Crapaganda.com

Although acupuncture is commonly used for pain control, doubts about its effectiveness and safety remain. Investigators from the Universities of Exeter & Plymouth (Exeter, UK) and the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (Daejeon, South Korea) critically evaluated systematic reviews of acupuncture as a treatment of pain in order to explore this question. Reporting in the April 2011 issue of PAIN®, they conclude that numerous systematic reviews have generated little truly convincing evidence that acupuncture is effective in reducing pain, and serious adverse effects continue to be reported.

“Many systematic reviews of acupuncture for pain management are available, yet they only support few indications, and contradictions abound,” commented lead investigator Professor Edzard Ernst, MD, PhD, Laing Chair in Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter & Plymouth, UK. “Acupuncture remains associated with serious adverse effects. One might argue that, in view of the popularity of acupuncture, the number of serious adverse effects is minute. We would counter, however, that even one avoidable adverse event is one too many. The key to making progress would be to train all acupuncturists to a high level of competency.”

Researchers carefully identified and critically examined systematic reviews of acupuncture studies for pain relief and case reviews reporting adverse effects. Reviews were defined as systematic if they included an explicit Methods section describing the search strategy and inclusion/exclusion criteria. Systematic reviews had to focus on the effectiveness of any type of acupuncture for pain. Of the 266 articles found, 56 were categorized as acceptable systematic reviews.

The authors observe that recent results from high-quality randomized controlled trials have shown that various forms of acupuncture, including so-called “sham acupuncture,” during which no needles actually penetrate the skin, are equally effective for chronic low back pain, and more effective than standard care. In these and other studies, the effects were attributed to such factors as therapist conviction, patient enthusiasm or the acupuncturist’s communication style.

If even sham acupuncture is as good as or better than standard care, then what is the harm? The answer lies in the adverse effect case studies. These studies were grouped into three categories: Infection (38 cases), trauma (42 cases) and other adverse effects (13 cases). Many of these adverse side effects are not intrinsic to acupuncture, but rather result from malpractice of acupuncturists. The most frequently reported complications included pneumothorax, (penetration of the thorax) and bacterial and viral infections. Five patients died after their treatment.

In an accompanying commentary, Harriet Hall, MD, states her position forcefully:

“Importantly, when a treatment is truly effective, studies tend to produce more convincing results as time passes and the weight of evidence accumulates. When a treatment is extensively studied for decades and the evidence continues to be inconsistent, it becomes more and more likely that the treatment is not truly effective. This appears to be the case for acupuncture. In fact, taken as a whole, the published (and scientifically rigorous) evidence leads to the conclusion that acupuncture is no more effective than placebo.”

Source: Science Daily

Officials in coal-mining region of Kemerovo Oblast announced plans today to open a Yeti Institute at the Kemerovo State University, a 38-year-old higher education entity in western Siberia. KSU boasts 31,000 students and is best known for reviving regional languages, like Shor. Yeti researcher Igor Burtsev reportedly claimed that 30 Russian scientists are currently studying yetis, or Abominable Snowmen, and the Institute could allow them to better collaborate.

“We think that the yeti is a separate branch of human evolution. It lives in harmony with nature,” Burtsev was quoted as saying. Burtsev believes there may be a local community of these creatures that are Neandertals who survived extinction.

The Yeti Institute is not a lock, though. The university denied Burtsev’s claim that it would be part of KSU, saying that “studying yetis is not among the research interests of the scientific teams at Kemerovo State University.” A final decision will be made after the town of Tashtagol hosts an international conference on yetis later in 2011. Leading experts of hominids will discuss the idea of whether it is worthwhile to pursue the yeti with formal science.

The belief in a population of “Snow Men” in remote areas of Siberia is significant enough to celebrate Yeti Day on November 11. Cynics will note that it also marks the start of the ski season at nearby resort, Sheregesh. A 2009 photo revived local tourism and led to tours at the “Yeti’s Cave” where a large footprint was found. I don’t think it helps that this was first reported in the Daily Mail, which has a tendency toward sensational stories.

Source: Wired.com

Madelyn Tolentino's original drawing of the chupacabra. (Click for larger view)

Has the legend of El Chupacabra finally been debunked? Benjamin Radford of the Skeptical Inquirer says he can prove the purported blood-sucking, livestock-killing beast doesn’t exist.

Using Facebook, Radford tracked down Madelyn Tolentino, the Puerto Rican woman who first described the chupacabra in 1995. Back then, she gave a detailed description that included wide, dark eyes, thin arms, three fingers, air holes in place of a nose, and feathery spikes on its back. That bears a strong resemblance to the alien in the film Species, which Tolentino admitted to Radford she had seen just weeks prior to giving her description.

So far, Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster have no comment on Radford’s finding.

Source: Slate.com

The six-toed footprint left in the freshly plowed field.

On the evening of Tuesday March 22, 2011 I and a friend of mine Carolyn Wright were driving down Golden Valley Road in northern Rutherford County, North Carolina just off Highway 226 when we both observed a large upright brown furry animal between six and seven feet tall come up out of the field beside the road and then it ran across the road in front of the pick up truck we were in.

Carolyn stopped the truck and I jumped from the truck with a small video camera and started shooting a video of the Big Foot as it ran across the road in front of the truck and into the thick woods and road side brush on the side of the road in front of the truck. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen and though I did not get it in the woods on video I watched it run up the side of a small mountain crashing through the brush as it ran.

As I filmed it crossing the road it turned its head towards me and snarled or growled at me as it ran across the road. It was truly one of the most amazing sites I have ever seen. It was at one point only 15-20 foot from me and it happened so fast and shook me up so bad that I really didn’t understand what I had seen until it was up the side of the mountain and out of sight. You can watch the video below of what I saw and you can hear its snarl or growl on the video as it crosses the road in front of the truck I and Carolyn were riding in.

One thing I know is the smell of it was horrid. It smelled like a cross between road kill and a skunk. And it did not like the fact that I was there on the road with it. In the video you can hear it snarl or growl at me as it crosses the road.

Golden Valley is located in Rutherford County North Carolina and is near upper Cleveland County North Carolina where the Big Foot called Knobby has been spotted for years. I don’t know if it was Knobby but I do know it was a very real being that was severely pissed that I was there on the road with it. It was truly one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen.

“It came from out of the field from the direction of the creek and we later took photos of feet prints in a freshly plowed field. I jumped from the truck and took this video of it as it crossed the road in front of us. At one point in the video it made a snarling growling sound and looked back at me”

“This is the second video I recorded on the evening of Tuesday, March 22 2011. It is the second part of the video of what I assume is Knobby.  I could hear it up there running through the brush. You can hear me and my friend talking about what we just saw in this video.”

Source:

The chupacabras (Spanish pronunciation: [tʃupaˈkaβɾas], from chupar “to suck” and cabra “goat”, literally “goat sucker”) is a legendary cryptid rumored to inhabit parts of the Americas. It is associated more recently with sightings of an allegedly unknown animal in Puerto Rico(where these sightings were first reported), Mexico, and the United States, especially in the latter’s Latin American communities. The name comes from the animal’s reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock, especially goats.

Physical descriptions of the creature vary. Eyewitness sightings have been claimed as early as 1995 in Puerto Rico, and have since been reported as far north as Maine, and as far south as Chile. It is supposedly a heavy creature, the size of a small bear, with a row of spines reaching from the neck to the base of the tail.

Biologists and wildlife management officials view the chupacabras as a contemporary legend.

In July 2010, an animal was killed and reported to be a chupacabra, but found to be a coyote with a severe parasite infection. In October of that year, University of Michigan scientists theorised that parasite-riddled coyotoes (specifically the parasites responsible for scabies and mange) were likely the basis for the chupacabra legend.

Police dashcam catches chup on the run:

What do you think?

The Bilderberg Hotel was the site of the first meeting.

The shadowy group known as Bilderberg will be gathering this year for its annual meeting at the resort city of St. Moritz, in southeastern Switzerland, June 9-12, but they will have a lot of company. St. Moritz is a short distance from Davos, the site of the regular high-priced meeting of thousands of bankers, political leaders and other notables called the World Economic Forum. But unlike at Davos, where the press is always welcome, Bilderberg still tries to maintain absolute secrecy.

Bilderberg has met in Switzerland four times over the years but never in the same city. Normally, when their sibling in crime, the Trilateral Commission (TC), meets in North America, Bilderberg does, too. This year, the TC will meet in Washington on April 8 to 10, but the Bilderbergers are avoiding the United States, in what may be an effort to fool the press.

Bilderberg has been called the most exclusive and secretive club in the world. To be admitted, you have to own a multinational bank, a multinational corporation or a country. Since its first meeting in 1953, it has been attended by the top powerbrokers, financial minds and world leaders.

The Bilderbergers hope that part of their common agenda with the “Trilateralists” will be accomplished by the time they meet: a U.S. invasion of Libya to generate increased Middle East turmoil so America can go to war with Iran, on Israel’s behalf.

As has happened for several years, the Bilderbergers will blubber about how “ evil nationalists” are blocking their efforts to achieve world government. They will order oil prices to climb so desperate Americans might be made more willing to surrender sovereignty to a world government. They will promote wars for profit, and will advance the call for a world government to impose peace—as if peace can be imposed.

It is ironic that Bilderberg attendees love Switzerland so much because they are poles apart politically from Switzerland, which declared itself a non-interventionist neutral country four centuries ago. It has been involved in none of the world’s bloody wars since.

The Bilderbergers can expect to be loudly greeted by AFP, European news outlets and some in the U.S. independent media. In Europe, major metropolitan daily newspapers from Paris, London and other cities give major coverage to Bilderberg. But The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times and their numerous chains will submit to muzzling because their top representatives are actual Bilderberg participants themselves.

Source: American Free Press

Commanders in Afghanistan are bracing themselves for possible riots and public fury triggered by the publication of “trophy” photographs of US soldiers posing with the dead bodies of defenceless Afghan civilians they killed.

Senior officials at Nato’s International Security Assistance Force in Kabul have compared the pictures published by the German news weekly Der Spiegel to the images of US soldiers abusing prisoners in Abu Ghraib in Iraq which sparked waves of anti-US protests around the world.

They fear that the pictures could be even more damaging as they show the aftermath of the deliberate murders of Afghan civilians by a rogue US Stryker tank unit that operated in the southern province of Kandahar last year.

Some of the activities of the self-styled “kill team” are already public, with 12 men currently on trial in Seattle for their role in the killing of three civilians.

Five of the soldiers are on trial for pre-meditated murder, after they staged killings to make it look like they were defending themselves from Taliban attacks.

Other charges include the mutilation of corpses, the possession of images of human casualties and drug abuse.

All of the soldiers have denied the charges. They face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted.

The case has already created shock around the world, particularly with the revelations that the men cut “trophies” from the bodies of the people they killed.

An investigation by Der Spiegel has unearthed approximately 4,000 photos and videos taken by the men.

The magazine, which is planning to publish only three images, said that in addition to the crimes the men were on trial for there are “also entire collections of pictures of other victims that some of the defendants were keeping”.

The US military has strived to keep the pictures out of the public domain fearing it could inflame feelings at a time when anti-Americanism in Afghanistan is already running high.

Decentralized protest group “Anonymous” has encountered many foes in the past: Sarah Palin, PayPal, the Church of Scientology, MasterCard, the Westboro Baptists and even the governments of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, to name a few.

But now, one of the group’s members has issued a call for perhaps their most audacious campaign yet: civil disobedience against the private central banking system that underpins all the world’s industrial economies.

In a little-noticed video published Sunday, one “Anonymous” calls for the dawning of “Operation Empire State Rebellion”: a “relentless campaign of peaceful resistance” against organizations that participate in they termed the “control” of large populations through pieces of paper and bits of data.

They also called for US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s resignation.

It reamains to be seen whether this operation will succeed in drawing the support of other members of “Anonymous.” It was also unclear what exactly they had planned, or even if they could prove to be more than mere annoyance to the world’s banking cartels.

But then again, ostensibly the same group did take down MasterCard for a day.

However, as with most “Anonymous” operations, it was impossible to say whether this proposal came from a known member of the group, someone on its fringes or a source outside of “Anonymous” entirely.

The Department of Defense said recently it was opening an investigation into “Anonymous” after someone allegedly threatened to release the personal information of soldiers guarding Pvt. Bradley Manning, an American accused of leaking secret data to WikiLeaks.

Pentagon officials also said that “Anonymous” sought to interfere with communications at the Quantico, Virginia military base where Manning was being held.

The video below was published to YouTube on March 13, 2011.

It’s not clear how far or how high it can fly  – or even how big it is and what makes it take off.

But an aircraft created by scientists in Iran is, they claim, the world’s first flying saucer.

Called the Zohal – or Saturn in English – it said the unmanned spaceship is designed for ‘aerial imaging’ but added it can be used for ‘various missions’.

The hardline Fars news agency illustrated its story with a photo of a flying saucer, akin to one appearing in a 1950s Hollywood B-movie, hovering over an unidentified wooded landscape.

The reports gave no indication of the spaceship’s size. But they indicated it was small by claiming, somewhat bizarrely, that it can also fly indoors.

‘Easy transportation and launch and flying, making less noise, are some of the advantages of the device,’ said ISNA, Iran’s students’ news agency.

‘The device belonging to the new generation of vertical flyers is designed for aerial photography.

‘It is equipped with autopilot, image stabiliser and GPS and has a separate system for aerial recording with full HD quality!’

Iran, which prides itself on its 2,500 year-old civilisation, is also keen to show that it is at the cutting edge of modern science.

Tehran’s ambitious space programme alarms the West because the same technology used to send missiles into space can be used to build intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Last year the country announced it had successfully fired a rocket that carried a mouse, a turtle and worms into space.

Tehran insists it will be able to send a man into space in nine years’ time.

For president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the advances demonstrate the country’s ability to push on with its science programme despite international sanctions over its nuclear programme.

The flying saucer was said to have been unveiled at an exhibition of ‘strategic technologies’ attended by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

At the same time Iran’s Space Agency launched a test spacecraft designed to sustain life in orbit.

The state IRNA news agency said the capsule was carried by a rocket called the Kavoshgar-4 (Explorer-4) 75 miles into orbit before returning to earth.

Iran’s often outlandish scientific claims usually prove difficult to confirm.

American naval forces in the Persian Gulf have yet to come across a ‘super-modern’ radar-evading flying boat Iran claimed to have tested four years ago.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

The orbit of the Moon around the Earth is not round it is elliptical and therefor sometimes it is nearer and sometimes it is farther away. When the Moon is at it’s nearest to Earth it is in perigee and when it is at the greatest distance from Earth it is in apogee. A supermoon is a full or new moon that coincides with the Moon in perigee.

Some have speculated that if the Moon is powerful enough to affect the oceans then a supermoon must be capable of moving the Earth itself. That’s right. There are people out there who think you can predict earthquakes by looking at a lunar perigee chart.

Many are in a panic over the coincidence between the impending supermoon and Japan’s recent devastating earthquake. Those who believe the two happenings are related think more damage will come when the supermoon will be in its full phase, on March 19. Many think a supermoon will cause climate chaos.

Scientists say, however, that the supermoon did not cause the earthquake in Japan, so all those worrywarts should stop panicking.

The amount of extra pull on the Earth during the supermoon will hardly affect the tides much less the tectonic plates of the Earth.