December 27, 2013

US condemns 'disturbing' beating of Ukraine opposition journalist.

Source: Al Jazeera America



The United States on Thursday expressed concern over the targeting of journalists and activists taking part in pro-EU rallies in Ukraine, calling the savage beating of one opposition journalist "particularly disturbing." Opposition leaders have been locked in a standoff with President Viktor Yanukovich over his decision to scrap key political and free trade agreements with the European Union last month. "The United States expresses its grave concern over an emerging pattern of targeted violence and intimidation towards activists and journalists who participated in or reported on the EuroMaidan protests," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a release. "The violent beating of journalist Tetyana Chornovil is particularly disturbing," she said.

Hundreds of protesters clutching pictures of Chornovil's badly bruised face marched on the Interior Ministry in Kiev, demanding Ukraine's interior minister, Vitaly Zakharchenko, resign Thursday. The attack on Chornovil, shortly after midnight on Wednesday, came hours after she posted pictures online of what she said was Zakharchenko's home, part of a campaign to expose the opulence of the political elite under Yanukovich. Chornovil, who has played an active role in the protests, shot to prominence last year when she infiltrated the grounds of Yanukovich's opulent residence in a park near the Dnieper River.

She has since posted more photographs of homes of other senior officials, Zakharchenko was her target on Tuesday. Hours after she posted the picture to her blog, she was allegedly attacked.


Read more: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/12/26/us-condemns-disturbingbeatingofukraineoppositionjournalist.html

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Some may call this assault on a prominent, muck-raking newswoman nothing more than an odd coincidence. I am not buying that, not at all!

December 22, 2013

Anti-ageing compound set for human trials after turning clock back for mice.

Source: The Guardian

Australian and US researchers hope an anti-ageing compound could be trialled on humans as early as next year, following a key breakthrough that saw the ageing process reversed in mice. The study, involving Harvard University and the University of NSW, discovered a way of restoring the efficiency of cells, completely reversing the ageing process in muscles. Two-year-old mice were given a compound over a week, moving back the key indicators of ageing to that of a six-month-old mouse. Researchers said this was the equivalent of making a 60-year-old person feel like a 20-year-old.

It’s hoped the research, published in Cell, will be expanded to humans as early as next year, with scientists set to look at how the theory of age reversal can be used to treat diseases such as cancer, dementia and diabetes.

The research focused on an area of cells, called mitochondria, which produce energy. Over time, the communication between this area and the cell nucleus degrades, leading to the ageing process. Researchers injected a chemical called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, or NAD, which reduces in the body as we age. The addition of this compound led to the radical reversal in the ageing of the mice.

(snip)

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/20/anti-ageing-human-trials

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If this pans out, Social Security checks will soon be going to retirees who are, physically at least, only twenty-five!

December 20, 2013

Japanese lawmakers demand removal of California World War II memorial.

Source: Al Jazeera America

A statue of a lone woman in traditional Korean dress that commemorates women sexually exploited during World War II drew the ire of Japanese lawmakers visiting Southern California this week — amid signs that many in Japanese society are weary of making reparations for crimes perpetrated during the war. The 1,100-pound bronze figure unveiled in Glendale, Calif., in July commemorates “comfort women” from Korea, the Philippines, China and a number of other Asian countries who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during WWII. Some Japanese sources estimate 20,000 women were forced into systematic sexual exploitation, but Chinese sources say the figure was 20 times that.

Three members of Japan’s House of Representatives – Hiromu Nakamaru, Yuzuru Nishida and Mio Sugita, all from the country’s conservative Restoration party – asked city officials to remove the statue, said Kathy Masaoka, co-chair of Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress, one of the Japanese-American advocacy groups the legislators met. “They said they were here to investigate different viewpoints on the comfort women," said Masaoka. "I don’t believe they met that many groups. They asked, ‘Why is a third country involved in this issue,’ when they believe it’s between Japan and I guess South Korea,’” Masaoka said of the recent delegation's visit to the Glendale memorial in Los Angeles County.

(snip)

A poll conducted in late November by Japanese media outlets Sankei Shimbun and Fuji News Network – just after Japanese courts ordered numerous companies to pay Koreans forced into labor during the war – showed roughly 70 percent of respondents don’t trust Korea. Almost 80 percent said Japan should not pay reparations.

Read more: http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/12/19/japanese-lawmakersdemandremovalofcaliforniaworldwariimemorial.html

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I guess the old saying is true: "Self knowledge is never good news."

December 19, 2013

Bob Dylan sings to the miners. Fifty years ago.

http://www.wimp.com/silencedcrowd/