Hillary Wants to Reveal Area 51 Secrets

/3 Comments/in , /by

Hillary Clinton says barring any national security risk, she would like to open up the government files on Area 51 to the public if she is elected president.

“I would like us to go into those files and hopefully make as much of that public as possible,” she told Jimmy Kimmel Thursday night on his late night ABC talk show. “If there’s nothing there, let’s tell people there’s nothing there.”

When Kimmel followed up by asking what she would do if she discovered there was actually something alarming in the files, Clinton replied: “Well, if there is something there, unless it’s a threat to national security, I think we ought to share it with the public.” (Read more from “Hillary Wants to Reveal Area 51 Secrets” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Scientists Create Ultra-Simplified Bacteria but Discover Life Is Still Mind-Boggling Complex

/1 Comment/in , /by

By Malcolm Ritter. Scientists have deleted nearly half the genes of a microbe, creating a . . . bacterium [that] has a smaller genetic code than does any natural free-living counterpart, with 531,000 DNA building blocks containing 473 genes. (Humans have more than 3 billion building blocks and more than 20,000 genes).

But even this stripped-down organism is full of mystery. Scientists say they have little to no idea what a third of its genes actually do.

“We’re showing how complex life is, even in the simplest of organisms,” researcher J. Craig Venter told reporters. “These findings are very humbling.” (Read more from “Scientists Create Ultra-Simplified Bacteria but Discover Life Is Still Mind-Boggling Complex” HERE)

_______________________________________

Scientists Create Tiniest Life Form yet, Not Sure What It Is

By Eric Roston. For years, DNA and computer operating systems served as cliches for each other: DNA is the “operating software” of living cells in the same way that system software is the “DNA” of a computer.

The problem with the comparison, as shown by research two decades in the making, is how much biologists still don’t know about DNA, or genomes. That’s an especially problematic development, given the industry sprouting up around genetic manipulation.

Genomics pioneer Craig Venter and more than 20 colleagues engineered a living microbe with a genome simpler than any seen in nature. In other words, they created a life form whose relative simplicity and modular design make it a platform that one day may be as easily manipulated as, say, software. Setting aside fears of Blade Runner replicants running amok, the breakthrough revealed on Thursday in the journal Science may hold promise for a new era in medicine, industry, and energy. (Read more from “Scientists Create Tiniest Life Form yet, Not Sure What It Is” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Prop Pistol May Cost New Jersey Actor 10 Years Behind Bars

/4 Comments/in , /by

New Jersey’s bizarre gun laws have struck again. An actor who used a pellet gun while filming a movie now faces 10 years behind bars on felony possession of a firearm charges.

Carlo Goias, whose screen name is Carlo Bellario, was recently filming “Vendetta Games” when he was arrested in a residential neighborhood for having an Airsoft gun. The Toms River resident was holding a plastic toy outside a vehicle during a chase scene, which prompted some 9-1-1 calls. He was then forced to spend four days in jail while trying to raise $10,000 bail.

“I was shooting a movie – I wasn’t committing a crime intentionally,” Goias told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “Robert De Niro doesn’t ask Marty Scorsese if he has gun permits. We’re actors. That’s for the production company to worry about.”

Goias rejected a plea deal offer Tuesday that would have resulted in less than one year in prison. Prosecutors said prior convictions for theft and burglary could result in a 10-year sentence.

“I pretended to shoot out the window; they were going to dub in the sound later,” Goias said. “We get back, and within a couple of minutes we’re surrounded by cop cars.” (Read more from “Prop Pistol May Cost New Jersey Actor 10 Years Behind Bars” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Disney, Marvel Threaten Georgia Filming Boycott Over ‘Antigay’ Bill

/1 Comment/in , /by

Nathan Deal, the Republican governor of the state of Georgia, has a big decision to make.

He has until May 3 to either sign or veto a bill that supporters describe as defending “religious liberty” and opponents call “antigay.” House Bill 757 is attracting plenty of attention from beyond the state’s boundaries. Walt Disney Studios, maker of many superhero and animated films, chimed in Wednesday.

“Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law,” Disney said in a statement.

Marvel Studios, maker of the Avengers and X-Men films, is a subsidiary of Disney.

The Georgia bill would let faith-based organizations refuse the use of property “for an event which is objectionable to such faith based organization.” It would allow those organizations to refuse to provide services that “violate such faith based organization’s sincerely held religious belief.” This would also extend to hiring practices. (Read more from “Disney, Marvel Threaten Georgia Filming Boycott Over ‘Antigay’ Bill” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

The Appearance of Disappearance: The CIA’s Secret Black Sites

/0 Comments/in , /by

Twelve years ago, in a village on the edge of a pine forest not far from Lithuania’s elegant capital Vilnius, workmen constructed an unusual warehouse. It was the size of an Olympic swimming pool with no windows, many air vents and no stated purpose. The site had formerly been a riding stables and a paddock. It had also served as a local watering hole — a welcome one since the village lacked a bar or restaurant. The new building was shiny and modern, incongruous amid the tumbledown farm buildings and Soviet-era housing blocks. The convivial atmosphere of the riding club was replaced, in the words of one local inhabitant, by “this certain emptiness”.

Naturally, the neighbours were curious. They speculated about the new building’s function. Was it a military listening post? A drug factory? A clandestine organ transplant lab? None of them guessed that it might be a key facility in the US Central Intelligence Agency’s Rendition, Detention and Interrogation programme, one of a secret network of “black sites”, set up in half a dozen countries to house undisclosed prisoners out of reach of lawyers, the Red Cross or other branches of the US government. Why should they? Lithuania was a long way from the front lines of the war on terror, and the village of Antaviliai, although only 20 minutes by car from the capital, was known for summer lake swims rather than for covert operations.

The secret detention programme, as it was gradually uncovered, stretched across the globe. The network of sites we have documented encompasses Antaviliai and Kabul, North Carolina and Skopje, Columbia County, Milan, Tripoli and Bucharest. In our journeys through this material, we have sought to portray the appearance of disappearance.

Sceptics like to invoke the power of photography, its ability to show what is real. Three years ago, at a hearing for a European Parliament civil liberties committee inquiry into complicity in illegal detentions, one MEP asked if he could see a photograph of a prisoner on a plane. Failing that, he would remain convinced of the fictional world in which it didn’t happen. In the same way, Valdas Adamkus, a former president of Lithuania, when asked during a visit to London in 2011 about CIA prisoners being held in his country, stated firmly that: “Nobody proved it, nobody showed it.” (Read more from “The Appearance of Disappearance: The CIA’s Secret Black Sites” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Woman Behind Viral ‘Angry Splash Mountain Lady’ Meme Says the Photo Was Posed

/0 Comments/in , /by

A woman dubbed ‘Angry Splash Mountain Lady’ by the internet has come forward to explain why she looks so upset while riding the Disney World ride.

Jordan Alexander, from Syracuse, New York, took the internet by storm after a photo of her on Splash Mountain emerged of her sitting alone, with her arms crossed, looking angry.

The photo quickly went viral and turned into a meme, where internet users photo shopped her face on to famous works of art and added celebrities like John Travolta into the Splash Mountain picture.

And as it turns out, the photo was completely posed.

Jordan’s husband, Steven, said when the photo was taken, the couple already been at the park all day with their baby and Jordan’s parents. (Read more from “Woman Behind Viral ‘Angry Splash Mountain Lady’ Meme Says the Photo Was Posed” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Saddle up, Folks, It’s Time to Become a Prepper

/0 Comments/in , /by

Here is one of the most recent reasons why you should prepare. Use this article as an example of why your family and friends should also become preppers:

There is only one major reason governments all across the world have either already begun, or are planning to remove, higher-denomination paper currency from circulation. It has nothing to do with stopping drug deals or hampering terrorism. Surprisingly – at this point anyway – it also isn’t about actually gaining further control over the citizenry.

It’s about economics. For all intents and purposes, every government on earth is at best broke, or more likely saddled with massive debt. So aside from printing more money, what’s a hungry oligarchy to do?

Simple: force everyone into a cashless society … and then take the money they need directly from your bank account rather than picking your pocket . . .

Having supplies, food, guns and ammo is fantastic … assuming you know how to use them. However, if you never do figure out how to clean that gun, start that fire, fix that wound, purify that water or grow that crop, don’t worry. It’s still pretty sweet … for the folks who will be using all that stuff after you head off to the pearly gates to yell at St. Peter. (Read more from “Saddle up, Folks, It’s Time to Become a Prepper” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

FDA Admits That Nearly 70% of U.S. Chickens Contain Cancer Causing Arsenic

/0 Comments/in , /by

(Editor’s note: Snopes contests this MSN article’s conclusion, stating that at one time chicken contained arsenic but that the sale of the arsenic-laced food additive was discontinued by Pfizer in 2011) I don’t know about the rest of you, but lately my poultry purchases at my local market have become more and more of a ‘hit-and-miss’ situation, with more ‘misses’ if I’m being honest. As I bite into my homemade chicken nuggets or Coq au Vin (when I’m feeling fancy) I can’t help but feel that the chicken just tastes weird, stringy, just…funny. So a few days ago when I turned on the tube and saw the news headlines stating that the FDA has finally confirmed that chicken meat sold in the USA contains arsenic, my head, and stomach, nearly hit the roof. This cancer-causing toxic chemical, that in high doses could kill you, is actually being added to chicken feed on purpose, giving store-bought chicken the illusion of healthy coloring and plump appearance. Shockingly, this is the case with more than 70 percent of all U.S. chickens! That is just awful! . . .

So, the next time you’re out buying chicken (if you’re not totally put off by it at this point) make sure you look out for the following:

-If the chicken meat is bright pink in color, like in an unnatural way, avoid it at all costs.

-Make sure that the fat content on the chicken is white to deep yellow, not gray or pasty.

(Read more from “FDA Admits That Nearly 70% of U.S. Chickens Contain Cancer-Causing Arsenic” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Scientific Paper Says the Human Hand Was Designed by a Creator

/0 Comments/in , /by

A recent scientific paper on the movement of the human hand has faced strong criticism for referring to a ‘Creator’ throughout.

The paper, titled: ‘Biomechanical characteristics of hand coordination in grasping activities of daily living’ was written by a team of four researchers, three from Huazhong University in China, and one from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts.

Published in the PLOS ONE journal, the fairly conventional study looked at the mechanics of how we grasp things, and involved the measurement of the hand movements of 30 participants.

However, members of the scientific community have demanded the paper be retracted, for its several perceived references to the pseudoscientific theory of intelligent design and a possibly divine ‘Creator’.

In the opening sentences of the study, it claims the link between muscles and hand movements is the product of “proper design by the Creator.” (Read more from “Scientific Paper Says the Human Hand Was Designed by a Creator” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.

Cause of Recurring Booms Remains a Mystery

/0 Comments/in , /by

By Nathan Ellgren. Unexplained loud booms have been affecting residents around Grundy County [in Missouri] for weeks, and the cause has yet to be determined.

“It’s weird because it’s unlike most booming noises you hear,” said Glen Briggs, the emergency management director of Grundy County. “If you hear a car crash or something like that, you can pretty well tell which direction it came from. When I heard it, I couldn’t identity which direction it came from. It resembled thunder, but there were no thunderstorms in the area.”

Trenton residents began reporting their experiences of these booms after they heard it for the first time Feb. 14.

“I instantly made a post on our emergency management Facebook page and asked if anyone else heard it,” Briggs said. “We had close to 100 people comment saying they heard it. Several people said they felt it. They described a loud thud, rattling, some saw flashes of light and smoke.”

Trenton police arrived in a matter of minutes to the area where residents were affected, but didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. (Read more from “Cause of Recurring Booms Remains a Mystery” HERE)

________________________________

Strange Radio Bursts From Space Come in Clusters

By Marlowe Hood. Mysterious and powerful radio waves from deep space are coming in clusters, scientists revealed on Wednesday, having only discovered their existence a decade ago.

The repeated pulses emanate from well beyond the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy, according to a study published in the journal Nature.

It was previously thought that these so-called fast radio bursts (FRBs) — which can emit as much energy in a millisecond as the Sun emits in 10,000 years — were one-off phenomena.

Less than 20 have been detected since 2007, though more than 10,000 are suspected to occur every day.

Their origins remain unknown. Up to now, astronomers speculated that they were produced by cataclysmic events such as stars exploding into a supernovas, or neutron stars collapsing into black holes. (Read more from “Strange Radio Bursts From Space Come in Clusters” HERE)

Follow Joe Miller on Twitter HERE and Facebook HERE.