Woman Swallowed WHOLE By Leopard!!!
Not one for the squeamish!
I thought it was one of those fake emails too, until I saw the photo below. Somehow the woman was lodged in the leopard's throat and they finally cut the leopard's head off to let the woman escape.
She was unharmed.... Unbelievable!!
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secure seedbank located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near the town of Longyearbyen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago.[1] The facility was established to preserve a wide variety of plant seeds from locations worldwide in an underground cavern. The Seed Vault holds duplicate samples, or "spare" copies, of seeds held in genebanks worldwide. The Seed Vault will provide insurance against the loss of seeds in genebanks, as well as a refuge for seeds in the case of large scale regional or global crises. The island of Spitsbergen is about 1,120 kilometres (700 mi) from the North Pole.
The Seed Vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement between the Norwegian government, the Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (previously named the Nordic Gene Bank, a cooperative effort of the Nordic countries under the Nordic Council of Ministers).
The GCDT has played a key role in the planning of the Seed Vault and is coordinating shipments of seed samples to the Vault in conjunction with the Nordic Genetic Resource Center. The Trust will provide most of the annual operating costs for the facility, and has set aside endowment funds to do so, while the Norwegian government will finance upkeep of the structure itself. With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other donors, the GCDT is assisting selected genebanks in developing countries as well as the international agricultural research centers in packaging and shipping seeds to the Seed Vault. An International Advisory Council is being established to provide guidance and advice. It will include representatives from the FAO, the CGIAR, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources and other institutions.
Construction of the Seed Vault, which cost approximately 45 million Norwegian Kroner[2] was funded entirely by the Government of Norway.[2] Storage of seeds in the Seed Vault is free of charge. Operational costs will be paid by Norway and the Global Crop Diversity Trust.[2]. The primary funders of the Trust are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Kingdom, Norway, Australia, Switzerland and Sweden, though funding has been received from a wide variety of sources including four developing countries: Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, and India.[3] ($9 million),
The Nordic Gene Bank has stored a backup of Nordic plant germplasm as frozen seeds in an abandoned coal mine at Svalbard since 1984. The Nordic Gene Bank (NGB) has deposited more than 10,000 seed samples of more than 2,000 cultivars of 300 different species over the years. In addition, seed samples from southern Africa (SADC) have been safely duplicated with the Nordic collection for some years. Both the Nordic and African collections are expected be transferred to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in the future. Since January 1, 2008 the Nordic Gene Bank is an integrated part of the newly formed Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NORDGEN).
The prime ministers of Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland participated in a ceremonial "laying of the first stone" on 19 June 2006.
The seedbank is constructed 120 metres (390 ft) inside a sandstone mountain at Svalbard on Spitsbergen Island.[4] The bank employs a number of robust security systems. Seeds are packaged in special four-ply packets and heat sealed to exclude moisture. The facility is managed by the Nordic Genetic Resource Center, though there are no permanent staff on-site.
Spitsbergen was considered ideal due to its lack of tectonic activity and its permafrost, which will aid preservation. The location 130 metres (430 ft) above sea level will ensure that the site remains dry even if the icecaps melt.[4] Locally mined coal provides power for refrigeration units that further cool the seeds to the internationally-recommended standard −18 °C (−0 °F).[5][1] Even if the equipment fails, at least several weeks will elapse before the temperature rises to the −3 °C (30 °F) of the surrounding sandstone bedrock.
Prior to construction, a feasibility study determined that the vault could preserve seeds from most major food crops for hundreds of years. Some seeds, including those of important grains, could survive far longer, possibly thousands of years.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault opened officially on February 26, 2008.[6] Approximately 1.5 million distinct seed samples of agricultural crops are thought to exist. The variety and volume of seeds stored will depend on the number of countries participating – the facility has a capacity to conserve 4.5 million. The first seeds arrived in January 2008.[7] Five percent of the seeds in the Vault, about 18,000 samples with 500 seeds each, come from the Centre for Genetic Resources of the Netherlands (CGN), part of Wageningen University, Netherlands.[8]
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault's mission is to provide a safety net against accidental loss of diversity in traditional genebanks. While the popular press has emphasized its possible utility in the event of a major regional or global catastrophe, it will certainly be more frequently accessed when genebanks lose samples due to mismanagement, accident, equipment failures, funding cuts and natural disasters. Such events occur with some regularity. In recent years, some national genebanks have also been destroyed by war and civil strife. There are some 1,400 crop diversity collections around the world, but many are in politically unstable or environmentally threatened nations.
Access to seeds
The seed samples stored in the Seed Vault are copies of samples stored in the depositing genebanks. Researchers, plant breeders and other groups wishing to access seed samples cannot do so through the Seed Vault; instead they must request samples from the depositing genebanks. The samples stored in the genebanks will, in most cases, be accessible in accordance with the terms and conditions of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture,[9] approved by 118 countries/Parties.[10][11]
The Seed Vault functions like a safety deposit box in a bank. The bank owns the building and the depositor owns the contents of his or her box. The Government of Norway owns the facility and the depositing genebanks own the seeds they send. The deposit of samples in Svalbard does not constitute a legal transfer of genetic resources. In genebank terminology this is called a "black box" arrangement. Each depositor signs a Deposit Agreement with NORDGEN, acting on behalf of Norway. The Agreement makes clear that Norway does not claim ownership over the deposited samples and that ownership remains with the depositor, who has the sole right of access to those materials in the Seed Vault. No one has access to anyone else’s seeds from the Seed Vault.[11][12]
It has been alleged that there has been some controversy over private involvement in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. In fact, the Vault was unanimously welcomed at the United Nations when proposed by Norway. The Government of Norway funded the construction of the Vault in its entirety and will continue to fund its maintenance. The Global Crop Diversity Trust funds the operation and management of the facility, and has funded the transport of seeds from genebanks in developing countries and from international genebanks to the Arctic. For the first three years of the Vault’s existence, the transport of seeds from international collections and developing countries has been made possible through a partnership between the Trust and the United Nations Foundation funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
All seeds stored in the Seed Vault remain the property of the country or institution that sent them. There is no change of ownership. Neither the managers of the Seed Vault, Norway, the Trust, nor anyone else has any right even to open the boxes in which the seeds arrive and are stored. Seeds are available only to the depositors to restore samples they have lost themselves. Information about which countries have sent seeds, and the seeds which are already stored in the Vault, is all public. For a list of depositors to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, see the Seed Vault online database managed by NORDGEN.[13] For the complete list of donors to the Global Crop Diversity Trust, see [1].
The current issue of Consumer Reports will stand your hair on end, especially if you are taking herbs to improve your health and/or to avoid the side effects that usually go with drugs. The FDA classifies these products as dietary supplements, a designation that amounts to a free pass for the manufacturers. Unlike drugs, there is no required testing for proof of safety or effectiveness.
Supplements can be purchased over the counter and over the Internet. The lack of government regulation allows them to be regarded as "innocent 'til proven guilty." Even when the FDA has clear proof of danger, as it did with the herbal weight-loss aid, ephedra, it can take years to get the product banned. Furthermore, manufacturers are allowed to market their products as "natural," which to most consumers implies harmless.
The Dirty Dozen
The May issue of Consumer Reports identified 12 herbal ingredients that are linked to serious adverse events, "or, in the case of glandular supplements, to strong theoretical risks." Labeled "the dirty dozen," the ingredients are available individually or in multi-ingredient combination products. Consumer Reports, which is published by the non-profit Consumers Union, divided the following ingredients into three categories: definitely hazardous, very likely hazardous, and likely hazardous:
--Aristolochic acid is judged to be "definitely hazardous" because of documented kidney failure (sometimes requiring transplant), deaths, and known potent cancer-causing properties. What makes things difficult even for consumers who carefully read the label is this: the offending ingredient can appear under many different names. (The multiple names for aristolochic acid are listed in the Consumer Reports article.)
--Comfrey, androstenedione, chaparral, germander, and kava are classified as "very likely hazardous" because they are banned in other countries; have generated an FDA warning; or are identified as causing adverse effects in studies. Each is known by more than one name. Abnormal liver function or damage, often irreversible, and deaths have been reported for chaparral, comfrey, germander, and kava.
--Bitter orange, organ/glandular extracts (brain/adrenal/ pituitary/placenta/other gland "substance" or "concentrate"), lobelia, pennyroyal oil, skullcap, and yohimbe are considered "likely hazardous." This category applies to ingredients for which there have been adverse-event reports or because of theoretical risks. Each is known by several different names. Referring to glandular products, Consumer Reports states that the FDA has banned high-risk bovine materials from older cows in foods and supplements, but has not banned high-risk parts from cows under 30 months. There is a theoretical risk of mad cow disease, particularly from brain extracts.
Not the FDA's Fault
Consumer Reports does not fault the FDA for this situation that puts so many at risk. Congress has created the regulatory barriers to appropriate testing of these products. Furthermore, there is no mandatory reporting system as there is for drug companies. Though this mandate is notoriously ineffective, as it is well known that fewer than 10% of adverse reactions to drugs are reported to the FDA, the system should be strengthened and expanded to include dietary supplements.
What you can do:
--For free access to the article about Dangerous Supplements, go to www.consumerreports.org, or buy the May 2004 issue of Consumer Reports.
--Go to www.bmj.com and locate the April 24 issue of the British medical journal, BMJ. Find the rapid responses to the news item entitled, US consumer group names "dirty dozen" dietary supplements. Read the objections to the Consumer Reports assessment from Michael McGuffin, president of the American Herbal Products Association. For example, he contests the listing of skullcap as presenting a danger of abnormal liver function or damage. "The only suggestion of such a danger was associated with an incident of misidentification of skullcap in a product that, in fact, contained germander and did not contain skullcap."
--Visit www.ConsumerLab.com This Web-based organization describes itself as an independent testing service for consumer products, including herbal products, vitamins, minerals, sports and energy products, functional foods, food and beverages, as well as personal care products. ConsumerLab.com issues "concerns and cautions" about specific products. Its testing centers on factors related to quality, such as the critical issue of whether the ingredients and amounts listed on the label accurately reflect what is in the product. Testing criteria also include purity (Is the product free of contaminants?), bioavailability (Does the product break down properly so that it may be used by the body?), and consistency (Does each unit of the product have the same identity, potency and purity?)
Michael Chertoff cautions citizens to accept the possibility of a 5/24.WASHINGTON—In an alarming development with wide-reaching implications for America's safety, Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff and CIA Director Michael Hayden issued a joint report Monday warning that the next 9/11 could in fact occur on a different date.
The report, based on intelligence gathered by field-agents, found that a future 9/11 might take place on an entirely new month and day, including 4/24, 6/13, or even 10/12. According to the report, the nation could realistically find itself in the midst of a 5/25 scenario, as well as a potential 3/14 situation in the months to come.
8/28, 6/19, and 11/7 were also cited as possible 9/11s.
A poster from the new DHS public-awareness campaign.
"While 9/11 has historically always fallen on 9/11, we as Americans need to be prepared for a wide range of dates," Chertoff said during a White House press conference. "There's a chance we could all find ourselves living in a post-6/10 world as early as next July. Unless, that is, we're already living in a pre-2/14 world."
"1/1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5," Chertoff continued for nearly 45 minutes, "12/28, 12/29, 12/30, 12/31—these are all plausible and serious threats."
An addendum to the report that includes leap years will be released by the end of March.
Though the DHS has identified more than 7,000 sensitive dates spanning the next 20 years, it did manage to rule out 4/15/04 and 10/38 as future 9/11s. The government report also confirmed that the next 9/11 would more than likely not involve an assault on the World Trade Center's North and South towers as it has in previous attacks.
Furthermore, the 350-page document rejected long-held beliefs that the next 9/11 would commence at 8:46 a.m. on a sunny Tuesday morning. In fact, it warns that a future attack could occur on a cloudy, snowy, or even brisk day, at 8:53 a.m., 10:42 p.m., or any one of the other 1,440 known times.
"We are dealing with agents of terror who are willing to carry out another 9/11 on—if you can imagine it—6/8," Hayden told reporters. "Indeed a day may come when we as a nation have to live in fear of another 6/8, recount where we were when 6/8 happened, and swear never to forget the events of 6/8."
"At some point we might even have to come to terms with the harsh lessons of 6/8," Hayden continued.
Hayden assured citizens, however, that no matter what date the imminent attacks fall on, he has every reason to believe that the next 9/11 will be carried out by militants, radicals, zealots, or extremists, who will stop at nothing, next to nothing, or very little to destroy America.
Hayden also said he was certain that at least one of the world's 6.7 billion human beings will plot the future 5/24 or 3/17 attacks, and that it will most likely target either the nation's subways, seaports, landmarks, stadiums, buildings, structures, or other indoor or outdoor areas where large groups of people tend to gather.
"Instead of calling major terrorist attacks on their soil 'our 9-11,' other nations may soon refer to their own national disasters as 'our 11/28,'" Chertoff said. "Which, incidentally, is also my birthday, though I admit that is neither here nor there."
At the conclusion of the press conference, Chertoff urged Americans not be alarmed by the recent news, and to continue living their lives as they have for the last seven years—with the crippling fear that at any moment they, or someone they love, could die in a fiery inferno.
Bosnian pyramids refers to a site known as Visočica hill (or Grad hill), in the Bosnia and Herzegovina town of Visoko, northwest of Sarajevo, which became the focus of international attention in October 2005, following a news-media campaign promoting the false idea that it is actually the largest of a group of ancient man-made pyramids, the so-called Bosnian pyramids.
Scientific investigations of the site show there is no pyramid.[1][2][3] Additionally, scientists have criticised the Bosnian authorities for supporting the pyramid claim saying, "This scheme is a cruel hoax on an unsuspecting public and has no place in the world of genuine science."[4]
The 213 metre Visočica hill, upon which the Old town of Visoki was once sited, is roughly pyramid-shaped. The idea that it constitutes an ancient artificial edifice was publicised by Houston-based expatriate Bosnian author and metalworker Semir Osmanagić, whose subsequent excavations at the site have uncovered what he claims to be a paved entrance plateau and tunnels, as well as stone blocks and ancient mortar which he has suggested once covered the structure. Osmanagić has claimed that the dig involved an international team of archaeologists from Australia, Austria, Bosnia, Scotland and Slovenia.[5] However, many archaeologists he named have stated they had not agreed to participate and were never at the site.[6] The dig began in April 2006.
Semir Osmanagić's claims, widely reported in the mass media, have been challenged by a number of experts, who have accused him of promoting pseudo-scientific notions and damaging archaeological sites with his excavations. Penn State University Professor Garrett Fagan is quoted as saying "They should not be allowed to destroy genuine sites in the pursuit of these delusions[...] It’s as if someone were given permission to bulldoze Stonehenge to find secret chambers of lost ancient wisdom underneath."[7]
Boston University's Curtis Runnels, an expert in prehistoric Greece and the Balkans states that, "Between 27,000 and 12,000 years ago, the Balkans were locked in the last Glacial maximum, a period of very cold and dry climate with glaciers in some of the mountain ranges. The only occupants were Upper Paleolithic hunters and gatherers who left behind open-air camp sites and traces of occupation in caves. These remains consist of simple stone tools, hearths, and remains of animals and plants that were consumed for food. These people did not have the tools or skills to engage in the construction of monumental architecture."[8]
Enver Imamovic of the University of Sarajevo, a former director of the National Museum of Sarajevo, concerned that the excavations will damage historic sites such as the medieval royal capital Visoki, said that the excavations would "irreversibly destroy a national treasure".[9] Excavations by archaeologists not related to the Foundation in the summer of 2008 uncovered medieval artefacts and led to renewed calls for the government to cancel Osmanagić's digging permits.[10]
In a letter to the editor of The Times on 25 April 2006, Professor Anthony Harding, president of the European Association of Archaeologists, referred to Osmanagić's theories as "wacky" and "absurd" and expressed concern that insufficient safeguards were in place to protect Bosnia's "rich heritage" from "looting and unmonitored or unauthorised development".[11] After visiting the site himself, Harding reported, "...we saw areas of natural stone (a breccia), with fissures and cracks; but no sign of anything that looked like archaeology."[2]
According to one source, on May 8, 2006, members of the Geological team investigating Visočica on behalf of the Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation held a press conference in Tuzla to present the results of their research. The academics, from the Faculty of Mining and Geology[12] at the University of Tuzla[13] and led by Professor Dr. Sejfudin Vrabac,[14] concluded that the hill is a natural geological formation, made of classic sediments of layered composition and varying thickness, and that its shape is a consequence of endodynamical and exodynamical processes in post-Miocene era.
According to Professor Vrabac, who specializes in paleogeology, there are dozens of like morphological formations in the Sarajevo-Zenica mining basin alone. The Geological team report on Visocica, based on the data collected in six drill holes at 3 to 17 metre depths, is supported by the Research and Teaching Council of the Faculty of Mining and Geology, as well as the Association of Geologists of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[15]
In June 2006, Zahi Hawass's name became linked to the excavations[16] as recommending an expert, Aly Abd Alla Barakat, to investigate the hills. Upon being contacted Hawass denied any involvement, accusing Osmanagić of "giving out false information".[17]
The Archaeological Park: Bosnian Pyramid of the Sun Foundation has said that Barakat inspected the hills and stated, "My opinion is that this is a type of pyramid, probably a primitive pyramid."[6][18] In November 2007 an English version of a 2006 report by Barakat was posted on the foundation site. [19] Osmanagić also invited geologist and alternative archaeologist Robert Schoch to visit the site. In a preliminary report he concluded that there were natural geological explanations for all the features claimed to be artificial by Osmanagić. In the case of the tunnels he further added:
The much-touted “ancient inscriptions” seem not to be ancient at all. I was told by a reliable source that the inscriptions were not there when members of the “pyramid team” initially entered the tunnels less than two years ago. The “ancient inscriptions” had been added since, perhaps non-maliciously, or perhaps as a downright hoax.[20]
The foundation has described such comments as "ill-intentioned" referring to "irrelevant and completely incorrect facts".[21] In return Dr Schoch's website documents "extreme damage being done by the way the excavations are being performed," and accuses Osmanagić of launching "a deliberate smear campaign."[22]
Two of the archaeologists who worked as volunteers in 2006 are Silvana Cobanov and Nancy Gallou. In an article in BIH Dani magazine, [23] you can find an email from Silvana Cobanov (who was said to be supervising the archaeological work) to the members of the Board of Directors of Osmanagic's foundation which says in part: "It is difficult to admit, first for myself and then to the others, that I have been doing the figurehead on the terrain. The works on Pljesevica were conducted by Goran Cakic (a graduate mechanical engineer). My efforts to change this have been unsuccessful. To my regret, I have contacted orally several times the project manager, discussed with Goran Cakic, cautioned him that he should write his observations and conclusions in his private diary, categorically protested that Amir Susa Zombi[a man employed by the Foundation who seems to be more or less in charge of everything, and particularly the security] may not and should not plot, dig and excavate a little bit here and a little bit there (and this literally as it seems)..." While she was working there a rectangular construction was unearthed at the base of one of the alleged pyramids. Silvane Cobanov in her parting email informed Osmanagic about what it really was; a recent construction with "dry walls, very unstable". The evidence for this are the bricks of which it is made, and the nails, also recent. "I have protested that one should not talk about a tomb, or entry to the pyramid, or a military post... to say to the visitors such unfounded suppositions is in my opinion dishonest. So, to conclude: on Pljesevica we didn't find a single archaeological artifact, and it is, in my opinion, sterile in the archeological sense."
Osmanagić has named Visočica hill the "Pyramid of the Sun", while two nearby hills, identified from satellite and aerial photography, have been dubbed the "Pyramid of the Moon" and the "Pyramid of the (Bosnian) Dragon" (and another two, one named the "Pyramid of the Earth", have been mentioned in reports). Newspaper reports have quoted Osmanagić as claiming that they were constructed by ancient Illyrian inhabitants of the Balkans as early as 12,000 BC. But in an interview with Philip Coppens in Nexus (April-May 2006), Osmanagić attempted to clarify his previous statements, stating he was misquoted: he does claim that they were most likely constructed by the Illyrians, who he claims lived in the area from 12,000 BC to 500 BC, and that the pyramid was therefore most likely constructed between those two dates - not in 12,000 BC.
Osmanagić claims the excavation has produced evidence of building blocks as well as tunnels. Earlier geological work has also indicated that human activity had shaped the hill.[24] Additionally Osmanagić has found tunnels in the hillside which he interprets as ventilation shafts.
Osmanagić believes his discoveries around Visoko will have further implications for world prehistory. By comparing the varying heights of the tallest pyramids in Mexico and Egypt with Visočica hill, he concluded that the pyramids may all have been built by the same people(s), with the Bosnian Pyramid being the last to be built. However, upon further thought he has decided that this dating mechanism may not be reliable and has now announced Visočica hill could be "The mother of all Pyramids", a claim he says would be corroborated by the existence of sacred geometry and further numerological study of messages left in the pyramid for future generations.[25]
Osmanagić estimates that the Sun pyramid stands 722 feet (220m) high (or, depending upon the report, either 230 feet (70m) high or 328 feet (100m) high). If it is 722 feet, it would be one third taller than the Great Pyramid of Giza, making it the largest pyramidal structure on Earth.
The current target of the project is to complete excavation by 2012. This is in order to "break a cloud of negative energy, allowing the Earth to receive cosmic energy from the centre of the galaxy" according to Osmanagić,[26] who also hopes that it will be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site.[27]
