It's official: Men really are the weaker sex

I am a selfish person.

The male gender is in danger, with incalculable consequences for both humans and wildlife, startling scientific research from around the world reveals.


The research – to be detailed tomorrow in the most comprehensive report yet published – shows that a host of common chemicals is feminising males of every class of vertebrate animals, from fish to mammals, including people.

Backed by some of the world's leading scientists, who say that it "waves a red flag" for humanity and shows that evolution itself is being disrupted, the report comes out at a particularly sensitive time for ministers. On Wednesday, Britain will lead opposition to proposed new European controls on pesticides, many of which have been found to have "gender-bending" effects.

It also follows hard on the heels of new American research which shows that baby boys born to women exposed to widespread chemicals in pregnancy are born with smaller penises and feminised genitals.

"This research shows that the basic male tool kit is under threat," says Gwynne Lyons, a former government adviser on the health effects of chemicals, who wrote the report.

If you cannot find the links in this blog, I have majority of them filed, Email me!

Bank rates head for zero per cent

I am a selfish person.

At last someone has seen the way out?

THE Bank of England said today it is prepared to slash interest rates to zero to save the economy.

Governor Mervyn King said the official cost of borrowing would be cut to “whatever level is necessary” to boost confidence and stave off a long and deep recession.

Interest rates in Britain have never fallen below two per cent since the foundation of the Bank of England in 1694.

If you cannot find the links in this blog, I have majority of them filed, Email me!

How they Kill Palestinians In Their own Land Robbed By Zionists

I am a selfish person.

Israeli defence officials say the military has deployed remote-controlled machine guns along its border with the Gaza Strip.

The system allows female soldiers watching television screens in control rooms in the rear to spot targets and open fire. In the past, lookouts had to call in ground forces to intercept militants.

Israel’s military is shifting to more unmanned weaponry along the Gaza frontier in an attempt to protect soldiers. An Israeli company recently developed an unmanned vehicle to patrol the border. The military had no immediate comment, and the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the new weapons have not officially been made public. Israel is currently observing a shaky truce with the Hamas militants who control Gaza.

Israel deploys remote-controlled guns along Gaza


If you cannot find the links in this blog, I have majority of them filed, Email me!

Syria suggests Israeli bombs may be source of uranium traces at suspected nuclear site

I am a selfish person.

November 12, 2008

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) _ Syria's foreign minister suggested Wednesday that Israeli bombs may be the source of uranium traces that diplomats at the U.N. nuclear agency said were found at a suspected nuclear site.

Walid al-Moallem said the diplomatic leaks about the traces found at the site, which was targeted by Israeli warplanes in September 2007, were politically motivated and aimed at pressuring Syria.

"No one has ever asked himself what kind of Israeli bombs had hit the site, and what did they contain?" said al-Moallem, adding that the United States has used bombs containing depleted uranium in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"These media leaks are a clear-cut signal that the purpose was to pressure Syria. This means that the subject is not technical but rather political," al-Moallem said at a news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry had no comment.

Washington is a harsh critic of Syria, accusing it of not doing enough to prevent cross-border infiltration by militants into Iraq and of destabilizing Lebanon, another neighbor.

A U.S. commando raid last month inside Syria near its border with Iraq further added to the tensions. U.S. officials have said the attack targeted a top al-Qaida in Iraq figure. Syria has asked for proof and said the raid killed eight Syrian civilians.

Syria is still technically at war with Israel, although the two have held indirect peace talks through Turkey in recent months.

The latest nuclear accusations against Syria were disclosed by unnamed diplomats at the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency. They have said samples taken from a suspected nuclear site bombed by Israeli planes last year contained uranium combined with other elements that merit further investigation.

Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the IAEA, said Tuesday his agency is taking allegations of a secret Syrian atomic program seriously and urged Damascus to cooperate fully with his investigation. He also urged other nations with information that could help the investigation to share what they know.

ElBaradei declined to comment on what the diplomats had said, telling reporters during a visit to the Czech capital of Prague only that his agency still has "a number of questions" linked to the allegations.

The U.S. has said the facility was a nearly completed reactor that — when on line — could have produced plutonium, a pathway to nuclear arms.

Al-Moallem said the original U.S. contention was that the alleged Syrian reactor was under construction, and not operational.

"So the question is: From where the traces of enriched uranium came?" he said.

Syria has previously denied any covert nuclear program, and al-Moallem said Wednesday that Damascus was waiting for ElBaradei's report to respond officially to the IAEA.

IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said Tuesday the latest findings on Syria were "still being drafted and our assessment and evaluation is still under way." Once the process is finished, the report will be submitted to the IAEA Board of Governors ahead of its next meeting, which is scheduled to take place Nov. 27-28.


:: Article nr. 48711 sent on 13-nov-2008 06:35 ECT


www.uruknet.info?p=48711

If you cannot find the links in this blog, I have majority of them filed, Email me!

US Politics

I am a selfish person.

The leader of Barack Obama's transition team has delivered some bad news to the hordes of lobbyists plying their trade in the fancy restaurants and faceless offices along Pennsylvania Avenue: they are not welcome.

A dog passes in front of a mural painting of US President-elect Barack Obama in Venice Beach, California. Mr Podesta, Obama's transition manager, unveiled what he said was "the strictest, the most far-reaching ethics rules of any transition team in history," and declared "that the undue influence of Washington lobbyists and the revolving door of Washington ceases to exist." (AFP/Gabriel Bouys)John Podesta, the transition chief, has revealed a set of draconian new regulations aimed at curbing the excessive influence of lobbyists, as Mr Obama promised throughout his election campaign. They are to be denied their normal role of greasing the wheels of the new administration's costly transition to power by paying for office space and staff between now and the inauguration on 20 January.

Mr Podesta unveiled what he said was "the strictest, the most far-reaching ethics rules of any transition team in history," and declared "that the undue influence of Washington lobbyists and the revolving door of Washington ceases to exist."

Obama Acts To Drive The Lobbyists Out of Washington


If you cannot find the links in this blog, I have majority of them filed, Email me!