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DeSwiss

DeSwiss's Journal
DeSwiss's Journal
December 17, 2013

Climate change expert's fraud was 'crime of massive proportion,' say feds


[font size=1]C-SPAN
Former high-ranking Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official John Beale testifies
before the House Oversight Committee on Oct. 1, 2013.
[/font]

December 16, 2013
By Michael Isikoff
NBC News National Investigative Correspondent


The EPA’s highest-paid employee and a leading expert on climate change deserves to go to prison for at least 30 months for lying to his bosses and saying he was a CIA spy working in Pakistan so he could avoid doing his real job, say federal prosecutors.

John C. Beale, who pled guilty in September to bilking the government out of nearly $1 million in salary and other benefits over a decade, will be sentenced in a Washington, D.C., federal court on Wednesday. In a newly filed sentencing memo, prosecutors said that his lies were a "crime of massive proportion" that were “offensive” to those who actually do dangerous work for the CIA.

Beale’s lawyer, while acknowledging his guilt, has asked for leniency and offered a psychological explanation for the climate expert’s bizarre tales.

“With the help of his therapist,” wrote attorney John Kern, “Mr. Beale has come to recognize that, beyond the motive of greed, his theft and deception were animated by a highly self-destructive and dysfunctional need to engage in excessively reckless, risky behavior.” Kern also said Beale was driven “to manipulate those around him through the fabrication of grandiose narratives … that are fueled by his insecurities.”

MORE


- The irony is his story could have as easily been true, because he's just the kinda guy the CIA hires. You know, delusional......

December 16, 2013

The Post-GMO Economy


December 12, 2013
Elizabeth Royte, Modern Farmer




*snip*

While consumer demand will ultimately propel more non-GMO grain into the market, more proximate factors can also influence what kinds of seeds farmers plant. For example, geography. Does the grower live close to the river systems that send the vast majority of the nation’s conventional grain to GMO-averse markets in Japan, South Korea and the EU? Wyatt Muse, a merchandiser for Clarkson Grain, which buys conventional and organic corn and soybeans, pays farmers a premium — up to $2 extra per bushel over the base commodity price of soybeans, $1 for corn — to not only grow the crop but also preserve its identity. (That is, keep it separate from genetically modified grain all the way from planting through harvest, storage and transportation.)

Huegerich doesn’t live near a dry mill that would pay him a premium for conventional corn, or a river that can move his product out into the world. But he does live within trucking distance of Blair, Nebraska, where a Cargill-owned plant converts his crop into plastic for customers who want a bio-based product but can’t get behind GMO corn. “I get a fifty-cent-per-bushel premium,” Huegerich says.

[center]THE ECONOMIC CASE FOR CONVENTIONAL CORN

According to analysis by Aaron Bloom, a farm consultant with a business called AgriWize, planting conventional corn seeds can make great economic sense. When a variety of GMO corn called SmartStax was plotted against conventional seeds, Bloom found the conventional corn farmer saved an average of roughly $81 per acre per season. For a farm of 1,000 acres, a farmer would pocket a difference of almost $81,000. (Bloom’s model assumes farmland in western Iowa/southern Minnesota but would be applicable throughout the Midwest.)
[/center]

Aaron Bloom doesn’t farm near an outlet that pays a premium, but he still comes out ahead with conventional corn. A crop consultant, Bloom has been experimenting with non-GMO varieties for five years on land he works around Cherokee, Iowa. “We get the same or better yields, and we save money up front,” he says. And yet when he first suggests conventional seeds to clients, he sometimes gets pushback. “Guys think that you have to get out the cultivator” — which pierces the soil between rows of crops — “and kill your weeds by hand. No! You’re going out there with the planter anyway, just add your insecticide and your conventional herbicides.” Last year, not one of the roughly 30 farmers to whom Bloom sold non-GMO seeds had a bad harvest — despite unprecedented drought. “And I’ve got another 20 trying this year.”

MORE


- Losing money? That could start a stampede. I hope there's enough conventional seed to go around or we could have Black Fridays in seed stores all over Iowa.....

December 15, 2013

It is illegal to even 'imagine' overthrowing the Queen, says government



By John Hall – 14 December 2013

The government has confirmed that republicanism is still punishable by life imprisonment and that it remains illegal to even 'imagine' overthrowing the Queen.

The revelation comes as the Ministry of Justice embarrassingly admitted that a law threatening to jail for life anyone who has called for the abolition of the monarchy had been mistakenly included on a list of 309 offences due to be repealed before May.

Although the law has not been used to prosecute anyone since 1879, it means that it is still theoretically possible to imprison for life anybody who even so much as "imagines" overthrowing the Crown or waging war against the Queen.

Yesterday, it emerged “being an incorrigible rogue”, under the Vagrancy Act 1824, had also been repealed. A total of 327 criminal offences were also created in the year to May, a 12% increase compared with the previous 12 months. In full, section three of the Treason Felony Act 1848 reads:
    If any person whatsoever shall, within the United Kingdom or without, compass, imagine, invent, devise, or intend to deprive or depose our Most Gracious Lady the Queen, from the style, honour, or royal name of the imperial crown of the United Kingdom, or of any other of her Majesty's dominions and countries, or to levy war against her Majesty, within any part of the United Kingdom, in order by force or constraint to compel her to change her measures or counsels, or in order to put any force or constraint upon or in order to intimidate or overawe both Houses or either House of Parliament, or to move or stir any foreigner or stranger with force to invade the United Kingdom or any other of her Majesty's dominions or countries under the obeisance of her Majesty, and such compassings, imaginations, inventions, devices, or intentions, or any of them, shall express, utter, or declare, by publishing any printing or writing ... or by any overt act or deed, every person so offending shall be guilty of felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable ... to be transported beyond the seas for the term of his or her natural life.

- Hmmm... ''to be transported beyond the seas for the term of his or her natural life.'' How bout Tahiti?!
December 15, 2013

Baby seat with iPad holder stirs controversy

By Daniel Lovering
BOSTON Wed Dec 11, 2013 5:00pm EST



[font size=1]The Newborn-to-Toddler Apptivity Seat for iPad sold by toy maker Fisher-Price is
seen in an undated handout photo received December 10, 2013.
REUTERS/Fisher-
Price/Handout via Reuters[/font]

(Reuters) - An advocacy group called on toy maker Fisher-Price to stop selling a baby seat designed to hold an iPad at the front, saying the product encourages parents to leave infants alone to watch screens that could be harmful.

The bouncy seat with an iPad holder is the "ultimate electronic babysitter" and blocks a baby's view of the world, undermining the child's interaction with caregivers, said the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, based in Boston, in a statement.

The group cited research by the American Academy of Pediatrics that suggested screen time for children under age 2 was linked to language delays, sleep disturbance and learning problems later in childhood. There was no evidence it was advantageous, the group said in the statement, which was issued on Tuesday.

Babies left alone with iPads also could be deprived of activities shown to be beneficial to brain development, such as hands-on creative play and positive interaction with adults, the group said.


MORE

- It's never too early to start programming your little ones. Makes for a much, much superior consumer and ''voter.''



December 13, 2013

ENENEWS Fukushima Update: 12-13-2013



FUKUSHIMA

09:09 AM EST on December 13th, 2013
TV Correspondent in Japan: I’ve come across terrible information — Health situation appears to be “much more risky” than what we see on Japan TV — Doctors and officials hiding the truth (VIDEO)

12:03 PM EST on December 12th, 2013
Fukushima Evacuee: We’re human guinea-pigs in an experiment… we’ll never forgive gov’t or Tepco! — US Attorney: It’s up to the American people to make them pay; Japan is threatening to put people who speak out in concentration camps (AUDIO)

04:49 PM EST on December 11th, 2013
“In 2013, people really interested in radioactive fallout” — US gov’t studying public attention to Fukushima, tracks twitter searches — NRC FOIA: “Libyan war news should now downgrade Fukushima”

1:25 PM EST on December 10th, 2013
US Nuclear Officials: Fuel fragments were likely ejected from cladding at the 3 Fukushima reactors — Particles of fuel resemble highly radioactive ‘mystery black substance’ often seen in Japan since 3/11 (PHOTOS)

04:06 PM EST on December 9th, 2013
Nuclear Expert: Plutonium in water leaking into ocean is “the most dangerous thing” at Fukushima, it can be carried around world and end up on a beach or in fish — Researcher: Plutonium contamination “a serious threat to environment and human health” (AUDIO)

04:13 PM EST on December 8th, 2013
Record radiation level in underground water well near ocean at Fukushima — Tepco: “Rise in radiation readings is an obvious concern” — 1.4 billion Bq/m³ of strontium/beta emitters

07:01 PM EST on December 7th, 2013 | 220 comments
BBC: Work at Fukushima Unit 4 a “distraction”; The “real nightmare” is coming from 3 molten cores — NYTimes: Melted fuel is “all over the place… First goal is simply to stop uncontrolled releases of radioactive material” (AUDIO)

11:02 AM EST on December 7th, 2013 | 216 comments
TV: Highest ever radiation levels detected outside reactor buildings at Fukushima — People exposed to it would die in 20 minutes (VIDEO)


[center]******************[/center]

US/CANADA

08:59 PM EST on December 12th, 2013
Marine Biologist: All the sea stars along west coast of North America could be wiped out — Some developing ‘bald spots’; “Others look completely healthy except for guts coming out” — ‘Speculation’ it could be related to Fukushima

02:28 PM EST on December 12th, 2013
Large die-off of Alaska seabirds from disease never found before in state history — Official: It’s super, super common… except it’s first time — Hundreds dead per km²; Continued to wash ashore — ‘Relatively’ natural; Witness: Head flopped backward, appeared to have seizure, then dropped dead (AUDIO)

09:26 AM EST on December 12th, 2013
CNN: The Pacific has seen its fair share of weird recently — Bay in California “now a massive soup bowl” — “Miles of anchovies, mountains deep” — It’s like none ever recorded… Old timers have never seen anything like this — “We may be experiencing ‘global weirding’” (VIDEO)

01:02 AM EST on December 12th, 2013
Another 20 Navy Sailors: USS Ronald Reagan crew with thyroid cancers, leukemia, brain tumors, bleeding, blindness after Fukushima disaster — Young kids developing problems — Gov’t and Tepco involved in major conspiracy (AUDIO)

06:44 PM EST on December 11th, 2013
Study: Dead sea creatures covered 98% of seafloor last year about 150 miles off California coast; Unprecedented, had been below 1% prior to event — ‘Major’ changes began in spring 2011

08:03 PM EST on December 10th, 2013
University researchers assess impact of Fukushima plume on U.S.; Some models show near straight line to West Coast — Experts: Radionuclides didn’t dilute offshore as officials had claimed, “cause for serious alarm” (VIDEOS)

03:08 AM EST on December 10th, 2013
Berkeley official requests Health Dept. inform public of elevated risks from Fukushima contamination; Council to vote on plan next week — Fairfax Official: “No one’s monitoring radiation levels on West Coast… Gov’t is not doing its job” (VIDEO)

December 13, 2013

Head of anti-corruption panel took $1 million thru loophole



RT-America • Published on Dec 12, 2013

Kathleen Rice, Nassau County DA, is co-chair of Andrew Cuomo's Commission to Investigate Public Corruption. The commission just issued their first report, which condemns legal but deplorable actions, such as pay-to-play arrangements, misuse of funds, conflicts of interest, and loopholes. Funny thing is, Kathleen Rice took more than $1 million through the very loopholes she condemns. The Resident (aka Lori Harfenist) discusses.


- Well, it's a good thing she's a DA, huh? They're cheaper by the dozen......

''The Ministry of Peace concerns itself with war, the Ministry of Truth with lies, the Ministry of Love with torture and the Ministry of Plenty with starvation. These contradictions are not accidental, nor do they result from from ordinary hypocrisy: they are deliberate exercises in doublethink.'' ~George Orwell, 1984


[center][/center]
December 12, 2013

Man Commits Suicide in Mall After Girlfriend Refuses to Stop Shopping

Neetzan Zimmerman on Gawker • Horrifying • Monday 1:37pm


Man Commits Suicide in Mall After Girlfriend Refuses to Stop Shopping

A man who was fed up with his girlfriend's incessant Christmas shopping responded to her request for one more look around a mall shoe store by leaping seven floors to his death.


- Who knew that the first casualty in the War On Christmas 2013, would be a suicide? I suppose she'll need a pair of black shoes now......
December 12, 2013

Riot Police Remove Their Helmets in Solidarity With Italian Protesters



WorldNewsJB·Published on Dec 9, 2013

Riot Police Remove Their Helmets in Solidarity With Italian Protesters

In Italy during a demonstration against government measures and impotent politics, riot police understand the gravity of actual Italian situation and decide to follow another people.




December 10, 2013

Arctic Chill in LA



Jimmy Kimmel Live ·Published on Dec 6, 2013

Whenever the weather in LA drops below seventy degrees our local news stations go nuts. This is some of the ridiculous weather reporting that has been going on here.

Jimmy Kimmel Live - Arctic Chill in LA

#KIMMEL

Jimmy Kimmel Live's YouTube channel features clips and recaps of every episode from the late night TV show on ABC.

Subscribe for clips from the monologue, the interviews, and musical performances every day of the week. Watch your favorites parts again, or catch-up on any episodes you may have missed.

Website: http://www.jimmykimmellive.com

Channel: http://www.youtube.com/jimmykimmellive


- Clouds!!! Blowing hair!!! Hot coffee after hot coffee being bought!!! Oranges falling from trees!!! Oh the humanity!!!!

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