Washington Plays Russian Roulette With Missile Defense – 26 December 2013

He stated that US missile defense remains a threat to Russian national security and that Russia has the right to place Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, but claimed that that step had not yet been taken. Putin added however that putting Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad would be a logical response to American plans to build a missile defense system in Europe. What few in the West, outside a handful of military experts grasp, however, is that the US project to install so-called Ballistic Missile Defense missiles and special radar in Poland, the Czech Republic, Turkey and Bulgaria is the highly provocative act by Washington against Russia and risks putting the world on a hair-trigger to a nuclear war.

Phys.org – Rescue Underway For Russian Ship Trapped By Antarctic Ice – 26 December 2013

Phys.org

Three icebreaking ships were Thursday hurrying to reach a Russian vessel carrying 74 people on a scientific expedition which is trapped by ice off Antarctica, with Australian authorities coordinating the rescue mission.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the MV Akademik Shokalskiy sent a distress message on Wednesday to say it was stuck about 100 nautical miles east of the French base Dumont D’Urville.

“The ship was starting to head out (to the open ocean) when the blizzard hit,” expedition spokesman Alvin Stone told AFP.

Read the whole article at: www.phys.org / link to original article

Steve Lendman – America’s War On Humanity – 26 December 2013

On Christmas day it raged. Holidays are no exception. America’s killing machine observes none. Mass slaughter and destruction continue. It’s longstanding US policy.

Historian Gabriel called the 20th century “the bloodiest in all history.” Civilians suffered most.

Wars ravage humanity. New millennium ones rage. America bears most responsibility. Its quest for global dominance takes millions of lives. US leaders consider it a small price to pay.

DealBook – Islamic Banks, Stuffed With Cash, Explore Partnerships In West – 26 December 2013

DealBook

By NATHANIEL POPPER

A noted Muslim law scholar, Yusuf DeLorenzo, recently pored through the books of Continental Rail, a business that runs freight trains up and down the East Coast.

Read the whole story at: www.dealbook.nytimes.com / link to original article

WakingTimes – V. Susan Ferguson – ‘Siren Servers’ As The Matrix – 26 December 2013

Jaron Lanier in his book “Who Owns the Future” coined the term ‘Siren Servers’ to describe “an elite computer, or coordinated collection of computers, on a network. It is characterized by narcissism, hyperamplified risk aversion, and extreme information asymmetry. It is the winner of an all-or-nothing contest, and it inflicts smaller all or nothing contests on those who interact with it.”

Jaron Lanier is a veteran Silicon Valley computer scientist, programmer, a musician, and the father of virtual reality (a term he is credited with popularizing according to wiki). Lanier is author of two recent fascinating insightful books that reveal the Internet as most of us do not know it. The World Wide Web has caught us in its webs woven in brilliance, freedom, communication, hype, subterfuge, and deceit – and yet we don’t truly grok the full depth of our own voluntary immersion, complicity and surrender to the new ‘masters of the universe’.

CLN – Big Food Companies Push To Label Genetically Modified Products As “Natural” – 26 December 2013

Allgov | Dec 26th 2013

Food manufacturers who use genetically modified (GMO) ingredients want permission from the federal government to stamp their products with the word “natural.”

The Grocery Manufacturers Association has asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to approve their plan, which would mean any food containing GMO corn, sugar and other such ingredients could be sold as “natural.”

One advocacy organization, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), blasted the food companies’ proposal.

Read the whole article at:  www.consciouslifenews.com / link to article

ActivistPost – Researcher: Extensive Use Of Antibiotics In Agriculture Creating Public Health Crisis – 26 December 2013

Citing an overabundance in the use of antibiotics by the agriculture and aquaculture industries that poses a threat to public health, economics professor Aidan Hollis has proposed a solution in the form of user fees on the non-human use of antibiotics.

In a newly released paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Hollis and co-author Ziana Ahmed state that in the United States 80 per cent of the antibiotics in the country are consumed in agriculture and aquaculture for the purpose of increasing food production.

Mish/ Mike Shedlock – Pettis On Debt, Malinvestments, Hidden Losses, And China’s GDP – 26 December 2013

Heading into 2014, Michael Pettis at China Financial Markets remains adamant that growth estimates for China are too high and that rebalancing (while necessary), implies lower growth than most expect. Via email …

It is widely acknowledged that perhaps the most important reason to change the Chinese growth model is its excessive reliance on debt to generate growth. Debt has soared in recent years, to the point where many economists simply look at credit growth in the current quarter in order to determine what GDP growth over the next few quarters are likely to be.

Gloria Wendroff – The Heaven Letters – This Illustrious Journey To God – 26 December 2013

God said:

Just as some days are sunny and some are rainy, some days you feel grandly energetic and other days perhaps lackluster. Some days you are so healthy, and other days, you feel unwell, perhaps even sure that you won’t make it through.

Best not to get caught up so much on how you feel.

Beloveds, there is no end to you. You are eternal. You well know that your body is not you. It is a costume you wear. When you leave your body behind, you will be infinitely happy. It will be like you have taken off a cloak that has kept your arms bound and kept you from flying, a cloak that has kept you from knowing. You are not held to this short imprisonment in a body on Earth. Your value is far more than how long you live. Your value is limitless and, therefore, regardless of how long your body lives.

AmericanKabuki – North Korea: Jang Song-thaek’s Aides Executed With Anti-aircraft Machine Guns – 26 December 2013

Jang Song-thaek’s Aides Executed With Antiaircraft Machine Guns: Report The Huffington Post | By Alana Horowitz Posted: 12/24/2013 2:30 pm EST http://goo.gl/tlPznT

Shocking new details have been revealed about the execution of Jang Song-thaek, Kim Jong Un’s uncle. The New York Times reports that the Jang’s death was the end result of a brutal gun battle between Jang supporters and those of the regime over who controlled key land. As the Times tells it, Kim’s forces were ordered to take back control over important fishing grounds that Jang had previously seized, but Jang wouldn’t give it up without a fight. The battle ended in the death of many of Kim’s soldiers. Kim was furious and ordered that Jang’s top aides be executed.
Read the whole story at: www.americankabuki.blogspot.com / link to article