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German battlefield yields Roman surprises01.07http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/01/05/germany |
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Archaeologists have found more than 600 relics from a huge battle between a Roman army and Barbarians in the third century, long after historians believed Rome had given up control of northern Germany. For weeks, archeologist Petra Loenne and her team have been searching this area with metal detectors, pulling hundreds of ancient Roman weapons out of the ground. They paint a picture of a highly organized, technologically superior Roman army beset by Germanic tribes in a forest about 80 km (50 miles) south of the modern city of Hanover. The hillside battlefield was discovered by relic-hunters illegally searching for souvenirs of more recent wars near the town of Kalefeld-Oldenrode. One of them brought some of the items he found to Loenne, who works for the local government. The artifacts are so well preserved that the scientists can already retrace some of the battle lines. Watch how the battlefield discovery could re-write history » "We believe the Germans ambushed the Romans here, but the legions quickly fired back with catapults and archers -- and then it came to a massive man-on-man onslaught," Loenne said. The items unearthed so far include an axe, still sharp after nearly 1,800 years; horseshoes; shovels; spearheads; and dozens of arrowheads for a Scorpio, a cross between a catapult and a crossbow -- the ancient equivalent of artillery. "With a very high speed, on a very long distance -- about 300 meters -- you can hit targets precisely," said Henning Hassman, of Hanover's archeological institute. Researchers say the evidence suggests the tribesmen lured the Romans into the forest to keep them from making full use of those long-range weapons and draw them into hand-to-hand combat, outside of the formations the imperial troops had mastered. However, they believe the Romans ultimately prevailed.Other relics include coins depicting the late second-century Roman emperor Commodus, depicted in the Oscar-winning Hollywood epic "Gladiator" -- a film that opens with a scene of battle against a barbarian horde that scientists say appears to be largely accurate. And Loenne said her team may have only begun to scratch the surface of the forest. "We hope we might find fortifications and if we are lucky, maybe even battlefield graveyards," she said.  EMAIL |
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Israel Using Depleted Uranium Against Gaza Victims01.05http://www.prisonplanet.com/israel-using-depleted- |
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Medics have found traces of depleted uranium in victims of Israel’s brutal attack on Gaza, according to a Press TV report, meaning the ultimate death toll could be far higher as future generations are plagued by cancers and birth defects.
“Norwegian medics told Press TV correspondent Akram al-Sattari that some of the victims who have been wounded since Israel began its attacks on the Gaza Strip on December 27 have traces of depleted uranium in their bodies,” states the article.
Following the conclusion of the first Gulf War in 1991, in which depleted uranium was used by U.S. forces, cancers and birth defects in Iraq soared and many veterans organizations agree that the weapon was responsible for the emergence of Gulf War Syndrome that has plagued hundreds of thousands of Gulf War veterans.
Depleted uranium shell holes at the infamous Highway of Death in Iraq showed measurements 1,000 times more radioactive than background radiation. The residue of a DU weapon can be spread by the wind and infect humans not in the immediate area as well as the entire food chain.
The image below shows some of the shocking effects of depleted uranium and how its use leads to horrific birth defects.
In 1999, the UN called for the use of depleted uranium to be banned worldwide but efforts to downplay its effects led by the Pentagon have blocked such a ban.
Former head of the Pentagon’s 1994 U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Project Maj. Doug Rokke has faced constant harassment, including murder attempts, after going public in 1997 to expose the health effects from depleted uranium that the U.S. government and the World Health Organization have consistently dismissed.
Israel’s use of depleted uranium against victims of the Gaza bombing campaign provides further evidence that war crimes are being committed with the tacit approval of both the current administration as well as president elect Barack Obama.
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Is Saturn losing its rings?01.04http://scitech.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/02/is-saturn- |
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The sixth planet from the sun, Saturn, is perhaps best known for its many rings, which consist of billions of particles of ice and rock. But throughout the next several months, if you look at Saturn with a telescope, you’ll see something strange – the rings seem to be disappearing. The Hubble Space Telescope took this image of Saturn, seen titled edge-on, in 1995. That’s because about every 14 to 15 years, the tilt of the planet is such that we on Earth see the rings edge-on. In reality the rings are still there, but they appear nearly invisible from Earth. The phenomenon, which stumped Galileo in the 1600s, is called a “ring plane crossing.” While the Earth has an equinox every six months, Saturn’s are more spaced out — in fact, it orbits the sun once every 29.5 years. The rings will appear thinner and thinner until September 4, 2009, when they will seem to have vanished. On that day, we will see the sun and Saturn only 11 degrees apart in the sky, says Linda Spilker at NASA, deputy project scientist and co-investigator on the Cassini Mission to Saturn. But beware – Saturn will be in the daytime sky, making it difficult to see so close to the sun. Unlike a solar eclipse, the Saturn-with-thin-rings phenomenon will be visible from essentially the whole Earth, because it is so far away, Spilker says. But it will be difficult to actually see this around the exact time of the ring plane crossing in September. The bottom line is that, while the actual ring crossing doesn’t happen until the fall, if you want to see Saturn appear to have thin rings, act fast! According to the Sky and Telescope star-gazing guide for this week, Saturn’s rings are only 0.8° or 0.9° from edge-on. The planet rises around 10 p.m. Read more about the ring crossing from NASA. –Elizabeth Landau, Writer/Producer, CNN.com EMAIL |
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Who's infrastructure is it?12.29http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081227/ap_on_re_us/me |
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ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota is deep in the hole financially, but the state still owns a premier golf resort, a sprawling amateur sports complex, a big airport, a major zoo and land holdings the size of the Central American country of Belize. Valuables like these are in for a closer look as 44 states cope with deficits. Like families pawning the silver to get through a tight spot, states such as Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts and Illinois are thinking of selling or leasing toll roads, parks, lotteries and other assets to raise desperately needed cash. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has hinted that his January budget proposal will include proposals to privatize some of what the state owns or does. The Republican is looking for cash to help close a $5.27 billion deficit without raising taxes. GOP lawmakers are pushing to privatize the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and the state lottery. Both steps require a higher authority — federal legislation in the case of the airport, a voter-approved constitutional amendment for the lottery. But one lawmaker estimated an airport deal could bring in at least $2.5 billion, and the lottery $500 million. Massachusetts lawmakers are considering putting the Massachusetts Turnpike in private hands. That could bring in upfront money to help with a $1.4 billion deficit, while also saving on highway operating costs. In New York, Democratic Gov. David Paterson appointed a commission to look into leasing state assets, including the Tappan Zee Bridge north of New York City, the lottery, golf courses, toll roads, parks and beaches. Recommendations are expected next month. Such projects could be attractive to private investors and public pension funds looking for safe places to put their money in this scary economy, said Leonard Gilroy, a privatization expert with the market-oriented Reason Foundation in Los Angeles. "Infrastructure is more attractive today than ever," Gilroy said. "It's tangible. It's a road. It's water. It's an airport. It's something that is — you know, you hear the term recession-proof." Unions don't like privatization deals out of fear that worker wages and benefits will be squeezed as private operators try to boost their profit by streamlining services. Taxpayers, too, can lose out if the arrangements don't work — and sometimes even if they do, said Mark Price, a labor economist with the Keystone Research Center in Harrisburg, Pa. Higher tolls on privatized roads can push drivers onto state-operated roads, wearing them down faster and raising public costs over time. "You're privatizing some profits in this process and socializing some losses," Price said. Selling or leasing public assets can produce an immediate infusion of cash for the state, while foisting the tough decisions, such as raising tolls, onto private operators instead of the politicians. "The downsides are often after they leave office," said Phineas Baxandall, a researcher with the consumer-oriented U.S. Public Interest Research Group in Boston. Some states struck major privatization deals well before the economic crisis hit. Indiana, for example, brought in $3.8 billion in 2006 by leasing the Indiana Toll Road for 75 years. Chicago stands to collect $2.5 billion by leasing Midway Airport, if the federal government approves, and has raised an additional $3.5 billion since 2005 through deals for the Chicago Skyway toll road, parking ramps and parking meters. But in September, investors walked away from a $12.8 billion bid to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike for 75 years after legislators failed to act on the deal. And Texas lawmakers uneasy over a proposed private toll road system approved a two-year moratorium on such contracts last year. David Fisher, who managed Minnesota's state-owned properties a few years ago under former Gov. Jesse Ventura, warned that the state has a hard time finding buyers for properties such as old mental institutions. Fisher said some public properties belong in private hands, such as Giants Ridge Golf & Ski Resort, a top-rated getaway in Biwabik, and Ironworld, a museum and library in Chisholm. Both are owned and subsidized by Iron Range Resources, a state agency. "Certainly those things could be privatized, I think without harm to the state, but I don't know that you could find the right buyer," Fisher said. EMAIL |
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DRACO: CAFETERO CON RAICES
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Obama: $1 trillion deficits 'for years'01.07An expensive economic recovery plan will add to the short-term federal shortfall. But experts warn the bigger problem by far is the long-term picture. |
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German battlefield yields Roman surprises01.07Archaeologists have found more than 600 relics from a huge battle between a Roman army and Barbarians in the third century. |
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Israel Using Depleted Uranium Against Gaza Victims01.05...meaning the ultimate death toll could be far higher as future generations are plagued by cancers and birth defects. |
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GOOGLE tries converting every book ever written to digital...01.05Google gives out-of-print books a new life online |
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For Privacy’s Sake, Taking Risks to End Pregnancy01.05The pills were small and white, $30 for 12. Ms. Dominguez, two or three months pregnant, went to a friend’s apartment and swallowed the pills one by one... |
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Is Saturn losing its rings?01.04The sixth planet from the sun, Saturn, is perhaps best known for its many rings, which consist of billions of particles of ice and rock. |
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Europe feels heat from gas stand-off01.04Russia and Ukraine traded insults at the weekend as a gas stand-off between the two countries entered a fifth day! |
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Israeli troops move into Gaza Strip01.03GAZA, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Israeli troops backed by helicopters advanced into Gaza on Saturday |
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Scientists Extend The Lifetime Of Quantum Memory01.03Storing and sending information using quantum phenomena is one of the hottest areas of research today. |
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'Viagra lure' for Afghan warlords12.29America's CIA has found a novel way to gain information from fickle Afghan warlords - supplying sex-enhancing drug Viagra, a US media report says. |
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Who's infrastructure is it?12.29Cash-strapped states weigh selling roads, parks. |
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UK Culture Secretary Wants Internet Ratings System, Censorship12.27In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Andy Burnham says he believes that new standards of decency need to be applied to the web. He is planning to negotiate with Barack Obama’s incoming ..... |
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Aussie arrested in Egypt for mummy smuggling12.24CAIRO — An Australian teacher who stuffed his luggage with 2,000-year old animal mummies and religious figurines wrapped as gifts was arrested Wednesday, an Egyptian airport security official said. |
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IMF chief warns 2009 may be 'even darker'12.22 |
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Hallelujah! Cohen classic dominates British music charts12.22Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah" made British chart history Sunday when it became both number one and number two in the Christmas singles charts -- although both versions were covers. |
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Boy, 9, Recovers After Decapitation Separates Skull From Neck12.22A 9-year-old Texas boy has almost fully recovered after suffering an orthopedic decapitation in a car accident 3 months ago, |
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The dollar is a terribly flawed currency.12.21 |
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Rogers: The Elite Are Turning A Recession Into A Depression12.19Veteran investor Jim Rogers warns that the policies of central banks and politicians & Barack Obama’s taxation agenda will only make the problem much worse. |
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Mexican Volcanic Glaciers Disappearing Due to Climate Change12.19The glaciers atop the Iztaccíhuatl and Pico de Orizaba volcanoes in Central Mexico will disappear in the next 10 to 35 years due to global warming. |
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A $17.4 Billion, 3-Month Lifeline for Automakers12.19President Bush tossed General Motors and Chrysler a temporary lifeline from the taxpayers on Friday, announcing $13.4 billion in emergency loans |
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2 light planes collide in Australia; 2 dead12.17Two women were killed Thursday when a pair of light planes collided while flying over suburban Sydney, causing one of them to crash into the backyard of a home and burst into flames. |
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Chrysler to Shut Factories for a Month12.17Chrysler said Wednesday that it would close all 30 of its factories for at least one month, starting at the end of this week, in response to plunging vehicle sales in the United States. |
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Morgan Stanley Posts $2.36 Billion Loss12.17Morgan Stanley reported a fourth-quarter loss of $2.36 billion — or $2.34 a share |
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Children forced into cell-like school seclusion rooms12.17A few weeks before 13-year-old Jonathan King killed himself, he told his parents that his teachers had put him in "time-out." |
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Sun Induces Strange 'Breathing' of Earth's Atmosphere12.16New satellite observations have revealed a previously unknown rhythmic expansion and contraction of Earth's atmosphere on a nine-day cycle. |
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Scientists fool bacteria into killing themselves to survive12.16Researchers at the University of Illinois and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst have found a way to fool a bacteria's evolutionary machinery into programming its own death. |
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Greece-Style Riots Coming To U.S.12.15Troops and mercenaries will be used to detain Americans in prison camps, warns deadly accurate trends forecaster |
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No One Else Is Reducing Emissions That Much So We Won’t Either: Australia12.15 |
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Scam victims: Finance giants count losses12.15List of potential victims in what is said to be a massive Ponzi scheme run by money manager Bernard Madoff continues to grow. |
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Americans rich and poor pawn more to pay bills12.15Whether it’s a Tiffany diamond or a three-year-old lawnmower, more and more Americans from all social classes are pawning their possessions to make ends meet. |
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