January 16, 2019

El Chapo trial shows why a wall won't stop drugs from crossing the US-Mexico border

January 16, 2019 6.23pm EST

The trial of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera has exposed just how powerful Mexico’s cartels really are.

The trial has now run for two months. On Jan. 15, a Colombian drug trafficker who worked for Guzmán’s Sinaloa Cartel from 2007 to 2013 testified that Guzmán paid former Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto a $US100 million bribe while he was in power, a charge Peña Nieto’ office denies.

It was just the latest allegation of the cartels paying off high-ranking politicians in Mexico, presumably to exert influence over the government.

Guzmán is charged with drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping and money laundering – crimes he allegedly committed over the past quarter-century as head of the Sinaloa cartel, the Western Hemisphere’s most powerful organized crime syndicate.

More:
http://theconversation.com/el-chapo-trial-shows-why-a-wall-wont-stop-drugs-from-crossing-the-us-mexico-border-110001

January 15, 2019

Giant leaf for mankind? China germinates first seed on moon

A small cotton shoot is growing onboard Chang’e 4 lunar lander, scientists confirm

Hannah Devlin and agencies
@hannahdev
Tue 15 Jan 2019 04.41 EST

A small green shoot is growing on the moon after a cotton seed germinated onboard a Chinese lunar lander, scientists said.

The sprout has emerged from a lattice-like structure inside a canister after the Chang’e 4 lander touched down earlier this month, according to a series of photos released by the Advanced Technology Research Institute at Chongqing University.

“This is the first time humans have done biological growth experiments on the lunar surface,” said Xie Gengxin, who led the design of the experiment, on Tuesday.

Plants have been grown previously on the International Space Station, but this is the first time a seed has sprouted on the moon. The ability to grow plants in space is seen as crucial for long-term space missions and establishing human outposts elsewhere in the solar system, such as Mars.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/jan/15/china-germinates-first-seed-on-moon-cotton-shoot-change-4

January 15, 2019

Sister of slain Brazilian councilwoman calls for justice

Peter Prengaman and Sergio Ramalho, Associated Press
Updated 2:04 pm CST, Monday, January 14, 2019



Photo: Leo Correa, AP
IMAGE 3 OF 7
The sister of slain councilwoman Marielle Franco, Anielle, left, speaks next to her mother Marinete Silva during an Amnesty International press conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 14, 2019. Anielle expressed concern about the conservative new governor’s commitment to solving the case of her sister's slaying 10 months ago.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The sister of slain Brazilian councilwoman Marielle Franco on Monday expressed concern about the conservative new governor's commitment to solving the case.

Ten months to the day since the slaying of Franco and her driver, sister Anielle Franco said Gov. Wilson Witzel's recent actions as a candidate were "worrisome." During last year's campaign, Witzel participated in a rally where two other candidates showed off a street sign honoring Franco that they had broken.

"Of course, we are worried about this administration," said Anielle Franco, sitting by mother Marinete Silva during an Amnesty International press conference. "Our current governor took part in that act of vandalism."

. . .

Franco, who was black and a lesbian, crusaded for black and gay causes. Hailing from Mare, one of Rio de Janeiro's roughest neighborhoods, Franco also frequently criticized police violence. The city's police force is one of the most lethal in the world.

Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes, were gunned down in their car in Rio on March 14 after Franco spoke at a meeting on empowering black women.

For many in Brazil, one of the world's most unequal countries, Franco was a symbol of hope, in large part because such prominence for a black woman from a poor neighborhood was rare. Her slaying led to days of massive protests in Brazil and demonstrations in several other countries.

More:
https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Sister-of-slain-Brazilian-councilwoman-calls-for-13532394.php#photo-16770044











Protest of the assassination of Marielle Franco.

Protests held across Brazil after Rio councillor shot dead
Marielle Franco, known for criticism of police tactics, was killed in apparent assassination

Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro

@domphillips
Thu 15 Mar 2018 16.51 EDT

Protests were held across Brazil after a popular Rio city councillor and her driver were shot dead by two men in what appears to have been a targeted assassination.

Marielle Franco, 38, was a groundbreaking politician who had become a voice for disadvantaged people in the teeming favelas that are home to almost one-quarter of Rio de Janeiro’s population, where grinding poverty, police brutality and shootouts with drug gangs are routine.

Richard Nunes, Rio’s head of public security, said there would be a “full investigation” into the deaths, which came despite the military taking charge of policing in the city last month after a surge in violence.

Two police officials told Associated Press that two men in a car fired nine shots into the vehicle carrying Franco and her driver, Anderson Pedro Gomes on Wednesday night. A press officer in the back seat was injured, but survived, the officials said. Both officials said it appeared Franco was targeted.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/15/marielle-franco-shot-dead-targeted-killing-rio

January 15, 2019

Ancient 'Tomb' Unearthed in Guatemala Turns Out to Be Maya Steam Bath

By Laura Geggel, Senior Writer | January 14, 2019 03:16pm ET

- click for image -

https://img.purch.com/h/1400/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5saXZlc2NpZW5jZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzEwMy82ODUvb3JpZ2luYWwvbWF5YS1iYXRoLTEuanBn

A 3D recreation of what the Maya bath may have looked like in its heyday.
Credit: Piotr Kołodziejczyk Jr.

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient steam bath that the Maya likely used for religious rituals — and possibly relaxation — more than 2,500 years ago.

The steam bath, discovered in the ancient Maya city of Nakum in what is now Guatemala, had fragmented ceramic vessels and obsidian tools in it — artifacts that were possibly used for rituals, said excavation co-leader Jarosław Źrałka, an assistant professor of New World archeology at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland.

"It is one of the oldest steam baths in Mesoamerica," Źrałka told Live Science in an email, adding that the bath is "almost entirely carved into the limestone bedrock." [Photos: Carvings Depict Maya Ballplayers in Action]

. . .

The Maya used the bath from about 700 B.C. to 300 B.C. before covering it with mortar and rubble. "Perhaps it was related to the change of dynasty, which ruled in Nakum, or other important changes in the Mayan social and religious life," Koszkul told Science in Poland.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/64495-ancient-maya-steam-bath.html

January 14, 2019

A Leaky Memory May Be a Good Thing

“Active forgetting” could make your brain more efficient.

TOM SIEGFRIED
11:46 AM ET

In the quest to fend off forgetfulness, some people build a palace of memory.

It’s a method for memorizing invented in ancient times by (legend has it) the Greek poet Simonides of Ceos, more recently made popular by multiple best-selling books (and the “mind palace” of Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes).

Memory palaces provide imaginary architectural repositories for storing and retrieving anything you would like to remember. Sixteen centuries ago, St. Augustine spoke of “treasures of innumerable images” stored in his “spacious palaces of memory.” But 21st-century scientists who study memory have identified an important point to remember: Even the most luxurious palace of memory needs trash cans.

“There are memories that we don’t want and we don’t need,” says neuroscientist Maria Wimber. “Forgetting is good and an adaptive thing.”

More:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/01/how-active-forgetting-makes-memory-more-efficient/580273/

January 12, 2019

Long-Hidden 'Pyramid' Found in Indonesia Was Likely an Ancient Temple

By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | December 17, 2018 06:49am ET

- click for image -

https://img.purch.com/h/1400/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5saXZlc2NpZW5jZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzEwMy8zNjAvb3JpZ2luYWwvaGlkZGVuLXRlbXBsZS1weXJhbWlkLTAxLmpwZz8xNTQ1MDE0NzUw

Located atop Mount Padang in West Java, the structure is topped by an archaeological site that holds rows of ancient stone pillars.
Credit: Danny Hilman Natawidjaja.

WASHINGTON — An enormous pyramid-like structure in Indonesia that may represent the remains of an ancient temple hid underground for thousands of years.

Scientists presented evidence of the remarkable construction Dec. 12 here at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

Located atop Mount Padang in West Java, the structure is topped by an archaeological site that was discovered in the early 19th century and holds rows of ancient stone pillars. But the sloping "hill" underneath isn't part of the natural, rocky landscape; it was crafted by human hands, scientists discovered. [The 25 Most Mysterious Archaeological Finds on Earth]

"What is previously seen as just surface building, it's going down — and it's a huge structure," said Andang Bachtiar, an independent geologist from Indonesia who supervised core drilling and soil analysis for the project.

- click for image -

https://img.purch.com/h/1400/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5saXZlc2NpZW5jZS5jb20vaW1hZ2VzL2kvMDAwLzEwMy8zNTkvb3JpZ2luYWwvaGlkZGVuLXRlbXBsZS1weXJhbWlkLTAyLmpwZz8xNTQ1MDE0NjQ1

The pyramid-like structure remained hidden for so long because it has been obscured by foliage and so looks like a hill (red circle), with a megalith exposed at the top (yellow circle).
Credit: Danny Hilman Natawidjaja

More:
https://www.livescience.com/64320-hidden-temple-pyramid-java.html

Have never heard of this site until this morning. Mind-boggling. Java!

January 12, 2019

Here's How Jair Bolsonaro Wants to Transform Brazil

Land rights, education, the economy, and public security lie at the nexus of the Brazilian president’s priorities and critics’ concerns.

SHANNON SIMS
6:00 AM ET



After his inauguration, Jair Bolsonaro makes the shape of a gun with his fingers—his trademark gesture.
ANDRE PENNER / AP

RIO DE JANEIRO—If you’re shocked by the transformations that Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s new president, is planning for his country, you haven’t been paying attention.

Riding in on a wave of frustration with more than a decade of left-wing leadership, Bolsonaro has promised to bring dramatic change to Brazil, change intended to make leftists squirm. And if his first two weeks in office tell us anything, it’s that those who thought his brash talk—of ending policies creating protected land reserves for indigenous populations or of liberalizing Brazil’s gun laws to make it easier for Brazilians to own guns—was just campaign bluster might want to take a serious look at the president’s plans. He intends to follow through on his promises, even the most controversial ones.

[Read: What populists do to democracies]

What happens in Brazil has consequences not just for the country, but also for Latin America and the world. Brazil is the continent’s biggest economy and home to both the world’s largest rainforest and 211 million people. Globally, Bolsonaro’s critics fear that he could drive South America’s largest democracy toward fascism or even toward a return to military rule. An unapologetic firebrand, he has already signaled that he intends to lead Brazil into a new era. But what exactly will that mean for Brazil, and for everyone else?

Four areas in particular lie at the nexus of Bolsonaro’s priorities and critics’ concerns: land rights, education, the economy, and public security. What changes does the new president promise on these fronts, and which of those can he actually follow through on? These are the topics to watch in the coming months.

More:
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/01/heres-how-jair-bolsonaro-wants-to-transform-brazil/580207/

January 11, 2019

'Barely above water': US shutdown hits black federal workers hardest

As shutdown barrels into its third week over Trump’s border wall the weight of that uncertainty is being disproportionately shouldered by black Americans

Jamiles Lartey in New Orleans
@JamilesLartey
Fri 11 Jan 2019 01.00 EST

As a 26-year-veteran of the National Parks Service, this isn’t the first time Lora Williams has been furloughed during a government shutdown and had to make ends meet without a paycheck.

But this one, she said, is the worst ever. “I don’t have cash reserves and I’m barely staying above water,” said Williams. “The uncertainty is driving me crazy.”

And as the shutdown over Donald Trump’s border wall barrels into its third week, when it would become the longest in US history, the weight of that uncertainty is being disproportionately shouldered by black Americans like Williams who make up 12% of the US population, but more than 18% of the federal workforce, according to a study by the Partnership for Public Service.

“My mother tells me – bless her heart – there’s a bed here if you need it,” Williams said, her voice becoming emotional. “I’m 50. I’m not going back to my parents house.”

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/11/governmnet-shutdown-black-federal-workers-trump-border-wall

January 10, 2019

He's been president a week - and already Bolsonaro is damaging Brazil

Eliane Brum
Jair Bolsonaro’s messianic brand of capitalism threatens minorities and the rainforest that protects the planet

He’s been president a week – and already Bolsonaro is damaging Brazil

The world needs to understand what Brazil has become, before it’s too late. Jair Messias Bolsonaro’s Brazil is not just another country that elected a far-right president at a time when the world’s most powerful nation is led by Donald Trump. It’s not just South America’s version of the current trend of countries sliding into authoritarianism, like we’ve seen in Hungary, Poland, Turkey and the Philippines. It’s not simply a peripheral nation with a pathetic leader. Brazil has become the apocalyptic vanguard that signals how radical this moment is – one with the power to worsen the climate crisis at top speed and blight the entire planet.

The election of Bolsonaro is a response to what we might call civilisation’s new discontent. Maybe people can’t identify the source of their anxiety, which has driven up the consumption of tranquillisers and sedatives. The average citizen might apply more familiar labels to the corrosion of their quality of life, air, and water; to a relentless fear of the “other”; to the feeling they’re walking in quicksand. But what’s underpinning this new discontent pervading all areas of human experience is our climate crisis.

Bolsonaro was elected in October, on his pledge to go back “50 years”. Fifty years ago, Brazil lived under a military dictatorship. For Bolsonaro and his followers, who are outright defenders of torture and the elimination of adversaries, it was a glorious era. Despite the terrifying menace of nuclear war, the world was still a place where science promised nothing but progress and solutions – it delivered no bad news, like global warming, that led to limitations on an individual’s daily life or on government actions. It was a time when white, heterosexual men held power and knew precisely who they were. They may have faced some resistance from minorities, but they still enjoyed absolute hegemony.

We cannot comprehend what is now happening in Brazil – and around the world – unless we understand that our culture wars are tightly bound up with humanity’s need to say goodbye to 20th-century illusions of power and face a planet made more hostile by human hand. Things will soon reach catastrophic levels if nations and their residents do not unite in a global effort to do something extremely hard and unpopular: impose limits on ourselves to counteract global warming.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/10/jair-bolsonaro-brazil-minorities-rainforest

January 10, 2019

Archaeologist debunks the myth of "the nearly naked Bushmen"

by Heritage Daily January 9, 2019



Bushmen of South Africa - Scanned 1880 Engraving

The San people of South Africa were not naked at all. They used clothes, jewellery, tattoos and scent to create and maintain social relations.
It is said that “clothes maketh the man”.

It is therefore a paradox that researchers have not shown more interest in the dress of the San hunter-gatherers, historically among the most studied groups of people in the world. Vibeke Maria Viestad, a senior lecturer at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History at the University of Oslo, believes this is so because of a prevailing myth about “the nearly naked bushman”.

“The San people dressed differently from us, often with a bare upper body, and were therefore perceived as naked when first met by Europeans. This view was commonplace in travel descriptions and early research and also found its way into modern anthropology of the 1950s,” she says.

The early research on “the others” – research often more racist than scientific – was often more concerned with the physiological differences between different peoples. Researchers measured the skull, rump and breast and were blind to the meaning of such cultural elements as clothes.

Extinct hunter-gatherer culture

Viestad makes up for these scientific sins of omission in a new book where she endeavours to find an answer to what dress practices meant to the San people who lived as hunter-gatherers in the area that is now the province of Northern Cape in South Africa.

More:
https://www.heritagedaily.com/2019/01/archaeologist-debunks-the-myth-of-the-nearly-naked-bushmen/122456