit arrangement that will provide you with a functionally equivalent solution,'” the complaint states.

“By requiring any payment to peer at a common public internet exchange (a management policy), TWC is violating the No Paid Prioritization rule thru the creation of a paid fast lane to Broadband Internet Access Service (BIAS) subscribers on their network by way of their peering policy.”

CNS, through CEO Barry Bahrami, cites three cases of such abuses. His company sought direct connections to three internet exchanges: NYIIX, Equinix NYC and Any2 Los Angeles.

In each case, Bahrami said, TWC refused to provide a direct peer connection and instead offered a much slower “commercial transit arrangement” claiming that such access “will provide you with a functionally equivalent solution.”

In short, TWC made a business decision to offer the slower service, instead of such a service simply being unavailable.

Bahrami expected TWC to say just that, specifically saying that it didn’t have enough capacity to execute the request.

TWC, on the other hand, says that CNS doesn’t qualify under the terms set forth for peering arrangements, though it apparently didn’t inform CNS of this fact.

FCC will now decide what to do about the situation. Currently, CNS has only filed an informal complaint, but Bahrami said that he would make the complaint formal if necessary, which is tantamount to a lawsuit.

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