Revealed: Britain sold nerve gas chemicals to Syria 10 months after war began -

Revealed: Britain sold nerve gas chemicals to Syria 10 months after war began - 



BRITAIN allowed firms to sell chemicals to Syria capable of being used to make nerve gas, we can reveal today.
Export licences for potassium fluoride and sodium fluoride were granted months after the bloody civil war in the Middle East began.
The chemical is capable of being used to make weapons such as sarin, thought to be the nerve gas used in the attack on a rebel-held Damascus suburb which killed nearly 1500 people, including 426 children, 10 days ago.
The chemical export licences were granted by Business Secretary Vince Cable’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills last January – 10 months after the Syrian uprising began.
They were only revoked six months later, when the European Union imposed tough sanctions on Assad’s regime.

Read more - 

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/britain-sold-nerve-gas-chemicals-2242520

Tampa Bay Rays' Fernando Rodney Saved from Being Trapped in Dugout Bathroom -

Tampa Bay Rays' Fernando Rodney Saved from Being Trapped in Dugout Bathroom - 



If there haven't been enough issues at O.co Coliseum this season, this latest one certainly helps add more evidence that the Oakland A's are in dire need of a new home.

On Friday, Tampa Bay Rays closer Fernando Rodney decided he needed to use the bathroom, conveniently located at the end of the visiting dugout at the Coliseum.

However, Rodney ended up getting trapped.

It took a team of stadium personnel to finally get Rodney out of his predicament, using a crowbar to eventually pry the door open and let him out. Rodney did not factor in the game, as the Rays ended up losing 4-3. 

Back in mid-June, the A's and Seattle Mariners ended up having to shower in the Oakland Raiders locker room after backed-up pipes caused flooding in both the home and visiting clubhouses.

And it was raw sewage that was dumped at the time.

Disgusting? Absolutely. But Rodney's plight on Friday was hilarious to some of his teammates, several of whom could be seen cracking up after he was finally freed.

Read more - 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1756742-rays-closer-fernando-rodney-saved-from-being-trapped-in-dugout-bathroom?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial&hpt=hp_t3

Pennsylvania Renters fear eviction over 911 calls - eviction if they call 911 three times -

Pennsylvania Renters fear eviction over 911 calls - eviction if they call 911 three times - 



Last summer, Lakisha Briggs' ex-boyfriend, who was living with her, allegedly smashed an ashtray across her face, then stabbed her in the neck with the broken glass. She was airlifted to a Philadelphia hospital.
Briggs had let him move in after a jail stint for a previous attack because she'd been afraid to call police when he showed up at her door. Not necessarily because of the threat of violence, but because one more call to 911 and Briggs knew she would lose her home, a tidy row house she rented in Norristown for herself and her 3-year-old daughter.
Norristown has what's called a three strikes law, which threatens renters with eviction if they call 911 three times within four months. Their landlords lose their rental license under the ordinance, which is designed to promote safe neighborhoods in the gritty suburb.
"Every strike has a chilling effect on whether you're going to make that outreach (to police) ... and incur that strike," said lawyer Sandra Park of the American Civil Liberties Union's Women's Rights Project in New York.
Park has been monitoring similar laws around the country, which are often aimed at addressing drug activity or reducing nuisance calls to 911. The ACLU filed a test case on behalf of Briggs that challenges the constitutionality of such ordinances. Federal court arguments are set for this month in Philadelphia.
"I felt like I was being punished for being assaulted," Briggs, a 34-year-old nursing assistant, said Friday.


Read more: -

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/09/01/renters-fear-eviction-over-11-calls-pennsylvania-lawsuit-says/?test=latestnews

Poverty lowers brain power, making it harder to figure out ways to escape financial instability: -

Poverty lowers brain power, making it harder to figure out ways to escape financial instability: 



Dealing with poverty takes up so much mental energy that the poor have less brain power for making decisions and taking steps to overcome their financial difficulties, a study suggests.

The research, published Thursday in the journal Science, concludes that a person’s cognitive abilities can be diminished by such nagging concerns as hanging on to a place to live and having enough money to feed their families.

As a result, there is less “mental bandwidth” left over for education, training, time-management and other steps that could help break the cycle of poverty, the researchers contend.

“Previous accounts of poverty have blamed the poor for their personal failings, or an environment that is not conducive to success,” said Jiaying Zhao of the University of British Columbia, who led the study, conducted while she was a graduate student at Princeton University.

If you are poor, you’re more error prone and errors cost you more dearly. It’s hard to find a way out.
“We’re arguing that being poor can impair cognitive functioning, which hinders individuals’ ability to make good decisions and can cause further poverty,” she said.

The study had two parts. In the first, about 400 people at a New Jersey mall were randomly selected to take part in a number of standard cognitive and logic tests. The participants’ annual family income ranged from $20,000 to $160,000, with a median of $70,000.

Subjects took the computer-based tests after being presented with a hypothetical financial problem that they would later have to solve: how they would come up with the money to pay for having their car fixed when the cost was either $150 or $1,500.

With the lower amount on their minds, those with low incomes fared as well on the tests as better-off participants. But when the amount was 10 times higher, low-income subjects performed far more poorly on the tests, said Zhao.

On average, a person preoccupied with money problems showed a reduction in cognitive function equivalent to a 13-point drop in IQ or the loss of a night’s sleep.

Read more - 

http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/08/30/poverty-lowers-brain-power-making-it-harder-to-figure-out-ways-to-escape-financial-instability-study/

George H.W. Bush mistakenly announces Mandela's death... -

George H.W. Bush mistakenly announces Mandela's death... - 



George Bush Sr, the former president of the United States, sent social media sites into a frenzy on Saturday by falsely announcing that Nelson Mandela had died.

Mr Bush, 89, sent condolences which were picked up by an American newswire, BNO. It was then flashed up by CNN.
Jim McGrath, spokesman for Mr Bush, sent out an email entitled: "Statement by President George H. W. Bush on the death of Nelson Mandela."
He wrote on behalf of the former president: ""Barbara and I mourn the passing of one of the greatest believers in freedom we have had the privilege to know.
"As President, I watched in wonder as Nelson Mandela had the remarkable capacity to forgive his jailers following 26 years of wrongful imprisonment – setting a powerful example of redemption and grace for us all. He was a man of tremendous moral courage, who changed the course of history in his country. Barbara and I had great respect for President Mandela, and send our condolences to his family and countrymen."
But Mr McGrath tweeted and emailed a statement that the earlier comments were based on a flash from the Washington Post.

"We have no independent verification of events in South Africa," Mr McGrath wrote.
He later added: "The statement sent this morning was the result of my mis-reading the header on the WaPo news flash. Stupid mistake by me. Apologies to all."

Read more - 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/nelson-mandela/10278993/George-Bush-Sr-mistakenly-announces-Nelson-Mandelas-death.html

STUDY: Listening to music good for heart... -

STUDY: Listening to music good for heart... - 



Now a study has found that in fact music can strengthen the heart - and improve the recovery of patients suffering from heart disease.
Cardiologists said the findings suggested that all people could boost the health of their hearts simply by listening to their favourite tunes.
Patients with cardiac disease were divided into three groups. Some were enrolled in exercise classes for three weeks.
Others were put in the same classes, but also told to listen to music of their choice at any point for 30 minutes every day. A third group only listened to music, and did not take cardio-vascular exercise, which is usually prescribed to those with heart disease.
At the end of the trial, the patients who had listened to music as well as exercising had boosted crucial measures of heart function significantly, and improved their exercise capacity by 39 per cent.

The group which only took aerobic exercise improved their capacity by 29 per cent. Even those who took no exercise and only listened to their favourite music for half an hour a day improved their exercise function by 19 per cent, the study of 74 patients found.
The measures of improved heart function included improved endothelial function, which is necessary to maintain the body's vascular response.
The findings, presented at the European Society of Cardiology's annual congress in Amsterdam, suggested that the release of key hormones while listening to music was behind the changes.
Prof Delijanin Ilic, the lead investigator, from the Institute of Cardiology, University of Nis, Serbia, said: "When we listen to music we like then endorphins are released from the brain and this improves our vascular health. There is no 'best music' for everyone - what matters is what the person likes and makes them happy."
She said other studies examining the impact of music suggested there might be some types of music which were less good for the heart - with heavy metal more likely to raise stress levels, while opera, classical and other types of 'joyful' music were more likely to stimulate endorphins.

Read more -

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10278977/Listening-to-music-is-good-for-the-heart.html

Pope Francis has called for the world to unite in a day of fasting and prayer for Syria on Saturday -

Pope Francis has called for the world to unite in a day of fasting and prayer for Syria on Saturday - 



 Pope Francis has called for the world to unite in a day of fasting and prayer for Syria on Saturday and said "God and history" would judge anyone using chemical weapons.

"May the cry for peace enter the hearts of everyone so that they may all lay down their weapons," the pope told thousands of pilgrims at the Vatican on Sunday.

The pope announced that the prayers would be led by a five-hour vigil in St Peter's Square, telling the international community it should make "every effort" for peace.

His call came the United States and France were making plans for possible air strikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime over its alleged use of chemical weapons.

"My heart is profoundly wounded in these days by what is happening in Syria and I am anxious about the prospect of dramatic developments," the pope said.

"I condemn with particular force the use of chemical weapons. I still have in my mind and heart the terrible images of the past days," he said.

"There is judgment from God and from history on our actions that no one can escape."

"Weapons and violence do not lead to peace, war leads to more war," he said.

Read more - 

http://www.france24.com/en/20130901-pope-announces-world-prayer-day-syria

Unidentified Navy Officer Sums It Up -

Unidentified Navy Officer Sums It Up -

EU plans to fit all cars with speed limiters -

EU plans to fit all cars with speed limiters - 



All cars could be fitted with devices that stop them going over 70mph, under new EU road safety measures which aim to cut deaths from road accidents by a third.

Under the proposals new cars would be fitted with cameras that could read road speed limit signs and automatically apply the brakes when this is exceeded.

Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary, is said to be opposed to the plans, which could also mean existing cars are sent to garages to be fitted with the speed limiters, preventing them from going over 70mph.

The new measures have been announced by the European Commission’s Mobility and Transport Department as a measure to reduce the 30,000 people who die on the roads in Europe every year.

Read more -

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/road-safety/10278702/EU-plans-to-fit-all-cars-with-speed-limiters.html