Devastating Plague Strains Arose Twice, Could Return

Many centuries before the Black Death wiped out a third to half of Europe, an equally virulent pandemic called the Plague of Justinian killed upwards of 100 million people in just two short years between 541 and 543 A.D. Scientists have long debated the connection between what have been called the two most deadly plagues to wreak havoc on humankind. Now, an international team of researchers analyzing the remains of two people killed by the Plague of Justinian has concluded that the pandemics arose from two distinct strains of the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
The strain that caused the Plague of Justinian likely went extinct long before the emergence of the Black Death in the 14th century.
This is actually disturbing news for people today, the researchers said. Their findings imply that if such horrible strains of plague bacteria arose twice before, independently, there's no reason why another strain can't arise tomorrow … lurking today in the gut of a flea nesting in the fur of a rat.
This latest research appears today (Jan. 27) in the journal Lancet Infectious Disease.
The bacterium that causes the bubonic plague, Yersinia pestis, resides in the intestines of certain fleas that feed on rodents. A bite from an infected flea can spread the disease to humans.
"Plague remains a real threat in some places of the world, like Madagascar, which has more human plague cases than any other country — hundreds to over a thousand cases a year," said Dr. Dave Wagner, co-first-author on the study and an associate professor in the Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics at Northern Arizona University.
Even the United States sees an average of seven bubonic plague infections yearly, from a strain introduced to California from China about 100 years ago.
Bubonic plague is curable with antibiotics if treated within a few days after infection. This and the fact that most people in wealthier countries don't live in close proximately to flea-carrying rodents — unlike the situation in medieval Europe and Asia — means that the chances of a plague pandemic are unlikely.
Nevertheless, a bubonic plague epidemic could rip through poor countries lacking proper hygiene, killing viciously and indiscriminately in just a few days upon infection.
"The main reason why there are a lot of plague cases in Madagascar is because they have large populations of non-native rats, which are good hosts for plague," Wagner told LiveScience. In the United States, the hosts often are other kinds of rodents, such as prairie dogs.
Previously, Wagner worked on the research team that established that the Plague of Justinian was indeed a bubonic plague caused by Yersinia pestis, settling a long-standing debate. They made this conclusion through DNA analysis of two victims of that plague.
The new study probed deeper and compared this unearthed Justinian bacterial strain to the well-studied Black Death strain. The researchers isolated miniscule DNA fragments from the teeth of those same two victims, both buried in Bavaria, Germany. (This feat itself resulted in obtaining the oldest known human pathogen genome.)
Using these DNA fragments, the researchers reconstructed the Yersinia pestis genome and compared it to a database of genomes from more than one hundred contemporary strains. The scientists found that this more ancient strain was an evolutionary "dead end," distinct from strains involved in the Black Death and subsequent outbreaks.
In fact, the third and most recent bubonic plague pandemic, which originated in Hong Kong around 1850 and killed millions, stems from the very same Black Death plague that decimated Europe, the researchers found. In other words, the ancient strain was gone, and only the Black Death strain remained to cause the 1850 pandemic.
"[This] research is both fascinating and perplexing, [and] it generates new questions, which need to be explored," said Dr. Hendrik Poinar, the senior author on the study and the director of the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. "For example, why did this [Justinian] pandemic, which killed somewhere between 50 and 100 million people, die out?"
Poinar said he hopes the study of ancient genomes can answer such questions, thereby helping prevent such pandemics today.
The researchers also determined that the Justinian strain likely originated in Asia, though some have speculated it started in Africa. But the scientists don't know when. Earlier epidemics, such as the Plague of Athens (circa 430 B.C.) and the Antonine Plague (circa 165 A.D.), could also be independent emergences of particularly virulent Yersinia pestis strains.
Doctors warn that pandemics can take many forms and remain a constant threat in this world of rapid global transportation and migration. The last great pandemic was the 1918 flu pandemic, which infected 500 million people and killed at least 75 million. The HIV/AIDS pandemic has taken approximately 30 million human lives since 1980.
The bubonic plagues, however, were extreme in killing such a high percentage of the European population — indeed, arguably, the cause of societal changes that ended the classical era of antiquity and then, 800 years later, gave birth to the Renaissance.

Ancient Plague's DNA Revived From A 1,500-Year-Old Tooth

 
Graduate student Jennifer Klunk of McMaster University examines a tooth used to decode the genome of the ancient plague. 

Scientists have reconstructed the genetic code of a strain of bacteria that caused one of the most deadly pandemics in history nearly 1,500 years ago.
They did it by finding the skeletons of people killed by the plague and extracting DNA from traces of blood inside their teeth.
This plague struck in the year 541, under the reign of the Roman emperor Justinian, so it's usually called the . The emperor actually got sick himself but recovered. He was one of the lucky ones.

 
Housing developers outside Munich found skeletons of people killed by the Justinian plague during the 6th century. 

"Some of the estimates are that up to 50 million people died," says evolutionary biologist at Northern Arizona University. "It's thought that the Justinian plague actually led partially to the downfall of the Roman Empire."
The swept through Europe, northern Africa and parts of Asia. Historians say that when it arrived in Constantinople, thousands of bodies piled up in mass graves. People started wearing name tags so they could be identified if they suddenly collapsed.
Given the descriptions, scientists suspected that it was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis — the same kind of microbe that later caused Europe's in the 14th century.
The bacteria get spread by fleas. After someone gets infected from a flea bite, the microbes travel to the nearest lymph node and start multiplying. "And so you get this mass swelling in that lymph node, which is known as a buboe," says Wagner. "That's where the term bubonic plague comes from."
The Justinian plague has been hard to study scientifically. But recently, archaeologists stumbled upon a clue outside Munich.
Housing developers were digging up farmland when they uncovered a burial site with graves that dated as far back as the Justinian plague.
"They found some [graves] that had multiple individuals buried together, which is oftentimes indicative of an infectious disease," Wagner says. "And so in this particular case, we examined material from two different victims. One of those victims was buried together with another adult and a child, so it's presumed that they all may have died of the plague at the same time."
Skeletons were all that was left of the pair. But inside their teeth was dental pulp that still contained traces of blood — and the blood contained the DNA of plague bacteria.

A tooth from the remains of a Justinian plague victim.

By decoding the bacteria's DNA, Wagner and a team of international scientists could trace the pathogen's evolutionary journey.
They think the strain of bacteria that caused the Justinian plague jumped from rodents into humans and then died out, the team Tuesday in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The later emergence of Black Death seems to have been caused by a separate event.
The DNA also suggests that, like Black Death, the original source of the plague was in China, says microbiologist , another member of the research team at Northern Arizona University.
"So the ecological reservoir for plague, the historical reservoir, is in China," Keim says. "And it's this emergence, this pattern over and over again, with people moving commodities, rats and fleas around the world that we're able to document."
Overall, this ancient strain is not that different from modern ones that still circulate in places like Arizona, says Keim.
"The biology of the pathogen no doubt could cause another pandemic if it weren't for the changes in human culture and medicine," Keim says.
These days, though, antibiotics can quickly stop plague outbreaks in their tracks.

A 300,000-Year-Old 'Campfire' Found in Israel

A newly discovered hearth full of ash and charred bone in a cave in modern-day Israel hints that early humans sat around fires as early as 300,000 years ago — before Homo sapiens arose in Africa.
In and around the hearth, archaeologists say they also found bits of stone tools that were likely used for butchering and cutting animals.
The finds could shed light on a turning point in the development of culture "in which humans first began to regularly use fire both for cooking meat and as a focal point — a sort of campfire — for social gatherings," said archaeologist Ruth Shahack-Gross of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
"They also tell us something about the impressive levels of social and cognitive development of humans living some 300,000 years ago," Shahack-Gross added in a statement.
The centrally located fire pit is about 6.5 feet (2 meters) in diameter at its widest point, and its ash layers suggest the hearth was used repeatedly over time, according to the study, which was detailed in the Journal of Archaeological Science on Jan. 25. Shahack-Gross and colleagues think these features indicate the hearth may have been used by large groups of cave dwellers. What's more, its position implies some planning went into deciding where to put the fire pit, suggesting whoever built it must have had a certain level of intelligence.
Controversial cave
Qesem Cave was discovered more than a decade ago during the construction of a road some 7 miles (11 kilometers) east of Tel Aviv. At the site, excavators had previously uncovered other traces of fire (scattered deposits of ash and clumps of soil that had been heated to high temperatures) as well as the butchered bones of big game like deer, aurochs and horse left their by the prehistoric cave dwellers, possibly up to 400,000 years ago.
Anthropologists have debated what constitutes the earliest evidence of controlled fire use — and which hominin species was responsible for it. Ash and burnt bone in Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa suggests human ancestors used fire at least 1 million years ago. Some researchers, meanwhile, have speculated that the teeth of Homo erectus suggest this early human was adapted to eat food cooked over a fire by 1.9 million years ago. A study out last year in the Cambridge Archaeological Journal argued that fire-builders would have needed some sophisticated abilities to keep their hearths burning, such as long-term planning (gathering firewood) and group cooperation.
It's not entirely clear who was cooking at Qesem Cave. A study published about three years ago in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology described teeth found in the cave dating to between 400,000 and 200,000 years ago. The authors speculated the teeth might have belonged to modern humans (Homo sapiens), Neanderthals or perhaps a different species, though they noted they couldn't draw a solid conclusion from their evidence.
Nonetheless, study researcher Avi Gopher, an archaeologist from Tel Aviv University, said in an interview with Nature at the time, "The best match for these teeth are those from the Skhul and Qafzeh caves in northern Israel, which date later [to between 80,000 and 120,000 years ago] and which are generally thought to be modern humans of sorts."
That interpretation is at odds with the predominant view that modern humans, the only human species alive today, originated about 200,000 years ago in Africa before dispersing to other parts of the world.

The Rock Islands Of Palau

The Rock Islands, locally known as Chalbacheb, are 200 rounded limestone rocks neatly capped with lush greenery found in the island nation of Palau in the western Pacific Ocean.

This natural wonder is the only reason why most tourists ever visit Palau at all. Palau is an archipelago nation in Micronesia with a population of 21,000 distributed in its 250 islands. It is popular for its rich marine biodiversity which can be experienced through numerous snorkeling and diving sites throughout the region.

Daily Comic Relief

Diving doctor attacked by shark stitched up own wound then went to pub before going to hospital

A medical degree came in handy for a junior doctor in New Zealand after he was attacked by a shark while fishing. James Grant, 24, fought the shark, and stitched himself up before his mates took him to hospital - via the local pub. Grant had just entered the water at Garden Bay near Cosy Nook in Southland on Saturday when the next thing he knew a shark was wrapping its jaws around his leg. "It was pretty well latched on, I was just trying to get it off."

But Grant gave as good as he got - stabbing what he believed was a type of seven-gill shark, with his diving knife as he tried to get it to unlatch. "I sort of just fought the shark off. The shark got a few stabs. The knife wasn't long enough though," he said. When Grant managed to get rid of the shark he tried to get the attention of his three friends, who were spearfishing just around the bay. But his mates did not take him seriously.

"I thought surely he hasn't been bitten, there's no way he has been bitten, he's got to be taking the p...," Mackley Lindsay said. But he wasn't, instead he sat on the shore stitching his own leg. His friends carried on fishing while Grant tacked the wounds together with a needle and thread from his first-aid kit for his pig-hunting dogs. "I'm pretty happy I had such a thick wet suit on too," he said. Friend Jim Robins downplayed the event at the time. "He was walking so it couldn't have been that bad," he said.
However, his friends did do him a favor - taking him to the tavern in Colac Bay before the hospital. The pub served him a beer alongside a few bandages to stop his leg from dripping blood on the carpet. "We gave him a pint of beer and his mates were kicking around, laughing," says Colac Bay Tavern co-owner Warren Bevin. "Then we brought out the big first-aid kit and got a little bandage out. There were a couple of good holes on both sides of his leg." His colleagues at Southland Hospital later gave his leg a proper stitch-up.

There's a news video here.

Chickens made bid for freedom when truck transporting them overturned on the freeway

Hundreds of chickens escaped on Saturday when a truck loaded with thousands of fowls overturned on a freeway in China, releasing them on to the road and surrounding grassland.

Traffic police attempted to chase down hundreds of elusive chickens and place them back in their coops.

YouTube link.

The runaway chickens forced police to close down a section of the motorway in the southwestern Guizhou province.
The truck was carrying coops containing a total of 3,000 chickens, of which 900 escaped. The driver of the truck said that the vehicle swerved after he tried to brake whilst driving in dense fog.

Flatulent cows started fire in barn on dairy farm

Methane gas from 90 farting and burping cows exploded in a barn on a German dairy farm on Monday.

High levels of the gas had built up in the structure in the central German town of Rasdorf, then "a static electric charge caused the gas to explode with flashes of flames," a police spokesman said.

A spark, probably triggered by a massage machine in the barn, ignited the methane and started the blaze.
Firefighters and a gas field crew were called to the scene. The roof of the barn was damaged, with one cow suffering minor burns.

World’s first known ‘Peanut Butter and Jellyfish’

In crazy experiment, sea jellies eat creamy substance, change color, and grow

The world’s first peanut butter and jellyfish; photo courtesy of Dallas Zoo

In an experiment that began partly as attempt to find an economical and sustainable food source for captive gelatinous invertebrates, but mostly just to see if it could be done, scientists have created the first-known “Peanut Butter and Jellyfish.”
In doing so, P. Zelda Montoya and Barrett L. Christie of the Dallas Zoo also proved that scientists are not all left-brain thinkers; they can be highly imaginative and witty.
The experiment entailed feeding tiny aquarium moon jellies protein-rich peanut butter (no preservatives or food starch), and not only did the jellies gobble up to creamy substance, they changed color and experienced noticeable growth.

Moon jelly at left, shortly after feeding, compared to a more pristine-looking jelly at right; photo courtesy of Dallas Zoo

In the January edition of “Drum and Croaker, A Highly Irregular Journal for the Public Aquarist,” the scientists stated that the widespread use of fish- or shrimp-based protein sources in aquaculture represents an unsustainable practice.
“That having been said,” the authors wrote, “we would love to claim we conducted this trial with noble purpose, but the truth is that we just wanted to make peanut butter and jellyfish simply to see if it could be done.

Science thumbnails showing the jellies at various stages of peanutbutterification; photo courtesy of Dallas Zoo

“Whether or not it should be done is a question no doubt to be debated by philosophers for the ages (or at least by some aquarists over beers). We herein report on what we believe to be the first known unholy amalgamation of America’s favorite lunchtime treat and live cnidarians.”
Most surprising of all during the experiment was that the moon jellies actually ate the peanut butter.
As a result, “mean size increased to 4.17±1.06mm (n=19) after eight days of peanutbutterification. By day 31 the jellies had attained a mean size of 17.17±7.44mm (n=12).”
Translation: there was normal or slightly above-normal growth during the experiment, thanks to the fat-rich goodness in peanut butter.
Another surprise besides noticeable growth was the change in appearance shortly after the jellies began to eat (see top image and jelly at left in second image).
“Throughout this period it was noted that jellies that had recently fed displayed a distinct brownish hue owing to their high degree of peanutbutterocity.”
To borrow from a report in Deep Sea News, “They became little peanut butter jelly cups.”
It seems as though peanut-based protein holds promise, but more extensive studies will be needed to determine to what extent it can be used.
As for the Dallas Zoo study, the authors state: “The success of our trial group of Aurelia on this experimental diet was surprising, and we hope this ridiculous experiment illustrates that unconventional approaches in husbandry are at the very least, worth trying once.”

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Today in History

1649		Charles I of England is beheaded at Whitehall by the executioner Richard Brandon.
1844		Richard Theodore Greener becomes the first African American to graduate from Harvard University.
1862		The USS Monitor is launched at Greenpoint, Long Island.
1901		Women Prohibitionists smash 12 saloons in Kansas.
1912		The British House of Lords opposes the House of Commons by rejecting home rule for Ireland.
1931		The United States awards civil government to the Virgin Islands.
1933		Adolf Hitler is named Chancellor by President Paul Hindenburg.
1936		Governor Harold Hoffman orders a new inquiry into the Lindbergh kidnapping.
1943		Field Marshal Friedrich von Paulus surrenders himself and his staff to Red Army troops in Stalingrad.
1945		The Allies launch a drive on the Siegfried line in Germany.
1949		In India, 100,000 people pray at the site of Gandhi's assassination on the first anniversary of his death.
1953		President Dwight Eisenhower announces that he will pull the Seventh Fleet out of Formosa to permit the Nationalists to attack Communist China.
1964		The Ranger spacecraft, equipped with six TV cameras, is launched to the moon from Cape Canaveral.
1972		British troops shoot dead 14 Irish civilians in Derry, Ireland. The day is forever remembered in Ireland as 'Bloody Sunday.'
1976		The U.S. Supreme Court bans spending limits in campaigns, equating funds with freedom of speech.
1980		The first-ever Chinese Olympic team arrives in New York for the Winter Games at Lake Placid.

Non Sequitur

Did you know ...

The repugican cabal trickle-down assault is forcing Americans to work til they die

That America is becoming more liberal

That people are more likely to kill when they have a gun

About these zebra finches rocking out on guitars at a museum

About these 17 animals that became extinct in our lifetimes

That the divorce rate higher in counties with greater concentration of wingnut christians

That "the tea party is the petty bourgeoisie face of the corporate oliogarchs"

Why are there 24 hours in a day?

And rip the great folksinger Pete Seeger

Mitch McConnell and Ted Cruz Openly Threaten The Country With Economic Catastrophe

The repugicans are once again threatening to hold the debt limit hostage in return for a ransom payment that is, beyond belief, the height of insanity.

 

By now, most people are familiar with Albert Einstein’s statement that insanity is “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results,” and by his definition repugicans are truly insane. As the next debt ceiling crisis looms in less than a month, repugicans are once again threatening to hold the debt limit hostage in return for a ransom payment that is, beyond belief, the height of insanity. Or is it really a calculated move to put America on a course for an economic catastrophe unless the President pays the hostage demands that will be catastrophic? Thus far, repugicans have proposed letting the nation default on its debt and initiate an economic disaster in America and around the world unless President Obama does what they call the “responsible thing.” When they say responsible thing, they want the President to allow them to impose ruinous damage on the economy, kill millions of jobs, gut social safety nets, and hand the Koch brothers billions in dirty energy profits for a foreign corporation’s catastrophic project.

On Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell followed teabag leader Ted Cruz by demanding two unreasonable, and potentially calamitous concessions from President Obama before repugicans raise the debt limit to pay for the shrub-repugicans’ two unfunded wars, unfunded tax cuts for the rich, and an unfunded and botched roll-out of their Medicare prescription plan. There is nothing insane about the repugican demand for a ransom payment for doing the job they were elected to do, because their intent is deliberately decimating the economy in the same manner as the debt ceiling crisis of 2011 while exacerbating the income inequality strangling the economic life out of the great majority of Americans.  McConnell said there is no way repugicans will fulfill their job requirement unless the President approves the KeystoneXL pipeline, and agreed with Ted Cruz that the debt limit must be tied to a structural mechanism like the Budget Control Act that fostered the austerity measures included in the sequester.
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the debt limit must be raised by late February to avoid a credit default; an outcome that all economic analysts agree would be catastrophic for the U.S. economy. President Obama has made his position perfectly clear that he will not negotiate on raising the debt limit, but McConnell is sticking to his guns like repugicans did in 2011 that gave the nation austerity madness (the sequester) that will have devastating effects on the economy for nine more years. McConnell said, “I think for the president to ask for a clean debt ceiling when we have a debt the size of our economy is irresponsible. So we ought to discuss adding something to his request to raise the debt ceiling that does something about the debt or produces at least something positive for our country.”
Ted Cruz agreed with McConnell and said, “Of course we should do something.  We shouldn’t just write a blank check.” Raising the debt limit is not writing a blank check, it is Congress doing its job and paying the bills they racked up over the past 12 years. Cruz said the President should make concessions along the lines of “structural reforms” like the Budget Control Act repugicans championed that created the across-the-board domestic cuts to kill more jobs, slow GDP growth, and eliminate safety nets. Cruz parroted a favorite Sarah Palin line that raising the debt limit “is irresponsible to our kids and grandkids to stick that debt on them because we can’t live within our means.” The deficit is falling at its fastest level since World War II (37% in 2013) , and the sequester is killing jobs, domestic programs, and retarding GDP growth in the process, but that was the repugican plan all along and what they hope to repeat again.
McConnell also tied approval of the KeystoneXL pipeline to raising the debt limit and after another reported catastrophe at the hands of TransCanada, the foreign entity responsible for building the export pipeline, it is obvious that one way or the other, repugicans are Hell-bent and duty-bound to see Americans suffer either an economic or environmental catastrophe. It is likely that repugicans would rather see an environmental catastrophe than an economic one because the Koch brothers and the oil industry will profit from sending refined Canadian tar to Europe and China; none of the oil refined from the Keystone pipeline will stay in America after TransCanada builds another substandard pipeline and decimates America’s environment.
On Saturday in Manitoba province in Canada, a natural gas pipeline operated by TransCanada exploded and caught fire shutting off gas supplies for over 4,000 Canadians in sub-zero temperatures. TransCanada’s record for accidents, shoddy workmanship, and slow repairs is what McConnell is demanding from President Obama in exchange for raising the debt limit. Although TransCanada claimed the pipeline fire was extinguished by Saturday afternoon more than 12 hours after it started, they had to shut off the natural gas supply to several municipalities that Manitoba Hydro said will last from 24 hours to several days as the temperatures plummeted to -20 Celsius overnight. The power company asked residents to turn thermostats down and restrict the use of electric heaters because TransCanada cannot maintain a safe delivery system. Natural gas is not nearly as corrosive and dangerous as bitumen tar sand repugicans are anxious to send across America’s agricultural heartland.
TransCanada has been using its legislative arm, the repugican cabal, to push approval of its Keystone pipeline to transport Canadian tar the Gulf Coast that TransCanada CEO Russ Girling called “the safest oil pipeline built in America to date.” However, TransCanada already had to repair 125 sags and dents in the southern leg of the pipeline, and while Girling told reporters on this week’s conference call that the company had “voluntarily agreed” to 57 conditions with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Jeffrey Weise, the agency’s head of pipeline safety said his agency “has very few tools to work with.” Weise  said what most Americans already know; the regulatory process is “kind of dying” due to repeated repugican cuts to neuter regulatory oversight.
This week the Wall Street Journal released analysis that found people discover pipeline spills far more often than the leak-detection technology touted by TransCanada. According to PHMSA, data for 251 pipeline incidents over four years revealed that nearby residents or company employees were nearly three times as likely to detect a pipeline leak that software, special alarms, and 24/7 control room monitoring only discover 19% percent of the time. The repugicans like John Boehner who owns stock in seven Canadian tar sand companies have, like Mitch McConnell, lied and claimed building the pipeline will be a jobs bonanza for Americans, but with only less than 2,000 temporary jobs, and 15 permanent jobs, constructing the pipeline is nothing more than a gift to the Koch brothers and oil export industry as well as an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen on American soil.
McConnell, Cruz, and several House repugicans are threatening to put America on another course toward a catastrophe in exchange for not creating an economic catastrophe by not raising the debt limit. Ted Cruz’s contention that “structural reform” such as another round of mandatory sequester cuts is guaranteed to kill millions of jobs, drastically retard GDP growth, and eliminate what is left of safety nets after the first sequester began doing its well-planned damage to the people. Approving construction of the KeystoneXL pipeline is an environmental disaster waiting to happen due to TransCanada’s deplorable safety record, and the recent natural gas explosion, coupled with the foreign company’s poor construction and maintenance record is an abomination the American people should not tolerate; particularly because the pipeline only profits the Koch brothers and oil export industry.
If repugicans like McConnell and Cruz are so intent on reducing the deficit faster than it is being cut, they can pass tax reform that closes loopholes the rich and corporations enjoy and use the revenue to pay down the debt. If, as they contend, they are concerned about creating jobs, they can fund infrastructure improvements and pass any of the President’s job proposals that will create real long-lasting and living wage jobs the KeystoneXL pipeline will never achieve. However, their primary concern is causing damage to the economy; either through a catastrophic credit default or enacting another round of harsh sequester cuts, and if they can enrich the Koch brothers by building the Keystone pipeline that has a deplorable safety record then they assure themselves of a steady flow of campaign money throughout their political lifetimes.  President Obama has promised that whatever catastrophe repugicans have planned for America, they will not achieve it through negotiating a ransom in exchange for raising the debt ceiling because as insane as it may seem to repugicans, their job is paying the bills they racked up whether they like it or not.

The republicans want to collect just enough taxes for stuff THEY want

Fresh from Washington, where he played a leading role in preventing the extension of emergency unemployment benefits for Americans mired in joblessness, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor appeared to be enjoying one of the perks of his own employment: a sumptuous breakfast in this ski resort in the Swiss Alps, where he was attending the World Economic Forum..
So I approached Cantor's table and asked him who was paying for his trip. He took in a breath, grinned sheepishly and said, "I paid for this," gesturing at a table bearing the remnants of a buffet breakfast whose offerings included smoked salmon, croissants, freshly squeezed orange juice, assorted Swiss cheeses and mineral water.
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Maybe you're buying into he paid for this, but I bet by saying "I paid for this," he really meant his office which means you and me.

Eric Cantor's Excellent Davos Adventure: No Money For Unemployment Benefits, But Plenty For Congressmen Going To Alps

High finance - as only the crooks can understand it

The New York Times reported that Jamie Dimon, the silver-haired CEO of JPMorgan Chase, the nation's largest bank by assets, is getting a raise. Dimon is poised to add a few million to the $11.5 million compensation package he took home in 2013.
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If you so much as glanced at the news last year, this bit of news may puzzle you. JPMorgan, in many ways, had a miserable 2013. JPMorgan paid $1 billion in fines in the wake of the "London Whale" scandal, in which the bank lost $6 billion on a market-rattling blunder by a trader named Bruno Iksil. The bank also paid $13 billion to settle charges that it'd peddled risky mortgage-backed securities. And it forked over another $2 billion to settle charges for failing to spot Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme, which Madoff perpetrated largely using JPMorgan accounts. All told, the bank paid out roughly $20 billion in penalties to federal regulators over a slew of screw-ups and failures.
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2013 was a rough year for JPMorgan. So why is Dimon getting a raise? The answer, in part, will make your blood boil. Here's the money quote in the Times:

        Mr. Dimon's defenders point to his active role in negotiating a string of government settlements that helped JPMorgan move beyond some of its biggest legal problems. He has also solidified his support among board members, according to the people briefed on the matter, by acting as a chief negotiator as JPMorgan worked out a string of banner government settlements this year.

JPMorgan Paid $20 Billion in Fines Last Year-So Its Board Is Giving Jamie Dimon a Raise

Man used first-class airline ticket to get free meals in airport’s VIP lounge for almost a year

A man bought a first-class ticket and used it to have free meals and drinks at an airport’s VIP lounge almost every day for nearly a year.

The itinerary for the ticket was found to have been changed more than 300 times within a year, and the owner of the ticket used it to enjoy the facilities at the airport’s VIP lounge in Xi’an in Shaanxi, China.

The case was discovered by a China Eastern Airlines staff member, who then decided to investigate.
When the ticket’s validity was almost up, the passenger cancelled it for a refund. An airline spokesman said there were no means to stop this act, even if it was done on purpose.

Anti-fracking protesters glued themselves to pumps at wrong gas station

Anti-fracking protesters who glued and chained themselves to gas pumps near Bolton, Lancashire were at the wrong garage. Four people were arrested after anti-fracking protesters used glue and bike locks to attach themselves to fuel pumps at the petrol station in Great Lever.

Bolton against Fracking had organized a protest at their local Total garage after it was reported that the oil company were due to invest at least £12.7 million in the UK fracking industry. They were protesting against test drilling at Barton Moss, in Salford. However, it emerged later that the petrol station was no longer owned by Total - but the new owners had not got around to taking the signs down yet.

Petrol station manager Reezwan Patel said: “We had to close for six hours, so with the loss of custom and the damage to the pumps, it could be a couple of thousand pounds we have lost. The thing is, Total don’t own the station any more. It is owned by Certas Energy, but the signs haven’t changed yet. The protesters were very polite and actually apologized for what happened.”

Specialist police officers removed the protesters from the pumps. Three men, and a woman, were placed in police custody after the protest. A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: "Two men were arrested for criminal damage, and a man and a woman were arrested for criminal damage and criminal trespass.”

Woman interviewed about fatal shootings at mall couldn't resist promoting her jewellery store first

When Judy Hoffman, manager of the Fire and Ice jewellery store at The Mall in Columbia, Maryland, scene of a deadly shooting incident on Saturday, was interviewed by CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield, she couldn't resist throwing in an enthusiastic plug for her shop.

“Judy Hoffman was a shopper in the mall,” Whitfield said. “She’s on the phone with us now. Where are you now?”
“Actually, I’m not a shopper,” Hoffman said. “Okay,” Whitfield interjected.

YouTube link.

“I’m a manager at Fire and Ice at the Columbia Mall, near Nordstrom’s” Hoffman continued, adding “Fire and Ice is a very unique, fascinating store. We sell jewellery, fossils, a number of different unique things from all over the world…” “So what happened? What happened while you were in the store today?” Whitfield cut in. Hoffman then recounted the incident, which occurred “on the other side of the mall” from where she was.

Prisoner landed police officer in trouble after reporting him for driving at 140mph

A police officer has been disciplined for driving at speeds of up to 140 mph - after being reported by the criminal he was transporting. The police constable was driving the prisoner from Leeds back to Darlington when it is claimed he drove a marked police car at up to twice the legal limit.

It is understood the PC was reported by his passenger when the pair arrived at the custody suite at Darlington police station. According to a source, the officer and the criminal during the 70-mile journey the pair discussed  the powerful BMW's performance. The source said: “The conversation turned to the vehicle they were traveling in. Apparently the prisoner asked how fast it would go and the officer said something along the lines of ‘I’ll show you’ or ‘let’s see’.

“As soon as they got back to Darlington the prisoner proceeded to tell the officer at the custody desk just how fast they had been going.” Superintendent Darren Ellis, head of professional standards and legal services at Durham Constabulary, said the force had taken the allegation “very seriously”. He added: “We are aware of this complaint, which concerns an allegation of a marked police vehicle being driven at an excess, and inappropriate, speed whilst transporting a prisoner back from Leeds into our force area.
“The PC in question has been moved permanently from roads policing duties, has been handed a formal sanction under the police misconduct procedures and is subject to an action plan concerning risk management and decision making.” Supt Ellis said the officer’s license has been suspended, including removing his pursuit capabilities. The PC will also have to go through a driving school reassessment before returning to full operational duties. The law allows police, ambulance and fire service drivers to exceed the speed limit - but only in emergencies.

Six siblings jailed for attempted kidnap of sister's girlfriend

Six siblings from a "traditional Asian Muslim family" from Lancashire have been jailed for attempting to kidnap the girlfriend of one of their sisters, threatening to kill her because she had "messed with the wrong Muslims". Almost three years ago Nazma Ditta, 28, one of nine children from Blackburn, began a secret relationship with Sarah-Jane Harrison, 35, when both women worked at a clothes shop in Blackburn. Unhappy that Nazma was in a same-sex relationship with a white, non-Muslim woman, six of her siblings plotted to break up the relationship.

They wanted her to enter into an arranged marriage with a cousin or another man, and discussed putting her on a plane to Pakistan. Three of Nazma's sisters, one wearing a full-face veil, were caught on CCTV kicking and punching Harrison after she finished work at USC Clothing in Blackburn town center on 20 June last year. They were shown dragging her to the floor by her hair and snatching her handbag, before rifling through it to take out Nazma's passport and other things belonging to her. Previously, text messages exchanged between the siblings had talked about "battering that bitch". One, sent by Nayyar Mehmood, 38, the second eldest sibling, urged her siblings to attack Harrison and said: "A kaffir [non-believer] is taking over."
CCTV shows Nighat Morris, 39, the eldest child in the family, along with her sisters Tosif Ditta, 35, and Ghazala Ditta, 31, trying and failing to bundle Harrison into the back of a car before driving away. They were guarded throughout the attack by Tahmoor Ditta, 26, one of Nazma's brothers. He had a bradawl, a sharp carpentry tool, "clenched in his fist with the spike poking out between his fingers", which he used to try to scare off one of Harrison's colleagues who tried to intervene in the attack. Both Harrison and her colleague told police the family shouted: "Get her in, get her in, you've messed with the wrong Muslims, we're going to kill you."

YouTube link. LiveLeak link.

Tamoor Ditta, 26, admitted several charges including conspiracy to commit actual bodily harm and attempted kidnap. He was sentenced to six years in prison. Ghazala Ditta, 31, Aftah Ditta, 32, and Nighat Morris, 39, were all sentenced to five years and four months in prison after admitting conspiracy to commit actual bodily harm, attempted kidnap and robbery. Tosif Ditta, 34, and Nayyar Mehmood, 38, were both sentenced to three years and six months in prison after admitting conspiracy to commit actual bodily harm. Miss Ditta and Miss Harrison are still in a relationship.

Former crime reporter arrested for armed robberies

A former crime reporter for the Nouvelle République newspaper in France has been arrested for doing what he used to write about: armed robbery.

Police in the central town of Blois arrested the 63-year old on Friday after he robbed a department store GEMO. It was the second time he targeted the store. Police said he threatened a salesperson with a large black revolver “like Clint Eastwood”.

Officers had been keeping watch after the retired journalist robbed five shops over the past four months. He would disguise his face with a fake mustache, a wig, and wear gloves. Police said he would wait until closing time to threaten staff and order them to empty the cash register.
Police said he stole around 9,000 euros in total and deposited the booty in his personal bank account shortly after each heist. The man reportedly told police he turned to armed robberies after coming out of a difficult divorce and struggling financially to support his son’s studies.

Man jailed for toilet seat lid attack on his disabled uncle

A 20-year-old Florida man has been jailed on a felony battery charge for allegedly hitting his disabled uncle on the head with a toilet seat lid.

Norris Troutman told a deputy that his 48-year-old uncle was "mocking" him so he hit him on the head with the toilet seat lid. Sammy Lee Johnson, the 48-year-old victim, told St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office deputies that he was sitting on the couch in his Fort Pierce home watching TV with his mother when Troutman ran up to him and “struck him in the back of his head with a toilet seat lid.”

Johnson said that he “was unsure why Mr. Troutman was upset with him,” adding that he “did nothing to provoke the attack.” The man’s mother concurred that he had done nothing to prompt the assault earlier this month. A sheriff’s deputy reported noticing “slight swelling” on Johnson, who refused medical attention. He told investigators that Troutman “retrieved the toilet seat lid from the window sill of the bathroom.”

In an interview with a sheriff’s deputy, the 6’ 6” Troutman “spontaneously admitted” to striking his uncle with the toilet seat. He claimed that the older man had been “mocking” him. Troutman was arrested for aggravated battery “due to the fact he used a deadly weapon/blunt object to strike Johnson in the back of the head” during the January 9 incident. Troutman is being held in the county jail in lieu of $20,000 bond.

Cult thief blessed himself with holy water before stealing car

A man accused of stealing a car at a cult in DeWitt, New York blessed himself with holy water before the theft.

"He must be a good catholic," said the Rev. J. Robert Yeazel from the Holy Cross cult.

Surveillance cameras revealed that after Tony M. Lynch, 56, of Syracuse took car keys from a coatroom on Jan. 7, he dipped his hands in holy water and made the sign of the cross, said Pastor Yeazel.
Lynch then used a fob on the key ring to find the car in the parking lot. He was caught this week by police at a cult in the town of Onondaga.

Man threw tin of mushy peas at woman before starting fire after being thrown out of pub

A man who hurled a tin of mushy peas at a woman’s head before trying to set fire to a pub that he had just been barred from has been spared jail. Ricky-Lee Benson from Nelson, Lancashire, threw the can at Katrina Smith, leaving her with a gashed head after she confronted him about downing her drink in the Station Hotel in Nelson. Benson, 29,  had been thrown out moments earlier by the landlady when he lit a 2ft high fire by a side door which had to be stamped out by police. He was so drunk he had no recollection of either offense but admitted the assault and attempted arson.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Benson had no money and was going around tables stealing drinks from customers on September 26th. He downed a drink at the bar which belonged to Ms Smith, who had been delivering a wedding cake for a friend at the hostelry. When Ms Smith returned and found her drink gone, she confronted the defendant and tried to walk him to the bar to buy her another. But an argument broke out and Benson became “abusive and aggressive”. Miss Emma Kehoe prosecuting, said landlady Angela Bibby stepped in and told the defendant to leave and barred him. But the defendant was heard to reply: “Watch me. I’ll be back”. As he left, he picked a tin of mushy peas from his bag and hurled it towards Ms Smith who was outside.
The can hit her on the head and left her with a gash and an injury to her hand. Paramedics were called and the victim was taken to hospital to have her head glued and a splint put on her hand. Ms Kehoe told the court the police were called out and said: “They immediately saw flames at the door of the emergency exit. There was a small fire but the officers were able to stamp on it to put the fire out.” The fire, lit using discarded material, only damaged the door. Mr Jeremy Coleman defending, said the defendant was “very lightly” convicted with two previous offenses. The court was also told he had been making progress over the past 12 months and had responded well to probation.

Sentencing, Recorder Phillip Curran said the offenses were serious and called his actions “reckless” for throwing the can. He said: “It was a deliberate act on your part and it was reckless. It hit her on her head and broke some glass and she suffered a cut to her hand. The injuries were nasty.” He continued: “When you were barred from the pub, you went round the back and lit a small fire. This is a worrying aspect of a case like this as it was a pub with people inside. The prosecution accepted you plea to simple arson that you were going to cause damage and no more. The danger was it could have got out of hand and caused more damage.” He was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years with a two-year supervision order.

Beards leave Shetland isle without fire cover

A blazing row over beards has left a Shetland island without its fire crew. The Isle of Bressay has lost its fire crew because two members refuse to shave off their beards ahead of the annual Viking fire festival Up Helly Aa.

The island with 360 residents has been without fire cover since November because the two men's beards prevent them from wearing breathing apparatus in an emergency. Fire crews from Lerwick will be ferried across the harbor should a fire break out on Bressay, while officers from the town have been handing out fire prevention advice to the island's residents.
The Vikings' stubbornness has been condemned by Shetland community safety board vice chairman Allison Duncan, who has been trying without success to persuade the pair to lose their facial hair. “To know that a couple of firefighters are putting the safety of Bressay people at risk is absolutely crazy, it's mind boggling,” he said.

“There's elderly, frail people, there could be a car accident, there was a fire at the back end of Bressay. I've done my utmost to get them to see sense and get the appliance back on the run in the interests of the Bressay people.” Duncan confirmed that disciplinary action against two unnamed firefighters has been initiated. Guizer Jarl Lyle Tulloch who will lead this year’s fire festival said he did not want to comment.

Ziggy

Automated And Strange Musical Instruments

Musical instrument makers have always been fascinated by pushing the boundaries of their craft, and several creative individuals have created automated musical instruments that play without the need of a human performer.

10 Crazy Weapons That Are Still Legal In The US

Throughout history, humans have invented a variety of deadly weapons. In the West, certain arms were developed from agricultural tools, while in the East various weapons can be traced back to different forms of martial arts.
Today, as debate continues about gun control in the United States, it seems incredible to think that ownership of a number of deadly weapons - some ancient, some more modern - remains permitted under federal law. Here are ten crazy weapons that are still legal in the U.S.

Icelanders Protest A Road That Would Disturb Fairies

In Iceland, fairies are a big deal. Such a big deal that in the past few months there have been protests to stop a road that might disturb them. The new route would slice through the Alftanes peninsula, near Reykjavik, and the protesters say that the elves live amongst the rocks that would be disturbed.

This might seem odd for a modern nation like Iceland. But most countries have some sort of supernatural superstitions. New Jersey has the chupacabra. The south of the USA has Bigfoot. Iceland has fairies.

Henna Tattoos

Exquisite, Impermanent Stains

Henna has been used since ancient times as a dye to color fabrics such as wool, leather and silk. Yet at some early point in its shared history with humanity it was discovered that it could be used to stain the skin temporarily.

Ancient wall paintings discovered during the excavation of Akrotiri (destroyed by volcanic eruption in 1627 BCE) show women adorned with patterns and designs wholly consistent with henna on their nails, palms and soles. It is a tradition still thriving and evolving today.

12 Fascinating Images Of Extreme Cold Weather Conditions

From Buffalo, New York's famous Blizzard of '77 to the polar vortex that recently swept over North America a few weeks ago, check out these 12 jaw-dropping images of a world frozen over.

Unlocking Secrets Of The Grand Canyon's Age

To the untrained eye, the Grand Canyon might just look like one big hole in the ground. But to some scientists, the American Southwest's iconic gorge is increasingly looking like several ancient canyons of different ages, stitched together by erosion that occurred about six million years ago, and subsequently sculpted into its modern form.

A new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience, added to more than a century's worth of fieldwork, is helping researchers decipher a geological tale that began unfolding when dinosaurs roamed the landscape.

Daily Comic Relief

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

Located near the Connecticut border in Webster, Massachusetts

Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg covers a surface area of 1,442 acres (5.84 km2) and is a popular vacation spot in New England, mostly because of its strange name.

The lake received its name when the English colonizers arrived in the region. Before the name was just 'Chaubunagungamaugg,' meaning 'fishing place at the boundary.' But when the English started to use the lake for fishing and hanging out, it lengthened to 'Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg,' meaning 'English knifemen and Nipmuck Indians at the boundary or neutral fishing place.'

The Men At Sea Of Esbjerg, Denmark

Arriving from the North Sea, travelers to the seaport town of Esbjerg in Denmark will be greeted by colossal monuments in the form of four men sitting on a chair. Called 'Man Meets the Sea' or 'Men at Sea,' these monumental sculptures are the work of Svend Wiig Hansen, who created them in occasion of Esbjerg 100th anniversary celebration.

The concept behind the artwork is the encounter of pure, innocent Man with nature. Man before things started to go wrong, before he got 'dirt' on his hands. The sculptures embody this concept in their tall, column-like statures, rigid like the Pharaohs of Egyptian temples, possessing a sacred, universal aura.

Abandoned pig given food and shelter by locals

A lonely pig abandoned in a field has plucked at the heart-strings of residents of a small community who have given it food and shelter. Believed to be a German micro breed, he was left behind when his family moved.

He was left to graze on land off Horn Street in Shorncliffe, Folkestone, after the previous owners moved several weeks ago. But he has become something of a popular attraction and is regularly fed by passers-by, who have named him Porrick.

Landowner Trevor Boxell wanted to find him a new home, and even tried taking him to a rare breeds center, but they were unable to take him in. Mr Boxell said: “I feel sorry for him. People have been feeding him and built him a hut. They had about 40 of them before but he [the owner] appears to have left him there.

YouTube link.

“It’s just a shame for him to sit there and he looks miserable. They’re a herd animal and he looks lonely – you can hear him squealing sometimes. It shows how popular he is that people have built a hut for him.” The land is good grazing land and has a stream running through the middle so he has access to water.

Baby seal returned to the sea after being found lost in the woods

Susanna Jensen was surprised to find a baby seal floundering amongst the trees while she was out walking her dog on a forest trail in Moss, south of Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday afternoon.

The seal had somehow been separated from its parents at a local marina. "It looked like it was happy to see me because it was coming towards me, but it also looked tired." the 25-year-old said.
"It had probably been on land for a lot of time: in the end it climbed under a table, so it was probably quite cold." After spending an hour trying to coax the seal back to the water, Jensen had to leave as her dog was becoming too cold.

But her father returned to the site a couple of hours later and carried the seal to the shore, where it dived under the water and disappeared. "The seal was okay once it got in the sea," Jensen said. "I’m hoping it’s fine now and back with its family."

Animal Pictures

The Daily Drift

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Today in History

1813		Jane Austin publishes Pride and Prejudice.
1861		Kansas is admitted into the Union as the 34th state.
1862		William Quantrill and his Confederate raiders attack Danville, Kentucky.
1918		The Supreme Allied Council meets at Versailles.
1926		Violette Neatley Anderson becomes the first African-American woman admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.
1929		The Seeing Eye, America's first school for training dogs to guide the blind, founded in Nashville, Tennessee.
1931		Winston Churchill resigns as Stanley Baldwin's aide.
1942		German and Italian troops take Benghazi in North Africa.
1944		The world's greatest warship, Missouri, is launched.
1950		Riots break out in Johannesburg, South Africa, over the policy of Apartheid.
1967		Thirty-seven civilians are killed by a U.S. helicopter attack in Vietnam.
1979		President Jimmy Carter commutes the sentence of Patty Hearst.
1984		President Ronald Reagan announces that he will run for a second term.
1984		The Soviets issue a formal complaint against alleged U.S. arms treaty violations.
1991		Iraqi forces attack into Saudi Arabian town of Kafji, but are turned back by Coalition forces.

Non Sequitur